Disclaimer: All characters, vessels, science, and certain dialogue belong to Paramount with the exception of Sarah Janeway and anything else that I made up.
Author's Note: I know I used a ton of the original dialogue, but please bear with me—this kind of an experiment to see what works the best. As far as I go, the episode is really background since this story kind of focuses on Sarah and Kathryn. In addition, I've made Sarah more childish in this episode for reasons explained in the story. I probably overdid it, but just consider it to balance out the other episodes. I also hope you don't mind the excessive length.
Enjoy!!
P.S. I may be dropping more than one episode from my series (ex. 'Threshold') because they really aren't that great or don't have all that much action. I'll have a 'for-sure' decision soon.
Anomaly
'Time And Again'
Kathryn Janeway sensed rather than heard or saw the presence beside her bed. Prepared to fight off an alien intruder, she sat up quickly.
It was Sarah.
The small girl was nervously twisting from side to side and shifting her weight from one foot to the other. When she saw that her mother was sitting up, she quickly said, "I'm sorry…I wasn't going to wake you…"
Blinking sleep from her eyes, Kathryn called out blearily, "Computer, what time is it?"
"0400 hours," the Computer responded promptly.
"Sarah, what is it? It's four in the morning." She brushed her long auburn hair out of her eyes and watched her daughter nervously lower her eyes, biting her lip. "This isn't about school, is it?"
"Sort of," she replied quietly. "I couldn't sleep." At her mother's motioning hand, she climbed into her bed.
"Tell me what's on your mind," her mother said gently.
Sarah continued to fidget, twisting a corner of the sheets around her small finger. "Last week," she began. "The situation…with B'Elanna…"
"Yes?"
Sarah sighed deeply and turned her face up to her mother's. "B'Elanna came up with all these solutions that helped us get free from the singularity. She's a valuable member of the crew."
"Sarah…" Kathryn began, getting an idea of where this conversation was headed.
The young girl shook her head to interrupt, making her long ebony waves bounce about her face. "Everyone on this ship has a job: you're the captain, B'Elanna's an engineer, Tom's a pilot. Even Neelix and Kes, who aren't really crewmembers, help out." Her face had a wounded expression. "On a ship of 150 people, I'm the only one who isn't contributing anything."
"Sarah, no expects you to be able to fly this ship or fix the warp core. You're four years old."
"I know that people don't expect me to do anything, but I still feel like I'm not pulling my weight."
It was her mother's turn to sigh. She closed her eyes, thinking. There had to be a solution that was mutually acceptable to both of them. On one hand, Sarah wanted to be useful, which was very admirable. On the other hand, she could remember studying a lot as a child, something she had preferred over playing. However, she had sworn to herself that any child of hers would get a real childhood. For one thing, she truly regretted not learning to play an instrument. Therefore, she was extremely hesitant to let her daughter start her 'school' program.
Finally, she happened upon a resolution that sounded as though it would work for the two of them. Opening her eyes, she looked at Sarah. "How about this: you can start studying one or two subjects if you also take some sort of music, sport, or dance lessons. In addition, I'll make you Bridge Assistant. You can run errands and help with other things."
"Like bringing you coffee?"
Kathryn chuckled appreciatively. "Exactly. That way you can be useful, and you don't stop being a kid too soon. Deal?"
Sarah smiled broadly. "Deal. I'd like to study Earth history and algebra."
"And I'd like you to try piano and ballet."
"Ok. When do I start my duties as Bridge Assistant?"
"Today, if you'd like. But not now—it's still four in the morning and I have several hours before I'm on duty. I'd like to go back to sleep." Kathryn Janeway gave her daughter a hug. "Think you can sleep now?"
"Yes mama," she answered, hugging her back. "Thank you."
Sarah crawled back into her own bed and burrowed under the covers, tucking her stuffed horse tightly under her arm. Her mother tucked her in and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. "See you in the morning," she whispered. The small girl quickly drifted off to sleep.
Several hours later, Sarah woke with a start. She was suddenly scared, but didn't know why. She hurriedly sat up.
Her mother's bed was empty.
Her mouth dry with nervousness, she timidly called out, "Computer?" There was a beep in reply. "Computer, locate Captain Janeway."
"Captain Janeway is not aboard Voyager."
She was out the door and headed for the bridge as soon as she heard the response.
On the surface of the M-class planet, Janeway, Torres, Paris, and Tuvok had beamed down to the inside of the charred ruins of a public area. They pulled out their tricorders and began scanning their surroundings.
"The entire surface was just…seared," B'Elanna said in surprise.
"There was a chain reaction in subspace," Captain Janeway replied, tapping some controls on her device. "Most likely ignited by the detonation of one or more polaric ion devices."
Tom Paris looked around. "If that is what happened," he added. "The people here never had a chance."
"They're gone; vaporized. Everything organic has been pretty much obliterated." B'Elanna said, watching the readings on her tricorder.
"At least it was quick. Polaric ion detonation would have easily swept throughout the entire city in seconds," Captain Janeway calculated.
"It is reminiscent of the Chaltok IV incident," Tuvok said, speaking up for the first time.
"Chaltok IV?" Tom questioned.
"A Romulan research colony that was nearly destroyed when it tested a similar device. That situation led to the Polaric Test Ban Treaty of 2268."
"So, we're looking at the end of a war?" B'Elanna Torres wanted to know.
"I wonder who won," Tom said ironically.
Kathryn Janeway shook her head. "I don't think is the result of a war. B'Elanna, look at these readings." She held out her tricorder after scanning a nearby object that appeared to be a conduit.
"I can't get an accurate reading—the polaric ion concentrations are too high."
Janeway's face was grim. "I think these conduits are the source of the explosion."
Shocked, Torres looked at her commanding officer. "A civilization powered by polaric ion energy?"
Kathryn nodded darkly. "That's what it looks like: a time bomb beneath every street and running into every home."
Back on Voyager's bridge, Sarah Janeway had just exited the turbolift in a panic. She hurried over to Chakotay, who was sitting in the captain's chair. Trying to be polite and diplomatic, she asked, "Excuse me, commander, where is my mother?"
Chakotay looked up to see Janeway's daughter standing before him. It wasn't at the Academy that I've seen her face, he realized. But where was it? That strange feeling that he somehow knew her from somewhere refused to go away. Slightly shaking his head, he pushed it to the back of his mind. "Your mother beamed down to the planet we're orbiting with an away team." He smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry—they'll be back soon."
Vehemently, Sarah shook her head. "No," she insisted. "They're in danger! You have to beam them back up—now!"
"What's this about?" he asked.
"Something's wrong down there," she told him, not sure why.
Just then, her mother's voice came through Chakotay's commbadge. "Away team to Voyager."
"Go ahead," he replied.
"Four to beam up."
"Acknowledged," he said, looking curiously at the young Janeway girl. He nodded to Harry Kim. After a few seconds, Harry frowned. "I only have Torres and Tuvok in Transporter Room One. Trying again…"
Sarah stared first at Chakotay, then at Harry, until Harry looked up and said. "They're gone!"
"What do you mean 'gone'?"
"I mean they aren't on the planet's surface anymore. I don't know where they are."
Sarah uttered a little cry of dismay and fell to her knees. Chakotay concernedly picked her up and carried her to the captain's chair. He patted her shoulder comfortingly, albeit somewhat awkwardly. To Harry, he said, "Keep an eye on her. I'm going down to talk to Tuvok and B'Elanna."
Sarah sat curled up in the chair, tears of worry and fear running down her cheeks in little rivers. She felt as though her heart and soul were sick. Where is she? Will I ever see her again? At that moment, she was no longer the special child who had beaten Admiral Gates at chess and devoured books written for people five times her age. At that moment, she was just a frightened little girl who wanted her mom.
Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Paris suddenly found themselves in the middle of the town square amongst living, breathing aliens. There was no sign of an explosion or any destruction. They had fallen through a subspace fracture. Paris had pulled out his tricorder and begun scanning as Janeway desperately tried her commbadge again and again.
The sudden scream of an alien boy who was staring at them brought a crowd and an authority officer. The latter spoke comfortingly to the boy. "Now, what's the problem?" he asked in a calming voice.
"I saw them!" the boy yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at the two of them. They appeared out of thin air! They're some kind of demons! I saw them with my own eyes!"
Thinking fast, Janeway spoke up. "I'm sorry we startled him. We just came around the corner."
"They're lying!" the blond haired boy insisted.
"Calm down now, young fellow. You've been reading too many of those Darkstorm tales. There's no such thing as demons."
"But I'm telling you…"
"Run along now," the officer said, gently nudging him away from the area. "Have a confection bar and calm down." To the crowd, he added, "All right, everybody. Back to your business—nothing to see here." Finally, he turned to Janeway and Paris. "Sorry about that. Who knows what gets into kids' heads, huh?"
Kids…oh no…Sarah! She must be worried sick! With effort, she pulled herself back to the present situation. "Perhaps the uniforms scared him," Kathryn replied. "We're not from this area."
"Come in on the Continental Transport?"
"This morning."
"Is that, uh, what they're wearing in Kalto Province these days?"
"This is a little more, um, formal than most," Tom said. "You know how it is when you travel."
"We're actually looking for a clothing shop," Kathryn added. "We thought we'd change into something more appropriate."
"There's one right over there." The authority officer pointed. "I hope the rest of your stay with us will be more enjoyable." With a smile, he departed from them.
"I wish I could say it will be," Tom gravely commented to Janeway.
Aboard Voyager, there had been no sign of either Captain Janeway or Lieutenant Paris since they had been lost in a subspace fracture. The senior staff members were gathered in the conference room, attempting to brainstorm a solution. Sarah sat off by herself in a corner, trembling and shivering as though she was cold. Harry watched the poor little girl stare off into space and shake. When he had seen her before, she had seemed as though she was an adult. Now, she completely seemed the vulnerable four-year-old child that she was. She always had her mother before, he realized. From what he knew, her mother was all she had. He'd heard no mention of a father. Poor kid.
When Chakotay gave him the signal, he pulled up a detailed diagram on the computer console on the wall and began his explanation. "This is one of the subspace fractures we've located with a magneton scan of the surface. This is the time of the explosion, where the fracture opens. Then, as the shockwaves dissipate, the fracture grows narrower. We believe that the Captain and Lieutenant Paris are trapped at the narrow end."
B'Elanna chimed in, "Shockwaves from most explosions dissipate to the future, but we're speculating, based in part on what Paris told us he saw, that these dissipate into the past."
"That's consistent with the subspace damage we've observed."
Tuvok frowned thoughtfully. "Why haven't they been able to return as Mr. Paris did the first time?"
"He wasn't all the way inside a fracture. Remember, we still saw Paris standing there even when he could see the other side," B'Elanna explained.
"So it's possible that the Captain and Paris are existing only hours or minutes before the explosion occurs," Chakotay said. Sarah winced visibly in the corner. That was tactless, he berated himself.
"There's no way to measure exactly how far back these fractures go," B'Elanna admitted.
"How do we find them?" he asked.
"If I know Captain Janeway," Tuvok said. "She would activate a subspace beacon to assist us."
Chakotay listened to the rest of what was said with only half of his attention. The other half was directed at the now-fragile-looking child huddled miserably in a corner of the conference room. He'd never thought about it before—who was responsible for her now that her mother was missing? And if she never came back, who got custody of her? If she had family aboard, it wouldn't have been a problem. Maybe it was supposed to be him, since he was the first officer. The first officer got command of the ship when the captain was lost—did he get the captain's child as well? He slightly shook his head. No, he wasn't used to children that much. She'd be better off with someone else. If only the captain had left some procedures for this kind of a situation, he thought.
Maybe it should be Tuvok. After all, he and Captain Janeway were old friends. Then again, a Vulcan caring for and maybe raising a human child? Scratch that. Who did that leave? Kes and Neelix were possibilities, but they'd only been aboard the ship for a short while. Confining his mental search to the senior staff, he came up with Harry Kim, B'Elanna Torres, and Tom Paris. Tom was missing as well, so he was out. B'Elanna taking care of a little kid? Probably not a good idea. So that just left Harry Kim.
He waited until the end of the meeting when people began moving off to their respective tasks. "Ensign Kim, would you please stay?" Surprised, Harry hung back as everyone else filtered out of the room.
"Yes, commander?" he said.
"Do you like kids?"
In confusion, Harry replied. "I suppose so, sir."
"Until we recover the captain," Chakotay said, picking up Sarah, who hadn't said a word since she'd heard the news, and putting her in Harry's arms. "Sarah Janeway is your responsibility."
"Uh, sir…" Harry began, but then he looked into the heartbreakingly sad green eyes of the captain's daughter. "Yes sir," he finished. Well, how hard can it be to take care of a very mature four-year-old?, he thought.
In the future on the planet's surface, Tom and Janeway had just emerged from a clothing shop, both now clad like natives in black slacks and tops striped with shades of orange, red, and yellow. "We can assume that Voyager will be looking for a way to reach us. I'll set my commbadge to emit a subspace beacon. If they get close enough, maybe they'll pick it up," Janeway was saying.
Tom exhaled, saying so much with no words. He was thinking about the planet's imminent destruction.
"I know," Kathryn said gently.
"Maybe there's some way…"
"Don't even think about it, Tom. The Prime Directive is clear. We can't change the natural course of events."
"Even if the natural course of events is annihilation?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Tom shook his head as they walked, as though he was trying to get rid of unpleasant memories. "My father used to talk at length to us about the Prime Directive once a year like a holodeck sermon."
Kathryn nodded. "He considered it the guiding principle of space exploration."
"To be completely honest," Tom said. "I tuned out most of his sermons years ago."
Captain Janeway spun to face her conn officer. "Well, tune back into this one because I agree with him. You have no idea what the consequences might be once you involve yourself…"
"The consequences would have to be better than mass destruction!"
"You're not to warn these people. That's an order!"
Suddenly, they noticed the same blond-haired boy watching them. They tried to move away, but the boy hurried up to them and confronted them.
"I know you're lying," he said challengingly.
Waxing creative, Janeway replied, "Young man, we're here on a business trip and we have a lot of work to do."
"The officer told me you came here on the Continental Transport."
"That's right. We're from Kalto Province."
The boy looked smug. "Yeah? Well, I just talked to the transport attendant. He told me four people came today from Kalto. Two of them were a lot older than you, and they had a child with them."
"Well, the attendant was wrong," Janeway countered. "That was us."
"So where's the child?" The boy's statement hung in the air as a challenge.
In Main Engineering aboard Voyager, Torres and Kim were demonstrating a polaric generator. Sarah sat nearby watching, as Harry took his new responsibility very seriously.
"This device uses the same polaric energy that destroyed the planet," Harry explained, adjusting a control.
"At intense levels it can open a subspace fracture," B'Elanna added.
"Wide enough for the Captain and Paris to get through?" Chakotay wanted to know.
B'Elanna affirmed, "If we can locate them, this is capable of bringing them back."
"The logical place to begin," Tuvok said. "Is the same location they disappeared."
Harry sighed. "Only problem is, at the necessary intensity, the polaric generator will burn itself out after thirty seconds at best."
Chakotay frowned thoughtfully. "Can't we re-initialize the generator and try again?"
"Not in the same location," B'Elanna told him. "Once we make an attempt at any given location, the damage to subspace will make a second attempt impossible."
Chakotay nodded, thinking carefully. "How do we prevent one of us from getting trapped in a fracture?"
"We've modified our tricorders to detect the fractures, and all of us will be wearing one of these. It puts out an anti-polaric field. It should repel the fractures if they get within three meters." B'Elanna held up a small grey metal box.
"Nice work," Chakotay complimented, but before they could start preparing for the away mission, his commbadge chirped.
"Lieutenant Hawthorne to Commander Chakotay."
"Go ahead, Hawthorne."
"Sir, there's an unauthorized transport in progress in Transporter Room One!"
"Lock them out!"
A moment of silence, then: "I'm sorry, sir, I couldn't block their commands fast enough. They're on the surface."
"Who?" Before Chakotay got a response, Harry spoke up in a panic.
"Has anyone seen Sarah? She was here a minute ago!"
"It's the captain's daughter, sir. She's down on the planet," Lieutenant Hawthorne reported.
"Beam her up now!" Chakotay said, just short of yelling.
A few more tense seconds passed, then he reported, "I'm sorry, sir, but she's gone just like the Captain and Lieutenant Paris."
Chakotay swore under his breath. "Understood. Prepare to beam down my away team. Chakotay out."
He turned to the others. "The stakes just got higher. Let's go." Everyone moved off, readying themselves for the mission. Just then, Kes and Neelix entered engineering.
"Ah, Commander. Will you be going back to the planet's surface?" Neelix asked.
"We're getting ready to leave right now."
"I have to go with you," Kes insisted, her face earnestly serious.
"There's nothing down there you want to see, Kes. As a matter of fact, we just lost one more person. The captain's daughter beamed herself down to the planet a minute ago."
"I've already seen it. I have to go."
Neelix quickly filled in Chakotay on Kes' telepathic vision. The former Maquis commander looked at the Ocampan woman. Finally, he nodded. "Let's get moving."
Sarah Janeway looked around the bright public square. Aliens bustled about their daily business, totally unaware of the impending disaster that hung like a specter of doom over their planet. Her eyes suddenly found her mother, her long auburn hair glinting in the sunlight. It was all she could do to keep from sobbing in relief. I fell through the right fracture!
Tom Paris stood at her mother's side and a blond alien boy stood in front of them.
"So where's the child?" His statement hung challengingly in the air.
Thinking fast, she called out "Here I am!" and ran over to her mother.
A number of emotions played out on Kathryn Janeway's face. Astonishment, uncertainty, and joy all quickly flitted across her countenance as she watched her small daughter run towards her. Without thinking, she knelt down and opened her arms wide to receive the young girl.
Sarah ran straight into her mother's arms. Her mother gathered her up in her arms, hugging her tightly. "I was so afraid I had lost you," Sarah managed to choke out.
"I'm here, I'm here," Kathryn said, gently patting her daughter's back.
"Here's 'the child'," Tom was telling the boy. "She just got a little lost. Now, run along." He made shooing motions with his hands. He, Kathryn, and Sarah watched the boy hurry off, his face showing that he was still not completely convinced.
Kathryn waited until he was out of sight before she set her daughter down. She knelt down so she was at eye level with her little girl. "Sarah, how did you get here?"
Sarah averted her eyes as she replied, "I beamed down. I remembered what you told me about the Wolten III mission, and how you managed to get through the transporter blocks that the captain had put up because of the alien that had inhabited him. I applied the same procedure to Voyager's system. I knew they would try to stop me."
Captain Janeway's eyes widened in shock and she spoke sternly to her daughter. "Sarah Kathryn Janeway! That was a dangerous, foolish thing to do! I can't believe you would do something so irresponsible! You knew what was going to happen to the planet--"
Tears streamed from Sarah's eyes. "When you disappeared, I panicked. I didn't want to be strong anymore—I just wanted you back." She paused, dropping her chin to her chest. "I couldn't face having to live without you."
"Oh, Sarah…" Kathryn hugged her daughter tightly. "Understand that I don't condone what you did, but I am glad to see you." She surveyed her daughter's clothes. Sarah was wearing a yellow shirt and black slacks. She would blend in well enough. "Promise me you won't do that again."
"I promise."
"Good." Kathryn stood up, Sarah staying as close as she could. "Now, let's concentrate on getting out of here."
"The same subspace fractures that brought us here might still be around. If they were caused by a polaric explosion, is there any way we can use polaric energy to get us back?" Tom said.
"If we had access to a polaric ion generator, we could modify a tricorder to emit a polaric field. At the very least, it might help us scan for a fracture."
"I wonder where these conduits get their power…" Tom mused aloud, running his hand over one.
When the trio reached the power plant, a protest was in progress. People were shouting angrily and waving leaflets. The guards tried to push the crowd away, but the crowd pushed back.
"Under normal circumstances, I'd say we should come back tomorrow," Paris murmured.
The guards suddenly fired into the air and the scene turned ugly. Sarah grabbed her mother's hand, but they were swept apart as the crowd began to run in all directions, for the guards had moved out amongst the people, hitting every which way with their batons in an attempt to make them disperse. "Mama?" Sarah asked worriedly. She was surrounded by a sea of legs, too short to see anything. People swirled about her like a river current, threatening to take her far away from her mother. She tried to push her way in the direction she thought was correct. "Mama?"
There was a sudden cry of pain and she had an obstructed view of a person with auburn hair lying on the ground. "Mama!" she screamed, desperately shoving at the crowd. A guard ran straight into her, knocking her to ground as well. She felt her palms scrape painfully against the pavement. The crowd began to melt away. Raising her head, she saw a strange alien man helping her mother up. Tom hurried over and picked her up, and, carrying her on his hip, he followed the man assisting her mother.
They soon found themselves in a private home. Tom was tending to the wound on Kathryn's forehead, and Kathryn was tending to the scrapes on Sarah's palms when the man who had helped them, who also happened to be the protest leader, came into the room they sat in, along with a colleague of his. "I'm sorry to involve you in this. Pe'Nar Makull," he said, introducing himself. Nodding at his associate, he added, "My colleague, Ny Terla."
Terla nodded to them. "Apparently you just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Yes, we were," Tom said.
"What were you doing there?" Makull wanted to know.
"We're from Kalto Province. We were hoping to tour your power facility, compare it to our own," Kathryn answered.
"I've never seen a Kalton with your colour hair," Terla said suspiciously.
"Well, now you have."
"My friend thinks you were sent by the government to infiltrate us," Makull declared.
"Infiltrate?!" Tom incredulously said. "You were there when they got these." He gestured at the captain's forehead and at her daughter's hands.
"It could be that you were told to put on a good show for us. Even in Kalto there are protests against polaric energy."
"We're not spies," Janeway insisted. "Besides, what kind of spies would bring a child with them?"
"The kind of spies that are trying very hard to avoid suspicion," Terla said, and he and Makull drew their weapons, pointing them at the trio. "We know you're not telling the truth. We have safety monitors to measure polaric energy." Terla brought one out and held it up to them. "When you were brought here, they registered five times the normal readings. To register levels this high, you were either in that plant yesterday, or at the site of a polaric disaster more destructive than any in the history of this planet."
Sarah inhaled sharply, knowing the truth. "Now then," Makull was saying as he seated himself behind a desk. "Let's get some answers. Your names, to start with."
"Janeway and Paris," Kathryn said, indicating herself and Tom. "And my daughter, Sarah."
"Those are unusual names."
"Not where we come from."
"And what part of Kalto Province was that again?"
"I don't see any point in this," Kathryn said in frustration.
"There is a point, a very important one. It has to do with our schedule and whether we can keep it or not. Can we?"
"I don't know," she said truthfully.
Terla suddenly burst back into the room, carrying the boy that had confronted them earlier. He was struggling to get free. "Look what I caught sneaking around outside," he said, keeping a firm grip on his new prisoner.
"Let me go!" the boy yelled.
"The boy has nothing to do with this," Kathryn assured their captors.
"Is he yours?"
"No, he's just someone he met here."
"Don't trust them! They aren't who they say they are!" he yelled. "They lied about coming here on the Continental Transport. I talked to the attendant myself!"
Sarah, deciding it was best that she not draw any extra attention to herself, chose to act four years old. "Thanks a lot," she told the boy sarcastically, sticking out her tongue. "I just want to go home!" she pretended to whine, looking at her mother who had given her a mock stern gaze.
Terla deposited him on the steps with her and Tom, then went to assist Makull in interrogating her mother. It turned out the boy was named Latika and he reported for his school's journal. Sarah only listened partially to his conversation with Tom as she carefully watched her mother. She nearly got hold of her phaser when Terla believed her story about it being survey equipment, but Makull prevented her from picking it up. She listened as Makull told them that he was a patriot and that he believed that polaric ion energy had the potential to destroy the entire world. She heard his strategy to move up their plan a week.
Her mother appeared to make a difficult decision. "Wait!" she called as Makull turned to leave.
Before she could say anything further, she and her daughter both suddenly felt a presence tugging at the corners of their minds. "Kes?" Sarah timidly asked. She and her mother both stared at a certain part of the room. There was no one there.
"Do you have something to tell me, Janeway? That is, if that's your real name," Makull said.
"It is my real name. Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager," she replied. "You wanted the truth. All right, here's the truth. We're from the future, exactly one day in the future."
"You mean I was right?" Latika said excitedly.
"We weren't allowed to tell," Sarah said, frowning. "At least, I thought we weren't."
"Yeah," Tom added.
"In a few hours from now there will be a serious accident on this world that will be caused by a polaric detonation. We came here in an interstellar ship to investigate that explosion. When we arrived we were exposed to the polaric radiation. It's very likely that whatever you're planning to do could be responsible for this tragedy," Kathryn said, desperate.
"And somehow you were able to come back here to warn us?" Makull asked sarcastically.
"The explosion had an after-effect that no one expected. It created fractures in time. We fell through one of those fractures."
"Interstellar ships? Fractures in time? Do you honestly expect us to believe all this?"
Out of the blue, a voice came from Captain Janeway's commbadge. "Chakotay to Janeway. Can you read us?"
She looked down at her commbadge, surprised.
Sarah recovered from her surprise more quickly and managed to hit her own commbadge and spit out "This is Sarah Janeway. We're here, Chakotay!" Terla hadn't been fast enough—he'd managed to snatch her mother's, thinking they were eavesdropping devices, but she had already gotten her message out by the time he grabbed hers and Tom's.
Makull started gathering up things and instructing his men. "Bring them with us—the boy too. I have an idea how they can help." Tom, Kathryn, Sarah, and Latika found themselves being hustled out of the room and onto the street. Sarah listened nervously as her mother and Tom discussed her reason for coming out with the truth: they had violated the Prime Directive just by being there. Without their presence, the explosion may never have occurred.
Makull finally halted them near the power plant's entrance gate. "Your job is to get us past the guards. You'll tell them you're bringing us here to negotiate a settlement of our dispute with the power companies," he told Kathryn.
"I cannot and will not do anything to help you," she replied staunchly.
"Think before you say no. Terla has a weapon trained on the boy and your daughter. If shooting begins, she'll be the first victim, followed by the boy."
Kathryn felt a cold fear settle in her stomach. She chanced a quick glance over her shoulder. Terla had covertly pulled a gun out. His arms were crossed so that it was hidden from the guards' view but ready to use. He stood directly behind Latika and Sarah. They had all heard the threat, but Sarah's face was resolutely determined and she slightly shook her head at her mother. She didn't want her to give into their demands.
Kathryn closed her eyes and silently uttered a brief appeal for both of the children to have quick reflexes. Makull nudged her as a guard stepped forward. "Is there something I can do for you?" the guard wanted to know.
"She's a government representative on official business," Makull replied.
The guard turned his attention to Janeway.
Stepping forward, she firmly said, "I am a hostage. These men are here to break into the plant."
It took the guard a moment to register her words. When he did, he reached for his weapon but wasn't fast enough—Makull had shot him before his hand had left his holster.
Sarah and Latika were both startled by this sudden violence. Remembering the threat against their lives, they realized they were in danger and turned and ran. Terla noticed their escape and aimed his gun at them. Paris leapt to their defense, jumping into the bullet meant for one of them. He fell, clutching his abdomen in agony.
Sarah, Latika, and Kathryn ran to where he lay painfully on the grass. Terla and Makull continued shooting their way into the plant, Makull finally shouting over his shoulder, "Their lives are on your conscience, Janeway!"
Captain Janeway turned her attention to her helm officer. "Don't waste time on me, Captain. You've got to stop them!" he gasped.
"I'm coming with you." Sarah's face was set like stone. Arguing would do nothing. I won't lose you again!, she thought. Her mother nodded reluctantly.
"Will you stay with him until help arrives?" Kathryn asked Latika. The young boy nodded, so she gave the two of them a small smile, trying to reassure them. Then, Sarah at her heels, she hurried into the plant, stopping only to retrieve a weapon from a fallen guard.
They quietly followed the sound of Makull and Terla's footsteps through the circular corridors of the plant. They slunk from barrier to barrier, keeping hidden from view as best they could. Finally, they had the two men in sight. They were working on some kind of conduit, apparently trying to sabotage it. Kathryn and her daughter slowly and quietly slunk up behind them. The men were very absorbed in their task, so they were able to close the distance between them with almost no trouble. Sarah could see the contents of the bag at their feet, including the phaser and tricorder they had confiscated from her mother and Tom, as well as the particle injector they were planning to use.
"I need the particle injector," Terla said suddenly. Makull turned and picked up the bag. At that moment, her mother stepped out, her weapon pointed squarely at the man. Sarah stood behind her.
"Just hand that back to me," she instructed.
One day in the future, the away team had set up their polaric generator. "41 by 310, 2‰ drift, range 6 metres. Mark," Tuvok said.
"I have it. Initiating generator," Harry Kim affirmed.
"Scanning for the subspace beacon." B'Elanna Torres frowned at her tricorder. "It doesn't look like they were here."
"It is highly unlikely that Captain Janeway would come here…" Tuvok said, repeating his earlier doubts.
"The Captain did come here," Kes interrupted, insisting. Her newly-emerging telepathic abilities were telling her what had happened. "She was here. So was Sarah. This is where they died."
Unaware of them, Captain Janeway, one day before was trying to explain to Makull. "Everybody on this planet has less than three minutes to live if you go through this, Makull."
"What exactly do you think we are planning to do here?" he asked.
"I assume you're going to sabotage the plant, probably by detonating some kind of device."
"We're not stupid enough to blow up anything here."
"Maybe not, but something's going to go wrong."
"Not unless you fire your weapon near that polaric conduit. Why don't you put it down?"
"Give me the bag." When he didn't, Sarah ran forward and tried to grab it, but Terla quickly lifted it out of her reach and clasped it all the more tightly. "All right then. We'll wait. What time is it?"
Terla pulled out a timepiece and studied it. "401 rotations plus 21."
Kathryn held her weapon steady. "We'll just wait until 23."
"23? What's the importance of 23?" With good-humored sarcasm, he answered his own question. "Oh, this is all about the alleged time of our self-annihilation. All right, let's just see if we can all get through…" He stopped, staring at the corridor behind the two Janeways. Sarah cautiously turned around and gasped. Her mother, curious, looked over her shoulder.
A bright white light had formed in a spider web pattern suspended in the corridor behind them. As they watched, it grew, coming nearer and nearer.
"What's going on?" Terla demanded.
In horror, Kathryn realized, "They're cutting through subspace!"
"It's going to intersect with the conduit!" Makull said in shock.
All the pieces fell into piece. "The rescue attempt—that's what causes the explosion!" Sarah exclaimed.
Her mother turned to Makull and lowered her gun. "Our weapons may be able to seal the hole. It's our only chance!" she said insistently.
Reluctantly, he proffered the bag to her. She grabbed the two phasers from it, keeping one and handing the other to her daughter. "I'm probably going to need your help," she said, and she quickly showed Sarah where to press to make the weapon fire. Together, they created twin streaks of orange lightning that resisted the advance of the subspace tear. Tense seconds passed before the hole in subspace was successfully sealed.
Everyone vanished. Time reset.
Aboard Voyager, Tom was attempting to convince Harry to go on a double date with the Delaney sisters.
"I've got a girl back home," Harry argued.
"So what?" Tom countered. "I've got five."
Commander Chakotay was talking to Captain Janeway. "We've identified an M-class planet in the red dwarf system we're approaching. Do you want to change course to investigate?"
Out of nowhere, Sarah appeared on the bridge. She looked rather unsettled and was still dressed in the shirt and shorts she had slept in. "Sarah," her mother said, surprised. "You're up early. Is something wrong?" The small girl looked around the bridge a bit, then spontaneously ran to her mother and hugged her tightly around the knees.
"I…I don't know. I just had this horrible feeling you were in danger," she said quietly.
"Well, I'm not." Kathryn Janeway smiled at her daughter.
Kes suddenly came onto the bridge, also looking rather unsettled. "Kes, what's wrong?" Neelix asked.
"The planet—everyone was killed, there was this terrible explosion…"
"You had a bad dream."
"No, it was more than that…"
The captain ordered sensor sweeps of the planet, which came up with nothing. They brought an image of the planet up on the viewscreen. It looked very much alive.
"Thank you, captain," Kes said, and she left the bridge with Neelix.
Sarah Janeway hugged her mother once more, as if to make sure she was really and truly there. "Well," she finally said. "I guess I'll get some breakfast and start my lessons, then…"
"Make it a quick breakfast," Kathryn said in a mock stern tone.
Sarah looked up at her questioningly.
"Don't forget—you start your duties today."
Breaking into a wide grin, Sarah scampered off, ready for her new job.
Author's Note: Thanks for sticking with me. I hope you liked this new chapter. Please review!!