Day 1

Dear Diary,

Today was such an exciting day! I got to play on the holodeck for two hours with Seven, had a picnic lunch with Neelix in the airponics bay, and the Doctor was too busy to give me my cell biology test! It's like everything that could go right, did.

Oh, but the most exciting part of my day has been a total secret.

This morning when I woke up, I found a gorgeous box on my nightstand. It was wrapped in lavender paper, the same color as the Orission violets that used to belong to Kes. There was a silver sparkly bow on top with a ribbon wrapped around the sides. It left glitter all over my hands and my nightgown and the table.

My mom must have dropped it off in the middle of the night. She was already gone for work by the time I woke up, so I couldn't ask. My birthday is still over a month away, but I'm guessing this is the first of a bunch of surprises she has hinted at. She says that a sixth birthday is a big deal for Ktarian children.

Okay, okay. So. What was in the box? The most beautiful gold necklace with a tear-shaped blue gem. When I hold it up to the light, it reminds me of the way plasma flows through the warp core. It's so beautiful, I can't stop looking at it.

I'm still wearing the necklace now, though I've kept it hidden all day. As much as I've wanted to show it off, I like keeping the secret. Mom hasn't mentioned it, so I think it must be one of those curious Ktarian traditions I haven't read about yet.

Either way, I'm sure she can tell by my smile that I have absolutely loved the gift. I'm never going to take it off. I'll have to be careful wearing it to bed though, I don't want it to get tangled and torn, the chain is very delicate.

-N


Day 2

To: Captain Kathryn Janeway
From: Ambassador Neelix
Stardate: 54722.7

I'd like to make you aware of an incident in the mess hall today.

At approximately 1130 hours, give or take, an unidentified member of Voyager's crew prepared a rather large meal from our salad bar, ladled a heaping bowl of soup, and then let it go completely to waste.

Furthermore, the tray in question was assumed by many to be reserving a spot at one of the most popular tables. You don't know how many people I saw searching for a lesser-quality seat, believing that one was already taken.

I let that food sit all day in hopes that someone would come to claim it. All day. Until the lettuce had wilted, the croutons were like rocks, and my delicious soup assumed a tepid temperature.

After seven years, you'd think that every one of us would know better than to take food and simply leave it to spoil. Fresh fare is a luxury on this vessel, and some of us go to great pains to make sure that it is readily available.

I am asking that you kindly remind the crew that we have a food stasis unit if they are called away in an emergency – or I would be more than happy to box up a lunch to go. This kind of waste should not be tolerated.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Neelix


Day 3

Hello baby girl,

Today you almost made your mommy a permanent part of main engineering. How, you ask? Well, let me tell you. A power converter module burned out, and of course it was the one wedged under the secondary support console. A month ago this wouldn't have been an issue, but you've grown so big… It wasn't until I was half-wedged under there that I started to think maybe it wasn't the brightest idea.

Ashmore saw me struggling and volunteered to extract the unit, but, call it Klingon pride, I wanted to take this prisoner myself. I wanted to get my hands dirty again. People have been treating me with such kid gloves… It's been a while. It took a while, too. I ended up three hours past the end of my shift.

Anyway, I was just about to decouple the housing when your father walked up and reminded me for the millionth time that I "don't have to have everything done before the baby comes."

A good thing, too, or you'd have to wait thirty-five more years to be born.

Tom – er, Daddy – was blathering on about how I wasn't doing us any favors by working myself to exhaustion and that's when my hyperspanner slipped; it grounded the housing against the… you know what? You don't care. It made a very loud, very surprising, snapping-zapping sound – I know you heard it because you kicked me – and I whacked my head against the bottom of the console.

This headache is a perfect complement to the back ache, sore feet, and general heartburn of my day.

I'm still not sure what failed with the module, but I left a work order for gamma shift to replace it. Odd thing is, I noticed another module in the corner of my office. I really hope we don't have a systemic issue on our hands. Pulling and repairing them all would take until you're three years old.

Oh, Daddy has our dinner ready.

Night night, baby. Mommy loves you.


Day 4

Lt. Michael Ayala
Personal Log
Stardate 54728.4

The practical joke thing has reared its ugly head yet again. I thought I put an end to this stupidity after Tom hazed me at the conn. I threatened to pummel him then; apparently, he's having trouble with his memory.

This time he went too far. Bastard left that nudie picture of Chell's wife in my quarters. Smack in the middle of my dresser, practically on top of the photo of my own family. God, what a shock. She's just… lying there. On that beach, all wet and blue… gold piercings… in places I never wanted to see.

The computer didn't have a record of someone entering my quarters. Must have been a site-to-site. As soon as I prove it was Paris, he's going to wish he was never born. It's a good thing he's got a kid on the way, I mean, I'm not about to make the little one grow up without a father, but I might see to it that she's an only child…

I have to go wash my brain now.