To The Journey

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. This is an AU story.

Chapter Forty-Four: Finally In The Open

It is a sad fact that, even with all of our advanced technology, things can still happen to alter the course of a child's life in a terrible way. These children are among the most vulnerable among us, and doubly so when they have no one to care for them. But instead of helping them, one organization takes advantage of these children.

This reporter was given a rare chance to look inside the Nebraska Center For Special-Needs Orphaned Youth (NCFS-NOY), to see the truth behind the rose-tinted picture the center paints for the public, and what exists there was horrifying. This reporter saw children being beaten with leather belts for infractions as small as speaking out of turn or for crying. "Counseling" sessions seemed to consist mostly of degradation, telling the charges that the bad things in their lives were their fault and deriding them for their emotions. The things that were said were unspeakable.

This reporter also got the chance to interview several former residents, and their testimonies confirmed that what was witnessed was not an exception to the rule.

"They treated me like a criminal," Lieutenant Commander Tasha Yar, Chief of Security and fourth in command of the USS Enterprise, explained.

Tasha looked over at Jake. "Nice touch throwing in my rank and position."

He grinned. "One of the first things I learned in my correspondence courses. If you have a source with good credentials, pump them up as much as you can." He gestured for her to keep reading.

"They treated me like a criminal," Lieutenant Commander Tasha Yar, Chief of Security and fourth in command of the USS Enterprise, explained. "I was expected to transition overnight from a life of constant peril to a life of complete submission to authority, and was punished for not being able to do so. I was subjected to disciplinary actions that, if taken by a private citizen against their child, would be considered abuse and most likely be grounds for removing the child from the home. We were starved and beaten for minor offenses such as speaking out of turn.

"They said they wanted to help me, but their actions only served to hurt me, and not just physically. Counseling took the form of victim-blaming that only served to increase the trauma I had already suffered. My own perspective on my experiences was made secondary to the counselors' often incorrect interpretation of events; they nearly made me believe that they knew more about what I had endured than I did. I was cut off from the few friends I had had without even being told as much; I believed I had been abandoned by those people who cared most for me. My record was marred by unsubstantiated accusations presented as fact, which nearly kept me from even being admitted to the service that I am now proudly a part of. They told me I'd never amount to anything."

Lieutenant Commander Yar's service record resoundingly disproves these predictions, and there are more than a few Starfleet officers who have reasons to be glad that Starfleet admitted her in spite of a dishonestly harsh record.

Accredited child psychologist Elizabeth Marinette also agreed to be quoted in this article regarding her son, Robert, whom she adopted from NCFS-NOY. "He was more traumatized when he came to me than the records said he was when he went into that place, and when that report was written just days after he witnessed the brutal murder of both of his parents. He was terrified of doing anything to upset me, even the minor misbehaviors typical of children his age. His back was cut up from being beaten with a belt. When I demanded answers from the center, they said the kids had gotten into a fight, and one of them had attacked him - what frightens me is how easy it would be for someone without a degree to believe all that. How many other kids like him are out there whose parents tried to fight for them but weren't armed with the information I had. When I finally convinced him to talk, he confirmed everything I suspected and some things I didn't. That place needs to close down."

Why such a place exists in the 24th Century is a question everyone should be asking themselves. Surely there are better solutions for the children currently housed - one might even say incarcerated - there. Perhaps it is because the rose-colored portrait has fooled any inspector. One would hope that it is only oversight.

Tasha placed the tablet on the table. "Anyone contacted you yet?"

"A half-dozen other survivors - I'm thinking I may have to do a follow-up just to showcase the additional survivor stories. One message from someone in Child Welfare, says that region falls under his jurisdiction and is wondering why he's never heard of it before - he's going to do a surprise inspection and bounce this up to his superiors. Of course, it won't be as much of a surprise as we'd like, seeing as I'm sure they've read the article too, but I doubt they can erase all traces of years of abuse in a matter of days."

"I doubt they'll try," Tasha said, causing both Jake and Data to look at her in confusion. "I mean, some of it, sure," she elaborated. "The beatings, yes, they'll stall for as much time as they can to try and get rid of all the marks on the kids. But the rigid rules and discipline - it sounds crazy, but I got the sense that at least some of those people actually thought that was the way to go, that the children they were dealing with wouldn't respond to anything else. They haven't just deluded the kids into believing that their treatment is the only way to go, they've deluded themselves."

"Why couldn't you have said that before I published the article?" Jake grumbled.

"It would have changed your reporting of the story?" Data asked in puzzlement.

"No," Jake replied, raising an eyebrow. "It's just a hell of a quote. I could've found a way to put it in."

"What, you didn't quote me enough?" she teased, smiling. As if on cue, her comm station beeped.

"I should have figured they'd want to talk to me too," she said wryly.

xxxxxxxxx

Tasha hesitantly stepped into the office of the man who had captained the Enterprise for several weeks. She hadn't been on board for most of that time, and they'd barely been in the same room. But he'd asked to meet with her, and she suspected she knew why. "Captain?"

"Commander." He half-smiled at her. "Please come in."

She stepped in and the door shut behind her. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I presume you've read this?" He held up a PADD; the headline from Jake's story was visible to her even at that distance. Your quote was - poignant, to say the least."

"I wasn't trying to draw attention to myself," she countered. "I just want people to know the truth. I want someone to do something."

"Understandable." He set it down. "As it happens, I do recall your file crossing my desk back when I was doing admissions. I didn't put the pieces together to figure out it was you until I read the article, but I remember the file."

"I remember you," she replied quietly. "I always assumed you didn't remember me - that I was just one more rejection to you. You must have handed out hundreds of them." She half-smiled. "I'm almost afraid to ask what made me memorable."

"The file," he admitted. "It surprised me that the person in that file would think they had even a chance of consideration for admission. Of course, now I realize that person likely never existed. Certainly never applied to Starfleet."

"At the time, I thought it was unfair of you not to listen to my side." A half-smile appeared on her face. "Now, of course, I realize what it must have seemed like from your end. How many people had tried the 'my file is lying' trick?"

He smiled. "Enough to make me skeptical, that's for sure. But I am sorry for not looking more closely."

"You gave me the suggestion that got me into Starfleet in the end," she countered. "That's got to count for something."

"You got a sponsor."

She nodded. "Maybe it worked out for the best the way things happened. My sponsor was a good person, and he treated me like a member of his family. And his daughter - for the longest time, I convinced myself that it was just her father's influence that led her into Starfleet, but she has told me, repeatedly, that I was part of it too. And she was the one who stopped the Breen from blowing up Engineering Corps."

He smiled a little. "I won't take any credit for that, Commander. Most people would have just given up. I expected you to. At the most, I expected you to try and find a sponsor, only to find that no one was willing and then resign yourself to the idea that it wouldn't happen."

"You didn't know me."

"I can see that. You don't seem the type to take no for an answer. Clearly, someone recognized that as a positive."

Tasha couldn't help laughing a little. "He said that it wouldn't make sense for me to be so persistent unless I was serious, and that Starfleet needed officers who were so committed to the service."

Jellico smiled too. "Well, hindsight is always perfect, but I think a lot of people would agree it's a good thing he did."

I'm sorry about the time delay here, but I really can't write fiction in the style of non-fiction. One reviewer offered to take the blame for distracting me, but I think I'll save that for another time!

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