Far from Home:
Chapter 1, welcome aboard:
Commander Nichelle Dowling PoV:
Placing the last of my things into my Starfleet standard issue suitcases, while my beautiful wife Farah sits cross legged on our bed holding our six-month old daughter Bloom.
"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Farah asks sounding anxious and rightly so, as this is my first mission in over eight months, if truth be told I was also feeling a little anxious at being away from my wife and daughter, especially since I haven't spent much time away from home since Bloom was born, however my father had suggested that a three week mission to the Badlands to find a Maquis ship that disappeared would help to get my feet back into the waters or in this case back into space, after I had received a request from Captain Janeway herself to join her crew.
My father mentioned that there aren't many fairies in Starfleet and that If we ever reveal our existence to humans, having fairies already in Starfleet would ease the transition, I rolled my eyes at him as he had been saying that for years, unfortunately since my father was human he didn't really understand, why we fairies wanted to keep our world secret, even though humans are more accepting of other races and species, I shared my father's views however I was bound by fairy law to keep our existence secret.
"Farah sweetheart, I will only be away for a few weeks," I try to reassure my wife.
"I know, I just always miss you when you are away on missions, and this is your first mission since we became parents Nichelle," Farah says gently bouncing Bloom in her arms.
"We discussed this, and we knew this day would come. We are fortunate that this mission is only for a few weeks and not months," I say to Farah before giving her a kiss on the lips and then kissing Bloom on top of her head, "I will miss you both terribly," I added before giving my wife another kiss, more passionately this time, last night had been the first time we made love since Bloom was born.
"Here it's from bloom and me, so you won't forget us," Farah said with a chuckle at her bad joke, as she handed me a box, I just rolled my eyes at her, opening the present she had handed me, it was a photo of the three of us together from last week when we had gone to Ben and his wife Rose house for dinner.
"I love it, thank you sweetheart," I said, kissing Farah again. The photo shows Farah and me sitting together; my arm is around her shoulders, Bloom asleep in her arms, and my other arm wrapped around both of them, I placed it into my suitcase along with two other photos, one of me and Farah when we were back at school, we had been dating for about two years at that point, we had been sitting under a tree studying with Ben and Rose, Rose had taken the photo of the two of us, we were cuddled up together reading our text books unaware that Rose had taken a photo of us, we had two copies made, one for Farah and one for me, I took it on every mission with me, as it reminded me of a simpler time, the other was of our wedding day, I was in my dress uniform and Farah in her white wedding dress, we were both smiling, looking so happy as we cut the cake, now I had a third photo to cherish and a reminder of home.
Five hours later:
"Thank you Stadi, I will see you on voyager," I said picking up my bags before stepping off the shuttlecraft, only to be greeted by my father, I gave him a warm hug," hello dad," I said as he embraced me tightly.
"How's my favourite girl?" dad asks me.
"I won't tell Dawn you said that," I said with a chuckle.
"Your sister knows I love her just as much as I love you," dad said as he takes my bags and we walked onto the space station, "how's my granddaughter?" dad asks me as we make our way towards the bar.
"She is perfect, we just wish she would sleep through the night, I hate the idea of leaving them," I said sadly, already missing them both terribly.
"I know it's hard sweet-pea, I remember how hard it was myself, when I had my first mission after you were born, I never told you this, but I really considered resigning from Starfleet," dad tells me and to say am shocked would be an understatement , especially because my father is Starfleet to his core.
"What made you change your mind?" I asked him, knowing there was a reason behind his staying in Starfleet.
"My good friend Owen Paris," Dad tells me with a smile, "oh yes, good old Admiral Paris," I think to myself as I felt my heart break for him as the thought of everything his son Tom has put him through, in some ways I understand Tom as god knows it isn't easy being a child of a Admiral, always having to prove yourself and having to live up to your parents legacy, that is one of the many reasons I had taken Farah's name after we were married, because best to my knowledge there has never been a Dowling in Starfleet.
Before I had a chance to respond, we walked into the bar only to find a Ferengi shouting at a young-looking Ensign.
"I'd better go and help the young man," Dad said handing me my bags.
"Is that Tom Paris?" I ask my dad at seeing Tom walk over to the young ensign and the Ferengi.
"Yes, he will be joining you on Voyager," Dad informed me, and once again am shocked, Tom was younger than me but not by much just two years, dad must have seemed the question on my face, "Tom has first-hand experience with the Maquis, he will be an Starfleet observer nothing more," Dad tells me, placing a hand on my lower back, guiding me towards a nearby table.
"why do I get the feeling there is more to this mission than just the disappearance of a Maquis ship in the Badlands?" I asked as I watched with narrowed eyes as Tom and that young ensign left together, Tom and I had only met a handful of times and unlike our fathers, we were never friends.
"You were always the smart one, we are trying to keep it quiet," Dad says as he glances around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on us, "we had a chief of security on board undercover, he was supposed to report in twice during the last six days, he didn't," Dad informs me and I knew this was bad, however I don't voice my concerns.
"Dad, if this mission to the Badlands is to find a missing maquis ship and a chief of security, then why did Captain Janeway request me? This mission hardly warrants a Starfleet counsellor, what else ain't you telling me?" I asked dad with an arch eyebrow.
"That my darling daughter is for Captain Janeway herself to tell you," Dad says and once again I roll my eyes at him, why trying to work out the possible reason Captain Janeway has requested me, especially since I had only briefly met her three times.
"Please tell me you had nothing to do with her request?" I ask him, feeling an annoyance at him, he never answered my question, he just smiled at me.
We have a drink together, and talked about other subjects, Dad promise to keep an eye on Farah and Bloom for me while I was away, we also talked about mum and my younger sister Dawn, until it was time for me to report to Voyager.
I left Dad at the bar and made my way, to the transporter room, where I was transfer onto voyager.
"Welcome aboard Commander Dowling, they are expecting you in sickbay," A young ensign informs me, I nod my head and make my way towards Sickbay.
"Can I help you?" The Doctor asks at seeing me enter sickbay.
"Commander Dowling reporting on board," I said with a smile. Early in my career, I learned that it's best to befriend doctors and nurses on starships rather than get on their bad side.
"Oh, yes Commander Dowling, welcome aboard, it's a pleasure to meet you, your medical records have arrived this morning, everything seems to be in order," The Doctor informs me with a friendly smile, "there is one thing though, I was informed you have a six month old baby daughter, however your medical records says nothing about you giving birth, was there some kind of error?" He asks me looking down at the medical pad in his hands.
"No, there was no error Doctor, it was my wife that gave birth to our daughter not me," I tell him.
"I see, anyway the captain is asking if you were on board yet, you should check in with her," he says in a friendly manner, those I wasn't sure what to make of him.
"The Captain was my next stop," I said turning on my heels leaving sickbay, I walked down the corridor, greeting other officers along the way. I stepped into the nearest turbo lift saying, "Bridge." Seconds later, I arrived on the bridge and took a moment to admire its spectacular view.
"Need any help?" an older man asked.
"Commander Dowling, I was looking for Captain Janeway," I introduce myself to him.
"Lieutenant Commander Cavit, First Officer, welcome aboard Commander Dowling, the captain is in her ready room," Cavit tells me gesturing towards a door on the right.
"Thank you Lieutenant Commander Cavit," I said with a smile.
"Commander will do just fine," He says with a wink, I just nod my head slightly and walk towards Captain Janeway's ready room, I push the door chime and waited until I heard, "Come in," I open the door and walked inside, straight away seeing Captain Janeway sitting behind her desk working away on her computer, I come to stand in front of her desk, waiting for her to acknowledge me.
"Commander Dowling, it's good to see you again," Captain Janeway says with a smile on her face.
"And you Captain Janeway and congratulations on making Captain," I said back with a smile.
"Thank you, I must also extend my congratulations on the birth of your first child," Captain Janeway says to me standing up from her desk, my dad must of told her, I have no doubt about that as he is definably a proud grandfather, especially since Bloom is his first grandchild.
"Thank you, Captain. It appears that much has transpired for both of us since our last meeting." I said remembering our brief encounter just a little over two years ago, shortly after Farah and I found out we were pregnant.
"It appears so," Captain Janeway says with a little smirk on her face, "How's your father?" Captain Janeway asks me.
"Oh His doing well, thank you Captain," I said placing my hands behind my back, "My Father filled me in on what wasn't on the report for this mission Captain, however there was one thing my Father declined to tell me, instead he told me to ask you," I said now that our pleasantries were over.
"Oh?" Captain Janeway said.
"Why did you request me personally Captain? This Mission does not require a ships counsellor," I ask Captain Janeway.
"I requested you for multiple reasons, Commander Dowling," Captain Janeway stated as she straightened her posture and inhaled deeply through her nose. She then walked around her desk to stand directly in front of me. "You are both a science officer and a counsellor, which is quite rare. This was one of the reasons I selected you for this mission; I need capable officers who can think quickly on their feet and possess excellent negotiation skills," Captain Janeway explained. From a young age, I had always been passionate about science and aspired to serve in Starfleet as a science officer. However, during my first mission, my fairy heritage intervened. After an attack from the Cardassians, I was injured but defied medical advice and returned to duty since we were not yet out of danger.
Due to my injury, I developed heightened sensitivity to others' emotions, particularly those of the captain. Upon entering his ready room, I used both my magic and skills to identify the source of his concerns.
Together, we devised a plan for our current situation. Upon our return to earth, he recommended that I really consider pursuing a career as a counsellor, acknowledging my aptitude in this domain.
His insight proved to be remarkably accurate, so I began my training as a counsellor, while still serving as a science officer, though I eventually gave up my duties as a science officer.
"And the second reason Captain?" I asked her, Captain Janeway hesitated for a moment.
"Because you have an acquaintance aboard the Maquis ship, an old friend of yours I believe," Captain Janeway tells me.
"Who?" I ask as I felt my stomach drop, if a friend of mine was indeed in trouble, then of course I was going to do everything in my power to help.
"B'Elaana Torres," Captain Janeway tells me and my heart drops as that is a name I hadn't heard in a very long time.
To Be Continued:
There you have it the first chapter of Far from home, I hope you enjoyed it, normally I try to make a chapter at least 1000 words or 2000 at the most, this is over 2000 however I'm not going to stick with giving myself a limited word count.
In this Fanfic, there are going to be many ups and downs.
I will try my best to bring you chapter 2 as soon as possible.
Please R&R.