A/N: Set early in the seventh season.

The idea for this story came from two places: An episode of DS9 where Nog swaps a bunch of random stuff (including Sisko's desk) to get parts that Chief O'Brien needs to repair the station [Treachery, Faith and the Great River]. And an article I read a while ago about a man who started with a red paperclip then traded a series of things to end up with a house.

I know my own little kids are pretty crafty, thought I might see what Naomi could do on Voyager. Enjoy and please review!

Love people. Use things. The opposite never works.

-theminimalists

CHAPTER 1: Apples

It was a quiet afternoon in the mess hall. Neelix sat with his hands folded contemplatively in front of him, fully commanding the attention of a blonde-haired girl.

"I once heard of a man, a very skilled trader mind you, who took a single piece of over-ripe fruit and ended up with his own starship."

"Really?" Naomi asked skeptically over her glass of lemonade.

"Oh yes, let's see. I think he traded the fruit for a container of water. The water for a tool. The tool for….uh, the tool…." The Talaxian scratched his head. "Actually I don't remember but you get the picture. Each trade added just a little tiny bit of value until eventually…"

"He got a ship?" Naomi looked at Neelix, still not quite buying his tale but not entirely closed to the possibility.

"That's right."

"So, if I try really hard I could trade up and own Voyager?" Naomi asked.

Neelix smiled at her. "Mmmm, I'm not sure about that. Captain Janeway seems pretty attached to her ship, and in a way Voyager already belongs to all of us." He noticed that the little girl's face fell so he recovered. "But it couldn't hurt to try. I'll tell you what…" Neelix rose from his seat and walked over to the kitchen counter. He spun the fruit bowl around while throwing a playful glance back to Naomi. "I'll give you this apple here." He carefully chose the nicest one and rubbed it on his shirt. "Take this, and see what you can do with it."

Naomi grinned widely. "Thanks!"

The little girl looked at the shiny red apple in her hand then back up to Neelix. "Now what?"

Neelix chuckled. "Now you find someone that wants an apple and you see what they have for you in return."

Naomi hopped down from her seat. She walked around the mess hall. There were only a few people since dinner hadn't officially started yet. She eyed each patron closely. A few were engaged in conversation and she didn't want to be rude. The Delaney sisters were always very nice to her, but they both had full plates of food already. Ensign Baytart however was sitting in the corner studying a PADD. Naomi noticed the officer only had a cup of coffee and figured this might just be the man who wanted a nice shiny apple. She walked over to him.

"Hi," she said.

The ensign looked up from his PADD. "Hi there," he said playfully. "What's up short stuff?"

Naomi crinkled her brow at the term but then realized she had to stay professional. "Want an apple?"

Baytart looked at the fruit. "Sure, thanks," he replied and he took it from her outstretched hand.

Naomi just stared at him as he bit into her merchandise. Baytart, his mouth full of apple, stopped chewing at stared back. "Wha?" Little drops of juice rolled over his lips.

The girl narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure," she said. This was not going as she had planned. "You're supposed to give me something now."

Baytart chewed and swallowed his bite. "I am?"

"Mmm, hmm," she said, matter-of-factly.

Baytart looked at the apple again, then to his PADD – which he needed - and then his drink. "You want my mug?"

Naomi thought for a second then realized this was success. "Sure!" She replied excitedly. It wasn't a starship but she had made her first trade.

She took the mug from the tabletop and went back over to Neelix who was doing his best not to laugh. He waved a small thank-you to the ensign who, still a bit confused, went back to his reading and his snack.

"How'd it go?" Neelix asked her, as if he hadn't been watching.

"Great! I got this," she said, thrusting the dirty dishware into Neelix's hand. Some leftover coffee sloshed out onto the table.

"Uh…okay. Well, that's something," he said, considering his next options. "You know, that was a pretty good first try. But I think we might need to start again." Neelix took the mug back to the kitchen and put it with the other dirty dishes for washing. Naomi followed him and waited patiently by the counter.

"Mr. Baytart didn't really have anything to offer you that would be worth a trade. It would be hard to find someone who will want to have a dirty mug, remember I told you that each trade has to add a little bit of value."

Naomi nodded her head, she understood now. Neelix reached back into the bowl of fruit and handed her another apple. "Hang onto this. Not too long, but just long enough."

Apple in hand, Naomi Wildman started walking the corridors of Voyager. What do I do with this? She thought. I need someone hungry with something more valuable to trade.

She was headed back to her quarters to consider her next move when she came upon Holodeck 2. The doors opened and a very angry B'Elanna Torres came storming out. The little girl could swear there was actually smoke coming out of the Klingon's ears. Naomi's eyes widened in surprise and just a little bit of fear as the woman came toward her.

B'Elanna stopped and stooped down then pointed a finger at Naomi's chest. "Don't ever, EVER, marry a pilot," she seethed. Then the chief engineer let out a frustrated grunt and continued down the corridor.

Naomi looked at the apple in her hand and knew exactly where she needed to head next.

The doors of the Airponics bay swished open in front of the child still carrying a very valuable apple. She could only hope that there would be red roses in bloom and that Ensign Doug Bronowski was hungry.

She found the gardener humming lightly while tending to his duties. He appeared to be planting vegetable seedlings.

"Hi Naomi," he said when he saw her. "How are you today?"

"I'm good," she replied. "How are the flowers?"

"Just as pretty as you," he smiled back at her, dusting his hands on his gardening apron.

"I need some and I'll give you this apple if you help me."

Doug looked at the fruit in her hand. "Actually, I am kinda hungry. I skipped lunch today." He walked away from the lettuces and came to the end of the isle to meet her. "What kind of flowers did you want?"

Naomi led him to the red roses in the next aisle. "Those," she said, pointing.

Doug chuckled. Usually the only person who wanted red roses was Tom Paris after he'd screwed something up. Lord knows Tom had used up a lot of rations on those roses. He half-wondered if the pint-sized visitor had a little crush. Usually she just wanted something small and pretty for her mother.

"I've only got four red ones blooming right now, but they're all yours if you want them."

Naomi smiled widely and held out the apple to him.

"Trade number one, complete," she stated proudly.