Disclaimer: Only the story is mine. Everything else belongs to Paramount. kicks Paramount But they've abandoned their characters and stuff and did really nutso things to them, so I delete Paramount. I'm not making any money off this, so leave me alone, Paramount minions! I wrote this story, which was my very first ever Voyager fanfic, in August, 2000. It was not beta'd. This story contains a relationship between two women, so if that offends you, please read something else.
Code: T/7.
Genre: Romance, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Ghosts, Chapter 10
Most of the children had fallen asleep, comforted by Naomi's story and reassurances. Naomi walked up to the helm, where Mezoti dozed and cleared her throat. Mezoti woke up.
"Yes?"
"Do you think that Voyager will find us?" Despite her seeming confidence around the other children, Naomi was still worried.
"I sent an encoded message to Voyager. I used an ancient Earth code that is still used by the federation today. I am certain that if Voyager is directly following the S-sk—the 'bug people's ship," Mezoti made a face at the difficult name, but continued, "They will have received my message and be looking for us as we speak."
Naomi took solace in those words and found a place on the floor to sleep, dreaming an odd dream about leading a resistance movement against an evil Sorceress with the help of a ragtag team of various people, all fighting with magic. In the dream, Flotter was her lieutenant and Mezoti her second-in-command. Seven made a brief appearance to offer pearls of wisdom right before the Sorceress' troops came screaming from the sky in shuttles that all looked like the Delta Flyer.
Mezoti watched Naomi sleep, noting that she looked upset for approximately fifty seven minutes before a more peaceful expression took the place of the furrowed Ktarian brow. She briefly wondered what the other girl was dreaming before she was seized by sleep as well. Visions of playing cards and Borg cubes filled her mind and the alert signal on the panel in front of her began blinking an urgent warning, lost on the sleeping ex-drone.
Voyager glided into the asteroid field, trying to trace the brief signal sent by the young ex-Borg, Mezoti. Immediately upon seeing the vast rocky obstacle course, spirits plummeted. There were thousands of places that a small shuttle or escape pod could hide and Harry's announcement that at least half of the rocks contained traces of metals that were indistinguishable from a shuttlecraft to the sensors, hope seemed a foreign concept.
Then they detected the other ship. The design was unrecognizable, a race previously unencountered. And not at all friendly. They claimed that the field was theirs to mine and didn't give Captain Janeway even a minute to explain their situation. Paris navigated through the field, dodging most of the blasts sent by the smaller ship.
"Shall I return fire?" Tuvok asked.
"Disable their engines," Janeway answered.
"There is no need," Tuvok said gravely. "They were unable to maneuver out of the way of a large asteroid and impacted on the surface. I doubt that there are any survivors." Kathryn sunk into her chair, rubbing her face.
"No, I suppose that would be too much to ask. Is there any further development in the search for Mezoti's ship?"
"Negative," Harry answered softly. "Maybe we should contact Seven of Nine and ask her to modify the sensors..."
"Icheb to the bridge."
"Or maybe Icheb can do it," Harry mumbled, amused. Janeway rewarded him with a tight grin, then answered.
"Go ahead."
"I believe that with a simple modification, I can isolate any bioreading in the sector from the radiation of the asteroid field. I merely wished to check with you to make sure that it is alright to make the modification."
"Well, if you think you can do it, go for it. But if you have any problems, contact Seven of Nine."
"Acknowledged, Captain. Icheb out."
"Think he can do it?" Chakotay leaned over to Janeway and asked.
"Only one way to find out," she replied.
"Captain, reading eleven humanoid lifesigns bearing zero-four-seven-mark-eight. One Ktarian!" Harry looked up excitedly, then returned to his readings. "One Norcadian," again he looked up and grinned, "And I don't recognize the rest of the species."
"No Wysanti?"
"No, ma'am," Harry replied.
"I guess that means Azan and Rebi aren't with her," Chakotay stated.
"I wonder why she's not with them," Janeway agreed. Within moments, Voyager had discovered where the little ship had tucked itself away and sent out a hail.
Beep, beep. Mezoti tried to banish the persistent noise, but could not ascertain the origin. Her dream fell to shreds around her as she realized that the noise was real and the world she believed to be true, was not. She rubbed her eyes, mentally growling at the Wysanti for weaning her off of her regeneration unit. Sleeping was much less efficient and she did not always feel rested at the end of a cycle, as she had under the artificial conditions imposed by borg regeneration.
Mezoti scanned the instrument panel for an indication of where the transmission directed at them was coming from. Once she had confirmed it was Voyager, she attempted to calm the rapid pounding of her suddenly overexcited heart. Her hand hovered over the key that would answer the hail, pausing as she debated internally about waking Naomi. Her friend deserved more than to just be pulled, sleeping, into the ship that she had praised and put all her hopes in. She deserved to answer the hail that brought them all home.
Mezoti stood and walked over to Naomi, gently shaking her shoulder. Naomi woke with an undignified snort and rubbed her eyes. Mezoti noted that in the half-year that she had been off Voyager, Naomi's Ktarian development had not slowed and she appeared an entire year older. She had professed to age at only one and a half times normal humanoid development, but it seemed to Mezoti that she actually aged twice as quickly.
"What is it, Mezoti?" Naomi asked, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.
"Voyager." Mezoti knew that it was all her friend needed to hear. True to form, Naomi jumped up and looked excitedly at the ship's small viewscreen. Her brow wrinkled and Mezoti quickly explained. "I thought you would like to answer their hail." Naomi looked at her best friend and hugged her. Mezoti showed Naomi how to work the comm system, then Naomi sat in the copilot chair and answered Voyager.
"Hello, Captain." Kathryn smiled at the bright young face on the screen in front of her.
"It's good to see you're alright, Naomi." She answered honestly.
"Not all of us are, captain. We require medical assistance as soon as possible. Only three of us are hurt, but..." Naomi looked at Mezoti. Kathryn's eyes followed her to the young ex-drone, but she saw nothing wrong with her.
"Move your injured into one place and inform me when you're ready to have them beamed over. We'll send them directly to sickbay."
"Yes, Captain." Naomi stood and walked off screen, Mezoti following. A few moments later, Naomi announced that they were ready. Janeway gave a signal and she saw the light from the transporter briefly illuminate the background of the shuttle. "Captain? Has Seven of Nine been informed of our rescue?"
"Not yet, we didn't want to get her hopes up until we knew for sure. I'm about to—"
"If you could wait, Captain, I'd like to surprise her." Janeway smiled.
"Then I'll just contact your mother."
"Thank you, Captain. Janeway watched as the viewscreen switched to the forward view before calling Samantha Wildman.
The children were greeted quietly in the shuttlebay, only the captain, a few security guards and Samantha Wildman present. Naomi ran to her mother, who caught her up in her arms, hugging her tightly. She set Naomi down and held her at arms length, smiling.
"Most human parents complain about their children growing up too fast, but they have no idea." She hugged Naomi again and kissed her on top of her head. The captain walked up to Naomi, frowning inwardly at the tattered playsuit she wore, stained and torn. But she forced herself not to show anything but the happiness that she felt at her youngest crewmember's safe return.
"I'll expect a full report on my desk by tomorrow evening." She informed Naomi, who looked surprised before her face broke into a brilliant smile.
"Yes, ma'am." She said, straightening her back and standing at attention. She relaxed and ran back to her mother, who insisted that she visit sickbay. Naomi frowned and explained that she wanted to see Seven first. Sam insisted that she at least change her clothes and Naomi agreed.
Naomi ran through the corridors in the red checked dress her mother had put on her, heading for Cargo Bay Two. She froze when she saw Seven and B'Elanna walking side by side, laughing! They were heading her direction and she ducked into the small holodeck nearby, wondering what Seven was doing on deck three, when the cargo bay was one deck down. She was also amazed that Seven had been wearing a dress unlike any she had ever seen on the ex-Borg.
Naomi realized that Seven was obviously heading toward the turbolift that she had been trying to get to a moment before. She allowed the holodeck doors to close, the waited until she was sure that Seven would be about to cross in front of the doors, then she jumped out, yelling. She was rewarded when Seven jumped back into B'Elanna, who yelped with surprise. A moment later, She felt all the air rush out of her as Seven picked her up and hugged her with a considerable amount of strength.
"It's good to see you, too, Seven." Naomi squeaked out, hugging Seven back. Seven seemed to regain her composure and she set Naomi down. Naomi had accidentally dropped the holocamera she had been holding and B'Elanna picked it up.
"Naomi Wildman. I am glad to see that you are home safely, though I am curious as to why I was not informed." Seven looked at the young Ktarian child for answers, which she happily provided.
"I asked the captain not to tell you. I just got back, and I wanted to surprise you myself."
"Well, we were certainly surprised," B'Elanna remarked with a half-grin. She indicated the camera. "Planning to get a few pictures to remember Voyager by?" Naomi nodded.
"I wanted a picture of me and Seven." Seven looked at Naomi with a small smile.
"With me?" Seven queried. Naomi nodded vigorously. Seven smiled wider. B'Elanna looked around.
"The lighting's not that great here..." B'Elanna stated. Naomi smiled and indicated the holodeck. The women followed her into the room, where Naomi ordered a light source from the air. Seven knelt down and gave a wide smile, her arm around Naomi, whose arm hugged Seven's shoulder in reciprocation. Her face seemed to lose years when she smiled next to Seven and B'Elanna snapped the picture, handing the camera back to Naomi.
Naomi took it and promised Seven a copy before launching into her tale of the alien ship. Seven and B'Elanna listened attentively, while escorting her to Sickbay. The turbolift halted on deck five and the entered the medical bay before Naomi had reached the part about discovering Mezoti. So it came as a second shock to Seven when she saw the young Norcadian girl in the doctor's care.
"Hello, Seven." Mezoti greeted her, then flinched as the doctor finished the process of reattaching her severed hand. The EMH smiled at Mezoti, offering an apology for any discomfort, then began healing the bruising.
"There. Now I'll have to have you visit me once a day for the next week to insure that there isn't any permanent nerve damage. And you'll need to do those exercises that I described to you at least three times a day. You can come back if you have any questions. Mezoti nodded and the Doctor moved on to the next patient.
Seven stood frozen the whole time, unable to speak. Mezoti hopped off the bed and walked up to her, turning her head to the side questioningly. Seven knelt down in front of her and looked into her eyes a moment. Then Mezoti threw her arms around Seven's shoulder and Seven hugged her tight.
"I have missed you," Seven revealed, not ending the hug.
"Me, too," Mezoti confessed. They broke the hold and stood there a moment, unsure what to do or say next.
"Are you going to stay on Voyager or return to the Wysanti?" Seven asked, trepidation in her voice.
"I do not know. I'm sure that the Wysanti will find me another foster family. But..." Mezoti looked at the floor. Seven stood quietly, waiting for her to continue. B'Elanna looked from one to the other and practically jumped up and down in exasperation. It was obvious that they didn't want to be split up, but neither had the courage to say it.
"You want to stay here?" B'Elanna asked, deciding that the silence had stretched long enough. Mezoti nodded. "You want her to stay?" B'Elanna turned to Seven with her question. Seven's eyes grew wide and she nodded slowly. "Fine. You stay, you adopt her." B'Elanna gave the solution to their problem as though it was obvious to all. But she saw in Seven's eyes that it had never even occurred to her.
Mezoti looked up at Seven wide-eyed. "Do you want to adopt me?" Seven looked at Mezoti, feeling tears forming behind her eyes from the surge of emotion within her. Her mind raced with the idea, wondering if it was even a possibility. She looked at B'Elanna, then back to Mezoti, realizing that the girl desperately needed an answer.
"Yes. Do you want to be my... daughter?" Seven's tongue tripped over the foreign word, but Mezoti didn't seem to notice. She nodded like she might shake her head off her shoulders and put her hand in Seven's.
"I want you to be my mother." She looked at Seven with all the hope that she had been denied along with her childhood. A maturation chamber had been no place for dreams, had no place for a mother. But for Mezoti, on that day, Voyager became that place she had never had, the home she had never known she needed. All the ghosts of the past evaporated for both of them as they held each other, finding something that both of them needed.
Family.
The End...
Actually, there is a sequel called "Family". I'll get it posted asap, but I don't think it was as good as this. And ha! I can too write a happy ending!