Pathfinder

Youth Revisited
By Crusher

The shuttle was heading for the rendezvous point with Voyager.  On board were Voyager’s Captain, First Officer and Morale Officer.

The group and been visiting the planet Taq’na, it was in the early stages of warp but it held much needed minerals and foods.

The Captain was at the helm while Chakotay sat beside her looking over the screen in front of him.

‘Okay Chakotay what is the problem?’  The Captain asked unable to take his silence any further.

‘I don’t know what you mean, Captain,’ Voyager’s First Officer said without looking up.

‘Oh please you have been slowly stewing in your seat since we left the planet,’ Kathryn said as she watched him.

‘Fine Kathryn you want to know, we went to a beautiful planet and while you insisted on Neelix and I enjoying ourselves you worked.  I could have helped with the talks and then you could have taken some time to relax but no you had to do it all.’  Chakotay finished as he turned to face her.

‘Captain is that true,’ Neelix asked as he reentered the compartment.

‘Yes Neelix it’s true,’ Chakotay said as he turned back to the monitor.  ‘She doesn’t know how to relax did you ever enjoy yourself as a child.  Oh I forgot you hated to be outside when you could be studying quantum mechanics.’

Kathryn froze at the comment then quickly rose and moved into the storage compartment.  Chakotay entered a short time later to find her sitting huddled on a storage box.

‘Kathryn I’m sorry that was unfair,’ he tried.

‘It’s okay,’ she said quietly.

‘No it’s not, it was very cruel to say to anyone but to you most of all.’  The big man said as he moved forward to kneel in front of her.  ‘Kathryn you have to learn to relax and let us help.  Neelix and I were quite capable of helping with the talks which would have allowed you to enjoy the sights more.’

‘I know it’s just hard after so many years of focusing on work,’ Kathryn told him honestly.

‘Please try to allow your staff to help we have been well trained and might surprise you with what we can do,’ he said as he placed a reassuring hand on her arm.  ‘Come on Neelix has put some food out,’ Chakotay said with a smile.  ‘Between the two of us will see if we can give you some ideas on how to relax.’

‘Okay,’ she answered as they moved back to the front compartment.

The shuttle was arriving at the meeting point when alarms went off.  The computer informed the occupants that the ship’s hull was breaking down and the ship would explode

Neelix put out a distress call while the command team tried to stop the breakdown.  The computer was informing them that the ship was critical in ten seconds when they felt the familiar tingling of the transporter.

Reappearing on the ship they felt a moment of disorientation.  Kathryn was the first to move as she started to step down the stairs.

‘Lieutenant please have a look at the transporter,’ the Captain was saying when she realized that B’Elanna was standing behind the control panel gaping at them.  ‘Is there a problem?’  Kathryn was asking when she noticed her voice sounded funny and her view was wrong.

Turning to Chakotay and Neelix, she was going to ask if they were okay when she took in the picture before her.

‘Kathryn I think we have a problem,’ stuttered out her First Officer or what sounded like her second in command.

‘Commander Tuvok, I think you better get down here, we have a problem,’ B’Elanna called out.

A short time later found the trio in Sickbay to be checked out by the Doctor while Tuvok, B’Elanna and a security team watched.

‘Captain the three of you are fine if not a little younger and at this point I have no explanation for it.’  The Doctor explained as he turned to Tuvok, they walked a short distance away to discuss the situation.

Jumping down from his bed Chakotay moved over to the Captain’s along with Neelix.

‘How are you two doing?’  The Captain asked as Chakotay hopped onto the bed beside her.

‘I’m fine Captain,’ Neelix said a little hesitantly as he sat on the other side of the Captain.  ‘It just feels a little strange but exciting to relive ones childhood.’

Chakotay laughed at the excitement of the little man but he noted Kathryn’s stiff demeanor.  He was about to ask if she was okay when the doors opened and in bounced Naomi Wildman.  She stopped dead when she saw the trio sitting together.  Naomi recognized Neelix and the boy looked like the Commander after all he had Chakotay’s tattoo but who was the girl.

‘Naomi,’ Neelix called as he jumped down from the bed to cross the room to her.

‘What’s happened?’ The little girl asked nervously.

‘The Doctor is not sure but he will work on restoring the Captain, Commander and myself as soon as possible.’  He told the little girl, as she looked up surprised.

‘That’s the Captain?’  She asked as she looked at the young girl with auburn hair to her waist.

‘Yes,’ Neelix told her as he watched Naomi’s face.  He knew she worshiped the Captain and to see her as child must be a little hard to understand.

The Doctor returned to the Captain and Commander and talked to them before he went off to his lab.

Chakotay jumped down then turned to help Kathryn down.  He smiled as they looked eye to eye for the first time since they met.

Neelix walked up to the couple as Tuvok stood beside them.

‘Captain I think for the time being you should step down until the Doctor can rectify the present situation,’ her Security Officer told her as he looked down on the group.

‘But she’s the Captain,’ an astounded Naomi said.

‘I don’t think it’s necessary Lieutenant,’ Kathryn said as she looked up at her friend.

‘If we were in the Alpha quadrant I would concur but we are in unknown space.  We could come across a race that would not understand your condition and it might put us at a disadvantage.’

Kathryn stood there looking up at Tuvok and then to Chakotay.

‘Very well Tuvok please take command of Voyager until such time that I am restored to myself.’  Kathryn said in her best command voice.  ‘Tom,’ she called to the young man.  ‘You will need to step in for Chakotay and do his job until he returns to duty.’

‘Yes Captain,’ he said as he looked down at her.  She sure was a cute kid Tom thought as he watched her trying to fight the emotions raging through her.

‘Neelix you should arrange for people to cover the kitchen until further notice,’ she instructed the little man.

‘Yes Captain,’ he said sadly as he thought about not being in the kitchen creating meals for the crew.

‘It’s okay Neelix,’ Naomi said gently to the Talaxian.  ‘We can go play on the holodeck,’ she said cheerily.

Laughing he clapped his hands as he looked at the little girl.  ‘That sounds like fun, let’s go and see what we can find for an adventure.’

‘Would you like to join us, Captain,’ Naomi asked as she looked at the woman or child in front of her and the boy.  ‘And you too Commander.’
 
‘Not right now Naomi but thank you for asking,’ Kathryn said quietly.

‘Maybe another time for me also,’ Chakotay added as he watched Kathryn’s sad posture.

Chakotay followed Kathryn down the hall and onto the turbo lift.

‘Kathryn are you all right,’ he asked quietly.

Nodding her head she continued down the hall to her quarters.  Tuvok had made the adjustments so the computer would recognize her authorization for access to her quarters as well as Chakotay to his and Neelix the same.

Following Kathryn in, he watched as she sat on the couch pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them.  This was not the Kathryn Janeway who had stared down the Kazon, the Vidiians and other aliens they had come across along their way.  No the Kathryn that was in front of him was a scared young girl.

‘Kathryn what’s wrong?’  Chakotay asked as he knelt in front of her.

‘What if the Doctor can’t fix this and we have to stay this age,’ she asked quietly.

‘I guess we get to live our teen years again,’ he chuckled.  His attempt at lightening her mood fell flat.  ‘Kathryn come on you know the Doctor he will restore us back to our normal state.’

‘But what if he can’t, what will become of us because we can’t be the Captain and Commander any longer so what will we do.’  She asked plaintively.

‘Well we could look at other options, you love science so you could specialize in a certain area or you could just fine tune your command skills and take back the Captaincy when you’re ready.’  Chakotay tried as he tucked her long hair back so he could see her face.

‘What would you do?’  Kathryn asked as she rested her chin on her knees.

‘Probably study some of the cultures that we visit, archaeology was my favorite area of study.’  Chakotay said as he thought of all the possibilities.  ‘You loved quantum mechanics, you could study it in more depth.’

Kathryn looked away and Chakotay realized that was the second time she had that same negative reaction to the subject.

‘Kathryn why do you hate the subject of quantum mechanics?’  He asked as he tilted her face so he could look at her.

‘I grew to love it and by the time we met I truly did,’ she hesitated but looked at him and saw he just wanted to help.  ‘When I was this age it was the only way to get my father’s attention.  Phoebe was able to get it by doing nothing but I had to do math problems to get his praise.’

‘Oh Kathryn I’m sorry,’ Chakotay said quietly as he wiped her tears.

‘It’s okay at least I don’t have to get Daddy’s approval again.  I don’t have to put up with all the boys clamoring to get Phoebe’s attention.’  Kathryn said as she bit her lip.

‘I’m sure there were boys who wanted to get to know you,’ Chakotay said knowing that if he had been around he would have been by her side.

‘Yes there were boys but they talked to me so they could get to Phoebe.  I overheard some aunts telling my mother that Phoebe would have a husband with no trouble but I would more then likely never have one.  I was to headstrong and Phoebe definitely had the looks.’

Chakotay always thought she had had the perfect family life, little did he know how tough it was to be Kathryn Janeway.

‘Kathryn they were wrong you are beautiful,’ Chakotay said as he wrapped his arms around her.  ‘You would have had my full attention,’ he said and then regretted his honesty afraid that she would pull back when she needed him most.

Chakotay relaxed his hold on her and sat back so he could look at her face to see what she was thinking.  Tears were slipping down her face as she smiled at him.

‘Thank you,’ she said quietly.

Slowly Chakotay moved forward as his youthful hormones got the better of him.  His lips were about to touch the young girls in from of him when a voice called out.

‘The Doctor to Captain Janeway,’ came the holographic interruption.

Kathryn sat back to answer the hail.  ‘What is it Doctor?’

‘I forgot to remind you about eating, coffee is not part of the diet for a twelve year old.  Commander please make sure she eats some proper food, Doctor out.’  And with that the connection was broken.

‘How about we get something to eat,’ Chakotay suggested as he sat beside her.

‘I’m not hungry,’ Kathryn answered as she looked down at the floor.

‘Kathryn you need to eat,’ he tried coaxing her.  ‘Please for me just something small.’

Nodding her head she stood up and moved over to the replicator.

‘How about some soup?’  Chakotay said as Kathryn shrugged her shoulders as her answer.  ‘After we eat we could go to the holodeck.’

Kathryn just shook her head as she stirred the soup.

‘Eat Kathryn,’ Chakotay said as he scooped a spoon full into his mouth.  ‘It’s good and if you finish it I’ll let you have coffee ice cream for desert.’

‘I could skip the soup and go to the ice cream,’ Kathryn tossed at him.

‘But then you would miss out on this great soup I made you,’ he smiled giving her the full dimples.

‘Stop doing that you know I have trouble resisting those dimples,’ Kathryn said and then realized what she had revealed.

‘I’ll have to remember that,’ he teased her.  ‘For now I’ll try to behave if you eat your soup.’

Kathryn was still embarrassed by what she had said and picked up her spoon as answer to his request.

Finishing the soup Chakotay picked up the bowls and deposited them in the replicator.  Requesting the promised ice cream he moved over to the couch and Kathryn followed to sit beside him.

Kathryn yawned after they had finished the treat.

‘Sorry,’ she apologized.

‘Don’t this has been a stressful day and like you I’m feeling tired.  I think I’ll go to my quarters to get some sleep,’ he told her as his placed his bowl on the table.  ‘Shall I stop by in the morning and we can have breakfast.’

‘Yes that would be great,’ Kathryn smiled up at him.

She looked so small standing there in her quarters, he really didn’t want to leave her but he had no real reason to stay.

‘Goodnight Kathryn,’ Chakotay said softly.

‘Goodnight,’ she answered.  ‘Sleep well.’

‘You too,’ the young boy said as he turned and left her.
 

The next morning Chakotay called at Kathryn’s door.  A tired young girl answered the door as she let him into her quarters.  Kathryn was still in her gown and robe and apologized as she turned to her bedroom to change.

Chakotay went over and sat on the couch to wait and noticed the empty mug.  He quickly realized it was tea and was glad of that when he noticed the holo images.  Chakotay looked down at the picture of two young girls.

The one was Kathryn and looking at the similarities in the two girls Chakotay thought the other must be Kathryn’s younger sister.

‘I told you every one found her beautiful,’ Kathryn said quietly from the door.

Looking up he was left breathless once again by her beauty.

‘Yes she is pretty Kathryn but like I said last night of the two of you I think you’re beautiful,’ he told her firmly as he looked up at her.

Smiling shyly she thanked him and he could see she had gotten very little sleep.

‘Kathryn did you not sleep well,’ he asked.

‘I had trouble I guess I found my quarters a bit big,’ she told him a little embarrassed.

‘Yes I found my quarters a little bigger last night,’ he admitted as he stood in front of her.  ‘Shall we go have breakfast and then maybe we can visit the holodeck.’

Nodding her head they left Kathryn’s quarters.  The crew they passed were a little startled by the command teams condition but they recovered quickly.  Kathryn realized that Tuvok must have notified the crew of the mishap.

Entering the mess hall Naomi bounded over to them.

‘Good morning would you like to join us for breakfast,’ she asked enthusiastically.

Laughing at her excitement they agreed Kathryn moved to join Neelix at a table while Chakotay grabbed some food.

‘We are going to the holodeck after we eat would you like to join us,’ Chakotay heard Naomi ask as he sat.

‘I don’t think so,’ Kathryn started but was interrupted by Chakotay.  ‘Sure we will what do you have in mind?’  Chakotay said as Kathryn glared at him.

‘We were thinking about going swimming,’ Naomi said as she realized her two favorite people would be joining her.  Actually the command team was her two favorites after her Mom and Neelix of course.

‘Sounds like fun, why don’t we meet you there in an hour,’ Chakotay suggested.

‘Okay,’ Naomi answered as she jumped up to go back to her quarters to change.  Neelix followed her out taking one look at the two at the table.

‘Chakotay,’ Kathryn ground out as best as she could in her present condition.

‘Kathryn we have all day to do as we please,’ Chakotay said quietly.  ‘The Doctor is working on the accident and how to reverse it and if he can’t you might as well get use to being a child again.  Enjoy the chance,’ Chakotay encouraged as she grimaced.  ‘Give me a chance to show you how fun your childhood could have been.’

Nodding she pushed her tray away with very little eaten.  Chakotay noticed as he finished his breakfast.  He had forgotten how hungry he was as a teenager as he shoveled the last of the eggs in his mouth.

‘Ready to go,’ he asked as he grabbed his tray and when Kathryn stood he picked hers up and dropped them in the recycler.

Returning to their respective quarters they changed for their trip on the deck.

Chakotay rang Kathryn’s door chime thirty minutes later and was admitted after a short wait.

‘I’ll be out in a minute,’ she called.

A few minutes later she walked out to greet Chakotay.  He took in her appearance and decided he liked what he saw.  Kathryn wore a pair of denim shorts with a t-shirt and had pulled her long hair back into a ponytail.

‘Do I look okay?’  Kathryn asked as she took in his appearance.  Chakotay wore a pair of khaki shorts and white t-shirt.

‘You look very nice, how about me?’  He smiled back at her as she blushed.

‘We should get going,’ Kathryn suggested as she went to her dining table to pick her bag and blanket.

They entered the holodeck a short time later to find a sandy beach in front of them.  The sand stretched down to clear water that went off to the horizon.

‘Captain, Commander,’ Naomi called out from a blanket a short distance from the water edge.

‘Hi,’ the duo answered.

‘Naomi, how about for now you call us by our given names,’ Kathryn suggested.  ‘You can even call me Katie if you want, it’s what my sister and mother call me.’

‘Okay,’ the little girl said in awe.

Kathryn laid out the blanket that she brought and settled her things on one side leaving space for Chakotay if he liked.  Turning slightly to make sure she had Chakotay’s attention she slowly peeled the t-shirt and shorts off to reveal a bikini underneath.  She smiled when she saw him freeze in his explanation to Naomi about how to swim.

Picking up her book Kathryn sat on her blanket after declining to swim.  She watched Chakotay and Neelix as they helped Naomi.  An exhausted Naomi crawled out of the water Chakotay grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her.  Sitting down on her blanket she asked if there was anything to eat.

Neelix moved about setting up the food he had brought with him.  Handing out the sandwiches and drinks he sat down beside Naomi.

‘So Naomi do you think their okay at teaching?’  Kathryn asked the little girl.

‘Oh they are great,’ the child told her as she took a sip of her drink.  ‘Would you like to build a sandcastle,’ she asked Kathryn.

Chakotay caught her eye his eyes told her to enjoy herself.

‘That sounds like fun,’ Kathryn said as she stood up with Naomi and walked a short distance from the blanket.

The two girls had built a nice castle when the two boys came up.

‘Would you like to go for a swim,’ Chakotay asked.

Naomi jumped up.  ‘Yes please.’

‘Kathryn?’  He asked as he stood watching her put the finishing touches on their creation.

‘Come on Katie,’ Naomi asked as she used Kathryn’s name for the first time.

Chakotay could see Kathryn was about to decline so he moved forward and scooped her up.

‘Chakotay what do you think you’re doing?’  Kathryn questioned as she tried to struggle out of his arms.

‘We are going for a swim,’ he told her as he moved toward the water.

‘You wouldn’t Commander,’ Kathryn demanded as she saw them getting closer.

‘Well the Commander wouldn’t but that’s the great thing I’m just Chakotay and at this age I would.’  He told her as they entered the water and after walking a short distance out he dropped her in the water.  Kathryn surfaced spluttering and cursing.

‘Kathryn remember there are young ears about,’ Chakotay said with a smile splitting his face.

‘You are dead, I will have my revenge when you least expect it,’ she informed him as she stood in front of him with hands on hips.

‘Well while you think how to get your revenge and since you’re wet why don’t you swim with us.’  He said as Naomi and Neelix agreed with his plan.

Kathryn grudgingly agreed to join in and ended up having a great time.

The group had fun chasing each other around even Kathryn dunked Chakotay a couple of times.

Chakotay was chasing Kathryn along the beach after her last dunk when Sam called for Naomi.  The little girl called out to the Command team thanking them for the great day and she hoped they could do it again tomorrow.

Neelix left the two alone to escort Naomi back to her quarters.  Chakotay was hit by a wave of water as he was watching Neelix and Naomi leave.  Turning he found Kathryn laughing as the water dripped off his face.  Chakotay’s smile disappeared as a look of revenge appeared on his face.

‘You told me I should enjoy myself,’ she tried as she threw him an innocent smile.

‘That will not save you,’ Chakotay said as he advanced on her.

Kathryn tried to run but he caught her easily they wrestled for a few minutes until they fell to the ground.  Chakotay landed on top of her as the laughter continued until he realized that he was lying on top of Kathryn.

Looking into each other’s eyes each saw the longing mirrored for the other to see.  Chakotay slowly lowered himself toward Kathryn’s lips and just as they touched the ship rocked.

Jumping up they ran to their blanket to grab their clothes and quickly threw them on.  Existing the simulation they walked down the hall heading for a lift when Naomi called out to them.

‘Katie,’ the little girl called and the command team turned to see an alien dragging her and Neelix down the hall.

‘Let them go,’ Kathryn commanded in her best Captain’s voice that surprised the alien enough to release his captives.

Naomi ran to Kathryn to hide in her arms.

‘The four of you come with us,’ the one that had been holding Naomi ordered.

‘I want my mommy,’ Naomi cried.

‘It’s okay sweetheart,’ Kathryn soothed.  ‘We will see her soon,’ she told the little girl as they walked down the hall.

‘Where is your mother?’  The second alien commanded.

‘In my quarters,’ the little girl said quietly.

‘Take us there,’ the first lizard looking creature ordered.

The children led the way to the Wildman quarters where Sam has just existed.  One of the aliens grabbed her while the other shoved the children into the vacated quarters.  Naomi was crying as the doors closed behind them.

Kathryn was frustrated not knowing what was happening to her ship.

Meanwhile on the bridge Tuvok had locked out the main computer when he realized that they had been boarded.  Four of the lizard like creatures entered the bridge and gathered everyone to one side of the bridge.

‘Who is in charge here?’  The leader of the group commanded.

‘I am,’ Tom Paris answered quickly.

‘Mr. Paris I can not let you lie, I am the Captain and Mr. Paris is my second in command,’ the Vulcan said calmly.

‘Tuvok no,’ Tom called out.

‘Take the rest off the bridge but leave these two,’ the leader instructed his men.  ‘Now I need access to your computer,’ the leader demanded.

‘I am afraid I can not comply,’ the Captain explained.

‘Maybe we can persuade you otherwise,’ the alien ground out.
 

Back in the Wildman quarters Kathryn was trying to get access to the computer but all it would do was deny her access.

‘Kathryn you won’t get anywhere with the computer, remember we limited the access this computer has so Naomi wouldn’t get into something she shouldn’t.’  Chakotay said calmly as he reminded her of their decision after Naomi had piped music throughout the ship to make things nicer to work by.

‘We need to find out what’s going on,’ Kathryn said stubbornly.

‘Well if we could get to the bridge we could assess what is happening and maybe come up with a plan.’  Neelix said offhandedly.
 

A short time later the doors to the turbo lift opened on to the bridge.  A girl’s voice was heard making demands of what they weren’t sure till she appeared on the upper level.

‘I want to see my Daddy,’ she demanded as she stood with her hands on her hips glaring up at the lead alien.

Tom Paris chuckled at his Captain and how in her present condition she could still make aliens do what she wanted with her defiant stance.  Turning she saw Tuvok and Tom sitting at the engineering station.  Running toward them she called out to her Daddy and Tom wondered how Tuvok would handle this role when Kathryn wrapped her arms around the man who usually sat at her helm.

‘Daddy,’ Kathryn cried as she buried her face in Tom’s chest.

‘Hi Katie,’ a stunned Tom Paris said as he held his daughter.  Oh boy B’Elanna and Harry weren’t going to believe this if he ever got to tell them about it.

‘What’s going on?’  Kathryn asked in a whiny voice.

‘These aliens were just talking to Uncle Tuvok and me,’ the young man said as he indicated the lead alien.  ‘They want some things from Voyager and then they are going to leave us on our new home.’

‘Are you and the other children okay?’  Tuvok asked as he eyed the aliens in front of them.

‘Yes but we are bored.  We are in Naomi’s quarters and the computer isn’t as good as mine.  We can’t do anything and I want to play some games.  You know the strategy games you gave me to play Uncle Tuvok,’ Kathryn said as she smiled at her two senior officers.

‘Let me talk to them and maybe they will let me give you some better access so you can play.’  Tuvok said to his Captain.

Kathryn noticed the lead alien signal his man to take her back to the quarters that he had brought her from.  Deciding to have a little fun with the two in front of her she hugged her Security Chief.  ‘Thank you Uncle Tuvok,’ and then turning to a chuckling Tom Paris, she hugged him again.  ‘Thank you Daddy.’  And with that she walked off the bridge.

Returning to Naomi’s quarters she had a huge grin on her face.

‘Uncle Tuvok said he would talk to the aliens about giving us access to the games.’  Kathryn said as she sat at the terminal.

‘Uncle Tuvok?’  Chakotay asked.

‘Yes he was on the bridge with Daddy,’ she laughed at the surprised faces around her.  ‘That’s what Tom’s face looked like when I called him Daddy.’

‘I would have loved to have seen that,’ Chakotay said with a chuckle.

‘Well let’s hope they have gotten over their shock and have been able to get us access.’  Kathryn said as she watched the screen.

On the bridge Tuvok was talking to the leader while unobserved Tom Paris was rerouting access to the required computer.

The monitor in Naomi’s quarters changed.  Kathryn quickly scanned the information and discovered that there were a total of twenty aliens on board.  Three were on the bridge, four in Engineering, five in each of the cargo bays with the crew, two in the transporter room and one outside Naomi’s quarters.

They set about figuring out a way to regain their ship and freeing the crew.  Rerouting the computer to Sickbay they moved to the Jeffries tubes so they could get the Doctor back on line.  Kathryn and Chakotay worked on getting the Doctor on line while Neelix grabbed some hypos and Nomi grabbed the Doctor’s mobile emitter.

It took them a bit but they finally heard a familiar voice.

‘Please state the nature of your emergency,’ said the holo doctor.

‘Doctor we have a problem,’ Kathryn explained.

The command team went about explaining what had been going on and how the Doctor could help.  Returning to Naomi’s quarters Kathryn went to the door and requested to talk to the guard.  He entered and the Doctor pressed a hypo to his neck.  The alien dropped to the floor unconscious as the Doctor took in his appearance.  Making the necessary adjustments to his emitter the Doctor was able to alter his appearance to look like one of the invaders.

Entering Cargo Bay 2 a guard dragged a kicking and screaming Kathryn Janeway into the room while the three other children walked in front at a subdued pace.  Ordering the four guards to take the brats off his hands he told them to keep them under control.  The guards grabbed the children and they struggled with their captors kicking and hitting them.  What the guards didn’t notice was the commbadges that had been slapped on their arms and activated to transport the invaders to the brig.

‘Break up into three groups, one group free our people in Cargo Bay 1, the other retake Engineering and the third capture the two in the transporter room.’  The Captain ordered and Chakotay had to chuckle at how they ran off to do Kathryn’s bidding even in her present condition.  ‘Doctor you are with Chakotay and I, we need to visit Daddy and Uncle Tuvok,’ she said as she existed the room.

The turbo doors opened on to the bridge and the guard dragged Kathryn and Chakotay out.

‘This child has demanded to see her father,’ he spat out as he stopped in front of the guard watching Tuvok and Tom.

‘Katie what have you been up to,’ Tom demanded as he tried to keep a straight face.

‘Nothing,’ she said innocently as the guard turned to move back to his chair.

The doctor moved forward to apply the hypo before the alien knew what hit him.  Chakotay had moved alongside of the second guard and had knocked him out with a hypo.  Kathryn picked up the weapon dropped by the guard that the Doctor had taken and moved toward her ready room.  The doors opened at her approach as the leader of the group looked up from her desk.

‘I think you’re in my chair,’ Kathryn stated as she produced the weapon.

The leader didn’t even try to fight, he willingly moved out from behind the desk and onto the bridge.

‘Captain we are being hailed,’ Tom called out as he looked from Kathryn to Tuvok.

‘Tuvok why don’t you take care of this while Chakotay, the Doctor and myself take these three to the brig.’  Kathryn suggested as the group moved to the lift.

‘That will be fine Captain,’ her Security Officer said.

It turned out the invaders were a renegade group that were being chased down and had hoped to grab Voyager to allow them a better chance to get away.  Tuvok had handed them over and had received a thanks and information on the region.

The evening after they had recaptured the ship Voyager’s command team were returning to their quarters after stopping by Naomi’s quarters to reassure her that everything was fine.

‘Would you like to come in for tea?’  Kathryn asked as they stopped in front of her door.

‘Okay,’ Chakotay said as he wondered what she wanted to talk about.

Once the doors closed Kathryn turned to Chakotay.  ‘I think we need to talk about what happened on the beach earlier.’

‘Okay,’ Chakotay said as he moved toward her.  ‘Kathryn before you define parameters I think I should point out that we might not be able to be restored to our normal selves.  I’m not going to apologize for almost kissing you because I have wanted to for a long time.’

‘Really,’ Kathryn said as she looked down at the floor shyly.

‘Yes really,’ he said as he tilted her head back up.  ‘And I definitely want to finish that kiss.’

He bent forward to give her a gentle kiss that told her that she was loved.

‘Now what did you want to say?’  Chakotay said as he brushed her hair back.

‘I was thinking we might take this slowly,’ Kathryn said as she slipped her arms around his neck.  ‘After all we are only twelve and we have the rest of our lives in front of us.’

‘I would like that,’ he told her as he hugged her.

Kathryn and Chakotay spent the next few days enjoying themselves on the holodeck with Neelix and Naomi.  They went swimming and hiking as well as visiting Naomi’s favorite program about a character named Flotter.

Kathryn and Chakotay were enjoying a quite dinner in her cabin when the Doctor contacted them.

‘Captain I think I have a solution to your problem if you would like to come to Sickbay.’  The Doctor informed them.

‘We are on our way,’ Kathryn called as she watched Chakotay’s reaction to the news.  Moving over to his side she cupped his face.  ‘Even if he can restore us I don’t want to lose this,’ she told him as she kissed him.

‘Promise?’

‘Promise,’ Kathryn said.  ‘You see if the Doctor’s successful I would like to have a little boy with his dad’s dimples and brown eyes.’  She told him as she hugged him.

The Doctor was successful in restoring the trio to their normal condition.  Chakotay and Neelix were running the resort program as they sat and talked about their experience.

‘Hello Commander, Mr. Neelix,’ the Captain called from a short distance away.

Turning Chakotay smiled at Kathryn, she was dressed comfortably which she seemed to be doing more since their experience.

‘Hi,’ both men responded as Kathryn continued to stand where she was.

‘Hi Uncle Neelix and Chakotay,’ called Naomi from the opposite direction.

The two men turned to see the little girl smiling at them.

‘Hi Naomi,’ Neelix called as Chakotay looked back at Kathryn.

‘Commander do you remember that I told you I would have my revenge,’ Kathryn said as she pulled out a weapon.  ‘I think this will make us even,’ she told him as she fired the weapon, which shot water at her victims.

The two men jumped up and tried to run from the Captain when they realized Naomi was blocking their escape with her own water gun.

The Captain and Naomi moved in firing their weapons as the two men tried to duck behind their chairs.  Kathryn finally stopped when she ran out of ammunition.

Chakotay took the moment to pounce on Kathryn and tackled her to the ground.  Smiling down at her as she laughed he asked.  ‘Shall we call it even?’

Laughing she pulled him down and kissed him.  ‘Okay,’ Kathryn said as Neelix and Naomi looked on.

‘I want a little girl just like her mom,’ Chakotay said as he hugged her.