=/\=

"The M-class planet is located in a planetary system with a yellow dwarf star." The senior staff was in the briefing room, sitting around the table, facing Noah, who was explaining where he and Anna believed the crew was taken. Although Noah was certain that was where they were, Natalie had her suspicions about that area.

"The M-class planet seems a little…too out in the open for a race who kidnaps people," Natalie spoke up after Noah had finished. She paused, unsure of how to make her argument more convincing. "Is there anyway to falsify subspace wakes?". Noah and Anna looked at her confused. Falsify subspace wakes? That had never been done before.

"Well, I think it can be done," Anna said. "But it would need to be something that travels at warp speed. Anything lower than that, like a probe, would travel at sublight speeds, which would cause it to travel in normal space. But that trail in subspace has unique specifications that would only be found coming from that specific Mandorian ship. It couldn’t possibly come from anyone else. It’s like a fingerprint on a table." Natalie nodded. She understood, but it still seemed to be… what did Tom call it? Oh yes. It seemed a little fishy.

Blake shrugged. "I don’t see what the big deal is, Nat. I mean, if Noah and Anna both say it’s there, well, maybe it’s there. It couldn’t hurt to check it out."

"I agree," Emily added. The seven looked at Emily incredulously. Emily giggled. "What? It’s not like I’ve never agreed with my brother before." The "senior staff" laughed. It eased the tension in the room, and they left the briefing room feeling a bit more confident and relaxed. Natalie believed they could find their parents. She was certain that her "senior staff" was capable and smart. They had proved themselves worthy many times before in the holodeck when going through Tuvok’s excruciatingly difficult battle drills and survival tactics tests. Tuvok always commented at how well they worked together and how they would be Starfleet-worthy cadets when their time came to join Starfleet.

=/\=

Michelle Ashmore was crying. Loudly. Seven year old Morgan Ashmore had been trying for a half an hour to get his baby sister to be quiet. Finally, he gave up and called Natalie. She entered the Ashmore quarters where all three children, Morgan, Melissa, and Michelle, were in tears. She knelt down and told Morgan and Melissa that everything would be okay, and then took care of Michelle. It turns out Michelle needed a changing, and once that was taken care of, she took the children back to the day care.

"Why were in your quarters?" Natalie asked as they walked towards Holodeck II, trying not to sound too angry. "I told you to stay in the holodeck." Morgan frowned.

"I want Mommy," he said simply. Natalie sighed. She assumed she would eventually have to tell the children where their parents were. They didn’t deserve to be kept in the dark. Besides, the older children would eventually begin to ask questions.

When they arrived, she let Morgan and Melissa go and gave Michelle to one of the holograms. Then she whistled with her fingers. It was incredibly loud and all the children froze.

"Attention on deck," Natalie ordered, just like the Captain had taught the children whenever she or their parents had something to say. All the children stood up but stayed where they were. They kept their feet together and stood up straight, though some children were a little restless and unbalanced. "At ease". The children relaxed a bit. "I have an important announcement to make and I want everyone to pay attention." Natalie noticed some of the older children positioning the children and made a nod of her head to stop. "Many of you are probably wondering why you haven’t seen your parents in such a long time. The reason is this. The crew of Voyager has been kidnapped." The children gasped and looked shocked. "We are currently working on finding them. We think we know where they are, so don’t worry too much. As of now, the only official member of the crew is the EMH, but Naomi Wildman, Blake Paris, Noah Kim, Emily Paris, Seth Carey, Anna Kim and Andy Paris and I have been granted some leadership and passwords to the ship. Until further notice, you will remain in the holodeck at all times with the babysitters. Understand?" She waited to see the nods of everyone before continuing. "I know this is scary. It was scary for us. But we won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll come back later and give you all an update on our progress, ok?". The children nodded. "Dismissed." The children went back to the activities, but a bit more solemnly than before.

=/\=

The noise of engineering was starting to get on Emily’s nerves. The hum of the warp core was monotonous and a little annoying. Another console beeped continuously. The blue and yellow lights of the buttons at each stations were bright, and after staring at them for an hour, Emily’s eyes were starting to hurt. Otherwise there were only two people in the entire engineering room, Emily and Naomi, and neither of them were saying anything. Emily shivered slightly, and Naomi looked up.

"You cold?" she asked, concerned. Emily shook her head.

"No…it’s just…" Emily wasn’t sure how to explain it. "It feels like there are ghosts in here. Like, I can feel Mom and Carey and everyone else, you know. I can just imagine what they’d be doing right now. It’s a little scary." Naomi looked sympathetic. She left her console and went over to Emily, and leaned against the station.

"Yeah, I kind of feel that way," she replied. "What I keep thinking about is what it must have been like for them when they were kidnapped. I mean, did they know it was coming or were they just transported all at once?". Emily stopped tapping the engineering controls for a minute and turned towards Naomi. She looked like she was about to say something, but was still forming words in her head. Instead she turned back and started tapping again.

"What?" Naomi asked. "You were going to say something."

"No, nevermind," Emily replied. "It’s not important. Forget it". Naomi shrugged and walked back to her station. Darn Klingon heritage, Emily thought, I can never say anything I feel. Emily didn’t have much time to ponder about the disadvantages of being a Klingon, even if she only was a quarter.

"Janeway to Engineering," a voice came through the comm. "We’ve reached the Mandorian system." It was Natalie. "Please report to the bridge".

"Understood," Naomi responded. Emily and Naomi quickly closed their work and left Engineering.

=/\=

Transport to: Table of Contents | Chapter Five