=/\=

IT HAD BEEN just three weeks since their escapade with the Borg, and already the crew of the USS Voyager were back in the same usual schedule. Lieutenant Wildman was the guest lecturer for the day. She was talking about Species 8472, which was going to be on the required test to enter the mock Starfleet the senior staff had started. Captain Janeway wanted everyone to know everything about Voyager’s past, and Species 8472 and the Borg encounter was one of the highlights of the early years. Lt. Wildman was the head of the xenobiology station, and was an expert on most species, so Capt. Janeway decided to hire her as the lecturer. Unfortunately, for Naomi, this meant spending two entire days with her mother in the same room.

"I can handle seeing her in the evenings and when she comes for a couple hours to tutor the younger children," Naomi Wildman, her twenty-two year old daughter, explained. "But spending two whole days listening to her is near torture." Fifteen year old Natalie Janeway, daughter of Capt. Janeway and Commander Chakotay, laughed.

"You’ve got it easy, Naomi," Natalie replied. "You don’t have to have your mother come in every week. Your mother comes into help out once every month or so, and this two day seminar is only once a year." Naomi rolled her eyes and her strawberry blond hair bounced as she laughed.

"Thank God," she chuckled. Lt. Wildman began downloading the homework assignment into everyone’s PADD. Eleven year old Noah Kim, the son of Lieutenant Harry Kim and Seven of Nine, groaned.

"More homework," he sighed, his dark brown locks falling over his equally dark brown eyes. "I have Physics, Geometry, and Ancient Bajoran History on top of this." He stacked his PADDs and got ready to leave for the afternoon. " Mom is teaching me how to recalibrate the sensor gride at 1400 hours. I was planning on grabbing something to eat at the mess hall, anyone want to join me?".

Ten year old Andy Paris, son of Lieutentants Tom Paris and B’Elanna Torres, began stacking his PADDs as well. "I guess I’ll go. I didn’t have much breakfast since the alarm failed to go off because someone," he looked sternly at his older sister, twelve year old Emily, "forgot to set it last night."

Emily gaped in shock, her chocolate-colored eyes wide in surprise. "That was not my fault. Blake was supposed to set it, not me." Blake was their sixteen year old older brother who was far to much like Tom for his own good. He looked like Tom, he spoke like Tom, and he acted like Tom. Since Blake was in his final year of school, before starting "Starfleet", he was given the choice to intern with his father on the bridge instead of attending the lecture. It was a custom to have a guest lecturer every six months for an emersion workshop for two days. Blake had attended every single one, except for when he was eleven and came down with a nasty case of the Talaxian flu, and had down a special independant project on Species 8472 when he was fourteen.

"Blake is so lucky he doesn’t have to do anymore workshops," Natalie commented. "I wish I didn’t have to. I may love everyone on this ship, but that doesn’t mean they are any more exciting." Naomi shrugged.

"I guess," she replied. "I thought the workshop on the Maquis that your dad and B’Elanna did a few years ago was pretty cool. The Cardassian and Maquis simulation we did was so much fun!".

"Yeah, and do you know how much trouble they got into when they did it?" Natalie replied. "I swear I thought my mom had smoke coming out of her ears." The group laughed and everyone started departing from the holodeck where the lecture was being held. Naomi and Natalie, who had become quite close since the adventure with the Borg, headed down the hallway towards the turbolift.

"That’s what they get when they do something not very good without telling the captain," Naomi said. Natalie nodded. They rounded the corner and nearly bumped into Neelix.

"Neelix!" Naomi exclaimed. "What are you doing down here? Shouldn’t you be in the mess hall? You’ve got a herd of hungry students on their way there." Neelix was Naomi’s god-father, and to Naomi he was the only father she had ever known.

"Yes, of course," Neelix replied. "But I was actually looking for B’Elanna." He looked in all directions. Naomi was confused.

"What do you need B’Elanna for?" she asked, curious. Neelix seemed to not hear her, but then focused his attention back to her.

"What?--Oh, no, nevermind," he said, a bit flustered. "It’s not important, I’ll find her. The computer said she was on this deck but I don’t see her." He paused, turning in all directions. "I should go. I’ll see you two later. Bye sweetie." Neelix patted her on the shoulder and then left. Naomi was more confused then ever.

"Is it me or was that just really weird?" Naomi asked, concerned. Natalie raised her eyebrows, and looked almost like a younger version of her mother, with whom she looked very similar.

"Neelix is always weird," she replied and smiled. "Try not to worry about it, I’m sure everything’s fine. I bet it’s just a malfunctioning gel pack." Naomi shrugged and they continued down the hallway, Naomi still thinking about the agitated look on Neelix’s face.

=/\=

On the Bridge, however, everything was not fine. Harry had detected a small temporal distortion of the port bow. It posed no danger to the ship yet, but Astrometrics had determined that the distortion was growing and that other distortions were forming in the area, including a number near the outer rim of the hull. Seven had determined that there were none inside the ship, at least not yet. Janeway had ordered a full stop, so it would decrease the chances of Voyager flying through a distortion crack. Meanwhile, down in Engineering, Lt. B’Elanna Torres and Lt. Joe Carey were busy working on the new shielding which would help protect Voyager from the moving distortions.

"If we can determine the intervals and distance in which these distortions move, we’ll be better able to design a shielding system to protect the ship," Torres determined. Unfortunately, the distortions were randomly occurring, and even Seven of Nine couldn’t help with the highly sophisticated Astrometrics.

"If we aren’t careful, a distortion could open on the ship at any time, any place," Carey warned. Torres and Carey analyzed the data on the console. According to the computer, the distortions were opening closer and closer to Voyager, and they were getting bigger.

"Each time one opens," Torres stated, "they are almost twice as big as the one before it. Sooner or later, someone is going to fall through one of these…doors, spatial cracks in time, and there may not be a way to get them back."

=/\=

Later that evening, Torres and Carey and other Engineering crew were still working hard on the problem. Naomi came home to a dimmed quarters. A few candles were lit on the table in front of the couch, which was the sign that her mother was home, but as Naomi listened for footsteps or voices, she could hear nothing. She put her bag on the chair and went to check her parents bedroom, but it was empty. Her half-brothers bedroom was also vacant. The chronometer showed that it was 1800 hours.

"Where is everyone?" she asked aloud. Her question was met with the candles flickering but the room remained quiet. The doorbell rang. "Come." The doors slid open and Natalie, Blake and Emily entered.

"Hey Naomi," Blake said. "Listen, we were thinking about going to the holodeck and-." Blake stopped, as they noticed how dark the room was and that Naomi was just standing in the middle.

"Naomi, what’s wrong?" Natalie asked. "Did something happened?". Naomi shook her head before reply.

"No, no, nothing happened," she replied. "That’s the problem. Mom was supposed to be home, but she’s not. Same with Joe. Have you heard anything about what might be keeping them at work?". Natalie shrugged.

"Oh, I know," Emily piped in. "Some guys in the mess hall were talking about a temporal distortion field. Could that be it?". They all nodded in agreement. The doors slid open again. It was Seth Carey, Naomi’s half-brother, Noah, and Andy, followed by Anna running behind them.

"Well, looks like we’re all here," Noah commented. The eight just stood still and stared at each other for several moments. They all noticed how dark it was but they were afraid of making a comment that might hurt Naomi’s feelings. Noah cleared his throat, as if to jump-start a conversation, but the silence continued.

"Well," Naomi finally said. "I found some new data on Species 8472 in the computer, do you guys want to check it out?". With no better ideas, they agreed and followed Naomi into her quarters.

But as each of them stepped through the door, they disappeared. The sensation of falling overtook them. Blackness, emptiness as they tumbled downwards through an endless tunnel. They were gone.

=/\=

Transport to: Table of Contents | Chapter Two