When you Wish Upon a Star
 

"Any sign of the Away Team Mr. Kim?" The Captain asked, staring at her computer console.

"No Captain." Harry replied solemnly.

It had been three hours since their last contact with the away team and the whole bridge knew that three hours was much too long. "Keep scanning, I will be in Astrometrics for a report, and then will be in my quarters." Kathryn Janeway said, and stood up.

Chakotay looked up at her. "We will find them." He said quietly.

Kathryn looked down at him and nodded. "I know." She said, knowing that he had no idea how much her missing crewmembers meant to her.

She strode from the bridge. "Astrometrics." She barked and the turbo lift shwooshed her to her destination.

The doors of the Astrometrics lab opened and Kathryn stepped inside. Icheb looked up from his station. "Nothing on long range sensors Captain." He reported, as he turned back to his console.

Kathryn stepped up to stand beside him. She looked down at his console, and then up at the huge computer screen projected onto the wall in front of them. "I want you to try something different." She said leaning one hand on the edge of the console.

Icheb looked up at her, his face expressionless. He nodded, waiting for her instructions. "Instead of looking for the shuttle I want you to search for biosigns." She said.

Icheb frowned slightly. "But Captain." He began.

"Widen the parameters, you should be able to scan out to around 4 light years, route through the deflector shield if you have to increase the sensitivity."

Icheb frowned more. "But Captain." He began again.

Kathryn put her hand up to silence him. "Don't argue Icheb, just do it. Report any results to me and if you find nothing in the next 10 minutes go back to looking for the shuttle craft." She said, and swung around to walk away from him.

"Captain, should I search for each crewmember individually?" He asked.

"Do what ever you think will yield results Mr. Icheb." The Captain said as she left the room.

When the door closed behind her, Kathryn leaned against the cool metal wall of the corridor and closed her eyes. She was scared, for the first time in as long as she could remember, she was really scared. "Captain?" A cheery voice called along the corridor and Kathryn pushed herself upright again.

She knew that she could never let a member of her crew know that she was scared. She pasted a smiled on her face and turned to face her greeter. It was Neelix. "Mr. Neelix, what can I do to help you?" She asked, trying to sound more cheerful than she felt.

"I was wondering if there was any news on the away team?" He said, wringing his hands as he scuttled along beside her.

"No Mr. Neelix, not yet. I will keep you fully appraised though, don't worry about that." She said, walking quickly along the dimly lit corridor.

"Captain to Engineering." She called as she tapped her comm. badge.

"Engineering." B'Elanna's familiar voice sounded over the comm.

"Can you look into why the corridor lights on deck 8 are so dim please?" Kathryn said, and stopped outside the turbo lift.

"Right away Captain." B'Elanna replied.

"Was there something else Neelix?" Kathryn asked gently.

She knew that he was as worried as the rest of the crew about the missing away team. "No Captain, no nothing else." He said, backing away.

Kathryn watched him walk away from her, and she wondered if he was as scared as she was. She shook her head to try to clear her thoughts as the turbo lift doors opened. "Deck 3." She commanded, and the lift swooshed off.

"Bridge to the Captain." Chakotay's voice called out.

Kathryn sighed. "Janeway here." She said, as the doors to her quarters closed behind her.

She held one hand at her throat, ready to pull off her jacket if she was not needed on the bridge. "Long range sensors have located warp particles with a Star Fleet signature close to an M Class planet approximately 9 light years from here."

"Set a course Mr. Chakotay, I will be there in two minutes." She commanded before he could finish his sentence.

Kathryn hurried along the corridor away from her quarters. She desperately need to get some sleep, she had been on duty for nearly 12 hours, and had been awake for nearly 24. The insomnia that she had been suffering from in recent weeks had caused her to lose more sleep than she knew was good for her, and several times she had considered going to see the Doctor about it. But somehow work always intervened and she had yet to make the trip to sickbay.

She strode onto the bridge. "Report." She barked as she approached her chair.

Without looking up from his console Harry Kim related the details of the warp signature and M Class Planet that Icheb had identified. "How long till we get there Mr. Paris?" Kathryn asked, lowering herself into her chair.

"Eight point two hours Captain." Tom replied, his fingers moving rapidly over the navigation console.

Kathryn nodded her head. "Anything on visual?" She asked.

Chakotay looked up at her. "No Captain." He replied, his frown evidence of his confusion at her question.

Kathryn suddenly realized that Icheb must have directly ignored her orders to scan for lifesigns. She sat up. "Janeway to Icheb." She said frowning grimly.

"Icheb here."

"Mr. Icheb, why did you directly ignore my order to scan for biosigns?" She asked sternly.

There was a short pause. "Because Captain, we had already scanned for biosigns and found nothing." Icheb said.

His voice was faltering, and Kathryn realized that he was scared of her response. Chakotay looked at her strangely and she frowned at him. "Yes, but I specifically asked you to scan at a different frequency." She said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

Harry looked up from his station. "Captain." He said, quietly, not wanting to interrupt her.

"Yes Mr. Kim?"

"We scanned for biosigns about 3 hours ago, just after we lost contact with the shuttle." He said, keeping his tone light and his voice quiet.

Kathryn closed her eyes, and then placed one hand across her mouth. "Yes I know. I wanted Icheb to double check the scans." She said, wondering why she had forgotten the earlier scan.

"Kathryn, you must be exhausted, why don't you get some rest. It will be 8 hours before we reach the planet, and I can call you if something else shows up on sensors." Chakotay said, reaching out one hand to rest it on her arm.

His expression showed the concern he felt for his Captain. She was showing signs of stress and lack of sleep. Kathryn knew that she needed to sleep, and she stood up. "Ok, you have the con, call me if anything shows up." She said, and walked towards the turbo lift.

Chakotay stood and watched her go. He exchanged a look with Harry Kim, and then when the turbo lift doors had closed they both heaved a sigh of relief. "She is worried." Chakotay said.

"They have been friends a long time." Harry said in agreement.

"I am sure that they are ok. I mean, if you were going to be lost on an away mission I can't think of three better people to be stranded with than Tuvok, Sam and Seven." Tom muttered as he continued to monitor the state of the ship's engines.

"Let's get on with it shall we?" Chakotay said pointedly.

Harry and Tom exchanged a look and turned back to their stations. They both knew that Chakotay was envious of the close friendship that the Captain shared with Tuvok.

Kathryn slumped on her bad. She was suddenly exhausted, and barely had enough strength to remove her clothing. She finally managed to drag her boots off, and then slid out of her jacket and trousers before sliding between the satin sheets of her bed. Normally she relished the feeling of the sheets on her skin, but she was too tired to even notice their cool smoothness as she drifted off to sleep.

Kathryn woke with a start, her heart was pounding and she was breathing rapidly. "Computer lights." She stammered.

She looked around her as the lights slowly illuminated the room. She was alone, but instinct told her that she had been woken by a voice. "Computer, who is present in my quarters." She asked, pacing one hand on her heaving chest.

"Captain Kathryn Janeway." The computer stated.

"Anyone else?"

"Negative."

"Computer, has anyone tried to contact me in the last few minutes?" She asked, slipping her legs out of the bed.

"Negative." The computer replied.

Kathryn grabbed for her robe and pulled it on over her underwear. She peered cautiously into the main room of her quarters, but there was no one present. She stepped into the room and heaved a sigh of relief. Kathryn crossed to the replicator. "Coffee, black." She stated, and a steaming mug of her favorite beverage appeared.

She grabbed for it and sipped the hot liquid. "Computer what is the time?" She asked, crossing the room to look out of the window.

"It is 03.08." The computer stated.

Kathryn sighed, it was less than 2 hours since she had gone to bed. But she knew that now she was awake she wouldn't be able to get to sleep again in a hurry. She sat down on the long sofa and rested her head against the back so that she could stare up at the ceiling. "Neelix to the Captain." A voice broke through the silence.

Kathryn sat up. "Janeway here." She replied.

"Captain, I hope I didn't wake you." Neelix immediately apologized.

"No Neelix I was already awake." Kathryn said, sitting up.

"I am sorry to bother you but I have a small favor to ask." Neelix said, and Kathryn closed her eyes in frustration.

"Of course." She said, knowing that she couldn't refuse him.

"Naomi is rather scared, and it would really help if you could talk to her." Neelix said, and Kathryn mentally imagined him wringing his hands together as he spoke.

"Of course, are you in her quarters?" She asked.

"Yes Captain." Neelix replied, and Kathryn agreed to meet him there as soon as she was able.

Kathryn dressed quickly and made her way down to Ensign Wildman's quarters. She entered the room and saw Neelix and young Naomi Wildman sitting on the sofa watching the stars. Naomi was wrapped in her comforter, and looked extremely tired. "Now then, what is all this?" Kathryn asked, as she settled down beside the small child.

Naomi turned to look at her, her eyes were red rimmed and she looked as though she had been crying. Kathryn's heart melted and she moved a little closer and put her arm around Naomi. "Come on, you should be in bed and asleep." She said quietly.

"I can't sleep. I miss my mummy." Naomi said, her bottom lip quivering as she spoke.

"Oh honey, mummy will be home soon." Kathryn murmured as she hugged Naomi a little tighter, and rested her chin on Naomi's head.

She looked at Neelix who smiled nervously. "Thank you Captain." He mouthed silently and Kathryn smiled.

"Tell me a story?" Naomi asked, looking up at the older woman.

"A story? Well, I tell you what, if I tell you a story, will you promise me that you will go to bed and go to sleep?" Kathryn asked, smiling down at the young child.

Naomi nodded solemnly. "In that case, why don't we go into your bedroom, so that you are already in bed. I will tell you a story in there. Deal?" Kathryn asked, desperately trying to think of a story that she could tell Naomi.

"Okay." Naomi said, and slid off the sofa.

Kathryn followed her into the bedroom, and watched as Naomi tucked herself into the bed. "What story shall I tell you?" She asked, hoping that Naomi would want a story that she knew. "How about the story of your first camping trip?" Naomi prompted.

Kathryn sat down on the bed. "How did you know about that?" She asked, tucking the comforter tightly around Naomi.

"Seven told me that you told it to her one night when she was scared." Naomi said, and Kathryn smiled.

She remembered that night. "Seven wasn't scared Naomi, she was apprehensive. I told her the story to calm her down." She said.

"She told me that she was scared and that you made her feel better." Naomi insisted.

Kathryn laughed. "Okay then. My first camping trip, by Kathryn Janeway."

"Captain." Naomi added when she realized that Kathryn wasn't going to.

Neelix smiled as he leaned on the doorpost. He was going to enjoy listening to the Captain's story. "Mess Hall to Neelix." Tom Paris's voice called over the comm.

"Oh bother." Neelix muttered.

"Neelix here." He called out cheerfully.

"Neelix we need you in here, the crew needs food and we are all out of replicator rations." Tom said, he sounded desperate.

Neelix frowned. "I will have to hear your story another time Captain." He said, and left the room.

Kathryn wondered how she had become babysitter to Naomi, and turned to look down at the small child wrapped in the blue comforter. Naomi smiled hopefully and Kathryn's heart melted again. "Okay, my first camping trip, by Kathryn Janeway, Captain." She began, and Naomi settled down into the comforter.

Kathryn leaned back against the wall to make herself more comfortable, and was slightly startled when Naomi shifted over to lie up against her, and rested one hand on her thigh. "Are you comfortable?" She asked, and Naomi nodded.

"Ok, then. It all started when I was 6."

"The same age that I am now." Naomi interrupted.

"Yes that's right. I was 6 and my father was on leave from his Star Fleet duties and had decided to take us all on vacation."

"I haven't met my father." Naomi said quietly.

"I know honey, but you will one day, and he will be so proud of you." Kathryn said, gently stroking Naomi's hair.

Naomi nodded and Kathryn continued. "But my father wanted us to remember our pioneering roots, and he had decided that we should go on a camping trip into the wilds of Indiana. Well it wasn't really the wilds, it was a place called Hawk Park, and it was a large camping ground with all the amenities, but it was like the wilderness to a 6 year old girl."

"What are amenities?" Naomi asked, looking up.

Kathryn sighed. "Power, water, cooking facilities, bathing facilities."

"Toilets?" Naomi asked, and Kathryn smiled, she remembered wondering about toilets when she was 6.

"Yes toilets." She said.

"I haven't been camping." Naomi said.

Kathryn looked down at her and smiled. "No, it is a little difficult on a star ship, but if you like we could probably design a holoprogram of a wilderness campsite." She said.

Naomi looked up at her in excitement. "Oh could we?" She asked, smiling from ear to ear.

"Yes, I will talk to Mr. Paris, he is good at things like that. Now shall we get back to the story?"

"When can we go camping Captain?" Naomi asked, sitting up in the bed.

"I will talk to Mr. Paris, and organize something soon." Kathryn said, gently pushing Naomi back down onto the bed.

"Do you promise?" Naomi asked seriously.

"I promise. Now lie down and listen to the story." She said, putting on a stern face.

Naomi snuggled into the comforter and rested her hand on the Captain's thigh again. Kathryn wondered if this was what it was like to have a child of your own. Someone to love you unconditionally and who is completely dependent upon you for everything. Her heart constricted as she realized that she would never have a child of her own. She knew that she and Mark had only mentioned the possibility in passing once or twice, her career was always more important, they hadn't even managed to settle on a wedding date. It suddenly hit Kathryn Janeway that her career was the only thing she had now, and she would probably never even find love again. "Captain?" Naomi asked when Kathryn didn't resume her story.

"I am sorry, where was I?" She asked.

"Are you ok Captain? You look sad." Naomi said, and Kathryn wondered how it was that children could often tell more about a person than another adult could.

She wondered what it would be like to return to the innocence of youth. To have no responsibility and to believe in fairytales. She smiled. "I am fine, now I think we were arriving at the camping ground." She said.

Naomi settled down again, and hugged Kathryn's leg tightly. "It will be okay, we will find them and everyone will be home safe again." She murmured, and Kathryn wondered if Naomi was as worried about Seven as she was about her mother.

"It was late in the afternoon when we arrived at Hawk Park, we had driven there because daddy wouldn't let us use the transporter saying that we needed to know what it had been like for our ancestors. We had taken the old farm truck, and everyone of us was shaken to pieces." Kathryn continued, her memory still strong of that day all those years ago.

"Were you really shaken to pieces? Who mended you?" Naomi asked.

Kathryn looked down at her. "No we weren't literally in pieces, but it felt like it, the truck was very old, and the road very bumpy. We drove for 7 hours to get to the camping ground, and although the day had started off bright and sunny, by the time we arrived at our destination the sky had clouded over, and it was getting dark. We still had to put up our tents, and daddy wanted to start a fire to keep us warm, and to keep the bears away."

"Bears?" Naomi asked, lifting her head, her eyes wide.

Kathryn smiled. "Yes bears, but they were frightened off by the fire."

"Oh good. Should I have a fire in my room to keep the bears away?" Naomi asked, looking around the room.

"No there are no bears on Voyager, I made sure that we chased them all off before we left Earth." Kathryn said, realizing that she was probably scaring the young girl more than was good for her.

"Anyway, these bears were only in daddy's story, just like in mine, there weren't really bears." She lied, hoping that Naomi would settle down again.

She did. "So we got out of the truck and started to unload all our gear. Phoebe and I."

"Who is Phoebe?"

"My sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister Captain? Is she also in Star Fleet?"

"No, she isn't. Now, back to the story. Phoebe and I were trying to put up our tent; daddy was putting up another tent for him and mummy, and mummy was making hot chocolate for us all. We finally managed to get our tent up, and started to put all our bed things in it, then there was a loud cracking sound, and something crashed to the ground."

"What was the cracking sound?" Naomi asked, and Kathryn could tell that she was very sleepy.

"A tree branch had broken off and fallen to the ground. Phoebe and I were both scared that another tree branch would fall on our tent, even though we hadn't pitched it beneath a tree, so Mummy came over to sit with us and we ate some sandwiches that she had made before we left home, and drank our hot chocolate."

"What was in the sandwiches?" Naomi's sleepy voice asked quietly.

"Peanut butter and jelly."

"My favorite."

"Mine too."

"Can we have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on our camping trip Captain?"

"Yes of course we can. Now where was I?"

"You were eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and drinking hot chocolate." Kathryn looked down at Naomi and saw that her eyes were closed.

She smiled. "Yes, we ate our sandwiches and drank our chocolate. But we were both scared, and didn't want mummy to leave us. And so she told us that they wouldn't leave us alone, and that they would always be there for us, no matter where we were in the Universe, daddy and she would always be there. And when we felt scared and alone, all we had to do was look up at the sky, and see the stars, and know that they were a constant in our lives."

"What does that mean?"

"That means that no matter where we are, the stars are always the same. So when you look up you will always see them, and know that whoever it is that you miss, they can see the same stars that you can, and they are thinking about you as they look at those stars, just like you are thinking about them." Kathryn said, her voice breaking with unexpressed emotion as she realized that she drew more comfort from the stars than she had appreciated.

"That's nice." Naomi whispered.

"Yes it is. And when you are feeling very lonely you can make a wish upon a star."

"Like a birthday wish?" Naomi mumbled, and Kathryn smiled down at her.

"Yes just like a birthday wish." She said quietly.

Naomi didn't speak and Kathryn looked down at her. Her breathing was regular and low, and Kathryn realized that Naomi had finally gone to sleep. However, she realized that it would be very difficult to move, as Naomi was snuggled up to her hip and had one arm clamped around her thigh. She decided to sit and wait until the small child moved before she tried to stand up. She sat watching Naomi sleep for a few seconds. "Computer lower the lights."

The computer bleeped and the lights dimmed considerably. Kathryn wondered if Sam had preprogrammed the lights in that room. She watched Naomi sleep and gently stroked her fine red hair with one hand. A sadness settled over her as she realized that the only children she would ever have any contact with would be those born on the ship, and she closed her eyes against the tears that stung the back of her eyelids.

Kathryn rested her head back again the wall and wondered where she had gone wrong. Her mind wandered and she thought about how it was entirely her fault that they were lost in the Delta Quadrant and that all of her crew were now dependent upon her for leadership. Then she remembered how they had all gained so much from the experience. Naomi had brightened the lives of a lot of the crewmembers that had younger siblings, and of course the people they had picked up on the way, Chakotay, B'Elanna, Neelix, Kes and Seven all came to mind.

Seven. Kathryn opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Seven. Kathryn's heart constricted, she couldn't bear the thought that she might never see the younger woman again. They had grown very close during Seven's transformation from Borg to Human, and Kathryn considered her to be her closest friend on the crew, although she had never told Seven that. She looked down at Naomi again and saw that she was sleeping deeply, so very gently Kathryn moved Naomi's arm from her thigh and then slid carefully off the bed. She held her breath as she waited to see if Naomi would wake up, but the small girl didn't shift. She was sound asleep.

Kathryn walked into the main room of Ensign Wildman's quarters and looked around her. It was obvious who the main occupant of the rooms was, with toys and books littering the room. Kathryn bent down to retrieve a book from the floor and saw that is was a book for stories about the fictional character Flotter. She smiled, and sat down on the sofa to read through the book. Flotter had been her favorite childhood storybook and looking through the book brought back some old memories.

Kathryn rested her head on the back of the sofa. Sleep was invading her thoughts again, and she closed her eyes and drifted off into a dream of running through the Enchanted Forest looking for Flotter.

Neelix walked over to the sofa in Sam Wildman's quarters. He smiled down at the sight of young Naomi Wildman curled up on the Captain's lap, both were sleeping soundly, and he almost didn't want to wake them. He leaned down and gently touched the Captain's arm. "Captain?" He said quietly.

She didn't rouse. "Captain?" He said again, shaking her arm slightly.

Kathryn inhaled deeply and roused from her dream. She and Seven had been walking through a forest looking for something. She rubbed her hand over her eyes and wondered why she felt trapped underneath something. She opened her eyes and looked down and saw that Naomi had crawled into her lap at some point during the night, and was gently snoring as she slept. Kathryn rested her head back on the sofa and looked up into Neelix's smiling eyes. "Morning Captain." He said quietly.

"Morning Neelix." She said, equally as quietly.

"I am sorry to disturb you, you look so peaceful. But we have found the away team." He said.

Kathryn wanted to leap to her feet, but at the same time she didn't want to wake Naomi. "Oh good." She mumbled, her mouth was very dry and she needed coffee.

"Shall I get you some coffee?" Neelix asked, as if had read her mind.

Kathryn nodded, as she struggled to awaken fully. Neelix returned a few moments later with a mug of steaming coffee in his hand. Kathryn took it from him gratefully, and sipped the hot liquid. She immediately felt the caffeine rushing through her veins, and wakening her brain from its deep slumber. "Tell me about the away team? Are they all ok?" She asked.

Neelix nodded. "Yes they are fine. They hit an ion storm and lost propulsion, then were drawn into the atmosphere of that M Class planet that we found on sensors. Mr. Chakotay has organized a rescue team, we can't beam them out because of the electromagnetic forces in the atmosphere, but Mr. Kim and Mr. Paris are readying a shuttle to rescue them." Neelix explained as Kathryn continued to drink her coffee.

"That is great Neelix, thank you for letting me know." She whispered, wondering how much longer Naomi would sleep for.

"Shall I take Naomi from you?" Neelix asked, sensing that the Captain was itching to get up the bridge.

"Can you without waking her?" She asked.

Neelix smiled and nodded, and reached down to pick up the sleeping child. As he pushed his hands beneath Naomi's body she awoke and yawned. "Good morning Captain." She said, wriggling slightly.

"Good morning Naomi." Kathryn said, smiling down at her.

Neelix pulled his hands out from under Naomi, conscious that he had brushed against the Captain's chest, and embarrassed by the intimacy of the act. "Would you like some breakfast Naomi?" Neelix asked, backing away from the sofa.

"Yes please." Naomi said, sitting up.

She was instantly awake and Kathryn envied her the ability to not require time to recover from sleep. The Captain stood up. "Neelix if I might leave you in charge of Naomi, I must get to the bridge.

"Yes of course Captain."

"Captain Janeway, thank you for looking after me last night, and for telling me your story. I am looking forward to our trip." Naomi said politely.

Kathryn laughed and leaned down to hug the small girl. "So am I." She whispered in her ear.

Kathryn strode onto the bridge after grabbing a quick shower and change of uniform in her quarters. "Captain." Chakotay said, standing up to greet her.

"Commander, report." She said, sitting in her chair feeling remarkably refreshed for her night on the sofa.

"We have located the away team and Mr. Paris and Mr. Kim have just taken a shuttle down to the surface to retrieve them. No one is injured." Chakotay said, sitting down again.

"Thank you." Kathryn said, finished off her second coffee of the day with one long swallow.

"Did you sleep well?" Chakotay asked.

"Yes thank you."

"You left your comm. badge in your quarters, we couldn’t locate you when the away team was found. Mr. Neelix seemed to know where you were though." Chakotay said, and Kathryn looked at him wondering if he was smiling beneath the inscrutable façade.

"I didn't realize, I left my room in a hurry." She said, turning back to the screen.

"Of course." Chakotay said.

"Paris to Voyager." A voice called over the comm.

"Janeway here, report Tom."

"We have all the away team on board and will be making our way back shortly. Captain what do you want to do about the Delta Flyer?" Tom asked.

Kathryn thought for a moment. "Tom bring the crew back up here, and we can talk about the shuttle later." She said, wondering how they could recover the Flyer from the surface.

"Okay, see you shortly." Tom finished.

"Chakotay you have the con, I will be in shuttle bay 2." Kathryn said, and left the bridge.

She stood on the observation deck waiting for the shuttle to return to the ship. Her heart was pounding and her breathing rapid, and she had no explanation for the thought processes that told her how happy she was that Seven was safe. She was happy that they were all safe, and yet it was Seven who sprang into her mind. Seven, tall and blonde, and willowy and beautiful, oh so beautiful. She hadn't allowed herself to think about what she would have done if Seven had been lost to her.

Naomi and Neelix joined her on the platform and the three of them watched as Tom expertly maneuvered the shuttle into the bay. The doors swooshed open and Kathryn and Naomi rushed forward. Tuvok appeared first, looking as normal as if he had just returned from the mess hall. Kathryn smiled. "Mr. Tuvok, good to see you are ok." She said.

"Captain, I need to talk to you." He said, brushing aside protocol.

"Of course, we will have a debriefing."

"No I need to speak to you as a matter of urgency."

"Mummy?" Naomi called, and threw herself into Samantha Wildman's open arms as her mother appeared in the shuttle doorway.

"What is it Tuvok." Kathryn said, pulling the security officer away from the group emerging from the shuttle.

As much as she longed to see Seven again, she could tell that something was bothering her old friend, and that couldn't wait. "I believe that Seven of Nine has developed a dangerous attachment to you Captain." He stated simply.

"A dangerous attachment?"

"Yes Captain. She became very agitated when we lost contact with the ship. She was concerned about your reaction to her loss. She became steadily more agitated the longer we were unable to contact you for. She talked about you incessantly." Tuvok stated, and Kathryn knew that he hadn't drawn any conclusions from what he was telling her.

"I see, and what do you propose I should do about that?" She asked.

"I believe that you should endeavor to encourage Seven to develop friendships with other crew members, so that she can see that you are not the only person aboard Voyager. I fear that her attachment to you might be detrimental to her development as a human." Tuvok said blandly.

"I see. Well I will take your words under advisement. In the meantime I can assure you that Seven's attachment to me is similar to Naomi's attachment to her mother, and I am sure that you can understand how a young child becomes obsessed with their parent to the exclusion of all others. You might not think so Tuvok, but I see Seven's attachment as progress in her development, I think that she is learning to love another human the same way a child learns to love their parent." Kathryn said sternly, wondering where her words came from.

Tuvok nodded. "Forgive me, I did not mean to imply."

"Forget it Tuvok, just leave Seven to me." Kathryn said, and walked away.

Seven had emerged from the shuttle craft and immediately looked for the Captain, she knew Kathryn would be there waiting for her to return. She had immediately realized that something was amiss from the look on the older woman's face as she spoke to Tuvok. The Captain's eyes had flickered over to where she stood several times during her short conversation with the Security Officer, and Seven wondered what they were talking about, certain that the topic of their discussion was her. She looked away, she felt embarrassed but wasn't sure why. "Seven, I am so glad that you are safe." Kathryn said, grabbing the taller woman's arm and leading her towards the doors of the bay.

"You should get to sick bay, all of you, let the Doctor check you over, and then I order you to have 24 hours rest before you return to duty." She called over her shoulder, as she led Seven into the corridor and away from the watchful gaze of her Security Officer.

"Captain." Seven said simply.

"Seven, are you ok?" Kathryn asked, looking up into the steely blue eyes of the younger woman.

"I am fine, although I will require a longer than usual regeneration cycle."

"Of course, but first of all you must see the Doctor." Kathryn said, turning her head as the shuttle bay doors opened.

"The Captain is going to take me camping." Naomi said cheerfully, skipping alongside her mother.

Sam looked down at her daughter in surprise, and then up at the Captain apologetically. "Oh Naomi, I am sure that the Captain is far too busy to take you camping." She said, smiling as she spoke.

"But she promised." Naomi said, her face falling in disappointment.

Seven looked at the Captain with amusement. "Camping?" She asked, raising her ocular implant.

"Yes camping, I promised Naomi we would go camping, and we shall." Kathryn said, smiling down at Naomi as her cheerful grin reappeared.

"But Captain, I am sure you are far too busy." Sam said again, not wanting the Captain to be put on the spot by her pushy young daughter.

"I am never to busy to go camping with my friends." Kathryn explained.

"Seven you will have to come too, we are going to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under the stars, and makes wishes and drink chocolate, and tell stories." Naomi sang, as she skipped off down the corridor.

Samantha smiled apologetically. "I am sorry Captain, I will explain to her." She started, but Kathryn raised her hand to stop her.

"No Sam, that is fine, I promised her that I would take her camping, and I am not about to go back on my promise. We will only be on the holodeck, so you won't have to worry about bears." She ended with a smile on her face.

Sam looked confused as The Captain walked away from her, still holding on to Seven's arm. Neelix appeared at her shoulder. "The Captain babysat for Naomi last night." He said, half in explanation.

"You are going camping with Naomi Wildman?" Seven asked, as they walked along the corridor.

"Yes, and you are welcome to join us." Kathryn replied, finally letting go of Seven's arm.

Where her hand had been, Seven felt a burning sensation that turned to ice within moments. "I would enjoy the experience. I think." Seven said, pleased that she had been invited.

They stepped into the turbolift and the doors swooshed closed. "Captain, were you worried about me?" Seven asked before Janeway could command the lift.

"Yes Seven of course I was worried about you." She replied.

Seven turned to face her. "I was worried that you would be worried." She said softly.

They stood facing each other in the lift, without speaking, for several moments. "Captain." Seven said quietly.

"Yes Seven?" Kathryn asked, her heart was pounding in her ears, and her chest was heaving.

Seven stared at her lips, and slowly leaned forward, so slowly that at first Kathryn didn't realize what she was doing. 'Oh my god she is going to kiss me.' She suddenly thought and placed one hand on Seven's shoulder.

"Seven." She said, and the younger woman raised her eyes to look at her.

To be continued.........