Changes Part 20

"Captain, we have a request for five to beam over", Tuvok stated. "Permission to come aboard granted" 

It was total bedlam after the five beamed over. There on the transporter pads stood, Qel, Mor, Tri, Puma, and Naomi. It had been in the middle of this chaos caused by Naomi's arrival that Puma handed Tas a data pad. She quickly decrypted the message and a slow smile crossed her face. She as unobtrusively as possible captured the attention of her Head of Engineering and led her over to meet Captain Janeway. "Captain Kathryn Janeway, I am pleased to introduce you to the best engineer in the Fleet, Lt. Tri. Tri was slightly flustered by the compliment; but, quickly shook the hand Captain Janeway offered her. "Captain Janeway, I leave you in the Tri's capable hands I unfortunately have pressing matters I need to take care of. Ships business, I hope you understand.". Tas said waving the pad for emphasis. "Of course, Captain Tas. Thank you for returning Naomi to us. I am sure that there will be a celebration in the mess hall later. I hope you can attend and I will arrange a tour for the rest of our new friends." Tas just nodded in affirmation, already headed out the door pretending not to notice her brother's knowing laugh. 

Captain Janeway stood aside allowing the unprofessional behavior of her staff as they welcomed Naomi home. After what she deemed to be a proper duration of time she restored order in the transporter room to allow for formal introductions. She was surprised to discover the large imposing Klingon was in fact Captain Tas' brother and along with his bond mate appeared to almost be surrogate parents to both Puma and Naomi. They were obviously very protective of both children and she wondered what this bode for the future. The Captain quickly hailed Neelix asking for his presence realizing he needed to be here. It was with some trepidation that Janeway began to ask Mor if she was aware of Seven. It was Naomi who quickly spoke up after hearing the question explaining she needed a moment with Captain Janeway quickly pulling her aside. Tri attempting to remain unobtrusively close to Voyagers Captain could feel the hope tempered by fear emanating from Janeway as she knelt down to be at eye level with Naomi. Naomi answered quietly, "Seven is fine and I am sure she will be here once she duty allows her to be; but, it is of utmost importance that you do not use her Borg designation". Janeway remembered Tas' discomfiture with the idea of designations and looked at Naomi questioningly, "What does she prefer we call her then so I can inform the crew immediately in preparation for her arrival?" Naomi thought carefully for a moment, "You can call her Chief or by her new rank of Captain." "Captain", Janeway repeated clearly startled. Naomi tried in vain to suppress a giggle replying, "Yes, Captain Chief, Captain." Before Captain Janeway could ask anything else Naomi streaked away almost bowling Neelix over as she ran into his arms as the Talaxian entered the transporter room and in the middle of all the excited voices no one noticed as Tuvok silently left the transporter room. Tri hesitantly cleared her throat, "Perhaps I could help by informing you of Chief's exploits since joining the United Front, Captain Janeway since she and I worked together before her new commission." "That would be appreciated, Lt. Tri", Captain Janeway said her voice even huskier than usual. Tri realized the difficulty Kathryn Janeway was having maintaining her composure as relief over Chief's fate washed over her. 

Captain Tas was practically running as she approached Cargo Bay 2. The note on the pad had been short. First, Tas was to make sure that Tri was introduced to Captain Janeway as the payment of some debt and than she was supposed to make her way to Cargo Bay 2 unaccompanied. Taking a quick furtive glance around Tas quickly entered the decryption sequence and entered the Cargo Bay 2 just as Tuvok rounded the corner.  

Lt. Torres was startled when Puma reached up and pulled on her sleeve. She quickly masked her irritation as she looked down at Naomi's young friend. "Yes, Puma may I help you?", the Klingon asked as gently as possible.

"I have been informed that you are having difficulty decoding certain logs, I am sure I can solve the problem"

Lt. Torres wondered briefly whether everyone who spent anytime with the Borg ended up being so self assured before realizing that perhaps this child could help her and handed her the pad she had been carrying with her since Tas had handed it to her earlier in the day.

Puma had been briefed by Nik before her arrival aboard Voyager. She was to give a another pointed hint to Lt. Torres; but, to not solve the problem for her. Puma spent spent almost 5 minutes pretending to evaluate the the encryption code before handing the pad back to the Chief Engineer.

"I believe the problem is Lt. Torres that you are under the misguided belief that this is a Borg encryption code. It is not."

Lt. Torres stared at the girl in disbelief, "What do you mean?"

"It is a random encryption code designed to appear as though it is a Borg encryption code. All you need to decrypt it is the key", Puma said smiling at the engineer before rejoining Naomi.

B'Elanna stared at the pad in disbelief she had assumed all along that Seven, the Chief her mind reminded her of the Captain's directive, had encrypted the pad using Borg codes and began to wonder what was the key and why she felt she should know.

Nik looked in disbelief at the data flashing across the screen, immediately after beaming into Cargo Bay 2 she had begun downloading all relevant information about Tas' stay on Voyager. Tas suddenly felt shy as her gaze was caught by Nik's, slowly Tas closed the distance between them as she crossed the Cargo Bay. Nik felt fear rise up into her throat as she tried to ask Tas why she had been placed on medically restricted duty. Tas' throat constricted painfully as she tried to formulate how to tell Nik the good news. She had just begun to speak and was surprised too see a flash of anger appear in Nik's eyes as she informed her they were about to have a guest. It only took Tuvok a matter of moments to override the lockout on the Cargo Bay doors and setting his phaser on stun he cautiously entered.

Kathryn chided herself for allowing her emotions to be so evident; yet, Janeway looked at Lt. Tri in relief as they remained in her Ready Room as the rest of the tour headed towards Astrometric's. It had only been Tri's quick thinking that had given Janeway the excuse to allow the two to lag behind the tour for a while promising to rejoin the group in Sick Bay.

Chakotay had been surprised when Captain Janeway put him in charge of the rest of the tour. He found the groups good humor to be infectious; yet, he still felt the guilt that had been his constant companion for so long now. He remembered the communique he had received the night after the shuttles disappearance and hoped he was finally going to be released from the silence Seven had wished him to keep.

Tuvok eyebrow twitched noticeably upward as he took in the scene before him.

Chief sighed, "I should have known I could not mask my transport from you".

"It was done quite skillfully, I am curious however why you did not transport over with the rest. I am sure that Captain Janeway and the rest of the command staff is anxious to meet with you".

Chief found herself blushing and was still trying to formulate an answer when Tas spoke up for her, "Commander Tuvok, the Captain here was hoping for an opportunity to debrief me before meeting with the rest of Voyagers crew. I hope you will allow this to happen as a courtesy of course".

"Of course, Captains; however, you should be aware that Cargo Bay 2 is most definitely on the tour the Captain is leading. May I suggest beaming into Tas' quarters if you wish to continue your conversation privately. I will set up the site to site transport and Tas can meet you there shortly". Tuvok said moving to the control console.

Chief smiled, "I would have beamed there directly if I had known; since, it is the logical course of action. If you could please deliver this pad to Commander Chakotay. It is good to see you, energize."

Tas swung around as she heard the Cargo Bay doors open once again as Puma ran in an attempt to warn her of the approaching tour. Tas smiled at the child and quickly left ignoring the curious glances she received from the rest of the group coming down the corridor. Only as she approached her quarters did she realize that Tuvok had not offered to transport them both and realized what that meant.

At first she had been thoroughly annoyed when she realized Tas had known Chief when she had come aboard ; but, that had dissipated as Lt. Tri had explained that Captain Tas was following United Front protocol. That in fact Captain Tas had violated protocol by informing her of Naomi's well being a fact she could only appreciate. Captain Janeway smiled broadly as Tri finished relating another amusing anecdote about her wayward crew members. She had even found herself laughing aloud for the first time in a long time earlier when she heard about Naomi's accidental level five alert. It was only as time progressed that Captain Janeway realized that Tri's recent stories about the Chief were always about her professional life. She had been startled by the answer she had received when she queried into Chief's personal life. Tri had actually become embarrassed and had replied that would be something she did not feel comfortable discussing. Janeway was still musing over what that answer might imply as the conversation shifted again as Tri explained how Chief had become a Captain. 

Chakotay could feel Tuvok's eyes on him as he stood apart from the group reading. As he read tears began to form in his eyes realizing he was free to finally go to the Kathryn with all he knew. Startled he looked into the curious eyes of Harry Kim, he quickly informed him that Neelix would have to take over the tour shortly as he was going to call a Command staff meeting in half an hour. As Harry Kim went over to Neelix drawing him away to start making necessary arrangements he returned to his own quarters to prepare. It was only as entered his quarters did he realize he had neglected to ask Tuvok how he had come in possession of the pad.

It had only taken Nik a nanosecond to realize she had materialized in Lt. Torres' quarters. She wondered how her bond mate had come in possession of them and looked forward to hearing the story and then once again the fear returned. Nik smiled worriedly as Tas entered her quarters and as she was pulled her into an embrace Tas whispered softly in her ear "there is something I need to tell you and I think it would be best if we sat down". Tas looked into the blue eyes which were filled with such love tinged with fear and began to relay her wonderful news.

Tri had been talking about her time with the Borg and the United Front. They had just begun discussing Tri's past in Star Fleet and realizing how many friends they had in common when Chakotay had hailed the Captain. Kathryn found herself surprised by both the firm request for a meeting and the fact she was irritated to have her conversation with Tri interrupted. She looked at Tri apologetically but before she could even finish the Lt. had waved her off understandingly preparing to leave in order to rejoin the tour before Captain Janeway stopped her.