
DISCLAIMER: Oh for christ's sake, if anyone comes after me
for using these characters like this, they're bigger fools
than whoever hired Brannon Braga.

============================

Babysitter's Blues
(Section 1 of the Project: Voyager trilogy)
by Jack Staik
-----------------------

Captain's Log: Supplemental

An attempt to acquire antimatter from an incredibly rare
antimatter asteroid field has failed, in the process
damaging the ship severely. Now we're limping along at one-
fourth impulse, which will be our best speed for the next
two months. The majority of the crew is being treated for
radiation poisoning, which will keep the ship at an
effective complement of 23 crew for the next week. Due to
the damage to the ship's power transfer systems, replicator
rations have been reduced by half.

This supplement is being recorded in my quarters, because
Deck One will be uninhabitable for the next twelve days.
Ship's functions are now being handled from Engineering.

God, this day has really sucked.

--------------------------------------------------

A very irritable Kathryn Janeway almost deleted that last
comment, but reconsidered. The colorful phrase was Tom
Paris' but the sentiment was quite real.

The door chimed. "Who is it?" she snapped. God, did she hope
it was someone she could yell at.

The door opened, revealing Naomi Wildman with a stack of
datapadds. "Lieutenant Carey wanted me to bring these to you
- updates on the repairs." Carey was Acting Chief Engineer
until B'Elanna was released by the Doctor.

"Why didn't he bring them himself?" Janeway asked, an edge
of annoyance to her voice.

"He said because you probably wouldn't shoot me. Uh - you
won't will you?" she said, looking decidedly nervous.

Janeway was fairly embarassed at what she had said to Carey
at their last meeting several hours earlier. Of course, she
had a concussion at the time and a mild case of oxygen
deprivation, but still, the things she said to the poor man
had horrified Torres and shocked the Maquis crew. She had to
apologise to him at the earliest opportunity.

The reports said nothing that she didn't already know; in
the Alpha Quadrant, a ship in this condition would be
abandoned. But they didn't have a lot of choice.

"Oh well," she said, "at least things can't get any worse."

A flash of light proved her wrong.

"Kathy! Dear sweet Kathy! How good to see you again!"

"Oh god," she moaned.

"No - but close."

Naomi looked at the tall stranger in the Starfleet uniform
who had just transported in. The Captain hadn't called
Security, so Naomi figured he wasn't an enemy. "Hi, I'm
Naomi Wildman." she said in her cheeriest voice. A Starfleet
officer should be ready to be diplomatic.

"And I, dear moppet, am the Great and Powerful Q. Mighty
beyond all imagination, Defender of the Cosmic Balance,
Omnipotent-"

Janeway cut in. "What are you doing here, Q? Run out of
small animals to poke with sticks?"

Q looked stung. "Why Kathy, one might think you weren't
thrilled to see me."

"State your business, Q." Janeway said in her coldest voice.
At last, someone she could vent at. An omnipotent someone,
but he likely wouldn't do more than inconvenience them for a
while.

"Well, since you asked, and you *are* my son's godmother,
would you mind baby-sitting for a while?"

"WHAT!?"

"Oh good. I'll be back in just a quick decade. Ta!" and he
vanished in a flash of light.

"Q! Get back here, you -" she almost cut loose, then she
remembered that Naomi was present, and held her tongue.

"I'm right here, Auntie Kathy," said a voice from behind
her. A young voice.

Kathryn and Naomi turned and saw a handsome humanoid boy of
about twelve years with dark red hair, wearing a small
version of a Starfleet uniform.

"Um, you must be - Q." she began. "You've grown a bit since
I saw you last."

"Yeah, I know." he said, with an irritating - and familiar -
tone in his voice. "So this is where Daddykins decided to
dump me. What a pit."

"Well, it seems this - pit -" oh she was going to get him
for that "will be where you're staying for a while, young
man. Since I seem to have been left with no choice - Hey!
Get out of there!"

Q held up the item he had just removed from Janeway's
dresser. "Now this is interesting. I like the tiger-stripe
coloring. What do these controls do -"

Janeway grabbed the item and quickly stuck it back in the
dresser. "Um - why don't we take a tour of the ship." She
needed to survey the damage anyhow.

"OK - let's start with the bridge." and he snapped his
fingers.

"NOOO!!!" she and Naomi would have shouted - if there had
been any atmosphere on the bridge to carry the sound.

There wasn't.

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To be Continued
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