"Kayla! Come here!" her mother shouted. It was hard to hear over the deafening roar of the fire ll around them. Smoke filled Kayla's eyes, causing them to sting and burn. She could barely see her mother through the tears.
"No, Mama! I just need a few more minutes!" Kayla hollered. A few more seconds was all she had. The console in front of her shorted out, crackling and popping as it burst into flames.
Kayla was thrown hard against a wall. She cried out in pain. She crawled through the smoke and what was left of the bridge of the tiny Kazon ship. Kayla heard her mother calling to her, but she couldn't find her anywhere. She reached out for a dark shape and felt as though her hand was on fire.
Drawing her hand back, she realized shew had touched a piece of metal, melting from the heat. Her mother had stopped calling for her. "Mama!" she cried.
"Kayla!" she heard a hoarse voice. Her mother was right beside her.
"Mama!" Kayla said, looking at her mother through the smoke. A part of the hull had fallen on her, crushing her legs. Kayla crawled as close to her mother as she could.
Kaleah touched her young daughter's face and smiled. "Kayla," she whispered.
"Yes, Mama?" Kayla asked through her tears. She knew that her mother was going to die. She could see that, even at her young age.
"Kayla, i need you to promise me something."
"Anything, Mama." She tried to control her tears. Kayla's face and hands were burnt, and she was almost sure her ankle was broken.
"Forgive Chakotay," Kaleah said bluntly. "You have to. I've seen how much you despise him, Kayla, when i metion him, or hum the song he used to sing to you. It wasn't his fault." She moaned in severe pain and Kayla nodded in response.
"Don't stay here, Kayla. Find Chakotay, if you can. Find Something. Don't stay here," she repeated wearily.
"Yes, Mama," Kayla sobbed. The ship did a somersault into the atmosphere of the planet.
Debris was tossed around. Kayla felt something smash against her face. Something hard. She felt warm blood on her neck as it sliced her cheek. She never looked away from he dying mother.
Her mother spoke again, her voice weaker, drawing her breaths in sharp gasps. "You know how dangerous planets can be. Especially this one. It's Tiason, you must remember that. Stay away from them, Kayla!" She grabbed Kayla's collar and screamed in pain. "I'll watch over you, baby; i'll help you any way i can. Take care, my baby. You will never be alone." she smiled at her daughter and touched her face one last time. "We'll always love you." With that, Kaleah's beautiful blue eyes closed and her hand dropped limply to the floor.
Kayla kissed her mother's hand and stood up.
"I will, Mama. I promise." She ran from the bridge into her small room. He little dog, ToTo, ran up to her and jumped into her arms. Kayla looked out her window at the rapidly appraoching surface of the planet. She ran across her room and kicked open a small panel in the wall. Gently setting her dog in the cramped space within the wall, she slid in herself. She pulled the door closed, locked it, and then sealed it. She activated the environmental control from a hidden access panel, grabbed her dog up in her ams, and sobbed.
She felt the ship plow into the ground, and was surprised she was still alive. Along with ToTo. She waited to see if the ship would explode. When it didn't, she carefully released the airlock on the door.
He cheek and forehead throbbed, and her ankle felt even worse. The Vulcans had taught her pain reducing techniques when she was learning to control her telepathic abilities, and her father had been practicing with her before he died.
"Vulcan children learn this at a young age, Kayla, as you will. Maybe not as well as they do. After all, you're not Vulcan, Owl eyes," he had told her.
Kayla stepped out into the battered old ship. She jumped as something crackled near her. She turned her head to the sound and relaxed when she saw it was just ToTo stepping on a piece of scorched paper. Kayla placed her wieght carefully on her injured ankle. Wincing in pain, she thought of her training. She closed her eyes and pictured her pain as a large thundercloud in her mind. She imagined a gust of wind blowing the cloud away. Her pain was still there, but reduced to a tolerable level. Kayla snatched up her dog and walked out of her room. She left the ship and stepped out into the bright sunlight of the planet.
Kayla heard a loud, high-piched whistle and set ToTo down. She pressed her hands to her ears, wincing. Her vision went black and the pain in her head was even more than her Vulcan training could ease. She closed her useless eyes and dropped to her knees. The pain stopped abruptly, and she opened her eyes carefully. She found herself lying on her stomach, ToTo by her side.
Then she felt someone lifting her up. "Daddy," she whispered as the strong arms lifted her. "Daddy, is that you?" she asked. She looked up at the figure, but didn't know who it was. She couldn't see clearly, her eyes refused to focus.
"Kayla, it's me, Tom. You fell asleep," a soft voice said. The face came into focus, but it wasn't her father as she had hoped. No, her father was dead. It was Tom Paris.
Kayla sat up sleepily, and realized what was going on. She found herself lying on Tom Paris' bed. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I must have fallen asleep. It'll never happen again! Oh, i hope i haven't bothered you. I-"
Tom held up his hand to shush her. "Kayla, it's
ok," he said with a smile.
"I'm reading more than one, Captain. About seven ships," Harry Kim added. Chakotay looked at Janeway, who returned his gaze.
"How big are they, Ensign, and what is their weapons configuration?"
"They're all considerably larger than us, Captain, but one is larger than all the rest. I can't get a reading on the'ir weaponry," he added in frustration.
Janeway supressed a sigh. She muttered a curse under her breath.
"Captain, we're being hailed by the largest ship," Kim announced.
"On screen," Janeway ordered. She stood to take her usual place on the bridge - a few feet away from the helm. The viewscreen flashed into action, and the shadowy figure was there once more.
"If you do not give us the girl and leave within two hours we will open fire. And i assure you, Janeway, we are not afraid to destroy you and your ship. I advise you to follow your instructions." The transmission ended before Janeway could reply. She glanced over at her first officer, opening her mouth to speak. She was distracted by the turbolift doors.
Kayla stepped onto the bridge with Tom Paris. She looked back at him, and then her dark eyes settled on Chakotay.
Kayla swallowed hard and made her way over to him. She whispered something in his ear and he nodded. Looking to Janeway he asked, "May i be excused, Captain?"
Janeway nodded. "Make it snappy, Commander. Mr. Tuvok, i'm going to my ready-room. You have the bridge."
"Aye, Captain," the Vulcan said stoicly. He glanced at Kayla and Chakotay leaving the bridge.
Feeling someone's eyes on her, Kayla turned to look at Tuvok. Their eyes locked for a moment and Kayla smiled. She entered the turbolift with Chakotay and the doors hissed shut. "Deck 9," Chakotay commanded. The computer chirped and the turbolift started to move.
Kayla looked up at Chakotay. His face was sturdy and handsome, kind and strong. Reassuring. Like her father's had been. A song began playing in her head. "Puff the magic dragon, lived by the sea..." she sang so softly that Chakotay had to strain his ears to hear it.
He turned to her. "You remember that song," he said.
"You sang it to me when i was little. That one time, B'Elanna was teasing you about it," she smiled.
"B'Elanna was teasing me about a lot of those things. But singing was the big one," he laughed.
Kayla also gave in to quiet laughter. The turbolift came to a halt and the doors slid open. Chakotay and Kayla stepped out into the corridor laughing.
For the first time in seven years, Kayla was actually having fun. They entered the mess hall side by side. Kayla pointed to a small table in the corner and they sat down.
Chakotay folded his hands on the table and leaned back in his seat. "What was it you needed to talk to me about?" he asked quietly.
"My mother," Kayla blurted. "And you."
"What about your mother and me?" he prompted, wondering what Kayla was thinking about,
"Well, there's somethinng that my mother made me promise her," she said somewhat sadly. For some reason she didn't want to tell him about the promise. But she knew she had to.
"And that was?" Chakotay stared intently at her. He had discussed Kayla with her mother after Michael had died, but he doubted that was what Kayla was talking about.
"My mother told me to promise her, right before she died that, if i ever saw you again, i would stay with you. I promised that i would try. But, since you're here now, on Voyager, you can't have a kid tagging along on your heels." She looked down at her hands and closed her eyes.
"Kayla, when you were three your mother and i discussed this. Sort of. We had settled on about eight years old." He paused, searching for the right words. "I promised your mother, too." His eyes locked with hers, and she held his gaze.
"So, what are you saying, Chakotay?" she asked, puzzled. Was he saying that she could stay on Voyager? Or was he saying that this was one promise the noble Chakotay would have to break.
Chakotay smiled and nodded once. "Kayla, i know why you ran away. I won't let you go back there." His smiled faded for the last sentace, and returned for the next. "I'll talk to the Captain."
Kayla had an unnerving urge to hug Chakotay, and was glad they were seperated by a table. Dhe grinned instead.
"Thank you, Captain," he replied. "I need to talk to you as soon as possible." He glanced around the bridge. The captain stood behind Tom Paris at the help. where she usually stood if she wasn't looking at something else. She never sat. Her uniform was crisp and unwrinkled, her boots shined to perfection. He redish hair was pulled back into a bun. A few strands fell into her face and she brushed them back with a delicate hand. The other hand rested on Tom Paris' shoulder.
Tom seemes a little nervous. He was again proving himself 'the best pilot' Janeway could have. His light hair was carefully slicked back and his fingers danced over the controls with ease. He glanced back at the captain every so often, but her gaze remained fixed intently on the viewscreen.
Tom Paris' uniform creased where Janeway gripped his shoulder and he stirred uncomfortably. She was squeezing his shoulder a little too tightly.
Tuvok sttod at the tacticle station, his slender fingers moving rapidlt over his console. He took on a somewhat puzzled aspect as he glanced up at the viewscreen, then appeared to shrug it off. His pointed ears, a distinct Vulcan characteristic, stood out from the human officers on the bridge. His dark skin enhanced the differences.
Chakotay wondered how long Vulcans could go without sleep. Looking at the operations station, he saw a pretty Bajoran woman. She was a starfleet officer, a lieutenant, to be precise, and she reminded Chakotay of his Maquis days. She stared at her console and appeared to have nothing to do.
The bridge was silent except for the comforting hum of background noise and the occasional beeps of the consoles. Chakotay took his seat in the command chair and tried to relax. He sighed inwardly, wondering if he was really ready for the responsibilities of a teenager. Sure, he had bounced her on his knee when she was little. Kayla had been his little princess. But could he really handle her now?
Chakotay, are you in there?" Captain Janeway asked.
Chakotay snapped back to the present. The captain had turned to face him, and Tom Paris slouched slightly in his chair. The tense moment was over.
"Oh, sorry, Captain. My mind was somewhere else. What did you need?" He felt his cheecks grow hot.
"You said you needed to speak to me, Commander," she said with a patient smile.
"Could we speak in private, Captain?" he asked, standing up.
"Of course," Janeway replied. "Tuvok, you have the bridge." She turned toward her ready-room.
"Aye, Captain," Tuvok replied for the second time in an hour.
Janeway sat in the chair behind her desk. "What is it, Chakotay?" Janeway asked, indicating that he should take a seat on the couch.
Chakotay was reminded of just how good a friend Kathryn Janeway could be. It was good to have someone to talk to so far from home. His spirit guide helped, but she couldn't provide all the answers.
"Captain, Kayla has asked permission to stay aboard Voyager," He began nervously. "To honor her mother's wishes," he added, part of him hoping that it would help him persuade her to say yes.
Janeway was silent.
