Amanda’s Voyage
By:Bellana
Usual Discalimer Junk: See Star Trek. See Paramount-God. See Paramount-God Own Star Trek. See I have given Paramount-God due credit. See me. See me write ‘Amanda’s Voyage’. See that it’s MINE!!! ALL MINE!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!
Authors Note: This is a sequel to ‘Letters’. If you read this first, you are going to be MAJORLY confused. Read Letters first so you know what the heck is going on.
Summary:Amanda grows up, and helps lead Voyager home, but not before taking a voyage of her own. Sequel to Letters.
Amanda was sprawled on the couch when Kathryn Janeway walked into the quarters. Her 10 year old ‘daughter’ looked deep in thought. At a closer look, Janeway noticed that she was poring over a PADD.
“Hey, Andy,” Kathryn greeted her surrogate daughter.
The girl looked up from her PADD, “Hey, Aunt Kathryn.”
“Who’re you writing to?” Kathryn asked as she sat down beside Amanda on the couch.
“Mom. Need ta’ tell her about what happened in school today before I forget.”
“What did happen in school today?”
Amanda tried, unsuccesfully, to surpress a giggle, “Carey was teaching us some engineering stuff, and pushed some of the wrong buttons, so the doors to the classroom were opening and closing every coupld of minutes!”
Kathryn laughed. “Did he get it fixed?”
“Nope, I had ta’ for him.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a talent for engineering stuff. That’s what I’m gonna do when I grow up–become Chief of Engineering just like Mom.”
Kathryn ruffled the girl’s honey blond hair, “You’d be an excellent engineer. But you sure you don’t want to go into command like me?”
Andy wrinkled her nose, “No way. Talking with aliens and commanding a whole star ship may be fun once in awhile, but it’s much more fun to work on engines and do other things with your hands,” she handed her aunt a PADD that had been sitting next to her. “And I’m really good at the equations that engineers have to do. I’m only in 4th grade, but the teacher says I’m doing 7th grade equations!”
Kathryn looked over the girl’s equations. She was right, these were way past 4th grade equations. They were child’s play compared to the things Chief Engineers had to worry about, but this was an excellent start. “Yep, you definetly have the makings of an engineer. There’s no way I’d be able to get you into command, not with talents like this,” she set the PADD back down next to Andy. “As soon as you’re finished with your letter, why don’t we go down to the mess hall and meet Uncle Chakotay and Anna?”
“‘Kay. I’ll be done in a minute,” Andy said, already concentrating on her letter again. She re read her letter.
Dear Mom,
Hi, it’s me again. You wouldn’t believe what Carey did today during school! He was showing us some engineering stuff, but he put the wrong code into his console, so the doors to the class room kept opening and closing for an hour and a half! Nobody could get out or in without getting hit by the doors. It was funny watching Carey try to fix it. I had to end up helping him. In 2 minutes, I fixed a problem he hadn’t been able to solve in an hour and a half!
According to the teacher, I have ta’ be an engineer when I grow up. Not that I wasn’t planning on being one anyway, but she had given me some advanced equations to do, 7th grade equations, and I got every one of them right! I’m attaching a copy of them for you.
I have to go now, Mom. Me an’ Aunt Kathryn are meeting Uncle Chakotay and ‘Anna in the mess hall. I hope Neelix doesn’t have anymore leola root! How often can the guy use that stuff? It’s DISGUSTING!
Love,
Your Daughter, Amanda Kay Torres-Paris
**************************************************************************
Chakotay and ‘Anna were sitting at a table for four in the mess hall waiting for Kathryn and Andy. ‘Anna,was gabbing constantly. Sometimes understandable, but most of the time she got to talking so fast that nobody save herself could understand her.
“Hey, Uncle Chakotay! Hey ‘Anna!” Andy shouted when she entered the mess hall, with Kathryn right behind her.
“Hey, Andy,” he greeted his rambunctious surogate daughter. “How’s my favorite future engineer this evening?”
“Great! Hey, ‘Anna,” she took a seat next to her four- year old “sister”
“Hello, Kathryn,” Chakotay said to his wife, pulling out a chair at the table for her.
“Hello, Chakotay,” she replied, giving him a kiss before sitting down. “Hi, ‘Anna,” Kathryn cooed, reaching across the table to kiss her daughter, “How’re you today?”
“I fine,” the little girl replied.
“What’s Neelix serving today?” Andy asked apprehensivly. “It doesn’t have leola root in it, does it?”
“No lola root,” ‘Anna said, shaking her head vehemently.
Chakotay and Kathryn laughed. Andy may have known that ‘Anna wasn’t her real sister, but ‘Anna didn’t know that, and whatever Andy said, B’Elanna agreed with.
“Neelix is attempting an Alpha Quadrant dish that, if he can manage to cook it right, you ought to love, Andy,” Chakotay said.
Andy’s eyes widened in excitement, “What?” She loved anything remotely connected with the Alpha Quadrant, expecially food.
‘Anna looked at her “sister” and mimicked her expression, “Wha’?”
Kathryn sniffed the air, trying to figure out what the delicious smell was. “Pizza?” she guessed.
Chakotay nodded, “Yep. Pepperoni pizza. He was going through the database the other day and found a recipe he hadn’t tried yet, and it turned out that the last race we’d had contact with had given us something that resembled flour and pepperoni, so we get to see how well Neelix can make pizza.”
Andy jumped up from her chair, almost knocking it backwards. “I’ll go get some!” she said, dashing towards the kitchen where Neelix was.
“Get some!” ‘Anna shouted, starting to climb down from her chair.
“I don’t think so,” Kathryn said, picking up the little girl as she ran past. “You’re staying here with us. Andy can get the pizza on her–” her commbadge chirped.
“Tuvok to Janeway,”
Janeway sighed, handing her daughter to Chakotay, “Janeway here. What is it, Tuvok?”
“We are being hailed by an unidentified ship, I suggest that both you and Commander Chakotay report to the bridge at once.”
Kathryn sighed again, “Alright, Tuvok. We’ll be there in a minute, just let us get the girls settled.”
“Andy?” Chakotay called to the girl getting their pizza.
“Yeah?”
“Me and Aunt Kathryn have to go to the bridge. You and ‘Anna have your pizza, then go back to the quarters, alright?”
Amanda sighed, obviously disapointed that they had to leave. This was not an evening she wanted to spend with only a 4 year old for company. “Alright.”
Janeway swept her up in a hug before she left, “We’ll spend some time together later, alright?”
“Yeah. Okay. You guys better get going and divert whatever disaster’s happening now,” she said while dejectedly carrying two plates of hot pizza back to the table where ‘Anna was impatiently waiting.
“Pizza!” she shouted gleefully as she attempted to eat the hot, greasy food.
Neelix heard the little girl’s shouting and looked over at the two girls. He smiled when he saw little B’Elanna trying to enjoy her pizza, but became concerned when Andy, usually ready to eat anything connected to the Alpha Quadrant, was silently picking at her two slices.
He picked up a plate of pizza and walked over to where the two girls were sitting, “The Commander and Captain called to the bridge?” he asked, sitting down next to Andy.
“Hi, Neelix!” ‘Anna greeted the Talaxian, oblivious to Amanda’s sadness.
“Oh, yeah. But it’s not that unusual.The very day I need them around the most, is always the day some new alien comes by and decides to contact us.”
Neelix thought back over the last couple years. the girl was right, it did seem that on this day every year Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were needed on the bridge more than usual.”It does seem like rotten luck, but I’m sure they’ll be back soon. Why don’t you call Seven in here to spend some time with you two? She’s been feeling pretty down lately, and I’m sure being with you two will be just the thing to cheer her up.”
Andy brightened at that thought. Seven of Nine was like a second Aunt to Amanda. She always had time to spend time with Andy and ‘Anna. “You’re right, Neelix. I’ll invite her over as soon as ‘Anna and I finish our pizza,” she glanced at the auburn haired girl sitting across from her. The pizza on her plate was gone, instead it was in her hair, and on her face, and down the front of her shirt, and on the table. Pretty much everywhere but the plate. “Make that as soon as I finish eating my pizza and clean up ‘Anna the pig over there.”
Neelix laughed at the sight of the little girl covered in tomato sauce. “Let me know how you like the pizza. There’s plenty of Greeta to make it a couple more times.”
“Greeta?”
“The food used to make the pepperonis.”
Andy took a bite of her pizza, and felt like she was in heaven. “Neelix! This is the best Alpha Quadrant food you’ve made yet!”
Just when Neelix was about to respond, a shudder ran through the ship, causing the red alert klaxons to go off.
Andy cursed whatever gods were out there causing all this horrible luck. Getting shot at wasn’t an unusual occurance for Voyager, but today was a bad day for it to happen.
She quickly grabbed B’Elanna before the ship could try and throw her to the floor. “I’ll talk to you later, Neelix!” she shouted over her shoulder as she sprinted towards her quarters.
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Things were not going well on the bridge. The alien ship had sent a only one message, “Got you” whenever Voyager tried to respond to the original hail, and then it had opened fire on them.
“Shields up. Tuvok, why didn’t we detect that their weapons were activated?” Janeway asked, picking herself up from the floor of the bridge.
“I’m not certain, Captain,” the Vulcan replied. “I’m investigating that currently.”
WHY KATHY, I’M SURPRISED YOU HAVEN’T FIGURED IT OUT YET, a voice from nowhere stated.
“Q!” Janeway cursed.
A sudden flash of white light, and Q was standing among Voyager’s crew.
“Get out of here, Q,” Chakotay growled.
“Ooh, I’m scared,” Q replied sarcastically. Q snapped his fingers, and Amanda was standing next to him. “Kathy, why didn’t you tell me you had adopted such a beautiful girl?”
“What do you want, Q?” Janeway asked.
Andy hadn’t met Q before, but Kathryn had warned her about him. She tried to walk away from Q’s side, but he reached out grabbed her shoulder before she could get far. “Now, now, now, Amanda. Or is it Andy? Don’t try and run away from your Uncle Q.”
“*Uncle* Q?” Andy spat. “I don’t think so,” she stepped down on his foot, hard, and punched him in the stomach, then sprinted towards Janeway.
Surprised, but unhurt, Q snapped his fingers again and Andy was frozen in place. She could still speak, but she couldn’t move any farther from Q.
“Let her go, Q. Whatever you want here, I’m sure it doesn’t involve Andy,” Janeway said, her voice decptivly calm.
“Au contraire, Kathy. What I want has everything to do with dear, sweet, Amanda Kay Torres-Paris. You see, I’m truely hurt that nobody bothered to inform me that you adopted her, let alone bothered to tell me that 10 years ago, today, her mother died.”
Andy glared dangerously at Q. No matter what Aunt Kathryn said about Q being immortal, if she was able to move, she would kill him. He had no right to 1)freeze her like this and 2)bring up her mother’s death today.
“Okay. Fine. Guess what, Q? Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay adopted me. And my mom died 10 years ago,” Andy was near tears at the mention of her mother’s death, “Now you know. Do you mind letting me go now?”
Q smiled at her, “I’m aftraid that’s not going to cut it, my dear Andy. You see, my mate has wanted a daughter for awhile, but I don’t want to have to go through the hassle of raising another child. So…how would you feel about becoming Q, my dear?”
Andy was horrified, “Two words for you,Q. No Way!”
Q looked at Amanda admiringly, “Sorry, m’dear, but you don’t get a choice in this matter.”
And with a snap of his fingers, Q and Amanda Kay Torres-Paris were gone.
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*Where am I?* Andy thought to herself. She was standing in a blue-white fog. *Okay, think Andy. You were on the bridge with Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Chakotay and…and Q. He froze me and…oh, gods! Where has that good for nothing, low life, scum sucking, bottom feeder…* she continued to call Q every insult she could think up in her mind.
She tried shouting for him, for anyone, but she found her voice didn’t work.
YOU DON’T NEED TO CONVERSE VOCALLY ANYMORE, AMANDA
AND IF I WANT TO? she thought back at Q.
Q suddenly appeared before her in his human form. “Alright! Alright, anything I can do to please my daughter.”
“I am not, nor ever will be, your daughter. I am the daughter of B’Elanna Torres and Tom Paris *not* a Q.”
“Oh, but I beg to differ, dear Amanda. If you try, you’ll find that you have all the powers of a Q, and how can you have those powers if you aren’t the daughter of a Q?”
“If I’m a Q, can I go back home and be corporeal again?” Andy asked, “And don’t call me ‘Amanda’. It’s Andy.”
“Sorry, *Andy*, but that’s not possible. Only I can send you back to that pathetic excuse for an existance, and I don’t think I’m going to.”
“And what about what you said earlier about doing anything to please your daughter? You seem to be disillusioned enough to think I am your daughter, so why not send me back?”
“Because.” was the Q’s simple reply. “Anyway, I think you’ll find you’ll enjoy your powers. You can go back in time and, say, visit a deceased relative. Or, you can travel to a whole different place in the space/time continuum and meet that relative in real time.”
Andy considered that for a moment, “When can I go home?”
Without answering, Q snapped his fingers and left, without so much as an explanation as to how to use her powers.
“Okay. Um. Alright, Andy, let’s try this. What shall we do? Um, let’s try that different place in the space/time continuum. Let’s go meet Mom.”
The new Q snapped her fingers, and was gone in a flash of golden light.
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Dear B’Elanna,
I don’t know how I can tell you this, but, oh, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to tell anybody! B’Elanna, I’m sorry, but Q kidnapped Andy today. There wasn’t anything we could do to stop him–you know how Q is. He said something about his mate wanting to have a daughter. I fear that he has taken her to the continuum and made her into a Q.
Oh, I wish I could write a longer letter, but your namesake is crying for me.
Your friend,
Kathryn.
**************************************************************************************
Andy found herself in a place that looked like engineering back on Voyager, except that it was eerliy quiet and deserted. “Ghost Ship,” she said to herself.
“Hello?” a voice called out. “Who’s there? Tom?”
Andy walked around a corner and saw a woman sitting on a stair, reading a PADD. Her hair was dark brown and was the same length as Andy’s. She didn’t look very tall, then again, she was sitting so who knew, but her body language seemed to convey the message that nobody better get in her way.
The woman looked up at Andy and looked confused for a moment. Andy was just as confused. The woman who was sitting her before her looked exactly like…but, no. She was…
“Mommy?” Andy asked at last.
B’Elanna let the PADD fall to the floor. “Amanda? My God! Amanda!” she got up from her seat and held Andy in a tight hug. Andy hugged back, just as tight. *Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy!* she kept thinking to herself.
B’Elanna looked back over her shoulder, “TOM! GET OVER HERE NOW!”
A tall blond man with laughing blue eyes came running into the room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Andy.
“Andy?” He asked, his voice a half whisper. She nodded, unable to speak. Tom Paris, her father, walked forward a few steps to reach her, then dropped down to his knees beside B’Elanna and hugged Andy tightly, never wanting to let her go.
After almost half an hour of hugging, Andy began to get uncomfortable. She was practically being chocked to death.
“Mom? Dad? Think you could loosen up a bit? I’m having trouble breathing.” Her parents reluctantly let go of her and sat back on their knees, not believe that their daughter was really standing in front of them.
“Andy? How did you get here?” Tom asked at last.
“Q.”
“He kidnapped you and sent you to us?” B’Elanna asked incredulously.
Andy shook her head, “Well, kind of. He took me off the bridge, saying that his mate had wanted to have a daughter, but he didn’t want to go through the trouble of raising one, so he took me to the continuum and made me a Q. He said I could go to some other part of the space/time continuum and see you two.”
“Is he going to take you back?” Tom asked.
Andy looked away sadly. She loved her parents dearly, and it was too good to be true to be able to meet them. But being an immortal Q wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to be back on Voyager playing with Seven and ‘Anna and waiting for Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Chakotay to come back.
B’Elanna took her daughter by the hand, “Come on, I’ll show you around. I’ve read every one of your letters, but we still have some catching up to do. Did you really have to…”
**************************************************************************
Seven dutifully sat on the floor across from ‘Anna. The girl hadn’t been quite as cheerful since her sister had disapeared with Q nearly a month ago. Nobody on Voyager had been the same since then. Especially the captain and commander. Every once in a while when Seven was playing with ‘Anna, she’d hear Janeway begin to call out to Andy, and then remember that she wasn’t on the ship anymore. She wasn’t even in the same realm of reality.
Seven reflected on her own relationship with Andy. The two of them had become fast friends. Alike in many ways. Both were alone. Seven cut off from the collective that she had called home for most of her life, although by the time Andy had been born, she was begining to get used to it, and now it almost seemed as if she had never been assimilated at all. Andy cut off from her entire family, her father having died before she was born and mother dieing when she was only a month old.
*No time to dwell in the past,* Seven repremanded herself, *You are here to play with B’Elanna, not mourn the loss of Andy.*
From the captain’s office, adjacent to the living room of the quarters, Seven heard the Captain wail in saddness, and jumped up to console her.
**************************************************************************
Andy had been living with her mother and father for almost a month. It seemed as if she had lived with them all of her life, she had gotten to know both of them so well. She had a closer relationship with B’Elanna than with Tom. Maybe it was natural, most pre-teen girls are going to be closer to their mothers. But Andy felt that it was probably because she had been ‘talking’ to her mother since before she was born, with the constant letters being written. Andy was shocked to find out that even in death, her mother had kept writing her letters, and had gotten her dad to write them too. Andy was looking over her letters one afternoon when her dad came into the room to see her.
“Andy?” no response. He tried a little louder, “Hey, Andy.” she stayed intent on her reading. Finally, he walked right up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She jumped, startled. “Oh,hey, Dad.”
“Hey yourself,” he said, pulling up a chair to sit beside her, “I’ve been trying to get your attention for two minutes.”
“Oh, sorry. I was just reading through some of your and Mom’s letters. I’m glad Uncle Chakotay suggested to Mom that she write these. They’re so cool.”
“Yeah, the man is known to have a good idea every once in awhile.”
Andy shoved him playfully, then turned serious. “Do you think Q’s ever gonna come looking for me? I mean, he’s the one who dragged me into this realm and turned me into a Q. I’ve been here for over a month.”
Tom shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know if he’ll come or not. But if he does, you’re a Q now, you can do what you want, when you want. And you could probably turn him into a cute teddy bear if you really wanted to.”
Andy wrinkled her nose in disgust, looking alot like her mother, “A *teddy* bear? Are you mad, Dad? I’ve never been a cute teddy bear kind of girl.”
“You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking when I suggested you turn him into a teddy bear. Alright, there’s my one mistake per lifetime. I better hope I don’t suggest anything like that again. Who knows what may happen to me. I mean, dads can just go around making mistakes all the time.”
Andy smiled, almost perfectly mimicking her father’s grin.”Whatever, Dad. You’ve made way more than one mistake in just the month I’ve been here.”
**************************************************************************
There wasn’t a sound on the entire ship. No one talked, few even dared to breath. the only sound came from the hum of the warp core down in engineering. Wherever crew members were at the time, they stopped what they were doing at precisely 2253. The exact time, 8 years ago, that Amanda Kay Torres-Paris was taken by Q and never seen again. It had always been a depressing day for Captain Janeway, it had been the day that marked the aniversary of B’Elanna Torres’ death 18 years ago, but now, with the 8th aniversary of Andy’s disapearance, it was practically enough to make her wish the universe would just come to an end.
Chakotay silently walked into their quarters, sidestepping B’Elanna who was reading on the floor. His eyes were red rimmed, he’d been crying. The death of B’Elanna and Andy’s disapearance had been just as hard on him.
Janeway stood up from her desk and smoothed her black pant suit. Silently, she took Chakotay’s arm as they walked out of her office and into the living area of their quarters.
“‘Anna, come on, it’s time to go,” Janeway said in a wavering voice.
“How come,” the obstinate twelve year old asked.
“It’s time for…for Andy’s service.”
“Can’t I skip it for once? I barely remember the girl, and it’s the same thing every year.”
Janeway couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Anna wanted to skip the memorial service Neelix had planned for Andy and B’Elanna? Chakotay saw the shock on his wife’s face and stepped up to take charge of the conversation.
“B’Elanna. We are going to the service. It isn’t only for Andy. It’s for B’Elanna too.”
“Another person I don’t remember!” ‘Anna lashed out. “I have fragments of memories of Andy, and they’re hard enough to face everyday without having to go to that stupid service and have them dredged back up!” she threw down her reading PADD and ran into her bedroom.
“Alright, ‘Anna. You’re right. You shouldn’t have to go to the service. We’re wrong to try and force it upon you. We should have realized that maybe going to services wasn’t the way you wanted to mourn losing a close friend,” Janeway told her daughter through the closed door. “We’ll be back in about an hour.”
**************************************************************************
Invisibly, Andy flashed onto the holodeck. Q had done something to keep her from being visible to her friends, but every year, she made a point to come back here. It was pointless, really. Nobody could see her, nobody could hear her, she was really only torturing herself by facing the people she loved year after year. She mingled with the crowd, stopping to talk with her close friends, looking for ‘Anna. She had a special gift for her.
After almost half an hour of wandering, Andy concluded that ‘Anna wasn’t at the service. *That’s weird,* Andy thought to herself, *she’s always come before.*
She quickly snapped herself to her old quarters and walked through the locked doors into ‘Anna’s room. There ‘Anna was sitting on the bed, and assortment of PADDs alying out in front of her. Andy stepped behind the girl she had thought of as a sister for so long and looked at the PADDs. They were all pictures of herself. Some with ‘Anna or others, somewithout. ‘Anna was crying.
“Dammit, Andy! Why don’t you come back? I know that Q can come back anytime he wants, so why don’t you come back?” B’Elanna shouted at the air. “Don’t you like us anymore? The Aunt and Uncle who raised you? A shipful of friends? A ‘cousin’ who thought of you as a sister?”
Andy sat down next to her, unseen. “But I *am* back, ‘Anna! And I wish you could see me. I’d give anything just to be able to say ‘Hi ‘Anna’ or ‘I love you.’ But that retched Q’s keeping me from doing anything!” She laid a PADD on the table beside ‘Anna’s bed and prayed that, by some miracle, ‘Anna would be able to see it.
“Aw, what a touching reunion.”
Andy spun around and jumped up to face him. “Q! What the hell are you doing here? No, skip that. I don’t really care. I care about the fact that you’ve been torturing ‘Anna here for eight years! Just as you’ve been torturing me! Let her see me, Q. If you won’t make me human–or whatever I was–again, at least make it so she can see me!”
“But she can see you,” Q told her with a smirk, “She just has to want it.”
“Want it?!” Andy practically screamed. She pointed at her ‘cousin’, still crying on the bed, “Don’t you think it’s obvious she wants to see me? Don’t you think it’s obvious that the entire crew of this ship wants to see me?”
“I have done nothing to keep you from being seen, Andy,” Q said, almost compasionatly. “When you came to the continuum, they looked for you half heartedly for awhile, but even when you came back to visit, they weren’t really looking for you. They knew I would most likely never let you return, so, they put it out of their minds as best as they could. Thus, they could no longer see you.”
“How can I make them see me again then?”
He nodded towards ‘Anna’s nightstand, “That message you left her is a start. As soon as we both leave, she’s going to be able to find that PADD and read it. The next time you visit, if she still wants to see you, she will.”
“And the others?”
“She will make them believe.”
“Then let’s leave!” Andy snapped her fingers and went back to her waiting parents.
**************************************************************************
B’Elanna looked up from her pictures with a start. She had felt almost as if she had felt Andy’s presence in the room with her. But, no, that was silly. Andy was gone. Either dead or she didn’t care about them anymore.
She looked over at her nightstand. Laying there was a PADD she must have overlooked earlier. She picked it up and began to read aloud.
“Dear B’Elanna…”
**************************************************************************
6 months later, Andy was ready to pay another visit to Voyager. ‘Anna had found the PADD she left and Andy was sure that any member of the crew she encountered would recognize her. Well, maybe not recognize her, she’d grown up alot in 8 1/2 years. She was sure at least ‘Anna, Kathryn and Chakotay would recognize her. Maybe even Seven would be able to.
But, just in case Q decided to revoke her powers once she was back at Voyager, she had to do one last thing for her friends.
**************************************************************************
B’Elanna was in her quarters, re reading the message Andy had left her 6 months before for the thousandth time.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to see you again. If I don’t, I want you to remember one thing, B’Elanna Kes. If you only remember one thing about me, let it be this:I love you.
Your ‘sister’
Amanda Kay Torres-Paris”
‘Anna lay back on her bed. When she had shown the message to her parents, they didn’t believe right away that it was from Andy, and they were still skeptic of it. But ‘Anna knew in her heart, that it truly was from Andy, and she was going to find her way home soon.
**************************************************************************
Andy closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Harder than she ever had before, for she had to accomplish a larger task than any one had ever tried before.
It takes alot of power to send a star ship across two quadrants.
**************************************************************************
Not for the first time since being flung to the Delta Quadrant by the Array did Kathryn wish they were all back home in the Alpha Quadrant. And not for the first time since losing Andy did she wish for her surogate daughter to be back home.
Kathryn ran a hand through her short auburn hair, which was turning silver with age. She closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, and wished for everyone to be home where they belonged.
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*C’mon, Andy! You have to do this! Send them home!* Andy encouraged herself as she saved up her strength. it was imperitive that she get enough power. She wouldn’t be able to attmpt this again, and if she didn’t have enough power to get Voyager to her set destination, she could very well end up sending them backwards, not forwards.
**************************************************************************
Chakotay lounged on the couch with a cup of hot offee looking over reports. Kathryn had gotten him hooked on the stuff years earlier. He set down the report he had been looking at and stared at the wall that kept him from seeing directly into his 12 year old daughter’s room. She had been acting much happier the last six months, specifically since the aniversary of Andy’s disapearance. When he and Kathryn had left their quarters that night, they were worrying about returning to trashed quarters, the handiwork of and upset almost teenager. But instead, they had returned to a girl bouncing off the walls with joy, claiming that Andy had given her a message that she was going to return home.
Chakotay hoped for the sake of everyone on board, that they made it back to the Alpha Quadrant soon, and that ‘Anna was right and Andy would come home.
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*Just a little bit more…* Andy was getting tired, she wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. *Just a little bit more, Andy. Then I promise you can rest.*
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Seven of Nine sat in her quarters thinking. About what would be waiting for her in the Alpha Quadrant when Voyager finally returned in approximatly 50 years, if she was even still alive. She thought about the message that had mysteriously appeared on young B’Elanna’s desk 6 months ago that was supposedly from Andy, although the girl had no proof. But still, it would be interesting if it was from her.
*Come home soon, Andy.*
**************************************************************************
With all of her strength, Andy concentrated for one last moment gathering all her powers, then, with what was the last of her strength,she propelled the energy through space and time to Voyager, blasting it clear to the Gamma Quadrant. Almost to the worm hole that lead to space station Deep Space 9.
**************************************************************************
Voyager lurched suddenly and Janeway was thrown to the floor. While climbing up and heading towards the door for the nearest turbo lift, she hit her commbadge, “Janeway to the Bridge. What the hell just happened?”
“I’m attempting to find that out now, Captain,” Tuvok’s ever calm voice said. “Sensors indicate…we’re in the Gamma Quadrant, approximatly an hour from the worm hole that leads to DS9.”
Janeway heard the news just as she was stepping into the turbolift. She stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the entry way, causing the doors to half shut, then open, then half shut, then open.
“Did you say Gamma Quadrant, Mr. Tuvok?”
“That is correct, Captain.”
“Andy!”
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With the last of her strength, Andy snapped her fingers, sending herself to the bridge of the Voyager. Maybe it was an accident, or maybe it was because she desperatly needed something familiar, she ended up in Captain Janeway’s lap.
“Hi, Aunt Kathryn,” she said weakly.
Janeway was speachless, “Andy?”
She nodded slightly, and passed out.
Janeway set her now 18 year old surrogate daughter on the floor and hit her commbadge, “Janeway to Chakotay.”
“Chakotay here.”
“Meet me in sickbay. There’s somebody there you’re going to want to see. Oh, and bring ‘Anna too.”
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Five minutes later, the entire senior staff, including Seven and ‘Anna were crowded around a bio bed in sickbay. The Doc gave the uncocnious Andy a hypospray to wake her up. A moment later, her deep blue eyes fluttered open to see the faces of her friends.
“Hi.”
‘Anna was the first to speak, “I *knew* the message was from you!” she turned to her mom and dad, “See! I *told* you it was from Andy! I told you, I told you, I told you!”
Janeway hugged her daughter, “Yes, you were right, ‘Anna. I’m sorry I was skeptical, I should have believed you.” She turned back to Andy, “Where have you been, young lady?” She asked in her most authorative voice.
Andy giggled, “With Mom and Dad.” The crew looked at her blankly, she yawned. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. I’m tired right now,” and she promptly fell asleep.
Everyone turned expectantly towards the doctor, waiting for his prognosis on the situation. “Well, she’s no longer Q, that’s about all I can say right now. She doesn’t seem to be harmed in any way by her expirience, except for extreme fatigue, which I can’t explain.”
“I can, I can, I can!” ‘Anna said, jumping up and down. She was acting like a little girl again, estatic to have Andy back. “When she was Q, she musta pushed us forward so we were closer to home! Aren’t we only an hour away from the Bajoran worm hole?”
“At this time we are approximatly 30 minutes away,” Tuvok informed the exuberant girl.
“See, she pushed us ahead *fifty* years! And then, she probably used the last of her strength to snap herself here.”
Chakotay nodded thoughtfully, “Sounds about as reasonable as anything I can come up with. But I guess we’ll just have to wait untill tomorrow to find out.”
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Andy looked at the expectant faces of her friends. Kathryn and Chakotay looking concerned, Seven and B’Elanna were barely able to containt their excitement, Tuvok was as unemotional as usual, and Harry looked like he didn’t know how to look.
” ‘Anna was right in everything she guessed. I concentrated on all of the powers I’d gained as a Q,and when I felt I didn’t have any more powers to reserve, I blasted the ship as close to the worm hole as I could. And then, just as I felt I was about to pass out, I snapped my fingers, and ended up on the bridge.”
“Alright, now that we’ve all heard Ms. Torres-Paris’ fascinating story, I’m going to have to insist that everyone except family leaves. She’s still weak from the exhertion,” The Doctor informed the group after Andy had told her extraordinary tale.
“Wait, have we entered the worm hole yet?” Andy asked as everyone was turning to leave.
Kathryn shook her head, “We decided to wait for you.”
Andy eased herself off her bed, “Let’s go home then.”
The doctor protested, but Andy was adamant. She had got them this close to home, she wasn’t about to hold the crew back. “Besides, I’ll be standing around on the bridge. Nothing is going to happen.”
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Andy and ‘Anna stared at the viewscreen in awe as they saw the worm hole open. They were the only two who had never seen a worm hole. Even the other members of the crew watched with a certain fascination. The worm hole was beautiful. What made it even more beautiful was that it was going to lead Voyager home.
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heh heh heh, So, should I just leave ya’ hanging??? Or should I write a third story??? Send feedback to inkypa@yahoo.com