Chapter Text
“Computer… begin transport!”
There was a beep of acknowledgement, followed by the azure shimmer of an active transporter field and then the howl of the engines and the sound of blaring alarms was cut short, replaced by birdsong and the gentle rustling of leaves in the wind. Acting purely on instinct, Ensign Tom Paris glanced down and to the right, finding the reassurance he was looking for: The sight of his young charge next to him, the feeling of her small hand in his.
Tom breathed a deep sigh of relief and began to truly take in his surroundings. Trees, moss, rocks, insects… no signs of civilization he could see, neither now nor during the short time they had spent in orbit. How had they even ended up in this situation? He began to think back to what had seemed such a simple request then, only a few days earlier.
“I want to go out in the Delta Flyer with Tom!” Naomi had stated, with all the innocent confidence that a young girl who knows she is the center of attention could muster. ”That’s what I want for my birthday.” Said birthday was fast approaching, and a festive mood had settled into the crew of the Starship Voyager. Being not just the only child born aboard the ship after it became stranded in the Delta Quadrant but the only child aboard Voyager *period*, Naomi occupied a unique place in their hearts, and they’d resolved to make this birthday a special one for her.
There’d been a few attempts to dissuade her, suggestions for alternatives, but Naomi had been absolutely determined and in the end, the promise had been made: A short trip in the Delta Flyer, to a nearby uninhabited star system and back, staying well within sensor range of Voyager at all times. Tom had even said he’d let her take the controls again (as he had a few weeks prior) once they were in-system. Naomi had been over the moon and for the rest of the evening, all she’d talked about was the upcoming trip with Tom.
“Face it Tom,” B’Elanna had said that evening as they were having dinner in his quarters, “the girl has a crush on you.”
“Naomi? She’s way too young for crushes!” Tom had retorted. “She’s probably just excited at the prospect of getting to pilot the Flyer. She keeps saying she wants to join Starfleet when she grows up, after all.”
B’Elanna shot him a skeptical look as she picked up another forkful of replicated pancakes. “She’s what, ten in human years? Believe it or not, ten-year-old girls *do* have crushes, and this particular one has barely said two sentences without the name ‘Tom’ in at least one of them during the last few months.”
Tom returned her look with his trademark grin, “Am I to take this as an admission that ten-year-old B’Elanna Torres had a crush on someone? Who is he? A dashing Starfleet teacher back on Earth? A proud Klingon warrior on Qo'noS? Tell me who this dastardly rival for your heart may be!”
His attempt to change the topic had been successful, and only landed him in a little bit of swiftly forgotten trouble, but in the aftermath of their conversation Tom had wondered if there wasn’t something to what B’Elanna had said after all. Ever since that time a few weeks ago when he and Seven of Nine had taken Naomi out in the Flyer (before that whole business with the fake wormhole), he kept turning around to find her somewhere nearby, watching him and seemingly hanging onto every word he said.
“And here I thought I was just good with kids” Tom had muttered to himself but then shrugged. Ultimately, whether or not Naomi had a crush on him didn’t really matter - at her age, he was sure she’d be over it and moving on to her next obsession soon enough, and in the meanwhile, he just had to make sure she got her wish for a memorable birthday.
Well, it’s going to be memorable alright, Tom thought to himself. He raised his gaze upwards, shielding his eyes against the warm glare of the two suns. In the atmosphere, he could just make out the blazing streak of the Delta Flyer, heading towards the surface of the planet at terminal velocity. What the hell *was* that? A spatial anomaly? A wormhole?
Everything had been normal for the first hours of the trip. They’d left Voyager after breakfast, Naomi making a show of saluting him and requesting permission to come aboard the Delta Flyer as if she was already a Cadet in Starfleet. He’d laughed and granted the permission, and then they’d set off for the nearby system that Voyager’s computer had given the very computer-like name D-344126. The *single-star* system of D-344126, with its lack of interesting features and its *definite* lack of M-class planets, he thought sourly as he took in the lush landscape around him.
D-344126 this most definitely wasn’t, and frankly he had no idea where they had actually ended up. They’d dropped out of warp at the edge of the system, on half-impulse approach to the outermost planet in the system (a desolate ice ball designated D-344126-E) when he’d stepped out from the pilot’s seat and announced to Naomi that it was her turn to drive. He had just been intending to let her putt about the outer reaches of the system for a little while, at a comfortable distance from anything she could possibly ram into, but the moment she’d put her hands on the controls all hell had broken loose.
“Anomalous object detected directly to port.” The Flyer’s computer had suddenly announced, “Collision imminent.” As Naomi froze in panic, Tom had lunged for the controls to try and steer out of the way, but there had simply been no time to react. There had been a flash of blue light, a sound like a chorus of wailing voices, and then suddenly the viewport was filled with the bulk of an M-class planet, the Flyer on direct approach to its atmosphere. Whatever means of transport had brought them here, it had taken a bad toll on the Flyer - steering controls were gone, along with half the computer systems. Sparks were flying everywhere and the engines were howling like they’d taken a direct hit from a disruptor. The Flyer was going to crash, and it was going to do so at a speed that neither of them could survive.
By some miracle, the transporters were still functioning and Tom had ordered the computer to transport them down to the planet. “Sp-c-fy d-s-in---on.” the computer had said in a warbling, broken electronic voice and Tom had yelled, “Anywhere that isn’t here!”
And so, accordingly, here they were. In a forest clearing on an unknown planet in an unknown system, taken here by unknown means. It’s like the damn Caretaker array all over again, Tom thought, the idea sending a momentary stab of panic through him. What if it actually *had* been something like that? What if they had been transported to the other side of the Delta quadrant, or to another quadrant entirely? What if…
His thoughts were interrupted by a sniffle and then the sound of Naomi’s voice. “I’m sorry Tom, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. I don’t know what I did, I just… I just touched the console and…” she was squeezing his hand hard, clearly on the verge of tears. He leaned down and scooped her up into his arms, all thoughts of his own worries forgotten. “Shh, Naomi. It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong, and everything is going to be okay.”
“B-but-” Naomi said, clinging to Tom with tears in her eyes. “I was at the controls, and then we hit something. I must have hit the wrong button or something. If you’d been piloting-”
“- then we’d still have hit the same thing” Tom finished her sentence. “I don’t know exactly what we hit, Naomi, but whatever it was, there was simply no way we could have avoided the collision. I promise you, it’s not your fault.” he continued, wiping the tears from her eyes. Despite his reassuring words, Naomi didn’t look entirely convinced, and seemed about to say something when they were interrupted by a distant boom. Shifting Naomi to hold her aloft with a single arm, Tom took out his tricorder and pointed it in the direction the sound had come from.
“Seems like the Flyer came down not too far from here, on the other side of these woods.” Tom said to Naomi, forcing a reassuring smile to his face. “You know how tough that ship is - if we’re lucky, it might even be intact enough that we can repair it and get out of here. If not, I’m sure we’ll at least be able to send a signal to Voyager to come rescue us.”
This statement seemed to bring a little bit of hope back to Naomi’s voice. “You really think so? You’re not just saying that, right?”
“Trust me, Naomi.” Tom replied, keeping the cheeriness in his voice. “I’ve been in far worse situations than this, after all. A walk through the woods, maybe a night roughing it under the stars, and then we’ll be back on Voyager. Think of it as an adventure!”
Naomi’s spirits seemed further lifted by this, and soon they’d set out in the direction of the crash. As they passed through the dense undergrowth, the sound of birds and other animals all around them, Tom continued to scan the surroundings with his tricorder to try and get more information about their location. It wasn’t much: M-class planet, near-ideal nitrogen/oxygen mix for human habitation, DNA-based flora, name unknown, position unknown, inhabitants unknown. It looks remarkably like Earth, he thought to himself as he glanced at the trees and plants around him. A perfect M-class just hanging around the Delta Quadrant without anyone laying claim to it? Somehow I’m more than a little skeptical. That was, of course, assuming they were even still in the Delta Quadrant. He hoped he’d be able to tell more once the stars came up, assuming the skies would remain clear of clouds.
He felt a small tug on his hand, and turned to find Naomi looking up at him, her expression tired. They’d been walking for almost an hour in difficult terrain, and the trek was clearly taking a toll on the girl. “Tired?” Tom asked and she nodded. “That’s okay, I’ll carry you the rest of the way. Just hop up on my back.” he said, leaning down forward to let her get up.
To his surprise she shook her head, biting her lip for a moment and then asking, “Can you carry me like you did the last time we were out in the Flyer? When you were taking me back to our quarters?”
Tom blinked in surprise, recalling the occasion. He was surprised she even remembered, he thought she’d been deep asleep at the time. Well, it would be a little more inconvenient than having her on his back, but it wasn’t too much further to the crash site now, and if it made her feel better for some reason… he put his tricorder away and put his arms around Naomi, lifting her up on his side, one hand held under her, the other around her back. She immediately put her own arms around his neck, wrapped her legs around his hip and placed her head on his shoulder, clinging tightly to him. “Better like that?” he asked her and was answered with a pleased “Mm-hmm.” before she closed her eyes and fell silent.
Naomi thus safely ensconced in his arms, Tom pressed on towards the crash site at a good pace, surprised once more by just how light she was. Well, what were you expecting, he thought to himself, she’s a little girl, not a Cardassian soldier . Naomi remained silent throughout the walk, aside from the occasional little sigh that Tom interpreted as tiredness on her part. After about half an hour, the tricorder made a noise to indicate that the Delta Flyer was nearby, just as Tom emerged from the tree line and saw the crash site.
The sight of it made his face fall.