Finding the Lost
by Sheri
Belanna peeked in on the sleeping form, then quietly left the room. She made her way to the front of the ship where her husband sat at the controls.
"We're almost there Belanna, we'll be entering orbit in 30 minutes." said Tom.
"Begin scans for life signs. "Said Belanna.
Tom punched a few buttons, and the computer began its work.
******
Belanna sighed and sank back into her chair, "DO IT AGAIN, THERE HAS TO BE SOME SIGN OF LIFE"
Tom looked back at his wife, and noticed their small son walking in. "mama ok."
Owen was three, and despite his Klingon heritage, was quite the sensitive child.
"I'm sorry sweet heart, mommy's ok, just a little upset. "Belanna explained.
They had been in orbit of the planet where they left the captain and commander 5 years ago, and yet after 30 minutes of scans, they had picked up no lifesigns, no shuttle nothing. “Belanna, lets not jump to conclusion, they might have found a cure and left, we should locate the shelter and see if there is any notes or hints to where they are."
"You're right begin the scans I’ll get Owen fed and changed and then we can beam down."
They had all taken a vaccine for the virus, they knew they would be fine to beam down, and on their ship they carried a cure. But would they find the people.
*******
They beamed down close to the shelter; it hadn't been difficult to locate since it was built close to where it originally was beamed down. But the site distressed them more, it was a mess! Missing windows, pieces torn off, a tree lay partially on it. When they entered the shelter they found it to be completely stripped out. There was nothing left, no hints, nothing. "Oh god Tom, what happened."
"We haven't found the shuttle yet, let’s stay calm. "He pointed the shuttle toward a clearing," I'm picking up something over there, lets go." They walked a short distance to find the shuttle. "The tricorder still isn't picking it up, shields are protecting it, hiding it."
"But Tom, we have a torn apart shelter, and the shuttle is still here. Where are Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay, shouldn't there be some sign of them, bodies, something" Belanna was getting frantic.
Tom wasn't sure what to say, this was were they left them, they didn't leave with the shuttle. It actually looked as if they packed up and left..."let's get back to the ship, get something to eat and do more extensive scans, see if there is a trace of anything left, weapons signature, warp trail, something,"
"Yeah alright." she didn't sound hopeful.
*******
She replicated dinner for all and sat at the make shift table with her son while Tom set up the computer for a more thorough scan of the planet. He joined them at the table and began eating.
They made it to earth a year and half ago, via some borrowed technology similar to the slip stream drive. The seller called it a quantum drive, Belanna adapted it and they were home 4 months later. Yes, it was slow going but it gave everyone time to prepare. The reception had been wonderful, Maquis were released and free to do as they pleased .For the first month the were in the lime light, then once the excitement wore down, so did Starfleet interest. Everyone was cut loose, oh they were offered positions in Starfleet but nothing of any importance, the former Maquis and Tom were given desk jobs anything to keep them hidden. Most left went back home. Tom and Belanna tried it out for 6 months then gave up. They found a small cargo vessel that needed some good work, and did what they could to make it livable, they would have to live there for a while, adapted a quantum drive to it, informed there friends what they were doing, and set off.
The long trip gave them time to think. If they did find them would they stay with them on the planet, or would they take them and leave back for earth. There was a big part of Tom and Belanna that wanted nothing to do with earth. They both wanted to start fresh somewhere. But they did leave behind friends who would worry if they did not return.
Well it didn't seem to matter now, they computer beeped, 'scans complete' "Any signs of human life?" asked Tom.
"Negative" the computer answered coldly.
"Computer is there any signs that human life signs could be masked,” asked Belanna.
"Insufficient information"
"Computer, is there any sign of any possible man made structures"
The computer gave them the information for the federation shelter but nothing else.
"Well Bella, I think we should get a good nights sleep then plan to do some exploring, They had the shuttle so well hidden, no one would've detected it, they could be the same" tom wanted to keep his wife’s spirits up.
"Alright Tom, lets get ready for bed."
******
They started by the shelter and had now been walking for a few hours. There were primates all over, most were shy and tried to hide, but one in particular seemed to be following them. It kept pointing ahead and screeching. Owen liked the monkey, thought he was quite funny, Tom and Belanna found him to be quite irritating. "If that damn monkey doesn't get lost, I'm going to phaser it."
“Belanna, Owen would be heartbroken. Besides, he seems to be quite comfortable with humans, I see it as a good sign." he hoped "lets rest a while"
They sat and pulled out something from Tom’s backpack to eat. The monkey sat too "So are you supposed to be our little tour guide, tell us, where is the Janeway residence" the monkey screeched an answer and ran off.
"Rude little guy,"
"Rue monkey daddy"
"Yeah Owen, rude monkey"
They rested for a half an hour then continued their journey, hoping they would find something.
"Monkey daddy, look,” yelled Owen pointing to a tree far into the distance.
Tom glanced in the direction his son was pointing and couldn't believe his eyes, yes the monkey was in the tree, but there was a little girl trying to coax it out.
"Hey "screamed Tom. The little girl looked up and ran off.
"You scared her" yelled Belanna pulling out the tricorder, "She doesn’t show up, not at all, well lets see if we can find her. "
They ran for a short distance, it didn't take much longer till they realized they were coming up to a large house, from inside they could her the little girl crying and a much older voice trying to soothe her.
"Nothing still shows up but they're obviously here, let’s go say hi."
******
Kathryn couldn't make out what her four-year-old daughter was crying about. She was about to loose her temper when the perimeter alarms went off, knowing that primates were allowed to pass through, it meant someone was here, Chakotay would've deactivated it. Suddenly her daughter’s hysteria made sense.
"Cheyenne, stay in here with you sister, mom will go see. "Said Kathryn, grabbing a phaser and heading for the door. They had only had a couple close calls, the vidians, but they were enough to set up 'the shield 'around their house, no one would be able to detect a house there. They all had implants in them that made them virtually invisible to sensors. Technology had been easy to modify, finding the cure to what kept them here wasn't, after a while, they didn't want to leave, finding a cure had been forgotten.
She stepped out the door and looked around, at first she saw nothing but then, out of the corner of her eye, movement, she pointed the phaser "Don't move!"
"Hey Captain relax"
"Tom, Belanna, oh my god, I can't believe it, is it really you." She went to them and reached out for a hug, "God, I've missed you, you haven't changed a bit."
"Well I got to say you have" he commented pointing to her belly.
"Oh that, Chakotay likes to keep me in this condition, and ok I like being in this condition. Come inside, I'll call Chakotay " She escorted the group inside," So are you going to introduce me to this little one."
"Well, this is Owen, He just turned three. Captain, we detected no life signs, we thought." Belanna sounded close to tears.
"First of all, I haven't been Captain in five years, call me Kathryn, and second we had a close call with the Vidians that could have gone allot worse than it did, We took protective measures." she smiled to reassure them then made her call "Kathryn to Chakotay"
"I'm here love, is everything ok."
"Of course it is, but I need you to return right away." She masked her excitement; she wanted him to be surprised.
"Your scaring me Kath, are...."
"I told you I'm fine, just get home" and she cut the COM channel. "He'll be here any minute, he's only at the river and he's a very paranoid man around this time" she commented rubbing her belly.
*****
Chakotay burst through the door only a couple of minutes later and stopped, with his mouth hanging open, in the doorway "Tom, Bella I can't believe this. And this one isn't ours, or Kathryn did you forget to tell me about him"
"Daddy are you going to let me in" It was Jaden, Cheyenne’s twin brother.
"Sorry kiddo." he said stepping aside.
“Ok, let me get this straight, there's the little one we saw in the woods, a boy, and your pregnant."
"Oh I almost forgot, Chey, you two can come out, It's ok."
"You Two, how many kids do you have, "tom couldn't believe it.
"Well Jaden and Cheyenne came first, they're four, and twins, then came Carlene, she's two, and this one is due anytime now, like I said, Chakotay likes to keep me in this condition." Kathryn laughed.
“I guess so. Wow.” Tom laughed, “ And here me and Belanna thought we were rushing it.”
“Rushing it with one”
“Two, we just found out number two is on the way.” Belanna interjected.
“That’s wonderful, well come on, don’t just stand there, come in and have a seat. We have a lot of catching up to do!” Kathryn was beyond thrilled.
*****
Chakotay had begun to cook dinner while Kathryn got their guests settled. She sent the kid’s out to play, put Carlene down for her nap and sat down on the couch. The baby was extremely active and it was tiresome to constantly be on her feet.
“You two have made so much here, I just can’t believe it.”
“Well, we didn’t have much of a choice. Don’t get me wrong, spending the rest of my life with Chakotay, hell, I’d do that anywhere. But we needed to make a home, a safe home and it wasn’t going to happen in that tiny little shelter! We found this spot, it was well hidden, yet close to the river and it was perfect.”
“Chakotay has spent a lot of time building things, Houses, beds, bathtubs.” She chuckled.
“Bathtubs?” questioned Belanna.
“Belanna didn’t you know the way to a woman’s heart is a bathtub.” laughed Chakotay.
“How about to a mans heart.” Asked tom.
“Oh that’s easy, sex.” Exclaimed Kathryn.
Tom was positive he was blushing by now.
**********
Over the next couple of weeks they all fell
into a warm and comfortable friendship, Chakotay and Kathryn made it clear
that despite the fact that they missed there family, they did not want
to leave. And it was beginning to seem that Tom and Belanna felt the same
way. Kathryn thought it would be a good idea for Chakotay to have a talk
with Tom and let them know they would be welcome to enjoy there paradise
with them; Chakotay was more than willing to help them build there home.
Late one evening Chakotay found Tom sitting outside and decided to approach him on the subject. “Nice night out here, isn’t it?”
Tom looked almost wistful, “It sure is.”
“So if you like it so much, why not just stay?”
“Is it really that easy? You didn’t have a choice, we do. Do you really want to stay here?” he asked.
“Most definitely, I know Kathryn misses her family, and I would be more than willing to leave if she wished it, but she wants to stay as much as I do. We keep the security grid up for protection, but haven’t seen anyone in years; it’s a paradise here. Kathryn and I want you to know that we would welcome you to stay here with us. I would be glad to help you build a house, you could be just as happy as we are.”
“We’ve been talking a bit, and I think we might want to. We still have a lot of questions and concerns but…” Belanna yelling interrupted him.
“Chakotay, you better get in here quick.” She sounded panicked.
Chakotay ran into the house to find Kathryn grasping the side of the table, “it’s definitely time.” He ran for her and eased her down to the bed of pillows he had set up in the corner. Then after instructing the kids to stay back, he returned to Kathryn. The baby was definitely in a hurry, she was already crowning. It wasn’t much longer till the baby appeared screaming into the world.
The twins got up and peered over there dad’s shoulder, “all right, another boy!” yelled Jaden.
Chakotay cleaned the baby up and handed him to Kathryn, so he could finish taking care of her. Kathryn let all the kids get a good look at their new brother than sent them all to bed.
Tom and Belanna approached the couple; “ you make that look easy!” commented Belanna.
“Easy no, but no reason to complain, I have quick births.”
“Your lucky, I was in labor 10 hours with Owen.”
“Wow, I guess I won’t complain.” Commented Kathryn.
**********
The following morning Tom and Belanna woke with a wonderful new feeling, they decided to stay. They went downstairs to find Kathryn sitting in the rocking chair feeding young Kolopak, “The kids are outside playing with Chakotay, you two sure look chipper.”
“We are, we decided to stay, if it’s really alright with you.”
“Of course it is, besides, It’s not like it’s our planet. Anyone can stay, as long as you have no evil intentions.” Kathryn laughed. “But seriously, we would love for you to stay. Maybe Tom and Chakotay can go out later and scout some property for you, there sure is a lot to chose from, take it before the price goes up.”
“And what price would that be, we have no money.” Laughed Belanna.
“Babysitting, we obviously need some, sometime.”
“You two couldn’t possibly want more.”
“Oh we might, whomever else comes, will be as loved as the first.”
“I have to say Kathryn, I never imagined this. We hoped you were alive, and hoped the two of you got along. We even had the hope that the two of you fell hopelessly in love. But 4 children, and possibly more, you just amaze me.”
“Careful Belanna, you many not have aspirations for a large family right now, but this planet has a way of changing that, I feel so free here. Free to do what ever I want with no consequences. It makes protocol look so silly. I even tried to define the parameters of our relationship in the beginning, I still can’t believe I did that, it seems so ridiculous now.”
“We’ll do the same, take it one kid at a time. I think we’ll be happy here, we all will be.”
**********
Epilogue:
Tom and Belanna had a house built a short
ways away from Kathryn and Chakotay’s house, giving a good amount of privacy
for each family, and yet close enough for the kids to run back and forth.
The house was finished after 4 months of constant work. Yes, according
to Chakotay, the house would need to be expanded, it was no near as large
as his was, but Tom and Belanna were happy with what they had. Belanna
was getting close to the time to deliver her second child and wanted to
be settled in before the baby came.
After a couple of months, the house looked nice and lived in. Tom and Belanna had just put Owen down for his nap, when it was suddenly Belanna’s turn. Tom thought he would be able to handle it on his own, but suddenly panicked and called Chakotay.
“I knew he would call me” laughed Chakotay; “I’ll be back as soon as I can, love.”
Kathryn kissed him, “will miss you.” There usual goodbye, then he was off.
Five hours later, Katirina Paris came screaming into the world, perfect and healthy. Her big brother, who slept through the whole event would sure have a surprise when a woke up in the morning. Looking at their new daughter, the couple knew they made the right decision. This paradise would be the perfect place to raise their children, the little planet that they all called New Earth.
END
10/12/2000