To Tell The Truth Series 04 Sunfire Read online

  To Tell the Truth, Part 4/8:

  Sunfire

  By melanie ( www.ocl.net/~melanie's_mind )

  Code: VOY, P, P/T, J/C, ALL

  Rating: PG

  Date: Story finished: October 1998. Revised (spelling mistakes/grammar corrected): December 1999

  Comments, admiring and outraged, maybe sent to me at: [email protected]

  Note: Read Part One: "Spirit Guide," Part Two: "Parole," and Part Three: "Togetherness" first for some absolutely marvelous, Earth-shattering Notes from the author of this mess and the usual bended knee "thank you” to those who inspired these mental ramblings.

  Another thank you (sorta) to Jeri Taylor, this time for "Pathways." While at the time of this writing -- August to September 98 -- I still haven't been able to force myself passed Neelix deciding tomorrow night he'll tell his story, I did include a little bit about what Tom did after his court-martial. Thank you.

  As always, thank you to Briony for her great beta reading.

  Disclaimer: The usual - theirs, not mine, wish they were, but they're not, etc., etc., don't sue.

  Sunfire (post Hope and Fear)

  "Tom? Hello?" Kathryn waved a hand in front of her pilot's face only to have it gently moved out of the way.

  "I'm listening," he insisted, not looking at her.

  "No, you're not. What are you watching?"

  Kathryn looked across the Resort terrace as Tom was. She could not tell precisely which of the guests at Naomi's birthday party he was staring at so intently. Scratch that. She could. Off to one side, seated in a double chaise lounge, was B'Elanna, quietly sipping her drink, while the birthday girl more or less snuck up on her.

  "Careful," Tom softly coached the little girl. "Don't rush her."

  Naomi slowly climbed up on the cushions beside B'Elanna. The two looked at one another, not saying anything. At last, the woman offered the little girl something from her plate from the buffet. A little hand chose a small orange object.

  "Good girl."

  "Which one are you talking to? Naomi or B'Elanna?"

  "Naomi."

  As she nibbled the hors d'oeuvre, the child in question laid her cheek against B'Elanna's upper arm. The half-Klingon froze for a moment. She stared down at the top of the little head then her eyes began scanning the area for Tom. When she found him, she sent a pleading look his way. He merely waved and turned back to Kathryn.

  "Keep watching them," he ordered. "Tell me how far Naomi gets."

  "How far she gets?"

  "Yes."

  "They seem to be talking," she shrugged. "Actually Naomi's doing most of the talking. B'Elanna's looking sort of uncomfortable - no, that's not right. Sort of... I don't know how she's looking."

  Tom's eyes narrowed at Kathryn's sudden, surprised smile and turned back to the scene below them. A very maternal looking B'Elanna was wiping Naomi's face with a napkin. As the woman set aside the cloth, the little girl climbed up into her lap and snuggled into her chest. There was a split second pause then B'Elanna's arms encircled the little girl and cuddled her close.

  Kathryn took in the satisfied smile on Tom's face. "What's going on?"

  Tom merely smiled and squeezed her shoulder before wandering off across the terrace to the pair he had been watching.

  Shrugging, she went over to join the birthday girl's mother who was talking to a lieutenant and an ensign who recently had paired off.

  "Captain," Sam welcomed, "I can't thank you enough for your gift. Naomi is so excited that you're going to show her the Bridge tomorrow. She won't sleep a wink, I know it."

  "I couldn't think of anything to get her. And I know she's wanted to see it for some time."

  "Well, I think it's her favorite of all her birthday gifts."

  "She certainly seems to be loving every minute of this."

  One of their companions, a large, male Terran ensign from stellar cartography, laughed in his booming voice. "That's because she's the centre of attention."

  His girlfriend shushed him. "She'll hear you."

  They all looked towards the chaise lounge where Tom now sat with B'Elanna and Naomi, the little girl still happily ensconced on the Chief Engineer's lap. The three were laughing at some comment of Tom's as he tickled the child under the chin.

  "Well, I'll be...." Sam murmured.

  Her companions turned their gaze from the trio to a softly smiling Ensign Wildman.

  "They're parents," she explained once she realized they were looking at her. "They're natural born parents."

  "Lieutenant Torres is scared of her," the ensign declared.

  "Just uncomfortable I think. I doubt she's been around kids much."

  "And Lieutenant Paris spoils Naomi mercilessly," the lieutenant reminded her. "Parents shouldn't do that."

  "No, Neelix spoils her. He's her godfather. He's read somewhere that he's supposed to do that so he does. No, Tom only spoils her a little. He does discipline her too when needed. All instinctively I'd say."

  Kathryn nodded at the verity of the statement. "I do doubt it's learned behavior, given what little he's said about the Admiral as a father."

  "However his childhood may have been, Lieutenant Paris turned out well in the end. He's one of the few people on the ship I'd trust completely with Naomi."

  Turning back, they saw Tom take Naomi from B'Elanna and set the little girl on her feet beside the chair. She was off and running towards some newcomers to the Resort before her feet even hit the terrace. Tom settled back down beside his mate, snitching some food from her plate. She glared at him. He merely grinned and gave her a quick kiss.

  "What are we watching?" the First Officer wondered, stopping beside the Captain.

  "Tom and B'Elanna," his superior answered.

  "Oh, so you're practicing being peeping Toms?"

  They laughed along with him and split up into smaller groups to go off and socialize with the others. Fifteen minutes later though, Kathryn and Chakotay found themselves walking into the midst of a mock-argument between Voyager's favorite couple.

  "Huh," Tom huffed, swinging his head away from B'Elanna, nose in the air, "I'm going to go find someone who does love me."

  "You're such a ham, Paris," B'Elanna called after him as he walked away.

  Tom swung back to her, eyes grinning. "Gee, Torres, pig to ham, huh?" Tom laid a hand on Tuvok's shoulder as he came up to them. "I'd watch it, Tuvok. Torres is starting to get logical."

  In a deadpan, the Vulcan looked at the human. "Then perhaps there is hope for you yet, Lieutenant."

  The pilot pretended to consider it. "Mmm, wouldn't bet on it." he informed him sagely over his shoulder as he walked away.

  Tuvok's "Unfortunate" was overridden by a high-pitched squeal. Seconds later Tom returned with a giggling birthday girl in his arms.

  "Found someone," he told B'Elanna smugly.

  B'Elanna raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think she loves you either?"

  "Yeah," the little girl giggled.

  "Hey!" Tom gasped in mock-rage. "Always be on the side of the person holding you, Cucumber. The deck's a long way down." He pointedly stared at the terrace floor beneath his feet.

  Naomi followed his gaze then turned to B'Elanna, clearly having switched sides. "Yeah, hey!"

  Her former ally planted her fists into her hips. "Traitor."

  Naomi grinned.

  Tom jiggled the little girl. "Hey, you. I still haven't given you your present yet." He set her on her feet. "Go ask Neelix for the padd I gave him to put behind the bar. And bring him and your Mommy back with you, okay?"

  "Okay."

  As the little girl skipped off across the Resort terrace to find her godfather, Tom called to the c
omputer. "Computer, run program Playmates with a three minute delay."

  "Acknowledged," the feminine monotone responded.

  "So what is this mysterious present?" Kathryn asked, surfacing from her conversation with Tuvok.

  "You'll see," her helmsman said, smiling enigmatically.

  B'Elanna shook her head. "You're wasting your breath asking, Captain. He won't even tell me."

  "Even after she tortured me."

  The sizzling look the pair exchanged left little doubt about the nature of the "torture."

  "Uh-huh," Kathryn smiled prior to changing the subject. "Tuvok says there's an indication of the Gherop fleet having passed through here not too long ago. A few days at most."

  Groaning, Tom closed his eyes.

  B'Elanna sighed. "Engineering's barely finished fixing the damage after our last encounter with them."

  "Nevertheless," the Captain replied, "we'll have to be ready. I doubt we've see the last of them."

  "Why don't they just give up?" Tom asked no one in particular. "What did we ever do to them anyway?"

  Shaking her head at him, his mate laughed. "You say that about every species in the Delta Quadrant."

  "Not every one, just the ones that get it into their heads to start shooting at us for absolutely no reason. Which, admittedly, seems like practically everyone of them."

  Naomi bounded back into their circle, arms up to Tom. He picked up the little girl and took the padd from her hands. After checking it, he handed it to Samantha Wildman.

  "What's this?" Naomi's mother asked, Naomi's godfather peering at the padd from over her shoulder.

  "That's her?" a strange, young male voice said from a couple of meters away.

  Everyone turned to see a motley crew of ten children. They all appeared to be around Naomi's age, though some were slightly older and bigger than she was.

  "Yes, Mor," Tom said to the young Klingon who stood at the front of the group, "this is Naomi Wildman. Naomi, I'd like you to meet some new additions to the Voyager." Tom performed the introductions and each "child" nodded in turn.

  The twin male Bolians, Chyr and Chyn, were first and every bit as gregarious as Chell and Gowat who had inspired them. They immediately began chattering and only a gentle "hush, you can talk her leg off later, boys" from Tom halted their endless stream of words.

  A human female, apparently Terran in origin was next. Allegia, a petite six-year-old girl with chestnut brown hair and flashing green eyes both smiled broadly at their new playmate.

  T'Kosh, a female Vulcan who could have been Tuvok's daughter, gave a typically Vulcan nod. She may have been the picture of a restrained and disciplined Vulcan, but her eyes still held a hint of wildness her Vulcan training had yet to tame.

  That wildness was equaled in the next children to be introduced. Two males, a Romulan named Sar and a Cardassian named Darkat, were a puzzle for the adults. There was no mistaking their heritage and everyone found them to be strange inclusions in this little group. Tom continued on without a break so they could not ask for an explanation.

  Pia, an Orion female, surprised them only slightly less than Sar and Darkat. Unlike the stories one heard of Orion females being animalistic and lacking in intelligence, Pia had the air of a scholar. Everyone thought Tom had invoked artistic license to create her, though refrained from saying it.

  Naxia made Neelix smile and his heartache a little. The little Talaxian female reminded him of his sister Alixia. He felt happy to see another of his kind, yet saddened at the same time.

  Fala nearly was as friendly as the Bolians. The un-joined Trill predicted she and Naomi and the other children were going to have loads of fun together.

  The apparent ringleader of the group, the young Klingon male Tom had addressed as Mor, did not seem as convinced of this as Fala was. He glared at the intimidated Naomi, who simply did not know what to make of this new development and hid her face in Tom's neck.

  Mor snorted derisively. "She's going to be no fun. She's just a scared little baby."

  That got Naomi. "Am not a baby!" she shot back, lifting her head to glare back at the scowling young Klingon.

  "Yes, you are."

  "Am not."

  "Are too."

  "Am not!"

  "Mor," Allegia interrupted softly.

  Surprisingly, Mor subsided and the adults began to wonder if their impression that he was the ringleader of this strange band of misfits was incorrect.

  Pushing her thick brown hair out of her eyes, Allegia stepped forwards. "Do you want to come play with us?" she asked Naomi. "It could be fun."

  Uncertainly, Naomi looked at Tom. She waited for his smile and nod before she assented. Gently, Tom set her on her feet and Allegia took Naomi's hand and all but Mor ran off towards the beach.

  Tom squatted down next to the remaining child, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  "Didn't quite work," Mor said quietly.

  "No, but it was a good try," Tom assured the child. "Challenging her was a good move. But fear always is a wildcard. It makes it difficult to predict behavior sometimes."

  "Fear must be conquered," Mor stated defiantly. "It is the one true enemy of a warrior."

  "Yes, but remember what I told you. We're not trying to turn her into a warrior. Just let her play."

  Mor nodded and hurried off to join his friends in their noisy game on the beach.

  "You want me to go watch them, Tommy?" a new voice asked.

  Tom rose as everyone looked at a pretty red-haired female. "If you wouldn't mind?"

  "Nah, I've got my book in my beach bag." she assured him, gesturing to the straw bag over one arm. "I'll be fine." With a sparkling smile, she strode off, the multi-hued wrap over her blue one piece swimsuit swishing with every step.

  "That's Siobahn," he told everyone once she was gone. "She was... a good friend of mine who always wanted kids but never had any. I figured she'd make a great teacher for Naomi and the other kids."

  The Captain blinked. "Teacher?"

  "Naomi's going to need educating, Captain, you know that. I've being trying to do what I can, but the way I've been doing it... I can't keep teaching her through play."

  "Through play?"

  "I've been setting up our play dates so she'll learn something as well as have fun."

  "Learn what?" the child's mother asked suspiciously.

  "What with the Gherop and all, it's been mostly survival skills lately." He laughed. "Since this ship does seem to get into trouble with alarming frequency, I figured she'd need to know how to look after herself. So, when we go to the beach and built sandcastles, she's learning how to set up a campsite. When we play hide and seek, she's learning how to evade capture. I've shown her some Starfleet procedures so she'll know how to manually unlock a jammed door or how to negotiate her way through the Jefferies tubes. That kind of thing."

  "In case the ship ever is taken over."

  "Exactly. But she's getting to the age that she needs to start learning more than how to play or how to protect herself. So I created Siobahn and the kids. I figured if you and the Captain approve, Naomi can start coming here every day for an hour or two at first and go to school with the others."

  "This must have taken you weeks," Sam whispered.

  Tom shrugged, eyes moving to the group playing tag on the beach under Siobahn's watchful eye from under a sun umbrella. "It was worth it. Neelix and I and some of the others are okay as playmates for her, but she needs kids her own age. We can do things with her, kid things, but we're adults...." He grinned. "Well, the others are adults anyway. Me...." He shrugged again and his grin faded. "If she keeps hanging out with us all of the time, she'll miss out on being a kid. I know what that's like. It's damned unfair."

  "So you created some peers for her."

  "Or tried my best to. When I was a kid, I didn't spend a lot of time with other kids or if I did they were 'Fleet brats like my sisters and me. I didn't have the type of childhood I think she deserves so I talked with practically
everyone on this ship about their childhoods, found out what I'd missed out on, and tried to set things up so she won't miss out on them either. I'm sure everybody thinks I'm nuts or something after answering my rather weird questions. I took their answers and some of my own ideas and created the kids." He finally looked at her. "If there's anything you don't like about them, you can eliminate it from their programs. It's all in the padd there."

  Ensign Wildman shot B'Elanna a glance. "Don't kill me," she said rather cryptically to the Engineer then her actions explained the comment. She laid a hand on Tom's shoulder and reached up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "I think this is the sweetest thing anyone's ever done."

  "Shh!" he hissed. "Don't tell anybody. Can't have them thinking I'm a marshmallow or something."

  Sam laughed and stepped back as B'Elanna, at Tom's other side, threaded her arm through Tom's.

  "I think it's already general knowledge," his mate told him then kissed his other cheek in a rare public display of affection from her.

  Tom released a long-suffering sigh. "There goes my reputation completely. My ego's still trying to recover from Neelix telling me months ago that I *used* to be quite the ladies man. Now, you're telling everybody knows I'm a total softie. I think I want to cry," he sniffed.

  "Total ham."

  "Captain," Tom said pointing away from them.

  Kathryn dutifully looked the other way while her Helmsman and Chief Engineer broke her no PDA's rule.

  -------

  Two hours later, the exhausted birthday girl was taken home and the party broke up so some of the celebrants could go on duty. Tom and B'Elanna refused an invitation to join some of the others in Sandrine's, instead leaving for Tom's quarters to spend some time alone.

  "I think that went well," Tom sighed, kicking off his boots.

  "Why didn't you come rescue me sooner?" B'Elanna questioned, at last having a chance to pose the question she had wanted to ask since it happened.

  "Hmm?"

  "When Naomi came over to me. Why didn't you come rescue me like I wanted? I know you saw me. You waved."

  "Because I didn't think you needed rescuing," Tom explained. "You were doing just fine with her."

  "Just fine?!"

  "Yes. And quite frankly I wanted to see how you would handle her."