New story: Looking for Miss Elizabeth

Veronica Jane Williams

xkhoi@iafrica.com

Music: Beethoven: Symphony No.2 in D major op. 36 - Larghetto

DISCLAIMER

Characters are the property of Paramount. So is Voyager, Sandrine's,
Romulan ale, etc. I wish they were all mine, but I'm happy with the
ones I created.

This story forms part of my canon of stories, and follows 
"His Father's Son" in sequence. 

Rating: G


LOOKING FOR MISS ELIZABETH

PROLOGUE

"Higher, Daddy, please...!" Elizabeth called as Tom Paris pushed
her on the swing.

"Oh no, if I push any higher, you'll go right over the cross bar,
sweetheart."

"That's okay, then I can fly like Daddy."

"And what do you think Mama will say if you break your arm again?"

"Oh no - she'll give us her evil eye, Daddy."

"That's right, sweetheart. We don't want to make Mama give us
the eye, do we?"

"That's okay, Daddy, then you smile from ear to ear and kiss Mama
silly," Elizabeth suggested.

Mama was sitting on a nearby bench, watching the two persons she
loved most in the world and smiled indulgently. Elizabeth at four
years was getting so completely hyperactive, they had their hands
full keeping her occupied. And she wanted to attempt everything.
It seemed as though she was making up for the overprotectiveness
she and Tom showed when Elizabeth was still a baby with a heart
problem. She was a curious mix of childish energy and an almost
unquenchable thirst for knowledge. 

B'Elanna sighed with pleasure. Caressing her swollen belly, at
seven months pregnant with their second child, she was looking
forward to the birth of their son. Tom had his way this time,
convinced that the new baby was going to be a boy. And he was
aided and abetted all the way by Elizabeth, who roundly declared
that she will allow him to sleep on Daddy's chest if he's a good
little brother. She no longer asked pertinent questions like:
how did the baby get into her tummy, or what's the difference
between a fetus and an embryo, or will they get a baby every
time they make love. They were hugely embarrassing questions, 
which she demanded Tom answer. 

"Elizabeth, I didn't tell you about embryos. Where did you hear
that?"

"That's easy Mama. I asked the Doctor. He always tells me. That's
when Daddy gets too em-em embarrassed to tell me. And Mama, did you 
know that when you make love, Daddy plants a seed in you, then you 
get a baby?" 

"Oh my heavens. Daddy told you that, huh."

"Huh-uh." Elizabeth's eyes went wide as she told her Mama: "He went
all red in the face, Mama. I guess he was shy, huh."

B'Elanna thought there was no way Elizabeth could be fooled with
idle platitudes. She knew the instant she thought you were lying your
way through an answer.

"Elizabeth, honey, maybe you should stick to reading fairytales."

"Oh no, Mama, I've already read everything Grandma gave me of Daddy's
old books. Did you know they are real books, Mama? With real pages
that you turn. I like it! I love Beauty and the Beast. Because Mama
is Beauty, and Daddy is the Beast." At that Elizabeth laughed out
loud.

*
"Angel," Tom said to her one evening, sitting on the couch of the 
living room of his parents' apartment - now theirs. "What are we 
going to call our little squirt?"

"Squirt."

"Com'n, B'Elanna, be serious. Elizabeth had her names long before she
was born, and even Gracie..." he said softly.

"I haven't given it any thought, you know. Anyway, it's your turn
to name baby."
 
"How about our dads?" Tom ventured.

"Huh-huh, not mine, anyway. Somehow, I don't see our son as a Diego.
But you know what I think? I think it would swell your father's
pride if we named baby after him..."

She looked a little uncertainly at him, wondering how he would take
to her idea. She didn't want to pre-empt things in case it upset him,
knowing how the relationship used to be between him and his father.
Although, to look at Tom and his father now, one could swear it was a
testimony to how one could put one's pride in one's pocket and forget
about past hurts. 

But Tom looked at her with such tenderness in his eyes, she felt
intuitively that she made the right decision. It was in the last
six months here, at home, that she could see how deeply he really
loved his father. All his angry outbursts in the early days on
Voyager to the contrary. Naming their son for his grandfather would
be a fitting gesture, she thought.

"Very well then, Owen McKenzie Paris it is," he said quietly. "Thank 
you sweetheart. I love you to distraction. But you knew that," and he 
kissed her. 

That was a month ago. They decided not to tell anyone yet, thinking
to keep it a surprise. Elizabeth had taken to lying on the couch
with her, her head against B'Elanna's tummy, and listen to the
baby kicking. She would talk to her little brother, in proper 
superior sisterly tones.

"Look, Elizabeth, Mama is daydreaming," Daddy whispered to their
daughter.

Elizabeth waved her tiny hand in front of her Mama, but Mama
surprised her. She caught hold of Elizabeth and tickled her. This
had the little girl squealing with glee.

"Angel, I have to be going, and you have classes. I'm taking
Elizabeth with me to Dad's office. He has the afternoon free and
promised to entertain her. I'd like to see that. She's been running 
poor Dad ragged. He's really beginning to feel his age since 
Elizabeth came into his life. But he loves her. He doesn't mind."

He pulled her up by the hand, Elizabeth pitching in by holding
Mama's other hand. B'Elanna absently rubbed her back. No doubt
tonight she'd be sitting cross-legged on the bed again, with Tom
massaging her aching muscles.

The three of them left the park, strolling lazily towards the gates,
with Tom's arm around B'Elanna's waist, and holding Elizabeth's
hand with the other, the little girl skipping happily along.

They were unaware of a pair of eyes watching them with interest.


                     **************************


CHAPTER ONE: OWEN McKENZIE

Admiral Owen Paris was sitting in his office behind his desk, with
Elizabeth on his lap. She was playing with everything she could lay
her hands on, even tapping the his computer console. Holding up the 
photo of her Daddy, kissing the glass, then playing with the Phoenix. 
She was using her little girl wiles on him. He found her totally 
irresistible. She looked at him with childlike entreaty in her blue 
eyes. Only four years old and she knew how to turn his heart 
completely over.

"But Grandpa, you promised! You promised! Can we go pleassss?"

"Sweetheart, Grandpa must first get time off. Then we can go.
I'm a working man, you know."

"That's okay, Grandpa, then you can work afterwards." 

Grandpa sighed. He remembered how Tom badgered him to take him to
see the Phoenix. 

"Sweetheart, we'll go later, I promise."

"But Grandpa, I want to go now!" Elizabeth pouted her little red lips
so mournfully, it had Owen Paris laughing out loud.

"Elizabeth, Grandpa really can't take you right now. But I have
a weekend free in four week's time, then I promise you we'll go see
the real Phoenix.

Elizabeth was not to be appeased by her Grandpa. Four weeks may
sound very short, but:

"That's twenty eight whole days, Grandpa!"

"Okay, Elizabeth, I'll tell you what. Grandpa will take you to
the Academy quickly, then we'll do a shuttle simulation. How do
you like that?" He knew that would divert her easily enough.

Elizabeth's eyes went very wide, then she shook her head vigorously
up and down. She threw her arms around his neck, kissed him on his
cheek. He held her close to him. This child who only six months ago 
met her grandparents for the first time, yet loved them 
unconditionally. Tom and B'Elanna, but especially Tom, never 
influenced Elizabeth to the contrary.

"We always told her she had real grandparents, Dad. Even when we
thought she'd never see them. I think she loved you before she even
met you," Tom told him a few days after they met the family at
Palings.

Owen Paris looked down tenderly on the blonde head of his
granddaughter and thought his heart would burst. He felt the gods
had given him this reprieve, to make peace not only with his son,
but to have his life filled with the love he had for his granddaughter.
Like most fathers and grandfathers, he knew he was no different,
being completely taken in by a little girl with sapphire blue eyes.
Before Elizabeth, there were only the grandsons, whom he loved,
but he knew, since Elizabeth entered his life, he would do
everything for her. Like her parents, he and his wife doted on this
child who was so bright, ebullient and intelligent, manifesting
in a unique way the characteristics of both her parents. Far from
being spoiled and spoilt - Tom and B'Elanna saw to it that she
grow up as balanced as possible - he knew she was a remarkable child.

Owen Paris was a changed man. Years of regrets, the yearning for
absolution, of remorse, of longing for a son he believed dead,
culminated the day in this very office Tom stood in front of him,
and said: "Dad, I'm the one who seeks to be forgiven."
Tom's love for him, his willingness to reach out and say "there's
nothing to forgive" humbled him. He realised that day, in this
office, that you can never be as great as when you can humble
yourself. And Tom had taught him that. Tom taught him about never
letting second chances slip away. He, Owen Paris learnt from his
son that one grabbed at those second chances with both hands. He,
Owen Paris, learnt from his son that tears are not necessarily
a weakness, that when men cry, they feel deeply.

The irony is, Owen realised, that now, more than at anytime in Tom's
life, as a little baby through youth and adolescence, he loves Tom
more. The past six months since their return, he has counted
his blessings every single day. He was  a happy man, he can now
die a happy man.

                      **************************

"Okay, Elizabeth, are you ready?" Grandpa asked as he looked at the
slip of a girl sitting in the co-pilot's seat, her eyes on the
controls in front her. She rattled off the pre-launch sequence
like an old pro, her small hands deftly touching the correct 
controls, watching with glee how they lit up. 

"Thrusters"

"Got that."

"Impulse engines"

"Got that"

"Propulsion systems"

"Yes ma-am"

"Inertial dampers"

"Got that. Everything Okay, Elizabeth?"

"Affirmative!"

"Right, what shall we go through this time?'

"Asteroids!"

Owen smiled. It was Elizabeth's favourite simulation. Maneuvering
the shuttle through a field of asteroids. She had apparently
co-piloted with Tom on Voyager's holodecks, and had become quite
adept at dodging the asteroids, the simulation set at the lowest
degree of difficulty for her. When Tom and B'Elanna knew it was
inevitable that Elizabeth wasn't going to stop pestering them
about "wanting to fly like Daddy" they guided her gently into the
start-up simulation, and later learning to recognise the controls,
and so forth. Elizabeth was displaying in every way the same
early dexterity her father had for flying. They encouraged her,
with one major difference - the point of departure in the way
Owen had handled Tom's prodigiousness to the way her parents
were handling Elizabeth. They put no pressure on her, and allowed
her to develop naturally. She was in short, a happy, well-
adjusted child. Who very soon would have a baby brother. Who pestered
her Grandmother for chocolate chip cookies, who fought with her
cousins, all boys. She had a mean pair of fists which especially
young Tom, closest to Elizabeth in age, won't forget in a long time.
She was every inch as wild as the boys, played every game with them
whenever they visited. 

He found it difficult to believe that she had been born with a heart
defect. There were certainly no signs now of any illness. Both Tom
and B'Elanna were reticent to talk about the circumstances
surrounding Elizabeth's birth, but it was his own dear Elizabeth
senior, after whom they named their daughter, who won the day. She
gently coaxed especially B'Elanna into relating those traumatic
ten days during which Tom had lain in a coma, and Elizabeth had
been born, the fear that both Tom and their little girl could die.

He smiled now as he thought of how the infant had helped bring
her Daddy out of his coma when she was placed on his comatose
body. Not so long ago, watching Tom lie sleeping on the big
couch in the lounge, Elizabeth was reclining on his chest, held
snugly by him. B'Elanna laughingly told him that Elizabeth still
like to nap like that from time to time.

He thoroughly enjoyed having Elizabeth around him, he and Elizabeth
senior often relieving Tom and B'Elanna, especially as B'Elanna
was nearing term, and having to contend with being an Academy
senior. B'Elanna's experience as chief engineer on board Voyager
had prompted Command to waver her third year, placing her
with the seniors in their final year. She was of course more than
their equal. He smiled to himself. He was not given to nepotistic
tendencies, not even when Tom was at the Academy. And any idea some
of his colleagues had, and some of B'Elanna's class mates, was soon
scuttled. B'Elanna was impressing them all on her own, working
hard. Her motivation had been, apart from being home with her
children for a while, to be a full cadet, wanting to be accepted
as a full commissioned officer. He admired her dedication to her
objective, knowing it was not necessary for her to have gone through
the channels she insisted upon. He was glad of that, for it dispelled
any notion others might have had that he, Owen Paris could perhaps
have paved the way for her to promotions and the like. Tom did
the same, had applied immediately for reinstatement as a Starfleet
officer, and was awarded, on the strength of his many commendations he
received while serving on Voyager, a promotion to Lieutenant-Commander.
He had the feeling that very soon, he would be a full Commander.

"Dad," B'Elanna said one day coming into his office during a recess,
"It's funny, you know. I got kicked out of the Academy in the first
place because I was too impatient, flew off the handle too quickly,
was too opinionated. I used to blame it on my Klingon impulsiveness.
Now, I can't understand why I was kicked out at all."

"My dear," he told her, "all those things are still there, but
you've learnt how to temper them. No professor worth his salt, I
can tell you, is happy with any cadet who swallows what they
are taught unquestioningly. You're doing fine my dear. Just carry
on."

"Thanks, I rather hoped you'd say that Dad."


                      ***************************

"Grandpa, what is this place called?"

"The Smithsonian, sweetheart."

"Grandpa, is the Phoenix inside?"

"Oh yes. People from all over the Federation come here to look at
it."

"What is the Federation, Grandpa?"

Owen Paris sighed. What now? he thought. How to explain a political
concept to a four year old child?

"Well, it's like this," Owen started. "All the planets in our own
solar system, and planets of other solar systems come together and
they form a Federation. Like a family."

"Why?"

"So they can work better together."

"Why?"

"Then they can protect each other."

"Why?"

"In case the enemy wants to attack one of them. Then all the planets
of the Federation help."

"Why?"

Owen sighed again. He'd forgotten this part of being an inquisitive
child.

"It makes them stronger. Elizabeth, could you please not ask
anymore questions?"

"Why?"

"Because."

Owen breathed a huge sigh of relief when they entered, and walked
through the long passageways, until they reached the gigantic display
of Zephram Cochrane's Phoenix. The two of them were dwarfed by the
rocket, and Elizabeth could not stop staring.

"It's beautiful," she whispered to her Grandfather.

"You must remember, this is only the rocket section. Your toy,
the one with the two nacelles, that is the actual Phoenix."

"I knew that!"

"Yes, I thought you might, Miss Elizabeth," Grandpa said proudly.
 
He picked her up to get a slightly better view of the Phoenix, the
giant rocket surrounded by a permanent force field. By the time
they left the Smithsonian, Owen Paris was slightly jaded: Elizabeth
peppered him with questions so fast, he had a hard time keeping
up just answering them. 

They took their time walking the streets towards the shuttle
launching pads, Owen beginning to feel his age, with young Elizabeth
playing hopscotch on the pavement slabs.

"Look, Grandpa, I didn't step once on a crack," she said to him.

"You wouldn't want to break your back now, would you?"

"Oh no, Grandpa. Then Mama will give me the eye!"

She was walking holding her Grandpa's hand, carrying her Phoenix and
Eliza the teddy bear under her arm  when they saw a scuffle
at the end of a deserted walkway. He thought to turn back and take
another route, not wanting Elizabeth to witness something ugly.
He was still holding her hand, and paused momentarily before
deciding to turn back. That was when one of the men looked at him,
and shouted to the other: "That's him!"


Before he could turn to pick Elizabeth up, he saw one of the men 
point a phaser at him, the shot hitting him square in the chest. 
He knew without looking down, a raging pain in his chest where the 
phaser's fire left a gaping hole. He was still holding Elizabeth's 
hand when he went down, hit the ground hard, the little girl going 
down with him, screaming. His last coherent thought as he looked in 
pain at his granddaughter, was that he was dying. Then he was 
bludgeoned with a heavy object. In a daze he heard one of the 
assailants shout: "Get the kid!". Elizabeth, petrified with fear, 
was hauled up by one of the men, who clamped her mouth. That was the 
last he saw of his granddaughter as he lost consciousness, gravely 
injured.


                        *************************


CHAPTER TWO: THOMAS EUGENE
 
      *Captain's log: Stardate 564501.6 - We are traveling 
      towards the Koinonia Star System, to investigate the 
      possibility of terraforming on it's fifth planet. A team 
      of botanists will be staying for a six month duration.* 

"Mr Paris, plot a course for Koinonia, warp six," came Captain
Janeway's command as they left Space dock."

"Aye, Captain," Tom Paris, newly promoted to Lieutenant-Commander,
responded. They were on their way to Koinonia in deep space, near
the Federation neutral zone, On board they carried the team of 
botanists who would be staying there for a six month duration, before 
Voyager returns for them.

Tom enjoyed being at the conn again, after their three month leave
of absence. It was for all of them a necessary break, especially
as he and B'Elanna had to make living arrangements. They were now
living in his parents' apartment, overlooking San Francisco Bay.

"It's been decided Tom, your mother and I will be moving to smaller
accommodation, even closer to Headquarters," Owen Paris told him 
during their stay at Palings, the Paris family home.

He sighed with pleasure. It was an arrangement which suited 
especially B'Elanna, back at the Academy. His mother caring for 
Elizabeth junior while he was away and B'Elanna was attending 
classes.

B'Elanna was almost eight months pregnant, and they were all looking
forward to the birth of their son. He was especially looking forward
to seeing his father's face when they name the baby after him. 
He felt it a fitting gesture, Owen Paris now such a changed man. Tom 
long ago stopped feeling bitter about the fact that he didn't have a 
special relationship with his father, appreciating the closeness he 
and his father are sharing at the moment. Yes, the three months at 
home gave the two men time to explore, initially very tentatively, 
the unmistakable bond that existed between them. A bond that had been 
lying dormant, latent for so many years. Certainly, a three month 
period could never be enough but it was a precious beginning. Owen 
learning, haltingly, to express his feelings towards his son. 

B'Elanna had sworn before he left on this mission, he'd be a dead 
man if he didn't make it back it time for the birth of their son.

"Captain," Lieutenant Harry Kim's voice broke into his reverie, 
"the sensors report the USS Ohio is closing in on an intercept course
at high warp."

"That's strange. We weren't notified of a rendezvous," came Kathryn
Janeway's voice. This mission was to be her last on active service
before taking up an admiral's post  at Starfleet Headquarters.

"They seem to be in a great hurry," Chakotay said. "I wonder what
they want."

"We'll soon find that out," the Captain said.

"Captain," Magnus Rollins, chief of security said, "we're being hailed
by Captain Watlington."

"Open a channel. On screen."

All of them saw Captain Watlington's face fill the main viewscreen
on the bridge.

"Greetings, Captain Janeway. This is a top priority assignment. I'm
to take your team of botanists to Koinonia V. Starfleet's got new 
orders for you. Being the fastest ship in the Fleet with the best
people and all."

"Any idea as to the nature of the new orders? They would appear
to be greatly important if we are taken off our assignment."

"That message you have to take personally, Captain. It's secured.
We are arranging to transfer your botanists to the Ohio. Watlington
out."

"Mr Rollins, make arrangements for the transport. Let Mr Carey know
in Engineering. Chakotay, you have the bridge."  Kathryn Janeway
strode briskly to her ready room. Taking her seat behind the desk, 
she  flicked on her computer, entered the code, and read the message.
Ten minutes later she was still sitting, stunned, unable to move.

She tapped her commbadge a few minutes later. "Janeway to Chakotay.
To my ready room, please."

When Chakotay entered the ready room, he was surprised to find the
Emergency Medical Hologram there. He looked questioningly at his 
wife.

"Chakotay, we have a serious matter on our hands. Get Lieutenant 
Hamilton to relieve Mr Paris."

Chakotay tapped his commbadge, and gave the necessary instructions.
Then he waited for Tom Paris to enter the ready room.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Tom asked as soon as the doors slid
close behind him. He was as surprised as Chakotay earlier to see the
EMH there, and the Captain's face looking unusually sober. How like
Starfleet Captains to keep a poker face, he thought. I wonder what
could be up.

"Mr Paris, sit down."  He took his seat and she continued. "Tom,
I have rather bad news for you. I don't know how you will take
this," and she looked at Doctor. Tom looked at her, feeling suddenly
afraid, the fear clear on his face. He had suffered so many 
setbacks before, he wondered what could be the serious problem
this time. And serious it was, if they are to return to Earth.

"Please, Captain, what is it?"

"Tom, your father is at Headquarters hospital in a critical condition
after he was attacked by unknown assailants."  She waited for this 
news to sink in, seeing Tom's face pale visibly. He closed his eyes. 

"Where. Where was he attacked Captain?"

Janeway paused, knowing how difficult it is for Tom, for herself to be
the bearer of this awful news. And knowing that he knew something
else that was important.

"Near the Smithsonian."

"Elizabeth... she was with him, Captain. He promised he'd take her
there..."  Tom could feel the terrible foreboding as he waited for 
the Captain's next words.

"That is the reason we are returning, Tom. Your daughter is missing,
believed abducted."

He was glad he was sitting down, for he felt a dizziness come over 
him, the nausea rising in his stomach, and he heard voices coming 
from a long way off. He placed his hands on the desk surface, to 
steady himself and closed his eyes. When he came to, he was lying 
on a bed in sick bay.

				**********************

I must not panic, I must not panic, came Tom's distraught thoughts. He 
looked up from the bed, saw Kathryn Janeway's concerned expression,
Doctor's equally concerned look. He closed his eyes again, trying to
convince himself that it isn't true. He opened his eyes, saw them
still standing in the same positions. When he closed his eyes again
he felt the first tears seeping through.

"Elizabeth..." it came on a whisper. "Gone?"

"Tom," the captain spoke now, "we are returning to Space dock."

"My father...B'Elanna," it came on a sob from him. He tried to raise
himself, but was held down by the two doctors. "I must get up. Captain,
we must find her, please..."

Kathryn Janeway felt herself like crying. "Tom, we'll find her. That's
why Voyager is returning. We need to know all the circumstances that led
to Elizabeth's abduction."  She could see that Tom was becoming so 
agitated, as he tried to fight the doctors to get off the bed. They had
to hold him down forcibly. 

"No! Let me go! My daughter is missing. She's gone. I must look for her."

"Mr Paris, you will achieve nothing if you don't stay calm," Dr. Odizor,
the ship's doctor said.

But Tom was beside himself. He tried to wrestle himself free from the
hands restraining him, the thought of Elizabeth lying sick and afraid
somewhere in this universe making him insane with fear and anger.
At length, with the Captain also helping the two doctors, they managed
to get Tom on the bed again. The captain thought idly how fear could
give a person superhuman strength. It was almost impossible to restrain
Tom, as she nodded to the Doctor, who administered a sedative. Tom 
mercifully sank into a semi-sleep state.

"Doctor," the captain said to Dr. Odizor. "His daughter is his life.
His family is the reason he's alive today. He'll give his life if
it meant getting his little girl home again. Keep him here in sick
bay, Doctor, until we've reached Space Dock. I have relieved him of
duty."
				******************

He thought he was dreaming. Images of his father, B'Elanna, Elizabeth,
his mother, his sisters.

"Tom, if you're not here when Owen junior is born, you're a 
dead man," came B'Elanna's voice. He was standing behind her, his 
arms trying to encircle her swollen waist, his face nuzzling her 
neck. She turned in his arms, and he kissed her, her mouth opening 
under his. He loved her so much, so much, it hurt. 

"I love you," she whispered to him. They would stay standing like 
that in front of the huge window which gave them such a magnificent 
view of San Francisco Bay. Then her face faded.

"Dad, I swear this time, I'll beat you at 3D chess."

"Not a chance, Thomas," Owen Paris said. He liked now that his father
sometimes called him Thomas. He would study Owen's bent head as the 
older man pondered over his next move. The hand just wavering over
one piece, before he would look up with a victorious glint in his
eye and say: "Got you there, son."

"Tom, sweetheart, would you massage my back for me?" B'Elanna would
ask, with a sly look in her eyes. He would just sigh, knowing how he
would be making love to her in seconds. She had lost none of her
voraciousness during her pregnancy, suddenly marking him on the 
cheek, not caring sometimes if Elizabeth is awake. He would position 
himself behind her, already so aroused. She would curve her back, 
then his knee would nudge her legs open. She would raise her leg so 
he could enter her. He closed his eyes at the sensation, desire 
flowing and burning through him, before he would start gently moving 
into her. He would massage her swollen belly all the time he thrust
into her. He could feel her pushing herself back into his hardness, 
her hand coming behind her to pull him closer...

"Daddy, Daddy, wake up. We're going to the park today," Elizabeth 
would squeal, waking him up with her incessant chatter.

"Daddy, I can see real sea gulls."
"Is that San Francisco Bay?" 
"Daddy, I can see the moon." 
"Daddy, are there people living on the moon?" 
"And on Mars?"
"What do they do at Jupiter Station, Daddy?"
"When can I do a shuttle simulation on my own, Daddy?"
"Daddy, can I also fly at warp 10?"
"Daddy, is the baby going to look like Mama?"
"Daddy, I know all my tables up to nine now."
"Daddy, I know where Bligh got his name from. It's Mu-mutiny on the
Bounty!"
"When, when you go on your next mission, will you bring a souvenir 
for me?"
"Daddy, you're snoring!"
"Daddy, are you listening to me?"
"Daddy!" 
"Daddy?"

"Elizabeth!" 

Tom woke up with a start, sweating profusely and looked confusedly 
around him. He was still in sick bay, with a nurse hovering over him. 

"No - , no more sedatives please." Then he closed his eyes again. Saw
a little blonde haired, blue-eyed little girl jumping up and down
next to her mother, wanting to listen to her baby brother, holding
a tricorder in her tiny hands as if she knew what's going on.

"Mama, is that our baby's heartbeat?" 

"Mama, do all Klingons have two hearts?"

"Do you have two hearts, Mama?"

"Daddy, was I born with two hearts?"

"Yes, sweetheart, but your one heart wasn't working properly, so 
Doctor had to take it out. He put a tiny machine in its place."

"I know! It's a pacemaker, Daddy!"

The little girl throws herself into his arms, hugs him tightly round 
his neck, plants a kiss on his cheek. 

"I love you, Daddy."

"We must find her."

"We will, Mr Paris, we will." It was the Captain's voice. "We'll
be in Space Dock at 1600. An hour from now. Please, Tom,
we need you to be calm."

"Captain, I don't know how I can be. My father may be dying, my wife 
is going to give birth anytime, and my daughter is missing."  He fell
back against the headrest and covered his eyes with the back of his 
hand. She could see he was becoming agitated again, could see the
tears coursing down his cheeks. 

"My little girl," he cried.

The Captain nodded to the EMH again, who administered another 
sedative.

			**********************


CHAPTER THREE: ELIZABETH PARIS (SENIOR)

"Doctor Gray, how is he?" Elizabeth asked the harried Doctor who
was working non-stop to stabilize Owen Paris. A cortical stimulator
had been secured on him, but his breathing appeared to be erratic.

"He is doing as well as can be expected in the circumstances, Mrs
Paris, considering his age. He is deeply unconscious. The 
regeneration of the chest wound is complete, and happily there should 
be no after effects. He has received a glancing blow to the head, 
and it is this injury that we are trying to stabilise."

She looked at Owen lying on the high bed. Her husband of forty years.
A man who in the last ten years had changed so much, and even more
in the last six months. Since young Elizabeth came and won his
heart. Elizabeth who injected him with new vigour, who, more than
she herself, or the girls, roused from his melancholy. He was hardly 
breathing, but she knew he was in good hands. The Doctors were doing 
everything possible for him. 

Elizabeth had tears in her eyes, her concern for her husband very
great. She knew now he would recover consciousness, recover from his
external injuries. But she knew he would blame himself if he knew 
that Elizabeth junior had been kidnapped. Her heart started pounding 
as she thought of that little girl, gone. Who knows who took her and 
why, where can she be?

If only Tom were here, she thought. He'd know what to do. Oh, when
is he coming? She'd come to depend so much on him. He was every inch
the rock his father was. She walked into the next room, where B'Elanna 
was lying, heavily sedated. 

"B'Elanna."

"My little girl...she's gone Mama." B'Elanna looked at her with sleep
dazed eyes, which filled with tears when she saw her mother-in-law.

"She's so little. Why have they taken her?" The distraught woman 
began to sob brokenly. "We've been through so much already, Mama. 
So much."

"Hush, my child. We'll find her. Very soon. And whoever did it, will
be brought to justice."

"I can't rest, Mama, until we find her. What if she's sick? What if
she's mistreated? What if she gets heart problems? Did you know she
gets bouts of breathlessness? Like I used to get, on Voyager. But
Tom was always there to help me through it."  She sobbed wildly now.
"Now there's no one, if she gets an attack. Oh, my baby! My little
girl!"

"B'Elanna, please rest now. Don't distress yourself further."

"How can I rest Mama? Our little girl is out there somewhere, 
hurting, missing us!" and Elizabeth Paris held B'Elanna in her arms 
while the young woman sobbed quietly, brokenly.

Dear God, Elizabeth Paris prayed. What is happening? What is 
happening to this family? 

She pictured young Elizabeth running up to her, to beg for chocolate
chip cookies.

"I like it, Grandma. And Grandma, you must watch Daddy, Grandma. He
just took three cookies, and he put all three in his mouth! Grandma,
Daddy always tells me I mustn't stuff my mouth."

"Grandma, can I help Grandma bake the cookies?"

"Grandma, Mama let me listen to the baby's heart on the tricorder."

Grandma thought this little girl must be the most inquisitive child
she had come across. Yet she answered all Elizabeth's questions with
the patience of a woman who had raised three children, and who had
four robust boys as grandsons.

It had been only eight hours now since Owen had been attacked and
Elizabeth kidnapped. Yet it seemed like eternity, waiting for 
Voyager to arrive. She had been told that the crew of Voyager had
been assigned the task of looking for little Elizabeth. She has 
great faith that they would return the little girl unharmed to her
parents, though she wondered herself why anyone would do something
so dastardly. Poor Tom, she thought, having to be informed of
Elizabeth's disappearance while on a mission. It can't be easy on him, 
she knew. 
                        
He loved his daughter to distraction. He declared on more than one
occasion that Elizabeth was his "saving grace". They'd be utterly 
lost without her.

				*****************************


CHAPTER FOUR: B'ELANNA PARIS


"B'Elanna."

She thought she was dreaming. Tom's voice was calling to her. She 
didn't stir, then she heard again, with a hand shaking her gently.

"B'Elanna, sweetheart, wake up...please."

Through the deep fog of her consciousness, she rose to meet the voice
that called her. She opened her eyes slowly, saw Tom was leaning
over her.

"Tom? Tom!"

She raised herself from the bed to sitting position. He helped her
up, then she thrust herself against his chest, and started sobbing
softly. He held her very close to him, his hands stroking her face, 
her hair, his lips against her forehead.

"We'll find her, my darling, we'll find her." She thought she heard
the tears in his voice. She looked at him, saw his eyes. It seemed
a great anger was lurking there. Very few times she had seen that in 
Tom. He had been angry back when the Vidians had tortured her. 
Sometimes he was angry at her, but this... this was different. 
Somebody had touched his family. Somebody, she could see, was going 
to pay. 

"B'Elanna, we've brought our EMH here. He wants to perform an ARA on 
you. We have to do that with every member of my family. Tuvok and 
Rollins beamed down at the Smithsonian, to gather clues there."

B'Elanna sank back against the headrest. She was feeling sick.

"Tom...who could be doing this to us? And why?" she cried forlornly.
I'm afraid, Tom." She started sobbing again, her brown eyes deeply
unhappy. "My baby, gone. Where is she?"

"Sweetheart, don't distress yourself so, please."

Her eyes flashed darkly as she looked at him, the anger she kept at
bay for so long now surfacing. He could hear the familiar growl
coming from deep inside her.

"Tom, for God's sake, our daughter is missing, missing! And you tell
me not to be distressed. What do you think I am? A machine? She's
gone. Somebody took her, almost killed your father, and you want
me to be calm?" As always the ridges on her forehead became more
pronounced whenever she showed extreme emotion.

B'Elanna...please," Tom pleaded as he pressed her gently back against
the bed. He was glad when Doctor appeared, to administer a sedative.
Knowing B'Elanna didn't like being sedated, always claiming it to
be un-Klingon like, she acquiesced. She is deeply distressed, he could
see. She sagged back against the headrest, her eyes now closed, but
he could see the tears running down her cheeks.

"Mr Paris, you'll please leave me with the patient. I believe you 
have to be in a meeting with Captain Janeway.

Tom looked one last time at his wife, nodded to the doctor, then left
the room,
			
			***********************************

They were in one of the Headquarters boardrooms, going over every 
detail of the attack on Tom's father, and Elizabeth's disappearance. 
Tom's sisters, their husbands, his mother, he himself had been 
subjected to the ARA interrogation. He wanted to die. That they had
the be involved. Forced to lay bare their private lives. He cried
inwardly. His mother, too. God, his mother, who would have anything
against her? he cried silently. He knew, by intuition that the 
reason, the motivation of his daughter's disappearance lay with him. 
With a past that would just not let him go. Was it only six months 
ago he told B'Elanna that his past is something he had to live with,
although he could never live it down?

Present were the senior crew of Voyager, and one other person whom 
Tom thought was a surprise. Aren Hager, his brother-in-law. He looked 
questioningly at Aren, then at the Captain. He looked at Aren and 
nodded. He thought no one could have been more honest during the 
interrogations than Aren. Aren looked at him, and his gaze spoke one 
of understanding.

"Tom, all the clues we have filtered, seem to have it's origin with
you. I'm sorry that we have to rake up some unpleasant memories for
you, but time is against us. Although it is now twelve hours since 
the attack, every minute counts from this point on."

The Captain looked at the Bajoran, then nodded. 

"We know now that Elizabeth's kidnapping and Dad's attack had to do 
with the events at Caldik Prime."  Aren paused to let that fact sink 
in.

Tom closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was an immense 
sadness. All he said was: "Caldik Prime will never rest."

"We ruled out a possible Cardassian retribution against your father, 
Tom. It is not their style. They would have kidnapped your father and 
tortured him, like they did so many years ago," Captain Janeway 
asserted. 

"B'Elanna lost most of her friends she had in the Maquis. None of 
them survived the Cardassian purge on the Maquis strongholds. None of 
those who survived had any reason to abduct a four year old child, 
they are all still in prison," came Chakotay's report. The Doctor's 
finding on the ARA suggests that. The rest of your family check out.
I'm sorry, Tom," Chakotay whispered. He felt embarrassed that Tom's
family members had to be dragged into this.

"Tom," Aren said, "immediately after my sister died, I did hate you.
I'm sorry I have to tell you this. But my sister, she was deeply
spiritual. You know it's a Bajoran trait. I was very angry for 
a while. But so many things your sisters told me about you, made me 
realise that what happened was an accident there. Larissa and Caitlin 
constantly reminded me that you took responsibility for your actions. 
You paid dearly for those mistakes, and your family," he continued 
softly, "they suffered too, they paid too, by losing a loved one, 
believing you dead. I could not hold you responsible for my sister's 
death. You killed no one." He paused. 

"But...?" Tom retorted.

"But there were others who were not so merciful in their judgement
of you. Even those crew who survived the accident. Others who heard
of the accident, and were too ready to cast judgement. It was a way
they had, I think, to get at your father, too. They needed something
to blight your father's incorruptibility. We have reduced the number 
to two or three persons. Persons who do not want to see the Paris 
family happy, who want to punish you. Who want to take away from you 
your loved ones. Your daughter, and possibly your father, with whom 
you have established a caring relationship."

"I - I dreamed once of the accident," he stammered, and there were
the three officers lying on the bridge of the Andoria, dead. I - I
heard the commander - Commander Crean, say I murdered them. But
B'Elanna and our unborn child were also lying dead on the bridge.
He wanted me to suffer as their families were suffering."

"Lieutenant Graham was a bachelor who was survived by ageing 
parents. They have subsequently died. That left Commander Crean,"
the Captain said. She continued quietly: "he was survived by a wife
and two children, a boy aged twelve and a ten year old daughter."
They are now twenty two and twenty years old respectively."

"Captain, do you think they could be responsible for taking
Elizabeth?" Tom asked incredulously. "And killing my father?"

"Yes, we believe so. They are the only ones we have determined so
far who would have something personal against your family. They are 
angry enough, we think. Tuvok and Rollins should be joining us any 
minute now, with important information. We know who the abductors 
are, we must now find out where they are."

Tom rested his elbows on the table surface, his head in his hands.
He sat long like that. Almost, almost he wished they had remained
in the Delta Quadrant. Forever. So that this needn't happen to
his family. Everyone was affected by what happened. His father, 
almost killed, his mother, his sisters who stood by him although
he never knew it, his wife and...God, he thought, his little girl.
Dear, sweet little Elizabeth. How innocent could a victim be?
He thought that there could not have been a more effective way to 
punish him for his deeds of so long ago. To take away from him his 
loved ones. To make him suffer. Didn't they know how he suffered 
already? Didn't they know he had been to hell and back for his deeds, 
for his screw-ups? Didn't they know that he was still paying for what 
he had done? Didn't they know of his terrifying nightmares which 
remind him every minute of every day that he made mistakes? Mistakes
he wished to heaven he could undo? Nightmares which still invade his 
sleep? Why, he thought with despair, am I still paying for things I 
am sorry for. Things I regretted happened? Why my father too? Now 
that I have started to build a relationship with him? Whom I love?
It was too much for him to bear. It was one mistake. God help him. 
One mistake. How many times must I pay? 

The way his shoulders shook, those sitting around the table could
see Tom was sobbing. Kathryn Janeway thought with great compassion
that Tom was suffering. She wondered exactly how much his family,
in particular the Admiral, knew Tom had gone through over the years.

It was Aren whose hand rested on his shoulder. A deeply spiritual
man, he said:

"My brother, I feel your pain. I feel your suffering. The world we 
live in, is unkind, shows no mercy sometimes to those who transgress. 
There will always be those who will remind us of our shortcomings,
however sorry, remorseful we are. And those, like Elizabeth's 
abductors who want to make us pay for them. We know now the *who*, 
all we must find out is the *where* and perhaps the *why*."

As if on cue, Tuvok and Rollins entered. Tuvok wasted no time.

"We must leave, Captain. We have determined two locations. Lieutenant 
Rollins will take a team with him to Mars. Mr Paris will be with me." 
He looked at Tom.

"Mr Paris, your little girl was very clever when she was taken. She
dropped her Phoenix, but not before one of the assailants wanted
to take it from her. We have DNA traces taken from her toy, and have 
searched Starfleet's database for any matches. One matched, that of 
Andrew Crean. He is the son of the late Commander Crean. He has a 
history of unsavoury activities, though I can't say the same for his 
sister, one Pennina Crean."

"The Creans were based at Caldik Prime. After the accident I visited
them. I remember Mrs Crean as a nervous woman, who took her husband's
death very badly. I'm sorry Tom," Aren said. "Even the children 
looked angry. I just thought at the time that they dealt with their 
grief  that way. I was angry too, but then I met your sister." 

"It appears," Rollins said, "that they have been living on the moon 
for a few years, and on Mars. Those are the locations we investigate 
first."

"We have investigated all traffic leaving Earth, and their 
destinations. In particular, the non Starfleet vessels. They were 
rather naive, thinking we would not pick up any ion trails."

"They forgot they're dealing with Voyager," Joe Carey said acidly.

				************************

"B'Elanna."

She groaned awake. "Tom?"

"We're going now B'Elanna, sweetheart. Very soon we'll have our 
daughter right here with us."  Tom took the baby blanket she had 
been clutching all the time, gently from her. "I think she'll want 
this, Angel." 

B'Elanna nodded. Whenever Elizabeth was really saddened about 
anything, she would still lie down with her blanky. Refusing to let 
go of it. There was a patently grateful look in B'Elanna's eyes. And 
some concern. For she was beginning to feel the first twinges of 
labour pains. She didn't want to worry Tom, their main concern 
now, getting Elizabeth back safely. She hoped fervently they'd find 
her soon. Tom looked at her one last time, before kissing her 
lingeringly on her mouth. Her eyes closed at his touch, she had her 
arms around his neck and she could feel the tears coming again. 

"Bring her back for me, Tom, please," was her entreaty, before 
he left.

She knew she'd be given a full report later. Right now, she thought 
of the ARA she underwent, and it brought back all the fondest 
memories she had of her friends in the Maquis. Friends who died for 
the cause. Friends who stood by each other. Some are in Federation 
prisons, others murdered by the Cardassians. She remembered how 
distraught she had been at the time the crew received messages from
home, when Chakotay told her the news. She smiled now as she thought
how she worried herself first over Tom's anger at not wanting to hear
from his father. Denying herself the luxury of grieving for her 
friends who died at the hands of the Cardassians. She had seen the 
same in her mother-in-law, a woman of such incredible depth and 
courage and strength, the matriarch who holds this family together. 
Who first sees to the needs of her family, before her own. 

Elizabeth must be so traumatised by now. She felt anew the tears, as 
she thought of her daughter, her bright, bubbly child who embraced 
life so completely with both hands. So totally free and natural. In 
her four short years she has done so much living, grasping at every 
opportunity to experience something new. She felt such an envy 
sometimes that she herself had such a saddened childhood, even Tom. 
In Elizabeth they both saw what they in their own childhoods had 
missed. 

Now she had been taken, by force. She could only imagine how 
terrified Elizabeth must have been. Seeing her Grandpa, lying there, 
gravely injured, believing probably that he's dead. She closed her 
eyes, trying to block out that image. 

She had known the moment she was called from her astro-physics class 
to the Dean's office, that something was wrong. 

"Cadet Paris, I'm afraid I have news of a distressing nature for you,"
the Dean said kindly. He was an old colleague of Owen Paris and was as
shocked.

"Your father-in-law, Admiral Paris has been attacked and is here at 
hospital in a serious condition." He paused. He could see her becoming
ashen, starting to rise out of her chair.

"My daughter, Professor, she - she was with him."

"Cadet Paris, your daughter was not found with him. She is believed
abducted. I can't say how sorry I am - "

"No - !!" It was a single, long scream.

She felt a dizziness come over her, she looked wildly towards the 
door in time to see a doctor enter with a hypospray in his hand. When 
she came to, she was lying in a room adjacent to where her 
father-in-law was lying. From that point on, everything became hazy. 
She could not stop screaming for her child, images of a near dying 
Elizabeth in a birthing crib on Voyager with her dying husband in the 
next bed going through her mind. She wailed in helpless rage at what 
has happened, her own condition preventing her from going out there
and kill the nearest person. Kill those who took her child and
killed Owen Paris. She had been inconsolable, calling repeatedly
for her husband, that Tom be there with her. Instead, it was her
mother-in-law, who came and brought some measure of calm in her,
whose husband lay in a critical condition in the next room. She whose 
calm strength in this crisis became the anchor to which all of them 
clung. She embraced B'Elanna and let her sob uncontrollably in her 
arms, who cried herself softly at the tragedy that has befallen this 
family.

B'Elanna in these few hours came to understand it when Owen Paris one 
day told her and Tom: 

"Your mother, Tom...she was my strength, through all these years."

That lady, even though her own husband was lying in the next room,
in a serious condition, came to B'Elanna, and comforted her
daughter-in-law, doing what she has done all these years, denying
her own need to grieve. Instead, she showered it on all those who
needed to be consoled. 

"Doctor."

"Yes, Mrs Paris. What can I do for you?"

"I want to get up here. I've been sedated enough now. I think I'll
be fine. I need to know how my father-in-law is doing."

"Okay, it's fine, Mrs Paris. You can go and see for yourself,"
the doctor said a little optimistically. He helped her from the
bed, and led her to the next room. Already she was beginning to take
slower steps. She wondered how long it would take before her water 
broke. 

"Mama..."

"Yes, child?" Elizabeth Paris lifted her head where it rested against
her husband's arm on the bed.

"Please, you need to rest. I'll stay here with Dad. Come." And 
B'Elanna led her mother-in-law to the lounge, where she could recline 
on a couch. She returned to sit with Owen Paris, whose face still 
appeared pale. His breathing was shallow. His external injuries had 
been healed. But he was still deeply concussed. 

She thought how frail he looked now. And so ill. She thought of all
the stories she had heard of this man. And the way she knew him now.
She could not have loved her own father more. So often in the past
six months she would come into his office and discuss quantum 
mechanics with him, talk about preparing a paper for her term. She 
even did a Janeway on him. Asked him to be her promoter for her 
upcoming honours thesis. He was really as tough as everybody said. 
He didn't spare her, grilling her as much as he did his most 
brilliant cadets, as he did with Kathryn Janeway. But her long years 
on Voyager, of crisis management, of staying awake longer than anyone 
on Voyager, save the Captain, of thinking on her feet, of thinking 
faster than her lips could utter her ideas, came through for her. 
Everything he threw at her, she was more than up to the task, matching 
him every inch of the way. It seemed to her he thrived on pitting his 
own knowledge against her. She knew Owen Paris was proud of her. She 
was proud of him. She came to admire him, and have understanding for 
his tough stance he took with his cadets. 

Having been so often on Voyager in situations where critical 
decisions depended upon quick thinking, where a split second could 
mean a difference between life and death. She understood why 
he was so tough on them. The irony was that she could see in Tom the 
embryo of this trait. He didn't spare himself, that she knew. During
the past six months, the three they were at home, and the rest on
missions, he never stopped working on shuttle speed effienciy,
creating and programming innovative tactical manuevers. He spent
an intensive two weeks with some senior cadets who would be flyers 
after their training, taking them through every maneuver, training
them, honing their skills. And boy, was he hard on them. He wasn't
even aware he was emulating his father. Her class mates were eager
to complain to her about how tough her husband was on them. She just
smiled and told them to stick it through. He made greater demands 
on himself than on anyone else. But he had patience. It was wonderful 
to see how he worked with Elizabeth, guiding her patiently and gently, 
allowing her to determine her own limitations, and then progressing 
from there. 

"You know, Angel," he said after the two week intensive course. "I
can understand now why Dad would sometimes be impatient with the
cadets, with me. I know what I am capable of, I want them do do the
same, be as fast as I am. Then I drive them harder. With Dad I knew
I was up to most of his cadet tricks, I just wanted to fight him
all the way."

"Tom, I did tell you not so long ago, you're more like your old
man than you'd care to think."

He just gave her one of his completely engaging grins.

She thought of her unborn child. They waited so long for him. She had 
begun to lose hope of ever having more than one child. *Oh, Dad, 
please live, so you can see your grandson, who is going to bear your 
illustrious name. Very soon he will enter the world. I want him to 
know his grandfather.*

I wonder who he will resemble. I wonder what he will be like. Tom 
already hinted if he doesn't become an engineer like his mommy, 
he'll eat his hat, the way he was digging his limbs against 
B'Elanna's belly. So intense, she actually one evening in bed, 
lifted her nightie for Tom to look at her stomach and stare at the 
frenzied movements of their son.

"That's one squirt who's not going to sit still for ten seconds
flat, B'Elanna," Tom laughed. 

"It's not funny, Tom. It's a strange sensation. I feel embarrassed
when I'm in class. I imagine every cadet who looks at my stomach
can see the bulges our little squirt makes."

B'Elanna was alerted to a soft moan coming from Owen Paris. She
smiled, seeing how his eyes moved under his closed eyelids. He's
going to wake up soon. She sobered immediately. What do we tell
him about Elizabeth?

"Doctor."  She called softly. The Doctor was quick. She got up, left
the ward and returned with her mother-in-law. 

"Dearest," the older woman cried as she saw her husband had opened
his eyes at last. Taking his hand in hers, she kissed him tenderly.
But B'Elanna could see he was fractious. Worried. He looked at 
B'Elanna. His first words:

"Where is she? Where is Elizabeth?" he croaked softly. 


				*************************

CHAPTER FIVE: YOUNG ELIZABETH ROWENA

She had stopped crying. Now there was only a dry sobbing left, that
every few seconds or so, seemed to rack her little body. She lay 
huddled on a mattress in the corner of the darkened room clutching 
Eliza the pink teddy bear. The woman walked to her again. She had 
something in her hand. It was a bowl. There was something to eat.

"Come, you must eat."

"I want my Mommy and my Daddy," she sobbed her cheeks stained with 
dirt and dried tears.

"Little girl, you must eat something."

"No! I don't want to eat. I want my Mama." She knocked the bowl
out of her abductor's hands. 

"You don't want that bad man to make you eat, don't you?"

"No..." she said plaintively shrinking back against the wall.

"Okay, if you don't want to eat. Go hungry then. You're not going
to see your Mommy and your Daddy again. We're going to keep you
here forever."

This had the tears running again.

"Please, I want to go to my Mommy and my Daddy," the little girl 
cried now. "Where is my Grandpa?"

"Dead. Now shut up."  Then she sobbed heartbrokenly all over again. 
Because her Grandpa is dead. 

The woman approached the little child where she lay huddled in the 
corner. She was tall, appeared in her twenties. Her hair, rich brown, 
fell in long tresses down her back, almost to her waist. Whatever 
happens, she must go through with this. They must suffer, as she 
suffered. Cry, as she cried. Yearn, as she yearned. Yet, looking at 
this little girl, she felt an unwilling tug at her heart, a chord 
sounding. She saw herself, like this child, also huddled on a bed, 
crying soundlessly for her daddy and her mommmy, for what she could 
never have back. And she wondered at this sense of empathy in her,
surfacing suddenly now, seeing this too small child who hasn't really
stopped crying for her parents since Andy and Shiloh brought her in
here twelve hours ago now. 

Her own mother's words before she died: "Find the man who killed 
your father, childen. Punish him, for his crime against us."

She thought how it was Andy, two years her senior, who soaked up 
these words. Seeing this desperately unhappy little girl reminded her 
of her own unhappiness. But it was Andy who fanned and kept her anger 
alive the last ten years. Now she wonders if it was all worth the 
effort. 

She reached out her hand to touch the little girl's hair. It was a 
silky blonde, reaching to her shoulder. The eyes were a startling 
blue, something she couldn't notice at the distances she used to 
watched her with her parents in the park. They looked so happy.
She thought they didn't deserve to be so happy. Yet...

Elizabeth shrank back, the fear clear in her eyes, her mouth 
slightly open and gasping. 

"Don't touch me..." 

"I won't hurt you..."

"You hurt my Grandpa..." and she started crying haltingly again. 
"I want to go home. I want my Mommy and my Daddy, please."

When the woman touched her, Elizabeth let out a long, keening wail.
Then she started to gasp for air. She knew, small as she was, that
if she couldn't stop, she was going to faint. She tried to remember
what her Mama and Daddy taught her if she started to hyperventilate.
Daddy said he always helped Mama when it used to happen to her.

"Elizabeth, sweetheart, just close your eyes. Hold your hand against
your heart, like this," and Daddy would show her how, "then you slow
down your breathing, like this" Then Daddy would breathe slowly 
himself and she would imitate him. She held her hand against her 
chest and slowed down her breathing, just like Daddy showed her. 
She could feel a little pain, then it stopped. She opened her eyes, 
and the woman looked at her still.

"Where did you learn to do that, child?"

"My-my Daddy taught me," she said a little unwillingly.

"What is your name?" the woman asked a little kindly now.

"Elizabeth Rowena."

"Elizabeth, do you love your Mommy and your Daddy very much?"

Elizabeth shook her head up and down, her eyes full of tears. 
             
"I also loved my mommy and my daddy, little girl. But they are
dead now."

"Please can I go home now?"
       
"You can't see your Mommy and your Daddy. You will never see your
mommy and daddy. They must suffer." 

The woman left the room, leaving a distraught Elizabeth behind. The
little girl lay down on the mattress again, clutching Eliza. For a 
few minutes she cried wildly again, then stopped eventually. 
She tried to think. When the bad men hurt her Grandpa, she dropped 
her Phoenix. One of the bad men picked it up, then threw it away 
again. She was very afraid then. Her little body rocked from time 
to time as a dry sob overtook her. Her Grandpa is dead. And she can 
never see her Mama and Daddy again. 

Tears started forming in her eyes again as she thought of her 
Grandpa. He smiles down at her, his eyes crinkling with enjoyment, 
as they piloted Daddy's favourite shuttle on Voyager, the Cochrane, 
through an asteroid field. For a few seconds he allowed her to 
handle the controls on her own. She is open-mouthed with wonderment 
as she realises she's cleared five kilometres through the asteroids.

"Did you enjoy the ride, Elizabeth?" And she nodded her head up and
down.

"Grandpa, when I'm bigger, will I go faster?"

"Grandpa, when can I do it all on my own at warp four?"

"Sweetheart, you'll have to wait what your Mama and Daddy says. Only
when you are ready, Miss Elizabeth."

She liked it when he called her Miss Elizabeth. Because it makes her
feel im-important. And he calls Grandma always "dearest". Sometimes, 
when they think she isn't looking, he kisses Grandma right on her
lips. Then Grandma would say:

"Owen dearest, not in front of Elizabeth."

"That's okay, Grandma. My Daddy kisses my Mama ALL the time!"

*

Are you looking for me, Daddy? I miss you, Daddy." 

Maybe they found my Phoenix. Maybe they won't find it. Someone else
picked it up. She closed her eyes. She dozed off a little.

She was at Palings. It was her birthday, and Daddy put a blindfold on 
her, so her present could be a surprise. He took her on the porch
of the house, then took the blindfold off. There, in a basket, two
puppies, looking up at her with those wide, almost limpid eyes, their
tails wagging, tongues hanging out. She screeched with excitement, 
and picked both out of the basket immediately. And immediately they 
wriggled closer to her, and started licking her face.

"Sweetheart, these are real puppies, and not holograms, like Daddy
programmed on Voyager. What do you want to call them?"

"That's easy, Daddy. Bligh and Nemo! Just like our dogs on the 
holodeck!"

"Elizabeth, since they are real dogs, you must look after them, 
understand? They want water and food - "

"And biscuits!" she piped up.

She had a wonderful birthday. All her cousins were there, and she
played with them, especially Tommy, who was only a year older. Daddy
told her the puppies had to stay at Palings, but they could visit
every week. She was very glad of that. 

Mama had given her a new book, a real book with pages, because she
liked to read from real books. It was called Alice in Wonderland.
When they went home again, she spent all her time - well, almost all
her time, just reading about Alice and the March Hare and the Queen
of Hearts.

"Mama, did you know that Alice was only dreaming?"

"Yes sweetheart, but it was all real to her."

"Mama, I dream sometimes."

"Sure. We can see how your eyelids flutter. They are nice dreams,
right?"

She would nod her head vigorously up and down. 

"Can - can I also hold the baby when he's born?"

"I'm sure Daddy will allow you to, sweetheart."

"Mama, can I also be there when the baby is born?"

"We'll ask all the doctors and nurses at the hospital, sweetheart.
I guess if they don't mind, it's okay."

Her heart was in her eyes as she looked at her Mama. She threw her
arms round her, hugged her Mama fiercely.

"I love you, Mama."

She misses her puppies. She misses Grandma and Grandma. She misses
Mommy and Daddy. Now she won't see her Grandpa anymore. She won't
see her Mama anymore, and her new baby brother. Mama said anytime
now, the baby will be born. Then she started crying again, and kept 
on until she fell into a restless sleep.
				
				********************

She woke to strange, harsh voices. They appeared to be mad at each
other. She sat up, and cowered in the corner, her eyes very wide
and afraid. Her mouth was open and she was breathing erratically
again. She tried to get a sound out, but it was as if no one could
hear.

"Dammit, Pennina, you agreed to stick to our agreement. We want them
to suffer, but think how much worse for them it will be if we kill 
the kid."

"No -! Don't you dare, Andy. It was only going to be for a few days,
maybe a week. Look, I hate him as much as you do, but to kill?"

"You've gone soft in the head, Penny," Andy countered. "We've been 
waiting for years for this. Five years to be exact. Ever since we
heard that Voyager was in the Delta Quadrant. Don't back out now."

"Andy, just look at her! She's scared out of her mind."

Pennina walked towards Elizabeth, who shrank back further against the
wall. She was clearly hyperventilating now, so distraught, she
couldn't remember what Mama and Daddy taught her. Pennina tried to 
pick Elizabeth up, who struggled desperately, almost pitching herself 
out of Pennina's arms, then suddenly she slumped, her body limp 
against the young woman. Pennina cradled the still body protectively
in her arms, looked at the ashen face of the child.

"Now see what you've done, Andy!"


				***************************

CHAPTER SIX: SEARCH

"Her little teddy bear is the key," Tuvok said.

"That's if she still has it," came Tom's answer. He was fast 
beginning to become impatient. The longer they took to finding
Elizabeth, the greater the fear that she might be seriously injured
or dead. He shuddered at that thought. They had been literally in 
every commune now on Earth's moon. They were no nearer to finding his 
daughter. 

"She's one very clever child," Aren said. "Remember, she dropped her
Phoenix, thinking it might lead us to her. Perhaps Eliza will do the
same."

"So you know it's called Eliza," Tom smiled grimly. 

"She tells everybody that, Tom. Same as she announced B'Elanna is 
pregnant again. Told everybody that first day at Palings at least 
twice."

They were traveling in a shuttle towards a large town called 
Newlands, population: one hundred thousand inhabitants, not all 
colonists from Earth. It was the same town Tom's father's friend, 
old Vice-Admiral Pryce retired to with his family. They were quiet 
in the shuttle, each immersed in his own thoughts. Voyager was in 
orbit, and they remained in contact with Chakotay, every fifteen 
minutes. A sudden thought struck Tom, as he thought that.

"Tuvok, do you think it's possible we can trace Elizabeth through 
Eliza?"

"I have thought of that, Commander. It is possible. You said 
Lieutenant Torres replicated the bear from Voyager's replicators." 
Tuvok was struck with the same idea. He slapped his commbadge:

"Tuvok to Voyager."

"Voyager here. What can I do for you, Commander?" came Chakotay's 
voice.

"Commander, I need you to check the database for a record of 
Elizabeth's toy, a pink bear, replicated almost five years ago?"

"I'll get Harry on to that. We'll let you know in fifteen minutes."

"We will download the information onto our tricorders. That way we 
can trace on our sensors here for co-ordinates. That should bring us 
closer to our goal."
 
"Also, be ready to beam Mr Paris and his daughter directly to sick 
bay. We do not know as yet what the state of her health may be at 
that point."

"I pray she is unhurt," Aren said. 

"Yeah, I do too," Tom agreed fervently. Elizabeth had lately taken 
to become breathless whenever she was over excited about anything. 
They noticed that early on already, and he and B'Elanna had taken 
pains to train her to do breathing exercises. He knew she had to 
be terrified when his father had been shot, and she had to witness 
that. How traumatic for her, he thought. She's so little. And even 
though she is bright, independent, intelligent, most of the time 
she's just their little girl who wants to be cuddled and hugged. He 
closed his eyes and willed himself to be strong. We don't know what 
we'll find. Dear God, let her be alive.

"Voyager to Tuvok. Here is the information you wanted, Commander. Be
ready to download in ten seconds."

The shuttle glided gently down to the landing bays in the outskirts
of Newlands. From there they walked, tracking with their tricorders.
Once they found a trace, however minimal, they would be transported
to those co-ordinates. Tom's heart was racing. He felt it in his 
bones they were at the right place. He, Tuvok and one security 
officer started walking, holding their tricorders, pointing them in 
three different directions. After twenty minutes, Lieutenant Lashley
called, 

"I have something, Commander."

They all looked at him expectantly. "There, 1.5 kilometre from our
present bearing," and he pointed in the direction.

"Let's go," Tuvok said.

				***********************


"Let go of her, Penny. I swear to God, I'll kill you too." Andrew
Crean demanded. 

"No - ! Andy, don't kill her. Please, I've changed my mind. I'm sorry
I went along with you. This is all wrong. Wrong! Do you hear me?"

Pennina had a limp Elizabeth in her arms, who, when she came to, 
started hyperventilating again when she saw Andrew point a phaser
at her. She screamed at first, hiding her face against Pennina's
breast. Then she went limp again. Pennina felt Elizabeth sagging 
against her.

"Andrew, let her go, please. We'll just find somewhere else to hide.
Take her back. I'll take her back." 

Andrew walked up to his sister. He had known she would like a coward
pull out. 

"Listen, little sister. That man was responsible for our father's
death. He killed Dad. Do you hear me? Murdered him. He must pay.
He robbed us of the only parents we had. Yeah, Mom too. Remember a
lonely  woman who hanged from the branch of a tree? Dead. Leaving us 
alone in the world? Penny, he robbed us of our loved ones, it's only 
fitting we take his loved ones. You know we killed his old man." And 
Andrew began to laugh diabolically. He pointed the phaser at his 
sister. 

"It was an accident, Andrew. You know it was explained over an over 
to us." She was cradling Elizabeth against her, now afraid of her
brother. Afraid he would really carry our his threat.

"No! It was murder. I loved Mom and Dad. You loved them. We were left
destitute and without parents! Have you forgotten that?"

It was clear to Pennina that her brother was seriously disturbed.
She should never have gone along with him with this terrible idea.
She had known from the start it was wrong. She had to get away. 
Get the child to safety. The little girl already appeared dead. She 
made for the open doorway. 

"Don't move, Pennina. I'll kill her. Then I'll kill you."

"Andrew," Pennina whispered, "you need help. This child needs help."

He pointed the phaser at the child. Pennina moved, and in the next 
instant, several things happened simultaneously. Pennina swung round 
to protect Elizabeth from a phaser shot, at the same time feeling a 
burning sensation between her shoulder blades. She went down, still 
holding on to the child, covering Elizabeth with her body. Andrew 
pointed again at the two figures lying on the floor. In that 
instant Tuvok appeared in the doorway, pointed his phaser at Andrew 
Crean and fired. At the same moment Tom entered, ran to where the 
woman had fallen and lifted an unconscious Elizabeth into his arms. 

He slapped his commbadge.

"Paris to Voyager, three to beam directly to sickbay."

"Elizabeth," he howled, "oh my God, don't d - " as he was engulfed 
in the shimmer of the transporter beam. 

				************************

Tuvok stood over the inert form of Andrew Crean. This young man had
a lot to answer for. He found these human traits always so illogical.
He understood a human's desire to be angry, even lash out, but to
bear that grudge for years, it was beyond his Vulcan understanding.


The desire for revenge, he thought, inspired Earth's greatest works
of literature. He failed to comprehend what one could gain from it.
Humans he knew, would tell him it was the satisfaction of seeing 
someone punished, for a wrongdoing against that person. He thought 
that to be a wasted emotion, that could have been channeled into 
something else more constructive. The only empathy he had, if a 
Vulcan could have such a feeling, for this young man and his sister, 
was that Starfleet perhaps erred in not counselling the two children 
at a critical time in their lives, entering puberty and adolescence, 
to the fullest degree. After all, their father had been on active 
service for the Federation.

But, as a Vulcan, he remembered years ago, when Tom Paris approached
him to thank him for saving his life, the words that had Tom been 
guilty, the rules of that society would have been applied. Tuvok saw 
nothing wrong in that. Because that was what it meant when it was said 
that the punishment should fit the crime. And these two young people, 
however misguided their motivation, committed a crime. For that they 
deserved punishment. He sighed. The young girl, he thought, could be 
redeemed. He saw her saving young Elizabeth's life. If that young lady 
is still alive.

He looked at Lieutenant Lashley and Aren Hager, tapped his commbadge.

"Tuvok to Voyager. Four to beam up."
				
			  ***************************

Tom Paris refused to leave his daughter's side where she lay on a 
biobed. Her frame was so tiny against the huge bed. She was 
unconscious, and he thought of the time B'Elanna had lain here like 
this, after hyperventilating. How scared he had been then. How scared 
he is now. For a while he had become slightly demented with fear and
rage, the urgency of finding their daughter compelling him to suppress
his dread. Looking at her, it seemed to him like she would never wake
up. 

"Elizabeth, sweetheart, wake up...please. Open your eyes for Daddy,"
Tom pleaded desperately, unable to mask the tears. 

He was completely exhausted, realising now with a pang he hadn't slept 
in thirty six hours, all the tension, the exertion of trying not to 
panic and remain calm, now taking its toll on him. He looked haggard,
there were dark circles round his eyes.

"Mr Paris," the EMH said to him, a note of compassion in his voice, 
"she *will* wake up."

Elizabeth had been scanned by Voyager's EMH, and although the vessel 
had it's own official doctor, Dr. Odizor, it was the hologram who 
worked on Elizabeth, and Dr. Odizor who tended to Pennina Crean.

"Doc, she's so little," he said tiredly. "What have they done to her?"

"She has no physical injuries, I glad to say, Commander. But she has
been extremely traumatised."

Tom look at her, his eyes never leaving her, his own eyes dark with
pain.

"Wake up..." he whispered softly, holding her hand, caressing the
back of it, then going to her face, touching her ridges, his fingers
trembling. "Wake up...please...Elizabeth," he kept whispering.

Dr. Odizor shook his head. It was clear there was very little he 
could do for Pennina Crean. Her brother had shot her at close range, 
his phaser set on kill. Very slowly she turned her head to where Tom 
was sitting at Elizabeth's side. 

"Commander." Her voice was weak, yet it held a note of pleading.

Tom swung round to face the young woman. Her face looked ashen, weak.
She was dying. She looked at him. There was a burning look in her 
light brown eyes. 

"Forgive me...please..." she pleaded. 

Tom thought of the thousand times he uttered those same words, the 
thousand times he saw the hatred, the shame, disappointment, the 
thousand times there was no answer to his supplication. The thousand 
times he felt the remorse eating away at him, the feeling of
hopelessness in the knowledge that he will never be pardoned. Now a 
young girl, for that's what she was, looking at her, her life ebbing 
slowly from her, was asking him to forgive her. Asking him to forgive 
that his father was almost killed by her brother, his little girl 
terrorised into unconsciousness. That his daughter suffered a trauma 
no child of her age should ever have to go through. He closed his 
eyes for a second, and unbidden came the image of Jenny Delaney, when 
she told him that day in the Doctor's office, on this very ship:

"I can never have inner peace if I can't find it in my heart to
forgive you, Tom."
 
Yet he knew, in those precious few seconds they stood in the doorway
of that room, when he saw this young woman turn so her own brother
shot her in the back, and in that way saved Elizabeth, that he would
forgive her. It was an act he witnessed that needed no explanation,
but that he could see that this young woman did not want Elizabeth
hurt in any way. In this moment, Tom Paris looked at Pennina Crean,
and with a heart as big as the universe, said:

"You saved my daughter's life. For that I thank you."

Pennina Crean looked at Tom, then her eyes glazed over, she gave a
sigh, and was still. 

"Daddy?"

Tom swung round to see Elizabeth staring at him with watery eyes.
His own eyes filled with tears as he scooped her up from the bed, and
held her close to him for long, long moments. His hand cupped her 
head protectively while his lips were on her forehead. Elizabeth's
arms went convulsively round his neck, and she clung to him, while
her little body heaved with sobs. He cried with her, all the time
caressing her features, kissing her hair, her eyes, then pressing
her closed to him again. 

Tom looked at the EMH. The Doctor nodded to him, then said:
 
"Mr Paris, she's fine now. I've corrected her breathing and also
monitored her heart. You may take her with you now."

"Thank you, Doctor. As always, you've come through for this family."

Tom looked tenderly at his daughter, whose eyes were beginning to
droop. She's falling asleep, he realised. 

"Daddy?" 

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I want to go home, Daddy."

"Very soon, sweetheart, very soon, you'll be home again."

"Daddy?"

"Hmmm...?" 

"Is Grandpa dead, Daddy?"

Tom closed his eyes when he heard her ask this question. My God,
what have they done to our little girl?

"Sweetheart, no. Grandpa is not dead. He is still very sick,
but Grandpa didn't die, Elizabeth."

"Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I love you Daddy."

They reached Tom's old quarters on deck four, where he tucked her
in his own bed, wrapping first  her own baby blanket round her,
before pulling the covers over her. He fetched a warm cloth and
gently wiped her face, the eyes already closed in sleep.  

He had already been relieved of duty for the rest of the journey 
home, but they had first collected the other away team on Mars. 

"Janeway to Lieutenant Paris."

"Go ahead, Captain."

"You'll be relieved to hear, Tom, that your father has regained
consciousness."

He did give a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you, once again, Captain."

"Tom, we're a family. We come through for each other. It's what
eight years in the Delta Quadrant taught us. I'm really glad we could
help. Give Elizabeth a kiss from her godmother. Janeway out."

Tom changed into a T-shirt and shorts, thinking he would change into
uniform again as soon as they reached Headquarters. Right now, what 
he wanted to do was crawl into bed, wrap Elizabeth close into his 
arms and never let her go. That was how he fell asleep a few minutes 
later, with his daughter spooned snugly against his body.

			********************************


CHAPTER SEVEN: COMING HOME


Owen Paris closed his eyes again. He had a blinding headache, a 
result of the concussion. He felt a tremendous sense of guilt. That 
he could not protect his granddaughter. He pictured her in those 
last moments before he lost consciousness. The look on her face as 
she fell next to him. Her terrified scream, the fear in her eyes. 
He wondered whether he had been cursed, his sins visited on his 
children and grandchildren. He had suffered enough, his family 
suffered enough, dear God, he thought with anguish, Tom had suffered 
enough. 

"Tom..."

"He'll bring her back, Owen. I know he will. But Owen, dearest, you 
mustn't blame yourself. The attack was too sudden for you to have 
done anything."

"I could have walked another way with her, Elizabeth. Another way."

"Dad," B'Elanna tried to reassure him, "we were being watched all the
time. Every movement we made in public, wherever you and Elizabeth 
went. I am certain that if it didn't happen yesterday, it would 
have happened at some other time. There was nothing you or any of us 
could do. Don't worry." B'Elanna managed a smile now. "Voyager has 
been recalled and assigned to look for Elizabeth. The way I know 
Voyager's crew Dad, they'll bring her back for us. They're the best
in Starfleet. You just get better. Before you it, she'll be back
with us."

"Thank you, B'Elanna."  He looked in her eyes. This confident and
fearless woman who tamed his son.  

"But I am sorry that it happened. Deeply sorry. It seems to me that 
there are still those around won't see our family happy."

B'Elanna thought how like Tom the Admiral appeared in this moment. Ready
to take the blame on himself, feeling guilty for something he couldn't
prevent. They really are so stubbourn. And yet so like children
sometimes who need constant reassurance from their spouses that they
are indeed not alone. She thought how her mother-in-law would soon
set him straight. She smiled at that. It clear who rules the roost
there.

"Dad, I think I'll leave Mama here with you. She knows how to cheer
you up, right, Mama?"

Before Mama could answer, Admiral Gordon entered the ward. 

"Adam."

"Owen, Mrs Paris senior and junior," he said without pre-amble. "I'm 
pleased to inform you that Elizabeth Paris has been found. Voyager 
will reach Space Dock in the early morning." And with that he left, 
not wanting to intrude on their private moments.

"Thank God," Owen Paris croaked. 

Elizabeth senior hugged B'Elanna who burst into tears at the news,
her slender shoulders shaking with emotion. She waited till the 
younger woman calmed down. She kissed her on her forehead, saw how 
exhausted B'Elanna looked. 

"My child," she said. "you go rest now. You look very tired." 
Elizabeth paused a second as she looked at her daughter-in-law.

"B'Elanna?"

B'Elanna sighed. This woman is way too intuitive. Then again, she's
raised three children and coped with a very difficult husband.

"Yes, Mama, I didn't want to worry Tom when he had to look for 
Elizabeth. The pains are still far enough apart. I know he'll make 
it for our baby's birth." Her eyes were shining now. Then she added:

"I'll kill him him if he's late." And she had her old fierce look
in her eyes as she said that. She was ready to do battle, but the
anticipation of seeing her daughter again, was greater.

B'Elanna allowed Elizabeth senior to accompany her to the hospital's
maternity wing. Saying first to Owen:

"Now that you're going to get better, I'm taking care of this lady
till her husband arrives. She'll be giving birth to our newest
grandchild, Owen."

Owen Paris, secretly happy at the take charge mood his wife is in,
simply nodded. He may have been the toughest admiral of Starfleet,
but Elizabeth certainly had a way with him. He smiled to himself,
noticing how B'Elanna was doing the same to Tom. We men are complete
suckers, he thought. Our wives merely make us believe we are the
rulers of the house. Even make us believe that the decisions and 
ideas they make were our own to begin with. All the time, we are 
truly happy being told by our women where to get off. They've been 
clever since Eve. 

				***************************

Tom had been slightly concerned that Elizabeth had been a little
quiet this morning in his quarters, while she was sitting in the tub.
She even let him wash and rinse her hair, something which B'Elanna 
always did for her. Always declaring hair washing is a girl thing.
"It's ladies only, Daddy!" He let her play a few more minutes in the 
water before folding her in a large towel and carried her to the 
bedroom.

"Elizabeth?"

"Huh-uh?"

"You can talk to Daddy now, sweetheart."

She looked at him, and as if the previous day's events still played
in her mind, she puckered her face, and started crying quietly again.
Oh, God, Tom thought, how long will it be before I have my sunshine
child again? He scooped her in his arms, drying her at the same time.
 
"Shhh...It's okay, sweetheart. Very soon you'll see Mama and Grandma 
and Grandpa again. Then you'll feel better." 

She stopped when he told her that. He understood that she needed to 
be constantly reassured now that they are all okay. This sweet child 
who was told by an unbalanced man and his sister she would never see 
her parents again and that her Granddaddy is dead.

Right now, he had no inclination to see Andrew Crean. Aren was 
dealing with him in the brig. It was one of the reasons he formed 
part of the away team. He was trained as a counsellor, although not 
working for Starfleet. It was his job to do a profile on the Crean 
brother and sister. Tom was in no mood now to listen to reports as he 
started to help Elizabeth get dressed. Clothing he replicated earlier 
this morning, long before she woke up. She really loved her little 
pants and tunics. Drying her hair quickly, he tied it into a pony 
tail. He noticed absently how long her hair was growing. 

Half an hour later she was walking with him towards the transporters.
Joe Carey himself was in attendance there. This time Elizabeth didn't
mind when he picked her up in his arms, while they waited to beam 
down at headquarters.

Just before he stepped on to the transporter pad, Tuvok arrived, his 
hand behind his back. He looked at Elizabeth, then said: 

"I believe this is yours, Elizabeth,"  and he brought his hand 
forward, holding her pink teddy bear. The little girl smiled then, 
for the first time that morning as she took her toy from Tuvok, 
then promptly buried her face in her Daddy's neck again. Her little
arms clutching him him tightly. Tuvok understood. 

"Ready?" Joe asked smiling at Tom.

Tom nodded, and seconds later they were at the hospital.

"We're going to see Mama now, sweetheart."
				
			********************************

It surprised Tom only mildly that B'Elanna was not in the foyer 
waiting for him. When he left her last night, she was still under 
heavy sedation. 

"Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Daddy?"

"There's someone you must see first, before I take you to Mama."

Elizabeth just nodded her head. Tom sighed, as he walked with her to
his father's room, where, upon entering, the older man was sitting up
in bed, talking to his wife. They both looked up as Tom entered.

"Grandpa!" The little girl thrust herself almost out of her father's 
arms, and pitched herself onto the bed. Tom was just in time to stop 
her, then he put her gently down.

"Grandma!" As she looked at her grandmother, and started crying 
again. Grandpa took her in his arms and held her tightly. He 
understood. She must have thought he died. 

"I'm right here, Elizabeth. I'm alive. Here, feel Grandpa's heart."
And Grandpa took Elizabeth's little hand, and placed it over his 
heart. Then she touched his face, as if reassuring herself that he
is there. She appeared satisfied with with that.

"I thought you were dead, Grandpa." She hugged him again. Then 
Elizabeth looked at her Grandmother, who took her from Owen, and 
gave her a  hug and kiss. 

"My sweet child. Everything will be all right now," she crooned to 
the child. She and Owen could see immediately that Elizabeth was less
talkative than usual. She must have been seriously traumatised.

Tom sensed what they were thinking, and said:

"She was not hurt, Dad. But she suffers from shock," Tom told his 
parents, looking at his daughter in his mother's arms where
the older woman was caressing her, crooning all the time to her.
This usually independent child who always declared to everybody
that she's a big girl now, she can do everything for herself. Now,
all she wants to do, is curl herself into their arms, like a little
baby again.

Tom looked at his father. He looked suddenly old, and saddened. 

"How are you, Dad?" Tom asked, his hand on Owen's arm. 

Owen Paris looked at his son, his eyes so full of concern. 

"Tom," the older man stammered, "I was afraid. I felt frozen on the 
spot and could not move. I've never felt such fear, Tom," Owen Paris 
continued quietly. "It all happened so quickly. Before I could move, 
I - I remember I was still...I was still holding Elizabeth's hand. 
I - Tom," he said with his eyes closed, "she was so scared, So 
scared." Tom saw how the older man was struggling to control 
himself, but he could see the tears of pain seeping through Owen's 
eyes. "I'm sorry, Tom."

"Dad, will you listen to me, please?" Tom stroked his father's hair 
back, blue eyes looking into blue eyes. "Elizabeth hasn't spoken much 
since her ordeal, but the first thing she wanted to know was whether
you had been killed. She needed the reassurance that you were not killed. 
Apparently she had been told you were dead and that she'd never see 
her parents. Dad, don't you see? Elizabeth, small as she is, was 
worried about you." 
 
"Thank you, Tom. It's magnanimous of you to say that. 
I love you, son."

"I love you too, Dad. Now you'd better get well, or B'Elanna will
never forgive me if you're not up and about when the baby is born."
Tom bent down to kiss his father on his forehead.

Elizabeth senior said to Elizabeth junior:

"Elizabeth, Daddy is going to take you to your Mama. I'll walk with 
you to where she is. I'll come later to fetch you, okay?"

"Yes, Grandma. I love you Grandma." Grandma smiled and kissed her.
Then they left a tired, but much relieved Owen Paris to go to  
B'Elanna. Tom's mother said nothing, until they reached B'Elanna's
room, then she stopped and told Tom:

"She promised to kill you if you're not here in time."

"Mother?"

"Yes, Tom," Elizabeth senior whispered. "Your wife is in labour. She
needs you both, right now."

Tom nodded. His heart thudded wildly against his ribcage as he opened 
the door, holding Elizabeth's hand, and entered. 

She was lying on the high bed, her face turned away from the door, 
but when they entered, she turned to look at them. Her eyes started 
filling immediately with tears as Tom lifted Elizabeth into her 
mother's arms. An image came to him, of years ago, on Voyager, when 
Elizabeth was about eight months old, and she crept under the 
blankets to worm herself into B'Elanna's arms. Her tiny hands 
reaching impatiently for her mother's breast for her feed. The child 
sucking greedily, with the complete trust of the baby in the mother. 
He remembered at the time feeling shut out of such a tender 
scene, and a little jealous. 

Elizabeth was doing that now. She crawled under the cover, wormed her 
body very close to B'Elanna and hugged her Mama tightly, her face in 
B'Elanna's neck, and stayed like that for a long time, not speaking. 
It was a moment that will forever be etched in Tom's memory: the 
sight of their little girl hugged closely in her mother's arms, the 
mother's hand reaching out to cup the little girl's head, her eyes 
closed, the tears seeping unhindered, silently down her cheeks. 
Elizabeth's small hand reached out to touch her mother's face, 
every line, every ridge, her lips, the fingers trembling as it 
lightly, like a feather, went over her mother's features. Finally 
she touched her own forehead, then her fingers rested on her mother's 
forehead, caressing her ridges.

"I missed you, Mama," Elizabeth whispered softly. 

"I missed you too, sweetheart," Mama whispered, then kissed her 
cheeks. Elizabeth buried her face in B'Elanna's neck again, her
mother's face turned so her lips were on Elizabeth's hair, her
eyes closed.

Tom never moved from where he had still been standing. He waited, 
because to him, this moment was so personal, so poignant that to 
interrupt it would have been profane. He waited until B'Elanna looked 
at him again, her eyes swimming with tears. 

"Thank you," she said so softly, she could well have been mouthing 
it, but he understood. 

Only then he reached forward and kissed B'Elanna on her lips. His 
hand reached out to touch the little girl's head.

This is the picture Elizabeth Paris saw, as she quietly entered, and
remained standing in the doorway of the room. Tom loves his family
deeply, she mused. The events of the last twenty four hours have
shattered him. He hasn't rested properly, and she could see, when she 
looked at him, the shadows in his eyes. He feels he is the cause of 
these things happening to his family, she realised. He is trying to 
hide it, but she is his mother. She sensed he would experience guilt. 
B'Elanna will have a difficult task in Tom's healing this time. 
He needs to be reassured it's not his fault. 

She walked towards the trio. Tom looked up and smiled at his mother.
He knew if anything could draw Elizabeth out of her present non-
communicative state, she would do it. 

"Elizabeth, sweetheart, Grandma's here. She's going to take you. You
and Grandma can watch Mama give birth. We asked all the doctors and
they said it's okay." Elizabeth sat up straight in the bed, her eyes
going very wide. She looked at her Mama, who nodded to her, then at 
her Grandma. She held her arms out to Grandma, who lifted her from 
the bed.

"Elizabeth," she told her granddaughter, "we are going to have 
ringside view of the delivery."

"Really, Grandma?" Tom was relieved when he heard enthusiasm in her 
voice. "When can we watch?"

"Oh, as soon as your Mama is ready. Right now we're going to get us 
something to eat. Guess what I brought along just for you?"

"I know, chocolate chip cookies!"  She smiled for the second time
that morning. The two left the room to go to Grandpa's room, where 
they stayed until it was time.
				
Tom sat down on a chair next to the bed, and held B'Elanna's hand.
He looked deep into her eyes. Then he bent to kiss her hand.

"She's going to be fine, B'Elanna. She's going to be fine. Last night
she was too tired, and this morning she wasn't inclined to talk much. 
She's been through a lot of trauma the past twenty four hours.
She needs time and lots of hugs. But I think Mom will do the trick.
Just wait and see."

"I know, Tom darling."  B'Elanna looked at Tom, saw the shadows in his
eyes. She sensed he was still very angry.  "But are you all right?"
she asked him.

"I'm fine, B'Elanna. Don't worry about me."

"Tom, have we had this conversation before?" She grabbed at his hair, 
pulled him closer to her and said: "I'm your wife, dammit Paris,"
the anger flashing in her dark brown eyes, "don't ever tell me I 
mustn't worry about you. It's part and parcel of being married, or have 
you forgotten that?"  B'Elanna, after straining to get her head closer 
to Tom, suddenly fell back, a sudden wave of pain causing a sheen of 
sweat breaking out on her face.

Tom seemed nonplussed for a second before he realised it was a 
contraction.

"B'Elanna?"

"It's time, Tom, for our son to be born. Hold my hand, will you?"

"Anything for you, my love," Tom said fervently, blissfully unaware
that the next few hours were going to be the most harrowing of his
life. Well, apart from almost going out of his mind looking for 
Elizabeth.


			***************************

CHAPTER EIGHT: BIRTH

Standing a little distance away, behind a glass panel that looked 
into the room where B'Elanna was about to give birth, were the two 
Elizabeths. As well as the doctor and a nurse, Tom was in attendance, 
both as the about-to-be-father-of-a-son, and as Voyager's relief 
medic who assisted in the birth of Jamie Hamilton and his brother 
Harry, Jenny's son Grant and the Kree Twins. In a manner of speaking, 
he had experience. Or so he thought. The difference was, it was his 
wife giving birth, and a very irate one at that. She appeared not to 
listen to anyone, and was instead giving the already harried doctor a 
hard time fighting them. Elizabeth Paris had a sneaky feeling that
B'Elanna was thoroughly enjoying seeing Tom completely stressed out.

"Grandma," Elizabeth whispered with awe, "why is Mama so cross?"

"She's not really cross, Elizabeth. Sometimes the pain is too much."

"Grandma, is Mama in pain?"

"Yes, sweetheart, but I reckon your Mama is trying not to show it."

"I know, Grandma. Mama is  Klingon. She always says she has a - a - " 

"Low pain threshold?"

"Yes, Grandma! How did you know?"

"My child, it doesn't matter if you are Klingon or human or Bajoran,
when you give birth, the ladies are in pain. Believe me, they don't
like it. They want it, but they don't like it."

"Grandma, when will the baby's head crown?"

Grandma, no longer fazed by this precocious child, said: "In a few
minutes, dear. Then you can see your brother's head."

Then B'Elanna shouted at Tom, both Elizabeths heard, but Grandma
wasn't quick enough to cover Elizabeth's ears. That young lady
drew in her breath, said:

"Grandma, Mama always tells me I mustn't say 'P'ta -'"  Grandma 
plugged Elizabeth's mouth with her hand before she could say P'taQ."

Elizabeth gasped audibly as she saw B'Elanna grab the back of Tom's
head, bring his face close to her own, and bit him on his jaw, as
she gave one heaving push.
 
"She's going to kill Daddy! Grandma, why is Mama fighting with 
Daddy?"

"Your Mama isn't fighting, Elizabeth. The contraction was just very
strong now."

"But Mama is smacking Daddy too. She's shouting at him!" She sounded
very aggrieved. 

"Grandma, why is Mama calling Daddy 'Pig'?"

Grandma sighed. "It's a term of endearment, Elizabeth."

"Oh."

"But look, Elizabeth, Daddy is holding your Mama's hand all the time.
He's not letting go of her." 

"I guess that means he loves her, huh."

"Oh yes, he loves her very much."

When the baby's head crowned, Elizabeth stood open mouthed in 
amazement. She held her breath, then took a sharp gasp. As her mother
gave one final push, with her Daddy holding Mama's hand, her little
baby brother was born.

"Grandma," she gasped, "he's ugly!"

Elizabeth Paris senior laughed, with tears in her eyes as she told
her granddaughter: "He's still full of blood dear, and mucus. When
he's washed and cleaned, he'll look much better."
 
The little girl seemed to be satisfied with her answer. They watched 
how the baby was placed like that on B'Elanna's stomach, and Tom kiss
his wife. Then the baby was taken away to be cleaned up.

"Come, Elizabeth, let's go to Grandpa. We'll all come back in an hour
to look at your baby brother."

				*************************

Owen Paris held his wife's hand, and with Elizabeth holding his other
hand, they walked to where B'Elanna was now resting, the baby wrapped
in his receiving blanket.

He walked up to B'Elanna, kissed her, then sat down in the chair. He
was still weak from his ordeal. Elizabeth, who found her voice at 
last, couldn't stop chattering. This was the most exciting thing that 
happened. She was just dying to get a closer look at the baby. 
B'Elanna look tired, but happy.

"Well, B'Elanna, are you going to do the honours?" Tom asked his wife
tenderly. He had scratches on his face, teeth marks on his jaw, but
what the heck, he loves his wife. He has a son.

"Dad, you may hold your newest grandson." And Tom took the baby from
her, and placed him in Owen Paris' arms. 

Owen Paris looked at the infant, after moving away the blanket from 
its face. He could see the little face clearly now. The baby had
dark hair, like its mother, the same tanned skin, the ridges, like 
its mother. But when the baby opened his eyes, Owen exclaimed:

"Oh my! The Paris eyes!" He smiled up at B'Elanna, his eyes shining.

"Dad," Tom said, "B'Elanna and I love you very much. Elizabeth loves
you to distraction. We know this little one will love you just as
much.

Then B'Elanna said:

"Dad, meet Owen McKenzie Paris Junior."


			**********************************

DIE EINDE
THE END
ende
eind
fin
fine
finis
slot

Veronica Jane Williams
xkhoi@iafrica.com

Ronnie would love some feedback.

(Whisper: this story has a follow up)