Story # 1 -- DREAM COME TRUE

By Delta

She stood there, watching the crew unload the last supplies from Voyager, that wonderful ship which had done so much for them for almost four years. That vessel which had harbored them, protected them, in many storms and tumults. That injured entity from which now life was slowly ebbing. Dreams forgotten, dreams unfulfilled, dreams over.

 

Her face was devoid of emotion, but inside, her heart was being ripped apart. I've failed, she thought, with internal tears flooding her very soul. I got them into this. After all we've been thorough: Kazon, Vidiians, the Borg, Species 8472 --- after all of that, to succumb to something as simple as a plasma storm... With a defeated sigh, she thought back onto the stream of events which immediately had preceded: the rapidly approaching storm; the breech in the warp plasma core; the power surge that crippled the impulse drive; and finally, the fatal blow -- the failing life support systems. Thank God Tom's piloting skills maneuvered them out of the storm before they totally lost all systems, and that he had safely landed them on this desolate planet which Jenny Delaney located before ...it was too late.

 

For the second time in its Delta Quadrant history, the ship had jolted them through an emergency planet landing. Its touch-down on the planet's surface was far from gentle, but there hadn't been any serious injuries. The far greater damage had been done to the planet itself, ripping out scarce vegetation and creating a deeply rutted, transversing crater in the fragile powder-like surface covering. This protective outermost layer was lightweight and dust-like, rather than the larger, heavier particles of sand, and was at least six inches deep. She knew that meant there was little silicon and heavy metal here, at least in this particular area. No silicon probably would mean little water, although the few monitorings they were able to read before landing did indicate some plant and animal life. Sentient life forms were not noted, however.

 

Walking through the dust was like walking through snow, its depth hindering movements by Voyager's inhabitants. Unloading supplies was taking much energy on the part of the crew. But, at least it was an M planet. Although the air was dry, it was breathable and provided an acceptable balance of oxygen and nitrogen and other trace gases necessary to sustain them. No one seemed to be breathing laboriously due to the lack of that necessity. It was neither hot nor cold, registering at 18 degrees C. The pale greenish-blue sky did have scattered clouds. Good; the clouds indicated that there was moisture evaporating from the planet's surface somewhere. In addition, their movement told her that there were atmospheric disturbances being produced by differing surface temperatures -- therefore, there were areas of both land and water. That meant that they probably could find indications of water and vegetation, although it looked sparse here where they had disembarked. And the lightly tinted skies told their unspoken tale of a protecting atmosphere, deflecting the sun's rays into colors of the spectrum.

 

Chakotay, Tuvok and Neelix had immediately formed surveillance teams, to investigate the habitat possibilities for the rag-tag group of 147 people. Harry, B'Elanna and Carey had rescued what they could from the communications arrays and were trying to set up a temporary system for any proposed attempts to contact any passers-by to the planet. But, there was a strong magnetic force field in the outer atmosphere, preventing them from sending out any SOS signals.

 

"Maybe it's part of the storm, Captain," Tom tried to say hopefully, as he supervised the crew unloading the vessel. "We'll keep trying."

 

The rest of the engineering crew, who were not involved in unloading the ship, were attempting to jerry-rig generators for electricity or solar power. As Samantha Wildman was working with the other engineers, she was also trying to comfort her young daughter, the population's only child, who had been rudely interrupted from her afternoon nap by the impact.

 

The hue of the sky was illuminated by the pale light of a distant radiating star. The light was bright, but not as bright as Earth's ‘sol’, and its radiant heat felt cooler than Earth's. It would probably get very cold when night came. And they had no indication when that would be. How long was the diurnal cycle? How much time did they have to construct life-saving structures for everyone before the unknowns of the alien darkness arrived? The scouting teams had disappeared over the tall, powdery dunes over three hours ago. The sun, which had been overhead when they landed, had lowered itself about 10 degrees towards the horizon. Ah, yes -- that should give an indication of when they would lose the light and heat of the sun, Janeway thought as she did a quick calculation in her mind. We probably have about 10 hours of sunlight left...

 

She didn't want to give up hope. But Janeway knew that the outlook was grim. This was quite a big lemon she had been handed; hopefully, it would make up into a large pitcher of lemonade. She smiled to herself, thinking of the ancient adage her mother often repeated: "When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade", as she pictured a Voyager-sized pitcher of the beverage. She turned from her agonizing view of the ship -- *her* ship -- and knew that the hard part was just beginning. She had to be more of a captain now than she had ever been; she had to be a mother, a comforter, a counselor to these people, her family. A few months earlier, as they girded themselves for the approach of the Borg and ultimately, Species 8472, she had said to her first officer, "Chakotay, at what point do we turn about? Would the crew accept living out the rest of their lives in the Delta Quadrant?" and how he had responded to her "If that moment comes, we'll face it together; you are not alone, Kathryn." Then, came the schism -- she thought of their clash of philosophies; no, their very souls, as she had stubbornly persevered with her decision to negotiate with the Borg; of Chakotay's acquiescence to her judgment when they did make it through the Borg territory; of the resulting fracture in their delicately balanced relationship. Now, this... he had been right all along.

 

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of shouting voices, as all three reconnaissance teams reappeared. The sounds were loud, joyous, hopeful. They approached rapidly, running as best they could through the hampering thick surface material; she first heard Neelix' voice. "Captain, we have found a most lovely area, about 5 kilometers away. It's a valley with a small lake of potable water and even trees and edible vegetation!"

 

Tuvok matter-of-factly continued the description of their find. "I concur with Mr. Neelix that the area appears be most hospitable. The geologic nature differs from that of this site. There is evidence of the remnants of volcanic activity, giving a more life supporting chemical basis. The surrounding hill expanses also present a strong indication of continuing metamorphosis of the planet. Indeed, Captain, I believe that we could exist here."

 

The one remaining leader of the scouting groups walked over to her. There was a tentative smile on his face as he approached her, which spoke of forgiveness, of togetherness, of... hope. He invaded her space, as he spoke to the group, but more to her. "Captain, we can make it work. It doesn't mean giving up, but this planet does appear to be capable of allowing us to rest and repair ourselves at the very least. He looked up at the skies. "The weather looks good, and I think we can move enough to the site in the next four or so hours in order to have protection for the night." He moved in closer to her, and spoke to her alone. His words were with his eyes as much as his voice. "You are not alone, Kathryn," he said quietly, repeating those fateful words of months ago. "We made this decision together. We can make it work." He raised his right hand to her left shoulder, gently squeezing it in an affirmative touch. "Just give the word."

 

Janeway took a deep breath of the air. It was fresh air, something she never really appreciated until the rare times she had ‘smelled’ it in the last four years. In breathing deeply, she felt the dust in her nose, but there was the slightest hint of green, of living vegetation. "All right, people. It looks as if we have found a hospitable place to set up for the night. I thank you all for your hard work so far. We have much more to come. But, you have proven to me -- and to yourselves -- over and over again, that you are dettermined survivors. We will make it through this also. I have faith in each and every one of you. Chakotay will assign you to teams and we will get this mission going." She turned to Tuvok. "Mr. Tuvok, if you will help me decide on the necessary items we will need for tonight..." With those words, the crew became the smooth-running machine that they always were, as they hustled to set up their land-bound home base.

 

~*~

 

The transport to the verdant area took almost six hours, but the crew was able to bring more on this first attempt than they had anticipated. A village of silver geodomes was quickly set up around a central covered area that had been efficiently constructed from several medium sized trees, using the trunks as corner posts and the branches and broad leaves to construct a roof. Each geodome was about 15 feet in diameter and ten feet high in the center, and could shelter up to four people. There were a total of forty-five of the structures. One was set up as a makeshift infirmary, with the EMH and his basic equipment ensconced within it. It was also decided that Captain Janeway should have one to herself. The other senior officers were doubled up: Chakotay and Tuvok; Tom and Harry; B'Elanna had requested that Samantha and little Kim join her. Neelix and Lt. Carey decided that they could stand each other for at least a few days; besides, Carey could always help Neelix when things broke down. The rest of the crew divided up to fit 3-4 people to each dome, in typical Starfleet bivouac fashion.

 

The sun set behind the high valley walls, and almost immediately the temperature dropped. However, due to the protection of the valley structure and the walls themselves (which were found to contain iron-rich plagioclase, as well as other much needed minerals) provided insulation, holding on to a little of the warmth provided by the sun. Two hours after nightfall, the temperature was a much cooler 8 degrees C, but it was a temperature that allowed survival. Solar batteried lanterns flickered throughout the encampment, as the weary Voyagers settled in for the night. They greeted their new roommates and swapped tales of the memorable day. Most of them, during the course of the evening, had personally expressed their gratitude to Janeway. There had not been any magnanimous statement commending her and the others who were pivotal in getting them safely on the planet. The crew's unspoken loyalty and camaraderie sufficed for gratuitous praise.

 

Janeway was making rounds of the geodomes, ascertaining that all the crew's immediate needs had been served. Her last stop was at Chakotay's and Tuvok's. Chakotay, too, had been checking with the village inhabitants, and was just returning.

 

"Well, Commander," the captain said as they walked towards each other, "this is another day for the books." She sighed, as she leaned against the doorframe of his dome. He brushed back some of the many wisps of her hair that had escaped the curved coil surrounding her head.

 

"I know you're disappointed, Kathryn," he said, with sadness in his own voice. "But, you couldn't have asked for a better show from your crew..."

 

"*Our* crew," she corrected him with her interruption. "You have done as much as I over these years, to build these people into the determined survivors they are today." She looked down for a moment, then raised her eyes to stare into the dark depths of his. "Chakotay, I could never have done it without you; you know that. Every ounce of my stubbornness has been tempered with a pound of your understanding and support. I have no idea what these next days -- weeks -- months will bring, but this I *do* know -- I need you now, more than ever..." She lowered her eyes again and continued. "Ummmm....I guess what I'm saying... asking... is ... help me, in making the decisions to guide us in the times to come. I promise that I will listen to every word you say..."

 

He chuckled as he looked down at her, into those tired pleading eyes, asking for his trust -- and forgiveness. He took her face between his warm, comforting hands, and gently kissed her. The kiss, with unspoken words, forgave her of all the hurts of the previous months. He slowly raised his head, and, stroking her cheek, said, "Kathryn, I think that this is the place -- this is the place to have our dream come true."

 

End – Story #1: DREAM COME TRUE