~*~ A small figure approached the table in the mess hall where Chakotay sat. “Mr. Chakotay… “ Chakotay looked up from the padd in his hand to the source of the voice. He smiled as he saw Voyager’s youngest member standing in front of him. “Hello, there, Naomi; what can I do for you?” The girl smiled at him and held out her hands, each on holding a rather large dish of ice cream. “Do you mind if I join you for a few minutes? I’ve brought you something you might like.” She placed one of the heaping bowls in front of him. His smile got bigger. “Well, that you do! I do like ice cream and particularly…” he examined the desert more closely, “… especially fudge ripple! Yes, please sit down.” She placed her bowl in the place next to him and handed him a large spoon. “Thank you.” He continued looking at her, bewildered by the sudden attention. “So you knew that fudge ripple was my favorite flavor of ice cream?” “Yes, I did; that’s why I brought it for you,” she answered, digging onto her own bowl. “Is there something you wanted to see me about?” he asked, silently laughing at the size of the spoon and wondering if he could even get the large utensil into his mouth. “Not really,” she answered between bites. “I just wanted to get to know you a little bit better.” “Oh. Trying to broaden your ring of friendships, then?” “Something like that,” she nodded seriously. “How did you know about the ice cream?” he asked. She looked up at him, her eyes and face solemn. “I asked Captain Janeway, of course. She knows everything about everything!” “Of course,” he nodded, smiling and remembering how Naomi idolized the captain, wondering what had caused this sudden change in allegiance. “Is there something in particular about me that you’d like to know, since you say you’re here to learn more about me?” She put her spoon down and leaned in towards him. “Mr. Chakotay, what I really want to know is why Captain Janeway thinks you’re so special.” “Special? Oh, I’m not so special, Naomi. After all, I’m her first officer and we work together a lot. We have to discuss the ship’s business together and work on solving problems. Most of the time, things work out a lot more smoothly if you can talk things over with someone. That’s what a captain and a first officer do.” “On every ship?” “On every ship.” She sat back and began tapping her fingers on the table, momentarily forgetting the melting confection in front of her. “Hmmm. That’s not the way I’ve heard.” Chakotay shifted a bit in his chair, wondering what the girl had ‘heard’. “Have you ever been on another ship? Have you ever seen how other ships operate?” She shook her head. “No; but I’ve asked some other people who have been on other ships and they say that you and Captain Janeway have a… a… “ She stopped for a moment, trying to recall the exact word, “… they say that you have a very unusual relationship.” Now it was Chakotay’s turn to put his spoon down. A sudden brief chill went up and down his spine, colder than the ice cream had ever been. “Who says this?” he finally asked, but he had to wait for her to eat another large bite of her ice cream. “Oh, lots of people.” She wiped some melting ice cream from her fingers onto her shirt sleeve. “Such as?” he prodded, hopefully not too impassionately. Licking her fingers worked better than wiping; besides, she got more of the good stuff that way. Sighing, she looked up. “Well, Mr. Neelix says… “ Chakotay laughed and shook his head. Neelix – of course; he made up stories about everything! “Naomi, I don’t know that Neelix is such a good source for… um… accurate information.” “… and my mom.” Chakotay’s interest perked again. Sam? Sam Wildman? Talking to her daughter about rumors and innuendo? “Naomi, I’m don’t think you heard her correctly.” “Oh, I heard everything! She was talking to Miss Jenny and Miss Megan. They all were talking about you and the captain and how you had this special relationship. They said something like you two were ‘more than just friends’ and then they laughed. Why did they laugh? I don’t think it was very nice of them to laugh.” He chuckled nervously. “As I said… we’re the two leaders on the ship and we have to do a lot with each other. I’m sure that’s what they meant. Er… did you hear anyone else say anything?” “Didn’t have to,” she answered. “Why not?” he queried. “Well, you and Seven and Captain Janeway have always said that if I want to know all about something I should look it up in the computer database; that if I do the investigation myself, I’ll remember something longer.” Chakotay was all the more confused now. “What does the ship’s computer database have to do with your question about why Captain Janeway thinks I’m ‘special’?” She looked at him, somewhat mystified that he didn’t know the answer to his own question. “Because that’s what it says there. In the record files. The captain herself says that you are ‘special’. She also says that you are the ‘light of my universe’ and ‘my loving warrior’. “ Cold sweat ran down Chakotay’s neck, chilling every fiber in him. “Where… what files were you reading, Naomi?” He shivered, hazarding a formidable thought. “The captain’s files. The ones called her ‘personal logs’.” She leaned towards him and whispered gleefully. “I think they’re sort of like a secret diary!” Chakotay gulped – they certainly were a diary – her personal logs! How did Naomi ever find them? His question to her raised just that point. “Um… Naomi, how did you find these files?” She grinned at him, full of pride at her accomplishment. “Well, I’ve been learning all about computer codes from Harry and Seven, and decided to practice some things with files in the computer. It was kind of hard at first; I couldn’t figure out how to open anything in this one section of the computer. But now I can! I thought that it would be interesting to learn more about Captain Janeway, so when I saw things that she had written, I decided to read them.” Chakotay tried to contain his panic. The girl had hacked into their second most secret database! “Naomi, it isn’t right to read a person’s private entries; there are some things that people want to leave private and secret.” “My mom says that it’s not nice to keep secrets,” Naomi stated firmly. “Well, that’s true most of the time. But people do need some privacy.” “The captain told me that I could ask her anything,” Naomi countered. “I don’t think she would mind.” Try some reverse psychology, Chakotay thought. “Would you want someone to read something private of yours?” Naomi second-guessed his ploy. “I don’t have anything private; I don’t mind people knowing all about me.” Her ice cream dish was almost empty; she ran her spoon along its sides. “Did you know that she thinks your eyes are ‘like ebony magnets’ and that she wants to do strange things with your dimples?” She looked at him. “What does she mean by ‘strange things’?” This was getting way off base; what the hell had Kathryn written about him? “Naomi, how much of the captain’s ‘diary’ have you read?” “Oh, only a few entries from the last month.” She sat back and sighed, satiated with her snack. This was all getting too bizarre, Chakotay thought. Kathryn had written things like this recently? He could have believed it several years ago, but not within the last two or three years. Whatever was she thinking? He looked at Naomi and his face became serious. “Naomi, I’m going to tell you something important, just the way I would any other crewman. Do you understand?” Naomi sensed the seriousness in his tone and turned her attention to him accordingly. “Yes, sir. I’m like a crewman.” His eyes locked onto hers. “Crewman Wildman, you must immediately stop this illegal entry into personal logs. Any further action along those lines on your part will result in disciplinary action.” “You mean I’ll be grounded?” she asked, her eyes tearing up. He tried not to laugh. “Something like that.” “Then how will I get to know answers to questions I have about people?” “You just go up to them and ask them,” he responded. She brightened. “Okay; I’ll go ask Captain Janeway what she means by…” “No!” he blurted out, interrupting her. “If you… er… um… do that; she’ll know that you broke into her logs. You wouldn’t want that, would you?” “No,” she pouted, hanging her head. “But…” “No ‘buts’ about it, Naomi. You must not do this again.” “Okay,” she answered, her spirit deflated. “But you can ask me to join you anytime for ice cream and we can talk. I’m a pretty good listener and know a lot about what’s going on around the ship.” Her face took on a new sunny brightness. “Really? You aren’t that mad at me? We can still be friends?” “Of course we can be friends,” he smiled, patting her hand. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She ran to him and have him a hug. “Thank you, Chakotay. And I’ll be good – I promise!” “I’m sure you will be,” he nodded as she ran off. However, just to be on the safe side, he had a couple of things that needed to be done. He had to contact Harry about developing some kind of firewall that would be an insurmountable challenge to Voyager’s budding computer genius, but there was one more contact that needed to be made first. He hit his comm badge. “Janeway here,” said the voice at the receiving end of the link. “Kathryn, we need to talk,” he said calmly. “It sounds important, Commander,” she responded. “I think you’ll agree when I tell you all about it. May I come to see you?” Her voice was husky with suspense. “My ready room – anytime you’re ready:” “I’ll be right there. I think we’re both ready.” He smiled and walked briskly towards the exit of the mess hall. ~ THE END ~ TT Home I B’day Party Home I B’day Stories I Sandrine’s Ask the Captain I Cursed by Q I Interviewing with the Commander J/C Slideshow I Favors & Prizes I Puzzles