"Command Decisions"
by Rebecca Schultz


Ensign Wildman sat at the controls of the Delta Flyer monitoring her console. This was her first away mission in a month, and only her second on the Flyer. She was happy to get away from the confines of the ship, for awhile, even if it was only to investigate some odd sensor readings from a dark matter nebula. In the adjacent seat, Captain Janeway brought the main sensor array online. Suddenly, Samantha's console bleeped. Before the ensign could even get an accurate reading, the Flyer lurched awkwardly.

"What was that?" Janeway asked. Alarms began blaring as the Flyer was hit again.

"We're getting some massive subspace turbulence," Wildman reported.

"From where?" Janeway asked.

Wildman tried to get a precise fix on the disturbance, but her sensors were going crazy. "I can't..."

Suddenly a blinding light flooded the cabin, interrupting Wildman in mid-sentence. They both gasped, and tried to shield their eyes from the bright illumination. Consoles and instrument panels were going absolutely haywire. Just then, Samantha read a dangerous feedback surge building in the captain's console. It was going to explode any second.

"Captain, there's a..." She realized though that there was no time to explain. She had to act...fast!

Abandoning her own console, Samantha lunged towards Janeway's seat. Just then the captain's console exploded catching them both off guard. Instinctively, Samantha turned away, shielding the captain's body from the worst of the blast, and taking the brunt of it herself. Pain more intense than she had ever felt before flooded through her body. A sound of pure agony exploded from her lungs as she collapsed to the deck. Wildman tried to hold onto Janeway, but her arms, burned badly, fell limp. The captain fell a few inches to the ground, Wildman nearly collapsing on top of her. The captain looked a little singed, and although badly hurt, was still alive. The deck shook madly under the stress of whatever was pummeling it out there.

"Captain!" Wildman gasped. Janeway was unconscious. Wildman felt the captain's neck for a pulse, and was relieved to find one. "Computer, send a distress call to Voyager," Wildman ordered. The computer chirped in compliance.

Just then, there was a terrible impact, and then everything went black...

****

On Voyager's bridge, Harry Kim couldn't believe what he had just seen on his console.

"What the hell?" he whispered, as he double checked his long range sensors.

The sensors didn't lie however. The Delta Flyer had just disappeared! Naomi was busily asking Tom about something on a navigation console, and Harry didn't want to risk alarming her by announcing his discovery. Unfortunately for Lieutenant Paris, his sensors suddenly showed the same thing as Harry's had, and Naomi saw them. There was nothing he could do.

"Commander," Kim called to Chakotay.

Chakotay turned his head.

"Harry?" he asked.

"The Delta Flyer! It's gone!" Naomi announced, worried.

Kim looked at Chakotay helplessly, as the commander quickly rose to his feet. Everyone suddenly worked a little more hastily at their stations.

"Naomi," Chakotay said. "I think you should return to your quarters while we..."

Naomi however, made it quite clear to everyone on the bridge that she was staying put.

"Where did it go?" she asked.

No one on the bridge dared say anything more, all knowing that Naomi's mother was now effectively missing, along with their captain. Chakotay tried to escort Naomi to the turbolift.

"I don't know what's just happened, Naomi, but we are going to find out. I think it would be best if you return to your quarters. As soon as I know anything, I'll tell you right away," the first officer said.

He motioned to the relief flight controller Lieutenant Marla Bennett. The lieutenant immediately understood that the he wanted her to get Naomi off the bridge, and back to her quarters. Naomi reluctantly got in the turbolift with Lieutenant Bennett, but instructed the turbolift to take her to the Mess Hall, not her quarters. She wanted to be with Neelix right now.

As soon as Naomi and Lieutenant Bennett entered the Mess Hall, Neelix noticed the worried look on his godddaughter's face. Something was wrong. Abandoning his pot of simmering vegetables, Neelix went to Naomi.

"Naomi?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"

She looked up at him sadly. "Mom is missing," she told him.

Confused, Neelix looked at Lieutenant Bennett.

"We lost contact with the Delta Flyer," the lieutenant explained.

Naomi looked at Neelix sadly. "They made me leave the bridge."

Neelix could tell that Naomi was terribly worried and upset. "Try not to worry, Naomi. I'm sure the Flyer just went a bit beyond our sensor range." He tried not to alarm her.

"No, that's not it!" she replied, on the verge of a full blown panic attack. "She's gone!"

****

Pain exploded in Samantha's sides as she sat up. She could hardly see. The Delta Flyer's cockpit was a mess of tangled consoles. Only a few dim emergency lights flickered. They had crash landed somewhere, but Samantha didn't know where. Adrenaline kicking in, she crawled over to the nearest console she could see, and tried to enter a few commands, but none of the Flyer's sensors were operative. Samantha felt a bead of moisture snake its way down her temple. She dabbed at it. It was blood.

"Captain?" she called out, looking around for Janeway. There was no response. "Captain?" Wildman called out again.

A terrible pain erupted from her left leg. She cried out in agony. Looking down at her leg, she saw a piece of debris protruding from a gash just above her knee. The pain was so awful that it brought tears to her eyes. She knew that she would have to dig the piece of shrapnel out of her. If she just left it there, she was liable to get an infection. Gritting her teeth against the discomfort, Samantha grabbed ahold of the protruding piece of debris, and with one swift yank, had it dislodged. She would have to stop the bleeding. With her other hand, Samantha got herself out of her uniform jacket, and managed to rip one of its sleeves off. She tied the cloth around her leg, stopping the bleeding for the time being. Her injury attended to, Samantha spotted the captain just a few meters away, and continued to propel herself towards Janeway with her arms.

"Captain?" she asked, shaking Janeway gently.

The captain didn't move. Samantha crawled over to a rear compartment, and found the med kit. Dragging it back over to the captain, she pried open the small box. Her burned hands fumbled with the tricorder. Samantha scanned both herself and the captain. She appeared to be fine, save for her scalp and leg wounds, and a mild concussion. The captain however, was not fine. She was suffering from massive internal bleeding, a bad concussion, and a ruptured kidney. She couldn't be moved.

Just then, Janeway's eyes fluttered open. It took a good few seconds for the captain's vision to clear. Beside her, Janeway could just make out a faint image of someone. Samantha winced in pain as she rummaged through the med kit searching for something to stop the bleeding from the captain's brow. All she found were a few small gauze pads. That would never do. Thinking fast, Samantha reached for her uniform jacket, ripped the other sleeve off, and wrapped it around the bleeding wound on Janeway's forehead.

"You'll be okay, Captain," she tried to assure her.

"Where..." Janeway started to ask, but couldn't finish her question.

"Crash landed...I don't know where we are," Samantha responded.

Their bleeding wounds dressed, Samantha knew her next order of business would be to find them food and water. "I'm going to see if I can find us some rations," Samantha said.

Janeway tried to sit up, but the ensign gently restrained her. "Try not to move, Captain. You've got some serious internal injuries, and a bad concussion," Wildman advised her.

"Have to...contact Voyager," Janeway said breathlessly.

"Our comm system is down. I'm going to try and repair it, but it's going to take me some time. We took a lot of damage," Wildman explained. "First, I have to find us some water and rations."

After sifting through a mass of charred debris, Samantha finally found a few undamaged ration packs. Gathering them up, she took them back to the captain. Pouring some water into the canteen cap, Wildman held it up to the captain's lips. Janeway sipped slowly until the cap was empty. Pouring another capful for herself, Samantha was more clear headed now. Her pain had subsided to a tolerable level, and she knew she had to start repairs on the comm system if they were to have any chance of being rescued.

"I'll get to work on the comm system," she said.

****

Chakotay had gathered the rest of the senior staff in the briefing room. Everyone looked worried.

"We registered a subspace disturbance on sensors right before the Flyer disappeared," Kim reported.

"Unfortunately it wasn't anything our sensors could recognize," Torres added.

The First Officer didn't like this one bit. "I want you to go over every sensor log. Find out what happened out there. Things just don't disappear into thin air! I want answers," he said.

Kim and Torres looked at each other, and knew they'd have their work cut out for them on this one. They nodded, and left.

****

Samantha Wildman had been at work for hours, stopping only periodically to check on the captain. Unfortunately the comm system was more badly damaged than she had first thought. She would have to completely rebuild it. Just then, Janeway began to stir. Samantha stopped her work, and went to check up on her injured captain. A stain of blood had seeped through the makeshift bandage on Janeway's brow. Samantha knew the wound would need a fresh bandage.

"Here, let me take a look at that," she said as she unwrapped the bandage, and then gently dabbed at the bloody gash with a pad of sterile gauze.

The bleeding wasn't as bad now luckily. Janeway winced in pain as the sterile gauze made contact with the bleeding gash.

"Sorry," Wildman apologized.

She tried to dab more gently. Once the wound was sufficiently cleansed, Samantha wrapped it in several layers of sterile gauze.

"Have to...get back," Janeway said, as she tried to get to her feet.

She didn't get far before crying out in pain, and slumping back down. Samantha restrained her gently. "You should lay still. Let me worry about the repairs," Wildman insisted.

Finally, Janeway gave in, and laid back down. After making sure that the captain was comfortable, Samantha started to go back to attend to the damaged comm system, but Janeway grabbed her arm.

"You...take command," Janeway whispered weakly, gripping Samantha's undershirt in her fist, and then losing consciousness, leaving a streak of blood across the ensign's shirt.

Samantha knew at that moment that if she and the captain were to make it out of here alive, wherever here was, that she would need to take charge. The captain was depending on her, and so was the entire crew. She, and she alone would have to bring her captain back alive. It was a task Samantha knew would take every last bit of ingenuity and stamina theat she had left.

"I won't let you down, Captain," Samantha promised.

****

Naomi Wildman sat on her bed picking blue threads out of her Flotter doll. Just then, Neelix came in.

"They still haven't found her, have they?" Naomi asked sadly.

Neelix shook his head. "Not yet, but we won't give up," he assured her.

Naomi wanted to do something besides just sit in her quarters and worry. She wanted to be helpful in some way. She knew she was just a kid, but this kid's mother was lost somewhere, and probably hurt. Naomi knew she'd have to do something. She'd at least have to try. Determined to help in some way, she waited until Neelix was asleep, and then left her quarters, heading for the bridge. Minutes later, the turbolift deposited her there. Tuvok spotted her first when she exited the lift.

"Commander," he said, alerting him to the child's presence.

Chakotay turned, and saw Naomi standing there. He got up, and went to her.

"Please, Commander...Let me help find my mom," Naomi begged.

"Naomi, we..."

The look on her face nearly broke his heart, but he saw that she wouldn't be deterred. Not this time. Finally, he nodded.

****

Naomi stepped out of the turbolift, and into the heart of Engineering. Torres had been expecting her. Under any other circumstances Naomi knew B'Elanna would have objected to her being there. Surprisingly this time, the chief engineer didn't seem so terse.

"I want to help find my mom," Naomi said, determination burning in her eyes.

"I'll show you the readings we have so far," Torres told her, and indicated for Naomi to follow her over to a console.

B'Elanna brought up an image that showed some sort of rupture in space. "We think the Flyer was caught in this rift somehow, and pulled into a different part of space," Torres explained.

"If we flood this area of space with verteron particles, we might be able to get the rift to reappear," Naomi suggested. "All they would have to do is fly back through it, and they would end up back here."

Torres raised an eyebrow. That plan just might work!

****

Having taken apart literally every component of the comm system, Samantha was busily at work trying to remodulate the communications array. Suddenly, the captain began trying to get up. She was mumbling incoherently. Abandoning the console she was working on, Wildman ran to her.

"Captain, please don't!" Wildman urged. "You'll hurt yourself."

Despite being quite badly injured, Janeway was still able to put up a pretty impressive struggle against Samantha.
"Voyager...Need to get...back to...Voyager," Janeway mumbled.

Not in the greatest shape herself, Ensign Wildman had to struggle against her own injuries to keep the captain still.

"Captain, please lay still," Samantha begged her. "I'm working on it."

Suddenly, Janeway collapsed to her knees, her injuries getting the best of her. Moments later, she passed out.

****

"We think that if we flood this area of space with verteron paricles, we may be able to get the rift to reappear. We could modify a tractor beam to pull the Flyer out," Torres explained.

"Good work!" Chakotay said.

"It was Naomi's idea, actually," Torres told him.

Chakotay nodded. "Alright. Get on it!"

Nodding, Torres left.

It took a few hours, but Voyager finally managed to open up a rift at the Flyer's last known position.

"Can we get a comm signal through?" Chakotay asked.

"I think so. I'll have to narrow the bandwidth quite a bit, but it just might work," Kim said.

"Do it!" Chakotay ordered.

****

Ensign Wildman's long hours slaving over the Flyer's communications array were finally rewarded as the comm system crackled and sputtered to life. Samantha opened a channel, hoping Voyager was somewhere nearby so they'd pick it up.

"Delta Flyer to Voyager. We need immediate assistance! Voyager, do you read?"

The static continued. There was no response. Samantha didn't give up however, and continued hailing them for another hour.

****

Naomi had been hard at work in Engineering for nearly three hours, and was practically falling asleep at her console. From her own station, Torres noticed, and came over, intending to send her back to her quarters to sleep.

"Naomi," she said gently. "Why don't you go and get some rest. I'll call you if we come up with anything."

Naomi shook her head. "No, I want to stay. Maybe...I can...do something."

Given the fact, that Naomi could hardly keep her eyes open, Torres rather doubted that.

"Come on," Torres ordered, as she led Naomi away from the console.

Just then, it bleeped, followed by static. This got Naomi's attention "Mom?" she said out loud, hurrying back over to the console.

B'Elanna was hot on her heels. "Voyager to Delta Flyer," Torres hailed.

A badly garbled voice responded, but Torres could hardly make it out.

"Mom!" Naomi cried out in excitement, recognizing the voice even through all the interference. "We're losing the signal! B'Elanna do something!" Naomi pleaded.

Torres was trying.

"Nicoletti, boost the subspace tranciever to maximum!" Torres ordered, and then tapped her commbadge. "Chakotay, we have contact with the Flyer!" Torres's hands flew over the console. "Delta Flyer, this is Voyager. Boost your signal gain. We're losing you!"

****

"Voyager! Voyager, we're here!" Samantha had to practically yell into the comm system to be heard through all the static and interference. "The captain is injured."

The static became louder all of a sudden. Samantha knew they were losing the comm link, and despite rerouting every iota of power she could muster to the Flyer's communications array, the static only got worse. The comm signal faded. "Damn," Samantha cursed.

****

"We've lost the signal," Torres reported apologetically.

"No!" Naomi gasped as her forehead struck the console in frustration.

They had been so close, and yet not. Chakotay however wasn't going to give up. "Keep trying to get the signal back."

Torres nodded. "Aye, sir."

****

Finally, she was rewarded for her efforts as the impulse engines sputtered to life. Amazingly, there was still enough power left to get them up into orbit, but the nacelles were still venting plasma. It would be a rough ride to say the least, but Samantha was out of options. Fighting against the battered helm, Wildman somehow managed to get them up into orbit, but the engines were sluggish. Whatever she was going to do, she had to do it now. Samantha began to think out loud.

"What would cause a subspace instability?"

Just then, she got an idea. "Verteron particles!"

If she could get the Flyer to release enough verterons, the subspace instability might reappear, and she could fly back through it! She had just enough power to the emitter array to try it once, but just once. If she failed, there would be no trying it again. Seconds later, the emitter array was fully charged.

"Okay, here goes nothing," she said, and pressed a panel.

A silver beam shot out of the Flyer's main emitter.

"Come one...Come on, work!" Wildman pleaded.

As if on cue, a rupture suddenly appeared, but was destabilizing fast. The impulse engines would never get them there in time. Samantha needed to get there, and she needed to get there fast. Just then it hit her! Locking the plasma injectors! If she built up enough plasma in the engines, locked the plasma injectors, and then engaged warp engines, it might just be enough to get them through the rift before it closed. It was however a risky endeavor with no guarantee of success. Samantha knew though that she was running out of time. She had to try.

"Hang on, Captain. This may be a bit of a bumpy ride."

As she entered commands into her console, the computer's voice suddenly piped up.

"Procedure is not recommended," the computer replied.

"Computer, override security lockout. Authorization Wildman Beta 2 Nine," Wildman ordered.

The computer chirped in response, and the Flyer suddenly accelerated. The force of the sudden jump to warp pinned Samantha to her chair. She felt as if a thousand lead weights had just driven her skin right into her bones, but she struggled to maintain control. She heard someone cry out, and then realized it was her own voice she'd heard. Strangely though, it sounded so distant, so far away. Struggling to keep her heavy eyes open, and fighting against the Flyer's sluggish helm, Samantha piloted a direct course for the apperature.

"Warning!" the computer suddenly announced. "Forward hull integrity down to 10%!"

Undaunted, Samantha continued towards the rift.

"Go...go...go!" the ensign urged the Flyer louder and louder, until she was practically yelling.

Just as before, another blinding flash of light flooded the interior of the Flyer. Samantha turned her head away squeezing her eyes shut. She managed to keep her body in the chair only by grasping the console in a death grip. The wailing of at least half a dozen alarms rang through her ears. A console to her left began spurting sparks, and then suddenly everything stopped. The blinding light vanished, and consoles silenced their cacophonous alarms. The Flyer's sudden halt sent Samantha's head slamming into her console. She cried out in pain, but surprisingly didn't lose consciousness.

****

"Subspace rupture directly ahead, Commander!" Tuvok warned as the ship went to red alert.

"Commander!" Paris said excitedly as Voyager's view screen suddenly showed the Flyer adrift in front of them.

"Beam them to sickbay!" Chakotay ordered. "Tom, you're with me!"

Chakotay and Paris headed for the turbolift. Naomi was hot on their heels. Chakotay had forgotten that Naomi had been on the bridge all that time. As Chakotay and Paris exited the turbolift, they were met by Neelix. Obviously he was aware of what had happened. Chakotay was grateful that he was there.

"Naomi, let's wait in your quarters while The Doctor takes care of Mom, okay?" Neelix told her, guiding her back into the turbolift as Chakotay and Paris ran through the doors to sickbay.

"No, I want to be with Mom!" Naomi protested, slipping past Neelix and running into sickbay.

She found her mother in a crumpled heap on the floor. The Doctor was scanning her. Not far away laid the captain. A monotone, high pitched shrill pierced the air. Naomi knew what that meant. It meant that her mother was...

"Mom!" Naomi cried out as she ran over to her mother. "Mom, wake up! Please Mommy, wake up! I love you!" Naomi sobbed.
"Please don't let my mom die," Naomi begged as she looked at The Doctor, tears streaming down her cheeks.

A quick assessment of the captain revealed that she was in shock, but would live. Ensign Wildman's condition however was grim.

"She's in cardiac arrest. Mr. Paris, cortical stimulator!" The Doctor ordered, scanning Wildman. "Mr. Neelix!"

Paris hurriedly retrieved a round device from a nearby medical storage cabinet, and handed it to The Doctor. Neelix held Naomi back as The Doctor attached the contraption to Samantha's forehead.

"Mom, please don't die!" Naomi begged.

"Now!" he signaled to Tom.

Paris pressed a panel on a nearby console. Samantha's body jolted.

Naomi flinched, squeezing her eyes shut, her face contorting into an agonizing look of utter sorrow when she saw her mother's lifeless body flop limply under the jolt of the cortical stimulator.

"Again!" The Doctor ordered, and again Samantha's body jolted.

Naomi turned and clung to Neelix, sobbing.

The wailing alarm stopped suddenly, and Samantha drew in a long breath.

"She's going to be alright," The Doctor said looking up at Naomi.

Naomi released her hold on Neelix's, and ran over to her mother's side. "Mom!" she gasped.

Racked with an emotion she couldn't even begin to identify, the child buried her face into her mother's chest and wept.

****

Later that night Samantha awoke. She realized that she was back aboard Voyager in sickbay. Her pain was gone, but she felt a strange weight pressing on her left side. Struggling to lift her head, she looked down to see what was pressing against her. She could just barely make something out in the darkness. Slowly extending her hand out to the still form, she suddenly felt a head of hair. It was a person...her daughter! The child was sleeping. Gently, Samantha put her arm around her daughter.

"Mom?" she asked, the weight on her back waking her up.

"I'm okay, Naomi," Samantha whispered. "I'm okay."

Relieved, Naomi launched herself into her mother's arms sobbing in happiness.


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