By:AW

Published in Unicorn Press. Editor: Nancy Border & Pat
Hayden.

You can buy it from Unicorn Press @
http://members.aol.com/UnicrnPrs/press.htm

Disclaimer: You know it, I know it, I don’t own idea
of Star Trek: Voyager. I just own the story.

Date With Destiny II

of Star Trek: Voyager. I just own the story.

8. Changes

Kathryn stared at the dark obsidian orbs of her daughter, the eyes that reminded her so much of her father. Kathryn knew that if she looked for too long; if she searched for much longer, she would fall in love all over again and she would not be able to let go. Kathryn felt the tears start anew. She was going to lose her too, but it was her own choice. Kathryn handed the infant to Tuvok. “Her Tuvok. Can you please place her in the bassinet?”

Tuvok took the infant and marched to the front of the house where the bassinet stood. It was not near Kathryn’s room, and he knew that she was already distancing herself from the fragile and very much innocent being she had brought into the world. I give a Vulcan prayer to you Kathryn Janeway, that you find peace in all your journeys.

/\/\

Tom sat and stared in wonderment at B’Elanna. At four months, she was beginning to show the signs of pregnancy. Her belly was beginning to round with the child she held, and he remembered earlier days, joyous days before Katie’s birth. Let’s hope this story has a happier ending. They had received a message from Tuvok telling of the birth of Kearstin, Kathryn’s daughter.
They also knew of the child’s parentage and were willing to take the child. It was better with them, that way if her mind ever changed, her thoughts
towards the child ever altered she would be in a position to retake a place in her daughter’s life.

Kathryn, I hope you find happiness.

/\/\

Kathryn took care of the child for two weeks at Tuvok’s home. She held the child when she could, but avoided making herself love this child to much for
before long she would no longer be hers to have and to hold. She had made a package for the child, if she ever wondered of her parentage, she would know.

A week after her birth, Kathryn had gone to a Vulcan master and had Kearstin branded, something that would always be there, that would always remind her of who she was, and from where she came. Kathryn had had a
tattoo placed on Kearstin’s delicate porcelain skin. She had herself marked as well. She had placed an insignia on her own lower back; the flower emblem that Chakotay had first viewed while on New Earth, mixed with the Starfleet emblem of her day. It was a reminder of who she had been and who she would always be.

On her daughter’s back she had placed the mark of Chakotay’s tribe mixed with the tattoo that Kathryn had received. In the traditions of his people, she had forever claimed the child as theirs despite her misgivings and the fact that she would not grow up with either parent.

So two weeks after the child’s birth, Kathryn was once again on the road headed for Earth. She had approached Tuvok just this morning and said she would be on her way. She had thanked him and told him that she would be around, not to worry about her.

“Tuvok, it’s time for me to keep going.”

Tuvok stared into the crystal clear blue orbs of Kathryn Janeway and asked the question that had been nagging him for days now. “Will you keep the child with you?”

Kathryn looked down at the little bundle she held as if she was the most precious stone on the planet. “No. I’ll stop by Earth and drop her with Tom and B’Elanna, and they’ll take care of her. After the tragedy of Kate, they said they’d be more than happy to take Kearstin.”

Tuvok watched Kathryn leave, and hoped he had done all he could to help her on her way. He had not told Kathryn of B’Elanna’s impending motherhood, but he now knew that she would see soon enough. Maybe that would make Kathryn see the errors in her ways. Goodbye Kathryn Janeway, may you be safe and happy wherever you are.

/\/\

Kathryn had boarded the transport early that day. Despite everything, despite the love she held for her child, she was still convinced she could not provide
the life that the child needed. So she once again ran away…she was always running. Something that had once not even been considered an option was now a way of life. Where did I go wrong?

She was alone on the freighter except for a lone Bolian who seemed to be watching her. Kathryn knew she was imaging things a got up to go for the washroom to feed the child. Maybe one day she would finally find happiness.

The Bolian watched Kathryn Janeway, the woman he had been instructed to watch. So he waited. He had noticed that she was with child on the transport up to Vulcan. Now he watched as she went to nurse the child. He wondered why she had moved from Earth to give birth and why his employer wanted this plain human woman watched with such intensity. He didn’t know, neither
did he care. He was here to perform a job and when he was done, he would be paid generously, and he would be on his way. He never wondered much about any of his assignments, but this time, the woman looked familiar. Like the shadow of someone he knew from somewhere, and he wondered why? From where did he know this woman? And, why did it matter? There was something about her that demanded attention. No matter, he would find out
soon enough…he hoped. If not he would go about his business and life would go on for all of them.

Kathryn finished nursing the child and proceeded to her seat. The child was asleep so she placed her in the secured basinet she had acquired on Vulcan. She tucked the bundle she had created for the child in the compartment in the bottom of the bassinet. The bundle included things from her life and things of his; things to help remember them both. After she was sure the child was safe and sound, she leaned back, hoping to get a couple of hours of sleep. They would arrive at Earth in approximately five hours and she needed to get some sleep before she met Tom and B’Elanna and her life changed forever.

TBC in Date With Destiny II - Chapter 9: Changes

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