Assistant Captain's Log 6 | dictated; | forward-dated to midday

[minicaptain]

[ she's been looking for him for a few days now, wondering if they've just been missing each other, but now that it's been a while... well, she needs to ask. it's worrying her; even if he'll be better off on voyager, she'll still miss him. ]

Has anyone seen Icheb? I haven't seen him in a few days... [ pause. ] Or Q... Q, are you still here? [ she's hesitant to ask after him, but curiosity about him prevails. ]

...Are a lot of people still here? Do people come and go a lot? I miss--

[ she breaks off here. she doesn't like losing people like this. she misses her mom, neelix, seven... she misses a lot of people, really. she would even be happy to see commander chakotay here. he had always been nice to her. lieutenant tuvok, too.

after a few minutes, she decides to fix a few things at once here. for anyone watching, she starts drawing in the journal. soon enough, a drawing of voyager appears. naomi sounds a lot stronger when she starts talking again, confident in her explanation and understanding of her starship home. ]

Everyone keeps asking me about my home like it's a planet or another world. This drawing is where I was born. This is the starship Voyager. I don't have a homeworld or even a home planet. Mom was born on Earth and she says my dad is from the planet Ktaris. I don't know much about them because I was born in deep space. That's why I keep asking about Earth. I'm half-human and I want to know more about it.

[ she doesn't really know what else to say or how to end it, so she pauses for a minute to figure that out. ]

I don't think being different is a bad thing. I'm different and I've known someone who's from the Borg collective. As long as we're here, we may as well try to get along. Right? [ because this makes sense to her.

that's pretty much all she has to say, so she just ends it there. ]

Comments

[unvarnished]

Naomi... [there are a lot of things he can say to her. But he settles on something that will hopefully be a good topic]

I'll tell you anything you want to know about Earth.

[minicaptain]

I know, but... [ she trails off, unsure of where to even begin asking. ] I could tell you about Voyager, too.

[unvarnished]

I'd love that. I've never met anyone who grew up on a spaceship before.

[minicaptain]

Okay. I've only been alive for a couple of years. [ so she doesn't know everything, but she knows enough. ] What do you want to know?

[unvarnished]

I know you like playing that game, but what else do you do on the ship? Do you have school?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

I'll see if I can find them, if you want. [He has a feeling they won't be here, though]

[minicaptain]

I'd like that very much. [ she can deal with it. maybe. hopefully. it's just making her so homesick, more than she'd ever thought she would be. how do people live here for months on end? ]

How are you? [ because she's glad he's still here and she needs something else to talk about. ]

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

I'll go look. My tunnels can get there quickly.

Me? I'm just fine, got no worries here, darl. How about you?

[minicaptain]

Thank you. [ it might not be much, but it means a lot to her and she appreciates it. ]

I'm okay. I miss Voyager. [ she's homesick, okay. slightly jealous that icheb gets to go back to the starship and she's angry at herself for feeling like that when it means he would be stuck here otherwise. she's conflicted okay. ] I'm glad you're still here.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Don't you worry, they'd have to drag me out of here, I wouldn't-

[Oh. Oh]

Naomi...his name plate is gone.

[encryptedlock]

I'm still here. [Probably always will be.]

You're what we'd call Starborn. Granted, it's a lot more common to live in habitats or orbitals than on ships--they usually aren't big enough--but you're in good company. There are a ton of important people who were starborn.

[minicaptain]

Good. [ well, not good that they're all still trapped here, but she's glad to hear from him anyway. ]

You have a word for that? [ ... wait... ] So your world has space travel, too? Do you have starships or are they smaller? What were those people like?

[encryptedlock]

We have space travel and ships, yeah. Size depends on a lot, but most of our big ships are warships. The last one I was on--

[He pauses and makes a rough sketch of a UNSC Frigate.]

They're just like everyone else, really. Plenty of people have never been to Earth, whether they're from the colonies or born out in the black.

[minicaptain]

Oh. That looks really big. [ and cool. it's very different from voyager. ] What's it like? [ don't mind her. she's curious now. ]

I think a lot of people in the Federation are like that. Most of Voyager's crew is from Earth, but Lieutenant Torres is a Klingon and they aren't from Earth. And Neelix is a Talaxian from the Delta Quadrant. He didn't know what Earth was until we found him.

[ she's still the only person born on the starship. ]

[encryptedlock]

Well, it's pretty big all right. It's--kind of hard to describe, really. We used it mostly as a mobile training platform, but any ship that's not just a shuttle can support a crew for months at a time. Medical bays, training areas, vehicle storage hangars, crew quarters, kitchens which made terrible food. The usual.

See, we didn't contact any alien life for a good few centuries until after we had faster-than-light travel, so most humans don't even live on Earth anymore--or, well. They did before the war.

[whistles_the_blues]

That's a pretty impressive looking home you have there.

I lived on Earth for years, though I wouldn't exactly call it home. If you have any questions, I can try to answer them for you.

[minicaptain]

Thanks! [ she loves it. voyager and her crew are everything to the little girl. ] I really love it.

I don't really know where to start. I was learning about biology before I got here and someone's taught me a little history.

[whistles_the_blues]

I'm sure you do.

Hm. I was a taught a bit about culture, but I've spent most my time traveling. So I've seen a little bit here and there.

[minicaptain]

What's your favorite place?

[whistles_the_blues]

I can't say I really have one. The amazon was a beautiful place though.

[unexpected_adventures]

[Most of what the girl spoke of confused Bilbo somewhat. What was a starship and what was the Borg collective? She looked like she wanted to find her friend though and Bilbo wanted to help.]

Icheb? I don't think I met anyone by that name. What does he look like?

[minicaptain]

[ she'll give a decent description of him, though she ignores the nose, not really sure how to go about explaining that. ...come to think of it, she doesn't even know what species he is.

oops. ]

He doesn't smile much, but he's really nice. He's my friend and I'm worried about him.

[unexpected_adventures]

Hm. Do you think he's perhaps ventured outside of the castle walls themselves? [Bilbo hadn't actually gone outside yet himself, it was all new to him.]

Is he an adventurous sort?

[minicaptain]

I don't think so. But if he did, he would still have his journal.

[ the fact that she hasn't heard him over the journals is more worrying than not having seen him. ]

I don't think my combadge works here, either.

[unexpected_adventures]

[Bilbo nodded. He felt sorry for the little girl, as it seemed the boy was her close friend.]

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