Star Trek: Voyager Lower Decks Story: Caretaker

[Dingo]

Before, Part I:

Summary: I figured I'd write lower decks fics that are sort of before and after stories for various Voyager episodes. Both original characters of my creation and Voyager Lower Decks personnel will appear in this story series.

The original characters of Carl Stevens and Deborah Kinnian appeared in my story Star Trek: Voyager - The Guardian.

This story takes place a week after the events of The Guardian.

---

USS Voyager: "Feeling better, Deb?" LT Stadi asked.

"I've had better shifts." Deborah replied.

"Well you've just come back from a clandestine mission, been a hostage, and been saved." Stadi replied: "You've been through a lot."

"Using your Betazoid gift?" Deborah smiled as she sipped her cup of coffee.

"I didn't need to." Stadi replied with a smile at her best friend: "Pete's not off duty yet?"

"He's asleep." Deborah replied.

"And you can't sleep?" Stadi asked.

"Just something's keeping me up. The latest shuttle modifications that Anya keeps coming up with." Deborah replied.

"That test isn't till tommorrow Deb? Why not get some rest? What was that they told us in flight school about crew rest." Stadi said with a smile.

"You're right." Deborah said with a tired yawn.

"I'll see you. I've got duty in about five minutes." Stadi said and left the room.

Deborah headed into the bedroom before getting changed for bed and sliding in beside Peter.

Peter didn't open his eyes and said: "This is unusual for you. Normally you're sound asleep when I come off shift."

"Just a bit on my mind honey." Deborah said before lightly kissing the back of his neck. Just that little spot she knew would make him make a half-purr and half little sighing moan sound that she liked.

Peter sat up in bed to look at her: "Deborah, frankly I'm a little worried. This past week you've been a bit edgy. You've been sleeping less, not eating much and you've been a bit distant lately."

"I just had a bad spot with that mission, Peter. I'm just processing it all. I should be back to normal soon." Deborah replied.

"Deb, it just kills me to see you like this. I love you and I feel like I can't do anything to help you." Durst replied.

"Sorry Peter you can't fix everything." Deborah replied: "Sometimes I just have to help myself."

"I know. You get that independent streak sometimes." Peter said: "But sometimes you do scare me with it."

"That's one of the things about me you have to get used to." Deborah said.

"I know that. In two years of dating and at least a year and a half of living with you I've learned that." Peter smiled as he lay back on his side to face her.

Deborah moved her arm so she lay facing Peter and said: "Well I'm just gonna get some sleep."

She kissed him tenderly and shut her eyes. For about half an hour Peter Durst watched her sleep before he too was overcome by the veil of sleepiness.

---

Demilitarized Zone: "I'm reading another four guards near the outpost perimeter." Dalby said as he scanned the area ahead of him.

The four man Maquis surveillance and reconaissance team was covertly observing a Cardassian weapons depot in the Demilitarized Zone. It was near the end of an eight day Surveillance and Reconaissance mission.

Chakotay had wanted them to gather all the intelligence they could through visual and electronic observation.

"Holoimaging now." Gerron said as he snapped another image with the high resolution holo-imager.

"I'm observing the officer's quarters. Looks like a senior Glinn is the most senior individual at this outpost." Reese said as he observed the area through the TR-116's optical sights.

"Good." Carl Stevens said as he hefted his own phaser rifle in his hands and entered data into a computer.

The four men were bearded with bags under their eyes from many hours on almost perpetual alert.

"Chakotay and the others should be back within the next five minutes. Get ready to travel." Stevens ordered.

The other three men in the hide followed the command and put their gear into various bags and cases before the Maquis raider passed overhead and beamed them aboard.

The team had not been rematerialized for but one second before the ship shook.

"What the hell?" Dalby said.

"Let's get to our stations so we can figure out what the hell's going on." Stevens replied before he pulled his comm link and touched the contact: "Stevens to Chakotay. What the devil is going on here?"

"We're under attack by a Cardassian warship Stevens. Get to your post." Chakotay's curt order replied.

Stevens barely made it down the corridor before he felt the ship shudder again and his body slam into a bulkhead. As he passed out he could see an instrument panel of a secondary steering system nearby. I had to have hit my head hard. According to those readings we're all the way on the other side of the galaxy...Stevens thought.

---

To Be Continued...

 

[Dingo]

Before and During

Before and During

Deep Space Nine: "You're in a mood." Deborah observed as she saw Stadi walk at a rapid pace through the Promenade.

"Of all the arrogant, wanna be ladies men..." Stadi said.

"Who?" Deborah asked.

"Thomas Eugene Paris." Stadi replied.

Deborah said: "I remember him. He was a class behind me at Starfleet Academy."

"He's like a photon torpedo with a high grade guidance system." Stadi said, "Had he ever made a pass at you?"

"Once at Starfleet Academy." Deborah replied.

"And how did you handle him?" Stadi said.

"I simply told him I wasn't interested." Deborah replied.

"And how long did it take for him to quit flying at you at warp speed?" Stadi asked.

"About six weeks. Then I started dating Peter." Deborah replied: "He more or less backed off and besides he was dating Susan Crabtree by then."

"So basically he might keep chasing me until he finds someone else to chase around? Great." Stadi said.

"Or this mission finishes and he goes and does whatever it is he does." Deborah replied as they headed back towards the ship.

---

During: Deborah responded to the summons to head to the bridge. She knew that as relief conn that meant only one thing. The conn was either dead or incapacitated. Deborah hoped desperately it was the latter as she came through the turbolift doors into the acrid smoke on the bridge.

She could see it wasn't the case. Stadi lay crumpled on the deck. Peter Durst was crouched beside her with a tricorder. He shook his head as he scanned the readout.

Oh my God. Deborah thought before she instantly shunted the thought to the back of her mind. She could mourn Stadi's loss later. Now the immediate focus was on the situation.

If that new Ensign at OPS was right they were on the other side of the galaxy...

---

 

[CeJay]

Re: Before and During

I like stories told from the lower decks perspective so naturally I had to check this out. And I liked it. Once agian I wish they had done more with Stadi. I thought she was a character with plenty of potential.

I'm really interested to see things unforld from Deborah's point of view. I'm sure she's going to have a unique perspective on things to come.

 

[Dingo]

After

Author's Note: The Search and Rescue Detachment are other Original Characters for my story.

Note 2: Stadi's first name according to Memory Alpha was Veronica.

USS Voyager: "We're alone, in an uncharted part of the galaxy. We've already made some friends here, and some enemies. We have no idea of the dangers we're going to face, but one thing is clear, both crews are going to have to work together if we're to survive. That's why Commander Chakotay and I have agreed that this should be one crew — a Starfleet crew. And as the only Starfleet vessel assigned to the Delta Quadrant we'll continue to follow our directive: to seek out new worlds and to explore space. But our primary goal is clear. Even at maximum speeds it would take 75 years to reach the Federation. But I'm not willing to settle for that. There's another entity like the Caretaker out there somewhere who has the ability to get us there a lot faster. We'll be looking for her, and we'll be looking for wormholes, spatial rifts or new technologies to help us. Somewhere along this journey, we'll find a way back."

Captain Janeway's speech addressing the crew echoed throughout the ship.

Carl Stevens tugged at the collar of the Starfleet uniform a uniform he hadn't worn in years. He was now a provisional Lieutenant j.g. assigned to Security, part of the new 'one ship - one crew' aspect.

"Nice to see you in that uniform again." a female voice sounded from behind him.

Stevens turned to see a dark haired woman wearing the red of the Command division with the pips of a full lieutenant behind him. He smiled when he saw Deborah Kinnian.

"Why thank you, uhm, sir." Stevens replied as he remembered some Starfleet protocol.

"Remember the first order I ever gave you when I was attached to the 172nd SAR Squadron? How it's Deborah or Deb and not sir?"

"Didn't know if the order still stood Deb." Stevens said with a smile.

"I thought you'd been killed on New Grozny." Deborah replied.

"Believe me I thought I wasn't coming back when I went to seal off that tunnel." Stevens replied.

"I never got to thank you for saving me out there." Deborah said.

"It was my pleasure." Stevens replied.

"That was just so brave of you that you were willing to do that for me. I just want to ask why?" Deborah asked.

"I just wanted to keep a fellow human being and someone I consider a friend away from Cardassian captivity." Stevens replied.

Deborah thought there was more to Carl's answer but he wasn't forthcoming.

"I'd best be going. I've got to refamiliarize myself with Starfleet security procedures." Carl replied.

"You're not trying to go back to Search and Rescue? I mean LTJG Kano is the OIC. You could talk to him." Deborah replied.

"Deborah, since I joined the Maquis I'm sort of a persona non grata with the Search and Rescue community. LTJG Kano regards me as a traitor." Carl replied.

"I know you were with Extraction Flight but we both know you find nothing more rewarding in Starfleet than Search and Rescue. And the detachment could use a few more bodies." Deborah replied

"Hey," Carl replied: "To a lot of folks in SAR me and Reese are considered dead to them. Re-instating both of us might be seen as an affront."

"What's the harm in asking?" Deborah asked.

"I'll keep that under advisement." Carl said: "Anyway I've gotta get oriented."

"If you need anything..." Deborah replied.

"I'll know who to talk to." Carl replied before he got going.

---

"Sir, I've checked over the list of Maquis crewmembers and it seems that LTJG Carl Stevens and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Reese were both former members of the 172nd SAR Squadron." Chief Kurt Elmore, a large Caucasian man with the build of a weightlifter.

"I'm aware of that." LTJG Henry Kano, OIC of the Voyager SAR Det, replied: "Stevens served with me in Extraction Flight and Reese was in the Technical support flight."

"Sir. Whatever decision you make we'll support." Elmore said.

The eight members of the SAR team were clustered into their small space adjacent to Stellar Cartography.

"What do you think? They're gonna be teammates of ours if they decide to rejoin us." the Australian said.

"Honestly sir", Petty Officer First Class John Russo, the Leading Petty Officer for the SAR Det and a lanky and balding fellow from Montana on Earth, replied, "I think it's a bad idea. Reese and Stevens made conscious decisions to betray their oaths to Starfleet and now we're inviting them into the detachment where we have to rely on each other? I don't think so."

"Just because they joined the Maquis doesn't make them automatically untrustworthy." Petty Officer 3rd Class Lucy Tarbox, their junior medic, spoke up: "And they were the masterminds for the rescue of LT Kinnian."

"For motives neither Stevens or Reese has been willing to put forward." Russo replied: "I don't trust either of them."

"I agree with Russo honestly, LT." Petty Officer 2nd Class Ron Tanner replied: "After all they did desert their posts."

"Gentlemen. Let's bear in mind neither Reese nor Stevens has expressed any interest in trying to be re-instated." Chief replied.

"Personally LT, if they do reapply I recommend they be rejected. How can we be sure that they'll mesh well with us?" Tanner replied.

"Lieutenant, whatever decision you make we'll back you up on." Elmore said: "I'm with you either way."

"If they do express an interest." Kano replied. "We'll put them through a specialized selection course. The caveat being that if they are interested in joining us that any dissent any of you feel be put aside."

"One thing at a time." Chief replied.

---

Carl Stevens walked his rounds of the ship to familiarize himself with various areas. As he walked by Cargo Bay One he noticed three of his fellow Maquis staring at him.

"Something the matter Dalby?" Stevens said.

"What makes you and that Starfleet Lieutenant so buddy-buddy?" Dalby asked.

"If you must know we were friends long before I joined the Maquis. Nothing more. Nothing less. I just wanted to catch up with an old friend I've not seen for a while. And after all we are one ship and one crew." Stevens replied.

"We're that way only because our ship was destroyed and we had no choice." Seska replied.

"For crying out loud we've only been on this ship a few hours." Stevens replied.

"And in that time you're starting to mix with some of those Starfleet people a little too easily." Mariah Henley replied.

"Look," Stevens replied: "If you're accusing me of being a traitor go ahead and say it."

"We're not accusing you of anything Stevens. We want to know where your loyalties lie. Your actions since New Grozny have confused us." Seska replied.

"I frankly, don't like your tone." Stevens spoke up.

"We want to know where your loyalties lie." Seska replied.

"To this crew." Stevens replied before he left for his rounds.

---

"Veronica Stadi was always a warm and loyal friend." Deborah Kinnian said as she stood before the photon torpedo casing that contained the mortal remains of her best friend: "I knew her since we were cadets at the Academy. She was like a sister to me."

Stevens stood in the audience. He could see Deborah's upper lip quiver as she gave the eulogy.

"I remember when we were in our first squadron together. I couldn't think of anyone else I'd want flying with me." Deborah began as tears began to well into her eyes: "And I can't think of anyone I considered a closer friend."

It was before Deborah started to start to break down that Stevens gently started to escort her out of the room.

Through tears she said: "No. I want to stay. I want to say goodbye."

Stevens nodded and they watched as the torpedo was loaded into the tube and ceremonially fired into the void of space.

In singles and small groups people paid their respects for Lieutenant Stadi. Aside from a couple crewmembers who were cleaning up there was no one in the room.

It was then that Deborah broke down sobbing. Carl Stevens' shoulder happened to be the closest one to her and he put his arms around her as he felt her sobs against his shoulder. He felt his own heart get heavy to see he in that pitiable a state.

---

Peter Durst headed down to the forward torpedo room. His shift had ended five minutes ago and he was headed there to comfort Deborah. Losing Veronica had to have been tough on her.

It was when he walked into the room and saw Deborah sobbing in the arms of LTJG Stevens that he felt more than a twinge of jealousy.

He'd heard Deb mention Stevens once or twice. And that she considered him a friend. That meant no reason to be jealous. Right?

"Deb?" Durst said as he walked in.

She looked up before disentangling herself from Stevens' arms. Her eyes were red rimmed and tearful. He felt horrible for even feeling jealous about Stevens or his intentions.

"I'd best be going. If you need anything you know how to find me." Stevens said before he left the room.

"I'm sure she'll be alright." Durst said as he embraced his girlfriend: "Get back to your post Stevens."

"Aye sir." Stevens replied.

When he'd gone Deborah asked: "What was that?"

"What?" Peter replied.

"You're jealous." Deborah concluded.

"You're wrong." Peter replied.

"I know that look Peter. That one where you tell me I'm wrong but I know I'm right." Deborah replied.

"Look. The Maquis have only been aboard the ship for a few hours and frankly I don't trust them." Peter replied.

"And I've known Carl for years. There's no reason to be jealous." Deborah replied.

"Who says I'm jealous." Peter replied.

"I know you Peter. I know you have a tendency to get jealous over things. Especially things that don't exist." Deborah said. "I'm gonna go to our quarters and rest. Let me know when you're reasonable again."

Peter watched her walk off and felt like a real oaf. Way to go Pete. You try to comfort her the day she loses her best friend and then you practically accuse her of having an affair. Durst thought. But that doesn't mean I trust Carl Stevens at all.

---

End

(More of these Lower Decks fics will follow on various episodes as well as having standalone Lower Decks 'fanfics'.)

 

[fleetcaptain]

Sweet. Can't wait to read more of these. Are you going to bring in the Hazard Team again eventually like you did with your first Voyager fanfic?
Like how you are using some characters that we never got to see on Voyager as well.

 

[Dingo]

Yeah. I'm gonna bring the Hazard team into this at some point. I figure that there being Maquis on the team means this can go a long way in resolving the Maquis/Starfleet tensions of the first season (my AU Voyager will play with that tension a little more as seen by the Durst/Stevens conflict).