COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS! okay anways: "The Bottom" by Ardelle ~Dedicated to Charles Dickens and Theresa Nelson, who between their novels "Oliver Twist" and "The Beggars Ride" inspired this story, and to Krystle Armstrong and Elijah Wood for their inspiring portrayals of the Artful Dodger~ Part One: Resorting to a Life of Crime B'Elanna Torres awoke not knowing where she was. The scent of rotting garbage penetrated her thoughts. She was hot on one side and freezing on the other. Her stomach made loud rumbling noises. And oh, how she ached! It slowly came back to her. She had fallen asleep nestled in a tattered bit of burlap that barely covered half of her. The spot she had chosen was under an overhang, against the wall of fancy restaurant. The ovens were pushed up against the wall, warming the bricks throughout the night as tomorrow's bread was being baked. As her eyes adjusted to the dark she realized the pain in her stomach wasn't just because of hunger. A skinny figure half her size stood over her, scowling at her, and kicking her with a grimy, point-toed boot. "This is my spot! Geddoff b'fer I knock ya silly!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Yesterday All my troubles seemed so far away Now it looks as though there's here to stay Oh how I long for yesterday." -- The Beatles, "Yesterday" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The shoreleave had started innocently enough. Voyager had docked at an advanced planet known as Telane. It was entirely city, and it had been for millions of years. Telane was a mixing bowl for nearby species, the many-tentacled Shazani, the tall silver furred Delnr and the very near human Zelm. All the Zelm had dusky skin and large dark eyes, with white hair that made any age seem old. Telane was populated the most by Zelm, their guides believed they inhabited Telane first. Janeway had allowed shoreleave on the planet, which was entirely engulfed by buildings. They used air-recyclers so pollution was not a problem. B'Elanna remembered walking with Harry, Seven, and Tom down one of Telane's crowded streets. A wiry young Zelm woman ran past them, bumping into B'Elanna and spilling some sort of soup all over her. "Oh my gosh I am so sorry madam!" she exclaimed. "Let me help you!" She just happened to have a sponge-like thing with her, and started wiping B'Elanna off, a million apologies a minute. The girl was dressed in thin layers of tattered gray clothes, her hair so grimy it was greenish brown. Her eyes were filled to the brim with sincere guilt. "No, really, you don't have to, here, let me do that," B'Elanna kept saying, but the teen persisted. Tom also tried to help sponge her off, but the girl would have none of that. "It was my clumsy fault, sir!" she cried, as she continued sponging her off. "B'Elanna," Seven said. "That girl has taken your purse." "Who, me?" the girl asked, completely surprised. B'Elanna felt for the tiny woven purse Tom had bought her. It was gone. And so was the girl. "Police!" Harry called. The police combed the streets and found a few suspects, but none looked like the girl. They discussed the occurrence later over lunch with a Delnr native they'd met named Eyret. "It surprises me that you'd find a thief," said Eyret. "All of us on Telane, especially the Zelm, are very religious. Our religion is very much based on justice and honesty. Thieves are dealed with most harshly. Living a life of crime is asking to die." "That _is_ odd," agreed Harry. "Why would anyone risk their lives as a living?" "Maybe it's their only living," Tom pointed out. Eyret snorted through his long silver snout. "There are plenty of alternatives." "The girl seemed very young, in her teens," said Seven. "Are there still, 'plenty of alternatives?'" "Of course! Orphan homes! I could take you to one, they're beautiful. In fact I've heard some children complain that they _didn't_ get to be raised there!" "I'd like to see this place," said Tom, skeptical. Harry and Seven agreed, but B'Elanna stayed behind. "I'm going to check out the technology of this place, maybe get a bit of dessert, some 'me' time," she explained to Tom with a kiss. He replied with a much longer one, and then the band was off. B'Elanna did as she planned, finding the mix between Delnr, Shazani and Zelm interesting. She wandered around a street market, sniffing the spicy blue melons and tasting the fine wines. Above the normal ruckus she heard something familiar. "Oh my gosh I am so sorry madam! Let me clean you up!" It was the girl who had stolen her purse. The thief. Pulling the same trick on a Shazani couple. "Hey you!" B'Elanna yelled after her. "Thief!" The girl spotted her and ran off. She blended in with her neutral colors and natural talent towards doing so. Somehow, B'Elanna still managed to tail her through several back alleys before losing her. That's when she found out, she'd lost herself. "Torres to Voyager," she said, hitting her comm badge. "Voyager, please respond." No one answered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What a wonderful world... All the creeps go creepy crawling Same thing every night How can stealing candy from a baby Seem all right?" -- Chumbawumba "Creepy Crawling"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I said geddoff already!" the girl kicked her again and B'Elanna grabbed her leg and pulled her down in retaliation. B'Elanna recognized her as the girl who had stolen her purse. "You stole my purse!" "So?" she replied nonchalantly. Unlike the apologetic girl B'Elanna had known before, the girl was hard and mean. Everything, her voice, her clothes, her look, her hands, was rough about her. "So," B'Elanna snarled, "Give it back." "No. I'd think you'd be a little more worried where you're gonna sleep tonight and whether or night the police will nab ya." "What you mean?" "Anybody out on the street at this hour is disturbing the peace or tresspassin' private property. That's against the law. They'll throw you in jail like that." She snapped her fingers. "Iffen you're plan's to take me spot than I hope you're willin' to fight for it." The teen drew a switchblade. "I don't like to use this." "You wouldn't." B'Elanna stood a head higher than the girl, intimidating her. "I would," the girl spat. "And have both of us hauled off the jail on the double. I fought long an' hard for this spot and I'd have you suffer to try separating me from it." "They'd let me off. My captain would fight for me." B'Elanna could feel her old days with the Maquis come back to her. "She would eh? Is that the infamous Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager?" "It might be. Why?" "They got carted off to jail this afternoon while you was chasin' me. Stepped on the religious crocuses or somethin'. There's always a reason." "What do you mean by that?" "In the Telanian religion, fifty criminals and non-believers are sacrificed daily." "You're lying." "Why would I? Lady, I'm only telling you the facts. This happened to my folks and a lot of kids around here. I know how it works." "What can I do about this?" "Find a new spot to sleep and thank your stars you're still alive." "So my crewmates are dead?" *Oh please, please god no!* B'Elanna cried silently. "Probably not yet. The jail is packed with sacrifices. It could be years. And can you believe they have it all lined up and organized? It's ludicrous." "Can't we get them out?" "Can a zaranat fly?" "Yes?" "No!" said the girl sharply. "Of course not." "I'm not from around here," B'Elanna replied in defense. "It's written all over your face, lady. Now GET OFF MY SPOT!!!" "Okay, fine." B'Elanna said sourly, getting up. "What else do you know about my crew? Was the whole crew taken? Where's the jail?" The girl lay down, ready to go to sleep. "Look, lady, consider yourself lucky. I'll help you out. Tomorrow. In the morning. Now go away." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Change of fortune is the lot of life." -- English Proverb~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That had to have been the worst night of sleep B'Elanna had ever gotten. She slept across from the girl, against a trash can that reeked of rotting meat. She tried to ignore the little bugs crawling up and down her legs. What sleep she got was light and restless, filled with disturbing images of Tom being burned at the stake, little Naomi bloody on an alter, Chakotay being drown... "Wake up!" the girl was kicking her again. B'Elanna snarled and got up, trying not to kill her. "Eat this," the girl ordered. It looked like a stale piece of bread with a bit of fuzzy mold on it. "Are you joking?" B'Elanna grunted. "Are you planning to go without breakfast?" "I can get my own." "How? By paying for it? I spent your money and sold the purse. If you show your face around too much the police will notice." "It's gotta be better than this," B'Elanna grumbled. But she ate the bread. "My name is Flint. If I had any other name I don't remember it. What's your name?" "B'Elanna Torres." "Pretty name," Flint said, almost complementing her. In the same breath she said, "Let's get on already." They continued to the street, pale gold in the rising sun and beginning to fill with people. Flint chewed on a melon B'Elanna did not remember seeing her pay for nor stealing. "Why did you give me that bread if I could have melon?" B'Elanna's mouth watered and her stomach growled. She could kill Flint, the spicy aroma of the melon and the dark blue juice staining her lips almost too much to bear. "You haven't learned the swipe things right yet," Flint explained through a mouthful. "You'd get caught. And that's the first law of survival. Never get caught. You're lucky I got that bread for you. I wish I had been so lucky when I got turned out on the street." Chew, chew, swallow. "Really, you're awful cranky." "_I'm_ awful cranky?!" B'Elanna nearly yelled. "My entire crew is in danger, dammit! And all I can do is wait for a clue from a street brat who must be the rudest creature I've ever met! I'm _cranky_?" "Yes," Flint replied solemnly, "You're _very_ cranky." B'Elanna decided to take a different approach. "Will you please show me to the jail?" "What do you plan to do there?" "None of your-" B'Elanna stopped herself. "It is my business," replied Flint, chewing sedately. "You're a green who can't hold her own, and is planning to get herself killed. Instead of lettin' ya do that, I can help you out and maybe..." suddenly Flint lowered her voice, "Maybe some one like you could help _me_ out." "A deal," B'Elanna stated flatly. "Forget it. I want nothing with the likes of you." "Your better off with the likes of me than the likes of t'others. Think about it. You're a telltale off-worlder, and if they're rounding up off-worlders to be sacrificed, you'll be thrown in jail in ten seconds flat. Now, what happens to the likes of me, just tryin' to make a dishonest livin' for herself?" "Why can't you have any other sort of living? Maybe the religion is strict," B'Elanna said. *Or maybe you're exagerrating.* "But I've heard that there are good homes for kids like you." "Kids like me?" Flint scoffed. "Nah. The reason the orphan homes is so good is 'cause nobody's in them! My parents were sacrificed shortly after I was born. Maybe they were thieves or religious radicals, it don't really matter. Some how they got me out t'there and I were picked up by a Shazani named Moog. He taught me everything about life. Got caught a couple a years back, though." Flint talked a little more slowly about him. "I bet he loved you very much," B'Elanna said, hoping to get on her better side. "You were lucky to have him." "He taught me that I was a criminal, and if I ever came back to the city official's they'd throw me in jail. He taught me how to lie, steal, and cheat. By the time I was five I was out doing my own pickin' on the streets. Didn't know I could've gone back when I were that young. And now I'm too much of criminal to go back." Flint chewed on her lower lip, an empty sort of expression coming into her eyes. "What do you mean 'love?'" "Love--" B'Elanna started, but stopped. Tears crept into her eyes as she thought of Tom. "Love is a lot of things. Love is when, you really care what happens to some one, and if it's right, they do too, and..." How could she explain? "You're daft," Flint concluded. "On with the lesson." "Where's the jail?" "Let me continue," Flint said deliberately. "Let's just say that if you joined me, there was some sort of rebellion forming against the rest of the religious fanatics. Let's just say all of us 'criminals' and 'radicals' get together every night at an allotted time to discuss our plans. Let's just say that some high-an-mighty Starfleet Engineer might come in use to us. Would you be interested?" Flint's tone had gotten softer and softer, so that those around couldn't hear. "Yes," B'Elanna replied, leaning close to Flint to reply. Her smell offended. "I might be." "It might be a little while before we spring, and until then, I'm not going to keep fetching you moldy bread. You'll have to learn the skill." "What skill?" asked B'Elanna, although she knew perfectly well what this was leading up to. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "In this life one thing counts In the bank: Large amounts I'm afraid these Don't grow on trees You have to pick a pocket or two... Just to find some piece of mind We have to pick a pocket or two." -Fagin and his boys, "Oliver!" by Lionel Bart ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The stench of the place was awful. Tom put his head between his knees to stop the nausea and stifle the smell. *How could this have happened?* It was so fast he could hardly remember. All he knew was the entire crew of Voyager had been rounded up and thrown into the Telane jail for no good reason other than the fact they didn't practice the Telanian religion. It was crock! He'd been with Harry and Seven when they were rounded up. He'd seen Neelix and Naomi, also the Captain and Chakotay. Tom wondered where B'Elanna was. Could she be in a different cell? Or perhaps still on the streets, wondering why no one would respond to her hails? He hated to think of B'Elanna in this place, banging her fists against the wall to no avail, muttering her darkest oaths. And what if she was still on the streets, avoiding police? What could she possibly do? *Oh B'Elanna, where are you?* Disclaimer: Star Trek is not mine, the songs are not mine, even the basic idea is not entirely mine. You probably knew that. I don't want to hurt anybody(especially me) so I put that. Thank you. Have a nice day. ;)