"It's so exciting! Just think of the possibilities of new dishes I could make!" Neelix exclaimed as he thought about Cibophus, the planet they were going to. Chakotay and Paris exchanged a look and a mutual sigh. Neelix and his dishes… well, the Ciboeans were known for their culinary skills as well as other things. Currently it was just the three of them in the Delta Flyer, making a stop to visit the planet while Voyager was flying on to check out a new star anomaly. They'd meet up later if Cibophus proved promising.

The two humans didn't bother really listening to the Talaxian spouting off about this dish and that food. Their eyes were focused ahead at the stars or on their instrument panels. Paris intoned "Course correction to mark .3, Commander." It wasn't really necessary to say all these things, but records were records. "Should be there in less than half an hour."

Which means less than half an hour of listening to Neelix, thought Chakotay with a wry smile. He nodded to acknowledge the pilot and furrowed his brows, feeling that rising excitement that was always there every planet they visited. The Ciboeans had seemed friendly when they talked to Captain Janeway and invited her and the ship to the planet. A brand new species! And a friendly one at that. This is what he'd signed up for: adventure. He knew that both Neelix and Paris felt the same way, even if neither would have quite voiced it in that way.

"Commander?" Paris' voice broke into Chakotay's thoughts. He snapped to attention and looked at the panel. A proximity alert? There was someone else out there! His eyes ran over the flickering lights and he briskly said, "It's coming from 330 mark 15. Sensors?"

"Unknown," the pilot replied. "It seems to be… that's weird. A combination of a hell of a lot of things. What do you think they wa-" he was broken off mid-sentence as the Flyer lurched in the air, throwing the unfortunate Neelix to the floor and making the others grab at the nearest thing.

Rubbing his banged head, Chakotay snapped, "Tractor beam! See you if you can get us out, Paris!" He glanced over at Neelix to ensure the Talaxian was alright. He flipped on the communication and immediately introduced himself, "This is Commander Chakotay of the Federation Shuttlecraft Delta Flyer. Please state your intentions." He waited for a response, but getting none. Again he tried, "You have reached Commander Chakotay out of the Federation Starship Voyager. We are on a peaceful mission to Cibophus. Identify yourselves."

Paris glanced over at Chakotay when they again received no response, and tersely told him, "Can't get free. We're being dragged." He again tried to break the Flyer free, but could see that it was futile. The ship was too strong. He'd burn out the Flyer's engines long before they broke free of the tractor beam. He had his hands full but could hear Chak trying to put though a distress call to Voyager. Suddenly Paris exclaimed, "Brace yoursel-" Once again, his words were cut off off as a great energy beam shot through the tractor and enveloped the Delta Flyer. All the three people saw was blinding white for a moment, then everything went black.

Commander Chakotay was the first to wake. He groaned and put a hand on his head to stop it from spinning. What the hell had happened? Where was he, for one thing? He blinked slowly to clear his head and now slowly took stock of his situation. No, they weren't in Sick Bay. Not on Voyager. Not on the Delta Flyer either. He could sense engines humming and sat up with a wince. A ship. Okay. What ship? And where were the others?

Looking to his left, Chakotay saw in an instant Lieutenant Paris still passed out, and Neelix beside him. A quick glance around told the Commander that it was just them three, and they seemed to be in a holding area like a brig. There was a force field ahead of him and he sighed. No one in sight. Scooting over to the other two, he shook them both gently, saying softly, "Neelix? Paris? Wake up. You alright?"

Twin groans told him their heads likely felt the same way his did. Neelix was the first to speak, "C-Commander? What… what happened?" The Talaxian squinted at him before looking around too.

"Ugh. My head feels like I stuck it in one of Neelix's kitchen appliances. No offence, Neelix," Paris stated as he rubbed his temples. Now he looked a bit more awake and asked, "That white light? Some sort of energy weapon? What do you think they want? Where are we?"

Sighing, Chakotay leaned back on the nearest wall. "I don't know. I just woke up myself. I haven't seen anyone yet. You both sure you're okay? Other than a headache? Nothing else unusual?" He got careful shakes of their heads before grunting as he changed position. It seemed they would have to wait and see who came for them. Whatever the situation was, they'd deal with it as it came.

Neelix did speak up and asked, "Were you able to get through to Voyager? And this ship seems… I don't know. Just a funny feeling, that's all. Now I know perfectly well that's not what Tuvok would say at all. But still…" he frowned and couldn't help the shiver running through him. "Brr! I don't know."

Chakotay gazed at him before slowly replying, "I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding. I don't know if our message got through. Let's hope it did, before that surge fried everything. But I'm sure everything is fine." His voice was full of reassurance, even though he was covering his own feelings. He had the same thing that Neelix felt… that this could be bad. Very bad. But he was the Commander, after all. It was his job to keep crew morale up. And appearing overly worried would help no one.

He didn't know how long they'd been sitting around when the sound of the far door being opened echoed into the room. Quick to stand up, Chakotay waited to see what strange being met their eyes and was prepared for anything at all.

Well, anything but this.

A human female, or something that looked remarkably like a human female appeared in front of the force field. She was soon joined by another one and they looked at the prisoners for a long time without speaking. The men stared back, unsure of what to do or say. At last one of them looked at the other and said, "Good, they're awake. They look healthy enough. What should we do with the Talaxian though? He's useless to us."

Neelix winced at that but watched the other woman who answered with a shake of her head, "No, not useless. She can decide what to do with him. But the others are much more valuable. Very much so." She smiled at Chakotay and pointed at him, "I like the looks of that one. Very nice. Though the other is easy on the eyes too."

Paris couldn't take this much longer and snapped, "Who are you? What do you want with us?" He felt Chakotay's glare but didn't look at him, instead locking eyes with the two women who stared right back, undaunted. The blonde woman curled a lip in a cruel looking smile, while answering, "Oh, that is for you to learn later. Right now we're going home to our planet. Vordania Prime. There, we'll deal with you. We should arrive within the hour. We just must ascertain that you are healthy."

With that, she pulled out a weapon and trained it on Neelix. "Do not move, or the Talaxian dies," she warned as the brunette turned off the force field. Neelix's eyes dilated and his breath hitched. He knew perfectly well that they meant what they said. Chakotay looked at the fearful expression of the kindly alien and sighed. He wouldn't bring harm to his friend and crewmate. So he stood still as the woman approached him. She looked at him critically, making several passes around his body with a tricorder. "Hm. Yes. Perfectly healthy. Now the other one." She hauled Paris up to his feet and did the same thing to him. "Yes, this one is healthy too."

"Do the Talaxian too, Ruby. You know… just in case. And then records will be complete and all," the blonde woman directed Ruby, who agreed and scanned Neelix. It wasn't long before he was declared "healthy." Now Ruby grinned at the two humans and asked in a pleading voice, "Nella, can't we just… look? I mean… come on!"

Huffing, Nella glared at her companion and firmly told her, "You know that's not the way things worked. The Phantom looks at them first. We'd get in trouble if we touched the merchandise. Now come on. You'll be needed at your station." She waited until Ruby sighed with a longing glance at Chakotay and stepped out before turning the force fields back on.

Now Paris spat out, "Merchandise?! What the hell are they talking about. Wait, I probably don't want to know. I'm not merchandise! And are they human? They look awfully human."

Having to agree with the pilot, Chakotay answered, "They do. I think they could be. You do remember that there are humans scattered around the quadrants. A cluster of them could have ended up at… what did she call it? Vordania Prime? And you know what? I believe she really was speaking English." He patted himself down and continued, "No communicator. No tricorder. Nothing. Just our clothes. They've taken everything else. So that means…" he raised an eyebrow for emphasis. It was true. These two at least, were human English speaking females. Now, if they could just figure out the rest. As in where were they going, what was going on, and where the hell was Voyager? There were too many questions and simply not enough answers.

At last, the ship slowed and dropped out of warp, as Paris' ears could tell. The three were instantly on the alert. Something must happen soon. And they were right, for the same two women came back to see them. Again, they pulled a weapon on Neelix as Ruby snapped to Chakotay, "Get out. And behave."

The bigger man had to sigh, but obediently stepped out of the brig and was calm as Ruby grabbed his wrists and clamped a chain on them. Then she dropped down and placed shackles around his ankles and attached a chain to link the two. Last item for him to wear was a leather collar strapped tightly on his neck and a leash was clipped on. Ruby gave him a once over to make sure he looked presentable and smirked at him as she made one subtle grab at his crotch. Chakotay didn't respond, or even say a thing at this treatment, deciding that remaining silent was the best plan. He watched as Paris went through the same thing, and warned him with a glance to not say a thing. The younger man thankfully got the message and shut up properly, but couldn't help but rattle his chains afterwards.

Neelix had watched the women's every move, dreading when they came for him. It seemed to him that he was on a lower level than the humans. Because he was alien to them? That must be it. To his great surprise, Nella smiled at him and apologized, "Talaxian, I am sorry for the treatment you have received. It was to ensure your safety. Come with us. I promise you will not be harmed." Her voice was soft and friendly, a huge change from the cold and snappish manner she had put on for the others. Neelix was suspicious, but replied, "Well, thank you. But why aren't you chaining me like the others? Do you think I'm not dangerous?"

She laughed and patted his cheek, "My dear Talaxian! You were an unexpected surprise. But we like Talaxians around here. You'll find that out. And no, we won't chain you. You are our guest!" She smiled again and put a hand in his, tugging him away from the others. "Come on, let me show you.." she continued to talk in a cheerful manner as she led him out into the corridor.

That left Ruby with the two men, who were equally confused. The things they had said about Neelix earlier had led them to the same conclusion the alien had: that the women considered him inferior. Was that really the case? Or had they just made the men believe that so as to behave better? This was confusing. Unfortunately for them, they had no more time to think about it when they were shoved to the corridor.

Chakotay's eyes darted about as he took in his surroundings as he was unceremoniously pushed down the hallway. It was an odd sort of ship. It seemed mostly like their own Federation ships, but with components from other species. That piece there at eye level just now, he could have sworn had come off a Vulcan ship. And that post over there had a definite Denobulan feel to it. But it was mostly Federation. Or at least it looked Federation. Still puzzled, he found himself standing next to a transporter and glanced over at Tom, who looked nervous, but holding himself together. There were also a few other human looking males, similarly bound in chains, waiting with confused or wary expressions. And around them were more women. They had to be human, that much Chakotay was sure of.

The women raised weapons as they arranged the males onto the transporter pad and made sure no one bolted for it. Paris thought that was rather stupid. Where were they going to go, anyway? There wasn't any escape. And if this how they were treated on the ship… what were they going to expect on the planet itself? Well, they'd find out in less than a minute, anyway. He locked eyes with Nella as the shimmering took over him and his last coherent thought before the transporter took him away was: where in the blue hell was Voyager?