Misdirection

by A.l.u.t

Janeway is frustrated after disastrous first contact with a race of fish-like humanoids. Chakotay wants to give her a relaxing evening to help her forget about it but their plans get spoiled when the realize the aliens aren't through with them yet.

AN: To those who have read this story before: I have not made any major changes. Just corrected some typos and inconsistencies and I'm uploading a copy with out all my scene breaks hosed to make it a little easier to read. The other purpose behind my updating is to move the story up in the queue to make it easier to find as I will be posting (or have already posted) deleted scenes. As always, thanks for reading!

"Neelix to Commander Chakotay."

"Go ahead, Neelix."

"Please come to the aeroponics bay. I've got something you might want to see."

"I'll be right there, Neelix. Chakotay out."

When Chakotay walked into aeroponics, Neelix looked fit to burst as he always did when he had a surprise to share. Chakotay smiled to himself.

"What is it you wanted to show me, Neelix?"

"Come take a look at this, Commander," said the Talaxian, circling a large planter and delicately lifting up some vine leaves. "Know what that is?" Chakotay looked at the small deep purple bulb growing there and shook his head.

"You remember that egg plant parmesan I made you a while back? You said it almost tasted like the real thing?"

"Yes, it was delicious," replied the Commander, not having to fudge the truth for once. "Are you saying you grew an egg plant?"

"Not exactly," replied Neelix. "I kind of stumbled upon this little guy. I'd been practicing some techniques with cross pollination, you know, to try and come up with some vegetables that would be more suited to growing indoors, and quite by accident, I got a dark purple fruit."

"How do you know it's going to taste like egg plant?"

"Oh, this isn't the first generation," he corrected. "I was just as skeptical as you are when the first one grew in but I fried it up and it turned out pretty close to what I've had out of the replicators. I bred some Kaldarian red peppers in with this round to sweeten it a bit, but we may just have gotten lucky this time."

"That's great, Neelix! When will they be ripe?"

"Oh, I'd say about a month and half, two months if you want them really big."

"Well, I'm looking forward to some egg plant parmesan, then."

"Commander Chakotay and Ambassador Neelix, report to the bridge," boomed the com. The two nodded at each other and headed for the turbolift.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Captain Janeway stared up at the screen with her hands on her hips. The planet in front of her was like one large swirling cloud. For whatever reason, she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of it. The turbolift doors slid open and Neelix and Chakotay stepped onto the bridge. She smiled at Chakotay as he took his seat in the first officer's chair and she sat down next to him.

"Neelix, I know we're far out of your region of the Delta Quadrant, but have you seen anything like this?" Neelix looked oddly at the swirly white planet. "We can't get many readings on it. Our sensors can't cut through the moisture in the atmosphere but we can tell there's land down there and bio-signs. What we can't tell is, what did you say, Mr. Kim?"

Harry Kim looked up from his station at opps, where he was still trying to get sensors to function properly through the fog. "That it was impossible to tell where the oceans ended and the clouds began. It's as if the water was stretched up to the end of the atmosphere."

"The Picinian home world," muttered Neelix. "It has to be."

"The what?" said Janeway.

"The Picinian home world, Captain," said Neelix a little louder. "They're a race of traders, spread out all over the quadrant. I'd often wondered where they came from. They're a little odd. They remind me of..."

"We're being hailed," interrupted Harry. "It's from the planet," he finished with surprise.

"The planet?" asked Janeway. "I thought we were too far out to be detected!" She shrugged her shoulders. "On screen."

The image popped up but it was difficult to see the humanoid on the other end. An opaque milky mist swirled everywhere. Occasionally it thinned enough for the crew to piece together that the individual was blue-green and slightly resembled a fish. Also, it had a sheen to it, as if a thin layer of petroleum jelly covered its body. When it spoke, they could tell it was a female.

"Greetings," she said. "I am First Leader Waparne."

Janeway did not answer right away, expecting the First Leader to elaborate on why she'd hailed them, but she did not. The Captain was confused but decided to plow on.

"Pleased to meet you First Leader. I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. What can we do for you?" The mist lightened a little.

"Federation? I've never heard of that planet."

"We're not from around here. We're from the Alpha Quadrant. The Federation isn't a planet," she went on. "It's more like an alliance of many planets. Most of us on this ship are from a planet called Earth."

"The Alpha Quadrant is a long way off."

"Indeed it is," continued the Captain. "We're still about 30,000 light years from home."

Chakotay wasn't sure about this woman. She hailed them but was letting the Captain do most of the talking and Kathryn was talking a lot. As the mist cleared, he could see that the woman was humanoid enough but her skin was scaly and her lips full and puffy. Her eyes were a different story, however. They were almond shaped, big and black with long lashes on which sat drips of dew from the moisture in the air. The light in them flickered as Waparne looked around at each of the officers on the bridge. She subtly eyed everyone up and down in turn, lingering on Tuvok at his tactical station the longest. Chakotay wasn't sure why, but he put on his poker face.

"We hope we didn't disturb you," Janeway went on a little more gregariously than normal. "We were trying to stay out of communications range, so as not to cause any trouble. Our rules are pretty strict about making first contact and interfering with unknown cultures. We were a little surprised when you hailed us." Another pause. Chakotay had thought he'd heard Harry start to speak and maybe First Leader Waparne had too, because her eyes had gone to the ensign next. Everyone was silent for another moment. Chakotay looked over at the Captain. She wore a giant grin on her face but it was starting to falter. The First Leader regarded Chakotay for a split second and he stared her straight in the eye. Janeway's grin faded still more and she began to look more like she normally did on the bridge.

"Our communications systems reach quite far," Waparne answered finally, this time in a warm and friendly voice. The fog had cleared just a little more and they could see she was smiling. "They must be strong in order to break through the mist," she waived a fin like hand and some of the moist air swirled around it. "It makes it difficult to communicate with dry ones like yourselves, but it is necessary to our physiology. Our technology is different, Captain, but I'm sure we each have things the others don't."

"Once again, I hope we didn't disturb anyone," said Janeway, "but you hailed us. What can we do for you?" Chakotay was glad to hear the down to business tone back in her voice.

Waparne smiled indulgently. "We are in desperate need of medical supplies... There is a small outbreak of a virus in the capital city. It is mild to begin with, but if left untreated could turn fatal and spread to other areas. We had discovered an anti-virus serum to treat this particular disease many years ago but due to a water crop contamination this last growing season we no longer can create one of the key proteins. We would be willing to make a trade for some...dilithium."

Janeway regarded her for a moment. "Transmit the specifications for the medicine and the disease to our doctor. Ensign Kim, send her the coordinates. We'll see if we have the means to help you."

"Thank you, Captain."

"Off screen." Once the fishy female was gone from the viewer, the Captain sprang to her feet and began walking fast off the bridge. She tapped her combadge, "all senior staff to the briefing room." The officers on the bridge made a move to follow. She turned back to the rest of the crew still at their posts. "And keep up a constant sensor sweep of that planet. I don't want any more surprise hails."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Neelix, I know what you meant when you said these people are odd." The Captain stood at the head of the briefing table, leaning on her white knuckles. Chakotay, the Doctor, Neelix, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven of Nine, and even Tuvok, all sat around the table on edge from the tension in the room. It had been awhile since the crew had seen Janeway this irritated. "That woman had me babbling like a first year cadet. I want to know everything we can find on these people. Seven, did the Borg ever encounter them?"

Seven of Nine raised her eyebrow as she accessed her cortical implant. "Yes. Species 947. Their technology is efficient enough but not as advanced as the Borg. In addition, the needs of their physiology were a drain on resources making them costly and poor drones. A small population of them was assimilated several hundred years ago but they have been ignored since then as they took away from perfection rather than added to it."

"Not worthy of assimilation, huh?" Tom Paris mocked. "Well, I'll be a fish face any day if it means the Borg don't want me."

"Neelix," Janeway went on, "You know of this species as well?"

"Yes, Captain," answered Neelix. "From what I've heard, they're all over the quadrant. The strange thing is, they don't have warp technology of their own."

"Then how do they get everywhere?" asked B'Elanna.

"I think they prefer to hire other starships to ferry their shuttles around," answered Neelix.

"Then why would they have a ready supply of dilithium?" asked Janeway.

"It does seem a little strange," said Neelix, "but they are traders, Captain, and familiar with warp technology, even if they don't use it."

"There was something else I found odd," said Tuvok. "At one point...I felt annoyed."

"You felt?" asked Tom incredulously.

"Yes, it was very profound but did not seem like it came from me."

"That's about what I felt," said Janeway, stepping around the back of Chakotay's chair. "Only, I wasn't annoyed. It was like I was at a party and needed to entertain this woman, but it wasn't my feeling. It faded for some reason toward the end of the interview." Janeway had walked all the way around to the other side of Chakotay's chair and had her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. She never noticed when she did that. Chakotay did though, and he'd figured out ages ago the Captain did it when she felt like she was on to something. He tried to help fill in another piece of the puzzle.

"Harry," said Chakotay, "I thought I heard you almost say something in there. Did you?"

"Yeah, I almost did," said Harry. "I detected a strange EM reading coming from the planet. It was really faint but it seemed almost if we were being scanned."

"Scanned?" said the Captain.

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Chakotay, trying to draw Harry out.

"I nearly did," said Harry, "but as soon as I opened my mouth I felt like interrupting would be the stupidest, rudest thing I could do." Kathryn squeezed Chakotay's shoulder again and began circling the table.

"It makes sense they'd scan us," said Tom. "I'd scan a strange ship that was just hovering around."

"So we think that woman was influencing us somehow?" asked the Captain, next.

"I think she was," Neelix piped up as if he'd just realized something. "It's been so long I'd almost forgot, but I think I heard somewhere that the Picinians are a kind of empath."

"A kind of empath?" asked Chakotay.

"Yes, not a very strong one, though. It's more like how humans read body language, except they notice more, and are more certain about it."

"That would explain why her eyes kept flicking around, scrutinizing everybody," said Chakotay.

"And what about everyone's odd mood?" asked Janeway.

"I think they can send out emotion too," added Neelix.

"They can make us feel what they want?" said B'Elanna.

"They can suggest feelings," said Neelix. "If we realize what's going on, we have the ability to ignore them."

"That makes sense," said the Captain. "I did feel like I had a 'wake-up' moment out there when I was talking to her. So now what? No one here got a good vibe off this encounter but what if they really do need our help?"

"It is not at all logical," added Tuvok, "to judge an entire culture off one individual. She was, after all, a politician."

"Good point," said the Captain. "Doctor, do we have the means to help these people?"

"I believe so," said the Doctor tapping his padd with the data the Picinians sent him. "It's a simple enough compound. I should be able to synthesize enough of it in a few hours. Our version of it wouldn't work in their equipment however. We would have to administer the medication in person."

"You won't be," said B'Elanna. "If the minimal sensor readings I got off that planet are correct, none of our equipment would last five minutes in their atmosphere, including your mobile emitter."

"Why not?" asked the Captain.

"All the moisture, mainly. There's another element in it, which the sensors were having trouble with but I'd bet my bat'leth that they wouldn't do us any good."

"Then how will we treat them?" asked the Doctor.

"Your matrix could handle the atmosphere," said B'Elanna. "Just not the emitter. We could beam them to sickbay and contain a portion of their air in a force field." The Doctor didn't look too pleased.

"Aw c'mon, Doc," said Tom, "you might lose a bio-bed or two but you get to treat a whole new species."

"It's not the loss of equipment I'm worried about, Mr. Paris," said the Doctor, "It's that I've not been a fan of force fields since last week when I tried to walk through one and forgot I had my emitter on. I must have lain on the floor for hours before someone reactivated me. What level will this force field be?"

"Judging by my readings," said B'Elanna, "to contain this air without damaging any systems, probably Level 10."

"Even better," said the Doctor, thinly veiling his sarcasm. "Level 10 force fields give my matrix the jitters for days."

"You may not need to treat these people, in the end, Doctor," put in Tuvok. "The Captain has yet to suggest a course of action."

"Right," said Janeway. She circled the rest of the table and sat down in her chair. She brushed Chakotay's shoulder when she walked by: she needed his thoughts. He hadn't offered them up enough during this briefing. "Opinions," she said. "How do we proceed?"

"We definitely have the means to treat them," said the Doctor, "and they asked for our help."

"I'm just worried about the systems and that atmosphere," said B'Elanna.

"We do have an out," put in Tuvok, "This is a pre-warp society. We can always fall back on the Prime Directive."

"All true," said Janeway, "Chakotay?"

"I don't think the Prime Directive applies here," said the Commander. "They may not have warp technology of their own, but they're aware of it. Also, they've already made contact with other species as far away as Neelix's part of space. I don't think we're upsetting their culture by interacting with them. Still, I think we should proceed with caution. I couldn't help but feel on the bridge that the First Leader wanted more than she was getting at."

"I got that feeling too, Commander," added Neelix, "but what if there really are sick people down there? I'm sure their families want them to get better, even if they are a little strange. We ought to at least find out."

"You both make good points," said Janeway. "We'll help them, but I agree, we should proceed with caution. Let's go down there and check things out a little. Who knows what's under that mist. Chakotay, you and Mr. Neelix assemble an away team and make sure I'm on it. Seven, I want to know everything the Borg has on these people. Harry and B'Elanna, keep working with those sensors. Doctor, go ahead and start synthesizing the compound and waterproofing your equipment. Tom, stay on the conn. I want to be able to get out of here warp nine if anything starts to look...fishy, and Tuvok, you'll have the bridge. All right people, let's do it."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Come," said Janeway after the door to her ready room chimed. She looked up from the reports Seven had given her to see her First Officer striding in.

"Captain," he said. "We've made contact with the Picinians. I've let them know we're able to help and they're willing to let a small group come down to the planet to pick up the dilithium. We'll leave as soon as their shuttle gets here."

"Shuttle?"

"Our transporters won't work through their atmosphere," said Chakotay. "We can beam a pocket of it, and what's ever inside it, from a short distance. That's how we'll get the Picinians to sick bay, but that's about all we can do. We'll ride back on the shuttle when it returns for the patients."

"Very good, Commander," she said going back to her padds. "Let me know when they arrive. Dismissed." Chakotay didn't leave but Janeway didn't quit reading. She knew why he was still standing there.

"Captain," he began.

"I know what you're going to say, Chakotay," she interrupted, "and it's no good."

"Captain," he tried again, "I know these people seem like they mean no harm, but I don't see any reason for you to go down to the planet." He remembered the effect the fish woman had on her and he didn't like it.

"I admit in the beginning I was aggravated with First Leader Waparne. I wanted to go down to make sure I got a chance to tell that woman off in person," said Janeway, looking up again.

"But now?"

"Now, it's more curiosity." She handed Seven's report to Chakotay, who skimmed it over. "The physiology of this species suggests that they're similar to the first lunged fish on earth. They could be key to understanding our own evolution."

"That explains all the moisture in the air," said Chakotay.

"And it's more than just scientific interest," she went on. "It's still a first contact with a new culture. I know it seems like that happens every other day here in the Delta Quadrant, but I'd still like to meet them. We know so little about them. I'd hate to miss an opportunity for a friend because of a little cultural misunderstanding."

"Understood, Captain," said Chakotay. "I just can't help remembering a comment the First Leader made: 'I'm sure we each have things the other's don't.' The way she said it seemed...loaded."

"That may be, Commander," she went on, "but what we don't have is a lot of spare dilithium. If we can get some cheap, I can deal with a little rudeness from First Leader Waparne. Besides, I'll have you standing behind me to stare her down if she starts suggesting emotions again." Janeway smiled knowingly at Chakotay and he couldn't help but smile back.

"All right Captain. I'll alert you as soon as they're here."

"Very good, Commander, dismissed."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Now just a few drops in each eye," said the Doctor to the away team as he handed out several small bottles. "Don't overdo it, or you will defeat the whole purpose." Janeway, Chakotay, Neelix, B'Elanna (who the Doctor had cleared for the away mission in spite of her pregnancy,) and two other engineers sat in the sickbay, trying to aim the drops in their eyes.

"What happens if we do?" asked B'Elanna.

"Your eyes will most likely itch for days," said the Doctor.

"I thought these were supposed to prevent irritation," retorted B'Elanna.

"Used correctly, they will," answered the Doctor. "But if you prefer stinging and burning eye balls from all the 'salty sea air' down there, feel free to go without."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Janeway, wiping some drops off her cheek. "Your precautionary measures are appreciated. Are you ready to receive our guests?"

"Quite," he answered. "The force fields are in place and my newly waterproofed tricorder and hypospray are ready to go."

"Good work," she said. "Janeway to transporter room."

"Grant here."

"Please beam the Picinians to sickbay." The entire area inside the force fields glimmered as the slice of atmosphere and the patients were beamed in.

"I wanted to be here to greet them," said Janeway, "but I can't even see them." The space was nothing but an opaque swirly white cloud. "Are you there?" she called.

One of the aliens stepped up to the force field waving the mist away with a fin. Janeway approached to speak with him. Chakotay walked up behind her.

"Hello, and welcome to Voyager," she said. "I'm Captain Janeway. I'm sorry I can't give you the opportunity to have a look around the ship, but I'm afraid your atmosphere would wreak havoc on our systems."

"It is understood," he replied. "I am familiar with the necessaries of dealing with dry ones. I am Biddeous. I want to thank you, Captain, for your help. My daughter," he pulled a small Picinian out of the mist behind him, dragging her perhaps a little too forcefully up next to him, "Ladallia. She is very sick." Ladallia stared up at them for a moment and Chakotay was almost positive he saw Biddeous nudge her before she began to hack.

"Well hopefully that will all be well soon," said the Doctor, smiling confidently and walking up behind. "Is everyone ready?" Biddeous nodded and the Doctor strode through the force field.

"What the...?" said Neelix as the Doctor began glowing through the cloud. They could clearly see him taking tricorder readings and guess where each of the Picinians was sitting. B'Elanna had a smug smile on her face.

"I programmed the Doctor with a bioluminescence subroutine so he could see what he's doing in there," she said proudly. "He can turn it on and off whenever he wants."

"Nice touch, Lieutenant," said Neelix impressed.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

The Doctor was in his office reviewing the tricorder readings he'd taken from the Picinians. He was glad their treatment was over with. They were a strange species and a little unnerving to be around. The disease had cleared up neatly enough. He'd only needed a few moments to adjust the serum to their physiological needs. Lesser Doctors might have taken longer. He prided himself with his growing ability to adapt Alpha Quadrant healing methods to new species. He was now adding the details of the new disease to the data base and comparing it with known viruses. The Doctor tapped his tricorder looking confused. He checked the database again. Well that was odd. He got up and stared at the swirling whiteness inside the force field then closed his office door.

"Doctor to Commander Tuvok."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

The Captain, Chakotay, and Neelix stood in front of the First Leader and the First Leader-Mate in their throne room. Both Picinians sat in chairs high above the floor with many steps to reach them and a Picinian guard on each one. Janeway didn't care much for this type of imperialism. She'd always felt a good leader was one who got to know their people and moved amongst them. She tried to remind herself not to judge.

The room was stuffy as hell too. Mist swirled thick around everything. She thought they could have at least lightened it up for the visiting 'dry ones' as they had when they were communicating. Even now, Janeway found it hard to keep from repeatedly wiping the moisture from the back of her neck but managed to restrain herself. She didn't want to be rude by showing how uncomfortable she was. She was determined to make this a pleasant meeting. They'd already checked the dilithium and B'Elanna and the other engineers were getting it loaded onto the shuttle.

"Captain Janeway," said First Leader Waparne. "This is my First Leader-Mate, Waparne-Milosa."

"Pleased to meet you in person," said the Captain. "This is my First Officer, Commander Chakotay and Ambassador Neelix."

"I remember them," Waparne replied.

That was it? No 'happy to have you' or 'thanks for the medicine?"

This was going to be a great conversation, thought Janeway.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Tuvok sat quietly in the Captain's chair with his index fingers pressed together against his lips. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. He did not approve of the Captain's insistence on going on the away mission but he didn't try to talk her out of it. That was usually Commander Chakotay's job and if the Commander couldn't talk the Captain out of something, it was unlikely that Tuvok could either. So far, there seemed to be no cause for alarm. Still, Tuvok thought, something seemed drastically out of place.

He could not get the emotion he experienced during the interview with the First Leader off his mind. It seemed illogical for her to put that much effort into disturbing everyone for a simple request for medical supplies. If they feared Voyager, why would they contact them for help? They obviously know the ship's sensors could not have penetrated the mist. They could have just let them fly by. He doubted they were desperate. From what Tuvok could gather, all kinds of ships passed this way on a regular basis. Picinians, however, were not a logical species. He tried to put it out of his mind.

"Doctor to Commander Tuvok."

"Yes, Doctor," replied Tuvok, finding the distraction especially acceptable. "Go ahead."

"I've just finished evaluating the tricorder readings I took from the Picinians and there is something I'd like you to see. I'm sending the data to your console." The information streamed up on the computer screen in front of Tuvok. The Vulcan raised an eyebrow as he read it.

"Mr. Paris, stand by," said Tuvok. "Mr. Kim. Can you establish a comlink with the away team?"

"It'll be difficult," said Harry, punching buttons at his station on opps, "but I think so. Let's hope the waterproofing on the combadges is still intact."

"Tuvok to Captain Janeway."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Captain Janeway was about ready to end this meeting. She was learning nothing new about these people and the chance of establishing any kind or relations between their species was nonexistent. It didn't help her temper either that their uniforms soaked up the moisture in the air like a sponge. She felt like she was trapped in a wet blanket and every movement made it worse. Even Neelix's hair, which was normally as exuberant as himself, was plastered to his forehead.

It was impossible to get a conversation going. Every question Janeway would ask was met with short one word answers and Waparne didn't ask any herself. Neelix tried to keep up a steady stream about his experience as a trader but even that was shot down with a smirk and "we know of Talaxian trading habits. We've dealt with them before." Neelix spluttered out and the whole group had been staring at each other in near silence for almost five minutes. The only comfort Janeway had was when the First Leader's eyes fell on Chakotay and on his stone like poker face the Captain knew he was wearing right now. Her fishy grin faltered a little. Janeway wished Chakotay would finish the job and box it right off her slimy face.

To the Captain's surprise, her combadge chirped feebly.

"You'll excuse me, First Leader," she said, happy to get away. Waparne nodded and waved a fin, but Janeway thought she looked a little concerned. She walked out of hearing range to take the call.

"What is it Tuvok?"

"Captain, I'm afraid the Picinians might be trying to deceive you. The away team should report back to Voyager immediately."

"Oh? What have you found?"

"The Doctor has just informed me that the Picinians he treated have only been infected with the virus for about an hour."

"Are you sure? We might not have enough information on the disease to determine that."

"I've examined the data myself, Captain," said Tuvok. "I have no doubt of its accuracy. I can only assume the deception is to either place Picinians on Voyager or lure you out of it. I will have Ensign Kim attempt to adapt the transporters to the atmosphere, but I suggest you try to remove yourselves as quickly and as quietly as you can."

"Understood, Tuvok. Janeway out." She turned around towards the others in the room. Chakotay and Neelix were walking towards her. One of the First Leader's aides had come to her and they were speaking in hushed whispers.

"What did Tuvok want?" asked Chakotay.

"We have to get out of here," replied Janeway. "The Picinians were lying about needing medicine."

"What about all those people in sick bay?" asked Neelix. "There was nothing wrong with them?"

"Oh they were sick alright," said Janeway. "The Picinians themselves infected them about an hour before flying them up to us."

"But there were children in there!" exclaimed Neelix.

"We've got time to be horrified later. Right now we need to find our engineers and..."

"We're right here, Captain," said B'Elanna walking up to the group with the others right behind. "The dilithium is loaded up and ready to go."

"That's good news. Let's say our good-byes and get the hell out of here."

The First Leader was still speaking with her aid when the away team came up to the dais. She sighed and looked annoyed.

"Very well," she said, to the aide. "Proceed with the contingency." She waived a fin. The Captain approached the First Leader to inform her of their departure but she never got to speak. The entire away team turned to a purple shimmer.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"I'm reading transporter activity down there," said Harry. "But it's not ours."

"Is it the away team?" asked Tuvok.

"Yes," said Harry.

"Where are they being beamed to?"

"I can't tell. Not Voyager. Now the Picinians and half the contents of cargo bay one are being beamed down to the planet."

"Raise shie..." but before Tuvok could get the command out, Tom Paris disappeared in a shimmer of purple light.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Nice of you to drop in," said B'Elanna to Tom as he materialized in the containment block with the rest of the away team.

"What's going on, my eyes are burning" asked Tom, messaging his eyelids with the heels of his hands. "B'Elanna, are you alright."

"Fine," she replied, flipping him a bottle of drops. "I thought transporters didn't work here."

"Apparently theirs do," said Chakotay.

"All too well," said Tom. "They'd managed to beam back their people and half a cargo bay before they got me."

"I think we've figured out what else it was they wanted," said Janeway to Chakotay.

"Right," said Chakotay. "Keep us distracted and annoyed while they beam everything off Voyager that isn't nailed down."

"Why would they need Tom though?" asked B'Elanna.

"Maybe they figured if they had her pilot, Voyager would be dead in the water," said Janeway.

"Or just wanted to remind Voyager that they had members of her crew," said Chakotay. "The Picinians have to know that they won't leave without us."

"I wish they would," said Janeway. "I'd rather not lose half the ship to these petty thieves."

"Me neither," said Chakotay, "but Tuvok will get them to a safer tactical point. Right now, we need to get out of here."

"I bet we could fight our way out," said B'Elanna walking over to the door and looking out the little window. "They don't seem very strong and I only see two guards."

"You're not fighting anyone," said Tom. "Besides, what do we do once we're out?"

"There were plenty of shuttles docked by the one we put the dilithium in," she said. "We could steal one of those."

"They could be anywhere," Tom protested. "Who knows where they beamed us."

"No," said B'Elanna slowly, still looking out the window. "I can see purple and green lights out in the hall, just over there. I think the Picinians use them to tell where they are in all this mist. I recognize the pattern. The docking area is about twenty meters to our left."

"Tom," said the Captain. "Do you think you can figure out how to fly one of their shuttles?"

"I'll sure try," said Tom.

"Good," she replied. "Now let's see if we can get the guard to open the door."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Almost got it!" said Harry. Harry and the Picinians were in a transporter tug of war with Voyager's belongings. "There! Everything's been transported back to cargo bay one."

"Shields," said Tuvok. "Mr. Kim, what is the status of the recovered equipment?"

"Most of it is intact," replied Harry, "but about fifteen percent of it melted."

"That is not an acceptable success rate," replied Tuvok. "I am unwilling to attempt to use the transporter to recover the away team at that level of risk. Tuvok to Captain Janeway." Nothing.

"They're jamming us, sir" said Harry. Tuvok thought for a moment.

"Ensign Porter, back Voyager off of Picine and maintain a high orbit. I must deliberate on the next possible course of action."

"Aye, sir."

"Commander," said Harry. "I've been looking over the waterproofing compound B'Elanna came up with to protect the medical equipment and the combadges. I think I can use that same principle to modify the Delta Flyer's shields."

"I'm listening, Ensign," said Tuvok.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Fourth Guard Ribdis looked at his time piece again. Ugh. Two rotations still until the end of the shift. He was bored to the point of oozing. Nothing ever happened on his shifts and these dry ones were being especially quiet. He hated only being a Fourth Guard. He looked over at the other Picinian on duty snoring in his chair. He was a First Guard. You could get away with anything if you were a First. First Security Leader would be better though, thought Ribdis. Then I can have an office with a pool in it.

"Hey!" Tom was banging on the containment room door. "Hey! Over here! My wife needs some help!" Ribdis groaned petulantly. He hated being bored but he hated having to do anything at work more. He'd rather just be at home taking a swim.

"Hey!" This dry one wasn't going to shut up. There was that female with the big belly. He knew some dry ones produced offspring that way. It was probably her that needed help. Ribdis sighed. He didn't like to be cruel to prisoners like some of the guards did, so he went over to the door. He peered in the little window. The female dry one with the big belly was lying on the floor with her head in the lap of the littler female. He looked at the male dry one who still banged and yelled. Why does he have to be so loud?

"Your mate?" said Ribdis.

"Yes," yelled Tom. "She needs help. Can she see your doctor?" Ribdis looked at B'Elanna. Her face was screwed up in pain and she held her belly.

"Is your young one having trouble?" he asked.

"I think so," yelled Tom. Ribdis sighed. If the First Guard were awake he'd certainly tell them too bad but the little Fourth Guard hated seeing anyone hurt. Even the dry ones. He nodded at Tom. "I will take her to see the one of the Healers. Not the First Healer, mind you." Ribdis opened the door but before he realized what was going on he was being pulled into the room by Tom and Chakotay and being relieved of his gun.

"What is this," he yelled, seeing B'Elanna get up off the floor. "I believed you! I was going to help you! Most other guards would never have done that." He felt truly betrayed. Janeway wondered at his shock. He was being awfully trusting of an enemy but she felt sorry for him in his naiveté.

"Oh yeah," yelled Tom. "Your people steal our stuff and kidnap our crew and you think we care..."

"I didn't do all that," said the guard sadly.

"Yeah, well..." continued Tom.

"Mr. Paris," said Janeway. She turned to Ribdis. "I'm sorry," she said. "We won't hurt you but we do have to get out of here."

"What's going on!" The First Guard had woken up and now stood in the doorway. Tom, Janeway, Chakotay, and Ribdis all jumped to the edges of the room as the First Guard fired a wild shot. Chakotay leaped forward at the angry guard and pulled him down by the knees. They struggled for a bit on the floor, wrestling their way into the containment room. Chakotay easily got the better of the guard and grabbed his gun. Tom grabbed the other and they headed out the door.

"Anyone get the keys?" asked Janeway.

"Right here, Captain," said Neelix. He locked the protesting Picinians in the containment room and they were on their way.

The hall seemed to be fairly empty but no one could really tell with all the mist floating around. They crept down the hall slowly and quietly, B'Elanna navigating by the lights on the wall. They were almost to the docking area when they heard...

"That was phaser fire," said the Captain. The away team picked up their pace. Once they were out in the docking area they saw the remnants of a fire fight and Harry, with four security officers walking towards them.

"Mr. Kim am I glad to see you," said the Captain. "Thanks for clearing a path. How did you make it down?"

"A few quick modifications to the Flyer," said Harry proudly as he and his team handed out some waterproofed phasers. "We..." Peeoon. Peeoon. They were being shot at again. The Voyager crew dove behind some equipment.

"C'mon!" yelled Harry. "The Flyer's this way!" Harry got up, took a phaser shot over his shoulder and ran off. The others tried to follow but it was difficult having to hide and fire back every few feet. They were lucky the Picinians were such terrible shots.

Janeway and Chakotay were pinned down behind a pile of boxes. They could see Tom, B'Elanna a little farther up. This was irritating. They Picinians weren't coming after them, just firing to keep them from going anywhere. It was like they were fighting in a training session for cadets. Chakotay held some Picinians at bay while she took a look around. There was a Picinian shuttle about twenty meters behind them.

"Chakotay, I think we can make it to that shuttle," she said. He glanced over his shoulder at it and nodded.

"Agreed," he said. "We'll try for that."

The Captain tapped her combadge, hoping it still worked.

"Harry," she said.

"Yes, Captain."

"Where are you?"

"Nearly at the Flyer."

"Who's with you?"

"Neelix and the engineering and security teams."

"Good. I'm here with Chakotay and I can see Tom and B'Elanna. Harry, I don't think we can make it to the Flyer. We're going to try to take a Picinian ship. Take off but wait for us in case we need help fighting our way out of the atmosphere."

"Aye, Captain."

"Tom. B'Elanna." She tapped her badge again.

"Little busy right now, Captain," Tom said. She saw him take a dive as a box he was behind got blasted.

"Tom, we're going to try to make it to a shuttle about twenty meters behind Chakotay and me. Can you see it?"

"I see it, Captain," said B'Elanna. "I think we can make it there."

"Good," she said. "On my mark we'll make a run for it. Go!" They all came up shooting and continued to shoot as they hauled it to the ship. A Picinian or two got stunned but most of them kept on firing. When they got to the shuttle, B'Elanna tapped on the pad to get the door open.

"Damn," she swore. "All these buttons looked alike. I can't figure out a way to get in!" She tapped on the pad frantically as gunfire pinged off the ship. Finally, out of frustration she started banging on the pad with her fist. The shuttle door popped open.

"I guess the Klingon way works," smiled Tom.

"Everybody on!" Said Janeway.

The inside of the shuttle was as misty as the outside.

"Ugh, it's muggy in here," said Janeway as they all took what appeared to be stations. B'Elanna was already lying on the floor pulling off a panel.

"I think I've got environmental controls," she said. In a second or two the air cleared and the crew seemed to breathe easier. Tom started checking out the helm controls.

"I think I can fly her, Captain," said Tom.

"Good," said Janeway. "Take her out!"

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

First Leader Waparne watched the viewer in her throne room with distaste. The dry ones had figured out the deception much more quickly than she had expected and she still could not understand how their shuttle had penetrated the Picinian atmosphere. The Delta Flyer and her own stolen shuttle had just broken back through and were heading to Voyager. Their pilot was good. She found herself reluctantly impressed by the looping evasive maneuvers he was able to pull off in a ship he barely knew. She would have to remember that. She called off the Picinian pursuit and allowed them to leave. She wasn't going to risk losing any more ships in a fire fight. They would get the other back eventually. Bridge Leader Aquallis was in place, after all, and that had been the goal all along. If the dry ones had only been a little less impatient everything could have been accomplished with a deal less unpleasantness. No matter, that was the way of the dry ones. It couldn't be avoided.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

It had been a few weeks since they'd escaped the Picinians and Harry, Tom, and B'Elanna finally found some time off together to pick over the new shuttle. It really was a good looking ship, Tom finally had to admit. It was made of a shiny silver substance that looked like quicksilver and was shaped like the stealth bomber he'd seen in early flight class, except this ship seemed to ripple and flow like water. When the doors were shut, you couldn't see a seam on the thing.

"I still kind of feel bad," said Harry. "We basically stole this from them."

"They tried to steal Tom," retorted B'Elanna from her usual place on the floor with her head in a piece of equipment. Though she'd never admit it, lying flat on her back on the floor helped with the back pain. It was about that time in her pregnancy when it hurt constantly.

"Yeah," said Tom, "and considering we held up our end of the bargain and never got the dilithium they promised, I say it was a fair trade. Ooh, check this out...cloaking device," he said as he pulled some hardware out of the helm station. "We ought to see if we can replicate one of these for Voyager."

"Too small," said B'Elanna. "Maybe the flyer."

"Ya know," said Harry, from his position at a console, "there's some pretty complex stuff in these databases. Way more advanced than a basic warp drive. I wonder why they don't bother with it."

"Maybe they can't with their atmosphere," said B'Elanna.

Tom went to the console and looked over Harry's shoulder. "Wow," said Tom. "I got a little taste of the shuttle's maneuverability when we were escaping, but I had no idea... B'Elanna, if you got the Captain to let you make some of these modifications to the helm control, I could have Voyager doing back flips."

"Yeah, but she'd never let me, if you put it to her like that," laughed B'Elanna.

"Maybe they just skipped warp to keep the Borg off their backs," said Harry.

"Con the Borg into thinking they didn't have anything worth assimilating?" said Tom. "There's a feat."

"Con artists of the Delta Quadrant," said Harry. "They fooled us, fooled the Borg, who's to say what other poor species they've stolen from."

"They didn't steal from us," said Tom. "We got our stuff back."

"But with half of it melted," said B'Elanna. "That portable warp core monitor I had took months to put together."

"I only melted like, five percent of the stuff," said an indignant Harry.

"More like fifteen," said Tom. "And I'm glad you melted the portable monitor. Now B'Elanna can't work from our quarters when she's not on duty."

"I don't work," said B'Elanna. "I'm just checking up on things."

"I just want to see you get some more rest on your time off," Tom said. "That's why it's called time off."

B'Elanna huffed. "I don't want to argue about this right now," she said. "Will you hand me that tricorder?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Tom, "but..."

"Ensign Vorik to Lieutenant Torres." Tom rolled his eyes and B'Elanna sighed, tapping her combadge.

"Torres here."

"Lieutenant Torres, please come to engineering. We're having trouble with the plasma intake valves."

"I'll be right there." She struggled to get up and Tom helped her off the floor. She winced in pain a little.

"Are you ok," said Tom. "Your back trouble is really starting to worry me."

"I'm fine," she lied. "It's just because I was lying on the floor."

"I don't know," he said. "You looked a lot happier on the floor."

"I'm fine, really. I'll go see the Doctor later, if it makes you feel any better."

"It would," said Tom. "Try and get home early, ok?"

"I'll try," she said. "Lately it seems like all Vorik wants to do is take everything apart and put it back together again. See ya Harry." B'Elanna kissed Tom and he and Harry went back to ripping apart the shuttle.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Still on for dinner tonight?"

Janeway was startled away from her padd by her grinning first officer. She'd had her nose so buried in the report she'd been reading, she hadn't heard him catch up to her in the corridor and fall into step.

"Of course," she smiled and raised an eyebrow. That dimpled expression Chakotay wore usually meant he was up to something.

"And I was wondering," he added, "if we could move dinner to my quarters this evening."

"Oh? Why?"

"No reason," he gave her a sly look. "Just don't feel like lugging my pots and pans all the way to yours."

"Pots and pans? The eggplant!" Her 'eureka grin' spread across her face. "They're ripe?"

"Just this morning."

"Oh this is a special occasion," she said, delighted. "I'll bring the wine. I've got a bottle I've been saving. The real stuff. We'll have to uncork it and everything." They stopped at the turbolift.

"I'll dig out my corkscrew," smiled Chakotay. "Oh, and no uniforms tonight. It's not often we both have twenty-four hours off duty together. I'd like to make the most of it."

"We won't go to bed until the nebula comes up." Kathryn stepped onto the turbolift. "Just let me finish this report and change and I'll be right there."

"Don't take too long! I don't think I could forgive you if a perfectly ripe egg plant went to waste." She laughed as the doors slid shut. Chakotay smiled to himself as he headed to his quarters.

Little did Kathryn know, he'd been planning this dinner for quite some time and had pulled quite a few strings to get the shifts to fall just the right way. It's not that he had any hopes for this evening, not for himself anyway. He'd given up any of those kinds of thoughts years ago when they'd left New Earth. She'd been so stiff and formal when they got back to Voyager. Every now and then he'd thought he'd caught her staring at him. Her look was always soft but more curious, questioning. He never acknowledged that he'd noticed.

As private and stoic as Chakotay normally was, he found it difficult to hide his shattered heart from her. He'd felt he had to hide it but not out of pride or embarrassment; those feelings didn't exist when he was with her. He kept his broken heart to himself for her sake. He was fairly certain she didn't love him – no, she did love him. She loved everyone she cared about passionately with her whole heart. She just didn't love him like that. Maybe if she hadn't been engaged when he told her... No. He knew better. She did care for him though. He had known that in spite of her stiffness. His pain would have been her pain and to let her see it would have been selfish.

Having any kind of hopes for tonight would have also been selfish so tonight was for Kathryn. She needed a break from the almost endless conflict they'd been through. After this recent incident with the Picinians, they seemed to have hit a lull, but even months later; The Captain still berated herself for the decision to make contact. Only Chakotay probably realized just how much. It had been an exasperating experience for her. There had been no resources gained, no friends made, no satisfaction of a successful first contact, not even the triumph of besting a foe. Only a slim escape and added time to their journey home.

That's why this evening was so important to him. Tonight, he wanted her to be just Kathryn, not the Captain. His goal was misdirection. He wanted her to give herself a break, even if she didn't realize that was what she was doing. He'd distract her with a fantastic dinner. And there was one very special thing he wanted to do for her, if he could bring himself to do it... He sent a humble request out to the spirits as he walked into his quarters. "Let tonight be what it needs to be... for both of us. Let us both find some peace. Even if it's just for a little while."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Ensign Vorik was on duty in engineering. Tom Paris had bargained heavily with Chakotay when the Commander had been negotiating shifts. Tom knew that this schedule was important to the first officer so Tom had agreed to take every shift he physically could and pulled in favors to cover the rest with the proviso that B'Elanna also got twenty-four hours off. Tom, along with the Doctor, was desperate to get her off her feet.

Vorik found his shifts running engineering to be very satisfying and decided that, should he be called upon to do so more often, once Lieutenant Torres went on maternity leave, the experience would be very useful to his future career. Though the shifts he generally got would most likely be deemed by Torres as "boring as hell," Vorik worked through them meticulously and valued their predictability. Tonight seemed to be another one of those nights, unless... Vorik walked over to the console and checked the sensors. He had thought he'd seen a brief disruption, but no. Everything appeared to be operating within normal parameters. But there it was again. The Ensign pulled up the sensor logs and studied them. He raised an eyebrow when he saw it. It was only there for a moment at a time and probably nothing serious, but there was without a doubt, an anomalous reading coming from their warp signature.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Kathryn was a little later than she wanted to be but she had gone to see the Doctor first. Now, she was almost ready. She had chosen to go with the traditional little black dress for dinner but it had just the slightest bit of sparkle to it. She vaguely wondered for a moment if it was too much for tonight but then decided she didn't care. The twinkling reminded her of the starry sky, which always calmed her. After all, it was just Chakotay. No, that wasn't right. He was her closest and dearest friend and he always took care of her. She could sense he wanted this evening to be special, a night where they were truly off duty. Lord knew she needed it. Whether or not she could convince herself to be mentally off the bridge was another story. She'd try for him. Kathryn arranged her hair, grabbed the bottle of wine she'd promised to bring, and headed out the door.

In the corridors she lost a little bit of her confidence. While most of the crew was respectful enough not to stare, she felt like everyone knew where she was going.

"It doesn't matter what they think," she tried to tell herself. "The Commander and I are very close friends. We have dinner together all the time. Everyone knows that." Still, Kathryn picked up her pace until she reached Chakotay's quarters. Her pulse quickened as she buzzed. Would he think she over dressed? He'd said no uniforms. She hoped too that she hadn't spoiled anything by being late. Why hadn't he told her to come in yet?

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

B'Elanna lay on their bed watching Tom get ready for his shift and massaging her belly. She had to admit it was nice having a whole twenty-four hours off. Too bad her husband had pulled so many strings to get it he wouldn't be there for most of it. He sat down on the bed to tell her goodnight.

"I wish you didn't have to work tonight," she said, taking his hand. It wasn't a reproof.

"Just as well," he said. "You need some extra rest. I'd just keep you up all night."

B'Elanna smiled at that. "You said it yourself; it's been quiet down in engineering. You might as well take advantage."

"You're right. Tom, thanks for getting me the time off."

"It took a lot of negotiating. Chakotay was pulling hard for an evening with the Captain."

"Well she seemed to need it as much as I do. He's always good about taking care of his friends."

"You don't think it's anything else?"

"You think the Captain and Chakotay..." B'Elanna snorted. "When I was the muse for the alien playwright, he had them kissing at one point. It seemed all wrong. I think if there were any kind of vibe off them it wouldn't have been so, well, just weird."

"I don't know," replied Tom thoughtfully. "You said they got their ideas off your logs and your stories. Plus don't you ever notice how close the Captain and Chakotay always stand to each other? And she was watching him like hell after they were stranded together for a few months. I bet a lot happened down there that's not in the reports. Down in engineering you might not see it as much as we do on the bridge but I bet that play guy was onto something."

"Oh yeah," retorted B'Elanna, smirking at him. "He had you kissing Seven of Nine."

"Then again, he was probably full of crap." Tom stood up quickly and finished getting ready. She lay back with her hand behind her head. Tom leaned over her and kissed her tenderly. "Promise me you'll get some sleep?" He placed a hand on her very pregnant belly.

"I'll try." Tom smiled at his wife and left for work. Just after their quarters door slid shut with a swoosh, he paused just outside.

"Computer, run security protocol Paris oh nine alpha."

"Security protocols are in place." Tom smiled to himself as he walked off to the bridge.

Inside their room, B'Elanna stared at the ceiling. She didn't feel tired at all.

"Computer, what's the status in engineering?"

Instead of answering her as asked the computer said, "Stop pestering me and get some sleep." She was surprised at first then snickered. She should have figured Tom might do something like this. She saw him messing with the control panel in their room last night.

"Computer, what..." she didn't get to finish this time.

"Oh fine. Just this once." B'Elanna laughed out loud this time, picturing Tom's attempts to make the computer sound irritable when it still rapped out everything in that cool monotone. "All systems in engineering are operating within normal parameters."

"I guess it would be just as boring in at work." There was that weird sensor reading she'd noticed the other day. A slow shift would be a good opportunity to check it out. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow. It was probably nothing anyway. She got up to go to the replicator for a warm glass of milk and a Klingon romance novel.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Kathryn was about to buzz again when the door slid open. Chakotay stood on the other side. He'd gotten up to answer the door himself. That was a nice touch, she thought, but he was looking stern.

"You're lucky dinner needed a few extra minutes." She was taken aback until she saw the corner of his mouth flick upward ever so slightly. He could never fool her for more than a moment. She gave him an evil grin.

"Perfection takes time, mister," she said walking into the room and (inwardly) heaving a sigh of relief to be out of the corridor.

"That it does," said Chakotay, taking the wine from her and breaking into a full smile. "Kathryn, you look lovely."

"You clean up pretty well yourself," she replied, trying to keep things light. The truth was she'd never seen him look so handsome. His suit fit his strong physique well and the bright white collar of his shirt complimented his dark complexion perfectly. It could be that she was simply used to him in his uniform and now he seemed so different, but it was as if she was really noticing for the first time how powerfully masculine he was under that quiet front. Although she'd always liked him in his leather Maquis pants too. Neither image did anything for her heart rate and she tried not to think about them. Why was her heart beating so fast?

"Shall we eat?" he asked, and extended his arm. Suddenly she remembered the little treat she'd given herself earlier.

"Wait! I almost forgot. I went to see the Doctor after my shift today." Chakotay looked confused for a moment but then she pulled out her bobby pins. Her auburn hair fell down her back, as long as it was when she first came on Voyager. "I had the Doctor stimulate my hair follicles. I felt the dress needed something."

Chakotay felt his hand involuntarily twitch as he remember the only time he'd run his fingers through that length so many years ago. Tonight was going to be difficult, especially if he was going to go through with it.

"Now I really forgive you for being late," he said. "Shall we?" She answered by taking his arm and walking with him to the dinner table. Everything looked beautiful and delicious and she told him so. They couldn't help but beam at each other in the comfortable silence that followed while Chakotay lit the candles and poured the wine.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Vorik was certain of it now. The anomalous reading was not simply that. He'd checked back sensor logs and noticed appearances of the reading first began shortly before their departure from Picine. Perhaps they attached a transmitter to Voyager somehow. If the species was widely dispersed throughout the quadrant and incapable of warp speeds it would be logical for them to develop this parasitic method of communication. While this seemed innocuous enough, he reminded himself that so had the Picinians at first and species such as they were, rarely acted logically.

Vorik decided the incident was important enough to report. He would go to Lieutenant Torres, first. Then they might do some further investigating before reporting in.

"Ensign Vorik to Lieutenant Torres," he said as he tapped his combadge.

"Lieutenant Torres is unavailable," responded the cool computer voice. Vorik's eyebrows came together.

"Computer, locate Lieutenant Torres."

"Lieutenant Torres is in her quarters." Vorik's eyebrows contracted still further. He tapped his combadge again.

"Ensign Vorik to Lieutenant Torres."

"Lieutenant Torres is unavailable."

"Computer, why is Lieutenant Torres unavailable?"

"Lieutenant Torres is off duty for the next 20 hours, 12 minutes, and 32 seconds."

"Yes, but why can I not contact her?"

"Lieutenant Paris has erected a series of security protocols around his and Lieutenant Torres' quarters. No one may contact or call on Lieutenant Torres for another 20 hours, 11 minutes, and 55 seconds."

"Who may remove these protocols?"

"Lieutenant Paris or the Doctor."

"That is completely irrational!" Vorik's voice was slightly raised. For him, that was downright irritated.

"Please restate the question."

"Vorik to Torres!"

"HEY DIRTBAG!" This time it was Tom Paris' voice that boomed over the com. "Whoever you are, leave my wife alone and let her get some sleep. There are 150 other people on this ship who might be interested in what you have to say. Go talk to one of them."

"Was that Lieutenant Paris?" Vorik hadn't meant to say it aloud but the computer answered anyway.

"Negative."

"What was it?"

"A recording made by Lieutenant Paris for anyone who attempts to contact Lieutenant Torres over the specified number of times."

"Very well. I shall contact someone else."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Dinner had been fantastic. Chakotay had always been an excellent cook but the conversation had been the best part. Kathryn and Chakotay could always talk about anything. It was one of their greatest strengths as a command team. Now they sat on the couch, deep into their second bottle of the real stuff, laughing and reminiscing.

"Ensign Vorik to Captain Janeway."

Kathryn sighed as she looked at Chakotay.

"Don't get it," he said, although he knew better.

"Janeway here," she said, as she retrieved her combadge from the table.

"Captain, I need to inform you that I have been detecting and anomalous reading in our warp signature that has been occurring since..."

"Ensign, is this an emergency?" interrupted Chakotay. Kathryn looked surprised.

"No, but I could not reach Lieutenant Torres and..."

"Isn't Torres off tonight," said Chakotay.

"Yes, Commander, but Lieutenant Paris has erected a series of security protocols around his quarters and..."

"Did he?!" said Kathryn, interrupting this time.

"Yes Captain, and left a very rude message for anyone who tries to contact Lieutenant Torres." Chakotay and Kathryn stifled a laugh.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ensign," said Kathryn.

"Now about my report..."

"Ensign," interrupted Chakotay, once again. "I'm sorry to say that the Captain and I are also off duty. Lieutenant Commander Tuvok has command this evening. If you make your report to him, I'm sure he will receive it with... much more decorum than the Captain and I are able to at present."

There was a brief pause. "Very well, Commander. Vorik out."

Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other and laughed out loud.

"You know," said Chakotay, "I think that could possibly be the most annoyed Vulcan I've ever heard."

"I'm almost positive he actually huffed," giggled Kathryn. "Poor Vorik. I'll have to make it up to him tomorrow."

"He did give me an idea though," said Chakotay. "Computer, erect the same security protocols around my quarters that Lieutenant Paris set up for his, except only lift them for my command codes." Kathryn gave him a disapproving look. "And Captain Janeway's." The disapproving look continued. "And a yellow alert or higher." Her face finally softened.

"Fine, you win," she said, "but since we won't be disturbed this evening, we might as well finish the wine." She leaned across the coffee table to grab the bottle and pour the last of it into their glasses. As she did, her hair fell off her shoulder and into a soft curtain in front of her face. Chakotay longed to gently brush it away from her cheek but instead he silently accepted his glass. Kathryn finished pouring and leaned back familiarly into his shoulder. He put his arm around her and she snuggled in.

"Oh, Chakotay. Vorik's really grown. They all have. Do you remember Harry that first year? He's become such a confident man and Tom and B'Elanna having their first child... We've all come so far, formed such bonds. We're a real family, Chakotay. It'll be a bittersweet moment when we all make it home."

Chakotay stared at her affectionately. She was so beautiful with the light reflecting off her dress and dancing on her face.

"Did you hear yourself just now?" He smiled. "When we all make it home." Kathryn looked taken aback for the moment. "Don't take it back! If anything, take it to heart. Just now, Kathryn, you may be a little tipsy, but you're being honest with yourself. That means that deep down, you believe you will get us home. You know you will get us home. Package that up and hold onto it. Take it out again whenever you doubt yourself and understand that I also know you'll get us home." He smiled when he realized he'd said something she needed to hear. It touched her because she knew he meant it. He could tell by the way she looked at him. But the way she looked at him broke his heart. It was nearly time.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

It had come at last; the opportunity the Picinian ship had been waiting for. There always was one, you know, only never this good. All they had to do was cloak their ship and ride behind the mark, getting drawn along in the wake, and wait. They would generally pass the time getting familiar with the ship's systems. Time was a useful thing to a Picinian.

The longer the opportunity took to arise, the better, especially in the case of an anomalous reading, which meant that the mark ship's sensors were aware of them. The longer the reading remained a harmless blip in the logs, the more likely the mark would be to ignore it and let their guard down again. Yes, time was a Picinian's ally.

This situation, however, was a Picinian's dream. The Chief Engineer, the First Officer, and the Captain had cut themselves off from the rest of the crew and would never wonder why if they didn't hear from a soul all night. If he'd read the duty rosters correctly, they weren't scheduled back until the following evening. Bridge Leader Aquallis nearly squealed like he was freshly spawned when he'd read that.

The Bridge Leader mused on how much easier these raids were when the commanding officers had liaisons. Sometimes the Bridge Leader would get their strongest empath to send along some of the proper love and desire emotions to get the ball rolling, but he'd sensed enough of those from these two already to almost knock him out of his command seat. For now, he had the Lead Empath employed in ruffling the Vulcans on the ship. It was a good exercise for the Lead Empath, since it seemed to be so difficult to elicit feelings from this species. Such an odd race, Vulcans.

Aquallis contented himself with merely monitoring the emotional progress of the liasioning officers. Mmm, liaisons. While they weren't technically necessary for his kind any longer, many people still had them. They could be quite fun; especially one with a subordinate. He envied the officers on Voyager as he looked over at his own sub-leader with distain. Sinicolis was quite a repugnant male, fat and overly slimy even by Picinian standards. Female sub-leaders were becoming more and more common. Aquallis would request one for his next mission.

This mission would be over soon. His skin oozed a little at the thought. He'd already locked down the quarters. The inhabitants would not notice until the ship dropped out of warp and that probably would not happen for many hours. They had to let the ships' systems degrade of their own accord. That way they would be frantically trying to do repairs when they became vulnerable, not looking for an attack. Aquallis smirked to himself. The dry ones were always so stupid.

Even though they still had many hours, he needed to prepare the ship for boarding. That meant readying the mark's environment and causing a little chaos in the meantime. That part always amused him. Aquallis accessed Voyager's systems.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Ensign Vorik to Commander Tuvok."

"HEY DIRTBAG!" Tom Paris' angry message roared over the entire com system on the ship.

"But I didn't..." sputtered Vorik. "Computer," Vorik tried again.

"HEY DIRTBAG!" The message began again, overlapping the first. Everyone on duty in engineering stood around perplexed.

"Ensign Miller," said Vorik. "Please try contacting the bridge.

"Ensign Miller to Commander Tuvok."

"HEY DIRTBAG!"

Vorik made a few futile adjustments to the console only to add another message to the cacophony that was already echoing all over the ship. The crew jumped to their stations trying to get the com system on line to no avail. Concentrating as they were, no one noticed the thin mist that began to escape the vents.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Mr. Paris!" Tuvok yelled from the Captain's chair. He looked about as close to irate as a Vulcan could get. Tom Paris was as red as his uniform. "Am I to assume that this is another one of your practical jokes?"

"No, sir!" said Tom vehemently. "This message was only supposed to go off if someone tried to contact B'Elanna, oh say, five or six times in a row. I only wanted my wife to get some rest, Commander."

"While we all appreciate and share your concern for Lieutenant Torres' well being, this message has no place on the bridge."

"Understood, Commander," said Tom sheepishly.

"Computer, termin..." began Tuvok.

"HEY DIRTBAG!" A vein popped out of Tuvok's forehead. "Mr. Paris! Can you turn this message off!"

"I think so, sir." Tom nodded at an ensign who took his place at the conn. "Hey, Harry, will you let me on opps?" The slew of messages set off by many unwitting crewmen ship wide echoed on.

"Geez, Tom," said Harry as he slid over for his friend. "Can ya shut up, all ready."

"Stuff it, Harry," said Tom as he pushed buttons and made the message go off yet again.

"Mr. Paris," said Tuvok, slightly more collected this time, "your eloquent instructions notwithstanding, it appears that we will have to be disturbing you wife this evening."

"Yes, sir," said Tom. "Believe me, Commander, if anyone wants this message off the com, it's going to be her." Tom quickly strode off the bridge. As soon as his turbolift descended, the trickle of mist crept around the captain's chair.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Chakotay and Kathryn had no clue about the mayhem that was ensuing on their ship. The dampening field the Picinians had included in the security protocols ensured that the two officers could not hear Tom's angry tirade. The Picinians had also chosen to leave their computer and environmental controls alone. No need for the engineer or the officers to know anything was wrong. Extra security measures aside, Chakotay and Kathryn were in their own little world. They had been sitting in silence for some time now. He thought maybe she'd fallen asleep. If she had, so much the better. He could enjoy the gentle weight of her body in his arms all night.

"Chakotay," she said with a tone that she wanted to tell him something.

"Yes Kathryn?"

"Thank you for tonight. You always know what I need. I can't even hope to have been to you all these years even half of what you've been to me. Promise me you'll always stay my friend. Just like this."

"I promise, Kathryn." He kissed her on top of the head. The word friend had steeled his resolve. Now or never. He was ready to break his heart one last time and let go. It was the only right thing to do after she'd been quietly rejecting him all these years. He wouldn't burden her with it anymore. If she needed him as her friend at least she still needed him. It would be enough from now on. It had to be. Chakotay pulled away from her and smiled with some effort.

"There's one more thing I'd like to do this evening," he said.

"Oh? Is the night over?" Kathryn asked, genuinely disappointed.

"Of course not. We can stay awake and talk until, what was that you said, the nebula comes up? But there's just one more thing I wanted to ask you to do." The softness in his tone worried her a little bit. They'd drunk quite a bit of the real stuff but she kept smiling.

"Tell me. What is it?"

Wheedling again. He thought with a smile. "Tom has been letting me explore his music collection. There's a song I'd like you to hear."

"Oh really? Tom likes early 20th century the most. What song is it?"

"It's by a band called the Platters. Computer, Chakotay music program thirty-four alpha." Kathryn's breath stopped as a slow romantic piano melody began to play.

They... asked me how I knew, my true love was true... I of course replied, something here inside, cannot be denied.

Chakotay stood and held out his hand.

Oh no.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Seven of Nine and Icheb woke up from regeneration like most people awake from a nightmare. The noise coming over the com was maddening and it echoed still more in the hollow of Cargo Bay 2. In the collective, they had been used to the endless stream of voices, but those had been ordered. One thought. One mind. This, this was bedlam in their heads. They frantically stuffed their fingers in their ears and winced in pain as they ran over to a console. Seven tapped buttons, but to no avail until she fell to her knees holding her ears.

"Make it stop! Please, make it stop!" Icheb took over her position but could do no better. Finally, Seven struggled to her feet. Her face screwed up with rage and determination, she went to the console and stuck her fist on it, allowing her Borg implants to inject it with nanoprobes.

"Help me," she said. Icheb approached and did the same.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Tom made the trip from the bridge to his quarters in record time and almost ran face first into the door when it didn't slide open.

"What the hell?" The computer was supposed to let him in. The entire protocol must be malfunctioning. He never thought it would cause this much havoc. He tapped his code into the panel next to the door and it opened. This time he did run face first into the level ten force field that had been put in place by the Picinians.

"Ouch! Damn it! Computer,"

"HEY DIRTBAG,"

"DAMN! I got it! I'm a dirtbag. Can you let me into my quarters now?" Nothing happened. He couldn't see B'Elanna. She was in the bedroom, although Tom couldn't help wondering how she could be sleeping through all this racket. At least there were so many of the messages going off now you couldn't really tell what it was saying anymore. He pounded on the force field. It stung a little, but he didn't care.

B'Elanna lay in bed finishing up a chapter. The dampening field was preventing her from hearing her husband banging outside their door. When she realized she'd read the same sentence four times she put the book down and sighed. She wondered how things in engineering were going. Probably fine. They would have contacted her by now if anything went wrong although Vorik usually called her at least once a night anyway. She decided to get up and stretch, maybe watch some TV. She was too awake to get any sleep, just bored and boredom made her agitated.

Tom was about to give up and look for her somewhere else. Maybe she was down in engineering trying to fix the problem and this was his punishment. No, B'Elanna wasn't like that. She would rather yell at him. He was banging on the field and screaming in one last ditch effort when B'Elanna walked into the living area. She stopped short when she saw Tom outside. He looked like he was yelling. She walked over to the door and gingerly put out a finger. Ouch!

There's a force field! Tom mouthed. You didn't put it up? B'Elanna shook her head. I didn't put it up either. This was weird. And why couldn't she hear anything outside. She looked into the corridor. A few people were running around and it was starting to look a little smoky.

"What happened?"

Don't know. Everything was going great and then this message started going off...

"What message?"

You can't hear it?

"No. Can you hear me?" Tom shook his head. What the hell was going on? Torres found her combadge and tapped it.

"Torres to engineering."

"Engineering is unavailable." B'Elanna shot Tom a dirty look. "Computer, remove Tom Paris' security protocols, authorization Torres theta two one."

"Have it your way, security protocols removed."

"Torres to engineering." No answer at all. She went back over to the door.

Will you let me in? mouthed Tom. B'Elanna tapped the panel a few times. The field was still in place. "I can't. It's starting to look a little smoky out there." Tom looked around. The mist had been filtering in so gradually he'd hardly noticed it. Now there was a light fog obscuring his shoes.

"I'll see if I can tap into engineering from here and find out what's causing this." B'Elanna went over to the monitor and sat down.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Dance with me?" Chakotay still had his hand extended to her.

She giggled. Keep it light as always. That had worked for the last few years, hadn't it? "I've had so much wine I don't think I could trust my feet. I'd step all over you."

"I don't mind." Why did he just keep standing there staring at her? She hated that she couldn't read his face. She'd seen that one before, of course, but she couldn't place it right now. She didn't move.

"All right, Kathryn," he said softly, looking away. "I'll dance by myself."

She felt miserable. The response she gave him was the worst thing she could have said. Kathryn was extremely confused. She had seen that face before, but when? She downed the last of the wine in her glass and looked at Chakotay. He looked so sad dancing there by himself, head down, arms behind his back, stepping gracefully to the music. She felt sick and guilty. She should have just danced with him. What would one dance hurt? Hurt...

"Oh!" she gasped to herself. The song played on:

When a heart's on fire, you must realize, smoke gets in your eyes.

She knew this song. It wasn't about love beginning. It was about love ending and now she knew that look. This was the mask Chakotay wore when he was in intense emotional pain. Quietly, Kathryn got up and went to him. She fell into step, watching only his feet for guidance.

She understood finally. He'd been in love with her all these years and now—now he wasn't trying to seduce her, he was trying to move on without ever letting her know anything was wrong. And she-Kathryn, you fool –had almost denied him the only comfort he'd asked of her.

Yet today, my love has flown away, I am without my love.

He turned his foot slightly and she knew to twirl. They fell back into step a little closer this time. Close enough to feel the heat off each other's bodies. Kathryn stared at his chest. Chakotay gazed down at her head. They were quiet. Now that she couldn't see his face, he let himself feel the full measure of his heartbreak.

And Kathryn's heart was breaking too. Was it for him or for her? She reproached herself for hurting him all those years. If she'd only known, she could have... what would she have done? Kept him from breaking his own heart because... she only wanted friendship? For protocol's sake? Lies. All lies she told herself every day. But it didn't matter now. He was there, inches away from her moving on and she... just beginning. Fine. That was as it should be. The cross was hers to bear now. The tears flowed freely and she hoped he had his eyes closed.

He didn't. I'm hurting her, he thought. She understands now, and I'm hurting her. Just this song, Kathryn. Just this song and then I can be the friend I promised you.

And just like that, it was over. They stood there silently. Kathryn couldn't look up. Chakotay couldn't move. Her crying was a little louder now. He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her. He wanted to tell her he loved her and that she could even hate him all her life if she wanted as long as she was happy and safe. But now that she understood, he wasn't sure if he was even her friend anymore and if he touched her, he'd be right back where he started. He wasn't far enough out the door yet. Too late. He'd reached out and wiped away some of her tears and turned her face up to him.

He wanted to tell her how sorry he was for all of it. He felt like he'd abused her trust by lying about his feelings but when he saw her, he could say nothing. Kathryn's eyes were filled with passion, the kind he'd always hoped to find.

The look of surprise on Chakotay's face almost made Kathryn laugh but she couldn't do that to him. In spite of her resolve to take on the burden, her emotions took over and she had to let him know. She intended to hold his gaze until he understood. Gradually the shock wore off but the old habits of restraint kept them standing there. But there was no question they both knew what the other felt. The few inches of air between them was thick with it. They could have spoken about anything and it all would have meant the same thing so they said nothing.

Without thinking, Chakotay slowly reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, feeling how soft it was. Gradually his hand went back to her cheek. She caressed his hand with her own tiny ones and nestled her face in his strong palm. His other arm encircled her and pulled her to him. I'm home she thought as she sank into his chest. He turned her face back up to his and stroked her chin and neck with his thumb as he contemplated each feature. He looked at her a long time like that, with a small smile playing around his mouth. He wanted to kiss her, badly, but he didn't want this moment to end. Finally he put the other arm around her lithe little waist and pulled her to his lips.

The kiss was Chakotay. That was the only way Kathryn could describe it: gentle but strong with so much underlying passion she felt like she'd been hit by a bolt of lightning. She kissed him back with all the fire she had in her. He became more ardent as the walls of uncertainty crumbled down. He'd still been unsure even up until he kissed her. Almost seven years of 'no' keeps a man on his guard. But now...he didn't think about it. It could all go up in smoke at any second.

After a while, Chakotay pulled away from her. He could be respectful and restrain himself if need be but he was, after all, a flesh and blood man. He needed a moment before things got too far for him. Still, he stared at her questioningly. Any woman ought to know what he wanted. Kathryn looked searchingly into his face.

She understood, of course. He'd never ask her out loud. She'd have to take the lead here. She just wasn't sure what she should do. She reached up and caressed his tattoo. To hell with it, Kathryn thought. I've come this far. She let a mischievous smile creep across her face and nodded toward the bedroom. He scooped her up so fast it took her breath away and carried her to his bed.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

When the turbolift doors opened, Tuvok had expected to see Lieutenant Paris walk onto the bridge, not Ensign Vorik.

"Commander," said Vorik. "I would have contacted you through the com but..."

"Understood, Ensign," said Tuvok, cringing at the message that was still going off. "As you can see, we have our hands full at the moment. What is it that you need?"

"I have detected an anomalous reading in our warp signature that has been present since we left Picine," Vorik handed Tuvok a padd. "I have extrapolated its exact source in the wake of our warp trail."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow as he read over the data. He felt that it was highly unlikely that the timing of this was coincidence and the matter of the com failure suddenly seemed more important. Also, why had Lieutenant Paris not reported back to the bridge?

"Thank you, Ensign," said Tuvok. "I shall examine the data. Please return to engineering and continue to monitor the source of the reading."

"Yes, Commander," said Vorik and he walked off the bridge.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Tom stood outside his quarters getting antsy. His socks were soaked unpleasantly from the moisture in the hall and his pants were slowly getting that way too. Plus, the message was still blaring and he didn't want to go back to the bridge until it stopped. B'Elanna was trying to get a connection to the main computer through their replicator and was head first inside of it. Tom had to admit it was funny watching her get covered in grease, still in her flowy silk nightgown, and trying to work around her belly. Suddenly she stood up clutching her hand.

Ouch, damn it. B'Elanna had been getting frustrated and wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. The cut on the palm of her hand wasn't deep, but it was certainly bleeding enough. It was going to get all over the equipment and make things worse if she left it that way, but she obviously couldn't get to sick bay right now. Sick bay. The Doctor! Quickly B'Elanna ran over to the door where Tom stood looking concerned.

"I need the Doctor!" she said. Tom looked worried.

Are you hurt? Is it bad? he mouthed.

"Not bad," she said, letting a little magenta blood trickle down so he'd go already. "Just go get him, I need him." Tom nodded and ran off.

Down in sickbay, the Doctor was getting a little worried. Like everyone else, he was annoyed at the endless droning of Tom's message, but more concerned about the intermittent flickering of his matrix, for which, he could find no cause. He really needed B'Elanna but he was glad she was taking it easy tonight for once. He was surprised, when Tom Paris ran in.

"Ah, Mr. Paris," he said with his usual abrupt tone. "I take it, it's you I have to thank for this endless tirade? I didn't think holograms could get headaches but I suppose there's a first for everything. Aren't you supposed to be on the bridge?"

"Doc, I need you, it's B'Elanna," said Tom breathlessly.

"What's the matter," asked the Doctor, immediately concerned. "It's not the baby, is it? I told her she needed to be getting more rest."

"Nothing like that," said Tom. "She cut herself, pretty bad. She said she needs you. Grab your med kit."

"She couldn't make it to sick bay?" said the Doctor, even more concerned.

"It's a long story Doc, trust me. We have to go to her." The Doctor nodded and downloaded himself into his mobile emitter, but paused a moment when the transfer was complete. He'd flickered a lot more than usual during that process.

"You all right, Doc?" asked Tom.

"I'll be fine," he replied. "I've had some minor instabilities in my matrix this evening, that's all. Let's get to your wife."

The corridors were full of running people now and it was getting mistier by the moment.

"What's been going on?" asked the Doctor, watching the people hurry by.

"Don't know," said Tom. "Once we get B'Elanna straightened out, I gotta get back to the bridge.

By the time they got to B'Elanna, the Doctor was flickering almost continuously, though holding together for the most part. B'Elanna was standing in the doorway waiting for them. It appeared like she'd gotten the bleeding stopped and she was holding a padd. She looked at the blinking Doctor with concern.

"Oh good. She doesn't look so bad!" he said brightening up. "I'm glad I came to see you," he continued to B'Elanna. "When I'm finished with you, you can work on me if you're feeling up to it."

"Are you all right?" asked Tom.

I'm fine, she mouthed. The Doctor looked startled.

"Why can't I hear her?"

Tom smacked himself in the forehead. The force field! In his concern for his wife he'd forgotten about the logistics of the situation.

"Is the force field still up?" he asked. "How do we get to you?" B'Elanna held up the padd so Tom could read it.

I need you to do this to the Doctor, B'Elanna began to read it and his expression brightened.

"Ohhh, B'Elanna you're a genius!" Tom grabbed the stylus out of the Doctor's emitter and began tapping buttons. The Doctor looked intensely confused.

"Force field? Mr. Paris what are you doing!" He turned quickly to the padd and read frantically. "What!" he yelled. "I'm a doctor, not a Jefferies tube!"

"There ya go, Doc," said Tom, "keep your emitter on this side," and Tom shoved him into the force field. His matrix felt like it was sizzling for an instant until B'Elanna ran through him, grabbed him by the elbow, and pulled him to safety. He gave an even bigger flicker this time and threatened to destabilize entirely. B'Elanna took the stylus and worked quickly to put him back the way he was but all she could do was get him back to the state of steady mild disruption. She looked around the corridor, confused.

"You should be ok for now," she said, "but I think all this moisture in the air is what's causing your problem. Tom, you're soaked. What's going on? And what the hell is that racket?"

"Uh, nothing," said Tom. "I don't know what's going on. Doc, did you hear anything?"

"Not a thing," he replied, helping Tom out. "And this moisture has been coming on so gradually, I don't think anyone noticed. I certainly didn't."

"Well, so much for my night off," said B'Elanna. "We all better get back to our stations. I'm going to engineering."

"Uh, B'Elanna?" said Tom, "you might want to take this," he said peeling off his jacket.

"I don't think uniforms matter too much right now," she began.

"It's not that," said Tom. "You're getting soaked too." She looked down at the almost see through top of her night gown. She took the jacket. They started off but the Doctor flickered so badly he dropped his med kit.

"We've got to get you somewhere dry," said B'Elanna. "Doctor, I'll have to deactivate you for now." She tapped a few buttons, grabbed his emitter before it fell, went to the med kit and opened it. Damn. It was flooded with condensation. Next she looked Tom up and down. He was wet to the bone too. No dry pockets there. She smirked a little and looked at Tom again.

"Promise me you won't tell him where I put him?"

"What? I guess..."

B'Elanna smiled and tucked the Doctor down her shirt under her bra.

Tom shook his head. "Remind me not to beat him up later." They both moved on down the corridor.

Everything was almost opaque now, and they couldn't really see where they were going. Their eyes had started to water too. Suddenly, they stopped.

"We should have hit a turbo lift by now," said Tom.

"And my eyes won't stop burning. I wish I had some of the Doctor's drops," said B'Elanna. She and Tom looked at each other, suddenly realizing what was going on.

"We've got to get to our stations," she said.

"Let's just try and get our bearings," reasoned Tom. "Where are we now?" They both looked around them, squinting through the haze.

"I think we're..." but B'Elanna never got to finish her sentence. Both she and Tom were grabbed by the arm and yanked through the double doors that had opened behind them.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Chakotay had been dumbfounded when he had gotten the nod. Once he had, however, he'd given Kathryn very little time or reason to change her mind. The love making had been fervently perfect. She had let him take charge once she was naked in his arms. He was glad. It meant that she finally had a chance to lay down her burden, even if it was just a little while. She had enjoyed surrendering control to him, mostly because that's what Chakotay had done for her all these years. Not because he was weak, of course, but because he wanted to. By doing the same for him, they were now equals.

Kathryn had drifted off after the second time, but Chakotay was too afraid everything would disappear if he went to sleep. Instead he happily relived the evening in his mind, especially one moment during. Words didn't describe it, couldn't describe it—he would try to sort it out with his spirit guide later—but still he wanted to understand it in his own mind to internalize it.

When it happened, he was deep in his passion, holding Kathryn close and feeling every inch of her soft body, inside and out. He had looked down at her, into those blue eyes that moved him so well and almost stopped at the feeling that hit him like a freight train. When he saw her, an epiphany raced through his mind. "I do this wholly for you. You do this wholly for me. We are one." He could feel her pleasure as fully as his own, and he knew she'd felt it too, exactly as he had. The physical love was even sweeter after that. This was the last piece. It made their love complete.

Chakotay felt Kathryn shift as she woke up and unconsciously squeezed her a little closer, afraid she might bolt. As she awoke she forgot where she was for a moment but felt unquestionably safe. She had her back to him, pressed against his protective body. His dark arm encircled her and she caressed it. She had felt the final piece too and was thinking about it now as she watched the stars slide by outside. She didn't try to wrap her scientific mind around the feeling because that would spoil it. Kathryn just wanted to enjoy the satisfying fullness of it all.

Chakotay began tenderly kissing the back of her neck. She responded by rolling over and pressing her lips to his. He kissed her in earnest for a few moments before leaning back on the pillow and gazing at her. What was truly amazing, was that they hadn't spoken a word to each other since Chakotay had said he'd dance alone, yet in the past few hours, they'd communicated so much.

"Did we break the evil spell?" he asked, smiling at her. Kathryn looked at him questioningly. "Protocol," he answered.

She smiled back at him and caressed his tattoo again. "We'll have to deal with that sooner or later, but I don't want to think about it now. Right now... I want to live in Blanket World." She pulled the covers up over her head. "In here, we're just Kathryn and Chakotay. No uniforms or pips."

"We can't do that in my quarters?" Chakotay laughed.

"Maybe someday, but for now I need to hide from your Starfleet regulation quarters and the combadges on the table. We can pretend anything we want is on the other side of those covers."

"Where do you want to go? New Earth? Risa? Maybe a whole different time line?"

"Not temporal mechanics," she groaned.

"What branch of science would you prefer then?" He kissed her. "Chemistry?" he added suggestively. She kissed him back for a moment then suddenly threw the covers off and sat up straight.

"Time."

"What is it, Kathryn?"

"You know that feeling you get when you wake up and you realize the alarm didn't go off? I have no idea what time it is." Chakotay smiled and looked at the clock.

"O two hundred. We're not due back on the bridge until seventeen hundred."

Kathryn heaved a sigh of relief and lay back down next to him. "We've got hours. I hope you're not planning on getting much sleep tonight."

"Nothing a cup of your coffee can't fix." Chakotay couldn't help grinning like an idiot. Only today he'd thought... but what would happen tomorrow and the next day? Like she'd read his mind, she answered the question for him.

"You know, Chakotay," she ventured softly, "we might be able to make this work." He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But only when we're really and truly off duty, like tonight," she added. There was the disclaimer.

"That might not be for another six months!" Was she pushing him away again?

"Am I not worth the wait?"

"Of course you are. I only meant..." what had he meant? He started over. "It's probably a good idea to start out that way but people are going to figure things out eventually."

"Yes, but..."

"Kathryn, remember after we danced, when we were standing a few inches apart? Well, I was thinking about that earlier and I realized we stand that close all the time. On the bridge, in the mess hall, walking through the corridors. And do you realize how often you stand behind my chair with your hand on my shoulder during briefings? If I saw two people acting like that do you know what I'd think? I'd think they were sleeping together. Hell, everyone else probably already knows what we feel for each other and we're just the last two idiots to figure it out."

"But there's a certain level of professionalism that we have to maintain..."

"Tom and B'Elanna do it."

"Yes, but..."

"Are you saying that the Captain and the First Officer are less professional than a couple of Lieutenants?"

"No, but..."

"And do you really think that Captain Kathryn Janeway is going to go googly eyed on her bridge and forget her post?"

"No, but..."

"Would I?"

"No," she had to laugh at that one, trying to picture Chakotay too soppy to see the view screen.

"Kathryn, this ship is different. It's special. You said it yourself earlier. We're a family. Every member of this crew loves you as much as you love them. They all want you to be happy."

She could feel her will caving at his words. She wrestled with herself until finally she wrapped up her fears and tucked them away.

"All right, Chakotay, you win again," she sighed. "It's only that I would like to keep things private for a little while."

"Of course we will," he said stroking her hair. "I just want you to realize that the inability to keep it a secret forever isn't a reason to avoid the relationship all together."

"I understand what you mean," she said softly. She stared at him for a moment. "I love you very much, Chakotay."

"I love you too, Kathryn." It was funny how that was the first time they'd said it out loud. They were silent, letting it sink in. Then Kathryn let a big smile spread across her face. It was time to lighten the mood again.

"All I'm saying is, I don't want you walking onto my bridge tomorrow and grabbing my backside." It worked. Chakotay laughed out loud, planted both hands firmly on her buttocks and pulled her on top of him.

"Thanks, now that's all I'm going to be thinking about when I do walk onto the bridge tomorrow." This was good, Chakotay thought. Beyond all hope, she loved him. He felt a pang that she was still conflicted about protocol. She had acted like she'd given in on that point but he knew better. He hoped time and the genuine affection of the crew might ease her mind on that score, but that would come later. For now, Kathryn in his arms was all that mattered. He nipped her ear as he whispered in it. "How about that Chemistry lesson?"

"Can we throw in a little Human Biology?"

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Neelix!" Tom and B'Elanna both yelled as they realized they'd been pulled into the mess hall. The mist was less dense in here and they could see the Talaxian slamming the doors shut and running over to his little kitchen. He flipped a switch and in a moment or two, the room was cleared.

"Neelix," said B'Elanna. "How did you get rid of all that?"

"My hood system," said Neelix. "I just got it installed last week to clear things out when they get a little smoky in here. Worked for the mist too. What's going on? What's all the racket?"

"Picinians," said Tom.

"Are they on the ship?"

"Don't know," said B'Elanna. "If they're not already, they probably will be soon. Is your replicator working? I need to tap in and try to get the com back up."

"I think so," said Neelix. B'Elanna peeled off Tom's wet jacket and handed it to him so she could move. He took the combadge off it and held it up watching the water drip off.

"I don't think it'll matter much if you do get the com up," he said. "Our badges have been through the ringer."

"Here," said Neelix and he grabbed Tom's combadge and threw it in a bowl of dry rice. "Leave it in there for a little bit to draw out the moisture. That's what I did to mine and it seems like it's working."

"Have you been able to contact any one?" asked B'Elanna.

"Well, no."

"Then how do you know..."

"Well, you don't have one on," said Neelix. "and you don't hear me speaking Talaxian, do you?"

"Universal Translator," said Tom.

"Ok," said B'Elanna. "The rice works. Got any more?" She held out the flooded med kit.

"Sure thing," said Neelix, taking the bag.

"Oh, and," B'Elanna reached down her top and pulled out the Doctor's emitter. "He probably doesn't need as long. He stayed pretty dry." She avoided eye contact with Neelix and Tom and went over to the replicator to start working.

After about an hour they were able to reactivate the Doctor. His emitter had dried out sufficiently and his matrix had stabilized. B'Elanna had been able to silence Tom's blaring message and replicate herself a uniform, but still had no luck with the other systems. Every time she thought she'd come close, everything would simply die again for no conceivable reason and she'd be back to square one. She took a break and went back to the others.

"The only hardware issue I can see is all the moisture," said B'Elanna. "If it would just dry out, everything should come right back up. I've tried rerouting every system as deep inside the ship as I can but something keeps shooting down everything I do. What I need is a giant bowl of rice." Just as she said that, there was a crackle from the original rice bowl. No one spoke. They heard the crackle again. Tom and B'Elanna dug in and retrieved their com badges, but they were silent.

"Seven of Nine to the Doctor. Seven of Nine to Neelix," came next.

"We're both here, Seven," said the Doctor. "Where are you?"

"Icheb and I are in Cargo Bay two. We were brought out of regeneration by a disturbing disruption on the com system," she replied. "What is the ship's status?"

"We think we've been attacked by the Picinians," said B'Elanna.

"We gathered as much," said Seven. "We have just succeeded in clearing their atmosphere out of the cargo bay and erected a level 10 force field to keep the moisture out. I suggest you do the same."

"How did you dry everything out in the first place," asked B'Elanna.

"Icheb and I injected the systems with nanoprobes to absorb the moisture and regain control."

"Well there's your big bowl of Borg rice," said Tom. "Seven, can you do that for the whole ship?"

"Icheb and I cannot produce a sufficient amount to dry all of Voyager, although that number could possibly be replicated. The Doctor is especially efficient at replicating nanoprobes."

"I might be able to," said the Doctor. "It'll take a couple of hours."

"I suggest you begin," said Seven. "In the meantime, Icheb and I can dry smaller areas as our production levels allow."

"Have you been able to contact anyone else?" asked B'Elanna.

"I have not," replied Seven.

"All right," said B'Elanna. "I'll try and get the force field up so we don't lose the mess hall to the moisture. Seven, keep trying to contact the bridge. We need to make sure we still have control of Voyager."

"Very well," said Seven.

"I've got Tuvok," broke in Icheb.

"Put him through," said B'Elanna. The Vulcan's voice came through on the scratchy com.

"Icheb, who is there with you," said Tuvok.

"Seven is with me in cargo bay two and Neelix, The Doctor, and Lieutenants Torres and Paris are in the mess hall."

"We're slowly getting a few systems on line," said B'Elanna, "but something keeps knocking them down."

"Mr. Kim and I are experiencing similar difficulties. It is most likely the Picinians. I suspect they are nearby." answered Tuvok. "Have you heard from the Captain or Commander Chakotay?"

"We have not," said Seven. Tuvok paused.

"Shouldn't someone go look for them?" asked Tom.

"What if they've been captured?" put in Neelix.

"We are still maintaining warp," said Tuvok. "It is unlikely that anyone has been able to board."

"Agreed," said Seven.

"What's the plan, then," said B'Elanna.

"Continue to hold your positions and attempt to repair the systems," said Tuvok. "We will do the same."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Another one running? Hmm. No matter. Keeping the systems down was easy. He'd been swatting them like flies all night long as soon as they come up, but these had been industrious little dry ones and had kept him on his toes. The First Leader had been correct in advising Aquallis not to underestimate them. He was getting irritated at their success. It was too good. The Bridge Leader would have to cause something major well before he had planned, which would disrupt the pleasant emotional voyeurism he had been enjoying this evening.

There had been so little on this mission. These dry ones had been so prudish he hoped he wouldn't have to follow their species again. The officers had surprised him pleasantly, however. He and Sinicolis had had a wager on whether or not they would make it to round four of their liaison. They had tried to keep the crew chasing their tails until at least their second day meal to give the officers time, but it was barely their first day meal now and he was in danger of the dry ones getting control. Now he and his Sub-Leader would never know who would have won their bet. He sighed as he pushed the button to disrupt all the Voyager systems permanently.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Tuvok and Harry along with the other crew on the bridge were still trying to get sensors and ship functions back from where they were. The mist was thick in the cabin now but they were still maintaining some small control of the bridge. Mr. Kim was having minimal success bringing systems on line, but it seemed once one was up another went down again.

What still concerned Tuvok the most was that they still had no contact from the Captain or Commander Chakotay. He had his suspicions that they had been together this evening. If they had, it would be a most unfortunate strategic advantage for the aliens. He surmised that the anomalous reading Vorik had found was the Picinian ship trailing behind them, just as the Hansens had trailed the Borg. His only course of action now, was to try and maintain warp until they regained control of their systems, so that the Picinians could not beam aboard. They were hanging onto warp by a thread.

The ship lurched violently and the bridge crew was thrown onto the floor.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

This time when Chakotay and Kathryn woke up it wasn't to each other's caresses. It was to Voyager crashing out of warp and nearly being tossed from the bed. Captain Janeway was up in a second. Chakotay checked the clock. O seven hundred. Somehow he knew they'd never get their full time off. The Delta Quadrant didn't work that way.

He wanted to call her back under the covers. The computer would let them know if there was anything serious, right? He knew that was wishful thinking. The computer silence after Voyager felt like it had collided with a small moon was worrisome enough. Chakotay put on some boxers and joined Kathryn in the living area.

He smiled a little when he saw her. She was standing in the middle of the room, combadge in hand, diligently trying to get somebody to report. The Captain was back in full force; the face, the voice, even the hand on the hip... and still completely naked. Chakotay resisted the urge to stare at her and immediately went to replicate her a uniform. It was a good thing he did too, for now she was moving toward the monitor to try and call someone that way.

"Captain?"

"What is it, Commander? I tried the com. Yours isn't working either."

"You might want to wait a minute before you call anyone on the monitor."

"Chakotay, we have to find out..." He set the uniform down on the table next to her. She stared confusedly at it for a split second then shook her head and began to dress.

"Thank you, Commander. Black lace?" She held up the underwear he'd replicated for her. Chakotay shrugged sheepishly. Well, she'd talk to him about that later. Now...

She tried bringing up the monitor while Chakotay went to dress, but all she could get were his personal databases. She resisted the temptation to read his log from this afternoon.

"I can't understand why I can't contact anyone."

"Did you remove the security protocols?"

Damn. She'd forgotten.

"Computer, remove Tom Paris' security protocols from around Commander Chakotay's quarters authorization Janeway Pi one one alpha."

"Protocols removed."

She put her combadge on her chest and tapped it.

"Janeway to bridge. Report." Nothing. "Computer, have all Tom Paris' security protocols been removed?"

"Affirmative."

"Captain to the bridge." Nothing.

"Captain to engineering." Nothing.

"Captain to Chakotay!" she said in exasperation. His badge beeped. "At least we know it's not the badges," she said to Chakotay as she handed him his. He was in uniform too now. She allowed herself a millisecond of regret and then she fully and finally threw herself back into the captain's role.

"Computer," she asked again. "Have all the security protocols been removed?"

"Negative."

"But..."

"Computer," said Chakotay. "Have all of Tom Paris' security protocols been removed."

"Affirmative."

"Computer," said Janeway. "What other security protocols are in place?"

"There is a level ten force field and a dampening field around Commander Chakotay's and Lieutenants Torres and Paris' quarters. There is a level ten force field around the mess hall and cargo bay two. Standard security measures are also in place. Ensigns Randall and Mayweather or on duty in the brigg..."

"Enough," she stopped the computer before it started listing all the norms. "That could mean anything. Computer, who authorized the protocols around the living quarters?"

"That information is unavailable."

"Computer, why can't we contact anyone?" asked Chakotay.

"Ship's Communications and systems have been disrupted."

"All of them?" said Janeway.

"Communications and computer functions within Commander Chakotay and Lieutenants Torres and Paris' quarters are functional. Communications have been established between the mess hall and cargo bay 2."

"That's something," said Janeway. "But I can't understand why there are force fields up everywhere. Something's ensuring we're being kept out, or being kept in. But there's still crewmen on duty in the brigg so it can't be toxic. This doesn't make any sense. Computer, when did these disruptions begin?"

"Stardate..., 20:15." Chakotay saw the look on her face. It wasn't exactly that he was in trouble but he knew she realized that was right after Vorik had tried to contact them and they had put up the security.

"I don't think this is our fault, Captain," Chakotay said quietly.

"Maybe not," she said, "but I can't help feeling guilty."

"Do you?"

"Well, not about..." she waved her hand in the air. Damn it, Chakotay. The ship was in trouble and all she wanted now was to be just Kathryn again—apologize, tell him she didn't mean it like that, crawl back into bed and make it up to him. Her crew was more than able to handle this.

"You know what I mean," she finally finished. "They've probably been trying to contact us for hours and I wasn't there for them."

"It does us no good to stand here feeling bad about it," said Chakotay. "Why don't we head down to the mess hall or cargo bay 2 and try and figure out what's going on."

"You're right, Commander." She visibly relaxed now that she had something to do. "Let's go."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Chakotay and Janeway were trying to pull up the ship's schematics on his monitor. With some effort they had been able to get the Commander's quarters doors open but realized they would never get past the force field. There was a good deal of smoke in the corridor too so they thought it a better plan to try and get out some other way. They were now checking to see if there was any other way. The Captain was standing behind Chakotay as he sat at his desk. He felt her squeeze his shoulder.

"Go back to that other map," she said. "There it is, next to that wall over there. There's a Jefferies tube under your floor."

"How do plan on getting through to it?" asked Chakotay.

"We'll blast our way through," said Janeway. She walked over to the replicator. "Computer, two phasers." She grabbed the guns as they materialized and tossed one to Chakotay. He walked with her over to where the Jefferies tube was and aimed at the floor. It only took a moment for the phasers to cut through. A good deal of debris and dust flew in the air then the mist began spilling in the room. Their eyes burned from it as it came out at them. A look of deep disgust crept over Janeway's face.

"Picinians." She grabbed Chakotay's phaser and walked back to the replicator, throwing both their guns angrily back into it. "Computer, two phase rifles with waterproofing compound Torres two four beta." When they appeared, the Captain brought out the big guns from the replicator and shoved one into Chakotay's waiting hands.

"I don't care how clever these damned fish people think they are," Janeway said, cocking her rifle, "but they can't have my ship." She jumped down into the growing mist with Chakotay right behind her.

Down in the tubes things were quiet. Janeway crawled along in front, her rifle slung on her back, making roughly for the bridge. The mist muffled their movements but in turn they could hear nothing else. Chakotay didn't like it. He could feel they weren't alone and wished he had a better idea of what was there. He sensed Janeway jerk in surprise ahead of him and in a moment he found out why. The tubes were covered in the blue-green slime that moistened the skin of the Picinians. They were on the ship.

The Jefferies tube they were in seemed interminable and it was dark. The little bit of light that still held on from the bulbs in the walls was muted by the hellish mist. Chakotay couldn't see, and he could barely move in his soaked uniform, and now his hands itched from being in the slime. He hoped Tuvok still had the bridge. He looked down and shook his head, trying to get some of the salty moisture out of his eyes. His eyelashes weren't doing their job. He heard a click as he softly bumped into Janeway. They'd stopped.

When Chakotay looked up he saw Kathryn and a Picinian with their guns under each other's chins. Their eyes were locked and neither moved. Chakotay's glance flicked past her. There were at least ten other Picinians crawling behind their leader, their caviar like eyes glinting in the dim light. No one moved. No one made a sound.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Twenty more Picinians are now aboard Voyager," said Seven. "And another ten."

"We heard you!" yelled B'Elanna, her head back in the replicator and sparks flying everywhere. "We get it. They're packing 'em in like sardines! Can you get some of your nanoprobes to swing by engineering! I need to talk to Vorik."

"Icheb and I have produced nearly all that we can," said Seven, over the com. "It would be inefficient to use the last of them as systems go back down as soon as we get them up. I recommend surrendering the replicator to the Doctor so he can create more."

"Look," B'Elanna yelled again, "I need to talk to Vorik now or else nothing will ever come up again! Send the damn nanoprobes!"

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Kathryn's mind concentrated on two things and two things only. Holding this slimy bastard's gaze and projecting no fear. How dare you come aboard my ship, she thought over and over again. Who the hell do you think you are? The Captain knew he understood, but still his gun remained planted under her chin. She felt Chakotay touch her calf though she could sense not another muscle in his body was moving. She held her eyes steady and only let a little corner of her mind notice what he was doing. She didn't know how much these empaths could perceive. Chakotay was drawing a symbol. An arrow pointing to her left. Then all five fingers moving away from each other. Three fingers touched her leg at once, then three taps.

BOOM. She had already been diving to her left as Chakotay's rifle blasted a hole in the wall. She could feel the arm of her uniform rip and her skin slice on a protruding bit as she went through the opening. Chakotay came spilling out behind her, cutting his leg. They rolled onto the ground out into the corridor sustaining more cuts and bruises from the debris but were on their feet in a moment.

The aperture was small. Only one Picinian could get out after them at a time. The Captain and the First Officer used their advantage, knocking each alien unconscious and tossing him aside as he came through, never giving up too much ground outside the hole until the last two. Those had blasted their way out and both officers had to fight on their own. Chakotay dispatched his foe in due order and was on the way to help Kathryn just as she finished hers off with a blow to the head from the butt of her rifle. They stood breathing heavily looking at the mess of Picinians around them.

"Nice work, Commander," The Captain smiled. She had an evil gleam in her eye as she surveyed the unconscious aliens strewn on the floor. They used their phase rifles to stun them all, just to make sure they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Chakotay and Janeway tossed eight Picinian rifles up through the floor in Chakotay's quarters. They had no idea if they'd be able to replicate more Federation arms and the ones in the armory were probably waterlogged. A stash of weapons seemed like a good idea. They heaved themselves up into the living area to take stock of their situation and decide their next move.

"I see why the systems are down now," said Janeway, peeling her wet jacket and turtle neck off. She stood in her tank top, working her arms to get them used to free movement again. The gash near her shoulder hurt, but she would live. "That damn atmosphere, but I don't think they've taken control of the ship yet or else they wouldn't be lurking in the Jefferies tubes."

"I think your right," said Chakotay, stripping down to his t-shirt and trying to hide the blood streaming from his leg. "What's our next move?"

"I say let's head to the bridge," she answered, "but let's go through the tubes. We just took out ten aliens, we might as well get ten more."

"We don't have any idea how many there are," said Chakotay. "What if we run into thirty of them?" Chakotay was trying to play devil's advocate but his adrenaline was pumping too hard. He was ready to head back out and beat the next Picinian he saw to a pulp. His battle-ready smile was worthy of a Klingon and Janeway knew he had her back.

"Then we blow a hole in the wall and disappear into the mist," she answered. "How many ever we get, it'll still be less of them than before. You ready?"

"Right behind you, Captain." They disappeared back into the hole.

This time, when they ran into the next batch of Picinians, there were twenty of them. Janeway and Chakotay had been looking for the tell tale glint of the black eye that cut through the fog and shot the second they saw it. They took out sixteen of the aliens that way until one finally got close to Janeway and wrestled her rifle away from her. Chakotay then abandoned his gun and between the two officers, managed to subdue the attacker.

They turned to face the next two. Janeway's was already hurt from a phaser blast and went down quickly. Chakotay and his alien had fought their way further down the Jefferies tube. She could hear her first officer grunt as he was punched in the stomach, but she couldn't see him that far into the dim fogginess. Plus her eyes were watering like mad.

She felt around on the floor for her phase rifle. She stopped at a crossing of tubes. There was one more alien. She'd seen him slip back into the shadows but where was he now? He feels close, she thought. Finally the Captain touched something that felt like a Federation weapon, not so covered in slime. She picked it up, but as she did she felt wet fins close on her throat, start to pull her backwards, and make her drop her gun. Instead of resist her attacker, the Captain planted both feet on the floor and launched her full weight into him. He hadn't expected this and she managed to jab an elbow into his stomach as she fell on top of him.

The Picinian's grip loosened and she was able to get away, tripping over her own feet as she clambered for her weapon. The alien took advantage of her vulnerable position and threw himself on top of her, pinning her down. He sat astride her, his fins at her throat again. She could hear his skin ooze as he shivered with excitement and feel the jelly from his body drip on her back. Her hand crept almost imperceptibly towards her rifle. Suddenly, the alien was pummeled sideways. Chakotay had leapt out of the cross tunnel and torn the alien off of her. They were fighting furiously into the cross tube and Janeway tore after them as fast as she could on her hands and knees until she put her hand into nothing. She caught herself just in time to see Chakotay and the Picinian disappear into the mist as they fell down a vertical section of the Jefferies tube.

"Chakotay!" she cried, and quickly slung her feet over the edge to follow down the ladder. She slipped more than once on the slime on the rungs but could not get down fast enough. She hadn't heard them hit or heard anymore signs of a fight. She had some sense that they had been up only a few decks but even that small of a drop... Finally she hit bottom. No one there. Good. Maybe he'd grabbed onto a rung and broken his fall. But the Picinian probably had too. There was a hatch in front of her so she went out. She didn't relish the idea of meeting a band of aliens, poor fighters or not, all alone and without a weapon. On the other side of the hatch she found herself in a corridor. She would head up when she could and try for the bridge as they had planned. That's where Chakotay would head at any rate.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Janeway had been wandering the corridors for almost an hour now. She hadn't met a soul, neither Picinian nor crew member. It didn't give her a very fuzzy feeling. Her eyes burnt like crazy and she was worried about Chakotay. She thought she could be fairly certain he survived the fall, but he was probably hurt and he'd still had the alien to contend with. And she wasn't getting anywhere. She couldn't even make out anything on the walls when they were right in her face because of the irritation in her eyes. All the Captain could do was feel her way a long and make a guess.

What was that?

Janeway had thought she saw a brief glow of turquoise a few meters ahead of her, but it had gone out. There it was again. She decided to make for it. Where had it gone? She thought she was nearly at where it had gleamed but then she heard the squelching ooze and saw the glint of ten pairs of caviar eyes emerge just in front of her. She was well out numbered. The Captain set her jaw, prepared to go down fighting, but as she pulled her arm back to ram her fist into that first fishy face, she saw the glint of turquoise light again out of the corner of her eye and felt herself being dragged through it by her waist.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Captain, am I glad to see you," said Tom Paris as he let go of her.

"Likewise," said Janeway as she looked in shock from Tom to the Doctor, who was pulling the mess hall doors quickly shut, "but what the hell just happened."

"You almost walked into a batch of marauding Picinians," said Tom. "Doc turned on his bioluminescence subroutine B'Elanna programmed him with so you'd see him and get close enough for us to bring you in."

"I've become the proverbial 'beacon in the fog' as well as portal to safety," said the Doctor, handing Janeway some eye drops. "Lieutenant Torres also gave me the ability to be a doorway in the Level 10 force field needed to keep out the atmosphere, although it still gives my matrix the jitters." He shuddered a little to prove his point.

"Good thinking," said Janeway and she walked over to the table they had set up in the mess hall to work off of. A rough map of Voyager was spread out on it. "I want to know everything that's going on."

"Seven and Icheb have set up shop in cargo bay two," said B'Elanna. "We think we still have the bridge and Vorik is still trying to get the warp core back on line. As you know, there are Picinians on the ship. Seven has been able to get sensors up enough for us to pick up bio signs and we think they're slowly moving in on the bridge. There are about a hundred on board now. A pocket of twenty of them and another group of ten seem to be maintaining out posts here and here." Janeway snickered to herself when B'Elanna pointed them out.

"I don't think the out posts are going to be any trouble," said Janeway. "Those are the aliens Chakotay and I took out on our trek through the Jefferies tubes. Based on the stun settings we used, I don't think they'll be getting up any time soon."

"Alright," said Tom, looking impressed, "well, that leaves seventy on the ship pinning down a chunk of our crew. The others are trapped in their quarters."

"What about weapons?" Janeway asked.

"We don't have many," said B'Elanna. "We used the replicator to create a few for ourselves but right now it's being put to use replicating nanoprobes to dry out Voyager."

"Nanoprobes?" asked Janeway.

"Seven and Icheb modified their nanoprobes to act like little rice grains and absorb the moisture in the systems," explained Tom, "but they can't make enough for the entire ship."

"I've got all the systems ready to go but they won't come up until they dry out," said B'Elanna. "Once the nanoprobes have been distributed, we should be able to gain control again."

"How long will it take for the systems to come up, once they're dry?" asked the Captain.

"It should happen almost instantaneously," said B'Elanna. Janeway was thoughtful for a moment and stared at the map.

"We have a few more weapons than you think," said the Captain, finally. "Chakotay and I were able to stash about eight Picinian rifles in his quarters before we were separated." She felt panicky for a split second but swallowed it down.

"Seven of Nine to Lieutenant Torres," interrupted the com.

"Go ahead Seven," B'Elanna answered.

"There is a group of six Picinians escorting a Vulcan and a human that will soon be passing the mess hall," said Seven. Janeway, Neelix, B'Elanna, Tom and the Doctor all looked at each other.

"Vorik is still in engineering," said B'Elanna quietly. They'd lost the bridge for sure now. Seven continued.

"There is a human coming up behind them, possibly planning an ambush."

"Let's even the odds out, a little," said Tom. "Doc, time to set up your 'portal to safety' again. Seven, how much time until they pass us?"

"Approximately one minute, thirty-two seconds."

Tom, Neelix, and the Doctor got into position and the Doctor slowly opened the doors. The mist swirled around against the force field. The Doctor stuck his head out into it and waved his hand to signal they were coming. Tom and Neelix ran through him. A few minutes went by and Janeway made a move to follow but before she could, Tuvok came pelting through the Doctor followed by Harry and Chakotay clutching something to his chest. Tom and Neelix came back through after that and everyone was covered in slime.

"Two of them got away," panted Tom. "We probably won't be able to surprise them like that again."

"Probably not," said Janeway trying not to stare too obviously at Chakotay. Blood was now running heavily down his leg from the gash in his thigh and he looked a little ashy. He shoved what he was holding into Tuvok's hands and leaned heavily on the Doctor. He still managed to give Kathryn a weak smile and mouth the words got 'im as the EMH led him off to the corner to be treated.

Janeway and the rest convened around the table.

"Well," said Harry, "the bridge is theirs but there's still a good number of our people on it. The Picinians aren't going to be able to fly Voyager themselves. If we could get our people weapons somehow, I think we could get the bridge back."

"What about the rest of the crew?" thought Janeway aloud. "B'Elanna, can you add a subroutine to the repairs to automatically replicate a phaser for each crew member and unlock the quarters' doors once the system comes up?"

"It'll take some time," said B'Elanna thoughtfully, "but I think so."

"What did we find?" asked Janeway of Tuvok, as he examined the thing Chakotay gave him.

"Commander Chakotay has managed to recover a tricorder from one of the Picinians," said Tuvok. "I believe I can decrypt it."

"Excellent," said Janeway. "I'll check with the Doctor to see how long it will be before the nanoprobes are going to be ready."

The Captain had said she was going over to the corner to talk to the Doctor, but all that was on Kathryn's mind was Chakotay. He was sitting behind a screen of sheets that Tom had put up earlier so that B'Elanna could change into her uniform. Chakotay had looked near death when he stumbled in. She'd been sick since she saw him fall and disappear into the mist but she'd had to swallow it. Now the poison of fear had come back up and was bitter in the back of her throat. She just needed to see him. The Captain's mask would stay on, but she needed to know he'd be alright. A Captain checking on her First Officer. That was perfectly natural, right?

It was everything she could do not to run around the screen. When she finally made it into the sheet sanctuary, she stopped short. Chakotay sat there in his boxers. His entire torso around his ribcage was various shades of purple and she could tell that the gash on his leg that the Doctor had now healed, had been deep. He had his eyes closed and was breathing shallowly. Kathryn wasn't sure what to say to him at first. She just stood there taking in his injuries. Chakotay looked up at her and gave her another weak smile. He was hurt, but he would be ok.

"You look like hell," she finally said and stepped up in front of him.

"So do you," he laughed. His eyes fell on the bloody cut on her arm. "You ought to have the Doctor look at that."

They were both quiet for a while. Kathryn slowly and unconsciously moved even closer to Chakotay. He reached out and played with the black strap of the bra he had given her that was sticking out from her tank top, caressing the lace with his thumb then tucking it back in for her. Kathryn couldn't stand it anymore and she threw her arms around his neck.

"Chakotay," she said kissing him quickly. "I couldn't find you. You fell and I couldn't find you."

"Don't." He shook his head and kissed her hard. "It's alright, Kathryn. I'm here now."

"I looked for you everywhere," she went on. "Then I got pulled in here and couldn't think about it. Somewhere deep down I was frantic." She kissed him again, remembering the feeling.

"It's ok, it's ok," he kept whispering.

"I wanted to come to you as soon as you came in but..."

"Kathryn, we're on duty. I understand. That's what I had been trying to tell you all evening."

"You're right," she said and took a step away from him but he pulled her back where she was before.

"We're kind of in Blanket World right now though," he said nodding to the sheets hanging around him and showing her his dimples in spite of how bad his ribs ached. She smiled as he leaned in for another kiss, just as the Doctor walked around the barrier. The Doctor had opened his mouth to say something but stayed quiet and walked back where he came from. Finally, he thought.

Tuvok was walking over to the sheets. The Doctor stopped him.

"I need to speak with the Captain a moment," said Tuvok.

"The Captain is... debriefing Commander Chakotay on his experience in the Jefferies Tubes," said the Doctor, supposing that was somewhere near the truth. "They do not want to be disturbed." Well at least that was true. Tuvok raised an eyebrow and glanced from the Doctor to the screen and back again before turning around and rejoining the group at the table.

Behind the sheets, Kathryn stood next to Chakotay with her head on his shoulder. They each had an arm tightly around the other and she gingerly touched his purple ribs.

"I broke them all when I fell," he said, laughing grimly. "The Doctor healed them. The bruising will be there for awhile, but I'll be fit for duty." At the word duty, Kathryn's head jerked up. She'd done it again; let herself drift off and forget herself in his touch. Pull yourself together Janeway. If you can't handle things now, you'll never be able to. His eyes searched her face and he understood her thoughts. Chakotay smiled at her apologetically as he stole one last kiss, then backed off. It was time to get down to business.

"I got three more Picinians in the tubes," he said. "And we took care of four out front."

"Good work," she said. The Captain was back again. "But that still leaves over sixty on Voyager somewhere and who knows how many more are coming."

"If we can get rid of their atmosphere it would be an advantage," said Chakotay, "although, I don't know how long it would take for them to shrivel up."

"I just want to know how they did it," said Janeway, exasperated. "Two months after we got away, and without warp capabilities."

"Misdirection," said Chakotay.

"What?"

"Misdirection," he repeated. "The whole song and dance at Picine down to beaming Tom off Voyager was simply to get us looking the other way while they got a cloaked ship close enough to be drug along in our warp trail."

"A cloaked ship?"

"I saw it on the tricorder."

Janeway's hands were on her hips and she was pacing irritably around the screened in space. She was thinking back to how the First Leader had kept her talking while she surreptitiously scanned Voyager. How Waparne had kept pausing in their conversations. Janeway supposed it was to judge her reaction before the First Leader continued fabricating. Chakotay could see in her face that her brain was going a mile a minute and her expression denoted that she was slowly but surely forming a plan of action. Janeway knew what she wanted to do but the elements hadn't quite clicked into place yet. There was still a piece missing. Chakotay thought he knew what it was.

"Captain," he said. "I have an idea."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

When Chakotay was finally up to it, Janeway helped him dress and come to the table. She got him situated in his chair and as she walked over to her own seat, she gave him one quick pat on the shoulder: that meant well done. He knew they would be using his plan. Kathryn had qualms about it, he could tell, but the Captain knew it would be their best chance, provided a few things played out a certain way.

"Vorik contacted us while you were debriefing the Commander," said Tuvok to Janeway. She could have sworn the Vulcan gave the Doctor a dirty look. "With the information from the tricorder Commander Chakotay obtained and the sensor logs Vorik had analyzed, we were able to adjust our sensors to detect the cloaked Picinian vessel."

"What are we dealing with here?" asked Janeway.

"There are still twenty Picinians aboard their ship," said Tuvok, "and in spite of their casualties, they have made no move to transport to Voyager."

"That'll be their leader and his guards," said Janeway. Imperialist bastard. "I bet he won't make a move until he thinks he's won." She glanced at Chakotay. "He'll let his men do the dirty work. What about their weapons?"

"They have very little fire power," said Tuvok. "I believe their greatest tactical advantage is their disruption of our systems with their atmosphere."

"And look at this," said B'Elanna as she pulled up some logs on the Picinian tricorder. "They've been accessing out systems since they first hailed us, it's just our technology is so different, the computer never thought it was more than background noise." Janeway looked disgusted.

"These people have had us looking the wrong way from day one," she said. "It's time for a little misdirection of our own. B'Elanna, you told me once that the Picinian shuttle had some modifications on it for maneuverability. Do you think you could add that to your subroutines for Voyager?"

"I think so, Captain," she replied. Tom tried to hide his eager expression.

"Perfect. Ok, people," the Captain said. "Here's how it's going to go..."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Tuvok, Harry, Tom, Chakotay, and Janeway climbed out of the hole in Chakotay's floor into his quarters. It was still misty in the rooms but not as bad as the rest of the ship. The team had taken the Doctor's eye drops as well, so they could see just fine. They went over to the pile of weapons and began wiping some of the slime off them when Chakotay heard Janeway gasp quietly. He saw what she was looking at. His bedroom door was open and by the state of the bed and the clothes strewn all over the floor, there was no doubt of what had been going on in there. Janeway realized the entire senior staff knew she and Chakotay had dinner plans the night before, and was mortified.

Damn it, thought Chakotay. In spite of how things had been going between them, he knew Kathryn and he were far from a fixture. He had a lot of work to do to convince her that everything would be ok and here was one more thing on the list of reasons she'd resist him. He'd deal with that later. Chakotay walked to the opposite side of the room and made a big production of cleaning up his gun to draw attention away from the clothes on his bedroom floor. He hadn't noticed anyone but Kathryn looking in the door, but by the way everyone was keeping their eyes averted from it, he was fairly sure they all saw.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

After retrieving the weapons from the Commander's quarters, the team made their way through the Jefferies tubes, salvaging what they could along the way. By the time Harry, Tuvok, Tom, Chakotay and Janeway stepped out of the hole Chakotay had blasted earlier, they were armed to the teeth; each with their a rifle in hand, one on their back and a Picinian hand gun at their belts. The mood of the group was far from apprehensive and fearful. Janeway's gung ho attitude had infected everyone. When they met their first batch of ten Picinians in the corridor, the aliens were dispensed with so decisively that they were barely a hiccup in the officers' march to the bridge.

The next round of ten were not so easily defeated, however. After now losing nearly half his men to these savage dry ones, Bridge Leader Aquallis finally made the decision to change to more Guerilla-like tactics and moved the next batch in to ambush the Voyager team. The attacking Picinians came out of a cross corridor, wildly shooting in a surprise attack and made the officers scatter against the walls. They fell back and darted down the next cross ways; Tuvok, Harry, and Tom to the left, Janeway and Chakotay on the right.

"Bastards," said Janeway as she and Chakotay peered around the corner to see where their enemy had gone. She took a shot that at an alien who had peeked his head out a little further down. "Just when we got good and confident." An alien returned a few shots. They couldn't move forward and if they retreated off to the sides the aliens would surely follow.

"I think it's time we put the plan into action," said Chakotay.

"Right," said Janeway. She fired another shot down the hall as Chakotay slipped off down the corridor. Janeway looked at Tuvok and gave him a nod. Tuvok came out from the corner and fired rapidly, spraying the corridor with shots, as Janeway ran across to join the rest of the team.

"Head for the bridge," she said. "I'll hold them off for a few more minutes then follow. Tuvok nodded. Janeway sprayed the corridor one last time with her phase rifle and pulled back, but instead of following her officers, she slipped into a Jefferies tube hatch and let the Picinians run by.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

All in all, Bridge Leader Aquallis was pleased at how things were going. Most of the crew was trapped in quarters. The few that were still at their stations were under the eyes of his men. They had finally stopped their feeble attempts at bringing their systems on line, which had been getting annoying. He lost a chunk of his people but the stupid dry ones hadn't killed them. Not that he needed them anymore. Now that he had the bridge, their job was merely to keep the crew occupied. Generally a massive systems failure and a few guns were all that was necessary to take a ship, as long as the mark wasn't paying attention to what was really going on. A high ranking hostage never hurt either. The ones who had fallen would be put on clean up duty when this was all over. The only thing left was to round up the trouble makers still roaming around and shooting things.

Aquallis pulled up his monitor to check on the status of the acquisition. The trouble makers were still there. The last band hadn't got them. Aquallis shook his head in disappointment at his own crew. They certainly didn't train like they used to, not since the Amalgam Accords, so what could one do? But how hard is it to round up a few flaky little dry ones? Maybe that band would be put on clean up as well. Aquallis grew bored with watching the slow progress of the troublemakers and began idly double checking the rest of the ship's status.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Tuvok, Harry, and Tom stood in a circle and aimed their rifles at a point on the ceiling. BOOM. A hole was blasted into Janeway's ready room. Harry and Tom both hoisted Tuvok up through so that he could come up shooting in case of incoming Picinians. It had been a wise precaution. Four aliens rushed him before he was through the hole. Tuvok calmly stunned them as he emerged and stepped out onto the floor. Harry was hoisted up next and then Tom pulled after. Once they made the door, however, they found themselves trapped. Six more Picinians stood waiting with guns pointed straight at them.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

What was that? One of the dry ones was trying to get a transporter on line. Where did it think it was going? Aquallis checked the data to see the destination of the transport. The dry one was trying to transport to the Picinian ship! Oh no, no, no, this was too funny. The foolish little thing! It would never get the equipment working, first of all, and even if it did, their transport technology in Picinian atmosphere would certainly kill it. How classically stupid. Why didn't these species ever understand when they were conquered? Well, if this one wants to come aboard, we'll certainly help it out, though it won't end up where it expects. Aquallis pushed a button and turned to the purple shimmery light that appeared in front of him. The jelly on his skin nearly bubbled with excitement when he saw who it was.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

The Picinians and the officers were locked in a standoff for a full five minutes. Suddenly, the turbolift doors on the bridge slid open and the aliens were distracted. That was their chance. Tuvok, Harry, and Tom aimed shots at their enemies but the Picinians had already started moving in on the new comer. As the officers pelted out of the ready room they threw weapons to the three other crewmen that had stayed at their posts, but there was no need. Captain Janeway was at the top of the bridge taking the aliens out in a wide spread of phaser blasts. Her eyes were on fire as they all dropped.

"Good work people," said Janeway, walking onto her bridge and taking back her chair, "but we can't relax yet. By my count there's still about forty Picinians still on Voyager and a ship we need to clean out of our warp trail. Harry, see if you can make contact with B'Elanna, Seven, and Vorik."

"Yes ma'am," said Harry and he, Tom and Tuvok took their stations.

"That was a nice guess," the bridge was almost engulfed in a purple shimmery light. "But I'd say there are more like sixty Picinians on Voyager." Aquallis stood before Janeway, with his twenty guards.

"Come now, Captain," he smirked. "Don't you think it's time you stopped making trouble and turned over the ship? Six little dry ones can't overcome twenty of us you know. We've been monitoring everyone closely. Your systems are down. Your people are compromised. What other choice do you have?"

"I'd say we have quite a few choices," said Janeway, disgusted by this slimy little man on her bridge. "And I'm not intimidated by your numbers. I'll have you know my First Officer and I took out thirty of your men on our own."

"Oh that is impressive," said Aquallis, with poorly feigned admiration. "Your First Officer? Oh! Your little companion." Janeway hadn't cared for how he'd said that. "Now where is he?" the Picinian continued with mock confusion. "Oh yes." Aquallis waived a fin and Chakotay was thrown out of the group of Picinians and onto his knees. He winced and Janeway could tell that his freshly healed ribs had probably been broken again. She set her jaw and said nothing.

"It's the usual choice," said Aquallis. "The ship and the crew or the man you love. You give me Voyager and everything on it, as well as the crew to fly it and I'll send you and your liaison-mate off in a shuttle any which way you choose. If you don't... well, I've noticed that you've been kind enough not to kill any of my men but I don't think you should be so foolish as to assume we'd extend him the same courtesy." His smiling, mocking fish face had turned deadly serious and his caviar eyes glinted through the still swirling mist. Janeway looked down at Chakotay. He was slowly almost imperceptibly inching towards Aquallis.

"You know what you have to do, Captain," said Chakotay finally. He saw a look of despair flash across the Janeway's face. It was only a millisecond, but Aquallis had noticed.

"Yes," he said, smirking again. "Go ahead. Tap that little badge of yours and tell them you're turning them in."

Janeway's hand slowly went to her badge. Her face became very sad as she tapped it. Aquallis' smirk grew even wider.

"Bridge to senior officers," she said in a tiny voice but then... The look of disgust she normally wore when thinking of the Picinians was back full force. "Do it."

The mist was suddenly sucked out of the cabin by the environmental controls and all systems jumped back to life. Chakotay launched himself at Aquallis and pinned him to the ground. The rest of the crew stood and began firing on the confused Picinians, who couldn't see well now that their eyes were so dry.

"I've disrupted the cloak, Captain," said B'Elanna over the com.

"Hang on everybody," said Tom as he jumped back on the conn and fired up the thrusters. Before the Picinians realized what was happening, Tom had pulled Voyager up into a tight back flip (adding a barrel roll just for fun) slingshoting the Picinian ship out in front of Voyager. They could see it sliding out in front of them on the screen; a much larger version of the quicksilver shuttle sitting in the shuttle bay.

"Now, Mr. Kim, before it gets away," yelled the Captain.

"I think I've got it," said Harry as he nabbed it with a tractor beam.

"Arming photon torpedoes," said Tuvok.

"Now how about you surrender," said Janeway walking up to the pinned down Bridge Leader and towering over him, "or we blow up your ship."

Aquallis said nothing as he looked up at Janeway with disgust, realizing he'd been fooled.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Voyager dropped off the Picinians at a planet called Obadian. As it turns out, Aquallis was wanted all over the system for acts of piracy and fraud and the Obadianese were only one of the many races who had charges against him. As a reward, the planet's government had allowed Voyager to remain at their space dock for duration of repairs and offered whatever aide they might need. Janeway made a ship wide order that everyone take a mandatory twenty-four hours off to rest before general clean up began.

After the Doctor cleared them, Kathryn let Chakotay beam into her quarters to get some rest. She felt it was only fair, as it had been her idea to blast a hole in the floor of his. She was dead tired too and as soon as he had arrived they fell into bed. They even got a little sleep.

Now it was nearly dinner. Kathryn had gotten up to replicate some food for them. They had planned to eat dinner in bed in their pajamas. When she came back to the bedroom, Chakotay was leaning back on some propped up pillows reading a padd. She paused when she saw him. Her eyes had misted over for a moment. She flashed back to the bridge and the sneering face of Aquallis as he yanked Chakotay out of the crowd and told her to choose. She shook off the memory. The Doctor had said that with this type of empath, the crew would likely be feeling 'residuals' for a week or so but they were nothing to worry about. Chakotay looked up at her and she put on a smile.

"No work," said Kathryn, setting down the tray on the end of the bed. He smiled at her in his turn as she leaned down to kiss him. Kathryn was still amazed at how quickly everything had become so easy and natural, as if they'd been together for years. In a way, they had been. She sat on the bed and pulled over the tray for them to eat.

"It's for a good cause I promise," Chakotay said. "The next two weeks duty rosters. I don't have any good news though."

"Oh?"

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm not abusing my power. I've made sure we have all the shifts we're supposed to have." He looked a little sullen as he said it.

"What's the matter," she said, although she thought she knew the answer.

"I've tried to rearrange as best I can but there's no way around it," he said. "Our next day off together won't be for another two weeks."

"Are you surprised?" she asked. "No one is really going to have much time off once we start repairs. That's why I ordered everybody to take a break now, while we have a safe haven."

"I'm not surprised," he answered. "But I am disappointed."

"Let's not think about that now," she said. "We've got all night still. Let's enjoy it."

Chakotay thought she had said that enthusiastically enough but he had seen a look in Kathryn's eye earlier that something was still bothering her.

"Alright, but I'm claiming you for dinner on..." he picked up the padd, "the Thursday after next, nineteen hundred, my quarters. They should be fixed by then."

"It's a date!"

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

"Come," said the Captain. She knew who it was and she knew she'd regret letting him into her ready room. It had already been two weeks since the Picinian attack. She and Chakotay had barely seen each other off the bridge during that time with all the work they had to do to clean up the ship. Their shifts had been so polar opposite, they hadn't even been able to try and stay the night together. Chakotay had done a great deal of rearranging the schedule to the exasperation of the crew, but there was no way around it.

Kathryn's 'residuals' had gotten worse rather than better. At night, she'd wake up in a sweat with the image of Aquallis burned in her mind. Sometimes she was on the bridge. Sometimes the dream would be Chakotay falling into the mist and Aquallis behind her whispering "at least you still have your ship." It was like a grain of sand in her bed, and her self-doubt had made it difficult to talk to Chakotay like she wanted to. She blamed it on work, but she'd been avoiding him.

What had happened to her on the bridge? She had pinpointed the answer that morning and it had meant she had to cancel their dinner. It was supposed to be that night but that little grain of sand had been too much to swallow. The Captain had come to a hard decision. Telling him over a beautiful meal he'd worked all day to prepare would be the wrong thing to do.

"Why did you cancel our dinner?" said Chakotay without ceremony as he walked in. "Why haven't you been talking to me? Don't tell me it's because you're busy. I know when you're working. I do the roster, remember?" He was angry.

Kathryn sighed. As much as she was trying to avoid hurting him, and herself for that matter, she owed him this conversation.

"There are some things I can't get past, Chakotay," she said slowly. "I needed to sort out how I wanted to say it."

"I don't believe you," he said. "You're running away again."

"Chakotay, you know I felt guilty about being away when the ship was in trouble..."

"It wasn't our fault the Picinians attacked us!" Chakotay reasoned. "Why are you torturing yourself for things that aren't your fault?"

"I wasn't there," she persisted.

"But you know good and well if we hadn't headed off so many of the aliens in the Jefferies tubes they probably would have taken the ship."

"That was pure luck," she retorted.

"And luck was on our side," he replied. "Why can't you see that as a good sign?"

"There's something else..." Kathryn paused. She couldn't admit that to him.

"What else? That you had to put me in danger?" he asked. "You've loved me all these years and it's never been a problem because it was our job."

"But I didn't know what I felt then," she protested.

"And when I suggested letting myself get captured," he went on, "you agreed, because you knew it was the best chance we had, when not five minutes before you'd been kissing me behind the sheets, so don't tell me our relationship is going to affect your ability to make decisions as Captain."

He was sniping down all her arguments right and left. She was going to have to admit it to him, but how, when it made her sick to admit it to herself?

"It's not that, Chakotay," she said.

"Then what is it? You don't love me after all?" he yelled. "If you think you made that mistake, just tell me so."

"No," this was getting to painful. She steeled herself.

"Then what the hell is it! Tell me damn it! Tell me why you're pushing away true love with both hands."

"When we were on the bridge and the Picinian asked me to decide between you or the ship..."

"But you never actually had to make that decision..."

Kathryn shook her head and held up her hand. She had to get this out. He was quiet.

"When he asked me, even though I know I didn't actually have to make that choice, in my heart I knew my answer. I chose you, Chakotay."

"No," he protested.

"I did. I would have been prepared to sacrifice Voyager and its entire crew because I couldn't live without you. That. is not. acceptable."

"Kathryn, you'd never do anything of the kind."

He wasn't listening. She had to make him understand.

"Yes, Chakotay. I would have."

He saw the look on her face and knew she meant it. There was nothing he could say, and he hurt for her, realizing finally how tormented she must feel inside.

"Kathryn," his voice softened.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Kathryn, you..."

"Dismissed, Commander."

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Chakotay stormed down the corridor ignoring the shocked looks of the crewmen he nearly bowled over. She had pulled rank on him! He was too angry to be hurt. Why couldn't she understand? It was stupid to waste their time together like that. God knows what could happen to them out here, any moment. Damn it, there was the Doctor. He'd been trying to corner Chakotay all day.

"Commander," said the Doctor as he trotted along trying to keep up with Chakotay. "I was wondering if you could come down to sick bay for a moment."

"I'm busy right now, Doctor," said Chakotay. "Can't it wait?"

"I'm afraid it..." the Doctor began but Chakotay had turned around to face him so abruptly that he had knocked the hologram's emitter off and it skidded down the corridor. Chakotay swore to himself again and picked up the Doctor. Chakotay chose to leave him off and walk the emitter back to sick bay himself. He didn't care to argue with the Doctor just now.

When Chakotay finally got down to sick bay and reactivated the EMH, he'd calmed down quite a bit but still didn't feel like talking. He didn't feel anything really. All the emotions seemed to cancel the other ones out.

"Ah," said the Doctor, when he saw where he was. "I see you found the time." He forced Chakotay to sit on a bio-bed and began scanning him with a medical tricorder.

"Is that all you wanted?" asked Chakotay irritably, "to give me a check up?" The Doctor kept scanning him and punching buttons.

"I see what they mean," he muttered.

"What are you talking about?" asked Chakotay.

"Some members of the crew have expressed some concern for your health," said the Doctor. "They said you, quote, looked like hell and were being an ass, unquote."

"Doctor!"

"Their words not mine, Commander," he retorted, unflapped. "I thought I would double check for any lasting effects from your encounter with the Picinians."

"There are no lasting effects," bristled Chakotay.

"Is it the Captain, then?" said the Doctor quietly, still looking at his tricorder. Chakotay just sat there looking surprised. The Doctor glanced up at him from his readings.

"Don't look so shocked, Commander. Everyone could tell." Chakotay didn't talk. He looked miserable. "Commander, I realize you and I aren't the closest friends on this ship, but I know it always helps to talk. If you want to, I'm here." Chakotay wasn't sure what he wanted right now. He was not one to sit and hash out his problems with his male friends, or anybody really. He usually only went to Kathryn for that, but that wasn't an option anymore and he needed to get this poison out of his chest; the sooner the better.

"She ended it."

"I figured as much," said the Doctor. "And she's not listening to any of your arguments?"

"No."

"You know the Captain is a very stubborn woman."

"She is."

"Then did you think that bombarding her with all kinds of reasons why she's wrong would make her listen?"

"No," admitted Chakotay, inwardly giving a cynical laugh that he was taking relationship advice from a hologram. "What do I do then?"

"Be her friend," said the Doctor. "Even if she's pushing you away as a lover, I know she still needs you every other way. You shouldn't desert her." Chakotay nodded thinking about how that had been his own advice to himself only a little while ago.

"As long as she can still trust what she's always had with you, she'll come around. In the meantime, take the time to heal yourself. It'll be a long road, but if, in five years, ten years, when you get back to Earth, she finally comes to her senses, then you will be whole enough to fall in love again."

"What if she never comes to her senses?" asked Chakotay.

"Then you'll still be whole and you won't have lost her completely, because she'll still be your friend. If you keep yelling at her, you won't even have that. I know you may not think I'm a good authority on the subject," continued the Doctor, "but you can't sing opera for as long as I have and not learn a thing or two about the tragic love story."

Chakotay let out a sad little laugh. That's what we are, isn't it. He thought.

"I'll try and talk to her," said Chakotay finally, as he slowly got up and walked out of sick bay, "for the sake of the crew." The Doctor just shook his head. Deep down, though, Chakotay knew the Doctor was right.

=Λ= =Λ= =Λ=

Kathryn sat in her quarters with her face in her hands. She didn't feel anything right now. The barrage of her emotions had hit her so heavily for the last few hours her heart had gone numb to escape the pain. Her door chimed. Oh, what is it? Just let me be. She heard the door slide open and looked up.

When she saw Chakotay she stood up to greet him but kept her distance. His mask was on but hers wasn't. That was impossible now that he was right in front of her. Everything in her was shattered. And she was so tired. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Don't Kathryn," he said quietly. "I know every speech you've got planned and you know all mine, and I realize there's nothing I can say or do to get you to come back to me. I'll never try to make you do something you feel is wrong and I love you too much to refuse you anything. Even this. Even if it kills me." Kathryn couldn't say a word. Her hand was over her mouth and she felt her throat constricting painfully.

"The only thing I'm going to ask you now," he continued, looking at the floor, his face threatening to crack, "is let me keep my promise. Let me continue to be the friend I've always been. Don't completely push me away." Kathryn was crying silently. He ventured a look at her. She nodded her assent to him. They had to stay friends. Even if she had to put the wall back up, he had to stay by her side. There was no other way. They stared at each other like that for a long time until Chakotay finally broke.

"Oh, God Kathryn." He fell to his knees, grabbed her by her waist and buried his face in her stomach. "God, why does it have to be like this?" They slowly sank to the floor, with him holding onto her like life itself, pressing his cheek into her thigh. She could feel his tears soaking through her uniform to her skin. Kathryn laid down on his broad back feeling the muscles and trying to gain strength from them.

"God, spirits," he sputtered out, "I asked them...This is all my fault. When I got ready for dinner I asked, no begged, the spirits for some peace for both of us. I meant to move on. I meant to take away the burden of my love. I think we found some peace that night but I didn't mean... I didn't mean for it to end up like this."

"Do you regret anything about the time we spent?"
"God, no."

"Neither do I, but it was my fault," she said. "I saw what you were doing and still I let you know how I felt. I'm so sorry. I was so selfish."

"Tell me you love me," he said, still clinging to her. "Just one more time."

"You know I love you. I've told you millions of times over the years just without the words. The words, the words," she cried. "Why do we have to use words? Once they're out there you can't take them back when things hurt too much." Chakotay sat up, looking frantic.

"I can't do this. I can't do this without you." He grabbed her and kissed her. She pulled away and grabbed his hands to hold them still.

"You won't have to," she said looking deeply into his eyes. "I'm still here. I will always be here. You promised to be my friend, remember. I'm holding you to that." She said everything calmly but the tears still flowed. Chakotay was trying with difficulty to put the mask back on. They stood up and stepped away from each other.

"But sitting next to you every day, you touching my shoulder during briefings..."

"If we were married," Kathryn started slowly, "and I were too sick or injured to ever make love to you again, would you love me any less because of the circumstances?"

"No," he said quietly.

"These are just different circumstances."

"But what about when you want to move on?"

"You know I don't have that luxury."

"But what if I..."

Kathryn wanted to vomit. She knew of course that was a real possibility but it was too soon for her to hear it. He'd probably just said it out of hurt but still, it stung. He saw the pain he'd caused and turned away. She swallowed any angry words that had popped up and touched his arm. When he turned around again she saw that he was sorry.

"Chakotay. You know I love you. I didn't want to say it again but I have to so you know I mean what I tell you. I love you so much all I care about is your happiness. Do you think I want to watch you live a miserable life without any love or companionship because it's my own fault I can't have those things from you?"

Chakotay's look softened even more. Why did he have to look at her like that?

"I love you too, Kathryn," he said. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, kissing her gently over and over. She let herself kiss him back. God, why did his kisses have to be so articulate? These said good-bye.

They moved apart and looked sadly into each other's eyes. Kathryn was wondering what to do now. If he stayed much longer she was in danger.

"Dance with me?" he said.

"We'll still be able to dance, sometimes, I hope," she said weakly.

"Not like this."

Kathryn nodded tearfully. Chakotay held out his hand and she took it.

"Computer, Chakotay music program thirty-four alpha," he said.