I don't own "Star Trek: Voyager."

Megan Delaney groaned. She felt like someone had gone at the back of her skull with a pickax. She pushed herself up, and felt the back of her head. Her short hair was damp with blood. She squinted a couple times, and then glanced around.

She was in the engineering room of the Val Jean. It was dark; the power was partially down. The ship looked like it had taken a beating; she recalled their chase through the Badlands, and the damage they'd suffered as the Cardassians fired at them. But the battle was apparently over. The ship was still, save the men and women who moved around helping up the wounded, checking pulses, and working at panels.

Seska was nearby, lying on her side. The Bajoran blinked awake, pressing a hand to her head. "Delaney." She stared at Megan, pursing her long lips. "What happened?"

Megan staggered up, and brushed herself off. "A battle…the Badlands…Cardassians…nothing new."

Seska frowned, and slowly rose. "I don't feel like I have any injuries, besides this throbbing headache."

"Neither do I," Megan realized. And then, something hit her memory. "I had a wicked dream…I think it was a dream."

Seska was staring at her, eyes wide under her fierce eyebrows. "What about?"

Megan shook her head. "I can't remember. I just know it was…surreal."

Commander Chakotay suddenly appeared in the doorway. The bridge was just down a short hallway; it was a small ship. The Commander was breathing heavily. He scanned the room, his eyes falling on a few bodies that lay lifeless.

Chell, a Bolian whose brown Maquis uniform clashed oddly with his blue skin, was taking the pulse of a fellow shipmate. He looked up at Chakotay and said, "She's dead." He rose to his feet, and added soberly, "So're Lorak and Maguire."

Chakotay's eyes darted around the bodies. Megan could see him force his gaze away from his fallen crewmembers, and back to the living. "Is Torres down here?"

He was met with shaking heads, and mumbles of "No."

Seska, Torres' best friend, looked sharply at Chakotay. "I thought she was up on the bridge with you and Tuvok!"

"She was. She's not anymore." Chakotay suddenly turned to Megan. "Delaney. You've got experience in stellar cartography, right?"

"A bit," she admitted. "Why, we lost?"

"You could say that. Follow me."

Megan followed Chakotay to the bridge. Seska was close behind, despite the fact that Chakotay had given her no orders to accompany them. Ayala and Tuvok were at their stations, working intently.

The Vulcan glanced up at Megan. "I have double checked my readings, Delaney. But you may wish to confirm them."

Megan took a look at Tuvok's readings, and her eyes widened. "That's impossible."

"What?" Seska came around.

Megan breathed in. "We're 75,000 light years from the Alpha Quadrant. We're on the other side of the galaxy…decades from home."

Seska's lips parted slowly. Chakotay blinked and swallowed. Tuvok…was Tuvok.

"Hang on," Ayala was working at some wires in the ceiling. "Just…one…"

The lights suddenly flared on, as power returned.

"Computer!" Chakotay barked. "Locate B'Elanna Torres."

The computer replied, in its low, androgynous voice, "B'Elanna Torres is not onboard."

The Maquis wore little badges, similar to the communication badges worn by Starfleet officers, which could be used to speak to each other long-distance and be kept track of by their ships' computers. But the Maquis' badges were smaller, and usually worn out of sight. (Megan's was under her black leather vest.)

Seska looked mortified. "We're 75,000 light-years from the Alpha Quadrant, and Torres is missing?"

"So it would seem." Tuvok confirmed.

Chakotay was about to say something, when the Vulcan suddenly cut him off.

"Commander, there are two vessels within range. One appears to be of alien origin. The other…" Tuvok's voice raised slightly, in surprise. "…is Federation." The Vulcan continued his scans. "Correction; the first is not a vessel, but some kind of space station, or array."

"Federation?" Megan's stared at Tuvok. "I thought we were sev—"

Chakotay glanced at her. His expression was soft, but she took the hint and canned it.

Turning back to Tuvok, Chakotay said, "On screen."

Against the stars floated a bizarre alien structure, than reminded Megan of some complex satellite. "Array" seemed like the right word. Nearby, in clear view, was that Federation vessel. It was a smaller one, with some newer, sharp design. Megan decided she liked the older, rounder designs much better. In fact, that ship was downright ugly.

Tuvok was eyeing the commander. "Orders, sir?"

Chakotay thought it over. "Continue repairs. Keep a lock on both the Federation ship, and that alien…array. Seska, Delaney, get back to engineering, they could use your help."

"Aye sir." Megan turned.

Seska was standing there, staring at the screen in disbelief. Megan grabbed the Bajoran woman's arm. "Come on."

Seska blinked and turned, following Megan back to Engineering. As they moved down the short hall, the commander's voice came over the com.

"Chakotay to all hands: we've got a situation. We've somehow been flung to the other side of the galaxy. We're 75,000 light-years from the Alpha Quadrant."

Heads turned. Chell and Kenneth Dalby exchanged a shocked glance. Igor Yosa's jaw dropped.

"What?" Mariah Henley hissed.

"We're in front of some kind of alien structure, and a Federation vessel is in range—they seem to have suffered about as much damage as we have. We've got no idea what's going on, but we'll keep you posted. In the meantime keep working on repairs."

The controlled, almost monotone voice Chakotay used to deliver the news might've made it even harder to believe.

Henley was shaking her head. "How can he say all of that, with such a straight—?"

"It's kind of his job," Megan sighed.

They worked for about five minutes, before Chakotay appeared in the doorway once again. "T'Vora, Tabor."

T'Vora, a Vulcan female, and Tabor, a Bajoran male, looked up.

"I need you two to take the bridge for me." Now addressing everyone, Chakotay explained, "Tuvok, Ayala and I are beaming over to the Federation vessel to discuss our situation." Seeing Seska's shocked expression, he added, "We'll arm ourselves naturally. Till then, keep working. No one makes any moves against the Starfleet or alien vessel until I say so."

Seska began to argue, "What if—"

"Understood?"

Megan nodded for Seska, feeling almost embarrassed by the other woman's back-sassing. The Bajoran argued almost as much as Torres, and Torres was half-Klingon. What was Seska's excuse?

Chakotay had something else to add. "B'Elanna Torres is missing. The Starfleet ship's missing a crewmember too. We're going to work together to find our people." Raising his voice just slightly, he finished, "We're Maquis, our enemies are the Cardassians. Not Starfleet."

T'Vora and Tabor took over the bridge, while Chakotay, Tuvok and Ayala moved through engineering, and down another hall, to the weapons bank. Megan tried to focus on her work, but couldn't help wondering which vessel out there frightened her more—the alien one, or the Starfleet one? She'd feared incarceration by Starfleet for so long now that it almost overshadowed the natural fear she should have of being 75,000 light-years from home. Well, at least she wasn't alone. At least her friends, and Commander Chakotay, were all—

Megan froze. "I remember my dream. Part of it anyway."

Seska looked up from her station by the warp core.

"We were all here," Megan folded her arms. "We were asleep, or in a hospital, or—"

"A laboratory." Lon Suder said suddenly.

The tiny, gray-haired Betazoid was crouched over a guttered wall panel, working alongside Michael Jonas.

Megan, Seska, and Jonas looked at each other. Suder's huge black eyes were moving down towards the ground, as he thought it through.

"I remember that too," Jonas agreed, apparently just realizing at he was saying it. "We were in a long room, we were all on slabs."

Everyone else in the tiny engine room was frozen, staring at each other.

Seska looked sickened. "Oh god."

"Really?" Henley threw her head back. "As if things couldn't get any worse for us—alien abduction?"

Marina Jor, Tabor's close friend, stammered, "It could be worse."

Yosa added, "At least the Borg haven't shown up."

"Don't jinx us!" Megan hissed, unsure if she herself was joking.

Jenny worked at her station in Voyager's lower decks, punching her controls a bit harder than necessary. Tal Celes, who'd volunteered to help her, took notice.

"I'm sure Megan's fine," Tal offered lamely.

Jenny's jaw clenched. "She was right there Tal. She was on that array! And she's right over there on that ship—well," she laughed bitterly, "assuming she survived the trip over here. Or wasn't killed by Cardassians two months ago."

After the Voyager crew had awoken back onboard, Janeway had kept them all updated, as she met with the Maquis captain, reunited with her missing security chief, visited the "Caretaker" on the array, and sought help from an alien native to this region of space" Jenny hadn't seen Commander Chakotay, Lt. Tuvok, or Neelix (as the friendly alien was called) yet. She'd been kept busy below decks, helping to make repairs.

"I can't help but wonder," Jenny began. "This is probably ludicrous. But I almost wonder if the captain's kept me down here on purpose, to keep me from jeopardizing the mission, or something."

Tal shook her head. "Captain Janeway has a crew of something like 150 to worry about. She's probably forgotten all about—oh, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know what you meant," Jenny said quietly. "She probably hasn't had time to think about it. With us lost, and Harry," Jenny pressed her palm to her forehead. "As if Eem, Sully, and Lt. Tarrotz weren't enough…" she slammed her fist into the wall. A lump was forming in her throat, but she refused to let any tears surface.

"When I was seven," Tal said suddenly, "My mother and I were taken away from my father and brother. We spent five years, apart, in separate camps. I kept count of the days that went by without Father and Yojan, until counting seemed pointless. By time I was entering teenage-hood I'd just assumed they were both dead. Someday I'll tell you the whole story. But when the Bajoran resistance liberated our camp, and we were able to get news of the outside world, and we found out that they were both alive…"

Tal was leaning against the wall, with her arms folded. Jenny was giving the Bajoran her full attention, feeling taken aback.

"My point is, we've only been out here for a couple days." Tal finished. "You have time."

Jenny's voice was cracking slightly. "Which we might run out of any minute out here."

Chakotay returned to the Val Jean, and gathered his crew in the engine room (the biggest room on the ship). The commander was breathing heavily, looking disturbed. Megan noticed that Ayala was standing near Chakotay, but Tuvok was nowhere in sight.

Tabor asked the question first: "Where's Tuvok?"

Chakotay looked at Tabor, then at the rest of his crew. "I'll start from the beginning. Our ship entered the Badlands to escape the Cardassians. We were pulled from the Badlands by a powerful alien who lives out here. The U.S.S. Voyager was assigned to capture us, and came into the Badlands looking for us. The same thing then happened to them, they were abducted and brought out here, alongside us." Chakotay was often hard to read, keeping his emotions almost as guarded as a Vulcan's, but one could see he was angry right now—very angry—and trying as hard as he could not to let it show to his crew. "Voyager's been monitoring our ship for some time. They've had a spy onboard."

Megan saw Seska visibly go pale.

"Tuvok," Chakotay continued, "Is a Federation agent."

Seska let out a breath. Megan felt sympathy for her; the Bajoran was so enthusiastic about the Maquis cause, of course she'd take Tuvok's betrayal hard. Megan herself was surprised, but now realized that she shouldn't be. A Vulcan, someone who wouldn't be expected to show any emotion, would be the perfect candidate for a double agent.

The mention of Starfleet didn't anger Megan like it did some others, but it saddened her. The last she'd heard, her baby sister (by seven minutes) was serving aboard a Federation ship. Megan despised Cardassians, and felt for the Maquis cause, but couldn't hate Starfleet, because she associated it with her sister. The sister who she might never see again.

"So," Tabor said suddenly, speaking to Chakotay, "When you say Voyager came to capture us, they were also coming to retrieve Tuvok."

Chakotay nodded.

"So," Mariah Henley shrugged snidely. "You just…gave the Vulcan back to the Federation captain?"

"Tuvok was doing his duty as a Starfleet officer." Chakotay sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as anyone else. "We're not going to hold this against him right now—we can't afford to. We've got bigger problems on our hands. Captain Janeway and I have agreed to work together to find our missing people. B'Elanna Torres, and Harry Kim, a young man who was taken from the Federation ship."

Dalby demanded, "And what happens after we all finish working together and get back home to Earth? This Captain Janeway will put in a good word for us with Starfleet, so we only get half a lifetime in prison?"

Chakotay nodded honestly. "Something like that." He placed a hand on his hip. "I personally don't plan on letting Janeway take us in so easily. We're gonna have an escape planned, by the time we're back home. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, Janeway is our ally."

Megan often took the role of the diplomat, having a less fiery personality than many of the other Maquis. Figuring one was needed now, she said to Chakotay, "If you trust him Commander, that's good enough for me."

"Her." Chakotay corrected. "Captain Kathryn Janeway."

Seska didn't seem to like that bit of information.

"There's something else." Chakotay looked like he was about to deliver the really bad news. "I don't want this to affect anyone's duty. I'm only telling you because you have the right to know." He paused. "Tom Paris is aboard Voyager."

A couple jaws dropped. Other faces just looked mildly surprised. Some people had stronger opinions of Paris than others, the only mutual agreement being that most of the crew didn't like him. Megan personally didn't think Paris was worth wasting her hatred on—she saved that for the Cardassians—but she was certainly not a fan of his.

"He's a member of Janeway's crew," Chakotay said, "And I'll treat him with the same respect as any other member of her crew. I expect the same from any of you." There was silence, for several moments. Finally, Chakotay finished, "Let's get back to repairs."

Mariah Henley sighed. "What I wouldn't give for another battle right now."

"I wouldn't say that," Megan muttered. "With a Federation ship twice our size right next door."