A short little chapter, I hope you all like it.

The crew was gathered for a Hawaiian party, courtesy of a certain Lt. Tom Paris. Neelix was of course forbidden to bring Leola Root, so he took the liberty of accessing Tom's database to find 20th century party foods and snacks. Punch, Chips, beer and cocktails appeared to be the right choice so he replicated a couple of the choices listed on the screen.

The honoree of the night, Commander Maximillius Dawson, came into a roomful of conga dancing, cocktail drinking, rowdy party animals, which was formerly the crew of Voyager. The gave him a huge round of applause and whoops and hollers.

Kathryn Janeway sat at the bar and smiled. The crew was reacting so well to the newest addition to her crew. Bringing Max to the crew seemed to brighten everyone's spirits and raise moral, even her. Come to think of it, she had been so overcome by reports, attacks and work to have fun. Max, reminded her of fun. The fun times they had as kids, like the time they pretended to command a shuttle into space, or playing tag through the tall corn stalks at the Dawsons backyard.

Commander Chakotay looked around and saw Kathryn looking at Max. No… more like staring at Max. He felt a little uneasy about it so he went over to the Captain.

"Kathryn! When did you get here?" Chakotay asked as he sat down next to her.

"A while ago. I slipped in…" she replied "They're reacting so well to him don't you think Chakotay?"

"It's hard not to like someone like that." Chakotay took a glance at the man they were talking about. "I mean, he's got a great personality, friendly, generous, nice, I even heard rumours about some of the women on the ship having a crush on him."

"Well, he's always been this way. Excuse me for a second Chakotay. Seven needs a little lesson on 'mingling'."

Commander Dawson reached the bar and called for a martini. "Hey Chakotay. Enjoying the party?"

"We haven't partied like this for months!" Chakotay said.

"Care for a drink?"

"I'll have a punch." He told the bartender. "So what did you tell the Captain to get her to agree to come here?"

"I just simply said, 'If you don't go then I'll tell everyone that---' "

"Mr Dawson!" Neelix interrupted "I'm glad you're here!"

"Thank you Neelix. I'm glad to be here."

"Would you like to try some of these 20th century confections? They're actually quite tasty." Neelix shoved a bowl of rounded yellow crispy things in Max's direction

Gingerly, Max took one and ate it. "You're right Neelix, they are quite good."

"Care for one Commander?" He then shoved it in Chakotay's direction

"No thanks Neelix, what are these things anyway?"

"They're called chips." Tom Paris piped up, appearing out of nowhere in particular. "20th century people use to eat these at parties and such. They were a big hit in those days."

"I'll bet it was." Max said in return, grabbing some more 'chips' from Neelix. "Whoops, excuse me, I've gotta ask someone to dance."

"Never got how he got the Captain to the party?" Tom Paris asked Chakotay when Max had left.

"Nope, he was just about to tell me. But he saw the chips."

"Ah I see…" Tom saw how distressed Chakotay looked and how he was staring at the dancing couple, Commander Max Dawson and Captain Kathryn Janeway. Poor guy, why doesn't the Captain see that he likes her… he LOVES her? Stupid protocol, never cared for it much. Tom thought. He must be jealous as hell. He glanced briefly at the new Commander.

Janeway was having the time of her life. Conga dancing, an old friend found, the crew happy and satisfied, the ship was running normal again, no anomalies to deal with, no borg, just a simple fun party to relax at.

Things couldn't get any better than this.

A year has passed by since the party, the crew was still happy and satisfied. Morale was at an all time high. Warp core could be doing a little better but still managing at Warp 9. News of an engagement between Crewman Melissa Higgins and Ensign Darren Le Marr ran through the ship. Max Dawson was doing well blending into the intrepid crew, taking the engineering station on the bridge when a red alert is called.

A message then rang out in the corridors.

"Janeway to all hands, red alert. Battle stations, and brace for impact."

The ship shook, people were thrown onto the walls and floors causing minor cuts and bruises.

It seemed Voyager, had engaged…

The Borg

No, not again. NO. NO!  he thought.