The Bridge shook as the photon torpedo hit its target sending waves of sparks in all directions. Smoke loomed over the heads of the crew as they struggled to run to their stations. Injured crew huddled near the Turbo-lift waiting to be taken to Sick Bay.

At the Command Center all was business-like as the crew working in unison. "Full shields, fire back!" Lieutenant Commander Tuvok called out over the klaxons. Smoke rose in all directions as Ensign Tom Paris eased the mighty starship around the Vedexian cruiser.

"Sir, they got through our shields, hull breach on decks 10, 11 and 12 Sir. Force fields are holding." The Ensign at the Opts called out as she ducked more sparks from her console.

The battle had started right after Voyager stopped communications with the Vedexians .The Vedexians began blasting mercilessly at the ship, drawing phaser power from their mighty warp core which was amazingly protected by their shielding which seemed impenetrable. Voyager fought back, sending photon torpedoes their way, but only causing minimal damage to their hull. It seemed hopeless that Voyager would win, but suddenly the Vedexians stopped firing and went into warp.

A thick fog of smoke hung over the Bridge as repair crew started repairing the damage. Tuvok stood beside the command chair, his hand resting on the head rest as she looked at the viewscreen with piercing eyes.

"Senior staff meeting in ten minutes." He said calmly as he walked towards the Observatory, not looking back.

----X----

The light was starting to bother Ensign Kim as he tried in vain to stop the pounding which his head was taking. His muscles were aching under the stress of his bonds and he was getting extremely hungry. He thought about what had just happened, his mind foggy from the light. The metallic object on his head hadn't shocked him in hours, and he was thankful for that. Now if only he could escape from his prison and find a way back to Voyager everything would be alright.

He was beginning to fall asleep when Zulok'nor came back, this time followed by two others who all looked the same as the other Vedexians he had unfortunately met.

"Your comrades are formidable opponents." Zulok'nor said in his eerie voice as he stopped and stared at Ensign Kim, who glared back the best he could.

"Bet they kicked your butt." Kim mumbled under his breath, too sore to talk properly.

Zulok'nor laughed, the sound piercing Kim's eardrums like knifes. "No, they ran like little Frak'los." He said sneering.

"I don't…believe you." Kim said, wincing slightly as the pain began to get worse. It seemed that every time a Vedexian came near him, the object on his head would pulse slightly, emitting a strange ringing sound in his ears.

"Believe what you may, but we know you're a bunch of cowards." Zulok'nor sneered, coming within inches from Kims' face.

Kim was about to answer when the object on his head grew in intensity. The pain was excruciating and he screwed his eyes in pain as he gritted his teeth. "You'll…pay…for…this…" he stammered before he began screaming in pain.

In the other room Captain Kathryn Janeway's head shot up as she listened to the piercing scream from the next room. Her eyebrows were raised into her hairline as she recognized it. "Harry!" she called out, knowing it was futile. She turned to look at Chakotay, who was looking around for the source of the noise. His face looked concerned though she couldn't see due to the pitch blackness surrounding them.

"It's him Kathryn, I know it." He said gently, his voice filled with concern

"I know it's him too Chakotay, well at last we know where he is, now how do we get out of here?" she asked, her voice full of determination again as she began fiddling with her restraints.

"There's a door five feet away from us. It opened when your attacker came in before. On the outside there looks to be a long corridor going straight. If we could get these restraints off then maybe we could find a way to escape and get back onto Voyager." He stopped as the ship they were on suddenly lurched. "On second though, it feels like they just stopped moving, so that means they're either making repairs or are with another ship."

"Very astute assumption Chakotay; it's good to know you haven't lost your touch after so long." Janeway said with a smirk. She rattled her restraints a little bit more, feeling on coming loose. Gritting her teeth, she whooped softly as it slipped off. Working quickly she began to work with her free hand on the other restraint. This one was trickier though, and dug into her wrist as she fiddled with it.

"Just a bit more…yes!" she said softly as the other restraint came off and she fell to the ground gently. She groaned a bit as her ribs took a small beating but stood up and grinned.

"That's how you break out of a bad situation." She said, putting her hands on her hips. She heard Chakotay chuckling quietly in the darkness and went up to him. She smelt his scent before she felt him and slowly moved her hands up his body before coming up to his restraints, working cat-like to take them off. Slowly, and with practiced ease they were off and she found herself in his strong grip, holding her steady as he took in a deep breath.

"My hero." He breathed as he kissed her hair, breathing in the vanilla fragrance. Before she let him go further she pulled back, pacing a finger to his lips and said,

"Now, let's get out of here."

The quickly broke off and began searching in the darkness for an escape route, or a door they could open.

Hex'lerz watched appreciatively as the Captain and Commander escaped their restraints a smirk on his face. If only they knew what they were getting themselves into he thought as thy slowly fund the door and started prying it open. All was going according to plan. He pushed a button on his consol and watched as the boy Kim seemed to go into a daze and walk out of his room, ready to pounce when the time was right.

The door opened with a small whoosh and Katheryn gestured for Chakotay to take a look outside. She moved to the side as his body appeared in the little light and she could see his features edged with anger and…fear?

"Chakotay?" she asked quietly as he carefully peeked out the door then looked back at her, his eyes empty of emotions. He shook his head, eyebrow quirking upwards and replied,

"It's clear. No guards or anything as far as the eye can see."

Katheryn frowned. That wasn't normal she thought as she carefully peeked outside too. The corridor was dimly lit with a grayish light, which seemed to dance slightly. The walls were rounded, about 10 feet high. The ceiling was shrouded in darkness so it was undetermined how high it was exactly. Frowning, Janeway made a quick decision and gave Chakotay a nod. Slowly they moved out of their prison and started going in the only direction they could; straight.

Kim didn't know what he was doing or how he was walking. According to him, he was still inside his prison, the light blaring in his face and the object on his head pounding his skull in. His mind was blank and his face void of emotions as he spotted his Captain and Commander coming towards him. All he could think of was how badly he wanted to hurt them. Suddenly his mind began to race with thoughts of vengeance as he ran full tilt towards his comrades, his fists raised and ready for action.

"Harry!" Janeway said in shock as she watched him barrel down on them, his fists swinging wildly. She ducked as his fist almost made contact with her jaw and rolled on the ground away from him her face full of shock.

"Katheryn, watch out!" Chakotay called as he jumped over Kims head, trying to determine what Harry was up to. He stayed low on the ground, watching Harrys' face for any signs of recognition, but none was there. He noticed an object shine on Harrys head and quickly determined that was the cause of Harrys' unyielding attack. He only had seconds to think on his feet as Harry came raining on him, fists flailing and feet kicking. He tried rolling away from him but Harry held on firm with his knees, pinning him to the ground.

Chakotay groaned as the fists made contact. The kid may be small, but he had fire in his punches he thought as he covered his face from the onslaught.

"Harry, stop its Chakotay!" he said stumbling his words as Harrys' fist connected with his jaw. He felt the bone break and groaned. Having enough, he pulled Harry off and rolled to the side, his hand going to tenderly touch his jaw. Harry sneered hi face emotionless as he turned and went for Janeway who went into a cat-like stance, ready to defend herself if need be.

"Harry, please don't do this." She said gently, once she saw that he was out of his own control. She knew diplomacy would be the only was out of this and knew where to start.

"Harry, we're here to rescue you. You don't want to hurt us, do you?" He advanced slowly upon her, his fist raised, a dangerous gleam in his eye. He stopped for a split second, doubt appearing on his face as he looked at her pleading eyes, than shook his head and pounced.

"Captain…" he said in a tiny, sorrow-filled voice as he landed hard on her, his knee driving into her abdomen, causing her to moan in pain as she tried to roll out of the way.

"Harry, think about this; why are you suddenly attacking us? They're doing this to you; it's something about the object on your head, its hypnotizing you somehow. Take it off Harry!" she stammered through the intense pain.

He glared at her, smirking evilly as he shook his head. "No Captain, it's not this object. I've wanted to do this for a long time. It's your fault we're stuck here in, lost. You said you'd get us home, but are we there yet? No!" she punched her again, his fist connecting with her temple. "No we're stuck in the out skirts of the Alpha Quadrant, a year out from Earth, and it's all your fault!" he cried out, his face contorting into a miserable grimace as he stood back, his foot raising slowly towards her face.

Behind them, Chakotay was on his feet, glancing at his one love and wincing as Harrys words rang out over the deserted corridor. He knew this was not the true Harry Kim; the true Harry would never say those things. He might have in the past, when they were first brought into the Delta Quadrant but not now. He had grown too much to go back to his young angry self now. Chakotay now knew what he had to do; he had to stop him from hurting Katheryn and get that round object off his head. Once it was gone, he knew Harry would be back to normal.

Slowly, and with practiced ease Chakotay snuck up on Kim, wincing as he watched Katheryn trying in vain to break away from him. When he was within inches from them, he pounced, knocking Harry off of her and threw him into the wall. "Sorry Harry, but it's for your own good." Chakotay said softly as he held the struggling Kim at arms length and went to remove the object. Just as his fingers touched the surface an electrical charge went through it, knocking both Chakotay and Harry to the ground.

"Chakotay, Harry!" Katheryn called out as she struggled to run over, almost falling in her attempt to get to them. Gingerly she stooped before them, gingerly rubbing her side and watched as they withered in pain. The object on Harrys head pulsed with a bright white light before stopping, and an eerie silence hung over them as they took deep breaths, calming themselves down.

Harry didn't know how he ended up underneath Chakotay, who was moaning slightly, holding his head as he struggled to look up. He didn't remember anything of the past ten minutes, in which he had come out of his room, attacked the Captain and Commander and wound up in incredible pain lying on the floor, confused as ever.

"Cap…Captain, Commander?" He asked groggily, frowning as he shook his head, clearing the stars which were buzzing around his vision. He watched as Chakotay got off of him, and sat heavily no the ground rubbing his head. "What's going on?" he asked confused.

"That's what I'd like to know. What do you remember Harry?" Janeway asked, kneeling beside him, a large purple bruise on her left cheek.

Harry frowned, his face sore from where it hit the floor and replied, "Not much Captain. I remember being kidnapped and being held in a room full of bright light which kept on getting brighter. After that it gets a bit foggy." He stopped and looked at her. "How did you get here?" he asked incredulously.

"We have no idea. One minute we were in the Ready Room, the next in a dark room restrained. An unknown assailant came in and assaulted me than disappeared. Do you know who they are?" She asked, shaking her head a bit as she started to get up, adrenalin rushing through her veins. She grabbed the wall for support as vertigo threatened to overwhelm her.

"They call themselves the Vedexians Captain. A "Race which roams the quadrant searching for those who are unworthy of them, make them do horrible tests. If they pass, they live. If not…" he let the answer hang in the air as he struggled to get up, the metal object digging into his skin. Grimacing he touched it gently but wasn't surprised when nothing happened. He waited until Chakotay slowly got up, extending a hand in help, pulling him the rest of the way so he was leaning on the wall and asked,

"Any ideas on how to get out of here?"

Chakotay shook his head, the pain subsiding quickly as he leaned against the wall, nodding to Harry in thanks. His brow creased as he looked down the long corridor, no end seemed to be in sight as the grayish light seemed to dim the farther away it went.

"We should keep going straight, we have no choice. We might come across an exit or at least find a room with a communications array to use." He said, scratching his head. Janeway nodded and looked back at Harry.

"Are you alright to move?" She asked, concern etching in her voice.

"Yes Ma'am." He said in a determined voice he didn't feel. He moved away from the wall, standing as straight as his tired muscles would allow and waited for further instructions. Chakotay moved to be closer to the Captain and together they set off down the corridor looking for the unknown.

Hex'lerz cursed under his breath as he watched the trio walk down the corridor together. He had thought the boy would have finished his quest with ease; murdering his Commanding Officers in a blaze of punches, but no, that annoying Commander had to sneak up and touch the cylinoid. That was a very expensive piece of technology they had acquired from a stupid race in the Gamma Quadrant years ago; it allowed the user complete control over the victims bodily functions and mind, erasing their memory of the horrible events they were forced to do.

The ship set gracefully onto the ramp which overlooked the peaceful worked of Vedexia. All around them blue trees were beginning to bloom, purple buds glistening majestically on the branches like little twinkling stars. On the horizon, the orange sun was just rising up from the mountain tops. The white fluffy clouds moved swiftly with the oncoming breeze which whipped the green leaf on the trees. Beyond the landing ramp young children were playing on the yellow grass, running around laughing gleefully. Hex'lerz shorted; oh if they only knew the danger of what they were facing he thought as he radioed in, letting his Captain know all was going according to plan.

If his Captain ever found out he let three hostages get away and run loose in his ship…well he didn't want to think about it.

"What do we know?" Tuvok asked as he sat ramrod straight at the head of the table in the Observations Lounge. Around him Tom sat next to B'Elanna, with Doc standing at the back twiddling his thumbs. The Senior Staff was silent as they thought of the horrors that the Captain Chakotay and Harry must be going through before Tom spoke up,

"We know a bunch of hoodlums think they can just take our crew without asking permission first." He sid, cocking an eyebrow.