Quantum of Chaos

by Isobel Rowan

Time Enough SEQUEL. Janeway finds a divided, mutinous crew on a ship with strained resources. Bizarre aliens harass them. Seven grows fractious with their closeted relationship. Voyager's children are morphing. Can they ever hope to get home? Lesbian. AO.

10. Imagine

Quantum of Chaos

Chapter 10: Imagine

Janeway looked up at the white lights that had plagued her ship for the past month. The darkness of the moon's night made the lights that much brighter. They whisked and flitted around like a plasmaworks display. They appeared to be harmless spectator phenomena here on Boolarai and Janeway was confused.

In space, the lights were an entirely different entity, if behavior mattered. They'd killed one crewman with their intense EM radiation. They'd disrupted ships' systems. They'd operated in cooperation to disrupt Voyager's shields. What are we missing? Janeway thought.

She turned to regard her First Officer, Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres, Ensign Arnie Swinn and Crewman Marla Gilmore—the team Chakotay tapped to investigate the lights.

Chakotay's selections seemed reasonable. But Janeway was concerned because none of the team had spoken to each other so far, not even for greeting when they hastily assembled shortly after Chakotay met with the Boolarai leaders. None of the team would even look at each other. Except Swinn, who kept staring at the swell of Janeway's belly.

Janeway laid a hand over it and willed his eyes elsewhere. But they remained there and Janeway turned her back on him to glance at the stars and lights.

"So you're telling me the Boolarai summoned the lights?" the Captain asked.

"That's what Svante and the King indicated," Chakotay replied.

She glanced over her shoulder at her First Officer, trying to contain the smile that lit her face as she watched Seven of Nine join them. Instead she pinned her eyes on the commander, trying to focus her thoughts. "But you don't believe him."

"That's not what I said." His tone was like a slap and it made Janeway crinkle her brow at him.

There was a moment of silence and Janeway forced herself to regard the group again. Seven lifted her chin slightly, daring Chakotay's darting eyes to look at her. The expression on her face was mild displeasure, but Janeway knew the truth. It was the flipside of her calm joy; this was her quiet rage. It was dangerous at any level.

Janeway caught Seven's gaze and made an almost imperceptible frown. Seven nodded faintly in reply.

Meanwhile, B'Elanna's eyes narrowed on Chakotay. Being part Klingon, she had no need or ability, perhaps, to hide the seething anger she felt. If she'd carried a bat'leth, it would have been unsheathed and lodged in his belly by now. It was an odd dynamic, considering their years together in the Maquis. But loyalties changed. Too easily, Janeway thought.

Swinn covered his smirk with a hand and looked away, his shoulders shaking. Even though the tall, rail-thin man had spent six months under Chakotay's command in the Class X nebula, Mr. Swinn was a sail, blowing where the wind swept. He brushed a calloused hand through his thinning blond hair. His hands had known work on Voyager's lower decks. As an enlisted man, he'd never gone to Starfleet Academy. It wasn't a career. It was a damn job and he never signed up for a seven-year tour. That's what he had told the Captain and Chakotay shortly after they'd been reunited after the scattering.

"Regardless, Mr. Swinn," Janeway remembered saying. "You can stay at your post in maintenance or you can choose to better your education. It's up to you."

He'd made the wiser choice. Janeway had no illusions about the depth of his loyalties. Now with his apparent disapproval of her pregnancy, she wondered about how evolved he really was.

Janeway did a double take on Gilmore, though. She looked disappointed with Chakotay, rather than annoyed or surprised. Then her eyes tracked down to see the small swell of Gilmore's belly. She was three months pregnant with Chakotay's child. Now how could I have forgotten that? she wondered.

Gilmore, B'Elanna and Janeway had all gotten pregnant about the same time, yet the Captain felt like she was the largest and worried about the fetus' growth. "An illusion," the Chief Medical Officer had said about two weeks ago. "You are smaller than most woman and so your protrusion appears larger by comparison."

She had read him the riot act then until he'd performed several diagnostics on the baby in utero. All returned normal. "Trust me, Captain," he had said. "Your baby is fine and worrying about her or threatening me isn't going to settle your nerves."

He'd handed her some medicines he'd replicated.

"What are these?" she had asked.

"An anti-anxiety drug—"

"But I'm pregnant—"

"That does not cross the placental barrier."

She had shaken her head and pushed the bottle against his holographic chest. "Save it for someone who needs it."

Janeway blinked back her fatigue and wondered if it hadn't been a mistake to ignore her anxiety. Beating the Boolarai man on the playing field had been exhilarating and provided more relief to the building internal tension, but now. It was becoming harder to focus on the task at hand.

It was easy to get lost in ship politics, whether real or imagined, especially when hormones and the strain of command was ratcheting up her apprehensions. She'd always prided herself to be above that sort of thing. It had helped to be athletic and to have a sister who lived for gossip. No, Janeway herself preferred the world of facts. And that's where she was going to ground herself.

Her musings had only taken a split second. "What exactly are you saying then, Chakotay?" Janeway kept her tone mild, catching the surprise of her crew, even Seven. "How did they summon them—these lights?"

"Just a minute," he said.

The group watched him as he ducked back into the pyramid.

B'Elanna poked the inside of her mouth with her tongue and crossed her arms. "Do you think he went to take a crap?"

Swinn laughed and then swore. Gilmore sniffed. Seven looked baffled about the humor of one's bodily functions.

But Janeway whipped her head to her Chief Engineer. "That was inappropriate, Lieutenant."

"It was a joke, Captain," she said but her eyes were pinned on Crewman Gilmore. "I thought we needed a little…thaw."

"What we all need is a little time and a lot of compassion," she snapped.

B'Elanna uncrossed her arms. "Aye, Captain," she said begrudgingly.

Gilmore, who was standing beside the Captain, whispered only loud enough to be heard by Janeway. "Thank you."

The Captain patted the woman's arm as Chakotay emerged.

His eyes tracked toward Janeway's hand on his ex-lover's. Janeway tried to keep from ripping her hand away at the scowl that rippled across his face. Instead she stepped forward to gesture to the startling object he carried.

He gingerly held up a crystal human skull toward the sky. It collected the ambient light and glinted. "This is how they summon the 'Amai Sadakee.'"

"What does Amai Sadakee mean?" Janeway asked.

"The best I can tell it means 'bringers.'"

"Bringers?" B'Elanna spat. "Harbingers, maybe?"

Chakotay shook his head once, watching Janeway finger the contours of the transparent crystal human skull.

"Harbingers sounds ominous," he explained, focusing on Janeway. "To the Boolarai, they are the Bringers, Bearers of Gifts. But it's more than that."

"What do they bring exactly?" Janeway asked, looking up at a pensive First Officer.

"The Boolarai myths are filled with tales of them. They brought magic and learning."

"Magic," Swinn hissed with a disdain.

Chakotay turned to regard the Ensign. "Myths tell more about a people than we realize," he said, as if lecturing at the Academy. "The Boolarai myths, for instance, speak of the Bringers as those who led their ancestors from faraway Laloke to this paradise."

"Laloke?" Janeway mused, still rubbing the head. She glanced down at it. "If they came from earth as the Doctor suggests, then perhaps they know how to get back." She handed off the skull to Chakotay. "The short way."

"It's an interesting mystery," he said softly, barely able to hold her gaze. He looked away quickly then.

"I remember going to a museum on earth," Janeway said, still staring at the object in Chakotay's hands. "There was a crystal skull there."

"Earth? Really?" Gilmore asked as she spied the crystal object from a respectable difference.

Janeway nodded. "It terrified me at first. Later, of course, I learned about how our people believed five hundred years ago that the crystals were chiseled by the gods."

"Or space aliens," B'Elanna added helpfully.

Chakotay looked down at the skull. "We could scan the skulls. See how they work and try to understand how the Boolarai communicate with the Amai Sadakee. Perhaps it could help…Voyager."

Janeway noted the careful use of the ship's name, rather than any collective noun where he was included. But Chakotay's plan was sound so she nodded in satisfaction. "In the meantime, we could remain here. Replenish supplies. Shore leave." The Captain looked at the team her First Officer had assembled. "Let's get to it."

As the group broke up, Janeway remained where she was. "Commander," she said. "A word."

He looked around and stepped closer. "Yes, Captain?"

She inhaled. It would be difficult to keep a poker face. He had been inside her defenses for so long; he would recognize any pretense she used. Janeway decided to play it straight. "What about you, Chakotay? You mentioned your desire to leave the ship. I hope that's still not the case."

He turned away from the Captain and looked up. The flitting stars were beginning to dissipate slowly. "I'm angry, Kathryn," he said. "Did you really expect that would change in a day?"

She inhaled deeply. "I'd hoped," Janeway said.

"I just don't understand why you couldn't have just told me."

"You weren't yourself, remember?"

"The Doctor found a cure for the madness about a week ago." His words were spoken so softly, Janeway had to step closer. "What about then? I thought we were friends."

"I wanted to be sure," she replied.

"Of what?"

"That the news wouldn't cause any more…friction."

"Friction?" He ran a hand through his hair and laughed bitterly. "You stole my girlfriend, Kathryn—!"

"Chakotay," Kathryn said quietly, looking around to find startled expressions among the Boolarai who were milling around. "This is—"

"I didn't even know you were a dyke. I'll bet Mark would be surprised."

Kathryn became like steel, smothering the ignited anger. He was prodding her and she knew it. "Chakotay," she said quietly with a great deal of effort. "Seven ended the relationship with you. She told you on the day Dani came you both were finished. Do you remember that?"

He inhaled deeply, nodding finally. Chakotay again looked up at the night sky with the strange constellations.

Kathryn could see the shame settling on him like a tattoo. Her mother, Gretchen, had always told her that a little shame was good. "Too much of it and it'd eat you alive from the inside out," her mother had once said. She could see that here with her First Officer.

"Look, Chakotay. We never meant to hurt you."

She could see his shoulders shaking, but his reaction couldn't stop what she had to say. "It just happened. I'm just as surprised as anyone else."

"Not as surprised as me," he muttered.

Janeway grimaced slightly, wanting to take the man by his collar and knock some sense into him. But Chakotay was a complicated man with a great deal of pride. This wasn't going to blow over anytime soon. But the Captain promised she'd get as many of her people home and that included him.

She rubbed her hands together, as she stepped closer to him.

"I want to salvage something of our friendship, if possible," Janeway said quietly. "If not, then I'll fight for a professional relationship. You are one helluva First Officer, Chakotay. We need you."

"No, you don't," he said.

Janeway heard the vague self-pity. The man was probably dealing with a complicated set of emotions, after the last six months. "If this intriguing mystery doesn't tell you how much we need you, then you don't want to know, Chakotay."

He accepted the comment without reply, forcing Janeway to terminate the conversation. "Just think about it. You have a month until we resume course. In the meantime, can I rely on your commitment to serve the ship?"

"You have my word, for whatever its worth."

=/\=

Seven of Nine stabbed the tricorder, configuring it to record the hieroglyphs she'd found in a small room inside the Pyramid of the Moon. The torchlight jumped across the deeply chiseled pictographs, forcing her to regulate the ambient light readings on the device by hand.

She did not understand why she was perturbed. She had seen Captain Janeway and Chakotay disagree many times. She herself had openly debated the Captain on a number of occasions. In all those times, the Captain had reacted consistently, neither threatened by the dissent nor afraid to examine all the facts. Yet, her ex-lover's harsh words for her spouse upset Seven's innate balance. So much so, she felt unsettled. And Seven of Nine felt frustrated by the predicament, surprisingly so.

A few hours later, Captain Janeway found her mate still poring over the glyphs. She ducked her head through the door and stepped into the narrow room. The walls were brightly painted.

"Hello, darling," Janeway said.

Seven looked up, warmed by her tired smile. But she was dismayed to find her feelings of perturbation bubbling unexpectedly to the surface.

"Captain," Seven said formally. "I am nearly finished with recording these glyphs. They describe the ceremony to summon the photonic singularity."

Janeway nodded, as she looked at the wall glyphs. "We'll be staying for another month," she said, coming to stand next to the woman. Janeway looked up thoughtfully as the light played across the familiar planes of Seven's face.

Kathryn's proximity seemed to disassemble Seven from within. So she turned to her work. "The glyphs are quite complex," Seven replied. She pointed to a set of symbols that looked like flames inside of a cartouche. "This is their symbol."

Janeway tipped her head. "You don't want to talk about it?"

Seven looked up from the tricorder. "If by 'it' you mean the photonic singularity, then I am discussing it."

Janeway quirked a corner of her mouth and tried to speak. She chuckled again and shook her head. "You know perfectly well that I didn't mean the photonic singularity."

"Ah," Seven said. "Then you were referring to the tattooed singularity."

Janeway's surprise quickly gave way to confusion. "Seven, I can't believe you just called him that," she said, watching her spouse carefully.

Seven flicked a brow. "I was attempting to use levity to alleviate the stress of the situation," she replied.

"Are you stressed?" she whispered, stepping closer to examine her eyes.

Seven studied Janeway's features, even the little point of a scar just above her left eye. Seven could hear the torchlight dancing with every draft. She could smell the dankness of meters and meters of solid rock and sand. She could hear the heavy silence within. Seven knew her exact coordinates, both on the planet and in the spatial grid. She knew the quantity of data she had collected, down to the terabyte.

What she did not know was the nature of anger. It was a big fiery ball burning inside of her. She had never known it was present. That is inaccurate, she thought. Seven had felt it when she had defied the Captain's order to save that member of species 8472, the one who had been captured and killed by the Hirogen.

The analysis her brain had dredged up was incongruous with this development. Kathryn was not in danger from Chakotay. Yet, Seven's respiration was elevated and her body was pouring adrenalin into her system.

"His treatment of you during the briefing was insubordinate. Furthermore, I cannot properly identify why I ever let that man put his penis inside of—"

"Seven!" Janeway had slammed her eyes shut to the visual while the tips of her pinky and ring finger massaged the middle of her forehead. "Let's not go there." She opened her eyes. "Hmm?"

Seven returned to her work on the tricorder. "It is puzzling nonetheless and beyond maddening for me. Perhaps I should dismember him—"

"Seven," Janeway whispered.

"…Limb by limb. Or program my nanoprobes to induce a nasty—"

"Seven of Nine," Janeway said more forcefully.

The Borg finally looked up from her work.

"I'm a big girl," Janeway said, pronouncing every word with painful emphasis.

Seven surveyed the Captain, head to toe. "You are not a girl," Seven replied, a little confused by the comment.

"It's an expression. It means that I am perfectly capable of defending myself."

"Yet you did not."

Janeway squinted, searching for the right words. "You cannot fight my battles, Seven."

"You fought mine just yesterday when the Boolarai wanted to wed me to one of their own."

Janeway frowned slightly. "That's not the same thing and you know it."

"I know no such thing, Kathryn. I do however know that this double standard is inequitable. I would defend you against anyone or anything. I would not even withhold my own life, if required."

Kathryn's expression softened and little gurgle of affection caught in her throat. "I know, my darling Seven," she whispered. "And I love you, too. But there are some things only I can do."

Seven took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "As a Borg drone…" Seven looked away briefly. "I would have terminated his life signs. As your Astrometrics Officer, I would not have inquired into your exchange with him. But as Seven of Nine your spouse, I…" Seven's face held a faint expression of confusion and anger. "Words are elusive."

Janeway pursed her lips and rubbed her spouse's triceps. "I can see that the briefing upset you, Seven. I'm sorry. But we—"

Janeway's hand jerked away just in time for a crewmember to round the corridor. Ensign Swinn looked slowly between the two women, studying their postures with a strange quirk to his lips.

"Ensign Swinn?" Janeway enquired. "Did you need something?"

"No, Captain," he finally said, stepping into the small stone enclosure. "Commander Chakotay asked that I locate you and advise that all teams have reported in except Seven of Nine."

"We'll be out shortly, Ensign. Thank you."

Swinn gripped a hand behind his back and made a tour of the hieroglyphs. "Any luck, Seven? With these drawings?"

Seven tipped her head at the strange Ensign. He'd been called up from the lower decks for assignment, as part of the Captain's morale boost to re-integrate the once-fractured crew. She'd heard he'd been a hatchet man for Chakotay during their six months adrift in the Class X nebula. But he did not seem to engender trust.

"Luck is irrelevant," Seven finally said. "I have recorded the glyphs and will utilize the assistance of the Boolarai to decipher them."

Swinn chuckled at her reply. Before Seven could ask what he found humorous, Swinn had asked to be dismissed.

"We'll be out when Seven has completed her scans," Janeway informed him. "Dismissed."

He nodded once. "I'll inform Commander Chakotay."

Janeway's hard face softened as she turned once again to focus on Seven. "When you're ready to talk, will you please let me know?"

Seven nodded. "Indeed," she said. "And my scans are now complete."

Seven moved toward the door, but Janeway caught her hand. She twined their fingers, stepping closer to search Seven's face. "I have more to tell you."

"Yes?"

"Chakotay has agreed to stay with the crew during that time. Evidently, the mystery intrigues him."

Seven nodded, offering no comment.

Janeway stepped closer, allowing a single fingertip to brush stray blonde strands behind Seven's ear. "I'm sorry," Janeway whispered finally.

"For what do you apologize?"

Janeway shrugged a shoulder and her tearing eyes darted away from Seven's. "Instead of a honeymoon, you got…" She gestured at the wall. "Work and now stress and…."

Seven tenderly placed her fingertips under Janeway's strong chin and lifted it up. She brushed her lips against the Captain's. "You did not cause the lights to appear." She lifted an eyebrow, waiting to see if Janeway would attempt to contradict that fact.

"No," Janeway said. "But I promise, I'll make it up to you. We'll honeymoon on earth for an entire season."

For the first time in three hours, Seven's heart felt lighter. She playfully smoothed Janeway's strong chin with her thumb. "I look forward to it," she said, before dipping her head for another pass at Kathryn's mouth.

Janeway pulled away and straightened, as if the last few minutes had not occurred.

Seven was always amazed how she could turn herself on and off at will. There was no doubt from her posture or demeanor that she was now thoroughly Captain Janeway. Pips was submerged, along with Seven's chaotic emotions.

=/\=

Captain Janeway logged herself, Seven and the rest of the away mission from duty, giving them an entire shift for rest. Only after they were alone in the turbolift did Seven of Nine point out the complication of their schedule.

"It is six hundred hours, Captain."

Janeway looked surprised. "Is it? I thought it was much earlier."

"Eridani begins academy classes at eight hundred."

Janeway pinched the bridge of her nose, realizing the implications. "She'll be getting off when we go back to work." She offered Seven an apologetic frown. "I'm sorry. I think I've been used to you carrying that load."

"Then I suggest that perhaps we could determine Ensign Wildman's availability to chaperone her after five hundred hours."

"Brilliant idea," she said. Then carefully, Janeway stepped closer, studying her spouse as she ran a single fingertip down the length of her arm. "I know you would like to talk but I was thinking. We could have breakfast with Dani. Maybe walk her to the holodeck."

Seven offered a small smile. "I believe she will appreciate the time we spend with her. As for our discussion, I will require time to appraise my emotions."

Janeway's fingertip swirled in circles on Seven's shoulders. "Take all the time you need," Janeway said. Suddenly, Janeway frowned, as if she had nightmarish visions of Seven doing something inappropriate because of the negative feelings she was contending with. "On second thought, don't let this fester, Seven."

"I will advise you when the internal appraisal is complete."

=/\=

The couple chimed the door of Ensign Wildman's quarters to find it in complete disarray. Toys were strewn about the living area. Padds were stacked on an end table. A pillow and blanket still lay haphazard on the small sofa.

Meanwhile, Naomi and Dani were engaged in a "tug o'war" of sorts with a dark-haired, three-year-old boy. Each girl kneeled on an opposite end of the living room, trying to sweet-talk the boy to their respective side.

"No, over here!" Naomi insisted, shaking a blue rattle.

The boy stood in the middle. His dimples deepened with every giggle. He was clearly teasing them by taking a step toward one, to incite the other. Then he would pivot in the opposite direction to provoke the first.

Both women gasped when realization hit of the boy's identity.

"Hey, Duke," Dani coaxed, flourishing a flashing red ball.

With the door sliding closed behind them, Naomi finally looked up. "Oh, Seven! Captain!" She jumped up to hug Seven, who returned the affection easily.

All eyes turned to Dani, who grabbed the boy and jostled him playfully. "I won!" Dani said. "Naomi lost!"

"I did not!" Naomi protested.

"Naomi, is that your brother Dukat?" Janeway asked.

The girl frowned to see the chubby boy giggle helplessly under Dani's tickling onslaught. "Yes, Captain. That's my brother," she said. "The traitor."

"But he's…." Janeway's words strangled in her throat at the exponential growth the four-day-old had experienced.

Janeway swayed slightly and leaned on a table for support, until Seven took over with a firm hand under her elbow.

"Naomi, where is your mother?" Seven asked, looking around while she supported her mate.

"Oh, she's getting dressed. I promised to watch Duke."

"We promised," Dani corrected. She held up the boy's arm and cheered, as if he were in a vast stadium of admirers.

"Yeah, we pwomithed," the boy said in a soft-palate lisp.

Janeway turned startled eyes to her spouse, who inhaled deeply at the implications.

"'Yes, we promised,'" Naomi corrected the boy.

"I say dat!" he replied with a pronounced frown.

Naomi rolled her eyes at Seven and the Captain, as if enjoying a quiet moment with peers. "She's a terrible influence," she whispered.

"I heard that, Naomi." Dani held Duke's hand and shook it, as if she were a ventriloquist and he the puppet. Duke wagged a finger at his sister. "Duke, tell Naomi she stinks," Dani whispered rather loudly.

Naomi gasped.

"Eridani," Seven said, trying to avert a pint-sized war. "Is this how you greet your mother and I?"

Dani balled up her body behind the boy's and buried her face in his back. She waved his arm at her parents. "Duke," she whispered. "Say 'Hi, Mom. Hi, Cappie.'"

The boy dutifully mimicked his friend, giggling at the game.

Naomi crossed her arms. "Like we can't hear you telling him to say that?"

Janeway and Seven shared a meaningful look, knowing that was entirely beside the point.

"Dani," Janeway said, finally able to stand on her own. "Enough is enough."

Just then, Ensign Wildman rushed out of her bedroom. She was zipping her tunic as she stopped short at the sight of her commanding officer. "Captain! Seven! What are you two doing here?"

"Our research on the planet's surface had concluded," Seven replied. "We came to collect Eridani for breakfast and determine if it would be an imposition for you to watch her tonight?"

Still hiding behind the boy, Dani had somehow persuaded little Duke to shake his head. Then the little imp began to nod instead and Dani started tickling him unmercifully in revenge. "You are a traitor!"

Samantha smiled nervously, after looking at the spectacle. "Of course, Seven. Anything we can do to help."

"The investigation into the light phenomena requires a work shift to coincide with the planet's nocturnal cycle," Seven explained.

"Yes, I would say it does," Samantha replied. "I would love to help with Dani. She's no trouble."

Dani crinkled her nose at Naomi, who went to her mother's side.

"Thank you for helping us out in a pinch," Janeway said.

"Anytime," she replied.

"Eridani," Seven replied. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

Dani relinquished the boy, to howls of protest. Naomi rushed to him but he toddled after Dani, who managed to scoop him up and handed him to Ensign Wildman. Dani offered a smug look to Naomi.

"Dani? Aren't you going to thank Ensign Wildman and Naomi?"

"Thanks," she mumbled behind her back.

"Dani," Janeway chided. She took the girl by the shoulders and about-faced her. "Look them in the eye."

"Thank you," she repeated again.

"You're very welcome," Wildman and her daughter said simultaneously.

No one but Dani saw Naomi stick her tongue out.

=/\=

"Are you prepared to consume biomatter?" Seven asked as the trio walked together to the turbolift.

"Yeah," Dani said, watching her hand as it glided along the bulkhead.

Captain Janeway and Seven continued to study the girl, but she made it difficult by falling behind.

"Come on, Dani," Janeway said playfully to the lagging child. "Your warp engines seem to be offline."

Seven smiled faintly at her spouse's humorous attempt, but Dani merely complied by jogging up to and then passing them.

"I guess."

Dani found her black boots fascinating as the trio waited for the turbolift. Her mothers continued to stare at her, dumbfounded about her aloofness.

Inside the ascending turbolift, Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine watched a strange series of emotions sweep over their child as she stood with them. She leaned into the siding, resting her temple against it. She appeared to be studying the grain of the tritanium.

"Did you have fun?" Captain Janeway asked finally.

Dani let her hand drop and she twisted to rest her back against the siding, putting her directly in front of her mothers. But then she closed her eyes. "Sure."

Kathryn looked up inquiringly at Seven, who merely gave her own look of puzzlement.

"You seem to get along with Dukat?"

Dani shrugged, as she began to pat the siding arhythmically with her palms.

They soon arrived at the Mess hall, to find the line for breakfast out into the corridor, an uncustomary occurrence.

"What's the line for?" Janeway asked one of the crewman.

The man's eyes widened and then he stared between the Captain and Seven, swallowing hard. "Uh, word's out that Neelix scored some of the Boolarai food."

Janeway rose to her tiptoes to see, laying a hand on Seven for balance. "I can't see what it is," she said. "But it must be good. Every seat is taken."

"It is scrambled eggs and hash browns," Seven replied evenly.

Janeway looked at her, startled. "Can you detect it with your Borg enhancements from the molecules in the air?" She waved a hand in the air.

"No, I read the menu board," she said.

Janeway jostled her head in mock laughter and then lightly elbowed Dani. "Your mother is a laugh a nanosecond. Wouldn't you say?"

Dani nodded and turned to face the crowded Mess Hall. Janeway lightly touched her daughter's shoulders and was about to inquire if she wanted to return to their quarters for breakfast when one of the nearby crewman began to quiz her.

"So, Captain?"

Janeway's smile was less than genuine, but she turned her full attention to the woman. For a nanosecond, Janeway couldn't place her name until… "Yes, Crewman Dorado?"

The woman rubbed her protruding belly absent-mindedly. "I hear the Boolarai have a really odd customs."

Dani suddenly turned and stopped, her back to her mothers. "I have to go pee. I'll be back."

Kathryn shared a concerned expression with Seven before addressing the crewman. "Odd is a matter of perspective," she replied diplomatically. "They found it appalling at first that I was the commanding officer because I'm a woman."

"Ah," the woman said. "So…."

Janeway got the impression she was on a fishing expedition.

"Did you participate in any Boolarai customs?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," she replied. "Two. First I defeated one of their champions in an armed sport."

Dorado's eyes widened slightly. "So that's not an exaggeration."

"No, I probably have scars to prove it. But I'm not going to show you." Janeway's smile was genuine. The Captain surmised Dorado had heard about the wound when her eyes tracked to Janeway's gluteus maximus.

"What about…?" Dorado's head involuntarily jerked to Seven. But when the pair made eye contact, the crewman focused back on Janeway. "Um, what about the second ritual?"

So that's it, Janeway thought. "Wasn't there an announcement made about the ceremony?"

Dorado nodded tentatively. "Oh, sure. But…" She shrugged a shoulder. "Some practical jokers can carry things too far."

Too far. The words echoed in Janeway's head. She realized belatedly that Dorado wasn't the only one curious about the answers. Everyone in the corridor was listening. Terrific, she thought. Our first breakfast together as a married couple and I've brought Seven and Dani to be on display.

"No joke," Janeway finally replied a little more tartly than she intended.

"I didn't mean it like…" Dorado turned a pale pink.

Janeway lifted her chin to address the wider audience. "It's absolutely true." Her heart fell a little sick when she heard some of the gasps. But she was buoyed by a few sporadic claps.

She took Seven's hand, kissed it and lifted it up. "This is my bride!" Janeway held Seven's hand tightly, receiving a firm grip in reply for which she was eternally grateful. "Thank you for asking, Crewman."

Dorado seemed surprise by the last comment. "I was just, um, curious." Then her eyes tracked down to Janeway's expanding belly under a tight tunic. "Um…" She looked away.

Janeway bit her lower lip as she looked at her spouse. There had been no announcement about their child, but they'd discussed it in front of the entire away team. She raised her eyebrows in question. She knew Seven's absolute mistrust of idle gossip. Except this wasn't idle or gossip.

Seven's nearly imperceptible nod was the green light Janeway needed. "We are also expecting our…" Janeway swallowed in a dry throat. She'd almost said first child, but thank her lucky stars she caught herself. That and the fact that Dani was still in the lavatory saved her from eight-year-old wrath. "Our second child. Congratulations to all of us who are expecting."

Dorado tipped her head in thanks. "When are you due?"

"Five months, I think—"

"Four months, three weeks, five days, eleven hours and twenty minutes," Seven replied succinctly. "When are you due, Crewman?"

"About four months, too. Ric and I are thrilled."

Janeway was trying to figure out to whom she referred, when Seven took the bull by the horns. "Lt. Ayala?" she asked.

"The one. We're thinking about getting married. We'll see."

It was Crewman Dorado's turn to move up, along with three of her companions. Seven and Janeway watched as the line got shorter. Dani came meandering back to them, frowning at the line.

"Have we even moved yet?"

"Some," Janeway said, putting an arm around her daughter's shoulders. She felt her stiffen but ignored it. Why Dani are you so surly? Janeway wondered. She hoped it wasn't another side effect of the theta radiation.

=/\=

Dani set a large plate of eggs and hash browns down, along with a large orange juice and milk. Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine watched her dig in for the second round of breakfast.

"Are you going to eat all that?" Janeway asked.

Stopping with spoon midway to her mouth, Dani said: "I'm hungry."

With a fork in her hand and her chin resting on the other hand, Janeway watched in bemusement as Dani ate the entire adult plate. "You really are."

"I want another hash brown," the girl declared, rising from the table.

Watching her return to Neelix' serving area, Seven said: "She has grown two centimeters since I measured her last."

"Which was when, darling?"

Seven turned sharply at the open use of the term of endearment.

"Did I say something wrong?" Janeway reached out and rubbed Seven's hand with a thumb.

"On the contrary," Seven said. "I am unaccustomed to your use of 'darling' in open."

Janeway's smile slipped a little when she looked around. The curious stares and a few reproachful gawkers made the rebel in Kathryn want to take Seven in her arms, dip her and kiss her deeply.

But Seven did not like to be on display, though she would say the attention was irrelevant. "Do you want me to stop?" Janeway whispered.

"No," she replied. "I find I take pleasure in it."

Janeway gave her a crooked smile. "Me, too." The Captain raised her hand to her lips and gently pressed them against Seven's knuckles.

Seven looked around.

"Are you embarrassed?"

"No," she whispered. "I am becoming aroused."

Janeway threw her head back and laughed loudly, finally drawing startled glances.

"Is that humorous?"

"Oh, no! Not under normal conditions, but in the Mess, with at least fifty sets of eyes, it's amusing that an innocent gesture of affection would stir you."

"Your lips are a potent force, Captain," she replied softly, glancing to one side as if to make sure they were not overheard.

"I'll remember that," she replied waggling her eyebrows for emphasis before taking a long sip of coffee.

Dani sat down without a word and began to plow through the next helping of hash browns.

"Your mother says you've grown two centimeters," Janeway replied. "I'd have to agree with her. No wonder you're starving. And here I thought you had a peg leg."

Dani stopped chewing and looked down at her leg, shaking it for good measure.

Janeway suppressed a smile when she saw Seven do the same examination of her daughter. "It's just an expression, you two," she replied mildly.

Janeway was tiring of the silent treatment already. So she decided to fill the void. "You know," the Captain said, trying to keep her tone breezy. "We are going to stay in orbit for another thirty days. I'm sure we could make another trip to the surface before the departure. Just the three of us. What do you think?"

"Um," Dani said.

Janeway crinkled her brow, not understanding why her nature-loving daughter appeared to be revolted by the very suggestion. "Now here I thought that was an offer you'd jump at."

Dani jerked her head up, but ended up staring at Cappie's pips instead. Her brows became red thunderbolts slashing over her eyes. "Um, if I have to."

Captain Janeway mouthed Dani's reply to Seven, who lifted a brow.

"Eridani," Seven said. "Are you feeling well?"

"Fine, Mom," Dani replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Perhaps you are upset then, as your demeanor is not customarily so curt."

"Or rude," the Captain added.

"I said I was fine. What's rude about the truth?"

Janeway and Seven both sat back in their respective chairs, watching their daughter eat in silence.

Lt. B'Elanna Torres broke the tense silence at the table with a question. "Already acting like an old married couple?" She sauntered in with a tray, followed closely by her husband Lt. Tom Paris.

The Captain knit her brows together, trying to understand the comment. Both of the lieutenants set their trays down at their table, as if they'd been invited. "It's so quiet at this table is all I'm saying," B'Elanna said.

She pulled out her chair and plunked down, diving into the hash browns with much Klingon gusto.

"We are studying our subunit as she consumes mass quantities of biomatter."

Dani groaned slightly and looked away.

"Oh, what's the matter, kid? Are you being smothered?" Paris asked.

He leaned in to bump her shoulders with his. She responded by a bump of her own and the first genuine smile that her parents had seen all morning.

"I'm just dreading staying with Naomi again tonight," she said, shoving the last bit of hash brown into her mouth.

"Hey, why don't you spend tonight in our quarters, Dani?" B'Elanna asked, giving the Captain a cheeky look.

"Seven and I will be on duty, Lieutenant," Janeway felt compelled to say.

"Oh, right. Gotcha," B'Elanna added with a wink. "So Dani, what do you say?"

The question brightened her face considerably, but Dani's features fell when Captain Janeway interjected a logical question. "Aren't you on duty for the Beta Shift with the rest of us?"

"Uh," B'Elanna sputtered. "Is this where duty actually means duty or it is a euphemism for—?"

"Duty shift is duty shift," Seven offered, a little puzzled by that exchange.

Janeway patted Seven's arm. "I'll explain later."

"Explain what later," Dani asked, after chugging some milk.

"Never mind," Janeway replied with strained patience. She turned pointedly to her Chief Engineer. "Lieutenant, you were saying?"

"Chakotay informed me that I could assume my regular shift. Evidently, he had one too many engineers."

"One too many?" Janeway asked.

"Oh, here he is now. With his first-string engineer."

Janeway turned to see her First Officer enter the Mess Hall with Marla Gilmore. She was smiling; he was not. But he wasn't scowling. "That's progress," Janeway said.

"What is progress?" Seven asked, studying her ex-lover as they passed.

"Détente," she replied, with a nod toward Commander Chakotay.

"So can I stay in their quarters tonight?" Dani asked her Borg mother.

Seven turned to sit square at the table, looking between B'Elanna and Tom. "Dani will require sufficient biomatter to consume—"

"I know the feeling," Tom replied, rubbing his belly. He was still not fully recovered from his brush with a revved up metabolism that was turning him into a plant.

"She will require supervision of her homework."

"Particularly the mathematics," Janeway replied. "She tends to get bored with the more mundane problems."

"Sounds just like me," B'Elanna beamed a smile at the girl. "So I know exactly where to look."

Dani nodded once, as if she approved.

"You must eat all of your cruciferous vegetables and not just your protein," Seven said, earning an enthusiastic nod from her daughter.

"Uh, Seven," B'Elanna said leaning in. "You'll have to tell me what cruciferous vegetables are first so I can torture the kid right."

"Broccoli," Dani said glumly.

"Oh," B'Elanna said, cupping her throat. "Don't make me…" She spun around to gag. When she turned back, she pounded her own chest with a fist. "Sorry about that. In my condition…" She gestured to small swell of her belly. "The thought of certain foods make me want to puke."

Captain Janeway gave a look of disdain while Dani laughed out loud. "Me, too! I always wondered why someone can't invent a broccoli pill?" Dani said.

B'Elanna pointed her fork a Dani. "That you can swallow whole!"

"Without tasting."

"Back home, it'd make a fortune in latinum!"

"An idea worthy of the Ferengi," Tom added playfully.

Dani crinkled her nose at Tom while Seven called the Captain, who was looking at their daughter as if she were observing a fascinating experiment. When she didn't answer, Seven leaned in closer. "Pips!"

Janeway's eyes widened. Seven had never called her that publicly, at least not on the ship. The name brought chuckles from B'Elanna and Tom, who rubbed the side of his mouth with his thumb.

"So, tell me," Tom said, in the classic opening of a set up for some unfortunate soul. "If the Captain is Pips, does that make you 'pipsqueak'?" He tweaked Dani's nose, earning a pint-sized death glare, while Janeway tried to suppress her laughter. Even Seven was amused by the question.

"I don't like that name," she hissed.

Janeway clicked her teeth and sat back, shaking her head. "Now you've done it, Dani m'girl."

"What have I done?"

"Saying you don't like a nickname is an open invitation," Janeway said. She playfully elbowed her spouse. "Isn't that so, Andy?"

"Indeed."

"Pipsqueak, it is," Tom said before taking another bite.

Dani crossed her arms petulantly. B'Elanna gave the girl a sympathetic look. But when Tom chuckled out loud, Dani bolted up and slammed her hands on the table.

"I'm going to school now," she said in clipped tones.

"We have not settled this evening's caretakers," Seven pointed out mildly.

Dani crossed her arms. "So can I stay with B'Elanna?"

The Chief Engineer glanced knowingly at her husband, raising an eyebrow for emphasis. Tom Paris shrugged.

Janeway inhaled. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather spend time with Naomi—"

"I'm totally sure," Dani replied. "Even some aft hole lieutenant is better than—"

"Dani!" Janeway shouted.

Seven's "Eridani" was chiding but quieter.

B'Elanna nearly lost her milk through her nose. Tom dropped his fork.

"What did you call Lt. Paris?" Janeway snapped.

"Aft hole," Dani said as innocently as she could. "What's wrong with that? It's just a part of the ship."

Janeway narrowed her eyes. "There is no such thing as an aft hole, Eridani Elizabeth Janeway."

"Sure there is. There's the aft thruster and right next to it is the—"

Janeway raised an edgy hand. "Stop, Dani." Janeway shook her head in alarm. "That's not what you meant and you know it."

"Hey B'Elanna, are we sure we want a kid?" Tom asked, earning a frown from his wife and another glower from Dani.

"Apologize," Janeway said, enunciating every sound. "Now." Cappie's index finger pressed into the tritanium-top table.

Dani swallowed hard, staring at the finger.

"I said now, Dani." Janeway's gaze was sharp edged, but her voice was even and calm.

Dani jerked her head up to Tom Paris. "I'm sorry I called you an aft hole. I didn't mean to call you an aft hole, even though aft hole really isn't a real swear word. Not really. So I won't ever call you an aft again. Cross my heart."

Janeway worked her jaw. In the time she used to look around to see whether they were on anyone's radar, the corded vein at her neck had fallen. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Do it again," she said quietly.

"What?" Dani's crossed her arms in indignation. "I said I was sorry. What more is there to say?"

Janeway shook her head. "Your game isn't working. You know perfectly well your little comment was derogatory, whether it was pronounced correctly or not. Furthermore, half-hearted apologies are unacceptable."

Tom squared his drink with his fork and then laced his fingers in front of him. "Captain, it was my fault," he replied. "I provoked the kid."

"No, Tom. Dani has to learn to control her temper," Janeway said. Then she quirked a corner of her mouth and pointed a finger at the young couple. "Just like your daughter will have to learn, no doubt."

"That sounds like something Mrs. Janeway may have told you." Then B'Elanna did her most affecting southern accent, exaggerating the drawl. "'That Kathryn has a temper like a rattlesnake on a hot skillet.'"

Janeway gave her Chief Engineer an eye roll. "I'm from Indiana, not Atlanta, Lieutenant."

Dani's laughter was so loud and long, it grew silent until she exhaled with a sob. It also drew a second sardonic look from Cappie, who reached over and patted her back firmly.

"Easy there, Squeak. It isn't that funny."

The smile slid off of Dani's face.

"Squeak!" Tom declared. "That's perfect!"

"What's perfect?"

The question made Dani groan because its source was her arch-nemesis, Naomi Wildman, who looked expectantly between all the adults for a full explanation.

"Nothing," Dani said, as she tried to turn around.

Janeway caught her daughter's sleeve. "Not so fast, Dani. You still owe Mr. Paris a real apology."

Dani groaned as she leaned away from Cappie's grip.

"Captain," Tom said. "It's okay, really."

"No, Tom. Her character is developing as we speak and I don't want her to think she can get away with some creative wording, especially when you consider this provocation so minor." Janeway tugged lightly on Dani, who reluctantly turned toward the table.

"Something like what?" Naomi asked.

"Eridani called Mr. Paris an ass," Seven said.

Janeway's dismay was matched only by Dani's indignation. "Mom! Why'd you have to tell her?"

Seven looked around innocently. "I did not realize it was confidential."

"Geez!" Dani said under fingers splayed across her face. "And I didn't say ass. I said aft. A. F. T. Aft."

"Why would you do that?" Naomi asked, after studying the shrinking figure of her shipmate.

"Because I called her Pipsqueak," Tom said a little maniacally.

"Pipsqueak." Naomi tasted the word, repeating again.

Dani threw her hand down and looked at Tom. "Mr. Paris, I'm really, really, really sorry for what I said. Really sorry."

As she turned to go, Seven called out. "Eridani, please return your dishes to the recycling station."

Dani grunted, pivoted on one foot to grab her tray and sprinted to the recycling station across the room.

"She's pretty prickly," Naomi replied, as she watched her shipmate's mad dash across the Mess.

Seven finally stood up. "The time index for Voyager Academy is nearly upon us."

Naomi's eyes widened as she checked her chronometer. "Oh, man, I think I'm going to be late." She nodded to each adult in turn and wished them a good day before she dashed out.

Dani was fast on her heels, until Captain Janeway called her back. "Your mother and I thought we'd walk you to the holodeck."

"You don't have to walk me to class," Dani said. "I know the way."

"That's not the point." Janeway's reply lost all its patience. "And we are walking you."

Dani watched the exit sliding closed behind Naomi. "Why does Naomi get to walk to the holodeck by herself?"

Janeway rolled her eyes again, threaded her arm through her daughter's and tugged her reluctantly along. "Oh, it's terrible, the things we make you do."

=/\=

The trio entered the turbolift in silence. Dani watched her feet, while her parents watched her.

"Deck 6," the Captain called out.

Dani was leaning against the lift plating, fingering the controls.

"You have once again become brooding and uncommunicative," Seven said. "As you were prior to breakfast."

"Why do you have to label everything?" Dani asked without looking up. "I'm not a petri dish or a spatial anemone."

"Anomaly," Seven corrected, tipping her head. "Cappie and I are both scientists. Labeling is the method we use to systematize."

Dani stood up and looked into her Borg mother's eyes. "I don't want to be systematized or quantified or lined up or put in order. I get plenty of that stuff."

"Then tell us, Dani," Janeway said softly. "What is it you need then?"

Both parents watched unshed tears fill her eyes and a veil of pain fall across her young face. She opened her mouth, but looked apologetically at Seven.

The turbolift dinged and called out "Deck 6" in its feminine voice. Dani brushed her forearm across her eyes and, before stepping out, she murmured: "Nothin'."

Her mothers marched double time to catch up with her. But the girl managed to keep a pace ahead and held her silence like a broken arm. At Holodeck Two, she barely mumbled a good bye to her parents' feet and entered the makeshift classroom.

Both women stared at the closed holodeck door. "I don't understand," Janeway sighed.

"Something is amiss," Seven replied.

"I'll say," she whispered. Janeway inhaled deeply and then slowly blew it out as she let her head loll backward.

"We should allow Eridani a cooling down phase," Seven said.

"Our separation tonight will be providential, given her reluctance to talk."

Seven reached for Janeway's hand. "You are fatigued," Seven said. "It is time for you to go to bed."

"All right, darling. All right. Your place or mine?"

Seven slipped her hands behind her back and nodded in the direction of home. "We will have to decide where to establish permanent residency. The Captain's Quarters or the VIP Quarters."

"That's easy," Janeway said. "The Captain's…" Janeway swallowed when Seven stopped. The Borg's gaze was laser-like in its intensity.

"Have you considered where we shall accommodate the children?"

"I suppose the living area would be out of the question."

Seven studied the Captain's face for a moment before replying. "You are attempting humor."

Janeway nodded once and tipped her chin in the direction they should go. "I am," she said. "I think it's obvious that I have to give up my quarters for the greater good."

Seven eyed her suspiciously. "The greater good?"

"Of course," she said. "As the Vulcans say, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one."

"I see," Seven said, strolling leisurely beside Janeway. "It is very noble of you, Captain."

"It's selfish," she said, sounding out every syllable.

Seven's head whipped around at the unanticipated comment. "How so?"

"Because I'm hoping to be rewarded. Intensely and gloriously rewarded."

Seven touched the controls to the VIP quarters and the door slid open. Seven threaded an arm through one of Kathryn's and they walked in side by side. "Oh, you will be compensated beyond your wildest imagination."

"My dreams can get pretty wild," Kathryn said as their bedroom door slid closed behind them.

Janeway felt herself warm at Seven's mysterious "Mona Lisa" smile. The younger woman tugged her toward the bed and began to undress her. She let her eyes close as she felt the loving hands tug her tunic open and then push it off.

Seven stepped closer as her hands slipped Kathryn's sleeves down behind her. The knowing hands went to unfasten her trousers, causing the Captain's middle to jerk.

"You're very good at this," she murmured, eyes still closed.

"And I shall become better," Seven replied, her attention rapt on the zipper.

Kathryn slitted her eyes to covertly watch her work. As with everything, Seven gave herself over to the work it required to undress her wife.

The cool air of their quarters hit Kathryn's thighs.

"Step," Seven ordered. Janeway obeyed.

The long, slender fingers trailed up the outsides of her thigh to find the hem of her undershirt. "Lift," the Borg ordered again. The Captain obeyed.

Seven affectionately patted the small swell forming in the Captain's lower abdomen. "It is gratifying to see the child's progress," she whispered.

Kathryn placed her own hand over Seven's warm one.

Then she heard rustling of linen and an order to lie down. When the linens covered her, Janeway opened her eyes inquiringly, satisfied to see Seven stripping down to underwear—pink bikinis. Kathryn chuckled once and then licked her lips to see the two creamy globes sway as Seven crawled on all fours toward the middle of the mattress.

"Do I amuse you?" Seven asked.

"Oh, no," Kathryn replied in a husky voice.

Seven adjusted herself to gather the Captain in her arms, one hand caressing her hip and their legs tangled. Kathryn murmured contentment deep in her throat as she settled into the embrace, reaching up to take a generous breast in her hand. She flicked it once with her thumb and her hand fell away.

"I'm sorry," she garbled against Seven's neck.

"For what do you apologize?"

"We're finally alone and I'm too exhausted to make love."

"You have apologized three times today," Seven said, after pressing her lips to Kathryn's forehead. "There will be many, many days and nights for us to make love, Kathryn. Just know that I am most happy to hold you while you sleep."

"Tha's good."

Seven stroked her auburn hair, but knew the woman was not giving in to fatigue.

"Seven," she whispered against her neck. "Remind me to check in with the Doctor. I promised to submit myself for a more thorough exam after my…exertions on your behalf."

"By exertions, you are referring to our Wedding Night or—"

"Very funny," she mumbled. "I meant the challenge for your hand in marriage."

"Ah, that exertion." Seven stroked the woman's bangs gently. "Perhaps we could also inquire about the baby's health."

"That's the main reason," she replied.

"We could also inquire about Eridani's behavior."

"And the rest of the children for that matter. Duke's growth rate was…frightening."

Her voice trailed off and the Captain lost consciousness in the arms of her new spouse.

=/\=

The ambient lights of their bedroom switched to bright and a syrupy feminine voice announced that it was eighteen hundred hours. Janeway covered her head with a blanket. "I thought I set that alarm to gradual lighting," she murmured against the pillow.

Seven stepped from the ensuite into the bedroom, looking down at the mussed and sleepy form of her wife. She felt a surge of affection tinged always with passion. But the feelings were not enough to spare Kathryn a dutiful, but gentle admonition.

"Incorrect. I adjusted the cycle to switch to full immediately," Seven said, drying her naked form. She retrieved a biosuit while she watched the pregnant figure of her wife lying in bed.

Janeway opened a single eye to look at her surroundings. "Oh, I did that in my quarters."

"Your former quarters," Seven pointed out.

"My former quarters," she mumbled, stretching both fists high over her head. "Good morning."

"Good evening," Seven replied, leaning on the bed to kiss Kathryn lightly on the lips.

Kathryn rolled to her side, propping her head up in a hand as she watched Seven's finishing touches. "Are you going to do that often? All of the corrections, I mean."

Seven's brow rose, but she kept her gaze intent on pulling up the biosuit over her legs. "I will not be required to," she replied. "Once you acquire sufficient regeneration, your errors will be reduced."

Janeway closed her eyes and let her head fall back. "Why can't you just say, 'Pips, get some more shut eye?'"

"That commentary does not remotely approximate a remark of mine. However…"

Her eyes still closed, Janeway let a corner of her mouth curl in amusement, knowing what a sucker Seven was for hypothetical scenarios.

"…In the interest of dialogue, if I were to have suggested such an action, you would have pulled rank…"

Seven rose to her full height and put her hands on her hips a la Captain Janeway. Then she deepened her voice when she said: "'I'm the Captain. Voyager will implode if I'm not on the bridge.'"

Janeway bolted up, her mouth open in mild shock. "I most certain would not say that!"

Seven adjusted her cuff. "Perhaps not directly—"

"Not at all!"

Seven offered a faint smile to smooth the ruffled feathers of her spouse. A knee mounted the mattress, followed by the other. She crawled to the middle of the creaking bed where Kathryn remained still slightly bemused. She cupped her cheek and kissed her tenderly. "It was hyperbole, my Kat." She kissed the woman again and this time, Kathryn kissed back. "To make a point."

"Point taken," she replied, wrapping her arms around Seven and hauling her down on top.

Seven rose to her elbows and brushed some stray auburn strands from her forehead. Kathryn rose to kiss Seven, tugging on the lower lip as she parted.

"Our time allotment is insufficient."

"But our shift doesn't start for another four hours."

"But I have made an appointment with the Doctor for you."

Kathryn frowned.

"As you requested, last night."

"I can't imagine what kind of state I was in last night to voluntarily make that request." Kathryn threw her arms against the mattress, sighing heavily. "We just got married and already I can hardly find time with you."

"I am regretful as well, Kathryn. But there will be other moments."

"You keep promising me that."

"Indeed," she replied. "It is my intention to give you as many moments as possible for the rest of our lives."

"You say the sweetest things," Kathryn whispered, embracing the Borg lying on top of her.

Seven's open mouth descended on Kathryn's. For several wet, blissful moments they lost themselves in a soulful kiss that made them tremble to their toes. When Kathryn began to moan, Seven pulled back.

"There is insufficient time for more."

Kathryn's complaint was a throaty gurgle.

Seven sympathetically kissed her chin and jumped off the bed, straightening her biosuit. "You have exactly fifty-five minutes and ten seconds on my mark in which to dress," she replied, staring intently at the chronometer. "Mark."

Kathryn frowned, but pulled herself out of bed. "I've always appreciated precision, but…." The words died on her lips as she caught a perplexing reaction from Seven. "What?"

Seven's eyes—though always large and generally mellow—were the size of Bolian melons. Her full lips pressed together. Her chest rose and fell like she'd run a marathon on a gas giant. Her hands were balled into loose fits and her stance…. Where have I seen that stance? Janeway thought. Ah, one of the times she was angry that I beat her in Velocity.

"What's the matter?"

Her face flushed back to a blank look and Seven turned to find her shoes. "Nothing is the matter."

Janeway tugged the woman's hand. "Please, Seven. Don't shut me out. Not now. Not today."

Seven searched the room, as if she'd misplaced something. But her posture was poised to remain standing there in front of Kathryn. "I have read much about romantic love and the nature of couples."

"Thirty gigaquads of data, as I remember."

"I have gleaned what I believe to be the proper role of a wife and yet…."

"You feel like you have to measure up to some idealistic notion of a wife?"

"No, not 'some idealistic notion,' but your notion."

Kathryn softened her look. "Darling," she whispered. "I've never had a wife. I've never thought about having a wife. I never realized I needed one, until you came along. I only require that you be yourself."

"I was myself, when I became angry about Commander Chakotay's treatment of you…."

Janeway drew her lips into a thin line, but nodded and inclined her ear for Seven to continue.

"I was myself when I corrected you earlier and when I followed up on a medical request for you. Then again when I was informed you about the amount of time you had remaining. Yet, you were not satisfied."

Janeway inhaled deeply. "About the time and the appointment, I was kidding."

"Kidding?"

"Yes, a playful teasing."

"But you did not laugh."

She shrugged. "I can be a little dry sometimes. That's just me. But as for Commander Chakotay, that's ship's business. It is nothing personal and I will not allow him to make it so."

"It is personal to me. His treatment of you was hurtful to me."

Janeway touched Seven's cheek with the back of her fingers. "I know, Seven," she whispered. "I am not sure what I would do if he or anyone tried to harm you in anyway—no, I do know. I would try to protect you."

"As I want to for you."

"By doing so, you play into his illusions that it is personal. What we found together is beautiful and mutual and is wholly unrelated to our relationship to him. If he can't accept that, he'll never find his way back to the ship."

"You speak metaphorically," Seven said looking away.

Janeway knew it was a way to stall. Seven still needed more time. Janeway pinched her chin delicately and tipped her head, offering Seven a gentle kiss. "Yes and just know that I don't expect you to agree with me. But don't shut down."

"I ask that you be cautious."

Janeway's lips tugged into a crooked grin. "I always try to be."

=/\=

In sickbay, the Chief Medical Officer closed his tricorder, after running it along the contours of Captain Janeway's body. "It says you are in excellent health," the Doctor said. "And that Baby Girl Janeway is growing at average rates."

Janeway and Seven shared a look of relief at the news.

"Have you given any thoughts to a name? Although, I'm not the best one to ask about that arena. The difference being of course—"

"No, Doctor," Kathryn said, jumping down from the biobed and zipping her tunic. "We haven't had time to give it much thought."

"Doctor, when did the babies born here, such as Dukat Wildman, begin to exhibit extraordinary growth?" Seven asked.

"As soon as they were born," he said. "If that's what you're worried about, there really is no need to be. As with all of the children on Voyager, their pituitary gland is spitting out human growth hormone like it was white blood cells during Tarkalian flu season. If I tried to stop it, the treatment might be worse than the disease. They'll grow up faster, but as far as I or Dr. von Behring can see there have been no other ill side effects."

Captain Janeway scratched her chin as she measured her words. "Dani has been very moody and morose. Have you checked her recently?"

"As a matter of fact, Dr. von Behring did." He made a face. "It seems he's okay to interact with and I'm still hologram non grata for some odd reason. We are the exact same program. Surely the girl knows that."

"Doctor—"

"She even told him about how she'd savagely vandalized my image output. They had quite the bonding laugh over that little episode."

"What was Eridani in to see the Doctor about?" Seven asked.

"Oh, Lt. Tal Celes sent her in a couple of days ago because Dani was complaining about headaches."

"Headaches?" Both mother's alarm went straight to red alert.

"Do the headaches have anything to do with her Borg cerebral implant? And why weren't we notified?"

"You weren't notified because nothing checked out. Her vital signs were normal. Her implant appeared to be dormant. The two had a nice long chat…." The Chief Medical Officer bobbed his head sarcastically. "Like old friends."

Janeway rocked back to her heels. "Then what could explain her behavior?" She and Seven cited numerous examples.

The Captain found the Doctor's diagnosis frustrating.

"It's puberty, pure and simple."

"She grunts," the Captain clarified.

The Doctor stared up wistfully. "At this point, I could regale you about my own adolescences—"

"You didn't have an adolescences," Janeway said with an edge of annoyance. "You're a hologram."

He frowned at her. "I most certainly did! It started with my amnesia."

"You exceeded your memory capacity, as I recall. I'd hardly call that adolescence."

"I said started. Of course, while I was developing, I had to fight the Kazon Nistrim, rescuing the ship a number of times—"

"Is there a point, Doctor?" Janeway asked, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips.

"Just like me, Dani is trying to individuate. I developed an interest in Opera and Dani has developed an interest in…" He waited expectantly for her answer.

Janeway winced. She had no idea what her daughter's interests were, beyond sullen silence and mischief at school. "Science!" she said triumphantly, remembering their exploits on Gweelee in the interests of knowledge. It was a love they both shared, but could hardly indulge on the ship. "Yes, science. Don't you think, Seven?"

Seven raised a brow. "Eridani has also become interested in the mechanics of…" She spared a look at her spouse. "Interpersonal relationships, particularly procreation."

Janeway turned three shades of red and had to lean into the biobed for support. "God, it is puberty."

"I can certainly help in that arena. I developed a spiffy little program about reproduction for Seven. But we never got beyond the third slide, as I recall. I can dust it off and—"

"Doctor, I think Seven and I can field those questions ourselves, when she tells us she's ready. What I need is some explanation for her behavior."

"Dani needs for you to accept that she is different."

"But she is," Janeway replied with a puzzled expression.

"Yes, she is. She is different from you and she is different from your average child. But she wants you, Captain, to validate it."

"That's all?"

"That's easier said than done. It's too bad you can't talk to your own mother right now. I'm sure she could help jog your memory about your own emerging adolescence. Hormonally, it's a roller coaster ride."

What Janeway wouldn't give to hear her mother's voice. It was just as well, she thought. Visions of being rejected by her traditionalist mother loomed large for Janeway.

With brutal willpower, Janeway slammed down those thoughts. She wasn't going to think of her mother. Right now, she had to focus on her daughter.

=/\=

Captain Janeway stepped into Holodeck Two. The running program was of a quaint country school with wooden desks in a single wooden room. Through the window panes, she could see a green meadow below snow-tipped mountains.

Lt. Tal came round her desk. "Captain! Did we have an appointment?"

Janeway looked around at the class. It was incongruous for them to be working on padds in the Victorian setting, but there was something so innately charming it made her smile. "Not at all, Lieutenant. I just had a couple of questions for you. Do you think you could spare a moment in the corridor?"

"Yes, of course." Tal turned to the six youths who comprised her students. "Be sure to read your history assignment while I step outside. I believe it's the Klingon Civil War chapter."

=/\=

Lt. Tal immediately crossed her arms as they turned to face each other. "Is there something wrong, Captain?"

"Well, that's what I'm here to find out."

"Did…is it something wrong with me?"

"Oh, no! Lieutenant. You are doing a marvelous job. I couldn't be happier. I'm here because of Dani. She's not seemed herself since we got back from the moon's surface. Have you noticed anything unusual?"

"I did send her to sick bay a few days ago."

"Tell me about that."

Lt. Tal related the events. "We were on a holographic replica of Voyager's bridge, reviewing some important emergency procedures when Dani started to look hypnotized. Have you seen her do that…." Tal lifted a fingertip to eye level and she focused on it, dragging it back and forth. "Her eyes just start to shift, left right, left right, left right—"

"I understand, Lieutenant, though I've never seen it."

"At first, I thought she was playing 'hara.'"

"I'm not familiar with that term."

"Oh, on Bajor, there is a cat species called hara that feign sleep to avoid predators."

"We have something like that on earth. Possum. So was Dani playing possum or hara?"

Lt. Tal smiled. "I believed so because…." The smile vanished and was replaced by tension. Tal looked away.

"Lieutenant?"

"I try to respect the emerging beliefs of the students, Captain. I am violating a trust by telling you this."

"I understand and as far as it doesn't impact the safety of this ship, I'll agree to keep it as well."

Tal nodded and took a deep breath. "Dani is not fond of lessons dealing directly with the ship or Starfleet. She said she hates—her word—Starfleet. So…I thought she was playing hara."

Janeway was pensive, looking at Tal but not seeing her. "Hm. Anything else, anything at all?"

"Since I'm spilling the Springwine, I believe several of her classmates are developing an…interest in her."

"An interest?"

Tal slammed her eyes shut. "A romantic interest?"

Janeway rubbed her lips together. She wanted to yell, "My daughter is eight!" But Tal knew that, of course.

The Captain considered getting the names of the swooning classmates, but decided against it. The temptation for a little motherly shakedown was too great.

"Does she seem to return this interest?" she finally managed to ask.

"I'm not sure. She's friendly with most of her classmates. All I've seen are friendly interactions."

"What about Naomi?"

Tal inhaled deeply. "Those two are like vinegar and oil."

"Rivals, I think."

Tal nodded. "I concur. I'm sorry I couldn't provide you anymore information."

Janeway lingered, though. "What about you?"

Tal was startled by the question. "We've always had a great working relationship. Dani is a great kid, Captain. I adore her—"

"She has a crush on you."

"On me?" Tal's voice squeaked a little. "I've never noticed. There's nothing inappropriate, Captain. I assure you!"

"Oh, Celes," Janeway said with a softer voice. "I didn't mean to imply there was. I just thought that you may have seen her interest and that she's too busy swooning over you to complete her assignments."

"Swooning?" Tal shook her head again. "I don't see it. She turns in her homework in a timely manner. And…" Tal frowned.

"What?"

"Billy and I—Crewman Telfer and I are engaged. We've been waiting for the right moment to announce it."

"A complication for someone who has a crush, certainly. But we've all lived through something like that." Janeway looked up belatedly. "Congratulations, by the way."

"Thank you and we're not pregnant."

"That's makes one crewmember who isn't." Janeway chuckled as she stepped away. "Thank you for your time. If you think of anything else, please let me know."

=/\=

Several weeks later, Janeway made her way to the Bridge one evening.

"Tuvok to Captain Janeway."

"Janeway here," she said as she ascended the turbolift.

"I have concluded my investigation into the apparent Borg message you received regarding Seven of Nine's coordinates."

"What did you find, Tuvok?" she said.

"The trail was not difficult, once you discarded your paradigms. However, I must warn you that it involves your daughter."

Janeway sighed and dropped her head. Now what? "I'm on my way. Janeway out."

=/\=

Captain Janeway tossed the padd unceremoniously onto her desk. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. "Your certain Dani sent the message then?"

"I would not have filed my report with you if I were not certain, Captain."

"I know," she said quietly with a sigh. Lt. Commander Tuvok had been quite thorough with tracking the subspace message that Voyager received ostensibly from the Borg Collective several weeks ago with Seven of Nine's coordinates. He'd managed to track its reception on Voyager, its use of the Hirogen communication array and its origin inside the VIP quarters. The one thing remaining was the motive.

"Computer, locate Eridani Janeway."

"Eridani Janeway is in the Captain's Quarters."

She stood up, pulled down her tunic and nodded toward her Security Chief. "Mr. Tuvok," she said. "Follow me."

As they stepped out of her ready room, she looked over her shoulder without slowing down. "Mister Tuvok, you have the conn," she replied, as she headed toward the turbolift.

"Aye, Captain," was all she heard as the doors slid closed.

Captain, captain, captain. Janeway rubbed her head. "Now I know why most captain's aren't married." That wasn't fair to Seven, and she knew it. Their relationship wasn't the problem.

She groaned when she thought of Dani Janeway. She was eight going on fifteen, made all the more intense because of the shock of hormones pouring prematurely through her every growing body.

She stopped briefly at the door of her quarters, formerly the VIP quarters, to catch her breath. Then she barreled in, ready to meet whatever lay ahead.

Lt. Tal surprised her. She and Dani were sitting together playing Parises Squares and they both looked up. "Captain," Lt. Tal said. "I wasn't expecting you or Seven until much later."

Janeway smiled painfully, searching the living area for her partner. "Where is Seven?"

"Oh, she was called back to Astrometrics. I think a routine diagnostic uncovered some problems that couldn't wait. So she asked me to sit with your daughter."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Janeway said. "For helping out in those situations. It's difficult to find someone to help us."

Lt. Tal stood up, rubbing her palms along her thighs. "I better go," she said, smiling down at Dani. "You have homework, missy. And don't think I'll let it slide just because you were playing a game with me."

Dani blushed, and tipped her chin. "I'll get it done," she whispered.

As Tal walked toward the door, Dani accompanied her. Tal stopped and looked at her commanding officer. "Thank you, Captain—"

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

"Welcome." Then Tal patted Dani's shoulders. "Don't be late, Dani. And I'll see you in the morning."

Dani's reply of "With bells on" brought a brilliant smile to Tal's face. She waved and left. Dani continued to stare at the door for a minute too long.

"Are you okay?"

The contentment she held vanished. The girl grunted and started a trajectory toward her room.

"We need to talk."

Dani stopped and without turning around, asked, "About what?"

"Join me on the couch. Please."

Dani walked as slowly as she could toward the couch, taking the long way. Janeway had already seated herself on one couch, one leg crossed over the other and an arm dangled on the back. She watched her daughter's exasperating meander, but didn't let it get to her.

Dani finally found a seat on the other couch, as far from her mother as she could get and still be seated in the living area. She sat straight, looking toward the double large window in the bulkhead and away from her mother. And she waited.

"Before we begin, is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Janeway tipped her head and leaned forward, trying to catch her daughter's glance.

Dani's eyes darted around the window, corner to corner and then scanned the middle. She pursed her lips and shook her head.

"All right, then. More than several weeks ago, Voyager received a message." Janeway carefully studied Dani's reaction. "From the Borg."

Dani swallowed hard and nodded once, still looking away. "The Borg," Dani repeated.

"Dani," Janeway whispered. "It's hard to talk to you when you won't look at me."

Dani jerked her head toward her mother, blinking several times before shifting her focus to someplace to just the left of her eyes. Janeway unconsciously tugged her ear, wondering what was of interest there.

What is she hiding? Janeway pulled forward, resting her elbows on her knees. The Captain peered up intensely, her eyes searching the familiar planes of her daughter's face.

"The message contained the exact coordinates of your mother's location on the Boolarai moon."

Dani stared expressionless at her mother.

Janeway edged up on her seat. "It turns out the message was faked."

Dani stuffed her hands under seat and fell back. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Janeway said, rising from her seat. She walked over to her wife's workstation, punched in some keys. Her intense scrutiny of Dani made the girl squirm and she'd grown increasingly ashen.

"A simple numeric message was produced and cleverly masked with Borg encryption codes. Then the message was bounced off the Hirogen communications array."

Dani shifted in her seat and her gaze threaded off.

"It was sent from this terminal." Janeway stabbed the worktable with a single finger. "Using your identity codes."

Dani slammed her head around, a leg vibrating like a misaligned conduit.

Her eyes rounded and she swallowed hard. "Maybe someone…"

Janeway narrowed her eyes, just a millimeter. It was enough of a warning shot that Dani let the words die on her lips.

She sat up, ramrod straight. Her eyes danced around the room.

Janeway inched closer. "How did you know where your mother was?"

Dani closed her eyes.

"Dani? Open your eyes and answer the question."

She opened her eyes. She made to talk but words didn't come out.

"Why have you lied to me?"

Dani's face hardened at the question. "Me? How come you didn't invite me to your wedding?—" Janeway paled. "That's like lying, too. And why did…"

Dani brushed her eyes angrily, but she was unable to contain a loud sob. "Why did Naomi get to go, but not me?"

Janeway pulled back, inhaling deeply. This was a complication she did not anticipate. It was also the linchpin that explained the last few weeks' worth of surly comments and gruff answers.

Janeway started to tell her daughter that her safety was at stake and that was more important than anything. Yet the tears pooled in Dani's sky blue eyes said different.

Inside of her, the Captain warred with the Mother. For long minutes, Janeway heard the familiar thrum of the ship and her daughter's occasional sobs. The ship would get them all home. But this was her flesh and blood. Her father, Edward Janeway, had given everything for Starfleet. There was little left for Katie Janeway and her sister, Phoebe. I will not be my father, she thought.

Finally, Kathryn moved to sit beside her daughter, pulling her close. She pressed her daughter's ear against her shoulder and rubbed her head. "Dani," she whispered. "Is that what has been bothering you for the last few weeks?"

"Two weeks, five days and…" Dani glanced at the chronometer. "Seven hours and thirty-seven minutes."

"We are so sorry, Dani. We just…." We just what? she thought. Never considered her? Didn't think about inviting her? To Janeway's mind, the excuses seemed to make everything worse. None of them would mitigate the pain they had caused. "A great deal of turmoil happened on the moon prior to the actual ceremony. Then I was trying to make sure that the Boolarai ceremony didn't include some needlessly harmful rituals and…"

Janeway pulled the quietly weeping child into a tight embrace. "They are all just excuses, my darling girl. It was a horrible mistake. It means only that your parents are imperfect. But we love you very much."

At the last word, Dani melted into Janeway and sobbed, tears wetting them both. "Oh, baby," Janeway said, holding her tight. "It's okay, Dani."

After a few moments, Dani's sobs began to subside. Janeway handed her daughter a gray handkerchief with the Starfleet logo in one corner.

Janeway pulled back to search her daughter's face. As far as little Dani Janeway knew, they were married. It's why she and Seven had held to the pretense earlier in their parental relationship. It's why they set up "house" on Gweelee. The pieces of the puzzle—the ones that kept her on an uneven ground with her daughter—they were beginning to take shape. But the fuzzy picture Janeway could see was beginning to terrify her more than the unknown. But that would have to wait.

Janeway was slow to speak, picking each word with care. "We were under the impression that you believed we were married."

Dani's face went blank. The grief just vanished, replaced by something more adult. Janeway mapped the emotion at the young girl's eyes, circled in dark rings.

"Was I wrong?"

Dani tried to pull away, but Janeway held her still. "No, Dani," she replied. "I think we've got a lot to talk about. I need you to stay with me, hmm?"

Dani flicked her eyes up, giving her a pleading expression.

"Dani?" Kathryn whispered. "Talk to me."

With her eyes still lifted up, Dani's voice broke. "You'll be mad."

Kathryn took the girl's strong chin, so like her own, between a thumb and finger. She gently tipped her face. "Tell me anyway."

Dani brushed a wet eyelash with her knuckle. "What was the question again?"

"For starters, how did you know where your mother was?"

Dani's whole body sagged and tears began a fresh path down her cheeks. "Um…."

Kathryn drew back to study the girl. Disturbing questions came to mind, ones she'd shoved down. Who was Dani Janeway really? Could a child manipulate DNA? "Or we could even start at the beginning. How did you know where Voyager was in Delta Quadrant? Are our timelines that similar?"

Dani shrugged a shoulder, tipping her head into it. The Captain knew that as her daughter's way of trying to hide without running away. Kathryn inhaled deeply, relinquishing the girl. She'd lost control. She was talking to her daughter as if she were a spy.

Dani leaned back on the couch. The pair stared at each other. Kathryn finally laid a calm hand on her daughter's knee. "Let's start over. How did you know where your mother was being held? And why didn't you just tell me?"

Dani looked down at her gathered fingers. "Someone told me."

Kathryn shot up to her feet. "Who?"

Dani shrank back. Tears spilled again from her red-rimmed eyes.

Kathryn covered her mouth with a hand and watched as Dani's shaking fist brushed her tears. She sat down again beside the girl and took her hand, kissing the knuckles. "Dani, I'm scared for you, baby. That's all. Try to answer."

"I don't know," she whispered. In another breath, Dani explained about the text messages she received.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Dani groaned and rubbed her face with both hands.

Kathryn drew her back. "How do you know the messages are real?"

"Because they're right! Mom was where she was. Your sickness was…" Dani trailed off, her eyes wide in alarm.

"You mean that you knew about what was wrong with me on the planet?"

"Not me," Dani clarified again. "The messages. I told…" Dani turned away again.

Kathryn filled in the blanks, clarity shedding light on the puzzle. "You told your mother."

Just then Seven of Nine strode into their quarters and stopped. Her eyes tracked to Dani's puffy eyes and her trembling hands. Then Seven gauged the tension around her wife's face.

Dani rushed to her feet, throwing herself into Seven's body. "I'm sorry, Mom," she mumbled against the blue biosuit.

Seven rubbed the girl's back and scrutinized the Captain, a resigned expression on her face. "It is fine, Eridani," she said. "I will explain the rest."

Dani looked up with tear-soaked cheeks. "Can I go now?"

"Yes," Seven said.

"No!" Janeway replied.

Janeway stood up, looking down at the indentations she and Dani had created on the couch. She was fully Captain now. The internal mother was a distant echo within. The Captain was responsible for everyone's safety, including her family. She had to be the Captain. It was paramount.

"I would like for us all to speak together about it," she replied. "I want to be…caught up." She'd gentled her voice, trying to avert another explosion.

Seven looked down and smoothed the worry lines from Dani's brows. "It is time, Eridani."

The girl dropped her arms in acquiescence and was led by the hand to sit on a couch. She flung herself next to her Borg mother, eyeing Janeway warily across the room.

Seven began a brief history of Dani's communications from her Borg implant. She kept her voice neutral, as if she were reciting a routine systems check report.

But Janeway began to pace, growing more agitated with every passing second.

"Who is supplying this information?"

"The informant is unknown," Seven said.

"Unknown," Janeway said in a faraway voice. She scratched her head. "Weren't you concerned about the information and its accuracy?"

Seven lifted a brow. "Perhaps it is from the future."

"The future!" Janeway stopped, horror etched on her face. "Do you know how many Starfleet regulations that violates? Not to mention the big one—the Temporal Prime Directive!"

"We are not Starfleet—Dani and I."

"But I am, dammit! Did you think of that?"

"Indeed," Seven said. "That is why I instructed our daughter to keep the information strictly confidential."

"Even from me?"

"It was…necessary."

Janeway's jaw muscles rippled as she bit back on her molars. She dropped her face in her hand, massaging her temples for a moment. When she looked up finally, she was composed again. "When we return to Federation space, I will have a lot of explaining to do," she replied softly.

"When that time comes, I will stand with you, Kathryn."

Kathryn's gaze tracked back to Dani, who was leaning on her mother's bicep, her eyes drooping in fatigue.

"So did these mysterious communications have anything to do with trying to capture the photonic energy a few weeks ago?"

Dani looked up and pursed her lips. "Yeah," she said. "I was told to try."

Kathryn considered what they'd learned from the incident, though not enough at this point to secure themselves or the ship from them. But it was certainly more than her bridge officers had managed to find.

"Did these text messages reveal anything else about the photonic anomaly?"

Dani shook her head. "Just the once."

"So you heeded the text message and tried to capture one."

"I didn't want to," Dani pointed out. "But I did and I was punished."

"Oh, my little love," Janeway whispered, inaudible to the girl. But she and Seven shared a meaningful look.

Kathryn walked cautiously toward the girl, sitting nearby but not too close if Dani was reluctant. But Dani's hopeful face looked into Kathryn's and the corners of her mouth just edged up, ever so faintly.

"I wish you would have told me—but I understand why you didn't," Cappie said.

"Am I going to be grounded?" she whispered.

Cappie laughed quietly, letting her fingertips run along the girl's jaw line. "Not today." She laid a hand on the girl's knee. "I've been so hard on you. I didn't know about the messages. I hope you can forgive me."

Dani shrugged, as she allowed a fingertip to graze the seam of the Captain's tunic sleeve.

"You're the only Cappie I have," she whispered.

Janeway engulfed the girl in a forceful hug, before she'd even finished speaking. "Oh, Dani," she whispered into her ear. For the first time, Kathryn understood the weight of what the child bore on her shoulders.

"I think I was fumbling in the dark before," she admitted. "I don't like running into walls."

"That's why I tried to help," Dani agreed.

"You and some mysterious person or entity out there." Janeway gestured toward the window, trying to keep her growing alarm from showing.

Kathryn released the girl and wiped a tear that had rudely fallen. "Promise though. No more secrets."

Dani sniffled. "Not a chance," she said.

=/\=

After they'd finished the discussion with Dani, Seven went to tuck their daughter in bed. When she returned, she found Kathryn hugging herself as she gazed out the porthole at the distorted star field.

Seven came to rest just behind Kathryn.

"Don't," Kathryn hissed. "Don't touch me, Seven."

Seven held out a glass of milk, that Kathryn accepted, murmuring her appreciation with the first drink. Her belly was protruding well past her breasts now and her body ached in the most ridiculous places. But tonight, Kathryn was focused on the ache in her heart.

"You have lied to me for most our relationship." As she turned, Seven could see the banishment of Kathryn the woman in favor of the Captain. "Did you realize that?"

"That is a distortion."

Kathryn's face contorted. Seven recognized the frustration but it turned quickly into something else. Anguish. Three small lines between her spouse's eyebrows furrowed deeply. She wanted to smooth them away with her lips. But she also recognized the famous Janeway fury.

Kathryn flushed under the Borg scrutiny and she firmed her jaw. "Why? Why did you lie to me for the past six months?"

Seven closed her eyes, pressing her lips together. Perfect images of that moment in Gweelee City's plaza when Eridani had revealed one of her secrets played like a holovid against her visual centers. Eridani seemed so young then, compared to now.

"Seven?"

Seven opened her blue eyes and inhaled deeply.

Kathryn was aware that Seven was not prone to the usual human habits of anxiety. So for her to display them meant she'd lowered her shields.

"Kathryn, do you recall our mission almost eighteen months ago for the U.S.S. Relativity?"

Kathryn squinted. "Relativity." She said the word slowly as if it didn't ring a bell.

Seven waited, knowing that her own memories of that particular mission were fuzzy, despite her eidetic memory. Two Seven of Nines had to be reintegrated from several timelines. Only her Borg technology had allowed her to retain the memories of the intact timeline. It was a strange mission from Captain Braxton, a Starfleet officer who served 500 years in the future. He'd contracted temporal psychosis and was attempting to destroy Voyager, unbeknownst to his earlier self.

"What about Captain Braxton?"

Kathryn's eyes lit up. "Yes, I know him. He…" She turned wide eyes on Seven and her face lit up as memories spilled into her consciousness. "We prevented a self-serving Starfleet officer from the future from destroying Voyager."

"Tempus…"

"Fugit."

Seven nodded gratified that Kathryn could finish a maxim that Braxton had evoked.

"What does that have to do with our dilemma?"

"During my briefing, Captain Braxton warned me about the Janeway Factor."

Kathryn's eyebrows became angular scrawls above her eyes. "Never heard of it."

"You would not have. It was a personal theory Braxton had developed to explain your major timeline incursions."

"Timeline incursions? I've never—"

"You changed the timeline at least three times, according to Braxton. In each case, he had to repair the damage you created, which in turn caused his mental lapse."

"But I don't remember."

"No, you would not have recalled how you set Voyager on a collision course with a Krenim timeship."

Kathryn shocked expression told Seven that her wife had no recollection of the events. "But I can't remember doing that and if I did, why are we are on Voyager now?"

"Your suicide mission reset the timeline."

Kathryn plunked herself down hard on a sofa, deeply disturbed by the news. "I can't even imagine under what circumstances I would have considered that an acceptable alternative."

"You had been warring with the Krenim timeship for a year. Voyager was damaged beyond repair. You had scattered the crew."

"Scattered the crew?"

"You were the only one to remain behind on the ship during this last assault. Your weapons were taken offline and your shields had failed."

Kathryn blew out a slow breath.

"Your bravery returned space-time, saving hundreds of worlds from the ill effects of the Krenim timeship."

She shook her head. "I vaguely remember Braxton and…" Kathryn looked up at Seven. "Our involvement. But I really don't remember the Krenim timeship. How can you?"

"Braxton detailed your time incursions during my training period," she said, she sat beside Kathryn, putting them knee to knee. "In any case, Captain Braxton referred to the Janeway Factor, where you—and I quote—have a knack for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, especially when it comes to time travel."

The comment brought a thoughtful look. "But I'm a Starfleet Captain. My oath was to uphold the Temporal Prime Directive, along with other regulations. I would not have just flaunted time itself for convenience or whim, especially when it comes to my crew!"

Seven smiled, leaning closer. "And I am your wife. I have been your wife, legal or not, since the first day we made love. I would not have just flaunted time, Starfleet regulations or my pledge to you for any convenience or whim, especially when it comes to my family."

Seven reached out slowly to lightly touch her fingertips to Kathryn's knees, half fearful that she would pull away. She smiled faintly when the Captain did not.

"My motivations were many, including the need to protect Eridani—"

"I understand that, Seven. I want to protect her, too. But how do you know that these messages she receives are from a benign source?"

"I have only the record of the warnings she has received. They have protected her life and yours at every turn."

"What is the source of the information?"

"By my readings, the messages originate within the Borg cerebral implant."

"Inside? You mean there are no transmissions, EM bands, subspace readings?"

"None on any known scale."

Kathryn stared at Dani's door. Her expression was both pensive and alarmed. "I want to protect Dani, too," she whispered, finally looking back at the Borg. "Being kept in the dark…" Kathryn's face twisted into a pained expression. "Has left me with a severe disadvantage."

"Words cannot express my contrition," she said. "However, it was a calculated risk because, as you have taught me, at times, Logic fails."

Janeway quirked a corner of her mouth. "I can't believe you—of all people—just said that."

"I must admit that I am unsettled to consider that logical has is flaws and limits. But if it did not, you and I would not be married."

"Mm, touché," the Captain whispered finally. She took a step toward her spouse. "Can you at least understand how it feels to know that your own wife lied to you for nearly eight months?"

"I cannot undo any of it," Seven said regretfully.

Kathryn eyed her from the corner of her eye. "I don't believe I'd wish it, even if you could."

Seven fidgeted a little. "Could you ever forgive me for the violation of trust?"

"I would not have preferred your plan, but as you have ably and subtly pointed out, you were faced with decisions that I cannot possibly know in retrospect."

"Is that an affirmative?"

Kathryn reached up and ran a finger along Seven's jaw line, lingering at the chin divit. "How can I not forgive you?" she whispered. "You are the only Seven I have."

Seven took Kathryn's face between her hands. She gently pressed their lips together and then enfolded the Captain in her arms. "Thank you."

=/\=

Kathryn and Seven made love slowly, treasuring each touch, savoring each kiss and reaching a climax together with much mutual oral attention.

In the afterglow, Kathryn and Seven stretched out together, leisurely on their own bed. Kathryn propped a head up and glanced down at her wife whose eyes were closed in an uncharacteristic look of repose.

Kathryn tapped Seven's thigh. "If you turn over, I'll scratch your back."

Seven's eyes snapped open and she couldn't move fast enough to roll over. "I find your back scratches to be nearly as satisfying as holding you in my arms."

Kathryn laughed before she kissed a sinewy shoulder. She lightly dragged her fingernails from the woman's thigh up across her ass cheek, drawing a loud moan. Seven seemed to need a great deal of physical affection before and after making love. Kathryn surmised that it was the effects of being deprived of basic human touch from the time she was six years old until just two years ago.

When Kathryn drew her nails down for a second pass, the moans of appreciation were greater. "I love you," Seven murmured against the pillow.

"Oh, darling," she replied. "And I adore you." She kissed the woman's ribs, just beside her breast. Then suddenly Kathryn giggled.

"Did my skin tickle your lips?"

As she continued to scratch Seven's long body, Kathryn laid her cheek on Seven's back. "A vision of you in a Starfleet science uniform came to mind. It was a fuzzy dream, so maybe I'm hallucinating but—"

"Braxton outfitted me in a Starfleet uniform as an ensign."

"Ah," she said, closing her eyes at the vision. "It wasn't a dream."

"No, it was not. As I recall the uniform was excessively layered and the fabric was abrasive."

"Ah, poor baby," she said in a syrupy voice.

"You are mocking me."

Kathryn giggled against her back. "Only because I love you."

"That is a contradiction."

"Not at all," she said. "How many times have you done the same to me?"

"Exactly zero."

Kathryn laughed lightly at her wife's penchant for precision. "If you don't correct your answer, I will be forced to apply my digit to your funny bone."

"Borg do not possess funny bones." Seven raised herself up, looking at Kathryn over the shoulder.

The woman's hair was mussed and she looked absolutely breath-taking.

"However in the interests of harmony," Seven said, "I will accede that I may—on occasion—seek to provoke you."

"That's better," Kathryn whispered. "Now back down so I may finish."

Suddenly, the red alert klaxon sounds. "Janeway to Bridge, report!"

"Captain, Ayala here. The lights are back! They just appeared out of nowhere only a few seconds ago."

"How are they reacting?" By this time, defying post-coital fatigue, she'd jumped out of bed, and was nearly halfway dressed, as was Seven of Nine.

"There are orange red lights attempting to navigate toward Voyager and white lights swarming them."

"I'm on my way."

At the door, Janeway and Seven managed a hurried kiss whose target was fifty percent off the intended mark. "Be vigilant, Kathryn," Seven said, on her way to Dani, who stood at the door of her room in alarm.

"I always try to be," she said, blowing a kiss to Dani on her rush to the bridge. "It'll be okay, baby. I'll see you soon."

"Love you, Cappie!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as the door slid closed behind her mother.

"She loves you very much, Eridani," Seven said, drawing her close. "As do I."

Dani buried her face into her mother. "Mom," she murmured. "I think you should tell Cappie to get everybody home from the surface."

Seven pulled away and searched her face. "Did you receive another message?"

She nodded. "Four words. 'Shuttle crew back now.'"

"A rushed message," Seven mused. "Was this message delivered at what time index?"

"At the first note of the red alert."

=/\=

Captain Janeway and the Bridge Officers watched with alarm as a million billion lights darted on the viewscreen. Her eyes shifted quickly, but the incredible speed of the light and Voyager's own deep shudders made deciphering any pattern nearly impossible.

"Shields down to 75 percent, Captain," Tuvok said.

"Acknowledged," she said. "Some of the lights are shifting to orange and red from yellow, while others remained white. This is not the scenario we recorded on the holodeck. Under the exertion of trying to escape an eight-year-old and her Borg friends, the light shifted from white to yellow then orange."

Janeway's fingertips rubbed her lips. "Ensign Mulcahey, do the energy outputs differ based on color?" Janeway asked the crewman at the science station.

He pressed several keys. "No, Captain, they seem to be putting out massive amounts of EM radiation, consistent with our findings."

The ship began to shake more violently from an assault of orange lights on the port side.

"Shields down to 50 percent, Captain," Tuvok said.

"Divert secondary power to the shields, Mr. Tuvok!"

"Look, Captain!" Ayala pointed to the lower left of the viewscreen. "Those white lights are swarming the oranges as they assault our shields."

"Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway."

Still intent on the screen, Janeway answered. "Go ahead."

"Twenty-four crewmembers remain on the moon's surface."

Janeway raised an eyebrow at the odd message from her spouse. She crossed her arms, watching the light interactions multiply. Soon, the orange lights outnumbered the white, battering Voyager's shields mercilessly.

Voyager was being dragged from its orbit around the Boolarai moon. "Janeway to Voyager personnel on the surface, scramble the shuttles! The lights are trying to tow Voyager from orbit. We'll hold out as long as we can."

Janeway received a grainy, distorted acknowledgement from the surface.

"Janeway to Transporter Room, as soon as those shuttles are out of the Boolarai moon interference, I want an emergency beam out of all Voyager personnel!"

"Aye, Captain."

"Ensign Baytart," Janeway said. "Once the crew is aboard, I want you to tractor those shuttles. The lights will tow us. We'll tow them. I don't want to lose them unless we have no choice."

"I'll do my best, Captain."

"Mister Ayala, I want you at the helm."

Baytart yielded the station, finding another one for the tractor beam operation. Ayala began to touch keys on the console.

"Reverse engines, full impulse," Janeway ordered.

"Reversing engines."

Voyager whined and its hull shuddered under the strain.

"We are still moving away from the planet, Captain," Tuvok reported. "Our acceleration away from orbit has slowed to only 1 million KPH."

Janeway frowned. "Janeway to Engineering."

"Torres here, Captain."

"I want to reverse engines to warp 3."

"That's going to put a huge strain on warp manifolds."

"I need everything Voyager can give me," she snapped.

"Aye, Captain."

"Mister Ayala, jump to warp 2 on my mark."

He offered a grave look. The faint memory of what happened when they tried to resist the lights the last time surfaced. "Aye, Captain."

"Mark!" Voyager's shudders became seismic tremors on a magnitude they'd never experienced before. Conduits began to pop on the bridge, sending sparks flying across the deck. Plasma began to vent onto the bridge.

"Damage reports are coming in all over the ship, Captain," Tuvok said.

"Reroute all available—except shields—to the warp engine."

The Bridge crew could still see the blue moon in the viewscreen and that was something.

"Status of away team?"

"They are breaking the ionosphere," Mr. Kim shouted.

"Just a little more," Janeway murmured to the ship. "Mr. Kim, hail the Boolarai."

The viewscreen flickered and distorted the image of the Chief Minister Svante. "Dagecki!…an Amai Sadakee attack! The colors…are magnificent. But they…war. Never seen…"

"We regret to be dragged away before we were done."

"May the Amai Sadakee safeguard your journey."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Svante. Janeway out."

"Shields are failing, Captain."

"Route life support to the shields!" She happened to glance back to get a concerned look from the Vulcan. "Do it!"

"Captain Janeway, we've got the away teams."

"I've tractored the shuttles, Captain," Baytart shouted.

"Tuvok, status of inertial dampners."

"They are operational."

She nodded once. "Mr. Ayala, cut the engines."

"Cutting the engines."

With the touch of his hand, the crew lurched backward, some falling back.

"Captain, we are nearly 90 percent of the speed of light," Tuvok reported.

Janeway leaned forward, her hands squeezing the armrest of the command chair. "Damn these lights," she whispered. Then Janeway sobered again. "Reroute power back to life support."

Janeway and the Bridge crew watched the stars distort to long streaks of lights while they were hauled against their will to God-knows-where.

=/\=

Captain Janeway was leaning over a table in the upper deck of her Ready Room, pouring herself some tea when the door chimed. "Come!"

A tense Commander Chakotay stepped through, holding a crystal skull. "Good afternoon, Captain."

"Hello, Commander," she replied, gesturing for a sofa opposite her.

He took the stairs two at a time to join her, setting the skull by the teapot.

"Tea?"

He hesitated a moment in mid sitting. Finally, something in him relaxed. "Yes, please."

She poured it for him, offering him a delicate cup and saucer to his massive hand. She took her seat, crossing her legs as she came to rest and immediately took a sip. "It's decaf," she said, struggling hard not to show the disdain she felt for a drink with steam power when she was used to warp power.

His eyes flashed a quick glint and disappeared. "Hmm, it's good."

She gave him a chiding look, but decided against going any further. He'd been particularly distraught to have his decision to remain on Boolarai ripped from him, but he felt compelled to pilot one of the shuttles.

"How are you managing, Chakotay?"

"Well, let's put it this way, the Doctor's hasn't congratulated himself yet on finding a cure for my depression."

Janeway didn't laugh. Instead she marked the circles of his eyes and the lines on his face. "I wish we could take you back there."

He lifted a brow. "I think ten light years is a little out of your way."

She involuntarily looked out at the sparse constellation of stars. "I think we are as far from Earth as we were three years ago. A dubious accomplishment for a captain." Without thinking, Janeway asked, "Have you seen the latest Astrometrics charts?"

His frown made her turn back to the stars. Oops.

She heard him adjust on the sofa and clear his throat. "No, I haven't managed to get by."

Janeway set her cup down. "What the hell are we doing out here, Chakotay?"

"It's pretty clear the lights want us out here."

"What did you manage to find out about the skulls and how they work?"

"The crystals vibrate at a steady resonance," he replied. "As I remember, there were only twelve on earth."

"Is that significant?"

"The Boolarai summon the messengers with 13."

"For what purpose?" she asked as she handed the weighty skull back.

"For blessings," he replied crossly.

Janeway's mind darted. She wanted off that track. There was no way she was going to talk about her wedding. "Surely it isn't merely religious."

"No," he replied. "Just like our ancestors, the Boolarai believe the messengers bring in the seasons and keep the universe in perfect equilibrium."

She smirked. "Like the 'sun god' rode his chariot across the sky every day," she replied. "I don't need myths, Chakotay."

"Myths are based in observations of the natural world," he reminded her. "Their ultimate hypotheses might be wrong, but not the initial observations."

"So what? The lights are beneficial. To them. Have they ever observed an attack like we experienced?"

Chakotay let the skull drop to his thigh, held tightly by his large grip. "No, they seemed baffled by that. They have no recorded event where the messengers were actively belligerent."

Janeway scratched her forehead. "Maybe they are different somehow."

"That's a possibility we discussed. They've never seen the beings change colors or try directly to communicate with them. Maybe they have species, as we do."

Janeway looked up to study the man. His eyes were rimmed in red and he appeared gaunt. "What would you suggest for our course of action then?"

He retrieved the skull, holding out for the Captain to take. "This is the first skull we've replicated to precise and exacting measurements. They have an extremely complex atomic structure. The computer is materializing another as we speak. The huge energy reserve required to do just one means we'll have to space the thirteen out for the next six months, at least."

She got a pained look. "Then what?"

He shrugged. "See if we can summon them. Figure out a way to communicate."

"How do you communicate with light beings?"

"That's the other piece we'll work on."

She nodded. "When we come to an M class planet, will you choose to disembark?"

"I don't know," he said after a long moment.

Janeway finally sat back. "I want to tell you a story. Shall I freshen your tea before I begin?"

She poured some into both their cups and sat back. "There was once a woman warrior with a small tribe—"

"I think I've heard this before," he said with a half smile. His mind was flooded with memories of the time they were stranded on a planet alone together because they'd contracted some incurable disease.

"Not this one," she said. "So let me finish, hm?"

He nodded graciously.

"So this woman warrior was called on to hunt down a warrior of another tribe. This warrior had offended many, but he'd remained true to his convictions against all odds."

"He sounds like a loner."

Janeway faintly curled a corner of her mouth, but continued on as if uninterrupted. "Together they formed an alliance great enough to withstand sieges of the most fearsome of enemies."

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. Chakotay was intense.

"At one time, a devastating illness had intervened on a lonely island planet where they were stranded by their tribe. They could have become…lovers." Janeway found it difficult to maintain her eye contact, but she inhaled, counting to three before continuing. "Maybe even have children together."

He nodded, glancing down at his shoes. "I remember," he whispered.

"But their fate was the war path, not marriage in a foreign land. The obsession for home sustained them both however and their friendship endured. But their passions fell elsewhere: she with her ship and he with a beautiful maiden they'd rescued."

Chakotay sobered and he leaned back in his chair.

"The maiden changed her mind." Janeway paused for Chakotay's small wince.

"The woman warrior stood on one shore and the man on the other, divided by a raging river. The woman gestured with her whole heart for the warrior to return, but he sat down on the sandy shore, away from shade and fire."

"What happens now, Kathryn?"

"I'm not done," she replied. "The seasons changed, as the seasons do. The rains came. They drenched the warrior. The snows came. They nipped the angry warrior unmercifully. But he lingered by the river of rage, alone, without companionship or clothing, for that matter."

"And the woman warrior?" He asked, tipping his head in curiosity.

"She was joyful to see the angry warrior's sons and daughters grow strong but she wept…" Janeway's voice broke, her expression earnest and vulnerable. "Wept bitterly for her lost friend that he would not accept this joy that was rightfully his. "

He blinked furiously, as his eyes welled. Captain Janeway did not feel the need to contain hers. She pulled forward to the edge of the sofa. "Chakotay, I want you to stay with us. I want us to arrive home—together. We've been to hell and back. Please don't abandon us."

"But the women, I used them and I hurt them. Most are going to have my children and they can't stand the sight of me."

"Marla talks to you."

"Pity, I think."

Janeway did not see any pity. She saw the grief in Marla Gilmore's eyes, maybe more. He believes his victims pity him, when he should be the one who should… Janeway straightened. "You know I grew up among traditionalists."

He was confused by the change of topic, but it allowed him to tamp down his pain. "Yes, of course."

"There were many who refused to get implants to control their addictions—now hear me out. I'm not going to say what you think I'm going to say, okay?"

He nodded after a long moment and then shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"They submitted themselves to a weekly ritual to rid themselves of these cravings. The ritual was called a 12-step program and it doesn't involve a spirit guide."

Chakotay's eyes crinkled in appreciation of the jest.

"One of the steps was to make amends to everyone they'd hurt while trying to satisfy their addiction. Have you…ever considered this? The part about making amends, I mean."

"I—I thought my crimes were too far gone. I never imagined anyone could forgive me."

"Imagine it, Chakotay. For the sake of your children."