"You've found a way in?" Kathryn repeated. Her voice sound almost hesitant. "You're certain?"

"Positive," Seven said, moving to the briefing room monitors and tapping a button, bringing up the detailed scans of the medical facility. "It is apparent their shielding technology is not as advanced as their weaponry, possibly a reason for such high casualties in their war."

"Typical," B'Elanna said, rolling her eyes. "Making bigger and more dangerous weapons is easy, but no one ever thinks to stop and figure out how to defend yourself."

Seven ignored her and continued on with her briefing. "They use a primitive form of metaphasic shielding. Its energy pattern fluctuates periodically. I believe we may be able to take advantage of this."

"Of course!" Harry said, snapping his fingers. "Like we did with the Mokra in our first year in the Delta quadrant."

"Precisely, Ensign," Seven said. Chakotay tried to recall the details of that incident as Seven brought up some simulations she had programmed into the computer. "According to my calculations, we should be able to penetrate their shields with a transporter beam at intervals of approximately ten minutes to take advantage of these fluctuation windows."

"But we'll simply face the same problem we did then," Chakotay said with a frown. "They'll detect us breaking through their shields and surround us instantly."

"Not if we follow Ensign Kim's original idea," Seven said. "We can modify the ship's deflector to emit radion bursts at the shields which will disguise our transporter beam. They will not know where we have transported to."

It seemed reasonable, but Chakotay had his doubts. He snatched a glance at the captain. Kathryn was looking at Seven's screens with a look of fierce concentration. She looked exhausted, and she was paler than normal. But her eyes were as focused as ever.

"It'll give us a head start, but what then?" Tom asked. He too looked worse for wear, but Chakotay was relieved at least that he was no longer shouting at Kathryn, and had accepted the situation with the same gritty determination that she had. "How will we find her? That medical facility is huge."

"I believe I have the answer to that." The Doctor stood and pointed at the monitor. "I spent a great deal of time at this facility. Large sections were out of operation and others painfully primitive. I believe she will be kept in one of these sections here, the most utilised."

"And therefore the busiest and most defended," Kathryn said. Her hands were clasped tightly in front of her. "They'll be expecting something like this. They could have her under armed guard. We could walk into a massacre and place her into even greater danger."

"That is why I suggest sending multiple away teams," Seven said. "Some to hold off resistance, and one to extract the child."

"Why don't we just beam her out?" Neelix was frowning. "If we can beam in, then surely—"

"Unfortunately, that isn't an option," The Doctor said sombrely. "If we beam her out, she will still be sick. In addition to rescuing her, we shall also have to access their databanks to locate information on the treatment for the disease. I'm afraid she wouldn't last long on Voyager without it."

The warning lay heavily on them. Chakotay fought his own rising sense of panic. He needed to keep a clear head here.

"It still seems dangerous to me," Harry said. "We'd be running around down there trying to find her, no idea how much resistance we'd be up against, no idea where she was. Our sensors aren't able to get a clear reading beyond their shields. We can't even be certain she's there."

"It's the only chance we've got," Kathryn said. Her voice rang with a sense of finality. Chakotay looked at her and was heartened to see the strong woman he had come to admire and love surveying her ready room with an almost regal air. "This is risky, no doubt. And there's no guarantee of success. I don't want to order any of you to undertake this mission. Nothing will be said if you wish to remain on Voyager."

"Captain," Harry said, looking at the others and then between Kathryn and Tom, "I think I speak for everyone in this ready room and on this entire ship when I say that we're all prepared to take that risk. Amelia is part of our crew. And you've always taught us that you don't abandon a member of the crew."

His words were met with nods from all around the table. Kathryn swallowed and looked across the table to Tom, who also appeared lost for words. The two parents exchanged a glance. Chakotay could have cried himself at the look of pain he saw in their eyes.

It was pain he felt too, though he knew his was nothing to theirs. In such a short time, Amelia had become a huge part of his life. He loved her and knew he would do anything for her. Just like he would for her mother. Amelia, the child he had once abandoned, who he had been afraid to meet, who now meant more to him than almost anything else did. He would do all he could to get her back.

"I'll lead the primary extraction team," Chakotay said, making Kathryn turn her head to look at him. He met her gaze, willing her to know just how committed he was. "Me, Tom, B'Elanna and The Doctor."

Kathryn nodded after flashing him the tiniest of smiles. "Very well. Mr. Tuvok, I want you to coordinate the other teams. Five in total I think, enough to spread out over the facility and draw their attention."

"You're not going, Captain?" Neelix asked.

A flash of something came into Kathryn's eye for a moment before she shook her head. "I get the feeling that President Hopti won't be pleased when he finds out what's going on," she reasoned. "He'll order an attack on Voyager, and if it's anything like last time, we're going to be in for a tough ride. I'll stay on board to manage our defence."

Everyone there could see what it had cost her to make that decision. None would have blamed her for demanding to be at the forefront of the away team. But the captain took precedence over the mother where the safety of her crew was concerned. She had always relinquished control to her away teams, nothing was changing in that regard. But in these circumstances, he knew how difficult this was for her.

More than ever he found himself admiring her sheer strength of will, her selflessness.

"Make your preparations," she ordered. "We only have 10 hours left before their deadline. I want everyone armed and readied to transport in one hour. Ensign Kim, you and Seven are staying on board with me. I want you both to continue working to clear up the scans of the facility, try and narrow down the search area. Our time window is narrow, and I want us prepared for it."

She looked one last time around the room. "We are going to get her back. I trust each and every one of you."

They were dismissed, and the crew immediately stood and rushed to their various tasks. Chakotay lingered one long moment before leaving, turning to look back at Kathryn, who was staring out the windows down at the planet.

She had placed her trust in him to return her child to her. And Chakotay swore to himself that he would do it.

For Amelia's sake, and for Kathryn's.