Author's Note: this is the first fanfiction I've ever published. I think I could expand on the exposition and descriptions more but this story has been floating in my head for months and I just really needed to get it started and on paper so to speak. All Star Trek characters belong to Paramount, all original characters belong to me. Enjoy.

ONE

2019 – Blue Ridge Parkway

She'd left her home of fifteen years and struck out on her own. Here she was, moving two states away for a new job, twenty-eight years old, so excited for her new chapter she could hardly stand it. Her windshield wipers moved to the beat of whatever song was on, although she was hardly paying attention to it. The road was windy, and it was raining, and she had lots on her mind. Lots of hope, and dreams for her new future.

She was not prepared for how sharp the turn was, or how the U-Haul should have been going much slower on that wet road. The world literally flipped upside down as the truck careened off the cliff, crashing into trees and tumbling down. As she held on for dear life, she knew it was the end. She prayed, and braced herself. The truck was flying through the air, and her with it. And then…it wasn't.

2379 – Delta Quadrant

Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager sat in her command chair, mindlessly tapping her fingers on her armrest. Things had been slow lately. Not many new planets or species to explore and encounter. No unusual nebulae or star systems. The Intrepid-class starship was cruising along on its long journey back toward the Alpha Quadrant.

Janeway stood and stretched, glancing at her first officer out of the corner of her eye. Chakotay looked as bored as she felt, as he sat pretending to read a personnel report.

I'd hate to say it, she thought to herself as she headed toward her ready room for a fresh mug of coffee, but we could use a little something to shake us up. But as she walked back out onto the bridge, sipping her coffee, she noticed that Tuvok seemed very interested in his console…

"See something out there, Tuvok?" He raised an eyebrow in response. "I am detecting a ship on long range sensors, however its warp signature and form are unlike any I have ever seen before." He tapped the console a few more times. "They are not headed straight for us but they have likely picked us up on their scanners by now…they are now headed on an intercept course."

"On screen," Janeway commanded as she strode back to her captain's chair and the viewscreen came to life. It was, truly, unlike any ship they'd ever seen. It was about three times larger than Voyager, sleek, a bronze-ish color. The crew could see three large nacelle-like appendages, what looked like three escape pods secured on the outside, and various bits and bolts just…stuck to the outside of the hull. The new ship came simply hung in space, hulking and waiting. The tension on the bridge had risen considerably. She turned to her Vulcan Chief of Security for clarification.

"Tuvok?"

"As I said before Captain, I have never seen a ship like this before."

Harry Kim spoke up. "Captain, I don't even recognize what their hull is made out of." Janeway and Chakotay spun around to face Harry, who shook his head. "Some materials are familiar, some duranium and tritanium, but…there are materials there the sensors can't make head nor tails of."

Janeway turned her attention to the viewscreen. The huge ship loomed over them, but didn't move.

"Have they raised shields? Charged weapons?"

Harry shook his head. "No, ma'am."

"Janeway to Seven of Nine." The former Borg would be down in astrometrics.

"Seven of Nine, here."

"Seven, do you recognize the ship on the viewer?"

Seven shook her head – an illogical reaction, since the Captain couldn't see her. "No, Captain. It is not a ship design ever encountered by the Borg."

She turned to Chakotay, who looked as lost as she felt. He shrugged. "'To discover new life and new civilizations', right?" He was about to say something else when the bridge was suddenly filled with a bright, white light. Everyone had to duck and shield their eyes.

"Report!" Janeway barked, although no one could really open their eyes enough to see their consoles. Tuvok managed to squint enough to check the sensors. "They are scanning us, Captain."

As soon as it started, the light vanished, and Tuvok' console chimed. "Now they are hailing us." The tension on the bridge increased.

Janeway smoothed her hair and tugged her uniform into place. With a glance at her first officer she ordered, "Onscreen."

2019 – Somewhere

Anna slowly opened her eyes. Am I dead? She thought. I should be dead. But…I'm thinking…cogito ergo sum…if I'm thinking, I'm not dead. A long pause. AM I dead? She tried to assess her body….everything seemed to be there: feet, hands, head, torso. She tried to move her head around to assess her surroundings, but found she couldn't move much. She should have seen the wreckage of the rented U-Haul, trees, dirt, rocks, etc., but instead she saw gray walls and what looked like medical equipment. The hospital? She thought. Did someone find me…? She tried to sit up and found she was bound to the table by some kind of metal arm. A beeping metal arm, slowly moving back and forth over her torso. She could hear the sound of steady heartbeat coming from the table next to her. She shut her eyes again as her brain tried to rationalize what was happening. I can hear my heartbeat. I'm in some kind of hospital or clinic. I'm alive.

She heard the clicking of footsteps – four footfalls, two people? – come towards her. Aha, she thought. Maybe the doctor and nurse. She was half right. It WAS the doctor, albeit a four-footed one.

She heard the footsteps stop next to her bed and she opened her eyes again, and found herself staring into the face of…her worst nightmare. She screamed and squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to free herself from the confines of the medical bed. Waking up to the sight of a giant cockroach-looking creature had been the farthest thing from her mind, and she continued yell and fight her restratints.

Had her doctor had eyebrows he surely would have raised one. His mouth clicked as he programed a hypospray and pressed it to her neck. The human girl calmed immediately and gave him a good look once again. His two front legs – what he assumed humanoids called "arms" – reached over and silenced the monitors and removed the restraint from her head. His wings fluttered slightly as she blinked owlishly at him. She spoke.

"Am….am I dreaming? What the HELL is going on?"

He spoke to her, his mandible clicking as he accentuated his words with his "arms." She stared at him blankly. Oh. The doctor thought. Of course. She can't understand me. He pulled a device out of the storage unit in the wall. The human was stammering and trying to talk to him as he calmly ignored her and began to program the device for her anatomy.

The infirmary doors whooshed open and the captain walked in. He strode up to the bed with their newest crew member (although she didn't know that yet), looked down at her and noted the fear in her eyes. She was so small and…hairless. He ran a hand through his mane: a habit when he was thinking. She had stopped yelling and was whispering something. He leaned down to hear her more closely.

"What…what is happening…where am I? Am I crazy, I must be crazy…" She was just muttering, looking at him but not really seeing him. He glanced at his doctor.

"K'porak, what did you give her?"

If K'porak could shrug, he would have. "Just something to calm her down. She was screaming in my face." He gave the device a final adjustment. "I belatedly realized she can't understand us. I should have installed her translation device as soon as she was stable." K'porak leaned down to install the small translator by her auditory nerve, giving her anesthesia in the process. She was unconscious immediately. "I think I heard her say something about a 'giant cockroach,' I can only assume she meant me." He glanced at the Captain as he finished connecting the translator to her nerves under her left ear. "You probably look like some kind of big Earth cat to her."

Captain Less smoothed his mane again. "Yes, I resemble an Earth lion." He chuckled. "You don't remember our crash course on Earth creatures?"

K'porak clicked his mandibles rapidly – his way of laughing. "Not really, I was more concerned with the trainings on human anatomy. And I'm glad I did." He stood all the way up and check his monitor. "Alright, by the time she wakes up the translator should be fully bonded and she'll be able to understand us." He gave his captain a sidelong glance. "I'm glad I'M not going to be the one to tell her she'll never see Earth again."

Less sighed. "Not for several hundred of her years. By the time we swing back around it will be completely different. But we had to leave so quickly…" his paw gently brushed a stray hair off her forehead. "She wouldn't have survived that crash if we'd left her. She should be grateful we managed to transport most of her belongings with her." He straightened up and stretched. "Besides, how many humans have a chance to serve on a Repellian ship? She'll be with us for a long time, I'm sure she'll be useful in the long run."

2379 – Delta Quadrant

Janeway didn't know what to expect when they answered the hail, but it surely wasn't to look into the face of a large, lion-like alien. That talked. Only…

What came out of his mouth sounded like growls and gibberish. He spoke for a minute, and then stopped, expecting a response. He seemed like he was friendly, but who could tell? He blinked at her as Janeway said, "what's happening? Is the Universal Translator down?" She glanced between Harry, Tuvok, and Chakotay. Harry was shaking his head. "We've never encountered this species before, the translator is working to get a translation going…" he kept tapping the console. The lion-creature spoke to them again, and this time the translator picked up "Earth," "space," and "oh look, humans."

Janeway decided to answer, just in case. "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" The lion-creature turned and seemed to bark a command off screen. Moments later, a young, human woman was thrust forward towards the screen, stumbling, and her face broke out into an astonished grin as she met eyes with the Starfleet captain.

"Wow! Human beings! It's been so long…" She had long brown hair tied in a bun on top of her head, and seemed to be dressed in patched and stained clothing. She raised a hand in greeting and Kathryn noted the thick work gloves on her hands. She works on their ship? She thought as the girl spoke.

"Captain…Janeway, was it? I don't know what the Federation is but I'm glad to see you. My name is Anna O'Hare, and….well it's a long story. But…" The girl – Anna – took a deep breath. "I didn't think there were any humans this far from Earth! I mean, besides me, of course. But I'm a fluke." She smiled. "I'm sorry, I talk a lot when I'm excited." She turned and looked at the lion-creature, who spoke to her while gesturing to the Voyager crew. "Oh, right." She turned back to Janeway and said, "Captain Less thinks it would be best if we met with you aboard your vessel and explained all of this in person, if that's alright."

Kathryn opened her mouth and closed it again. This was a lot to take in. "Give me a moment, Anna." She gestured to Tuvok to mute the hail, and turned to consult her bridge crew. "Thoughts?"

Tom Paris turned around in his seat at the helm. "She seems to genuinely be human. They haven't raised shields or armed weapons…" Harry was nodding his agreement. "From what I can tell, they have the weapons capability to blast us out of the sky, but they haven't shown any aggression."

She looked at Chakotay, who ran a hand through his dark hair. "I don't know." He answered. "If Harry's right and they could have destroyed us by now…" A sigh. "And who is the human woman who's never seen other humans in space before? Where is she from if that' the case?" Kathryn nodded and turned her attention to Tuvok. The Vulcan raised an eyebrow calmly.

"I would exercise caution if I were you, Captain. But her appearance does raise some questions, as well as her being aboard a vessel we have never seen before, filled with creatures whose language we've never heard."

Janeway nodded again. "I agree with all of you, including exercising caution. Let me speak to them again, Tuvok." The console chimed as the hail "unmuted."

"Anna, we will beam you and your Captain to our ship in ten minutes." Anna nodded. "Thank you, Captain." And the screen went blank. Kathryn turned to her crew once more.

"I'll bring them to my ready room. Tuvok, have a security detail meet us in transporter room two. You're with me. Chakotay, you have the bridge," she commanded crisply as she headed into the turbolift with Tuvok on her heels.