The wind rushed out of her as her stomach made contact with the ground. She didn't have time to wheeze the air back in before she locked her elbows and willed her body to move. She rolled just out of reach of the boot that would have crushed her back and, from the sound of contact it made with the ground, snap her spine. Air filled her screaming lungs with relief but sent flames of pain searing across her abdomen.

"Move!"

Strange that after all these years it was still the voice of her combat teacher from the academy that screamed in her mind.

"Get up, now!"

Her hands clenches the ground, dirt spilling through her fingers. She pushed her upper body up and away from the ground while swinging her legs forward. She jumped to her feet from her kneeling position as her attacker charged once more. It's skin was a pale pink translucent, if she hadn't felt the very solid fist make contact with her she would have assumed they were made of some kind of jelly.

She could see into the creature's head, there was no skull but each organ was distinct and visible. No optic nerve attached to its eyes, instead they were free to travel the head. The mouth was one giant gaping hole with small needle-like teeth taking up all visible space. The brain, she assumed, was the size and shape of a pomegranate with fine filaments cascading downwards.

The creature's head was the only visible piece, the entirety of the rest of its body was covered. Large, heavy boots on the feet, and dark form fitting robes attached to its body. It seems the rest of it was up to her imagination.

It lifted it's long arms towards her and she threw the fist full of dirt she'd retained, aiming for it's head. She dogged it's grasp and watched the dirt collide with it's pink skin. It's eyes swam away towards the back of it's scalp. In the moment before it refocused she grabbed onto a tree branch above her.

It's eyes locked with hers as she swung the branch with all her might. It made a satisfying, sickening crunching sound as it made contact and the being dropped to the ground. Kathryn could finally stop and breathe. She leaned her back up against the tree, willing herself to take even breaths.

"In and out" She thought to herself, begging her mind to stay alert. Her stomach clenched painfully and she forced her focus onto the pain, anything to keep her from blacking out.

She looked towards the body lying on the ground and pondered for a moment why the delta quadrant wanted her dead. This was the first class L planet they'd come across in over a month. To say the crew had been restless was an understatement.

B'Elanna had personally dragged Mr. Paris to the transporter room. Some crew members present let word out she had threatened him with a divorce if he didn't get out of her sight.

Even Kathryn's adventurous spirit begged to be let off the Voyager to explore. The captain was needed on the ship though, but when she discussed the matter with Chakotay he graciously offered to take the helm. He'd even been kind enough to let her know he'd planned on taking Seven later anyways, effectively wiping away all traces of guilt.

It had all been so beautiful at first. The planet was largely rainforest but they'd been beamed down right next to a gorgeous ocean. Kathryn had planted herself along a cliff overseeing the lapping waters below. The sea breeze had felt amazing against her skin. The longer she stayed the more at ease she felt. Her eyes began to blink longer and her mind started to drift.

"Mom!"

She had startled at the call and turned towards the voice. Just behind her standing at the edge of the forest was Junior, smiling and waving exuberantly towards her.

She jostled awake then, still lying against the cliff. She stood quickly and began walking towards the forest. Once she broke past the first line of trees she stopped and listened, keeping her eyes peeled. No one called for her. She hadn't seen nor heard from Junior or Q in over 6 months.

But every night, every night she had the same dream of being on earth with Junior and Q. A happy, fake family she already loved. Her hands had clenched and she'd stormed off further into the humid, thick forest.

It didn't take long to get lost but she had her comm and had assumed everything would be fine. Class L planets were perfect for shore leave. The planet was sustainable for now and there was no other life to worry about. That was why she'd left her phazer behind at the cliffs.

The further she traveled the more she distracted herself with her surroundings and thus the less she thought. This planet was beautiful. The humidity caused a slight beading to form against her brow, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The trees were enormous, stretching far enough to block out most light. They rustled in the breeze and with each shake more water droplets splashed down on her head.

She was watching her footsteps as she trudged up a particularly knotted incline. The last thing she needed was to twist her ankle on a tree root. The peace made her focus only on the current situation, she needed to let go of her ghosts.

She reached the top of the incline and there it had been. The creature had been watching her careful climb and stayed silent the entire time. When she finally saw it she hadn't been as startled as she was confused. Their scans of this planet had shown the only life here to be that of the trees around them. This creature was clearly humanoid, albeit jelly like.

She schooled her features and allowed her training to take over, "Hello, my name is Kathryn Janeway, I am the captain of the USS Voyager of the United Federation of Planets." She paused here to await a response and to gauge a reaction. Nothing. It's large eyes didn't even blink as it continued to stare.

"My team and I are a long way from home, I hope you don't mind the intrusion, we simply needed a place to rest." She continued, in hopes of something. Clearly this creature was new, she'd never seen anything like it and Neelix would have spoken up if he'd known.

She smiled and took another step closer, to find and seek out new life was her work and the delta quadrant provided many new life forms and races. She paused for a moment as it's mouth twitched open. A shiver had run up her spine at the sight.

"I'm afraid I've done all the talking here, may I ask who you are?" She inclined a hand forward in a gesture to ask the being to continue where she left off. As soon as her hand was out, it grabbed on.

She let her muscles tense and prepared to break the unwanted contact when she felt the sudden ease of gravity. This creature had tossed her as hard as it could.

Now, not even 10 minutes later, she watched the still form. Her breathing was slowing now, and as the adrenaline was fading she winced at a tugging sensation against her ribs. She pushed twice on her comm before she spoke to the open air

"Janeway to Voyager." She waited to relax before the very reassuring voice of Chakotay broke through.

"Voyager here, Captain, how is your vacation going?" She almost barked out a laugh at his innocent question.

She felt much more at ease now after hearing her friend and confidants' voice. She allowed herself to descend against the tree until she was seated in the dirt, and replied, "It could certainly be better."

"Captain?" She sighed at the unasked question, no she was not alright. But it didn't matter, there were procedures to follow. This creature would need to be questioned and the rest of the crew would have to be brought back on board in the off chance that there were more creatures with less than amiable intentions.

"Unfortunately commander, we may need to cut our shore leave sooner than intended. I was just attacked by an unknown race of creature."

In a worried, rushed tone Chakotay called back, "Are you alright, Captain?" She felt a flare up against her ribs once more.

She grabbed at the invisible spot, willing it to subside.

"I'm fine commander, but I do think our new friend could benefit from a visit to sickbay. Have the transporter room lock onto my coordinates, two to beam up."

Chakotay sounded his affirmation and all was quiet once more.

Once they were all safely aboard she called for a meeting with her chief staff. All present continued to eye her warily, as though she were to drop at a moment's notice. She ignored all and began the meeting.

"Seven what does The Doctor have to say about our new guest?"

The reformed Borg woman sat slightly straighter and cupped her hands in front of her.

"The Doctor says he wishes you would be nicer to his patients, but that the being will live. It sustained minor damage to it's head."

Janeway smiled ruefully at the comment by their holographic, dramatic, doctor.

Kathryn turned her head next to Neelix, he jumped slightly at her gaze

"Any idea what we're dealing with, Mr. Neelix?"

"I'm so very sorry, Captain, I can't say I've ever seen something like this before. The closer we get to your quadrant the less I understand about our whereabouts."

It was understandable, they were in the grey area now, after traveling for four years. She really wished they had a betazoid right about now.

She gave one quick nod before standing, "Thank you, my friends, please inform me as soon as our guest awakens. It seems as though we may have to proceed as normal until that point."

Chakotay called out as others began to leave, "Captain, perhaps it would be beneficial to send a small security team to check the area we were stationed. If there was one, there has to be more."

She complied and both Tuvok as well as Chakotay left for the transporter room.

Kathryn sat back against her chair and took a deep breath. She wondered if it was worth it to try and understand this new being, or if it would be more beneficial to their mission to just dump it back on its planet and continue to earth.

Seek out and find new life. Sometimes Kathryn just wanted to sit and be alone.

Pressure was building at her temples. She extended her hand and pressed her thumb into the fleshy part of her palm. It helped but unfortunately it seems like Q had the magic touch here.

Kathryn practically fell out of her chair as a throat was cleared behind her. She turned quickly to find Seven of Nine still waiting by the door, her hands folded behind her. Her one eyebrow lifted at the Captains startle.

"Seven, my goodness. I really think we should have a talk about putting a bell around your neck."

"I am sorry, Captain, I never intended to frighten you. Captain, it is my recommendation you should report to sickbay."

Kathryn really loved this borg of hers, sometimes Seven felt like Phoebe, a little sister to teach all over again. But other times it was like having a little federation spy, telling you all protocols and duties you must perform perfectly.

"Seven, I may have taken a tumble, but I am fine. There's no need for me to bother the Doctor with a minor scrape -"

She was quickly cut off as Seven raced to her side, lifted her arm up and gave one solid push against her ribs. Kathryn felt the air rush out of her again. She tried very hard to maintain her current posture and not double over in pain.

"This is fine, I'm fine" she told herself,

Seven lifted her eyebrow again, and this time her lips twisted upwards as well. What a little know-it-all she was becoming.

"Alright, I see your point. Perhaps I will take a stroll to the medical area."

Seven nodded her approval with the idea before she turned and left the room.

Kathryn let her breathing regain normalcy before she left the meeting room. Sickbay came into view quicker than she anticipated but she may as well get it over with. The Doctor would scold her no matter what the prognosis was.

The holographic Doctor smiled as she entered but it was more reprochful than glad.

"I wondered when our brave warrior would pay me a visit. Come now, Captain, take a seat."

He patted the unattended medical bed opposite from where the translucent being was resting in a jailed force field.

Kathryn did as she was told and let her head rest against the back of the medical bed. Doctor began scanning her immediately.

"Not sleeping well, Captain?" Janeway had to fight the snort at his question.

"Not particularly, Doctor, is my brain eroding away?"

The Doctor smiled at her sarcasm and rebuttaled with, "Not yet, but I'm certain we may be able to use the bags forming under your eyes for storage soon."

She closed her eyes again and listened to the soft machinery sounds around her. Usually the noises were too shrill for her, but at this point she may be able to sleep through anything. The Doctor stayed quiet as well, finishing his work in silence to allow her these few moments rest.

She was only under for a few moments before the same dream came again.

"Mom!" Junior called out to her. She tried to ignore this strange occurrence, for once she knew this was a dream and she was determined to take control.

"Mom, wake up!" She could practically feel her eyes squeezing closed tighter in defiance. No matter how much she wanted to see Junior, these dreams weren't real.

"Mommy, don't you want to play with us?" This voice was new. Kathryn felt her eyes inch open just enough to make out two silhouettes standing at her bedside. She opened her eyes further and tried to make sense of the scene before her.

Junior was leaning against the wall, smiling just as brightly as his father. The boy was practically glowing with giddiness. And to his left was a little girl. Her auburn colored hair was the exact same shade that Kathryn's had been as a child and the curls flowing down her back mimicked Junior's baby hair perfectly. Her big brown eyes peered up at Kathryn with all the love and adoration in the world.

Kathryn watched the pair for a moment more before a clattering sound came from behind her. She turned to see the Doctor picking up his tricorder, cursing the flimsy straps they had. When she turned back her children were gone.

"Captain, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost?" The Doctor's words sounded so far away in this moment and Kathryn wondered vaguely if it were possible for her heart to break for a child that wasn't hers and a child that didn't even exist. Exhaustion won out in the end as her vision began to darken and suddenly everything seemed too far away, everything but the pain in her chest. She passed out against the medical bed and the Doctor rushed to her side.

Dealing with a lower species was unavoidable once outside of the continuum and yet each time she was forced to make contact with one, they always disappointed her.

She waited along the shoreline, the wind and water mixing and pulling at her platinum blonde hair. She pushed a lock back in place and snapped her fingers, in a flash the breeze died. She would give them five more minutes to make contact before she set their little village ablaze.

Her arms crossed over her chest and she began to count. It was almost a pity when the Globula clan leaders came out from the treeline. The largest of the pink, transparent fungi trudged forward before kneeling at her feet. Oh, how she loved a good grovel.

She kicked her foot out and pushed against the creature's shoulder until it fell backwards against the sand. She continued to push, the bottom of her shoe digging further into its pink, imperfect, fragile flesh.

"I asked for one simple task. I didn't think even you could be this utterly useless." white bubbly liquid began trickly out of the wound and the Globula chief began to beg for mercy. Why did they always assume she would kill them?

"We weren't expecting so many humans to come at once, please mistress give us one more chance."

Their voices were grading against her humanoid ears, she wanted to cut out its vocal cords to guarantee she'd never have to listen to this hideous sound again.

"I don't care how many humans came, I asked for one human death. I even led her to you."

The other Globulan leaders began to wail in fear and she realized this was the first sound she liked.

"Lady Q, please! Give us one more chance!"

Her foot lifted from the chief's shoulder and she stared down at him. A smile slowly crept up her face. Lady Q leaned down and kneeled in the wet sand with the translucent bag of slime.

She brushed her lips against its face and whispered

"You have two more risings of your sun left to finish the job, or I'll finish what I started on your little planet."

She snapped her fingers and left, the globulans began to wail louder.