Zelda coolly observed the Bajoran crewman for a few moments, before she shook her head.

"I don't think we need to, actually," Zelda said gently. "I already know."

Mara's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"Wha-How?!" She gasped, anger now burning in her eyes. Zelda shook her head.

"But-But you couldn't-!" Mara tried again, hesitating like she wasn't sure if she should flee or fight. Zelda held up a hand.

"Suffice it to say, I know," he said slowly. "So there's no use in panicking. All right?"

"So," she stated, "now that you know... What are you going to do about it?" She shot him a proud, challenging expression. Zelda held her gaze, unmoved.

"Nothing," she replied.

Mara snorted in disbelief.

"Nothing?!" Mara demanded. "How could you-?!"

"Let's be adults here, Mara," Zelda stated,

"He'd never forgive me," Mara replied, clutching at the back of the nearby chair. Her knuckles turned white as her whole body went rigid. "He'd hate me-They all will-"

The doors to the armory opened, and walked in slowly... Chakotay with a phaser on her. Tuvok was flanking him, his own phaser on the woman.

"Ma Zelda," Chakotay stated grimly, "I want Mara put into the brig. She's under arrest."

Zelda raised her eyebrows.

"Oh? For?" Zelda asked.

Chakotay glared at her, while Tuvok remained stoic.

"For being an True Way agent," he growled.

Zelda blinked. She blinked again. She looked at Mara. She was hurt and betrayed, maybe near tears-The harsh woman never looked so weak before. She looked over at Chakotay, a tower of barely controlled fury.

"I'm sorry Commander," Zelda replied, "but that's not an arrestable offense. Putting her into the brig is even less of a good idea, sir."

Chakotay balked.

"You can't be serious!" He shouted. "She told me-!"

"She's your daughter she loves you," Zelda said calmly. She set down her PADD, and slowly approached them. "I get that you're angry. And betrayed. I really do."

"You can't-!" Chakotay tried, but Zelda shot him an icy glare.

"Yes. I. Do," she growled, letting the weight of years of persecution of her people burn through her glare. It was enough to even give Chakotay pause. "But shoving her into the brig isn't going to help anything."

She got close enough so she could reach out.

"Give me the phaser, sir," she said. "Please."

Chakotay hesitated. He then slowly handed it over. Zelda took hold of it, and shifted her gaze to Mara. Tuvok kept his phaser up, but had backed away a few meters. He didn't make any argument, so Zelda decided he was letting her handle this.

Thanks a lot, Tuvok, Zelda thought unhappily.

Mara meekly walked over and sat down. Chakotay followed, keeping his distance and never taking his eyes off her. Tuvok kept his phaser on Mara, even as he slowly shifted over to stand next to Zelda.

"Exceptional work," the Vulcan said quietly. "How did you deduce she was a his daughter?"

Zelda stared for a long time at Mara and Chakotay. She then gave Tuvok a smile and a shrug.

"Im a Hyrulian" she murmured.

The Vulcan stared.

"I mean, it's obvious she loves Chakotay. It's been 17 years she probably thought he was dead and joined this crew in the hope we would find him," Zelda explained quietly.

He shook his head.

"I thought I was just resolving a domestic dispute."

Despite his Vulcan stoicism, both of Tuvok's eyebrows rose high on his forehead.

"It seems we still are," he replied quietly. Zelda shrugged again.

The next duty shift, Zelda, Mara, Chakotay, and Tuvok met in the conference room. Mara and Chakotay were sitting next to each other, and both were tense as hell. Zelda and Tuvok sat on the other side, both quite calm. Up at the head of the table sat Janeway, getting through her second cup of coffee and trying to look neutral.

Or maybe just everyone.

"So Mara why did you join this crew?" Janeway gritted out. Mara very calmly looked at the captain and took a deep breath.

"Well, mostly to find my father" Mara admitted. "But also to investigate the disappearance of federation ships… USS Hera, USS Lillehammer, and USS Equinox were among the Starfleet ships that went missing. Civilian ships include the Earth freighter SS Serenity, the Vulcan ship T'Var, the Bolian freighter Bertali, and of course the Cardassian Galor-class starship Trager."

Chakotay's dark expression remained stony.

"This can be confirmed?" Janeway asked, her gaze icy as it focused on Mara. " Ok lets investigate"

Zelda nodded. "Yes Captain. I have just the thing. Permission to be dismissed?"

"Dismissed," she nearly growled. Mara and Tuvok rose, soon after Zelda got up. Tuvok guided Mara out the doors, while Zelda followed close behind. The doors shut behind them, Chakotay and Janeway locked in the most unpleasant staring match imaginable.

"Right," Zelda began. "I'm off, sir."

"I wish you luck, Lieutenant," Tuvok stated. Zelda nodded.

"To us all," she said. She headed off to Paris, who was at the helm. "Hey! Tom! Come on! We got a job to do!"

"Yes sir?" Paris asked. Zelda led Paris to the other turbolift.

"We have a special recon mission," she announced as the doors shut, "ten lightyears out, to a Tal Shiar world. We need to find out if they've got a Federation ship there. Among other things."

Paris raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's going to be a problem," the pilot admitted, "none of our shuttles are really suited for a reconnaissance mission of that nature."

Zelda nodded, and looked up at the turbolift ceiling.

"I'm aware," he said. "Aeroshuttle bay."

The turbolift hummed and zoomed down fast, as Paris raised an eyebrow.

"The Aeroshuttle? I thought it wasn't operational!"

The doors opened onto the hangar deck for the Aeroshuttle… Where Chell, Torres, and a few other engineers were hard at work on various bits and pieces of the shuttle. Torres looked up and glared angrily at Zelda, embracing an armful of tools to her bosom.

"Lieutenant!" Torres growled. "If you're here to check up on our progress again I swear I'll kick your-!"

"I am, and save the ass kicking for later," Zelda said smoothly. She held up a hand. "The most important thing is… Will she fly?"

Torres blew a strand of hair out of her face, and nodded.

"Yes, she will," she confirmed.

"Then what's all this junk?" Paris asked, sweeping a hand over all the spare parts lying around. Torres looked around at it, and shrugged.

"You always have parts left over," Torres explained.

Paris blinked. Zelda beamed, and clapped the pilot on the shoulder.

"Our first mission and we get to fly her! Lucky us! Got an idea for a name for the ship, Paris?"

"Dead Meat," Paris quipped without a moment's hesitation. Zelda shrugged.

"We'll keep working at it."

The Aeroshuttle was all set to go, and the bridge crew waited with anticipation. Harry himself was grinning in a mixture of excitement and trepidation, as B'Elanna Torres worked at her Bridge station. Janeway leaned back in her chair as they waited for the call.

"Aeroshuttle to Dyson, pre flight checks are complete, all systems green," Paris reported over the comm. Janeway nodded and looked over to Harry.

"Release the docking clamps and moorings, Mister Kim," she ordered. Harry nodded eagerly, like a puppy, as he hit the release controls.

"Docking clamps released, moorings detached," he reported happily. Janeway looked over at Torres, who nodded.

"All systems read nominal, Captain," she said, looking just a bit smug. "Ready to go."

"Flight path is clear of any debris, Captain," Tuvok interjected. Janeway nodded and stood up.

"Dyson to Aeroshuttle: You're cleared to launch!"

"Standby Dyson," Paris said quickly. Janeway frowned as the tension in the air spiked.

"Something wrong, Mister Paris?" She asked. "Is Ms Zelda okay? We haven't heard from him."

Janeway allowed herself an indulgent smile.

"All right, what is our Aeroshuttle's name then?"

The Aeroshuttle had left its berth in the lower part of Dyson's rear hull section, and its thrusters lit up. The vessel came into view of the ship's cameras and the viewscreen dutifully pulled it up.

"We named her Thunderbird," Paris said proudly.

Janeway raised an eyebrow. The name was emblazoned on the hull of the small ship, all right. Along with...

"Are... Those racing stripes?"

Indeed they were. Flame red ones across the wings and hull.

"Yes ma'am," Paris said cheerfully. "According to Earth tradition, they make the ship go faster."

Janeway heard someone stifle some laughter. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Whatever works," she deadpanned. "Godspeed."

They would need it.

It wasn't too arduous a journey, really. Not with the Paris and Zelda Awesome playlist.

"Shot through the heart and your to blame, you give love a bad name!" They sang loudly in the pilot and copilot seats of the Aeroshuttle.

"Your promised heaven and put me through hell!" They sang together, Zelda getting up and doing air guitar. Paris headbanged, waving his tricorder in the air.

The song faded out, leaving them to fade out too. They then looked at each other. Zelda shrugged.

"Is that the best Bon Jovi song?" She asked. Paris nodded.

"Yeah, the last really good one," he said. Zelda sighed.

"Nuts. All right... Ozzy time!" Zelda declared. The console beeped and Paris looked it over.

"Oh, right," he said. "We're coming up on the target."

Zelda slid down into her seat again, typing in and looking through the sensors. She snorted.

"Looks like these guys never heard of jammers," she observed. "Or at least aren't very good at it. Let's see..."

She brought up the sensor readings on the main viewer, and both Paris and Zelda looked over at it. The image soon resolved itself. Both their eyebrows rose. Tom whistled low.

"Oh... Now that's interesting," he observed, his eyes tracing over the large, ramshackle looking space station in orbit over a desolate world. Amongst the Tal Shiar vessels and other alien ships sloppily organized around the structure, there was a familiar profile.

It was a slim vessel with an arrowhead-shaped primary hull and two nacelles. Paris glanced over at Zelda, who nodded.

"USS Lillehammer, Norway-class starship," Zelda replied. "Went missing a few months before Voyager did."

"Yeah, that's surprising," Paris said. He pointed at another vessel, partially obscured behind several spars from the station, "but not as surprising as that."

Zelda frowned, and zoomed in close. He blinked, and nodded.

"It definitely is," he observed, as a Vorgon Ryn'kodan carrier starship floated in the viewer.