Captain Dylan Hunt, Beka Valentine, and Trance Gemini were beamed aboard Voyager shortly before 18:00 hours where they were greeted by Janeway and Chakotay.
"Welcome aboard Voyager," Janeway greeted. "In spite of our situation I'm happy to return the favor and have you as guests aboard Voyager."
"Thank you Captain Janeway, I'm impressed with your transporter technology already," Hunt remarked as he looked around the transporter room.
"May I present my First Officer, Commander Chakotay," Janeway said as she gestured to her executive officer.
"A pleasure to meet you all," Chakotay greeted with a smile.
Janeway motioned to the door saying, "Captain Hunt would you care for a tour of Voyager before dinner?"
Hunt took one look at the enthused expressions on the faces of his two crewmembers and agreed to accept the invitation. "Thanks you Captain Janeway. We'd be delighted to take you up on your offer."
The crew of the Andromeda was impressed by the holosuites and immediately began asking questions.
"I'm thinking Tyr would love to have a holosuite on Andromeda so he can practice his combat techniques," Valentine mused out loud.
Trance Gemini chuckled at the remark. "I have a feeling we'd have trouble getting him out of a holosuite."
The three of them watched as Janeway called out the commands for one of her holo programs. Immediately the group was in the middle of a barn with stalls filled with horses.
Hunt could swear he could smell the hay that lined the stalls. Trance Gemini cautiously approached the nearest horse, a chestnut filly.
"You are a good horse aren't you? You wouldn't bite me would you?" the Golden women cooed as she gently patted the horse's face. The chestnut snorted softly and pressed its nose into the alien's shoulder.
"I think Trance just made a new friend," Chakotay remarked with a smile.
Janeway motioned towards a bay mare in several stalls down from the chestnut. "That mare is my favorite. This particular holo program has been set so that all of the horse here have distinct personalities."
"Captain Valentine you don't have to be afraid of the horses. I set the program so they will let you approach them." Janeway remarked, noticing that Valentine kept her distance from the horses.
"I don't mean to be a spoil sport but animals and I have never gotten along," Valentine replied.
Hunt left Valentine's side and began petting the chestnut, surprised that his arm didn't go through the holographic image. "This horse feels so lifelike. It's difficult to believe that it's just a holographic image."
"Yes it's very easy to get caught up in the simulations presented in the holosuites," Chakotay admitted honestly. "We do try to monitor the usage to prevent addiction."
Hunt arched an eyebrow at the term. "I see that even the most sophisticated technology can have its drawbacks."
Janeway gave the command for the program to end and the images of the horses and stable vanished. "I don't mean to alarm you Captain. It's really no more dangerous then other forms of recreation such as your basketball game. Captain Hunt I believe it is time for us to have our meal."
The group made their way to down the corridor to the nearest turbo lift.
"I'd be interested in studying your holo technology more thoroughly Captain Janeway," Hunt remarked as he stepped into the turbo lift. "I believe Andromeda would appreciate an upgrade of her holographic self."
"Miss Gemini, I believe Captain Janeway would permit you to return here to enjoy her holoprogram after dinner," Chakotay announced as he caught the disappointed look in the golden-skinned woman's face.
Trance Gemini's face brightened at the prospect, reminding Hunt and Valentine of the alien's former purple self. "Oh I would appreciate that very much Captain Janeway."
Janeway smiled at the golden woman, "It would be my pleasure Miss Gemini. I'm pleased that you enjoyed my little holoprogram. Now shall we all head to the formal dining room for our meal?"
When Q2 woke up he noticed his arm wasn't throbbing as much as the night before. "Those nanobots did a good job; my arm feels a lot better Harper."
Harper had been up for a good hour tinkering with one of his little reclamation projects and looked over at the teenager "I'll be the judge of that." Harper moved over to Q2 and began examining the wound and saw that the cut was healing on schedule. "It looks like the wound is healing nicely kid. In a couple days you won't even be able to tell you had been cut."
"So that means we can go to the Records Building today then?" Q2 asked eagerly.
Harper smiled at the teenager's infectious enthusiasm. "Yeah, I think we can manage that but we'll go try to scrounge up some stuff at the dump and then go meet with Nighthawk first."
Q2 and Harper each finished up a package of instant oatmeal before leaving for the dump. An hour later Harper and Q2 had dropped off their loot back at the lair and were headed back to the alley to meet Nighthawk.
"So do you really think he'll show Harper?" Q2 asked as they strolled along the sidewalk.
Just then a Nietzschean patrol approached the two Earth visitors. Harper bowed his head trying not to make eye contact with the Ubers. Q2 watched Harper and followed suit.
The lead Nietzscheans passed by, acting as if they hadn't even noticed the two smaller kludges next to them. Q2 started to relax when he felt a hand shove him from behind.
The teenager stumbled before ending up sprawled on the sidewalk.
"That will teach you to keep a respectful distance for your superiors Kludge. I can smell that you've been wounded. It would be a service to humanity to dispose of such a pathetic specimen," One of the Ubers snarled.
Harper helped Q2 to his feet and kept the teen in his grasp. Harper wasn't about to let Q2 take on a group of Ubers three times his size. "Look Boss, we didn't mean to cause any trouble. We'll just be on our way."
One of the Nietzscheans stepped forward, stopping an inch in front of Harper in an obvious attempt at intimidation. "It would seem this little Kludge thinks he has the right to speak out of turn to a Nietzschean."
"We should make an example of these two, Hieronymus," another Uber suggested with an arrogant smirk on his face.
"An excellent suggestion Friedrich," Hieronymus agreed as he grabbed Harper's jacket collar.
Friedrich grabbed Q2 and held him as the other Nietzschean punched the teenager twice in the midsection. Harper had no chance to help Q2 as Hieronymus backhanded him across the face, sending the engineer reeling backwards to the ground. Harper could feel the cuts that had been sliced into his right cheek by the Nietzschean's bone blades.
"Now get on your way Kludges and remember this lesson next time you meet up with a Nietzschean," Hieronymus warned.
This time it was Q2's turn to help Harper to his feet. Harper glared at the Ubers before he and Q2 continued on to their meeting. The Ubers laughed and threw rocks at them as soon as Harper and Q2 started walking. Harper and Q2 started running to get away from the barrage of rocks and tin cans as quickly as possible. They could hear the laughter of the Nietzscheans in the background.
When they were far enough away from the Ubers Harper stopped and gave Q2 a quick once over, checking for injuries. Satisfied that the Ubers did no damage to Q2 except for the teenager's ego, Harper allowed their journey to continue. Harper was grateful the Nietzscheans were content to leave them alone with just a few bruises. Harper pulled out a first aid kit and cleaned up the cuts on his cheek.
Q2's eyes burned with anger. The Continuum member wasn't used to be pushed around and it made his blood boil. "I hate having to cow tow to those smug Nietzscheans."
"Me to Simon but that's just the way things work down here," Harper replied as sat down on a crate in the alleyway.
Harper and Q2 arrived early and waited nearly half an hour for Nighthawk to show up. Nighthawk arrived on time, dressed in a black pants, t-shirt, and jacket. The buyer wore a black ski mask over his head to keep identity a secret. "I'm surprised you decided to show. I thought you'd be another one hit wonder."
Harper grabbed his bag of CDs and smiled. "Nah, not me Nighthawk; I'm the real deal."
Nighthawk let out a low chuckle at the joke. "I'll be the judge of that. Put the CDs on the crate and back away."
Harper and Q2 complied with the instructions and stood 25 feet from the crate, watching Nighthawk look over the CDs. Nighthawk nodded his satisfaction and left two bags on the crate. "It's been nice doing business with you two.
As soon as Nighthawk was far enough away from the crate Harper and Q2 approached the crate and began opening the bags.
A Nietzschean patrol jumped out from one of the buildings and began pointing their weapons at Harper and Q2.
Two of the Nietzscheans covered their comrades as one of them grabbed Q2. Harper still had a can of food and tossed it at the Nietzscheans with the guns. This gave Q2 the distraction he needed and the teenager bit the arm of the Uber that just grabbed him. The Uber loosened his grip enough for Q2 to pull away. Harper yelled at Q2 to make a run for it while the engineer kicked at one of the Uber's kneecap. By the time one of the Nietzscheans fired at Q2 the teenager was able to duck around the building and onto the sidewalk. The Nietzscheans let Q2 get away and concentrated on Harper. One Nietzschean swung a nightstick at Harper's head, sending the engineer to the asphalt.
Two of the Nietzscheans grabbed a half conscious Harper by the arms and dragged the engineer to their police vehicle.
Harper struggled to clear the fog in his mind "Where we goin' Boss Man?"
"You'll find out when you get to police station Kludge," One of the Ubers growled.