Ok, sorry for the wait (again cough, cough) I know it's terrible – it's like when you keep wanting them to make new Voyager episodes but you know the series is over and all you get is reruns where you remember the entire plot within like two minutes of setting down, although not exactly 'like' because here's a new installment and I'm not finished with the 'series' yet.

Anyhow, artemis-huntress reviewed and asked that the chapters be longer, and I must admit that I was flattered. Unfortunately, as much as I would love to throw out some thousand-word-ers, I really don't have that kind of time (as you can tell by the way I always have to start out with an apology) as so ... you can guess that it won't happen. Maybe if this drags out until February, I might have a few minutes to myself back and I can catch up on all this, but otherwise please accept my humble apologies.

(And ... I'm trying to make things easier to understand more specifically who's saying what as per suggestion but you wouldn't want the word said or commented or retorted every line, so if two people are talking, just assume that they go back and forth.)

They were all sitting on the Bridge, staring at the black void in front of them. Well, Miral and Q were, the others had resorted to other, more engaging activities. B'Elanna was reading over some schematics, Ensign Saka was perplexidly going over his sensor readings, Tom was playing with a paddle and ball and many of the others were talking or doing likewise.

Q was pointing out a unique spacial anomaly to Miral for the umpteenth time that no one else could see when B'Elanna finally got fed up. She rubbed her hand over her head as if to suppress a headache before standing up. "There's no point to this, let's do something."

"We can't do anything." replied Q, "All we can do is hope the Q find us first." He sounded bored as this was not the first time he had explained this to everyone around him

"I'm not waiting here any longer, I'll be in my ready room."

"So what are we looking for exactly?" asked a crewman sitting off to the left. He had been talking with another crewman and they were obviously mocking the situation. Now, he thought it might be worthwhile to point out the apparent futility of sitting still, watching for something in a black void, if for nothing else than a laugh.

"Spacial anomalies beyond your grasp." Q was undoubtedly fed up. They had been adrift for four hours, and he was the only reason they weren't trying to get out. No one understood why, although the captain had seemed to graciously admit he knew much more about it than she did, and they were all tired and cranky, and it was his fault.

"Can't you get us out of here, Q" asked Tom quietly, for he was one of the few on board who even knew about the legend of the Q and had been puzzled as to why the young one did not just 'snap' his fingers.

"No, I can't. Otherwise I would have." Q admitted, although he couldn't hide the frustration in his voice.

"Umm, Q" Miral inquired.

"What!"

"What's that." She pointed out the viewscreen into the black abyss.

"What's what?"

"That." She emphasized her gesture out the window toward the highly energetic form that had suddenly appeared just ahead of them.

"Oh no."

Red alert lights flashed through the ship, although no one really understood why. Q had called immediate action and Miral had authorized it (although she shouldn't have used her mother's authorization code so freely she knew the situation warranted it). B'Elanna stood one the Bridge, indignant that an alert was raised, which she didn't authorize, over what seemed to be nothing.

She was in the middle of a speech designed to both calm the crew members and punish Miral when it happened. There was a thunderous crack and the sky seemed to split before them. The vessel emerged, the one Miral had spotted that gave rise to the red alert. The ship fired on them, only twice, but shields and weapons dropped to zero.

Tactical teams rushed to the spots where the vessel had clamped onto, and through, the hull. They were being boarded.

The Gomi, as Q called them, were ghostly white and moved with a similarly comparable grace. Their limbs were largely extended compared to the bipeds on board, and the bone structure was plainly seen under their taut skin where flowing robes didn't cover them.

They spoke to them, in a way that resounded through the entire ship, and although Miral was a master of languages, this garbled system of sounds was indeterminable.

Q translated: "'You have entered where you are not wanted, into the sacred lands. You will be held in this place which you have so blasphemed by your presence until you are rightly punished.'"

"What does that mean?" asked Miral.

"It means we're here forever." answered Q, grimly looking at the doors that would open to their impending fate.

Through the ship, a battle was being waged, a losing battle for the crew. Never once did Q shift his eyes from the doors until they opened, revealing ten of the revolting enemy. The officers on the Bridge fired phasers at them but to no avail. Q's gaze fixated on them as he slowly sunk to his knees in the cross-fire.

When it was determined that weapons did no good on the creatures, who stood unfaxed by the phaser fire. The physical battle began, and while Miral was well trained in tactical combat, her last memories were of kick boxing a Gobi and being restrained by two of his comrades.

Was this a little longer? I tried. Anyhow, I'll try for next week but I'm not making any official promises. Keep reviewing, I really appreciate it.