Star Trek Voyager characters are the property of Paramount Pictures.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

INTUITION
Part One

The replicator was in pieces on the floor. Kathryn sat amongst them, trying to repair the fault in it that had plagued her for months, but was not having much luck.

The door chime sounded and she wiped her brow.

"Come in!"

B'Elanna came in.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?"

Kathryn smiled and stood up. "That's right."

"And would I be right in guessing it isn't to repair that machine?"

Kathryn smiled. "Presently. But, in an hour or two, that might not be the case. Damn thing is more temperamental than usual. And with Silvie and Stevie soon to be home, I want nothing less than one hundred percent reliability."

B'Elanna smiled, but then fell serious. "I'm sorry about Stevie ... him being deaf."

"He'll be alright," Kathryn said, putting down the tool in her hand. "Elissia has healed everyone else so there's every reason to believe it will help him too. And even if it doesn't, the Doctor can give him at least seventy five percent hearing."

"Tom says he'll be happy to take Stevie in," B'Elanna continued. "He's been in before, but there was nothing wrong with him so it won't make any difference if he goes in again."

Kathryn was moved by the offer. "That's very good of him. Thank you."

B'Elanna smiled. "No trouble, Captain."

Now Kathryn was serious. "Have you seen Harry today? I've given him a couple of days off as he requested, but I'm really not sure it's what's best for him. Work helps to engage the ery good of him. Thank you."

B'Elanna smiled. "No trouble, Captain."

Now Kathryn was serious. "Have you seen Harry today? I've given him a couple of days off as he requested, but I'm really not sure it's what's best for him. Work helps to engage the mind."

"I'm going to see him later," B'Elanna replied. "It's going to take time, but I'm sure he'll be okay, Captain. He's tougher than we often give him credit for."

"Does he blame Chakotay and I for letting Arlei go without telling him?"

"I don't think so, Captain. I think he knows it was her decision and he respects that. He's just hurting. But he'll be alright. I know that he will." She paused. "Now, what you want to see me about. Would I be right in thinking it's to do with a certain position on this ship?"

"Got it in one," Kathryn smiled. Now that Arlei was gone, they needed a new Chief Engineer. "Any suggestions?"

"Depends on the requirements."

There was a sparkle in B'Elanna's eyes as she spoke, and Kathryn interpreted it precisely.

"What are the advancements?"

"Six hours a day, five days a week, permanent fixing of both Chief Pilot's and Chief Engineer's shift. Chief Engineer to work early morning shift, Chief Pilot regular day shift three days a week, evening shift two days a week. Necessary provisions made for dependent during overlapping hours."

Kathryn smiled. "Requirements satisfied." She then held out her hand to B'Elanna. "Welcome back."


"It's wonderful," Ella said, looking around Arlei's cozy quarters, "but are you sure it's right for me to have it, Captain?"

"Of course," Kathryn replied. "It will be good for you to have a place of your own." She smiled, a glint in her eye. "But I might add a condition ... or two."

Ella turned to her, a little anxious. "What's that?"

"You look after Silvie and Stevie from time to time."

Ella's beautiful dark eyes sparkled as an unexpected joy filled them. "Me? You'd like me to look after them?"

Kathryn nodded, touched by the girl's joy. "You have a way with babies. I know they'd be in safe hands."

"Any time, Captain," Ella smiled. "I'll look after them any time."


Chakotay cradled Silvia in his arms as she drank eagerly from the bottle he was holding to her mouth. The Doctor had already fed Stevie and he was sleeping contentedly in his incubator.

The doors to sickbay opened and Kathryn came in. She shook her head in feigned displeasure when she saw her husband and First Officer feeding their daughter.

"You're supposed to be in astrometrics, Mister," she said.

Chakotay looked up at her. "My presence wasn't needed. And, well, I just couldn't resist." He smiled, dimples showing. "And aren't you supposed to be on the bridge?"

"My presence wasn't needed," she echoed. "And, well, I couldn't resist."

She returned Chakotay's smile and then walked over to Stevie's incubator. She stroked his cheek and then raised him into her arms.

As she did so, the Doctor emerged from his office. "Here again, Captain? It's barely two hours since your last visit."

"Was just passing, Doctor," Kathryn said, flushing a little.

"Come here as often as you want," Chakotay said. "Don't feel you need an excuse."

"And where will that leave the ship?" the Doctor continued, pulling out some medical tools and examining them. "An absent captain may aswell not be a captain."

"The Captain has just become a mother," Chakotay answered, surprised at the Doctor's words. "If we were home, she would be on maternity leave so she could spend time with Silvie and Stevie. We would both be. It's an important time, for all of us. And we're doing our best in a very difficult situation. Support wouldn't go amiss."

"I'm only stating a reality, Commander. A captain who spends half her time in sickbay attending to her babies, and the other half dreaming about them, cannot command this ship to maximum ability."

"The ship is fine," Chakotay argued. "For years the captain has worked more hours than anyone else. She has more than earned any time she's taking off now. And, quite frankly, I'm disappointed you have this attitude."

The Doctor turned to Kathryn. "And you, Captain? Do you deny the truth of what I say? Or has, as you say in human parlance, the cat got your tongue?"

Kathryn glanced at Chakotay. Something was wrong. This was definitely not the Doctor she knew and loved. "Computer," she said. "Deactivate the EMH".

The Doctor laughed bitterly. "Not even you can turn me off like a tap now, Captain. I am in full control."

Chakotay hit his commbadge. "Chakotay to security. Take the Doctor offline immediately."

The Doctor turned to Chakotay. "You did not hear what I said, Commander. I am in control now."

Kathryn questioned. "And what do you intend to do with this control, Doctor?"

"Whatever I please," he smirked. "Perhaps become captain. With me in charge everything would..."

Suddenly the Doctor flickered and completely disappeared for a moment. When he returned, he looked at his Captain and First Officer in confusion. The last thing he remembered was sitting in his office. "Captain, Commander?"

Kathryn breathed in relief. The Doctor was back. "There's a problem with your program," she said, putting Stevie down in his incubator. "You're going to have to deactivate yourself."

"What kind of problem?"

"I think with your personality subroutines. To be sure, we're going to have to run a full diagnostic."

"Understood, Captain," the Doctor said quietly, and then deactivated himself.

Kathryn hit her commbadge. "Janeway to Torres. Report to sickbay immediately."


"It's a memory problem," B'Elanna said, scouring through data on a monitor before her. "The Doctor's program is constantly expanding as he learns and experiences new things, and this means that the size of his program is constantly expanding aswell. There seems to be insufficient memory to process the data which is corrupting his personality subroutines."

"Has he tried to download personality traits again?" Kathryn asked, remembering what had happened last time the Doctor had tried self-improvement.

"Not as far as I can tell."

"There where is his darker side coming from?"

"I'd guess within himself, Captain... the one all of us have in us, even if only to know what is right and wrong. If we had no knowledge of evil, we wouldn't be able to be good, if that makes sense. What's happening is that the Doctor's program is overloading and struggling to process his thoughts and actions. He'll be himself one moment, and then an alter ego."

"What can you do?"

"Increasing his memory capacity should do the trick "

"Do we have the space?"

"I can make some. Seven and I noticed a lot of redundant files in our main computer when we were going through the system after the virus. Deleting them should free up enough space to allocate to the Doctor's program."

Chakotay questioned. "Isn't there a way of making the Doctor's program more selective ... like human memory? We can't go on expanding his program indefinitely. If his program is selective, needless memories won't translates into needless data."

"I'm just not sure how we'd determine what is needless and what is not. Selective memory could erase details of how the Doctor treated a particular disease or injury which could make his program less effective."

"Couldn't selection be specific?" Kathryn asked. "For example, recording all details of medical procedures but not social activities?"

"It could still hinder his development," B'Elanna replied, "because despite our advances in science, we can't as yet produce a computer that is any where near as sophisticated as the human brain in that respect."

"Then just increase the Doctor's memory for now," Kathryn said. "We don't want to create needless problems. Although Chakotay's right. We can't go on expanding it forever."

"I reckon I can clear enough space to allow him at least five years of growth, Captain. Seven's already working on a way of compressing the Doctor's program so it might not be a problem by then." She paused. "But it will take me a few hours to free up the space and modify the Doctor's program."

"Then we'd better get Tom down here too," Kathryn replied. "Just incase someone needs medical attention."

Tom's impish voice sounded behind her. "Someone mention my name?"

Kathryn smiled as she turned to face him. "That's what I call good timing, Mr Paris."

"Not really," he smiled. "Tuvok told me the Doctor had been taken offline. I thought I'd better get down here." He paused. "What's the problem?"

"Insufficient memory capacity," B'Elanna answered. "Among other things it's corrupting his personality subroutines and turning him into the Doctor from hell again. I need to increase his memory capacity."

"How long will it take?"

"I don't know exactly, a few hours. "

Tom turned to Kathryn. "You may aswell take the twins home, Captain. They were due to leave tomorrow anyway."

Kathryn hesitated. "But would they be alright? The Doctor only said tomorrow was a possibility."

"They'll be fine, Captain. They're a good weight, independent of all life support, and feeding properly."

Kathryn considered a moment. "I suppose they would be better off in the comfort of our quarters than here right now." She turned to her husband. "Chakotay?"

He smiled. "I say we take them home."

Kathryn smiled in return. "Alright. Just give me half an hour to clear everything with Tuvok."


Just over half an hour later, Silvie and Stevie were on their way home, wrapped in the shawls Naomi and Sam had made. Kathryn carried Silvie while Chakotay carried Stevie. As the doors to their quarters opened, a sea of familiar faces waited to greet them inside. When a surprised Kathryn and Chakotay stepped into the living room, pink and blue streams of paper ribbon shot into the air.

"Welcome home Silvie and Stevie," the small crowd said in unison.

"Really," Kathryn said, looking at the spread of food they had put out on the dining table, "You shouldn't have..."

"Of course we should," Sam smiled. "Besides, it's a Voyager tradition."

That was certainly true. Both Naomi and Miral had been given homecoming parties.

"We have a cake too," Naomi beamed. "Come and see."

The child went over to the table and Kathryn followed her. At the center of it was a beautiful white cake, decorated in pink and blue icing, with the words "Welcome home Silvie and Stevie." Kathryn laughed to see a pink soother in the bottom corner and a blue one in the other.

"If you don't have any," Sam smiled, "You'd better replicate a dozen right away. You're going to need them."

"Already well stocked," Kathryn replied. "It was the first thing my mother said in in her letter after I told her I was having twins."

Sam laughed, but an ache filled Kathryn's heart at the thought of her mother. It had been months since they had lost contact with the Federation and she couldn't imagine what her mother was going through. She had warned her that they could lose contact any time, life in the Delta Quadrant was always so unpredictable, but she knew that her mother would be worried just the same. For all her mother knew, anything could have happened to them. It also hurt that her mother was missing out on this special time in their life. She adored children and would dote on Silvie and Stevie.

"It's too bad we can't contact the Federation and let everyone back home know we're okay," Celes said, Kathryn's words clearly evoking similar thoughts for her.

"We will," Kathryn said, ever ready to reassure her crew. "If we managed to make contact in the Delta Quadrant, we'll certainly find a way here in the Alpha Quadrant."


A WEEK LATER

"Coffee, black."

A cup of steaming black coffee materialized. Kathryn picked it up and savored the taste. As she made her way from the kitchen area to the living room, she saw Chakotay sitting on the couch, still in his black pyjamas, gazing into the steaming cup in his hands.

"You got me," she said, half guiltily.

She expected Chakotay to look up and tease her, but he just sat gazing into his coffee. He looked exhausted. And, in that moment, old.

"You look how I feel," she said, walking over to him

Chakotay spoke, but didn't look up from his cup. "I'm alright. All new routines need getting used too."

Kathryn sat beside him. "We're not coping, Chakotay. And there's no point pretending otherwise."

"But we have to," he said, finally looking up at her. "They're depending on us." There were tears in his eyes, an ache, even a fear.

Kathryn put down her coffee on the table before her. "We'll be no good to them if we make ourselves ill, honey. And that's what'll happen if we continue as we are. I was like a zombie on duty yesterday and after another sleepless night I think I'll be like a corpse today. We need help, that's all."

"But how? Who?"

"Celes. I'll ask if she'll consider moving in with us. She could have the spare room and attend to Silvie and Stevie during the night."

"But she's already going to be looking after them every afternoon. We can't ask her to do nights aswell. And what about the weekend? We promised her she could have those off."

"I'm sure we'll be able to manage at the weekends. I can ask Ella if she'll look after them a couple of afternoons during the week, and if I split my shift two days a week by working morning and evening but not afternoon, Celes would only need to look after them one afternoon a week. If she can't, I'm sure Seven wouldn't mind. It would only be for a few months. Once Silvie and Stevie are sleeping through the night, we can go back to our original plan of having Celes look after them during the day while we both work."

Chakotay gave a tired smile. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

A cry suddenly filled the air and Chakotay instinctively got to his feet.

"No," Kathryn said, standing also. "I'll go. You go to bed and catch up on some sleep."

"But you're due on the bridge..."

"I can be late," she smiled. "Captain's prerogative." She put her hand on his arm. "Go and rest. I'll ask Celes to look after them this morning and speak to her about moving in the same time."

"Alright," Chakotay replied.

Kathryn squeezed his arm and then made her way to the nursery.


"I would love too," Celes said, almost before Kathryn had finished speaking.

Kathryn laughed. "Don't you want time to think about it?"

"What's there to think about, Captain?"

"Well, night work is different to day work and you'd be in a different sleeping environment."

"I don't mind working nights, Captain. I do it all the time. There's not so much to do on nights, less chance of me messing things up. And I'd love to have my own room for a while."

Kathryn smiled. "Then it looks like we'll be having a new lodger."

"When do you want me to start, Captain?"

"As soon as you want."

"Today?"

Kathryn couldn't help her response. "Oh yes please."


A pile of reports were waiting on the desk when Kathryn finally made it to her ready room after checking all was well on the bridge. Reports seemed to be never ending these days. As they had been in safe space for so long, there was little else for the crew to do.

Kathryn sat down and began to go through them, sorting them out in order of priority. The door chime sounded and Kathryn looked up. "Come in."

It was Harry.

Kathryn smiled. "What can I do for you, Mr Kim?"

"There's a problem on holodeck two," he replied. "I don't know what, but you're needed there."

Kathryn put down the padd in her hand and got to her feet. "I'll go right away."

Harry turned to leave the room.

"Not so fast," Kathryn said.

"I'm in a rush, Captain," he explained, clearly eager to leave. "I can't talk now..."

Kathryn was about to ask what the emergency was, but before she could, Harry was gone. Kathryn sighed. She was worried about him. He hadn't been himself since Arlei had left, but, with Silvie and Stevie demanding so much attention, and Ella so desperately needing someone to take an interest in her, she just hadn't been able to be there for him. But she would have to make the time. He clearly needed someone to talk too.


Holodeck two was deserted when Kathryn arrived there. There was no sign of anyone, no sign of a problem. She was just about to hit her commbadge and question B'Elanna, when she heard Chakotay's voice.

"Glad you could make it, Kathryn."

She spun in the direction of the voice. "Chakotay?"

"Surprised to see me?"

The tone of his voice, the look in his eyes, sent a shiver down her spine. This wasn't the Chakotay she knew and loved. His eyes were vacant, his voice cold . The reels of her mind quickly turned, yielding two conclusions. Either Chakotay had been put under mind-control, or he was an impostor. She hoped with all her heart that it was the latter. Steeling herself, she addressed him.

"Who are you?"

The corner of his mouth turned up in a sinister smile. "You know who I am, Kathryn. I'm your husband."

Kathryn almost spat out the words. "Like hell you are."

The man before her laughed deep in his throat. "Don't you recognize me?"

"You might look like him," Kathryn answered, "you might even be in his body. But you're not him."

The man stepped closer, so close his body was almost touching hers. "Sure of that?"

Kathryn swallowed as the fragrance of Chakotay's aftershave lingered in the air between them. It had to be Chakotay ... had to be his body.

"I see you finally recognize me," he said, picking up on her response to his proximity and her hesitation.

Kathryn met his eyes, the hardness of the captain looking into them. "You're not my husband. I don't know who the hell you are, but you're not him. And I'm not afraid of you, so just tell me why you're here and what you want."

"What is mine," he said sharply. "I want what is mine, what should always have been mine."

"And what would that be?"

"This ship."

Kathryn scoffed. "Then tough. She's mine."

Suddenly, whoever was in Chakotay's body grabbed her and got her against the wall. "Not when you're dead, Captain. Not then!"

He closed his hands around her neck and began to squeeze.

Mustering all the strength she could, Kathryn kneed him in the groin, and immediately his hands fell away from her neck as he buckled over in agony.

Kathryn hurried away from him and managed to escape the holodeck without him following. Outside in the corridor, she hit her commbadge. "Janeway to the bridge. Intruder in holodeck two. Janeway to transporter room one, transport me to my quarters." She had to get to Silvie, Stevie and Celes. She had to see if they were alright, that whoever was possessing Chakotay's body hadn't harmed them.


Within seconds, Kathryn materialized in her quarters. Relief consumed her when she saw Celes cradling Silvia in her arms. The young girl looked up and concern filled her eyes when she saw the her captain red faced and breathless before her.

"Are you alright, Captain?"

"Yes," she answered, taking deep breaths. "Where's Chakotay?"

"Still asleep, Captain..."

Without a word, Kathryn hurried to their bedroom. Sure enough, Chakotay was asleep in bed, Petal at his feet.

Kathryn ran her hand through her hair and desperately tried to make sense of what had happened. It had been Chakotay on the holodeck, she was sure... But then, an alien could have imitated him in every way, including his aftershave...

Holding Silvia in her arms, Celes approached her. "Are you sure you're alright, Captain?"

"I don't know," Kathryn said, beginning to wonder if she had imagined everything. "Has Chakotay left these quarters any time this morning?"

"No," Celes replied. "He's been asleep the whole time."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Absolutely, Captain..."

Celes saw red marks on Kathryn's neck and pulled away her hair. "Captain, your neck..."

"Never mind that," Kathryn answered. She hit her commbadge. "Janeway to..."

She was interrupted as Tuvok connected with her. "Tuvok to Janeway."

"Go ahead."

"There is no intruder in holodeck 2."

Kathryn wiped her sweating brow. "Someone was there, Tuvok ... Someone in Chakotay's body... He tried to kill me..."

Celes stared at Kathryn in horror and held Silvia tighter against her chest.

"But he's here now, Tuvok, in my quarters. Asleep. I don't know what the hell's going on, but I want you to find out."

"I will conduct an investigation."

"In the meantime, keep the ship at red alert."

"Understood, Captain. Tuvok out."

The connection terminated and Kathryn buried her head in her hands.

"You... you said the Commander tried to kill you," Celes said nervously. "But he's been here the whole time..."

Kathryn said nothing, just tried to piece together the clashing pieces of jigsaw.

Voices had disturbed Chakotay and he sat up in bed.

"Kathryn?"

It was a moment before she could answer him as a million confused thoughts raced around her mind.

"Is it you, Chakotay?"

"Of course it's me," Chakotay replied, getting out of the bed. "Are you alright, Kathryn?"

"You were just on the holodeck, Chakotay ... I mean, your body."

Chakotay frowned. "I don't understand."

"I was called to the holodeck," Kathryn tried to explain, "but when I got there, the only person there was you, and you tried to kill me."

Chakotay swallowed, concern multiplying, his immediate thought being that Kathryn was ill, exhausted, or suffering from another flashback

"I've been here the whole time, Kathryn. Celes can tell you that..."

"I have, Commander," Celes said, "but the Captain does have marks on her neck..."

Chakotay pulled away her hair and gasped at the marks on her neck. "Gods... Kathryn..."

Kathryn drew away from him, forcing herself to think, to be the captain. "Celes," she said firmly. "Take Silvie and Stevie to the nursery and erect a forcefield around it."

Celes hesitated.

"Immediately!"

At that, Celes dared not disobey and did what she was told.

"And until we know what's going on," Kathryn said, turning to Chakotay. " I'm going to have to put you under guard."

Infinite pain filled Chakotay's eyes. "But you don't think that I..."

"No," Kathryn answered, "no, not for a moment. But if an incorporeal alien possessed your body and somehow transported you to the holodeck and back while you were asleep, he might return any moment and we can't take any chances." She put her hand on his arm. "Go and get dressed, and I'll summon security to take you to sickbay."

"Sickbay?"

"I want the Doctor to examine you for any indication of mind-control."

"Alright," Chakotay said, trying to work out if this was really happening or whether he was still dreaming.


After healing the bruises on Kathryn's neck, the Doctor examined Chakotay thoroughly for any indication of mind-control. He could find nothing, however.

"But there must be something," Kathryn said, her confusion growing by the second.

"Nothing, Captain. And there are no bruises or marks on the Commander to suggest any such conflict."

Kathryn put her hand to her brow. "Then it must have been an impostor, a duplicate..."

"Or a hologram," Chakotay added. "It did happen on the holodeck..."

Kathryn looked up at Chakotay. "You're right... A hologram... And we've had aliens manifest themselves on the holodeck before..." But then another riddle confused her. "But he buckled when I kneed him. Holograms don't feel pain..."

"No," Chakotay replied, "but are programmed to respond in every way that humans do."

"It's the most likely explanation," Kathryn said. "The only one that makes any sense right now. I'll tell Tuvok to investigate the possibility thoroughly." She paused, and the next words were difficult to say. "But until we have some solid answers, I'm going to have to put you in the brig, Chakotay. Protocol."

Chakotay nodded. "I understand."


Kathryn stood before the window in her ready room, watching endless streams of stars fly by at warp speed. Her head was aching and her eyes involuntarily closed every now and then. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was fighting every inch of the way. The door chime sounded and she turned to the door. "Come in."

Tuvok entered.

Automatically, Kathryn went into captain mode. "Any news?"

"My investigation has yielded results," Tuvok said calmly.

"And?"

Tuvok hesitated. "Perhaps you should sit, Captain."

"I'm fine standing," Kathryn replied. "Just tell me what you've found."

"It appears that your assailant was indeed a hologram, Captain."

Relief consumed Kathryn. "Then we must be dealing with aliens who can only manifest themselves through the holodeck. That makes them much less of a threat to us."

"No trace of alien activity was discovered," Tuvok said. He paused before continuing "It appears that it was someone on board who created the program with the deliberate intention of killing you."

Kathryn stared at Tuvok in disbelief, and then shook her head. "That's absurd, Tuvok. Who the hell would do such a thing?"

Tuvok gestured to the couch. "It really would be best if you sat, Captain."

"I said I'm fine standing, Tuvok. Just bite the bullet and spit it out!"

Tuvok took a deep breath. "Commander Chakotay."

Kathryn was silent a moment, and then couldn't help smile. "Chakotay? You're saying Chakotay programmed a hologram of himself to kill me?"

"That is correct, Captain."

"Oh, Tuvok," Kathryn said, bridging the gap between them. "You don't really believe that?"

"It does appear...illogical," Tuvok concluded, "especially given recent events, but the evidence cannot be disputed."

"And what exactly is this 'evidence'?"

"A hidden security camera caught the Commander leaving the holodeck just after the program was completed last night."

"Chakotay didn't even go to the holodeck last night. He was with me all night."

"Are you certain of that?"

"Of course I'm certain. We had dinner together, bathed Silvie and Stevie, put them to bed, and then went to bed ourselves ... not that we slept long."

"The Commander didn't leave your quarters at all during the evening?"

"No, he ..." She paused. "Well, only for about twenty minutes. The Doctor called him to sickbay, said he had recorded some songs that might help Silvie sleep."

The Vulcan raised his eyebrows. "I know," Kathryn smiled. "But, we didn't like to hurt his feelings."

Tuvok then became serious again. "What time was this?"

"I don't know," Kathryn said, the events of the past few days all being a blur in her tired mind. "About nine, ten..."

"Which is around the time the program was created. 21:39 hours to be precise."

"He wouldn't do it, Tuvok. It's absolutely ludicrous."

"The Commander has been under tremendous strain lately. This may have effected his psychological well being resulting in uncharacteristic behavior."

"There's a world of difference between uncharacteristic behavior and murderous behavior," Kathryn cried.

"Then how do you account for the Commander's presence on the holodeck at precisely the time the program was created?"

"How can you be so certain that it was him? Images can be deceiving."

Tuvok reached into the file in his hands and pulled out a picture. He handed it to Kathryn. "Would you identify the person in the picture as your husband, Commander Chakotay?"

Kathryn took the picture and looked at it. Without a doubt the person in the picture was Chakotay.

"There could have been a number of reasons for his presence," she said, returning the picture. "Someone might be trying to frame him."

"The thought had crossed my mind," Tuvok replied. "But no one else was present on the holodeck last night. Neither is there any indication of alien activity or alien presence in this region of space. I can thus only conclude that the Commander is responsible. Given the Commander's character and his genuine attachment to you, his actions must be the result of illness."

Kathryn raised her hand to her brow and tried to make sense of this. What Tuvok was saying wasn't implausible. There was certainly a history of mental illness in Chakotay's family. She and Chakotay had hoped that Elissia had removed the sensory tremens gene, but a full genetic scan had revealed it was still present. Clearly Elissia only cured and healed diseases, deficiencies, and disabilities that were current, not those that could develop in the future. Silvie and Stevie were clear of the gene, though, and they were both thankful for that. There was nothing in Chakotay's recent behavior to suggest that he was ill, however, and even if he had developed the condition since Elissia, it seemed highly unlikely to have progressed to the point of him attempting murder...

"But if he was ill, I would know it," Kathryn said. "He wouldn't just develop a killing drive overnight. There would have been other signs..."

"He may have concealed them, Captain, or you may not have noticed them now you have offspring to care for."

"I'm sure that I would have," she replied. "I'm certain."

"Nevertheless, Captain, the Commander is the only suspect at the moment, and I must recommend that he be examined by the Doctor for any indication of mental illness."

"He was examined only a couple of hours ago. The Doctor found nothing."

"No, but the Commander was examined for indications of mind-control. He should again be examined for indications of mental illness."

Kathryn sighed. "Very well, Tuvok. As captain I must separate my personal feelings from my professional ones, but every part of me says that Chakotay had nothing to do with this."

END OF PART ONE