Okay guys, the long awaited next chapter! 5th chapter has been heavily edited so I suggest that you re-read it. I had to take a few days to get my head around this plot... it grew far larger than I had anticipated! I'll type up the ending either later or tomorrow depending on whether some cappuccino is forthcoming in the meantime! ) Enjoy and please leave some feedback, I love to know what you think.

DISCLAIMER: Voyager and its characters are the property of Paramount and I claim no credit for them. This storyline and any new characters are of my own invention and belong to me so please don't use them without my permission.

--------------

"Captain, may I ask what is going on?"

Kathryn sighed. She supposed the cat was out of the bag at this point but it was never going to be easy to have to tell her closest friends that she was dying.

"The Doctor has discovered that I have been infected with a rare Cardassian virus. It is affecting my mobility and my neural system."

Tuvok hesitated for a moment to absorb the information. When Chakotay had said that the Captain's life was in danger, he had assumed that she needed to be protected from an attack, not that she had already been affected.

"What is the prognosis?"

"Death." she replied bitterly. She wasn't in the mood to discuss her condition repeatedly. Tuvok had fallen silent at this point and busied himself by examining some of the Doctor's instruments. Kathryn realised that he was just worried about her and regretted being so short with him. But she wasn't in the mood to talk. She couldn't help it.

Again the images flashed back into her mind. A horrible dark room... long hours of silence punctuated only by a searing, horrifying pain. She shuddered and her hand flew to the scar on her chest. Kathryn tried her best to resist the memories that haunted her. Sometimes they came to her during the night, and she would wake up breathing heavily and covered in a cold sweat. She didn't want to let them take a hold of her. She told herself that she was strong enough to control them.

But right now, fear was flooding her system. If what the Doctor said was true, then a Cardassian had somehow infiltrated her ship. Kathryn knew enough of them to know that they were ruthless when they felt the need. What could they want with Voyager? Other than the Maquis crewmembers... How could the Cardassians be in the Delta Quadrant? If there was a spy on Voyager, they must have been on board for years, so why wait until now?

Kathryn longed to be able to do something. She wished that she had been thinking more clearly when Chakotay had left. She didn't feel in her heart that he was taking the right course of action. This wasn't something that should be aired in front of the entire crew. She could understand his motives... his family had been murdered in cold blood by the Cardassians. She would have been angry in his position. But they would only alert the spy and alarm the crew. Her mind was made up. She tapped her combadge.

"Janeway to Chakotay"

"Yes Captain?"

"Where are you Commander? Have you spoken with the crew yet?"

"No Captain. I am speaking with Tom and B'Elanna at the moment."

"Report back to sickbay. There has been a change of plan."

"Captain?"

"Just get back here Chakotay."

Kathryn felt better having asserted her authority. She moved to stand up but the Doctor came over and motioned for her to stay where she was. He scanned her again.

"Captain, I advise that you remain lying down and rest. The muscles in your left leg are weakening rapidly. I don't think that it will be able to take your weight any longer."

Kathryn chose not to listen. Easing herself into a standing position leaning against the biobed, she took a deep breath and tried to take a step forward. Tuvok had come closer to watch and was able to catch her as her leg buckled beneath her weight. As he helped her back on to the biobed, Tuvok saw the look of desperation on her face. No tears came this time but Kathryn was instead solidly determined not to be defeated. Tuvok knew what it was that really disturbed Kathryn about her condition. This was something that she couldn't control and she hated it. She sat on the biobed with her fists clenched in frustration.

At this point Chakotay came back into sickbay. Tuvok and the Doctor turned to speak to him but were silenced by the look on his face. They followed his gaze back to the biobed where Kathryn had been sitting just a moment before. She was gone. Chakotay was the first to react.

"Chakotay to Kim."

"Yes Commander."

"There has been an unauthorised transport from the ship. Can you get a lock on the source?"

"The signal is scrambled Commander, I'll work on it."

"I'm on my way to the bridge."

He ran from sickbay with Tuvok a step behind, leaving a very bewildered Doctor standing by an empty biobed.

---------------

Kathryn had fallen hard to the ground. Her lip was bleeding and her right kneecap felt like it had been shattered. Knowing that she couldn't stand up, she manoeuvred herself painfully into a sitting position and surveyed her surroundings. She couldn't see anything in the dimly lit room. Feeling for her phaser, she gripped it firmly in her right hand.

Suddenly she heard a voice.

"That is pointless. Your weapons and communications devices will not work here. Don't be afraid. We mean you no harm."

She spun around. There was no one there.

"Who is out there? Where am I?" she asked defiantly, trying to sound as confident as possible but aware that she was utterly helpless.

"My name is Maral. You are on the planet Kria in the Phynian system."

The voice sounded vague and dreamy; as though it were coming both from far away and yet inside her own head at once.

"Show yourself."

"That is not possible."

"Why?" Kathryn was getting very unnerved.

"I am not in the same room as you at present. We understand that your species do not have the gift of telepathy but we believed that you had encountered it before. Perhaps we were incorrect?"

Kathryn was on guard and her mind was racing but the voice that she could hear did not sound hostile. It felt strange to be speaking into an empty room and then hearing the answer in her head. She could perceive the difference now. She decided to be as tactful as possible, but she did not want to betray any evidence of her illness. She hoped that they would assume that she had just fallen hard after transport.

"We have encountered telepathic races before. Why have you brought me here? Do you wish to study my species?"

"We have been studying the humans on your ship for some time now. We find your people to be quite fascinating, and very technologically advanced. We have brought you here at the request of some friends of ours. They will be arriving shortly to speak with you."

Kathryn trembled. This conversation was not going her way.

"Where is Voyager? Return me to my ship."

"That is not possible at this time."

"Why?" she shouted.

There was no response.

---------------

All of the senior staff gaped at the viewscreen as their First Officer spoke with the Jemarh'ka leader. The man before them was humanoid in form and about 7 foot tall. His skin was pale green, with a mottled bluish grey hue to it. His eyes were perfectly ovular, with irises like those of a cat; they were a deep shade of purple. His nostrils were like slits, he had no mouth and there was a semi-circular ridge along his forehead which was pierced at each end by a chain. His hair was jet black, begging halfway down his head and cropped at the nape of the neck. His race was evidently telepathic. Chakotay had been engaging him in a fierce debate for the past five minutes but the man, calling himself Jalen, had refused to yield either information or their Captain.

"You have no right to hold our Captain against her will."

"As I have already stated Commander; she will come to no harm."

Chakotay hesitated for a moment. Revealing the Captain's illness to them was likely to put her in a dangerous position. He wanted to use it as leverage to demand her release but the risk was too great.

"Captain Janeway is not in violation of any of your laws. If she is not returned to our ship, we will react with all necessary force."

"I think that you will find that approach to be futile."

The communication ended. Chakotay punched his chair in frustration. This whole situation stank of Cardassian involvement and his instinct was to annihilate the entire star system. There was a long tense silence on the bridge, punctuated only by the sound of Ensign Kim conducting scans on the planet and its surrounding system.

"Commander. I have finished scanning the system. The planet that the Captain is on is surrounded by some sort of natural phenomenon that I have never encountered before. Its form is like that of the ozone layer that once surrounded Earth, but it is formed by some sort of complex hydrocarbons that are unlike any others in the known galaxy. As far as I can see, the only way that it can be penetrated is by their specially configured transporter beams. The planet is rich in ladarium ore."

"Very well. Conduct more scans. They must have a way to get their ships through that shield. See if you can calculate the configuration of their transporter beams, perhaps we could modify our own to match."

"Commander... there's something else."

"Yes?"

"Scans are detecting a wormhole approximately 2 light years from our current position."

Chakotay froze.

"Where does it lead?"

Kim looked up at him.

"The Alpha Quadrant."

---------------

Well there it is! Didn't wanna ruin the element of surprise by mentioning the Jemarh'ka at the beginning but please note that they are mine... I came up with a whole culture for them that I don't think will fit into this story so there may be another one in the works soon! Anyhow, in the meantime please R&R!