It's been a very, very strange week. Janeway thought, rubbing her temples. She was in her Ready Room, holding a cup of coffee, with nothing pressing to do at the moment.

It seemed Gretchen "Kincaid" was adjusting as well as could be expected. She had been working in Astrometrics for three days now. That placement appeared to be working out. Or at least, Seven had reported no problems, that Gretchen was, "More efficient than the average human, and inoffensive in her work habits."

She did not know what Gretchen thought, as she had not spoken to her. She had asked Chakotay to be slow in approaching her as well.

"Just in case," she'd said. Was that the real reason?

Janeway sighed.

"Beep" came the door.

"Come in" said Janeway in annoyance, and then startled as she realized who it was.

"Gretchen," said Janeway in a conciliatory manner, "How are you fitting in?"

"Fine," said Gretchen evenly, "I've come to talk to you about something important, if you have the time."

"I do," said Janeway, "In fact you've caught me at lull. Sit down and have a chat," she smiled and gestured.

Gretchen sat, stiffly, "I've been running scans in Astrometrics, and we have even less time than I thought."

"Time for what?" said Janeway seriously, "I thought this was many decisions over years,"

"Yes and no," said Gretchen, rubbing her forearm, "You won't know the effects of this one decision for years, but something disastrous is about to happen."

"Well by all means, let's avoid it. What do we need to do?"

"You need to avoid this area," she said, handing Janeway a datapad, "Do not respond to any requests for aid. Go around, keep your comm channels closed until you're through, a solid week to be safe."

Janeway held her gaze and nodded, "What's there?"

"Nothing good for Voyager."

"I need more details than that."

"I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?" said Janeway, voice deepening.

Gretchen paused briefly, and her lips spazzed again. She looked away, "If you want your ship saved, I can't tell you."

Janeway gave her a long look, "Very well," she said evenly.

Gretchen stood quickly, "Am I dismissed Captain Janeway?"

"Yes," Janeway said, and watched as Gretchen left. When she was gone she tapped her combadge, "B'Elanna, I want you to come to my Ready Room as soon as possible."

"Acknowledged."

Minutes later, Voyager's Chief Engineer entered.

"What is it you need Captain?" she stated in a surprisingly neutral voice.

"I want you to scan for anything that could be sending a distress signal from the center of this area," Janeway said, standing and handing B'Elanna the datapad, "Keep scanning extensively for the next several days and report to me as soon as you find any ships, or anything out of the ordinary. Keep this as quiet as possible, even from the rest of your team and Tom."

"Does this have to do with our new crew member?"

"Yes, she's said to avoid this area and not respond to any distress signals, but she won't tell me why. I told her I would keep comm channels closed. And I will, as long as I can. But I want to know if her information is trustworthy, and what she's hiding."

"I thought you approved of secrecy in this case," said B'Elanna with sarcasm.

"We have new information now," said Janeway, "I'm the Captain of this ship. It's my duty to know what's going on. Especially when people don't want to tell me."

"I don't' know what you know about her," said B'Elanna, "But this whole thing is suspicious. You can count on me. I'll find out what she's hiding."

In the end it took B'Elanna less than a day to find out what Gretchen had been attempting to keep secret.

Why couldn't this be simple? Thought Janeway, looking over the datapad in dismay as soon as B'Elanna left her Ready Room the second time. She read over the information intently, finally hitting her combadge in irritation, "Kincaid, report to my Ready Room immediately."

The woman arrived minutes later.

"You didn't tell me there was a Federation Starship in distress," said Janeway forcefully from her desk, as the doors closed.

"We both agreed there were things I couldn't tell you," answered Gretchen evenly, as she turned to stare at the angry Starship Captain.

Janeway stood and stepped towards her, "I want to know what's on that ship," she said, pushing a datapad at her chest, "And I want to know now."

The younger woman took a step back, paused and took in a long breath, "You don't need to know."

"I do. You're not leaving here until you tell me."

Gretchen starred at her, hands clenching and unclenching, starring for a long moment. Finally she replied, "Your death."

"What?" said Janeway in surprise.

"Criminals are on that ship, and one of them is going to kill you. It starts Voyager down a road she will never recover from."

Janeway looked at her calculatingly, "You haven't even been conceived yet. How can someone on that ship murder me now?"

Gretchen lips spazzed again, "It's not now," she admitted, "You're going to let on someone who will kill you."

"You mean they're going to become a member of my crew, and years down the road betray me?"

"Yes."

"That means there are plenty of years to change it. I can't just avoid a distress signal from a Federation vessel."

"You can." said Gretchen firmly, "There's no one on that ship worth saving."

"What does that mean?"said Janeway.

Gretchen was silent.

"Unless I have a good solid reason to, there is no way I can refuse a Federation Ship in need. Especially not in the Delta Quadrant. We're the only hope they have."

"They're criminals. They've broken every rule you believe in. They're no longer Starfleet."

"You said that before, that they were criminals," said Janeway dangerously, "So what have they done?"

Gretchen sighed and looked away, rubbing her face briefly, "The captain and crew on that ship, they're using alien life forms to get them home," She looked back at Janeway, "The aliens are trans-dimensional, and they use their converted life energy in their warp drive,"

Janeway's eyes opened wide in shock, "By life energy, you mean….."

"Yes, they kill them."

"And they're sentient creatures?"

"Yes."

Janeway starred intensely, "Go on."

"The aliens are currently trying to kill the Equinox crew and without you they'll soon succeed. You don't need to act, everyone on that crew is guilty of murder. In my timeline every single one of them chooses to betray Voyager, leaving it open to attacks by the creatures, so that they can return to the Equinox and continue their "experiments". All you have to do is leave the situation alone, and it fixes itself."

"That's not what I call fixing," said Janeway.

"It's much better than the alternative," said Gretchen, holding her gaze.

"So what happens in your timeline, how did we end up with Equinox crew members?"

"You tracked the Equinox down." Gretchen paused, "After a long and painful hunt, you contacted the creatures and offered them the Equinox in return for peace. Several of the Equinox criminals were beamed off before its destruction, including the one who would later kill you."

"In other words, if we make contact with the aliens now, we can offer the same truce."

"For what reason? To invite even more killers into your crew?" said Gretchen, voice raising, "You'll never be able to trust them. And you can't control them. With Captain Ransom alive and perhaps 15 of his crew backing him, Voyager will never be safe from a mutiny. Forget 30 years, we'll be lucky to last a month. And if he wins," said Gretchen intensely, "It will be Voyager committing genocide against a species."

"I'm not as naïve as that" said Janeway in a conciliatory tone, "I'm not going to let them into my crew. But I'm not going to let this go either." Janeway moved to put her hand on Gretchen's shoulder, but let it fall as Gretchen stepped back.

"We have the advantage now," said Janeway, "And we're going to use it."