Gretchen had agreed, quite reluctantly, to give Kathryn the information on how to locate an alien species, the Ankari, whose religious objects could contact the trans-dimensional beings for them.

It would be almost a day before they could reach the Equinox, sources indicated there was an Ankari ship in the close vicinity to it, which they could contact when the time was right.

Janeway felt sick as she sank into her own couch. She looked out at the vastness of space. Somewhere out there was a Federation Starship Captain torturing and murdering life forms in an effort to get home faster.

The doorbell rang. "Come in," said Janeway with resignation.

She was not surprised when Chakotay entered her quarters.

"Kathryn," he said, "You look upset."

"That's an understatement."

"I heard you had some kind of….discussion with Gretchen."

"The rumor mill, of course," said Janeway in annoyance.

"I'm afraid there are going to be close eyes on Gretchen for a long time. And there are always close eyes on you. I'm sure she could have said many things that upset you," he said sympathetically, "I'm sure this is hard for you. I'm sure it's hard for her….So what did happen?" he continued, hearing no response, "I'm involved with this too," he prodded.

Janeway shook her head, "It's nothing personal. We're going to encounter a Federation starship tomorrow. One that has been running inhumane experiments on sentient life forms. Experiments which cause their brutal deaths." She sighed, "So now we have to stop them, and figure out what to do with them."

Chakotay breathed in sharply, "That's not what I was expecting."

"She is here to undo our mistakes after all, this just happened faster than we thought." Janeway lowered her voice, "And in a way we didn't expect. I didn't expect to be going up against my own people."

"There are bad people in every organization," said Chakotay, "Starfleet's not perfect."

"No," admitted Kathryn tiredly, "But this is on an entirely different level."

She sighed, "I don't think overtaking them will be a problem. The problem is what comes after. In the Alpha Quadrant there would be a court martial. There would be lawyers, admirals, witnesses, opinions from dozens of fields. Prisons to hold them, their families to visit them. And here, there's just me. Judge, jury, executioner…..I suppose we could hold a trial, but from what Gretchen says, it could be dangerous to hold them even that long. How can I ignore that kind of knowledge? How can I risk Voyager, when she's come all this way through thirty years and millions of miles to save it?" she looked at Chakotay exhaustedly, "But can we trust Gretchen, really? Even if she is who she says, even if she has good intentions, she may be misleading us in a million ways."

"So we don't take her word for it," said Chakotay evenly, "We verify at every junction. And if what she says appears to be true …..maybe we should hold a trial. We'll be on our guard the whole time. We'll investigate the Equinox and their supposed crimes, and if they're judged guilty, we'll do what we need to do."

Janeway sighed a final time, and then smiled slightly, "I knew I made you First Officer for a reason."

"There's the Equinox," said Harry Kim from his Operations Console on the Bridge. Their day of preparations had passed in a blur.

"Extend the shields and use the new calibration," said Janeway forcefully.

"Captain, I'm picking up some isolated radiation, but no other dangers," continued Harry, "The rescue squad can transport when you're ready Captain."

"Do it," she said, nodding her head at Tuvok and Chakotay, "Bring any survivors immediately to Sickbay whether they are openly injured or not. Keep them there until I give the order otherwise. As soon as they're off, start an investigation into what happened to their ship."

"Yes, Captain," said Chakotay as Tuvok nodded. They promptly exited the Bridge by the turbolift.

"Just think Captain," said Tom in a draw, "In just about an hour or so we'll be in touch with new Starfleet members. Who knows what they know? Or how many lovely ladies might be on board?"

"They're probably injured, and scared," chimed in Harry, "And I hope you have some standards of behavior."

"Oh, plenty of standards," replied Tom easily, turning around in his chair, "But those injuries will all be healed in a day or so. And the trauma won't last either. Look at how small and damaged that ship is. Once they get on a beautiful spacious ship like Voyager they'll think they've died and gone to Heaven."

"Or Hell, with people who act like you," replied Harry, without missing a beat.

A half hour later Chakotay's voice came through Janeway's combadge, "We've got 17 survivors Captain. We're beaming them to Sickbay now."

"Acknowledged," said Janeway, tapping her badge, "Doctor, I trust you're prepared?"

"Naturally," came his prim voice, "But I suppose it would not be a complete waste of his effort if Mr. Paris wanted to assist."

Janeway nodded at Tom.

"On my way Doc," said Tom, standing up and starting to depart.

"Computer, seal off Sickbay, no one enters or exits except Mr. Paris without my permission."

"Acknowledged," came the Computer.

Janeway tapped her combadge again, "Chakotay, investigate what you can, there will be a staff meeting in three hours," she looked over her shoulder at her retreating pilot, "Mr. Paris, that goes for you too."

"Gotcha, I can't wait," he said, saluting sardonically.

Janeway entered the empty briefing room with Harry Kim, seating herself at the head of the table. Harry sat to her left, in an energetic mood from the excitement of encountering a new Federation ship. A few moments later, Gretchen entered the room. Janeway felt odd as she saw the young woman enter as a member of her staff.

Kathryn said nothing as Harry greeted the new ensign and gestured to her, "Hi Gretchen, first staff meeting, huh? You're welcome to sit by me."

"Thank you," said Gretchen formally, sitting down, hands folded in front of her on the table.

Seven entered then, sitting next to Janeway silently.

"I can't wait to meet our new guests," said Neelix, entering next, "This is just so exciting! Here we went for so long without anyone new joining us, and in just about a week so many! Why it could be 10, 20, 30, who knows how many! A lesser cook would be concerned about feeding so many, but not me," the Talaxian said, wagging his finger, "You don't need to worry Captain Janeway, I'll make sure we find all the food we need and get everyone home."

"Thank you Neelix," said Janeway with a grimaced smile.

"You're very welcome!"

Tuvok, Chakotay, and B'Elanna were suddenly in the doorway, the Vulcan looking grim. The human looked sick and the half-Klingon looked angry. She slouched and hissed as she took a seat.

"That sounds bad," said Tom mockingly as he entered last.

B'Elanna glared at him and growled.

"That's all of us," said Tom, "The Doctor said to tell you he couldn't leave his patients right now."

"Of course. Computer, close and lock the door," said Janeway firmly, "Chakotay, Tuvok, B'Elanna, did you find what we expected?"

"Worse," said B'Elanna, slamming a datapad on the table and sliding it aggressively towards Janeway, "The warp core was absolutely altered to accept life energy from an alien species."

"We were able to crack the encryption on their files quickly thanks to Gretchen's information," said Chakotay tiredly, "It had detailed and methodical records of their experiments. Each more brutal than the last…..the creatures were definitely sentient, they weren't even anesthetized….they knew exactly what was happening to them."

"Wait, what are we talking about here?" asked Harry urgently.

Janeway answered, "We received intel from Ensign Kincaid about inhumane experiments that the Equinox was running in order to return to the Alpha Quadrant. Experiments that would be an atrocity if performed on sentient creatures. We just received our confirmation that that is exactly what was going on."

"That's terrible!" said Harry, "What are we going to do? We have to put a stop to it, and then…..what can we do with them?"

"We've already put a stop to it," said Janeway, breathing in deeply, "And now we're going to hold a trial."

"A trial?" said Gretchen in surprise.

"Yes," said Janeway, "I realized I can't make the decision alone. At home we would pass criminals onto Starfleet's court system. But we're decades from Starfleet Headquarters, our only option is to create our own court system," Janeway paused and gestured to their datapads, "We're going to use the Kalaxis System, created in the early Starfleet days for rural starships or stations. It's rather obscure, but seems the most appropriate. There's a high staff officer as judge who oversees the proceedings and makes sentencing decisions, and jurors who both vote on the verdict and investigate the crime. As Captain I'll serve as judge, we'll need volunteers to serve on the jury."

"I volunteer," said B'Elanna immediately.

"I do too," said Harry.

"Me too," said Tom, raising his hand.

"As do I," said Tuvok, to which the group looked at him in surprise, "It is only the logical thing to do," he stated, "A crime has most likely been committed, it must be thoroughly considered and I will not be swayed by personal emotions or impassioned argument."

"That's four," said Chakotay, "I believe the old Earth tradition is 12. Does anyone else want to volunteer?"

"I'm afraid I don't feel qualified to be part of a Federation jury," said Neelix, "This sounds truly awful though. I wish I could help. Those poor aliens."

"I do not believe I am qualified either," said Seven coolly, "I have never seen a trial. I will use this as an opportunity to observe."

Gretchen looked at her still clasped hands, and shook her head.

"Very well," said Chakotay, "I'm sure it won't be difficult to talk 8 crewmen into taking part. When are we going to have this trial Captain?"

"As soon as possible," said Janeway tapping her combadge, "Doctor…"

"Yes, Captain?"

"How long until the crew of the Equinox is reasonably recovered?"

"Their injuries, all things considered, are not extensive. A day, perhaps two."

"What about psychologically?"

"They appear to be sound."

"Have them evaluated as soon as possible and let me know the results."

"Yes, Captain."

"And I want to see Captain Ransom in my Ready Room tomorrow. Only him, I'll send an escort in the morning."

"He's in reasonably good health. Do you not want to see him now Captain?"

"No, tomorrow morning. Let him know."

"Aye aye."

Captain Janeway turned to her crew, "Assuming the Doctor's initial evaluations are correct, the trials will commence three days from now. Captain Ransom will be tried first. A Captain is responsible for his ship."

The staff nodded, "In the meantime, I want all Voyager crewmen to know what is going on. I realize in different times that would be contaminating the juror pool further, however, these are not normal times and I don't want anyone sympathizing with the Equinox crew members and causing a security breach. The Equinox crew will be confined to Sickbay until their trials commence. Chakotay, we have a first contact to make. Everyone else, you're dismissed."

The man who entered Janeway's Ready Room the next day, accompanied by two armed guards, had short mousey hair, blue eyes, and a cajoling expression. He reminded Janeway of a sleazier Tom Paris, one who's slick persona only hid more slime.

Janeway knew she was supposed to be fair and impartial at this stage, but it certainly seemed an impossible task. She starred impassively at the Starfleet "Captain".

"Captain Janeway," Ransom said, holding out his hand, "I'm sure you had a good reason to confine my crew to Sickbay and refuse to see me. I mean I'm certainly grateful for the assistance, and to see a friendly face."

Janeway was standing, but neither offered her hand nor moved out from behind her desk.

"I mean, I do understand being cautious," he smiled, "We've lost a lot of people, I'm sure you have too. It must be hard to accept that here we are, a fellow Starfleet vessel."

Janeway starred, her face moving from impassive, to dangerous. She placed both of her hands flat on her desk and arched forward, "Sit down."

Ransom starred at her, and did so, fidgeting as he sat in his seat. He looked very innocent, like a school boy.

Janeway starred at him with disdain, and barely concealed rage, "We know."

"Wha?"

"We know," repeated Janeway.

"I don't understand."

"We know," she said again, boring her eyes into the back of his skull, "We have your records, we've studied your warp drive, we've spoken to the Ankari, we know."

"I…it's what anyone would do in the situation. I was only protecting my crew."

Janeway sat down, starring at him, voice even but cold, "We've made a deal with the beings you've been torturing. In another 12 hours, we'll drop the shields around the Equinox, and let the aliens have it."

"No, you can't do that."

"I've negotiated for peace, as is my right as the Captain of the larger ship in this envoy. I'll grant you the decision is a bit unprecedented, but these are unprecedented circumstances, wouldn't you say?"

"I…."

"In an attempt to be civilized and due to the completely unreasonable generosity of this trans-dimensional species, a squad of my crew members will return to your ship and collect personal mementos, anything of use, and any remaining evidence of the crimes committed aboard the Equinox. We will also see to the bodies of your crewmen who died in the attack."

Janeway sat back in her chair, voice even icier than before, "You have an hour to create a list of anything your crew wants removed from the ship. If this list in anyway threatens the safety of a member of Voyager's crew, I promise you, you will regret it. Have I made myself clear?"

"I….you can't…."

"You are hearby relieved of duty. Crewmen," Janeway gestured, "Please return Mr. Ransom to Sickbay."

"I….."

"Oh, and in case you were hoping otherwise, we've already deleted your Emergency Medical Hologram and all of his backups."

Ransom was half-carried, half-pushed out of Voyager's Ready Room by the two Security crewmen.

Janeway sighed back into her chair. The real work is about to begin.