Danni Wix found herself materializing inside a place filled with white mist, much like a deep fog back on earth. She had apparently materialized in the air, with nothing to hold her up, so she fell to the ground. Scrambling to her feet, she looked around her, trying to discern one direction from another. She could hear something faint that sounded like voices, but indistinct. They faded and she wondered whether she had heard them at all. She stepped forward, holding her hands out in front of her blindly. She hit something. Running her hands up and down it, she determined it to be a wall. She followed it's curve, and discovered that all around her there was a circular wall. She pounded on it, but it would not give way. She felt all around the bottom, and reached as high as she could to the top, trying to find an opening. When she realized there were none, she began to yell into the whiteness.
"Hey! Is anyone here? Where am I?" She banged on her enclosure with her fists and straining to see beyond the misty blankness.
"Patience, little Faerie," an unfamiliar voice said. "We will let you out in due time."
Something-someone- emerged from the mists, driving it away with the sheer force of his will.He-Danni was sure it was a male-reached out and touched the transparent wall, causing it to dissolve. Danni, whose full weight had been pressed against the wall, fell forward. She pushed herself up.
"Who are you?" She asked, her voice challenging.
"I think the question is, who are you?" The thing said. "I brought you here. I demand to know who you are."
"Why does it matter?" Danni snapped. "I want to know what's happened to me."
"Nothing has happened to you, save that you've been transported to my vessel," the thing said.
"I'm contacting my ship," Danni turned away and tapped her comm. badge. "Wix to Voyager." Silence reigned in the mist. "Wix to Voyager! Come in Voyager!" Danni whirled back around to face the thing, stamping her foot on the floor. The noise sent a resounding echo into the mists. "What did you do to them?"
"I?" The being looked surprised. "I did nothing to them. They remain the same distance from my ship as they did when I transported you here."
"Why did you bring me here?" Danni asked, staring deep into the being's eyes.
"I needed you," the being said simply.
"You have to send me back," Danni said. "I can't stay here. They'll be worrying about me."
"We can't send you back," The thing said. We need you more than they do."
"You can't keep me here!" Danni yelled. "I am not like you. I need to go back to my people so I can function naturally."
"No, no," the thing shook it's head sadly. "We cannot allow a return to your people. Not yet, anyway. Not just yet."
"Well, when?" Danni asked. "When can I return?"
"All in due time, child," the being replied calmly. "All in due time."
"Don't give me that," Danni snapped irritably. "Just tell me why you beamed me off my ship. I can't imagine what you'd want with me. I'm just an ensign, and a new one at that. I haven't been on Voyager any longer than thirteen months. And this is my first assignment, too! I was a cadet at Starfleet Academy before this."
"That's no matter," the being told her. "It wouldn't matter if you were only a passenger aboard you ship. Come with me, and I'll show you what we needed you for."
The being drew something out from his pocket. "There is a matter of security," he said. "Stand still, and this won't hurt." He pressed down on the top of the bottle, which looked very much like a perfume flask, and a gas sprayed out. It filled Danni's eyes, ears and nose, so she was blind, deaf, and couldn't smell anything. A wave of sleepiness washed over her, and no matter how hard she fought it, she found herself slipping into a dreamless unconsciousness...
"A stranger is a friend you just haven't met yet." -- Janeway
"Harry, did you manage to get a lock on her badge before she was taken away?" Janeway asked the young ensign.
"Yes, Captain," he said, checking his controls. "I think I still have it, but it's not strong enough to beam her back here. All I know is that she's somewhere near that blip I was picking up a few minutes ago. It could be a vessel, captain."
"Likeliness of hostility, 90 percent, captain," Tuvok warned. "They beamed a member of our crew off of our ship without permission. I advise caution."
"I agree with you, Mr. Tuvok, but I'm afraid we may have to confront them openly," Janeway said. "This can't just be ignored."
"I agree, Captain," Chakotay said. "Paris, take us in closer to that blip Harry saw earlier. Warp factor two."
"Warp factor two, aye sir," Paris set his controls and the ship flew off toward Harry's blip. In less than ten minutes, the blip, which turned out to be a vessel, was in visual range.
"Slow to impulse power," Kathryn Janeway said.
"Captain, ensign Wix's signal is definitely coming from that vessel," Harry confirmed.
"Hail them," Janeway ordered. She placed her hands on her hips. "This is captain Kathryn Janeway of the federation starship Voyager. I belive you have one of our crew members on board your vessel. You beamed her aboard without permission. I must ask you to return her to our ship immediately.
The face of the being appeared on Voyager's screens, "ah, my friends! I am K'vosh, the captain of the vessel."
"K'vosh, you have one of our ensigns," Janeway said. "We want her back. If you do not return her to our ship, we will be forced to beam over a search party to find her."
"Of course I will return her to you!" K'vosh cried. "I only needed her for a bit. To find out what kind of beings you were. You understand. She will be returned to you in short order."
"Thank you, K'vosh. But next time," Janeway said, "ask us before beaming any crew members aboard."
"Of course, captain! Of course!" K'vosh said lightheartedly. "End transmission."
K'vosh sat back in his seat. "Well, well, well..." He said slowly. "They want their girl back-" he laced his fingers together "- They'll get their girl back."