"Knock, knock, knock!" Kathryn looked up from the old Starfleet data that she had been looking over. It had been almost a year now since Voyager had returned to Earth and in that time, Kathryn had settled in admirably. She had had several small missions from Starfleet, but nothing that—as of yet—had taken her too far into space.

"Come in!" Kathryn called. The computer that had been installed in Kathryn's apartment shortly after she moved in opened the doors. "Admiral!" Kathryn cried, jumping to her feet. The dog that had had her face in Kathryn's lap looked up at her mistress reproachfully, but was ignored.

Kathryn brushed dog hair off her jeans and stood at attention.

"At ease," Admiral Paris said, waving his hand at Kathryn somewhat dismissively.

"What can I do for you Admiral?" Kathryn asked.

"I have a mission for you Kathryn. I need you to captain a ship."

At Kathryn's mock look of alarm, the admiral hastened to reassure her. "Don't worry Kathryn, it wouldn't be a deep space mission. No chance of getting lost on this one."
"Well no one thought there was much of a chance of that happening last time and look where we ended up. Pardon me, Admiral," Kathryn said, excusing her wry remark.

Admiral Paris waved off Kathryn's apology again. "It's perfectly alright Kathryn. I understand exactly how you must feel. But in reality, this would just be a small ship, a small crew and you wouldn't be going too far into space. It's just, there is a slight mission that we would like handled with the most discretion possible and…you have proved most trustworthy."

Kathryn smiled, a little flattered. "Thank you Admiral. But do you suppose you could tell me what the mission would be?"

The admiral shook his head. "No Kathryn, I'm sorry. This is a very secretive mission and requires the greatest discretion. If you say no, I will leave and we will never have had this meeting."

Kathryn looked a little alarmed at this. "Are you going to erase my memory Admiral?" she asked a little fearfully.

Admiral Paris shook his head with a small smile. "No Kathryn. I believe that I am able to trust you. Now, are you able to accept this mission or do you need some time to consider."

Kathryn put her hand to forehead in surprise. "Admiral this is fairly sudden. Here, I'll replicate us a bottle of wine while I think about it. Or are you in a particular hurry?"

The Admiral shook his head with a smile. "I have time Kathryn. My men are just outside your door. They are willing to wait."

Kathryn nodded. "Very well Admiral. I-I'll just go replicate us some wine then. It shouldn't take a minute."

Admiral Paris nodded as Kathryn went into the kitchen to replicate a bottle of wine. While Kathryn was banging around in the kitchen Admiral Paris took the time to look around Kathryn's apartment. There was the warm atmosphere of a home about the place which the admiral liked. A lot of the Starfleet officers that he had visited at home had immediately adjusted their home settings to what they thought the Admiral might enjoy. Most of the settings included standard white, or grey walls with a cooler temperature and the lights turned up to their absolute brightest. Kathryn now…she was different. Her apartment had a nice, lived in feel to it. Her living room walls were a light brown, almost mocha color and the lights were dimmed slightly, casting a comfortable glow everywhere. The couches were not hard like the ones in the Starfleet office, but looked soft and comfortable. Most were a soft orange, a brown or black color. As Admiral Paris' gaze swept the room, his too rested on the mantelpiece. Going for a closer look, he smiled to see his distanced son smiling back at him. The crew looked so happy, especially Tom and B'Elanna. Admiral Paris sighed. Maybe he should—

"Wine!" Kathryn said, coming back into the room, a dark green bottle clutched in her hand.

Admiral Paris took the bottle from the woman and smiled. "2010, good choice," he commented.

Kathryn smiled, "Thank you Admiral. Now, I've decided to accept the mission. However, I would like the opportunity to back out should I decide that I would like to."

The Admiral nodded slightly. "I suppose that is acceptable Kathryn. But you do understand that in that case I would have to erase the memory of your briefing."

Kathryn nodded. "I guess I can accept that Admiral. Very well, I accept the mission."

Admiral Paris nodded and handed back his half downed glass of wine. "Good. Then I expect to see you tomorrow morning at 09:00. Good night Kathryn."

The Admiral left so abruptly that Kathryn only had the opportunity to weakly reply, "Good night, Admiral."

Once her door had closed, Kathryn sank back onto her couch and looked at her dog. "Well Missy, what have I gotten myself into now?"