Ronan pulled Janeway back into the kitchen and put his rifle on the counter. He yanked a chair over in front of the stove. His skin felt hot and itchy and moisture began to appear on his brow. He ran his hand across his sweaty face and pushed her down to the seat. He noticed her rub the back of her neck and take a deep breath.

"What's wrong with your life support?" he asked.

Janeway shrugged. "We're not normally in this room. We conserve our energy stores by rotating our energy usage from deck to deck."

Ronan grabbed her by the sleeve and pulled her face to his. "Call your bridge and tell them to rotate it back."

The corners of her mouth twitched as she said, "I can't. You ripped off my communicator and threw it away, remember?"

Ronan grabbed her other sleeve and shook her with a fierce growl. She fought back and kicked his shin with her boot forcing him back. She stood up and challenged him.

Ronan gave her an evil grin and then backhanded her with his hand. She fell to the floor and rubbed her cheek. "Don't speak to me like that, ever!" he said. He leaned down and hauled her up from the floor, placing her back in the chair. He knelt in front of her and put his hands on either side to keep her close and confined. "Now, if you value the lives of your crew, I want to know everything about this vessel."

Janeway shook the hair out of her face and smoothed her swollen cheek. "I don't have to tell you. It's all right there in the computer. All you have to do is pull the files and read it for yourself."

"And where do I access this computer?"

Janeway took a deep breath. "It was out in the banquet room on the wall. It's still smoking probably at this point. To access another, we'd have to leave and you don't recommend that."

"You try my patience, woman." He moved closer to her. He watched a bead of sweat roll down the side of her face. He wiped it away with a finger. His eyes swept down her body and he carefully took her hand and moved it away from her face. He brushed across her reddened cheek and felt her flinch under his touch.

His hand moved to her chest and he found the zipper of her outer jacket. He stared into her eyes as he slowly lowered the fastener and unhooked it. To her credit, she didn't try to stop him. Her gray underclothing was damp as he removed the jacket and slid it from her small frame. His hands swept up and down her bare arms as he said, "Your skin is so pale. Your eyes have color but your skin does not. You are a very curious species."

She fixed him with a cold stare. "Are you done?"

He smiled. "Do you want me to be?"

Janeway held his icy eyes for a moment before she said, "No one has ever appreciated you before, have they?"

His hands swept across her collarbone. "You will appreciate me just as I'm appreciating you."

"Your curiosity shows great intelligence."

"Don't play mind games with me, Captain."

"Kathryn." Ronan's eyes narrowed. "You asked me what my name was before. It's Kathryn. And since you've relieved me of my command, you may as well call me that."

Ronan studied her a moment. "A small victory. Since you've gotten comfortable, why were your shipmates trying to get to that panel?"

"They were looking for a way to escape. Not everyone is enjoying your company as much as I am. I take it your men are not as personable as you?"

"How could they have escaped using that panel?"

"Transporters. They could have brought them online and beamed us out just like the injured crewmen who were taken away."

Ronan looked at her. "You said I could do that at any time. Your bridge people can do it now?"

"Yes, they can. Are you ready to leave?"

Ronan laughed. "No, but I want to be certain you don't disappear on me." His hands kept sweeping across her upper body.

"They won't. They won't because they don't want you to harm us. There's a number of things they could have done by now but they haven't. They respect you. Doesn't that show you we're willing to help you and end all this?"

Ronan's hands crept up to her neck. His fingers encircled it as he said, "I told you before that I need you to die."

Janeway threw her head back a bit to shake off his grip. "You told me you wanted Cadia free of the Alliance. Killing me or my crew won't help you. We're strangers here. No one cares if you murder us. No one will miss us. You'll gain a handful of recruits but that's about it. There is no gain to what you're doing."

He smiled. "Really?" His hands gripped her throat and she choked. "You're playing with me, Captain. I don't like it!"

Janeway choked and pawed at his grip. She drew in a deep breath as his fingers relaxed and she rubbed at the fingerprints on her skin. "Ronan, I'm from a planet called Earth. It has been threatened many times, most recently by the Borg. I didn't want to be assimilated into their culture anymore than it appears you and the other Cadians want to be ruled over by the Vizians. I fought back against the Borg just like you're doing against the Alliance."

Ronan kicked her chair and she grabbed at the seat to steady herself. "Borg. You hate the Borg? You are a liar! I believe nothing that comes out of your mouth!" He stalked the room and exhaled blowing out his anger. He pulled his shirt, damp with sweat away from his chest as he whirled and grabbed her long hair. He pulled her from the chair and placed her in front of his body. Picking up his rifle, he slung it over his shoulder and loosed her hair to encircle her waist and hold her tight to him. "You hate the Borg, Captain? You want to help me? You are a liar!"

"I am not lying to you."

Ronan squeezed her and said, "Really? If the Borg are your enemy then let's see you explain this!"

He forced her across the kitchen to the cooler and pulled open the door. Janeway gasped with cold that burned her hot skin until the foggy air cleared out and dispersed around them. When it did, there, hanging in front of her were the bodies of Harry and Seven of Nine. They had been placed on hooks, eyes closed, their skin covered by frost and ice. Ronan threw her across the room into Seven's ice cold body.

"Seven," she whispered. Janeway's bare arms prickled painfully and numbness shot through her as she came into contact with Seven's stiff, frozen body. She glanced over at Harry. His young, boyish face would have looked like he was just sleeping had it not been for the ice crystals and frost blurring his features. She raised a finger to touch his face. Her skin froze instantly to his and she yanked it back painfully. Turning to Ronan in a rage, she said, "Why? Why did you do this? They were no threat to you!"

Ronan smiled as he stood outside the doorway, the cold air cooling his overheated skin. "I thought you said the Borg threatened your home, Captain? You had to fight back. Kill them. Defend yourself. Just…like…me."

Janeway ran to him and pounded against his chest. "Seven was no longer Borg! She had reclaimed her humanity! She was coming back to herself and you killed her! For what? Because she fought back when you opened fire on her?"

Ronan grabbed her flailing arms and held her in place. "I learned long ago to shoot on sight before they can adapt to weapons. I hate Borgs! I can tell by the metal all over her face that she's no other species than Borg."

Janeway struggled in his grip. "Why Harry? Why did you have to kill a young man? He's obviously not Borg."

Ronan pulled her out of the doorway and slammed the door shut. "Kid got in the way of the line of fire. It happens. Kind of like it will with you if you don't settle down."

Janeway stopped and stood still. She felt Ronan's hold relax and pulled out of his grip. She looked at him, wiped her cold nose, and walked away.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

Janeway went to the chair and sat down. She took a deep breath and said, "This is over. You win. Voyager is not that far from the Vizi border. We can run to open space and clear Vizi territory in a matter of minutes by jumping to warp. The Alliance won't like it but we'll be out of their jurisdiction."

"Well that doesn't help me," Ronan said. "My fight is within Vizi borders."

She rubbed her arms to settle the goose bumps. "We have shuttles. They are about the size of the ship you lost. I'll give you one. They have all of our technology including the transporter and a replicator. You and your men can take it and leave here once we get to open space. It has shielding that, from what we've been able to discern with our limited scans, would be effective in protecting you from the Vizian's offensive capabilities. We'll prep it and you and your men can go anywhere you want to go. Return and fight. Leave and live a longer life. I don't care. If you let my people go now and return me to the bridge, I'll make the preparations and you'll be ready to go in less than an hour."

Ronan eyed her and walked over. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why the sudden change of attitude? What happened to non-interference and technology sharing? You were as bad as the Alliance."

She sniffed and looked down at the floor. She folded her arms into her chest. "I don't want any more of my people to die," she said softly. She looked up and said, "This is your fight, Ronan, not ours. We only want to go back home and determine our own lives, just like you. Surely, we can agree on that. Killing each other isn't going to achieve your goals or mine. Let's just cut our losses and move forward."

Ronan fondled his rifle. "And pick up your lofty principles on the other side of the border, I'll bet. What's to stop you from killing us if I let you out of here?"

"What's to stop you from killing us once you've taken off? You've rigged my ship to explode. I expect you will transmit instructions on how to disarm your explosives once you are clear of Voyager and on your way."

Ronan took a few steps. He wiped the sweat that had returned to his brow with his forearm.

Janeway watched him and said, "You're accomplishing nothing by holding us, Ronan. We can't do any more for you than that. You wanted attention and supplies and weapons. You have them now. Take it. It won't get any better than this."

Ronan slowly nodded. "Deal. But you order everything from here. You stay with me until we're gone. If anyone tries anything, you're dead and this room blows apart. And a ship without its captain and a big hole in it usually doesn't go very far, now does it?"

"I'll need to be on the bridge to carry it out properly, Ronan."

Ronan stood over her and said, "From what I've seen, you and your people can do a lot just in this room. If you can make people disappear, you can have those bridge people handle the details. Flying a ship fast isn't hard and preparing a small shuttle shouldn't be a huge task either. You want this deal? Make it happen, now."

A loud boom sounded and Voyager lurched, knocking Janeway out of her chair. Ronan stumbled back, catching himself on the stove. "What the hell?" he said.

He ran out of the kitchen into the banquet hall. Outside the window, the Vizi fleet approached Voyager, weapons flaring. His men looked at him and he looked back at Janeway as she also ran out of the kitchen and saw the fire fight outside. He leveled the rifle at her and shouted, "You liar! You planned all along to turn us over to them! That will never happen! Never!"

Janeway heard someone yell and then felt herself falling before searing pain from weapons fire engulfed her face and turned her world black.