Ayala nodded at the security teams crouched in the hallway outside the banquet room. He took a phaser, adjusted it and took a deep breath. He fired and swept the beam across the wall and doors. Tiny blinking devices with wires appeared along Voyager's interior.

"Let's get this cleaned up." He waved in a few other security personnel and they set to work disarming the devices.

Inside, Kes shivered despite Neelix's warm embrace. "Neelix," she said. "Do you think we're ever going to get out of here?"

"Of course, sweeting," he replied. "There are security teams just waiting for a moment to charge in and rescue us. Voyager's crew has never let us down before." He patted her shoulder.

"This is all my fault," she said. "This party was my idea." She looked up at Neelix and said, "Seven and Harry died because of me."

Neelix shook his head. "You did a good thing. You had no idea this was going to happen, did you?"

Kes shook her head and wiped a tear away. "Of course not."

Neelix squeezed her tight. "There, you see. The only ones at fault here are these tyrants. They are the ones to blame. Never you."

Kes smiled in spite of her tears and said, "I promise the next time I throw you a party I'll make sure they're not invited."

"That would be wise," Neelix said. "They've provided enough excitement for my lifetime, thank you. I am more than willing for them to move on and entertain elsewhere."

Kes looked over at Chakotay and the others. "Do you think the Captain is okay?"

Neelix glanced back and said, "I'm sure she is being well taken care of."

Kes nodded. "Tom is a good medic. How's your leg?"

"I'll live," Neelix said. After a moment, he said, "Maybe you should check on her. You've worked with the Doctor more than Tom."

Kes sat up straight. "I should." She started to stand and drew the attention of her guard. "I just want to go over and check on the Captain. I assist the Doctor. Maybe I can help her."

The guard glanced at Ronan who shook his head. He nodded and said to Kes, "You're not going anywhere. Sit."

"But I…"

"Sit!"

Neelix pulled Kes down to him and held her against him again. "You don't have to yell. She was just trying to help."

Chakotay looked over at the commotion and saw Kes sink back down into Neelix's arms. The noise also roused Tom and he turned back around with Belanna. He glanced at the Captain and checked her vitals again. "She's holding her own," he said.

"Thanks," Chakotay said. Tom sat back and stared off again.

"What are we going to do now?" Belanna said.

Chakotay scanned the room. "We can try and overpower them again. We'll just have to make sure Ronan is contained as well. Obviously, we can do it. The crew's ready for it. Once we have the men down we can communicate with the bridge and have them beam us out. We'll figure out the explosives later."

"We'll need to keep at least one of them alive to show us how to disarm whatever they've done just in case. We might need their help to undo it." She looked around. "We need a distraction. A big one like before."

"I'll take Ronan when we get it," Chakotay said. "Any suggestions?"

Muffled yells sounded outside the room and Chakotay recognized the sound manual override being worked on. The door burst open and weapons fire from Voyager's security personnel filled the room. A few guards fell immediately as the crew inside again overtook their attackers with the help of the security teams this time.

Chakotay saw Ronan dash for the kitchen. "Tom, take care of the Captain." He chased Ronan into the back room and he found him kneeling by a bag filled with what looked to be explosive devices. "Ronan!"

Ronan turned and grinned. He turned one of the devices over in his hand and flipped a switch. The device disappeared. He held his hand up and said, "Careful, Commander. If I drop this, you and I have both lived our last day."

"It's over, Ronan. Leave this ship while you'll still alive. We can disable your technology now. Security wouldn't have been able to come in without knowing how."

Ronan circled and Chakotay kept up with him. "You can't phase. We can."

"Phase? You're altering space? Do you have idea how unstable that can be? The danger you're playing with?"

Ronan bit his lip. "For you, maybe. For us and the Vizians, it is an art. A whole society desperate to disappear and protect themselves. It is our main goal in life and we're good at it. Let me show you." He stomped his boot against the floor and vanished.

Chakotay looked at where he had been and tried to discern where he would go next. He didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"I can move in or out of the room, Commander. Undetected. Up to whatever mischief I want to be."

Chakotay moved in the direction of the voice.

"That's it. Come closer. I have another surprise for you."

Chakotay stopped and stood still. The voice was now coming from behind him.

"Not trusting anymore, Commander? No matter. I'll just come to you. Or rather this will."

Chakotay moved away from the last echo of Ronan's voice and then cried out as a knife sliced into his gut. He doubled over in pain held up by the stove as he listened to the sound of Ronan's laughter.

"Commander!" Ayala rushed in and Chakotay had just enough breath to call out and warn him.

"Ayala, he's cloaked."

Ayala watched blood pour out as Chakotay slip to the ground. He pulled out his phaser and shot around the room. He connected with Ronan and the terrorist appeared once again.

Ronan scowled and placed his explosive on the counter. He grabbed his rifle and fired a shot at Ayala clipping him on the shoulder. Ayala dropped and Ronan stomped once again to disguise himself and ran from the kitchen.

As he ran into the banquet hall, he collided with a security person who looked to see what had hit him. Ronan glanced around and saw that Voyager's crew once again had taken control. His men were on the floor, dead or in custody. He saw the Captain being helped up by the angry woman who had given Kelvin such a hard time. He smiled and walked toward her through the sea of people undetected.

As he approached, he heard a call for help from the kitchen and a warning. He saw the security personnel start to adjust their phasers as someone called the bridge for a scan. He stood in front of Janeway and whispered, "Time's up, Captain."

He watched her face as she heard his words. Instead of the fear he expected to see, he saw anger. She pushed out in front of her and connected with his body, calling her security team to her. "He's here! Fire!"

Confirmation from the bridge as to where Ronan was located came seconds later and security opened fire on the indicated position. Ronan's smiling face came into view as he stared at her. "Goodbye, Captain. Or is it Kathryn?"

Janeway smiled. "I'm back in command of this ship, Ronan so you can call me Captain." Phaser fire hit and stunned him and he dropped to the ground. As she watched him fall, she remembered Seven and Harry's empty faces in the cooler. She fought her emotions and composed herself enough to order the security members to disarm Ronan and turn him over immediately to the Vizian fleet along with the others, dead or alive. "Get them off my ship, now!"

"Tuvok to Janeway."

Janeway smiled and realized he had restored power to their comm system. "It's good to hear your voice, Mr. Tuvok. How's your head?"

"It's fine but I understand you now require medical attention. I shall remain in command while the Doctor attends to you."

"Thank you, Mr. Tuvok. Make it your priority to get these criminals off my ship."

"That duty is being attended to as we speak."

Janeway watched as a group of crew members carried Chakotay out of the kitchen. He was limp and unconscious and covered in blood. "Chakotay." She ran to his side along with Tom and Belanna. "What happened?"

Ayala walked on his own power out of the back still holding his wounded shoulder. "Ronan phased and attacked him. I got there too late to stop him. Coward!"

Tom assessed the wound and said, "We've got to get to him to sick bay. He needs the Doctor. Computer, beam Chakotay to sick bay, now!" Chakotay disappeared in a shimmer of light as Tom stood up and said, "Where's Harry?"

Janeway put her hand on his arm and said, "Tom, you don't have to recover them. Others can do it."

Tom pulled out of her grasp and said, "I want to do it." He took a breath. "I need to do it. You, Captain, also need to go to sick bay if you don't want a nasty scar. I'll find them." He walked into the kitchen.

Janeway followed him and called, "Tom, stop!"

Tom complied but did not turn around. She saw his shoulders move as he said, "I have to do this, Captain. Let me do this!"

Janeway walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, Tom, but you don't have to do it alone. Come on." She led him to the cooler and stood in front of the door. "Tom, just to prepare you, they have not been treated respectfully."

Tom blinked and took another deep breath. "I understand, Captain." He pulled on the door and it opened revealing Seven and Harry inside. His mouth dropped as he saw his best friend and Seven hanging there. Anger and rage boiled within and he ran to Harry's body and grabbed it, careful not to touch his frozen skin. He slid Harry off the hook and carried him outside and placed him on the kitchen floor. He looked his body over and found a single shot to Harry's left hip. Janeway knelt down beside him as Tom fingered the wound. "I don't understand," he said. "This wouldn't have killed him."

She looked at him as Tom's eyes widened. "Harry wasn't dead when they put him in there. He, he…" Tom slapped his communicator. "Paris to the Doctor. Doctor, respond!"

"I'm a little busy here Mr. Paris. In fact, I could use your help now that you are not otherwise detained and uninjured."

"Doctor, how long can the human body survive the cold?"

"Excuse me?"

"I need an answer, Doctor," Tom demanded.

"The human body would not survive beyond several hours. Why?"

Tom looked at Janeway. "How long have we been here?"

"About that long. Maybe a little less," she said. "Get Seven. Doctor, prepare to receive Harry and Seven . Both are suffering from extreme hypothermia and rifle wounds." Tom carried Seven out and laid her next to Harry. "Computer, transport Seven of Nine and Harry Kim directly to sick bay, now!"

A few hours later, Janeway looked over from where she sat on her bio bed to the other three beds. Chakotay lay sleeping still sedated from surgery to repair his stomach wound. Next to him, Harry and Seven were also sedated as Kes and the Doctor evaluated their vital signs.

"How are they, Doctor?" Janeway said.

"Their body temperature is coming up nicely. I've repaired their injuries. If they continue to respond to the warming therapy, they should regain consciousness in a few hours. I'll have to evaluate for any neurological damage at that time but I am guardedly optimistic they will both make a full recovery."

Janeway smiled in spite of her bandaged cheek. "That's great news." She put her head down and blinked back some tears.

The Doctor noticed and walked over to her. "This whole situation has been rather ragged on the crew's emotions especially those who were directly involved like yourself. I would prescribe a week's rest at least for all of you to recover and process what's happened."

"As soon as we clear Vizian space, we'll put down at the first M class planet Tom Paris can find."

"An excellent idea, Captain." The Doctor moved away and Janeway hopped down. Tuvok entered and walked over to her. "All Spada members have been returned to the Vizian authorities."

"Good. Their explosives?"

"Mr. Ayala assures me they have all been located and disposed of."

Janeway nodded. "Mr. Ayala will receive a special commendation for this one. He's earned it."

Tuvok put his arms behind his back. "He actually offered to give that honor to me if I authorized his actions on the bridge."

Janeway smirked. "Why, Mr. Tuvok, are you angling for a bit of praise to be placed in your service record also? Would that be the Vulcan emotion of pride I'm hearing?"

"Perhaps the Doctor should assess your auditory ability. May I remind you, Captain, that there are no Vulcan emotions?"

"You may but Vulcan emotions do exist, Tuvok. They are just not expressed." She looked at him and laughed. "It's good to have you and this ship together again in one piece. And everyone, including the Vulcan members of this crew, are going to celebrate."

Tuvok frowned. "I would like to request that I do not participate in this human need for celebration at this time. My last experience with celebratory traditions was quite enough."

Janeway smiled and grabbed his elbow to lead him out of sick bay. "What do you think we should do? A formal dinner? A beach party? Oh, how about a luau? We've done that before. It was fun, laidback, relaxing. You could dress the part for us with a lei, a grass skirt. And we'll teach you how to dance the hula. It's all about culture, Tuvok. Speech through hand gestures. You'll love it."