Kathryn:

Every time I come back to the bridge after an extended time away, it almost feels brand new again. The sounds and the scents are familiar, but it always just seems to look a little bit different, like my memories of it are somehow slightly altered because I haven't seen it for a while. I suppose it's true of anything. If I ever make it back to my mother's house, I'm sure that in reality, it will be a lot different than I remember it.

"Captain on the bridge."

I look up and see Harry smiling at me, with that pride that he always wears when he sees me coming back after an injury. I'll never tell him, but there are days when his enthusiasm is the only thing that keeps me going. I thank him, and then turn to face the rest of the crew. "It's good to be back." Even though it's well after noon and that medical tyrant wouldn't let me out until half an hour ago.

As usual, Chakotay is standing before his chair, waiting for me to come down and meet him. "Report."

"We're cruising at Warp Five," he tells me as we sit down. "All systems working at top efficiency, and the Doctor has announced all crew to be in the peak of health."

I smile inwardly. He's telling me, without saying their names, that Tal, Telfer and Harren have been released from Sickbay – which of course I already knew, because they were gone before I woke up this morning. "Thank you, Commander." I pull up the current readings on the console between us to confirm the ship's status, and for once, everyone's reports are in on time. "Everything here looks good," I tell him quietly. "I should leave you in charge more often." He doesn't say anything, but out of the corner of my eye, I see him look away from me and fix his eyes on the viewscreen, and I'm starting to get the same feeling that I did in Sickbay. "Everything alright, Chakotay?"

"Fine, Captain." He gives me a smile, but I know it's just a cover.

Truth be told, he's been on my mind since he left Sickbay yesterday. Not in an alarming way, but in that something between us is just off. Leaning over toward him and lowering my voice even further, I ask, "Do you have plans for tonight?"

Finally tearing himself away from the starfield, he looks at me with a slightly put-on interest. "What did you have in mind?"

"Dinner in my quarters," I suggest. "My treat."

Before he can answer, Ensign Kim announces, "Captain, sensors are picking up a fleet of ships half a light year directly ahead."

"Confirmed," Tuvok adds. "Fifteen ships…comparable in size and armaments to Voyager."

Fantastic – that's all we need. "Onscreen."

The screen shifts to a magnified view, which shows plain, grey triangular ships flying in a V formation. "A border patrol?" I hear Chakotay ask.

"It makes sense," Paris replies. "According to the last charts we obtained, we moved out of Brunali space five days ago."

Just the mention of Icheb's homeworld makes me cringe inside. Heartless bastards. I automatically check myself, knowing that what they did was out of desperation, but it doesn't make me feel any less angry toward them. "Well, let's find out who they are," I order as I get to my feet. "Open a channel."

"Channel open."

The butterflies in my stomach that always come with a first contact make themselves known, but I push them down. "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager."

The screen changes views almost immediately, showing us a pair of squat, purplish beings wearing the most ridiculous headdresses I've ever seen. "We are the Mok-ral," they chorus together in a most unusual harmony. "Why are you approaching our border?"

I involuntarily glance at Chakotay. Right as usual. "We are travelling to our home on the other side of the galaxy, and we were hoping to obtain permission to cross through your territory."

"It is an unusual request," the one on the left states. "Most smart beings know to avoid this area."

"I'm afraid we have no knowledge of your space," I try, hoping that they won't be the typical type of obstinate species that we've run across so many times in this quadrant. "Would it be possible to get some information from you on this region?"

"This area is filled with subspace mines," the being on the right tells us, "left over from the Kristosien War."

"They're several centuries old," his companion adds, "but still quite dangerous."

"Then perhaps you could provide us with a map so we can safely navigate around it?" I ask, wishing that they would just be straightforward already.

The first Mok-ral consults a computer screen, and then I hear beeping coming from Tuvok's station. "We are receiving a transmission of stellar charts," he tells me as he works his console.

"This will be our last interaction with you," the other alien tells us. "If you choose to enter this area, it will be at your own risk."

Well, at least they're not going to shoot at us. "Understood. Thank you for the information."

They cut the transmission, and we see their ships split off and pass by either side of us as they leave. "Friendly bunch, aren't they?" Tom mutters as he swivels around to look at me.

I fix him with a look. "I'll take indifference over disruptors any day." Turning back to Tuvok, I order, "Put their map up on screen."

It shows a large area of space, about sixteen light years wide and two deep, filled with slowly moving targets. "There are a large number of active mines," Harry reports, "but the area is also filled with twice as many inert objects."

"Probably as barriers to force ships into the active ordinances," Chakotay suggests.

Exactly what I was thinking. "What's the distance between each?" I ask.

"Half a million kilometres," Tuvok adds. "Each target is moving at a rate of forty thousand kilometres per second."

"Doesn't leave much room for error," my first officer says.

"Tom, what's the time to fly around it versus safely through it?" I ask.

Chakotay:

God, I hope she's not serious! My gut clenches, and I fear that the captain's going to want to take the supposedly shorter, but incredibly dangerous route through this minefield. I can see the gears turning in her mind, and I pray that this isn't another instance where she decides on the larger risk just to save time.

Fortunately, Paris saves me the argument. "At warp six, it would be about two weeks to go around," he tells her, "but to go through, we wouldn't be able to do more than half impulse."

I do the calculations in my head. Sublight speed means it would take twenty years to cross, and that's not accounting for swerving to miss mines. Seeing that she's already worked out the same results faster than I have, it's no surprise when she orders, "Set a new course to circumnavigate this minefield. Warp eight."

Cutting our travel time to roughly five days. Thank the Spirits.

"Aye, Captain. Course laid in."

"Engage."

After she gives the order, she returns to her seat, and I find myself following automatically. But I'm unsettled. My first instinct was that she was going to put the ship in danger, and it never used to be that way. I've always trusted Kathryn's decisions, even if I didn't agree with them in the moment. And now it's either paranoia or apathy that's making me start to question her, preparing for a fight because I think she'll once again summarily dismiss my suggestions, like with the Nakan memorial or with her 'lost sheep'. It's been happening too much lately, and it's starting to distract me.

"Chakotay?"

Case in point…I haven't heard her calling me. I turn to face her, seeing her again leaning toward me with a now-fading grin on her face. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked you if you'd like to join me for dinner," she repeats, a slight frown creasing her brow.

I've had my doubts about this, but I think I need to take B'Elanna's advice. "That sounds good."