Chapter Two

B'Elanna Torres, the half-Human, half-Klingon, Chief Engineer of Voyager, sat in her quarters in a rare moment of inactivity. With the entity outside controlling the motion and speed of the ship, Engineering had been given a rare full department 'Day Off' after the Captain had assured her that nothing was affecting her precious engines. She had been in her quarters long enough to get out of her uniform when the door chimed.

"Hold on a minute." She yelled, grabbing a robe. Shrugging it on, she opened the door. "Captain?"

"I need a favor, B'Elanna," Kathryn said before realizing that the other woman was only wearing a robe. Her eyes widened slightly as she felt her body react. In a few years, she would get to know that body very well. "I apologize. Should I come back later?"

"Ah, no, come on in." B'Elanna glanced down at herself. "Let me just grab something."

Kathryn entered the quarters and waited for B'Elanna to return. After a few minutes, the other woman return in an outfit that the Admiral recognized, and she suppressed an indulgent smile. "The people that we're picking up are two branches of the same species. They are warriors and psychics. The leader of the warrior line is the one I need your help with. She has lead a very hard life and, although she has a best friend, I think she could do with someone who wasn't involved, and with your strength, you might be able to match her if she needs to vent."

"Match her?" B'Elanna asked, confused. "Vent?"

"She's had to do a lot in her life." Kathryn told her, picking her words carefully. "In their dimension, they were human, with special abilities, and they had to grow up too fast. Here, they had to be changed, because what made them special is not viable in this dimension."

Now, B'Elanna was intrigued. "Can you tell me more?"

"No." Kathryn told her. "I just want to know if you could do this for me. I've also asked Lt. Ro, who's already agreed."

"Sure, Captain. I'll give a shot."

Bridge to Captain Janeway

Kathryn tapped her communicator. "Janeway here."

Captain, you might want to see this. Chakotay's voice sounded strained.

Kathryn and B'Elanna exchanged before they both left the engineer's quarters and headed for the turbolift.

"Bridge." Kathryn said as the doors closed.

"Kahless." B'Elanna breathed as they stepped onto the bridge. In the center of the bridge, the crew watched as a small blonde fought her way thought a group of men with strange faces in what looked like an ancient nightclub of some sorts. Every time the girl stabbed one of the attackers, the attacker disintegrated and vanished from the illusion. "What is this?"

"Captain, I'm getting reports of similar illusions on several decks, including sickbay and the mess hall." Tuvok reported. "There are several where a young woman is fighting alone, as well as several where she fighting with a team."

"Captain, I'm getting M-Class readings at the location of the beacon." Harry reported suddenly. "There are also life signs."

"How many?" Chakotay asked.

"About 25." The lieutenant replied. "They're about 15 feet below the surface. The beacon seems to be transmitting about 3 kilometers from where the life signs are concentrated, above the surface. There are also strange readings on the surface of the planet."

"Strange in what way?" Tuvok asked, checking his own sensors.

"Strange as in there is no correlation in our databases." Harry said, confused. "I don't understand it."

"How long before we orbiting the planet?" The captain interrupted before he could continue. Now just was not the time.

"At current speed, about ten minutes." Tom answered.

"Let me know when we get there. I'll be in my Ready Room."

- - - BtVS - - ST:Voyager - - -

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the planet. Only, it wasn't a planet, it was a large landmass freefloating in the nebula.

It was Sunnydale.

"Oh. My. God." Kathryn stared at the viewscreen in wide-eyed shock.

Five minutes later, Kathryn, Seven and Tuvok energized onto the surface.

"Captain, are you all right?" Seven asked, watching the older woman curiously.

"Hello, Admiral." A young brunette appeared in a swirl of green mist.

"Hello, Dawn." Kathryn smiled. "I'd say that it's been a long time, but for me, it really hasn't."

Dawn laughed.

"Are you whole once again?"

Dawn nodded. "My human body died some time ago. I am complete now, including the part of me that you knew in Sunnydale. How much do you remember?"

"Almost everything." Kathryn told her. "Although I think there's still some things that I'm still missing."

The brunette chuckled. "You're right, but I'm not going to spoil it for you. That's not the deal. I can tell you the first part of the test though. You have to get to the vineyard, retrieve the Scythe, and get it to Buffy."

"You make it sound so simple." Kathryn said dryly. "Let me guess. Everything is here for the party, Caleb is guarding the Scythe and Buffy is in the Hellmouth."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because that's the worst case scenario, so that makes the most sense."

Dawn laughed again. "And you wondered why she had no problems following your lead. However, that's not exactly what's waiting for you, but I can't you what is. Get to the beacon, Admiral. Good luck."

Kathryn nodded and motioned for Tuvok and Seven to follow as she started walking.

"Hey, Kathryn." Kathryn turned back to the young woman.. "She honored your memory when you died. She became a real leader following your example. You would have been proud of her."

Then she was gone in another swirl of green mist. For a moment, Kathryn stood frozen as the words settled deep inside of her.

"I do not understand, Captain." Seven interrupted her thoughts. "How is it that you know the entity. This nebula formed many centuries before you were stranded in the Delta Quadrant."

"I think the more interesting question," Tuvok interjected. "is why did the entity call you 'Admiral' instead of 'Captain'."

Kathryn smirked and nodded her head for them to continue. "Come on. I'll explain as we walk. This is not a place to linger around here in the dark."

So, they continued and she explained about being from the future and the situation that gave the Timekeepers reason to allow her return to her own past without temporal repercussions as long as what happened wasn't too widely known. She told them about the final years of their trek home and about the rash of battles that had killed most of the senior staff and more than half of the crew. She told them about the betrayals by Starfleet and the Federation when they finally did return, all under the disguise of strain from the war with the Dominion.

"Betrayals?" Tuvok asked when she paused.

"The pardon for the Marquis was amended, forcing them into service for a minimum of five standard years." Kathryn explained, still furious over it. "Neelix was taken away and interrogated extensively about the Delta Quadrant, and if I hadn't made prior arrangements, I don't think Seven would have made it off of Starfleet grounds." She took a breath to regain control of her anger. "The future that awaits us in the Alpha Quadrant can't be tackled at this point, but our future here is already off course just by being chased into this nebula. The first time, the cube that was chasing us was destroyed when we torpedoed the transwarp conduit. It took a lot of interference to divert the past without temporal repercussions, and it was all so that these people could be saved."

"That is illogical." Tuvok stated.

"Not really." Kathryn countered. "Not when you take into account that these people are the greatest weapon we have against an enemy so terrible, even the Q Continuum and the Timekeepers are worried."

"What do you intend to do?" Seven asked.

"We'll continue on. Regardless of what I know, the majority of us still have families that we want to see again." Kathryn told them. "However, here on Voyager, we're going to start melding together a little more. We've considered ourselves a family for a long time now, and it's time to start acting like it. Turn the ship into something resembling a fledgling colony. It's also time we got proactive instead of reactive. Again, regardless of what I know, there is still the chance that we could become stranded here. We've made some good friends in the Delta Quadrant, but we made bigger enemies. We need to establish relationships, as well as fortify Voyager. In my future past, I've come across certain types of upgrades that we can implement if we can come up with a feasible explanation. Also, we should start thinking about creating our own trade goods. A lot of the crew have artistic tendencies, if the various holodeck programs are any indications. Artwork, jewelry, games, even holo-programs from the various cultures on board would be worth trading if we could get them together. Although Voyager is not a generational ship, we're going to have to make allowances. There are eight years between now and when we discovered the wormhole, and even then, we hadn't known that it led to the Alpha Quadrant when we entered it. We can't keep these people from having children if they want."

"We will have to find someway to restructure the crew for the necessary space." Tuvok acknowledged.

"I know. We're also going to have to create a safety zone to shield them during attacks." She stopped, pulling a bag from her shoulders. Setting it on the ground, she opened it and handed them each several pieces of sharpened wood. "Take these. The beings that we're going to encounter are monsters. They do not bow to logic or reason. There will be no negotiation. Kill them quickly and keep moving. Use the stakes first on the ones that look sort of like Klingons. They have ridged foreheads, yellow eyes and very sharp teeth. Stab them in the heart as you saw the girl do in the illusion on the bridge. After you run out of stakes, use the phaser rifles to remove their heads from the bodies. Any other monsters, kill them any way you can."

"Yes, Captain."

"Aye, Captain."