Chapter 2

Kathryn's stomach did a flip-flop as her body tried to control her opposite emotions: the relief of the crew's safety and the fear for her own. She listened to Kartok continue:

"I will be sending a dress for you to wear sometime in the next few hours. I will come back to get you in one day." He left the room.

Kathryn sat down, letting a whoosh of air out of her lungs; she hadn't realized she had been holding her breath. Her heart was pumping like a steam engine and her thoughts were scattered, so she took another to steady herself. She had to be completely in control when she told Chakotay what they had decided, so she made an entry in her log to test her voice.

"Captain's log, stardate 5043.2…"

The entry was short and to the point, the equivalent of what her conversation with Chakotay would be like. Her preparation, in total, took only a minute. With a deep breath she left her ready room.

On the bridge, no one had said a word. Kathryn saw them just as quiet as when she had left them, obediently doing their work as if nothing had happened. She walked over to Chakotay and opened her mouth to speak. As she did so, the underlying tension in the room got even tenser, and the silence more menacing as 10 ears perked up. They were all working, but not one was paying attention to what they were doing. No one wanted to miss this.

She glanced around with and amused smile. "Alright, I know you're all listening, but frankly you have a right to know. They are called the Thayn, their leader is Kartok and they left because I made a bargain with them."

"What did you give them?" Chakotay asked.

She hesitated before she answered "Me."

The silence of before was nothing compared to this: even the engine seemed to stop and the only sound on the bridge was of 10 jaws hitting the ground. Tom Paris looked like he had eaten too much of Neelix's cooking; Harry looked like he was about to cry; Tuvok only raised his eyebrow and Commander Chakotay was showing more emotion than he ever had.

"Captain, you had no right to…"

"I had every right Commander," she interrupted with eyes ablaze. "I did everything necessary to preserve this ship, and this was the only option where I could be certain that everyone on this ship could be safe."

"Except for yourself."

"Yes Commander, but my safety is not the main issue here and I'm sure you will do better without me than if we had no ship." Before he could protest she continued "Commander Chakotay, I hereby resign from my commission and promote you to Captain. Congratulations. I will be in my quarters. Please send someone with a package that will arrive for me in the transporter room."

She stalked off, and even after the doors closed behind her, Captain Chakotay had not said a word.