Sorry that this took so long. * face palm * This was done awhile ago but we thought that there was going to be more but we decided that this was a good next chapter and everything. The next chapter should be up soonish.

xxxxxx

Qi watched the bridge crew with approval as they oohed and aahed over the exquisite purple gem that was his home planet. That was as it should be. Uchi Kieru was to most magnificently beautiful planet in the universe.

A soft beep came from Harry Kim's station. "Captain, we are being hailed."

"Put it on screen, Ensign."

Qi found their abrupt manner of speaking fascinating. It certainly saved time, but some of his people found it impolite. That was, at least in part, why he stood on the bridge now. He had had several weeks to observe their customs before communicating with them. He did not want any misunderstandings between the humans and the Kieru.

The viewscreen displayed a young man in the green of a communications specialist. "I bid you greetings in the name of the Kieru people. I must request your identity and your intentions in our space."

Qi stepped forward and bowed politely. "I am Qi Miko. I will speak on behalf of Captain Kathryn Janeway and her ship Voyager."

The young man bowed. "Uesama Qi Miko, the stars shine upon this meeting. We feared the worst. I am Koutsuu Arata Ito."

"Honor upon Ito, Koutsuu Arata Ito. It would please me to speak to Maou Hideki Miko."

"It would give me great pleasure to request his attention, Uesama. It will be done directly." The screen went blank for a moment and when it came back up, Qi was pleased to see his father standing before him. Qi immediately dropped to one knee and bowed. "Uesama Maou Hideki Miko, greetings and good fortune."

His father smiled. "Greetings and good fortune to you. It seems Uchi Kieru has brought you safely home again, my son."

Qi was aware of Kathryn Janeway's surprise and was amused by it. He had not mentioned that he was a man of no little importance among his people. Humans were very open with their feelings, allowing them to show on their faces at all times. He found Kathryn Janeway's face the most expressive of all, despite her attempts at disguising her emotions from time to time.

Qi turned his attention back to the formalities. "Honored father, it is my pleasure to introduce Kathryn Janeway, Captain of this ship called Voyager." He introduced all of the bridge crew as well by rank. "Without these kind folk we would all have been slain by the Hirogans who hunted us. They have sheltered us and cared for us with kindness despite the rude nature of our introduction. I beg of you to treat them with the honor and esteem they are due and forgive them their odd customs of speech. I assure you they mean no disrespect."

His father bowed slightly to Qi. "It does you credit to be aware of possible difficulties." Hideki Miko turned his attention to the captain. He bowed deeply to her "Captain Kathryn Janeway, I must extend my deepest gratitude as Maou of this people to you and your crew for sheltering my people in their time of need and as a father for the safe return of my youngest son, for though I have a dozen sons, each child is precious in the sight of his father."

Kathryn Janeway made a soft choking sound before answering. Qi made a mental note to discover what had caused such a reaction. "The pleasure is all mine, Maou Hideki Miko. A wise woman once said, 'In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us.'"

Qi nodded at her in approval. These were not the traditional phrases of her people, but they held a formality that conveyed respect for his people and their customs. His father invited them to dock at the space station. Jiyuu dwarfed Voyager as she docked, but none of the crew seemed intimidated by its size. They were clearly used to larger stations where they came from.

They were clearly less comfortable with his people and their customs. Qi was not disappointed. Kathryn Janeway and her crew would rely on him to help them with the negotiations and so he would not have to find other excuses to stay near the fascinating humans.

Xxxx

Janeway collapsed onto her couch with a groan. These negotiations were taking forever. The Kieru could not just say anything straight out. Every session started with five minutes or more of polite greetings between all of the people involved and then each offer and counteroffer had to be couched in polite phrases. Frankly, without Qi, she would have given up days ago.

There was a polite rap on her door. "Come," she answered, rearranging herself into a more dignified posture. Only one person ever knocked. "Qi," she greeted.

He bowed. She had tried to insist that it was unnecessary to bow to her, especially on her ship, but he would not hear of it. At least he no longer addressed her by her full name. "Kathryn, I would like to speak frankly with you."

"That would be refreshing," she commented.

Qi gestured to a chair. "May I?"

"Please."

He paused uncomfortably. "It is clear to me that our means of communicating is a stress to you. It is unfortunate that our customs differ so. The proceedings lasting so long is a great honor to you. We have very few allies and of those few even less have ever seen our home. We have never had occasion to determine a suitable reward for what you have done for us." He shook his head. "I fear that it will be another day at least before we come to any solid agreement."

Janeway sighed. "It would be easier to bear if I even understood what was being offered. Our universal translators are good at translating, but they translate literally."

He smiled, his eyes lighting with understanding. "Your translators translate literally, but we do not name things for what they do like your people. Perhaps tomorrow I could arrange a demonstration."

Janeway smiled back, feeling deeply relieved. She thanked Qi fervently. The formality would still be stressful, but at least she would know what they were offering. "Is that all you came about?" she asked.

Qi shook his head. "I had hoped you would assist me with something. Many of my crew had occasion to try out your holodeck and their reports were quite intriguing. My people use holo technology, but all of our research has been dedicated to defense and combat purposes. I had hoped you might show me."

Janeway shook her head. "I'm afraid I'm not the one to ask about how it works. Tom or B'Elanna would be the best choice."

"I care little for the technical aspects," he countered. "I am no engineer or programmer. I would simply like to see what it can do. Perhaps you can show me your home, your Earth."

Janeway smiled. "In that case, I would be pleased to give you the grand tour." He waited politely for her to exit. She liked that about him. It was like living in one of her holonovels if she ignored the red skin and tail. She would never admit it to anyone, but she liked being bowed to as well.

The holodeck was empty. She had deliberately picked the smaller of the two for that reason. She could pull rank and change the program, but she didn't like to do that and she wanted to show Qi the full range of capabilities and the variety of programs available.

By the time they got done, it was quite late and they had tried out dozens of settings. Qi had been quite impressed and seemed particularly interested in King Arthur's Court. He escorted her back to her quarters. At her door, he bowed and kissed her hand. "I quite enjoyed that. Perhaps you would be willing to go again tomorrow?"

Janeway smiled, but shook her head. "Even if I had the time to indulge, it would be unfair to take someone's time."

"Until tomorrow then, Kathryn." He bowed again and left. Janeway got ready for bed. It would be a long day tomorrow after losing sleep, but she found herself far more cheerful than she had been. Qi had provided just the break she needed from all of the stresses. And then there was the offer to demonstrate their technology. She settled back in her bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

xxxx

Captain Janeway paced her ready room, but for the first time in weeks, it was from excitement rather than frustration. Chakotay was relieved. He had enough to worry about with the strange effects pregnancy was having on Seven without dealing with Janeway's irritability.

"I take it the meeting went well today?" he inquired.

"Better than that. Did Seven tell you what we saw this morning? We might be able to hide from the Borg and any other enemies. What the Kieru have is far beyond our cloaking technology in the Alpha Quadrant. They also have ways of enlarging ships so that they break off into smaller pieces when attacked. Those pods we found were actual functioning pieces of the ship until it came under attack."

"That sounds promising. How much do they intend to share with us?"

"Whatever we want." Janeway was actually grinning. "Qi convinced them that between the rescue and our willingness to share technology of our own, we should be able to have whatever we want done."

Chakotay smiled back. "That would explain why I nearly had to drag my wife out of a meeting in Engineering to keep her appointment with the Doctor. B'Elanna nearly bit my head off, but Tom held her back."

"Tell them they have all the time they need to figure this out. I would like consistent reports on their plans and final say on whatever they come up with, but they are the ones who will have to work with the changes. Oh, and ask Tom if he would be willing to give some of the Kieru lessons on holo design. They were quite fascinated with Qi's report on the holodeck."

"I didn't realize any of our guests had been on the holodeck."

"I took Qi yesterday evening. I think we visited well over half of the programs in the system."

"I am glad we had something to offer." Chakotay glanced at the door. "If you will excuse me, Captain, I am supposed to meet Seven for dinner and I don't want to be late."

"Go," she urged.

Chakotay rose and hurried out. Seven hated her schedule to be thrown off. So he tried to avoid being the cause of it if he could help it. He was paying little attention to anything but his goal, so he was quite surprised when Qi popped seemingly out of nowhere.

"Where did you come from?" Chakotay asked.

Qi bowed. "I was waiting to speak to you."

"Could it wait? I'm late."

"I would prefer not to."

"Then would you be willing to talk while we walk?"

"Of course. It would be rude of me to detain you when you are clearly in a hurry." Qi cleared his throat nervously. "I realize that the customs of our peoples differ, so I am uncertain of the appropriate protocols, but by the standards of my people you are the only person in a position to grant my request."

"Is there a point to this?" Chakotay asked, trying not to sound as impatient as he felt.

"I apologize. I am trying to learn this custom of speaking directly, but it is difficult. I will endeavor to -" Qi took a deep breath. "Again apologies. What I wish to ask is this: have I your permission to court Kathryn Janeway?"

Chakotay missed a step and nearly stumbled into a bulkhead. "Excuse me?"

"Do I have your permission-"

"I heard you the first time." Chakotay told him. Should he have seen this coming? Qi had certainly been spending a great deal of time with the captain, but there had been a lot of business to take care of. "I don't feel entirely comfortable giving you permission. That is a matter between you and the Captain."

"Please! I do not know what else to do. Her father is dead and the rest of her family is too far away to ask. Kieru custom dictates that I must ask the permission of a family member or, barring that, one who is close to her in another way. It is not unheard of for an orphan of our people to consider their commanding officer to be the nearest kin. But Kathryn has no superior officer, either."

Chakotay studied Qi's face for a moment. "Alright. I will give you conditional permission. If Janeway is open to your um courting, you have my permission to do so." Qi bowed quickly and offered flowery thanks before hurrying off. Chakotay shook his head and continued through the door to his waiting wife. This would certainly be interesting. He just hoped it wouldn't end with a broken heart.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

How many of you saw that coming?