We are so sorry that this took so long!

Bryg has been busy and I have been waiting on her stamp of approval before posting this.

Okay enough babbling on to the next chapter!

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The experimental shuttle pulled out of it's port and headed for deep space. Chakotay smiled at Qi as they moved further from the Kieru home world. "This should be interesting, Qi." Chakotay commented to the Kieru.

Qi nodded, excitement shone in his eyes. "The Stars shine on us." Qi agreed brightly.

Chakotay smiled. The only thing that could curb his enthusiasm were those rebel Hirogen, and what were the odds of running into them?

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The supply run was uneventful. The world they stopped at held the largest trading post for several lightyears in all directions. Neelix was in his element. He was able to not only trade for a variety of items, he was also able to get advice on how to use them and make contacts among the new races they encountered there. In the end, Chakotay nearly had to drag Neelix away from the stalls when Qi told them it was time to leave.

Chakotay was eager to go. He had gotten the prickly feeling that someone was watching him several times that day. He kept telling himself he was overreacting, that it was nothing more than interest from people who had never seen humans before, but still, he was glad to return to the safety of the shuttle.

He settled back against his chair on the small bridge with a sigh of relief and helped Qi with the preparations for take-off. As soon as they were on their way, he unstrapped his phaser and tucked it in a little hidden compartment beside his chair. He thoroughly approved of this addition the Kieru had put in. One could never predict when an enemy would board unexpectedly.

He was sitting back, talking with Qi when a ship appeared out of nowhere. He didn't need Qi's alarmed shriek into the comm to realize that this was a Hirogen ship. Qi was already performing evasive maneuvers as he alerted the small crew.

Chakotay turned away from his own board in horror at a familiar shimmer. He shouted a warning as a Hirogen beamed onto the deck directly behind their chairs. He dove for his hidden phaser wishing he still had it strapped to his waist. He couldn't see Qi anywhere and wondered where he had disappeared to and how he had passed Chakotay without being noticed by him or the Hirogen.

He had no time to wonder further as the Hirogen stepped forward menacingly. "I've heard that Humans are interesting prey." He snorted. "So far I have found you easy prey. You were warned not to interfere, Human. Today you will die," the Hirogen hissed, then paused. "Though it would be more enjoyable to hunt you somewhere large enough to give you a sporting chance." The Hirogen struck Chakotay in the head.

Had he not dodged slightly, he would have been knocked unconscious by the blow. As it was, he felt his head spin woozily. He watched in a daze as a Kieru dagger appeared in the Hirogen's chest. He had seen most of the Kieru with those daggers and had assumed they were simply decorative. the Hirogen made a choking noise and flailed as though trying to dislodge someone from his back, though as far as Chakotay could see, there was nothing there.

The Hirogen's struggles grew more and more frantic, then the dagger disappeared and he heard Qi's voice snarl, "Hirogen Kanji Buhtah!" Chakotay watched in disbelief as the Hirogen's neck was slit by absolutely nothing and fell to the floor.

Chakotay looked up to see what looked like the outline of a dagger etched in blood hovering in the air. His eyes widened further as Qi's voice came from the empty air above the dagger. "Chakotay, we must hurry and check on the others." Qi appeared, holding the bloody dagger in one hand.

"How did you do that?" Chakotay managed to ask the Kieru.

"Explanations must wait for later; I fear we must act now if we are to stop the Hirogen from taking our ship and using it to destroy my people." Qi said as he extended a hand to help Chakotay to his feet.

Chakotay nodded, his head still spinning with questions as he accepted the help and followed Qi off the bridge. Qi disappeared again. Chakotay only knew he was still there because Qi would tell him which direction to turn by tapping his shoulder at the junctions. Whenever they ran across a Hirogen, Chakotay seemed to be the bait. The hunter would charge him only to be efficiently taken down from behind by an invisible assailant.

They further they went, the more grateful Chakotay was that the Kieru were on their side. He had no doubt that if the Kieru had decided that his people were hostile rather than potential allies, they would have wiped out a significant chunk of the crew. Chakotay found the few non-Kieru crew members holed up here and there, but not a single Kieru. Though, there were plenty of signs that the Kieru had been here; wounded or dead Hirogens were slumped up against bulkheads or sprawled on the floor.

The Hirogen that were still alive were quickly dispatched by Qi. "We must beam over to their ship and discover how they found us. Then we must destroy the ship!" Qi told Chakotay once he was sure there were no more Hirogen lurking on their own ship.

Chakotay agreed. If the Hirogen had a way of finding the Kieru ships while cloaked, they needed to know about it. It was the work of moments to beam aboard. Chakotay checked the ship's computers, while Qi took care of the two Hirogen left behind to guard the ship. As soon as he collected the information they needed, he helped plant charges. They were already moving out as
the Hirogen ship disappeared in a fiery explosion.

They got back to Kieru homeworld without further incident, though the discussion was quite lively as the Kieru explained their abilities to the rest of the small crew. He hoped the Kieru realized that this would not be a secret among the Voyager crew for long, though he was sure they could keep it from going farther than the crew. Of course, it was his duty to inform Captain Janeway of what they had discovered. He had mixed feelings about that.

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Qi headed for Janeway's Ready Room as soon as he had reported the attack to his own people. He was very nervous. Not only would he be telling her the biggest secret of the Kieru people, he was going to confess that he had withheld information and he was unsure how she was going to react.

He met Chakotay on his way and cursed himself for not considering that Chakotay was honor-bound to report what he had learned. He ought to have asked Chakotay to let him tell her. Honor would not have been compromised if he had waited to impart the most significant details of the adventure until Qi had a chance to explain. He pressed the chime with shaking fingers and waited for her to tell him to enter.

"Come in." Her voice came, not sounding particularly upset. He assumed that was a good sign. Qi took a step forward and the door opened allowing him to enter the Captain's Ready Room. Janeway's face gave away little, her expression too guarded to hazard a guess at what she might be thinking and feeling just now. Still, he had come to know her enough to realize that the very fact that her face closed when she saw who had come to speak to her did not bode well for him.

He immediately dropped to his knees at her feet. "I had come to tell you of a rather delicate matter, but I fear I had not the foresight to beg leave of your commander to delay his own report. I beg your forgiveness, though I had good reason to keep the knowledge from you, I swear upon my honor."

"I understand," she replied neutrally. "No doubt you needed permission from your people."

He nodded, relieved that she grasped the difficulty of revealing a secret that touched upon the safety of all his people, yet...she was still upset. "That is so, yet I feel I should offer you apologies regardless. I should have asked for that permission sooner, for, did I not know that my trust was not misplaced?"

That seemed right. There was a slight lessening of tension in her shoulders. "Would you care to see a demonstration?" She smiled and agreed, but as he rose and prepared to blend with his surroundings, he remembered that humans used the closed-lip smile to be polite. It was the smile with the teeth that meant a human was happy. He reappeared to her sight at the back of the room and called her attention. She was gratifyingly impressed, but still not happy.

"That must be very useful for spying," she observed carefully.

Ah, was that the trouble? Did she think his people were spying on hers? Or - How foolish of him. She did not yet know all of his customs. He covered the distance between them in three long strides and bowed his head to the proper degree to express apology. "I swear to you, Kathryn, upon the Stars and the honor of my ancestors that neither I, nor any of my people would ever have done anything so dishonorable as to spy upon you aboard Voyager; one does not spy upon another in her own house, most especially when that other has offered no slight or violence to our people. To do so would bring dishonor upon any and all who were involved."

Now her face softened and he breathed a soft sigh of relief. It was said that no male could ever understand the female mind, and it seemed a human woman was more difficult yet to anticipate. Still, he considered that it was worth it if he could win such a woman to be his.

And perhaps this was the correct moment to bring that up as well. She might not know their customs, but he knelt before her anyway, holding his hands out before him with the palms up. "Kathryn Janeway, I admire you very much. I have met no one, man or woman, of any race, I have found more worthy of respect. If you so desire, I would greatly wish to court you." He maintained the formal tone with difficulty. What would he do if she refused? What if his request offended her?

She watched him for a few endless moments before a smile broke across her face like a sunrise. "I think I would like that very much," she murmured, placing her hands in his. Qi could not contain his own smile, though the customs dictated he maintain a serious expression to maintain the dignity of the ceremony. Perhaps it would not matter. There were no customs dealing with the courting of those who were not Kieru. Perhaps it was time to create new customs.

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Don't expect the next chapter of 'Heirs of Voyager to be up until sometime in December. Bryg is doing NaNoWriMo this month and will only be writing when she has writer's block and that might be to edit whatever chapter of 'Dark Angel' I have been writing.

However we do have plots for the next few chapters thought out. The next one is going to be 'The Courtship of Captain Janeway'. What? That sounds familiar? I can't imagine where we came up with it.