Year 2376:

Captain Kathryn Janeway was strolling through the corridor of her ship, the USS Voyager, on her way to the bridge. A few of her officers passed by, murmuring "Captain" as they neared. She nodded and kept moving.

She turned the corner to approach the turbolift. Suddenly, her legs froze and she uttered a gasp as she took in the horrific sight. A tall, gray alien in a suit stood between her and her destination. His large bald head towered over her. His small black eyes were sunken in and his nose was a black cave. His face narrowed to a point down to his jaw and his cheeks down were a mass of creases. He had no mouth, but a low clicking mixed with gravelly breathing emanated from him.

"I know you," Janeway whispered. She looked around at the crewmen passing her, calling for their help, but they just nodded at her and kept walking. She turned to look back at the alien. White hot pain seared her right shoulder. She grabbed it and fell to her knees. she looked back up at the alien. A black hole emerged from his creases. His four-fingered hand was raised and sparks flew from his body. Blinding light began to eclipse her view.

Kathryn Janeway screamed.

It was only a dream, was Kathryn Janeway's first thought as she stirred from unconsciousness. However, as she opened her eyes, she did not see the familiar images of her quarters. Instead, she saw the blinding overhead lights of sickbay. She was in the main biobed, which was surrounded by an orange-lit, semi-circular wall as well as her first officer, Chakotay, and the ship's Chief Medical Officer, the Doctor. They seemed to be relieved, for whatever reason, Janeway could not understand.

"What am I doing here?" She mumbled. The two mens' expressions became concerned.

"A crewman heard you screaming in your quarters," said Chakotay. "When Tuvok arrived, he said you were grabbing your right shoulder as if you were in pain, but he couldn't wake you. So you were transported here."

"When I scanned you," the Doctor spoke up, "I detected brain activity that was too high for normal REM sleep. Your shoulder began to show some tearing in your muscles, so I had to give you a stimulant to wake you."

Janeway stared at them in disbelief. Muscle tearing?"But that's imposs-" she tried to say as she started to sit up, but halted as she inhaled in pain. Her right shoulder was burning, warning her that what they said was true.

Amelia Pond was bored. She usually was when traveling from one planet in time to the next inside the TARDIS. To amuse herself, she decided to spin around the glass landing of the control center accompanied with the buzzing and clicking of knick-knacks that made the ship function.

Wait! Clicking? Amy stopped, wobbled toward the metal railing for support, and listened. The TARDIS never clicked like that. A chill ran down her spine as gravelly breathing accompanied the low clicks. She looked around for a blurred sight of the Doctor or her husband, Rory Williams. Maybe they were trying to tease her. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw a figure on the opposite side of the glass cylinder of the control center. She smiled, and dizzily made her way to the controls to make a smart remark to one of "her boys," but stopped short. The figure looked nothing like the Doctor, or her husband. Instead, it looked like one of those green aliens she saw on outer space cartoons when she was little, only this one was gray.

A wave of memories swept over her. A woman with reddish-brown hair and a phaser-rifle led her down a dark corridor swarming with gray aliens. A tall, glowing cylinder with swirling blue liquid was placed behind dozens of tall figures. Strong arms held her firmly on her back under blinding light while a dry voice pleaded to spare her and the others. Four long fingers held a small device uncomfortably close to her head.

Pain shot across Amy's forehead. She bowed low and pushed her hands against her skull for fear it would split apart if she didn't press down hard enough. The agony brought forth a terrible scream, and consciousness began to slip away. Before she collapsed, an ominous voice penetrated her last memory. If they remember, they will die.

Janeway awoke from a dreamless sleep, thankfully due to the Doctor's sedatives. Her shoulder still ached, and it seemed no form of treatment could relieve the pain. The Emergency Medical Hologram had ordered her to remain in sickbay for a few days until he could figure out the cause for her pain, and for the nightmares she had told him and Chakotay.

As she forced her grogginess aside, she realized that sickbay was much more busy than it had been for the past few days. She sat up, and noticed three of her senior officers occupying their own biobeds: Her tactical officer, Tuvok, astrometrics officer, Seven, and Chakotay.

"They all came in overnight complaining about extreme pain," the Doctor answered the Captain's unspoken question, "after dreaming about your alien."

The image of the gray alien flashed across Kathryn's memory, and she massaged her shoulder as a new stab of pain slashed through her dulling wound. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her as she stared at her unconscious crewmen. Connections started to form as she sprung up from her biobed. "Doctor, send those three up to the conference room on the bridge as soon as they can stand," she ordered, and headed toward the door.

"Now, where do you think you're going, Captain?" the Doctor called her back in. "You still are not fit for duty."

"Of course I am," Janeway countered. "It's just shoulder pain. I've had worse, and I have more pressing matters at the moment. Send them to the conference room by 1200 hours." Janeway gave the Doctor a nod and a slight smile to prove to him that she was fine. She turned and walked out of sickbay.

The Doctor looked after her somberly, burdened by what he knew. "Of course you had worse," he murmured. "You just can't remember it."

Janeway sat at the end of the conference table with Chakotay, Tuvok, and Seven seated further down. They had described in great detail each of their nightmares, each involving the tall gray alien that Janeway had dreamed, and that they endured excruciating pain as soon as they knew what it was. "But for some reason, we can't remember where we saw the alien," added Chakotay. "Or why it is so important."

"I believe I do," Janeway answered. "I have noticed a pattern here. All of us here have been having similar dreams about an alien we've never seen before, and experience horrible pain every time the memories surface. But only we have been the ones affected by this phenomenon. Why is that?" The three other officers looked around, confused. It was apparent that they had no idea what she was leading up to. "We were all involved in an away mission two weeks ago to bring back our warp core."

"With the Doctor?" asked Tuvok, as realization dawned on the group.

"With me!" announced a familiar british voice.

The officers turned in their chairs to see the quirky time traveler with the red bow tie at the door of the conference room. Behind him stood Amy Pond, supported by Rory Williams. As they stepped into the room, Janeway could see the deep blue police box of the TARDIS parked on her bridge before the doors slid shut. After she made a mental note to have the intruder alert sensors upgraded, she gestured for the newcomers to take a seat, and said unsurprisingly, "Hello again, Doctor. I assume you've been having some troubles with more than your...uh...time machine?"

"TARDIS," corrected the Doctor politely as he sat down with his companions. His tone had reluctantly admitted to her question. "Tell me, Captain, have you all been seeing a spooky gray alien that you've never seen before?" he mocked.

Janeway and the Doctor seemed to fall into sync with each other's thoughts. She didn't have to finish a sentence before he answered while the rest of the group jerked their heads from one speaker to the next in both confusion and awe. "You mean you've-"

"We all have."

"Then could it be-?"

"I believe so."

"Uh, excuse me," Amy finally spoke up, "but would you two care to share with the rest of the class?"

For one quiet moment it seemed like the Doctor and Voyager's Captain were communicating with each other through their fearful eyes. Finally, the Doctor answered Amy, "The Captain and I believe that the aliens we've been seeing in our dreams and hallucinations are the Silence."

"Or, more accurately," added Janeway, not turning away from the Doctor, "the Silence we saw on our mission to retrieve the warp core inside their ship."

"How?" asked Seven, clearly bewildered under her emotionless mask. "It was my understanding that the Silence could not be remembered once you have looked away from them."

"There is still a lot about the Silence that even I don't understand, yet," replied the ancient time traveler. "Their memory...wiping...thing-y, could be less effective if they are in large numbers."

Janeway rolled her eyes at his "impressive" use of detail, but continued. "This all leads to another important point. Every time my crew and I recall the image of the Silence, we experience excruciating pain that our doctor cannot repair."

"Ah, right. That hairless, bow tie-hating hologram that you call Doctor." He tugged at his bow tie in distaste, but immediately changed his expression when he glanced at the Captain's incinerating glare. "I reiterate, I don't know everything about the Silence. I think we should answer your question with one that I'm sure everyone here wants to know more." He paused for effect. Then said, "What happened on the Silence ship?"

No words were needed to answer the Doctor's question. Everyone present was following each other's thoughts perfectly. Until now, they believed that this could never be possible, since for some reason Voyager's doctor refused to tell them the events on the Silence ship by claiming he was under orders. But now that their memories had begun to surface, they could now use each other to piece together what they had discovered on one of their most captivating missions ever.

Clearly sensing that they were all ready to help each other reach the truth, Janeway took a deep breath, leaned forward to clasp her hands on the table, and said, "Alright, then. Let's find out, shall we?"

"Okay, so what's the plan?"

"I'm not really sure. I'm making this up as I go along."

"You mean to tell me you haven't thought any of this through?"

"Nope. I usually don't. I just pop in and out of time with my TARDIS before I need to make a plan."

Kathryn Janeway rolled her eyes in disbelief. She had trusted her ship's power source in the hands of a madman with a box. Now they were about ready to retrieve it from a dangerous race that she couldn't even see without remembering, and she didn't have a plan to get through it.

"Don't worry, madam. We'll get your core in no time. Just follow my lead." The Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver toward the door. Janeway, Chakotay, Seven, Tuvok, Amy, and Rory all raised their phaser rifles. The EMH Doctor stayed close to the Captain to tell her of any Silence that she or the rest of the team couldn't remember. After they all had a deep breath, the time lord pushed open the door, and they all plunged into the dark corridor of the Silence ship with the Doctor in front, followed by Janeway, the EMH, Amy, Rory, Chakotay, Seven, and finally Tuvok.

They ran single file, down the many twists and turns of the ship, waiting for an attack to commence, but none came. Eventually, the group paused in confusion, but with rifles still raised and pointed in various directions. "Uh, doc?" Rory asked the hologram. "Have you seen any of the aliens yet?"

The medical Doctor's eyebrows furrowed in utter bafflement. "Odd...I haven't seen any yet so far."

"I'm guessing that's pretty unusual," said Amy, a little shaken. She was used to being in dangerous situations, just never combat.

"For us, it's very unusual to not have a problem by now," said Chakotay. He gave her a slight smile and a wink to try to calm her nerves, and to hide his.

Janeway was grateful for her first officer's attempt to ease tension., but the hairs on the back of her neck began to raise. Every fiber of her being told her that they should turn back. It was her ship and crew's dependance on the warp core that coaxed her to push the rest of the group forward.

Eventually, they reached a large black door. Between the cracks, the Voyager team could see the blue glow of their warp core. The Time Lord Doctor held his sonic to the crack in the middle, and a green glow clicked the door loose (Rory chuckled and breathed, "Thank God that wasn't wood, or we'd have to pry it open ourselves."). The Doctor and Janeway grabbed both sides and slid it open, quickly moving to the side to avoid being seen. An ominous low clicking confirmed that there was life beyond the door boundary. The two leaders looked at each other, nodded, gripped their weapons tighter, and dashed into the room.

Everyone's heart stopped. The warp core was right there, standing in the middle of the room with it's liquid swirling slowly in its container, only a few paces away. But what surrounded it was dozens of tall, gray men in dark suits. Their clicking resembled that of triumph. Like they finally had something they wanted.

A trap, thought the time-traveling Doctor. It's a trap! "RUN!" He turned for the door, as did the others. But instead of running out the door, they had to stop themselves from running through a solid wall. The Silence seemed to chuckle at their confusion. They turned from the wall to see the aliens raise their long arms at them. Some began to move toward them as sparks flew from their finger-tips, and their mouths began to appear as black holes. The team immediately dispersed throughout the room, ducking from each spark and landing behind their own piece of metal cargo. If they were going to go down, it would be while fighting. Phasers began to fire, and soon the room was filled with whites, oranges, and greens dancing past each other. Voyager officers would often roll to another firing spot to avoid an alien nearing or to help out a fellow member, mostly the pacifist EMH Doctor. Occasional Silence would drop from phaser fire, but it was clear that they were surrounding the team. Soon, a spark grazed Kathryn, and she collapsed to the ground. Chakotay fell next, after breaking his focus for a moment to look at his fallen captain. Seven, Amy, and Rory were hit simultaneously, as they had the shortest amount of experience with a phaser rifle. Before long, the two Doctors and Tuvok were back-to-back against fifteen of the Silence. The Doctor heard the Vulcan he'd been looking forward to studying shout something to the hologram. After a few taps on the shoulder, the EMH disappeared, and the device that was attached to him clanked to the floor.

White light began to blind him and he felt something hit his back. After several seconds, his eyes adjusted, and behind his light source he saw a blurred image of the rest of the away team in a circle with him, pulled back into long chairs. Their arms were restrained to their sides. Some were still unconscious, but Amy and Kathryn were looking around, disoriented like the Doctor himself was. Several of the Silence were in the center, facing away from him. They were talking to someone. Someone with a dry, almost emotionless voice...someone that hated bow ties.

"I won't let you hurt them."

"Your people do not matter to us. Your warp core was only needed to reach the Doctor."

"But I am the - oh, you mean him. Why do you want that fashion disaster?"

"His TARDIS is of unlimited power."

"I see. Well, you're not getting it by holding my people hostage. I suggest you let them go."

"Or maybe we can destroy you and take the TARDIS by force."

"Go ahead and try it, then."

...

"Impossible! How are you-?"

"Let's just say, I'm a hologram with many talents, and I can't forget your face no matter how much you turn away or zap me with that bug-killing finger of yours. Now, release my crew or you'll soon be nothing but ash on my boot!"

"Your crew has already seen too much. We cannot risk their memories resurfacing."

"Then find a way! Make it so they will not be able to remember no matter what. Need I remind you that your refusal is not negotiable?"

"...Very well. We have one way. You may not prefer it, but this is what will save their lives. We do not tolerate any being to remember we are here. That includes you."

"You have my word that I will not mention what has happened here to anyone."

"Good."

Seven of the Silence moved toward the central console and retrieved a small item. They turned and began to slowly move toward a specific person on the away team, one of them heading toward the Time Lord. The alien bent low to where he was eye level, and extended the arm with the small device at his chest. Instinctively, he began to struggle, but he felt the strong arms of another alien hold him from behind. He could hear the other two women struggle away from their own extending arms. They synchronously called, "Doctor!" but he wasn't quite sure which one they were referring to. His two hearts pounded against each other as the device finally made contact with his body.

The Doctor felt like he was on fire where the device had touched his skin. The fire spread and deepened as the device melted into his body. He was screaming. The rest of the team joined him in the chorus of agony.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Not Earth. We told you this was necessary. If they recall these events, they will feel pain. If they remember, they will die."

The Time Lord's vision grew dim, as his mind tried to save itself from the pain. The device finally began to settle in the core of his chest, and the collective screaming began to subside into grunts and groans as they started to lose their hold on reality. As the Doctor and his memories of the recent events began to slip away, one thought stayed in his mind.

"If they remember, they will die."

The Doctor ran up to the conference room as fast as possibly could. Why did he ever let Kathryn and the rest out of sickbay? He knew she was too stubborn to tell him anything that was wrong with her. And now he has to answer a captain trying to call for help through agonized screams.

As soon as he entered the conference room, he almost fell to his knees. Seven people who sat at a table moments before - were dead. The Captain, Chakotay, Seven, Tuvok, the Doctor that he hated, and Amy and Rory. Each of them had held where their devices had been implanted. Some of them were lying face down on the table, the others, like poor Kathryn, had collapsed to the ground in a fetal position. The Doctor wasn't programmed to cry, but he could feel his hollow insides burst in anguish.

"You lied, Doctor."

The EMH looked to his side and saw one of the Silence staring at him and the dead crewmen. He was disgusted that the creature would dare go near here and mock him at such a horrific event.

"You promised us that they wouldn't remember."

"They only remembered because they were in pain every time they had a nightmare!" the Doctor said through gritted teeth. "They began to investigate as soon as they got off your ship because, as explorers, we like to investigate the unexplained. Random prodding of pain-sticks that should push us away will only prompt us to delve even more into the unknown."

He seemed to be catching the alien's interest. There was still hope. So he continued by making a proposal, "If you take away the pain devices and just wipe the memories, they would have no incentive to explore what happened on the Silence ship. Please, give them another chance."

The Silence continued to stare at him, as if he was pondering the hologram's suggestion. After several minutes, the alien cocked his head, and there was a collective gasp as seven pairs of lungs breathed in oxygen for the first time in thirty minutes. The crew, now alive, began to settle their breathing, but did not wake up.

"This is your last chance," warned the alien. "The devices have been removed. When they wake, they will not remember what they have seen. Do not fail us again."And with that, the Silence began to dissolve into the air, and disappeared.

It was only a dream, was Kathryn Janeway's first thought as she stirred from unconsciousness. However, as she opened her eyes, she did not see the familiar images of her quarters. Instead, she saw the blinding overhead lights of sickbay. She was in the main biobed, which was surrounded by an orange-lit, semi-circular wall as well as her Chief Medical Officer. He seemed relieved, for whatever reason, Janeway could not understand.

"What am I doing here?" she mumbled.

"A conduit exploded on the bridge," answered the Doctor. He picked up a medical tricorder and began scanning the Captain. "No one was killed, but you, Chakotay, Seven, and Tuvok took most of damage. You've all been unconscious for four days."

Four days? thought Janeway. She looked around at the biobeds that were occupied by the officers the Doctor mentioned, but was shocked to notice something else, too. Three more beds were added, to make room for the time-traveling Doctor and his two companions.

Clearly seeing Janeway's surprise, the EMH explained. "The conduit explosion may have affected your short-term memory of events before the explosions. The...other Doctor... decided to pay us a visit, and got caught in the explosion as well. Now I have another mess to clean up." The Doctor punched numbers into his tricorder in apparent distaste.

"I see," was all Janeway could really say. She still had the feeling that something else was missing, but decided to shrug it off. She had a lot of work to catch up with. She began to sit up and head out of sickbay. "Well, Doctor, thank you for patching me up as well as our guests, but I really must get back to work-"

"Oh, no you don't, Captain," interrupted the Doctor, and he laid her back down onto the biobed. "I have not cleared you for duty. I want you to remain here for at least another day." She began to complain about her work, but he added, "Don't make me say two. Now get some rest. That's an order."

Janeway rolled her eyes and smiled. If there was one person on her ship that she could trust, minus Chakotay, it would be her CMO. As she slowly fell back to sleep, Janeway had the strangest feeling that she owed one to the Doctor.

If only she could remember what it was...