One of One

by zArkham

As the USS Voyager becomes embroiled in the war between the Borg & Species 8472, a strange anomaly is detected on the Borg Cube where Captain Janeway is negotiating for the life of her crew and maybe for all life in the Delta Quadrant. Within that anomaly hides a centuries old secret. A being who found that resistance was not futile and will continue to resist till the end.

9. Loophole

PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I'll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used that content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

XxXxX

CHAPTER NINE – LOOPHOLE

(Episode: No comparable ST:VOY episode)

(References: ST:TAS episode Beyond the Farthest Star & ST:TNG episode Second Chances)

XxXxX

PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "What you must learn is that these rules are no different than the rules of a computer system. Some of them can be bent. Others can be broken." Morpheus – Zion freedom fighter and captain of the Nebuchadnezzar – ? to ?

LAST UPDATED ON: 03-18-2021

XxXxX

First Officer's Log, Star Date 51155.7, Supplemental. It has been two days since Harry Potter pirated the Equinox and Marianne and took off to parts unknown. Although pirated is a bit harsh given he openly stated he was going to do it and never seemed to have any malice as he used our ship systems against us to beam everyone to Voyager. Not sure why he took Neelix's ship, but that got taken as well.

With most of the ship's systems are on lock-down, there is little to do. We are safely hidden in the icy ring of a gas giant in a system most races would hardly think to even send a probe to. So while we are seemingly helpless, we would be hard to spot if one didn't know where to look.

For my part, I am not worried. Seven believes there is a set of instructions embedded into Voyager's systems which will return full control to us if something goes wrong. The Doctor mentioned how Harry felt the computer should be able to manage a lot of a ship's systems in this way. So I believe Harry when he pointed out that for our own safety and 'plausible deniability' that he didn't tell us what he was doing. Tuvok agrees with me that this means Harry is doing something illegal that he feels he can get away with but wants to keep Voyager away from any repercussions if things go badly.

This enforced halt has allowed the three crews to get to know each other. Or I should say four crews given my old crew have begun to turn away a bit from seeing themselves as Voyager crew. I should be worried but I cannot help but feel pride when some of my old Val Jean crew mates refer to themselves as part of Chakotay's crew rather than just identifying themselves via Voyager. The combat sims with Commander Tahl helped remind my old crew why we were a crew. The horrifying news from the Alpha Quadrant had reminded us Maquis who we were and the freedoms we were fighting for.

Right now, Tuvok and Commander Tahl and I are more concerned about the captains. Kathryn's poor choice of confronting Harry prior to the link up with the Equinox rattled her badly. This latest show of power from our resident wizard has kept her in her quarters or ready room most of the time. As for Captain Ransom, I see a broken man. One who had an impossible mission thrust upon him. To be the captain of a ship where the crew knew they were doomed without a miracle. Even though they got that miracle, Ransom seems disinclined to sit back into the captain's chair again. However, if the Equinox returns like I feel it will, I'm going to put forth a fine idea Mr. Neelix came up with.

Amazingly enough, however, crew morale is still high. A lot of the crew have been fascinated with the Delta Flyer program Tom created with Harry's help when he was supposed to be locked up in the brig. The Maquis from the Marianne, while resigned to being stuck in the Delta Quadrant, feel that there was little left for them in the Alpha Quadrant. The crew of the Equinox are simply happy to be in a ship that isn't one more disaster away from blowing up. So we wait, we tell stories and we wonder what sort of rabbit the Wizard will pull out of his hat.

CARGO BAY 3, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 383, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51158.8

"Read them and weep!" Riker said with a grin as he laid down four sevens. The others at the table all groaned. B'Elanna especially given she had been sure Riker had been bluffing.

Ro Laren made a face, "Why do I sleep with you again, Bill? All you do is take my ration credits!"

"I'm guessing you were dropped as a baby," V'Lana said with a smirk at the Bajoran as she began to gather up the cards for another round.

Maxwell Burke took a drink before looking sourly as Riker raked in all the replicator ration chips that round had netted him, "I want to know how he got so good given he only had himself to play against for, what was it? Eight years?"

Riker nodded, "Eight years, two months, 28 days and a few hours...not like I was counting or anything. It's all natural, I'm afraid. I'm told Will is still as good a card shark as I am."

B'Elanna gestured with her drink in Riker's direction, "I've been meaning to ask you; what's up with this Bill thing?"

Riker shrugged, "Before my capture, one of our money men was from a race farther into Cardassian space. I don't remember the name but they are big into protocol. In their culture, me using my middle name was insulting to him. Like trying to misrepresent myself. Anyway, his accent made my name come out sounding like 'Bill'um' so it just snow-balled from there."

Paris looked up from where he was moving his remaining ration chips into the shape of one of the old Klingon D-7 class ships, "Well at least we won't have two Toms running around. Bad enough with two Harrys."

Riker nodded, "No one ever called me Bill growing up and I doubt anyone calls Will that. Since I was always a Will, Bill is close enough. Of course, I might as well go back to Will given I doubt any of us will meet Will Riker ever again."

B'Elanna laughed, "Actually a Q pulled him to Voyager a year or so ago. Of course, they wiped his memories before they sent him back."

V'Lana snorted, "And here I thought my father got into some weird adventures back when he was with Kirk. Your ship logs read like a bad holo-novel."

Burke knocked back another drink, "Beats the horror show we had. Weird or not, I'm looking forward to doing missions and not worrying about the ship flying apart halfway through." He looked over at Tom. "So, do you have any idea what Harry is off doing with the ships? I figure you had to talk about the Equinox while you were fiddling with the Delta Flyer design."

Tom shook his head, "Harry didn't say much but I certainly did. He just once asked me my thoughts on how having the Equinox with us was going to affect things. Harry might be patched into a lot of Borg stuff but for the most part he's really a low-tech type of guy. Harry told me that he was even an odd-ball among the wizards given he'd do a lot of things normally instead of using magic. So while I'm sure he could go diving into the info he copied from the Collective, he likes to just ask questions and let us ramble. I certainly did. I'm amazed he didn't get sick of it."

V'Lana nodded at that, "He did something similar to me. Just up and asked me what I thought of the Marianne and what could be done to make her a better ship. I'll say that Harry's a good listener and has a good eye for what is really needed and what is just eye-candy like those spoilers he shot down for the Flyer."

"But they would have looked so cool!" Tom protested.

As V'Lana began to deal, most traded looks and smirks at Tom's outburst. Tom had groused about the spoilers a lot given Harry did agree with Tom about needing more tactile approaches to ship design. He had, however, drawn the line at something that was just there to look cool.

The game went on with more friendly banter until most of the ration credits ended up in the pile in front of Riker and V'Lana. As much a Riker had a flair for the game, V'Lana was over a century old and had played against more races than the rest probably had met put together.

Burke mock punched B'Elanna as he was leaving, "Don't forget you still owe me my sweater, BLT!"

She flipped him off, "And I keep telling you that it'll be the first thing I dig out of my storage unit when we get home. I'll lay it on your grave!"

Burke made a face and followed Will and Ro out the door.

"So, you want some company back to your quarters?" Tom asked.

B'Elanna thought about it, "Yeah...sure. We really haven't had that much time together of late. I almost miss you nattering on about old movies...almost."

Tom laughed, "Working with Harry was fun because a lot of those old movies I had to work so hard to dig up were all only a decade or so, before or after, his time. It was interesting to get his views on them. It's one thing to read how a certain film or series was important written by college professors 200 years after the fact and another to get the impressions from a guy who saw the films in an actual theater when they originally came out."

"I can imagine. It really brings home how, even with our technology, humans just wear out so fast," B'Elanna said as the pair strolled towards the nearest turbolift.

Tom nodded, "Yeah, easy to forget Tuvok is old enough to have serve with the likes of Sulu. Important historical figures to the likes of us and yet just people to him. Things like the Eugenic Wars that we studied in school and yet Harry lived through them."

"Well hopefully Vorik will live long enough to be badgered into telling stories to young Starfleet ensigns about the time he spent with the infamous Torres and Paris on the famous starship Voyager," B'Elanna joked.

The entered the turbolift, "You want to grab a nightcap? I'm not ready to hit the bunk yet," B'Elanna asked. "Or do you have someone to get back too?"

Tom gave her a sour look, "Yes and no...or at least not tonight."

B'Elanna gave out the needed deck number and then smirked, "So is it true?"

Tom frowned, "Is what true?"

B'Elanna laughed, "Come on Tom, it's me you're talking to. Engineering hears everything. People talk in Jeffries Tubes; people complain about things while we fix their broken crap and the non-Tactical Ops people can't hold their tongues to save their lives. So, I'm just wondering if you're just flirting with Gilmore just to hide the fact you're still sneaking around with Treana?"

Tom's frowned deepened into a scowl before he couldn't hold it any longer and he grinned, "Maybe I'm doing both and maybe at the same time!" Tom waggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner.

B'Elanna laughed, "Please don't tell me you suckered those poor women into your Leather Goddesses of Phobos simulation!"

Tom laughed as well, "I'm hurt that you immediately jumped to that!"

The turbolift doors opened and they made their way to the mess hall. With Gamma shift in full swing, only a few Beta shift types were around. "Hey Kwame! Do you have any tea that won't put me to sleep but won't keep us awake either?" Tom asked.

"I do indeed, my friend," the tall black man smiled which emphasized the fact that he still had quite a few Borg implants showing on his face. Some of the former drones still had them depending on how their conversion to a drone went. That and those assimilated long ago had a harder time regulating their bodies even with Harry able to somehow regrow all their lost tissue. Kwame Annan and been serving on the USS Gjøa, one of the earliest of the Daedalus class starships when he had been taken by the Borg. Like Ensign Mortley, he was around two hundred years old if one simply counted the time since his birth. Yet most of that time had been spent in a stasis field.

B'Elanna and Tom sat down at the 'bar' area of the mess hall while Annan busied himself making the tea. Both officers kept odd hours so they saw quite a bit of Neelix's new cook. While Annan had been trained as a counselor and a diplomat (a family tradition going back to Kwame's famous ancestor Kofi Annan) he was still having difficulties adjusting to being pulled from the Borg.

"Does it bother you that you're just a cook now?" B'Elanna asked as the man in question brought them their tea.

"Not at all," the man said in that charming accent that B'Elanna loved. It was a mixture of old French and African which one didn't hear anymore as Earth's accents were becoming more alike each year. "I never had any sisters and my brothers were always better at things than me. So my mother decided that if she didn't have a daughter to train in the kitchen, I would have to do. I got ribbed for it but they all came running like lions were chasing them to eat what I made. Of course, I'm sure that sounds terribly barbaric now. Most of the people who lived through the War along the Ivory Coast were those far inland. We were the ones who were the backwater types with old style values. The ones who barely survived all the plagues. We went from being the country bumpkins to being all that was left after the nukes dropped. Before I shipped out, I visited my family since it might be decades before I saw them again. I remember wondering if the capital of Abidjan would ever be more than just a low priority reclamation project. Now I see in the ship records that it's a gleaming city out of fantasy compared to the ruin from my memories."

B'Elanna sipped her tea, "Tom and I were just commenting about how odd it is to be able to talk to people who saw first-hand things we only know from our history classes."

Kwame chuckled mirthlessly, "I'm sure the history books made it sound like a glorious time of adventure. For those of us lucky enough to get off Earth at the time, it was. For the rest? It was a long, painful time. Radiation to deal with, mutations of the plagues and given the whole planet had been a battleground, you still had some poor soul getting blown up all the time by old weapons buried for decades. The push to immigrate to new worlds was less about seeking out new challenges and more to get away from the mess we'd been forced to live in."

Tom nodded, "I know I used to wonder why so many people would take the chance on those old sleeper ships. From today's viewpoint they were death-traps. I'm amazed so many actually got somewhere."

Kwame shrugged, "In the long run, it was the one to Alpha Centauri that matter. I don't know if they teach it in Starfleet Academy today but a lot of scientists back in the day felt it would have been a long time before we would have stumbled onto warp drive on our own. Our understanding of the universe was off so that we just weren't looking into the right mathematical model needed to create a stable warp bubble."

B'Elanna sipped her tea, "If I remember right, Cochrane's final solution to warp field generation came about because of an inspiration he had trying to teach the Earth scientists who arrived on that first ship about their math compared to ours."

Kwame nodded, "It was something like that." A wave across the room caught his attention. "Enjoy your tea," he said warmly before moving off towards the waving crew member.

B'Elanna turned so she was mostly facing Tom, "So, getting back to gossip, are you going to tell me whether or not the rumors are true?"

Tom sipped his tea, "I don't know. I'm tempted to dig for the dirt on what was going on between you and Seven of all people. Plus, 'Ms. BLT', I thought you and Max were getting tight."

"Hardly" B'Elanna said with a puff of air to push an errant bang out of her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure he'd love to rekindle what we had back at the Academy but Maxie was always too full of himself. When I was young, I thought it showed confidence. Now I just see it as an ego two sizes too big for his personality."

Tom laughed, "I guess we all have grown up a bit and all it took was getting us stranded in the Delta Quadrant." He sipped his tea before continuing, "Since you asked so nicely, yes I have been seeing Maria. She's nice and I mean that as a compliment. You're working with her; I'm sure you can see that."

"I know what you mean. I hate to say that she needs to harden up a bit to make it in Engineering. She needs to learn to tell people no more often as well as making them go through procedures. Nice may be great off duty, but it gets you swamped with work by the other sections taking advantage of you. Sometimes you just have to be a bitch," B'Elanna said with a knowing smirk.

Tom laughed, "And so many people wondered why Captain Janeway put you in charge of Engineering!"

B'Elanna shrugged with a slight grin, "At least when people come in begging for a favor, I figure their issue has to be bad enough that they'll risk my wrath! But I get your point. Maria is nice but after her time on the Equinox, I'm not sure if she wants to stay in uniform."

Tom nodded, "Yeah, she's mentioned that. I've noticed a lot of the Equinox types are like that."

"Can you blame them?" B'Elanna asked. "Half of them were on their first or second cruise while the other half were winding down in their careers. Neelix really hit the nail on the head when he reminded us that a lot of people wash out in their first two cruises. Now that they have an actual chance at life, I could see the appeal of wanting to get out from under the discipline."

Tom laughed, "At that includes the two of us. You mutiny to join the Maquis and I ended up in prison. Hardly the poster child for Starfleet recruiting."

"So, what about you and Treana? I might have a source which points me into the direction of thinking that your stint in the brig did little to dissuade you away from her," B'Elanna said over the lip of her teacup.

Tom was silent for a moment, a blank look on his face. Finally, he sighed, "Well you're the last person who would snitch on me. Yes, I have been seeing Treana. Harry put me up to it. Wizard Harry that is. He actually believed me that I can focus through the pheromones. He felt that not only should I be given the chance to prove this but that Treana shouldn't be punished for who she is. She's fun and right now I want some of that. Yet Maria is sort of that girl next door type that I never thought I'd like but here we are."

"So the sex is good then," B'Elanna said with an affected leer.

Tom grinned, "A gentleman never tells."

"Ah but rogues brag up a storm!" B'Elanna said back with a matching grin.

"I will just say that most holo-novels underplay how interesting Orions can be," Tom said.

Before B'Elanna could reply, Tom's comm-badge beeped. "Paris here."

"Ensign Paris, are you free?" A muffled voiced asked. B'Elanna hid her smirk with more tea. Muffled or not, B'Elanna knew it was Treana trying to disguise her voice. "I have an issue with the modifications on the Flyer you asked for. I think I need a little of your hand's-on touch to get it right."

Tom blushed to his roots, "I'll be right there."

"Hand's-on touch, hmm?" B'Elanna almost cackled.

Tom stood and tugged his uniform back into place. "You are merely jealous that it is I that is being called away for such skills!" he said in the stilted voice of Chaotica which made B'Elanna grin even more. She kind of liked Tom's goofy Captain Proton stories at times.

Still, Tom needed to be reminded of the consequences of his fun. "Maybe so, but don't get too into the 'modifications' as you know what a bitch Seven can be about punctuality," B'Elanna said knowingly.

Tom gave her a hand gesture she knew was obscene on Talaska IV before walking out of the mess hall.

B'Elanna finished off the last of the tea before leaving herself. She wasn't really thinking about where she was going. It was odd to see Tom doing so well. He always used to have this burning fire of resentment always simmering under his skin. It was akin to what B'Elanna had burning inside her entire life. Yet Tom was right, they were both growing up at last. Or maybe they were just finally having to look at their lives and start doing things that they wanted instead of what they thought everyone wanted them to do.

It was a very new thing for her. Never being able to please her demanding Klingon mother to always seemingly being a disappointment to her human father. Like Harry had told her and Seven, she had lived with a foot in two worlds and had not felt comfortable in either. Maybe that's why she ended up in Engineering. The machines didn't care if she acted like a Klingon or Human. Now, however, she saw that it could be a prison of her own making. Forcing people to come to her on her terms, quaking in their boots with dread, trying not to trigger the infamous Klingon temper of hers. Being in charge and not having to have her judgement in her section questioned. Being around the machines that never judged. That wasn't a real life; it was just another charade. Only this time she was the one creating it for all the wrong reasons.

B'Elanna found herself in front of the door to Cargo Bay 2. She was at once surprised her feet had taken her here almost as much as B'Elanna realized it made sense she was here. She went through the door to find things as they usually were. Cargo Bay 2 was spotless, efficiently maintained and even the project Seven was working on was laid out as if with a ruler.

As she entered, Seven came around one of the larger storage bins, "Commander? Should you not be in a rest cycle by now?"

B'Elanna thought about that. She was tired but she felt restless of late. Like something had been missing from her life and sleep did nothing to fill that void. Maybe it was the grief lurking below the surface for her fallen comrades. Even so, as much as that grief fueled a flame of revenge, in talking to her old Maquis companions, she knew that the Maquis always known that they had to tread a fine line of being a threat without provoking a full military response. Those Jem'Hadar from the Gamma Quadrant were exactly the sort of attention every Maquis member knew they could not afford. So while she mourned the fallen, all of the Maquis had known the risks.

No, the emptiness was new. An emptiness she hadn't realized had been there a long time. A hole she wanted to fill. "I should be but my feet found their way down here. Shouldn't you be regenerating as well?"

Seven's eyebrow went up at that, "Your feet...ah this is a metaphor, yes?"

B'Elanna nodded, "It means for whatever reason, I needed to be here. Does that surprise you?"

Seven came over and stood near her in that way of hers where she towered over you and invaded your personal space. "No, it does not. Do you wish to engage in sexual congress?"

B'Elanna found herself wetting her lips with her tongue, "Yes...yes I think I do."

Seven nodded curtly, "Good. While I have ways to deal with Treana's pheromones, she has been persistent in wanting to engage in licentious behavior with me. This has kept sexual activities on my mind. It is impairing my efficiency. It needs to be purged."

B'Elanna snorted, "Only you, Seven, could say it that way instead of just admitting you're horny and need to get laid."

Seven looked confused, "I do believe that is what I said."

B'Elanna laughed, "So Treana wants to get into your catsuit, huh? Funny, she's probably being fucked by Tom right now. Don't be shocked if she's late tomorrow."

Seven almost rolled her eyes, "Such tardiness has been consistent with her since her assignment to Astrometrics. However, the more sexual energy she expends on Ensign Paris, the less she can direct towards me."

B'Elanna reached up and began to massage Seven's ample breasts, "I'm surprised you don't take her up on the offer. The Doctor is always saying you need to work on your humanity."

Seven's breath hitched in a manner that made B'Elanna's blood sing, "While I am sure, given her species, sexual activity with her would be...educational, I believe the Captain would see it as detrimental to our working relationship. Also, I calculate that much of her desire to engage in sexual activities with me is based more on my ability to resist her pheromonal effect than her actual desire for me."

B'Elanna smirked even as she began to tease the hardening nipples through Seven's catsuit, "You think she only wants you because she can't have you?"

Seven's eyebrow went up, "Is this not what was one of the primary reasons for Ensign Paris' one-time desire for you?"

B'Elanna shrugged before leaning in and whispering, "Maybe. But I've got an idea. How about we work on the tension that's hurting your efficiency?" She didn't know why she had developed this need for the enigma that was Seven. What B'Elanna did know was she was on a path she never saw for herself and she found she liked not knowing where it could go. For once, this was a thing she was doing for herself even as it flew in the face of almost all her previous actions. Especially since when not having sex, she and Seven were often almost at each other's throats over engineering details.

Seven was silent, her breathing speeding up under the ministrations of B'Elanna's fingers, "How do you wish to proceed?" Her voice was uncertain and almost needy. It was so unlike her normal, certain tone. Perhaps Seven was finding the uncertainty, something rare in the Collective, to be worth pursuing as well.

B'Elanna leaned even closer, "Kiss me like you mean it!"

XxXxX

BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 383, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51160.1

"Commander, I am receiving a coded transmission being beamed via a very low-band of subspace. It doesn't match any type or communication we have seen before," Ensign Chang reported from the Tactical station.

Sub-Commander Dhael swivel the chair to look at the former Equinox ensign. Like herself, Chang was on Gamma shift to help her familiarize herself with Voyager's systems and protocols. To dirt-siders, the concept of Gamma shift might seem odd given in space there is no night and anything could (and did) happen at any time. Still, all systems needed down-time and so a lot of things were either running on low or going through maintenance on Gamma shift. Even the course and speed tended to be lower. However, due to training, the bridge lately on Gamma shift was packed.

"Can it be decoded quickly or do we have to send it to be processed? Also, is Astrometrics reading anything?" Dhael asked.

"Checking now; stand-by" ENS Chang said with a furrowed brow as her fingers danced over the console.

Normally Gamma shift didn't have a XO stand in. However, while Dhael had more command experience than most from either Federation crew, she still was a Romulan and one from over 150 years in the past. Because of this, Senior Lieutenant Baxter was in the XO chair next to her, "If they had detected something, they should have already alerted us," her trainer said with a bit of a frown.

Sub-Commander Dhael shook her head, "Astrometrics is new, even for your ship. It would not surprise me that they are concentrating on long-range scans and processing that data for the morning briefing to Alpha shift. They might not be looking."

SLT Baxter's face lit up in understanding, "That's true given I don't think Seven has completed any of the needed automatic sensor sweep protocols yet." He smiled, "Good catch; I guess that's why they pay you the big bucks."

Dhael snorted slightly, "You humans! Brag about how you do not use money and yet your language is still littered with references to money."

She looked over to the science station where Ensign Mortley was being tutored by Specialist Morrow of the Equinox. Another reason Dhael was on Gamma shift, like Mortley, was one of the former drones that was still having issues sleeping and thus still had to regenerate. While their modified beds drew less power than Seven's alcove, it was close enough that they were on opposite regeneration shifts to Seven to help even out the power drain. "Ensign Mortley. Are you reading anything out of the ordinary?"

The ensign in question swivel around and shook her head, "No Commander. Right now, nothing on short or long-range sensors are showing anything unexpected. The Class 5 probe is still holding steady on its course and beyond a slightly higher than expected amount of background polaron radiation, there is nothing out of the ordinary. The probe remains on track to be out of range in 43 standard hours unless we get underway again."

"Commander! I have identified that the transmission was encrypted in a way common during the Eugenics War." ENS Chang said with excitement in her voice.

Dhael and Baxter exchanged glances, "The wizard!" Baxter exclaimed.

Dhael nodded, "Ensign, play the message."

Chang nodded and triggered the needed commands.

"Ahoy Voyager! This is Pirate Potter inviting you to a week or two of rest and relaxation. Come spend some time while your ship is given some much needed TLC. I'm waiting at the embedded coordinates. So, fire up the engines and come on down. We'll leave the light on for you."

Before anyone could say anything, there was a noticeable thrum of power and the lights brightened slightly.

"Commander, I'm reading the warp core coming back online!" ENS Kim said from tactical. Due to issues stemming from the whole Paris/Treana/Kim triangle, Kim had requested taking up more Gamma shifts to let things die down. "It's looking like all of the lock-out ship systems are returning to normal."

Baxter hit the armrest with a fist, "Hot damn! Now we're getting somewhere."

Dhael merely raised an eyebrow as she reviewed the readings scrolling across the captain's reader built into the chair. "Indeed. I want a Level Three diagnostic done on all systems. Make it so, Ensign Kim."

"Aye commander," Kim said as he started to type in the needed commands to all sections.

Dhael swiveled towards the engineering station, "Sergeant Dorado, tell engineering to check to see if there has been any build-up in the nacelles that need to be purged before we get underway."

"Aye commander," the dusky skinned woman said with a prim nod.

Dhael and Baxter both checked their screens to where the coordinates they had been given led to. Finally, Baxter made a tsking noise and shook his head, "Really nothing out there. That is one boring system alright. Even more so than the one we're in now."

Dhael nodded, "I would speculate that is why the Wizard is there. The few terrestrial planets are all Class D or F. The gas giants don't have anything in the way of exotic gases. Still, a good balance of raw materials but without a decent planet to colonize, it is unremarkable."

"Commander?" ENS Kim asked.

"Yes ensign?" Dhael said without looking up from the reader. Why had the Wizard picked that system? As Baxter had said, it was boring.

"Shouldn't we have alerted the Captain by now?" Kim asked.

Dhael swiveled her chair to face Kim, "And why would I do that? She is an experienced spacer and as such if she were awake, she would have felt the warp core come online. Since she hasn't called us for an update, I am certain she is very much asleep."

"But ma'am! This is important. Shouldn't she be alerted at once?" Kim asked in a manner that Dhael found condescending from such a young officer.

"Ensign Kim, what is one of the unspoken mission of Gamma shift?" Dhael asked in a patient tone as if speaking with a child.

Kim blinked, "Ma'am?"

Dhael's eyes bored into the young human, "Come now Ensign, it wasn't a difficult question."

Kim's eyes widened slightly at the rebuke in the Romulan's tone. "I supposed it's to allow down time for ship's systems so they are not running all the time."

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Dhael asked, her tone brisk. Beside her, Baxter was struggling not to smirk.

Kim straightened up, "Telling you ma'am! I'm not sure what you mean about an unspoken mission, though."

Dhael smiled cruelly in the way that only a Romulan could truly pull off, "That is obvious Ensign. For the first part, let me ask you this, is the Captain somehow not part of that ship system equation?"

Kim looked slightly confused which caused Dhael to scoff, "You have been on this ship now for three years and it hasn't seemed to sink in that your Captain is not a morning person? In the short time I've been aboard, I've noticed that it is wise not to come to her with anything short of an emergency prior to her finishing her first cup of coffee."

"Two on bad days," Dorado sotto voiced which cause a few on the bridge to hold in chuckles.

Dhael nodded at this even as she gave Dorado a side-eye glance. Humans were notoriously lax in bridge discipline. "As Sergeant Dorado says, Captain Janeway is not at her best straight out of bed. Therefore, unless there is a pressing need, which this situation does not merit, there is no reason for us to wake her. And that, young Ensign is the unspoken mission of Gamma shift. To do little that would require waking up the senior staff. Our job is to be quiet and not rock the boat as you humans say."

Kim looked unconvinced.

Dhael frowned at how obtuse the ensign was being. He obviously had been coddled too much, "Besides, what would tell her if we woke her? All we have is a set of coordinates and a quick review of our initial scans of the area. There is much we can do before the morning briefing. Right now, all you would do by waking her is to bring her here when we do not have answers to the questions she will ask. This will not please her. One does not enter a Le-Matya den without reason. Better to let her sleep and work towards answering those questions so our shift-change briefing has all the information we can deliver."

"But Commander…" Kim started to say in a rather peevish tone.

"Enough Ensign!" Baxter barked out. "You have your orders in regard to the Level 3 diagnostics. If you feel that you absolutely must go banging on the Captain's door, be my guest. I'm sure you'll get a lot more familiar with Gamma shift if you do so."

Kim gulped, "Yes sir!"

Both Dhael and Baxter swiveled back towards the main view screen. "Sorry about that, Commander" Baxter said soft enough so that only Dhael could hear it.

Dhael shook her head slightly, "It is nothing. I doubt it has anything to do with me being a Romulan. He is young. I've seen many eager ensigns in my day. I was once one of them. They just need to be reminded what really constitutes an emergency and that the captain and senior staff are not machines and need their sleep as well."

Baxter nodded at this, "Well I'm going to head down to Astrometrics and see what I can dig up. As you said, we need more info before the captain wakes up."

Dhael said nothing except to give a slight gesture as if to say, "you may go" before returning to scroll through the data coming in from the science station. It was certainly looking like an incredibly boring system.

OoOoO

"Status?" Janeway asked.

SLT Mohindra turned, "Nothing as yet, Captain. Maybe he has the Equinox and Marianne under some form of cloak?"

Chakotay frowned at the info coming in on his own reader, "I doubt that. There are a lot of good reasons few races use cloaking technology. Even with Borg enhancements, it would take radical alterations to the ships."

Commander Tahl, who was sitting in the counselor seat to the left of Janeway, nodded at this, "It would require stripping off and replacing most of the hull. That would take months of work."

"Captain, I think I have something. The second gas giant in this system has a Class D moon which itself has a Class B planetoid orbiting it. There seems to be indication of mining on the moon," Tuvok said from Tactical.

"Ensign Paris, set in a course to put us in an orbit in the La Grange point between the moon and planetoid," Janeway ordered. "Full impulse."

"Yes ma'am" Paris said. Voyager surged form the one-quarter impulse speed it had been cruising cautiously into the system under.

"I thought Harry said he'd leave the light on for us," Chakotay quipped.

Janeway made a face, "Well if he's trying to keep hidden, he's done a particularly good job of it. The question is why? What could he possibly have done in the few days he's been away? He's said many times his magic is powerful but limited in scope."

There was a pop of air and Harry Potter was suddenly there between Paris and Mohindra wearing an almost comical parody of a pirate suit. The bridges security dome above the captain's chair immediately fired a phaser beam at the intruder which Harry negligently dispersed with a mere wave of his hand. He grinned sheepishly as he made another quick gesture towards the ceiling, "You think after my comments about your ship not doing certain things automatically that I'd remember popping up unannounced on the bridge isn't a good thing."

Harry smoothed out the tunic he was wearing and readjusted the plastic parrot on his shoulder before turning to Janeway and Chakotay, "Oh I guess I should ask about permission to come aboard and all that."

Both the captain and XO rolled their eyes at this, "So 'Pirate Potter' we're here. Are you going to give us a map with an X on it to find the ships you took?" Janeway asked in a dry voice.

Harry laughed, "No but I wish I had thought of that. That would have been a Weasley-worthy prank. Nope, just here to say that the mints are on the pillows. Head out towards my planetoid pit-stop."

Beeps began to be heard from ops, tactical and the science stations. Tuvok spoke up first, "Captain, I'm reading what had appeared to be an impact crate at first seems to be a portal instead. It is retracting."

"Rule one of camouflage; show them what they expect to see!" Harry quipped.

"What is a pit-stop?" Commander Tahl asked. Luckily for Paris, Tahl could not see the smirk this comment caused.

"It's old Earth slang for a garage. The Equinox was in bad shape and it was obvious a lot of maintenance had been spotty on the Marianne. Since the Phoenix needed some time to complete absorbing those Hirogen ships, I figured it was time to bend the rules and take care of a lot of problems all at once," Harry explained. Then he looked confused, "Where is Captain Ransom?"

"He is monitoring everything from the Auxiliary Bridge," Chakotay replied.

"Really?" Harry said in a tone which implied surprise and a little disbelief. He looked at Commander Tahl for a moment before shaking his head, "Anyway...while I wish the accommodations where a bit spiffier but keeping things on the down and low was more important than trying to find a system with a Class M planet everyone in the area somehow was ignoring."

"Captain?" Paris asked as Voyager reached the portal which revealed a tunnel into the planetoid itself. The tunnel was a simple one, hewed out from the rock but was lined with navigational beacons and lights.

Janeway made a gesture to the screen, "Mr. Potter?"

Harry moved to clap Paris on the shoulder, "Sorry Tom, while I know you could park this like a champ, I think it's better to go with your typical space dock protocols." He then proceeded to make a sharp series of hisses to the surprise of everyone on the bridge.

"Navigational control is now being directed by Pit-Stop central," the computer said. On the screen, it was obvious that Voyager was making its way into the tunnel at low impulse.

"Mr. Potter, what was that?" Tuvok asked.

Harry turned to the Vulcan, "I just gave Voyager the command to accept the commands from the base computer to pull you in on auto-pilot."

"While that is the logical answer to the observable facts, it is not the answer to the question I asked," Tuvok said mildly. "Why did you use such a tonal password? It seems, as Seven of Nine might say, inefficient and easy to get wrong."

Harry laughed, "Oh that wasn't a password. I just told the computer what I wanted. I left some additions into Voyager that only I access. I'm fairly sure I'm the only one in the galaxy who can speak Parseltongue."

Janeway and Chakotay traded looks before Janeway frowned, "While I should be relieved to hear you are the only one who can just take control of the ship, why didn't the Universal Translator adapt what you said?"

Harry looked surprised for a moment before saying, "Probably because I'm betting the Translator only works on speech between sentients. I'm a Parselmouth. It means I can speak to snakes. My magic imbues them with enough consciousness to translate their animal thoughts into something more akin to being sentient. Your translator might have worked better if there was an actual snake on the bridge but I doubt it. Like I said, I doubt there is anyone else who could give such commands so I think it's a pretty good fail-safe."

"You can talk to snakes," Chakotay said in a flat tone.

Harry nodded, "I knew a guy who spoke over 200 languages, most of them where magical creatures. Most had a language little different from just random animal noises to your normal human. Don't think too hard on it. Logic and magic never were good with working well with the other."

Before anyone could reply to that, gasps broke out among the crew who were looking at the screen. The tunnel had opened up into a huge subterranean cavern big enough to hold a major space dock or orbital research facility. But what drew the eye was the presence of what looked like a typical ship maintenance dock. Next to this dock was the USS Equinox and the Marianne, both with docking tunnels mated up with the ships that led to what looked like a set of buildings embedded into the wall of the cavern. The Phoenix, which had looked like a ship that had developed a bad skin condition of boils and welts, was now a triangular ship of sharp angles and had a uniform look to it.

"My god! How...how did you do this so fast?" Janeway said as rose to her feet, being followed by both Chakotay and Tahl.

"What did you do to the Equinox?" Chakotay asked, his voice filled with confusion.

Everyone could see the Nova class ship had somehow gone through a radical overhaul. It seemed longer, the nacelles larger and it was obvious the ship's weapons array had been completely reworked and expanded on. Even the hull looked like it had been armored. Even at rest, the ship gave off an air of being a blade waiting to be pulled from its scabbard to wreak havoc.

The Marianne had undergone a similar transformation if more muted. It seemed, like the Equinox, to have gotten longer in the beam and had a similar (if lesser) amount of whatever the armored hull of the Equinox had. The Marianne and the Phoenix, both of which had been around 60 meters in length, now were closer to 80 meters. The Marianne looked more like an over-sided Federation mission scout than the Maquis raider it had been. The Phoenix, on the other hand, retained its long, triangular shape. It had, however, had a ridge that started a quarter of the way from the pointed tip which got taller as it reached the end. Each ship had what looked like a version of the cradle Voyager had originally going to use to carry Harry's ship back when it was just the Wart.

"Like I said, I took the opportunity to bend the rules and ensure we didn't have to abandon the Equinox and Marianne for not being able to keep up with Voyager," Harry said. "Also, Tom had mentioned how there was a concern about baryon radiation build up. So, after Voyager gets docked, the crew leaves and all the I's are dotted and the T's crossed, we can knock that out along with a decent over-haul. I figure it should give everyone a good two to three-week shore-leave."

The bridge was silent as Voyager was guided into the space dock. No one spoke till the computer said, "Docking complete. Helm control relinquished back to Voyager control."

Harry turned back towards the command staff who were looking a bit shell-shocked. "I took the liberty of having my people prepare a crew list to embark everyone in an orderly fashion. I think getting everyone off and settled will make it easier to just send back the essential people to prep the ship for the baryon sweep and further maintenance and what not you'd like to have done."

Both Chakotay and Tahl still were taking in the view of the Equinox in the view-screen. Janeway shook her head as if to clear it, "Your people? Are you talking about the drones Seven brought with her? I thought you said it would take months before they could be released from the modified maturation chambers?"

Harry smiled, "Correct. But as I said, I decided it was time to make use of a loophole I learned about back when I was thirteen. Let's just say I've had plenty of time to get things taken care of.

OoOoO

"So, after me and my team leave, only the two teams under Lieutenants Mohindra and Thelan will be on board. Physical sciences says it should be about two hours to complete the move of all the ongoing experiments to the science labs. Medical is almost done moving tissue samples and the like and should be off the ship in under 30 minutes or so," Commander Braga reported.

"Thank you, Brannon," Janeway said. "What is your take on the crew and morale?"

The one-time chief of Physical Sciences turned Operations smiled and nodded toward Harry, "Mr. Potter's idea of what is spartan living is not how I'd put it. The layout of single room which shares a bathroom with the room next door is a lot better than what anyone outside senior staff get on either ship. The beds are a lot more comfortable and right now I think the pool party lagoon room is going to be where most of the crew will be staying off duty. I know I will. Swimming on the holodeck never feels right."

Next to the Beta shift leader, SLT Baxter spoke up, "The food is going to be a lot better. The horticultural section on this base is superb. Neelix and his cooks are going to have a lot more to work with so we'll all be well fed."

Janeway nodded, "Good. Brannon, you're in charge till we're finished up here. Dismissed."

With nods, both men left the conference room. Janeway turned her attention back to the matter at hand. Harry had magically expanded the table to allow for all involved to be seated. Voyager was represented by herself, Chakotay, Tuvok and B'Elanna. The Equinox by Captain Ransom and his XO while V'Lana and Riker were there to speak for the unaffiliated Maquis crew. This was rounded out by Commander Tahl, Sub-Commander Dhael, Ventrys, Seven of Nine and The Doctor. And of course, Harry Potter.

Janeway took a deep sip of her scalding hot coffee, "So...Mr. Potter. Before we get down to important business, I think I speak for everyone here in wanting to know how you managed all of this?"

Harry smirked, "Like I said earlier, I used a loophole I learned about in my Third Year of my magical education at Hogwarts. Let me ask you this, what do you know about time travel?"

"That you are stupid to do it," Thomas Riker said in a dry tone. "And it's pretty much insanely illegal and almost all races have treaties outlawing it and work to police any tampering of the timeline."

"And yet it happens all the time. V'Lana pointed out how her father managed to make it to the 20th Century of Earth on three separate occasions. Voyager managed it as well. The trick about time travel is to remember this one loophole," Harry said.

"That being?" Ransom asked.

"Let me ask you this before I answer. The old question of if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to observe it, does it make a sound?" Harry asked. Before anyone could reply, "Well of course the answer is yes but my point is, how do you know what caused the fall? You didn't see it so you infer it fell over due to age or maybe in a storm. But you really don't know." Harry explained.

Tuvok frowned, "I fail to see the logic in this analogy."

Harry grinned, "That's because Vulcans don't cheat. So, back in my Third Year, my friend Hermione was given a time-tuner. It was a device where one could go back in time in a limited way. She used this insanely powerful device simply to take extra classes."

The silence in the room was a sharp as broken glass. Finally, Seven spoke up, "Your magical civilization had the ability to go back in time at will and it was used for...additional hours for education?"

Harry looked embarrassed, "I told you. Logic and magic don't get along. So my friend Hermione was busy going back in time and jeopardizing the time-line every day for that school year. Toward the end of the year, like clock-work, there was a serious problem that needed to be fixed by me and my friends. During this one day, I got hit with a rock thrown through a window. This caused me to notice something important. Later, when Hermione and I were about to be attacked by a werewolf, a howling in the distance distracted it to allow us to escape. A bit after that, when a horde of soul-sucking Dementors were about to...well you know suck out my soul and that of my godfather. Before I passed out, I saw a vision of my father saving me. Any guesses on what really happened?"

"Someone used this time-turner device to go back in time to change the time-line," Janeway said.

Harry waggled his finger, "But see, that's where you're wrong. Hermione and I did use the time-turner but we didn't change anything. I was the one who threw that rock. Hermione was the one who did the howling and it was I again, who cast the Patronus to ward of the Dementors. My past-self thought he was seeing my father when he was only seeing me. (Harry said this while not bothering them with the detail of how he didn't believe it had been his father) Nothing was changed because of a stable time loop. And THAT is how you cheat with time.

V'Lana leaned forward, "But how can you create a stable time loop when you didn't live through it like you obviously did during this Third Year of yours?"

"Somewhat easily if you think fourth dimensionally," Harry said with a lop-sided grin. "Like I said, the main thing is a Schrödinger's Cat sort of thing. If no one is watching, then is the cat alive or dead? Same principle but the trick is finding out if anyone watching."

"I'll bite. How do you manage that?" Maxwell Burke asked.

"First you have to create a specialized probe that can go fast enough around a solar body to initiate a time warp. This probe carries various sensors that will monitor the entire system for every and all activity. The probe will deploy these sensors and wait. Say we want to go back 10 years. So, you release the probe and have it go towards your target system. Once it goes into time-warp, you follow it and send out a signal to tap into the probe's records," Harry explained.

"But what if the probe records any activity during that time?" B'Elanna asked.

"You find yourself a new system," Harry said. "I was lucky that didn't happen. Or maybe it wasn't luck as this is a boring system. Anyway, the key to the probe giving the all-clear is you must specifically tell the probe to ignore any and all actions you are about to take. Because, like I said, if no one is watching, then anything can happen. But that watching must include you yourself. Otherwise you get the old Heisenberg issue of the act of looking might affect the outcome."

Ventrys made a small noise of understanding, "Ah...that's very clever!"

"Care to enlighten us?" Commander Tahl said.

Ventrys bowed her head, "I believe I know how this worked. So Harry and the ships he stole enter this system, ask their probe if anything happened which could jeopardize the mission. When he gets the all-clear, he jumps back to a little bit after the initial probe exits the time warp. He then sets about creating everything we have seen." She turned to Harry, "Am I correct?"

Harry nodded, "Partially. Like the special probe, to keep the likelihood of being discovered down, I sent a specialized shuttlecraft I modified from the Equinox to go back to after the probe like you said. This shuttle had specialized working robots on board. They had a simple mission, to mine the area for supplies through which they'd create more robots. Once there were enough robots, they would start to create means of production to create more specialized robots as well as everything that would make up the Pit-Stop base. It took years but once everything was completed, it would send a transmission to the probe. So, after I sent the specialized shuttlecraft back in time, all I had to do was then ask the probe what year did it receive the go code? I then could jump back to that time to find a base fully constructed, filled with everything needed. It took seven years to build the base and the ships took another three to get everything else completed."

Janeway blinked in surprise, "You've been on your own for the last three years?"

Harry shook his head, "Oh no. I was in stasis most of the time. I think in real time I've only been gone from Voyager for maybe two months subjectively. The same with the former drones. We all came out together and have been working these last two months to ensure everything was on schedule and to tweak things a bit."

"That is incredible," Ransom said slowly.

Harry shook his head, "Yes but not really. The trick is to ensure that anything you do is such that it is not noticed by the parties involved. There was some variance in the tolerance of the initial probe. For example, if some ship came into the system and scooped up some gasses from the other gas giant and left without doing more than the normal scans, the mission could continue since that ship didn't detect anything. Of course, I made it so that anything that was seen had a reasonable explanation. The mining on the moon, for example. You spotted the mining port, right?" Harry said as he looked at Tuvok.

Tuvok nodded, "We did."

Harry nodded, "Well it got to a point where there was some mining we couldn't hide easily so instead we made it look like some race had mined the area and left. Given the info we got on Talaska IV, it was easy to fake it enough that most anyone in this sector wouldn't think too much on it. Again, I set it up so show something which can be rationalized away."

"Ah, I see," Janeway said. "Most ships coming into a system without an intent to stay would see the abandoned mine and not look any further and realize the mine really isn't abandoned. As Ventrys said, that is clever."

Harry smiled, "I'm not an expert in temporal mathematics but you have to wonder, when I initially got the all-clear signal, was I already at this base, watching on sensors as the fleet arrive? Or did that entire chain of events only truly take place until I brought the ships back in time?"

"Nevertheless, I would caution that in the future, this technique is used with great caution," Tuvok said.

Harry nodded, "I agree. The other trick involved is to do things in such a way that nothing is changed. Again, no one had entered that system in the entire 10 years. So, any time cops have little to charge us with given we didn't really change anything. A stable loop means we were 'meant' to do what we did. It's a fine line, but I felt it was a risk I could take. Which is also why I left you folks behind. Fewer who knew what was going to happen made less temporal 'noise' as it were."

Janeway ran a hand through her hair, "Well risk or not, it looks like our Wizard has indeed pulled a fantastic rabbit of a base out of his hat. We now have three ships, three crews along with a lot of former drones. As Mr. Neelix has been good to remind us, we have a long star trek ahead of us. In the past I have unilaterally made the decision on how to proceed. That is not a viable option any longer. So, how will we move forward? What changes do must we make? What will be best for all the crews? Mr. Potter has given us the perfect place to hide and sort these issues out."

Captain Ransom looked at Chakotay who nodded, "Kathryn, I think I know the first thing which needs to happen."

Janeway nodded, "Let's hear it Rudy."

Ransom took a deep breath, "Regardless of everything else, I'm stepping down as the captain of the Equinox."

Shocked looks went around the room. Burke turned towards his captain looking almost betrayed, "What! Rudy! How can you say that! You kept us alive! You kept us going. We need you."

Ransom shook his head, "That might be true Max but I'm not essential. No one is. Any one of us could be dead tomorrow in this death trap of a quadrant. Someone will always be there to step into the job and do the best they can. You certainly did when we lost Commander Collins. You grew into the role Max."

"You said regardless of everything else. I take it you have a different position in mind?" Commander Tahl said as the rest of the Starfleet people (and many of the former Starfleet Maquis members like Riker) still seemed shocked that Ransom would give up the captain's chair.

"I do. Your Mr. Neelix made an off-hand comment to Commander Chakotay. One the good commander thought about and brought to me. I've served in Starfleet for the last thirty-five years. I have done my time. Now I believe I can serve best in a civilian capacity," Ransom said gravely as he turned towards Janeway. "We might not be a Galaxy class ship, but I want to resign my commission and take up the duties of Commissioner. That way we have an alternative command structure which focuses on non-ship issues. Not everyone in our fleet is Starfleet or wants to be in uniform. More importantly, if we're going to start allowing children and the like, you and the other captains need to focus on your ships and not whether or not the education system is working properly or whether or not replicator rations are being horded."

Janeway turned to Chakotay who nodded, "It's the perfect solution, Captain. Starfleet already has all the rules and regulations for civilians on the larger ships. We just have to adapt them to our situation. Besides, it gives us another avenue for everyone to get a fair shot. You and I have worked hard to be fair but in truth, if there are people with complaints against us, who can they go to? Right now, we're the only authority figures. If Captain Ransom takes up the Commissioner job, he can act as a civilian oversight. That will go a long way to quieting long-standing issues the Maquis crew members have had."

Janeway pondered this before nodding, "That is true even as much as I hate to admit it." She turned back to Ransom. "So, who takes over your ship?"

Ransom spread his hands akimbo, "I think that's for this body to decide. Frankly, looking over the specs of what Mr. Potter did to the Equinox, I would think Commander Tahl is the logical choice. Either that or Commanders Chakotay or Riker given most of the crew will be Maquis."

"What do you mean Rudy?" Burke asked, still obviously shaken.

Ransom smiled in a fatherly way, "How many times have I told you that skimming the briefing notes doesn't cut it? The Wizard turned the Equinox into a warship. Most of the science equipment was used to upgrade the Phoenix and the Marianne. The rest will be transferred to Voyager to upgrade the few systems we had a better version of. Think Max; all our people were geared towards the science mission. They're better off on Voyager. Besides, between the former drones and the Maquis, they are much better suited to handle the ship now that it's almost a battle-cruiser."

Ransom turned back to Janeway, "Plus, I know quite a few of my crew will probably follow me into a civilian capacity. A lot of my crew were on their last tour. We all got way more than we bargained for. There is little for them to do on the other ships."

Janeway bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment, "I completely understand." She turned to Commander Tahl, "What do you think, Commander?"

Tahl looked to Riker, "I know little about our Riker here, but I know that William Riker is an able commander. Because of this I feel that shouldn't Riker be a candidate for the Marianne? V'Lana has said she's not Starfleet material. She would be the other candidate given I know Mr. Silveira has said he is tired of command."

Riker cocked his head to the side and made a bit of a face, "I won't say I haven't wanted my own ship but I have been in prison for the last two years to say nothing of being marooned on a planet by myself for eight. I don't know if I'm the right one for a command right now. Besides, if we want a Maquis commander, I say it should go to Chakotay. He's proven himself to the Starfleet crew. Having a ship filled with Maquis that most of the Voyager don't know might make them jumpy."

Chakotay held up his hands, "I'm comfortable where I am right now." He turned to V'Lana, "What's your view on all of this."

V'Lana leaned back into her chair and was silent for a moment, "I think it's too early to tell who should go where. I think the crews need to have input who they will serve. We're a long way from Starfleet so that sort of rank-and-file system can only take us so far. The crew need to want to obey those above them. Giving them input into it will go a long way to help that. Me? While I've commanded ships similar the Marianne before, I'd rather command one of the Delta Flyer type ships the Wizard created for the Equinox. We're still going to have a lot of dangerous missions. Things like insertions, rescues and extractions. I'd rather head up a specialized team to do that then pull shifts in the captain's chair."

"I agree," Sub-Commander Dhael said. "While the Rebel team in our latest combat sims have worked well together, it will be another thing to assume everyone will accept a ship as heavily armed as the Equinox is be crewed by Maquis members with many of the senior staff being enemies of the Federation."

"Back at Hogwarts, we had a magical artifact that would sort you where it felt you would do best to learn. Since we don't have anything like that, it looks to me that everyone needs to be told the options and instead of just goofing off in the holo-decks and the pools, that they also take the time to seriously think about how they want to spend their life for the foreseeable future. You guys have been running on inertia with little in the way of options. Well now you have options. Best to remind the crew that how things have been done won't be the same as how they will be done now," Harry pointed out.

Janeway nodded and rose, "I think we all need to sleep on this before coming back together. I also feel that as stated, the crew need to be appraised of this. They need to know their options. I am also confident our crews will surprise us with ideas we might not think of. Just now I was thinking how nice it would have been in many previous missions to have a special forces type away-team of the likes V'Lana mentioned. Perhaps as Captain Ransom said, while we might not be a Galaxy class ship, we need to start acting like one. Using that as a base, I think we and the crews can come to an end state everyone can be happy with."

The meeting went on for another half an hour before things were settled enough to call it a day. Finally, the room was empty except for Janeway who was finishing up her notes and Harry looking out the conference window towards the Marianne.

Janeway finished and got up to join him, "Should I ask what plans you have for Voyager?"

Harry turned with a smile, "Surprisingly few. I hope you realize that I didn't magic up any of this. A lot of the changes to the Equinox was one part a standard way most races upgrade ships into a larger class. Add to this was a plan the Borg got a hold of when they assimilated some Federation ship. It was a prototype of how to convert Nova class ships into warships. A lot of the design was from those plans. The only real thing I contributed was the armor which is mostly taken from a Gamma Quadrant race that did really well against the Borg for a long time before finally being assimilated."

Janeway's face brightened, "Ah! I thought it looked familiar. You used the Rhode Island plan. Right before we left Utopia Planitia, they brought in the USS Quasar which had taken severe damage in an ion storm. The ship was almost scrapped before they decided to go through with a major refit and be renamed the Rhode Island."

Harry nodded, "That's the one. I guess Star Fleet felt the Nova class ships were likely to get into situations like the ship you mentioned so why not have a plan for it? Likewise, with the Marianne, it was just adding to the original length. For the most part that just takes the basic resources which I had plenty of. The Phoenix looks like it does because the Seron ship was already triangular so I went with a design from a famous movies series I grew up with."

"I thought it looked vaguely familiar. You can't get through Starfleet Academy without seeing all the historical fiction about space that survived," Janeway pointed out.

"That doesn't surprise me. The truth is, Kathy, you have a great ship and it mostly just needs the tweaks you already know you need given you got captured on your maiden voyage without even a shake-down cruise before that. Sure, I've got an idea or two but most of those came from Tom. Right now, I think who is flying the ships are more important than the ships themselves. I agree that the crew needs to be asked what they want to do. I think it's important for all the leaders to remind them that there are options but that we all have a long journey ahead of us and I'm sure plenty of danger. But the Maquis are out of their war, the Equinox isn't one warp core breach away from destruction and Voyager is no longer alone. I think the journey home is going to be a lot more enjoyable if I can use the term."

Janeway thought about that before nodding, "They often say it's the journey that is important. Still, the explorer in me is excited that we can afford to do more science and exploring and not be on the knife's edge of starvation and the like."

"Or assimilation," Harry quipped.

Janeway mock scowled, "Or that."

She was silent for a long moment, "You know, I've been thinking a lot about what you said. I've thought about it a lot. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't think of stepping down and becoming the Commissioner. But in thinking on it, I think that would be running away. You were right. I have been making too many decisions from a position of doing it simply because I'm the captain. I don't have Starfleet or the Federation backing me up. It's a bitter pill to swallow but I'm going to do better."

Harry realized how much it must have taken for Janeway to get to the point to admit that. "Well I think having Ransom heading up a parallel structure will help. You've had to be captain, mum, queen and diplomat all rolled into one uniform. Too much responsibility makes it easy to just fall back on the default captain's response. While protecting your crew is laudable, I think it too often made you take actions too quickly without thinking it through. That being said, you are literally just passing through. While not an excuse, I think it unfair not to admit that fact makes it easier to make certain decisions because you're not around to see the results, good or bad."

Janeway whispered, "I just want to get them home. I had to make a decision but my moral choice damned them to this exile."

Harry laughed, "Oh Kathy, don't be so grim. The Caretaker could easily have destroyed you and the Equinox when he found you didn't have what he wanted. It may not be the cruise everyone expected but what are the alternatives? Chakotay and his people would likely be dead. You and your crew would be being doing dangerous scouting missions, dodging Jem'Hadar raiders and the like. In the grand scheme of things, one could argue that Voyager got the better deal."

Janeway smiled at that, "I guess that's one way to think of it. Maybe we can find some ancient weapon and somehow get back to the Alpha Quadrant in time to ride to the Federation's rescue like one of Tom's serials."

Harry laughed, "That's the spirit! Hey, before you hit the rack, I have a few things I'd like you to try. Think of it as an apology for pirating your ship."

Janeway mocked scowled again, "It better be fantastic things."

Harry grinned, "I have one word for you: cheesecake! And some fantastic booze to go with it."

Janeway's face lit up, "Okay, perhaps I might forgive you for taking my ship after all."

Harry took Janeway's arm and popped away leaving the question of how the future would go for the next day.

XxXxX

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This chapter took a long time to write. Then again, it's hard to be creative when every night, the major city across the river having huge peace rallies only to be met with excessive force. It doesn't help that Vancouver is home to a right-wing hate group (Patriot Prayer) who already have shown a history of going to peaceful rallies to instigate violence to de-legitimize the over-all protest. OTOH, I've had this time travel plan for Voyager going back to when Season 5 first came out.

Ranks: While Dhael is a Sub-Commander in the Romulan navy, she is called Commander by Starfleet types because that is her equivalent rank. Commander Tahl's rank is actually the equivalent of Captain but obviously in deference to Janeway and Ransom, he wouldn't be called Captain Tahl unless he gets a ship again.

Phasers on the Bridge: This might surprise people who never saw any of the ST:TAS episodes but this is NOT some invention of mine. In the ST:TOS episode Court Martial we learn that above the Captain's chair is a security dome where there are cameras that are basically a Black Box for the bridge. This allows Starfleet to see what was done during any incident if there has been a problem. Then in animated episode, we find there are also phasers there to protect the crew.

Why was this system never used again other than for cheap TV drama? How many beings kept just showing up on the Enterprise-D bridge? It happened ALL THE TIME. Worse is Worf rarely was able to hit someone with a phaser at a range of under 3 meters! I'm a terrible shot (I have poor eyesight) but at least I can hit targets up to 250 meters regularly. For a supposedly Klingon warrior, his shot group sucked!

Dead Crusher & Cashiered Riker: "There's nothing wrong with our philosophy. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity." This is what Jake Sisko tells Nog about the Federation not using money. Okay, so supposedly people in the Federation work to better themselves. If this is true, then instead of competing to acquire wealth, people would compete to gain prime jobs or posts. Because that is an inevitable fact of the Federation's lack of currency. To better oneself, you would want to get into a job or posting where you would maximize learning, making social contacts and giving you a better chance of getting into the next level to further that growth.

While 'working to better ourselves' sounds great, it also means there is some serious competition going on and that would be a bad thing for cohesion. We even saw some of this in the ST:TNG episode The First Duty where Wesley Crusher's flight crew tried to do this really dangerous maneuver to impress the Academy. Maybe why Kirk was always doing what he did...and it worked for him. But prime jobs and postings are a finite source which means that, in a way, the Federations non-currency system is just as bad as capitalism as it must constantly grow to keep up with demand. Worst, the system is at cross-purposes with its stated desire: to enhance the individual. How does this work?

Let's take Riker first. Riker was given the option of taking command of the USS Ares but he turned it down to stay on the Enterprise-D (insert any reason why he did this but I can't help thinking he was hoping to take over from Picard) The problem with that is there are two major reasons why Riker would have cashiered or transferred. First off, as I've already pointed out in this fic, to get to bigger ships, you have to command smaller ones to show you've got the Right Stuff®. By turning down this command, Riker effectively boots himself off the command track.

However, that is a standard military thing. My point is that the "no-money" system also creates an "up or out" requirement. Why? Well while Riker might like where he is, there are a LOT of people who have been busting their ass to prove they can be the next XO of the Enterprise. By hogging that spot, Riker may be "enhancing his potential" but he's selfishly denying others the chance to enhance theirs. Frankly, the system would actually end up being a quasi-Mirror Mirror universe system in that you only get to advance if a slot opens up. So, either the system works to ensure movement or you'd get a lot of people sabotaging other to ensure they moved up. Since we're supposed to believe the Federation is good, then we have to believe that to keep competition from getting nasty, then Riker would be forced to move up or get out. (BTW, this actually happens in the US National Guard system where you may be able to be promoted but unless there is a slot to promote into, you don't get promoted. I saw a lot of this in my Guard time. So people "hogging slots" are not looked well on.)

And that brings us to Wesley Crusher who would have been spaced by about Season 3. Why? Okay, imagine you're an up-and-coming Starfleet officer. Let's call you Snuffy for reasons that will become apparent. Now you grew up on a crappy colony planet and you wanted to get out into the universe to prove your more than some dirt-sider. So you ace your Starfleet exams and get to go to Star Fleet Academy where your top of your class. You bust your ass to ensure you are the ensign to be noticed. And you get noticed and you rise in the ranks. Finally, you are given a dream of a posting, the flagship of the Federation! "Yes! I drive the Enterprise baby!" you brag to the people who never left your home back on Boring Dirtlandia IV. So you're happy right? You're "enhancing your potential" and life is good…

...till Captain Picard allows his UST with the Chief Medical Officer to cloud his judgement to the point of letting the teenage son of said CMO drive YOUR ship! Years of work and now there is a teenager in YOUR chair! Suddenly everyone is making fun of you. Suddenly all these important shifts and missions that you need to move up are being taken by a boy who can't even change his sweater!

And then, one day, Snuffy earns his name. Wesley is in YOUR chair during a mission. Suddenly, for no reason (bathroom break?) Crusher has to go. So FINALLY, you're back in your chair during an important mission where the Enterprise encounters an alien called Nagilium who is so advanced it seems to lack a basic understand of life and death. Now this is more like it! Wait...what is that pain in my chest? OMG I'm wearing a red(ish) shirt…"

I'm not making the above scenario up. Check out how in the ST: TNG episode Where Silence Has No Lease, Crusher disappears after a commercial break, Ensign "Redshirt" Haskell gets killed by the alien and then fade to commercial break. Guess who shows back up after the break? Crusher! Also, I remember thinking when I first saw this episode that not only was it obvious they swapped out Wesley, they did it with a black actor that show up only to be killed. Nice racial sensitivity there Hollywood!

All humor aside, that Wesley Crusher was allowed to do what he did was a TERRIBLE example of nepotism on Picard's part. None of the senior staff should have gone along with it and someone should have filed a complaint to the Inspector General. That being said, I can't believe the various ensigns on the Enterprise didn't conspire to have an 'airlock' failure when Wesley happened to be walking by.

Star Fleet Battles Timeline: The biggest change is in the original Star Trek canon, Zephram Cochrane was from Alpha Centauri and humans first traveled there by sleeper ships. We know this because of the ST: TOS episode The Companion. An entire episode which was just glossed over when they did the movie Star Trek: First Contact with him in it. For that matter, you have to wonder why the time cops shown in the ST: VOY episode Relativity stop the Borg. I mean the Borg don't even have to zip around the sun to go back in time. You'd that it would be easy for the Borg just to zip back in time an assimilate everyone. That they haven't shows there are forces working against them. Of course, one of those might just be the Q. I mean Q can't have fun with Picard if he's Locutus now can he?

Anyway, the next bit (a bit of fan-wank for the show and the game) is the concept of "tactical warp drive" which helped explain a plot hole in the series and explained a quirk of the game. The issue is that in the show, most battles seem to be done in real space, outside of warp. The issue with that would be that any time you were in trouble, you could go to warp. Have some missiles (drones in SFB parlance) coming at you, warp away! So the initial warp drive could get you from planet to planet, but combat was done at sub-light speeds. Later, tactical warp drive was created so you could fight at warp which meant the need for phasers and warp capable torpedoes. Later, the use of dilithium crystals (first used outside a prototype on the NCC 1701 Enterprise) would allow for the warp field to go past Warp 3. This is what Scotty is talking about in the ST: TOS episode Balance of Terror. It wasn't that the old Romulan Warbird was sub-light (thus needing 50 years to just GET to the Neutral Zone, let alone cross it) but that it was still using old warp drive tech meaning it could, at best, go about at Warp 3.1.

It's not a perfect fan-wank but it helps. So, about the time humans get the initial "slow warp" drive, most of the other major races were developing it as well. It's why the original 5-year mission was such a bit thing. Suddenly you had a ship that could go at Warp 6. It also showed (at least in the game) why there was so much fighting back then. All the races still had older ships they were desperately converting to the new tech (weapons and warp drive) and all were worried they'd be attacked by an enemy with more of the newer tech than they could defend against.

After the Organians stopped one war (as seen in the ST: TOS episode Errand of Mercy), they 'disappeared' for a bit and that led to the General War with the Federation & Gorns fighting the Klingons and Romulans. Likewise, the Klingons allied with the Lyrans who were fighting both the Kzin and the Hydrans. The Tholians were fending off the Klingons and Romulans but weren't allied with anyone. While not allied, the Kzin and Federation at least ignored each other. Finally, the Organians showed back up and put a stop to the war given it had been a test to see what the 'lesser races' would do if left on their own. All of this would be long over by the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Also, while the Klingons and Romulans were allied against the Federation, they didn't really like each other. So the later Klingon vs. Romulan fighting isn't all that far-fetched.