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 TWENTY-SEVEN – PATHFINDER

(Episodes: ST:VOY Pathfinder…sort of)

(References: ST:TOS The Enterprise Incident, The Immunity Syndrome & ST: TWoK)

(References: ST: TNG Arsenal of Freedom, First Contact & Unification )

(References: ST: DS9 A Time To Stand)

XxXxX

PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone – Shannon L. Alder – American author and columnist – ?-Present

LAST UPDATED ON: 04-29-2021

Admiral's Personal log, Star Date 51602.5. Once again Q continues to interfere in the affairs of those who previously served on the Enterprise. While I can understand why Commodore Jellicoe and Commander Shelby's rather dour and no-nonsense air might be considered boring to Q, given the war, I am glad he is not bothering them and trying to get them to 'lighten up' or some such. His antics here at Starfleet HQ were bad enough. My office only recently reverted from the abominable color scheme Q left it in the last time he was here. Sadly, my starship models still occasionally call out alerts. The Stargazer model gave Mirista Yale who was visiting from Jupiter Station quite a fright by proclaiming a warp core breach was imminent.

I feel for Will given this is the second time he's had to abort his mission and return to Earth. Regardless, there are many factors at work which cannot be discussed via subspace less the Dominion catch wind of them. For my part, I take his misfortune as an opportunity to see a good friend again.

XxXxX

STARFLEET HQ, SAN FRANCISCO, EARTH, SECTOR 725, ALPHA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51602.5

With the briefing finally breaking up, Picard went over to avail himself to some tea. He felt the meeting had gone well and was gratified to see the Romulan ambassador go from being irritated at being asked to come to becoming rather invested in what was going on in the Delta Quadrant. Of course, this briefing had no mention of the alien ship and its quantum slip-stream drive. Former ensign Ro Laren had been briefed on the cover story of the micro-wormhole bringing Robert and Zim via a Delta Flyer to the Alpha Quadrant. With the Romulans still sitting on the fence about the war with the Dominion, the existence of the Dauntless was being closely guarded.

Picard picked up his tea from the replicator, turned and was surprised to see the Romulan ambassador striding over to him. "Ambassador Tomek, it seems you found this briefing worthwhile after all."

The Romulan nodded, an impassive look on his face, "I did. I want to personally thank you, Admiral, for the invite as I am a friend of Sub-Commander Dhael's nephew. That and Commander Tahl's record was exemplary and he and his crew's loss to the Borg was keenly felt. Knowing that both are alive and still serving pleases me greatly."

Picard nodded slightly but said quietly, "If I may be blunt, I do not believe many in your government will feel so charitable."

Tomek made an airy, dismissive gesture, "Yes, yes, I know. I'm fully aware that if they somehow returned tomorrow, all of my people would undergo some unpleasantly rigorous debriefing. The fact remains they are there and so we get access to the data you're willing to share. For I know there is probably much you're not telling us."

Picard smiled guardedly, "Surprisingly little, I have to say. Believe that as you may. For my part, I find it amusing how their version of the older Romulan naval uniform is proving to be so popular, even among the Federation crew."

The Ambassador snorted at that, "I can see the appeal. I dislike modern fashion." He gestured to his outfit ending with a flick towards his shoulders. "How these damn shoulder pads are seen as anything but something to get caught on things, I still cannot fathom the logic of."

"Of course you served long enough ago you wore a variant of those uniforms," Picard pointed out.

Tomek nodded but was distracted by the approach of Ambassador Spock and his wife Liviana Charvanek. The latter caused Ambassador Tomek to frown slightly. Picard knew most Romulans of a certain age saw the former Romulan commander as a failure and a traitor. This, of course, due to her being tricked by Kirk when he stole a cloaking device from her ship. Tomek, at least, acknowledged her skill as a peace-maker who continued to work to ensure the Imperium was not done wrong at the negotiation table.

Spock nodded to both of them, "Ambassador, Admiral. It is agreeable to see you both again. A most fascinating briefing. So odd that my own daughter would find a ship lost on a mission I myself was part of. The universe continues to amaze and astonish me."

"Has it been difficult since you've learn of V'Lana being trapped in the Delta Quadrant?" Picard asked. He rarely got to speak to Spock of late due to the war and Spock's own work with trying to bring Romulans and Vulcans closer together.

One of Spock's eyebrows went up, "Trapped, Admiral? V'Lana is not trapped. She continues to do what she has always done. She is merely doing it elsewhere at the moment."

Liviana spoke up, "Beyond being gratified she had not been killed in that Jem'Hadar attack, Spock and I believe she is probably in the best place to be to make use of her talents. As we've learned today, she is doing good work and will be a great asset to the Fleet."

The Romulan ambassador harrumphed a bit at that, "The farther away she is from the Imperium, the better." Both Picard and Liviana hid smiles at this while Spock merely nodded in agreement. His daughter had a troubled past with the Imperium. If by troubled one meant outstanding warrants and possible death sentences along with a few blood feuds.

Picard shook his head slightly as he thought of Spock's oldest child. He couldn't say he knew her well but they had always gotten along when they did meet. She'd even surprised him by catching on to a joke in the form of a hat he had gifted her after they had met at an archeological symposium by chance. The whip she'd sent him months later hung in his office and people twittered about him having it to keep discipline. So far, only Vash of all people, had recognized the actual reason for it. Of course Vash had then spent quite a bit of the remainder of her visit making sexual innuendos about it. He'd been almost tempted to give in and use it on her if only to stop the jokes.

Picard hid a smirk as he watched Liviana verbally fence with Ambassador Tomek while Spock looked on in what Picard knew to be tolerant amusement. He could see where V'Lana had gotten much of her passion from. So very different from her two younger brothers. Saren, the older of the two brothers, lived on Vulcan and worked in their Science Academy while raising a family. The younger brother, D'Jim, had followed his father and his namesake's example and joined Starfleet. He had recently taken command of the USS Beikirch now that its refit at the San Francisco Fleet Yard was a few days from completion.

A ship Picard knew quite a bit about as Beverly Crusher was slated to take over as Medical Director of Operations in the Gamma front of the main battle lines against the Dominion. From the Beikirch, she'd be directing medical actions throughout the region. Unlike small, peace time hospital ships which tended to be used for planetary relief operations, the Beikirch was a retrofitted Constitution class battle cruiser. Originally, the USS Korolev, she'd been built to replace the USS Intrepid after that Vulcan crewed ship had been destroyed by what could only be charitably called a giant, space amoeba. After the passing of the Camp Khitomer Accords, the Korolev had been converted into the strike carrier USS Hōshō to keep her from being scrapped under the limit of battlecruisers the Federation were allowed to field.

The USS Hōshō then went on to have many successful tours, mostly in counter-piracy actions. However, for the last 40 years she had been in a reserve fleet being mostly idle except for training missions. This changed when she had been called up to protect shipping from Maquis raiders. These actions led directly into the Hōshō being attached to the Seventh Fleet.

The Hōshō had then been heavily damaged in the Battle of the Tyra System. Picard knew she'd been lucky to be one of the 14 ships out of 112 which had survived that debacle. Due to the need for larger shuttle bays (for patients who could not be moved via the transporter) the Hōshō was ideal to be retrofitted into a combat medical ship. With new modern engines, weapons and shields, Picard knew Beverly was about as safe as one could get in a war-zone on the Beikirch.

Picard chatted a bit more before he noticed Ro Laren off to one side looking towards him. He excused himself and made his way over to her, "Laren, we meet again," He said genially but there was a hint of pain there as well.

Ro caught this and blanched a bit, "Sir, I want to say again how much it hurt to do what I did. To know how much I disappointed you with my actions. You gave me a chance when few would. I repaid your trust poorly. I am truly sorry."

Picard just looked at the Bajoran a moment before shaking his head, "We all have hills we are willing to die on. You did what you felt was right. From my perspective now in the diplomatic corps, I truly feel the frustration all you Maquis felt. Too often I wish I could just raise shields and solve an issue with a bracket of photon torpedoes. Still, it is often difficult while seeing death and injustice in one part of the sector and forget that in going to war risks bringing such things to other parts which know nothing but peace. It is a difficult balancing act to judge which side has more of the right to continue or not."

Ro gave out a burst of bitter laughter, "I am more aware of that now. I missed it, but the decision to help the Borg against Species 8472 brought home to us in the Maquis what many Federation officials had been saying about being too close to the action. Certainly the 8472 looked like the immediate threat. That and Voyager didn't take the time to look at the bigger picture and see that perhaps they were blinded by being too involved to make an informed choice. Afterwards, it dawned on them how so many in the Delta Quadrant and beyond might have rejoiced if the Borg had been beaten down by the 8472."

Picard frowned, "Yes, that whole incident didn't go down well here at Starfleet HQ. Still, I can say from direct personal experience how hard it is to make the right choice in such situations. Kathryn also didn't have the benefit of being able to call for advice from Starfleet or even other captains."

"Well she's got plenty of help now; from Harry Potter and Captain Tahl especially. Plus with Tuvok and Commissioner Ransom picking up a lot of the day-to-day personnel slack, I think things will go much more smoothly. I believe the recent preemptive attack on the Hierarchy was proof of that," Ro explained. "So, what is a newly promoted admiral like yourself up to these days?" Ro asked with a smile.

Picard sighed, "Work I wish wasn't necessary, I'm afraid. As I'm sure you're well aware of, there are so many non-aligned worlds in the area of space the Maquis used to frequent. This includes quite a few worlds where First Contact hasn't been made or other issues are involved. It is there where I'm doing the most work. I recently met with the former science advisor to the Chancellor Durken of Malcoria. We had made first contact with them a short time before you were assigned to the Enterprise. They had decided not to continue with the contact process. Sadly, I had to renege on our pledge to not contact them again till they initiated it. However, we could not allow Dominion forces to suddenly descend on them or any of the other worlds in that region. Instead of a gentle transition into galactic life, Malcoria and other worlds have been thrust into interstellar war. Where once she was simply a scientist, now Marista Yale is an ambassador to a planet still coming to grips that they are not alone in the universe."

"A very dangerous universe at that," Ro said flatly.

"Indeed," Picard agreed.

"Excuse me, Admiral Picard, can I borrow the pair of you?"

Both turned to see Admiral Paris gesturing to a side-room.

"But of course, Admiral," Picard said and gestured for Laren to proceed him. The three entered the room designed for personnel to discuss things in a more private setting. After they were seated, Admiral Paris turned to Picard, "Jean-Luc, I don't mean to talk as if Ms. Ro wasn't here, but I have to ask, do you believe she is capable of returning to Starfleet duties?"

Picard looked at Laren whose face was impassive, "I do. She quickly integrated into the crew of Voyager even if only for a brief time. Her major reason for working at cross-purposes to Starfleet are moot now. During my time as her commanding officer, she could be prickly to work with but she was always an outstanding officer."

Admiral Paris nodded. He looked at Ro, "Ro Laren, what I am about to ask you is…a bit distasteful. However, I ask you that you please hear me out."

Ro couldn't help but chuckle bitterly, "Wouldn't be the first time Starfleet asked me to do something distasteful."

Paris' lips almost quirked into a smile at the truth of this, "Just so. Then I will be frank. Now that the compulsion you were under from Q has passed, do you think you would want to pursue a relationship with Captain Riker?"

Both Picard and Ro blinked in surprise at this. "Sir?" Ro asked, obviously flabbergasted.

Admiral Paris raised a hand, "As I said, distasteful. My point is that from your own report, you were in a stable relationship with Bill Riker. I can read between the lines from Captain Riker's verbal report to me that he has feelings for you. Now at the risk of sounding like Starfleet wants to prostitute you out, the fact remains that a powerful cosmic entity brought you from the Delta Quadrant to 'cheer up' Captain Riker. Preventing you from that 'mission' could bring further acts of malicious or dangerous actions by Q against Starfleet. With the war with the Dominion not going well, the last thing we need is for Q to swap fleets around or make secure command channels play Rigelian dance music instead or some other oddity. This is not an order. I am merely asking if you are willing to be posted to the Sacajawea. You will be under special orders so you will not be under direct command of Captain Riker. Thus if you and Captain Riker decide to enter into a relationship or not is up to the two of you as it would not run afoul of Starfleet fraternization rules."

Ro was silent as she considered it.

Picard let her do this before speaking, "Laren, this might be an excellent posting for you. While your knowledge of the areas so often in contention would be in demand, the fact you are former Maquis could be problematic. Captain Riker's crew is mostly young and so have fewer in the crew who would stigmatize your previous affiliation. Indeed, you being on Voyager would probably outweigh any such feelings. That and given your previous time in the insurgency, I believe you might wish for excitement to come from exploring instead of combat."

Ro nodded slowly at this, "That makes sense. Everyone in the Fleet is mostly onboard with the integration of Starfleet and Maquis because there was little choice. I doubt that same attitude would be found back here. And you're right; exploring sounds more appealing right now."

She looked at Admiral Paris, "I tentatively agree. However, I have one major condition."

Paris merely cocked his head slightly to the side and raised an eyebrow.

Ro pursed her lips, "I want to be able to pull duty shifts at the helm. I'll be damned if I give up getting a chance to fly a sweet ship like the Sacajawea."

Admiral Paris surprised Picard by laughing at this, "You and my son seem to be two peas in a pod."

Ro shrugged, "Tom is an excellent pilot. Let me tell you, both Commodore Janeway and then Captain Tahl regret losing him. On the other hand, he is sort of busy with all your grandchildren and all the other kids of the Exiles when he's not flying special ops missions with V'Lana."

Paris sighed at this, "Yes I suppose he must be at that. Well then, given your proven experience at the helm, I doubt Captain Riker would disagree with your condition. I certainly do not."

Ro looked over to see an obviously happy Admiral Picard smiling at her, "Welcome back to Starfleet, Ensign Ro!"

"Actually in recognition of her actions, it will be Junior Lieutenant Ro" Admiral Paris said as he rose. "We'll work out the details quickly so we can get you and Captain Riker back into the rim. As Jean-Luc said, welcome back. Starfleet is lucky to have you during these trying times."

Ro found herself blushing and cursed herself internally for it, "Thank you sir, both of you."

XxXxX

JUPITER STATION, JUPITER'S ORBIT, SECTOR 725, ALPHA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51612.5

Counselor Deanna Troi watched as Lieutenant Barclay bumbled his way through an encounter with a woman who might have actually been flirting with him. While they were not at a party exactly, it was a celebration of the completion of a major experiment on the station. Enough of an excuse for everyone to get together, toast the science and unwind a bit. With the war, reasons to celebrate had been few and far between.

She had come to Jupiter Station for a bit of nostalgia in a sense. She'd been on Earth for months taking a mix of Starfleet upper level officer courses as well as going through various programs to continue being certified as a Counselor. This had enable her to see, if only briefly, Will and Laren before the Sacajawea returned to its outer rim scouting mission. It had been a nice visit. She was genuinely happy for Will and could sense how much having Laren back was going to do for him. The stories she told were amazing. These tales made her think of Barclay given he was one of the few former Enterprise personnel in the area and Deanna had heard rumors he was involved in some project to contact Voyager.

So she'd taken a transport out to Jupiter Station during a break between courses to surprise him. Before she could, however, she'd run into some old friends Deanna had no idea were working at Jupiter Station let alone even being in Earth space. They had whisked her away to their lab and they'd spent many enjoyable hours getting caught up. It was they who brought her to the celebration where she'd hoped to catch up as well with Lieutenant Barclay.

She was startled when a woman's voice asked her, "Are you enjoying yourself Counselor? Lewis finds these get-togethers tiresome but I rather enjoy them."

Deanna turned to see a young woman with dirty blonde hair and simple civilian clothes smiling at her. "Yes, yes I am. Thank you for asking," Deanna said with a smile.

The woman held out her hand, "I'm Haley. Reggie has spoken of you often."

Deanna moved her Champaign flute to her other hand and shook it, saying dryly, "I bet he has. You said Lewis; I take it you mean Dr. Lewis Zimmerman?"

Haley nodded, "Yes. I'm his personal assistant."

"And a photonic as well," Deanna said easily.

Haley blinked at this, "How did you know?"

Deanna smiled and took a sip from the champagne before answering, "I'm an empath. I can't sense any emotions from you. Your link to Dr. Zimmerman makes it easy to make the connection. I must say, your programming is excellent. I highly doubt many people realize it unless you tell them."

Troi meant what she said. Even the best holodecks had a bit of the 'uncanny valley' to the simulations. In Haley's case, she couldn't see it. Although she wondered if Haley blinked using the same program Data used for his own eyes."

Haley blushed at the compliment, further showcasing her programming. Deanna always felt most holodecks either neglected this physiological effect or made the holo-characters look like they had a case of rosacea when they blushed.

"What brings you to Jupiter Station, Counselor? Work or pleasure?" Haley asked. "I hope it's not for Lewis. He's rather set in his ways."

Deanna laughed, "Oh I'm here visiting. As for Dr. Zimmerman, he's sort of used as an example of the type of patient you dread getting. I was just in a class two weeks ago where his irascibility was brought up."

Haley giggled musically, "This does not surprise me in the least!"

Some music began to play and many of the people began to pick partners and began dancing. A balding man came over to Haley, "Would you care to dance, sister?"

Haley smirked, "Robert, we're more like cousins. But yes, I'd love to dance. Have you met Counselor Deanna Troi?"

Deanna realized this was Robert Zimmerman, a copy of the EMH which had been running on Voyager since they had been stranded in the Delta Quadrant. She reached out to shake his hand, "No we haven't had the pleasure yet. I must say I've read of your exploits and I commend you and the Doctor as well. Not only was your medical work amazing, I am well aware you were poorly trained compared to an actual counselor. As I just mentioned to Haley, I've been taking classes recently and a few of your medical logs were brought up to show some of the issues which can arise when untrained medical personnel do the best they can in regard to counseling and what to look for."

Robert took her hand and kissed it like he was in a play, "Thank you for the kind words." His face darkened a bit, "Yes being known as an Emergency Medical Hothead doesn't endear one to crew needing proper counseling or therapy. Most days I felt Mr. Neelix did better work than I ever could just by being there to listen and give encouragement."

Deanna laughed, "Sometimes that's half the battle of counseling, Doctor. Most bartenders could easily sail through the undergrad work for a counselor certification."

Robert nodded at her before taking Haley's hand and led her out to dance among the other scientists. Deanna smiled at the scene. So normal and peaceful. Something which was in short supply these days.

The news from the front was grim and she worried. Casualties had been heavy so far. She'd just heard a few days ago that Data been made captain of the USS Themistocles right out of the 40 Eridani-A Starfleet Construction Yard on Vulcan. Normally a Nebula class battleship like that would be captained by a commodore. However, with so many senior officers having died already, many officers were commanding ships they normally would have to wait for another tour or two to get. She knew Data would probably be a commodore shortly as the casualties continued. Deanna had just seen Beverly off at the launching of the USS Beikirch. Like Data and the Themistocles, they weren't getting a shake-down cruise, just right off to the front.

If she didn't know how important Admiral Picard's diplomatic work was, Deanna would have expected him to be given another command due to all the chaos, him being previously assimilated be damned.

Making her way around the edge of the room, Deanna finally got close enough to see Barclay simply leaning against the wall, watching the dancing. It seemed he was watching Robert and Haley at the moment. Yet as she got closer, Deanna became concerned.

Deanna couldn't sense Reginald's emotions.

It wasn't a blank like a photonic like Haley. No, this was different. Almost like his emotions were behind a dense wall where only muted whispers kept Troi from thinking he was another photonic. Whatever 'he' was, he wasn't Reginald Barclay.

Deanna weighed her options. Finally she felt that is she was going to be more 'Starfleet officer' than counselor than she should take the bull by the horns. Besides, the room was filled with people. Almost all scientists, true, but witnesses, nevertheless. This didn't stop her from having a finger on the emergency button on her communicator in the hand she wasn't carrying her drink in.

Her suspicions were confirmed when 'Barclay' noticed her and a look of utter surprise was evident before he schooled his face. As she moved up next to him and turned so her back was to the wall so she could watch the dancers, she glanced his way and smiled sweetly.

"Wha-what are you doing here, Counselor? I was told you were working on a project on Andoria?" Barclay stammered out.

"Counselor? Oh come now, Reggie. No need to be so formal between friends," Deanna said in a patently false sweet voice.

Barclay just blanched at this and looked away, nervously.

"As for why I'm here, well that's a two-fold answer. My project fell through due to the war. So I came back to Earth to take more courses. As for why I'm here on Jupiter Station, well I had wanted to visit my friend Reginald Barclay but I'm wondering if I am speaking to a Dominion changeling spy instead."

To her surprise, Barclay chuckled. It wasn't at all like Reggie's nervous laugh, "Actually, Dominion spies are why I'm here. I realize you have little reason to trust me, but can we go somewhere more private? Bad enough I'm going to be breaking the rules but I'd rather not do it where others might overhear."

Deanna raised her hand to show the communicator in it, "Lead the way, Mister Barclay then.

He nodded and to her surprise made a gesture towards Robert who nodded back. Barclay then led her to a small room which looked like it might be used for interviews or something. He pulled out the seat for her and then sat down and surprised her again by sighing.

"Where to start," Barclay said, looking at the table so as not to make eye contact. That was more like the Barclay Deanna knew.

"Well I think the best place would be is Reggie safe?" Deanna asked, her finger still firmly on the emergency button.

Reggie looked up and frowned sadly, "Yes and no. He's certainly safe…well as safe as anyone can be in these times of war. The problem is Reginald had an acute mental breakdown. It was found after the breakdown that he'd also been hiding a serious relapse of his holo-addiction."

"Oh Reggie," Deanna said with a sigh. She'd worried the stress from the war might be rough on her former patient and friend.

The faux Barclay nodded, "Yeah, it was bad. Some of his friends off the Enterprise had been killed recently and the docs think he turned to the holo-deck to escape. This was compounded by his girlfriend Hope being killed a few months ago in a bombing which the Cardassian terrorist group True Way took credit for."

"That's horrible!" Deanna said, horrified. "That must have been a terrible blow for him."

Barclay sighed, "Sadly, it gets worse. You see it seems he got all his issues mixed up with the work he was doing here on Jupiter Station and that sort of triggered a hero-complex which led him down a dark spiral that ended in the complete mental breakdown."

Deanna frowned, "How so? Wait! That's not important right now. So I take it Reggie is off somewhere getting treatment. Or at least he better be. Which raises the question, who are you?"

Barclay ran a hand through his hair, "I told command that you should have been briefed on this. 'Oh no', they said. 'She's not anywhere near Earth at the moment' yet here you are. So please understand I'm only telling you the bare minimum due to security and the like, okay? And yes, Reggie is off being treated. Just outside of sight so as to not compromise my mission. Not that he's going anywhere soon from what his docs say."

Deanna nodded. A large break-down like Reginald obviously had was going to take a very long time to treat.

"Alright, while I look like Reginald Barclay, that's only because he had his breakdown and it was seen as an opportunity to insert someone back into Jupiter Station. As you no doubt know, there are many important projects onboard vital to the war and the Federation in general. I'm here to see if there are any Changelings on board. What a better cover than a man known to be curious and yet socially inept so as to be easy to play off any gaffes? In my case, we've gone one step further as this body was specifically made to look like Barclay to include a decent copy of his memory engrams so I don't have to fake being him that much. I just act like he would."

"And you are?" Deanna asked although she was starting to have her suspicions.

"I'm Zim. You met my brother Robert earlier this evening. I'm inhabiting this android body made for this mission. Well it might be longer or forever. We're not sure if I'm going to be stuck in this body or I'll be able to move back to the original body I was downloaded into," the faux Barclay explained.

"Whose we?" Deanna asked, somewhat stunned at the thought of androids that were perfect replicas of humans especially tailored to match existing people precisely.

Zim shook his head, "Can't tell you but Section 31 is involved as I am now an agent of theirs. Since my…benefactors might have more need of me, this mission was felt to be enough of a challenge to satisfy my desire for adventure without being too dangerous."

"I'm amazed that I can sense muted emotions from you. How is that possible?" Deanna asked.

Zim chuckled, "Still can't tell you but part of it is because the tech used to create this body is quite advanced. That and you might be getting echoes of my thoughts and Reggie's engrams. Not sure. I haven't been embodied for that long. So this is still new to me as well so I'm in uncharted space as it were. I assure you, however, that my benefactors as well as the branch of Section 31 I'm working for are fully behind dealing with the Dominion."

Deanna could feel enough of Zim to get a sense that he was telling the truth, "So…how does it feel to have a body?"

Zim made a face, "Taking a lot of getting used to. In a way, I'm very grateful for this mission as Barclay's memories help bridge the gap on many of the tactile senses I'm dealing with for the first time. Don't get me wrong, when being emitted by a holo-emitter, one had a sense of touch and the like. Still, it's like those senses were in a different language compared to the one I'm 'speaking' in now. It helps this body is truly and amazing piece of work. Thus I feel I'm in a much better position than Commander Data was in when Dr. Soong gave him his emotion chip upgrade. Which is good given how important the mission is."

"So what is the mission? Is it related to what Reggie had an issue with? You said something about a hero-complex?"

Zim nodded, "It is. Here let me show you; I can explain a bit on the way. With most people at the party, the lab will be empty. Me taking you on a tour is something people who know Reggie would expect. It'll help with my cover." He got up and gestured to the door.

Deanna decided she'd take the risk. Again, while it was more difficult, she was getting a better feeling of how to read him. So for now, she'd take him at his word that he was a photonic downloaded into an advanced, android body.

Once away from the revelers, Zim continued his story as they walked, "So, after Starfleet found that Voyager and the Equinox were still out there in the Delta Quadrant, there was obviously a push to try and contact them. Barclay was originally part of a team back on Earth working on the Pathfinder Project. Its goal is to try and send tight-beam messages over long distances via various methods like using tachyon streams and advanced hyper-subspace technology. Unfortunately, while it seemed to be a possible avenue, right now the focus has been towards beaming transmissions within a quadrant without using repeaters."

"I remember him talking about that in our correspondence," Deanna said. "He seemed quite happy at being involved in such a project."

Zim shrugged, "He might have been but his issues were already in motion. While he was there at Starfleet, he came across a Voyager sim in the underground Maru forum."

Deanna looked confused, "The Maru forum? I'm not familiar with that. Should I be? You said it was an underground sort of thing."

Zim shrugged again, "I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. Still, Starfleet seems to ignore it more often than not. It's not illegal, just sort of tolerated. The name comes from the no-win Kobayashi Maru scenario officer trainees get subjected to. The forum is filled with various holo-novel type programs where students can play around with important events and see what happens when you do things differently. Most of these are updated versions of the standardized training programs used in Starfleet. Some are really good while others are much more underground. Quite a few programmers come up with all sorts of outlandish stuff to make it interesting. Most are pretty benign but I think too many students spend way too much time in the alternate Terran Empire sims. Anyway, Reggie got interested in the Voyager sims."

"Ah, I take it that those have Voyager being in all sorts of places, good or bad?" Deanna asked.

Zim snorted, "Mostly silly or one step up from Sexy-Time in Space."

Deanna turned and gave Zim a bemused look.

Zim grinned sheepishly just like Barclay would have done, "You know, being transported to some Risa like planet and you have to battle Space Amazons who want to use you to help replace all the men who died of some virus. Like I said, the forum has a wide breadth of content."

"I take it after you and Robert arrived, the Voyager sim got interesting," Deanna said.

Zim nodded, "Very much so. Not sure how they got the info given so much we brought back is seriously classified. However, given some of the people I knew back on Voyager, like Harry Kim, I can think of a lot of back-door ways the info got out. The point was now the Voyager sims had all this very detailed information which we brought back so they were very realistic."

"Ah," Deanna said. Her tone made it clear she knew this is what got Reggie. It hadn't helped him being previously posted to the Enterprise which sported some of the best holodecks in Starfleet. Again, the better the simulation, the easier to forget one was in one.

"Ah, indeed," Zim confirmed. "So Reggie is under a lot of pressure because his team is competing with other projects for scarce resources due to the war. Then his girlfriend dies in that terrorist strike. Not a week later, Barclay was posted to Jupiter Station, away from his previous co-workers and few friends that he had. All he had was a cat given to him by a friend to help him deal with the loss of Hope. Even then, he named it Mr. Neelix which, to me, shows he was already spiraling down."

Deanna just nodded. She mentally cursed whoever thought sending him away, the war be damned, was going to end any way but poorly.

The pair paused as the turbolift they were coming up on opened up and a group came out, talking animatedly. It was obvious they were off to the party. After entering the lift, Zim said, "Deck 14."

Deanna looked thoughtful, "I'm betting Reggie got in with Zimmerman due to Haley. Just meeting her briefly, I could see the appeal. That, and I'm sorry to say, Reggie did seek out attention and Dr. Zimmerman gives a lot of that, even if it's mostly negative."

Zim laughed softly, "Spot on, Counselor. He might not have your training, but Robert came to the same conclusion pretty quickly."

"So they sent an officer known to be a recovering holo-addiction to Jupiter Station? One of the few places which has holo-emitters everywhere," Deanna said with disgust.

Zim sighed, "It gets worse. As I said, Reggie became obsessed with using the MIDAS Array to contact Voyager. This being one of the avenues of the Pathfinder Project although to Reggie it had become only about contact Voyager. Because of this, he often used the Voyager sim to help replicate the capability of the ship. Or at least that was the excuse he used. When asked, he told others that Voyager made for a ready-made way to test their work even though the Pathfinder Project's scale was simply intra-quadrant in scope."

Deanna snorted, "And all the hard science types bought it. Typical engineers. I'm sure they saw Reggie as simply expanding the scope of the project because it would be cool."

Zim just nodded with a sad smile as the turbolift doors opened onto Deck 14. He gestured to the left and continued, "So Reggie is working on the Pathfinder Project while at the same time he's working with Dr. Zimmerman and stealing time to run his own variant of the Maru forum Voyager sim. I've looked at the logs. His sims went from pretty benign to the hero-complex thing I mentioned earlier. He certainly got the girl at the end. Or I should say girls."

Deanna sighed but didn't comment. She knew full well how often this sort of thing happened when the holo-deck wasn't being monitored properly. Science stations were notorious for this sort of thing yet Starfleet and others kept falling into the trap of thinking scientists were too smart or above that sort of behavior. The truth was, they knew the best ways to hide it!

Zim threw up his hands, "To make matters much worse, Barclay compounded his problem with stimulants to cover up his lack of time to sleep. So it is not surprising he finally had a mental and physical breakdown. Lucky for me and my mission, Haley was the one who found him and was going to cover it up. That's how I got involved. My handlers felt this was a perfect opportunity to switch him for me so I could work to ensure there are no changelings on Jupiter Station."

The pair reached a main security door which Zim opened with a handprint and retinal scan. This impressed Deanna given the detail an android body would need to match to make this possible. They went in and to her surprise she found Zim actually giving her a tour as Reggie would. To her even bigger surprise, she found she enjoyed it. However, as they were going over some of the specifics of how the communications center would interface with the MIDAS Array, low voices caught her attention.

"Zim…" Deanna began in a whisper.

"Reginald," Zim corrected softly as it was obvious he too had heard the voices.

"I thought you said the lab would be empty," She asked, keeping her voice as low as she could.

Zim frowned, "It should be. I saw all the project members at the party earlier and I didn't see any of them leave before us. All the people with access were also at the party."

Deana strained to hear what the two were saying, "Should we investigate?"

Zim merely nodded. The pair crept closer with Deanna taking up her communicator to ensure she could call for help if something were amiss.

Finally, the pair were close enough to hear the pair's conversation.

The first, a man in a standard Starfleet Ops uniform, stood up from where he'd been doing something to an exposed panel, "There, try it now."

The other, a woman in the typical lab outfit which was ubiquitous on the station fiddled with a tricorder and then typed something in on a console near the unit with the panel open. "I believe that should do it. Give the computer a minute or two to double-check the algorithm but it looks like we can disrupt communications all the way to Orion."

The man nodded with a rather feral grin, "Good! This will throw their command into chaos and provide a distraction enough for our forces to begin their offensive. It might also show the Romulans that nowhere is safe from the reach of the Dominion. If they come into the war, it's all over."

The computer panel beeped. The female smiled, "Good." She touched a button. "And so it is done!"

Deanna and Zim traded looks. She held up her communicator and Zim nodded. She pressed the emergency button. As she did so, she was surprised as Zim walked over to the two Dominion agents, "Hey! Dr. Franklin was rather adamant everyone should be at the party! Come on! We've been working ourselves into the ground. It's okay to take this one night off."

Both spies looked at each other before the woman said, "Barclay. Didn't expect to see you here tonight."

Zim shrugged, "An old friend was visiting and I was giving a tour. She's off in the fresher. I was just surprised to hear anyone else in the lab." He looked down and acted like he'd just noticed the open panel. "Man, K'Tel is going to be put out if you fiddled with his calibrations. I know a lot of people don't think he's on the right course but he is the boss."

From the shadows, Deanna watched in concern as the male spy was working around Zim's flank and had picked up a rather heavy looking hydro-spanner. She looked around frantically and found a similar tool on a nearby shelf and quickly grabbed it.

The female, however, didn't seem to want to try and pretend and she pulled a weapon out of an inner pocket of her lab coat, "It is too bad you didn't stay at the party, Reggie. You didn't need to die."

A hum caught everyone's attention as a battery of energy conduits along the wall behind the woman began to glow in a blue-whitish light.

Zim looked back at the woman, "It's too bad you didn't stay in the Gamma Quadrant, lady. You didn't need to die."

The woman simply smirked and shot Zim in the chest with what looked to be some form of disruptor beam, causing him to fall back against a console. Deanna screamed and before she realized what she was doing, she had rushed the male and hit him squarely in the head. He crashed to the floor.

Deanna turned to find the woman looking at her with a sneer, "You pathetic meat-bag! A blow to the head like that might disable a weak species like yours but it's nothing to a Founder!"

This was shown to be true as the man, with a huge dent in his head, quickly got back to his feet.

"Actually I think the pathetic part is you shot me and didn't bother to see if you finished me off."

Deanna and the two Founders turned to see that Zim was standing and had produced a weapon. "Surprise!" Zim then shot the female, his weapon firing a brilliant green pulse. To the obvious surprise of the male, the female slumped to the floor and began to morph into a golden, liquid-like form.

The male's surprise was temporary as he moved faster than Deanna thought possible to grab her and pull her to him. A hand grabbed her by the throat. He kept her between him and Zim. "I don't know how you survived that shot but it doesn't matter. The process has already started. Unless you want this meat-bag to die, there is nothing you can do to stop it."

Zim (who was sporting an impressive burn mark on the front of his uniform) shrugged, "You'd think that, wouldn't you?" To Deanna's horror, he then proceeded to shoot her.

Time seemed to slow down for Deanna. She felt like every nerve in her body just got hit with a hammer but even as this was painful, she did nothing more than scream out more in surprise. Her captor, however, cursed in pain and released her. Whatever energy the weapon used apparently wasn't stopped by her body. She quickly slumped to the floor but rolled over as she struggled to see what was going on. Deanna was surprised when Zim dropped his weapon and began to grapple with the spy.

As the two struggled, Deanna tried to catch her breath while at the same time wondering where the hell security was. It didn't help that the hum from the machines were intensifying.

To Deanna's horror, the Founder managed to throw Zim bodily against one of the panels near the glowing energy conduits. He looked at her and sneered before moving over to grab Zim by the throat and hoisted him up so his feet were off the floor. "You're strong for a meat-bag of your type. One of those Angosian super-soldiers perhaps? It doesn't matter. I'm going to choke the life out of you while watching your own MIDAS Array throw your Federation into chaos."

"Problem with that," Zim choked out.

The Founder sneer deepened, "Oh? How so?"

Zim grabbed the wrist of the hand around his throat, "I don't need to breathe. Worse for you, I'm not a meat-bag."

Deanna shrieked as Zim slammed his other arm into one of the glowing power conduits. Instantly a rush of blue-white energy ran up his arm and into the Founder. Deanna watched as the Founder began to jerk as if having full body spasms, his human shape morphing back into a humanoid form made of golden liquid. She could see the energy zipping around inside the liquid. Finally the being exploded, throwing goo everywhere.

Zim dropped back to the floor and pulled his hand out of the conduit. His uniform was smoking slightly but he seemed mostly unharmed. "Well that was fun. Let's not do that again." He turned and in a blur of movement (which made Deanna think of Data) Zim began to input commands into various consoles. Soon, the hum began to diminish.

As he did this, doors slamming open could be heard and in moments, a security detail ran into the room as Zim was picking up his weapon. He gestured with it toward the Founder on the floor, "Hey guys; check her out first. Command wasn't sure if these could kill a Founder. Bad enough they only have power for two shots." He looked at Deanna. "Good thing they don't work on us meat-bags, eh?" Zim said with a wink.

One of the security detail helped Deanna to her feet. As she did so, she could hear Zim mutter to himself as he inspected the arm he'd thrust into the power conduit, "Maybe this adventure stuff is a bit overrated."

XxXxX

Commodore's Log, Star Date 51612. trial for those involved with the attempted assassination of Captain Potter is complete. I was surprised how swift it went. However, once it was revealed of the further plot to do away with any child with powers, there wasn't much more to do. Judgement was swift. I am thankful that not only has Dr. Sokolov has confirmed the Doctor's original diagnosis for the other conspirators but that they were unaware of the plot against the children.

However, this was tempered by the result of the mind-meld between Samantha Wildman and Tuvok. He had felt it important to truly see how much she was being manipulated given she was the ring-leader. His findings, while not admissible as evidence, were enough to chill us all. One of the reasons, she had not told the others of her plan was she intended to have them all killed. I am still shaken how both Commanders Riker and Braga had somehow accepted this in order to supposedly protect the fleet.

When Captain Potter learned of this, he had merely shrugged it off. He told me privately he'd seen so many heinous crimes, both in the magical world and outside it, done with a tortured logic which beggared the imagination. Crimes which he felt must have been done under some compulsion or brain-washing. Sadly, he found the worse sort of behavior could be justified for a perceived greater good without any compulsion being involved.

While the younger conspirators are undergoing therapy and a final decision on their punishment, the rest are being held in some of the modified maturation chambers Captain Potter has on the Cube. The children are still debating what to do but both Dr. Sokolov and Mr. Neelix believe they will agree to the Death of Personality. It seems the children feel the chance of saving those assimilated by the Borg is the moral choice even though it will be difficult interacting with someone with their mother's face. Still, Naomi Wildman has told me she feels some cosmetic augmentation, easily done in the maturation chambers, should fix that.

As for the rest of the Fleet, the trial was a shock and I believe a good one. Seeing Arturis as the villain, again, and the crimes involved has definitely shown a reduction in any of the animosity previously shown to Captain Potter. The fact he didn't kill them out-of-hand reinforces that the Galaron III disaster was an accident. A terrible one, but an accident, nevertheless. Now the Fleet is turning towards working with all the new materials as they come out of the Maw. Busy hands will make for less morale issues, I believe.

ASTROMETRICS LAB, USS VOYAGER, , SECTOR 340, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51612.8

"Where is Treana, Seven? I was expecting both of you here for this briefing," Janeway asked, careful not to sound accusatory. Seven could still be like a defensive child when pushed the wrong way.

"She was called away to help deal with some issues with her children who were involved in an altercation during their schooling," Seven replied as she continued to work on the console to bring up the needed information she was to present to Janeway.

Janeway chuckled, "Ah, meeting with the principle. My parents had to do that a few times when I was young. A scrapper was what my grandmother used to call me. Luckily, I grew out of it."

"I would disagree with you, Commodore, as would many of our would-be enemies throughout the Delta Quadrant," Seven said in an even tone.

Janeway chuckled at that as she looked through some of the raw data brought back from Hugin and Munin. Seeker and Searcher were already collecting the next set of data. So far, the current plan was to send out one pair right before the other pair were completing their sweep. By that time, the second pair would be almost done, the former would have been had their info downloaded and any maintenance finished on them. They also had four ships bought from Abaddon's yard which were in the process of being upgraded to allow more coverage and a back-up if a scout pair needed more maintenance than the schedule allowed for.

Of course, Janeway knew, much of the scouting would be for general exploration and not just to find their course. The Varro's desire to explore could not be ignored, especially with their numbers compared to the rest of the Fleet. So far, this had not been an issue. The increased room due to the Kelionininkas had made it much easier for the crew to accept the long journey. Given so many of the Federation crew were all from people who joined to explore made this acceptance even more so. The fact that the former Constellation crew's family and friends were almost all long dead made it easier for them to accept as well.

A thought struck Janeway. She'd been meaning to ask a question of Seven, but things had kept her from being able to ask. "Seven, have you ever mentioned our…arrangement with anyone?"

Seven turned away from her console, "I have not, Kathryn."

Janeway had to smile slightly. Whenever they were having sex, Seven never referred to her by rank or last name. Janeway felt it helped Seven to distinguished between work and play as it were. Janeway herself had come to appreciate this as it did the same for her.

"I must say I am sort of surprised but gratified you have not," Janeway said after a moment.

Seven shook her head, "Other than Commander Torres, I do not believe any of my other lovers would give it another thought. Although I am confident Captain Potter would tease you in private."

Janeway snorted at that, "I'm sure he would."

"However, the issue at hand is our arrangement is between us," Seven went on. "I have given it a great deal of thought. One could easily see our original interaction being between a mother figure and child. I, however, am not a child, I simply lack experience."

Janeway nodded slowly, "Which you have been making up for. Far more quickly than I ever imagined you could."

"While B'Elanna and Harry have helped me with my emotions, your help has been invaluable to continue my education in morality and general interpersonal interactions," Seven stated firmly. "Without your continued guidance, I do not believe I would have been able to process what B'Elanna was offering. Or to have the sense to seek help from Harry."

"Glad to have been of help," Janeway said with a slight smile. Seven really had blossomed so much quicker than she'd ever dreamed possible.

Seven came over and surprised Janeway by reaching out and caressing her cheek, "My first thought of being with you was purely transactional. You had helped me and I felt your position made it difficult to have your own needs met. Therefore it was a way I could repay you. While I believe your situation remains mostly unchanged, I am coming to enjoy our times together for the happiness it brings you."

Janeway reached up and took Seven's hand, "What do you mean? The sex we've had has been more line with what I'd expect from B'Elanna. In fact, I expect you do to me what she does to you."

Seven nodded, "In doing research on common sexual practices on Earth, I came across data which suggested those in positions of power and responsibility often wish to give up such power in private. Therefore it seemed logical to be the dominant force in our sexual relations. In answer to your question, have you been exposed to Harry's Patronus?"

Janeway blinked at the change of topic, "In a way. He's used it as a messenger although I know that is not the primary purpose of it."

Seven nodded, "It is not. In teaching me about the emotions I needed to tap into to be a more actualized, sexual individual, Harry cast his Patronus. He defined it as love personified. Being in close proximity to it, one is filled with the reflection of that warmth. It is a feeling I get when we are together. From you, I feel reflected happiness. You are content and this pleases me which in turn reinforces the pleasure we are working to achieve together. This shared happiness is why I keep our times together a secret. Beyond the need to keep rumors away, these moments are ours and ours alone. I would not share such a thing with others without your input and consent."

Janeway was rather shocked and gratified to hear this. She knew she could have a rather acerbic personality made worse by her being in command. Even her fiancé Mark had quipped she could be a prickly companion at times. To hear Seven's words made her feel loved in a way she had not felt since their exile.

Seven moved back to her console, "That being said, Kathryn, I do believe you and Commander Chakotay would do well to discontinue your continued dancing around the fact you are both attracted to each other. Almost no one in the Fleet would be in anyway shocked if the two of you pursued a relationship."

Before Janeway could deny what Seven said, even though she knew it to be true, a strident beep sounded which was followed by various other alarms.

"What is going on?" Janeway asked as she came up to assist Seven whose hands were already dancing across the console.

"I am not sure, Commodore. It appears we are being targeted by some form of high-end tachyon pulse being beamed through a deep level of hyper-subspace," Seven said neutrally.

Janeway turned away from Seven and touched her comm-badge, "Bridge, bring Voyager to Red Alert and send out a general Yellow Alert to the rest of the Fleet." Over the open comm channel, the two women could here reports about the pulse being cried out.

"Aye Commodore! Do you wish us to move away from the Fleet due to this incoming pulse?" LCDR Baxter asked. He was the acting XO till a decision was made who was to replace Riker.

Janeway looked at Seven whose face just tightened in concentration, "Make it so if only to be on the safe side. Alert Captain Potter to see if any of the active sensors on the Cube are able to pick up data we might be missing," Janeway ordered.

"Will do, Commodore," Baxter said before cutting the connection.

Janeway turned back to Seven, "Report."

Seven simply frowned, "The incoming pulse is increasing in strength but I do not believe it to be a weapon. The bandwidth seems more in line with some form of communication."

Janeway bent down to get a better look at the data Seven was manipulating, "Could this be the 8472 trying to contact us from Fluidic Space?"

Seven shook her head, "No, the energy is very…wait! Commodore, the pulse is stabilizing into a coherent beam. I'm picking up a standard Federation transmission signal."

Janeway blinked at this before hastily gestured to the main screen, "Put it on!"

Seven nodded and worked a few more commands before stating, "Audio only."

"…is Jupiter Station. Voyager, are you reading this? Please respond. This is Jupiter Station!" came a male voice which sounded human to Janeway.

Janeway looked to Seven even as she typed in commands to the bridge to go down to yellow alert status, "Can we respond?"

Seven looked unsure for a moment before a few commands made one of the alternate sensor consoles beep, "We can now, Commodore. However, I do not believe this beam will be stable for long."

"Jupiter Station, this is Commodore Janeway of the USS Voyager. We are receiving you," Janeway said as the door to the lab opened up and Tuvok and Ransom hurried in. She gestured for them to keep silent.

"Ah! Great to hear your voice again, Commodore! As you can probably tell, we don't have much time. If you have any logs or info for Starfleet, please beam it now. This transmission is possible due to an odd circumstance we may not be able to replicate. We had a lot of power going nowhere which needed to be used."

Janeway looked to Tuvok only to find him already working on a nearby console, "We are preparing the data now. Whom am I speaking to?"

A chuckle greeted this question, "Well I may be in a new android body, but I'm Zim. During a mission to Jupiter Station to ferret out Dominion spies, we found two working to try and use the MIDAS Array as a weapon against the Federation. However, their modifications actually solved an issue with a project which potentially could be used to keep in contact with you. As I said, hopefully we can replicate this happy accident."

Janeway and Seven looked at each other with a similar look of surprise at this news, "I'm sure you're leaving a lot out, Zim."

"Without a doubt," Zim replied. "I'm receiving your data stream. Not sure if the Array is going to be stable much longer, though."

Another voice came through, "Commodore? This is Counselor Deanna Troi. We met once back when we both were on Risa on shore-leave. I just wanted to inform you that I saw Lieutenant Ro and Captain Riker off as the Sacajawea returned to her outer rim scouting mission. She is in good health and spirits."

Janeway smiled, "That is good to hear, Counselor."

Seven spoke up, "The field is collapsing soon."

Zim spoke up quickly, "Commodore, I will inform Starfleet. I'm sure they will start the process where friends and the family can get messages and the like together in the hopes we can contact you again. I'm no scientist, but from what I'm seeing here, I'm hopeful we can recreate what we…"

Static cut off the message.

The room was silent for a moment before Tuvok spoke up, "I would suggest we begin to work on protocols where we have any information we need to send to Starfleet broken into packets we can send on short notice."

Janeway nodded, "Good thinking. I'll have Ops begin working on that. Well, this is going to be interesting."

Seven raised an eyebrow, "How so Commodore? You sound a bit concerned. Is this not a good thing?"

Janeway made a face, "Yes it is Seven. However, two-way contact will come at a price. Any experienced spacer will tell you that being out of regular message range can be a blessing in that if there are issues back home, you aren't immersed in them when you can't do anything about it."

"She's right," Ransom replied. "With the war going on, we may start getting a lot of news which will affect the crew who can do nothing about it. Sometimes the big unknown is better than knowing what is going on but being powerless to affect it."

"Ah, I believe I understand. I have noticed many of the former Maquis took the news of their comrade's fate poorly," Seven replied.

"Exactly!" Ransom said. "I'm sure if we get in contact with Starfleet again, there will be a lot of bad news. However, I'll take it if only to be able to at least say good-bye properly if we lose contact again."

"I, for one, believe if we do regain continued contact with Starfleet that we could use this to our advantage. With such contact, I can set up distance learning with Starfleet Academy such that newer crew-members will be given a more official and structured education. This will work to minimize degradation of the Fleet losing its predominately Federation stamp," Tuvok pointed out.

Janeway nodded at that, "A very good point, Tuvok. Luckily for us, the Varro don't seem to inclined to want to really mix personnel much. How long that will last is the question. Since we control all the major ships, having future Varro go through our Starfleet Academy system could be just the ticket to ensure unity. Good thinking, Tuvok!"

Tuvok gave a slight bow to this, "I will begin working on this. It is something I had already been working on as it will not be long before the first generation of the Exiles will be hitting the entry age to Starfleet. That and all the current Varro teenagers who might want to join."

Janeway shook her head, "You know, the universe is amazing. A fluke causes us to be able to make contact with Earth again and who is it that's there to do it? Zim of all people!"

Seven frowned, "My readings of the logs of Voyager brings me to believe that coincidence and serendipity follows wherever you go, Commodore."

Ransom laughed, "Don't knock it, Seven. Being lucky is as much the reason for the heroes of days past getting to that state. I know Harry Potter would agree. Isn't he always talking of luck being his superpower?"

Janeway snorted at this, "Luck or not, I'll take it. We've got a long journey ahead of us and I'm sure it'll take a lot more luck to get us back to the Alpha Quadrant.

XxXxX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This chapter was finished while I drank a liter of Iron Rabbit beer from Loowit Brewing. Why? Because it's free beer due to it being my 55th B-Day. A present to you all.

Sector Change: Given where the Solar System is relative to our spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, there is no way we'd be in Sector 01. It makes no sense unless you accept that everything in the Federation revolves around Earth. Oh maybe politically they are Sector 01, but from a spatial POV, it's not defensible. Besides, given Terrans were late to the Warp Party, you'd expect we'd have used the Vulcan's stellar maps and Vulcan would be Sector 01…which they wouldn't because it would be illogical. So yeah, no more Sector 01 for Earth.

Extra Chapter: This chapter is sort of a 'bonus round' in that I felt certain things going on in the fleet need more time before hitting certain canonical episodes. So I moved this episode up in the timeline even though I hadn't planned on doing it in the first place. Given that Starfleet got a much more concrete accounting and data from what was brought by the Dauntless, I can see there being more of a push for the Pathfinder project. Then there is one aspect of ST: VOY where episodes like Future Imperfect and 11:59 gloss over the Eugenics War and WW III like they never happened. Then episodes like Latent Image or Pathfinder seem to forget that a major war had happened (or was ongoing depending on the Star Date) with the Dominion. So a chapter like this allows me to at least have a nod towards what is going on back at home.

Commodore Jellicoe & CDR Shelby: As I've alluded to in response to reviews and in some of my author's notes, in reality, after ST:TNG Best of Both Worlds, Riker would have been told, "Take this ship or you're off the command track." Picard would have been relieved of duties considered too sensitive (like a ship command) due to him being assimilated. Since we know ships like the Enterprise are the base of ad hoc fleets during war or the like, it should have always been Commodore Picard.

Holograms and the Holodeck: I've always felt the holodeck was a crap piece of story line thought up by writers in that wish fulfillment way. I almost see Barclay's holo-addiction as some writer's way at tweaking the noses of other writers. Anyway, I'm of two minds about the holo-deck. My first is that the tech is outside the reach of even 23rd Century tech. I could be wrong given all the Deep Fake stuff we're already doing along with A.I. to simulate behavior. But if possible, I'd think that holo-decks would intentionally have a bit of the 'uncanny valley' left in for the express purpose of keeping people from getting holo-addiction.

Frankly, a holo-deck when used like a Room of Requirement is one thing (i.e. creating environments for real people to use) but the minute you start adding computer people…man the abuses and issues! Having a bad break up? Don't want to come to terms with aspects of your personality which could use some work? Forget about it! Create your own photonic "playmate" who always laughs at your jokes, finds you attractive and is always in the mood! I'd hate to see a holo-deck under black light after a few shifts. I mean look how many folks were "reading" holo-novels. Hmm, okay well there are a lot of novels where the POV character is going to get laid. (Damnit! The Goldeneye Holo-Novel is checked out again! Guess I'm stuck with 50 Shades of Grey again!) Anyway, I figure one of the reasons the Doctor is so real to many is because his mobile emitter is centuries better than the ones on Voyager.

Where Are They Now? I'm of two minds on how things changed. On one hand, the crash of the Enterprise-D is a perfect time for Starfleet to move canonical people around. On the other hand, I've always felt that the crash as shown in the film was pretty much impossible for various reasons. Because of this, Jellicoe and Shelby on the Enterprise-D. Frankly, I don't see a Sovereign class ship being named Enterprise regardless of how famous the name is. I would expect the ships to be named after leaders who also were noted military commanders or noted for guiding their nations through war. So something like USS Elizabeth Tudor or USS Roosevelt (Theodore or Franklin would both apply) - As I mention in my ship essay in Chapter 23 of my Pernicious Story Bunnies, I feel that this class is the closest thing to a 'peace-time dreadnaught' as one could get. It's whole design is to be able to respond to issues with both diplomacy and firepower. However, given it doesn't have a saucer separation capability, it would likely have fewer to no civilians on board.

Other former Enterprise-D folks are Data is commanding the USS Themistocles, Riker is commanding the USS Sacajawea and LaForge is probably at Utopia Planitia working on the team trying to unravel the Dauntless. Obviously Worf and O'Brien are off doing ST:DS9 stuff.

The USS Beikirch: When it comes to Dr. Crusher, I disagree with how the writers did it in the TS: TNG episode All Good Things. In this I believe a hospital ship would have an over-all medical director (i.e. Dr. Crusher) who is in charge of the mission but isn't the captain of the ship. So similar to having an Admiral in charge of the carrier group but the carrier itself has its own captain. Normally, I'd see Crusher on an earlier version of the USS Pasteur (again All Good Things) directing treatment and casualties to the various forward medical centers.

In regard to my 'essay' in Chapter 23 of my Pernicious Story Bunnies, a hospital ship is the perfect type of specialty ship one might expect an older ship to be converted into. So for the purposes of this story, Beverly Crusher is the medical director of the USS Beikirch (Search for Sgt. Gary Beikirch; you'll be glad you did!) on a retrofitted Constitution class ship. In this case, it is likely that Crusher has the equivalent rank of Commodore and commands various 'captains' both in Starfleet and civilian medical capacity.

Imagine the Beikirch as being an Enterprise-A type Constitution class battle cruiser with engines replaced with those like the Excelsior class. (i.e. closer to the hull) The aft end had been extended when converted to a strike carrier. This allows for larger medical shuttles for patients unable to be moved via the transporters. Also, the lower torpedo bay of the A refit is removed to allow fighters/shuttles to leave fore and aft. The torpedoes are moved back into the saucer. As the Beikirch is expected to go into contested space, they still have two squadrons of fighters on board to cover the shuttles during evacuations as well as protect the ship. Again, the added length in the secondary hull would allow it to have medical shuttles and defensive fighters.

As mentioned in that essay, these older ships with newer components (as alluded to in last chapter) means a lot more room. So the secondary hull is going to have a lot of room for medical labs and the like beyond that of the extra hull sections which are still 'flight deck' related. This is especially true since it wouldn't need a lot of the stuff used for long missions away from supply lines like the canonical Five Year Mission™. The saucer would have replaced many former crew quarters with bays/rooms for patients as the need for a large 400+ crew wouldn't be there with the tech upgrades.

Also, given the 'bones' of the ship is still a battlecruiser, it can defend itself if attacked while picking up casualties or performing rescue extractions. We'll see more of the USS Beikirch in the epilogue. Also, the Hōshō was the world's first purpose-built aircraft carrier. That is to say it wasn't converted from a pre-existing ship. Amazingly this ship, built in 1922, made it all the way through WW II before being scrapped! That and Sergei Korolev was one of the main rocket scientists of the Soviet Union during the Space Race so it makes sense a ship would be named after him.

Ro Laren: As per Bajoran custom, Laren is her first name as she herself tells Picard in the ST:TNG episode Ensign Ro. Yes, Riker (both of them) had a bad habit of referring to her as Ro as if that was her first name. I see it as an irritating quirk she's going to have to beat out of him!

Long Lives: Vulcans and Romulans live a long time. So while Sub-Commander Dhael (now Commander and almost Captain Dhael) was assimilated a long time ago, her nephew would be an older, middle-aged Romulan by the time of this chapter. Likewise, V'Lana can be over a century given her mother met Spock 106 years ago. (Obviously, Spock had some very interesting shore-leaves never shown in ST:TOS!)