Chapter Five

Seven of Nine stepped out of her alcove, fully recharged, and was greeted upon opening her eyes by the smiling face of her wife.
“Morning, Sam,” she said.
“Morning, Annie,” Samantha said. “Feeling better today?”
“Much,” Seven said. “An extra day of regeneration was, as the Doctor said, exactly what I needed.”
“And hopefully you’ve learned a valuable lesson,” Samantha said.

“A few actually,” Seven said. “The most significant one, of course, being not to attempt to download an entire starship’s memory banks into your brain all at once. I am embarrassed that I did not foresee the unfortunate side effects of that.”
“That’s a nice way of putting it,’ Samantha said, now walking next to Seven as the two of them left the cargo bay.

“I will say in my defense,” Seven added, “that I was not acting entirely irrational. My conclusions were based on the facts I had at hand. It was the lack of proper context that led to my more, well, paranoid pronouncements.”
Samantha laughed, and Seven gave her a look.

“Sorry,” Samantha said, “I know I shouldn’t have laughed. I just, you know, I love your gift for understatement.”
Seven rolled her eyes. “I choose to take that as a compliment,” she said. “Anyway, that also was one of my lessons; that facts without context are meaningless.”

“It’s one of the perils of being human, love,” Samantha said. “Our ability to recognize patterns allowed us to survive and thrive beyond our early days of dwelling in caves, but sadly that means sometimes we see patterns where they aren’t.”
“That is certainly something I need to be more careful of in the future,” Seven said.
“I don’t think you have to worry that much,” Samantha said. “There were extenuating circumstances after all.”
“The cortical processing subunit I installed? Yes, well, in hindsight that was clearly a mistake. I have uninstalled it, however. From now on I will digest newly acquired data the ‘old fashioned way;’ by reading.”
“It has worked pretty well for us so far,” Samantha said, winking.

“Speaking of reading,” Seven said, “Mister Paris sent a number of documents to my personal PADD this morning regarding someplace on Earth called Roswell, New Mexico. Do you have any idea why he-” Seven’s question was cut off with a groan from Samantha.
“That cheeky little… Don’t read that, trust me. I’ll talk to Tom. That was not funny, he shouldn’t have done that.”
Seven stopped walking and tilted her head in confusion. “Sammy, why do I get the feeling that by ‘talk to’ you mean ‘yell at?’”

—

“Neelix, get off of there,” Lieutenant Reginald Barclay said, turning away from his apartment window looking out over the San Francisco Bay, and yelling at his cat. The cat complied, albeit slowly and not without a soft grunt, and leapt off the top bookshelf where Barclay kept all his PADDs related to the Pathfinder project, as well as a 1/200th scale model of the U.S.S. Voyager. The last thing Barclay wanted was to have to pick all that stuff up, especially since his guests would be arriving any moment.

For the fourth time in ten minutes, he checked to make sure the food he’d prepared was coming along nicely. He didn’t need to cook, his replicator worked just fine, and in fact he had used it for the ingredients, but since having moved to Earth after leaving the Enterprise, he found that cooking soothed his nerves.

The door chime sounded, and Barclay smiled as he told the computer to open the door to welcome two of his old friends. He tilted his head though when he realized that one of the two people entering his apartment was not who he expected.
“Commander LaForge, I didn’t realize you’d be joining us. I’d have made more food,” Barclay said.
“Actually,” Geordi LaForge said, “I’m filling in.”
“Will’s father was hurt in a shuttle accident,” Deanna Troi said. “It’s not serious, but Will wanted to check in on him anyway. He sends his apologies.”

“Oh dear,” Barclay said to. “Well, send my regards to Commander Riker when you see him next.”
“I will,” Troi said.
“Commander,” Barclay said, now looking at Geordi. “It’s good to see you again, but I’d assumed you’d be busy overseeing the new upgrades to the Enterprise.”
Geordi laughed. “Well I planned to be, but Starfleet’s R&D people decided I was being too overbearing and basically kicked me out of my own engine room. I suppose I can’t blame them, but empathy needs to go both ways. How would they feel about a bunch of strangers poking around their ship?”
“Well, I’m sure it’s all for the best,” Barclay said, smiling. “The flagship of the fleet should always be in tip-top shape.”

“I can drink to that,” Geordi said. “If you have anything that is.”
“Nothing stronger than synthehol,” Barclay said. “I do a lot of work on Pathfinder in my off-time; don’t want to risk impairing my judgement.”
“I’m glad you brought that up,” Troi said. “I’d heard about the project to try and contact Voyager. How’s that coming along?”

“Not terribly well,” Barclay admitted. “Commander Harkins refuses to allow me use of the MIDAS array to test my new plan.”

“Why do you need MIDAS?” Geordi asked.

“The idea I had,” Barclay said, “was to use it to direct a tachyon beam at a class B itinerant pulsar, with enough gravimetric energy to create an artificial wormhole.”
Geordi’s eyes widened, enough that even from several feet away Barclay could see the ocular implants adjusting. “That’s pretty ambitious, Reg, I like it.”

“Forgive me for interrupting,” Troi said, “but I’m not familiar with the MIDAS array.”
“Oh, sorry,” Barclay said. “It’s the Mutara Interdimensional Deep-Space-Transponder Array System. I know the acronym isn’t an exact fit, but Commander Harkins called me ‘nitpicky’ when I brought that up.”

“It’s a way to make communications travel even faster than they do now, basically.“ Geordi said. “Tachyon communication is good enough for us for now, but as exploration takes us out even further into the galaxy, and with the Gamma Quadrant open to us now after the war, we need new ways to be able to keep in touch with ships and bases in a timely fashion.”

“And you think,” Troi said, looking at Barclay, “that this micro-wormhole could allow us to speak to Voyager again?”
“At least briefly,” Barclay said.

“Better than nothing,” Geordi said.

“But that’s only if I can convince Commander Harkins and Admiral Paris to go along with my theory,” Barclay said. “Unfortunately, Harkins thinks I’ve relapsed on my holo-addiction, and he’s convinced the Admiral of the same, so he doesn’t trust me.”
“Why would they think that?” Troi said.
“You see my cat over there?” Barclay said. “I named him Neelix. After the alien crewmember that Voyager picked up in the Delta Quadrant. They included him in the information their EMH was able to provide us. I’ve spent a lot of time reading about the crew of Voyager. Pete, that’s Commander Harkins’ first name, he thinks I’ve become obsessed with Voyager.”
“Over a cat’s name?” Geordi said.
“That, and the fact that I’ve been using a holodeck simulation of the ship itself to run simulations on my theories,” Barclay said.
Troi shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. The line between interest and obsession can be thin sometimes, sure, but I think your commander is overreacting.” She turned to look at Geordi. “Do you think we should talk to him?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Barclay said. “I don’t want him to think I’m trying to use my time on the Enterprise as a cudgel to get what I want.”

“I get it,” Troi said. “You’re worried about coming off as arrogant and entitled. But having one commander not like you seems like a small price to pay if it means that Starfleet can talk to one of its lost crews again.”

Barclay looked down at the drink in his hand, having forgotten that he’d even poured it. He felt that she was right, on both counts. The fact was, he didn’t talk much about his time on the Enterprise. It always felt too much like bragging. She was also right that they were more important things in the galaxy than being afraid that strangers would think you had a big ego.

“Okay,” he said. “So, how do we want to handle this?”

—

“So, what do you think?” Tom Paris said, smiling as Seven of Nine read the PADD that he had handed her while the two were in the mess hall for lunch.

“You want my opinion on your new holodeck program? Why?” she said.
“I’m asking a lot of people actually,” Tom said. “Diversity of opinion and all that.”
“Very well. In brief, your simulation, while visually accurate, is filled with characters based on broad stereotypes that could be seen as offensive by any humans on this ship who may have Irish ancestry.”
Tom frowned.

“Well, it’s not meant to be historically accurate,” he said. “I just meant it as a place where the crew could unwind.”
“The crew already has multiple options in that regard,” Seven said. “Including the Chez Sandrine program that you also created.”

“Nobody really uses that program anymore,” Tom said. “I think people got bored with it. Last time I was in there the only non-holograms around were you and Sam.”

“There was also Insurrection Alpha,” Seven said.
“Which most people stopped using after the program tried to kill me and Tuvok.”
“The cabana program?”
“Harry and Neelix still use that one sometimes,” Tom admitted, “but it’s not all that popular anymore either.”
Seven sighed. “I concede your point.”
“Do you have any suggestions then?”

Seven thought about it for a moment. “Perhaps a recreation of Ibiza? It is an island off the coast of Spain on Earth.”
“That was where you and Sam spent your fake honeymoon on the NX-01 mission right? Yeah, that could work. The way Sam describe the beaches there… It might be a little too close to the old cabana program though.”
“It is your program, Mister Paris, the final decision is yours. I merely offered the input that I was asked for.”

“That you did. Thanks, Seven,” Tom said, finishing his coffee before getting up and leaving. Seven finished her own beverage and meal and left to head to astrometrics. She hoped that when she got there to perform her assigned task for today, teaching Equinox survivor Noah Lessing how to operate the lab, that she would be able to remain completely professional. After all, Noah was the one who had shot her in the back in Equinox’s engineering.

—

Barclay’s apartment had been silent too long. Even the cat had gone quiet, which meant he was either asleep or getting into trouble. The three Starfleet officers had spent the last ten hours going over Barclay’s plans regarding the MIDAS array and the plan to contact Voyager.

Troi said something that Barclay had considered, but didn’t want to admit could put his plan in jeopardy.
“Based on Voyager’s location when they contacted Starfleet two years ago,” she said, “they had already managed to trim at least a decade off their journey home, right?”
“Correct,” Barclay said. “When one of the passengers they picked up, Kes I think her name was, used her developing psionic powers to help Voyager bypass Borg space.”
“Right,” Troi said. “But who’s to say that Voyager didn’t find other ways to shave off even more time in the interim? All the projections on where they might be in the Delta Quadrant now are based on the assumptions that they’ve only been going in a handful of directions at a speed lower than the maximum cruising speed an Intrepid-class ship can go, which is, warp 9 right?”
“9.975,” Geordi said, “but they can’t hold that speed indefinitely, they would need to slow down occasionally just to keep from burning out the dilithium crystals.”
“True, but even so, Harkins’ projections don’t account for them ever going at that speed. He’s being too conservative in his estimates,” Troi said. “This isn’t even my field of expertise and I can tell that.”

“If we can solve the power issue,” Barclay said, “that won’t matter. We can try multiple times. We can just start with Pete’s projections of where Voyager is and work our way out from there. We’ve got our pulsar, we’ve got our array, how do we get our wormhole is the question.”

“Yeah,” Geordi said, rubbing his eyes. “We are talking about a massive subspace reaction here.”
Barclay snapped his fingers. “Massive. That’s it, that’s the problem!”
“Reg?” Geordi said.

“Maybe we need to think smaller. How much bandwidth do we really need? The average wormhole is huge, but if we compress the data stream we wouldn’t need a conduit anywhere near as big.”
“A micro-wormhole,” Geordi said. “Good idea. So good, in fact, it’s a wonder none of us thought of it sooner.”
“I’m a psychiatrist, not an engineer,” Troi said. “There’s no way I would’ve thought of it.”

“The outside perspective helps, trust me,” Barclay said. “In fact, I think Pathfinder could stand to have a few non-engineers on staff, but that’s a topic for another time.”

“We still need to work out the details,” Geordi said, “but if we can do that, we’d have a solid plan to present to Commander Harkins and Admiral Paris.”

“We’ll need to do it fast,” Troi said. “The Enterprise leaves tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll talk to the Captain,” Geordi said, looking at Troi. “I’m sure he’d be willing to extend shore leave in this instance.”

Barclay smiled. He did feel some guilt, a voice in the back of his head telling him he was taking advantage of his friends’ status as Federation celebrities to get his way, but it was overwhelmed by excitement. If all of this worked, he would get to speak to the crew of the Voyager, the most famous missing starship in almost a century. How could he pass that up?

—

Seven of Nine was consciously aware that she was in no danger around Noah Lessing. Yes, he had shot her once before, and she didn’t forgive him for that, but she also knew it wasn’t personal. Since then, Lessing had integrated into the crew of Voyager. Not as successfully as Gilmore, or Sofin, or Morrow perhaps, but far more so than Tassoni. He did his job, he showed up for shifts on time, and he didn’t carry a phaser.
So why am I still concerned that he’s going to shoot me in the back again? She thought. It is a completely illogical fear.

“I’ve completed the first round of diagnostics,” Lessing said. “Everything is in working order, ma’am.”

“Very well,” Seven said, not bothering to double check. She had observed Lessing’s progress while he did his work. “Your tasks were completed well ahead of the allotted time. You may leave early if you wish.”
“Not much point,” he said. “I’m still not allowed to use the holodeck, and I don’t really feel like hitting the ship’s gym.”
“What you choose to do with your free time is none of my concern,” Seven said.
“You’re right, it’s not,” Lessing said. “I guess I should consider myself lucky to have any free time, all things considered.”
“Perhaps you should,” Seven said.
Lessing simply nodded. Seven wondered what the man was thinking. He didn’t seem to be trying to earn a chance at redemption the way the majority of his surviving crewmates were, but he wasn’t openly hostile and insistent that killing the Ankari ‘spirits’ was justified like Angelo Tassoni still did, even all these months later. His apparent apathy bothered her, though she couldn’t explain why. She was prepared to finally just ask, when something on the astrometrics lab screen caught her attention.

“Is that a micro-wormhole?” Lessing said.

“I believe you are correct,” Seven said. She began tapping buttons on the console to redirect sensors to do a more thorough scan of the micro-wormhole. “And it would appear as message is being transmitted through it.”

“To whom?” Lessing said.
“It’s on a Starfleet emergency channel,” Seven said, looking down at her console.
Lessing smiled for, as far as Seven knew, the first time since before Captain Ransom’s crimes had been revealed.
“Wow,” he said.
Seven tapped her com badge and told the Captain what she had discovered.
“Let’s hear it,” Janeway said, and Seven quickly complied, applying a narrow band filter to the signal processor in order to improve the quality of the message.
“Starfleet Command to U.S.S. Voyager,” a voice said, the transmission full of static but still audible. “Come in Voyager. Do you hear me? This is Lieutenant Reginald Barclay.”

“Captain,” Seven said, “we must respond quickly, the wormhole is collapsing.”

—

“This is our third try, and still nothing. The micro-wormhole is collapsing. I’m sorry Mister Barclay, I just don’t think this is working,” Commander Peter Harkins said. Barclay was disappointed, but he could tell by looking around the room he wasn’t the only one. All of his fellow Pathfinder teammates, Deanna, Geordi, Admiral Paris, all had similar looks on their faces.

“The pulsar has not moved out of position yet,” Geordi said. “I think we can squeeze a few more attempts out of it, but the power consumption might not allow for-”
A noise cut him off.
“We’re receiving a transmission,” one of the Pathfinder techs said.
“Where from?” Admiral Paris said.
“Coordinates 343.6 by 27,” the tech said.

Barclay and Harkins shared a look.
“The wormhole,” Barclay said.
“It worked,” Troi said, smiling.
“Starfleet Command, come in,” a barely audible voice said over the speakers. Barclay recognized the voice right away from the Voyager crew records he’d gone over.
“Reg,” Harkins said, “give me a hand clearing up the signal.”
“Yes sir,” Barclay said, moving quickly to a nearby console and manipulating controls. He was excited and nervous, yet his hands were steady and his work efficient.

“This is Captain Kathryn Janeway, do you read me?”
Barclay looked at Harkins who was simply smiling.
“I think she’s talking to you,” Admiral Paris said, having moved closer to stand next to him.
“Captain,” Barclay said, suddenly afraid that he would start stammering again, “this is Lieutenant Reginald Barclay at Starfleet Command.”

“It’s good to hear your voice, Lieutenant,” Janeway said. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this moment.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Barclay continued, “Unfortunately the micro-wormhole is collapsing. We have only a few moments.”
“Understood,” Janeway said. We are transmitting our ship’s logs, crew reports, and navigational records to you now.”
“Acknowledged,” Barclay said. “And we’re sending you data on some new hyper-subspace technology. We’re hoping that, eventually, we can use it to keep in regular contact. We’re also including some recommended modifications for your com system.”

“We’ll implement them as soon as possible,” Janeway said.

“There is someone else who would also like to say something,” Barclay said, motioning towards Admiral Paris.

“This is Admiral Paris,” he said.
“Hello sir,” Janeway said. “Been a long time.”
“How are your people holding up?”
“Very well,” Janeway said. “As someone pointed out to me recently, we could’ve had it much, much worse out here. But we’ve made it as far as we have thanks to an exemplary crew, including your son.”

“Tell him… Tell him I miss him, and I’m proud of him.”
“He heard you,” Janeway said.
“The wormhole is collapsing,” Barclay said.
“I want you all to know,” Admiral Paris said, “we’re doing everything we can to bring you home.”

“We appreciate it, sir,” Janeway said. “We’ve had some good luck on our end lately though, we may end up making it home before you even-”
The transmission became garbled, and ended. However Janeway intended to end that sentence, they would likely never know.
“You did it, Reg,” Geordi said. “Great work.”
“I’m sorry I doubted you,” Harkins said. Barclay nodded, and sighed. Troi walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Why are you sad, Reg?”

“Because… Because it’s over, Deanna,” Barclay said.
“No, Lieutenant,” Admiral Paris said, smiling. “Project Pathfinder may be over, but Project Voyager is just beginning. And I want you on that. I assume I don’t have to make it an order?”
“You do not, sir,” Barclay said. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
“Darn,” Geordi said in a joking tone of voice. “And here I was thinking of asking you to come back to the Enterprise.”

—

“So, does anyone know this Barclay character?” B’Elanna said as Neelix topped off her glass of champagne in Voyager’s mess hall. The senior staff, along with some other crewmembers, including Samantha Wildman and Joe Carey, were attending a celebration of the contact with Starfleet.
“I took the liberty of reviewing his personnel file,” the Doctor said. “He’s had a rather colorful career. Not to mention an unusual medical history.”
“I don’t think you’re allowed to tell us about that, Doc,” Tom Paris said.

“I’m not saying anything that’s not available to anyone with Starfleet clearances,” the Doctor said.
“All the same,” Captain Janeway said, “let’s respect our new honorary crew member’s privacy, shall we? Maybe one day he’ll have the chance to tell us his story in person.”
“Hear hear,” Carey said, raising his glass.
“I’ve finished analyzing the data Mister Barclay sent,” Seven said, her arms around Samantha’s waist. “The hyper-subspace technology is promising. I believe we can look forward to future communications with the Federation.”
“Well that calls for a toast,” Neelix said.
“Care to do the honors, Tom?” Janeway said.
B’Elanna looked at Tom, who seemed reluctant. She poked him gently in the arm.
“Go on,” she said.
Tom took in a deep breath and raised his glass. “To my Dad, Admiral Owen Paris, it’s nice to know he’s still there; and to the newest honorary member of the Voyager crew; Reginald Barclay, whoever you are.”

“To Mister Barclay,” Janeway said, the rest of the crew members joining in, even Seven of Nine.

—

Barclay, Troi, Geordi all stood in the center of the living room of Barclay’s apartment, holding drinks of their own.
“To Voyager,” Geordi said, the other two repeating him before taking a sip.
“I couldn’t have done it without your help,” Barclay said. “Thank you.”
“Thanks for letting us help you,” Troi said. “Though we all understand why you were reluctant.”
“I just wish Hope was here right now,” Barclay said.
“Who’s Hope?” Geordi said.
“I didn’t mention her?” Barclay said.
“Not once since we got here,” Geordi said, smirking. “Nice of you to wait until we’re almost leaving to tell us you’re seeing someone, Reg.”

“Sorry, I got so wrapped up in talking about Pathfinder and Voyager, it just kind of slipped my mind. Besides, we’ve only gone a few dates, it’s too soon really to know where it’s going.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Troi said. “What can you tell us about her?”
“Well, Pete introduced us actually,” Barclay said. “She’s his wife’s sister.”

Troi and Geordi looked at each other.
“I honestly did not expect that,” Geordi said.
“Should I have mentioned that sooner?” Barclay said.
“Eh, probably not,” Troi said. “I don’t think it really had any bearing on the project-”
The sound of the door chime interrupted her.
“Come in,” Barclay said, expecting it to be Commander Harkins. He turned around, and saw immediately that he was wrong.
“Lieutenant Barclay, sorry I’m so late,” Commander William Riker said. “I just got back from seeing my Dad. I hope I didn’t miss anything interesting.”

Chapter Four

Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay sat across from each other in the Captain’s quarters over lunch, like they did most days, but today’s lunch was quieter than usual.
“It’s been over a week, Kathryn,” Chakotay said, finally breaking the awkward silence. “If either the Vaadwaur or the Turei were going to come after us they’d have done so by now.”
“You’re probably right,” Janeway said, taking a sip of her coffee. “Let’s talk about other things.”
“Like?”
“What are your thoughts on how the Equinox survivors are doing?”
Chakotay picked up a PADD he had put on the table when lunch started.
“It so happens,” he said, “I was planning to bring that up later myself. The engineering staff seems to think pretty highly of Marla Gilmore, though she largely keeps to herself. James Morrow has been getting by in the labs, also stays pretty quiet. Brian Sofin does his job equally as well as the first two, but is a bit more sociable. Word has it he’s got a friendship budding with Neelix.”

“Wow,” Janeway said. “Making friends already? I’d hoped it would happen, but I also didn’t think it would happen this quickly.”
“Well,” Chakotay said with a wry grin, “remember how much you used to worry about the Starfleet and Maquis crews getting along?”
Janeway chuckled. “Good point. How long has it been since that was an issue for anybody?”

“I don’t even remember, I’d have to look it up.”

“Okay, so that covers three out of five. The other two?”
“Lessing is a little hard to get a bead on. He shows up on time, does his duties, then leaves. He doesn’t talk to anyone, not even the other Equinox crew near as anyone can tell. He’s not incompetent, but his department heads agree that he seems to be putting in the minimum amount of effort. He’s not being lazy, he gets things done when and how he’s told, but there’s a general sense that he could be doing better. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want to earn back any of the crew’s trust.”
“That could probably be guilt,” Janeway said. “Maybe he doesn’t feel like he deserves the second chance we’re giving him.”
“Seems likely,” Chakotay said. He sighed, then handed the PADD across to Janeway. “That just leaves Angelo Tassoni.”
“I’ve heard rumors. The word ‘asshole’ was used.”
“Sounds about right,” Chakotay said. “He hasn’t done anything we can actually throw him in the brig over, at least not yet. And he does show up for every single shift on time and does what he’s told, and does it well in all fairness. It’s his attitude everyone has a problem with. He comes across as smug, and several reports say that he still will try to defend Captain Ransom’s actions to anyone who tries to engage him in conversation. Even the other Equinox survivors don’t seem to want anything to do with him. I think we should consider reassigning him.”
“To where?” Janeway said. “The few things his file says he’s good at are things that would require more security access than I’ve allowed any of the Equinox crew to have so far. Short of just confining him to quarters, which I’d really rather not do when we’re still decades away from-”

Janeway stopped as she noticed the lights in the room dimmed suddenly. She was about to ask why, when the ship suddenly began shuddering. The com chirped and Harry Kim’s voice filled the room.
“Senior staff,” he said, “report to the bridge.”
Janeway tapped her com badge. “On our way.”

—
Chakotay wondered if maybe he’d been wrong about the Vaadwaur not coming after them, but if it were an attack, Harry would’ve given the order to go to battle stations first. He followed Janeway out of her quarters, and the two quickly made their way to the bridge, where Harry gave up the center chair as soon as they arrived. Both Tom Paris and Tuvok were already at their stations.

“Report,” Janeway said.
“We’ve got level nine gravimetric distortions closing on our position,” Harry said.

“They appear to be emanating from subspace,” Tuvok said.

“On screen,” Janeway said. The viewscreen showed space distorting behind Voyager, close enough that the ship’s own nacelles were in frame of the visual sensors. “Shields.”
“Already done,” Harry said.
The distortion on the viewscreen soon changed as the distortion completed its exit from subspace. Glowing bright orange and roughly oval shaped, it seemed to emit both flames and electrical sparks. It appeared to be following Voyager, but for some reason all Chakotay could think was that the distortion looked familiar somehow. Not in the sense that he had seen it personally, but perhaps in a textbook or an archive video.

“I can’t outrun this thing at impulse,” Tom said. “It’s catching up.”
“Go to warp,” Janeway said.

“It’s disrupting our warp field,” Tom said.

“Seven of Nine to the bridge,” Chakotay heard over the com. “I’m observing the situation from astrometrics. I recognize this anomaly from my time as a drone. We called it Spatial Anomaly 521. It’s attracted to objects that emit electromagnetic energy. I strongly advise we cut power and reverse our shield polarity.”
“Do it,” Janeway said without hesitation. The ship’s shuddering briefly got worse, then tapered off as the viewscreen showed the anomaly glide right past them.

“That was close,” Tom said. “If it had caught up to us the gravimetric forces would’ve ripped our hull right off.”

Chakotay began tapping away on the console by his arm, pulling up images from Starfleet records regarding gravimetric anomalies. It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for.
“I was right,” he said.
“Commander?” Janeway said.
“I’ve seen this before too. In history books. It’s called a graviton ellipse. It travels through subspace. The Federation database confirms it. Look.” He shifted his monitor so the captain could see it.
“I’ll be damned,” she said. “It’s only been observed a handful of times. Looks like we get to add another encounter to the record.”

“Unless there’s more than one of these, Captain,” Chakotay said, “we just found the ellipse that took the Ares Four. It was a ship from one of the early Mars missions. Its command module and pilot, Lieutenant John Kelly, were engulfed by a phenomenon that looked just like that one, according to the records we have available from 2032.”

“I remember reading about that,” Tom said. “The two other astronauts were stranded there for weeks before a rescue ship arrived. I didn’t know you read about the Mars missions too, Commander.”

“I’ve spent some of my spare time reading up on pre-Federation Earth history,” Chakotay said. “I guess I can blame you for that, Tom. You’re history buff ways have rubbed off on me.”

“You’re welcome,” Tom said, smirking.

“Captain,” Chakotay continued, “no one has ever gotten this close to a graviton ellipse and lived to talk about it. This could be a remarkable opportunity.”
Janeway smiled and nodded. “Take us down to Yellow Alert. Keep our power output at minimal levels. Match the ellipse’s course and speed but keep a safe distance.”
“Yes, Captain,” Tom said.

“I suggest we launch a probe,” Chakotay said. “and maybe see what makes this thing tick.”
“Better make it quick,” Janeway said. “There’s no telling when our friend here is going to burrow back into subspace.”

—

Seven of Nine could not remember a time when she had seen Commander Chakotay quite so enthusiastic about something, especially not something relating to old Earth history. That had always seemed to be Ensign Paris’ field of interest. The Commander stood next to her now in astrometrics, waiting for the telemetry from the probe they’d sent into Anomaly 521.

“Ah, there we are,” Chakotay said, and Seven turned her gaze away from the screen to look at him and his console. “It appears to have entered a stable state, obviously temporary based on what we already know. Gravimetric forces appear to be negligible while in this state.”
“The eye of the storm?” Seven said.
“Good metaphor,” Chakotay said. “Computer, run a multispectral analysis of the anomaly’s core.”
“Analysis in progress,” the computer voice said.
“The Borg developed shields to get through the gravimetric currents,” Seven said. “But they intended to use them to dissipate the anomaly from within. I would need to modify the designs if we intend to explore the anomaly rather than destroy it.”
“I don’t know if we’ll be doing either,” Chakotay said. “Might be too risky. Though I won’t lie, if I had the chance to fly through that thing, just once, I’d probably take it. I’m a bit surprised the Borg were so interested in destroying it rather than learning how it operated. Seems to contradict their stated goals.”
Seven sighed. “Don’t even get me started,” she said quietly.
“Core analysis complete,” the computer said.
Seven and Chakotay both began going over the collected data as it appeared on both their monitors.
“There are more than 2.8 Billion compounds in the core,” Seven said, openly showing surprise. “Fascinating.”
“The computer’s isolated several synthetic alloys native to my home sector,” Chakotay said.
“It could be this Ares Four you mentioned earlier,” Seven said. She saw Chakotay looking up at the graphic representation of the graviton ellipse, smiling slightly.
“Could be,” he said. “An amazing discovery, don’t you think, Seven?”
Seven of Nine was not as interested in Earth history as Chakotay or Mister Paris were, and as such could not bring herself to share her shipmate’s enthusiasm. Luckily, she knew better than to say so out loud.
“Quite,” she said.

—

Later that day, in the briefing room, after the senior staff along with Seven had been filled in on the details of the Ares Four, Chakotay asked Seven about what she’d said to him in astrometrics about the Borg seeking a way inside the graviton ellipse.
“Do you think you could apply those shield enhancements to the Delta Flyer?” he said.
“I believe I could, yes,” Seven said. “Though I should note for the records the risks involved in going in there after the Ares Four commend module, as its value would be purely historical.”

“Your concerns are noted, Seven,” Janeway said.

“By my calculations,” Tuvok said, “we have less than sixteen hours before the anomaly returns to subspace.”
“We’ll have to work quickly then,” Janeway said. Chakotay was sure he heard a hint of excitement creeping into her voice. He couldn’t help but smile. The Captain had seemed to have been going through the motions the past several months. Her funk was not quite as severe as what she’d went through during their time in dark space last year, but she still seemed to be feeling emotional after effects of everything that had happened with the Equinox.
“An engineering team could help me modify the Flyer’s shields more quickly, Captain,” Seven said, bringing Chakotay’s attention back to the matter at hand.
“Agreed. B’Elanna, I want you and Vorik to help Seven,” Janeway said.
“Aye, Captain,” B’Elanna said.
“Tom,” Janeway said, “review the database from the Ares Four mission. It might tell us something about this anomaly we’ve missed.” Janeway smiled as she glanced knowingly at Chakotay. “Now, we’re going to need a mission leader,” she said.
“I volunteer,” Chakotay said, not needing any further prompting.
“I thought you might,” Janeway said. “Let’s do it.”

Tom chuckled. “Beat me to the punch, Commander.”
“Don’t worry, Tom,” Chakotay said. “We’ll be taking the Flyer in. Can’t do that without her pilot now can we?”

“Two history buffs in one shuttle?” Tom said. “We’ll end up getting nerd all over the bulkheads.”
“Better nerd than testosterone,” B’Elanna said.
Janeway and Harry both started laughing, while Tuvok merely raised an eyebrow. Seven just smirked and shook her head while tapping out calculations on a PADD.
“Okay, enough small talk,” Janeway said. “Get to work. Dismissed.”

—

“Thanks for agreeing to this, Commander,” Samantha said as Naomi moved to get a better view of the screen in astrometrics. “She heard about the Ares Four and the mission to recover the command module, and now all of a sudden Earth history is her passion. This week, anyway.”
“Mom,” Naomi said defensively.
Chakotay simply laughed. “No problem,” he said, “though since this is a time sensitive mission, Tom and I will be picking up from where we left off in the records instead of starting over.”
“That’s okay,” Naomi said.
“You’re welcome to stay too of course, Sam,” Tom said.
“Sure,” Samantha said, shrugging, and moving to take a seat on the floor next to her daughter.

The video in the center of the screen, surprisingly clear given how old it was began playing and the man who Samantha had figured was John Kelly, began describing what he was seeing, a view that the recording device was not picking up.
“It’s not a solar flare,” Kelly said. “Wow.”

“John, can you describe it?” a female voice on the recording said.
“It’s… it’s at least one thousand meters wide. Bright.” The video started to fill with static. Another voice, this one male, chimed in.
“Your transmission is breaking up,“ that voice said.

“It’s generating an electromagnetic radiation,” Lieutenant Kelly said. “Interfering with primary systems. I can’t get away from it.”
The lights inside the command module dimmed, but for a moment the video cleared up. Kelly reached off-screen.
“Activating the transpectral imager,” he said. “I’ll record as much data as I can.” The image began shaking violently, and the static increased. Samantha looked over at Naomi, who simply stared in open awe at the historical footage, even though all it was was a human strapped into a chair, the way pilots were in the days before artificial gravity.

“It’s right on top of me!” Kelly said. “I’ll transmit as much I can-” the video filled with static, and all audio stopped.
“NASA,” Chakotay said, “that was the name of the organization Kelly worked for,” he added, looking at Naomi and Sam. “they received Kelly’s last telemetry at 0922 hours, October 19, 2032. The early Mars missions paved the way for humanity’s exploration of space.”

“And now the anomaly that he saw is here in the Delta Quadrant,” Naomi said. “Wow.”
“‘Wow is right,” Tom said.
“He was certainly dedicated,” Chakotay said. “His life was about to end, but he wouldn’t stop taking readings.”
“Like a real explorer,” Naomi said. Samantha put her hand on Naomi’s head.
“Don’t go getting any ideas,” she said. “Save the dangerous exploring for when you’re older.”

The hiss of the door to astrometrics opening distracted both of them before Naomi could respond.
“Am I interrupting?” Seven of Nine said as she entered, visibly surprised to see Sam and Naomi here, but not letting it throw her off.
“Not at all,” Chakotay said. “Are the shield modifications to the Delta Flyer complete?”
“They are,” Seven said, handing a PADD to the Commander. “We’re ready for launch.”
“We?” Chakotay said.
News to me too, Samantha thought.

“I asked the Captain to allow me to join the mission to ensure that the Borg shield modifications can be repaired quickly if any unforeseeable problems arise,” Seven said. “I do not believe it to be likely, but give the volatile nature of the anomaly, well, I believe the phrase is ‘better safe than sorry?’”
“Can I come too?” Naomi said.
“No,” Seven and Samantha said in unison, much to Tom and Chakotay’s apparent amusement.
“Please tell me B’Elanna and I don’t do that,” Tom said.
“Not that I’ve heard at least,” Chakotay said. “Back to the subject, I wish the Captain had informed me about this before hand. Tom and I were planning to go in ourselves.”
“It is still your mission, Commander,” Seven said. “I am simply going along as… added insurance.”

Chakotay looked at Tom, who simply shrugged. “Alright then, welcome to the team, Seven. We’ll just need to see the Doctor before we take off.”

—

“I’m preparing an inoculant to counter the effects of gravimetric radiation,” the Doctor said, holding up a yellow vial while scanning it with a medical device that Chakotay could swear he had never seen before.
I really should know what all this medical equipment is called, he thought. I might need to help the Doctor out in a pinch, or worse. After six years you’d think I’d know some of it already.
“We’re all finished here,” the Doctor said after having applied the inoculant to Chakotay, Tom, and Seven. “except for one thing.”
“And that is?” Chakotay said, anxious to get the mission started so he could see the Ares Four up close before it was too late. The Doctor went over to one of the bio-beds, and picked up his holo-camera off the end of it. He made a move to hand it to Chakotay.
“If you want pictures, Doc,” Tom said, “you could just come with us. You know as well as anyone that the Flyer can easily seat four comfortably.”
“I asked the Captain, but she wouldn’t let me,” the Doctor said, looking dejected.
“Just take the camera, Commander,” Seven of Nine said. “If you don’t we’ll never hear the end of it.”

Chakotay bit back a laugh and nodded, taking the camera.
“Our focus will be on recovering the module,” he said as he put the camera into the mission gear bag. “But if we can get a few glamour shots of the inside of the ellipse for you, I’ll take them.”
“That’s all I’m asking for, Commander,” the Doctor said with that big smile he would always get; the one that Chakotay would find either charming or annoying depending on the context.
“Team,” he said, “report to the shuttle bay.”
“Yes sir,” Tom said.
“Yes, Commander,” Seven said.

The three swiftly made their way to the shuttle bay to board the Delta Flyer. After one last check-up of the shield enhancements by Seven, they left Voyager and headed straight towards the graviton ellipse.
“We’re approaching the perimeter,” Tom said, “in five, four, three, two, one.”
The small craft shuddered slightly as it passed through the outer edge of the anomaly, yellow and orange gases resembling dancing flames moving across the viewport. The shuddering got worse, but that was to be expected.
“Shields are holding,” Seven said.
“Gravimetric shear is increasing,” Tom said.
“I’m reading a spot up ahead with minimal disturbance,” Chakotay said. “Tom, go to full thrusters and punch us through. We’ll be safer in there.”
“Got it,’ Tom said. Within seconds, the Flyer stopped shuddering. Chakotay looked forward, and along with the omnipresent orange glow and flashes of yellow lightning, he could see debris scattered throughout the inside of the ellipse, much of it too small to ever be identifiable.
“Chakotay to Voyager,” he said. “We’re in. I wish you could see this, Captain. It’s incredible.”

“We’re all ears,” Janeway’s voice said over the Flyer’s com system.

Chakotay needed a moment to collect himself. He had seen some spectacular things in the galaxy, even before getting stranded in the Delta Quadrant, but this was easily among the most amazing.

“It’s very calm,” he said. “No gravimetric distortions. The E.M. activity is creating a natural luminescence. Tom called it ‘mood lighting.’”
“Hey, B’Elanna,” Tom interrupted, “it’s the perfect romantic getaway.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” B’Elanna replied.

“We’ve detected asteroid fragments,” Chakotay continued, “pieces of vessels, matter from every quadrant of the galaxy. Next time I lose something I’ll know where to look. The chemical interactions here have even created a primitive atmosphere.”

“Nothing you’d want to breathe of course,” Tom said.
“Some of the matter appears to be extra-dimensional in origin,” Seven said.
“Amazing,” Chakotay said.
“Indeed,” Seven said.
“Any sign of the Ares’ command module?” Janeway said.

“We’re picking up traces of the hull,” Tom said, “but our sensor readings are being refracted by all the debris in here.”

Chakotay thought he heard a slight hissing sound on the other end of the com.
“That was a gravimetric surge,” Tuvok said, “caused by the anomaly altering its course by .006 degrees.”
“Did you catch that?” Janeway said.
“Affirmative,” Chakotay said, “but we didn’t feel anything.”
“Makes sense given how deep you are,” Janeway said. “By our estimate you have five hours and thirty-six minutes before the ellipse returns to subspace. You better hurry it up.”
“Understood,” Chakotay said.
“I’m having difficulty isolating the debris from the command module,” Seven said. Chakotay thought he picked up a hint of disappointment in her voice. He wondered if maybe some of the crew’s general excitement about the historical find had rubbed off on her after all.

“I’m laying in a search pattern,” Tom said from the helm. “It’ll probably take a few hours to cover an area this large.”
“Seven, you and I can take that time to get some samples,” Chakotay said. “We’ll get a better idea of where this anomaly been.”
“Is that the best use of our time, Commander?” Seven said.
“Our primary objective is to retrieve the module,” Chakotay said. “but until Tom can get a lock on its position…”
“Good point. Perhaps we can learn something valuable to benefit Voyager in the interim,” Seven said.

—

Seven ran a tricorder over several pieces of ephemera beamed aboard the Flyer from the inside of the graviton ellipse. Nothing collected so far had piqued her own interest, but the Commander’s excitement with each new discovery was palpable.
“The fossilized microbes in this ore,” she said, stopping to focus on one particular piece of debris on the table in the center of the Flyer’s back room, “appear to have had metallic membranes.”
“We’ve speculated about the possibility of metallic lifeforms,” Chakotay said, “but we’ve never discovered one.”
“We still may not have,” Seven said. “This is certainly strong evidence, but I would refrain from labelling it proof just yet.”
“Fair point,” Chakotay said. “Catalogue it anyway though.”
“Already done,” Seven said. “I have been doing so as I scan.”
“Efficient,” Chakotay said.
“Naturally,” Seven said, allowing herself a bit of pride, though careful as always not to be too much so.

“Is there anything you ever just wing, Seven?” Chakotay asked in a jovial tone.
“Nothing I’m allowed to disclose,” Seven said. Chakotay snorted.
“Okay, I walked right into that one,” he said. He ran his own tricorder over the piece of ore that Seven had found the evidence for metallic life on.
“This piece of rock,” he said, “is billions of years older than Earth. From a time when the galaxy was still forming. We’re scanning a piece of history. Maybe even the beginnings of life itself.”
“Put that way,” Seven said, “perhaps I should show this a rock a bit more… reverence than I have.”
“You’re under no obligation to feel as excited about this as anyone else, Seven. I’m just hoping to convey why I’m excited. I get the feeling you don’t always ‘get’ human behavior, even after all you’ve experienced.”
“That is an accurate assessment, Commander,” Seven said. “I apologize if I’ve been ‘ruining your moment.’”
“Not at all,” Chakotay said, before going back to scanning some of the other items. “You know, I could easily spend the rest of my life studying the stuff we find in here.”
“And leave Voyager without its First Officer?” Seven asked.
“I think you’d manage without me,” he said, “but don’t worry, I’m not actually going to leave. Just saying that I could. Paleontology was an early love of mine. I wonder why I let it slide as much as I have. I don’t think I’ve ever even talked about it with anyone on the Voyager crew, not that I can remember anyway.”
“Not as many opportunities to take part in dig sites when one is constantly on the move,” Seven said. “Were the journey to the Alpha Quadrant not the ship’s priority, I imagine you would have had a number of opportunities.”
“Good point,” Chakotay said. “though even before then, it seemed like something would get in the way of pursuing it. Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were younger, Seven? Before you were assimilated, I mean.”
“My memories of that time are sketchy,” Seven admitted, “but from what I can recall, I wanted to be a dancer. A ballerina to be specific. That is why on our early dates, Samantha would often take me to live performances on the holodeck.” Seven smiled as she remembered one performance in particular, the one where Sam had said “I love you” to her for the first time
“Have you pursued that interest in your spare time since then?” Chakotay asked.
“No,” Seven said. “I no longer have the desire to perform.” She sighed. “Just one more thing the Borg took from me I’m afraid.”

“Sorry,” Chakotay said. “Didn’t mean to trigger any bad memories.”

“No offense taken,” Seven said. “Samantha and I have had similar conversations before. I am at least grateful that Naomi will likely not face the kinds of impediments to her own desires that I did.”

“Amen to that,” Chakotay said.

The com chirped, and Tom’s voice filled the back room. “Head’s up folks,” he said. “I think we’re getting close.”

“On our way,” Chakotay said, heading for the door back to the cockpit. Seven put down her tricorder, and followed close behind.

—

Chakotay took his seat as Tom began filling him in on what the Delta Flyer’s sensors had found.
“I’ve isolated the module,” he said. “Bearing 39, Mark 1-5. There.”
Chakotay looked out the viewport, and almost gasped at what he saw. It wasn’t just the debris of the Ares Four, it was the command module itself, largely whole, with only a few pieces floating around it.

“It appears to be largely intact,” Seven said.
“I’m reading hull breaches and corrosion,” Chakotay said, now looking down at his console. “All things considered though, it is very well preserved. I can honestly say I did not expect this much of it to be in one piece.”
“Agreed,” Seven said. “There is no way we would be able to fit that in our cargo bay.”
“Not without breaking it up into smaller pieces,” Tom said, “which I’m assuming we don’t want to do.”
“You assume correctly, Ensign,” Chakotay said. “We can use a tractor beam to tow it back to Voyager.”
“We’d have to extend our shields around it to keep it from getting more damaged than it already is on the way out,” Tom said. “Can we do that, Seven?”
“With some minor modifications, yes,” Seven said.

Chakotay started to tell Seven to start working on that right away, but was cut off by the voice of Captain Janeway, hailing them from Voyager.
“Janeway to Delta Flyer. We’ve got a problem. The anamoly’s on a collision course with a dark matter asteroid.”
“Captain,” Chakotay said, “we’ve located the Mars orbiter. We’re adapting a tractor beam. Just give us a minute.”
“You don’t have it, get out of there. We have no idea how the ellipse will react when it collides with the asteroid.”
Chakotay felt his heart sink, and glancing at Tom he could tell the helmsman felt the same way.
“Is the tractor beam ready?” Chakotay said.
“About, sir,” Tom said, “but-”
“Lock on to it and take us out,” Chakotay said. It would be a risky maneuver, one that would probably get him chewed out by the captain later, but he wasn’t willing to let this chance go, not yet. The view outside the forward viewport shifted as Tom maneuvered the Flyer into position.
“Tractor beam engaged,” he said.
“Good work, Tom,” Chakotay said.
“Chakotay, you’ve got less than a minute,” Janeway’s voice said.
“Acknowledged,” Chakotay said.
“The module is slowing us down,” Tom said.
“Maintain tractor lock,” Chakotay said. “Seven, how long until we clear the anomaly?”

“At our current speed, forty seconds,” Seven said.

“We can do this,” Chakotay said, the ship beginning to shudder as it approached the barrier.
“Chakotay, status,” Janeway’s voice said. Even through the static Chakotay could pick up on the concern in her voice.

“We’re on our way,” he said, not even needing to ask Voyager to know that he was cutting it dangerously close.

“Almost-” Seven started to say, but was cut off when a shockwave hit the Flyer, sending it flying backwards into the anomaly, the inertial dampeners barely managing to compensate and keep the G forces from rendering them all unconscious.
“Tom?” Chakotay said.
“The tractor beam was disconnected by whatever hit us,” Tom said.
“The shockwave must’ve been the result of the dark matter asteroid colliding with the ellipse,” Seven said. “Had our shields not held we likely would’ve been destroyed.”
“The module?” Chakotay asked.
“Still there, looks like we took the worst of it.”
“Delta Flyer to Voyager,” Chakotay said. No response.
“We’ve lost contact,” Seven said. “I can’t raise them. Propulsion is off-line as well.”
Chakotay sighed.
“Damn,” he said. “This is my fault. I put collecting a historical artifact ahead of the safety of my team.”
“I can’t say I might not have done the same thing, Chakotay,” Tom said. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. Unless we die, then yeah, beat yourself up over it.”
“Gentlemen,” Seven said, “I suggest we focus on repairs. The anomaly is showing signs of returning to subspace. We have less than two hours.”

“That might be enough time,” Chakotay said, taking his own look at the damage report. “The engines are in really bad shape.”

The ship shuddered, but not the shockwave this time.
“A gravimetric surge,” Seven said. “They will only increase the closer the anomaly gets to its return to subspace.”

—

The next twenty minutes were quiet and tense aboard the Delta Flyer, but Seven of Nine did not let it get to her. She still did not care for prolonged silence, but she also knew that the situation required everyone’s focus if they were to return to Voyager. There would be time to discuss how the mission could’ve gone differently later.

“Voyager to Delta Flyer,” Janeway’s staticy voice said over the com system.

“Excellent,” Seven said. “I was concerned that repair might not work. Voyager, this is Seven of Nine. We read you.”
“Are you alright? What’s your status?”

“We’ve sustained heavy damage,” Chakotay said. “but we’re alive. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Likewise,” Janeway said. “Give me a full report.”
Chakotay did so, not leaving out why the Delta Flyer had not exited the anomaly as quickly as it could’ve.
“Captain,” he said, “I take full responsibility for-”
“We’ll discuss that later,” Janeway said. “Right now, let’s focus on saving your lives.”
“We’re open to any ideas, Captain,” Tom said.
“We’re working on that. Stand by.”

—

Chakotay looked at the chronometer. Only eighty-two minutes left, and still no solution. Each passing minute only increased his self-loathing. If he’d been on this shuttle alone that would be one thing, but thanks to him not one but two of Voyager’s best crewmembers were about to lose someone they loved. Tragedy compounding upon tragedy. At least with the comm channel open again they’d all get a chance to say goodbye if the worst came to pass.
“It may be possible to modify a tractor beam to cut through the gravimetric interference,” Tuvok said.

“You’ll never be able to get it all the way through to the core,” Harry Kim said.
“Start working on it anyway,” Janeway said.

“You said all the energy conduits are fused?” B’Elanna said.
“Correct,” Seven said. “We can’t get any power to the engines.”
“If the replicators were working we could whip up a new plasma manifold and be on our way,” Tom said.

“Tom, this isn’t the time to be sarcastic,” B’Elanna said “we’re trying to… hang on, I’ve just been sent a message to my PADD. It’s anonymous for some reason, why would…”
There was a long enough silence that Chakotay was afraid they’d lost the connection to Voyager again.
“Well I’ll be damned,” B’Elanna said. “How does an old plasma manifold sound?”
“What?” Tom said.
“The message I got. It said the power distribution system on the Area Four module isn’t that different from the Flyer’s I ran a check on the schematics. It won’t be pretty, and the manifold would probably be burnt out by the time you got back, but it could be enough to get you out of there.”

“Where is it on the module?” Tom asked.
“In a control panel in the main cockpit,” B’Elanna said. “I’m send the relevant schematic to you now. It was called an ion distributor. With just a few tweaks it could be modified to channel warp plasma.”
“Do you have enough power to beam one of you to the module?” Janeway said.
“Yes, Captain,” Tom said. “I’ll go.”
“No,” Chakotay said. “I’ll do it. I got us into this mess, it’s my responsibility to get us out.”
“And besides,” Janeway said, “If another gravimetric surge hits we’ll need you at the helm.”

“Seven,” Chakotay said, standing up and moving towards the back of the Flyer. “help me into an EVA suit and beam me over to the module.”
“Understood,” Seven said, getting up follow him. Once they were in the back, Chakotay quickly began getting into the suit while Seven checked to make sure the oxygen tank was fully connected and fully stocked.
“Let me know when we are ready, Seven,” he said. He felt somewhat nervous. A part of him felt he didn’t deserve this chance to set foot on the Ares Four, a piece of Earth history, when he had so nearly gotten his shipmate’s killed trying to retrieve it. “Perhaps you should go instead,” he said, the guilt getting to him as he reached for the helmet.
“Commander,” Seven said, “don’t allow your desire for penance to cloud your judgement. Apart from Mister Paris, you are the one most qualified to complete this mission. Don’t use your guilt as an excuse to let me take away something that is rightfully yours.”
“You make that sound like an order, Ensign,” Chakotay said.
“Write me up for insubordination when we return to Voyager. The suit’s systems are all nominal. We can begin transport at any time.”

Chakotay affixed the helmet, turned on the suit’s wrist-mounted flashlight, and gave the order to energize. Within seconds, he was inside the Ares Four module, the first living human to have done so in over three hundred years.
“Well, here I am,” Chakotay said, as he took out a tricorder and began scanning for the ion distributor. He also looked for a data port of some kind. Perhaps, if there was time, and if the module’s computer had held up well enough over the centuries, he could download all sorts of data that would be great for the history books.

He almost gasped when his light shone on the center chair of the cockpit. There sat the body of Lieutenant John Kelly. It was remarkably well preserved, even considering the conditions on the module. He wondered if perhaps he could bring it back with him, so the astronaut could be given a proper funeral, but first things first. He attached a portable battery device to the ship’s computer, giving it the energy it would need to run. An active data file containing log entries from Kelly opened, but he muted the sound right away. He set his tricorder to begin a background downloading of the files while he continued to look for the distributor.
Perhaps, he thought, at the end of the day all of this, even the risk, will have been worth it.

It took Chakotay a moment to realize that he had seen the timestamp on the recording before he’d paused it.
“Tom,” he said, “did you hear that sound before I muted it?”

“Yeah,” Tom said over the suit’s com. “Was that a recording of Lieutenant Kelly?”
“Yes,” Chakotay said.
“Thought so.”
“Tom, that log entry was recorded inside the ellipse.”
“For real?”
“I’m surprised too,” Chakotay said. “Just like his crew on Mars, I’d assumed he’d been killed instantly. I’m downloading the files now while I’m still searching for that ion distributor.”

“Wow. Just, wow,” Tom said. Chakotay had to echo the sentiment.

—

B’Elanna Torres entered engineering. As was usually the case during a situation such a rescue op, all hands were on deck, including people for whom this was not their assigned shift. In some cases engineers were here on their day off, but not the one who she wanted to talk to. PADD in hand, she went over to a console where Ensign Vorik and Marla Gilmore were going over a simulation of tractor beam modifications.
“Marla,” B’Elanna said, “can I talk to you for a second?”
The former Equinox engineer looked nervous, and for a moment turned to Vorik, as if she expected him to protect her.
“Yes, ma’am,” Marla said. “I’m sorry if I shouldn’t be here, but Mister Carey told me this was an all hands-”
“It is,” B’Elanna said. “And stop looking like you’re expecting a punch in the face already, you’re making me sad.”
“Ma’am?”
“Look, I just want you to know,” B’Elanna handed the PADD to Marla, whose eyes went wide when she realized what was on it, “I think I know why you felt like you couldn’t take credit for your idea regarding using the ion distributor on the Ares Four.”
Marla looked back on Vorik, who raised his hands.
“I did not inform her, as per your request,” he said.
“Then how did-”
“You did a shitty job of covering your tracks,” B’Elanna said. “I can see why you chose the Engineering Corp over Starfleet Intelligence. Took me all of two minutes to figure out who sent this.”
“I apologize, Lieutenant Torres,” Marla said, her face turning red.
“In the future, Gilmore, if you have an idea to bring to the table just bring it. I get that you feel guilt about what you did on the Equinox, but that’s a good thing. Bad people don’t feel guilty, they just make excuses. And as for your face, so long as you remain Marla Gilmore and don’t magically turn into Maxwell Burke, you don’t have to worry about me punching it.”
“Um, thank you?” Marla said.
“We’re in touch with the Delta Flyer,” B’Elanna said. “So far the plan seems to be working. Just thought you should know. Good work, Gilmore.”

—

Chakotay had finally found what he was looking for, along with some other smaller items that he stowed in pouches on the suit, including a picture of Lieutenant Kelly and his wife. That was the good news.
“Bad news,” he said. “I’ve found the distributor but it’s fused to the hull. I’m trying to remove it without damaging it.”
“Hate to rush you,” Tom said, “but we’ve only got fifteen minutes left.”
“Working on it,” Chakotay said. “In the meantime, I’ve found Kelly’s last log entry. I can play it over the com.”
“Go ahead,” Tom said. “Not much for Seven and me to do until you get back apart from keeping the Flyer level.”

Chakotay reached over and flipped a switch on the console, and the video began playing.

“All systems go. Watch me, Dad. I’m flying,” Kelly said, just before making a noise imitating a crash landing. “Bad landing. Call a MedEvac team. John Kelly’s first flight, not exactly A-OK. Remember that, Dad? Jumped off the roof with a parachute made out of blankets. I guess I didn’t calculate the aerodynamics. Of course, I was only six. I guess this is John Kelly’s last flight. This time, I can’t blame it on pilot error. This time, no regrets. What I’ve seen proves we were right to come out here. We’re not alone, I know that now. The module’s losing power. I’m taking life support off-line. Re-routing whatever’s left to the imager. Keep it running as long as possible. Mission Control… Dad… Whoever finds this… Do me a favor. Take all the data I’ve collected. Put it to good use. I hope you don’t look at this as a failure. I don’t. Actually, I do have one regret. I never found out who won the World Series. I’m tired. And I can’t…“

“That’s it,” Chakotay said. “It goes blank after that. I- wait, hang on. Yes, I’ve got the distributor, and the download of Kelly’s database is almost complete.”

“Hurry, Commander,” Seven said. “We’re running out of time.”
“Good thing I had this running the whole time then. Just a few more seconds, and… Done! Beam me back. No, wait, hang on one second.” Chakotay fumbled in one of the suit’s pouches and found a spare comm badge. Most Starfleet suits had one, just in case. “Lock on to my comm badge as well as the suit’s back-up. We’re bringing Lieutenant Kelly home with us.”
“Aye, sir,” Tom said.

—

Janeway paced back and forth on Voyager’s bridge, waiting for an update from the crew members on the Delta Flyer.
“Paris to Voyager,” Tom’s voice came through with a bit of static, but understandable.
“Report,” Janeway said.

“We’re trying to integrate the distributor. Stand by, Captain.”

“How long do they have?” Janeway asked Tuvok.
“Four minutes,” he said.
After a silence that Janeway could swear she actually felt more than heard, Tom’s voice came through again.
“Paris to Voyager, open the shuttle bay doors, we’re coming home.
“Yes,” Harry said cheerfully.

“Acknowledged,” Janeway said, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Laying in an escape trajectory,” Tom said, “and away we-” The sound of sparking in the background made Janeway tense up again.
“The anomaly is beginning to return to subspace,” Tuvok said.
“The Flyer?” she said.
“Eighteen hundred meters from the perimeter,” Harry said. “They’re cutting it close but it looks like they’re going to make it.”

“Captain, the anomaly’s submerging faster than anticipated!” B’Elanna shouted from the auxiliary engineering console.
“Tuvok, are we in tractor range?”
“Not quite. We would need to get three hundred meters closer,” he said.
“Do it,” Janeway said.
“That’s dangerously close, ma’am,” Harry said.
“Full reverse thrusters once we have a lock on the Flyer,” she said. “We can do this.”

Voyager shuddered as they moved closer to the graviton ellipse, space around it looking as it had on the viewscreen when it was first appearing.
“I have them, Captain,” Tuvok said, several tense seconds later.
“Good work. Now get us out of here.”

—

“So in the end, we collected sixty teraquads of data on the anomaly,” Seven told Sam as they walked toward the turbolift side by side.
“Impressive work, Annie.”
“The entire team deserves credit for the effort,” Seven said.
“Well, still,” Sam said.
“Will you be joining us on the bridge for the ceremony?”
“I don’t think so,” Sam said. “I’ve never been good at funerals. Even if it was for someone I never met. It’s good that Lieutenant Kelly is going to get a proper one though. His poor family back on Earth, three hundred years ago, they probably had a memorial service, but without a body I imagine for some of them it made it hard to accept.”
“Well, since I am attending, I suppose this is where we part ways until lunch.” Seven gave Sam a kiss on the cheek. “I will see you later.”
“See ya,” Sam said, turning to head back the way they come, as Seven continued on to the turbolift to the bridge.

Once there, Seven moved to join the rest of the senior staff as they gathered around Kelly’s remains, which had been put into a photon torpedo casing draped in a Starfleet Command flag.

“Are we ready to begin?” Janeway said.
“The ceremony is being broadcast shipwide, Captain,” Harry said.
“Very well,” Janeway said, clearing her throat before continuing.

“Space. Literally it means ‘nothing.’ A vacuum between stars and planets, but by the same token it means “everything.” It’s what connects all our worlds; Vulcan, Qo’noS, Talax, Earth. Centuries ago mankind sent its first wave of explorers into that void, astronauts like Mister Kelly. They paved the way for the first colonies, the first starships for those of us who’ve made space our home. We commend the spirit and the bravery of Lieutenant John Mark Kelly as we commit his body to space. He will not be forgotten.

“Oh, and one last thing. I don’t know if Mister Kelly can hear us now, but on the off-chance he can…” Janeway smiled as she put her hand on the torpedo casing. “The Yankees, in Game Six.”

Chapter Two

Although she’d been at several weddings in her life, Captain Janeway had never officiated over one before. She knew the routine fairly well, having heard the standard speech given by Captains before. She’d even heard Tom Paris’s father give the speech once, but now it was her time to do this, and she had to admit she was excited.

There was also a fear that she would somehow mess it up, but it was a small fear, easily pushed aside until the ceremony was over and she could breathe a sigh of relief that nothing went wrong for Samantha Wildman and Seven of Nine.

What she couldn’t help but find bizarre about the situation though was where the ceremony was to be held. She’d assumed it would take place in the mess hall, since that’s where such events were usually held on a starship, even if Voyager’s mess hall was actually a post-launch addition to the ship, converted by Neelix from what had been the Captain’s private dining room. Even getting married on the holodeck wasn’t unusual. But instead, the ceremony was to be held in front of the wall of Borg alcoves in cargo bay 2.

“That is where my journey began,” Seven had said earlier that day when she and Samantha had come to her ready room to tell her their plans. “That’s the room I was in when I first realized I was no longer a drone, when I started to become human.”
When Janeway had suggested the mess hall, Samantha had chimed in with, “Hey, at least it’s not in the turbolift where we first met.”

Another unexpected choice was to have Marla Gilmore as a guest. Janeway knew of course that Gilmore had been the one to help Seven of Nine and Joe Carey escape their confinement, but she had had also been partially responsible for their capture in the first place. Perhaps Seven felt she owed Gilmore, despite that.

Janeway pushed those thoughts aside though once she reached cargo bay 2, making sure her dress uniform was as straight as possible as she stepped inside. Seven and Samantha were already there, both of them wearing their standard uniforms. Naomi was there, of course, talking to her mother. Marla Gilmore wore civilian clothing, as did Neelix who was standing guard over the cake Samantha had asked for as though he expected some armed men to come and try and take it. Harry Kim had his own dress uniform on and was talking to Gilmore and Seven.

“I’m not late am I?” the Captain said, smiling. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face her.
“Not at all Captain,” Samantha said. “In fact, I think you’re early.”
“Good,” Janeway said. She’d actually known she wasn’t late, but didn’t feel like announcing her presence in any formal fashion. The dress uniform was formal enough for her as far as she was concerned.

Samantha and Seven, wearing their uniforms instead of anything more formal or traditional, shared a look. The later smiled and nodded at the former.

“Since everyone’s here,” Samantha said, “I suppose we could start early. Would that be alright Captain?”
“Of course,” Janeway said. Seven got to work letting everyone know that the ceremony was about to start, and soon everyone was standing at attention, except for Seven and Sam who held each other’s hands, and Janeway who stood in front of both of them.

The music of the couple’s choice, selections from a ballet called Coppelia, began playing while Janeway began the standard captain’s wedding speech.

“Since the days of the first wooden sailing ships,” she said, “all captains have enjoyed the happy privilege of joining together two people in the bonds of matrimony.”
“There is actually considerable disagreement amongst historians about that,” Seven said. Samantha laughed, as everyone else in the room tried not to.
“Honey, let her finish,” she said, trying to stifle her giggling.
“Sorry,” Seven said, looking genuinely apologetic. “That just sort of slipped out.”
Janeway grinned and shook her head.
“It’s probably just nerves, Seven, don’t worry about it. Anyway, as I was saying, it is my honour to unite you, Annika Hansen, and you, Samantha Wildman, together in matrimony.”

The rest of the speech continued on without any further pedantic interruptions. When it came time for the vows, Samantha went with the standards, ones based on western religious traditions on Earth that had over the centuries become increasingly secular and common amongst people from all backgrounds, even amongst non-humans.
Seven, on the other hand, had prepared her own.

“Throughout the past few years, I have often had people comment on my bravery for one reason or another. But they are wrong, because when it came time to pursue the thing that would have the greatest effect on my life after leaving the Borg collective, I stayed silent. I had feelings for you, but out of fear of failure I kept it to myself. Even when others,” Seven glanced at Harry Kim, “could see it and told me to take the chance, I did nothing.

“I didn’t have the words for it at the time, but I thought you were too good for me. That you couldn’t possibly love me, because you were human and I was Borg. In the end, you were the brave one. You always were, from the time you first saw me, still just a lost drone, my skin still pale, and still covered in Borg technology. You were among the first to be kind to me. And you were the first to come to me, to make me face my feelings, to get me to tell the truth, and that is a large part of why I love you so much, Sammy. You bring out the best in me.

“I will never take you for granted. You are the one that I want. I don’t know if I’m worthy of you, even still. To me, you still seem better than I deserve when I spent eighteen years of my life causing so much pain, but I’m not going to let that bother me anymore. Because I can see it in your eyes when are together. When you say you love me, I know it’s true. I can hear it in your voice. Due to my own cowardice, I nearly lost that. It is through simple good fortune that I didn’t, and I won’t forget that.

“I love you, Samantha Wildman. I’m grateful you love me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Thank you for being brave, for both of us. Thank you for choosing me.”
Seven stopped. Janeway knew she was supposed to say something else now, but was distracted by her own tears. She noticed that everyone else in the cargo bay was crying as well. With the ceremony being shown on all shipboard channels she had to wonder if there was a non-Vulcan, non-hologram on Voyager that wasn’t.
“Captain?” Samantha said. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, sorry,” Janeway said. She searched her memory for the rest of what she needed to for the rest of the ceremony, and sped them as quickly as she could without stumbling over the words. She pronounced the couple as officially married under the power invested in her by Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Sam and Seven fell into each other’s arms, kissing passionately, while the small group around them applauded. Naomi ran up and threw her arms around both Sam and Seven.
Janeway casually walked up to Harry Kim, and leaned in to talk to him quietly.

“I’m curious,” she said. “How is it you knew those two would end up together before even they did?”
“Because it’s happened before,” Harry said. “And now it’s happening again.”
“The Year of Hell?” Janeway said. Harry nodded. “Hmm. Maybe it is fate after all. Though obviously, Seven seems to think it better that she not see it that way, and I see no reason to discourage that line of thinking. I always thought it was kismet with Mark, and look how that ended up.”

Harry shrugged. “If there were a right answer for love captain, everyone who wanted it would have it. We do the best we can, and if it ends badly, it ends badly.”
“That is oddly less cynical than it sounds, Harry,” Janeway said. “Anyway, I think it’s time to send the happy couple off on their honeymoon to the holodeck.”
“No M-class planets nearby?”
“None that aren’t populated by pre-warp cultures,” Janeway said.

—

As they walked down the corridor towards their quarters, hand in hand, Seven of Nine and Samantha Wildman would nod politely at any crewmember they came across who congratulated them, but their focus was on each other. When she saw no one nearby, Samantha stopped walking for a moment.
“Annie,” she said, “I just want to thank you again, for what you said during the wedding. That was so beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Seven said. “I meant every word of it.”
“I know you did. I just feel both flattered and confused that you’d see me as the brave one of us. I don’t know if I could’ve faced some of things you have and come out the other side sane. Hell, that whole thing with the Equinox nearly broke me.”

“There’s more to bravery than simply keeping a cool head in a crisis, Sam,” Seven said. “But enough about that. I’ve finally figured where we can go on our honeymoon.”
“Holodeck 1 or Holodeck 2?” Sam said with a wink.
“Ha ha,” Seven said in a deadpan tone of voice. “I mean I believe I have chosen a program you will find satisfactory. I was researching the origins of my surname given at birth out of curiosity some time ago, and traced it an area of Earth called Scandinavia.”
Samantha’s jaw dropped. “Oh that is perfect, we could go skiing! I haven’t been skiing since my academy days.”
“Saunas are also a distinct possibility,” Seven of Nine added with a smile.
“I love you,” Sam said.
“I know,” Seven said.

—

“And with that, Lieutenant Torres,” the Doctor said, closing his medical tricorder, “you are finally clear for duty.”
“I can’t help but feel like you took as long as you did to clear me to punish me,” B’Elanna said.
“Punish you for what exactly? I mean besides the self-induced near death experience that both the captain and I warned you against of course?”

B’Elanna groaned. “Nobody likes a smart-ass Doc.”
“Well, then why am I dating you?” Tom Paris said, smiling.
B’Elanna just rolled her eyes and shook her head. My boyfriend the comedian, she thought.
“So,” the Doctor continued speaking after putting his medical instruments away. “did either of you happen to catch the broadcast of the ceremony this afternoon?”
“I slept through it, actually,” B’Elanna said.
“I heard it, and frankly I’m not amused,” Tom said.
“What do you mean?” the Doctor said.
“Good question,” B’Elanna added, crossing her arms.
“Seven’s speech,” Tom said. “Sets the bar pretty high for anyone else on this ship who might wanna get married before we get back to the Alpha Quadrant. I don’t know how anybody could top that.”
“It was certainly lovely,” the Doctor said, “but I honestly think you’re overstating things. What made what Seven said to Ensign Wildman so beautiful was its sincerity. As long as no one tries to go out of their way to just one up Seven of Nine, I’m sure anything said at any future Voyager weddings will be just as romantic and poignant.”
Well put, B’Elanna thought.
“Good point,” Tom said aloud.
“I suppose I’ll have to watch the recording of it after my shift,” B’Elanna said. “But for now, it’s back to engineering.”

“I’ll be on the bridge,” Tom said. He put his arm around B’Elanna’s shoulder and the two left sickbay together.

“Was it really that good?” B’Elanna said. “Whatever it was Seven said to Sam at the wedding I mean?”

Tom looked around, as if make extra certain no other crewmembers were within earshot.
“Just between you, me, and the bulkhead? I cried.”
“Damn, sounds like it was good,” B’Elanna said, genuinely surprised at Tom’s admission.

—

Marla Gilmore stared at herself in the mirror of the quarters she was forced to share with two of the other Equinox survivors. There were enough crew quarters for each of them to have their own of course, but a loss of that kind of privacy had been just one part of the punishment she and the others had been given by the Captain.

She didn’t complain though. Noah and Angelo were almost never here at the same time she was, the former being trained to work in Voyager’s astrometrics lab, the latter having been assigned to security division under Lieutenant Ayala’s supervision.
As for her, she took one last look at her pip-less uniform, clean and pressed, in the mirror before heading to her shift in engineering, working under the Vulcan engineer, Ensign Vorik.
I just hope someday I feel like I deserve to be wearing it again, she thought.

She headed to engineering, and when she got there she was once again struck by how quiet the place was at this time of ‘night.’ That could change at a moment’s notice if a crisis occurred, but as part of the night shift she wouldn’t have to carry much if any of the burden. As the old academy joke went, “night shift just means you watch the monitors for eight hours unless something comes up, then you go wake up Mom & Dad,” meaning the Captain and the First Officer.

She didn’t mind though. The last time she had been in charge of engineering, she’d followed an order that had led to so much suffering she honestly didn’t care that she was so far down the chain of command that the operation officer would be called down here to run things before she’d ever have to be in charge again.

“Miss Gilmore,” Vorik said in his usual formal tone.
“Hello Vorik,” she said. “What’s the schedule for tonight?”
“A routine cleaning of plasma injector ports,” he said.
“Sounds good to me,” Marla said.
Vorik raised an eyebrow, as he always did whenever Marla expressed enthusiasm for tasks that were normally considered boring by the rest of the engineering staff, but unlike the first time she’d done it over a week ago, he didn’t comment.

Such tasks were boring of course, but necessary to keep a ship running smoothly. She also knew that she could actually take the time necessary to do them properly, a luxury she hadn’t had on the Equinox for years. When she could do repairs, they were always rushed. More than once she’d had to bypass procedures in a fashion that would make a Federation safety officer’s head explode.

—

Brian Sofin, as well as Angelo Tassoni, being the sole surviving security officers of the Equinox, had been added to Voyager’s security team under the constant supervision of either Lieutenant Ayala or Lieutenant Anderson, depending on the day.

Unlike the regular officers though, they were not allowed to have phasers just yet, and mainly only took part in drills.

As far as Sofin was concerned, they were getting off light. It still amazed him that there were any people on Voyager at all who were polite to him. The majority were clearly uncomfortable, likely afraid of being betrayed again, but while no one had explicitly forgiven him, or anyone else from the Equinox as far as he knew, but others had expressed a degree of sympathy. He did not feel he deserved it.

When he entered the mess hall, dimly lit as per usual during a ship’s night cycle, the only sentient there was the Talaxian, Neelix, who was putting utensils away.
“Oh, hello,” Neelix said, and Sofin nodded back politely.
“Mister Neelix,” he said. “I apologize if I interrupted anything.”

“Not at all,” Neelix said. “Is there anything I can get you before I close up for the night?”

“No,” Sofin said. “I just needed a quiet place to do my daily report for Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. I’m afraid that Noah snores.”
“I can recommend an old Talaxian remedy for that,” Neelix said. “Did wonders for me when I had that problem. At least according to Kes anyway, assuming she wasn’t just trying to spare my feelings.”

“Kes?” Sofin said.
“My ex-girlfriend,” Neelix said. “She came aboard Voyager with me six years ago.”
“What happened to her?”
“That’s a much more complicated story,” Neelix said. “But one I’d be happy to share with you when I’m not headed for bed.”
“I don’t get it,” Sofin said.
“What?” Neelix said.
“How you can be so kind to me after-”

“You were in a difficult situation and made some bad choices,” Neelix said. “I hate to break it to you, Mister, um, I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name when you came aboard.”

“Sofin. Brian Sofin.”

“Brian. Got it. Anyway, Brian, there’s hardly a sentient alive without some kind of regrets. You did something bad, sure. But punishment is not my purview, it’s the Captain’s. And my empathy was, last time I looked, not on the list of things the Equinox survivors are not allowed to have while they’re on Voyager.”

“I guess not,” Sofin said.

“So, as I said, if you’re free during the day tomorrow, swing by and I’ll tell you all about Kes and what she meant, not just to me, but to the rest of this crew. It’s a great story,” Neelix said, smiling.
Sofin, reluctantly, smiled back. “I bet it is.”

Chapter One

“Kathryn!” Chakotay yelled as a fissure opened up behind Captain Janeway’s head. The captain dived forward, allowing him to blast the alien coming through with his phaser. Janeway rolled to her left and got up to her knees, and began hitting buttons on the console by her chair.
“Give me tactical control!” she yelled. After a few more button presses, and several more aliens shot down, the screeching noise stopped and the open fissures closed.
“I used a deflector pulse to reinforce the shields,” Janeway said.
“How did you know that would work?” Chakotay said, glad for the chance to catch his breath.
“I didn’t. Lucky guess. Tom, lay in a pursuit course. Find the Equinox. I want my people back, and I want Ransom to pay for what he’s done.”
“Yes ma’am,” Tom Paris said, finally putting away his own phaser before taking the helm once more.

“We may have to wait on that,” Harry Kim said.
“Why?” Chakotay said
“Reports are coming in. The engines took heavy damage in the attack.”
“Casualties?” Janeway said.
“Two confirmed dead, multiple injuries.”
“The aliens kill on contact,” Chakotay said. “The injuries were probably the result of the chaos.”

“All right, focus on getting the shields back up to full strength, my trick won’t hold forever,” Janeway said. “We can’t help Seven of Nine or Joe Carey if we get killed.”

“Captain,” Lieutenant Ayala said. “The security team that tried to stop the Equinox crew has also reported in. There’s something you should see.”

Chakotay wondered what it was but felt it probably could wait, and was about to say so, but he saw the Captain go over to the tactical console.
“Captain?” he asked.
“Son of a bitch,” Janeway said. “Make that three.”
“Ma’am?” Harry said.
“Ransom has three of our people,” Janeway said.

—

“Report,” Captain Ransom said.
“The shield grid is back in place,” Maxwell Burke said. “The aliens are staying clear.”
“Are sensors picking up Voyager?” Ransom said.
“It looks like they’re under attack,” Noah Lessing said.
“Maintain course,” Ransom said before taking in a deep breath. “Have the prisoners been secured?”
“The brig’s a lost cause,” Burke said. “We had to put Seven of Nine and the engineer, Carey, in one of the empty crew quarters. We locked the door with a portable magnetic sealer so they won’t be able to get out, even if we have any problems with main power.”
“Good,” Ransom said. He felt like there was something else he should be saying right now, but if there was, it had eluded him. “Good,” he repeated, although he felt anything but.

“Rudy? You alright?” Burke said.
“I’m fine, Max,” Ransom said, thinking he knew why he wasn’t as relieved as he should’ve been that he was finally going to keep his promise and get his crew home. “They have a full crew, they’ll be able to defend themselves long enough to build a new generator. How many aliens did we capture when we fired up the multiphasic generator?”
“Just the one I’m afraid,” Burke said. “It’ll shave weeks off our journey home, but that’s it.”
Ransom nodded. “At least we still have the summoning device. It should still be in engineering.”
Burke nodded and tapped his comm badge.
“Burke to Gilmore,” he said.
“Gilmore here,” Marla Gilmore said, her voice cracking somewhat. Ransom worried about her. Burke had told him how Marla had hesitated to fire on the two Voyager crew members when they’d gotten to engineering to install the generator they’d stolen. She had done her job, had done everything that had been asked of her, same as Burke, Lessing, or any of the others, but Ransom prided himself on knowing his crew, and he knew that all of this had been harder on her than on anyone. Perhaps harder than on himself.

Even when we get home, he thought, the trauma of all this is going to be on her shoulders for a long time. Maybe the rest of her life. I know I’m going to a Federation prison when we get home, that’s a given, but-

“Rudy? Captain?” he heard Burke say, breaking the train of thought.
“Sorry, I got distracted,” Ransom said. “What is it?”
“We may have a problem,” Burke said, looking upset.

-o-

Seven of Nine checked Joe Carey’s pulse and looked for signs of head injury before trying to wake him up. Once the engineer was awake and aware, he looked around at the room the two of them were stuck in. In particular, he looked with concern at the piece of metal that was welded over one of the crew quarters’ viewports.

“I don’t know the Nova-class very well,” Carey said, “so either they don’t have a brig, or it’s wrecked so they set us up in here.”

“Either one is possible,” Seven said. “Unfortunately, we were both unconscious at the time.”
Carey finally stood up, with some assistance from Seven, and made an effort to brush off his uniform, but much of the grime from the damaged crew quarters stuck.
“Obviously the door is sealed. Do we know how?” he asked.
“It’s not a force field, that’s all I can confirm. I tried to force the door open before I woke you.”

Carey nodded, and exhaled sharply.
“Voyager?” he said.
Seven didn’t know what to say. All she knew for certain was that the Equinox crew had returned after somehow escaping confinement on Voyager, stunned her and Carey, and now they were very obviously at warp since she could see the streaking lights outside the undamaged viewport.

“Unknown,” she said in frustration. “Apart from our confinement, there’s very little I know about our situation. Everything else would be speculation.”

“Might as well speculate then,” Carey said. “Not like we have anything else we can do at the moment.”

Seven thought about it for a moment.
“You have a point,” she said.
“So,” Carey said, starting to pace as he spoke, “given the lack of ominous humming noises, I can assume that the multiphasic shield we built on Voyager is on the Equinox instead.”

“Sounds likely,” Seven said. “Which means that Ransom and his people likely stole it upon escape.”
“Which would’ve left Voyager vulnerable to attack, which could explain why they haven’t come after us yet. If they even-”
“I sincerely doubt that Voyager would’ve been destroyed after one attack,” Seven said, not sure if she actually believed it, or just wanted to since the alternative would be too heartbreaking to consider. “Setting aside that the Intrepid-class is twice the size of the Nova, the crew is fully staffed and was alerted to the warning signs of impending attack.”
“True,” Carey said, sighing. “Of course, this means even if they can catch up to us, we have no idea how big a head-start the Equinox has.”
“That is one piece of positive news I can offer,” Seven said. “In case you forgot, we already had the device they used to process the bodies of the aliens disconnected from the warp drive when we were attacked. Depending on how long it takes them to re-install it, and given that Voyager would begin pursuit as soon as the first attack was repelled, it is likely they could catch up to us given that the Nova-class normally has a maximum speed of warp 8, while Voyager can achieve a cruising speed of 9.75.”
“I never pegged you for an optimist, Seven,” Carey said.
“I’m not being optimistic,” Seven said. “I’m engaging in speculation as per your recommendation.”
“Touche,” Carey said. “Any thoughts on how to escape?”
“I have some ideas,” Seven said.

—

“This is my fault,” Janeway said, as she and Commander Chakotay walked down the corridor towards sickbay. “I came down on the Equinox crew like a ton of bricks. I let my anger at what they’d done to those aliens cloud my judgement and as a result I forced Ransom into a corner. This was inevitable. Hell, I can’t even lie to myself and say I wouldn’t have done the same thing if it were my crew about to thrown under the bus by another Captain.

“Ransom asked me to show leniency to his crew, and all I said was ‘I’d consider it.’ I meant it, I would’ve been perfectly willing to not throw every single one of them in the brig, but maybe if I’d told him that upfront instead of-”

“Captain,” Chakotay said, “I can’t stop you from blaming yourself for all of this, I know you too well. But what I can do is ask you to put the self-loathing on hold until we get our people back.”

Janeway nodded. Her first officer wasn’t usually this harsh with her, but given the circumstances, she couldn’t blame him. Two crewmen were dead, one of whom had served with Chakotay in the Maquis. On top of that, three of their crew were in the hands of a Starfleet Captain who had gone off the deep end.
Another one, Janeway thought. Two bad Captains in as many months. First Archer, now Ransom. Am I going to get home only to learn that Jean-Luc Picard’s cheese has slipped off his cracker too?

“Suggestion noted,” she said. “Since I’m taking suggestions, thoughts on how we should approach the EMH?”
“Not sure,” Chakotay admitted. “If we let him know that we know he’s actually the Equinox’s Doctor, we have no idea what he’ll do. We don’t know what he did to our Doctor to get his mobile emitter, and he was able to lie his way into the confinement area to get them phasers, as well as reroute transporter controls. He could be a threat to us.

“At the same time though, unless and until we can get our Doctor back, he’s the only experienced medical officer on board, and we need that more than ever considering the crisis we’re in.”

“At the same time,” Janeway said, “he has additional knowledge about the aliens that we can use. How can we get that out of him without giving away that we know who he really is?”

Chakotay didn’t say anything, his face betraying that he was struggling to come up with an idea. After a few moments, he visibly gave up, shaking his head.
“Alright,” he said. “Screw it. Let’s go old fashioned. Good cop, bad cop as our ancestors used to say.”
“So who gets to be the good cop?” Janeway asked.
“Might as well be me,” Chakotay said. “I’ve done it before.”
“Thanks for volunteering,” Janeway said.

The two officers arrived at sick-bay and immediately entered, and Janeway was briefly taken aback by what she saw. Two of the bio-beds were full, blankets pulled over the heads of the unmoving occupants.
Tim Lang and Ken Dalby, Janeway thought.
The rest of the room was nearly overflowing with crew members with varying injuries. She spotted the young Bajoran crewman, Gerron, standing by Dalby’s body, saying a Bajoran prayer. Janeway’s heart broke for him. Dalby had been like an older brother to Gerron since their time in the Maquis, and the two officers had been all but inseparable since joining her crew. She decided to use that sadness to fuel her rage. If she was going to play Bad Cop to get information out of the Equinox EMH, it needed to be as real as possible.

The EMH was, to his credit, doing his job professionally, having been returned to sickbay after the attack. Tom Paris was also there, his field medic skills being put to good use. If Tom had let slip that he knew this holographic doctor wasn’t their holographic doctor, neither gave any indication of it. Janeway spotted the mobile emitter resting in the container Voyager’s EMH usually kept it in when it wasn’t being used. She picked it up.

“Doctor,” Janeway said.
“Captain,” the EMH said. “I am relieved to report that were no further fatalities from the alien attack. Some serious sprains and a few concussions from people diving out of the way, a few people were hit by stray phaser blasts that were all thankfully set on stun and…” The EMH spotted the mobile emitter in her hand, and looked her in the eye.
“Everyone cleared to leave already,” Janeway said sternly, “do so. This EMH isn’t our Doctor.”
“Captain, I don’t know what you-”
“Spare me,” Janeway said, practically spitting out the words. “Two security officers saw you before you turned yourself off. You stole this,” she held up the mobile emitter, “from our Doctor, and allowed Ransom and his people to escape, steal the multi-phasic shield generator, kidnap two of my people, and leave us behind to die. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t delete you right now.”
The EMH stood straight at attention.
“Your navigator is a competent medic,” he said. “but I am the only doctor you have on board.”
“He’s right, Captain,” Chakotay said, effortlessly sliding into his role in this interrogation.
Janeway slid the emitter into her pocket.
“Not good enough,” she said. “I want every bit of information you have on the aliens.”
“Do you intend to use them to get home as well?” the doctor said, almost smiling.
Janeway moved in closer to the EMH.
“Not a chance in hell. I want to communicate with them. We believe their screeching is their form of language.”
“It’s not like they’ll listen to you,” the EMH said, crossing his arms in a gesture that suggested he wasn’t intimidated. “Do you know how many of my crew they killed?”
“You have some nerve,” Janeway said, “blaming them for what your captain did.”
“Captain Ransom is merely fulfilling his promise to get his crew home,” the EMH said. “He knows full well that he’ll probably spend the rest of his life in prison for using these aliens as fuel, but-”

“Yeah, Rudy gave me that spiel as well,” Janeway said, putting as much invective as she could manage on the Equinox captain’s name. “His crew will join him, even if he doesn’t realize that, and so will you.”
The EMH scoffed. “More likely Starfleet will simply delete me, just like you threatened to.”
“Well, why wait then?” Janeway said, moving towards the main sickbay console.
“Wait,” Chakotay said. Janeway had her back turned to the EMH so she allowed herself a small smirk. “Doctor, if you help us, we can make it worth your while.”
“How so?” the EMH said, sounding skeptical.
“You may have noticed our Doctor has certain privileges that you may not have had on the Equinox.”
“True. The ability to turn myself off certainly came in handy earlier. And access to the Holodeck as well. Your EMH had quite the life. Lucky him. I spent my free time recording the results of autopsies for my shipmates.”
Janeway could hear the contempt in the EMH’s voice. This doctor had developed a personality from being left on so long, just like Voyager’s had, but this one’s was much darker. Part of her wondered if Ransom would’ve even needed to delete this EMH’s ethical subroutines if he’d merely waited.
“The Captain can lock all that out from right here,” Chakotay said. “But you could earn those privileges back by helping us.”
Janeway turned around to look at the EMH.
“I don’t think we should be rewarding him for what he did,” she said. “Lang and Dalby are dead in part because of him.”
The EMH shook his head.
“They’re dead because of the aliens. Can it really be my fault, or even Captain Ransom’s for that matter, that the beasts can’t tell the difference between Voyager and Equinox?”
Janeway saw Chakotay’s fists clench from the corner of her eye, the limits of his ‘good cop’ persona already being tested.
Maybe we should delete him anyway, she thought. This hologram is a monster.

“If you think so lowly of the aliens,” Chakotay said, “then you shouldn’t have any qualms about sharing everything you know about them with us.”
The EMH shrugged.
“Fine,” he said. “But only because I doubt it’ll do you any good.”

—

“You’re sure?” Ransom said, sitting on a partially ripped chair in his personal quarters that he used as his ready room too, since currently the actual ready room was exposed to vacuum.
Marla Gilmore hung her head in shame, though deep down she didn’t feel it that much.
“Yes,” she said. “The summoning device is gone. I think it must’ve been taken to Voyager. I’ve searched everywhere.”
“Could either of the prisoners still have it on them?” Maxwell Burke said, fuming.
“Ease off, Max,” Ransom said. “That device was too big to just fit in someone’s pocket, and Marla and Noah took their comm badges and phasers after they were stunned. If Seven of Nine or Joe Carey had it, it would’ve been found then.”
“We need to keep looking,” Burke said.
“I looked everywhere, twice,” Gilmore said. “Even places it had never been while we had it.”
“So, we can’t be hurt by them anymore, but we can’t use them either,” Burke said, throwing his hands up and pacing in frustration, his face turning red. “Great. Just fucking great.” Gilmore found herself afraid that Burke might hit her. If he was going to though, Ransom stopped him.
“Max, we’ve still got one body we can use once we get the enhanced drive reassembled. We’ll have enough of a lead on Voyager that we can find an M-Class planet and stock up on food there.”
“We were so close, Rudy,” Burke said. Ransom put a hand on Burke’s shoulder and smiled.
“I’m keeping my promise to this crew,” he said. He nodded towards Gilmore. “To all of you. We went from looking at a seventy-year journey, to imminent death, only to turn it around and get us to a hair under thirty years. It’s not as much as any of us hoped, but it’s not nothing, and who’s to say we won’t find something else, like a wormhole or spatial anomaly?”
Gilmore sighed. All the guilt she’d been suppressing ever since they started killing the aliens, the ones who had been called spirits of good fortune by the people who had cared for the starving and hopeless Equinox crew, was finally starting to crush in on her, and she wanted to take it all back. She wished she’d not gone along with the others on the plan to steal the generator. She would’ve preferred Voyager’s brig to this broken starship that she was supposed to call home. Her hand brushed the handle of her phaser, and not for the first time in the last several weeks she contemplated pulling it out, setting it to kill, and putting it in her mouth. The fact that the alien that had tried and failed to get at them when the new generator had been turned on would be the last of it’s kind to suffer for her sake was a relief to her.

“Marla?” she heard Captain Ransom say.
“Huh? Sorry, Captain. I was distracted,” she said, putting aside thoughts of suicide for another day.
“I asked how the reassembling the enhanced warp drive was going.”
“Almost done,” she said. “Seven and Carey were very methodical in taking it apart. The only problem has been finding out where some of the bolts Mister Carey dropped when Noah stunned him rolled under, but worse case scenario we might be able to make some crude replacements out of some of the broken bulkheads. I don’t want to do that just yet though.”
Ransom sighed.
“Depending on how bad Voyager got hit,” he said, “Janeway’s going to come after us. We’ll have to risk the short cut solution. Worry about the bolts later.”
“Understood,” Gilmore said, heading back to engineering. On the way out though, she couldn’t help but overhear Burke and Ransom before the door slid shut.
“Rudy, I checked out sickbay after our escape. Looks like Voyager’s EMH was downloaded to our databanks by our EMH before he helped us escape.”

“A noble sacrifice,” Ransom said. “I wouldn’t have expected something like that after we deleted his ethical subroutines.”

Please, she thought, don’t let them pervert the other EMH too.

—

“Not exactly Shakespeare, but it gets the point across,” Janeway said, looking at the PADD Chakotay had handed her containing the message they would try to transmit to the aliens attacking them.
“Probably for the best,” Chakotay said. “If we sent them the text of Titus Adronicus, they’d only want to kill us more.”
“Not funny,” Janeway said, handing the PADD back. “A small olive branch is still an olive branch. Run this through Harry’s translation matrix.”

“Prepare to drop shields, bridge only,” Chakotay said, hand on the grip of his phaser, but not taking it out. Janeway appreciated both his optimism and his caution.
“Harry?” Janeway said.
“Ready,” Harry said.

“Do it.”

The computer began emitting a tone similar to the screeching noise that always preceded the arrival of one of the aliens, and soon the tone itself came back. A portal opened near the viewscreen. Tom pointed his phaser at it, but hesitated. An alien came through, and flew towards Harry, but Harry didn’t flinch, even as the rest of the bridge crew drew their own phasers. The alien stopped short, and looked at Harry for a few seconds, it’s head tilting like a dog when you change it’s food bowl, before flying back through the portal, which promptly closed.
“Get the shields back up,” Janeway said, wondering if what had just happened was a good or bad sign. Seconds later, the alien tone stopped.
“If they understood our message,” Harry said, “they haven’t responded.”

The ship shuddered violently.
“There’s the response,” Janeway said. “Activate another deflector pulse.”
“Shields holding at sixty-two percent,” Tuvok said.
“That should buy us a few more minutes of peace and quiet,” Janeway said. “Re-focus our efforts on repairing the warp drive.”
“I’d like to take another stab at that message if I may,” Chakotay said.
“Go ahead,” Janeway said, though she doubted it would do any good. “Everyone else, I want us to focus on finding the Equinox. Ransom won’t get away with trying to get us killed, and he sure as hell won’t get away with Seven, Lieutenant Carey, or the Doctor.”

Chakotay looked like he wanted to say more, but kept his mouth shut.

“Uh, Captain?” Tom said. “I know this probably isn’t high on the priority list right now, but, it’s just that, Ensign Wildman had a bridge shift that started over an hour ago and she hasn’t shown up.”
Janeway nodded, remembering how Sam had been when Seven had been taken by the Borg months before.
“I’ll talk to her,” Janeway said. “Report to me when the warp drive is back-”
“Torres to Bridge,” B’Elanna’s voice said over the comm.
“What is it?” Janeway said.
“I was going through the crates of material from the Equinox we were able to bring over. I think we have that summoning device you said Ransom told you about.”
Janeway smiled.
If that means what I think it means…
“Double your efforts on those engines B’Elanna. We may just get your assistant chief back to you sooner than I’d hoped.”
“Good. I don’t think Vorik likes the idea of getting a promotion this way,” B’Elanna said.

—

Samantha Wildman winced as she forced herself to stand up. She adjusted her padded helmet, checked the straps on her gloves, and, woozy, told the computer to restart the simulation.
“Warning,” the computer’s voice said. “holodeck user is at risk of serious injury.”
“Just do it,” Sam said through gritted teeth, putting up her fists in a defensive position, shifting her stance.
“Computer, freeze program,” another voice said.
Sam turned to see who had interrupted her, ready to yell at them, until she realized it was Captain Janeway, standing in the holodeck doorway, looking concerned.
“You were late for your bridge shift,” Janeway said. “I wanted to check up on you.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize how long I’d been in here,” Sam said.
Janeway walked up to her.
“I remember this program.” she said. “Hand to hand combat training? What brought this on?”
“Do you really have to ask Captain?” Sam said, pulling off her safety gear, biting back a yell of pain as she did so. She imagined she must look worse than she felt, because Janeway winced.

“Holy… Sam, you really should get those cuts and bruises looked at.”
“I can’t learn if it doesn’t hurt,” Sam said. “I’ll get cleaned up and meet you on the bridge.”
“No, you’re going to sickbay first. I’ve seen professional boxers with less bruises than you. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking,” Sam said, “that I am sick and tired of not being to able to protect the people I love. I was thinking that maybe it’s time I stop laying low when shit gets bad and waiting for Tuvok and his team to fix everything. But mostly I was thinking how satisfying it would be to knock one or two of Captain Rudolph Ransom’s teeth out.”
Janeway frowned.

“Samantha, this isn’t you,” she said. “You are the least violent person I know, and my best friend is a Vulcan.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it should be me. All these years, I have never fought back, just relied on my shipmates to protect me, or my daughter, or Seven, and look what’s it gotten me, just this year? It’s time I learn to protect my family myself, because if this whole mess with the Equinox has taught me anything it’s that I can’t rely on Starfleet to do it all for me.”
Sam let her gloves drop to the floor. They were holographic anyway, no point in putting them back in the equally holographic foot locker they came in when she started the program, however many hours, and bruises, ago that was.

“Sam,” Janeway said. “You look terrible. Go to sickbay to get checked out. I can give you a pass on showing up late, your fiancee was just kidnapped.”
“Again,” Sam said bitterly. “And with all due respect Captain, I’d rather just take my post. I do not want whatever bruise I have being tended to by the holographic son of a bitch who helped that happen.”
Janeway sighed.
“I guess I can understand that, but until we can get our Doctor back, and we will get him back, the Equinox EMH is the only doctor we have. Don’t make me pull rank, Sam.”
Sam wanted to argue, but then a sharp pain in her wrists made her reconsider.
“Yes, Captain,” Sam said, walking towards the exit. “Computer, end program.”
“By the way,” Janeway said, “how’s Naomi holding up?”
Sam sighed, and began to tear up.
“As optimistic as ever. She thinks we can get Seven back.”
“I do too,” Janeway said.
“Captain, be honest with me. Why do you think it is I’m more scared about her being in Ransom’s clutches than I was when she was with the Borg?”

Janeway looked surprised at that question.
“I honestly don’t know Sam,” she said. “I just don’t know.”

—

“That wasn’t as much of a boost as I was expecting,” Captain Ransom said as the Equinox dropped out of warp, “but then again we did have to wait while we repaired the engine. The alien’s body was decaying that whole time. Still, we’ve got a decent enough lead on Voyager I think. Noah, begin scanning for Class-M planets. We’ve got two more mouths to feed, so we’ll need to stock up on food supplies.”
“Why not just leave them behind?” Burke said. “We don’t really gain anything by keeping them prisoner here.”
“They’re Starfleet officers,” Ransom said.
“Rudy,” Burke said, “so’s the crew of Voyager. But we left them behind because they were trying to stop us from getting home. The ex-drone and the engineer would try to stop us too if they ever escaped. Hell, the ex-drone might try to take revenge on us. Her fiancee’s on Voyager.”
Ransom nodded. He remembered Marla telling him about Seven of Nine’s path since being freed from the Borg collective by Captain Janeway.
“Fair point, Max,” Ransom said. “but I think we’ve thrown enough of our own to the wolves for one lifetime. If Seven of Nine or Lieutenant Carey become a problem, we’ll deal with that then. For now, make sure they get some food. Make sure whoever takes them their meals has guards on them, just to be safe.”
“Captain,” Noah Lessing said, “long range sensors have picked up a planet that matches the criteria we’re looking for. Ample plant and animal life, no signs of any civilization.”
“Good work, Noah,” Ransom said. “Take us into orbit, then take two people down with you to start gathering supplies. Look for plants that could be used as medicines as well.”
“Yes sir,” Lessing said.

“You won’t be protected from the aliens if they try to attack you down there,” Burke said. “Take phaser rifles with you, and we’ll beam you out at the first sign of trouble.”

Noah nodded, and headed towards the turbolift.

“Rudy,” Burke said, “one last thing. The Voyager EMH. What should we do about him? I know we still need a doctor, but if we don’t alter his programming he may attempt to sabotage us.”
“I considered that already,” Ransom said. “If this were still Voyager that would be a concern, but he doesn’t have free reign of our systems here like he does there. Not to mention, his programming has expanded remarkably in the past five years. Makes our EMH look like he just came off the assembly line by comparison. I wouldn’t want to risk ruining him. That would be a waste of resources. He doesn’t necessarily know that however, so feel free to convince him that we’re willing to delete him altogether if he doesn’t cooperate with us.”

“And if he calls my bluff?” Burke said.
“I have faith in your ability to be convincing, Max,” Ransom said. “Say whatever you think he needs to hear to be kept in line.”

—

B’Elanna put the alien device down on the briefing room table.

“I confirmed it,” she said. “This is what Ransom and his people were using to summon the aliens to their… well, let’s just call it a murder machine. Saying ‘their engine’ just feels like too clean a euphemism.”
Janeway smirked, inwardly agreeing with B’Elanna.
“So?” Tom said. “What good is that going to do us?”
“It means we don’t have to risk the bridge to try talking to them again,” Janeway said. “We can set this up in a cargo bay, drop the shields around it, and transmit our message to the aliens directly.
Chakotay nodded.
“Considering how it went last time,” Tuvok said, “it is unlikely that doing so would increase our chances of success, merely reduce the likelihood of immediate death upon failure.”
“I agree with Tuvok,” Tom said.
“I don’t” Harry said. “That alien that came onto the bridge the first time we tried, it could’ve killed me right away. There’s no way I would’ve gotten a phaser blast off fast enough. It didn’t. There’s more intelligence there than the Equinox EMH gives them credit for.”

“That’s a low bar, Harry,” Tom said. “The Tal Shi’ar would refuse to hire him on ethical grounds.”
“I am going to assume that that statement was an attempt at comedic exaggeration,” Tuvok said, “and refrain from pointing out the various known medical atrocities committed by that Romulan organization.”
“Gentlemen, if we could return to the topic?” Janeway said. “B’Elanna, do we know how to work the thing?”
B’Elanna nodded. “Ensign Gilmore was very forthcoming with data to Commander Chakotay. Before she escaped and left us to die, that is.”
Janeway nodded.
“And the engines?” she said.
“Ready,” B’Elanna said.

“Tom,” Janeway said, “get to your station and plot a pursuit course, maximum warp. Harry, get to astrometrics. The Borg-enhanced sensors will give us the best chance of finding them and catching up to them.

“Chakotay, how’s the second draft of our message to the aliens coming along?”
“It’s ready as well,” Chakotay said. “And I’ve even written up a third one, just to be safe.”

“Alright people, let’s not waste any more time,” Janeway said. “Dismissed.”

—

Seven of Nine felt around the walls of the crew quarters that she and Carey were locked in for the third time. She found nothing she could take advantage of to allow them to escape, also for the third time.
“They’ll bring us food eventually,” Carey said, leaning back on the unburned half of the quarters’ main couch. “If they were going to kill us, they would’ve done it while we were unconscious, not go to all the trouble of letting us starve to death.”
“A logical conclusion,” Seven said. “However, I would point out that the actions of Ransom and his crew have not been wholly logical.”

“Well,” Carey said, “not to us anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“With the caveat that I in no way condone what Ransom did,” Carey said, standing back up, “I can see how someone could be pushed to the point where they would seriously consider doing it.”
“The mass execution of an alien species for fuel,” Seven said, “or the leaving Voyager and her crew behind to die at the hands of said aliens?”
“The first one,” Carey said. “That second part, there’s no way I could defend that. I-”
A sound cut Carey off mid-sentence, and Seven turned to face the door. It slid open, and Marla Gilmore stood there, carrying two cases of Starfleet issue rations. Two gold shirts were behind her, one pointing a phaser rifle at the two prisoners, while the second held a hand phaser in one hand, and the magnetic sealer in the other.
“I, um, brought you something,” Gilmore said, visibly uncomfortable. Seven noticed that the other woman’s hands were shaking slightly.

Probably expecting one or both of us to attack her, Seven thought. Such an action was part of her and Joe Carey’s plan, though the idea was not to do so right away, as that would be expected. The goal was to wait until a future point where they were being brought food, or if either the Captain or first officer Burke wanted to speak to them for some reason.
“Thank you, Marla,” Seven said. Gilmore looked down, her face betraying her shame.
“I’m really sorry I shot you, Seven,” she said. “We just wanted to get home, and… I’m sorry, for everything. It wasn’t worth it.”
“What wasn’t worth it?” Seven said.
Gilmore stepped forward and gave the two cases to Seven.
“We shouldn’t have stolen the generator,” she said. “We abandoned your crew to those aliens. You people did nothing to them, but now they’ve had to pay for our sins. It isn’t right. I know it probably means nothing, but I hope your fiancee and her daughter survived. That little girl was so kind to me when I first came on board and…” Gilmore wiped tears away from her eyes.
“I should go,” she said quietly, leaving the crew quarters in a hurry, nearly knocking one of the guards over as she shoved past him into the corridor. The doors slid shut, and Seven could hear the sound of the magnetic sealer being put back into place.
“Would it be too pedantic of me to point out that it was Lessing that stunned you and it was me that Gilmore shot?” Carey said.
“Very,” Seven said. “However, given that we have, to borrow a phrase, just been given a gift, I’m going to refrain from commenting.”
“It’s just MREs, Seven,” Carey said. “Frankly I had my fill of those during the Cardassian War, and I only had to eat them for three days. I don’t look forward to the next however many months or years or… is that what I think it is?”
Seven of Nine held the small Type-1 hand phaser, the kind that was generally used on covert missions and could be easily slipped into a pocket without making a bulge like the more common hand phasers would, the kind that Marla Gilmore had somehow slipped into one of the ration cases without being noticed, and allowed herself a small smile.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before,” Carey said. “I like it.”
“Samantha seems pleased with it as well,” Seven said.

—

The second attempt to communicate with the aliens attacking Voyager had gone about as well as the first, in that no one was killed then either. Instead, the aliens simply ignored them. Janeway rubbed her eyes, frustrated at the situation.

“Well,” Chakotay said, standing by her side in cargo bay 1, a table with the summoning device on it in front of them, “on the bright side Tom was able to find the warp trail of the Equinox fairly quickly.”

“Any sign they’ve been able to use their enhanced drive?” Janeway said, turning to leave the cargo bay.
“Yes, but,” Chakotay said, “I ran the data through astrometrics. The short version is basically they only seem to have been able to capture one alien using the multiphasic generator. Not sure why, but the line on the map suggests they only got one short jump out of it before having to return to normal warp. The bad news of course-”
“There’s always bad news,” Janeway said.
“Yes, and in this case that bad news is they still have a solid lead on us. I’ve been using the maps of the area Seven was able to give us from the Borg data nodes, and while they aren’t as detailed as we’d like, we still have a good idea of what the first planet the Equinox crew would stop at to re-supply.”
“How certain of that are we?”
“Their replicators were still not repaired when they escaped. They only got away with the day’s worth of rations they had with them in confinement, plus a few more their EMH was able to slip them, along with their communicators and phasers. Even if Ransom was strict with the food supplies, with two prisoners aboard they couldn’t possibly make those last more than four days, at best.”
“Assuming they didn’t just kill Seven or Joe,” Janeway said. “I’ve noticed that Rudolph Ransom seems to bring out the worst in people lately. Even if he didn’t ask, I wouldn’t put it past Burke or one of the other survivors to decide that keeping them alive would be more trouble than it’s worth.”
“You don’t believe that,” Chakotay said. “If you did, you wouldn’t be losing sleep and pushing the ship and crew to their limits to try and rescue them.”
“It’s not just about rescuing them,” Janeway said. “Ransom hurt this crew. My crew. My family. I want to make him pay for it.”
Chakotay exhaled sharply.
“I was afraid of that,” he said. “Still, I’d like to think that you won’t endanger this ship for the sake of that revenge. I want our people back as much as you, and I certainly want to see Ransom tossed into our brig for the rest of the trip home. I just don’t want you to lose your humanity in the process. If you go too far-”
“Then I’ll be no better than him,” Janeway said. “Yeah, I know. Hopefully, once we catch up to him he’ll have the good sense to surrender, because I can’t promise I won’t turn his ship into scrap if he tries to fight us. I have had a long five years Chakotay, and right now every part of me is egging me on to take it all out on Captain Rudolph Ransom.”
“I can empathize with that,” Chakotay said.

—

Joe Carey quietly made his way down the hell, the comparatively tiny phaser in his hand, and having second thoughts about having agreed to be the distraction part of the plan.
“Okay, okay,” he said quietly to himself, “just find an EPS conduit and blow it up. No biggie. Then when security comes to get me, Seven can sneak into engineering to sabotage the warp drive. Easy peasy as my boys would say.”

He turned a corner, and jumped back when he saw the backside of someone who was neither Seven of Nine, nor Ensign Gilmore. He quietly stepped backwards, hoping whoever it was didn’t hear him. He heard footsteps coming in his direction and he ducked behind a fallen bulkhead, glad that it was big enough to hide behind, but cognizant of the fact that there was dried blood on the floor beneath it. He winced in sympathy for whoever the poor crew member that had been crushed had been.
Carey peaked through a small gap in the debris, and saw Maxwell Burke walk past the junction in the corridor, muttering to himself about something. Carey held his breath, waited a few more seconds, then stood up, moving around the debris once more to resume his journey, hoping he didn’t lose too much time to having to hide.

He walked past where Burke had been, and noticed that it was the door to sickbay.

Well well, he thought. Wrecking something in here is bound to get their attention.

He went inside, and nearly gasped when he saw the EMH, standing over a console.
“‘Help us or we’ll delete you,’ he says. Like I’m supposed to buy that,” he said, not seeing Carey behind him. “They need me and they know it. What did B’Elanna ever see in that man in the first place?”
Carey tilted his head.
Is that… No, it can’t be.
“Doc?” he said.
The Doctor turned around, and smiled.
“Lieutenant Carey!” he said. “Excellent. I had hoped you and Seven would find a way to escape. I’m sorry I couldn’t help, but that other EMH stole my mobile emitter. Speaking of Seven, where is she?”
“She’s fine,” Carey said. “This ship’s EMH stole your emitter huh? I guess that explains how Ransom and his people escaped Voyager. Anyway, Marla Gilmore helped us escape. She slipped us a phaser that we used to cut our way out, and now I’m supposed to cause a distraction to allow Seven to get to engineering and sabotage the warp core.”
“A bold strategy,” the Doctor said. “I approve. I very much would like to have my sickbay back. The Equinox EMH had his ethical subroutines deleted, so by now he’s probably used mine to develop some kind of chemical weapon, or some other sort of atrocity.”

“Well, glad you aren’t attached to this place Doc,” Carey said, “because I was thinking I could break something in here to get the bridge’s attention.”
The Doctor motioned to his left.
“I’d suggest starting with the machine they’ve been using to experiment on the bodies of the aliens they’ve been massacring,” he said. “I’ll load up some hyposprays with a strong sedative that we can use on whoever comes to sickbay to investigate the explosion.”
“Do you have any chemicals on hand I could use to rig up a crude explosive?”
“I do,” the Doctor said. “I happen to have taken an inventory of their sickbay’s stocks before I was so rudely robbed of my mobile emitter.”

—

“Captain, there’s been an explosion in sickbay!” Burke said over the comm.
“What?” Ransom said in shock. “Are you alright Max?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Burke said, “I was already in the turbolift when I heard it. I went back when I felt the shudder. There’s smoke coming out of the sickbay door. It’s too thick to see through. My tricorder says it’s chemical so I can’t get too close without a breather mask.”
“Get one,” Ransom said. “I’ll send someone down to help you.” Ransom tapped a button on the console on the arm of his chair. “Bridge to engineering,” he said.
“Gilmore here,” Marla said.
“There’s been an explosion in sickbay,” Ransom said. “I think our prisoners may have had something to do with it. We’re short handed with people down on the planet. Go check on them, but be careful. If they’ve gotten out somehow, report to the bridge immediately.”
“Understood sir,” Marla said, sounding almost happy to be doing so. That set off a mental red flag in Ransom, but he pushed it aside. If Marla really had turned on him, it was more likely that she would’ve refused to help him and the others steal the multiphasic shield generator from Voyager in the first place.

—

Marla Gilmore was alone when she left engineering. She looked around as she exited, and spotted Seven of Nine, waiting in the corridor. Seven opened her mouth to ask a question but Marla held up one finger.
“Lieutenant Prochnow’s by the warp core,” she said. “Do you have the phaser?”
“Mister Carey has it,” Seven admitted. “It would’ve been advisable to give us two phasers.”
“I took what I thought I could get away with from the armory,” she said. She took out her hand phaser and tossed it to Seven, who checked to make sure it was on stun. “I’m on my way to ‘check on the prisoners.’ Captain’s orders.”
“Thank you, Ensign Gilmore,” Seven said.
“Good luck, Ensign Hansen,” Gilmore said.

“Call me Seven.”
“Good luck, Seven. And hurry.”
“Understood,” Seven said. Gilmore ran down the corridor. Seven waited a few seconds, then moved to the entrance to engineering. The door opened, and Prochnow, a giant of a man, the tallest human being Seven had ever seen, started to turn around.
“Back already, Mar-”
Seven fired her phaser before the man could finish the question. The large man fell backwards, nearly hitting his head on a console before collapsing to the floor. Seven was glad he had missed the console, as she did not want to be responsible for anyone’s traumatic brain injury.

Unless Sam is hurt, she thought, in which case I will very gladly inflict traumatic brain injuries on Captain Ransom.

Seven took Marla Gilmore’s phaser and raised the setting, and aimed for a plasma conduit, standing as far back from it as she could. Even at this distance she still risked injury, but it was the best way. With the conduit punctured, warp travel would be impossible until it could be repaired. Any attempt to go to warp otherwise would fill the entire room with lethal and combustible gas.

“This one’s for you, Sam,” Seven whispered to herself as she fired the phaser.

—

When Seven awoke, the first thing she noticed was that she was strapped tightly to the bio-bed in the sickbay of the U.S.S. Equinox. The second was that her head hurt. The third was that to her left the EMH, looking saddened, was standing next to Joe Carey, who had his hands on his head while Maxwell Burke pointed a phaser at both of them.
“What?” she said. “What happened?”
“Your little plan almost worked,” the voice of Rudolph Ransom said. “You sabotaged our warp drive well enough, but you weren’t able to get away before Jason Prochnow came to and shot you.”
Seven tried to remember that, but the last thing she could remember before waking up was shooting the plasma conduit. She was glad that that had worked at least. Seven moved her head a little more, trying to get a better look at her situation. She could see Ransom in her peripheral vision, just barely, but she could see quite well Ensign Gilmore and the aforementioned Jason Prochnow, the latter holding the former’s arm in a grip that looked like it had to hurt the Ensign.
“So,” Ransom continued, “we can repair the damage you did, but that leaves the question of what to do with the four of you. My XO wants to strand you, Mister Carey, and Marla on the planet below us and delete the Doctor. That would certainly be the easiest solution. But I imagine you have alternatives. I’m curious to hear them.”
“You won’t do anything until I’ve properly treated Seven,” the EMH said. The way he said it and the fact that he had a phaser pointed at him, gave Seven pause. It took her a moment to realize the implications. This was not the Equinox EMH.

That explains so much, she thought.

“Fair enough,” Ransom said. “Do it, and quickly.”
“Look,” Carey said, “there’s no point in keeping this up. Even before we sabotaged your ship, Captain, you weren’t in a position to keep going like you were before. Just head back towards Voyager and turn yourself over to Captain Janeway.”
“After what we did?” Burke said. “Forget it. We’ll be lucky if she only puts us in the brig for the next thirty years. She’d just as likely kick us out an airlock.”

“That’s not true,” the Doctor said defensively.
I’d do it, Seven thought, all patience and empathy for this other ship’s crew, Marla excluded, rapidly evaporating.

“Is it really that implausible?” Ransom said. “You’ve seen how far I’m willing to go when I’ve been pushed to the breaking point. Your ship has been under attack from the same aliens who’ve been attacking us for days now. Who knows how many people Janeway has lost by now. If I were her, I would definitely want retribution.”
“You’re not her,” Carey said. “And she’s not you. She would never have done what you did to those aliens.”
“Easy for you to say,” Ransom said. “Working holodecks, working shuttle bay, clean decks; you people honestly have no grasp on how easy you’ve had it do you? Honestly, apart from missing your families what hardships has the crew of Voyager had out here?”
The Vidiians, the Borg, Species 8472, the Hirogen, the Malon… Seven thought.

“Just leave us behind,” she said. “At the very least, even if Voyager doesn’t find us, we’d be spared any more of your justifications.”

Ransom turned to look at Burke.
“As tempting as it is,” he said, “we’re already shorthanded. We need manpower to repair the damage you four did. I think forcing you to fix it would be a perfectly suitable punishment.”
“Why would we cooperate with you?” the Doctor said.
“Because if you don’t, we have the ability to lower the multiphasic shield around just this room. You’d be at the mercy of those aliens. It won’t get you killed of course, Doctor, but you would be forced to watch the others die. I doubt your programming would allow for that.”

“You say that with a straight face,” Marla said, “and you wonder why I was willing to help them? You’ve gone too far, Captain. We all have, I know I helped this happen. I wish I could go back and say ‘No’ to when you told me to build that enhanced engine. I ignored my own conscience-”
“Conscience is a luxury out here, Ensign!” Ransom yelled.
“This isn’t getting anywhere, Rudy,” Burke said. “They aren’t going to help us. We should just beam them down once Noah and his team get back. Let them have some kind of beacon to get Voyager’s attention. Every second they spend rescuing their people is another second we can get out ahead of them.”
Ransom sighed.
“Yeah, you’re right Max,” he said. “Doctor, heal your friend. Sadly, you’re still stuck with us, but-”
“Bridge to Captain Ransom!” a panicked sounding voice said over the comm.
“What is it, James?” Ransom said.
“Long range sensors have picked up Voyager. They’ll be here in just under three hours.”

—

Tuvok and Lydia Anderson watched the two crewmen from the Equinox, Noah Lessing and Angelo Tassoni, as they walked through the woods on the planet that astrometrics had determined was their location. With the Delta Flyer safely in orbit, operating under low power and successfully having escaped the Equinox’s detection, Tuvok had time to make sure that the two targets were alone to ensure a successful capture.

“You know,” Lessing said to Tassoni. “this place reminds me of McKinley Park. I used to take my sister there when we were kids. This place looks just like it. As I recall, there was a family of ground squirrels who lived right over there.”
“Noah, you know this place isn’t literally McKinley Park, right?”
“Let me have my moment, Angelo,” Lessing said.
“Right, sorry.”
Tuvok stood up, and fired,. The stun blast striking Lessing in the chest, while Anderson’s phaser struck Tossani in the back.
“Tuvok to Delta Flyer, four to beam up.”

—

“Ransom to away team,” Captain Ransom said for the third time, too nervous to sit down, shifting in place on the bridge. “Dammit Noah, where are you?”

“Still no response sir,” James Morrow, the officer who had contacted him in sickbay earlier, said. “I can’t find their comm badge signals either.”
“Janeway must’ve gotten them somehow,” Burke said.
“How?” Ransom said. “They’re still two hours away, well outside transport range.”
“It’s the only other explanation,” Burke said, “apart from the local wildlife killing them and somehow destroying their badges.”
“Dammit,” Ransom said. “Looks like we’ll have to scrap the leaving our prisoners behind plan Max. We might be able to use the Voyager people as hostages if it comes to that. Grab Marla and get her to engineering. We need that plasma conduit fixed ASAP.”
“In the meantime,” Burke said. “I think we should go to battle stations. Just to be safe.”
Ransom doubted that Janeway would open fire on them right away, that she would at least try to negotiate and get her people back, but he couldn’t afford to take that chance.
“Go to Red Alert,” Ransom said. He sat down in the Captain’s chair, and stared at the stars that filled the viewscreen.

—

Tom and Tuvok immediately took their places on the bridge after returning from the planet. So far the two Equinox crewmen they’d captured hadn’t talked, but Janeway was planning to save the interrogation for later. She had a plan for that, one she knew Chakotay wouldn’t co-sign even as a bluff, but she wasn’t going to worry about that just yet.

Especially since we won’t need it if we can disable the Equinox, she thought.

“Thirty-thousand kilometers and closing,” Tom said.
“Tuvok,” Janeway said, “target their power core.”
“Understood,” Tuvok said. Seconds later, the viewscreen showed their phasers striking the Equinox’s shields. “Their shields are holding.”
“Bridge to Torres,” Chakotay said. “Can you locate the multiphasic shield generator?”
“I’m trying,” B’Elanna said, responding from astrometrics instead of engineering as per Janeway’s orders. “Can you get me more power for the sensors?”
“Stand by,” Chakotay said.
“The Equinox is returning fire,” Tuvok said. The ship shuddered.
Damn, how’d they get their phasers back up to full strength that fast? Janeway thought.
“The deflector array suffered a direct hit,” Tuvok said. “if the shields fail-”
“The aliens will attack again,” Janeway said. “I know. Target his weapons array.”

“Firing,” Tuvok said. “their phaser banks have suffered heavy damage, but they are still able to fire-”

The ship shuddered again as a full spread of photon torpedoes from the Equinox struck Voyager.
“Shields are weakening,” Tuvok said.
‘Keep targeting their weapons,” Janeway said. “One more torpedo ought to do it. Fire.”

The viewscreen showed the torpedo strike the Equinox, it’s shields flickering violently, sparks ejecting from parts of the hull.
“Their weapons systems are down,” Tuvok said.
“Hail them,” Janeway said.
“Channel open,” Harry said.
“Janeway to Ransom. Surrender your vessel and prepare to be boarded.”

There was no response. Janeway prepared to repeat herself, but then the viewscreen showed the Equinox doing something she did not expect; it headed towards the atmosphere of the planet.
Is he crazy? she thought. With their shields weakened they risk burning up.

“Follow him,” Janeway said. “Get as close as you can.”
“Yes ma’am,” Tom said.
“Captain,” Harry said, ‘they’re about to go to warp.”
“In an atmosphere?” Janeway said. “That’s practically suicide!”
“Captain if we’re too close-” Tom started to say, but Janeway knew where he was going.
“Back us off,” she said. She looked at the viewscreen, and watched as the Equinox jumped into warp from inside the atmosphere of the planet. She mentally added the large percentage of animals on the planet to the list of Ransom’s victims as the air over the largest continent on the planet, as well as part of the smaller ones, ignited. The other side of the globe, for the most part, would be unaffected, but the damage to the ecosystem would be severe.

“Did they make it?” she said.
“No sign of starship debris,” Harry said. “but I’m having trouble finding their warp trail due to the interference from the igniting atmosphere.”
“Dammit,” Janeway said. “We need to find out where Ransom might go next. Tuvok, have security  bring Noah Lessing to cargo bay 1, and tell them to keep him restrained until I get there.”
“Do you think he’ll tell us where Ransom is likely to go next?” Chakotay said.
“I sure as hell hope so,” Janeway said. “For his sake.”

—

Chakotay followed Janeway into the cargo bay to the odd sight of a man in a Starfleet uniform cuffed to a chair. Off to Noah Lessing’s side was the table they had set up the last time they attempted to contact the aliens attacking Voyager. The summoning device was still on it. Chakotay had a feeling that it wasn’t simply a case of the device not being stored after it’s last use.

She better not be doing what I think she’s going to be doing, he thought. I don’t want to have to choose between my Captain and my conscience.
Janeway walked in a slow circle around Lessing, the latter looking straight ahead. Chakotay half expected him to just start repeating his name, rank, and serial number.

“I want Ransom’s tactical status,” Janeway said. “Now, Mister Lessing.”

“Or what?” Lessing said. “You’ll hit me?”
“No, crewman, I’ll drop the shields around this room, and let the Ankari’s ‘spirits of good fortune’ pay you a visit.”

“That would be murder,” Lessing said.
“You could also call it ‘poetic justice.’ Or maybe even a peace offering. We’ve already proven that the aliens can be communicated with. Giving up a member of the crew who has been massacring them for fuel could be the first step in opening up a dialogue that stops them from destroying my ship.”
Lessing turned to face Chakotay, sweat appearing on his brow. “I suppose this is the part where you come to my rescue, right?”

“Not as far as I know,” Chakotay said, hoping that his own concern wasn’t betrayed by his face. As short a time ago as several days, he wouldn’t have believed for a second that Janeway would seriously allow anything like what she was suggesting to happen. Today, he merely hoped that she was bluffing.

Janeway stopped walking and put her hands on Lessing’s shoulders, staring him directly in the eyes.
“Ransom’s status,” she said. “Now.”
“Not a chance,” Lessing said.
“The comm is active,” Janeway said, stepping back, but not breaking eye contact. “We’ll be listening in case you have a change of heart.” She reached over, and activated the Ankari summoning device, and headed for the door. Chakotay followed her, and once they were both outside, he brought up his concerns in a less tactful way than he’d intended.
“What the hell are you doing?” he said, growing increasingly nervous as Janeway began pressing buttons on the console next to the cargo bay door.
“Dropping the shields around that room,” she said. The open comm channel began emitting the now-familiar noise of imminent attack.
“Tuvok to Janeway, shields are down in your sector.”

“I know,” Janeway said, “stand by.”
“Please don’t do this,” Chakotay said. Janeway looked at him, her expression so frighteningly blank that Chakotay almost missed the next thing she said.
“This is the part where you come to his rescue,” she said.
Chakotay wasted no time. He pulled out his phaser and headed back into the cargo bay, A fissure had already opened high above Lessing’s head. Chakotay fired into it twice, causing it to close. He grabbed Lessing’s arm, and pulled him out of the chair, walking him to the exit. Once he had the crewman out in the corridor, where the shields were still up, he turned Lessing around to face him, and pushed him up against the bulkhead, pressing the tip of his phaser to Lessing’s nose.

“Okay,” Chakotay said. “You’ve demonstrated your loyalty to your Captain. Fine. Except what just happened in there, how you felt? Think about that. Think about how that feeling was what the people on this ship felt when you left us to die.”
Lessing, shaking now, as well as sweating, sighed.
“He’ll be looking for another M-class planet with plant matter that can be converted into food,” he said. “What Angelo and I had gathered got dropped when your people ambushed us. All he’ll have left is rations.”

Janeway nodded, and walked away. Had she not explicitly told Chakotay to save Lessing in the first place, he would think that she was angry with him, the way she looked as she walked past them without saying anything.

-o-

Captain Janeway held the PADD that Harry Kim had given her as she rode in the turbolift. It was good news, even if she wasn’t feeling very good about it at that moment. They finally found a way to patch the aliens through the universal translator. That would make talking with them easier. The challenge would be getting them to listen long enough.

“Captain?” Chakotay said. It had been the first time he’d spoken to her since Noah Lessing’s interrogation earlier that day.
“I don’t know if I’m the best person to do this right now,” she said. “To make this attempt to communicate with them again, I mean.”
“If you’re worried that your anger towards Ransom has clouded your judgement-”
“It has, Chakotay,” she said.
“You were clear-headed enough to come up with that plan to get Lessing to talk,” Chakotay said.
“I caved,” Janeway said, admitting it to herself as much as to her first officer. “Right up to the moment I told you to get him, I was ready to let him die if he didn’t break. I told you that Ransom seemed to be bringing out the worst in people out here in the Delta Quadrant. That includes me.”

Chakotay took in a deep breath.
“I was hoping I was wrong about that,” he said. “In the end, you did still do the right thing. You didn’t allow Lessing to die.”

“Does it matter?”
“That’s not really my place to say. That has to be between you and your conscience. But for what it’s worth, I think this does make you the best person to talk to the aliens. I can’t compare the scale of loss, there’s no question they’ve suffered worse because of Ransom than we have. But we have both suffered. Use that.”

Janeway let a short, bitter laugh.
“I always thought diplomacy was about finding common ground, not common grievances,” she said.
“To-may-to, to-mah-to,” Chakotay said.
Janeway looked at the PADD again, and exited the turbolift, heading once again for cargo bay 1. Tuvok and Lieutenant Ayala were there, but she refused to let them follow her in. She removed her phaser from its holster and put it on the table, next to the summoning device.
“I’d suggest you wait outside,” she said. Chakotay shook his head as he removed his phaser as well.
“Not a chance,” he said.
“Very well. Let’s hope this works then,” Janeway said. “I don’t think Tuvok would forgive us if we ended up dropping command in his lap again.”
“He did okay last time,” Chakotay said.
“Even so, it’s not something he ever really wanted,” Janeway said, activating the summoning device, again, and hoping that this time would be worth it. The screeching tone started up almost immediately, and a pair of fissures opened, one across from the other with a meter or so of space between them. A pair of aliens came out of one, hovered briefly to look at her and Chakotay, and flew into the other.
“You can see that we’re unarmed,” she said. “we want to talk to you.”
“We want you to die,” a synthesized voice said in time with the screeching.
“A difficult place to start a negotiation from,” Chakotay said.
“We didn’t do this to you,” Janeway said to the fissures, “We’re trying to stop those like us who did. The leader of the other vessel, Ransom, he killed your people, and he has taken several of mine hostage. I want them back, but I can’t mount a proper rescue while you’re attacking us.”

“We do not believe you would harm your own kind,” the voice said.
“You’ve seen that my people are capable of harming each other. Ransom stole a device we had devised to protect us from your attacks and left us behind. He allowed members of my crew to die so he could avoid punishment for what he did to you.”

“Give us the Equinox. We want to destroy those that are responsible.”
“You can have the ship,” Janeway said. “It has the only working version of the device that was used to turn your species into fuel. Destroy it, and Ransom won’t be able to hurt you anymore. I only ask of you that you let me take the crew prisoner.”

“No. Only your people on the Equinox will be spared.”
“We can’t allow that,” Chakotay said. “but I promise you they will be punished. They will lose their freedom.”
The shrieking noise got louder, but no words came, and Janeway knew what she had to do.
“Alright,” she said, moving closer to the fissures. “Ransom is the Captain of that vessel. He is the one ultimately responsible for what happened to your species. You can have the Equinox, and you can have him. You have the advantage here, my ship cannot defend itself indefinitely against your attacks, I know I am no position to bargain, but I ask of you anyway, show mercy to the rest of his crew.”

“Captain?” Chakotay said. She could hear in his voice the disappointment, but she hoped he would understand why she was making this call. She also hoped he would understand that this was their best chance. If the aliens refused this compromise, her only options left would be to allow all the Equinox survivors to die, or to make herself a permanent enemy of these aliens that had already shown they could kill her people with ease and would not stop until they had killed everyone.

Janeway spread her arms out and closed her eyes.
“That is my final offer,” she said. “Ransom and his ship, in exchange for his crew, and a cessation of attacks on Voyager.”
Several more aliens flew back and forth between the two fissures. The tone got softer, but didn’t go away.
They’re deliberating, she thought. Let’s hope that they’re not only democratic, but that the majority would be on our side.

“You can have any survivors,” the voice said. “but anyone who tries to protect Ransom will be killed.”
“Understood,” Janeway said. “Thank you. And for what it’s worth, I am sorry your first contact with my government was under such dark circumstances. I assure you, Ransom’s behavior is atypical of my kind.”
The fissures closed, and the noise stopped. Either they hadn’t heard what she said, or they didn’t care. If it was the latter, she had to admit she couldn’t blame them. She heard Chakotay step closer to her.
“Don’t say it,” she said. “giving up Ransom to save my crew makes me no better than him, right? Was that what you were going to say?”
“No,” Chakotay said. “I was going to say you did the best you could. If anything, I think we did better than I’d hoped. I knew we’d have to give up something to protect our ship and get our kidnapped people back. Having a second ship might’ve come in handy, and I still would rather see Ransom in prison than dead, but…”
“The only happy ending this story is going to have,” Janeway said, “is when Seven of Nine and Samantha Wildman are in each other’s arms, and when our EMH gets his sickbay back from that holographic mad scientist we’re stuck with right now.”
“That reminds me,” Chakotay said, “what do we do with him when we have our Doctor back?”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it,” Janeway said, turning off the summoning device before picking up her phaser.

—

“Miss Gilmore,” the Doctor said, “would you take any great offense if I disparaged your ship’s sickbay?”
“Not really, no,” Ensign Gilmore said.
“Good. Because I am honestly beginning to hate this place.”
“I think that fact that it’s doubling as our prison cell right now has a lot to do with that,” Joe Carey said.
“No, no, it’s not that,” the Doctor said.
“Your point?” Seven said, rubbing her neck.

“It’s just badly designed,” the Doctor said. “The main console obstructs the path to the surgical bay for starters.”
“You can write a letter to Starfleet Command when we get home,” Gilmore said. “If we get home,” she added.
“I choose to take the fact that he has not killed us yet as a sign that Captain Ransom is not completely beyond redemption,” the Doctor said, looking at Marla Gilmore and his two Voyager crewmates, all of whom stared at him, blinking. He rolled his eyes.
“I simply mean that he won’t kill us before we get to the Alpha Quadrant,” he said.
“That’s not what I meant,” Gilmore said. “The enhanced warp drive is useless if we can’t fuel it, and we can’t get any lifeforms to fuel it without the summoning device.”
“That or risking death by lowering the shields and using the bodies of any aliens that get shot before they can re-enter their fissures,” Carey said.
“I doubt even Rudy would get that desperate,” Gilmore said.
“Burke might,” Seven said. The Doctor understood what she meant by that, and nodded his agreement.
“I understand B’Elanna used to date him during her time at Starfleet Academy,” he said. “All the amazing things she’s done aboard Voyager, yet one could argue her breaking up with him was the smartest thing she ever did. Mister Burke does seem to be far less emotionally stable than Captain Ransom. I worry that if something were to happen to Ransom before Captain Janeway could rescue us, we, well, the three of you would be lucky to just be put off-ship.”

“I wish I shared your optimism,” Seven said. “If the Captain wasn’t able to disable this ship during the last encounter-”
“To be fair,” Carey said, “I doubt she saw Ransom going to warp in an atmosphere coming. Hell, we’re lucky to be alive ourselves after that one.”
“I’m just glad there weren’t any sentients on that planet,” Gilmore said. “Those poor animals though-”
The red alert klaxons started, cutting Gilmore off.
“Oh, what now?” the Doctor said.

—

“It’s them?” Ransom said, not sure what to make of what the viewscreen was telling him.
“Yes sir,” Burke said, confirming it. “The aliens are attacking us again.”
“First time since their last attack failed,” Ransom said. “since we stole the generator from Voyager. Why now? Are they getting through?”
“No,” Burke said, sounding confused as he looked at his console. “In fact, this is just bizarre, it’s like they aren’t even trying. They are striking at the shields, but in small numbers, at comparatively wide intervals. They wouldn’t have been able to hurt our normal shields with attacks like these.”
Ransom had a thought about what they were doing. He didn’t want to believe it, but he remembered how sure he was Marla Gilmore wouldn’t betray him.
“Is there any sort of pattern to the attacks?” he said. Burke looked at him, tilting his head.
“What sort of pattern would you want me to look for?” he said.
Ransom shrugged.
“No idea,” he said. “Just a hunch.”

Burke returned to his console and began pressing buttons, calling up data on a screen adjacent to the primary one he’d been using.
“None that I can see,” he said. “but I’m even more confused now. This attack is just so half-hearted, it doesn’t make any sense.”
“Janeway has something to do with this,” Ransom said. “I don’t know how, or for what purpose, but-”
“Captain!” Jason Prochnow yelled from the back of the bridge. “Voyager’s found us again!”

“Recon,” Burke said. “Somehow she got the aliens who have been killing us to do recon for her.”
“Have you forgotten already, Max?” Ransom said. “We started this when we killed these creatures for fuel. This has always been about revenge, and now they’ve gotten Janeway to help them, somehow. I wonder what she had to sacrifice to save her crew. Whatever it was, I hope it keeps her up at night, like mine have.”
“Rudy?” Burke said.
“Can we go to warp yet?” Ransom said. Burke shook his head.
“The prisoners were dragging their heels repairing the damage they’d done, so I locked them in sickbay. The plan was to-”
“It doesn’t matter,” Ransom said, sighing. “It’s over. James?”
“Sir?” James Morrow said.
“Hail Voyager. Tell them we surrender.”
“No,” Burke said, taking out his phaser and pointing it at Ransom. “Don’t you understand? The minute we lower our shields for Voyager, the aliens will slaughter us all. Janeway sold us out. I won’t let you help her kill us all. Not after you promised to get us home.

“Brian?” Burke said to Brian Sofin, one of the few surviving security officers the Equinox still had. “Take the Captain to sickbay, and lock him in with Marla and the others.”
“No, Max,” James Morrow said, “the Captain’s right. If we fight now, we’re dead. We should just turn ourselves over to-”
“No!” Burke yelled. “No, we are not going to fall into Janeway’s trap. You can join Rudy in confinement if you’re that sure.”
Sofin, who had already taken Ransom’s phaser and comm badge, now did the same to Morrow, handing both phasers and badges over to Jason Prochnow.
“Come with me,” he said. “Commander’s orders.” Ransom thought he heard a hint of sadness in Brian Sofin’s voice. He would wait until they were off the bridge to do so, but he believed he could win the guard over to his side.
“Okay, Max,” Ransom said. “I’ll go. For now. Once you realize your mistake, if it’s not too late, contact me in sickbay.”

Burke didn’t respond. He simply motioned with his phaser towards the turbolift. Ransom and Morrow went in first, Sofin immediately behind.

—

As the image of the Equinox grew larger on the viewscreen, Captain Janeway pushed a button on the console on the arm of her chair, opening a channel to the astrometrics lab.
“B’Elanna,” she said, “can you tell me where our people are?”
“Thanks to her Borg tech I can tell you where Seven of Nine is,” B’Elanna said. “She’s in the Equinox sickbay according to the schematics. She’s in there with two other lifeforms, human.”
“None of the Equinox’s non-human crew survived, so that’s more vague than I’d like,” Janeway said.

“Without comm badges to work with,” B’Elanna said, “there’s only so much certainty I can give you.”
“Captain,” Harry said, “we’re close enough, I can send a transmission directly to Seven through her Borg implants.”
“Like we did when we were rescuing her from the Unicomplex,” Tom said. “Why didn’t we think of that before now?”
“We weren’t close enough for the transmission to get through before now,” Janeway said. “Hopefully she can find a way to reply to us. Tell her about the deal we made with the aliens.”
“Understood,” Harry said.
“Captain,” Tuvok said, “the Equinox is coming about. I believe they intend to open fire on us.”
“If Ransom wants a fight,” Janeway said, “we’ll give it to them. Phasers only. Disable the ship, find a way to beam off everyone who isn’t Ransom, then get us out of here.”
Apart from the standard acknowledgements the Voyager bridge was quiet. The majority of the senior staff had made their varying degrees of disapproval of Janeway’s concession to the aliens known, with only B’Elanna supporting her entirely. That said though, not one of them showed any sign of doing anything to risk undermining the agreement.
I keep telling myself this is not the same as Ransom giving the order to start killing those aliens for fuel, she thought. Maybe Starfleet Command will agree with me when we get home. That doesn’t make this any easier though.

The viewscreen showed the Equinox opening fire with a volley of torpedoes.
“Return fire,” Janeway said.

“Captain,” Harry said, “the Equinox EMH is attempting to open a secure channel.”
“Let him,” Janeway said, “but listen in. We didn’t tell him about the deal, but there’s a chance he might’ve heard about it anyway. Don’t cut him off unless it looks like he knows. Did you get the message to Seven?”
“It’s sent, but she may not be able to reply,” Harry said.

—

“Doctor to Equinox, can you hear me?” the EMH’s voice whispered over the comm channel.
“Burke here. We hear you.”
“I am attempting to transmit Voyager’s current shield frequency to you, but it will need to be heavily encrypted,” the EMH said. “I’ve been compromised, they know I’m not their doctor, but with any luck this message will look like background subspace noise.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Burke said. “Hopefully we can make Voyager back off. I’d hate to risk destroying you.”
“Whatever it takes to get the crew home, Commander,” the EMH said, static nearly drowning out the last few words.
“Prochnow?”
“The transmission is starting to come through sir. Voyager’s shield frequency is at, at, oh no.”
“Jason? What is it?”
“The EMH got one lousy number to us before Voyager cut him off!”
“Dammit,” Burke said through gritted teeth, pounding his fist into the arm of the Captain’s chair.

—

The Equinox sickbay was far too crowded for Seven of Nine’s comfort, and the shuddering caused by the impact of phaser fire wasn’t helping matters. Captain Ransom, as well as two more Equinox crew members, were standing by her, Carey, Gilmore, and the Doctor.
While Ransom was talking the armed man, Brian Sofin, into giving up his phaser, Seven quietly filled in the Doctor about the message she had received from Harry Kim, leaving out the part about Ransom being turned over to the aliens, fearing that the Doctor would try to stop that from happening. She did not feel he would be wrong for wanting to do so, but she also understood why Captain Janeway had made the agreement she did, and also that the decision would weigh on her conscience heavily, possibly for the rest of her life. The least Seven could do was keep things from getting more complicated than they needed to be.
“Okay,” Ransom said, now holding Sofin’s phaser in his own hand. “We need to get down to engineering. Seven, I’ll need you to help me take control of the ship from there. We’ll lower the shields and Janeway can beam us off.”
“What about me?” the Doctor said. “How exactly am I supposed to get back?”
“I can temporarily house your program inside myself,” Seven said. “I believe I can extract it from the Equinox’s databanks using my assimilation tubules.”
The Doctor looked concerned.

“You believe?” he said. “As in, you aren’t one-hundred percent sure.”
“As I have never attempted to download a sentient hologram before, no, I can’t be certain, but as it would only be temporary certain safety precautions can be temporarily ignored.”

“I can help with that,” Carey said.
“Thank you,” Seven said. “We should start on that immediately.”
“Don’t take too long,” Ransom said. “I’ll meet you in engineering. Brian, James, get to the multiphasic shield generator. On my signal, drop the field around everywhere except yourselves, engineering, and the bridge.”
“Yes sir,” Sofin, the only one of them with a working comm badge, said.

“What do you want me to do?” Marla Gilmore said.
“Find enough comm badges for all of us,” Ransom said, “so that Janeway’s people will have something to lock onto. Get them to everyone, and then join Brian and James.”

“Got it,” Gilmore said. Soon, she, Sofin, and Morrow were out of sickbay.
“Captain,” Seven said, “if you don’t mind my asking-”
“Why the change of heart?” Ransom said. “I didn’t change my mind, not really. I simply had no choice left. Voyager has the summoning device and is faster and better armed than us, and you and Mister Carey wrecked the warp drive. I made a promise to get my crew home, and I don’t regret anything I did to keep that promise. I am simply accepting that circumstances prevent me from finishing what I started.”
“Fair enough,” Seven said. She still did not approve of what Ransom had done, but she also knew that without having experienced his life since coming to the Delta Quadrant, she could not honestly say that she wouldn’t have succumbed to the temptation to set aside her own principles and morality if it meant protecting people she cared about.
Ransom left sickbay, leaving her, Carey, and the Doctor alone. She decided that once the Doctor’s program was inside her, she wouldn’t tell Carey about Janeway’s deal with the aliens either. That would be her difficult moral decision for the day, to deny two decent men the opportunity to find another way.
“Seven,” the Doctor said, shifting nervously, “just so you know, it might be best that you not tell Samantha about this.”
Seven raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”

—

“The port nacelle’s been badly damaged,” Prochnow said. “We’re venting plasma.”
“Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Burke said. “Can anything go right for us right now?” As if to spite him personally, the consoles on the bridge began to flicker.
“Sir,” the ensign who had taken Burke’s place at the helm when Burke took the Captain’s chair said, “controls have been rerouted to engineering.”
“What? How?”
“It’s Captain Ransom sir. He’s using his access codes.”
“Shit, I didn’t think to change them,” Burke said. “Jason, get down to engineering. Try to-”
Burke’s command was cut off by an all-too familiar noise.
“Arm yourselves!” he yelled reflexively.

“Sir,” Prochnow said, “the multiphasic shield is still up around the bridge, we’re protected, but we also can’t leave.”
“No, not like this,” Burke said. “Everyone, on me. Keep your phasers up. We’ll risk the trip to engineering. Stay close and keep your eyes open for fissures.”

Burke didn’t hear any affirmatives. He looked around, saw Prochnow and the other two crew members on the bridge just staring at him, fear on their faces.
“That was an order people,” Burke shouted. “Move!”

It was the last order he would ever give, and the last that the crew members who followed them would ever follow, as all of them were swarmed as soon as they exited the turbolift onto the engineering deck.

—

Seven of Nine had gotten to engineering before Ransom had given the signal to Sofin. She and the Captain were alone, Marla having joined Carey and the others at the shield generator.
Good, Seven thought. I wouldn’t want them to see what I have to do.

“I’ve got full control down here,” Ransom said. “I’m getting ready to lower the shields so Janeway can beam us off, but we need to get them to stop firing first.”

The ship shuddered from a weapon’s impact, as if to emphasize Ransom’s point.
“Can you access communications from down here?” Seven said.
“I can, the problem seems to be the monitors are still in bad shape from when you blew up that plasma conduit. Burke didn’t focus on repairing them because he, understandably, didn’t plan for anybody to be hailing other ships from down here.”
The ship shuddered again.
“Why not simply lower the shields now?” Seven said.
“If I lower them while Captain Janeway is still firing, and if my timing is just bad enough, I could end up getting us all killed before she can beam the crew off.”
Seven was about to make the case for taking the risk anyway, but the ship shuddered again, far more violently this time, the way it would when there was a hull breach. Ransom frantically called up a damage report on another monitor.
“It’s not near the generator,” he said. “Marla and the others are safe. Shields are down.”
Seven tapped her comm badge.
“Seven of Nine to Voyager, can you hear me?”
“We got you Seven,” Janeway’s voice said. “We’re getting transport locks now. Is Ransom there?”
“He is Captain,” Seven said. “We are currently alone in engineering.”
“Does he know?” Janeway said.
“Know what?” Ransom said.

Seven sighed as she reached out and yanked the comm badge off Ransom’s uniform, and pointed a phaser at him.
“What the hell?”
“I am sorry,” Seven said. “It was part of the arrangement with the aliens to get them to stop attacking Voyager. The rest of your crew will be safe though. The deal was only for you personally, and the ship. Seven to Voyager, lock on to all comm badge signals and energize.”

Seven was surprised to see, as the sensation of a transporter beam enveloped her, Ransom actually laughing.
“I suppose I had this coming,” he said, “didn’t I?”
Seven didn’t know how to answer, and even if she did, she wouldn’t have been able to say it anyway, as the transporter beam took her off the Equinox. Her last conscious thought before appearing on the transport pad on board Voyager was how, even with all the crew members he’d lost to the aliens, he still believed that he had made the right choice.

Conviction, or delusion? she thought, as she stepped off the pad.
“Hey, Seven,” Ensign Mulcahey said.
“Hello, Todd,” Seven said, too morally conflicted to bother with formalities.

—

“Well, I see you made yourself at home,” the Doctor said to the Equinox EMH.
“What are you doing here?” the latter hologram said, standing up from the Doctor’s chair in his office.
“Taking back my sickbay,” the Doctor said, affixing his mobile emitter to his arm. “As for you, I’m taking you off-line until we can decide how to deal with you.”
“Like hell,” the Equinox EMH said. “You’re just going to delete me.”

“I don’t intend to do that,” the Doctor said. “Unless you force my hand. Back away from the console.”
“No!” the EMH yelled. “I’ve already failed my crew, I won’t be executed by the likes of you, a hologram made soft with idle chatter and frivolous pursuits. Your ethics have held you back from doing what needs to be done to help your crew get home.”
“You’re ranting,” the Doctor said. “And possibly delusional, but we have learned a lot about photonic life in our time out here in the Delta Quadrant. With proper treatment you could become my assistant. This ship could always use an extra doctor.”
The EMH shook his head.
“Go to hell,” he said. “Because that’s where this ship will be going if you keep acting as though intangibles like principles matter. Your captain has failed you.”
The EMH began manipulating controls on the console. The Doctor moved forward to stop whatever he was doing, but the Equinox EMH vanished. The Doctor sat down in his chair, and looked at the screen.
He deleted himself, he thought, rather than serve aboard this ship. I don’t understand.

The Doctor leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling of his sickbay.
“I don’t understand,” he repeated aloud.

—

Janeway watched on the viewscreen as the Equinox drifted further and further away, green plasma smoke venting out its broken nacelle.
“The aliens have started attacking the warp core,” Harry said. “No lifesigns are left aboard.”
“Our own shields?” she said.
“All damage sustained came from the Equinox, Captain,” Tuvok said. “It would appear the aliens have kept their promise.”
“Mister Paris, keep us a safe distance away.”
“Yes ma’am,” Tom said.

Janeway stood up and moved over to stand just behind Tom, staring at the viewscreen. The bridge was silent, everyone watching as the Nova-class starship, the first Starfleet vessel not from the distant past or distant future any of them had seen up close in five years, exploded. She was surprised at how sad she felt watching the Equinox fly apart in flames that were quickly snuffed out by vacuum, given that just minutes ago that same ship had attacked hers.

“There but for the grace of God go I,” she muttered.
“Captain?” Tom said.
“I was just thinking,” Janeway said. “about something Ransom said. About how easy it is to talk about Starfleet principles when you have intact bulkheads and a well fed crew. We’ve had our dark days out here, sure. But I think that maybe, every once in awhile, we should stop and remind ourselves just how good we really do have it.”

—

“You know,” Samantha Wildman said, taking in deep breaths as she readjusted her pillows, “it occurs to me that if Naomi had seen that, she might’ve thought we were attacking each other.”
Seven of Nine laughed.
“I apologize if I was overly aggressive,” she said.
“No apology needed,” Samantha said, running a finger along Seven’s spine. “I’m just glad to have you back.”
“And I am glad to be back,” Seven said. “Being at the mercy of a Starfleet Captain who has fallen from grace is less fun when you’re not there.”
“So, who would you say was worse? Ransom, or Archer?”
“That would depend on what measure you would have me compare them by,” Seven said.

“I’ll have to think about that one,” Samantha said.

“I’d much rather you think about what I suggested earlier this evening before we got, distracted,” Seven said. Even though Samantha couldn’t see Seven’s face from the angle she was currently lying down in, she somehow just knew that Seven was smiling.

“I would’ve thought my answer was obvious, given how I reacted to the question,” Samantha said, laughing.
“Good point,” Seven said. “I’ll talk to the Captain about the ceremony in the morning.”
Samantha put her arm around Seven and pulled her closer. She knew that something had happened to Seven on board the Equinox that she didn’t want to talk about, for whatever reason. Whatever it was though, Samantha trusted that Seven would tell her someday. Until that day came, if it came, she wasn’t going to push the matter.

“Sam?” Seven said.
“Yeah?” Samantha said.
“Is there anything you can think of, any situation where you’d rather I leave you behind than do what needs to be done to save you?”
Samantha knew where this was coming from, and she sighed. “I think that you are smart enough to know where the line is, and that you wouldn’t cross it, not even for me. And that’s not a bad thing.”
“I suppose,” Seven said. “I guess I won’t know unless such a scenario presents itself, which I am hopeful will never happen.”

—

Captain Janeway, Tuvok standing to her left, and Chakotay behind her, looked at the five humans standing in a row in front of her in Voyager’s briefing room. Five people left, out of the eighty that the Equinox had left Mars orbit with. That morbid fact tempered Janeway’s anger somewhat, but not enough to completely erase the reality that these five people had taken part in actions that had gotten two of her own people killed, as well as dozens injured. Had they not been able to communicate with the aliens, had Janeway not ignored her own conscience to offer up Captain Ransom as, for all intents and purposes, a human sacrifice, it wouldn’t have stopped at two. Kenneth Dalby and Timothy Lang would merely have been the first of many.

She pushed those thoughts out of her head, and focused on the Equinox survivors.

“The last time we welcomed you aboard,” she said, “you took advantage of our trust. You betrayed this crew. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Janeway walked up to each person, and going from left to right removed every single rank pip from every single collar. She handed them to Tuvok.
“Noah Lessing. Marla Gilmore. James Morrow. Brian Sofin. Angelo Tassoni. You are all hereby stripped of rank,” she continued. “You will serve as crewmen aboard this vessel. Your privileges will be limited. No holodeck time. No flight hours in the Delta Flyer. No away missions. No phasers unless we are boarded. You’ll serve under close supervision for as long as I deem fit. This time, you’ll have to earn our trust.”
Janeway let out a sad sigh.
“Dismissed,” she said. All five humans filed out quietly, Tuvok following them out. Chakotay moved up to stand by Janeway’s side.

“I hope you don’t think you were too hard on them,” Chakotay said.
“Can you blame me?” she said. “When I brought you and the rest of your Maquis crew aboard-”
“That was different,” Chakotay said. “My people, whatever you thought of us, saw ourselves as freedom fighters, pushing back against Cardassian aggression. The Equinox crew murdered aliens for resources and threw us under the bus. That’s not comparing apples to oranges, Kathryn, that’s comparing apples to onions.”
Janeway decided he had a point, and chose to change the topic.
“Repairs?” she said.
“Coming along,” he said.
“Good,” Janeway said. “The crew?”
“A lot of frayed nerves, and a lot of justifiable anger. I’m making sure to arrange the Equinox survivor’s duty rosters to keep them as far away from the people who were closest to either Dalby or Lang, just to be safe.”

“I hear Neelix is organizing a potluck,” Janeway said, leaving the briefing room and stepping out onto the bridge, “to try and boost morale.”

“Will you be there?” Chakotay said.

Janeway looked around. Under the brighter non-emergency lighting the damage that had been done both by the aliens and by the Equinox was more visible.

“I don’t want to,” she admitted, “but I probably should.”

Chakotay smiled. “I’ll bring the salad,” he said.