Captain's Choice

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Disclaimer: The world of Star Trek and all of its characters belong to Paramount. I am only borrowing them and will return them in tact – eventually.

Thanks to Heather Briles for all of her opinions which helped a lot with this story, and to my friend, Iris for posting my stories on her website.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

The doors to Voyager’s mess hall swished open and a blur of gold and black swept through, her eyes quickly scanning the room as she looked for her target. “Billeeeeeeee!” she exclaimed as she spied him sitting at a table near the window. “Billy, help, I’ve been summoned again for an away mission. What am I going to do? Captain Janeway picked ME – ME of all people, to go with her on an away mission for supplies. We’re going on a shuttle and we’re actually going to land on that planet if we find anything Voyager needs. We can’t transport because of spatial distortions in the atmosphere, so it’s another trip in a shuttle. I can’t do this again.”

“Relax Celeste and catch your breath. Who else is going?” he asked as he took the padd from her hand and quickly scanned its contents. “It looks like it’s you, Mortimer Heron, Tom Paris and Captain Janeway. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. You have two senior officers with you this time, not just the Captain and three junior officers with no experience like before. You can do this. I have complete faith in you.”

“I only wish I did,” Tal Celeste moaned as she looked dejectedly at the padd. I just can’t seem to do anything right, even with Captain Janeway helping me as much as she’s been doing ever since our last disaster of an away mission. Her one-on-one tutoring has helped a lot and she really has a way of making formulas and algorithms make sense. I appreciate her doing this for me without letting everyone else know about it too. They’d only talk about how stupid I really am.”

“It wasn’t a disaster and you’re not stupid,” Billy replied. “After all, we did discover a new life form even if it couldn’t be confirmed. And just think of the experience we had for our first away mission. I’m still grateful for that creature curing me of my hypochondria. Now that I don’t have to worry about being sick all the time, I can concentrate on other things. You need to do the same – forget about not being good at algorithms and concentrate on what you are good at.”

“And that would be……………????” Celeste replied sarcastically.

“Be yourself,” Billy smiled.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

“Do you really have to go on this mission?” Chakotay asked Kathryn as they ate their supper together in her quarters. They had become a lot closer over the last nine months and ate more meals together than not. They even slept together when their duty shifts allowed, even though Kathryn was not quite ready to announce their relationship to the rest of the crew.

“Of course I have to go. It’s my turn in the rotation, and besides it looks like a peaceful planet – no hostile aliens blocking our way into the solar system, no ferocious animals ready to pounce on us, and good potential for us to resupply the ship. Usually you’re pushing me to get off the ship. Why not this time?” Kathryn asked with a smile.

“Because you’re not taking me with you,” he smiled flashing his dimples at her.

“It’s not your turn, and besides I’ll have the best pilot on Voyager in Tom Paris. He’ll take good care of me because he knows you’ll kill him if anything happens,” she grinned her lopsided smile at him. “You need to take care of my ship for me while I’m gone. Are you ready for dessert?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at him.

“Oh, yesssssss,” he smiled when he realized just what she meant by that remark.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

At 0700 sharp Captain Janeway, accompanied by Commander Chakotay, reported to the shuttlebay to begin her mission. In addition to the four on her shuttle, another shuttle piloted by B’Elanna Torres was carrying some of the engineering staff to a different continent to mine dilithium and minerals that Voyager badly needed. This planet appeared to be very rich in much of what they required, so they again considered how lucky they were to have found it.

“Take care Kathryn, and hurry back,” Chakotay smiled at her as she prepared to board the shuttle. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” She only smiled her crooked smile at him.

The ride to the planet was uneventful and since Tom Paris was such an accomplished pilot, the landing was beautiful. Only Crewman Heron’s lectures about his hypothesis on fractral spacial distortions put a slight damper on their enthusiasm. Even Crewman Tal seemed less apprehensive about the mission. Kathryn figured that Billy had given her ‘the lecture’ on away missions with their Captain. She was once again very glad that Celeste had such a good friend in Billy.

Once they exited the shuttle, they were overwhelmed with the beauty of the planet, the fresh air, the smells of the plants and flowers. “This seems like paradise,” Tal Celeste remarked as she stepped off the shuttle ramp. “I hope it’s safe and that there aren’t any wild animals,” she continued with uncertainty in her voice as she nervously glanced around.

“Relax Celeste,” Tom Paris reassured her. “The Captain has been scanning since we entered the planet’s atmosphere, and she’s still scanning. If anything is out there, she’ll warn us.”

“I hope so,” Celeste replied uncertainly as she again glanced around. “I’m not very good with a phaser.”

“This way people,” Captain Janeway announced as she finished her scans, picked up her backpack and the equipment she was going to carry and headed across the meadow they landed in. “There are lots of different plant types that look hopeful for their food value in this direction.”

For the next six hours they were very busy filling their sample bags and exploring the area surrounding their landing site. With only a brief stop for lunch, by the time their bags were full for the third time they were getting tired. Tal Celeste seemed to have relaxed and was actually enjoying herself. Captain Janeway spent some of her time teaching Celeste how to categorize the plants and how to recognize different qualities in some of them. She showed her how to dig the plants without disturbing their root system in case they wanted to grow them in the hydroponics bay aboard Voyager. In fact, Celeste was learning quite quickly about the plants and found that she really enjoyed this. Even Janeway was impressed and Celeste was beaming from her approval.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

B’Elanna Torres was simply astonished by the quality of the dilithium they found. She and Harry Kim, who had accompanied her team because his name came up in the rotation, were having wonderful success in gathering minerals, metals and dilithium crystals. The cave they found the dilithium in was easy to access, and they had filled a small bag with crystals in a matter of only three hours. Carefully packing the crystals into the shuttle, they went back to join the rest of B’Elanna’s team who were mining for minerals.

“The Captain will be so pleased with what we’ve found,” Harry smiled to B’Elanna as he picked away at some benzonite he found in the rocks surrounding the cave. “We must have found deposits of at least eight different minerals in just a one mile radius. We’ll be able to stock enough to last quite a while, and who knows what else we’ll find before we’re done,” he continued to smile.

“Keep digging, Starfleet, you’re slowing down,” B’Elanna teased. She loved to tease Harry and she knew he enjoyed every minute of it. She was digging nearby and Harry could tell that she was very happy with what she was finding. She had just reported to Chakotay and let him know about their success, and from her continuous smile he knew that Chakotay was happy too.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Kathryn Janeway slowly straightened herself into a standing position. She had been stooping for what felt like hours and her muscles were tired and sore. Between scanning, picking and digging plants she was starting to feel like her back would never be straight again. On the other hand, Tal Celeste, who had been working with her, showed no sign of stiff or sore muscles and she was still enthusiastically picking and digging plants to load in their bags. Mortimer Heron had been working with Tom and they both looked tired and ready to quit.

“OK people, it’s time to gather our things and head for the shuttle,” Janeway finally announced once her back was straight again. “If we gather anything more, we won’t be able to carry it. Besides, with all that we have between the first two trips we made to the shuttle and now this, pretty soon there won’t be room for us on that shuttle. Tom, you go ahead and get the shuttle ready to depart, we’ll finish here.” As Tom grabbed his equipment and two of the sample bags and headed off in the direction of the shuttle, Kathryn packed up her equipment and sample bags and helped Celeste and Heron do the same. By the time they were finished, Tom had already disappeared, so they started to trudge pack to the shuttle.

“That was fun,” Celeste remarked to Kathryn as they walked along.

“Speak for yourself,” Heron responded in his usual dour way. “It certainly wasn’t an intellectual challenge. I really believe I’m more of an idea man than a laborer,” he continued as both Kathryn and Celeste rolled their eyes.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

“Good work, B’Elanna,” Chakotay stated as the shuttle was being unloaded. “You’ve had quite a successful day. I’ll let you organize the mining and processing teams, this will be your project. Just let me know what and who you’ll need, and I’ll take care of it.”

B’Elanna beamed with pride. She did do a good job and was highly successful in finding what Voyager needed. Knowing that there was so much potential made this a job she was looking forward to.

“Have you heard from the Captain’s team yet?” she asked Chakotay.

“Tom called in a few minutes ago and they’re loading the last of their samples onto the shuttle. They’ll be heading back shortly. Don’t worry,” he smiled at her, “he’ll be back for supper. So go get yourself beautiful,” he continued to tease.

“You should do the same,” she smiled over her shoulder as she headed for the shuttlebay doors. “After all, the Captain will be back soon too and you’ll want to look your best,” she teased. “After all, you haven’t seen her in – what? – eight or nine hours now?” With a laugh and a wink she left the shuttlebay.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Kathryn, Celeste and Heron had only been walking through the trees for about twenty minutes and weren’t far from the meadow when the air about a hundred yards in front of them seemed to distort.

“What’s that?” Celeste cried as she and Kathryn spied the distortion at the same time. The distortion slowly moved toward them and the closer it got the more it resembled armed aliens. They seemed to be out of phase with the Voyager crew, but as the aliens approached they seemed to come more into phase. The closer they got the more angry they looked, and they all held hand weapons which they were aiming at the three from Voyager. Suddenly one of the aliens fired his weapon, and one of the tree limbs near Heron shattered.

“They’re shooting at us,” Celeste cried in panic.

“Run!!! Duck!! Quickly into the trees,” Kathryn ordered as she pushed Celeste and Heron into the trees beside them. They dropped their hand-held equipment and some of their bags, but they all had heavy backpacks filled with equipment and samples and they didn’t want to take the time to divest themselves of the packs. They ran into the trees with Heron in the lead. Kathryn had passed Celeste but could hear her running right behind her.

Shots rang out from behind them, and tree limbs and trees trunks splintered as the projectiles found their marks. Kathryn didn’t want to fight these people or make contact with them since they didn’t seem especially friendly, she only wanted to get her people to safety, so she kept urging them to run faster. The shuttle was still half a mile away, but it seemed they were pulling away from the aliens.

A sharp cry and thud from behind alerted Kathryn to the fact that Celeste must have fallen. “Run Heron, keep running,” she yelled as she stopped and turned to help Celeste. As she started back for Celeste, two of the aliens got close enough to Celeste to target her, and one of them pointed his weapon at her. Kathryn could see his finger starting to pull the trigger of the weapon, so she acted on instinct. She quickly drew her phaser as she ran and instinctively fingered it to wide beam stun.

“NOOOOOOOO,” she cried as she jumped in front of Celeste who had been rising from the ground where she had fallen, just now becoming aware that she was about to be blown away by the aliens.

Kathryn fired her phaser as the alien’s gun exploded. She felt a terrible impact to her left shoulder that pushed her forcefully backward against a tree trunk. As she collapsed to the ground, the pain in her shoulder exploded throughout her body and she groaned in pain.

“Captain!” Celeste screamed as she drew her phaser ready to defend her Captain, but the two aliens who shot the Captain were both unconscious on the ground, and the other aliens were retreating, unsure of what felled their comrades. “Captain,” she called again as she scuttled over to the fallen Janeway who was moaning in pain as she clutched her left shoulder with her right hand. Blood was pouring from between her fingers and soaking the front of her jacket. “Captain,” the panicked Celeste called yet again, then she raised her head and yelled, “Heron help us.”

Celeste quickly tapped her combadge. “Celeste to Tom and Heron, the Captain’s hurt. I need help to get her to the shuttle. HURRY, she’s bleeding badly. Hold on Captain,” she spoke softly to Kathryn as she helped her to lay back down on the ground after carefully removing her backpack. “Help’s on the way.” Kathryn could only grit her teeth and nod.

Celeste was just starting to open the Captain’s jacket when Heron and Tom came dashing up to them. “My God!!” Tom exclaimed as he knelt beside the Captain and prepared to examine the wound. “We have to get her back to the shuttle quickly before she loses too much more blood. The projectile is lodged in her shoulder and has torn several blood vessels. I can’t do anything for her here. Heron and Celeste, grab her bag and the equipment. We don’t want to leave anything behind for the aliens to find.”

Tom glanced nervously at the fallen aliens as he quickly gathered Kathryn into his arms and started back to the shuttle. He was amazed at how light she was and how small since she always seemed bigger than life to him. She was only semi-conscious but still in so much pain that she could do nothing more than lay in his arms and grit her teeth. He felt so sorry for her and tried not to jostle her any more than was necessary, but even though it was painful for her he didn’t want to slow his pace and risk the aliens returning.

Once they were all safely back aboard the shuttle and had the door sealed, Tom laid the Captain on the shuttle’s pull-down cot. He pulled out the medkit and started to treat her. Quickly cutting her uniform away from the damaged shoulder, he scanned her shoulder then put a self-adjusting pressure bandage over the wound that would apply pressure as necessary to slow the bleeding. He injected her with strong painkillers and a sedative to help her deal with the pain, and he also injected her with medication to help slow the blood flow. He was pleased to see her quickly slip into unconsciousness where she wouldn’t feel so much pain.

Once Tom felt comfortable that she was stabilized and the gushing blood flow slowed, he ordered Celeste to keep an eye on her. He quickly moved to the pilot’s chair and lifted the shuttle off the ground and into the atmosphere. “Once we’re out of the planet’s atmosphere the distortions won’t interfere with transporters and I’ll have Voyager beam her directly to sickbay,” he announced to Heron who had moved into the co-pilot’s seat. The shaken Heron only nodded.

“Paris to Voyager,” Tom tapped the communicator button on the shuttle control panel. When Chakotay responded Tom informed him of the Captain’s condition and requested beam-out for her as soon as Voyager could get a lock. Hearing the panic in Chakotay’s voice, Tom quickly reassured him that the wound wasn’t fatal, only painful. The real danger would be if they couldn’t get Kathryn to Voyager quickly to stop the flow of blood since she’d lost so much.

“We’re locking on now,” Chakotay informed Tom as Kathryn was beamed off the shuttle. Once she was gone Celeste finally gave into the panic that engulfed her when they first spied the distortions among the trees. She started to cry and moan, “it should have been me. It should have been me – not her. She almost died because of me.”

Neither Tom nor Heron knew what to say to Celeste, so they just continued to fly the shuttle back to Voyager as quickly as possible.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

“Please Commander, step back and let me work on her,” the Doctor complained as he set up the equipment that would replace Kathryn’s lost blood. Commander Chakotay had come running through the sickbay doors before Kathryn’s transport had been completed, and he refused to leave her side. She looked so still and white lying there and he was truly afraid, especially since the whole front of her uniform was red with her blood.

“How is she doing?” he asked again as the Doctor continued to work.

“Help me get her out of this bloody uniform,” the Doctor ordered as Chakotay supported her limp body while the Doctor cut off the rest of her turtleneck and tank. He quickly draped a sheet over her and removed her bra so he could work on the damaged flesh. Within minutes he had extracted the projectile and handed the bloody piece of metal to Chakotay.

“I’ll regenerate the wound and she’ll be fine in a few days,” he reassured Chakotay who was busy stroking the auburn hair that was fanned on the pillow under Kathryn’s head. She lost a lot of blood so she’ll have to stay in sickbay for a day or two until I can replace it, and then she’ll need three more days to recuperate. Her shoulder will be sore for a week, but I’ll give her therapy and it will be as good as new,” he continued. “Another wonderful feat of medical miracles by your friendly Voyager Doctor,” he beamed as he continued to congratulate himself.

“Thank you Doctor,” Chakotay responded with a smile as he fed the Doctor’s ego. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.” And at that moment as he touched Kathryn’s pale cheek he really and truly meant it.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

“Come-on Celeste, it wasn’t your fault,” Billy pleaded. “You’ve been crying for hours, you have to stop.”

“I (hic) can’t (hic),” Celeste sobbed. “I almost got her killed (hic). I fell (hic) and she came back for me, then when that alien was going to shoot me (hic) she jumped between us and took the shot that was meant for me (hic). So you see (hic, hic), it was my fault. Because of me (hic) Voyager almost lost its captain (hic) and I almost (hic) lost a friend.. It was my fault (hic).”

“No it wasn’t,” Billy patted her back as he held her against his now soaked shoulder. “It was an accident and now it’s over and she’s going to be OK. How were we to know that those aliens could phase shift and move in and out of phase at will. We never knew they were there. Starfleet never encountered a race of beings capable of doing that before so none of us could possibly have known how to detect them. Besides, taking care of their crew is what captains do, and ours is one of the best,” he continued to reassure Celeste. “It’s her duty to look out for us, and I’m glad that she looked out for you.”

Celeste looked up at him through her red and swollen eyes. “Really, Billy? You’re glad?”

“You bet,” Billy smiled at her as he softly kissed her cheek.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Two days later Voyager left orbit of the planet and continued on her journey. No more signs of the out-of-phase aliens were discovered, and the Voyager teams were able to restock Voyager’s dwindling supplies. Kathryn Janeway was released from sickbay and allowed to return to her quarters. Chakotay accompanied her since Tuvok offered to take his duty shift so he could “make sure the Captain follows the Doctor’s orders and rests”.

“Maybe that Vulcan isn’t so bad after all,” he joked with Kathryn as they entered her quarters. She was still very weak and pale, and she still hurt, but she had made good progress toward recovery while she was in sickbay. “I’ll cook dinner and you rest, then I’ll briefly bring you up to date on ship’s business.”

Kathryn only smiled. “You’re trying to keep me from reading reports. But dinner sounds wonderful, especially if you’re cooking. Doctor Deprivation only serves broth and NO coffee. I even begged and he only smiled. One of these days I’m going to reprogram him into a coffee addict and then we’ll see what he serves in sickbay,” she threatened, “and I’m going to wipe that smug smile off his face.”

Chakotay only smiled. He knew Kathryn was still mad at the Doctor because of the therapy. The coffee, too of course, but especially the therapy since it was painful and not something she could conquer easily. He knew she hated to show that she was in pain, but the Doctor persevered through all of her threats and Kathryn had to finish the painful therapy. The ‘it’s all for your own good’ didn’t win the Doctor any brownie points.

Chakotay only shrugged as he gave it further thought. She had to do it again twice tomorrow and then every day until her shoulder was back to normal. He began to really fear for the Doctor’s well being. Kathryn was a very skilled programmer and he was starting to wonder just how far she would really go with this threat to reprogram him, especially if her shoulder didn’t get better fast. He then wondered what a coffee-deprived Doctor would be like since the Doctor didn’t eat or drink except to be sociable.

“You know Chakotay, this mission had something really good come from it, not counting the abundant supplies we got,” Kathryn stated as she settled herself on the sofa, being careful of her sore shoulder.

“What’s that,” he responded as he worked on their dinner, forgetting for the moment about the Doctor.

“I know what to do with Crewman Tal Celeste. I finally found something that she does well and really enjoys. I know where her place on Voyager is and that’s in hydroponics. She’s a natural with plants and has a knack for knowing what to do with them. I’m transferring her to hydroponics full-time. Seven will be glad to be rid of her and Celeste will be glad to be away from Seven. It’s perfect,” she sighed contentedly as she watched Chakotay.

“That smells wonderful,” she smiled as her stomach rumbled to let her know she hadn’t really eaten in almost four days.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Three months later Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay entered hydroponics and were amazed to hear Celeste singing to her plants. She had taken over the whole hydroponics operation and performed miracles with the plants. She was happy, the plants were happy, and the crew of Voyager was happy with the fresh food Celeste was able to provide for their dining pleasure. But no one was happier than Captain Janeway because Celeste no longer doubted herself and had turned into a confident member of the crew who knew she was contributing to the good of Voyager.

“Captain, Commander, over here,” she called to them as they finally spotted her among some of the taller plants. “I have a gift for you.”

Celeste led them down a path that ran among thick trees and vines. Flowers were abundant and fragrant, and it smelled clean and fresh in this corner of hydroponics.

Celeste moved between Kathryn and Chakotay, taking one of their arms in each of hers. “Close your eyes and move with me. No peeking,” she ordered as she led them a few more feet down the path. “OK, open your eyes,” she ordered as she halted their progress and stepped away from between them.

The both gasped in pleasure as they opened their eyes. “My gift to you for saving my life and for giving me a purpose for that life,” Celeste smiled at them. “This place is for you only, whenever you want to come here. I’ll tend the plants, but nobody else knows about it and I won’t let anyone else use it. It’s yours. A place for the two of you to be truly alone on Voyager.”

“Thank you Celeste,” Janeway smiled as she hugged Celeste. “It’s lovely,” she cried as she took in the beautiful waterfall Celeste had created, surrounded by trees and fragrant flowers. A bench for two was positioned in the grassy area surrounding the waterfall where they could picnic if they wanted to, or just lay in the grass. The way Celeste had positioned everything made the area look much larger than it really was. There were even small fish in the pond at the base of the waterfall.

“Thanks Celeste,” Chakotay echoed. “You have quite a talent,” he continued to praise.

Celeste beamed.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Voyager continued its journey toward home, and as time passed their supplies again dwindled. The Delta Quadrant seemed to have much longer distances between systems than the Alpha Quadrant and planets that met their needs seemed few and far between.

B’Elanna reported they were again low on minerals and metals that were needed to keep the systems running. Even though Tal Celeste grew their fresh fruits and vegetables, it wasn’t enough to feed the crew three meals a day seven days a week. They needed more than just fruit and vegetables, and Voyager needed the raw materials to keep the replicators working.

“We have to find supplies soon,” Kathryn reported to Chakotay as they were going over departmental reports. “We’re dangerously low on beryllium and pergium and we need raw materials to run the replicators and provide energy for the systems. Seven needs base elements for Astronomics to modify the communication system to the specs Starfleet sent. Every department seems to need something and there’s nothing in sight,” she sighed as she leaned her weary body back into her desk chair.

“Harry’s trying to extend the sensors to give us an additional five light years,” Chakotay responded. “It’s not much, but every little bit helps. We’ll have to again cut back on replicator rations and shut down the holodecks for twelve hours a day instead of six.”

“Keep me posted,” she replied as she picked up another padd and started to read. “I’ll meet you for lunch at 0100,” she smiled as she looked up at him and added, “dismissed.”

“See you then,” Chakotay smiled as he left.

Seven days later the extended sensors detected a solar system that looked more than promising. The closer they approached the better it looked and everyone was almost holding their breath hoping they would find at least some of the supplies they were now so desperate for.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Finally Voyager was approaching the solar system they had been scanning for the past seven days and it appeared to be more than they hoped for. The planet was rich in plant life with only primitive humanoid and animal life in residence. Minerals and metals were abundant and only needed to be mined, and best of all there was no sign of any advanced intelligent life in the whole solar system. They would be able to remain undetected. But after their last experience with the “perfect planet” they were naturally wary.

“It looks like we can claim what we need and not offend anyone,” Captain Janeway announced as she lifted her eyes from the scanners. They had been scanning and re-scanning constantly as they neared the solar system. “We should be able to get at least some of almost everything we need.”

”Tuvok, you take your team to the second planet from the star which we targeted for the heaviest concentrations of minerals. B’Elanna will be able to determine what to mine first. My team will take a shuttle and head for the area nearest the western shore of the largest continent on the third planet. That area of the planet has the largest variety of plant life and we should be able to find enough to keep us supplied for quite some time. Any questions?” she asked as everyone nodded their understanding. “We should be close enough to drop from warp. Drop to impulse Mr. Paris,” she ordered.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

“Captain, sensors are detecting an energy force directly ahead of us, and impact will occur in 25 seconds”, Harry Kim urgently cried. “It appeared suddenly with no warning and is hardly registering on our sensors, but it’s there!!”

“Red alert - shields up. Tom, all stop immediately. On screen. What kind of energy field?” Captain Kathryn Janeway questioned rising from her seat. “What is it and what is its composition? Does it appear threatening? Why didn’t we detect it before now?”

Her people all sprung into action with the efficiency of a well oiled machine. She gave them all a few seconds to react before a look directed at Harry elicited his response.

“Unknown,” Harry answered. “I have never seen anything like this before. It’s almost like it’s alive and a barrier to the star system we’re approaching. I can detect traces of oxygen, methane and hydrogen, but some of the elements of its composition are unknown to our databases, yet it acts like it knows what it’s doing. It seems to be moving to block wherever moves we make. Captain, it acts like it’s aware of us.”

“Commander Chakotay, what do you make of this?” asked Captain Janeway of her First Officer. “Do you think it was placed here to defend this star system, or do you think it might be alive? Could we contact it if it’s sentient?”

“From its placement between us and the system and due to the fact that it only appeared when we approached the system, I could believe either to be true,” Chakotay answered. “Its moves seem to be protective and it seems to be waiting for us to make the next move, so maybe we should hail it or whoever placed it here.”

Janeway nodded at Chakotay and gave him a small smile. She knew she could count on him to put things in perspective and she agreed with his analysis.

“Tuvok, assuming there’s intelligence here, hail the energy field, broadcasting on all frequencies,” the Captain ordered. “Keep the shields at maximum but do not charge phasers. I don’t want to appear threatening.”

“Hailing on all frequencies Captain,” Tuvok stated.

Suddenly the bridge was engulfed in a foggy blue light and a yellow focused beam started moving to touch the bridge crew, one by one. Nobody who was touched appeared to be effected in any way. “Stand still everyone, it doesn’t seem to be hurting us,” Janeway ordered.

“How did this get through our shields?” Janeway demanded of Tuvok.

“Unknown, Captain,” he answered with all of his Vulcan calm, “it’s not even registering as a disturbance in the shield frequencies and our sensors do not detect its presence at all. I believe this to be scanning us, but our sensors can’t detect it.”

Tuvok continued to work frantically at his console trying to get the data his Captain needed as most of the rest of the bridge crew looked nervously at the beam. They fidgeted as it touched them, but otherwise followed their Captain’s orders and remained still.

The beam continued to move from person to person among the bridge crew, but did not hurt them in any way. The whole crew managed to stay amazingly calm considering what was happening. Captain Janeway continued to move around the bridge issuing orders. “Don’t move, anyone. As long as it doesn’t hurt us we’ll let it continue to scan. I don’t think we could stop it anyway. Tuvok, keep the shields up and continue to analyze the beam. Harry, try to find out what this scan is looking for and where it’s coming from. I want to.....”

Suddenly the beam touched Captain Janeway and she gasped in the middle of her orders. With a pop and a flash of light she and the beam disappeared.

“She’s gone!” Chakotay frantically cried as he lunged for her. “Harry, see if you can trace the beam and find out where the Captain is. Has anyone else on the ship been taken? Was that some kind of transporter beam? Scan the planets and see if you can find her.” Truly agitated and fearful for Kathryn’s safety Chakotay inquired, “Tuvok, can we move toward the energy field and get any better readings?”

“We can try,” Tuvok stated, “but I don’t know if this will provoke the field to take any action. We might cause it to harm the Captain if we appear threatening in any way”.

“Commander, nobody else is missing and I can’t trace the beam. It seems to have disappeared and our scans won’t penetrate through the energy field to find the Captain,” Harry stated dejectedly. He could see the panic taking hold of the Commander, and knew his own panic was starting to match. The rest of the bridge crew were working frantically at their stations, all hoping for any sign of their Captain.

“We have to do something to find her quickly,” Chakotay ordered. “She could be dead or hurt or taken captive. Tom, move us forward slowly and see if we get any response.”

Tom slowly moved Voyager toward the energy field taking care not to appear threatening in any way. The closer they got, the more the field seemed to turn red in color - a warning for Voyager to stop. “All stop,” Chakotay ordered unsure what do to next. “Why did they take her?” he asked of nobody in particular.

“Commander, you must realize that the captain of any ship is always the primary target for anyone either threatening or trying to understand an unknown alien vessel,” Tuvok stated since no one else was responding to the Commander. “While I, too, am concerned for Captain Janeway, perhaps the best course of action would be to wait here until we get some signal to proceed. If the energy being does have the Captain, chances are it would not hurt her if it was trying to find out about us or this ship. Otherwise it could have destroyed us immediately.”

“Maybe,” Chakotay said, “but I’m still worried.” Not a single soul on the bridge doubted that for they all understood the relationship between the Captain and her First Officer. Silently he had everyone’s sympathy because they all liked and respected their Captain.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Kathryn Janeway was suddenly again aware. She was not aware of not being aware, but she remembered being on the bridge, then nothing, then being here. She hadn’t yet decided where here was, but she seemed to be OK and sitting on the ground surrounded by the same kind of blue fog that was on Voyager’s bridge.

“Hello,” she called tentatively as she tried to understand her situation. “Is anyone here?” Standing up she attempted to see through the fog and tried to use her other senses in her effort to determine her whereabouts. She already determined that wherever this place was, she had never been anywhere remotely like this.

This place was definitely damp and spooky with fog floating everywhere. Visibility was limited to approximately ten feet and the ground under foot seemed to be spongy. Strange noises of undetermined lifeforms were everywhere. The dense forest of trees had moss hanging in long strands floating from their black branches. Without any weapons or her tricorder, Kathryn had to rely on her instincts, which were presently screaming that she would rather be back aboard Voyager than stuck in this unknown scenario.

“Hello,” she called again but still got no answer. Deciding that sitting on the ground was getting her nowhere, Kathryn rose and moved ahead, using her hands to feel her way among the moss and trees in places where the fog was especially thick and visibility all but non-existent. Some of the trees and bushes were rough and sharp, and it wasn’t long before her hands were raw and bleeding, and several times she fell over a rock or fallen tree. She was dirty, tired and hurting and was dismayed when she once fell into a cold puddle of water. “Some impression I’ll make if I ever find anyone,” she whispered out loud as she squeezed the excess water out of one of her pant legs. For over an hour she groped her way around not knowing if she was getting anywhere and not finding anyone, when she heard a low growl.

Suddenly alert, she backed up against a large tree so nothing could attack her from the back, all the while looking for something to use as a weapon. The growls were getting very close when she spied a rock sliver that looked sharp and strong enough to use as a weapon if needed. Grabbing the rock, she also saw a fallen tree branch that she was able to break off to use as a club. Having these weapons made her feel a little better, but not much. Right now she would give a lot just to have her phaser and the ability to scan to see what she was facing.

It burst from the trees very suddenly, coming for her faster than she could ever have thought possible considering its bulk. Possibly the ugliest being she ever saw and definitely one of the most frightening, it came directly for her. When it was almost upon her Kathryn quickly ducked around the tree shielding her back, and the creature missed her with its reaching clawed arms. She was able to see it more clearly as it passed, and this frightened her. If ever there was a living being more closely resembling the ugly gargoyles she saw in books as a child, she couldn’t imagine where it might be. Its face was hideous and distorted and it looked like it would be very much at home in Hell.

The creature turned and located her again with its beady red eyes that looked out from its black and scaly wrinkled skin. Well over seven feet tall and easily 500 pounds with a basic humanoid shape, she had to look up to study it. With no hair on its black wrinkled head, its eyes seemed very small and spaced very far apart. Quickly realizing that this creature could not see well while looking straight ahead, Kathryn moved to stay directly in front of it.

Turning its head in an effort to find its prey, the creature spied Kathryn and charged. Kathryn moved quickly to get in front of the creature, and when it was almost upon her she dived behind another tree and the creature again charged past her unable to alter its course and growling its frustration. “Go away,” Kathryn shouted at the creature not really thinking that it could understand her.

Even though the creature was large and fast for its bulk, Kathryn realized that she was much more agile. Coupled with the creature’s inability to see directly ahead, Kathryn concluded that she would be able to evade it indefinitely, but her foremost desire was to escape altogether. She knew she would tire more quickly than the creature and she wanted to be out of its range before she reached that point. In fact, she was already exhausted and hurting from her long walk and numerous falls, so getting away was her top priority.

Intrusively she heard someone speaking in her thoughts. “Stay still and let me catch you and I will kill you quickly and mercifully. I can outlast you easily.”

“Did you speak to me?” Kathryn asked the creature. “If so, why are you trying to kill me? I have no fight with you. We come in peace and we’re only trying to get home. All my crew and I want is to pass by this star system and possibly negotiate for some food supplies. Are you able to understand me and can we talk?”

“NO,” the creature growled in her thoughts. “We don’t want contact with aggressive beings and I’m trying to protect my own. I will kill you and destroy your ship to protect my people from aggressors like you.”

Kathryn had been studying the creature the whole time it was stalking her and wondering how she could make it understand her situation. Just as she was about to speak, the creature again charged. Gripping her club with both hands she stepped into the creature’s blind spot. When it was almost upon her Kathryn swung the club with all the power of her once famous tennis backhand and clubbed the creature on the part of its leg that she believed to be its knee.

Roaring in pain the creature fell just short of crashing into Kathryn who scrambled to get out of its way, grasping its leg and rocking the ground because of its bulk. Quickly jumping onto its shoulder to keep it immobile, she was able to place the point of her rock knife against the soft part of the creature’s skull right behind its ear. She knew her slight weight wouldn’t hold the creature down for long, so she leveraged her rock knife against its flesh hoping to get its attention as she shifted all her weight to its shoulder and head. Her fear told her to kill the creature, but her mind understood why it was defending its own kind and she did not like killing anything for any reason. She knew she would be just as defensive of her ship and crew if they were in danger.

“Now listen to me and listen good because I know you understand me,” she barked to the creature. “I don’t want to hurt or kill you, but I will if I must. We’re not aggressors, but explorers, and were brought into this part of space against our will. We are only trying to get home. We would prefer to get to know you, to make contact, trade ideas and purchase supplies, and if necessary we will leave having done none of these things, but I will not let you hurt my ship or crew if there is anything I can do to stop you. I am their protector, but I choose not to kill you if possible. Will you listen to me?”

Suddenly the creature disappeared right from under her hands as if dissipated into thin air. Alone again and overcome by exhaustion, Kathryn sank to the ground confused as awareness again left her.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

On the bridge of Voyager, Commander Chakotay was getting very agitated. “Why haven’t we heard something by now? It’s been two hours. Harry, have you been able to adjust the sensors to scan through this barrier? How long can the Captain stay alive out there? There can be no atmosphere in the energy barrier, and if she’s on one of the planets she might be captive.”

“Commander,” stated Tuvok calmly, “we can now scan through the barrier. Mr. Kim has adjusted sensors and I can find no trace of the Captain on any of the three Class M planets in this system. We will have to wait until whatever has her decides to contact us.”

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

As awareness slowly returned, Kathryn Janeway realized that she was in a different place than before. Her body still ached and she was still exhausted, but her cuts and bruises were gone and her uniform was dry and clean. She appeared to be lying on the ledge of a fairly narrow trail leading up from the bottom of a small canyon. The canyon was about one hundred feet deep from top to bottom with sloping sides, and she was about forty feet below the top of the canyon wall. There were loose reddish rocks all around, but the trail seemed solid and the sides of the canyon seem to be made out of red shale. Sparse greenish-yellow vegetation, as well as numerous trees and shrubs were growing from the canyon walls. As she rose and moved toward the top to get out of the canyon, she noticed a small cave in the canyon wall from which was coming the sound of someone crying.

Entering the small cave Captain Janeway spied what appeared to be a young girl clutching a doll. The girl, who appeared to be about five or six years old, was crying dejectedly. She was humanoid in appearance, and looked almost human with only a few differences in her facial features. “Hello,” Janeway offered to the child, “can I help you?”

The child, upon hearing Janeway’s voice, turned her tear-stained face toward the Captain. Janeway saw a lovely child with long brown hair and deep brown eyes. “Please don’t be frightened,” she said, “I won’t hurt you. Are you lost? What is your name? Mine is Kathryn.”

The little girl turned her big brown eyes toward Kathryn. “My name is Maya and my baby is hungry. I don’t know what to do for her or how to feed her. Can you help me?” Maya moved to be closer to the Captain.

“I’ll try,” said Janeway. She felt very sorry for Maya being alone in this strange place and would like to help her. “How did you get here and are you alone? Do you know where we are? I’m lost too.”

“Please,” Maya said, “my baby is hungry.”

“She’s just a doll,” Kathryn offered, “so she can wait to eat until we get you home, but first we have to worry about you. Are you hungry?”

“No,” Maya said, “I’m not hungry but my baby is. Do you hear her crying?”

Kathryn did, in fact, hear soft crying coming from the doll. As she glanced down she was horrified to see a live and moving face embedded in the doll’s body and one hand was moving. “Oh!” she cried in alarm. “Maya, what is this?”

“My baby,” Maya cried. “Please feed her or she’ll starve. I don’t know how. How would you feed her if she were yours? How does your kind make and feed your babies?”

This last question alerted Kathryn and she suddenly felt a cold knot in the pit of her stomach. This obviously was no human child and no human baby ever looked like Maya’s child. But why was she here and why was she asking these questions? Was it some kind of test? Did her species want to know more about humans? Kathryn chose to answer Maya’s questions.

“Since I have no baby of my own, my body can’t feed your baby. If I could get back to my ship I could get something to feed her, but there is nothing here in this place for her. I see nothing growing that would serve as food for you or her, or for me for that matter unless you and your baby are of an alien species that can eat something here that I can’t. What species are you and where do you come from?” Kathryn softly asked as she knelt down beside Maya gently putting her hand on Maya’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you have a child?” Maya asked refusing to be sidetracked. “You’re very pretty.”

“Because I have never taken a mate,” Kathryn answered not totally understanding why she was telling Maya all of this. She still felt sorry for her. “I sincerely hope to someday have a mate and children, but my life has been so busy and I have so much responsibility that there never seems to be enough time to develop a relationship. Every time I begin to think this might be happening for me, something happens that prevents it. When the time is right for me, I’ll try to have these things.”

“Is there anyone for you now?” Maya asked.

“When I left on this mission there was someone I loved very much,” answered Kathryn. “But that was a long time ago and he has moved on with his life and is no longer waiting for me since we’ve been gone so long. There is now someone on my ship who I love very much, and he loves me too. We’ve been taking our relationship slowly since we’re in a unique situation, but within the last six months we have become very close and he wants me for his mate. None of us know what fate has in store for us. Right now we’re focused on trying to get home and we’re building our relationship slowly.”

“How about you?” Kathryn asked. “How did you come to have a baby since you seem so young? Do you have someone you love?”

“I don’t know,” Maya answered reaching out her arms to Kathryn. “I am so lonely.”

Kathryn felt strong compassion for Maya and hugged her close gently stroking her hair. “I wish I could help you.”

“You already have,” answered Maya, who suddenly disappeared from Kathryn’s arms into thin air, just like the creature in the forest.

Realizing that she was now alone in the cave, Kathryn Janeway moved to leave. She left the cave and walked onto the trail leading up toward the top of the canyon. She had gone only a few feet when the ledge suddenly crumbled under her feet and she felt herself falling down the slope toward the bottom of the canyon accompanied by numerous rocks and pieces of bushes and trees that had been growing among the rocks. Before she could attempt to grab at anything, she impacted a large piece of a tree trunk and pain erupted in her right ribs knocking the breath out of her. She knew that some of her ribs were bruised or broken and frantically tried to protect them.

As she continued to slide and tumble down the slope her left shoulder impacted a rock protrusion and the pain that erupted was intense as her upper left arm was broken. Her tumble continued until she reached the bottom where her head impacted the ground and her world went dark.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

The crew of Voyager had been able to view Captain Janeway’s encounter with the creature via an unknown transmission that they were able to capture and show on the viewscreen. The crew, and especially Chakotay, watched in horror as the creature stalked Kathryn and then attacked her. They cheered when she defeated the creature and were glad when she spared its life, although many wondered if they personally could have been so generous to something so ugly that was threatening their lives. They were very proud of their Captain for what she did and how she did it.

Chakotay was proud of Kathryn, but he was also very worried. Everyone knew that he loved her and they had also come to realize that she loved him too and that their relationship had grown by leaps and bounds over the past few months. Many suspected that they had become lovers, which in fact they had, and Chakotay treasured every minute he spent with her. Their love was growing day-by-day but his protective instincts were now in full force and he wanted nothing more than to be by her side to give her his support. They still hadn’t been able to find where she was, although the whole crew had been working diligently since she disappeared.

The view screen on the bridge of Voyager suddenly changed to show the crew a picture of Captain Janeway talking to then hugging a young girl. The girl then disappeared and the angle changed to show the Captain coming out of a cave located in a wall of rock. Even though they still had no idea where this picture was coming from, they knew it was not being provided by Voyager’s computer. The crew continued to watch as she started up the rock trail toward the top of the canyon, and they watched in horror as the trail collapsed and she fell and slid down the side of the canyon. They were able to see her impact the tree, the rock protrusion and see her land on the ground at the base of the canyon. Once the dust accompanying her fall cleared away, they were able to see her lying there hurt and unconscious.

“Kathryn!!” Chakotay cried. “Harry, try to get a fix on her. She’s hurt and needs help now! Do you have any idea where she might be?”

“Negative, Commander,” Harry answered. Having to give this answer to Chakotay hurt him, but hard as he tried he just couldn’t find her “I can’t trace her combadge and I still can’t detect her lifesigns on any of the planets we’re scanning.”

“Commander, we’re being pulled toward the energy barrier,” Tom Paris finally announced as Chakotay paced the floor of the bridge looking anywhere for answers as to Kathryn’s whereabouts. “The ship is not under our control and I can’t stop it.”

Suddenly the blue fog and beam again appeared on the bridge of Voyager. Again it started touching the crew, one by one. The beam moved to each of the members of the bridge crew, finally to Tuvok, Tom Paris, B’Elanna Torres then Harry Kim. When the beam touched Chakotay, he disappeared. Voyager stopped its forward motion and stood still in space, still over 1,000,000 kilometers from the energy barrier.

Tuvok quickly queried Voyager’s computer, “has anyone other than Commander Chakotay been removed from Voyager?”

The reply quickly came, “Captain Kathryn Janeway and Crewman Tal Celeste are no longer on board.”

“Celeste,” softly whispered Kim.

“Ensign Kim, do the scanners indicate where Crewman Tal Celeste and Commander Chakotay might have gone?” Tuvok asked. “No,” answered Harry Kim, “just like with Captain Janeway, they just disappeared and no matter where I scan I can’t find them.”

“The energy barrier again turned red on the viewscreen. I assume we’re just supposed to wait,” stated Tuvok sounding as unsure as a Vulcan could sound. “If the Captain were here she would no doubt say that her patience was wearing thin. I wish she were here. Fortunately we can again see her on the viewscreen, but she is no longer at the bottom of the canyon.”

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Captain Janeway slowly realized that she was again aware. She almost wished she wasn’t, because this time being aware was very painful. Her ribs and shoulder were throbbing with pain and her head felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer. She felt the blood running down the side of her face from the place on her forehead where her head impacted and movement made her feel dizzy, but she slowly moved into a sitting position. Even though she was dusty from her fall, she was no longer on the floor of the canyon but in another place unlike any of the others. This place was just a place - no trees, caves, rocks or anything but a hard floor and the same blue fog.

The blue fog was all around, but thinner, and a human body was lying a few feet away from her. The male body was dressed in a Starfleet uniform and it was very familiar. The Captain was able to painfully drag herself to the body and found to her dismay that it was Chakotay. He was obviously dead but there were no indications of why he died. There wasn’t a mark on his body. “Why? Why you Chakotay?” she cried in agony over his body. “Why are you doing this to us?” she cried as she lifted her head looking for an answer. Carefully Kathryn gathered Chakotay’s head and shoulders into her lap.

“Kathryn,” a deep voice thundered from the fog, “you have a choice. I will either heal your damaged body so you will never know you were hurt, or I will give you the life of your crewman. The choice is yours.”

“Restore Chakotay,” Kathryn stated with conviction and without hesitation. “I will either die or live with whatever you have done to me, but I will not allow you to hurt or kill any of my crew if I can help it. I will pay with my life if necessary, but restore Chakotay. I have chosen and my choice is final.” Kathryn could hardly move for the pain she was in, but she managed to hold Chakotay tighter and leaned over him in concern and fear.

Chakotay realized that he was lying somewhere unknown, and he slowly became aware that he could not move. In fact, he couldn’t feel himself breathing, but he could faintly discern voices in the distance. Making an effort to understand what they were saying, he was finally able to distinguish Kathryn’s voice and it sounded like she was in severe pain. It took a only a minute before he was able to distinguish what was being said between Kathryn and the unknown entity, and once he understood he tried his hardest to respond. ‘Noooooo,’ he thought but couldn’t speak out loud. ‘Kathryn, don’t do this, I couldn’t live without you,’ he thought, but he still couldn’t move although he did know that his head was in her lap. ‘Don’t sacrifice yourself for me. I love you so,’ he thought.

Suddenly Chakotay’s eyes opened and he looked up at Kathryn who was shakily leaning over him with tears and concern for him in her eyes. Her pain was evident and there was blood all over her forehead. He now fully realized what happened, and as he moved to reach up to help her the world around them dissolved and he found himself sitting at his station back aboard Voyager.

Kathryn realized that her arms and lap were empty as awareness once again deserted her.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

“Commander, do you know where you were?” Tuvok inquired. “Do you have any idea where the Captain might be? We still can’t locate her.”

“No,” stated Chakotay still confused, “I was here, then I wasn’t, then I was lying on that ground with my head in her lap and was able to sense and hear the Captain, but I wasn’t able to move at all until she chose to save me rather than herself. She was hurt and I tried to reach out to help her but couldn’t. Then I was back here, and I feel fine. It almost felt like an out-of-body experience, like it really was me, but not me.”

As Tuvok and the rest of the bridge crew watched in horror on the ship’s view screen, Captain Janeway’s body was lying on the ground where she had been holding Chakotay. She was again unconscious, but slowly at first, then more intensely her body began shaking uncontrollably.

“She’s having seizures,” Chakotay cried as he rose from his seat to look at the view screen, “Harry, can’t you find her?”

Harry dejectedly had to answer, “No, I’m sorry Commander, but there’s no sign of her and Celeste is missing too.”

“Celeste?” Chakotay repeated. “This just has to be a test.”

“I concur,” Tuvok confirmed, “but I am unsure why she is being tested.”

“Probably because she’s the Captain and they’re judging us all by her reactions,” Chakotay continued. “But they’re killing her and there’s nothing we can do,” he moaned as he dropped back into his chair to wait for whatever was to happen next.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

When awareness again returned Kathryn realized that her physical injuries were worse than before and she also realized through a haze of pain that she was back in the place where she saw Chakotay. She had never felt this much pain before and wasn’t sure she could focus her mind beyond the pain to make another choice. She couldn’t even raise her head to look around, and seizures frequently made her body shake.

“What do you want of me,” she whispered to the entity that obviously brought her here.

“Kathryn,” the voice boomed, “you must make one more choice.” Slowly and painfully she found the strength to pull herself into a sitting position where she was able to see another Starfleet body lying close to her and she recognized her immediately. “Celeste,” she weakly cried, “oh no, not you. Why?”

“You must chose between this woman, and yourself,” the entity boomed. “I must warn you before you make your choice that your injuries are very severe and some of them probably can’t be healed. You may find yourself crippled or dead if your medical technology can’t help you. On the other hand, your crew member is dead. I will either heal you completely or restore her life. The choice is yours.”

“Restore Celeste’s life,” she whispered since she didn’t have the strength to raise her voice. “I won’t let you kill my crew for your sick little tests. Kill me if you must, but let my ship and crew go.”

Suddenly Celeste’s eyes popped open and she quickly got her bearings and sat up. “Captain,” she cried as she moved to Kathryn’s side and reached out to her, “what have they done to you?”

“They’re testing me by making me choose between myself and the members of my crew,” Kathryn replied softly as tremors continued to shake her body, “but I WILL NOT LET THEM KILL MY CREW.” That response seemed to take all the strength that Kathryn had left and she slumped into Celeste’s arms, still conscious but unable to move or speak.

Celeste took a minute to gently brush Kathryn’s hair out of her face before she carefully laid her back onto the ground. She slowly stood and raised her head as she prepared herself to speak.

“If you can hear me I want you to punish me instead of my Captain,” Celeste announced with pride and determination in her voice. “I should have a say in this matter and I won’t let you kill my Captain. She has done so much for me by giving me a purpose for my life and for helping me to find that life. I won’t let you kill her when you can take me instead. I’ve done so little for her in return for all that she’s given me, but this is my chance to repay her and I want to do this. This is something that I can do and I can do right. Please save her,” she implored as she raised her arms over her head beseechingly.

“Take me,” she whispered as she lowered her head and arms and sank to her knees beside Kathryn.

Kathryn heard everything Celeste said even though she couldn’t move or speak. ‘Noooooo,’ resounded in her head as she heard Celeste offer herself, and pride in Celeste’s courage echoed throughout her mind. ‘Please noooooo Celeste,’ she thought as blackness descended on her.

With a flash of light both the Captain and Tal Celeste vanished from Voyager’s view screen.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

In sickbay Billy Telfer was watching the computer screen which was transmitting the alien transmission throughout the entire ship. He spent several duty shifts a week helping the Doctor in sickbay since he had quite a bit of medical knowledge. Suddenly there was a sudden burst of light and a body was lying on the sickbay floor. Billy quickly ran to investigate.

“Doctor, come quickly,” he shouted. “It’s the Captain and she’s badly injured.”

Together they carefully carried her to the nearest biobed trying very hard not to jostle her any more than was necessary, and they slowly laid her down on it. She was regaining consciousness and was obviously in terrible pain but valiantly trying not to show it. Her body continued to convulse. As the Doctor quickly grabbed a tricorder he tapped his combadge. “Commander Chakotay and Lt. Paris, you’d better get to sickbay right away.”

“Acknowledged,” was the quick reply. In less than two minutes the doors to sickbay burst open and Chakotay ran in with Tom Paris in hot pursuit. Tom quickly took his place beside Billy, ready to help the Doctor.

The relief on Chakotay’s face when he saw it was Kathryn lying there was obvious, but he turned to Billy and asked, “did Celeste get back?”

“No,” was Billy’s sad answer as he and Tom continued to hand the Doctor the items he asked for.

“How is she?” Chakotay asked the Doctor who only looked at him briefly before his attention returned to Kathryn. “I don’t know yet. She‘s critically injured. I can hopefully repair the broken bones and internal injuries and stop the bleeding, but some kind of brain imbalance was induced which caused the seizures and I’m not yet sure how to correct the imbalance.”

Kathryn was existing in a pain-induced fog, and the Doctor had already injected her with painkillers and a sedative, but she was able to recognize Chakotay’s worried voice. “Chakotay, are you all right?” she tried to whisper, but the words would hardly come. Chakotay tried his hardest not to cry as he took her uninjured hand in his and brought it to his lips.

“Hang in there Kathryn,” he whispered. “You’re safe and the Doctor is here. You saved my life and most likely the lives of the rest of the crew. I’m here with you and I won’t leave. Please be OK,” he pleaded.

“Celeste?” she again softly whispered.

“She didn’t come back,” he had to tell her even though it was very hard to do. He watched as a single tear fell from each of her eyes and ran down the sides of her face. Slowly her eyes closed and the comforting blanket of unconsciousness embraced her.

The Doctor continued to scan her with his medical tricorder as he, Tom and Billy worked to repair the damage to her body. It took well over two hours until her broken bones and internal injuries were treated, but the imbalance in her brain’s chemistry still wasn’t resolved. The Doctor had worked up a combination of drugs and electrical impulses that he was in the process of setting up, but he couldn’t say for certain that this would cure her.

“I’m not leaving,” Chakotay informed the Doctor before he could even voice the request for him to leave. “She saved our lives and almost lost hers so I’m staying right here. Besides, I love her,” he softly whispered to the Doctor who only nodded.

“I know,” the Doctor stated with sincere sympathy in his voice. “The entity broadcast its test of the Captain’s choices to all the computer screens on board the ship. Everyone on board who had access to a screen knows what happened, including the monster, the little girl, Celeste and you,” he told Chakotay. “What we don’t know is what will happen next. Whatever it is, the Captain is in no condition to help us and won’t be for some time. And that’s provided that this treatment works.” He continued to set up the equipment that would administer his treatment.

“Chakotay to Tuvok,” Chakotay stated after tapping his combadge, “the Captain is still being treated and I’ll let you know how she is as soon as the Doctor is done. I’ll be staying here with her until further notice. Keep me posted on what’s happening and keep looking for Celeste. Let me know if you find anything.”

“Acknowledged,” Tuvok replied. “At the present time nothing is happening and we’re holding position near the energy barrier. The barrier is still red in color so we will not approach any closer.”

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Several more hours passed, and the Doctor, Tom and Billy had been working steadily on Kathryn to stabilize the brain imbalance and stop the convulsions. The treatment was finally starting to make a difference and the tremors were decreasing in length and intensity. The worried Chakotay was still keeping his vigil and the Captain was still asleep.

Finally the Doctor approached Chakotay with news. “Another medical miracle is happening,” he boasted. “Her brain’s chemical and electrical balances are stabilizing and she should make a full recovery. Because of the severity of her injuries it will be some time until she’s back to normal, but she should be just fine. Plus, the length of time that she suffered the convulsions left her very weak and she will need time to heal. Again I’ve pulled our intrepid Captain from the brink of death,” he continued to boast as he puffed out his chest and smiled.

“Thank you,” was all Chakotay could manage as the tears ran down his face.

“Don’t thank me yet,” the Doctor continued. “She will need at least two weeks to recuperate, maybe more until she is as good as new. Knowing the Captain as I do, she will be very impatient with this. I may need your help in the persuasion department,” the Doctor explained to Chakotay. “I’ll also need you to protect my program as I’m sure she’ll threaten to reprogram me before I can release her for duty. You will protect my program won’t you? Just imagine how I would look with purple hair or six arms.”

“Of course,” Chakotay smiled knowing that Kathryn always threatened the Doctor to get her own way, but would never hurt him. She cared too much for him and proved it time after time. The Doctor knew it too, but liked the game as much as Kathryn did.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

“There’s still no sign of her,” Harry Kim reported to Tuvok as he continued to scan the barrier for any sign of Tal Celeste. “I’ve tried everything but I just can’t get any readings on her.”

“Acknowledged,” Tuvok responded as he quietly ran his own scan. All the crew of Voyager had been truly moved by Celeste’s sacrifice and wanted desperately to retrieve her. They just couldn’t accept that she might be dead. She had become quite popular over the past few months since she started growing fruits and vegetables for their consumption. Whenever Neelix served something truly awful, they knew they could count on Celeste to have something edible.

The fact that she was willing to give up her life to save their Captain made her a hero in their eyes. Most all of the crew of Voyager would be willing to sacrifice their own lives for their Captain’s, but none of them ever had to face the reality of choosing before now. Most wondered if they would be as brave as Celeste.

Billy had been hit hardest since he and Celeste had become so much closer. He was falling in love with her and had hopes for their future. They had never actually talked much about it, but a lot of hugs, moral boosting on both of their parts, and a few stolen kisses were promising to lead further. But now he wondered if they would ever have the chance.

He had been sitting in the messhall staring at the stars when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Want some company?”

As he looked up he saw concern on the face of Mortimer Heron as well as pity. “If you want me to go, I will,” Heron stated, “but if you’d like to talk about her I would be glad to stay with you.”

Billy was really surprised at Heron’s statement because he always had disparaging things to say about Celeste and he was always implying that she was stupid. But as he studied his face he saw sincerity and regret there, so he indicated with his hand that Heron should sit.

“I’d be glad for some company right now,” Billy stated. “I really miss her, she was such a good person.”

“I was wrong about her,” Heron admitted. “She was the bravest person I knew, except for the Captain of course. She made all of us lower decks crewmen look good, and I miss her too. She tried to be my friend and I couldn’t see past her bumbling exterior. She really had a good heart. I only wish I had the chance to tell her.”

They sat together in silence and watched the stars through the messhall windows. It was the beginning of a friendship.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Four days later and finally fully awake and alert, Kathryn Janeway was getting impatient with the Doctor’s orders to lie still and relax. Her pain was mercifully now more of a dull ache as her body continued to heal, although she still hurt quite a lot. “You’re not helping matters any if you keep fidgeting,” the Doctor told her as against his orders she struggled to sit up. Chakotay, who was sitting by her side almost constantly since she was returned to Voyager, moved to help her.

“After the beautiful job I did in repairing your body, I won’t allow you to mess up my work,” the Doctor dictated in his most bossy manner. “After all, your survival could qualify as another medical miracle by your local friendly EMH. You can thank me anytime, Captain,” he continued.

With a tolerant smile Chakotay said to the Captain, “He’s very proud of his work and glad that you’re going to be OK. We were all very worried about you for awhile, including the Doctor.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Kathryn acknowledged to the Doctor, “and thank you Chakotay for staying with me,” Kathryn whispered as she reached out to him with her hand.

She took a minute to look around sickbay and was astonished at the flowers lying all around her on the consoles, other biobeds and even the floor. “It looks like a funeral, but they’re beautiful,” she stated as she continued to look at the beautiful flowers that surrounded her bed and the adjoining area.

“More flowers keep arriving for you. I’ve never seen anything like this,” the Doctor stated with his hands full of flowers. Every time I look into the hallway there are more flowers lying outside the sickbay doors. Sickbay is starting to look like a flower shop or a funeral parlor,” he complained. “Just imagine what it will look like after you’ve been here another three days,” he smiled smugly. “And I’ll release you from sickbay then and not before. You won’t rest if I release you to your quarters and you need rest right now. You lost a lot of blood and had severe injuries. Your body needs the time to recover and unless I keep you where I can keep an eye on you, I know you won’t rest. Don’t even try to change my mind,” he challenged.

“Good morning, Captain,” a smiling Tom Paris interrupted as he entered sickbay holding even more flowers. He made it a habit to check on his Captain every two hours since they completed her surgery and treatment and was relieved to see that she was finally awake and sitting up.

“Why?” inquired the Captain. “Why is everyone putting flowers outside the sickbay doors, and why do you all think they’re for me?”

“The crew was all aware of what happened and the choices you had to make,” Chakotay replied. “They were all very touched by what your choices were because in some ways the choices you made were for them, too, and they were worried about your recovery. You had us scared for awhile. The Doctor forbade anyone to come into sickbay until you were better except in an extreme emergency, and only then under penalty of death, so nobody could give them to you personally. Besides, you were still asleep.”

“I’m very touched, I don’t know what to say,” replied an obviously touched Janeway. “I only did what any starship captain would do. I don’t know why they think I did anything special. The real hero was Celeste. Has there been any word?” she asked sadly.

The Doctor, Tom and Chakotay only shook their heads.

Turning to look at Chakotay, Kathryn began as if he hadn’t heard any previous conversations, “Well, now that I’m awake would you please talk to the Doctor and tell him that I should really be back on duty. I feel fine. We’re still in an emergency situation and I should be on the bridge. He has this crazy idea that I should remain in sickbay for another three days. I feel fine, almost as good as new. In three days I’ll either drive him crazy or he’ll drive me crazy and I would be far more useful on the bridge,” Kathryn stated seriously.

“What did I tell you?” the Doctor loudly complained as he threw his arms into the air. “Hardly fully awake and already she wants to leave sickbay. She can’t even stand up yet and she wants to leave. NO, NO, NO, YOU CAN’T LEAVE,” he almost shouted. “Not even five minutes,” he continued to complain as he stared daggers at his Captain and then looked to Chakotay for help.

“You’ll listen to your friendly Doctor,” Chakotay replied with a smile. “Besides, nothing is happening at the present time. We’re just staring at the energy barrier and it’s staring back at us. You’d be bored in no time, so you’re better off here hassling the Doctor. In fact, if you don’t watch yourself he’s likely to sedate you to keep you out of trouble,” Chakotay stated with a twinkle in his eye as he leaned down and brushed a soft kiss onto her cheek.

“A good idea, Commander,” the Doctor threatened as he rocked on the balls of his feet. If she keeps arguing with me I might just make it a week before she can leave instead of just three days."

Kathryn immediately laid carefully back down rolling her eyes upward. “I know when I’m outnumbered,” she stated as Chakotay helped her get comfortable.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Two (not three) days later, Captain Janeway left sickbay accompanied by Chakotay under strict orders to stay in her quarters, rest and not read reports. The Doctor secretly planned to monitor her from sickbay, but the Captain was well aware of his plan. As she passed some of the crewmembers they smiled and wished her well. She knew they were wondering who won the battle of wits – her in two days instead of three or the Doctor in two days instead of none. She let them wonder as she knew it was good for morale.

As they walked slowly down the hallway to her quarters they discussed Tal Celeste. Kathryn was still heartbroken over her sacrifice and was having a difficult time dealing with her demise.

“It’s not something I would let her do if I could have stopped her,” she related to Chakotay. “I miss her so much. She just recently found her place on Voyager and was finally feeling good about herself. Why did it have to happen now?”

“I don’t know,” he acknowledged. “We all assumed she died, but we have no body. The energy barrier is still there and hasn’t acknowledged us since you were returned. We still have hopes of finding her alive."

“I hope so too,” she responded as they entered her quarters.

“You rest and I’ll cook,” Chakotay offered with his dimples turned on in full. Kathryn could never resist his dimples. “The Doctor even said that if you ate all your meal you could have one, and I repeat, one cup of coffee.”

“Really?” she sweetly replied already planning her strategy for getting more than just one cup.

“And don’t flash those beautiful eyes at me,” Chakotay smiled, “because I’m staying with you and will make sure it’s only one cup. You do want to get back on duty as soon as possible, don’t you?” he queried already knowing the answer.

He moved to her as she nodded her head and gathered her into his arms. As their lips met their passion flared. Their kiss deepened as their hands started to roam over the other’s body. As Chakotay ran his fingers through Kathryn’s lovely auburn hair, reveling in its softness and silkiness, he finally eased the contact of their mouths so they could catch their breath. Suddenly he remembered that the woman in his arms was almost dead only a few days ago, so he reluctantly moved to quell their burning passion.

“Kathryn,” he breathlessly whispered as he struggled to bring his passion under control, “we can’t do this yet. You need time to recover from your injuries. Besides, the Doctor’s monitoring you from sickbay. Can you imagine what your readings would be if we made love right now? He’d be here in a heartbeat. He’d kill me……no, he’d kill you……better yet – he’d kill us both for risking your health.”

“Oh, Chakotay, you’re right. He’d probably beam in right in the middle of the best part and throw verbal cold water on us,” she giggled as she, too, worked to quell her passion. Finally gaining control, she moved stiffly to the couch to rest while Chakotay cooked.

After a lovely dinner complete with candlelight and music, they sat and reminisced about Celeste and about how far they had come together over the past year. It was nostalgic and hopeful and by the time they were done talking, Kathryn felt slightly better about what Celeste did. Chakotay made her realize that Celeste was finally at peace and that her sacrifice was certainly not in vain. In fact, what she did made her a hero among her peers, something Celeste most likely never would have accomplished in life.

“Come on,” Chakotay sighed with a yawn, “let’s go to bed. You’ve put me through hell over the past few days and I want to hold you in my arms and be thankful for what we’ve got.” Kathryn reached out for his hand, but Chakotay moved to her side, lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

“Bath first,” she stated as he put her down beside the bed.

Thirty minutes later she emerged to find Chakotay sound asleep in her bed. She quietly slipped under the covers, and as her body moved closer to his, he reached out and gathered her into his arms. She fell asleep to the comforting sound of his heartbeat, and he roused slightly as she moved against him and fell back to sleep breathing in the wonderful scent of her slightly damp hair.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

“I’m going,” Kathryn firmly stated to Chakotay and the Doctor as she prepared to exit sickbay and return to the bridge. She had purposely dressed in her uniform for today’s checkup so she would be ready if she won the battle since she now felt good enough to fight.

“Your week isn’t up yet and I won’t certify you fit for duty for another two days,” the Doctor replied as he returned her death glare and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from sliding off the biobed. “You can glare all you want, but since I’m a hologram your glare can’t hurt me. You still need rest, your body is still healing. Besides, we’re not going anywhere. What does it matter where on this ship you’re not going anywhere – your quarters or the bridge – they aren’t moving, either of them. Your body still needs to heal, it’s been through a lot. I know you, if you return to duty you won’t take it easy or rest. You’ll play “catch-up” until you fall over. If the ship starts going somewhere, we’ll let you know and then determine if you can return.”

“I’m going crazy just sitting in my quarters, and I can’t sleep anymore since that’s all I did for days,” she continued. Then the games started. “Just for an hour or two so I can be sure everything is alright. Then I promise to rest for the remainder of the day. You can come along, and if I fall over you can say ‘I told you so’ and return me to my quarters. How about four hours maximum?” she continued to wheedle, totally enjoying every minute of their battle of wills.

“Well,……” the Doctor salvaged what he could from the situation. “Two hours maximum and I’ll accompany you. Then it’s back to your quarters for the rest of the day – no arguments,” he conceded as he rolled his eyes at Chakotay.

“Agreed,” she smiled as she slid off the biobed, and with the Doctor and Chakotay trailing in her wake she headed for the bridge. The Doctor wondered all the way if he hadn’t just been “had.” Chakotay only smiled at Kathryn’s back. He knew the Doctor had.

Once seated in her captain’s chair, Janeway looked at the view screen that showed the energy barrier pulsing its red warning to hold position. Chakotay seated himself in his chair and the Doctor hovered nearby in case he was needed, and also to satisfy his curiosity. “Any changes?” she asked fascinated. This was the first time she saw the barrier pulsing red.

“No change,” answered Harry Kim with a smile. He was sure glad to have her back, as was every other member of the crew.

Time passed and Captain Janeway had been on the bridge for an uneventful two hours when the blue fog started creeping onto the bridge again. It came slowly and without threat, almost like waves breaking softly onto a beach. Chakotay and the Doctor immediately went to their own ‘red alert’ and both moved protectively close to Kathryn as she stood to observe the fog.

“Captain Janeway and worthy crew of the starship Voyager,” a booming male voice stated, filling every corner of the starship. “Welcome to our star system. You have been found worthy and we would like to know you better. We studied your computer database and input information about ourselves into your computer. We would like to atone for our misjudgment of you upon your arrival. My name is Thon and I am the protector of this star system.”

“Captain, I detected your presence on your bridge and am glad you are recovering from your injuries. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for you, but you made your choice and I was bound to respect it,” Thon stated. “This was all part of our test of your species.”

“Can we meet you?” Captain Janeway asked.

“You have already met me and have given me the gifts of mercy, compassion, honor loyalty and sacrifice. What you have done for those you met during your trial, you have done for me also. My people are not yet ready to meet you face-to-face, but when your kind returns to this system, and I believe you will, we will be ready and eager to welcome you. We will recognize your Federation’s sub-space signature.”

“In the meantime,” Thon stated, “I have several gifts which I hope you will accept in exchange for those you have given me.” A flash of blue light encompassed Voyager, and into the thoughts of the whole crew Thon extended his farewell. “Good by and good luck on your journey home.”

“Captain,” Neelix excitedly paged over the com system. “You won’t believe this, but cargo bay 3, my pantry, is filled with fresh food of all kinds, and my kitchen shelves are filled with more food and spices. This represents at least several months’ supply. I don’t know where it came from, but it’s beautiful. I can’t even imagine all the good things I can prepare with this.”

“Captain,” Harry Kim excitedly called from his station, “I don’t believe this, but we’ve moved 3,000 light years closer to home in the blink of an eye. I don’t know how this was done, but Thon’s star system is now that far behind us. It’s not much in the overall scheme of things, but every little bit helps. Plus B’Elanna reports that she has supplies of all the minerals we need for Voyager’s maintenance.”

“Tal Celeste to Captain Janeway,” came through the Captain’s combadge. Everyone on the bridge stopped in shock. Was this their Celeste, the one they all presumed to be dead? Nobody could move, even Doctor Determined who was keeping his unfaltering eye on the Captain.

A second “Celeste to Janeway,” finally galvanized the Captain into motion.

“Janeway here,” she answered quickly. “Celeste, where are you? Are you on board Voyager? If you are, please report to the bridge.”

“I’m in Astrometrics with Seven, but we’re on our way to the bridge,” Celeste responded.

Janeway slowly sank into her chair still in shock. The Doctor, unbeknownst to her, quickly scanned her with his tricorder to make sure she was all right. Chakotay remained standing at her side watching the turbolift doors anxious for Celeste and Seven to arrive. He knew that Kathryn was suffering horrible guilt over Celeste’s sacrifice and he wanted to be sure this wasn’t a cruel joke. But when the doors parted and Celeste and Seven stepped onto the bridge, he knew it was real.

“Celeste,” Kathryn cried as she rushed from her chair to embrace her in front of the whole bridge crew. “Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Don’t ever think about doing anything like that again.” She released Celeste and held her at arms’ length just to get a good look at her. Celeste blushed.

The Doctor quickly aimed his medical tricorder at Celeste and reported smugly, “she’s fine, no damage.”

“No, Captain, they didn’t hurt me at all. In fact, other than you and I being in that strange place I don’t remember much except for offering my life in exchange for your life, then a pleasant feeling of floating free in space. Then, all of a sudden, I was in Astrometrics and Seven was looking strangely at me. What happened?”

“We thought you were dead,” Kathryn replied. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “We couldn’t find any sign of you, and after what Thon did to me we were sure he had killed you since you offered yourself in my place.”

“I remember more now. You were hurt and had to choose between me and yourself, and you chose me. I couldn’t let you die on my behalf. Are you alright? You looked awful the last time I saw you,” Celeste inquired as she carefully studied Janeway.

“I’m getting better,” Kathryn replied. “Everyone is conspiring to make sure I behave.” She glared at the Doctor and Chakotay, and everyone else chuckled. “Come on, Doctor Timepiece has determined that I’ve been here long enough and that I have to go to my room and rest.”

“Quite right,” the Doctor chimed in with a smile on his face once he realized that Janeway was really voluntarily leaving the bridge to follow his orders. He suddenly realized something. “Doctor Timepiece, now there’s a name I hadn’t really thought of,” he sarcastically threw over his shoulder as he, Celeste, Janeway and Chakotay entered the lift.

The bridge crew only laughed.

“She really has the Doctor buffaloed,” Tom Paris announced. Everyone laughed harder finally releasing the tension that had been dominating for the past week.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

Kathryn Janeway woke the following morning to the most beautiful sight in her universe. Dark eyes sparkled below a beguiling tattoo and looked lovingly at her. “What?” she sleepily asked as she looked up at him from the shelter of his arms realizing that she had never been this content before. His warm body pressing against hers only added to her feeling of contentment.

“I’m giving thanks for you,” Chakotay replied with a smile. “I want you to wake up in my arms every morning and I never want to lose you. I came too close this time and I don’t want another day to go by without you knowing how much I love you. I know we’ve talked about our future, but I want you as part of my future from this day on. Will you marry me?”

Without losing that sleepy contented feeling she had been enjoying, she smiled her lopsided grin at him. “Yes I’ll marry you. I don’t want to spend another day without you either. I love you.”

The grin that spread across Chakotay’s face was priceless, and as she watched his happy reaction she reached up to touch his tattoo. “How about a kiss?” she asked and was promptly gathered gently into a tighter embrace and thoroughly kissed.

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~

The doors to the messhall swished open and a blur of gold and black swept through. Quickly spying Billy sitting at their usual table at the window, Celeste screamed, “Billlleeeeeeee!” as she ran toward him with a box in her outstretched hand. “BillyguesswhatIcan’tbelieveit,” she said as she spoke quickly and ran her words together.

“Hold on,” Billy pleaded as he grasped her arms to steady her and focus her attention on him. “What’s wrong Celeste?

“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong. I’ve just been promoted!! I’m an ensign. Can you believe it, I’m so happy,” she continued loudly as she smiled at everyone in the messhall. All of them had heard her announcement and were very happy for her. “I’m an ensign. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay just gave me this and congratulated me,” she said as she held out the box in her hand for Billy to see her ensign’s pip. “I’m an ensign,” she turned to the rest of the messhall and announced to them all. Her crewmates smiled their approval.

Neelix came hurrying up and quickly grabbed Celeste into his embrace. “Congratulations, ensign. I’m so happy for you, and you certainly deserve it. I’ll cook your favorite Bjaorian noino soup for supper to celebrate your promotion. Don’t be late,” he smiled as he moved back to his counter to serve the next person in line for lunch.

“Oh, Celeste, congratulations,” Billy smiled as he hugged her. I knew you could do it.”

“And Billy,” she continued as she whispered at him, “Captain Janeway was wearing a beautiful diamond ring and Commander Chakotay was smiling from ear to ear. When they left hydroponics he reached out and held her hand. They both looked so happy. Do you think they’re finally going to get married?”

“Everyone hopes so. It’s about time and they truly deserve some happiness. So do we,” Billy continued with a huge smile on his face. “Can I ask you for a date, ensign? Will you be my date for tonight’s party at Sandrines?”

“Your date?” she squealed loudly.

“Yes, my date,” Billy smiled at her.

“Yes,….. YES,” Celeste squealed loud enough for everyone in the messhall to hear. The sudden applause startled both of them as they looked at their clapping and smiling crewmates.

The End

October 2000

~~~~ a Y a ~~~~