Date: Sat, 29 May 2010 15:20:43 +0000 From: James Leete Subject: My Maquis Lover Chapter 10 Disclaimer: This story is based in the "Star Trek" universe. The use of anything related to "Star Trek" in this series is not intended to infringe upon the rights of Paramount Pictures. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other content or otherwise are works of my own imagination. All events are fictitious in nature. Any similarities to persons living, dead, or otherwise are purely coincidental. This story contains strong themes of homosexual content, if this offends you in any way, please refrain from reading further. If you are not of legal age to read this, please leave now. Ok as well before we start this is based on the series Star Trek Voyager but with a twist from the original story line and i hope you like it. Chapter 10: Year In Hell DAY 1 As I walked down the hall with Tom, Harry and Seven I was scared that the captain would reject the idea that we had all worked really hard on for the last few weeks. "Nervous?" I asked Harry. "A little, what if this doesn't meet their needs." He replied. "Fear is an irrational emotion. I see no purpose to it" said Seven. I looked at Harry and said "Seven, fear is needed in people's lives." She said nothing and soon we arrived outside of the new Astrometrics lab. Everyone from the senior staff was there and as soon as we turned the corner everyone started to cheer. There was a red ribbon across the doors. We walked up smiling well all of us except seven. "Congratulations guys you have done an amazing job here" said the captain. She handed me the scissors and said "Jack you do the honours." I looked at Harry and he nodded. I cut the ribbon and everyone clapped. I then entered the code into the panel and unlocked the doors and we all walked in. Harry then went to the console and brought the room to life. We all gathered round the centre console while the captain and Chakotay went up onto the platform. "Space the great unknown. Only now we're going to know it a little better. Harry" said the captain. We activated the large screen and the galaxy suddenly came to life on the screen. "Before there were maps and globes, let alone radar and subspace sensors mariners navigated by the stars. We're returning to that tried and true method only this time with a difference" Chakotay went on to say. "Ensign Kim, Seven of Nine, Ensign Walker and Lieutenant Carter have merged Starfleet and Borg ingenuity to create this new technology and I'm sure I speak for the entire crew when I say thank you. Now how the hell does it work?" announced the captain. "Astrometric sensors measure the radiate of flux of up to 3 billion stars simultaneously. The computer then calculates our position relative to the centre of the galaxy." Seven told everyone in the room. "This mapping technology is 10 times more accurate than what we have been using. Seven will you do the honours." Harry said looking at her. She worked the controls and a red line appeared on the screen leading from where we were back to sector 001. Earth. "We've plotted a new course home" Harry added. "By my estimates this trajectory will eliminate 5 years from our journey." I told everyone. They all smiled and Neelix patted me on the shoulder. "Nice work Jack" he said. I smiled again. "That region of space we're about to enter it looks like it has a lot of M class planets" B'Elanna noted looking at the screen. "It does. Spatial grid 005, primary species the Zol" Tom told her. "What do we know of this species?" asked Tuvok. "Technologically advanced but none confrontational. Their resistance quotionant is quiet low" seven told us all putting a downer on the mood. "Thank you all for coming now we have a lot of work to do so..." Chakotay said. "I'd like to say a few words if I may." The doctor said cutting off Chakotay. "I prepared a speech for this occasion." I looked over at Tom and he rolled his eyes and sighed. "When I was first activated on Stardate 48315. I found myself mono a mono with the delta quadrant. I didn't think we would survive a week let alone 3 years. There was strife, there was discord. You were all at each other's throats. But over time I've had the pleasure and pride of watching this crew learn to work together as colleague's, even friends." He said. "Here here" said the captain and Paris together and we all started to head for the door. "Who'd have thought that this eclectic group of voyagers would actually become a family? Starfleet, maquis, klingon, Talaxian, hologram, Borg. Even Mr Paris. Granted we've had our share of difficulties. One could say we've seen the best of times and the worst of times. And I'd like to recount some of those times from my unique prospective. Under the category of best of times, I invite you all too..." was all he got out thank god. "Bridge to Janeway." Came a man's voice over the comm. cutting the doctor off. "Janeway here" the captain almost screamed. "We're being hailed a vessel off the port bow" the person from the bridge added. I looked at the captain who was practically sprinting for the door. We all quickly turned and made our out the door to the turbolift. "On our way" said Chakotay."Well prepares we could all reconvene later" noted the doctor but no one answered. I exited the turbolift that had the captain, Paris, Kim, Tuvok and Chakotay in. I walked down to the engineering console on the bridge as the woman at tactical said "Their firing on us captain." "It's a small vessel. 15 life forms aboard. Low warp capacity, limited armaments. They pose no threat." Reported Tuvok. They were still firing some form of torpedo at us, but even with our shields down they were not having any effect on us at all. "Open a channel" said Janeway "Good day sir, have we offended you in some way?" The man on the screen was alien and kind of human looking apart from some big green lumps sticking out of his temples. "You will reverse course immediately. This region is in dispute, you have no business in krenim space" he said looking very serious and pissed off. So obviously they were called the Krenim. "I was under the impression we were entering Zol territory." Janeway told him. "The Zol have no legitimate claim here they have taken what is ours. Reverse course or be destroyed" he said looking at the captain. I couldn't help but giggle a little. Destroy us with what? I thought to myself. "With all due respect unless you've got something a little bigger in your torpedo tubes, I'm not turning around. But I'd certainly be willing to discuss this matter with you" Janeway told him. This did have me giggling. She was really ticking him off I could see. "No discussion. No compromise." the krenim man said shouting over the viewscreen."They are in retreat" said Tuvok. "His barks obviously worse than his bite" Chakotay said trying hard not laugh. "He seems rather intent. Let's go to yellow alert. Maintain our course. Maybe the Zol can give us some answers." said Janeway smiling as well. DAY 4 The last three days seemed to have flown by. Tom and I had decided that it was now we would move in together. So the last three days after getting permission from the captain we spent the time we were off duty moving him into my quarters. I was sat on the bridge while the captain, Chakotay and Tuvok were in the briefing room with a member of Zol delegation who we had made contact with. When the krenim ship we had run into 3 days ago came back, Paris spoke with them and they demanded to speak with the captain. "Bridge to the captain, sorry to interrupt, but the krenim vessel is back they are demanding to speak with you." Said Harry. The captain then emerged from the briefing room and spoke to the man on the viewscreen. "Hello again" said Janeway. "You've ignored our warnings, and now you consort with our enemy." Said the krenim man. "Leave this space or I'll seize your vessel and send you home in a cargo container" the Zol man announced to the Krenim man. Why did I still not know his name? "Chairman please." Janeway said to the Zol man "Believe me we're not conspiring against you." Janeway told the krenim man. Just as she did Harry Kim's console beeped and Janeway looked at him. "Captain, there's a spatial distortion heading towards us. Whatever it is its huge 5 light years across and its expanding." said Harry. "Tracking its origin. A vessel near the Zol home world" said Tuvok. "What?" shouted the Zol chairman. "It appears to be a massive build up of temporal energy. Some kind of space time shockwave." Tuvok reported. "Tom" Janeway said to Paris. "It's destabilising our warp field. I've lost engines" Paris reported. "Shield to full. Secure primary systems, all hands brace for impact" Janeway ordered on the bridge crew. The shockwave hit the ship and everything changed. I was sat on the bridge looking at my console checking the damage that Krenim vessel and the others we had encountered in the last 4 days had inflicted on this ship. We hadn't really had much time to repair the ship completely because they kept coming. "She's dead" said Chakotay checking a crewman that was lying near the captain's chair. My god someone was dead because of this. "Shields at 17%, the krenim are firing again. We're being hailed" Tuvok reported. This was unusual. They usual just fired, the captain then tried to hail them and they didn't answer so we ended up just firing on them and they were destroyed easily. "It's about time. On screen." She ordered. Another Krenim man appeared. "We've done nothing to provoke these attacks." Said Janeway. She was right. All we had done was enter their space. We would have explained ourselves if they had given us the chance. But were beyond that. "Your presence in our space is provocation enough." The krenim man told the captain. "We've been trying to communicate with your vessels, but the only answer I get is weapons fire." Janeway told him. "State your identity" the krenim man asked rather rudely. "Captain Janeway of the federation star..." was all she managed to say before he cut her off. "And your reason for violating our borders?" the Krenim man asked. "We're simply trying to get home, if you'd kindly allow us to pass through..." said Janeway before he cut her off again. He was so rude cutting the captain off constantly. "No, you will submit to the krenim imperium. I would prefer to seize your vessel before it is too badly damaged; surrender now and I will forego the execution of your crew." the Krenim man told the captain. Okay that was it, he had crossed the line. "I don't respond well to threats" Janeway told him gritting her teeth. "Then prepare to be bordered" the krenim man said before closing the channel. "All hands Battlestations. This is turning into the week of hell" said Janeway with the look on her face that I knew as being extremely tired and pissed off. I heard that she hadn't really left the bridge that much unlike the rest of us. She was too concerned for her ship just as I would be in her position. "They are charging weapons three seconds to impact" Tuvok reported. A torpedo hit the ship and we took more damage. A conduit sparked. "Direct hit to our secondary hull" said Harry. "Evasive Maneuvours." said Janeway. Another torpedo was fired and again we were hit causing damage. It wasn't like the torpedo was hitting the shields first; they were ripping through the shield array. "I still don't understand why these torpedoes are ripping right through our shields." Chakotay commented. "Their weapons are chronotron based, their penetrating our shields because there in a state of temporal flux" Tuvok reported. It was almost as if he had the answer there all along and he could have told us this earlier so we could come up with some sort of defence. "Then lets exercise the better part of valour, get us out of here warp 6" said Janeway. "Warp 6." The ship went into warp and we took off. "No sign of pursuit" reported Paris. "Damage report" asked Janeway. "15 wounded, main power is down, and we've lost environmental control on decks 7 and 8. The computer is offline." reported Tuvok. I looked around the bridge so a console on the aft station ruptured and not working. It had caused some conduit bits to fall on the floor. The lighting on the bridge was flashing, normally when the ship was on alert the bridge lights just dimmed but this time they were dimmed and flashing which an EPS conduit must be malfunctioning somewhere behind the aft work stations. "Mr Kim do we have any sensors left?" asked Janeway. "Short range only" reported Harry. "Commander, put the ship on 24 hour tactical alert. Tuvok analyse what ever data we have on those chronotron torpedoes. See if you can modify our shielding. When those krenim attack again. I wanna be ready" Janeway ordered. At that I got to work in checking other systems to see if they were damaged. The damage we had wasn't so bad; it was more or less what we usually took when we were under attack. DAY 32 Not again. This must have been the 50th or 60th attack we had taken in the last month. I hadn't seen tom that much recently. I hadn't slept for about two days. Repairs were futile because as soon as we had repaired a system it was either damaged or destroyed. The ship was under attack again. The bridge was ruined. There was debris all over the floor. The walls were scorched from conduits rupturing and exploded. Console displays were flashing. We had burn marks and minor hull ruptures on the hull. It was awful. When I was here three days ago there was actually a fire on the bridge right near my console. At this time however there wasn't thankfully. But everyone on the bridge hadn't really left their stations for a while. I looked at the captain who looked like a wreck. Almost as bad as me. I noticed part of the railing on the bridge had collapsed and there were chunks of metal on the floor where they had fallen from the ceiling. I had never seen the ship this bad in the three years we had been on board. We took another hit. "Return fire." ordered Janeway. Tom was sharing the console with me. We had to seen as B'Elanna had to evacuate engineering when there was a hull breach. "Weapons are down, my attempt to modify the shielding was unsuccessful" reported Tuvok. "Captain during that last exchange we did some damage. The krenims aft shields are down their vulnerable" said Chakotay. "We've gotta him them now." I exclaimed. I was so pissed off. "With what, phaser banks are burned out, torpedo launchers are offline." Harry barked at me. I threw him a look and then went back to my console. I knew he didn't mean to lash at me but we were all tired and on edge. "Doctor to bridge, we've got a power overload in sickbay, I need an engineer down here right way." Said the doctor over the comm. Not now I thought to myself. "Standby doctor, Jack can you handle it from here" Chakotay asked me. "No sir, the overloads spreading. Half that deck is gunna blow in less than 5 minutes." I reported. "Doctor get your patients out of there. All hands this is the bridge. Emergency evacuation deck 5" said Chakotay over the comm. "How many torpedoes do we have left?"asked Janeway. "11" said Tuvok. That was bad. "Arm 4 of them standby to open the launch doors. We're going to deploy them like mines. Tom I need your finesse, let the krenim get within 5000 metres of us" Janeway ordered getting up from her chair. "No problem" said Paris. I worked the controls to get the torpedo bay doors to detach without firing the torpedoes at Tuvok's request. "Torpedoes armed and ready" reported Tuvok. "Their in range" reported Paris. "Tuvok, do it." ordered Janeway. The torpedoes were deployed and they hit the ship head on. It completely exploded. "Got em." Paris shouted slapping his console. I checked my console and saw how far the overload had come in those few minutes. "The conduits on deck 5 are overloading 30 seconds till they blow" I shouted. "Warning structural collapse in 20 seconds" said the computer. "15 seconds" I shouted. "Warning structural collapse in 10 seconds. Warning structural collapse in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" the computer shouted twice. That was it. The conduits blew and the whole ship shook. I was thrown from my chair. Tom picked me and looked at me. "You okay babes?" he asked. "Yeah thanks" I said smiling or at least trying to. "Report" shouted Janeway rubbing her wrist. She looked like she had sprained it. "Sections 10 through 53 on deck 5 are gone." I reported. "Casualties." asked Janeway. "Reports are coming in. 12 wounded many of them critically. The doctor is setting up a triage facility in the mess hall. 2 crewmembers were killed in the breach" reported Tuvok. "Stand down red alert. Assemble a security team; survey the ship deck by deck I want a full damage report. I'll be in my ready room. You have the bridge." She said picking up a slab of metal and throwing it down. "What's left of it" Janeway said, looking very pissed off leaving and walking down the steps past me and into her ready room. "Jack, good work. Go get some coffee and take a break. You haven't left this bridge for the last two days." Chakotay told me heading into the ready room. I stood up and walked out as Tom took over for me. My legs were stiff having not walked very far in the last few days. I got as far as walking down the corridor on deck 2 avoiding the conduits that had ruptured and hoping over the missing deck plates when Paris's voice came over the comm. "Red alert, two krenim warships off the port bow." "Ahhhhhhhh" I screamed running my hands through my very greasy hair. DAY 47 The pain was blinding. Since we hadn't been attacked for about 4 hours, I was trying to do some repair work. B'Elanna asked me to check the warp relays on Deck 13. While I was in the Jeffries tube the ship was attacked, and whilst I was trying to get out something fell onto my legs which pinned me down. I tried to call for help but no one could hear me. The attack didn't last long I could feel it. When I felt it was over, I tapped my commbadge and said "Carter to Walker, Tom can you hear me?" I said. "Jack, where are you?" he asked. "Ahhh, I need your help I'm stuck in Jeffries tube 37 Gamma on deck 13 with a part of some deck plating pinning my legs down. Hurry!" I screamed. About 20 minutes after the comm. Call I could hear someone with a manual release forcing the Jeffries tube hatch open. "Jack... Jack you in here" shouted Tom. "I'm here" I screamed back in pain. A heard two people crawl in and tour over my face. "Hey you" said Tabor smiling at me. "Comfy?" asked Tom. I kissed him and said "Oh yeah I feel like I'm lying on bed of roses. Could you get that thing off my legs?" I said shouting out in pain and pointing at the huge chunk of metal. They crawled over me and at one point tabor stopped and my face was in direct line with his crotch and I could see the outline of his cock. Now isn't the time I thought. After they pried the metal off me and I pulled myself back but couldn't really move my legs. I lay back and breathed when tom said "Wow, Oh My god." I said "What?" He stopped. "Erm your leg is definitely broken." He told me. "How can you tell?" I said. "Well considering the bone is sticking out your leg and if we move you, you will definitely feel the pain." He told. "Okay, it's not like I can't feel any pain right now" I said gritting my teeth. "Walker to bridge" he said over the comm. "Janeway here, go ahead ensign?" came the captain's voice. "Are the transporters online?" he asked. "No ensign is there a problem?" she asked replying to his question. "Yeah Jack has got a broken leg, very badly broken." He told her. "Oh my god. How bad? She asked. "Well it's only got one break but the bone has come straight through the skin." He told her. "Well you can't move him without getting the bone back into his leg first or the pain could very well kill him" she said. She then explained how to get the bone back into my leg. I freaked at hearing this. He then ripped off part of his uniform arm and said "Here bite on this and hold onto tabor. Squeeze him wherever you have to stop the pain." I put the fabric in my mouth grabbed hold of tabors hands and then he said "Okay on the count of 4. 1, 2, 3..." was all he said and did it. I yelled and squeezed tabors hands so tight I thought I broke them. "You bastard." I shouted. "You're welcome Jack" came the captain's voice over the comm. "Tom, Tabor you should be okay to move him but take it easy and take him straight to the doctor. Janeway out" she said and the comm. Clicked off. As I lay in the mess hall on a medical bed next to B'Elanna I felt better. Even though I had this hole in my leg I felt loads better than I did. As the doctor scanned me, then injected me and finally used a few tools on my legs he looked at me and said "You're good to go Lieutenant." I looked down at my leg and there wasn't even a scar. I stood up and didn't even feel any pain. I took a few steps it was fine to walk on. That doctor is a miracle worker. I saw B'Elanna and said "Hope you feel better soon babes." I said kissing her on the forehead. As I looked up I saw Seven of Nine trying to fight her way towards the door with a badly burned Tuvok over her shoulder. I ran over and took Tuvok's arm and guided him in while Tom Paris went over to a burned Seven of Nine. "Doctor" I shouted as I lay Tuvok down on the bed that I just came from. The Doctor came over and he sent me away. I left the mess hall and headed towards the bridge. I tried to get into a turbolift and couldn't "Sorry Jack, the turbolifts are down." Said Neelix from behind me. "Why?" I asked. "During the last attack 19 main power relays were severed. The entire turbolift system is none operational." He told me. "Okay thanks. Oh and Neelix, is there any coffee in the kitchen?" I asked. "Yeah I just put out a pot would you like some?" he asked. "Do you even have to ask?" I replied. He smiled and led me back to the mess hall. DAY 65 As I lay down in the bunk in some crew quarters on Deck 4 I thought back to the events of the last two months. In two months the ship had been attacked and attacked and attacked and we were still no closer to getting this ship closer to the way it used to be. Everyone was tired and on edge. We were hungry but no one dared say anything. What I wouldn't give for a nice stack of pancakes with maple syrup. "Any room on here?" I heard a voice say. I looked around and saw Tom. "Sure you can fit." I said. He climbed onto the bunk next to me. We were against the wall so I backed up against the wall and he got on looking at me. He kissed me and said "I haven't seen you for a few days." "I know I'm so sorry, this situation is just so out of hand" I said. "It's okay, where have you been anyway?" he asked. "Either on the bridge or working on the weapons. I seem to get either the phasers or torpedoes back online and then we get attacked and we lose them and I have to start all over again." I said." I know how you feel. I just finished sealing the hull breach in main engineering and we were in there for all off three hours and had to get out again." He told me. I smiled and said "You sleep, there's something I have to do" I got up and was about to leave when he grabbed me by the arm and kissed me. I could feel his beard at some growth brushing against my cheek. "I love you" I said. "I love you to." He replied. I left the guest quarters and made my way through the Jeffries tubes to my quarters. I went in and took a look around. I scrabbled through the debris and found the one thing I wanted. The present I had for Kathryn. Today is May 20th. It is her birthday. I found it in my drawer and got it out. It was an original copy of Macbeth. She always said that was the one Shakespeare play she didn't have in book form. I got it and walked to the bridge. I arrived on the bridge and passed Chakotay as he walked out looking pissed off. I walked over to the captain who was sat at the science station. "Hey" I said. "Jack." She said not even looking up. I knelt down on the floor at what space I could find. "How are you?" I asked. "Okay" she said. "Happy Birthday" I told her. "Thanks I forgot it was today until Chakotay told me" she said finally looking at me. I gave her the box that had the book in it and she opened it and said "Thanks, but as I said to Chakotay who gave me the most beautiful watch by the way, a present can represent a meal, a hypospray or a pair of boots. Recycle it, we can't waste energy of none-essentials" I felt pain for the first time. She really hurt me. "Okay." I said. I went over and walked into her ready room and placed it on her desk. Maybe she would change her mind. I went back out onto the bridge as Chakotay came back. I went up to him and said "I heard you got Kathryn a watch." He looked at me and smiled and said "Yeah, it was a replica of the one that Captain Crave wore in the British navy." I smiled and said "Yeah I learned of him at school. That watch is famous." He said "I thought so" I was about to reply when Kim said "Krenim" I immediately went down to my post as Chakotay said "All hands to Battlestations a krenim vessel is approaching, repeat all hands to Battlestations. Tuvok emerged from the turbolift and felt his way to his console. I felt sorry for him being blind but he did save Sevens Life. "Computer activate Tactile interface" he said aloud. "Weapons status?" asked Chakotay."Phasers are online, torpedo launchers are inoperative. Seven's modified temporal shields should be online in a moment" reported Tuvok. That was my work with the phasers. "It's a warship" reported Harry. "You know the routine" said Janeway. "Evasive Maneuvours" commented Paris. I could see that Seven was working on the deflector. "Their matching course" reported Harry. "Hold them off as long as you can" ordered Chakotay. "Chakotay to seven of nine, where are those shields" he asked over the comm. "Standby" Seven told us. "Their charging weapons" Harry then announced. "Seven we could use a little of that Borg efficiency right about now." The captain added. "I can't shake them off" reported Paris "Their targeting the bridge" reported Harry. If they hit us in our condition we would all be staring at stars. "Temporal shields are online" Seven reported from deflector control. "They're firing" shouted Harry. "Full port thrusters" ordered Chakotay. The ship spun and they hit us but we didn't take any damage which was unusual. "Temporal shields are holding, no damage" reported Tuvok. "Hail them" ordered Janeway. "Channel open" confirmed Tuvok. "Krenim vessels, this is the captain of voyager, you may have noticed we have a defence against your torpedoes now. I suggest you stand down" Janeway commanded. "No response" commented Tuvok. "Their mistake, bring the ship about, we're going through their space whether they like it or not." Janeway said collapsing back into her chair. After a few minutes something happened. "The krenim are in pursuit but their weapons are not powered." reported Tuvok. "Hmm they don't know what to do with us now that we're protected against their weapons" said Janeway as she headed for her chair. "Captain, there's some sort of spatial distortion heading towards us, sensor readings are erratic. I can't identify the phenomenon." reported Harry. "What's the source?" asked Chakotay. "Unknown but it originated approximately 20 light years away. It looks like a shockwave in the fabric of space-time" Harry told us. "Tom get us out of here" said Janeway. "We'll never outrun it captain." reported Paris. "Maybe our new shields will help, all hands brace for impact" Janeway said holding on to some railing. The wave front passed through the ship which rocked slightly. I watched the wave front continue forward. "You were correct captain; the temporal shielding has protected us. The wave front has passed." reported Tuvok. "Captain." said Harry causing me to look at the viewscreen. I saw the wave front hit the Krenim Ship and it reverted into a tiny ship. Almost half the size. "Report" asked Chakotay. "It's definitely a krenim ship, identical hull markings. Same bio spectral frequencies, but it's half the size limited fire power" I reported. "What happened to the warship?" asked Janeway. "I'm not picking it up on long range sensors." said Paris. "It looks like this entire part of space has changed somehow. The last time I checked this region was filled with krenim colonies and vessels. I just ran a scan and sensors show no colonies and only a handful of krenim ships" Chakotay informed us. This is huge. This could solve all of our problems. "Mr Kim, transfer all your sensor data about that shockwave to the astrometrics lab" ordered Janeway. "Yes ma'am" said Kim. "Tell Seven of Nine to meet me there. Jack you're with me" said Janeway. "Captain, astrometrics took heavy damage a few days ago. It's offline." said Chakotay. "Well let's get it back online, it appears that the krenim imperium has vanished. Our troubles may be over and I'd like to find out why." said Janeway as she and I walked off the bridge and down to Deck 8 to the astrometrics lab. DAY 70 It took the captain, seven and I 5 days to get into astrometrics, repair the damage and bring the systems back online. We even slept there on and off. When we finally got things back online we got the consoles back online and Seven and I started to access the data files. "Sensors are online. Power levels are stable" said Seven. "Is the Astrometric database still intact?" asked Janeway. "Yes" I replied. "Display the scans we took off this region before the temporal shockwave hit" said Janeway. Seven worked the controls and then said "Spatial grid, 005." "The krenim imperium, over 200 star systems, 900 planets, thousands of warp capable vessels. And now after the shockwave has hit everything seems to have changed. Run another scan?" ordered Janeway. I worked the controls and then said "Spatial grid 005." "Same space different configuration, exactly as Chakotay said. The imperium has been reduced to a few planets and a smattering of vessels. It appears that someone or something has altered history. But why weren't we affected?" asked Janeway. "Perhaps we were protected from the changes by our temporal shielding" noted Seven. "So the question remains, what caused that shockwave in the first place. See if you can track it back to its origin?" said Janeway. "The shockwave originated approx 20 light years away, the garaner home world." I said. "The garaner, we past their planet 3 weeks ago" noted Janeway. "The planet is no longer populated" I told them. "What?" asked Janeway. "Astrometric readings indicate that the moment the shockwave appeared the garaner species vanished." I reported. "Erased from history" said Janeway leaning against the console. "Captain?" asked Seven. "I'm no authority on time travel in fact I've made it my goal in life to avoid it, but this sounds to me like a causality paradox. Think about it, a temporal shockwave eliminates a single species and all of history is changed." Janeway told us. "An intriguing theory. Perhaps the krenim are responsible, they do posses temporal technology" said Seven. "But why would they alter history to undermine themselves. No we're still missing a big piece of the puzzle. Run another scan..." was all Janeway got out before she got cut off by the sound of a huge banging above the ship. "Captain Janeway to the bridge" came Chakotays voice over the comm. We all turned and left. I was sat at the engineering station on the bridge surrounded by debris. The bridge was in shambles. I looked over at Tom who was sat at the science station surrounded by more debris. There was a huge part of the ceiling resting against Harry's console and covering the entrance to the briefing room. But see as the briefing room a vacuum thanks to a hull breach there it was no problem. "That entire vessel is in a state of temporal flux. It's like they exist outside space time" said Harry. "They're scanning us" reported Paris as he; Chakotay and Tom were beamed away. "Tom" I shouted. "Get a lock on them" shouted Janeway. "I'm trying but I can't isolate their bio-signs" I said. "We're being hailed" reported Tuvok. "On screen" said Janeway. "State your identity" said a krenim man different from the one we first met months ago. "I'm Captain Janeway of the federation starship Voyager. Who are you and where are my men?" Janeway asked. "I'm Annorax of the krenim imperium; we've transferred your crewmen to our vessel for further analysis. Your ship does not come from this quadrant." Annorax told us. "We come from earth a planet 65,000 light years from here. We're on our way home" said Janeway. "I see" Annorax replied. "We've been observing some rather unusual events in the region. It appears your imperium never existed. Perhaps you could shed some light on this?" asked Janeway. "That's none of your concern, what you need to know is that I bear you no hostility but you have deviated me from my mission" Annorax told us. "You're mission, you're responsible for the changes in the timeline" confirmed Janeway the realisation hit us all. "You're a long way from your world in a way so am I. I'm afraid only one of us can go home again, your sacrifice will restore the lives of countless millions. I'm sorry" Annorax told us. He was threatening us. Janeway tapped the crewman at the helm on the shoulder and she moved as Janeway sat down. "I'm reading a massive energy build up some kind of weapon" reported Kim. "Shields" said Janeway pissed off. The huge ship fired some sort of weapon which hit Voyager. "Temporal shields are weakening." said Seven."Captain, that energy beam, it's pushing voyager outside the space time continuum." Reported Kim. "He's trying to erase us from history" confirmed Janeway. "I have scanned their propulsion system, their vessels mass prevents them for exceeding warp 6, we can escape" said seven giving us an option. "Captain, may I remind you the structural integrity field is impaired if we go to warp now the damage to voyager will be extreme" I told her. "What about Tom, Chakotay and Walker?" asked Harry. "We will have to come back for them; all hands clear the outer sections and prepare for wide scale breaches. Tuvok activate the transverse bulkheads" shouted Janeway over comm. "Temporal shields are failing" said seven. "Engage warp 7" said Janeway and we went to warp. The ship began to pull and we could feel the outer hull being pulled off. "They're not in pursuit" said Harry. "We are losing the outer hull transverse bulkheads are holding" reported Tuvok. I could feel the hull being torn off as we were at Warp. I saw the sensor readings and could see huge piles of the hull coming off. I also saw a small part of the saucer section completely torn off. It was the shape of a piece of pie. It was gone. Wow. I thought to myself. DAY 73 The whole crew was stood in the mess hall as Janeway spoke to us all. "Each of you has done your best, but determination alone isn't going to hold this ship together. It's time we faced reality. We've lost 9 decks; more than half this ship has been destroyed. Life support is nearly gone; Voyager can no longer sustain its crew. I promised myself that I would never give this order that I would never break up this family, but asking you to stay would be asking you to die. You will proceed to the escape pods and evacuate this vessel, set your course for the alpha quadrant. Along the way try to find allies. Secure faster ships if you can anything to get home. The senior staff and I will remain on board as long as possible; we will try somehow to rescue Tom, Ensign Walker and Chakotay. The escape pods are equipped with subspace beacons that's how we will keep track of you. When we find each other again, and we will, we will find each other again; I expect all of you to be in one piece with some interesting stories to tell. Good luck!" said Janeway. Everyone went and moved out of the mess hall to head to the escape pods. "Jack hang on." Said Janeway. "Sir?" I asked. "You're staying. Without Chakotay I need a first officer. With Tuvok blind I need someone else I can trust. I spoke with Tuvok and he agrees with me. Congratulations Commander" she said attaching another pip to my collar which was very very dirty anyway. She then said "Put this on" handing me a red uniform Jacket. I took off my ripped Yellow one and put it on. We launched the pods from the bridge as the senior staff gathered round and watched them leave. "Okay everyone; we know what we have to do. Some news, Jack is now our first officer." Janeway told everyone. They all clapped and patted me on the back. "We've located a class 9 nebula where we will take refuge and repair the ship so we can get back on our feet to fight Annorax. B'Elanna take the helm. Harry Take ops, Tuvok take tactical, Doctor over at Science, Seven take Engineering and Neelix take the auxiliary engineering station" said the captain pointing to the console above the captain and first officers chair. I went over with the captain and we sat down. It felt like we were back with a full crew. I looked at Janeway and she said "Set a course for the nebula, full impulse." B'Elanna did so and away we went looking at the escape pods fly away. DAY 133 It had been two months since we entered the nebula to make repairs and we had barely made any headway. I had up to this point managed to repair the impulse reactors to get them back to full power and bring the replicators online. I had tried to B'Elanna with the warp engines which she had been on with for over a month. I had also got the torpedo launchers online but at the expense of the phasers for the time being. The nebula wasn't helping with repairs though. It was turning into a permanent residence. Some many times I had to go and vent the gas but it wasn't helping. On this day it was happening again. The nebula gas was pouring into the ship. The captain and Mr. Kim had gone to try and vent it. One thing I had noticed with the captain was that she and I were arguing a lot lately. She wasn't sleeping much and she was so irritable. She had been on the deck for 9 minutes and the doctor had told them to be there for 8 minutes. "They should be back." I said. "I'm going in there" said the doctor. "You can't it will degrade your holomatrix." I told him. Another 3 minutes later Harry emerged for a Jeffries tube carrying the captain's body coughing very loudly. I took the captain from his arms as the doctor scanned Harry. I checked the captain's pulse and couldn't feel one. "Doctor" I screamed. "What?" he said rudely. "She has no fucking pulse, that's what?" He came over and scanned her and then his face fell. He closed his tricorder and looked down. "Oh my god" I said holding her body. I began to cry. She was gone. "I'm so sorry Jack" said the doctor. She was like the best friend I ever had. The doctor treated Harry as I placed the captain's body on the ground and knelt over it crying. "Jack I need to take her body up to the mess hall to run some scans can you help?" he asked. I nodded and dried my eyes. "All crew report to the mess hall" I said aloud. We arrived in the mess hall to see all the crew as I carried the captain's body. Everyone gasped and began to cry. We gathered round her body and said our fair wells. When we calmed down after a while B'Elanna stood up and said "What do we do now?" I looked around and didn't answer. "Commander, by Starfleet protocol it is up to you to take over as the commander of this vessel." Said Tuvok. "I can't" I said. "Jack you have to." Said Kim. "But why?" I replied. "She made you her first officer because she knew you would be a suitable replacement if this happened." Neelix told me. The doctor took one of the pips of the captain's collar and pinned it to mine. "Congratulations Captain." Said B'Elanna. They all clapped and patted me on the back. "Alright, I accept this with the responsibility it comes with. I promise you I will get you all back home, but first we have to get our crew back, and take out Annorax." I told them. Everyone left after a few hours. I turned to the captain and said "Goodbye captain" I kissed her on the forehead as the doctor covered her body. A few days later I was back on the bridge checking through systems when Neelix came up and said, "We have drinks in the mess hall." I followed him out and we went up to the mess hall. We sat round the table and B'Elanna held up her cup and said "To distant friends and to the people we have lost." I thought about Kathryn and said "Here, Here." I drunk the stuff in the cup thinking it was coffee and had no idea what I was tasting. It was bloody awful. "Well what do you think?" asked Neelix. I didn't say anything. "Not bad not bad at all" said Kim. "Interesting" replied Tuvok. "What is it exactly?" asked B'Elanna. "I call it the elixir of endurance. It's loaded amino acids, carbohydrates, all the nutrients required to allow the crew to withstand these stressful conditions" Neelix told us. "Ration cubes" responded B'Elanna. "Well yes but this pureed and mixed with water and enhanced with Talaxian spices." Neelix carried on to say. "It is offensive. Fortunately taste is irrelevant." said Seven. Kim laughed and I just got up and looked out the window. I saw the nebula and how much it had already cost us. I hadn't slept since the incident with the captain. I couldn't this ship was mine now. "Well it's been a few days since we all gathered in one place. How are the repairs proceeding?" I asked."I'm happy to report that I've repaired the obtronic error in my program." reported Doctor. "And the power grid?" I asked. "It's operating at 32% efficiency. I think I can bring it up to 50, but I'll need a few more days." Kim told me. "Warp drive?" I asked. "I'm still having trouble with the starboard nacelle." B'Elanna told me. "How long?" I asked breathing out and scratching my hair. It was so greasy and curly. I hadn't showered in so long. "3 weeks, minimum." said B'Elanna. I put my head in my hands and said "I thought this nebula would be a safe haven until we made repairs, but it's turning into a permanent residence. We've got to get back into open space, find allies, put together a fighting force to take on annorax. We're leaving this damn cloud, first think tomorrow morning." "Captain, you are in error." Seven said to me. "How so?" I asked. Everyone turned and looked at us. "At the moment this vessel is defenceless. We should wait until we are operating at our peak efficiency." Seven informed us. Everyone stopped and stared at me awaiting my reply. That was it now. I was so stressed, upset and tired that I just let it all go. "I appreciate your opinion Seven but I disagree. This nebula has already cost us the one woman who held us together. Do you even care that Captain Janeway is dead? The women who turned you into an individual. The one who encouraged you to think and act like a human. I'm sorry Seven but I will not risk anymore lives just because this ship isn't up to standard. We leave tomorrow 08:00 hours." I shouted and stormed out of the mess hall. As I did B'Elanna caught up with me and said "Jack, I know you're hurting but that was rude. As your friend I would say apologise to her and get some sleep. You need to. No amount of shouting will bring her back" she said and I just broke down again. I cried and she hugged me. "How can I replace her?" I blubbered. "You don't you just try to fill in for her" she told me. I eventually calmed down, dried my eyes and said "Thanks". I walked off to apologise to seven. DAY 180 I sat on the bridge in the captain's chair watching micro meteoroid shower approaching. We had been out of the nebula for over a month, and thankfully the nebula gas had completely vented but as for me well that was different. In the last month I had slept for a total of 12 hours, over 47 days. I was a wreck. I had been taking so many risks with my life trying keep the ship together and I could sense the crew was worried about me. "Engines." I asked B'Elanna. "I'm doing my best." B'Elanna told me with stress in her voice. "Captain with the deflector down, those micro meteoroids are starting to erode the hull" reported Kim. Hearing him call me captain still sounded strange but he was right I am the captain now and I had to start to act like it. "Emergency power to the deflector" I ordered. "None available" said Tuvok. I had to get this to work, and the only way to do that was to get the deflector back online. "I'll be in deflector control" I said getting up from the command chair. "Captain that entire section has been designated hazard level 4" said Tuvok. Harry held up his hand to try to stop me but I just kept on walking. "I know" I said as left the bridge. I crawled through the Jeffries tubes and before I left the last one I grabbed a manual release and ran down the corridor of Deck 11. I eventually arrived outside deflector control and forced the door open with the manual release only to through myself back against the wall behind me after I almost fell into the flames that consumed Deflector control. "Oh why do I get the feeling your testing me voyager?" I said to myself. I tapped my commbadge, "Bridge there's a fire in deflector control any luck with the engines" I asked. "The warp core is still offline" reported B'Elanna. "Micro meteoroid density is increasing, the nacelle pylon is buckling" shouted Kim. I had to do something. I looked around and saw a large piece of bulkhead that could at least protect my face. I picked it up and tapped by badge again, "Bridge I'm going in, standby to engage the deflector. Tell the doctor I'll be coming back with severe burns" I told them. "Captain?" said Tuvok trying to argue with me. "Do it." I shouted. "Be kind" I said to myself before taking a deep breath and running in. I worked the controls feeling the hot flames against my body. The pain was unbearable but I worked through it. I kept coughing and spluttering as I breathed in the fumes from the smoke "The captain has accessed manual control, he's stabilising the particle emitters. He's got it. Deflectors online." I heard Kim say. "Activating deflector field. Bridge to Carter. Captain please respond" I heard Tuvok say before I collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness. I woke up and saw the doctor looking over me. "What's my condition?" I asked looking down and seeing myself dressed in my standard issue tank top. "You suffered 3rd degree burns to approximately 60% of your body. I've healed most them but without a dermal regenerator, I wasn't able to repair all the damage to your skin. You've been left with scars on your face and arms." Said the Doctor. "I'll consider them mementos" I told him. "Not so fast. You're spending the next few days here with me." The Doctor announced. "Is there something else wrong with me?" I asked. "Not physically" said the doctor. "What are you suggesting?" I asked. "Traumatic stress syndrome. Symptoms, your irritability, sleeplessness, obsessive thoughts, reckless behaviour all of which you have demonstrated over the last few weeks." The Doctor said reeling off a list of things that I knew myself was wrong with me. "My only obsession is with saving my ship, my people. If I've been taking some reckless chances to do that it's hardly a medical condition." I told him. "I'm not going to stand here while you rationalise yet another brush with death" said the doctor folding his arms. "You don't have to" I said turning to walk away. "As chief medical officer I have the authority to relieve you of your command." The Doctor told me. "You're not going to do that" I said. "If in medical opinion, your judgement has been impaired I can and I will" the doctor came out with. The next words that left my mouth were unbelievable but I didn't even think. "Try it and I'll shut down your program." I told him. The doctor went quiet and looked at me. "That threat in itself is evidence of your unstable condition." He said. Unstable that's harsh. I breathed loudly and put my head in my hands and said "I am sorry doctor I have been operating on instinct so long, I did not think before I spoke. I have no intention of deactivating you, but I won't stay in this mess hall." I told the doctor. "Is that final?" asked the Doctor. "Final" I said making my way to the door. "Then you leave me no choice, Captain Jack Carter, under Starfleet medical regulation 121 section A I the chief medical officer do hereby relieve you of your active command, effective immediately. Have a seat" he told me quoting a regulation. "How do you plan to implement this protocol doctor, Mr. Tuvok doesn't have a security team, both the brigs have been destroyed and with the internal forcefields offline you'll have a hell of a time trying to keep me confined. You gunna grab a phaser, because before I give up command you'll have to shoot me." I told him. "You realise this incident will be noted in my official logs. By refusing my orders, you risk a general court martial." the Doctor told me. "Compared to what I've been through the last few months, a court martial would be a small price to pay" I said smiling. "If we make it home, I'll be happy to face the music." I said turning and leaving. DAY 207 As Neelix and I walked down a corridor checking damage to see what he could start to work on. It had been something that I came up with as a way of seeing how bad the ship was and also to spend some time with the senior staff. Since the fire we had all talked at length about how silly I had been and the risks I had been taking. "Another ruptured EPS conduit" I said looking down at my tricorder. "32 so far" said Neelix with his padd. "33, 34, 35. And that fluidic convertor needs to be purged." I said pointing at the ruptured conduits and the convertor in the ceiling. "Right" said Neelix. "The gravitational plating in this room has buckled." I said looking at my tricorder outside a set of quarters. "Chakotays quarters" said Neelix looking in the door that was totally destroyed. We went in and looked around. I scanned the room and the tricorder was picking up the damage in the room and as I moved around there was another signature. It was metallic. I bent down and moved some of the metal off the floor to find the watch that he had given Captain Janeway for her birthday. "You disobeyed orders" I said. "Captain" Neelix asked looking at me. "Chakotay gave this to Kathryn 5 months ago, a birthday gift. She told him to..." I said holding it close and thinking about her. Even though it had been over two months since she had died the pain was still fresh. I took the watch and attached it to my belt. "What do you think?" I asked. "Handsome. She would want you to have it." said Neelix. "Come on" I told him leaving. I looked at the watch again and thought of the story of the watch. Worn by Captain Grave in the British Navy. Ironic seen as I'm British. DAY 226 The last week we made some real headway. B'Elanna and I had finally got the warp core online, and Harry, Seven and Neelix had worked just as hard to get the structural integrity field to work. On top of that I had forged an alliance with Alien Species that knew of the weapon ship and wanted it taken down just as much as me. I prepared to record my log. It was still strange to making out the captain's log. "Captain's log, Stardate 51682.2, I've forged a coalition with the Nihdron and the Mwazi. Together we're preparing to attack the weapon ship" I said ending the log. Some more news had come as well. Chakotay and Paris and Tom had sent us a message that would help to track the weapon ship and destroy it. "I've analysed every carrier frequency of their transmission. It contains a classified Starfleet id code. Which could only have come from Tom Paris. It's real. The co-ordinates they sent should lead us directly to the weapon ship" I told the crew as we all stood on the bridge. "Location" asked Tuvok. "Approximately 50 light years from here. Our new allies are assembling re-enforcements. Once we're in range, Tom says he will try to take the weapon ship temporal core offline. When that happens they'll be vulnerable to conventional weapons. Tom will then transmit the exact location of the core. Our job will be to disable the ship and get our people out. Are we clear?" I explained to them. "Aye captain" they all confirmed. "Harry B'Elanna I want you to beam over to the Nihdron vessel, work with their engineers. The entire fleet needs to be equipped with temporal shields." I ordered them. "Aye captain." said B'Elanna. "Tuvok, Seven, Neelix, I want you on the Mwazi ship." They nodded and confirmed. I looked at the Doctor and said "Doctor, once the attack begins your skills will no doubt be required. Join Tuvok's team." "What about yourself?" he asked me. I looked at him curiously. I would be here. "I'll be piloting voyager, co-ordinating the attack" I explained. Everyone gasped and looked shocked. "Jack there is barely enough of this ship left to get there, let alone wage a war" B'Elanna told me. "There's fight in voyager yet. She's still got temporal shields, six photon torpedoes. It'll hold together. Besides you know the adage captain goes down with the ship. Right. You have your orders. Dismissed" I told them. I turned and looked at them all. One by one they all left. B'Elanna hugged me and then left. The only people that didn't leave were Tuvok and Seven. "Tuvok I can hear your objections already. I am not leaving." I told him. Over the past few months since Janeway died he had consoled me and helped me to see the good part of it. We had become very close friends. "Given voyagers damaged state, the probability of you surviving in armed conflict is marginal" he told me. I smiled and went to him. "Oh I know the odds but I have to stay, Voyager has done too much for us" I explained. "Curious, I have never understood the human compulsion to emotionally bond with inanimate objects. This vessel has done nothing. It is an assemblage of bulkheads, conduits, tritanium. Nothing more." explained Tuvok. He was so clueless but he was such as good friend and advisor. "Oh you're wrong; it's much more than that. This ship has been our home, it's kept us together, it's been part of our family. As illogical as this may sound I feel as close to voyager as I do to any member of my family. It's carried us Tuvok, even nurtured us and right now it needs one of us." I told him. I had another reason too. It made me feel closer to Kathryn. I know this is what she would want and somehow it gave me comfort to stay close to her. "I respect your decision, live long and prosper captain" Tuvok said making the gesture with his hands. "Same to you, my friend." I said shaking his hand. I looked at Seven and she took his arm and led him away. I walked down the steps and looked at my console. I then looked around the bridge and tried to imagine everyone at their positions and the bridge looking tidy again. I then looked at the captain's chair and looked at it imagining the captain sat there and then finally sat in the chair. DAY 257 Travelling at low warp was such a pain and trying to conceal our approach was even worse. But after about month of low warp we had come up on the weapon ship. Sat in the command chair I touched the arm console and opened a channel. "Voyager to Mwazi vessel" I said. "Go ahead captain" said Tuvok. "I'm picking up the weapon ship dead ahead. Temporal shield status" I asked. "All vessels are bringing them online" reported Tuvok as I stood up and went down to the helm. I looked at the watch and checked the time. 21:25. I sat at the Helm and touched the controls. "This is Captain Carter to the fleet, plot an intercept course for the weapon ship." I ordered. The next few minutes went by quickly and sat at the helm I guided Voyager along in formation. "All vessels report ready" reported Tuvok. "Let's see if Tom has done his part." I said to myself. "Carter to the fleet, attack pattern omega. Engage" I ordered. Two Nihdron ships broke away and attacked the ship. The weapon ship then fired its weapon at them destroyed them both. "Captain, two nihdron vessels have been destroyed." reported Tuvok over the comm. "Carter to the fleet, evasive pattern delta we're going to have to wait. Come on Tom, come on" I said. I watched the console and suddenly saw the temporal ship lose a lot of power. It worked. "Captain, Chakotay, Paris and Ensign Walker were beamed aboard our vessel." Tuvok told me. "Everything's going as planned. Tom sent me the co-ordinates of their temporal core, before he left. I'm transmitting them to you now" I reported. I then locked torpedoes on the weapon ship and fired. Then things got bad. One the Mwazi ships got hit and collided with Voyager. I could see the hull burn and I was thrown from chair. When I found my footing I could see the ship exploding around me and a lot of the bridge was burning. I crawled my way up to the command chair. The ship was hit again and I was thrown to the floor. I finally reached the command chair heaved myself up. I sat in the chair and breathed and we were hit again. I almost fell out but grabbed onto the arms. "All our ships have been disabled captain, do you have weapons" asked Tuvok over the comm. "Negative, torpedo launchers are down" I told him. "Maybe I can help" I turned around and saw Tom. I couldn't believe it. He looked so good. "It's too late; I'm setting a collision course." I told him. Tom came down and sat in the first officer's chair next to me. I worked the controls and said "Carter to the fleet, take your temporal shields offline.""Captain we won't be protected." Said Tuvok. "Exactly, if that ship is destroyed. All of history might be restored. And this is one year I'd like to forget." I told him. Tom looked at me and took my hand. "I don't want you here." I told him. "If you're going to do this, then I'm doing it with you." He told me looking into my eyes. "I'm sorry to hear about Kathryn, but congratulation Captain." He added. "Yeah well if this works she could be back. I love you" I said to him. "I love you too" he replied. We were hit again and part of the bridge was hit taking out the viewscreen. An emergency forcefield was barely holding. Tom came in and kissed. I looked forward and said "Time's up" as we crashed straight into Weapon Ship. The temporal ship was destroyed and a time shockwave went right through Space DAY 1: NORMAL TIMELINE Ensign Walkers, Personal Log Stardate 51685.5, the last couple of weeks have been uneventful, but Jack and I have finally moved in together and we have made excellent progress on the new astrometrics lab" said tom ending his log. We both went to the bridge as stood by Harry and Seven at Ops as we worked the controls. We were finally bringing the new lab online. "When can you bring it online?" asked Janeway. "We just did." I said beaming. "In fact we're in the process of charting a new course home" Tom told her. "Well I'd say this is cause for a celebration" said Janeway smiling. "A vessel is approaching off the port bow" reported Tuvok. "On screen" ordered Janeway. I looked at the screen and saw a small warship. The configuration seemed somewhat familiar. Probably just my imagination. "They're hailing us" Reported Harry. "Open a channel" ordered Janeway. He worked the controls and the viewscreen came alive. "You've entered krenim space, state your identity." Announced the alien man. He seemed somewhat familiar to. Like I'd seen him before. A bit like Déjà Vu. It can't be though. I've never even heard of the Krenim. "Captain Janeway of the starship Voyager, we're just passing through trying to get home." Janeway told him. "This region is in dispute, I suggest you avoid our territory." the Krenim man advised. "Thanks for the warning." Said Janeway smiling. "Good journey" the krenim man said before ending communications. "Tom plot a course around krenim space" ordered Chakotay. "So what do you think how about a ground breaking ceremony for our new lab?" he asked. "Sounds great" said Kim smiling. "I think I'll replicate a bottle of champagne for the occasion, 2370. I hear that was good year" said Janeway smiling. We all got up and left the bridge to head for our new lab, Tom and I walking hand in hand. I was so glad we were going to be living together, I couldn't help but smile.