The crowd was loud at Quark's as newly promoted Captain Chakotay sat at a table with Admiral Janeway to discuss his first mission as Voyager's Captain. The two were having a drink and reminiscing about the Delta Quadrant and their time together. Chakotay was happy to see the admiral again. It had been six long years since they'd returned and they'd almost all been assigned to different missions and stations. The trip to Deep Space Nine reunited Chakotay with Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres and Harry Kim. He'd been so happy to see them again and knowing that they'd be serving together again gave them even more cause to celebrate.

"I had a chance to play with Miral yesterday," said Kathryn as she sipped her coffee and smiled at Chakotay. "Its hard to believe she's six years old."

"Almost seven," laughed Chakotay. "They grow fast."

"They certainly do," agreed Kathryn. "Any plans for a baby in yours and Seven's future?"

"Subtle," he laughed. "Seven has decided to investigate the matter and get back to me."

"Sounds efficient," she said, trying to keep a straight face.

The truth was Chakotay longed to be a father but with Seven's internal make up it wasn't clear if she could carry a viable embryo. They'd been seeing The Doctor regularly for tests that were supposed to determine her status and if she couldn't, devise a course of action that would make it possible. In this day and age there were many options available to them.

"I had a chance to visit with Icheb while we were in San Francisco," he said. "I really missed him."

"He's excelling rather quickly," informed Kathryn.

"As we knew he would," replied Chakotay. "Won't be long and he'll be commissioned and we'll be putting together a party so say farewell before his first mission."

"Don't grow him up too quickly, Chakotay," laughed Kathryn. "It makes me feel old."

"You and me both," he laughed.

"So tell me about Doctor Kolargian," she said. "Ben is worried about how she'll fit in with the crew on the station. He's very upset about Julian's being reassigned."

"I can imagine," sighed Chakotay. "I'm happy to have him aboard though."

"Kolargian?" she prompted.

"What's to tell about Kery Kolargian?" he asked with a sigh. "She's the daughter of a Betazoid father and Bajoran mother. She grew up on Betazed and then attended the academy in San Francisco, graduated with high marks and this will be her first assignment."

"What's she like?"

"She's pleasant and eager," he replied. "She gets along well with the crew on the ship. I don't think she'll have any problems here on the station."

"Let's hope not," sighed Kathryn. "The attitude around here isn't the best right now. They're taking losing Julian very hard."

"I'm sure they are," he replied. "Like I said, though. I'm happy to have him."

"How would you like a passenger?" she asked, looking at him with a smile in her eyes.

"You?" he asked, smiling.

"Of course," she laughed. "You'll be heading back to Earth anyway. I need a ride."

"What about the Enterprise?" he asked.

"Jean-Luc has already left the station," she said. "Seems there's a problem in the Neutral Zone that requires his attention."

"Well then it looks like we'll be hosting Starfleet's newest Admiral," laughed Chakotay.

The ship left Deep Space Nine at 0500 the next morning. Captain Chakotay yawned as he sat in the captain's chair but smiled at his First Officer, Commander Alexander Munro. The two were getting to know each other rather quickly and Chakotay was happy to learn that they had a few things in common. Munro was easy to get along with and happy to be serving aboard Voyager.

"Late night?" he asked, smiling at Chakotay.

"You could say that," replied Chakotay with a chuckle. "I blame the admiral."

"I heard that, Captain," said Kathryn as she came off the lift and walked over to stand beside his chair. "If I recall correctly it was you who ordered that one last round."

"Guilty," he said with a smile. "But I had to blame it on someone."

"Of course," she laughed. "Next time pick a crewman."

"Understood," he said.

The day proceeded without incident as they made their way from Deep Space Nine toward Earth. Kathryn caught up with Seven of Nine in Astrometrics when she left the bridge and then had lunch with Harry Kim and his new wife, Sarah, in the mess hall. She found the petite blond science officer to be pleasant and easy to talk with.

After lunch she spent some time talking with B'Elanna in her quarters and watching Miral play with her toys on the floor. Life off ship had become less than easy for her and she really missed the crew. She was headed back to Earth to take a position at Star Fleet Academy as an advisor. It was an assignment she wasn't looking forward to.

That night as she put her book on the nightstand and prepared to sleep she thought about how lonely her life was now that she'd returned from the Delta Quadrant. She was happy for the crew and their promotions but she really wished that they were all together again and in space.

Chakotay was sitting at his desk in his quarters. He was reading through the messages on his computer and waiting for Seven to return from her regeneration cycle. There were messages from home to read through as well as crew requests. He was still getting requests to serve on the ship even though the crew was full and they were weeks away from their actual mission. Picking up Doctor Bashir and Lieutenant Chase Dodds from Deep Space Nine had taken care of filling the last two spots on the crew. There was nowhere to put anyone else.

"Bridge to Captain Chakotay," came the voice of Tom Paris over the comm.

"Go ahead," he said with a sigh, looking at the little digital clock that Seven had given him on their third wedding anniversary. It was nearly one in the morning.

"Captain, sensors show a small ship floating in space," said Tom. "There are two faint life signs aboard but they have no communication devices."

"On my way," he said, reaching for his uniform jacket.

He made his way to the bridge, yawning all the way. When he got there he asked for a report and was told by Lieutenant Dodds that the ship appeared to be an old escape pod. Scans had indicated that there were six people on board but only two of them were alive and their life signs were very faint.

"Mr. Dodds can you get a phaser lock on the pod?" he asked.

"Yes, Captain," replied Dodds.

"Beam it to Cargo Bay Two," he said, getting up from his chair. "Mr. Paris, you have the bridge. Security to Cargo Bay Two."

The pod turned out to be a small ship. It looked like it had once been painted white but now the pain was both warn and chipped to reveal what looked like titanium. He could see a small American Flag with a series of numbers under it on what appeared to be a hatch or door. He wondered how long the small vessel had been in space. Under the series of numbers, he assumed was a serial number, he saw the words "Life force: Genicorp TM". That told him that it was a trade marked name but for what he didn't know for sure. A company?

"Computer, access all records on a company named Genicorp," he said, as he continued to look the craft over.

"Two records found," said the computer. "Genicorp United was founded in Earth year 1987 by Franklin Smith and Howard Smart. Genicorp Medical Supplies was founded in Earth year 1988 by Franklin Smith, Howard Smart and William Gates III."

William Gates III. The name was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where or why he'd heard it before. Perhaps he'd read something about a William Gates in a history book. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been too important or he'd have remembered. He was sure of that.

"Computer, access all records on William Gates III," he said, continuing to stare at the small craft.

"William Henry Gates III, co-founder of the software company Microsoft, once thought to be the largest software company in the world. Sometimes thought to be the father of modern computer software. Born . . ."

"Thank you, computer," he said. "Access records on Genicorp Medical Supplies."

"Genicorp Medical Supplies was founded by Franklin Smith, Howard Smart and William Gates III in Earth year 1988. The company sold medical supplies and medical computer software. Later that same year the company announced a break through in cryogenics . . ."

"Thank you, computer," he said as he remembered reading something about cryogenics in the academy. He wasn't sure if the company had been Genicorp Medical Supplies, but he remembered reading that the entire company went under after alien technology arrived on Earth with the Vulcans. Then he noticed the words "Cryo-Pod" were printed before the series of numbers. The letters were so faint that he'd missed them when he'd found the numbers.

"Open it," he told the three security officers and stood back while they set to the task he'd assigned them.

The hatch slid back when one security officer pressed on it. Inside the vessel were six tubes with bodies inside. Four were skeletal remains of the humans who'd been frozen. Their cryogenic tubes had been breached. The other two contained teen boys. The lights on the control panel of their tubes were all green. He remembered reading about three people that Jean-Luc Picard had come across that had been cryogenically frozen.

As far as he remembered, cryogenics was a fad in the late twentieth century. He distinctly remembered reading that Starfleet had denounced it, because it was dangerous. Yet the cryo tubes were in front of him with two viable human teens inside them. The very thought of it made his skin crawl. Then he remembered the strange sensation he'd been experiencing since the ship was beamed on board.

"Computer, lock on to the two viable cryo tubes and transport them to Sickbay," he said. "Chakotay to Janeway."

"This had better be good," came the tired voice of Admiral Janeway.

"Admiral we've beamed a small cryo ship aboard," he said. "There were two human teens inside. I've had them beamed to Sickbay. I wondered if you'd want to come and see."

"I'm on my way," she said.

"Who'd have thought that my first night on Voyager would be so exciting," said Julian Bashir as he entered Sickbay and walked over to the two cryo tubes. He scanned them with his tricorder.

"What're their conditions, Doctor Bashir?" Chakotay asked, looking from one tube to the other and back again.

"Well," he said with a sigh. "One seems to be suffering from the AIDS virus, a nasty virus from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The other is suffering from a form of Leukemia."

"Can you cure them both?" asked Chakotay as the admiral walked into Sickbay.

"I can," he replied. "I can replicate the cure for both diseases fairly easily."

"Let's do it," he said.

"Chakotay what have you got here?" asked Kathryn as she came to stand beside him.

"Two teenaged males from the twentieth century," he said. "Both suffering from diseases that were fatal at that time."

"But we can cure them?" she asked.

"Julian is working on it now," he said.

"Keep me informed," she said, yawning again. "I'm going back to bed."

"Goodnight, Kathryn," he said.

"After our late night last night I'd think you should get some sleep as well," she said before walking out of Sickbay.

"They won't be awake until tomorrow, Captain," said Julian. "It will take a while for the cures to work and the effects of stasis to wear off. I'll alert you when they're awake."

"Thank you, Doctor," he said, turning to leave.

Julian got to work once everyone was gone. He'd taken blood samples from both of the young men and wanted to get a look at both diseases while he had a chance. It wasn't every day that a disease from the twentieth century showed up. He administered the cures and then went to his console to have a look at the cells. Three hours later he was stretching and yawning himself. He'd had a late night the night before as well.

"Computer, activate the EMH," he said, stifling another yawn.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," said The Doctor as he materialized.

"Doctor, I need you to keep your eye on two patients from the twentieth century," he said, getting to his feet. "They've both been cryogenically frozen and I've started the awakening procedure. I've also administered the cures for AIDS and Lymphocytic leukemia."

"From the twentieth century?" replied The Doctor, his eyes wide. "This should be interesting. Get some sleep, Doctor Bashir. Your patients are in good hands."

"Thank you," he said, yawning again as he made his way out of Sickbay.

He felt like he'd just gone to sleep when The Doctor commed him. He grabbed a quick sonic shower and then headed back to Sickbay. His patients were still sleeping but he could tell from their color that they were both healthy and nearly ready to wake up. He checked the data readings on each biobed and then scanned them with a tricorder.

"Good morning, Doctor Bashir," said The Doctor as he came out of the office area. "They'll be waking up soon."

"Morning, Doctor," replied Julian. "They're completely healthy."

"Absolutely," said the Doctor with a big smile. "You did a fine job."

"Thank you," he said. "I'll inform the captain as soon as they're awake."

"If there's nothing else," said The Doctor, looking at him expectantly.

"Computer, deactivate the EMH," he said with a smile, saluting The Doctor before he dematerialized.

He busied himself with reports while he waited for the two unknown sleeping teens to wake up. There were a lot of reports to go through. It seemed that every member of the crew had received their physical but nothing had been forwarded to Starfleet. He began the tedious process of uploading the reports and sending them on to Starfleet Medical. He got about half way through the stack of pads before the first alarm sounded to alert him that one of the teens was moving around on the biobed.

"Where am I?" asked the dark haired young man when Julian got to his bed side.

"Relax," he replied. "I'm Doctor Bashir. You're aboard the starship Voyager. We're on our way to Earth."

"Am I still sick?" the boy asked.

"No," said Julian. "You're completely healthy. What is your name?"

"My name is James Kirk," replied the boy. "Everyone calls me JR."

"Well, JR, welcome back to the land of the living," Julian said with a smile.

"What about Chad?" asked JR. "Did he make it?"

"Chad?" asked Julian. "You mean the boy in the bed next to yours?"

JR turned his head to look at the bed beside his and smiled. Chad was asleep but he wasn't as pale as he'd been in the Cryogenic Clinic. He supposed they'd been cured. Then he wondered what year it was and where his father was.

"Does my dad know I'm awake?" he asked the doctor.

"JR, when were you put in stasis?" Julian asked in reply.

"It was nineteen ninety," replied JR. "What year is it now?"

"The year is twenty-one oh seven," replied Julian gently, watching the boys eyes grow large.

"We've been frozen for over a hundred years?" he asked.

"Calm down," said Julian, loading a hypo spray with a mild sedative. "Everything will be all right. I'll inform the captain that you're awake and he'll explain everything."

He administered the sedative and then went into the other room to comm the captain. He felt bad for JR. Knowing that he'd been in stasis for over a hundred years meant that he had no family. Julian wondered if the family that he had in this time would accept him. Would they want him? His thoughts were interrupted when Captain Chakotay came into Sickbay.

"So one of our sleepers has woke up?" Chakotay asked.

"Could I have a word with you before you go in there?" Julian asked, glancing through the window at JR's biobed.

"Sure," said Chakotay. "What's on your mind?"

"Well I talked to him for a moment," said Julian. "His name is James Kirk but he prefers to be called JR. All I know about the other boy is that his name is Chad. Captain, they've been in stasis since nineteen ninety."

"We knew it had to be something close to that time," said Chakotay. "I'll talk with him."

He went into the other room and stepped up to the biobed. The teenaged boy looked at him with sad brown eyes and Chakotay placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to wake up after over a hundred years to a world he didn't know.

"Are you the captain?" asked JR.

"Yes," replied Chakotay. "My name is Chakotay. I'm very happy to meet you, Mr. Kirk."

"JR, please," he said. "Do you know if I have any family at all in this time?"

"I'm sure you do," said Chakotay. "We'll see about contacting some of them when you're on your feet."

"Thanks," he said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Chakotay said, smiling at him.

"What exactly is a starship?"

"JR, I'm afraid that we have a lot to explain to you," said Chakotay. "When your friend is awake and you're both able to leave Sickbay we'll sit down and talk about a few things."

"All right," he said. "When will Chad wake up?"

"He should wake up any moment," replied Chakotay.

"I wasn't a bad person," JR said, his eyes filling with tears.

"JR, listen to me," said Chakotay, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "It doesn't matter what kind of person you were before you went into stasis. The important thing is that you have been given a second chance. Everything you do from this day on is done on a new and blank canvas. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he said.

"I'm going to have the doctor give you something to help you sleep," said Chakotay. "When you wake up the aches and pains in your muscles should be gone all right?"

"All right," he said. "Thank you."

"Any time," said Chakotay with a smile.

He turned to talk go back to the office and talk to Julian only to find Kathryn standing in the doorway watching the scene. She smiled at him as he walked over to talk to Julian. They stayed long enough to see him give the boy the sedative and then headed for the bridge.

"It was great the way you handled that, Chakotay," she said as they made their way to the lift.

"I can't imagine what it would be like to be in his shoes," he said in reply. "To wake up to a world you don't understand and where no one you know is waiting for you would be too much for anyone. Those boys must have believed they'd be revived within ten or twenty years."

"It's sad," she said. "That's part of the reason why stasis is only used in the most last resort cases now."

"Well I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that those boys are made as comfortable as possible on this ship," he said.

"Spoken like a great captain," she said with a smile as they stepped into the lift.

"Deck one," he said, smiling back at her.

"Captain, there's an incoming message from Starfleet for your eyes only," said Tom Paris as Chakotay and Kathryn came off the lift onto the bridge.

"I'll take it in my ready room," he replied.

Kathryn watched him walk across the bridge to his ready room wondering just what the message was about. She took her seat and waited with the rest of them as she thought about what it would be like to be in the shoes of James Kirk. Thinking of his name she started to wonder if he was a relative of Captain James T. Kirk. She decided that it was worth a look and started to input search information in her computer terminal.

She accessed the Kirk family information and started to move backward through the generations until she found what she was looking for. James Randal Kirk was listed in the family line. She smiled as she thought of the things she could tell JR about his distant cousin.

"Mr. Paris, plot a course for the Neutral Zone," said Chakotay as he came out of his ready room. "Warp factor six."

"Course plotted, sir," said Tom, looking at him in confusion.

"Engage," he said, nodding at Kathryn and going back into his ready room.

"What's going on?" she asked when she got to the room.

"Starfleet lost communication with the Enterprise two hours ago," he replied. "We're going to investigate. It seems you'll be with us for just a while longer."

"Oh I'm sure I'll survive," she said. "Any ideas on what's happening in the Neutral Zone?"

"Well, Admiral Aaron just told me that Jean-Luc was out there to negotiate with the Romulans over cloaking rights," he said. "He told me that Jean-Luc was in contact with them as late as two hours ago telling them that the negotiations were going fine. The transmission was cut off in the middle of his report."

"Not good," she said.

"No," he agreed. "We're going to have a look. I'm hoping that nothing has happened."

"Surely the Romulans don't want to start trouble now," she said. "I'm sure we'll figure this out quickly."

"At any rate our passengers will be among us for a while," he said. "Any ideas on how to entertain them?"

"I have a few actually," she replied with a smile. "I did some checking into our young Mr. Kirk's family line. It seems that he is a distant cousin to Captain James T. Kirk."

"Well well," he said, smiling. "That should make for some interesting conversation with JR."

"That's what I thought," she said. "I was also thinking that you should give them full access to one of the holo suites."

"That's not a bad idea," he said. "I'll even assign them someone to help them learn the basic controls."

"Sounds great," she said.

By the end of the alpha shift Chakotay and Kathryn were back in Sickbay talking to both JR and Chad. They had learned that Chad's name was Chadwin Michael Dodds. He was seventeen years old and had lived at home with both of his parents until he was put into stasis.

JR had told Chad where they were and what the year was. The boys had cried together for their lost lives and families and were now subdued but open to suggestions. Kathryn felt for them and wondered how she would react to their situation.

"I have something to tell you, JR," she said, smiling. "I did some checking and found that you're a distant cousin of one of the greatest captains in Starfleet history."

"I don't know what Starfleet is," said JR.

So for the next hour and a half they talked about Starfleet. She did her best to explain the United Federation of Planets and what Starfleet stood for. She explained that they could study up on it any time they wished. Doctor Bashir released them from Sickbay while they were talking.

"I've had quarters set aside for the two of you," said Chakotay. "If you'll follow me I'll show you how to get around the ship."

For an hour they toured the entire ship. They stopped in Engineering and were introduced to B'Elanna who charmed them. They were fascinated with her cranial ridges and she explained that she was half Klingon and had to explain to them what a Klingon was. She found them refreshing and had a great time as did they.

Next they met Seven of Nine in Astrometrics and she explained Borg to them. They were fascinated by that as well. When Seven explained how the Borg assimilated cultures against their will the boys were both horrified. They liked Seven though and Kathryn was glad.

They stopped in the Mess Hall and the boys were introduced to Nelix. He explained Talaxians to them and made them laugh with stories about his forays in space. They ate replicated food and loved it. Nelix treated them to ice cream sundaes and both boys were extremely happy to have met him after that.

Chakotay took them to the bridge and showed them each station, introducing them to the crew at each as they made their way. They were marveled by the computers at every station and amazed when they saw the stars racing by on the main view screen.

"And finally," said Chakotay when they'd reached their quarters. "This is where the two of you will be staying. It's actually a family quarters so you'll each have a room of your own. The computer will respond to both of your voices and if you need anything just ask the computer to locate me or Admiral Janeway."

The boys settled into their suite after the captain and admiral left them. JR walked around the suite looking at everything while Chad sat at the computer and started to trace his family all the way back to their time. JR found the sonic shower and inspected it wondering how it would feel on his skin. He couldn't imagine not having water all of the time.

"JR, look at this," said Chad after a while. He pointed at his computer console with an excited smile on his face. "I have family right here on Voyager!"

Lieutenant Chase Dodds was a security officer on the ship. His Starfleet File said that his was his first space mission, he was an orphan and had grown up with his aunt on a farm in Tennessee. He'd joined the academy at fifteen years old and excelled in his courses.

"That's great, Chad," said JR after he'd read the file. He was a little depressed by the fact that Chad had family on the ship while he had no living relatives.

"We'll find someone in your family, JR," said Chad, sensing his friend's mood.

"Yeah," replied JR but he wasn't so sure. "I'm tired."

"Yeah," agreed Chad.

They went to their rooms and settled into their beds. Chad's spirits were lifted somewhat with the knowledge that he had someone on the ship he could actually say he was related to. JR sunk further into depression as he thought about what would happen to him once the ship reached Earth.

The next morning, after a replicated breakfast of eggs, bacon and hash browns the boys found to taste almost like the actual cooked meal, Captain Chakotay took them to the holo suites. He told them that the computer could create almost anything as long as there was a reference to what they wanted in the memory banks. They were thrilled when he told the computer to recreate Disney World from the twentieth century. They spent the better part of the day riding rides and having a blast.

They had dinner with the admiral and captain that evening. Seven joined them as well as Tom and B'Elanna. They talked about their day at Disney and Tom thought it sounded great. They made plans for the next day because he had the day off. Captain Chakotay told them that he had someone lined up to help them on the holo suite for the next few days. He would introduce them to Lieutenant Kendrick after shift the next day.

After spending a great day with Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres at Disney World they had dinner with Captain Chakotay and Lieutenant Kendrick in the mess hall. Lieutenant Kendrick was twenty years old with dark hair and eyes. He grew up in San Francisco and understood that the boys were out of their time. He expected them to want to create their homes or more theme parks so he thought that he'd be bored for the next week.

As it turned out the boys wanted a starship like Voyager. They spent their entire first day with Lieutenant Kendrick talking about how a ship was built. They went through different programs in the holo suite and watched as Voyager was built over and over again. Even Lieutenant Kendrick learned a few things watching the construction.

They had a fun week and by the end of it they had discussed so many different things with Lieutenant Kendrick about building what JR called a super ship. Lieutenant Kendrick was surprised by some of the things the boys came up with when they talked about "their" ship. He actually had fun most of the week. He was sad to see it end when he had to return to duty on Saturday. He promised them that he would help them work on the ship after his shifts.

It was also that Saturday that Chad was introduced to Chase Dodds. They talked for a while about different parts of their family and got to know a little about each other. JR didn't get involved in those discussions. Instead he asked the computer for information about James T. Kirk. What he got were detailed mission reports, Captain's Logs from his time on the Enterprise and quite a few personal logs. He learned a great deal about his distant cousin over that weekend.

Throughout the day most days different members of the crew spent time with them on the holo suite. They would create various theme parks and zoos to spend time with different people based on what each individual liked. Seven of Nine showed them worlds they'd never dreamed of when she spent time with them. She taught them about a few different races, leaving out that they had all be assimilated by the Borg.

True to his word, Lieutenant Kendrick returned to them after his shift almost every day. They worked on "their" ship almost every night, taking breaks to eat dinner and talk about what they wanted to do next. They decided on an almost exact replica of Voyager with quite a few upgrades. They were fascinated by torpedoes and phaser arrays. Lieutenant Kendrick was fascinated by some of their ideas as well. He really liked their imagined hyperphasers and their diamond armor that they said would be so impenetrable that nothing could touch the ship.

He helped them explain to the computer what they wanted on the ship. They talked about Romulan cloaking devices and decided to add one of those as well. The computer had no reference as to how that was done so the boys faked it. Lieutenant Kendrick was surprised by some of the things they came up with. He almost laughed out loud when Chad instructed the computer to remake the conn and model it after a video game from the twentieth century.

When the ship was completed to their standards it was time to think about crew. They wanted a real ship so Lieutenant decided they needed holo representations of actual Starfleet crewmen. They consulted the Starfleet Command database and came up with a crew of one hundred, forty-eight. Their choices were made almost solely on what they read in the data files. They wanted Seven of Nine because they thought she was so cool. When they read about Icheb and discovered that the computer had an adult version of him in it's memory bank they chose him too, having the computer give him tactical knowledge.

They christened the ship and named her the USS Lexus NCC-74566. The name was Chad's idea because his father had purchased a Lexus just before he'd been put in stasis. Both he and JR declared the car a "cool ride". For their first mission they wanted to fight the Borg. They'd heard so much about the species from Seven of Nine and wanted to see what they looked like in action.

Lieutenant Kendrick set the computer to create the scenario and he helped them run through it. Of course the safety protocols were in full effect. In the end he had a great time and told others about how much fun he'd had on the boys' "new ship". That sparked many different crewman to seek them out asking to run through this or that scenario with the boys on "their ship." Even Admiral Janeway came to the holo suite to see what all the fuss was about. She declared the ship a work of art and a damned dangerous lady when she left them after having saved an entire holo civilization from extinction when their sun wen nova.

Throughout all of this Chad took breaks to spend time with Chase Dodds while JR took breaks to spend time with Admiral Janeway or Captain Chakotay. They were settling in on Voyager and never really wanted to leave the ship. Of course they still had their moments of sadness when they thought about everyone they'd ever known being gone but they tried really hard not to think about that.

It happened that they were alone on "their ship" when Voyager reached the Neutral Zone. They were running a scenario on the holo suite as Captain Chakotay and Admiral Janeway talked with Captain Picard about the strange dampening field that was preventing communications. By the time that Picard explained that his ship couldn't move in any direction it was too late for Voyager. They were stuck as well. Then Q appeared in Chakotay's ready room and all hell broke loose.

"My my," said Q with a smirk on his face. "I see you've been promoted Captain Chakotay."

"Are you responsible for all of this?" Chakotay demanded.

"But of course," laughed Q. "I wanted to lure you here."

"Lure us here?" Chakotay asked. "Why?"

"Because I have a special mission for you, Captain," he said.

"Mission? Q, what are you talking about?" demanded Chakotay. Before he knew what was happening they were standing on top of Voyager. "What the hell?"

"Oh relax," sighed Q as if he were bored. "You're quite safe. I just didn't want anyone coming in and disturbing us."

"What do you want, Q?"

"I told you I have a special mission for you," he said. "You'll be leaving this timeline very soon, Captain. I suggest you ready your crew."

Chakotay had just enough time to see the USS Ranger arrive before Q deposited him back in his ready room. He spun around in circles looking for the mad man but he was nowhere to be found. He went to the bridge to warn the crew when it happened. Everything went dark and he felt as if he were spinning in circles. Then the light returned and he saw a horror on the main viewer. They were in orbit around Earth but it wasn't the Earth he knew. The entire planet was Borg.