Captain Janeway stared at the information the Indryns had given her on what they knew about the Lyante. What she had read so far made her stomach turn.
"Captain, are you alright?" A voice interupted her thoughts.
She looked up, then to her left to see Chakotay looking at her concerned.
"I'm sorry?" Janeway said.
"You look pale," the commander repeated, "are you alright?"
Janeway sighed, and looked at the PADD, "The Lyante are ruthless, is this information is correct. They kidnap people, torture them for strange experiments, then dump the bodies where ever they see fit. They rarely return the dead to their homes."
"Does it say what kind of experiments?" Chakotay asked, then he added, "How do they know the Lyante perform experiments."
"Some of the dead that were returned had small puncture marks on various parts of their bodies."
"We'll find them before that happens," Chakotay promised.
"I hope alive."
"We will." Chakotay said. He then turned to Kim and asked, "Have you found the signature trail of the Lyante ship?"
Harry Kim looked at his console as his fingers flew across it. After a moment, he answered, "There's a faint residue trail continuing straight ahead. I can't tell how much further it goes."
"That's good enough," Janeway said suddenly, "Put in the corridents and follow it at warp seven. I don't want this trail to get any colder than it already is."
Janeway looked at the PADD, and the dread returned in her eyes.
We'll find them, Janeway thought to herself, I have to hang on to that belief.

B'Elanna Torres had been staring at the left-hand wall for what seemed like hours. She truly did not know the real length of time, but she knew it had been ever since she had awakened.
She remembered that her skin had been pricked again, in the same arm. She rubbed her arm and thought, They must have given me something to knock me out. She slowly crawled over to the wall, and tapped on it.
"Tom?" She asked loudly, so to wake him, "Are you in there?"
Silence answered her. She tried again, louder this time, but still did not get an answer. She turned around, and placed her back against the cold wall. She remebered that she did not hear the door to his room open.
They must have put him in another room, she thought, or they are not through with what ever they are doing to him.
"Tom," she whispered to the darkness, "whatever they are doing to you, don't show them any fear."
B'Elanna suddenly felt it get colder in the room. She had know idea if it was because she was worried about Paris or if it was her imagination. She hoped that the aliens hadn't turned down the temperature.
A snarl made it's way to her lip as she began to realize that the aliens might have turned down the temperature.
"Just you wait," Torres growled, "when I get out of her, I'm going to find the enviromental controls and warm this place up."
She then heard the sound of a door opening. She spun around, and placed her ear to the wall. She heard footfalls in the other room. She strained her hearing, but could only make out one set, which meant that only one person had entered the room. She listened as the footsteps made their way to one side of the room, stop, then head back toward the door. She heard the door close, and she knew then that one of the aliens had carried Paris into the room.
"Tom," Torres called throught the wall, "are you alright?"
She heard a faint moan. She barely relaxed. He was alive, but something had happened to him. He was hurt, maybe unconscious.
"Tom! Wake up!" She shouted, "What did they do to you?!"
She heard coughing, then moaning. She called again, and this time, she faintly heard him telling her to shut up. She smiled and finally relaxed.
"That's better," Torres said, smiling.
"You can't stand it when someone is trying to sleep, can you?" Paris' voice floated to her ears. His voice sounded weak and full of pain. She tried to smile at his remark, but the pain in his voice worried her.
"Tom, are you alright?" She asked again.
"Do I sound alright?" His voice sounded irritated.
"I'm sorry. I'm just concerned."
She didn't recieve an answer, and she hoped he just feel asleep.

"The ship's trail is getting weaker," Kim announced, "it'll disappear complelely in thirteen hours."
Janeway did not like the sound of that, "Are there any planets in that area?"
Kim scanned his console for a few moments, his fingers flying across the board. He then looked up and answered, "There is a planet, but it is uninhabited. It is seventy-two hours from here."
Janeway closed her eyes in frustration. They were going to lose the trail in less that thirteen hours and the nearest planet the Lyante could have went was two days away.
"Keep following the trail, but scan for any planet within the area. They might have taken a turn somewhere."
Chakotay smiled a little at the last statement. Janeway looked at him, then realized what she had said. She smiled as well.
"I'll be in my ready room," she said outloud as she stood up, "Let me know of any progress."
She then headed toward the ready room.
Chakotay turned back around, and stared at the star field on the view screen. He then stood up, and headed toward the ready room.
"Tuvok, you have the bridge," he said.
He entered the room a moment later, and saw Janeway sitting at her desk; staring at the PADD. She took a sip of coffee, then looked up at the commander.
"Something on your mind, Chakotay?" She asked.
"What if they did take a turn somewhere?" He suggested, "What if they are back-tracking?"
Janeway looked up with an expression of both surpise and realization on her face.
"We would have..."
"Not if they went out of their way," Chakotay interrupted, knowing what she thought, "they could have went several hundred miles in one direction before back-tracking."
Janeway thought on this, "This would explain why the trail is weakening, and why we lost them yesterday. Have Kim scan further in all directions for the ship's signature. I'm going to find out as much as I can about these Lyante."
Chakotay nodded, and headed back to the bridge. Janeway took a sip of coffee, and continued reading the information.

Back toParis, Voyager
Continue on to Chapter Four