by Your Cruise Director

This story is not really finished; it desperately needs focus, and an editing job that I just don't have time to give it. I thought Part One, an unimportant little sequel to "Concerning Flight," was all I was going to write, but when Chakotay said the line about the plane, I knew there was another story there. I let him talk all he wanted to talk, and, as you will discover, it was hard to shut him up; I like these characters a lot, but this bears no resemblance to anything which would happen on the show or which would pass muster in a writing course. Nonetheless, because I doubt I will ever write a piece of fan fiction this long again, I am putting it out here in public.

Some of the material about Kathryn Janeway's background, particularly her interaction with holograms and Amelia Earhart, are taken from Jeri Taylor's novel Mosaic and Bobby and Cody Weiss' Starfleet Academy novel Lifeline. Many thanks to Diane Nichols for talking about it, to Laura Williams for extensive feedback and debate, and to Deborah Rush who demanded that this be written. I wrote the scene with the rings for Becca O a very long time ago and have always wanted to stick it into a serious piece of fanfic. Paramount owns everything else in here except the parts they don't.

Part One: Soaring
Part Two: Twin Engines
Part Three: Safety Protocols
Part Four: Desert Island
Part Five: Salvage