*

Harry checked the screen again, his eyes blearing. He checked the chronometer and sighed. O-three hundred hours and nothing. He had been at this long enough. Whatever he thought he had seen on his screen earlier in the day had either been noise or his imagination. Regardless, he could find no trace of it. That, he decided, was a good thing. It was time to go to bed.

He stood and moved his hand to terminate the program he was working on when he saw something again. Blinking his eyes to clear them, he checked the screen again. Then, as suddenly as it happened, it quit. He quickly ran another diagnostic and exhaled in frustration. Whatever it was was gone again. Just like what happened earlier in the day.

He stepped back from his work. He should just give it up and go to bed. It had to have been noise. Nothing. Anything significant still would be showing up on sensors. He looked at the screen again, then set a diagnostic to run. He would let the program run and check it first thing in the morning. If he was lucky, he would get almost three hours of sleep before the twins woke up.

If he was lucky.

He could not sleep. He was lying with Supala cuddled close to him, the warmth of her body giving the bed a feeling of comfort and familiarity, beckoning him towards sleep, but each time he would close his eyes and start to drift, something would pull him awake. Staring into the darkness, he tried to clear his mind, to allow whatever he was missing to work it’s way forward. He knew he was missing something. That was the only explanation for his not being able to sleep. What was it?

He allowed his mind to drift. Taking a number of deep breaths, he relaxed. It would either come to him, or he would fall asleep. Either would be welcome. He felt his body relax, felt the tension flow out of him. His mind drifted into nothingness, and he knew that sleep was just behind. He entered into it thankfully.

Suddenly, his eyes jerked open. He knew what was bothering him. As carefully as he could, he slipped out of bed, grabbed for the clothes he had dropped beside the bed and ran out of his bedroom, pulling on his clothes as he went.

He ran into astrometrics, his hands starting to work as soon as he skidded to a stop in front of the console. Pulling up his work, he stared at the screen, made adjustments to the view. He felt his stomach sink. Raising his hand to his combadge, he stopped for only a second. Even though he was not certain, he had to make the call.

"Harry to Kathryn."

"Kathryn here."

"I’m sorry to wake you up."

"We were awake already, Harry. What’s wrong?"

"Can you come to astrometrics?"

He heard the hesitation, then her voice, strong and concerned. "On our way, Harry."

He continued to work, the queasiness he was feeling growing with each second that passed. By the time Kathryn and Chakotay arrived in astrometrics, he knew he was right.

"Report."

Harry did not turn to look at her. "I’ve identified something, but I have no idea what it is."

Kathryn and Chakotay stopped to stand, one on either side of him, eyes locked on the screen before them. Kathryn was slightly rocking back and forth, Katie held tightly against her shoulder, a pacifier in her mouth. Kathryn’s hand was rubbing her gently up and down her back. Katie’s head was nestled in her mother’s neck, the eyes attracted by the lights in the room, but not focusing on anything. Kathryn looked past Harry to give Chakotay a worried look.

"Is that where I think it is?"

"I’m afraid so."

"How did you even find that?"

Harry shrugged. "The sensors weren’t indicating anything was there and yet the area surrounding it was throwing out strange signals, so I looked backwards." When Kathryn and Chakotay gave him puzzled looks, he explained. "I focused on the surrounding space and kept adjusting the sensors until I was able to identify a frequency coming from the center of the dead space. That made it possible to focus on…whatever that is."

"Excellent work, Harry." She fell silent, then said, "I think we should contact the Eightfours. See if they know anything about that." She turned to face the two men. "We won’t panic until we know there is something to panic over." She looked at the screen again before raising her head. "Computer, open a line to Mector."

It was a shortened form of his name. She could not pronounce his full name and he had suggested they refer to him as Mector. He was the Eightfour who had become a liaison for them – as well as a friend.

"Kathryn to Mector."

She heard his response in her head. Please, continue to speak, Kathryn.

"I apologize for contacting you so early, but we have found something troublesome in…."

His thoughts stopped her words immediately. We will meet you in your transporter room.

She turned to Chakotay and Harry, her expression worried. "Come on."

They followed her without question. As soon as they entered the transporter room, Harry moved to activate the console. "Transport beginning."

Two Eightfours materialized in front of them. As soon as they solidified, Kathryn stepped forward to greet them.

"Welcome, Mector. Tynim. Thank you for coming."

Kathryn. Mector’s thoughts filled her mind. She saw Chakotay slightly nod his head and knew they had greeted him also. Before she could ask him anything, Mector continued. You were correct in contacting us. What you have identified should be of concern to you. We should go to your astrometrics lab immediately.

Without another word, they left the transporter room. Once they entered astrometrics, Mector’s head turned toward the screen. He moved toward the console and used his long fingers to enter commands. He had spent many hours at this console, working with Seven of Nine and Harry. He was very familiar with this equipment. The crew of Voyager stayed back, allowing him to work. It did not take long for him to bring up the view he wanted. As they stared at the screen, they heard his thoughts in their minds.

What you are seeing is a fluidic eddy. It is a random occurring space event, but not normally found in that area of space. It occurs without warning. Any objects near an eddy are pulled in and subjected to extreme forces. An eddy has a chemical make-up that makes it very dangerous for our bioships. Most of our ships are equipped with special sensors to warn us of conditions conducive to an eddy. Mector turned to face her. How long have they been gone?

"Almost twenty-four hours."

You should contact them immediately.

Harry stepped forward. "But won’t that thing show up on their sensors?"

It is possible, but their sensors may be malfunctioning. They may be flying blind.

Kathryn did not wait for more. Raising her head she said, "Computer open a line to the away team."

Kahkar slipped into the seat next to Seven of Nine.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I slept great." He leaned forward, looking at the view in front of them. "Are you sleepy?"

"No. I do not require sleep at this time."

He sat back and smiled. "Then, are you hungry?"

She raised her eyebrow. "Yes."

"May I fix you breakfast?"

She gave him a sideways glance. "Perhaps I should order you breakfast. That way I know it will be nutritious."

He laughed. "And not self-indulgent."

"Yes."

He heard the humor in her voice. "Then I will take over the helm."

She started to rise when a warning sounded on the console. Frowning, she sat back down, leaning slightly over the console, her eyes searching the screens. As she reached for the console, the lights on it blinked and went black.

"What’s wrong, Seven?"

"I do not know. There appears to be a malfunction." She reactivated the console, relieved when it flickered to life. "I will have to check the…." Her words froze as the console blinked and went black again. Her body went tight, and she focused her attention. Activating the console again, she switched to auxiliary power as soon as the console flickered to life, setting the commands to manual. She breathed a sigh of relief. "We appear to have a problem with our main power supply." Her hands moved as she spoke. "I am taking down all non-essential systems and reducing temperature controls to conserve energy." She swiveled her chair to face him. "Breakfast will have to wait."

"I think I will survive." He was trying to keep his voice light. "What do you want me to do?"

"Maintain watch here. I will repair the main power supply."

He turned to the helm. "Not a problem, Seven. I think I can manage things here."

She shifted her weight forward to stand, glancing out of the window as she did. What she saw made her blood run cold. Her hands flew to the controls, the ship dipping violently as she worked to get them away. Kahkar looked up, his eyes widening in fear as the space around them seemed to twist, spinning into a whirlpool-like shape, then being jerked out of that shape into a gyrating flow of colors, bending on top of itself, before straightening out, reversing shape and twisting again. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, the colors of fluidic space adding to the intensity of the event.

Seven worked, fighting the movement of space around them, fighting to hold her place in her seat, fighting for their survival. Her eyes flicked back and forth from the controls to the view ahead, trying desperately to second-guess the next movement of the space around them. Slowly, she noted the distance between them and the event grow as she moved the shuttle through the undulating waves of fluidic space, gradually escaping the forces. The sluggishness of the shuttle made the work more difficult, and she found she also was having to second-guess the response of the shuttle as it was battered by the event.

Kahkar sat still, not doing anything to break her concentration, starting to breath a sigh of relief as he watched the small shuttle pull itself away from the event. He felt the shuttle vibrate as Seven seemed by shear force of will to fly it away from the convulsing space. He glanced up at her face, seeing the paleness of it in the bright flashing lights, seeing the relief that was slowly creeping into her eyes as she was able to put distance between them and the event.

"Shield status!"

Kahkar read his console. "Thirty percent."

"It will have to do. Maximum impulse." She initiated the commands.

They both felt the intense relief as the shuttle jumped, and they felt the pulling waves of the event lessen. As the space around them settled, they both sat back in their chairs and took a simultaneous breath. Kahkar put his hand to his chest and took a deep breath.

"Beautiful flying, Seven."

She sat blinking, looking at a mostly still and dark console. As she lifted her eyes to respond to him, she saw it in the window. Jerking her body forward, she threw the shuttle into a steep drive. Kahkar grabbed the console to brace himself.

"Kathryn to the away team."

Seven heard the hail, but could do nothing about it.

Kathryn B’Elanna jerked awake, her feet hitting the floor before she was fully aware. She stood in her small room, her eyes searching the dark, her breaking quick, almost frantic. She threw out her arms as if trying to feel her way in the dark. She stopped, feeling nothing but coldness. Then, she screamed.

"MOMMY!"

Ketaria’s eyes flew open, and she lay in her bed, not breathing. Her hand sought her husband’s empty place, then gripped the sheet.

"Kahkar."

Kathryn Janeway was pacing back and forth on the bridge, her eyes locked on the view screen before her, her daughter crying in her arms. Chakotay was at the helm with Harry working the ops position. The Eightfours were standing off to the side, watching the crew carefully.

Mector tried again. Going near that area of space would be a deadly decision.

Kathryn turned to him. "I have people out there."

If they were caught up in the eddy, it is already too late for them. Do you want to risk the other lives on this ship to recover bodies?

She stopped and stared at them, her anger filling her face. Katie cried louder, drawing her mother’s attention back to her. Before she could say anything, the turbolift doors opened, spilling most of the rest of the crew out on the bridge.

The Doctor was out first, Kathryn B’Elanna in his arms, gripping his neck, her face ashen. "Kathryn, what happened?"

She turned to him, jostling her now screaming child in her arms. "Doctor, we’re not certain." She allowed her eyes to settle on Kathryn B’Elanna’s face, the look in her eyes sending daggers of pain through her heart. It could not be. It just could not be. B’Elanna and Tom were right behind the Doctor, To’mas just waking up in his father’s arms. Tuvok was fighting his way around the crowd to get to his security position, activating his console, reading his screens as they came alive. T’Pel followed him, reading over his shoulder. When their eyes met, she gently reached to touch his arm, then walked to Kathryn

"Please, let me take her." When Kathryn hesitated, she said, "You will need to concentrate your attention here. I will quiet her."

Kathryn reluctantly handed her screaming daughter to her. "I have extra milk in my living quarters."

"We will do fine. If I need anything, I will contact you." She turned to leave, stopping by Tom. "I will take To’mas also."

Tom nodded and put his son on the floor. "Go with your Aunt T’Pel. Be a good boy." He leaned over to kiss him on the forehead, placing his hand on his back and pushing his son gently toward T’Pel.

T’Pel looked into Kathryn B’Elanna’s eyes then moved into the turbolift holding the hand of a scared and sleepy young man with one hand and a screaming baby in her other arm. As the doors of the turbolift closed, Kathryn sighed and spoke to the assemblage.

"We can’t contact the away team." She realized she could not look at Kathryn B’Elanna. "There is a chance they were caught up in that eddy."

All eyes moved to the changing, swirling, twisting sea of color and energy being displayed on the screen. It was silent as they thought about the implication of her words.

B’Elanna spoke first. "Wouldn’t they have seen that on their sensors?"

Mector’s thoughts filled their minds. The eddy can occur without warning. Their shuttle was not equipped with the sensors needed to warn them. If they were caught in that, I am afraid there is nothing that can be done.

The Doctor stared at the screen, his arms tight around his daughter. She was still, barely breathing. She had been like that since he had reached her, after she had screamed. She had not said another word. He felt her hand clutching his uniform, balling it in her fist. He had known the moment he had seen her that something was terribly wrong. He forced himself to tear his eyes from the screen.

"We have to go for them."

Kathryn looked at them. "I agree." She turned to the Eightfours. "We need to know everything there is to know about that…thing."

It was a stare down. Finally, the Eightfours turned to each other, a silent communication passing between them. Then, Tynim turned to them. Very well.

Kathryn continued to pace, thinking about her options. What they had been told about the eddy made the pit of her stomach go cold. As best as she could relate it, an eddy was like being in a whirlpool, a tornado and a raging flood at the same time. Ships caught in an eddy were subjected to intense forces that often broke them apart before they could crash into anything. Small ships sometimes fared better than larger one, so there was hope. It would all depend on if they had seen the eddy before they entered it. But if they had entered it….

If they had somehow escaped, the area was full of gasses and chemicals that would interfere with ship’s sensors first, then slowly dissolve the ship itself. It would not take long. It would eat away at the hulls like a strong acid. The Eightfour’s bioships were even more sensitive to the affects of the eddy. They would not risk any of their ships to mount a rescue.

And she could not risk Voyager. She could not risk the lives of everyone on this ship, of the children of this ship. Of her own daughter. They did not even know if Seven and Kahkar were in danger. They did not even know if Seven and Kahkar were still alive.

She stopped, aware that everyone on the bridge was looking at her, waiting for her orders. She almost laughed. She was still the captain of this ship.

"Tuvok, keep trying to raise the away team."

Tuvok silently moved to take his position.

"Tom, Doctor. I understand the Flyer is still in pieces."

"Yes, ma’am." Tom gave the Doctor a glance as he answered.

"How long before you can have it space worthy?"

"About ten hours."

"Get to it." She turned to the Eightfours. "The Flyer has Borg-enhanced shielding. It might not be enough, but maybe it’ll buy us time." She could tell by their silence they did not agree, but at least they did not argue with her.

"Se we’re going after them." The Doctor was still standing, holding his daughter, his fear showing in his face.

"Doctor." Kathryn thought carefully about her words. She would not lie to him, but she would not mince words either. "I don’t know what we’re going to do, but I do know we’re going to be prepared. We’re going to do what it takes to do the right thing. If they’re in danger," she lowered her voice, painfully aware of the look on Kathryn B’Elanna’s face, "if they’re still alive, we’ll do everything possible can to save them."

Her words hung heavy and still in the room, freezing everyone. Finally, the Doctor nodded his head. Not taking his eyes off of Kathryn’s face, he said, "Let’s go, Tom. We need to get the Flyer put back together."

When he turned, B’Elanna was standing by his side. "Why don’t you let me have KB. I’ll take her to T’Pel and then come help you in the shuttle bay."

The Doctor clutched his daughter to him, then spoke to her. "You need to go with your Aunt B’Elanna, sweetheart. Uncle Tom and I have to go fix the Flyer so we can go try…" he stopped, uncertain what to say. Clumsily, he said, "Go with Aunt B’Elanna."

He moved to hand his daughter to B’Elanna, but she held tightly to his neck and would not let go. He kissed her on the shoulder as he pressed his cheek against hers, whispering in her ear. "Please, sweetheart. Go with B’Elanna."

When B’Elanna reached for her again, Kathryn B’Elanna slowly held out her arms, and B’Elanna pulled her into an embrace. "Come on, KB."

Kathryn B’Elanna looked at her father, then turned her head to B’Elanna. "My name is Kathryn B’Elanna."

B’Elanna’s face went blank, then grief flew over it. Closing her eyes, she turned and quickly left the bridge.

Kathryn watched them leave, her eyes misting slightly. Then, she raised her head and looked at her crew. "Let’s get to it, people."

Ketaria was floating. Surrounding her were colors and energies that she had never experienced before. It was both beautiful and maddening. She had to work to center herself, to hold on to her sanity in this strange place. It was cold. She felt the cold stab through her body, chilling her deeply, sending shivers through her. And, it was empty. She felt no life in this place. The forces around her were the antithesis of energy, pulling life out of her.

She pulled herself away, moving herself back to awareness. When her eyes opened, she curled into a ball on the floor and sobbed.

The weight of the world was on her. It was what she deserved for failing. She had failed to save them, failed to get them safely away, failed to see that asteroid in time, failed. But, if she had truly failed, would she be having these thoughts? The realization forced her mind to focus, and she felt as if she was moving through a great distance. It took forever, but finally she opened her eyes.

It was dark. She could see the swirling colors outside of the windows, but only dark inside. She tried to lift her head and groaned. She tried to raise her hands, but they were pinned by her side. She twisted her head, but could only turn her head slightly to the left. She was surrounded by something.

Fighting, pulling, she managed to free one hand, then used it to push against whatever was holding her down. She was able to give herself a little relief and felt her lungs fill with air, giving her strength. Finally, she freed her other hand, then slid herself slowly across the floor, and out from under what was holding her down. It felt as if it took her forever, but she finally freed herself. Sitting in the dark, she breathed, trying to get her mind functioning again.

She lifted a hand, feeling around her head, feeling for wounds, for blood. Nothing. That was good. Her hands moved down her body, her relief growing as her hands touched solid, unrendered flesh. Except for being bruised, she was undamaged.

Kahkar!

She twisted, feeling her bruised body protest under the sudden movement, reaching out to feel the area around her, trying to find with her hands what her eyes could not see.

"Kahkar?"

The sound of her voice was hollow in the shuttle, the words bouncing off of the walls, cold and distant. Life support was barely functioning. She felt her way across the floor of the shuttle, calling his name as she went. Her hand bumped against something warm – and wet.

Kahkar?" Her hands felt his body, still and lifeless beneath her hands. "Please, Kahkar." Her voice cracked and went silent as her hands worked, trying to feel for his body, to separate flesh from metal.

"Computer, lights."

She waited, but nothing happened. She wasn’t surprised. She really had not expected for them to respond. She glanced again at the light out of the window. That was fore. She turned, feeling her way back to the small storage bins, hunting for the emergency equipment. Her hands fought to open the doors, then fumbled as she tried to identify the lights, feeling through the mass of objects on the floor of the bin. Finally, she found a light and activated it, the lights it cast throwing strange shadows in the cabin of the shuttle.

She identified the medical kit, grabbed it and hurried back to Kahkar, seeing the blood pooling on the floor beneath his head. Activating the medical tricorder, she was relieved when lifesigns appeared on the screen. He was alive, but barely. She pulled out the support systems in the bag – cortical stimulator, cardiac stimulator, respiratory stimulator – carefully placing them on Kahkar’s body, watching as the tricorder registered normal lifesigns. She used the equipment she found to stop the bleeding, internal and external. Moving down his body, she felt despair set in as she realized how broken his body was. She could not heal his wounds. Even the Doctor could not heal him here.

She looked up, now able to see jutting rocks out of the windows. They had crashed into something. She closed her eyes trying to remember. The asteroid. She had seen it and tried extreme evasive maneuvers to miss it. She had almost succeeded, but had felt the violent collision as a stabilizer of the shuttle sliced into the asteroid, shredding off and flipping the shuttle into a twisting, rolling flight path. As they had rolled through space, she remembered two, no three glances of a huge, solid shape that seemed to rush toward them. But it was they who were rushing to it. She remembered trying to regain control of the shuttle, even as she felt the systems dying around her. Finally, in a desperate act, she transferred all available power to the shields. Then, she remembered nothing.

Something had obviously worked. They were still alive – at least temporarily. She moved to what was left of the helm, her hands working the dead console. She noted for the first time, that she felt lighter than normal. Environmental controls were down. Everything was down. But the emergency life support system was still working. And somehow, the shuttle’s integrity was holding.

She stood, her body weak and shaky. Looking out of the window, she saw an alien landscape, rocky, barren, foreboding and empty of life. Dirt swirled almost every where she looked, and she knew she would not be leaving the shuttle. She moved back to the storage bins, hunting for emergency beacons, air supply, food and blankets. She would use every trick she knew to buy them time. Rescue was always an option.

Voyager sat still in space, her bow facing the eddy, ready for either rescue or retreat. On the bridge, Kathryn Janeway finally stood still, looking at the view in front of her, her body poised as if in a shoot-out. In a way, this was a shoot-out – a life or death stare down. They would have one chance if they got a chance.

"Harry, report."

She waited in the silence.

"I can’t pick up anything."

She heard the heaviness in his voice. Walking forward, she placed her hands on the back of the chair where her husband sat. "Come on." Her voice was a whisper. "Give me something."

Chakotay heard the pleading in her voice. Without saying anything, he leaned back so that his back was touching her hands. He pressed against them slightly, feeling as the grip she had on his chair lessened and the fingers of one hand slowly moved up his back to rest lightly, desperately against his back. He pressed his back against her touch a little more. He felt her breathe, a long, resigned breath as she prepared to speak.

"We hold our places, people. Tuvok, keep sending out hails. Harry, keep scanning. Look for anything – bio-signatures, Borg signatures, anything you can think of. Let me know the minute you find something, anything." Her fingers squeezed her husband’s back. "I’ll be in the shuttle bay. Chakotay, you have the bridge."

Turning, she left the bridge, watching the view screen as the turbolift doors closed in front of her.

Kathryn B’Elanna sat in a corner of Aunt Kathryn’s living quarters, her knees pulled up tightly to her body, her eyes focused on the floor between her feet. Aunt B’Elanna had told her to stay here, to be a good girl while they tried to save Mommy. She could not find Mommy. She could not feel her. All she could feel was cold.

Where was Mommy? She had to find Mommy. She had hunted for her, leaving awareness as soon as Aunt B’Elanna had left. She had found Ketaria, knew she was looking for Kahkar. She had felt the cold that Ketaria had felt, felt Ketaria’s mind losing its focus, felt Ketaria’s despair when she pulled back, returning to awareness. She had watched Ketaria leave, then continued to hunt, going deeper and only finder that it got colder.

She needed a connection. She needed something physical. Her eyes moved around the room. There was nothing in the room that was Mommy. She watched as T’Pel walked around the room, trying to quiet a still screaming Katie, now trying to quiet a sobbing To’mas. She saw T’Pel take To’mas’ hand and lead him into Katie’s room, knowing she was going to try to get him to sleep. As soon as they entered, Kathryn B’Elanna rose and slipped out of the living quarters.

She ran for her home, rushing into Mommy’s bedroom. Crawling into Mommy and Daddy’s bed, she grabbed her mother’s pillow and pulled it tightly to her body, quickly leaving awareness. Five minutes later, she opened her eyes. Only cold. Her heart beating wildly in her chest, she tightened her grip on the pillow and looked around the room for something else. Her head turned, and she saw the headboard. She froze. Then, she scrambled off of the bed and ran from the living quarters.

Two minutes later, she was standing in the cargo bay, looking up at the alcove. The darkness of it scared her. Her face muscles tightened, and she moved to the alcove controls and placed her hands on either side of it, concentrating. In a matter of seconds, the alcove powered up to maximum, the lights flickering as the lightening-like bolts at the top of the alcove quickened. With her determination growing, she stepped up into the alcove and took the regeneration position. Raising her head, she waited.

For a second, there was nothing. Then, she felt it. It was like a tickling that started at the top of her head, then crept down through her body and danced across her skin. Light exploded behind her eyes and she felt as if her body lost all of its weight. She took an involuntary breath, feeling as the oxygen filled her lungs. She felt the strength that filled her. She felt as her mind started connecting the world around her. Focusing her thoughts she started searching. Suddenly, she knew she was not searching for something human. She was searching for something Borg. The part of her mind that was aware of what she was doing was surprised that what she was doing did not scare her. What she was doing felt completely natural.