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By 0830 she made it to the large building she chose to work at.  She came to this planet knowing that they needed many skilled workers, and she had several of the skills that they needed.  She took a moment to look around at the gargantuan city that she now found herself before going to look for her new supervisor.  Coming from Kansas, this planet seemed huge.  In fact she wasn’t sure that anywhere on her home planet of Earth she could find one city this big, let alone a whole planet.  She looked out at many sky scrapers at least twice as big as what she was accustomed and other large buildings between them.  Not much traffic though.  Most people lived in the complexes nearest to their workplace and either walked to work or took the transport.  She planned on walking most days, but since she will only have this one opportunity to make a good first impression, she took the transport.  Before taking the final steps inside, she took one more inhale of the fresh air and looked around at the megacity in front of her.  She decided that she would like it here. 

A man stopped her and asked for her credentials and permit.  She showed him the PADD she had received at her training and he told her she was in the wrong building.  However, after looking at her credentials, he offered her a job in his section.  “You would also make a good engineer.”  She graciously turned down the offer and got directions to her actual assignment. 

Not far from her stood a tattooed man who had the same problem as she did.  He overheard where she was going and realized he was going to the same section.  He began to walk after her at a brisk pace.  Once he had her attention, he called out to her, “You there.”  She smiled at him and stopped allowing him to catch up to her.  “Hi, my name is Chakotay.  I understand that its your first day too.  I was wondering if you would like to walk to work with me?”

“Gladly.  I’m Kathryn, Kathryn Janeway.  Good to meet you Chakotay.”  She took a closer look at him.  Before he could ask what was wrong, she said, “I came from such a long way.  I’m surprised that we’re the same species.”

Chakotay looked at her and said, “I hope we can be more than that, I hope we can be friends.”  The two smiled at each other and headed for work. 

***

“So you used to work for the Power Plant.  How long were you there?”

“Long enough to know that it wasn’t the place for me.  I am just not the type to sit behind a console all day.”

“I see, but you think that bussing tables is a better fit for you?”

“Yes ma’am.  I need to be with people.”

“Uh huh” The restaurant owner was not impressed.  This Tom Paris seemed likeable enough, but he also seemed really reluctant to give any of his job history.  One could almost say he was immature, but the proprietress also thought she sensed a depth to him as well.  “So how long were you at the Power Plant?”

“A day.”

“A day?  That’s not much of an illustrious career.”

“Actually it was less than a day.  But I know that I would be a lot happier here.”

He flashed a smile at her and for some reason, she just couldn’t resist him.  “Start by clearing those tables, and get ready for the lunch crowd.”

Once again, all he could say was, “Yes, ma’am.”

***

“Tuvok to Voyager.”  Tuvok had such a headache.  He was instructed to lead an away mission with Harry and Neelix.  The captain had assigned this mission to him since Chakotay was already gone on another mission.  Actually, Chakotay had crashed a shuttle on a small asteroid and while Voyager went back to retrieve that away team, Tuvok led this one to get the tritanium that Chakotay should have gotten.  Now Ensign Kim suffered from a bad case of food poisoning, and Neelix put on his morale officer’s hat and tried to cheer him up.  Tuvok considered having Neelix come to the front of the shuttle and help him scan for Voyager, if for no other reason than to give his sick colleague a respite from the well-meaning Talaxian.  However, after hearing the Ensign ask for more details about the meat nectar he ate, the Vulcan remembered why he was opposed to the Talaxian coming on the away mission, and decided it was more logical to run the scans himself. 

Tuvok continued on course for the rendezvous point but could not find the ship.  Finally he decided to try to take Ensign Kim out of some of his misery.  “Ensign, I know you do not feel well, but please report to the tactical station.”  Harry begrudgingly made it to the station where Tuvok began to explain the situation.  Harry started running scans. 

***

The lunch rush had ended for the most part.  Tom began to clean up when he noticed a beautiful woman with cranial ridges, sitting at a table alone.  “A happy customer is a loyal customer” Tom said to himself and walked toward her.  “You’re going to be late for the transport back if you don’t hurry.”

“Actually I have the late shift.”

“I see.  Well then, is there anything I can get you?”

“No thank you.  I’m fine.”   She just wanted to be left alone.  She came to this planet so she could work and support this baby she carried after its father left.  She didn’t really want to be here at all.  She had hoped to blend into the scenery.  However, she realized that this waiter would not make that easy. 

“Well, when you are ready to go to the transport, let me know, I will walk you there.  You don’t know what dangers you might find.”

“Don’t worry about me.  I can take care of myself.”

“I just want you to make it back here.  I haven’t seen you around here before.”  With this Tom flashed her a smile.  She knew that he was flirting with her, and for some reason that she couldn’t understand she actually enjoyed it. 

“Well, if you haven’t seen me here before, you just haven’t been observant.  I have been coming here every day for the last week.”

“Really, well then it’s about time I learn your name.  If you’re a regular, I should get to know you.”

“B’Elanna.”  And with that, she stood up making sure he knew that she was pregnant and therefore should be left alone. 

“Well B’Elanna, I hope to see you and your husband here again.”

Without thinking about it, she said, “I’m not married.  Now if you will excuse me, I have a transport to catch.”

Tom watched her leave.  He didn’t know why, but he felt an instinctive need to watch out for her.  He almost felt like he knew her from somewhere. 

***

Kathryn watched her monitors closely to make sure that the power plant wasn’t overheating.  She went to make an adjustment and all of a sudden alarms started going off.  She began to calmly explain to the machine in front of her that it needed to cooperate.  The machine obviously didn’t understand because it continued to blare out the fact that it sensed a problem.

“Do you always talk to your monitors, Kathryn?”  Asked the tattooed man she met on her way to work.

“Only when I think it will help.”  She answered with a smile as she pressed some buttons that didn’t have any effect on the alarms.

Chakotay laughed and looked at the monitor himself.  He also began trying to make some modifications.  Kathryn looked again at the information in front of her and told him to try a different adjustment as she compensated on the other side of the console.  Finally the alarm shut off. 

“Well, Kathryn, it looks like you prevented a meltdown of the entire Power Plant.  I think this is a cause for celebration.  Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?”

Flattered, Kathryn answered, “That sounds like fun.  But I have to study the manuals a little more.”

“Son’t you have them memorized yet?”  With that, Chakotay smiled, showing Kathryn his dimples.  “Tell you what, I’m going to the diner down the street, if you change your mind, meet me there after the shift.”  As he walked away, Kathryn turned around. 

Standing in front of her was the efficiency officer assigned to this unit.  “Is there a problem?”  Chakotay turned around again to help Kathryn if she needed it. 

“No ma’am.  Everything is under control now.” 

“Glad to hear it.  Please make sure that remains the status quo.  It does not take two people to run this station.  Employee 8647, please return to your station.  Fraternizing is not permitted at work. ”

“I was just on my way – uh, what did you say your name, or even number was?”

“My name is Annika Hansen, I am the efficiency monitor assigned to this area.”

Kathryn tried to contain her giggle while she said, “I assure you we were not fraternizing.” 

Annika turned to leave ignoring the last comment.  After the efficiency officer was out of earshot, Chakotay said to Kathryn, “Actually, I had hoped we were fraternizing.”  With that he finally left to go back to his station. 

***

The shuttle landed in the dock still without hearing from Voyager.  As the crew got out of the shuttle, they immediately noticed that life support was not running.  They climbed back into the shuttle and put on the appropriate gear. 

“Computer,” Tuvok said, “is there anyone onboard?”

“The Emergency Command Hologram is currently running.” 

**

The Doctor laid under a console in engineering working with little more than the glow of the components.  “Computer,” he ordered frustrated, “put transponders online.”

“Unable to comply”

“Now what’s wrong?”

“Rotor plugs are clogged.”

“I thought I just fixed those.”  The Doctor wanted to throw something at the engine that he worked on.

“Please restate in the form of a question.”  Before he could comply, he heard a familiar voice on his communicator. 

“Tuvok to The Doctor.”

“Ah, the calvary has arrived,” he said to himself before touching his communicator and answering, “Yes Commander.”

“Where are you?”

“In engineering and needing some assistance.”

“Understood, we’re on our way.”

Harry looked at Tuvok pleading with his eyes to get him some help for his stomach pains.  “Ensign, I am sure that The Doctor will help you after we find out what happened here.”

Once in engineering, the shuttle crew saw a mess.  The warp core was offline, components were strewn all over the place, and The Doctor wore a red command shirt.  Harry immediately went to a console to try to assess the damage.  Tuvok approached The Doctor. 

“Well it’s about time you got here.”

Tuvok was in no mood to hear The Doctor complain about how bad things were on him.  “Doctor, what happened here?”
 

“Quite a bit.  About twelve hours after you left, the ship hit some sort of strange anomaly.  The computer stopped playing the aria I was enjoying and my matrix was affected.  I immediately downloaded my program into the mobile emmitter.  It wasn’t long before I was deluged with crew members experiencing tachyon poisoning.  The captain came down to sickbay to let me know that they would abandon ship and to start my Emergency Command subroutines.  Once all the escape pods were released, I was to take care of the life support here and then get the crew back.  Unfortunately, another ship came and put Voyager on a tractor beam.  I hailed them and they told me that since my crew had abandoned ship, they could claim Voyager.  I disagreed with them and disabled their beam, then I found a nebula to hide in.”

“What about the captain, have you heard from her?”

“Not a word.  I ran scans of the ship that attacked after the crew escaped, and the anomaly had the same signature as the ship.  So it would seem that they have done this before.”

“Indeed Doctor.  Now it is crucial that we get the ship fixed and that Neelix begins to find out about the inhabitants of the nearby planets.  Your craft is operational, is it not Mr.  Neelix?”

“Yes it is, Mr.  Vulcan.”

“Very well, you know what to do.  The rest of us can continue repairs.” 

***

Annika looked around at her assigned area.  Everything was running as efficiently as it could.  She was however a little confused.  When she started here, about a month ago, approximately 140 others began as well.  Since then, very few laborers have joined any work crew.  She looked up the files of some of the crew members who had started at about the same time she did.  She didn’t know why, but she felt like some were familiar to her.  She decided that these thoughts were irrelevant and closed those files when she heard the familiar sound indicating time for her medication.  Most of the aliens on this planet had to take weekly medications given at their places of employment.  Most people assumed it would help prevent certain illnesses that they could from living on a new world.  No one ever questioned this, as it gave the employees an opportunity to socialize during work time. 

As she stood in line, she saw employees 8586 and 8647 standing in line also ready for their inoculations.  They had obviously hit it off since she saw them fraternizing on their first day of work.  As she continued to watch the couple and saw the instrument that would dispense the medication, she seemed to remember something else.   It was before she began work here.  Doctors escorted them into a room with many examination tables.  She and several others already occupied most of them.  Employee 8586, was asking the doctor to make sure that “the crew” was alright, meanwhile Employee 8647 was worried about 8586's well being.  The doctor told them both that everyone would be treated and they all, including several other workers, would receive treatment.  Before she could see what happened to them, a three-pronged contraption came over her head and that was all she remembered. 

***

As Kathryn and Chakotay stood in line, they talked about their plans for the evening. 

“I still think I can make you a vegetarian.  I have this wonderful pasta dish that I will make you tonight.”

“No, I’m not going to your place for dinner again.  You have spoiled me enough by cooking for me.   Tonight I want you to come to my house and let me cook for you.”

Chakotay agreed and they both got their medications. 

***

Tactical Officer’s log: After six weeks, we still have not found the crew.  Neelix reported that there is a major labor shortage on several nearby planets and that even he has found offers for work.  I am making contact with nearby planets in hopes of finding one that has our crew members.  Meanwhile, repairs to the ship are going slowly.  The doctor seems to believe that many of the tasks assigned to him are beneath him.  Ensign Kim wants me to verify his rank is greater than a command hologram.  If a time comes that I will have to leave the ship, I am not sure that I would be comfortable with either of them in command. 

Tuvok received a hail from a planet who recognized the names of each of the crew members.  The Senator he spoke to said that he had personally talked to several of the people on the list, but none remembered a star ship or anything that resembled what Tuvok said about their lives.  He also refused to allow Tuvok to talk directly with the crew members.  He assumed that Tuvok was only trying to increase his own workforce. 

Tuvok called a meeting of the skeleton crew he had.  As usual, The Doctor asked why he was stuck fixing things when he should be on the bridge, in “the command center.”  Tuvok offered to let him take bridge shifts at night when he and Harry were both asleep.  At this point Harry reminded Tuvok that has been his assignment.  Neelix, excited about the news of the whereabouts of the crew thought having a party would help to cut the tension of the people on Voyager.  Since arriving on the ship six weeks ago, Tuvok has had to increase his regimen of meditations. 

Finally Tuvok told everyone to be quiet as he had a plan.  “We need to infiltrate the planet ourselves and talk to the crew.  I will go down there with Neelix and find as many crew members as we can, to see what has happened.”

“Commander Tuvok, maybe I should go since you could be recognized by so many people.”

“I appreciate that ensign, but I believe the doctor can change my appearance for me.  Besides I need you here to continue repairs.”

“Aye sir.”

“Sir?” The Doctor began.  “Who will be left in command”

“Seeing as Starfleet has no official rank for an Emergency Command Hologram, may I suggest that the only fair way to settle the dispute is for the two of you to share command in the absence of all other commanding officers.”  Without letting Harry or the Doctor respond, Tuvok ended the meeting by saying, “Dismissed.” Harry and Doc looked at each other before following Tuvok out.  Tuvok remembered why he had started meditating more since the crew was taken. 

***

B’Elanna approached a man that intrigued her a bit.  He had Kllingon cranial ridges and other characteristics, but wasn’t nearly as bulky as any Klingon male she had seen.  One of the tougher looking aliens had challenged him to an arm wrestling competition, when he turned the man down he used something that she could only describe as Vulcan logic. 

Tuvok went to the table that Janeway and Chakotay occupied.  He introduced himself as a new employee working near the two of them.  While Kathryn wanted to engage this new employee in conversation, Chakotay let her know that he wanted to talk to her – alone.  Embarrassed by his rudeness, Janeway excused them, leaving Tuvok by himself hoping to approach B’Elanna.  After seeing the way his captain and first officer were carrying on, he concluded that they are no longer in a command structure, and it is very likely that their memories have been tampered with. 

***

B’Elanna got up to leave the restaurant when Tom came up to her.  “Hey there, I was wondering if you would like to”

“Why don’t you get the hint? I’m not interested in a romantic relationship with you.”

“What about friendship?”  B’Elanna’s face seemed to be asking a question that her mouth didn’t quite get out.  “If you don’t want a romantic relationship, how about a friendship?”

She smiled a little and said, “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Good, because what I really wanted to say before was, I met another couple who is having a baby and I wanted to know if you might want to meet them to maybe swap stories?  Find a playmate for your child?”

“That would be great.”

B’Elanna got up to leave.  “Just a second and I will walk you out.  You know, as friends.”

“I don’t need you to protect me.” 

“It’s not you I’m protecting.”

“Try to catch up to me,” she said, smiling, as she left. 

***

Tuvok saw B’Elanna leave the restaurant and carefully started following her.  He tapped her on the shoulder to catch her attention, but she misunderstood the gesture and attacked him.  She ran away and Neelix grabbed her in a bear hug.  Using his dermal transmitter, Tuvok told Voyager to beam up Neelix and B’Elanna.  Unfortunately, this caught the attention of the police and they started chasing Tuvok. 

***

As soon as B’Elanna and Neelix arrived on board, Voyager was attacked by ships from the planet.  The Doctor took command and used one of the tactical maneuvers supplied by his subroutine to get them to safety.  He then immediately went to see his patient in sickbay, leaving Harry to command the ship and find a safe place to stay for awhile. 

***

Tuvok narrowly escaped the enforcement officers who chased him.  He found where the captain and commander were living and decided to try to approach the captain.  They were friends after all.  Logic dictated that she would instinctively trust those who she knew before, even if she had no memory of them. 

***

Annika took several files home with her.  She didn’t know why, but she wanted to look once again at the files of the employees who were hired at about the same time as her.  In particular, she wanted to find out more information about Kathryn Janeway and Amaj Kotay.  There was something almost familiar about these people.  As she looked at their pictures again, she remembered more vividly the events on the day she arrived on the planet.  She remembered being taken against her will and being strapped down to a biobed.  The male was very protective of the female, while the female’s concern was for all the people who arrived with her.  She remembered the three-pronged contraption, but nothing after that. 
 

Frustrated at what she couldn’t remember, she got up to get a glass of water, hoping it might distance herself from the problem long enough to think of a new approach.  As she did this, she walked past a mirror.  She felt like she was seeing herself for the first time.  She noticed the metallic component from her Borg assimilation.  She gently touched this piece and ran her finger over it.  As she did this, she remembered coming out of an alcove as a Borg drone.  She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember more.  “My designation is Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01.” 

She started to remember a little more.  She used to be called Seven.  She didn’t come to this planet knowingly.  She was escaping something.  She couldn’t remember what.  She went back to her computer files to see if there was any other biographical information about her or where she came from.  Before she accessed her own file, she looked at the pictures of Kathryn Janeway and Amaj Kotay again. 

“Captain Janeway, Commander Chakotay.”

***

“Chakotay, that was rude.”  Kathryn said to her dinner companion.

“I’m sure he’ll forgive me,” Chakotay responded. 

“I don’t know.  Klingons are not known for their generosity and good will.” 

“I’m not afraid.”  Chakotay put a hand on hers.  Then he gently took her chin in his hand and guided her face so that he could look into her eyes.  In a soft voice he said, “When I’m with you, I’m not afraid of anything.  I know we have only known each other for less than two months, but I feel like I have known you forever.  I feel like I have loved you much longer than I could possibly have.  Kathryn, I don’t want to ever lose this connection I have with you, it would be like losing a connection to my own heart.  The reason I was rude to that Klingon is because I want us to get married and I want us to move in together.  I want to share my life with you forever and I want that to start right now, this moment.”

Kathryn turned the hand that Chakotay covered over so that as they faced each other across the table the fingers on her left hand were intertwined with the fingers on his right and then they lifted their hands up so they were suspended in the air.  She looked at him in the eye and said, “I feel like we have done this before, in a place far from here.  I feel very much like we were meant to be here together.  I want all the things you want.” 

Chakotay stood up and took Kathryn in his arms and kissed her.  Seeing the excitement at their table, Tom Paris walked to the happy couple and once they were settled down a little, he offered them a drink to celebrate their happiness.  The two of them accepted joyfully. 

***

B’Elanna woke up.  She immediately jumped off the biobed and started looking for anyone.  The Doctor walked out of his office and cheerily said, “I’m glad you’re up.”  Immediately, he ducked around a punch thrown at him by his patient.  “Most people thank their doctors for their excellent medical care.” 

B’Elanna wasn’t in a mood to be thankful.  “Where have you taken me?  Where am I?”

The Doctor took out a hypospray of a sedative and applied it to B’Elanna.  The reaction was immediate.  “Ah, there, it promises to bring down even the most ferocious of beasts.  I guess a pregnant half-Klingon fits that description.”  The Doctor helped her back to her biobed and took a look at her before putting up a force field.  “When you wake up again, I can start fixing your memories.”

Just then Neelix came in with a bowl full of something. 

“Please tell me that isn’t more of the meat nectar that made Ensign Kim ill.  I don’t want to fix another tummy ache.”

“No, of course not, I don’t have the blood vinegar to make it.  This is a beef stew that I thought would cheer up Lieutenant Torres.  Is she awake?”

“I had to put her back to sleep.”  The Doctor thought for a moment, then added, “But she may be able to use your help.  Do you think you could find some personal items of hers to help her remember her life here?  She is going to have a hard transition back to being on Voyager, maybe seeing part of her past will help that.”

“I think I can do that.  I’ll be back before you can miss me.”

“Somehow Mr.  Neelix, I think I can believe that.”

***

Annika continued looking at the different pictures of her crew mates and forced herself to remember each person and their role on the ship.  She hoped to find one that might be able to help her reach Voyager.  When she realized that no one remembered their past, she began to look up more recent hires.  She ran across the face of what looked like a skinny Klingon.  She started to laugh at his appearance, before chiding herself because laughing is irrelevant.  The more she looked at him, the more she thought there was something familiar about this man.  She looked up his file and saw his name, Tuvok. 

***

“So, you mean, I was married to that waiter?”

“Yes, Lieutenant.  Tom Paris was your husband.  This is a picture of you right after you eloped.  And here are some personal logs of yours.”  Neelix said, hoping that some of the mementoes he had would make it easier for her to remember. 

“I had no idea.  And I guess he doesn’t either.  But I guess that’s why we were able to trust each other so completely down on the planet.”

“The two of you do have a special bond that wouldn’t easily be broken.  I would imagine that there were several friendships made on the surface because of the bond we all have with each other.”

“Like who else?”

“Well there were many romantic relationships on board, and several marriages.  I would guess that any of those couplings would have found each other again.”

All of a sudden B’Elanna remembered something that she saw on the planet.  She gave Neelix a smile that said she knew something.  “Is there anyone on the crew that might have found each other because of this bond, but taken out of the context of this crew, might have gone in a different direction?”

“Oh certainly you can’t be . . .   No, not the . . .  But it would make sense, and I am not the only one who has hoped that the captain and commander would finally put protocol in the right place.” 

***

Tuvok began to go to the room he was assigned as an employee at the Power Plant, but realized that the police were there.  He began to walk towards a side entrance to the building that most Power Plant employees used.  As he walked down the hall, he saw Kathryn and Chakotay walking in hand-in-hand.  They stopped between the two doors, laughing with their arms around each other.  They kissed.  Chakotay broke the kiss and said, “We can finish this inside, but whose apartment do we want to go into?”

“Well, I still owe you dinner.”

“Kathryn, you can’t cook.  Besides, I’m not in the mood for food.”

“As I was saying, nobody eats in my place.”  Kathryn pulled Chakotay into another kiss and headed for her apartment.  Tuvok decided that Chakotay’s room would be the safest place to stay overnight. 

***
 

Annika Hansen woke up early after spending nearly all night finding evidence of foul play in the way she and about 140 other people arrived at the planet.  She planned to visit the local enforcement officers and demand information about her past. 

She went directly to the enforcement officer headquarters and overheard a detective talking about a man fitting the description of a Klingon that kidnaped B’Elanna Torres.  She listened long enough to put together that this man must be from the same place that she came.  She chose to find the Klingon and get more information from him. 

***

Kathryn Janeway woke up in her bed with the man she agreed the previous night to spend the rest of her life with.  She woke to find his arm possessively laying over her.  Kathryn thought to herself about this.  She had never considered herself the type of person who would just agree to marry a man without knowing him really well.  She always thought that she would have to date a man for a long time before getting engaged and then have a long engagement.  However, she just met Chakotay.  A couple months ago, they walked together to work and there was just something about him that instinctively made her trust him.  Despite its illogic, she just knew somehow that this was a man who would love her and whom she could love.  As she turned in bed, his arm drew her closer to him.  She smiled and began to laugh as he moved his head to give her a kiss on her cheek. 

“How did you sleep?”

“I should be asking you that question; you were the one to sleep in a different place.”

“Anywhere I am with you is home.”  With that, Chakotay kissed her on the lips.  She pulled back before the kiss could go much further. 

“We need to get up and go to work.  Do you want some coffee?”

“No thanks, but I could use a cup of tea.”

“Coming up” 

***

Tuvok woke up to the sound of his communicator paging him.  He answered it and heard on the other end that the ship was hiding from enemy attack.  B’Elanna was doing better and is starting to help with the repairs.  Ensign Kim asked if Tuvok has seen any other members of the crew.  Tuvok answered that he has located the captain and commander, but that he has not yet talked to either.  He intends to this morning.  He also suggested that it might be safer for everyone if they do not talk until he has more to report. 

Tuvok left Chakotay’s apartment and walked across the hall.  After waiting a few seconds, Kathryn answered the door. 

“Tuvok?  Wasn’t it?”

“Yes cap—Tuvok is my name.”

Kathryn had apparently just woken up when Tuvok came to the door.  She had on only a robe. 

“May I come in?”

“It is a little bit early isn’t it?”

“Please, I need to talk to you and the com??, your friend.”  Kathryn didn’t look like she particularly wanted to entertain at that moment.  However, she knew better that to be rude to a Klingon.  Tuvok stepped in and she excused herself so that she could get dressed.  Chakotay offered to get rid of the strange man in the living area, but she said that she thought they should listen to him.  Chakotay made himself presentable while Kathryn got dressed.  He went out to greet Tuvok, who he immediately did not trust. 

“So, you’re the new guy who works near me and Kathryn.  My name is Chakotay.”  He held out his hand with a look that would tell most people that if the man on the other end of the handshake made a wrong move, there would be bloodshed.  Tuvok shook his hand with emotionless eyes, which made Chakotay even more suspicious.  Once the handshake ended, Chakotay begrudgingly offered Tuvok something to drink.  Tuvok declined.  After several uncomfortable minutes, Kathryn finally came out of the bedroom.  Chakotay immediately went to put his arm around her so that Tuvok would know that if he tried anything, he would answer to Chakotay. 

Once the couple sat down, Tuvok started immediately.  “I know this may come as a surprise, but I would ask that you please allow me to explain.  The two of you are not who you think you are.  You are Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager.  And you sir, are Commander Chakotay of the same ship.  You were taken from your ship and put here against your will along with about 140 others.  Most of your crew.”

“Most of the crew?  Except for you of course Mr. Tuvok,” said Kathryn.  She and Chakotay both gave him a disbelieving look. 

“As I said, this is difficult to believe, but try to think about how you came here.  How did you get from Earth to a planet 35,000 light years away?  How did you hear about these jobs?  Why aren’t there more humans living on a planet that has a worker shortage?  Logic dictates that there is a reason for all these things.”

Chakotay answered this series of questions by saying, “We both have memories of coming here, not on some star ship, but on regular cruisers.  Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to get ready for work.” 

Tuvok left the apartment.

***

Annika decided to approach her two commanding officers and show them the evidence that she has.  She left for the housing unit that held captain Janeway.  As she entered the building, she noticed the skinny Klingon from her computer file looking at her. 
 

“Is there something that I can help you with?”

“No, I just thought you look like someone I know.”  Tuvok thought it might be a good idea to try to get Seven alone to try a mindmeld.  He didn’t do it to the Captain or the Commander because he believed they would call the enforcement officers.  However, with Seven alone, he might be able to get through to her and have her help him get information. 

Seven looked at Tuvok and decided to find out if he knows anything.  “What is your name?”

“Tuvok”

“And what is the name of this person that I remind you of?”

Tuvok was a little taken off guard, as much as a Vulcan can be.  “I knew her as Seven of Nine.”

“I have a memory of a Lieutenant Commander named Tuvok.  However, he did not look like you.”  For the first time since beaming down to the planet, Tuvok was very aware of his disguise. 

“If I could prove my identity would you be willing to talk?”

“I believe so.”

“Can you get a dermal regenerator?”

“I believe I can.  Meet me at the abandoned offices in 20 minutes.”

“Agreed”

***
Tom Paris wiped one of the tables in the restaurant as Kathryn and Chakotay came in.  “Well, well, well, it seems that our favorite love birds have finally decided to wake up and join the rest of us.”

Chakotay had his arm around his love and as they sat down he said, “Well, she is nearly perfect, her only flaw is that she can’t cook.”  The happy couple laughed.  And they gave their orders to Tom.  When Tom returned to the table, Chakotay asked him if he remembered the skinny male Klingon from last night. 

“How could anyone forget him?  He seemed strange.”
 

“Stranger than you might think, “started Kathryn, as she entwined her fingers with Chakotay’s.  “He came to our apartment and told us we were the captain and commander of a star ship and then on our way here we overheard some people saying that he may be responsible for the disappearance of B’Elanna Torres.”

“B’Elanna’s missing?”

“Oh, I’m sorry I thought you had already heard.  The police are after this Tuvok.”

“Thanks for the warning.  I will definitely keep an eye out for him.”  Tom stomped away, scared about what might have happened to B’Elanna.  Kathryn saw this and went to him.

“Tom, I know she was a friend of yours, but you have to trust the enforcement officers to do their jobs.  As crazy as he is, I don’t think he would hurt anyone.”

“I know it may sound stupid, but I feel like I am connected to B’Elanna.  I can’t help but worry about her.  Both her and her baby.”

“I felt the same instant connection to Chakotay and to a smaller extent you and B’Elanna and others since I got here to this planet.  It’s like I’ve known a lot of you in a past life.”

“That’s exactly how I feel about B’Elanna.  And I guess there are others around here that I also felt like that about.”

“You know what else?  I feel that same connection with Tuvok.”  Kathryn patted Tom’s arm and walked back to Chakotay, who had just finished his tea.  He signaled to her it was time to go to work. 

***

Annika gave Tuvok the dermal regenerator.  As he ran it over his face, he tried to tell her about her life, the one he knew about.  “You were born Annika Hansen, but your parents were interested in the Borg and they took you on several adventures.  One got them and you assimilated when you were five years old.  Until you met Captain Janeway three years ago and got dissimulated, you were known in the Borg collective as Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix –“

Seven joined him for the last part, “01.  Since my dissimulation, I have served aboard the USS Voyager in the Astrometrics Lab.”  By the time Seven’s history lesson was complete, Tuvok’s transformation back to looking like a Vulcan was finished. 

“Seven, our priority has to be getting the captain and commander to believe us, then we can free the rest of our people.  What evidence can you find to help us in that objective?”
 

Seven took out her computer.  As she opened files, she began to tell him about the evidence that she found.  “On the day that I began work at the Power Plant, there were approximately 130 other humans that began work as well as others whose species is not on this planet anywhere else.  I have also –“

***

“Ensign, you led the morning briefing yesterday.  It’s my turn today.”

“But now that we have B’Elanna back at work, I can make more sense of what needs to be done.  Our objective is a more engineering one until Tuvok hails us.  I should lead this meeting.”

“How about both of you be quiet and let the head engineer give an update?”  B’Elanna gave the co-acting captains a look that made them both immediately sit down and listen.  She gave herself a smile.  It is no small feat to be pregnant and able to get the people around her to do as she says.  “Warp engines, thrusters, and impulse drives are all on line.  We do have minimal weapons, but the shields have been damaged pretty severely.  I think our top priority is to work on shields.  While I do that, Harry, you can work on another communication system so that we can get more updates from Tuvok.  Neelix, I want you to learn all you can about transporters and start modifying ours to get our crew off the planet if we have to do that quickly.  Also study the list of work assignments we got from the planet.  We may have to transport whole sections and then return people in a shuttle.  Doctor, you need to start looking for a way to help the entire crew when they get back.  Does anybody have any questions?”  B’Elanna waited for a moment and then finished the meeting by saying, “You have your assignments, lets go.”  She immediately turned on her heel and left the conference room.

The Doctor turned to Harry and said, “Well I could have come up with that plan.”

***

Seven and Tuvok left their meeting room planning to track down the captain and commander.  Tuvok thought he noticed someone following them.  Both he and Seven decided to be more perceptive than usual.  While he knew that he no longer looked like a Klingon, he was wanted for the disappearance of B’Elanna, so he may have been followed.  Seven and Tuvok decided that until they found their superior officers, they would have to act like they don’t know each other.  She would have to get a message to Janeway or Chakotay.  She had all the evidence that she compiled in an envelope that she planned to give to one of them if she couldn’t talk directly to them.  This was to insure that no one would be able to read the message off a computer. 

As Tuvok and Seven approached the Power Plant, they saw Janeway and Chakotay.  They were walking at a stroll, hand in hand.  Kathryn was laughing.  “You have to tell me what you’re planning.”
 

“You will just have to wait until dinner tonight.”  She gave him a look that told him she didn’t want to wait.  “It’s just killing you, isn’t it?”  Chakotay looked at her laughed.  “It’s killing me to.  I want to give it to you now.  But, I can wait.  It’ll give both of us something to look forward to.”

Seven let Tuvok know she saw them, then started running.  Tuvok ran in a different direction.  Just as they thought, three enforcement officers ran after him.  By distracting the officers, he hoped to give Seven some time to talk to Chakotay and Janeway.  As she got closer to the couple, she looked behind her.  She noticed that two officers had followed Tuvok and one was following her.  She took out her envelope while running and handed it off to Chakotay, who hadn’t even seen her coming.  “Read this,” was all she said before running away.

“An engaged man and you have other women giving you love notes.  Should I be worried?”

Chakotay gave his fiancee a smile and said, “You should always be worried, it’s only polite.  But don’t worry about her.  She’s not my type.”  With that, he gave her a kiss and he turned the envelope over.  “Besides, it looks like it’s for both of us.”

***

“My name is Lieutenant Commander Tuvok.  I am from the Federation Star Ship Voyager and have reason to believe that you have most of my crew on this planet against their wills.”

“Yes, you are the man that has told our government about this alleged conspiracy and they didn’t believe you.  Did they?  Unfortunate, wasn’t it?”  The enforcement officers took Tuvok to the headquarters of the Power Plant so they could decide what to do with him.  Tuvok’s interrogators were the doctors that originally erased the memories of the crew “Well, we’ll have to make sure that no one will ever find out what we did.”

One of the doctors scanned Tuvok.  “Sir, it appears that he has a communication device under his hand.”

“Interesting.  I suppose it communicates with the ship.  I believe there is a way to use this to our advantage.” 

A three-pronged machine came up above Tuvok’s head.

***

Janeway and Chakotay decided that since their shift started an hour ago, there was no hurry to get to work now.  If they had to, they would call in sick later.  Instead they found a park bench to sit on and read what Annika gave them.  As they sat down with fingers intertwined, Kathryn said, “If I had known that we would end up here, I would have replicated a picnic.”

“Maybe tonight before it gets dark we can come over here, have a picnic and then I can give you my gift.”  Chakotay put his arm around her, and she laid her head against his shoulder.  Neither knew why, but they didn’t really want to open the envelope.  They just wanted to savor this moment, like this could be their last like it.  Chakotay put the envelope down next to him and exhaled deeply.  “You don’t think anything that Tuvok said could be true, do you?”

“Is that what you think is in there?”

“I don’t know.  I just.  I can’t explain it.  I just don’t want to open it.  I feel like.”

“I know.  I do too.  But I also feel like we have to.” 

Chakotay shut his eyes and shook his head in agreement.  He started to pick it up again and then stopped himself.  “Why don’t I give you –“

Kathryn shook her head, “Tonight at dinner.  Give it to me then.  Right now we have to do this.”

Chakotay picked up the envelope and opened it, while Kathryn was still pinned in his embrace.  Together they read the top letter, written by Seven and Tuvok.  It stated everything that Tuvok said that morning and outlined the evidence that the packet contained.  While reading, Janeway started sitting straighter up and Chakotay took his arm from around her.  Once they both finished reading the letter, they split the evidence in half, and started filing through it.  By this time they were sitting with some space between them.  Chakotay felt something familiar about Janeway sitting to his left within reach of him, but unable to touch her.  He just looked at her as she finished the last of her pages, willing tears to not form in his eyes.  After she finished reading her half of the evidence she briefly looked at Chakotay and then looked straight ahead.  She shut her eyes tightly, not sure what to say now. 

After several long moments, she began.  “Well, the evidence is compelling.”

“It’s a life that I don’t remember.  Maybe it’s a mistake.  This Annika or Seven or whatever her name is said that she also had her memories taken away.”

Janeway cut him off.  “No Chakotay.  I think we both know that they were telling the truth.  If the papers they gave us don’t convince you, look at your own heart.  If you didn’t think it was true, you wouldn’t fight so hard to disbelieve it.”

“So this means that we have to be Captain and Commander, and everything that happened here is forgotten?”

For the first time since putting down her papers, Kathryn looked at Chakotay – directly in the eyes.  “Oh, Chakotay.  I don’t think I will ever forget this time, here, with you.  However, we do need to go back to a command structure.”

Chakotay closed his eyes, bit his lip before saying, “Aye captain.  I guess we should first go to the government of this planet and see what they know.”

“Actually I was thinking that we should pay a visit to Mr.  Paris.  If we can show him this, he may be able to help us convince the proper authorities.  He also needs to know that his wife and child are okay.”

“Agreed”

***

Harry put the audio only message from Tuvok on the shipwide system so that B’Elanna and the Doctor could listen to it.  Tuvok gave the crew coordinates and a time to come to the planet.  He said that he found a way to get the planet’s shield grid down so that there would be an easy transport for the crew. 

After hearing the message, both the Doctor and Harry tried to send a message shipwide, which caused feedback on the system.  B’Elanna cut them both off from engineering.  “Doc, how close are you to an antidote for the rest of the crew?”

“I think I have a system in place for restoring the crew’s memories.  The problem is going to be not having enough hands to do the procedure.” 

“Neelix, go assist the Doctor.  Harry, I want you working on the transporter.  Tuvok didn’t say how long the shield grid will be down.”

Harry answered, “Okay.  I figured out that we will need to start heading to the coordinates in 6 hours and travel at –”

“Warp 6.5," said the Doctor.  “At that time I want all hands on the bridge.  Neelix, besides learning the ropes in sickbay, you will have to get a refresher in tactical from Ensign Kim.”

“Yes sir.”

***

“So you’re saying that Tuvok didn’t kidnap B’Elanna, he returned her to her home?  Our home?”

“Yes, Tom, that’s exactly what happened.”  Captain Janeway patted his arm and gave him a smile.  “And I would assume she and your baby are doing just fine.”

Tom was overcome with emotion.  “I knew I was more protective of her than I probably should be, but I had no idea why.” 
 

As the trio talked, Annika Hansen walked in and walked to them.  “I assume you read the materials in the package.”

“Yes we did,” said Chakotay.

“Well Captain, what’s the plan.”

“For right now it’s very simple.  We will go to the government and show them what we got.  If that doesn’t work, we’ll figure something else out.”

***

The bridge looked empty even though it had more people on it than it has in the last several months.  The Doctor convinced Harry to take his usual position in Ops allowing the Doctor to sit in the command seat.  Neelix stood in Tuvok’s regular position and B’Elanna took her engineering position on the bridge.  The doctor told the computer the coordinates to lay in and just as he was about to give the final command, Harry said, “engage.”  The Doctor looked back at Harry flabbergasted.  B’Elanna gave both of them a look that cut off any possible argument. 

***

“Captain, if that really is who you are.  I mean other than the word of a criminal you really don’t know do you?”

“Tuvok isn’t a criminal, he is from –“ Seven was cut off by the Assistant Senator. 

“I know, I heard.  He is from your star ship.  Really this isn’t real evidence.  All you brought me is some circumstantial evidence, some foggy memories from you, feelings from the rest of you, and several coincidences.”

Chakotay finally said, “Six weeks ago there was a conversation that Tuvok said he had with your senator.  Can you look into that?”

Finally the man agreed to look into it.  The four from Voyager sat down and waited. 

***

“Long range sensors indicate several ships in the area of the coordinates.”  Harry said. 

The Doctor looked at Neelix, “Neelix, report.”

“Um, their weapons are uh, ready their shields are at maximum.”

“What about the shield grid?”
 

“Still up sir.”

Harry had an idea.  “Doc, I know that you have superior tactical knowledge to mine, but I have an idea that might just buy us enough time for Tuvok to shut down the grid.”

***

“Come in.”  Finally the Senator decided to see Janeway and her crew.  “I did get a message from your ship about a month and a half ago.  Their story sounds a lot like yours.  What I don’t understand is how you all lost your memories.  Also I would like you to consider whether or not you want to go through with leaving here.  From what I understand, you are a long way from home and most of you have been happy here.  Do you really want to leave?”

Chakotay looked at his captain, and then said, “about 6 and a half years ago our captain promised to bring her crew home, and none of us will be satisfied until she can keep her word.”

“Very well then.”

***

“Escape pods are away.  B’Elanna, are you sure that they won’t be able to sense our transporters?”  It was Harry’s plan they used, but he was nervous.  The lives of all their friends hung in the balance. 

“Yes I’m sure.  Now it all rests on Neelix.”

“And Doc’s ability to talk.”

“Well then there shouldn’t be any problem, right?”

***

“I am not programmed to give up my ship.  I just wish that my colleagues had a similar loyalty subroutine.  I also should warn you that I am programmed to use any force necessary to defend my ship.”  Doc now stood alone on the bridge talking to the aliens who wanted once again to take over his ship. 

“Well then prepare to defend your ship.” 

Everyone on Voyager heard shots being fired.  Doc ran to the Ops station to look for a damage report, even though he knew that the transporter room would give the commands for repairs.  Harry ran to find out the damage and to command the computer. 
 

***

“Computer, on screen.”  The Doctor looked up and saw Captain Janeway’s face.  He was happy as a hologram could be.

“Doctor, put shields down and begin beaming the crew aboard.”

“Did you hear that Harry?”

“Yes sir.  I am also contacting Neelix to tell him to come back.”

***

Chakotay sat in his quarters, staring at a box on a table.  Just as he was about to order something from the replicator, his door chirped.  “Come in.”

“Why Commander, I thought we had a dinner date.”

Chakotay looked at his superior officer. 

“The Doctor was supposed to help you retrieve your memory, not make you lose it.” 

Chakotay finally offered her a seat and said that he was about to replicate a vegetarian lasagna and offered her some.  They ate in silence, neither really sure what to say.  They ate in silence.  After dinner, Kathryn walked over to the couch.  On the way there she saw the box Chakotay looked at earlier.  As she lifted it up, she saw him close his eyes and look heartbroken. 

“I was planning to give that to you tonight, after dinner.”  She knew what it was, and that she couldn’t accept it, but that didn’t stop her from opening it.  She covered her mouth as she saw the beautiful diamond ring.  “We were engaged.  No engagement is official without a ring.”

“Oh Chakotay.  If circumstances were different.”

“But they aren’t, and we both know it.”

“Someday Chakotay circumstances will be different, and then I can accept this.”  She closed the box and handed it to him.  As she did, he wrapped his hand around hers.  She took a step to close the distance and put her other arm around him.  He did the same while dropping his head so that his chin touched his collar bone.  She allowed her head to rest on his shoulder for a second, then she closed her eyes, swallowed, and gave him a peck on the cheek, before turning around and walking toward the door.  Before opening the door, she turned to him one more time.  “Now we have one more reason to make it back to the Alpha Quadrant, and I promise you we will make it.”