Neelix took a final look around the mess hall and nodded with satisfaction. Everything was ready for the impromptu pot luck dinner. From experience, he knew that the contributions from the crew would be heavy on desserts and fruits and light on vegetables, so he had two leola casseroles and a vat of steamed broccoli ready.

He dipped a cup into his major contribution to the evening, a bright red punch with a ring of lemon sherbet melting artistically in the center. Its tart-sweet taste caused a smile to grow slowly on his face. "Perfect," he said aloud.

Beside him, Naomi Wildman tugged his jacket. "May I have a taste?"

"Of course, sweetling." He poured her a generous cupful and handed it to her. "What do you think?"

She sipped carefully, giving it thought. "Perfect." She did not smile, though, so he knew she had something on her mind. He also knew he wouldn’t have to wait long for her to share it. "Neelix," she said slowly, "why are we having a party tonight? We haven’t even had the memorial service yet."

"Well, I wouldn’t call it a party exactly. It’s just a chance to get together. We need that after the last few days, don’t you think?"

Her eyes were troubled. "It doesn’t seem right to be having a good time, when Lt. Kyoto and the others are…"

So that was it. He took her hand and led her to a table. Sitting beside her, he said, "It’s always hard when we lose a friend, Naomi. Sometimes it doesn’t feel right that we lived and they didn’t."

"Lt. Kyoto saved me," she said in a low voice. "The alien would have killed me."

"I know. And I will thank her every day of my life for that. Tomorrow, at the memorial service, you can tell everyone how brave she was." He patted her hand. "You can tell people tonight, if you like. But tonight is also for being grateful that we’ve come through another challenge, and that we are still together."

She looked doubtful. "I don’t understand, exactly."

"It’s not disrespectful to the dead to celebrate life, Naomi. It won’t be a big, noisy celebration, like Prixin. Sometimes celebrations are quiet." He smiled. "Just stick close to your mom or me. You’ll see."

"Mom’s bringing Ktarian wedding soup," she said, brightening.

"Good. Everyone likes that."

The doors to the mess hall opened, and the first group came in. It was the deck 8, section 4 gang of Dalby, Ashmore, Golwat, Gerron, Thompson, Lang, Swinn and Powell. They had one of the newcomers, Noah Lessing, in tow. Everyone but Lessing carried a dish. "Where do you want these?" Dalby called to Neelix.

"Appetizers and main courses on the counter, side dishes on the table there, and desserts with the punch," Neelix said. Three of them headed for the counter and five for the punch bowl.

"This is my mother’s recipe," Dalby said to anyone who was listening. "It is the best peach cobbler you will ever taste. Lessing, your hands are free. Why don’t you start pouring punch?"

The tall man shrugged, and did as he was told.

Kesha Swinn set her dish beside Dalby’s with a grin. "Ken, you haven’t lived until you tasted my grandma’s sweet potato pie."

"Yeah," Maya Powell agreed with her cousin. "I can’t believe you beat me to it. Grandma gave that recipe to me first." She set her offering on the counter. "Still, these potstickers are pretty good. I got the recipe from this little restaurant in Chinatown when I was at the Academy."

For the first time, Noah Lessing showed some interest in the conversation. "Which one?"

"The Jade Lotus." Maya looked surprised at his question.

"So," Dalby said, "You do talk. I was beginning to wonder."

Lessing looked at him quickly, as if trying to decide whether Dalby was riding him. Then he shrugged. "Hasn’t been much to say."

" ‘Glad to be alive and not in the brig’ would be a good start."

"Stop it, Ken. So, do you know the Jade Lotus?" Maya looked directly at Lessing.

He nodded. "Saturday dinners."

The mess hall doors opened again, and another group came in, displacing the deck 8, section 4 gang. Dalby made it a point to stay near Lessing, who had retreated to the far corner of the room. "Look," he said in a low voice, "I know it feels strange now, but it will be a whole lot easier to fit in if you make an effort. Believe me, I know."

Lessing’s expression remained flat. "Thanks for the advice."

"What exactly is your problem?" Annoyed, Dalby faced him and squared his shoulders.

Lessing looked around. There was no one in earshot except Dalby and Powell. "My problem," he said, "is that crazy bitch of a captain."

"Smile when you say that."

"What?"

"Smile, so we know you’re joking." Dalby looked him directly in the eye. "You need to be joking, mister, or we’re going to have a problem."

"You aren’t serious," Lessing said, eyes wide with disbelief. "You’re defending her?"

"Captain Janeway doesn’t need me to defend her. But on this ship, you speak respectfully of the Captain or you keep your trap shut."

Lessing rolled his eyes. "So, she’s shut down free speech, too?"

Dalby’s face flushed, but Maya Powell laid a hand on his arm before he could speak. "It’s not like that, Noah. It’s just that some opinions are best kept private."

"You wouldn’t say that if you knew what she did."

"We know." Powell spoke quietly. "You’ll find this is a small ship. It’s hard to keep a secret."

He stared at her. "And you condone it? She would have let that alien murder me."

"And why was the alien here in the first place?" In spite of his anger, Dalby managed to keep his voice down. "Huh? Answer me that."

"Stop it," Powell said firmly. "It’s over. The thing you need to understand, Noah, is how much we respect Captain Janeway. We don’t always understand her, but we respect her. So if we have gripes, we keep them private."

"That’s easy for you to say. You’re her crew. You’re not stuck on board because your ship is gone and there’s no other choice."

Dalby looked at him for a long moment, then started to laugh. He clapped a hand on Lessing’s shoulder. "Noah, my man, that’s exactly how I got here. It’s time you got a brief history of Voyager. Come on, let’s sit down."

As he led Lessing to a nearby table, the leadership from Main Engineering moved away from the punch bowl – Torres, Carey, Nicoletti and Vorik. Torres had Marla Gilmore with her. "It will take a few days to get used to the modifications we’ve made," Torres was saying. "We’ve picked up a few things along the way."

"Like Borg technology and Enarian components," Carey said with a laugh.

Gilmore almost said that she was used to working with alien technology, but bit her lip before the words escaped. She didn’t want to remind anyone of her role on the Equinox. She smiled tentatively, and nodded.

"You’ll do fine," Torres said. She looked up as the doors opened and smiled. "Would you excuse me?" Without looking at the others, she headed off across the room.

"Ah, true love," Nicoletti sighed. "Who’d have thought it would last this long?"

Gilmore wasn’t sure what she was referring to, but figured she’d find out soon enough. "May I ask you a question?"

"Fire away," Nicoletti replied.

"What’s Captain Janeway like?"

All three looked at her seriously. "She’s fair," Nicoletti said first.

"She is courageous," Vorik added.

"She’s stronger than duranium," Carey said bluntly, "and she’s going to get us home. I don’t doubt that for a moment."

"She’s going to get us home with our self-respect intact," Nicoletti said, then looked at Gilmore. "Sorry."

Marla shook her head. "It’s a valid point. Can I ask something else? What’s Lt. Torres like? To work for, I mean. I’ve never met anyone quite like her."

Joe Carey laughed again. "That’s the truth."

"She’s a brilliant engineer," Nicoletti said, shooting Carey a look of irritation. "The best I’ve ever seen."

Chastened, Carey nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that’s right. Sometimes she forgets we aren’t all as good as she is, and expects more than we think we can produce. It’s made me a better engineer, I know that."

"She is often volatile in her demeanor," Vorik added, "but like the Captain, she is fundamentally fair. She will not hold honest mistakes against you."

For the first time in days, Gilmore felt the tension in her gut begin to ease. "I’m going to do my best," she said.

Nicoletti smiled. "Then you’ll do fine."

"Hey, Sue!"

Nicoletti looked across the now-crowded mess hall to find Jenny Delaney waving to her. "Bring the new kid over."

"Come on," Nicoletti said, taking Gilmore’s arm. "It’s time you met the center of Voyager’s grapevine."

Marla went willingly, and smiled as she found herself facing identical twins. The only way to tell them apart was that one of them was wearing her hair loose and the other in a ponytail. "I’m Jenny," the ponytail said, shaking hands.

"And I’m Megan," said the other. Her hands were filled with potstickers, so she just smiled and offered one to Gilmore. "These are fabulous."

"Marla," Gilmore said, taking the skewer.

"Welcome to Voyager, Marla," Jenny went on. "If there’s anything you need to know, just come to us."

"They know what’s happening on this ship before it happens," Nicoletti laughed.

"Not quite," Megan said modestly.

"Oh, come on, everyone knows you’re the main source of material for ‘Breakfast with Neelix.’"

Jenny’s expression became demure. "Journalistic sources are confidential."

"Oh, my, look at that," Megan said, her eyes fixed on the doorway.

Gilmore turned, and saw that the Captain and Commander Chakotay had just entered. He was carrying a large salad bowl, while she had two smaller bowls.

"Croutons." Megan nodded.

"What?" Gilmore asked, confused.

"The Captain brought croutons. For the salad."

"How do you know?"

Nicoletti sighed. "I told you, they see all, know all."

Jenny was still watching the command team, her eyebrows knit together. Then her face relaxed. "They’ve made up."

Megan and Sue Nicoletti turned and looked at the command team with interest. "You’re right, Jen," Megan said, and smiled. "You thought it would take a month this time. You owe me a week’s worth of rations."

"I don’t understand," Gilmore said. Commander Chakotay was standing near the Captain, but they weren’t even talking to each other at the moment.

"Well," Jenny began in a conspiratorial tone, "we don’t know why, but she relieved him of duty a couple of days ago, and word is that Tuvok wasn’t happy about it. That’s a first – Tuvok disagreeing with the Captain. But he’s back now, and look at them. They’ve made up."

Marla looked at Chakotay. "Are they…?"

"No, more’s the pity," Jenny replied. "Personally, I think it would do the Captain a world of good."

"Jenny!" Nicoletti said.

"Well, it’s true. The woman needs to relieve a little stress, if you take my meaning, and I’m sure the Commander would be happy to help her in that regard."

Gilmore’s eyes widened.

"At least they’re friends again," Megan said. "Trust me, things are much better around here when they’re getting along. Look at that. I’ll bet you a week’s rations they won’t be more than a meter apart all night."

Nicoletti grinned. "Don’t listen to her, Marla. It’s a sucker bet."

Before Marla could reply, she felt an elbow jab her in the back. She turned and saw Harry Kim, holding a plate in each hand and one balanced on his wrist. "Oops. Sorry," he said.

He moved on to the table where Tabor and another Equinox addition, Tesoni, were waiting. "Okay, here we are. So, Angelo, what kind of music do you like to play?"

Tesoni shrugged. "You name it – jazz, Dixieland, even marches, anything that has a good trumpet part."

Harry looked at Tabor and smothered a smile. "Dixieland? Ever tried Bajoran gensal?"

But Tesoni wasn’t paying attention. His eyes were fixed across the room. "Wow. Who’s she?"

Harry followed his gaze and saw B’Elanna Torres and Tom Paris. "That is our Chief Engineer, Lt. Torres."

Tesoni let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Well engineered, indeed. Is she married?"

As Harry watched, Tom and B’Elanna parted company, and Tom headed for straight for Harry’s table. Harry considered warning Tesoni, but decided some things were best learned first hand. "No, she’s not married."

As Tom took a seat, Tesoni spoke eagerly. "So, get anywhere?"

Tom looked at him blankly. "What?"

"With Lt. Torres. I hear she’s fair game."

Tom looked at him, then turned to Harry. Harry shrugged innocently. "I wouldn’t say that," Tom said, turning back to Tesoni. "She’s involved with someone."

"Yeah, but she’s not married." Tesoni grinned at him. "I figure I’ve still got a chance. She doesn’t know the Italian Stallion yet."

Harry choked on the punch he was swallowing.

"You’ve got a point," Tom said. His expression was completely bland. "Why don’t you give it a try?"

"You think?"

"Sure. She’s not busy now, why don’t you go introduce yourself."

Looking at B’Elanna again, Tesoni nodded. "Think I will, at that. See ya later, men."

"Go get her, Stallion," Tom said.

"Hey," Harry called after him, "we still want to talk to you."

"Tomorrow," Tesoni said over his shoulder.

Tabor shook his head. "Why do I get the feeling he’s been set up?"

Tom shrugged. "Do you think I could have stopped him?" He calmly began to eat without bothering to turn around and watch.

The Bajoran’s smile widened slowly. "Nope. The only thing that can stop Angelo when he’s talking the Italian Stallion is a cold shoulder. So, Harry, tell me more about this gensal group of yours. Do you need a bass player?"

Harry had a clear view of the room and answered Tabor without looking at him. "Mitchell plays the bass, but he isn’t interested in this idea." He saw Tesoni introduce himself to B’Elanna, shake her hand, lean forward and say something into her ear. "If you are, we could use a bass." He saw B’Elanna’s expression change from polite interest to freezing, and she took a step back. She made a brief response, then turned on her heel and walked away. "It’s over," Harry reported.

Tesoni came back to the table, shoulders slumping. "Man, she’s cold."

"No, not cold." Tom’s smile turned smug. "Definitely not cold. Just … involved with someone."

Seven and the Doctor walked by, and Tesoni brightened. "What about her?"

"May I have everyone’s attention, please?" Neelix’s voice cut through the chatter. Everyone stopped talking and turned toward the head of the room. "The Captain would like to say a few words."

Kathryn Janeway stepped forward. "Thank you, Neelix. First, I want to thank you all for coming. The past few weeks have been trying for all of us, and this is an opportunity for us all to draw a deep breath and regain our balance. We’ve survived another crisis together, and it’s time to move on." She made certain she was looking at Noah Lessing as she spoke these words, and was satisfied that he was listening.

"I especially want to welcome our newest crew members, and I hope each of you will make them feel at home. It wasn’t that long ago that we were trying to get to know one another. Please remember how awkward that was in the beginning, and do what you can to help them become an integral part of this crew."

She smiled again. "That’s enough. Enjoy, everyone." She stepped back and retrieved her plate from Chakotay, and the room filled with chatter once again.

There was no one standing close enough to hear them talk; the crew generally afforded them some privacy at these functions. He looked at her closely. "Good advice. Especially if you intend to follow it."

Surprised, she looked up at him. "I fully intend to integrate the Equinox crew."

"No, I mean the part about moving on. We all need to leave this behind us."

She heard the unspoken admonition in his voice, and shifted slightly so that her back was to the rest of the room. "I’ve been pretty good lately at kicking myself, haven’t I?"

"It comes with the fourth pip," he said. "It’s the burden of all captains, more so for you because we’re out here alone."

"No," she said slowly, "I’m not. If there’s a silver lining in this mess, it’s that I’ve realized I’m really not alone. You and Tuvok are always there for me, even-" she paused, and tilted her head, eyes rueful, "-even when I don’t want you to be."

He started to smile, but suddenly his face changed to an expression of caution. From behind her, she heard Noah Lessing say, "Excuse me, Captain."

Kathryn turned around, surprised and a little wary.

Lessing extended a plate with a piece of pie on it. "Ensigns Powell and Swinn swear this is the best dessert you’ll ever try," he said. "You don’t want to miss it."

Passing the plate in her hand to Chakotay, she took it from him. "Thank you," she said, her voice suddenly thick.

"Thank you for what you said. I want you to know – I’ll try." With a quick nod, he turned and left.

She turned to Chakotay with a smile that began in her heart, and he grinned back at her. "That’s good to see," he said.

"I know. I thought he would be the last to come around."

"No, I mean that smile. It’s been months since you smiled like that."

Taken aback, she thought about it. It had been a very long time since she felt as happy as she did at the moment. Back before the Void, probably even before receiving Mark’s ‘Dear John’ letter. ‘You’re right," she said slowly. "In a way… I feel as if a cloud has lifted."

"I’m glad," he said softly.

For a moment their eyes held. Then she tilted her head toward a table that just emptied. "Come on. I’ll share my pie with you."

Neelix swept off the table just before they sat down. "Thank you," the Captain said to him.

He looked around the room. Naomi was sitting with Sam Wildman and the Delaney sisters, and smiling. Tom and B’Elanna had their heads together over the desserts. Tuvok and Seven were posing for the Doctor, who was arguing with them about placement for the picture. Harry was talking with Tesoni and Tabor with the rapt expression that meant he was discussing music. The other former members of the Equinox crew were scattered around, talking with apparent ease with their new shipmates. The Captain and the Commander were sharing a piece of pie. He nodded with satisfaction. "It’s going well, don’t you think, Captain?"

"Yes, Neelix." Captain Janeway rewarded him with a smile. "It’s going very well."

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