It was the ugliest thing she had ever seen. Kathryn Janeway stared at the red, glowing maelstrom that was the opening of a wormhole and could not help herself. Scientific phenomena should be appreciated for what they are and not categorized based on appearance, but this sucker was ugly.

It might also be their ticket home.

"Status of the probe?" she asked.

From the Astrometrics Lab, B’Elanna Torres replied, "Still no telemetry, Captain. We’re trying to find the problem."

Suddenly the wormhole seemed to get even angrier, and almost writhe. Then, without warning, something seemed to be hurled out of the opening. It was dark and flat and bore no resemblance at all to anything she had ever seen before.

Before she could say anything, three voices spoke at once. From Astrometrics, B’Elanna exclaimed in disbelief, "It spit it out!" Seven, less agitated but clearly puzzled, said, "The probe has been damaged," and from the Ops station, Harry Kim said, "That’s what’s left of our probe, Captain."

"Magnify screen," Janeway said, "Let’s get a better look." In seconds, they could see that Harry had been right. The mangled, flattened, and charred debris was all that remained of a Class 2 probe. Paris let out a slow whistle of amazement.

"My god," Chakotay said, "what could do that to duranium?"

Janeway’s heart sank. This was not going to be a way home; if thirty seconds in that wormhole could destroy a Class 2 probe, Voyager would not make it through. Wherever "through" led to – something she had been hoping the probe would tell them. "Damn," she muttered, just loud enough for Chakotay to hear, then added aloud, "Bring the probe on board, Commander. Let’s see if anything can be salvaged from it."

Seven’s voice cut in from Astrometrics. "Captain, the wormhole is active again."

"Screen," Janeway snapped, and the view screen returned to the long range picture. Sure enough, the wormhole was glowing brighter than before and was rotating wildly. "Back us off, Mr. Paris," she said cautiously.

They watched in silence as another object was ejected from the opening. This one was considerably larger than the probe and was spinning out of control. "What is that, Harry?" Janeway asked, but it was Tuvok who answered.

"It appears to be a Federation shuttlecraft," he said, frowning deeply.

"Confirmed," Harry said. "It’s a weird shield configuration, though. Life support and propulsion systems are off-line. Shields are at 50%."

"Life signs?" Chakotay asked quickly.

It took a moment for Harry to reply. "One human," he said, "but the life sign is very faint."

"Can you transport through the shields?" Janeway asked. A human in a Federation shuttle, she was thinking. Someone from the alpha quadrant?

"Negative," Harry said, with some frustration.

"Tractor beam," Janeway snapped. "Get that shuttle aboard."

"I’m picking up lethal levels of gamma, theta and lambda radiation," Tuvok said. "The shuttle should be decontaminated before bringing it on board."

I don’t think that pilot has time for that," Harry said urgently.

Janeway looked at Chakotay. "Any food supplies or biologicals in Shuttle Bay 1?"

He shook his head. "No. Just equipment."

"We can decontam the whole place later then. Get that shuttle on board, Mr. Paris. Commander, Mr. Tuvok, get a hazmat crew together and get that pilot to Sickbay."

Fifteen minutes later, Chakotay and Tuvok were dressed in hazmat suits and waiting for Cargo Bay 1 to repressurize. As soon as the doors opened, they ran in, and were shocked by the condition of the shuttlecraft. It so severely dented, and charred that it was hard to believe it had been functional. They had to use the manual hatch release to get inside.

They found the pilot on the deck, wearing a Starfleet sciences uniform and curled into the fetal position. Long dark hair covered her face. "She’s still alive," Chakotay informed the captain and Tuvok. "Beam us directly to Sickbay."

There was a shimmer, and all three materialized in the Sickbay, where the Doctor, Tom Paris and Seven of Nine were waiting. "You’re in a containment field," the Doctor informed them, stepping in to join them. "Please do not move until we complete decontamination procedures."

While Paris and Seven worked the controls, the field suddenly shimmered a rosy pink. The Doctor did not wait for the procedure to finish before beginning to check the patient, though. "Severe radiation poisoning," he said, "ruptured spleen, internal bleeding, cracked ribs. Mr. Paris, we’ll be going to surgery after we deal with the radiation."

The decontamination field faded and shivered away, and Chakotay’s vision cleared. The Doctor asked him and Tuvok to help move the pilot to a biobed. As they carefully rolled her to her back and straightened her legs, they saw two things immediately: the pilot was very young, probably less than 20 years old, and she was clutching a teddy bear to her chest.

As they laid her on the biobed, the Doctor called for 15 cc of micklozine, which Paris handed him efficiently. "All right," the Doctor said, "we’ll begin the surgery as soon as that takes effect," he said. "Seven, please double check the Commanders and make certain there is no residual contamination. Mr. Paris will assist – "

Suddenly the girl on the biobed began gasping for air and convulsing. "Allergic reaction," the Doctor said calmly. "Mr. Paris—"

"20 ccs antrophylline," Paris said, handing him a hypospray. The Doctor administered the injection and almost immediately the girl resumed normal breathing. "Well, we’ll have to try something else. Visyllase, I think. 50ccs." He looked at the two bridge officers, still standing on either side of the biobed in hazmat suits. Chakotay was holding the girl’s teddy bear. "Please go with Seven," the Doctor said. "I’ll keep you informed of her condition."

Chakotay set the bear in the Doctor’s office on his way out. He thought the girl might want it later.

Half an hour later, Chakotay called the Captain in her ready room from the Cargo Bay. "The shuttle has been decontaminated," he reported, "and I think you’ll want to see this for yourself."

"Is it a Federation shuttle?"

He sounded bemused. "It’s not just a Federation shuttle. It’s one of ours. The Amundsen."

She swiveled in her chair and looked in the direction of the Cargo Bay, as if she could see for herself. "But – isn’t the Amundsen—"

"In Shuttle Bay 3, right where it’s supposed to be," he confirmed. "I can’t explain it, Captain, but we appear to have two identical shuttles."

Ninety minutes after the young pilot had been brought on board, Seven of Nine summoned the Captain and Chakotay to Astrometrics. She had finished her analysis on the mangled probe they had sent into the wormhole and correlated its data to some from the duplicate Amundsen. "It is not precisely a wormhole," Seven explained, brining up a schematic on the screen. "It is a vortex of radiation and energy flowing in a single direction."

Janeway looked at the screen. "A one-way street," she commented.

"If I understand the reference correctly, yes," Seven said.

"And we are at the exit, not the entrance," Chakotay noted, almost sadly.

"Exactly," Seven said. "That is why our probe made no progress. It was going against the current of the vortex. However, the shuttle entered the vortex at its entrance and apparently was swept along in the correct direction."

"Must have been a rough ride," Janeway mused.

Chakotay added, "Any idea how big that thing is?"

Seven nodded, and picked up a padd. "The preliminary data from the shuttle indicates it is approximately 20,000 light years long."

The command officers stared at her. "20,000…" Janeway repeated slowly, then looked back at the schematic. "Are you sure there’s no way we can get through from here?"

"Doubtful," Seven said. "As you saw, the shuttle was nearly non-functional at egress, and I believe that the only reason it survived was its unusual shield configuration. Even that would not have been sufficient to counter the forces of going against the current."

The Captain looked almost longingly at the screen. "Keep looking. Twenty thousand light years – that’s a hell of a short cut if we can use it." She turned to go, but stopped when she saw Chakotay’s expression. He, too was staring at the schematic of the wormhole, but with a troubled expression. "Commander, you look like you have something on your mind?"

He nodded. "I was just wondering why that pilot was so desperate to come 20,000 light years in this direction, away from the Alpha Quadrant. Shields or not, it took a lot of courage to enter that thing in a shuttle."

Janeway looked again at the violent red maw of the vortex. "Hopefully, we’ll know the answer to that soon."

It was another two hours before the Doctor told the Captain that the patient was ready to receive visitors. Tuvok asked to accompany her, and Janeway agreed. They met with the Doctor in his office first. "Well, Doctor," the Captain began, "what can you tell me about our guest? Is she Human?"

"Unquestionably," he replied. "There is no doubt that her DNA is entirely human. She’s had her appendix removed, and at some point in the past she broke her left tibia and her right ulna. There’s also some evidence of previous hairline fracture of the skull. And of course, she is allergic to micklozine."

"Is that significant?" Janeway asked.

"Only to the extent that it confirms she is indeed Human," the Doctor commented. "It’s a fairly common Human allergy. Some fifteen percent of Voyager’s crew, including, as you know, yourself and Ensign Paris, have this allergy. However, it is an allergy that occurs only in Humans and is not known to occur in any other Alpha quadrant species."

"Has she told you anything about herself?" Tuvok asked.

"She hasn’t responded at all well to my bedside manner," the Doctor said, seeming a little miffed. "She asked me the date and time, and then just said that she ‘made it’ and smiled. That was when she asked to speak with one of you, or Commander Chakotay, by name. She won’t respond to any other questions from me."

Janeway patted his arm. "Try to not worry about it," she said. "I’m sure it’s just because she’s…disoriented."

"There is one other thing you need to know, Captain," the doctor added, dropping his usual acid tone. "She was exposed to lethal levels of radiation. Symptoms of radiation poisoning are likely to manifest within 72 hours, and death is probable within 240 hours."

Janeway stared at him. "You’re telling me she’s going to die?" She had just enough knowledge of the effects of radiation to understand that there were limited treatment options available. Not even stasis could freeze the effects of lethal exposure If the Doctor was admitting defeat now, that meant that the available medical science had no answer.

He averted his eyes, unwilling to admit that he would lose a patient. "Yes. I..I haven’t told her yet."

Janeway looked toward the biobed, and nodded. "She’s 17, you say? No, don’t tell her yet. Wait until the symptoms begin. Let her have as much time as she can without worrying about her own death. Who knows?" she added encouragingly. "Maybe you’ll think of something in the meantime."

They walked over to the ward, and found the girl was sitting up on the biobed, looking much better than when she had first come on board. She seemed very young indeed, with large dark eyes that welled with tears when she saw the Captain approach. "Oh, my," she said softly, and swallowed hard. Wiping at her eyes, she said, "Oh, Captain, Mr. Tuvok, it’s so good to see you again."

Janeway looked at her in surprise. "I don’t believe we’ve met before."

"Well, it’s my before, but your later," the girl explained, as if the statement were rational.

Tuvok’s expression was more disapproving than usual. "Can you explain that statement?"

"I’m from your future," the girl said earnestly, "and I’ve come to try to prevent a terrible mistake."

Tuvok’s eyebrow shot up and Janeway looked skeptical. "I didn’t know our shuttles were equipped for time travel," she said dryly.

The girl looked at her evenly. "They’re not. I came the old-fashioned way, Captain – a Kirk trajectory. That took care of the time differential. The only way I could make up the distance was a quick trip through that monster disguised as a wormhole."

The captain’s expression deepened to a frown. "Where did you learn that term?"

"Which term – oh, the ‘Kirk trajectory’? From your logs, Captain. You gave some consideration to trying it with Voyager not long after you were stranded here, to see if you could prevent the destruction of the Caretaker’s array. You concluded it was too risky." The girl smiled. "You always hated temporal anomalies."

Janeway regarded her in surprise. She had considered such an idea, very briefly, in the first month they were in the Delta quadrant, but she had mentioned it to no one. The only record of the idea was in her personal log. "Let’s back up a step," she said slowly. "You know our names, it seems, but we don’t know yours. Who are you?"

She hesitated for just a second. "Why don’t you call me Lucky? That’s the nickname Mr. Paris gave me when I was little. He said I was da- darned lucky that you didn’t push me out an airlock when I disrupted ship’s operations…which I’m afraid I did with some regularity."

"All right," Janeway said coolly, "but I had a little more in mind. Who exactly are you?"

Lucky took a breath. "I’m the daughter of two people who are currently on Voyager. I’ll be born about three years from now. Captain, my parents aren’t a couple yet and I’m afraid that if I tell you who they are, they won’t ever get together." She gave a self-deprecating smile. "Especially if they know that I am in their future." Then she leaned forward, her eyes large and sincere. "Captain, may I please tell you why I’ve come? There’s not much time."

"All right," Janeway nodded. She wasn’t giving up on her line of questioning, but it could wait.

Lucky looked relieved. "In about 3 hours, you are going to be hailed by a ship from the Tessari Coalition. They are a friendly people, and good trade relations are possible. The problem is, this ship – the Starwind, its called - is carrying a plague but they don’t know it. Within 24 hours of making contact with you, everyone on that ship will be dead. And if you have a face to face meeting with them in that time, everyone on Voyager will die, too."

"That is inconsistent," Tuvok pointed out. "If everyone on Voyager dies from this plague, you will not be born three years from now."

"I didn’t say that you die immediately," she clarified. "At first it will seem that the disease couldn’t be passed to Alpha quadrant species. Neelix will be the only one from the ship to die in the  first weeks. But in Humans and other Alpha quadrant species, the disease goes dormant for seventeen years. Not even the Doc realized the crew was infected until it was too late. Everyone who was on the ship today died exactly seventeen years, four months and three days after exposure." She paused. "In my time, Captain, Voyager is crewed by your children. And we’re in trouble. We can’t maintain the ship any more, and no planet will have us. We’re a plague ship, the pariah of the quadrant."

Janeway stared at her in alarm. "Are you telling me you are infected now?"

"Don’t worry, Captain, it’s not contagious in its dormant state," Lucky assured her quickly. "I would never risk infecting this ship. And besides, the radiation should have killed it. We figured it would take radiation at the levels of the Hellhole to kill it."

The captain thoughtfully, not wanting to believe her and yet feeling somehow that Lucky was telling her the truth. Finally she said, "Who are you, Lucky?"

"I’m one of Voyager’s children," Lucky replied, lifting her chin slightly. "Does my specific parentage really matter?"

"It would add to your credibility if we could corroborate your genetic makeup," Tuvok said.

Lucky faced him squarely. "You’ve got enough to confirm my story without that," she asserted. "I’m sure you’ve already got a team analyzing the shuttle I came in; you’ll find it’s the Amundsen, just about 20 years older than the one in your shuttle bay. You’ve got my uniform – you’ll be able to confirm it came from Voyager’s replicators. And check out the comm badge I was wearing. The Doc will tell you I am 100% human. Isn’t that enough?"

"Perhaps," Janeway said before Tuvok could reply. Something in the girl’s rigid posture told her that Lucky was close to losing control of her emotions, and the situation needed to be defused. "We’ll start with those things and see what we find. In the meantime, the Doctor says you need to rest."

"Captain, you’ve got to believe me– you have to get ready for the Starwind – if you do this right, you can establish a really beneficial trade relationship but if you don’t, they’ll hound you for years." Lucky looked stricken. "Please, I can help you, and I didn’t go through all this just to sit in Sickbay."

"I appreciate the offer, but you’ll sit here at least another hour," Janeway said. "By that time, we should have some preliminary reports back, and we’ll see."

Lucky pulled the teddy bear closer to her chest and nodded. She looked much younger in that pose, and somehow vulnerable. Without thinking, Janeway reached out and laid a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder. She looks like someone, the Captain thought, but who?

The senior staff assembled in the conference room an hour later. "Well?" Janeway asked. "What do we know about our guest?"

"I have the Doc’s preliminary report on her genetic makeup," Tom Paris said. "She’s Human, all right. Doc estimates that about half the humans on board could be her parents, and it’s going to take at least 10-12 hours to narrow it down."

Janeway nodded. She was not surprised. The nagging feeling that she should recognize the girl had persisted throughout the past hour. "And the shuttle?"

"We’ve been over every square micron of it," Harry reported. "If it’s a replica, it’s accurate down to the molecular structure, except for metal fatigue. And that corresponds to an additional twenty years passage of time – and a quick trip through the Hellhole."

"It even has the same dent in the ops panel as our Amundsen," B’Elanna added. "You remember, we decided that it was just an aesthetic problem and didn’t waste the replicator energy to replace it. Well, this shuttle has exactly the same dent in exactly the same place."

Janeway nodded again. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next. "And the uniform?"

"Undoubtedly replicated on Voyager," Seven told her.

The Captain turned to Tuvok. "The commbadge?"

Tuvok managed to convey a sense of discomfort without visibly changing his expression. "It appears to be mine."

That did surprise her, and Janeway leaned forward. "Explain."

"It bears the same identification number as the commbadge assigned to me, and appears to be identical in every respect except for metal fatigue."

"And the metal fatigue shows her badge is 20 years older than yours," Janeway finished for him.

"Yes," he admitted. "I remain unconvinced, however, that we are dealing with a time traveler. There must be another explanation."

"But what is it?" Chakotay asked. "I agree, the notion that she’s from our future is hard to believe, but has anyone got any other explanation?"

After a pause, Seven said, "An unknown species could be going to great lengths to deceive us in order to disrupt our meeting with the Tessari –assuming that such a meeting is imminent."

"A reasonable hypothesis," Tuvok agreed.

"But without any supporting evidence – so far," Chakotay pointed out.

Janeway looked thoughtful. She wasn’t ready to rule out time travel yet, not after the experience she and Seven had with the timeship Relativity. But that discussion was classified and could not be conducted in front of the entire senior staff. "It’s not something we can rule out, but so far everything seems to indicate that she’s telling the truth. I think it’s time we had a chat with our guest." Hitting her commbadge, she called, "Janeway to Sickbay. Doctor, will you please escort our guest to the conference room?"

"On our way, Captain," the Doctor replied.

"So, what’s she like?" B’Elanna asked curiously. "Does she look like anyone on board?"

"I’m not certain," Janeway said. "I felt as if she reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t quite place it. Tuvok, did you notice a resemblance to anyone?"

"Nothing that I would care to speculate upon," he said rather stiffly, even for Tuvok.

"She seems very young," Janeway went on, "especially when she’s holding that teddy bear, but she also has a great deal of poise."

"How old is she?" Chakotay asked.

"No more than 17," Janeway replied.

"If she is telling the truth," Tuvok added quickly.

Chakotay looked at him through slightly narrowed eyes. "You really don’t want to believe her, do you?"

"Her story is not logical," the Vulcan replied, "but it does strike an emotional chord which makes it easier for the crew to accept it. That alone makes me suspicious."

Further discussion was cut off by the arrival of the Doctor and Lucky. She was dressed now in simple black fatigues with a blue shirt, and she had left the teddy bear behind. Her dark hair was braided neatly into a single plait that reached nearly to her waist. When she came into the conference room, she looked at the officers seated around the table and her eyes touched each one, as if drinking in the sight of them. "I’m nervous," she admitted with a shy smile. "The only other times I was called here with all of you was because I was in trouble again."

"You’re not in trouble now," Janeway said, "but we would like to talk with you. Sit down."

"I gather you’ve checked me out?" Lucky asked as she sat next to Harry Kim. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him. "Wow, you’re so young," she said, apparently involuntarily, then looked chagrined. "Sorry, sir."

"That’s all right," Harry said uncertainly.

"So far, we have found nothing to disprove your story, Janeway began, "but you have to admit, it’s a little hard to believe."

"Oh, Captain, I understand. I can hardly believe it myself." She smiled tentatively. "I mean, I wasn’t exactly the star of the class."

"Then why are you here?" Tuvok asked. "If you were not the best suited for the task, why did you come?"

"Because I was the most expendable," she said quietly, and there was such pain in her eyes that Janeway felt sorry for her. "If this fails and the future doesn’t change, I was the person they could most afford to do without."

There was an awkward silence, and then Janeway said, "Will you tell us who you are, Lucky?"

The girl bit her lip, and spoke with what seemed to be genuine regret. "I can’t, Captain. If I did, too many things might change."

"And yet," Tuvok noted, "you have come for the purpose of changing the future significantly."

She met his eyes evenly. "Commander, you taught me the basics of temporal mechanics. We – I - know we can’t control all the changes that will result in the time line if you listen to me, but I do understand that I need to do as little damage as possible. If I tell you who I am, my parents will learn aspects of their future that they presently aren’t even considering – and that knowledge alone might result in unintended changes in the timeline."

"We’ll set that aside for now," Janeway said. "I’d like you to tell the staff what you told us in Sickbay."

Lucky told her story again, adding, "We’ve had a lot of time to study this disease. It is an airborne contagion, and infectious only after symptoms develop. In its dormant state, though, it can survive in almost any environment indefinitely. There’s no known cure anywhere in the Delta quadrant – at least, none that allows the patient to survive Lethal doses of theta radiation will kill the thing." She paused, then added with a wry smile, "This has not caught on as a treatment, however."

"I have confirmed that she is not contagious," the Doctor added. "in fact, it is likely that the radiation exposure she suffered in the wormhole destroyed the dormant virus within her."

Chakotay had studied the girl as she spoke. Like the Captain, he felt that he could almost, but not quite, see a resemblance to someone he knew. He also watched her body language and expression for obvious signs of deception. Apart from some understandable tension, there were no blatant indications of falsehood. "How do you recommend we avert this mistake?"

She looked at him with shining eyes. "Just put off any face to face meeting with the Tessari until they realize they are sick. They’re a good people, and will not risk exposing you once they understand what’s happening to them. You just need to do it in a way that will not offend them."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Lucky smiled, showing a charming dimple in her left cheek. "They have more protocols than Starfleet, and they get very prickly when anyone doesn’t follow them. One of their protocols calls for a face-to-face meeting with potential new trading partners as soon as possible, so you have to put them off for a reason they will accept."

"And no doubt, you have a recommendation," Tuvok said.

She looked at him shrewdly; it was plain she recognized his suspicion of her. "The Tessari are also a deeply religious people, and their religion includes seers who provide omens and portents. If you tell them that your own seer recommends a delay, they will accept that."

"You would have us lie to them?" he asked.

"It’s not a lie. At the moment, I am your seer, and I am telling you that the signs for an immediate meeting are not auspicious," she replied promptly. She was not the least bit fazed by Tuvok’s coolly superior demeanor.

There were many more questions, about her time travel, and the wormhole, and her knowledge of the Tessari. B’Elanna and Tuvok asked several questions designed to test her knowledge of the ship, on the assumption that a child raised on Voyager would know it in detail – Naomi Wildman certainly did – and Lucky’s knowledge was impressive. There was no hesitation in any of her responses, and no mistakes, either. Finally she turned to the Captain. "Do you believe me?" she asked simply.

Janeway looked at her thoughtfully. "I’m not sure. But even if I did, what you are asking is that we tamper with a timeline we know nothing about. That is a very serious request and not one I can grant lightly."

Lucky held her gaze intently. "Captain, this request is not made lightly. In my time, there are forty-two of us, trying to maintain Voyager and prevent its technology from falling into alien hands. We can’t do it anymore. We’re a plague ship, a pariah that is welcome nowhere. There is no future for us. Our only hope is to change the past."

The Doctor stood then to take Lucky back to Sickbay but she paused on the way out. "Captain, may I make a request?" she said. "I’d like to meet Mr. Neelix, if I may. You all spoke so fondly of him."

"And she could use something to eat," the Doctor added.

"By all means – although there is no need to share any of this with him," Janeway added quickly.

When they were gone, Janeway said only, "Comments?"

"I believe her," Paris said, and several others nodded.

Chakotay, though, spoke thoughtfully. "I would like to believe her, but I can’t help but feel that Tuvok is right to be suspicious. This could be some kind of set-up, although I can’t imagine what purpose it would serve."

"Perhaps disruption of our relationship with the Tessari would suit the purposes of someone still unknown to us," Tuvok postulated.

Janeway nodded. "I agree that the possibility exists that she is not what she seems. But so far, everything seems to support her story. So, until we have reason to question her credibility, we will do everything we can to delay the Tessari without offending them. In the meantime, I don’t want her to be left alone. If this is some kind of trick, I don’t want her to have the opportunity to plan any inside actions." She stood. "We’ve got several hours before the Tessari are due to arrive."

"You don’t think she’s sufficiently confined in Sickbay?" Paris asked.

"If she’s a fraud, then she’s probably got sufficient technological information to disable the Doctor. No," Janeway said thoughtfully, "I think it’s best if she doesn’t know she’s being watched. And I would like each of you to interact with her on a one to one basis and let me know if you sense any weakness in her story."

Chakotay stood. "I’m due for lunch, so I may as well go first. I would like to talk with her more, anyway."

Janeway nodded, but said, "Stay a moment, please." To the others she said, "Dismissed."

When they were alone, Chakotay said, "Something is bothering you."

She nodded. "What if only part of her story is true? What if she is a time traveler but she has an agenda that’s different from what she tells us?"

He considered this. "I’m not sure how to answer that. If she is a time traveler, she has access to technology we can’t imagine. I don’t know how to find that out. All we can do, I think, is try to assess her character and decide whether or not we’re willing to trust her."

Janeway sighed inwardly. She hated the whole idea of time travel, the problems it could create. Even so, he was probably right. "Well, then," she said. "Go talk with her. Give me your assessment later."

When he arrived in the mess hall, he found Lucky and the Doctor sitting with Neelix at one of the tables. Neelix was talking with his usual animation, and Lucky was smiling warmly. He prepared a tray and walked over to the table. "May I join you?" he asked.

For just a moment he thought he saw something close to panic in Lucky’s eyes, but then it passed. "Please, Commander," she said, but looked away quickly. He wondered why he frightened her. "Mr. Neelix was just explaining how the leola root stew was made."

"Oh, the Commander has heard this before," Neelix said modestly.

"I made this once," Lucky offered. "The Captain insisted that every one of us take a cooking class. It wasn’t this good, of course, but it wasn’t all that bad either. I just made a couple little mistakes – like confusing the ferli spice with the habeñero flakes. My – my father said it was a heart-warming experience."

Chakotay smiled. "It certainly sounds like it. There’s quite a bit of ferli spice in this recipe, if I’m not mistaken."

"Quite correct," Neelix said thoughtfully. "It’s an interesting thought, though – a little zip in the old stew…excuse me, I think I’m going to try a little experiment." He bustled back to the kitchen.

"He’s sweet," Lucky said wistfully, as he left them. "No wonder you all missed him so much."

Chakotay lowered his voice, so Neelix wouldn’t hear. "You say he died at the same time as the Tessari?"

"Not exactly – he was infected because of the meeting, but it took about two weeks for the symptoms to manifest." For the first time since he sat down, she looked directly at him. "Does this mean you believe me?"

"I’ve got no reason to disbelieve you," he said carefully.

"Other than the fact that my story is preposterous," she said with a smile. "I know it is, sir. I’m grateful that you haven’t thrown me in the brig. I’m sure that’s what Mr. Tuvok would like to do." She tried a bite from her plate and closed her eyes. "Hmmm. That’s good. We haven’t been able to sustain the fruit trees the last few years, and replicated peaches just aren’t the same."

"It’s our first crop," he said. "We’ve been enjoying them ourselves."

Her eyes lit up. "Has anyone made pickled peaches for you yet?"

"Pickled peaches? No, and frankly why would anyone pickle a perfectly good peach?"

"Oh, wait and see," she said, smiling broadly. "They’re going to be your favorite. And Tuvok’s." Her dark eyes took on a mischievous sparkle. "The recipe’s been in my mother’s family for generations. It was always my secret weapon whenever one of you was mad at me – I’d make a batch of pickled peaches and all was forgiven. Maybe Mr. Neelix will let me make a batch before I go back to Sickbay."

Oh, there was something so familiar about her, he thought, but what was it? Maybe a little bit of Tom Paris’s attitude? "It sounds like you were in trouble a lot."

Her smile turned rueful. "That, I’m afraid, is an understatement. Not that I ever did anything wrong intentionally. It’s just that most of my ideas seemed to take a wrong turn, somehow." She leaned on one elbow and laid one hand against her face. "One time, as punishment for something else – I don’t remember what – you assigned me the task of cleaning your office every day. You’d left your computer on and a file open, and I was just trying to close it out for you, but somehow I deleted all the crew evaluations. I made pickled peaches for weeks after that one."

He chuckled, then said, "Tell me about growing up on Voyager. Was it hard?"

"Oh, no," she said quickly. "Not until – well, anyway, we loved it. All the adults taught one class or another – you taught me to read," she added with sudden shyness. "And you taught the intermediate survival course in the holodeck, and a couple of anthropology classes. Mr. Tuvok taught the advance survival courses, and naturally all the tactical classes. I took clarinet lessons from Mr. Kim, but mostly because I had a horrible crush on him. Mr. Paris taught me to fly a shuttle, Seven of Nine – oh, well, you get the idea."

It was a reasonable projection. If the crew started having children – so far, they been holding off – their education would have to be a community effort. "What did the Captain teach?" he asked, trying to picture Kathryn with a room full of schoolchildren.

"Basic quantum mechanics," Lucky answered, not surprising him at all, "and art," surprising him greatly. "Neither of which I was very good at," she admitted ruefully. "I’m afraid I was a big disappointment to her." She was still leaning on her elbow, and her smile became lopsided.

"I’d say you’re being very hard on yourself," he said. "You learned enough to make it here, after all."

"A lot changed after …well, we call it That Day, in capital letters. All of a sudden, I was one of the oldest people on board, and I had to shape up in a hurry." She straightened, and lowered her eyes. "Sometimes I’ve wished that you all could see how well we did. We’ve tried so hard to do you proud."

He was deeply touched by her. Everything about their conversation had felt absolutely genuine. If she was lying, she was the best he’d ever come across. For a moment he imagined what it must have been like to be 14 years old and suddenly one of the leaders of a ship of frightened children. That they had managed to carry on for three years was remarkable. "Your parents are very proud," he said quietly.

The smile she gave him was dazzling.

"If you’ve finished your meal," the Doctor said – he’d been silent for so long that Chakotay had almost forgotten he was there – "we should be getting back to Sickbay. You should rest a while."

"Whatever you say, Doc," she said, and rose. "I’ll make those peaches later, sir."

"I look forward to it," Chakotay said. He sat at the table for some time after they left, lost in thought. The conversation replayed in his mind time and again, as he tried to identify the something that he almost recognized.

Tom Paris was in Sickbay when they arrived, going through the motions of tidying up the place. Lucky smiled when she saw him, and he thought that she really was a pretty girl. "Hello," she said, apparently pleasantly surprised. "I didn’t realize you were working so often in Sickbay yet."

"Yet?" he repeated, feigning (mostly) terror. "Don’t tell me I’ll be spending more time here?"

She threw a wicked glance at the Doctor, and dropped her voice to a mock whisper. "Someday he’ll tell you that you’re the best assistant he ever worked with, except Kes. But don’t tell him I told you."

The Doctor frowned. "Now, that makes me wonder if you really are from our future."

With a light laugh, Lucky climbed onto her biobed. "Mr. Paris, you were always one of my favorite people. You were one of the few who ever got into as much trouble as me and you always made me feel that things would turn out all right."

"Nice to know that some things never change," he replied. He came and sat on the edge of her bed. "So, tell me about the future. Do I replace Doc here? Or do I spend most of the time in the brig?"

Her smile drooped. "I wish I could. There’s a lot I would like to tell you about. But – "

"I know, you can’t," he finished for her. "I don’t think I really want to know, anyway. Part of the fun is not knowing what’s coming next."

After a moment, she said, "I can tell you this much, I think. You’re going to be happy." Then she succumbed to a huge yawn. "I’m sorry," she apologized at once.

"No problem," Tom said, the medic in him understanding. "You probably could use a nap."

"I think you’re right," she said, and unfolded her legs. Before she lay down, though, she surprised him by throwing her arms around him and giving him a hug. "That’s for all the times you made me feel better," she said, and then lay down and closed her eyes.

Tom stood beside the bed and watched her for a moment as she slept. He had no idea who she was, but he wondered briefly if she could be his daughter, his and B’Elanna’s. She had B’Elanna’s coloring, sort of. No, he realized, there was no Klingon in her DNA. He kind of liked the idea, though.

Satisfied that she was asleep, he told the Doc that he was returning to the Bridge and to call when she woke up.

"Naturally," the Doctor said acerbically, and returned to his computer screen. The moment Tom was out of the room, though, he crossed directly to the biobed. "He’s gone," he announced.

Lucky sat up at once. "How long do you think we have before they send someone else?"

"No more than half an hour," he said, "so we’ll have to work quickly. Are you certain you can override the security codes?"

She looked at him grimly. "Dead certain."

About half an hour after Tom Paris returned to the bridge, Harry Kim entered Sickbay, clarinet in hand. "How’s the star patient?" he asked the Doctor.

"She just woke up," he said, eyeing the instrument. "Have you come to entertain her, Mr. Kim?"

"Nope," Harry said cheerfully. "I’ve come to be entertained." He walked over to the bed where Lucky was sitting and watching him with wide eyes. "I hear," he told her, "that I taught you to play this. Would you mind showing me what you learned?"

She flushed slightly. "The Commander told you? Umm – what exactly did he say?"

"That I gave you clarinet lessons," he repeated.

"Oh. Well, you did," she said, looking relieved for a reason he didn’t fathom. She took the clarinet from him and looked at it thoughtfully. "You know, you suffered through a lot of really bad noise with me, but I’ve been practicing a lot in the last three years." She lifted the instrument and smiled. "Some time in the future, if you are listening to a little girl torture this poor defenseless thing, remember this."

She began to play, and Harry started in surprise. She was playing his concerto, "Echoes from the Void," that he had written in the two months that Voyager had been in empty space. After a moment, he closed his eyes and listened. Oh, she was making mistakes here and there, and her technique had a lot of room for improvement, but she was playing with real feeling. She understood the music. It was the first time that he had ever heard anyone else play his composition, and it was something of a thrill.

At the end of the first movement, she stopped and looked at him for a reaction. He opened his eyes and said simply, "Thank you."

Her smile was immediate and lit her whole face, revealing two dimples. "I’m so glad," she said, handing the clarinet to him. "Mr. Kim – "

"Call me Harry," he said. "After all, I’m not that much older than you."

Her dark blue eyes opened wide again, and she swallowed visibly. "I guess you’re not, at that. This is really strange." Then those expressive eyes took on a gleam of pure mischief. "Harry, would you mind indulging me in one more thing?"

"What?" he asked.

Without warning shifted her legs so that she was kneeling on the bed and then threw her arms around his necked and kissed him. It was a very nice kiss, but he was caught completely by surprise and before he could react she let him go. "You don’t know," she said demurely, "how often I dreamed about that when I was younger."

Completely nonplussed, Harry couldn’t think of a single word to say. Fortunately, he was spared the necessity by a call from the bridge. "Senior staff to the bridge," Tuvok’s voice called over the ship’s comm system.

Lucky settled back on her calves. "It’s beginning," she said softly. Her arms fell to her sides, and she looked at Harry sadly. "You better go."

The Starwind was about three-quarters the size of Voyager, but she carried half again as much weaponry. They responded to Janeway’s hail almost immediately. "I am Cree Oskana of the Coalition of the Tessari Worlds," said the image on the view screen. He was remarkably human in appearance, except for the four visible ears and twelve fingers. He seemed to be sitting slightly apart from the others on his bridge, indicating that he was the ship’s commander. "What brings you to this part of space, Captain Kathryn Janeway?"

"We are travelers far from home," she said somewhat formally. "We thought this vortex might provide a passage for us that would shorten our journey, and stopped to investigate."

The Cree shook his head. "My sorrow, Captain Kathryn Janeway, but it will not. Our people call this "the Hellhole," for it brings only death and destruction to those who attempt to enter it."

"We have nearly reached that conclusion ourselves," she admitted.

The Cree seemed to brighten. "But this may yet be fortuitous for us both. If you are travelers, you may have needs that we can assist you with – just as you may have items of interest to us. Would you be interested in exploring this possibility?"

"Very interested," Janeway replied. "We have star charts of great range and precision that may be of use to you. If you like, I will prepare a list of what we have to offer in trade – and of our needs."

The Cree placed the palms of his hand together and nodded his head. "This is an acceptable goal, but it is offered too soon. First, let us meet and talk, and share a meal to plant the seeds of our new friendship."

Every head on the bridge looked at Janeway. This was it, the crunch point, the moment in which she would have to decide whether or not to believe Lucky’s story. She looked at Chakotay, and he nodded once. "We would be honored," she replied, "but I would like to consult with a …seer …before we establish contact with a new partner, to ensure an auspicious time and place for the meeting."

The Cree smiled widely, causing his upper ears to wiggle. "A most wise precaution," he said understandingly. "I shall do the same. Please contact me when you have your oracle." The screen went blank.

She was half frowning as she turned to Tuvok, and found that he was facing her with as close to blatant disapproval as he ever allowed himself. "Bring her to my ready room," she said.

When Tuvok and Lucky entered her ready room, Lucky held herself at attention in front of Janeway’s desk and faced the captain with an expression that indicated she was braced for the worst. Janeway looked at the girl, thinking that despite the difference in coloring she reminded her of Kes, in that she seemed so young and so old all at once. "I told the Tessari I wished to consult a seer," Janeway began, and noted that some of the tension went out of Lucky’s shoulders on hearing that.

"Does this mean you believe me?" Lucky asked.

Janeway shook her head. "Not entirely. Oh, you’ve made a strong impression on my senior staff. Commander Chakotay, the Doctor, Ensigns Paris and Kim – they are all inclined to believe you."

The girl cast a sideways look at Tuvok, who was standing beside her. "But you do not, Mr. Tuvok?" she asked.

"I do not," Tuvok replied. "At least, I do not believe you have been completely forthcoming with us."

"And I agree," Janeway added. "I can’t quite put my finger on it, but every instinct I have tells me that you are hiding something."

Lucky looked from one to the other, and then chuffed a sound that might have been a cough or a chuckle. "You could always read me like a book, Mr. Tuvok," she said with some feeling. "I could never put anything past you. Or you, Captain."

"So, you are concealing something," Tuvok said calmly.

Lucky nodded. "Yes, but only because you wouldn’t have believed me." She looked straight at Janeway. "Cree Oskana won’t want to delay the meeting. His base ship is only 10 hours away, and he desperately wants to claim the credit for a new trading partner – it’s how the Tessari gain rank. If he hasn’t sealed the deal by the time the base ship arrives, the Tis-Cree, his superior, will get the credit."

"I thought you said that he’d agree to a delay if our ‘seer’ requested it," Janeway said, annoyed.

"He will, but he may have to talk to the seer directly to be convinced," she said. "Captain, you have to let me do it. I know what to say and how to say it so they will believe it."

Janeway saw that the girl was in earnest, but she shook her head. "No. That’s not acceptable. You are not a member of this crew, and frankly, I have no reason to believe you."

Lucky lifted her chin. "Everything I’ve told you thus far has proved true. I haven’t lied to you."

"But you left out some key points, didn’t you?" Janeway retorted, standing and walking to face the girl. "You should have told me before this that direct contact between you and the Tessari was part of the bargain. It’s a little late to bring it up now." She considered the girl, standing before her with an almost desperate expression on her face. "Tuvok, please excuse us for a moment. I want to speak with our guest privately."

Tuvok frowned slightly, but left with a slight nod of his head. Janeway hadn’t taken her eyes from Lucky. "Tell me who you are," she said.

"I’ve told you all I can," Lucky said, and at that moment she no longer seemed young or vulnerable. Her eyes were old, and determined.

"Then tell me," Janeway said, returning to her desk and sitting down, "why I shouldn’t dismiss you as just another temporal con artist with a hidden agenda?"

Lucky’s dark eyes widened. "Temporal con artist? You think I’m telling the truth about time travel but not about the rest of it?"

"Yes, the thought has occurred to me. We had a visit from a time traveler once. He claimed to have Voyager’s best interests at heart - only his idea of our ‘best interest’ was to destroy us."

The girl shook her head. "There’s nothing I can say to persuade you. Anything I know, a time traveler would know, too." She looked at Janeway with anguish. "Captain, I took a class 2 shuttle into death orbit around a star and then flew it through the Hellhole to get to you. That should earn me some trust! Why in the name of our fathers would I do such a thing unless I desperately believed that it was necessary and right?"

"I won’t deny your courage," Janeway said in a less heated tone, trying to defuse the situation a bit. "But it doesn’t prove that you are telling us the truth."

Stiffly, perhaps proudly, Lucky said, "I have nothing else to offer."

"Maybe you do," Janeway countered. "Tell me who your parents are, and let the Doctor confirm it. Give me a reason to trust you."

Lucky shook her head. "You asked Starling to trust you without telling him why. Can’t you understand, my situation is the same as yours was then?"

The Captain’s head swung up, her eyes blazing. "How do you know about that?"

"I told you," Lucky said calmly. "I read your logs."

"That little bit of data isn’t in my personal logs," Janeway said coldly, standing again to circle her prey. "And it’s under command seal in the official logs. Until we get back to the Alpha quadrant, only Chakotay and I know about that conversation. So if you know, you didn’t read my logs in this quadrant and you are lying."

Lucky lifted her chin, untouched by the Janeway Death Stare. "You really haven’t thought this through, have you? You want to know who I am? Well, I am the Captain of the Federation starship Voyager, ma’am. Your last official act was to put me in charge." Her eyes were blue fire, angry and hurt. "In spite of all the trouble I caused all my life, you decided to put me in charge, and you told me to take care of them all. Well, I’m doing my best but you seem determined to fight me." She shook her head in disgust. "It’s so typical. You never wanted to see any good in me, not from the moment you found out about me" –

Chakotay’s voice interrupted them. "Captain, Cree Oskana is hailing again."

"Not yet," Janeway snapped, then said more calmly, "Buy me some time, please. We’re not quite finished here." More calmly, she said to Lucky, "One last time. Tell me who you are."

But Lucky had regained her composure, and her expression was both serene and implacable. "No," she said. "It would be wrong."

Janeway knew in that moment that there was no point in arguing. She had heard that tone before, not with that voice, but with the same sense of conviction. Where had she heard it? Again, she felt irritatingly close to an identification. There wasn’t time for that now, though. Returning to her chair, she said, "All right. I’ll set that aside, I’m not saying that I trust you, though, or that you are qualified for a communication of this delicacy." She returned to her chair and sat down. "Tell me what needs to be said."

The dark haired girl looked at her for a long moment. "All right," she said, "but Captain, please keep me in mind as Plan B. I’ll sit right here like a good little girl, and if you can convince the Cree, fine – but if you can’t please let me talk to him."

"I’ll keep that in mind," Janeway said, in a tone that seemed to indicate that she might call on Lucky when hell froze over. Lucky quickly and efficiently outlined the conversation that needed to occur, and Janeway nodded. "Wait here," she said, striding past her for the bridge.

"Captain," Lucky called just before Janeway reached the door. "I asked you once why you offered Chakotay the first officer position since you’d been sent to arrest him and you really didn’t know him at all. You told me that sometimes, you have to make a leap of faith."

Janeway looked over her shoulder at the dark eyes, older than they should be in the body of a girl. Without replying, she stepped onto the bridge.

Taking her seat, Janeway hailed the Starwind and Cree Oskana appeared on the view screen. "I have consulted our seer, Cree."

"Excellent, Captain," Oskana said with a smile. This time his upper ears twitched a little. "I have done the same. My seer suggests a gathering in three standard hours. Does yours concur?"

"Sadly, no," Janeway said, hoping she sounded sufficiently regretful. "Our seer believes that tomorrow is a better time for our first contact."

The Cree’s smile dropped so quickly it was almost comical. "Tomorrow? But, Captain, why so long? Surely it is in both of our best interests to open negotiations quickly."

"Surely one day will not harm what we hope will be a long and beneficial relationship," Janeway replied.

Oskana’s eyes narrowed, and both sets of ears seemed to flatten against his skull. "Perhaps you think to study our ship in the hopes of gaining a tactical advantage and stealing what you wish."

"Not at all," Janeway assured him. "It’s just that our seer believes we should…purify ourselves before we meet face to face."

Oskana seemed to be turning deeply red. "Are you suggesting that the Tessari are a source of potential contamination?"

"No, no, you misunderstand," she said hastily. "We wish only to assure that our first meeting is fruitful and - and" she hesitated, struggling to come up with the right word.

"Blessed," Chakotay suggested in a low voice.

"Blessed," she said, not taking her eyes from the screen. Then she looked sideways at her first officer. Blessed?

"Three hours is a better time," Oskana insisted. "Here, here is my seer, she will tell you herself." He gestured, and a Tessari in a yellow robe stepped into view. The only features that distinguished her as female were the single earring she wore on her left upper ear and a voice like warm honey when she spoke.

"In three hours," she said, raising her hands slightly, "the influences of the heavenly spirits will be in perfect alignment, creating the best possible atmosphere for discussions of trade and exchanges of culture. Perhaps your seer is not as versed in the portents as I. I would be happy to speak with her and share my knowledge."

Janeway stared at the screen, thinking that she would dearly love to see a Ferengi, any Ferengi, and the Tessari seer in a negotiating session. All that oozing salesmanship combined with all those ears would be overwhelming. Either Oskana and his seer were absolutely sincere, or they were exquisite con artists, but either way, Janeway didn’t feel up to the challenge. It was time to decide. Leap of faith, or path of safety.

"Janeway to ready room," she said flatly. "Please come to the bridge."

The door opened immediately, and the first thing Janeway thought was that the girl knew how to make an entrance. She had undone the braid so that her black hair flowed freely down her back in waves that reached to her waist, and she moved the grace and dignity of a Vulcan priestess. Never taking her eyes from the view screen, she stepped down to stand beside the Captain. As she stopped, she placed her palms together and bowed slightly toward the Tessari seer, and then mimicked the position of the Tessari woman, with her hands slightly outstretched. Janeway noticed that she was wearing bracelets on each wrist that hadn’t been there before, made of some black substance.

"I am honored to greet my sister," Lucky said to the Tessari seer.

"And I," came the reply, with a formal bow. Janeway suppressed a smile; it looked like the Tessari was determined to win the dignity contest between the two. "I see thee wears the bracelets of the High Order. My sister, hast thou reviewed the portents for our meeting? The confluence of the Two Great Spheres will reach its zenith in but three hours. Should we not take advantage of such favorable alignment?"

Tom Paris swiveled in his seat and looked around with an expression that indicated his complete lack of appreciation for Tessari speech patterns.

Lucky, though, regarded her with the same serenity Kes had always possessed. "My sister, I confess that such was my first thought, but then a shadow fell across the light and I saw a word that is unknown to me, but which filled me with great dread. Perhaps, with your greater knowledge, you can put my fears to rest."

The Tessari seer looked interested. "Oh? What is the word?"

"Rythallen," was all Lucky said, but with that one word the suppressed humor on the bridge vanished when the crew saw the reaction of the Tessari.

Both the seer and the Cree stiffened immediately. "Rythallen!" the Cree exclaimed. "That is a deadly plague! Why do you see such a thing?"

"I do not know the why, Cree," she replied, "I only know that I have seen that word and your ship intertwined, and it filled me with fear for your safety, and the safety of my people."

Oskana was looking positively green, while the Tessari seer had turned pale. "And fear you should," Oskana said. He was deeply shaken. "You are quite right, if you have foreseen Rythallen, then we should delay our meeting to avoid risk of exposure. Tomorrow should be safe, you say?"

"By tomorrow," Lucky said, her voice tinged with sadness, "we will know if mine was a true vision."

Cree Oskana nodded. "We will wait, then. If your seer is correct, Captain, you have done us all a service this day. The Rythallen must not be permitted to spread."

"I hope that we are mistaken," Janeway said,

"As do I," he replied, and the screen went black.

Janeway turned to Lucky. "You didn’t tell me the disease had a name," she said in an even voice that usually meant trouble.

"Only a seer would know that," she replied calmly. "They would have been suspicious if you suddenly had insights into their culture."

"Unless my seer had briefed me," Janeway said tightly.

" I did what I thought was right, Captain," Lucky said, "and it appears to have been successful."

"Do they always talk like that?" Tom Paris interjected.

Lucky smiled. "Not always, but often enough to get on your nerves." She began to unwind the black bracelets from her wrist.

"What are those?" Janeway demanded, half annoyed. "You weren’t wearing them before."

"Oh, the bracelets are a symbol of a seer’s authority," she explained. "The Tessari would have noticed if I didn’t have them." She offered a long, limp strand to Janeway. "It’s licorice. I’m afraid I used your credits at the replicator, Captain. It was the best I could do on short notice." Chakotay did his best to hide a smile, but Paris actually snorted.

"I’m beginning to see," Janeway said slowly, "why you were in trouble so often."

There was nothing to do but wait. Lucky was certain the Tessari on the Starwind would be symptomatic in just over three hours. Now that they were aware of the possibility, the Tessari would let Voyager know immediately if symptoms developed. If Lucky was wrong, then Janeway was prepared to stuff her back into her shuttle and launch her into the Hellhole.

After the conversation with the Tessari seer, Lucky suddenly turned pale. Although she insisted that she felt fine, the captain insisted that she return to Sickbay. Janeway had not shared Lucky’s prognosis with the entire senior staff; only Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris and the Doctor knew of it. She still wasn’t certain whether Lucky herself understood the full ramifications of her actions.

But there was more to be said between them, and Janeway came to speak with her. Expecting to find her napping, the Captain was surprised to find their problematic guest playing poker with Paris, Torres and Kim. "I’d like a word with our patient, if you please," she said to them.

"Fine by me," B’Elanna said quickly. "I’m already out a month’s worth of replicator rations."

Lucky looked stricken. "Oh, no, I wasn’t playing for keeps," she said, and pushed the chips toward B’Elanna. "What would I do with them? I won’t be here a month from now."

Janeway looked at Paris, silently questioning whether anyone had told the girl of her condition. He gave a subtle shake of his head. B’Elanna might have protested, but because the Captain was standing there, she gathered up the chips and left with Paris and Kim.

The captain looked at Lucky closely. The priestess who stood on the bridge had been replaced by the young girl again. "Well, young lady," Janeway began, "would you like to tell me what happens next?"

Lucky nodded. "Cree Oskana will contact you soon, to tell you that the Rythallen has broken out on the Starwind. He will get a message off to his base ship, and it will arrive as scheduled. By the time it gets here, Oskana and all his crew will be dead."

"Isn’t there anything we can do to help them?" Janeway asked.

"There is nothing we can do to cure them," Lucky said carefully. "But there is something we can do to help – and it will help Voyager as well. Captain, I want to go to that the Starwind to help them once they are sick. I can’t prevent their deaths, but I can make them less painful."

Janeway stared at her, uncertain the girl realized the full meaning of her words. "If you go, you will be exposed."

Lucky gave her a lop-sided smile. "That doesn’t really matter much, does it? We both know I’ll be dead in a few days in any case." As the Captain involuntarily looked around for the Doctor, Lucky said, "No one told me. I knew it was inevitable. There’s no way to travel the Hellhole without lethal exposure."

She knew that the trip would be fatal, and came anyway? Janeway looked at the girl with new respect, and with compassion. "Still," she said, "you wouldn’t be able to return to us. You’ve made enough sacrifices, you won’t make this one, too."

The girl’s eyes took on a desperate gleam. "Captain, you don’t understand. Do you remember I told you the Tessari would hound you for months if this meeting went badly? Well, they did hound you for months. When the base ship arrived, it found everyone on the Starwind dead and everyone on Voyager alive. The Tis-Cree suspected that you used a biogenic weapon on the Starwind. When no one on Voyager except Neelix died within a few days, he became certain of it. You permitted him to search the ship, and when he couldn’t find proof he assumed that you had cleverly hidden it." Her face became anguished. "The Tessari didn’t declare war, but they did declare Voyager unclean, and denied it trading rights in all space for a two thousand light year radius, and their rumors had credibility far beyond that. For five years, this ship will be low on every supply and welcome no where."

"I appreciate your concern," Janeway said, "but we’ve been through hard times before. We will not trade your life for a little comfort."

"It’s not just comfort, Captain," she cried, reaching out to clasp Janeway’s hand. "The base ship will destroy the Starwind, thinking that will end the disease. But it won’t. The Rythallen will survive in space. I’m not sure how, but somehow it entered into the air systems on Voyager and the base ship. The base ship will carry it to hundreds of planets – and Voyager will be blamed. And in the end, you’ll all die anyway, twenty years from now."

"How can you change any of that?" Janeway asked, shocked by the girl’s plea.

"I can keep them alive until the base ship arrives, so Oskana can tell them it wasn’t Voyager’s fault," Lucky said. "And I can help them steer the Starwind into the Hellhole. The radiation will kill the disease, and it won’t spread. And you can have a decent relationship with the Tessari."

Deeply moved, Kathryn Janeway tightened her grip on Lucky’s hand. "You are very courageous," she said, "and I’m proud to think that you were raised on this ship. I’ll think about your request."

She turned to go, but Lucky said, "Captain, I told the Commander that you taught me quantum physics. But you also taught me something else – to believe in redemption. Please, Captain, let me redeem myself."

Surprised, Janeway turned back. "Redeem yourself? From what? From childhood pranks and mistakes? You’re only 17, Lucky – what could have possibly done to merit such a penance?"

"I failed you," Lucky said hoarsely, her eyes filling with tears. She blinked them back furiously. "The last thing you said before you died, the very last thing, was to me. I was the oldest, you see, and you said, ‘Take care of the children, Lucky’ and I promised you I would. And I tried. I’ve tried so hard. But I can’t do it. I can’t take care of them any more, we’ve got no food and no place to go, and the ship is dying and I can’t keep my promise to you."

Kathryn Janeway tried to picture a 14 year old girl suddenly in charge of Voyager and 42 children. What a terrible burden, what a miracle that they managed to survive for 3 more years. Despite her efforts at control, a tear escaped down Lucky’s cheek, and Kathryn gently brushed it away. "It’s all right," she murmured. "I know you tried."

Lucky suddenly gave a sob and threw her arms around Kathryn. The Captain held her for a moment, feeling a little out of her depth but knowing that the girl needed comfort. "You did well," she whispered to her.

After a moment, Lucky let her go. When she straightened, her eyes were dry and she lifted her chin. "You asked me earlier who I am, and I told you. I am the next Captain of this ship – unless you let me go."

"I’ll think about it," Kathryn said again, and left her in Sickbay.

She wanted to talk it over, but not with the entire senior staff. Instead, she asked Chakotay and Tuvok to join her in the conference room and told them of the conversation. "The last piece of the puzzle," Tuvok said when she finished. "It finally makes sense. I do not understand why she did not tell the entire story from the beginning."

"I think I might," Chakotay said. "Remember, she grew up feeling that she was a disappointment to us all. Even though we have no memory of that – it hasn’t happened for us yet – I think she was afraid that somehow we would know that and not believe her."

"That is completely illogical," Tuvok said, then added, "but given that we are discussing human psychology, perhaps it is not without merit."

"I don’t want to let her go," Kathryn said. "Now that we know the danger, there must be some other way to avert additional exposure. There must be something we can do to help her."

"I don’t want to let her go, either," Chakotay said, "but if anyone ever earned the right to choose her own destiny, she has."

Janeway looked at Tuvok. "You were the most mistrustful of her. Do you believe her now?"

He nodded slowly. "Assuming that the Tessari report that they have the disease on board as predicted, I am forced to admit that she must be exactly what she claims to be."

"What changed your mind?" Janeway asked, curious.

He paused to order his thoughts. "First, nothing has arisen to challenge her credibility; to the contrary, everything has turned out as she told us. Second, I have observed her closely, and while I do not know what her biological parentage might be, she shows every sign of having been raised on this ship, by us. Her behavior shows the influence of most of the members of the senior staff. I do not think this could be a coincidence, or contrived."

"Do you concur?" she asked Chakotay, and he nodded. "Then, if she was born on this ship and raised by its crew, she is a member of this crew. And as long as I am Captain, I will not permit any of my crew to throw their lives away when there are other options. Gentleman, we need to find those options."

Three hours and twenty-five minutes after their last communication, Cree Oskana hailed Voyager. His face was somber and his ears lowered. "Your seer was right, Captain," he said heavily. "Four members of my crew have developed symptoms of the Rythallen. My healer tells me that everyone on board has been exposed."

"I’m so sorry, Cree," she replied sincerely.

"I’ve sent a message to our base ship, advising them of our…situation," he said, calmly as if he were discussing theoretical warp models. "The Seeker should be here in approximately ten hours. It is unlikely, though, that I will be able to greet it. I would be grateful if you would remain, and tell them what happened."

"Of course," she said. "Is there anything we can do for you? Are there any supplies you need?"

"Thank you, but no," he said, giving her a resigned smile. "I am sorry we will not have the chance to negotiate, Captain Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager. It would have been… interesting. Good trading."

"And to you," she said sadly.

The screen had barely gone dark when Kim announced, "Captain, a phaser has been discharged in Shuttle Bay 1."

"Lucky," Janeway said, and hit the comm system. "Doctor, where is your patient? Doctor, respond!"

"The EMH is off-line," the computer responded.

"Shut down Shuttle Bay 1," Janeway told Kim, then said, "Janeway to Seven of Nine." She explained to Chakotay, "I sent Seven to Sickbay an hour ago to keep an eye on things." There was no answer from the usually prompt Seven. "Computer, locate Seven of Nine," she said harshly.

"Seven of Nine is in Sickbay," the computer responded immediately.

"Tom, Tuvok, get down there. See what’s going on."

Harry Kim frowned suddenly. "Shuttle Bay 1 is up again. Emergency medical clearance."

Janeway’s mouth thinned into a narrow line. "Computer, lock down Shuttle Bay 1. Authorization Janeway Alpha 11 Alpha, priority 1 intruder alert." That, she thought firmly should do it. Not even the CMO could override that without the correct code.

"Chakotay, you’re with me," Janeway said. "Tuvok, take the bridge."

They found her where they expected to, setting the automatic controls to release the duplicate Amundsen from the shuttle bay. What they hadn’t expected was that she had a phaser, and the Doctor was standing beside her. Lucky looked at her accusingly. "You changed the command codes."

"Of course I did," Janeway said. "You were the captain of this ship, you knew them all. What would you have done in my place?" Then she turned to the Doctor. "I thought you were off-line."

"The Doctor from this time is off-line," he informed her regretfully, "and has been since your first interview with Lucky."

"You came with her, didn’t you?" Chakotay asked. "You’re the future Doctor."

He nodded. "We couldn’t be certain you would believe her, or go along with her plan. I was the ace in the hole, so to speak."

"How did you get here without us knowing?" Janeway asked.

The Doctor looked embarrassed, and Lucky answered for him. "He came as a teddy bear. Just a few adjustments to the mobile emitter." She was pointing a phaser at them with one hand while the other worked feverishly at the station. "I’m sorry, Captain, Commander. You’ll never know how sorry. But I have to do this."

"I know," Janeway said. "We came to say goodbye."

Lucky inhaled sharply, and froze. "Really?"

The Captain nodded. "We couldn’t come up with any alternatives, and if the two of you can help those people, it’s the right thing to do. We just didn’t want to lose you."

The girl’s mouth quivered slightly, but she remained dry-eyed. "With any luck, I’ll be back again in about three years."

"And we’ll all be proud of you," Chakotay added.

With a tremulous smile and shining eyes, she said, "Thank you." She and the Doctor started to head for the shuttle hatch, but she stopped and looked at them both. "I owe you a batch of pickled peaches, sir. And - the next time you see me – just in case you don’t recognize me – try to remember this and…have faith." She grinned suddenly, as if enjoying a private joke. "Please, have faith."

The Captain and the Commander stood at the shuttle bay controls until the Amundsen was away. Janeway felt a sense of loss as keen as if a member of her crew had died, combined with admiration for the girl and the hologram. Tucking her feelings away, she turned to Chakotay. "Pickled peaches?"

"She said it was how she bribed me," he explained, as they turned to head back to the bridge. "It still doesn’t sound like much of a bribe."

"Oh, no, they’re very good," she replied. "My grandmother used to make them every summer."

He looked at her sharply, but said nothing.

Back on the bridge, there was a report waiting from Tuvok and Tom. They had found Seven laid carefully on one of the biobeds, deeply sedated. The Doctor was active again, and immensely annoyed that he had been inactive for so long. All files pertaining to Lucky had been expertly and thoroughly deleted.

Janeway contacted Cree Oskana and advised him that medical personnel were coming to his aid on the shuttle. "No, Captain," he protested weakly – and if his appearance was any indication, any protest at all was astonishing. "you must not permit this. They will be exposed. They cannot be permitted to return to your ship."

"We know this," she said sadly. "They know it also, and still they volunteered. Please allow them to give you whatever aid is in their power."

Oskana inclined his head. "We are grateful."

There were no further communications with the Starwind until the Seeker arrived. The base ship was four times the size of its sister ship, and the Tis-Cree Michan was far sterner than Oskana. He hailed Voyager immediately. "Alien vessel," he said coldly, "what is your purpose here?"

Janeway patiently introduced herself. "We are here to assist Cree Oskana in any reasonable way."

Oskana cut into the communication then. He looked awful, but he seemed to be more in control of himself than in his last communication. "Tis-Cree. Voyager has been a true friend of the Tessar. They warned us of the contamination, and they sent to us volunteers, who have eased our pain and made this last contact possible." He extended a hand and Lucky appeared on the screen. She looked exhausted, and more, she looked ill. "This child of Voyager, and the healer she brought with her, have sacrificed their lives to ease our deaths. The debt we owe cannot be repaid."

"Understood," Tis-Cree Michan growled. "And what of your obligation, Oskana?"

The Cree nodded. "We must be destroyed. But, this seer advises that first, we must enter the Hellhole and allow it to cleanse us. Then, and only then, can the Rythallen be destroyed."

Michan shifted the angle of his head. "Janeway of the Federation. Do you agree?"

"Yes," she said, hating the necessity of her words. "My seer has never deceived me…without cause." On the screen, Lucky smiled at her with complete understanding.

"Then do so," the Tis-Cree commanded.

"At once," Oskana agreed. "But first, let us download the palliative the healer has used. It is not known to our people. Our last farewells to family and friends are also included. Captain Janeway."

"Yes, Cree," she said.

"Know this: that in the history of the Tessari, none have shown the courage or the kindness of your healer and your seer. They would not tell us their names, lest we glorify them. But we mourn with you their loss, and we thank you for your sacrifice."

Janeway felt her eyes mist over. "Our loss is great," she said, her eyes on Lucky, "but no greater than yours. I wish you peace, Cree Oskana, in whatever awaits you."

He smiled. At least, she thought it was a smile. Then the screen returned to the long view of the Starwind, as it hurled itself into the Hellhole. In a few moments, it was spit out again.

"Voyager," hailed Tis-Cree Michan as the Starwind tumbled out of the Hellhole, "will you join me in the final act?"

Sensing it was an honor – shooting one’s own horse, so to speak – Janeway nodded. "Ready phasers," she said, her voice almost flat with the control she was exerting.

"Ready," Tuvok said barely a second later.

"On your mark, Tis-Cree," she said.

Tis-Cree Michan lifted his head. "In honor, then, and with regret. Fire."

"Fire," Janeway agreed.

The phasers from both ships hit the Starwind at the same time. The battered, free-falling ship flared white, expanded, and then exploded in a shimmer of light.

For a long moment, there was silence between the two ships, and on the bridge of each. Then Tis-Cree Michan hailed again. "We will observe a period of mourning," he told her. "I expect you will as well. Then, however, I would like to open discussions. We owe a debt that cannot be repaid. The Tessari are at your service."

Bless you, Lucky, Janeway thought. "Thank you, Tis-Cree. Contact us at your pleasure. We will be here."

Three days later, Janeway stood outside Chakotay’s quarters, holding a glass jar. The trade negotations were concluded; they had free passage through Tessari space and all the supplies they needed. Chakotay let her in at once. "Here," she said, almost nervously. "Nana Lissa’s pickled peaches."

He took the jar and looked at it closely. There was nothing unusual about it; the peach slices appeared to be swimming in syrup, cloves and allspice. "I’m going to like this?" he asked, feigning suspicion.

She recognized his teasing, and smiled. "You’re going to love them. Good night, Commander."

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