Copyright 2000, Susan S. McCrackin  Reprinted with permission of the author.

The Doctor was scanning her. "I think it is too late for that vaccine."

"I think you are right." She tried to swallow, feeling the swelling in her throat. "How are they?"

"Worse than you."

"Then maybe they’ll die soon."

He looked at her strangely, "You don’t really mean that, do you?"

"Actually, Doctor, I do. I think it might take a couple of deaths to make Barrat really believe this illness is serious enough to drive him back to Voyager." She grinned at him, "By the way, that story was a brilliant idea."

He looked at her, a please expression coming over his face. "Do you think he bought it."

"I think he is thinking about it." She gave him a wondering look, "If we were on Voyager, do you really think you could cure this thing?"

His lips tightened, "I’m not sure, B’Elanna."

She nodded, "Well, just as long as Kathryn B’Elanna doesn’t catch it. If the crew is incapacitated, at least you will have the opportunity to get her back to Voyager."

"To get the three of us back to Voyager."

She gave him a look, then nodded. "Doctor," she hesitated, "have you considered…helping the deaths along?"

He looked at her in shock, "But I don’t think my program will allow that."

She snorted, "But I don’t have any such programming."

"Could you do that?" 

She looked at the sleeping child next to her, "If I have to."

He looked at his sleeping child, thinking about her words. Suddenly, he had a thought and was shocked at the realization.

So could he.

She was whimpering in her sleep, mumbling the Doctor’s name, then Kathryn B’Elanna’s. He squeezed her hand tighter, then felt her pulling him toward her. He moved from the chair to sit on the side of the bed, stroking her hair, trying to comfort her, "Shhh, Seven. It’s okay."

She mumbled something again.

"What, Seven?" He leaned down closer to try to hear what she was saying.

She reached for him and pulled him down beside her. He, somewhat reluctantly, stretched out beside her, wrapping her in his arms.

"Doctor, hold me." It was a mumbling groan. "Kathryn B’Elanna." 

She started weeping softly and he pulled her tighter, her head on his shoulder, his on the top of her head. He rocked her until she fell back to sleep. Then, he stopped rocking her and just held her.

She looked through the fuzz at the two people sleeping in the bed. It was Mama. And with her was Uncle Harry. She watched as her mother stirred and heard her call out to her.

"Kathryn B’Elanna."

But she could not get any closer.

She watched as Uncle Harry pulled Mama closer but she could tell Mama was looking for her.

Mama was still hurt.

"Bad man hurt Mama."

She watched Mama nod her head and heard her groan.

The fuzz between them grew thicker but she watched as long as she could. Then she turned, her eyes angry.

"Bad man hurt Mama."

Janeway was pacing back and forth on the bridge. She heard Chakotay clear his throat and turned to face him.

He looked around at the faces of the people on the bridge with him. Each was working their consoles. No one would look at him. With a sinking heart, he spoke to her, "Maybe we need to discuss bringing this search to a close."

Her face twitched. She closed her eyes and dropped her head. A week of searching and they were no closer to finding their people than they had been when they started. She did not want to accept it, but Chakotay was right.

Activity on the bridge had completely stopped when they heard Chakotay speak but not one had dared look at the other. Each person held his or her breath, waiting on the Captain’s response. 

She opened her mouth to speak when Tuvok spoke, "Captain, we are being hailed." He read his scans, "It is coming in on a sub-space frequency."

She nodded to him and listened.

"Voyager, this is Kahkar Omarahn. Come in Voyager."

"Is the channel open?" Tuvok nodded to her and she continued, "This is Captain Janeway of Voyager."

"Captain, we received your signal. We are on our way."

Tuvok broke in behind her, "I am getting a visual now."

She turned her attention to the flickering view screen and Kahkar and Ketaria came into view.

"Captain," Ketaria spoke quickly, "Kathryn B’Elanna is still alive and she is okay. So are the Doctor and B’Elanna, although B’Elanna is sick."

Tom Paris’ head shot up at her words.

"What? Have you seen them?"

"No. But I have been in communication with Kathryn B’Elanna." Janeway looked in shock at her and she continued, "I will explain when I see you. First, how is Seven?"

"Not good."

Ketaria nodded, then Kahkar spoke from beside her, "Captain, what information can you share with us?"

"Not much, I am afraid. We will send you all of our computer logs of what happened."

"Do you have logs of the ship’s signature?"

"Yes, but it has not done us any good."

"Maybe we will be able to do better."

"I hope so, Kahkar." She turned as saw Tuvok nod at her, "We have transmitted all of our data."

"Thank you, Captain. I will begin to study it immediately."

"Captain," Ketaria spoke, "is it possible to talk with Seven?"

"I don’t know. I will try to get her. We will keep this channel open." She turned and left the bridge.

She walked quickly toward Seven’s quarters, heading to the bedroom. She stopped in surprise when she saw Harry holding Seven in the bed, both of them asleep. She reached down and lightly shook his foot. His eyes opened immediately and he looked up at her, seeing the look on her face. He just shrugged.

"Can you wake her up?" When his eyes asked her why, she explained, "Ketaria wants to talk to her."

His eyes widened and he moved, trying to gently awaken Seven. As she stirred, he started talking to her, "Seven, you need to wake up. Ketaria wants to talk to you."

Her eyes flew open and she looked at him, then she looked around the room, her eyes searching as a memory came flooding back to her. "Kathryn B’Elanna. She was here."

"Seven, it was a dream," Harry’s voice was soft.

"No."

Janeway looked at him, encouraging him to hurry, so he tried to draw her attention back to him, "Seven. Listen to me. Ketaria wants to talk to you."

"Ketaria?"

"Yes."

Janeway interjected, trying to keep her voice calm, "We have a channel open to their ship. Ketaria says she needs to talk to you."

Seven seemed to notice her for the first time. Then, she nodded and moved to slide from the bed. She stood and started moving toward the door.

Harry stopped her, "Wait a minute, Seven. Do you want to get dressed?"

She tightened the knot in her robe and shook her head, walking out of her bedroom, barefoot, pushing her hair back out of her face. The Captain and Harry hurried to catch up with her.

She walked out onto the bridge with her eyes locked on the figure on the view screen in front of her.

"Ketaria." It was almost a sob.

"Seven. I have talked to Kathryn B’Elanna. She is okay."

Her hand flew to her mouth and she dropped to her knees, "The Doctor?"

"I think he is also okay."

"Where…"

"I don’t know that yet, but we will soon."

"How?"

"Kathryn B’Elanna came to me."

Seven nodded, "I, too, saw her. But not clearly."

Ketaria smiled at her, "I thought she would try to visit you. I need your help, Seven. Can you help me?"

"Yes."

Ketaria watched as Harry came and stood behind Seven, looking up at Ketaria. Ketaria smiled a knowing smile and looked back at the Captain. "Captain, we will work with you to transport Seven and Ensign Kim to our ship."

Janeway watched for a moment, then nodded.

Ketaria looked back at Seven, "I am going to work with Kahkar now. We will be in touch soon to transport you here. Ketaria out."

The view screen went black. Harry reached down and helped Seven to her feet, turned her and walked back with her to the turbolift. Captain Janeway stood back and watched them go.

B’Elanna was shaking with chills one minute and sweating with a fever the next. She did not think she had ever been so sick. The only thing that made her feel better was that the crew of the ship seemed to be even sicker than she was. It gave her some level of comfort to know they felt worse than she did.

She noticed that KB was stirring and was surprised to see the child wake up with a smile on her face. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, then reached for B’Elanna, "Bala."

"Honey, Bala is sick. I don’t think I should be holding you right now."

But the child pushed herself to her feet and almost threw herself into B’Elanna’s arms. She settled herself into B’Elanna’s lap and looked up into her face, "Keta come."

B’Elanna looked at her in confusion for a moment, then smiled, "So, you must have had a good dream." She pushed the child’s hair back, wishing she had a brush. It would be nice to be able to interject a small moment of normalcy in this situation.

The Doctor walked up behind them, "Well, I see my little girl is awake."

"Dada!" Kathryn B’Elanna reached for her father and he lifted her from B’Elanna’s lap. She grabbed him around his neck, hugging him tightly. "That’s more like my little girl." The Doctor was smiling, enjoying this moment of closeness when the door opened and Barrat walked in. The Doctor’s smiles turned into a deep frown but he felt a moment of distinct pleasure when he saw the man was obviously fevered.

"Attend me."

Without speaking, the Doctor handed Kathryn B’Elanna back to B’Elanna and went to care for Barrat. He scanned him, then said, "You appear to have the same illness as everyone else."

"Do something."

"I have explained this to you already. I do not have the equipment I need here to do anything. If you want me to do something, you will have to return me to Voyager."

"That isn’t an option."

"Then there isn’t anything I can do."

Barrat started to argue with him, then looked at him strangely. The Doctor noticed the look on the man’s face, then looked down at his own hands. He was starting to fade.

"B’Elanna!"

She turned to look at him, her eyes widening. She put KB down on the cot, "You stay here, sweetheart. I’ll be right back." She quickly went to check the mobile emitter, then looked at him, "The battery is low. We need to deactivate you."

"What?" Barrat’s voice was angry.

"He is a computer program. He has been online for almost a week without being able to refresh his program or recharge his mobile emitter. What do you think? That he can go on forever."

"Then recharge his battery. Or replace it."

"With what?" She looked at him in disgust. "If I could do that, don’t you think I would have done it already?" She turned to the Doctor, "I am going to deactivate you. Maybe…." She just looked at him. She could not finish her sentence.

He understood. If the battery died, his program would probably be lost. He looked over to his daughter. There wasn’t even time to tell her he loved her. "Take care of…."

She deactivated him in the middle of the sentence, grabbing the mobile emitter and holding it tightly in her hand. She closed her eyes, then turned back to Barrat, her eyes angry, "You are running out of options."

He started to say something, then backed up, his eyes going cold with fear. He turned and looked at the child who was standing on the cot, her eyes locked on him. He backed up, feeling for the treatment room door behind him and left as quickly as he could. B’Elanna quickly moved to her side. KB was still staring at the doors where Barrat had exited. Finally, she looked at B’Elanna, "Bad man hurt Dada."

B’Elanna nodded at her.

Kathryn B’Elanna looked at her a long time. Then, she said, "Hurt bad man."

Seven and Harry materialized in the transporter room of the Eutarian science ship. As soon as they solidified, Seven moved forward, stumbling as she stepped down from the platform. Harry caught her, as did Kahkar, a look of concern immediately coming over his face.

"Seven, we are taking you to my lab."

"No, I will assist Ketaria."

"No. You will accompany me. I will have Ketaria join us there." He got on one side and Harry took the other. They walked with her between them.

"Have you found the ship?" Her voice was insistent.

"Not yet. But we might have found a particle trace of it."

She stopped, "Then we must follow it."

"We are, Seven. I have my people handling it. Now, come." He took her hand and pulled her along. His eyes watched her as they moved. Her face still carried bruises from the fight. Her hair was still down and she was dressed in a loser garment than he was used to seeing her in. He suspected she was still in some pain. But it was her eyes that worried him the most. They seemed so sunken and lost. He knew she was afraid of getting her hopes up.

They walked into his lab and he asked her to lie down on the examination table. Instead of doing so she turned to him, "Where is Ketaria?"

"She is on her way. Now, please lie down." She continued to look at him and he added, "Please, Seven." His voice was soft, fatherly, yet firm.

She moved to the bed and Harry helped her arrange herself on it. Kahkar started scanning her. He had examined Tom’s medical logs and knew about the injuries she had sustained in the fight. He found what he suspected. Tom had done a good job but he was not a doctor. He smiled at her, debating what to do. Finally, he decided to wait for Ketaria. She would be able to help calm Seven while he explained what they needed to do.

She was still bleeding internally. Had she regenerated for a long period after Tom had finished with her, she probably would have recovered but she had pushed herself in her efforts to find her family. Small bleeds had now become larger ones. Her situation was becoming more critical and she needed immediate surgery. 

He looked up in relief when Ketaria walked through the doors. She glanced at him and he allowed her full access to his thoughts. She quickly absorbed his information and walked up to Seven, smiling at her, allowing a calm to flow to her.

She grabbed her hand, "You and I are going to find your family." 

Seven sat up, groaning a little as she did, but said to Ketaria, "Now."

"Seven, Kahkar needs to take care of you first, then we will find your family."

"No!" She stood, her eyes glaring with fire and Ketaria staggered back, overwhelmed by the strength of Seven’s emotions.

Harry quickly stepped forward, "Seven," his voice was calm, "we are all going to search for your family. First, we need to plan. Sit here and let’s talk to Kahkar and Ketaria." He was holding her hand, smiling at her.

She looked him in the eyes and allowed him to push her back down onto the examination table. He stood in front of her, still holding her hand, smiling at her. She focused on his eyes. Without breaking eye contact, he said, "Kahkar, Ketaria, why don’t we just talk a few minutes about what we are going to do."

Kahkar nodded and stepped forward. Ketaria took a few moments to gather herself, then moved to join the other three. 

Harry continued to smile, "Let’s talk."

B’Elanna was sitting on the floor of the treatment room with pieces of a medical tricorder around her. With the Doctor deactivated, Barrat had removed the ill crewmembers from the treatment room and had left KB and her alone. She was glad.

She had the mobile emitter on the floor in front of her and was trying to attach a secondary battery hook-up she had rigged to supplement the power of the emitter. Her fever made her hands shake and made concentrating difficult. Still, she managed to make all the connections. She made the last adjustment and stood up. KB was watching her movement with intense interest.

"Wish me luck, KB. We are about to see if we can get your Daddy back." She held up the emitter and activated it. It only took the Doctor a second to materialize.

He looked at her, surprised. He checked his hands and noticed they were solid and not faded. "What did you do?"

"It is a temporary solution but I hooked up a second battery from a medical tricorder."

"Good idea," he said appreciatively. "How much time do you think I have?"

"I don’t know. Your program is probably quite a drain on that battery." 

He turned and picked up his daughter, hugging her tightly. "Oh, Kathryn B’Elanna, you feel so good to me." He looked past the child in his arms to B’Elanna, "I was afraid I would never get to do this again."

"Me, too." She watched them, then sat down on the cot. He leaned over to touch her forehead.

"B’Elanna, your fever is really spiking."

"Yeah. I know. I’m getting very weak, also. Doctor, it is time we came up with a plan. We can’t wait for Voyager to find us any longer." She looked at him, her look meaningful, "It is time for desperate measures."

He looked at her flushed face and then to the face of his daughter. A real man in his position would not let anything stop him from protecting his family.

He wouldn’t either.

By the time they had talked a few minutes, Ketaria had managed to exert a calming influence over Seven. They had even gotten her to lie back on the table as long as they agreed to keep planning. Kahkar tried to explain to her that she needed surgery but she would not allow him to proceed. She told him after they got the Doctor and Kathryn B’Elanna back, he could do the surgery but not before. She did allow him to treat her only long enough to slow the bleeding. He looked at Ketaria, his concern obvious in his eyes. 

Seven was not rational and they were all afraid to push her. The irony, he realized, was that, in this situation, being irrational was a normal reaction. He knew she had to be in pain and that wasn’t helping. Only Harry seemed to be able to reach her and keep her calm. He noticed how carefully Harry handled her. He made her no unnecessary promises and kept his voice calm and soft. Ketaria seemed to be aware of the bond between them and deferred to Harry. He followed her lead and did the same.

Ketaria was telling Seven about Kathryn B’Elanna’s visit to her and Harry was listening with an incredulous look on his face. Kahkar almost laughed, understanding Harry’s bewilderment over what they were hearing. If he had not lived with Ketaria for so long, he was not certain he would have believed her story. Ketaria had just finished when a voice filled the room.

"Bridge to Captain Omarahn."

"Go ahead."

"Captain, we have confirmed that the particle traces belong to the Ikora. We are working now to confirm a direction."

"Good work. Keep me informed." Seven looked at him expectantly and he tried to answer the question in her eyes. "That means we are getting closer, Seven, but you know the particle traces disperse over a wide area. They could be anywhere."

Ketaria stepped in quickly, "That is what you and I can do, Seven."

She turned her attention to her, "Explain."

"You and I will work together, in my meditation room. We will try to contact Kathryn B’Elanna. If we can touch her mind, you will anchor us and I will try to find a way to determine where they are."

"I have no idea how to do that."

"I will help you. Can you come with me?"

"Yes." She pushed herself off the table, trying not to let any pain or weakness show. She reached for Harry’s hand, using it to steady herself. "I am ready."

Ketaria nodded and led the way out of the science lab and Seven and Harry followed her. Kahkar watched them go, then closed his eyes as they walked through the doors. His lips tightened and he moved to examine the results of the scans he had taken. He shook he head and prepared the instruments he would need later. 

He hoped they found the Ikora quickly.

"Tell Barrat I need to see him immediately."

The man bringing the food just grinned at her. "Sure, I’ll tell him."

"So, don’t tell him then." She walked around the treatment room and he watched her eerily. He had been one of the ones who had fought with her to bring her in here. Even as sick as she was, he did not want to tangle with her again.

She watched his face and saw that the man was as fevered as she was. Good, she thought. She really hoped he hurt as badly as she did. She turned to face him, crossing her arms in front of her, "Be sure not to tell him I might have a cure for this sickness." With that, she walked over to sit on the cot next to a sleeping Kathryn B’Elanna, adjusting the blanket over the child. 

"What is it?"

She ignored him.

"I said, what is it?"

She continued to ignore him.

He walked over and placed his phaser to her forehead.

She looked up at him, "That would be really stupid but go ahead."

The man wavered, his eyes showing his hate for her. She allowed her own hate to be reflected in hers. Slowly, he pulled back the phaser and left the room. 

She did not even feel relief. She was past that. She looked down at the belt around Kathryn B’Elanna’s body. Her face steeled and she took a deep breath to prepare herself.

Harry was watching Seven and Ketaria. They had been in the same position for the better part of two hours. He was sitting close to Seven, not moving despite the fact his body was feeling cramped. She had insisted he stay close to her. It was as if he was the only lifeline she had and she was holding to him desperately. The only movement he could see from the two women came from their eyes. They sat, on the floor, crossed legged, knees touching, holding hands, resting them on their knees. Despite the fact their eyes were closed and they were silent, Harry knew there was a communication occurring between them. He took a silent breath and continued his vigil.

Ketaria was leading Seven through the private place, taking her deeper and deeper. She could feel Seven searching for her child. Finally, she felt another presence and she turned slightly, seeing the figure approach them. She mentally reached for Seven, calming her. She gave her silent instructions.

You must not rush your movements. You must stay calm. If you do not, you risk taking us out of this place. It will take us too long to get back here. Also, do not try to touch. This place is thought and emotion. It is not physical.

Ketaria felt Seven work to calm herself, to keep her movements slow. She gave Tuvok a silent thanks for the lessons he had taught Seven. They were helping in this place.

The child walked up to them.

"Mama."

"Yes, Kathryn B’Elanna."

"Dada gone."

Ketaria felt the battle Seven was fighting with herself, but she answered, her voice calm, making herself smile at her child, "We will try to get him back, Kathryn B’Elanna."

"Bala sick."

"But she is still with you."

She nodded.

Ketaria spoke, "Do you know where you are?"

She shook her head. "Bad man."

"The bad man is still there?"

She nodded. "Bad man hurt Dada. Bad man hurt Mama."

Ketaria heard it in her voice as Seven spoke beside her, "Mama is okay, Kathryn B’Elanna." She spoke confidently but with great pain, "We will help Daddy when we get there. Can you help us get there?" She paused, as if thinking of something, "Is there a window where you are?"

"Yes."

"Kathryn B’Elanna," Seven’s voice was soft, "can you see the stars?"

The child’s face clouded, then it brightened. "Stars. See stars." Seven stayed completely still, letting her child think, then Kathryn B’Elanna looked up at her intently, "Bola stars, Mama."

"Bolarian stars?"

"Yes."

"You are a smart girl. I love you very much."

The child turned, anger crossing her face, "Bad man, Mama."

"Is the bad man coming?"

She nodded, then turned to leave.

Seven called after her, "Kathryn B’Elanna, stay with me."

But Kathryn B’Elanna turned for only a moment, "Hurt bad man." Then she left.

This time, there was no stopping Seven as she tried to move quickly after her child. Her movements had the effect of breaking the bond between them and Ketaria felt herself falling back into reality. She emerged into awareness as if tumbling from a great height. It took all of her skill to come back into awareness with her senses intact.

Seven was not as fortunate. She came back to awareness disoriented and wild. Harry moved quickly to try to calm her and Ketaria worked to give her a sense of peace. Harry wrapped his arms around her from behind, talking softly into her ear, reassuring her. Ketaria rose to her knees, taking her face in her hands. 

"Seven, please. You must explain to me what Kathryn B’Elanna said to you. Calm down, Seven. We need you to tell us how to find your family."

She could see how hard Seven was working to pull her senses together. Her words came out in broken gasps, "Bolarian stars. In the Tucharion System. Blue gradients. Rare." She put her hand to her head, grimacing in pain, "They were forty-eight degrees in the sky from Voyager when Kathryn B’Elanna was taken."

"I will go tell this to Kahkar." She looked at Harry and he indicated with his head she should go. "I’ll be back."

He watched her leave. If KB had seen the Bolarian stars, that information would help Kahkar locate the Ikora. They had a schematic of the ship and Kahkar would be able to locate the Bolarian stars and estimate the ship’s position by figuring out the angle of the windows. It would not be exact, but it would be more than they had before. He knew Kahkar would narrow down the field of possibilities quickly. Between this information and the fact they had identified particle traces from the ship, they would find the Doctor and KB soon.

Suddenly, he was aware that Seven had gone still in his arms. "Seven?" When she did not respond, he tried again, "Seven?" He loosened his hold on her and carefully slid around to look at her. Her eyes were closed. She had fainted.

Sighing, he slid out from behind her and stood, stretching his legs a moment before bending down and lifting her in his arms. He emerged from the room and met Ketaria as he did so.

"I felt her go." She smiled at him, "It is not unusual for someone who was in that deeply and emerged that quickly. Actually, I am surprised she was able to communicate at all." They were walking toward the science lab, Harry carrying Seven, her body limp. "Most people would have taken hours to come back."

"She is not ‘most people.’"

"That she is not. Kahkar is contacting Voyager to give them the information we have received. I imagine they will be trying to join us as soon as possible."

Harry nodded. "Did you find out anything else?"

"I’m not certain, Harry." She glanced at him, "Kathryn B’Elanna did say that her father was gone. She seemed to indicate that the bad man had hurt him. It was so vague. I’m not sure what she meant."

Harry glanced at her, pain in his face. Then he looked down at the person in his arms. Ketaria felt his anguish. "B’Elanna?"

"She said again that B’Elanna was sick. That could mean anything."

Harry fell silent. They did not speak again until they were inside the science lab. Harry laid Seven on the table and Kahkar came through the door.

"I have my best navigators plotting a chart. They will contact us when they have plotted a course. We turned our scans in our best guess direction and picked up new particle traces. We transmitted that information to Voyager."

Kahkar had picked up his medical tricorder and was scanning Seven as he talked. His eyes went to Ketaria but she shook her head.

"No, Kahkar. You should not go ahead with the surgery without her permission, unless it is a life or death situation. Find other ways to treat her symptoms. We need to bring her back to consciousness. She can help us find the Ikora better than the best of your navigators."

It was obvious that he did not like what she said but he replied, "Allow me five minutes to treat her and then I will awaken her."

Ketaria walked over and picked up Seven’s hand, concentrating. Harry stood off to the side, trying to catch his breath. 

Something told him it would not be long now.