Chakotay turned to Kathryn after the door closed with a question on his face.   She didn’t know why she had gone to her ready room, how could she explain to him why she wanted him there as well.  With all the damages, the loss of eleven of the crew and the need to get back to the Badlands, there was no reason for both of them to work in the ready room.

“I don’t know, Chakotay.”

“What?”

“You want to know why I dragged you in here instead of letting you begin coordinating all that needs to be done.  I’m answering,  ‘I don’t know.’”

“Ahhhh.  Now I understand.  Come here, Kathryn.”  He pulled her into his arms and held her close letting her draw strength and calm from him.  After a few minutes, she became restless and he released her and stepped back.  Turning toward the door, he remarked  “Well, now that I’ve sorted out that detail, I’ll go check on the injured in sick bay and begin contacting the closest friends of the crewmen we lost.  I’ll keep you informed.  With your permission, of course, Captain.”

“Permission granted, Commander. . . and Chakotay, thank you.”  He smiled as he turned to leave.  For a brief moment Kathryn allowed her mind to consider how well Chakotay knew what she needed; he knew her better than she knew herself.  Kathryn turned to her desk to begin going through what little information they had gathered so far.

Late the next day, the crew assembled to honor their eleven comrades one last time.  Kathryn and Chakotay both participated in the Starfleet portions of the memorial service; friends and senior officers participated in the portions unique to the various cultures represented on Voyager.  When the service was completed, most of the crew stood and talked quietly among themselves.  A few at a time, they gradually returned to their quarters or duty stations.  This was the first time those in Starfleet had lost friends in the line of duty.  Those who had been in the Maquis had experienced similar losses before, but there had been a reason for those deaths.  There was no reason for these losses. The command crew was among the last to leave.  They had been trying to comfort the younger members of the crew.  Now it was time to comfort each other.

“Why, Chakotay?  Why did I have to lose eleven of my crew?”

“Kathryn, you know I don’t have answers for those kind of questions.  No one does.  They were all just kids; none of them should have had to die.  We just have to remember them.  You and I will remember them.  As long as even one of the crew remembers them, they will live for Voyager.”  He pulled her into his arms on the couch and they sat and watched the stars drift past the viewport.

Two days later, they finally received a response to their hails to the structure, which they had taken to calling the “array”.  The captain wished it were because the array wished to speak to them, but she suspected it was because they were trying to break away from the array despite the mooring beams holding them in place.   Kathryn immediately called for Tuvok and Chakotay to join her on the bridge.  She took her seat and waited for the other two to take their usual positions.

“On screen, Ensign.”   Harry was relieved to finally open the channel.  He had been worried the array would terminate its signal before the captain was ready to respond.  The captain ignored his sigh of relief.

An old man appeared on the screen.  He resembled the Terrans in features and dress, although his clothing was from a different century.  He appeared to be irritated about something as he stared at instruments near him.  When he realized that Voyager had finally opened the channel, he focused on them.

“Well, it certainly took you long enough to answer.  I have no time for such foolishness.  There are a great many things that require my attention.  Now what did you want?”

“I am Captain Kathryn Janeway commanding the star ship Voyager.  You contacted us, remember?  You have ignored our efforts to communicate for the last three days.  You also failed to introduce yourself.  Now, how may I help you?”  Kathryn didn’t know whether to laugh at him or scold him for his arrogance.

“I’m the Caretaker.  I brought you here, but you can’t help me.  Now, leave me alone.”  The old man seemed even more irritated after hearing the name of the ship.

“If you brought us here and want us to leave you alone, why don’t you send us back the same way?”  Kathryn could not believe their luck.  This entity seemed to have the ability to transfer ships across the galaxy.  If he actually had been responsible for bringing Voyager this far, then he should be able to send Voyager home again.

“No.  No!  I can’t do that.  I mustn’t do that.  It would be wrong of me to even consider sending you back where you came from. You are here. Here you will stay.  You should accept that and get on with your lives.”  The Caretaker’s tone changed from confused and thoughtful to impatient.

“Why can’t you send us back?  Why would it be wrong to send us home?  You brought us here with no explanation.  That journey cost me the lives of eleven of my crew.  We deserve . . . those eleven crewmen deserve. . . some explanation for why they had to die.”

“I didn’t know. How could I know? Your ship is too fragile. They should not have had to die. I wish I hadn’t killed them. That’s why I can’t send you home. If I try, your ship will surely be destroyed. The effect of the displacement beam is strongest when it is initiated, then dissipates over distance.  If I were to try to send you home, the wave would tear your ship apart. You would have to be nearly as far from here as you were for it to be safe for me to send you anywhere. Do you understand? It would be wrong to try because you would die just like your eleven crewmen.”

“How can you be so sure Voyager would be destroyed?”

“I am. There was another ship from the same place as you.  It was stronger than your ship.  It sustained less damage than your ship.  No one was killed when I brought them here. They insisted that I send them home.  I tried.  The ship was torn apart as soon as the displacement beam hit them.  They all died.  Now, go away and leave me alone.  I have other things that require my attention.”

“We can’t go.  You are holding us to your station.  Will you at least release us?”

“What?  Why didn’t you just say so.  The mooring beams are gone, you should be, too.”

Abruptly, the Caretaker cut communications leaving a very frustrated captain staring at Voyager’s main viewscreen.  She looked around the bridge, then had Harry and Tom confirm the Caretaker’s statement.

“Tom, set a spiral course away from the Caretaker’s array heading in the general direction of the nearest planet.  One-half impulse.  Harry, Tuvok, continuous scans.  I want to know everything about that array we can possibly determine from our sensors; I want to confirm our location using every galactic marker we can identify; and I want to know if there are any other ships within ten light-years.  There should be some debris from that Cardassian scout.  I want to know where it is and what that debris can tell us.”

“Aye, Captain.”  The three spoke as one when the captain finished her orders.

Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Star Ship Voyager took her seat.  The Caretaker had transferred her ship and crew to the Delta Quadrant.  It appeared extremely unlikely that they could return the way they had come.  She sat silently considering all the options available to Voyager.  Her first officer observed the captain.  Her silence unnerved him far more than an outburst of anger would have.  Finally, he forced himself to act as the first officer.  He began reviewing every piece of information of information they were receiving from current sweeps looking for options to the questions the captain was sure to raise at the next briefing of the senior staff.

Kathryn had given her staff a full day to adjust to the information they received from the Caretaker and to analyze the information they were picking up on sensors.  If they were 75,000 light years from the Federation, one day was not going to make much difference in their journey back.  Kathryn and Chakotay both observed Voyager’s senior staff as they entered the briefing room.  The members of the senior staff were too young to be involved in the decisions that would be made around this conference table today.  They were too inexperienced to be expected to come up with answers to some of the questions that must be asked.  By unspoken agreement, Kathryn and Chakotay had not discussed their situation before this meeting.  B’Elanna was the last to enter the room.  She took her seat between Tom and Harry.

“Sorry I’m late, Captain.”

“You’re not late, Lieutenant.  Everyone, let’s start with status reports.  Tom?”

“We’re on a spiral course slowly heading away from the array.  We’re currently running at one-half impulse.  If we continue on this heading, we should reach an M-class planet in eleven days.  If we adjust to a direct course, we could reach the planet in 36 hours at our present speed.  There are other M-class planets within sensor range that appear to be more hospitable, but this is the one nearest the array.”

“Harry?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kathryn smiled; it was crunch time.  “We’ve confirmed our location.  I could show you our most recent calculations and give you a distance out to ten decimal places, but for practical purposes 75,000 light years is how far we are from DS9.  We’re trying to refine our methods, but the galactic markers we usually rely on are more than 50,000 years younger here than nearer DS9.  We are trying to extrapolate the rates of change for a half dozen pulsars.  Six former supernova visible from DS9 and Earth are not visible here . . . yet.  What we’re trying to do has only been theory to this point.  It will take at least a couple weeks to complete our preliminary calculations.

“In our immediate vicinity we have located debris about a half light year from the Caretaker’s array.  Most of the fragments are small and make detailed analysis from this distance more difficult.  The metals are consistent with those found in Cardassian ships, or most ships built in the Alpha Quadrant for that matter.  The trace energy signatures we can detect are also consistent with Cardassian power systems, and about half of the systems used by the Federation.  We can’t tell why the ship was destroyed but we do know it was torn apart violently and was not caused by an internal explosion.  Very few of the hull fragments exceed 1 cubic meter.  To obtain more specific information we will need to obtain samples of the fragments for further analysis.  All of our findings are consistent with the Caretaker’s story.”

“B’Elanna, I hope you have more answers than open ended questions for us.”

“Yes, Captain.  The warp core is on line and stable.  We have all systems functioning at 95% or better.  Are we in as good as shape as when we left DS9?  Not quite.  I need two more days to bring all the systems to 100% and get the shine back on all the chrome in the engine room.  I noticed that we have extra battery packs in one of the cargo holds.  I’d like permission to begin charging them while we’re not drawing heavily on the ship’s power supply.  The extra power might come in handy in a day or two.”  Only Chakotay saw the question cross the captain’s face at B’Elanna’s request.

“Good idea, B’Elanna.  Get someone on it as soon as possible.  Tuvok?”

“Ship’s systems are operating at 95% efficiency as Lieutenant Torres reported.  Phasers, shields, sensors and deflectors are all at 99% efficiency.  We have a full complement of photon torpedoes.  I have compiled a list of our defensive and offensive capabilities.”  Kathryn glanced over the list Tuvok gave her.  Again only Chakotay saw the surprise cross her face at the information on the list.  He would be doing some explaining later, not about how or why the materials were on Voyager but why the captain did not know about them.

“Thank you, Tuvok.

“To summarize our situation, Voyager is in excellent shape and we are in no immediate danger.  The only problem we seem to have at the present is our location.  We are 75,000 light years from Federation space and do not have the option to return the way we came.  Using our maximum cruising velocity as a guideline, it will take us about 70 years to reach Federation space.  That’s barring unforeseen problems, like hostile strangers, natural phenomenon and supply problems.  Options?  Commander?”

“Well we could return to the array and try to force the Caretaker to try to send Voyager back to the Badlands.  Based on the information we have so far, I don’t think we would be any more successful than the Cardassian scout.  However we should collect as much information as possible before ruling this out. There could be factors we have overlooked.  I recommend we alter course to collect fragments for further analysis.  If we learn anything new, we can revisit this option.

"As long as we are in space, hostile strangers, natural phenomenon and supply problems are a constant.  The only way to avoid those problems would be to find an uninhabited planet in an isolated area, land Voyager and start a colony.  This crew isn’t exactly trained for colonization, but they are the right age to make it work.

"Assuming there is no change in our decision regarding the Caretaker and that we decide against starting a colony, we have two basic choices.  We either make the most obvious choice and set a direct course for Federation space, or we pick another direction and explore the Delta Quadrant.  This crew is trained for that, but Voyager is not designed to be a long-term deep space exploration vehicle.  No matter what we decide there will be challenges simply because this is not a circumstance we anticipated.”  Chakotay did not for one minute think Kathryn would consider finding a pretty planet and starting a colony, but it was an option the others should at least know was considered however briefly.

“Good starting points, Commander.  B’Elanna, he mentioned that Voyager was not designed for long-term exploration.  Could you expand on that?”

“He’s right.  Voyager just wasn’t intended to go for years without returning to a base for supplies and maintenance.  Our storage capacity for physical supplies and energy reserves is relatively limited compared to some vessels.  Our technology is the newest and best available to Starfleet, but that means that it is untested over a long period of time.  Voyager is the test vessel for most of those systems.  Those systems could go fifty years without serious problems, or they could go five.  We don’t know.  As far as supplies are concerned, we should plan on constantly being on the lookout for new sources of dilithium and other materials necessary to maintaining the ship's systems.  That includes plants that would do well in hydroponics and airponics.  I’ll have someone put together a list of materials we will need to replace and provide an estimate of how long our current supply of each will last.  If we stay in space, resource replacement should remain high on our list of objectives.”

“Tuvok, comments?”

“I have nothing to add to the points that have already been made.  However, I would like to address a detail we have not considered.  Based on information from various encounters with them, the Federation believes the Borg are inhabitants of the Delta Quadrant though somewhat closer to Federation space than our current location.  There is a high probability that the center of their space lies between Federation space and the Caretaker’s array.  A direct course home could take us through the heart of Borg space.”

“Harry, would you like to state the obvious?”

“Well, this may not be what you’re thinking, but to me a direct course could be risky because of the Borg.  Taking off just to explore would probably not appeal to the rest of the crew.  I know it’s not my first choice.  Since one of our objectives needs to be supplies, it would make sense to head in a direction that combines the best possibility of supplies with heading back to Federation space.  We are most likely to find sources of the materials we need on planets and the highest concentration of planets is where there is a high concentration of older stars.  The galactic core has both.  If we head toward Federation space swinging toward the center of our galaxy, we might be able to avoid the Borg.  On the down side, we are also more likely to encounter those unfriendly strangers the Commander mentioned as a possible problem.  In the favor of strangers, we might find some with the technology to get us back to Federation space more quickly.

"There is also another option that occurred to me while the Commander was outlining options.  He mentioned natural phenomenon as a possible problem, but some could work in our favor.  A wormhole for instance could cut down the time it takes to reach Federation space significantly.  We know about the wormholes near Federation space and none come even close to our position, so I for one have discounted finding one that would take us back.  But then I remembered watching the Bajoran wormhole.  It opens in the Gamma Quadrant and is about the same distance from our current position as we are from Federation space.  We could travel toward the Gamma Quadrant entrance of the Bajoran Wormhole and know we would have a route to DS9.  The fact that this would take us away from Borg space is a plus as is passing nearer the center of the galaxy without adding unnecessarily to the travel time to our destination."

Harry’s comments prompted comments from several others.  Kathryn allowed the discussion to continue for about half an hour.  At that point she realized how long they had been discussing the problem.

“All right, everyone.  Let’s adjourn for two hours.  Everyone check your departments for updates or changes.  Tom, put us on a course to pick up some of those fragments, warp two.  B’Elanna, as soon as we’re in range, get the fragments beamed aboard and have some of your people start an analysis of them.  They should have a preliminary report to you in two hours.  Tom, once we have the fragments, put us back on our spiral course at full impulse.  In one hour, I expect you all in the mess hall on Deck 2 arguing among yourselves about what we’ve just been discussing.  Dismissed.”

Chakotay tried to make his exit, but was stopped by the Captain, “Commander, I need to speak with you . . . now.”

Chakotay paused. Not good. The briefing room was not nearly as commander-friendly as the ready room. He took a deep breath before turning to face his captain.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Are there any other little details on the quartermaster’s list that I might be interested in knowing about? Details like the extra twenty photon torpedoes in the torpedo bay? Or all the extra battery packs that seem to be stored in our cargo bays?”

“I guess you didn’t get a chance to finish reading all of Tuvok’s list. There are forty more torpedoes in the cargo bay and components to build additional ones, and about double the usual number of hand weapons in the weapons lockers. You might not have noticed, but some of the extra storage batteries were for the phaser array, not ship’s power. I think that about covers the ship’s defenses. The details were in the status report I gave you after we departed DS9 as one of the attachments.” Kathryn didn’t know whether to reprimand him for stocking so much extra firepower without consulting her or give him a commendation for actions that could mean the crew’s survival.

“Commander, I don’t know what to say. I ought to put a formal reprimand in your file for not discussing your plan with me prior to bringing those additional supplies on board. On the other hand, I am so glad to have those extra supplies right now, that I don’t really care why or how we have them.”

“Captain, I’m sorry. I truly did not mean to go behind your back. You had authorized bringing additional food and medical supplies on board.  Increasing our energy storage systems and firepower a seemed reasonable extension of that authorization. You were worrying about the crew. I was worrying about the ship. I honestly believed you would authorize the additional weapons and batteries if I asked you.  By the time I realized I hadn’t even mentioned them to you, we were well away from DS9.  I should have told you then.  Again, I’m sorry.”

“Commander, just don’t keep secrets from me again.  Understood?”  Kathryn relented as she had known she would.  She wasn’t at all angry about having the extra supplies, and wasn’t all that angry that he hadn’t told her.  If he had asked her, she would have given her approval. They knew each other too well.  An advantage and a disadvantage, but she would not let it become a problem.  She had made her point and he had acknowledged it.

“Understood, ma’am.”

“When we have time, you’ll have to tell me how you got Ben Sisko to release those weapons and batteries to you. They are in limited supply right now. You must be one fast talker, Chakotay.” Chakotay finally breathed easier when she switched to his name. The commander was probably still in the dog house for a few days (and justifiably so), but Chakotay was on speaking terms with Kathryn.  He pulled her closer to him, kissed her on the forehead, then took her hand and pulled her to the turbolift.

“Come on. I’ll give you quick tour of all the storage facilities on Voyager before we meet the senior staff for lunch.  I’ll even get you an inventory of every locker and bay if you want.”

The command team were the last to enter the Deck 2 mess hall.  Kathryn let Chakotay get their lunches from the replicator while she joined the others, already embroiled in debate.  Kathryn had deliberately put them into an off-duty environment to discuss this.  Over lunch they could feel free to get into heated arguments and didn’t have to worry about offending other officers.  They could offend their friends.  Chakotay barely contributed to the discussion except for an occasional question or comment.  Kathryn asked more questions and added a few objections, but also stayed out of the discussion for the most part.  She needed the senior staff to come to a consensus.  After two hours, the captain called for them to return to the briefing room.  She held Chakotay back as the others headed for the turbolift.

“Bajoran wormhole, Commander?”

“Bajoran wormhole, Captain.”  They agreed.  Hand in hand they followed the senior staff to the turbolift.

The captain quieted the group down and asked Tuvok to provide a brief summary of the options and the ramifications of each.  Tuvok provided a clear, concise and surprisingly brief summary of each option, including the settlement that had not even been considered over lunch.

“Well, I know we all have a preference.  I want to make it very clear that the final decision will be mine and mine alone, but I want you all to know that I will take your opinions into consideration.  Before we continue the discussion, I want to know which option you each would choose if you had to make the choice right now.  Just your choice, no explanations yet.  Harry?”

“Bajoran wormhole.”  No surprise here.  It had been his idea.

“Tom?”

“Bajoran wormhole.”  Kathryn was slightly surprised.  Tom had been arguing, she thought, for an indirect route towards Federation space.

“B’Elanna?”

“Bajoran wormhole.”  Again, no surprise.  It would be far easier to obtain the materials they would need in a more crowded part of space.

“Tuvok?”

“Bajoran wormhole.”  The surprise here was that Tuvok agreed with Tom.  Kathryn wasn’t sure who was more surprised, Tuvok or Tom.  Kathryn paused.  There was no point in continuing the discussion if they all agreed.

“B’Elanna.  What does your preliminary analysis of the fragments tell us?”

“Captain, short of reassembling all the fragments, we are as sure as we can be that they are from the Cardassian scout that disappeared while it was chasing the Élan.  We know it was not destroyed by external weapons fire or by a warp core breach.  We are also fairly certain that it was torn apart due to stress of the kind caused by the displacement wave.  It appears to have shattered like a crystal egg.  While Voyager may be structurally sounder than the Cardassian scout, she is not strong enough to withstand anything of that magnitude.  Everything we’ve examined has confirmed the Caretaker’s opinion.”

“Thank you, B’Elanna.  Well, people, it’s not what we wanted to hear, but it is what we needed to know.  I had planned to continue a more controlled discussion of our options in an effort to come to a consensus, but it seems you have already accomplished that.  The Commander and I agree with you that the Bajoran wormhole is our best option based on the information now available to us.

“Commander Paris, set a course for the nearest uninhabited M-class planet along a course in the general direction of the Bajoran Wormhole, warp three.  Ensign Kim, continue your analysis of all known galactic markers and fine tune those distances for us.  Lieutenant Torres, you said you had some additional work on ship’s systems.  Let’s get them all to 100%.  If it’s any consolation, I think we’ve more than carried out our orders from Starfleet about the displacement wave.  Commander Chakotay, I’ll expect a draft of our report to Starfleet on my desk by 12:00 tomorrow.  Since we have no way to obtain new orders from Starfleet, we will make the best possible speed toward the Bajoran Wormhole while learning as much as we can along the way.  Dismissed.”

Two hours later Kathryn and Chakotay had finished drafting a notice to post to the entire crew setting forth the specifics of the captain’s decision.  She had made a ship wide announcement an hour earlier telling them generally what her decision was and what their priorities were on their journey back to Federation space.

“How do you want me to post this, Kathryn?”

“I’d really like to put it on a bulletin board like some of the academy professors used to do.  It’s more personal.  Can you talk B’Elanna into installing a rather large screen in the Deck 6 mess hall for that purpose?  I think we’ll be having a lot of notices that would be appropriate to post like that.  For now, limit access to the two of us.  Later we may decide to open a portion of the board to the crew for their use.”  She looked as if she had something more to say.

“What is it, Kathryn?”

“The eleven crew we lost.  For a while today, I forgot about them.  I don’t want any of us to forget them.  It would be too easy.  We’re out here on our own, out of touch with friends, family and Starfleet.  The only entity we know is the Caretaker and he sent us on our way like recalcitrant children.  It would be so easy to forget the ones we lost getting here.  I refuse to let that happen.”

“Kathryn, why don’t we post a list of the eleven we lost in the mess hall near the viewport.  It’s a quiet corner away from most of the traffic, but many of the crew spend at least a few minutes there each day.  We could put up a plaque for each individual with his or her name on it.

“Will you take care of it for me?”

“Of course, Kathryn.”

A few days later the command team stood in the Deck 6 mess hall watching the stars slip past as Voyager headed towards an unknown future crossing the Delta Quadrant and venturing closer to the center of the Galaxy than any other Starfleet vessel had.  On the nearby wall a list of names had been hung under a larger plaque that said: