About a week after Wolfskill:

Kathryn Janeway sat on the floor of her darkened quarters staring. She thought about her just completed meeting with her spirit guide. As she had conversed with her guide about various topics ranging from ship's business to more personal matters, her spirit guide had been joined by a large white wolf. This last meeting had been the third time the other animal had entered her dreams. It puzzled her. The wolf never spoke, but still managed to communicate. She would lie at Kathryn's feet and watch her with those big amber eyes.

Janeway didn't like mysteries and since it was still early, she finally decided to ask her First Officer for clarification. After ascertaining that he was in his quarters, she wandered down the hall to his door.

When the door opened, she stepped in.

"Captain," he was surprised to see her. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just had a question." There was an awkward pause. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, she thought.

"Yes?" He prompted finally.

"I had a question--but it isn't important--I'll see you tomorrow." She turned to leave.

"Kathryn?"

The time has come... just ask. "What does it mean when another animal joins you and your spirit guide?"

There was another pause, before he answered. "It could mean a lot of things. Most likely the other animal is someone's spirit guide." He smiled. "The guide may be coming to tell or warn you of something."

"How, if it doesn't say anything."

"How it makes you feel: if the other animal terrifies or scares you then it is probably a warning." He had deliberately picked the opposite feelings.

"Oh." Her suspicions were turning out correct.

"It's even more significant if your guide has visited the other person."

She looked at him surprised. "Has it?"

Their eyes locked, and she knew the answer was yes. After yet another long pause, she finally turned her eyes away from his.

"I'd better be going," she muttered. Yet she didn't turn to leave.

Chakotay closed the few steps between them and took her in his arms. He felt her stiffen, but she didn't pull away.

"We still have to talk," he said quietly.

"Gods, what did Q do?"

Chakotay smiled. "Which part do you need clarification on?"

"How much of this is, was Q's doing?"

"Unless he's been meddling since the day we met: I'd say very little."

She looked up at him. He was right, but the whole situation was so atypical for her. She had become good at controlling her emotions.

"Bridge to Janeway." Whatever she was thinking was cut off by the dry voice of her Chief of Security.

"Janeway here. Tuvok?"

"Captain, we have received a subspace message for Neelix."

She looked at Chakotay, trying not to giggle. "Contact Neelix and send it to him."

"Captain, this is Neelix. I'm on the bridge. I think you should hear this."

"Very well, I'm on my way. Janeway out." She looked at Chakotay and shrugged. "Commander, meet me on the bridge?"

"Not my first choice, but aye-aye Captain." He smiled at her.

She slipped out his arms and his room, he followed a couple of minutes later.

"Captain, this is an acquaintance of mine. Akalaera, this is Captain Janeway." Neelix pointed to the screen.

She nodded at the viewscreen, as the other Talaxian started to speak. "Captain, it is my pleasure to meet you. I've heard about you. Neelix has moved up in the world."

"Captain," Neelix interrupted. "Akalaera may be able to help us."

"Yes, Captain. I have friends here on Pantereae Prime. It's not an important trade center, but there is much here not found elsewhere--or easily found elsewhere."

"There are some items we would be interested in trading for."

"Captain, my friends would be delighted. I, of course will escort you through the markets, personally."

"I would like to discuss this with my staff and get back to you."

"But of course Captain, I will contact you in eight hours. Akalaera out." The viewscreen showed the unfamiliar stars of the Pantereae System.

"Commander, arrange for the senior staff to meet in the briefing room in 20 minutes."

"Aye, aye Captain," he said without smiling, but she did catch the glint in his eye.

"Neelix, tell me about your friend," she asked.

"He's not a friend, Captain. An acquaintance from my past. I haven't seen him in years. Not since he was convicted of Timu Iron smuggling."

"A smuggler, can we trust him?" The Captain asked.

Neelix hesitated. She looked at him. "Neelix?"

"Captain, I haven't seen him in years, perhaps he has changed?"

"In other words, no."

Neelix nodded.

"What do you know about this system?"

Neelix stopped walking. "Pantereaens are all smugglers. Most are honest ones, Akalaera worked with them extensively before he was convicted. I'm actually not surprised to see him here. Captain, if anybody has the supplies we need, leola root, omicron particles, they will. We'll pay for it."

She nodded. "Look at that list we prepared for the Narbezians."

"Yes, Captain." He went to a computer and started to look at that list.

She returned to her seat and started looking at supply reports from the various departments. She knew the crew was anxious for replicator usage to be restored. So was she, Neelix's substitutes were... were interesting. The tea substitute was tolerable: the coffee substitute was a cross between a...

"Captain," Neelix interrupted her thoughts. "Unless the Pantereaens have changed, this should do."

"Good. Do they deal with the Narbezians?"

"Everybody in this sector does. The Pantereaens trust no one and deal with everybody."

Sound advice, she thought, considering their own experiences. She stood and made her way to the briefing room, then stopped and turned. "Harry, start a complete scan of the system and of the planet."

"Yes, Captain." He motioned to the young woman behind him. She nodded and looked back at her display.

Janeway yawned. She really did need more sleep, but there was never time. She stood and walked into the briefing room.

Delta Quadrant paranoia. That was the running joke anyway. After so many unfortunate encounters with the Kazon, Vidiians, Narbezians, etc. it seemed every new encounter was treated with increased skepticism. Yes, there had been good encounters, but those memories were eclipsed by the ill. Every offer of help was being treated with increased suspicion. Like this one. They couldn't afford to ignore it and continue on their way, but they would be cautious. She would send a team down to scout out the situation, before sending Neelix in to meet his acquaintance. She sat in her chair and rubbed her head.

Tuvok was the first to enter: Harry was immediately behind him.

"Captain," Harry looked at her. "We have completed the preliminary scans. There are a number of ships in orbit, but they are freighters. Scans of the planet show a large mixture of alien species. We're in the process of mapping."

She hadn't expected anything obvious, but...

The others entered and sat down. She remained standing. "Neelix, what else do you know about Pantereaens?"

"Captain, it's been several years since I last dealt with them. Ten to be exact. Trade was fairly open, very few questions asked, if you catch my meaning." Everybody nodded. "As I said, I haven't dealt with them for a while, but from others I know not much has changed."

"What kind of disguise would be best?" Janeway asked.

"Humans--none. Rustic clothing of some sort, don't ask questions, trade for a few things with something fairly common. Some of the gems we found on Margolay maybe. Nothing ostentatious."

"Captain," Chakotay asked. "We'll be sending an away-team in to check out the situation before contacting Neelix's friend?" She nodded, he continued. "Just two of us. Paris and I."

"We'll wait until we hear from Akalaera. Neelix, pick out several of the gems for them as well as some other items. Everybody look over the trade list we created earlier. If you think of something to add or delete bring it to the meeting tomorrow morning 0830 hours."

Paris grinned, he looked forward to going to the planet--he might even find some interesting items on the planet that he could use for trade on Voyager. He was also quietly watching the Captain and Commander. A hobby he had started over two years ago. Things were progressing. Chakotay had watched her for most of the meeting. Paris was thinking that if something didn't happen soon, he would do something--he had a couple of ideas. He stood and walked out when she dismissed them, still sorting through his schemes. Neelix followed him out.

"Tom?"

"Yea, Neelix," he responded as he waited for the turbolift.

"I need a few things. I have a list here." He handed Tom a padd. "Some of this will be hard to carry, arrange with Harry or B'Elanna to beam it to the dining hall."

Tom looked at the list and grinned, his eyes lit with mischief.. "You planning a party?"

"A winter solstice party. The computer says it would be in three weeks. I thought it might be a good idea, considering that morale is so-so right now..."

"Captain, good-morning." Akalaera said when he contacted them the next morning. "Neelix. "I've talked to my friends, they are more than willing to help you. I'm sending you the coordinates of the market place, we can meet there, and I'll help you find the items you need."

"Thank-you. Neelix and a small team will meet you there at..." Janeway looked at the small screen in the briefing room.

"Captain, I'm afraid Neelix won't be able to come to the planet, it seems the last time he was here he made some powerful citizens unhappy."

Janeway looked at Neelix: he looked puzzled.

"Captain, the last time I was here was 10 years ago. I filed a complaint on some trader--I don't even remember his name. He was selling sub-standard goods."

Akalaera laughed. "Neelix, that trader was the son of the boss of the fourth-largest import-syndicate on the planet--he was just released from jail two years ago. It would not be good for Neelix's health to be seen."

"I see. I'll send a delegation to meet you in the market."

"Captain, I've received permission for Voyager to remain in orbit while we conduct our business. I'll meet your delegation in two hours. Captain, I look forward to meeting you soon. Akalaera out."

"Well, well," Tom muttered quietly.

"We'll have to change our plans slightly," Janeway said. "Commander, you and Paris will still beam in early. Look around. See what's available."

Tom looked around the market. There were still several vendors setting up their stalls, but the crowds were already to browse. Some of the vendors were calling or singing out what they were selling. A fascinating place. He was hoping they would be able to spend some time browsing.

They had beamed down behind a fence about half an hour ago. Since then they had been meandering through the market. No one even gave them a second glance.

Their primary mission might be to case the place, but Tom was on another mission. He smiled slightly--it seemed Neelix had been in the cultural database again.

There were vendors selling exotic fruits, jewelry, material, and plants. So far Tom hadn't found what he was looking for, or a reasonable substitute.

Chakotay watched Tom curiously--it was obvious the younger man was looking for something. He shook his head slightly, he didn't have time to ponder that. There was no sign of Akalaera, but the market did have much that Voyager might use. Including no leola roots. He almost smiled at thought of Neelix's disappointment. The top priority was omicron particles.

Tom stopped at a spice seller. Another request Neelix had made. He started to exam the spices, smelling them, looking for some familiar smells.

Chakotay watched him, not sure if he wanted to know what Tom was planning to do with the spices he was buying. In bulk. "Are you planning on carrying those all day," he asked Tom as the Lieutenant approached with several bags.

"No, I thought you could help. You're suppose to blend in, you must be the only one in the market not carrying anything." Tom smiled. "Commander, here." He thrust the packages into Chakotay's hands and wandered over to another seller.

Tom figured he might be enjoying himself too much, but he hadn't had so much fun since the time casing out the Ferengi temple. Except no dancing girls, at least none so far. He hoped the Captain would allow shore leave, this place was fascinating.

"Well, if you are done for the moment, we do have to find this friend of Neelix's."

Tom turned. "Sir, I haven't seen a single Talaxian at the market."

"I noticed. I wonder if that is why Akalaera suggested Neelix not come to the planet's surface?"

"Talaxian's not allowed? Then this is probably another trap?"

"We're early. He may still show." Chakotay handed the spices back to Tom. "Rank has its is privileges, Lieutenant."

Tom grinned, he used to get away with relationship has its privileges, until his father had come close to disowning when he was 12. "Yes sir." He turned back toward the dealer and continued to look at the wares and haggling over the price.

He was good at haggling, too good, Chakotay thought. Tom was also too observant. Both were probably related to his semi-criminal career back in the alpha-quadrant. Tom had the makings of a criminal, just not the heart. He motioned to Tom that he was going to the next booth and moved on.

Chakotay was examining the citrus-like fruits when a voice asked, "Voyager?" He turned.

"You are Akalaera," he asked.

"Yes, you are early. Very wise, Commander. Welcome to Pantereae. I see you've already started." The Talaxian nodded at Tom who had joined them. "I would be delighted to show you around the market. Is there any item you need in particular?"

"I suppose there are." Chakotay responded. "We would like to restock on food supplies of course. And omicron particles."

"Hmmm," Akalaera responded. "We don't have much use for those. I don't know of anybody selling them at the moment. But I do know a few traders who might know where to find some. What did you have to trade?" He was all business. Chakotay handed him the padd with the list. Akalaera looked at the padd first. The list of items for trade and that Voyager wanted had been translated into Talaxian. "This is an interesting device, you wouldn't be interested... No, I didn't think so." He read the list for a few minutes. "Interesting list. I think it will do just fine."

Janeway was reading reports. What else was new, she sighed. It seemed she always had a report to read. This was the last one this morning, she promised herself as she took a sip of Neelix's tea. The afternoon was devoted to a meeting with the engineering department. Maybe this would be the last report of the day. There were only a couple of others to read--they would keep until tomorrow. She was planning on getting to bed early.

Finished, she put the report padd down and made her way to the mess hall. Once it had been her private facility a quiet place to retreat, now it was a noisy hub of the ship.

"Greetings Captain," Neelix said as he served her a bowl of soup. She looked at it in surprise. It was not red or purple.

"Neelix. What kind of soup is this?"

"A modification of a recipe Commander Chakotay gave me. Fungi soup. Kes and I have been trying to grow an edible fungus for sometime. The ones we picked up on Margolay seem to like the hydroponics garden. I finally had enough to try his recipe. Of course I had to make some changes, we don't have any cream, so I used baoltarian sap. And the spices are of course different. The crew likes it though."

She smiled. "It smells good, Neelix." She grabbed one of the exotic fruits from a bowl and moved to sit down. She was early and there were still a few empty seats. She joined Samantha Wildman and B'Elanna.

"Captain, did you know Tom babysits?" B'Elanna asked.

"Our Tom?" Janeway responded.

"Samantha says little Kim thinks Uncle Tom is the greatest." B'Elanna laughed.

Samantha smiled. "She does, Captain. Her third word was Tom--or close enough. I have to get her to the doctor, it's time for her 12 month check-up. Captain. B'Elanna."

"Captain, any word from the away-team?" B'Elanna asked after Sam had left.

"They checked in an hour ago. They contacted Akalaera. He's been very helpful. They transported a bunch of stuff--mostly food items up. Kes is going over those. No omicron particles, though. Chakotay said that Akalaera knows a couple of traders who might know where to find some."

B'Elanna shook her head. "As long as they're not found in another space creature. Anyway, Neelix's cooking is slowly improving, maybe we won't need any."

"Coffee." They both laughed. Janeway added, "And as long as he doesn't recite the ingredients. The soup was pretty good. And the fruit trees are doing well too. This purple one is my favorite--Trelarian Tangerine I believe."

The afternoon found Chakotay and Tom without Akalaera. They were browsing in yet another of the many markets on the planet. Akalaera had some business to take care of, but would meet them in a drinking establishment later in the day. They had talked to a couple of traders who had been willing to trade for information on the particles. Both had given the same site--at warp six it was a little over 2 weeks away. The first contact had been while Akalaera had been with them, the second had been later after he had left. They were due to meet the Talaxian soon. Neither of them had really discussed Neelix's acquaintance--it was obvious to both that neither trusted him.

Chakotay looked around the bar. Tom was standing guard outside, or had been. Chakotay looked at the door as Tom calmly entered and looked around. He wandered over to where Chakotay was sitting.

"Any sign of our friend?" Tom asked. Chakotay shook his head. "Then we may have a problem." Tom said as he stood next to Chakotay's table. "I saw some Narbezians."

"How many?" Chakotay asked as he sipped his alien brew.

"Three, they just turned the corner." The distinctive yellow and green coloration was quite distinctive. "They're coming here."

"For us." It was a statement, not a question.

"Possibly. Is there a back door?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, I think we might..."

Chakotay stood and nonchalantly walked toward the back. Tom followed.

No one paid them any attention as they slipped out the back--a quick scan indicated no one was about. Tom again stood guard as Chakotay contacted Voyager. Seconds later they were beamed back on board.

"Report." Janeway asked. She, Chakotay and Paris were in her ready-room.

"We spent the day wandering the markets--we beamed back a lot of food supplies," Chakotay said. Tom nodded.

"And the Narbezians?"

Tom spoke up. "They were definitely looking for something. We can't have made too many friends that day." He smiled as he remembered--the Captain and Commander also remembered--and both gave him an evil look. "They seem to be concentrating on our need for omicron particles."

Janeway nodded. "It's not a secret that we need those particles." She tapped her comm-badge. "Mr. Tuvok, any sign of the Narbezians?"

"No, Captain. We've set a course to the Omicron Particle field."

"Very good. Secure from yellow alert. Mr. Tuvok, treat this as another ambush, continuous long range scans--all contacts are to be treated as suspicious. Janeway out." She looked at her First Officer, "We'll have to eliminate replicator rations completely, except for medical reasons. Commander, Lieutenant, dismissed."

Just what she needed, another crisis. Sometimes the Delta-quadrant seemed to be nothing but one crisis after another. First being dragged here, then the Kazon, the Vidiians, Seska, the Narbezians, Q. And the list kept growing longer.

Captain Janeway entered the dining hall, it was crowded--more than usual--to be expected, everybody would be eating here for a while. Oh well, she would grab a tray and have a quiet meal in her quarters.

"This place is becoming very popular," Chakotay said behind her. "Were you planning to eat in your quarters?" When she nodded, he continued. "So was I. Would you care to have dinner with me?"

She didn't answer immediately, but after a second nodded. They quietly served themselves.

They stopped in front of his quarters. She watched as he keyed in his codes, and then looked around his quarters. They were spartan. She felt a twinge of sadness as she recognized some of his items from New Earth. She picked up the rock he'd been carving before Voyager had returned. She blushed--when they had returned she had looked up the significance of the design in the cultural database. Quickly she put it down, took her tray and sat down.

Neither spoke for several minutes as they bravely attempted to eat their dinner.

"Doc says this stuff is nutritious, full of fiber, vitamin C and all the rest. Too bad he doesn't have to eat it before commenting on its healthiness." Chakotay grimaced as he looked at the greenish-purple bean-like things.

Janeway laughed. "Get used to it. Until we reach that Omicron Particle field and if its real. Which I very much doubt." He was the only one she voiced her cynicism too, even though she suspected the others were probably equally suspicious. "B'Elanna has engineering working on several things--an alternative to Omicron Particles and photon torpedoes. We don't have too many of those left either." She poked at her food. "And lunch had been so good."

He laughed, "Too bad we don't have any of those Margolayan eggs--they might make a good substitute for photon torpedoes."

"I never mentioned that in my report. I'm not sure Starfleet Command would approve."

"Kathryn Janeway, not writing a complete, detailed report. I'm impressed."

"Well, considering I paid for your freedom with one rotten egg, you should be." The conversation was heading toward the ridiculous--at least it made the food more palatable. "I suppose we could be eating worse."

"How? You might be cooking it?"

She grabbed a pillow from the back of the couch and thought about throwing it. "You're a lucky man. I'm not sure Neelix's cooking will clean-up easily, otherwise I would have bombarded you with a highly sophisticated top-secret weapon." She started to laugh.

He looked at her and shook his head, a smile slowly spreading over his face. Then he took both their plates to the recycler and sat down beside her. She leaned into him, still laughing. He moved his fingers through her hair. He preferred the way she had taken to wearing it--though it was much more distracting. He undid her clip, and ran his fingers through her hair.

This hadn't been her intention when she had agreed to have dinner with him. She enjoyed his company: he made her laugh. And a few other things, she was no longer laughing, her mind racing. They still hadn't discussed the first time. And whose fault is that? She asked herself. She had been avoiding him. And ship's business kept interfering.

Maybe she just needed to stop over-analyzing.

"What will the crew say?" She asked.

"That we've finally acknowledged what everybody on this ship has known since week one." She looked-up at him, his eyes lit with everything he felt for her, and had, for the most part, hidden. "Kathryn Janeway, I love you." His voice was very quiet.

Her eyes joined with his briefly, then she glanced down. Two years ago her initial impression of him had been that he was dangerous--as it had turned out the danger hadn't been to her ship but to her: her heart and soul.

"I love you," she admitted simply. She closed her eyes in an attempt to block the overwhelming warmth that swept over her. She felt his hand touch her cheek, a gentle touch that awoke every nerve in her body. He took his hand away, and she opened her eyes. He was looking at her with an intensity that did nothing to calm her overpowering emotions. She managed to stutter, "Can we still work together?"

He took a handful of her hair and brought it to his lips, then released it. "It won't be easy, but we're two rational people..." He grinned, at that moment neither were very rational. He leaned down and kissed her.

Tom looked at his young charge and smiled. Young Kim was finally asleep. He looked at his chronometer. A new record, it had only taken seven minutes tonight. Sam would be back in an hour. He would take advantage of the time to get his report from the planet done. He leaned back in the sofa, kicked his shoes off, put his feet up on the table and started to work. He didn't get very far, when the doorchime sounded. "Damn," he muttered. He stood and walked over, no point in having the kid wake-up. "Enter," he said when he was by the door. "B'Elanna?"

"I had to see this for myself. So this is your hot date?" She walked over to the crib.

He grinned. "Shh, I just got her to bed."

B'Elanna shook her head. "Sam told me, I just couldn't believe it." She looked at the sleeping year old. "So, how often do you do this?" She asked.

"Usually every other week."

"And how many replicator rations do you get for babysitting?"

He frowned. "I don't charge. Once Kim is asleep, I read, or like tonight, catch up on reports. Do I really have such an mercenary reputation?"

"Hot-shot pilot, opportunist, always looking for the angle or profit? Not like you did when we first got here." She turned to leave.

"B'Elanna, dinner tomorrow night?"

"Tom, I don't know." She looked at him. He looked rather disappointed. "All right. Tomorrow, dinner 1800 hours."

Tom smiled

Chakotay smiled at her, as he wiped a stray tear from her face. "I always thought of Starfleet Captains as being steadfast, patient and calm." He kissed her.

"We are, in most situations. Every so often one runs into an anomaly..." She looked away from him, up at his ceiling, and grinned. "It's a First Officer's responsibility to suggest appropriate alternatives..."

"Like instead of the of sofa, maybe the bed." He stood quickly, pulling her up after him. Laughing quietly, he swept her up in his arms and carried her to her bed.

Morning came early. Kathryn woke and smiled as she remembered the events of the previous night. She glanced at the chronometer. 0534. It would go off in about 10 minutes. She had no idea how much sleep they had finally gotten, not much, but she wasn't tired. She rolled over and looked at him. "Wake-up sleepy head." She tickled him, he just grunted.

"What time is it?" He asked, his eyes were still closed.

"Almost zero five forty five. I have to be on the bridge in 45 minutes. For that matter, so do you."

His only response to that was to kiss her and to start caressing her.