The Final Encounter?

Kathryn sighed as she sat in her chair.

"Captain, we're finally in contact range of the Dellia," Harry said.

"About time, hail them," Kathryn commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry replied. The viewscreen changed to show the insides of the Dellia.

"Lilly, what took you so long?" Kathryn asked angrily.

"Don't get angry at me, Janeway. I got here as fast as I could," Lilly replied.

"How long until you actually arrive?" Kathryn asked.

"About a minute, I'm sure that isn't too much to bear," Lilly replied.

"Lilly, don't test my patience," Kathryn muttered.

"Just get here, Lilly, it would be best if you didn't anger her anymore," Chakotay said calmly.

"Fine, but you'd better tell us what the hell's going on when we do arrive," Lilly said and the viewscreen switched itself off.

"Is it just me or is she perfect captain material, she's so bossy and mean," Tom muttered. Kathryn stood up and she tapped her commbadge.

"Janeway to Clive, can I borrow a brick?" she said quietly.

"Yeah, as long as you use it on one of these people: Tom, Annika and Harry."

"Give me one then," Kathryn said.

"Okeydokey!"

A brick beamed into Kathryn's hand and she threw it at Tom. He fell unconscious.

"Captain, can I take the helm?" Bryan asked. Everyone became very scared.

"If you're a fast driver, then yes," Kathryn replied.

"Cool!" Bryan giggled. He pushed his father out of the way and he sat down at the helm.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Chakotay asked.

"As long as he gets to that planet fast, without crashing he's a pilot in my opinion," Kathryn replied.

"The Dellia F9 & Z5 have arrived Captain," Harry said.

"Good, Mr Tuvok send them that written message I wrote up, the one with the plan on," Kathryn ordered.

"Aye Captain," Tuvok replied.

"Did you write more than one, or something?" Chakotay asked.

"Each time I kept losing my temper, that one's the fourth draft," Kathryn replied.

"Goldsbrough to Voyager, are we going to beat up some Maji creeps?"

"Yes, of course," Kathryn replied.

"Cool! Guess what, I'm at tactical, and, er... I don't feel very well."

"Ohno, I thought Emma was the one who disgusted Morgan, not the other way round."

"I hope she hasn't done anything stupid," Kathryn muttered.

"What did she do?"

"She didn't do anything. It's just Jessie, she..."

"Oh, if it isn't about Morgan, shut it off," Kathryn moaned.

"Hey, the commlink's still open."

"Aw, I wanted to know what Jessie said or did," Bryan moaned.

"Like father like son," Chakotay muttered.

*****
"Aw, that's so sweet. It's about time," Lilly said.

"But, isn't Jessie going to die?" James 2 (aka Johnstone) asked.

"Shut up!" Lilly yelled.

"It's not sweet, it's disgusting," Emma moaned.

"It's romantic," Lilly said with a dreamy look in her eye.

"Well there's hope for you and Scot yet," Johnstone muttered. Lilly punched him in the face.

"Teehee," Carly giggled.

"Carly, I thought you work on the F9," Lilly said.

"Oh yeah, oops," Carly giggled, she walked off the Bridge.

"Ok, Emma let's prepare to battle, and from now on bring something heavy to duty. I'd love to smash my brother's face in with something heavy," Lilly said.

"Yeah, I can understand that. I have a brother called James as well," Emma said.

"There's too many of them in this universe. Anyway let's go kick some ass!" Lilly ordered.

"Yes sir," Emma said.

*****
"Wouldn't it be a better idea if we had a plan before we go barging in there?" Craig asked.

"Craig is right. If we go in there in full force, without a plan, there is a high chance of failure," Morgan said.

"But if we waste time trying to come up with a plan it may be too late when we get there," James said.

"Yeah, but there is an equal chance that it won't be too late. We have to take the chance," Morgan said. James just folded his arms and sulked. Morgan walked over to him, and she placed her hand gently on his shoulder. Craig saw, and he turned his head away. "She'll be ok, I promise," Morgan said calmly.

"How can you promise that?" James asked. Morgan couldn't reply, she walked over to Craig.

"Have you got a problem?" she asked.

"No, I'm sorry I'm here," Craig muttered in response.

"What are you talking about?" Morgan asked.

"Forget it," Craig replied. Everyone heard the airlock doors opening. They each grabbed a rifle and aimed it at the door. It opened, and Arden stepped inside. Everyone lowered their rifles.

"What happened to the rest of your team?" Morgan asked.

"We were attacked by Sbaracs, they didn't make it," Arden replied.

"What are Sbaracs?" Craig asked.

"Flesh eating bugs. Anyway, what happened to the rest of your team?" Arden asked. Morgan looked James' way nervously.

"She got taken," Morgan replied quietly.

"Well, there's nothing to worry about. If Iinan and Unu do not have both of their sacrifices then they can't proceed with the ritual," Arden said.

"So why did they take Jessie only?" Craig asked.

"They couldn't really, maybe they're expecting us to go to them and try and rescue Jessie, fail so they can capture James too," Morgan replied.

"We do have a chance even if that does happen. I found the Book of the Living," Arden said.

"Then where is it!" James yelled. Morgan and Craig cringed.

"I have found the home of the book, but it is sealed. And there's no telling that the book is still in there," Arden replied.

"How is it sealed?" Morgan asked.

"It is locked by a combination. I spent ages trying to crack it but I couldn't," Arden replied.

"Have you got any bombs?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, of course we have, why?" Arden asked in response.

"I have a feeling that the door to that room is going to go boom," Morgan replied.

"That may work, but we have another problem. I read an inscription on the wall, if the right passage is read out of the Book of Death, then the dead will arise and become the readers' slaves," Arden said.

"Oh great, that's all we need, more dead people," Morgan muttered.

"It shouldn't be our biggest problem until Iinan and Unu find the Book of Death," Arden said. Morgan looked rather nervous, and she tried to smile innocently.

"Erm, actually me and Jessie found it," she muttered.

"Excellent, where is it?" Arden asked.

"They took it off us," Morgan replied. Arden rolled his eyes in response.

"Then we have a problem on our hands. As soon as Iinan and Unu sense our presence in the underground tunnels, near the ceremonial shrine, then they will wake the dead to get rid of us," Arden said. Morgan cringed again.

"That can't be good," Craig said.

"What we need is a good plan," Morgan said.

"How do they control the dead people?" James asked.

"They can tell them what to do through telepathy, even if they don't usually have telepathy. Most of the time they can give orders verbally without the dead being in the same room," Arden replied.

"Why was that question so important?" Morgan asked.

"Well I thought that if they're controlling their servants and doing the ritual at the same time their attention will be divided," James replied.

"So the servants will be easier to beat, and the ritual will be slowed down," Morgan said.

"Exactly," James said.

"But that means that you'll have to be captured, and there's a great chance that Morgan won't be able to find the right passage in time," Arden said.

"As Morgan said before, we have to take the chance," James said.

"But what you're suggesting is suicide," Morgan pointed out.

"Then let him do it," Craig muttered. Morgan passed him a death glare, Craig visibly winced.

"I must remind you all that the Book of the Living has over 30 different passages inside it, finding the correct passage could take a while, especially if the reader only knows the basics of the language," Arden said.

"Yeah, you could of been killed by the time I find the right one, that's a too bigger chance to risk," Morgan said.

"What about Jessie? She'll be risked if you do this, I thought you cared about her," Craig pointed out. Morgan winced. James walked over to Craig, and he punched him in the face. He fell unconscious. Arden pulled out his communicator.

"Can I have a medical crewmember here?" he asked. A few seconds later a Maji crewmember walked in and he started treating Craig.

"He does have a point, James, you're not just risking yourself, you're risking her too," Morgan said.

"I know that. It doesn't matter when and how I get captured, both of us are still at risk. At least if we go by this plan we have a better chance," James said.

"Well, I did say we'd be better off going in there with a plan. I think we should do it," Morgan said.

"Agreed, but we'll have to wait for your crewmember to come into consciousness," Arden said as eyed Craig.

*****
Craig woke up, and Morgan pushed a rifle into his hands.

"Come on, let's go," she said.

"Yeah, let's go and kick some mummy ass," James said. Morgan looked at him oddly. Craig just laughed.

"Has Jessie turned into a damsel in distress, or something?" Craig asked. Morgan had to stop James from punching him again.

"Come on, let's go," Arden moaned and he walked out through the airlock. Craig followed him. Morgan let go of James, and then they followed too.

*****
Voyager and the two Dellia ships were caught in a battle with two Maji ships. It didn't look promising for either side.

"Shields are buckling, Captain," Tuvok said calmly.

"Fire everything we have left at them!" Kathryn ordered.

"Yes, Captain," Tuvok replied. Kathryn pressed a few buttons on the side console.

"Janeway to the Dellia Fleet, weapons status," she ordered.

*****
"We're running down," Lilly replied and she looked Emma's way questioningly.

"We only have about ten of those missile's left, and our phaser thingy is still fully charged," Emma said.

"Shield status?"

"They're down to 30%, and they're holding," Emma replied.

"If we keep up this battle, Voyager will be destroyed."

"I have a plan, we'll distract the two Maji ships, you guys sneak passed them and head to Thairo," Lilly said.

"What about your fleet?"

"We'll be able to take this for another five minutes, that should give you time to get to Thairo," Lilly replied.

*****
"You heard her Tom, set a course for Thairo," Kathryn ordered.

"Er, my dad's still unconscious," Bryan muttered.

"Oh, fine, Bryan set a course for Thairo," Kathryn ordered. Bryan nodded his head.

"Sure thing Captain Kathy," Bryan said and he typed in some commands.

*****
The two Dellia ships continued to fire upon the Maji ships. Voyager snuck passed the battle and jumped into warp.

*****
Iinan, Unu and Jessie were inside a large creepy room. In the centre of it were two large stone slabs, and one small one. The room had a high rocky ceiling, and there were stone balconies about five metres from the ground.

Iinan placed the Book of Death on the small stone slab, as Unu finished tying Jessie to one of the large stone slabs.

"Have you found the passage yet?" Unu asked.

"Yes, and there's no hurry. We can't start the ritual without the other one," Iinan replied as he turned a few pages. He stopped to look at one. "This one is interesting, it should prove useful," Iinan said.

"What is it exactly?" Unu asked.

"You will find out soon enough," Iinan replied and he walked over to Jessie. Unu looked at the book and she giggled.

"Sounds good," she said quietly.

Iinan sat on the edge of the stone slab Jessie was on. He leaned over her. Jessie tried to move away from him but she couldn't, instead she just turned her head away.

"What's wrong, if you're Unu's reincarnation then you must love me too," Iinan said. At that time the side of his face, and the skin on his hand deteriorated in a matter of seconds. He didn't seem to notice or even care. He placed his now damaged hand on the side of Jessie's face. She panicked and she tried to get away but Iinan held her still with his available hand.

"Oh leave her alone," Unu muttered. Iinan looked up at her, and he got back onto his feet. Unu's face had also start to deteriate.

Iinan smiled for no reason, and he looked at Unu.

"The fools have arrived," he muttered.

*****
Morgan, Craig, James and Arden walked into a large empty room, they were all holding phaser rifles.

Arden pointed to one of the corridors leading out the room. "Just further down that corridor is the Book of the Living's shrine," he said. He, and the others headed towards the corridor. Suddenly the entire room shook violently.

"What the hell is that!" Morgan yelled.

"I... I think the dead have been awoken," Arden replied.

All of a sudden hundreds of deteriated hands burst from the ground. The holes they burst through grew larger as the hands' bodies climbed out.

Morgan had covered her eyes as more of them came out of the ground. Craig, James and Arden started firing their rifles at the dead people. More of them entered the room through the corridor Morgan and company came in.

A few of the dead people came up to Morgan. One took a hold of her arm. She screeched and she hit it in the head, it fell off! Morgan hit all of the other ones around her with her rifle. After she'd got them all she shuddered uncontrollably.

"Morgan, just shoot them, then they won't come near ya!" Craig yelled before two of the dead people took a hold of him.

The power cell in James' phaser rifle went down, he hit one dead person with it before looking at it. "Oh shit! The power's gone down!" More dead people came after him, and they tried to take a hold of him. He hit a few of them with the rifle, but there were too many to fight.

Meanwhile Morgan was beating the crap out of all dead people who approached her. Arden and Craig still managed to keep firing on the dead people who came towards them.

Eventually the dead people managed to knock James out with a rock that was conveniently on the ground. Most of the dead people followed the two dead people who dragged James out of the room. Morgan passed a death glare to the other two guys.

"Can we at least pretend that we weren't trying for that," she said angrily.

"Oh yeah," Craig muttered. One dead person knocked him out with a rock too, Arden noticed he was only part the way unconscious.

"Come on, we have to get to the shrine," Arden said, he took a hold of one of Craig's arms and dragged him towards the corridor. Morgan followed, as she kept firing on the nearest dead people.

*****
The horde of dead people arrived in the large room where Iinan and Unu were.

"Put him on the available slab," Iinan commanded. The two dead people who were dragging James, nodded, and they dragged him over to the two slabs in the centre of the room. Unu walked over too. She waited until the dead people had placed James on the slab, then she tied him onto it.

"Finally, we can start the ritual," Unu said as she walked over to Iinan. He was still looking through the pages. He stopped at one of the back pages.

"We sure can," Iinan said, and he smiled evilly at Unu, she smiled back.

*****
"Hurry up! I can't keep these freaks back any longer!" Craig yelled as he fired upon all of the nearest dead people.

Morgan and Arden ignored him, and they continued setting up some small explosives.

"Crap! We need something to ignite the fuse!" Morgan muttered. Arden searched around his pockets, and he took out what looked like a box of matches. Morgan quickly took it off him. She opened it and she pulled out a match. She ran over to Craig, and she scratched it against his cheek, it lit.

"Hey, I'm trying to fight here!" he moaned.

Morgan ignored him and she ran back over to the explosives. She lit the fuse. She and Arden took cover further down the corridor. Morgan ran back towards Craig, she grabbed his arm.

The bomb exploded, throwing Morgan and Craig to the ground. Stone, rock, dust and bits of the dead people had gone everywhere. There was no dead people left after the blast.

Arden rushed over to Morgan and Craig, and he helped them up. As soon as she was back on her feet, Morgan ran into the shrine. Inside was a large gold book, she picked it up.

"Come on, we'd better get to the ceremonial shrine!" Arden yelled. Morgan put the book under her arm, and she picked up her rifle. The three of the ran as quickly as they could, down the corridor.

*****
"Hirya, yareity isua unli. Yozool relatra maz a weritra," Unu and Iinan chanted in unison. A strange wind blew around the room.

Craig and Arden walked onto one of the balconies, Morgan walked onto the neighbouring one. She hid behind the wall, and she opened the gold book. Craig and Arden aimed their rifles at Iinan and Unu.

"Don't fire yet," Arden whispered.

"Why not? The sooner the better?" Craig whispered questioningly.

"Just wait until the following episode, it'll make more sense then," Arden whispered. Craig looked puzzled so he pulled out a Season Two episode guide then he flicked through the pages.

"Oh, I get it," Craig whispered and he put the guide away. Arden rolled his eyes as he shook his head.

"Be quiet," Arden whispered.

Iinan picked up the book and he started chanting more words out as he walked over to Jessie. Unu followed him. After he finished chanting from the book he handed it to Unu. He then leaned down like if he was going to kiss Jessie. He tried to hold her still as got closer to her. He then started kissing her. Unu tried not to look. James tried to get free from his restraints, which were chains. One of them was starting to snap as he pulled on it.

Iinan's lower face started to deteriate as he was still kissing Jessie. He backed away from her, Jessie started coughing uncontrollably. Iinan stood back up straight.

"Eew, that was just so gross," Craig whispered. Arden rolled his eyes again.

Unu started chanting from the book as she walked over to James, Iinan followed her.

"I don't get what's going on," Craig muttered.

"Iinan and Unu have to give their lovers' reincarnations the kiss of death, it's part of the ceremony," Arden replied.

"Then what happens?" Craig asked quietly.

"Then they have to be stabbed in the heart by a ceremonial knife. The sacrifices deteriate then Iinan and Unu regenerate," Arden replied.

Unu finished chanting from the book and she handed it to Iinan. She leaned down to kiss James, but the chain he was tied down with finally snapped. Because of the force of it he accidentally hit Unu, and she fell onto her back. Iinan rushed over to her. Everyone who was looking gaped in shock at what happened.

James managed to untie his other hand, and then he managed to untie Jessie's hands. They both untied their own legs from the slabs and they got onto their feet.

"Can we shoot them, aw please?" Craig asked.

"Yes of course," Arden replied.

They both started firing their rifles at Iinan, Unu and all of their guards. As before Unu and Iinan were not affected by the phaser blast.

Iinan looked up at the balcony where Morgan was. He then stared at five of the dead people. Like zombies they headed to one of the corridors. Iinan did the same to another eight zombies and they headed towards the same corridor.

"Unu, you go and finish off that girl with the book, I'll take care of these two," Iinan commanded. Unu nodded and she headed for the corridor where the zombies through. Iinan pushed his hand out to do a spell but nothing happened. He looked at his deteriated hand with puzzlement planted on his face.

"What is wrong, it's not working," he muttered.

*****
"It obviously wasn't that one then," Morgan muttered as she turned the pages.

One zombie attacked Morgan from behind. She screeched like she usually did and she threw it over the balcony. She shuddered and she continued to look through the book.

Another two zombies attacked her. She picked up the book and she whacked them both with it. They fell to pieces before her eyes. She shuddered again. She picked up her rifle and she headed back into the corridor. Two zombies were waiting for her, she hit them with the rifle. One's arm got knocked off in the blast. It fell to pieces onto the ground.

Morgan somehow got the rifle stuck inside one of the zombies. She pulled it out quickly and it collapsed as well. She turned her back to them, and she ended up face to face with Unu. She had a knife with a golden handle, and she pointed it at Morgan's neck.

"Don't try anything," Unu said, she held out her available hand. "The book, or you'll suffer more than a flesh wound," Unu said in an unusually threatening voice.

Morgan slowly handed the book over to her, then she used her rifle to smack against Unu's head. She fell against the wall. Morgan easily took the book back.

*****
"Very well, I'll just have to hurt you the old fashioned way," Iinan said. He started walking towards Jessie, but James punched him in the face, and he stumbled backwards a little bit. Iinan just smiled at him. "You are strong, but not strong enough to beat me," Iinan said, he looked at some zombies who were behind him. They walked over to Jessie and they held her back.

*****
Craig and Arden were taken by surprise as eight zombies attacked them. They used their rifles to fight them.

*****
Morgan knocked Unu to the ground, the knife she was holding flew out of her hands. Morgan quickly picked it up and she pointed it at Unu. More of her face deteriated, including most of her arms. Morgan tried her best not to cringe. Unu climbed to her feet, as Morgan shuddered a little bit. Unu walked towards her but managed to stab her in the stomach with the knife. Unu stumbled into the wall again, she pulled the knife out of her. Suddenly the rest of her body reverted back to the way it was when she woke up. Morgan picked up the book and her rifle and she rushed down the corridor.

*****
Iinan stumbled into the wall, for no reason. Suddenly his face reverted back to the way it was before regeneration.

"James!" Morgan yelled from another balcony. James looked up, and she threw the knife down at him. It landed on the ground next to him. "Get him in the stomach, he'll degenerate!" Morgan yelled. James knelt down and picked up the knife. Iinan took advantage and he knocked James to the ground. The knife came out of his hands, and it flew across the ground.

Unu emerged from a different corridor and she picked up the knife. Suddenly somebody punched in what was left of her face. She fell onto the ground. Jessie took the knife out of Unu's damaged hand.

*****
Morgan re-opened the book and she scanned through the pages. She stopped at one, and she started reading out one of the passages.

*****
Iinan pushed James into the wall. Iinan walked closer to him and he put his hand around James' neck. Suddenly Iinan collapsed with a knife in his back. He degenerated.

"Eew, that was gross," Jessie moaned as she picked the knife back up.

*****
"Er, hadera snuta turagi, nalu," Morgan said as she read the book. Suddenly a huge flash of white light engulfed the entire room. Iinan and Unu screamed as their bodies disintegrated. The light faded away. All of the zombies collapsed whereever they were standing. Craig, Arden and Morgan headed back to the main room.

"What happened to them?" Craig asked.

"I think I read the right passage," Morgan muttered in response.

 All of a sudden they could all hear the sound of thousands of bugs coming towards them. They looked towards the main doors, in a few seconds thousands of the huge bugs appeared. They came towards the group.

"Maybe not," Morgan muttered.

They all ran towards the corridor they came through before.

*****
Voyager entered orbit of the planet. The storms that covered the entire planet disappeared.

"Can you detect them?" Kathryn asked.

"No, there's no sign of them," Harry replied. Chakotay tapped his commbadge.

"Doctor, can you use the connection with Emma to get Morgan's location?" Chakotay asked.

"I believe so, but Emma will have to come to Sickbay."

"Thank you, Doctor," Chakotay said. Kathryn tapped her commbadge.

"Janeway to Goldsbrough, report to Voyager's Sickbay immediately," Kathryn commanded.

"What for?"

"We haven't got time, just do it, the Doctor will explain!" Kathryn yelled.

"Ok, I'm on my way."

Kathryn looked Chakotay's way. "I'll be in Sickbay," she said. She headed towards the turbolift and she stepped inside.

*****
The Doctor placed a strange device on Emma's neck. He then walked over to a console and he began working on it.

"I've found her Captain," the Doctor said eventually.

"Send the co-ordinates to transporter room two," Kathryn ordered. She tapped her commbadge. "Janeway to Transporter room two, we're sending you the co-ordinates of the away team's whereabouts, get a lock on them," Kathryn commanded.

"We can't Captain, a strange sand storm is surrounding the entire area."

"Faye, that just isn't good enough!" Kathryn snapped.

"We may be able to get a lock on them if we got into a lower orbit."

"Fine, Janeway to Bridge," Kathryn said.

"Chakotay here."

"Tell Bryan to get us into a lower orbit," Kathryn said.

*****
"But that's where the worst storms are," Bryan said.

"Just do it!"

"You heard her, Bryan," Chakotay said. Tom continued to sulk from the other side of the Bridge.

"Aye sir," Bryan muttered and he typed in some commands.

Voyager flew into the planet's atmosphere.

"O'Tani to Bridge, I still can't get a lock on the awayteam."

"Take us lower, Bryan," Chakotay ordered. Bryan swallowed hard and he nodded his head.

Voyager pushed it's way out of the clouds, and it flew towards Naptwo.

"We're out of the storm," Tuvok said.

"What the hell is that!" Harry asked as he looked at his console. Everyone but Bryan looked his way. "Commander, a storm has just appeared out of nowhere and it seems to be following us," Harry said.

"On screen," Chakotay ordered.

The viewscreen changed to show behind Voyager. A huge sand cloud was indeed following them. It re-shaped and it changed to look like the front of a man's face.

"Oh my god," Bryan muttered.

"Increase speed. Faye, can you get a lock on them yet?" Chakotay asked.

"The thing that's behind us seems to be interfering, I'll keep trying."

"That thing has increased speed, it's gaining on us. It'll hit us in ten seconds," Bryan said.

"How can a storm like that increase speed?" Tom said questioningly.

"How could it change into that shape, that's what I'd like to find out," Harry muttered.

"All hands brace for impact!" Chakotay commanded. Everyone grabbed onto the nearest console.

The cloud hit the back of the ship, and it lurched forward. The cloud surrounded the entire ship, the shields fluctuated and then disappeared.

"Commander, we're going down, and I can't stop it!" Bryan yelled.

Everyone looked at the viewscreen, they were heading down towards Naptwo itself.

"Bryan, can you still take us up?" Chakotay asked.

"I think so, but..." Bryan replied.

"Faye beam the away team out of there now!" Chakotay yelled.

"If I do there's a high chance that... "

"Just do it, if you don't we'll all die!" Chakotay yelled.

"Aye sir."

The image of Naptwo grew closer and closer in the passing seconds. Everyone waited in silence.

"I've got them, Commander."

"Bryan, take us up!" Chakotay commanded.

"Aye sir," Bryan replied.

It was too late, Voyager crashed into the taller buildings, causing them to collapse. Voyager flew up out of the cloud. Just as Voyager re-entered the clouds the entire city of Naptwo collapsed.

Everyone sighed in relief as they saw the stars again, but that was not all they could see.

"The Maji are hailing us, Commander," Harry said.

"Put them on screen," Chakotay commanded.

The viewscreen changed to show the interior of the Maji ship.

"The curse has been destroyed, thanks to you. We will smile upon you always, good journey," the Maji man said. The viewscreen changed back to the original view. Everyone looked at each other with a confused expression on their faces.

"O'Tani to Bridge, a Maji was with the awayteam and I beamed him up. He wants to speak to the Captain."

"Maybe he can explain everything," Chakotay muttered.

"Commander, the Dellia Fleet has sent us a message, they say that they are waiting at the border," Harry said.

"Tell them we'll be a little while longer," Chakotay said.

"Yes sir," Harry replied.

*****
"It certainly is an interesting story," Kathryn said.

"It was an interesting experience. The four members of your crew deserve an award for what they've done for our planet," Arden said.

"I think them being safe is reward enough," Kathryn said.

"We do apologise for all the trouble we have caused you, the least we can do to make up for it is to allow you to trade for supplies," Arden said.

"Thank you, Arden," Kathryn said.

*****
Captains Log Supplemental: We have traded with the Maji for food supplies. We have rendezvoused with the Dellia Fleet and we've resumed a course for home. We're hoping to put all of this behind us, but I know it's not going to be easy.

*****
The Doctor finished treating Morgan & Emma, and he walked over to Jessie. He scanned her with his tricorder.

"You seem to be in perfect health now, Crewman," the Doctor said and he closed his tricorder. "I'll be in my office if any of you need me," he said. He walked towards his office and he sat down at his desk.

Emma and Craig walked out of Sickbay. Morgan went into the Doctor's office to talk to him.

James walked over to Jessie's biobed, just as she climbed off it.

"So, er, did you mean what you said?" James asked quietly.

"When, or what do you mean?" Jessie asked.

"You know, when you said that you, were in love with me," James replied even quieter than before.

"Oh... that," Jessie muttered and she looked at the floor in embarrassment.

"Did you?" James asked.

"Well, er, yeah I think I did," Jessie muttered in response.

James leaned down and he kissed her briefly.

"What was that for?" Jessie asked.

"Well, I would think it was obvious," James replied.

"No, it isn't, this isn't the first time you've done that," Jessie said.

"Well it's simple, er, I love you too," James said quietly.

Jessie smiled slightly. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," she said.

She then put her arms around his neck and she kissed him. He kissed her back as he put his arms around her. What they didn't know was that Morgan was watching them. She smiled as she walked over to the console. She deactivated the Doctor and she walked out of Sickbay.

...THE END...

PART III  || Next Episode