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He met her gaze evenly. There were dark circles under his eyes. "Telek has told us that his encryption probably won't hold up under Tal Shiar scrutiny. And once they've got his formulas, they can begin hunting us again. We're sitting ducks if we stay in the same area of space."

The image of a fatally damaged Voyager filled Janeway's mind. After a fashion, she loved every member of this crew. No one else knew just how badly it hurt her when she lost one of them, how deeply she grieved in private, how she questioned her decisions in the solitude of her quarters.

And there were a few on this ship she loved probably more than she ought to.

The thought of Voyager shaking itself to bits, or exploding, taking not only her but these unique, special people with it....

Her lips moved, but she couldn't speak. A crippling sense of helpless indecision washed over her. Chakotay saw the fear blossom in her eyes, and his tired-looking face softened with compassion.

"Captain," he said, and motioned her aside. In a hushed voice that the others could not hear he asked, with infinite gentleness, "Is the dark matter

affecting your judgment, Captain? There is no shame in admitting an illness if your crew will be the better for it"

She gazed into his dark eyes, and found words. "Yes," she said, in a voice as soft as his. "But I know it for what it is. I can still fight this battle, Chakotay. I still know what I need to do, and I'll do it."

Janeway turned to go, but Chakotay caught her arm. "If the battle becomes too much-"

"There's no one I'd rather give my sword to," she replied, with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She took a deep breath, straightened, and strode back to the rest of the group. They looked at her expectantly.

"I'll destroy Voyager before I see it fall into the hands of the Romulans," Janeway declared. "Too much is at stake to permit that. The Doctor tells me that every moment we allow the dark matter to work its malice on our bodies and our vessel, we're that much closer to death-or worse. We're dealing with a complete unknown. The ship could fall apart when we go into warp, or it could be just fine. Or it could fall apart at any moment for no reason at all. The Shepherds could cure us with a wave of their hands, or they could kill us where we stand. We simply don't know. But that's the name of the game, isn't it?"

She looked around, fixing every face in her mind. "One thing is certain. Delay is fatal. Only action will save us. Tom, when we return to the bridge, I want you to enter a course that will take us directly to the

sixth planet of Sector 6837. At warp five. Understood?"

Paris glanced uneasily at Telek, then nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Janeway felt something tight inside her relax just a little. The decision had been made. A slow smile spread across her face.

"Then let's go find those Shepherds."

CHAPTER

7

"Two OF FOUR TO PLOTTER."

"Plotter here"

"Report."

"The crew is experiencing quite a morale lift, now that we are going after the Shepherds. I don't know who they are, though."

Two of Four frowned at her adjunct. That information is distributed on a need-to-know basis. Obviously, you do not need to know."

Naomi made the doll's head nod in reluctant agreement, even as she struggled with her own feelings of being left out Why hadn't anyone told her who the Shepherds were? Why were they so important? Still, as she told Plotter, she supposed it didn't really matter. Everyone seemed much more hopeful

now that the news-whatever it was-was spreading among the crew.

Morale. That was Uncle Neelix's job. Maybe when they found the Shepherds, they'd be able to cure him.

Tears threatened again, but Naomi blinked them back. She stood straight and pretended to examine the "weapons" she'd cobbled together from broken pieces of various downed shuttlecraft. Captain Janeway had permitted her to take a few bits and