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The doors hissed open. They raced down the corridor and headed into the transporter room.

"Get on the pad," she told him. He obeyed. Jekri stared at the console. She could not decipher it. She pressed first one button, then another. Finally she swore in frustration and pounded her fist on the console.

"Your chances of successfully beaming off the ship would have been better had you not rendered the transporter officer unconscious with a Vulcan nerve pinch," came a calm, masculine voice.

Jekri looked up to see a tall, dark-skinned Vulcan. He pointed a phaser directly at her, and to either side were two men also clad in mustard and black.

Despite her chagrin at being thwarted, Jekri could not suppress a sudden, quick rush of pleasure. A Vulcan. If only there were time for discussion. There were so many questions she wished to ask.

"You will accompany us to sickbay. The captain has many questions for you."

"I think it's working," said B'Elanna, cautiously. It was an interesting conundrum. She could program the Doctor, but there were some things he could program better than she could.

'It's getting the resonance correct that's the tricky part," he said, running a tricorder over Khala. It had all been the alien woman's idea. She had theorized that, just as her cells were dematerializing in this universe, so was the warp-bubble universe. A shield around her would trap the cells, for the time being at least; a shield around the warp-bubble universe might render it more stable.

The thought that she would have to go around with a shield over her body from now until who knew when obviously depressed Khala. Torres could understand. To be in love, and not be able to touch one's beloved, possibly not even to say goodbye-that was something Torres wouldn't wish on anyone.

The field around Khala was invisible, and wrapped around her almost as tightly as a garment. She could continue to move objects, input data. The field was holding, as far as the Doctor was able to tell. Now to test it on the warp-bubble universe.

Torres took a deep breath, forcing knotted muscles to relax, as the Doctor turned toward the warp core. His holographic fingers moved deftly over the controls. There was a sharp, crackling sound, and for a wild instant Torres thought, That's it, it's over, this is the end.

"Please confirm," said the Doctor, his dark eyes on the warp core.

Torres checked, and for a moment felt weak with relief. "It's back to normal." She turned and favored the Doctor with a grin. "Well done. You make a passable engineer, for a doctor."

He preened, just a little, then headed to sickbay.

Janeway had briefed the Doctor while he was in the turbolift as to the escape. His captain was there, arms folded, when the Doctor entered. An embarrassed-looking Campbell was busy running the medical tricorder over the male Romulan, who was just now regaining consciousness.

"Are you all right, Ensign?" asked the Doctor, taking the tricorder from her.

"Nothing bruised but the ego," she managed, smiling ruefully.

"No one expected a Romulan to know a Vulcan attack method," said the Doctor. Even as he spoke, the door hissed open and Tuvok entered, escorting the wayward Romulan.

"Jekri Kaleh," said Janeway crisply. "And here I thought we could talk like civilized people."

Weak and injured as she was, the other woman shot her a look of such hauteur that Janeway was impressed. She had spirit, that much was for certain.

Tuvok assisted Jekri onto the bed. The woman snatched her hand away and clambered on by herself.

"Why did you try to kidnap Telek R'Mor?" Janeway asked.

The woman did not reply at first. Finally, she seemed to reach a decision.

"I will tell you all, Captain Janeway of the Federation. If I am wrong in my trust of you, then soon nothing will matter. I was once the chairman of the Tal Shiar. In that office, it was my duty to attempt to retrieve your vessel and the presumed traitor,