Sailor Trek: Voyager by Bill Harris Epilogue "...and imagine yourself in the place where you've been the most at peace with yourself." Raye tried to relax and comply with Chakotay's urgings, but it wasn't easy. Even discounting the recent events surrounding their visit to Voyager, there had been many factors in her life that had discounted her feeling relaxed in any manner. Especially since she had gotten that vision of utter devastation. After a moment she sighed. "I don't think this is..." she began, but her voice trailed off when she opened her eyes and got a good look at her surroundings. Instead of being in Chakotay's quarters, she found herself somewhere on the temple grounds. No mater how carefully she looked, she couldn't tell the difference between this and reality. "Whoa. This is weird." "Don't worry about it," she heard Chakotay's disembodied voice tell her. "You should see your animal guide somewhere nearby. Just remember not to tell me or anyone else what it is, or you'll offend it." "I heard you the first time," Raye grumbled while looking around the grounds. At first she thought the chuckling she heard in the background was from Chakotay, but she soon realized that the voice was much too deep to be that of Voyager's first officer. Turning towards the source, she found herself confronted by a large gray wolf. The wolf looked her over very carefully, and then seemed to grin. "Greetings, cubling. I've been waiting for you." Though she had been told the animal guide would be able to communicate with her, the sight of a talking wolf proved very startling for Raye. She gasped in surprise, and then blinked as she suddenly found herself back in Chakotay's quarters. "Something wrong?" Chakotay asked, still seated on the floor in front of her. "It spoke to me!" Chakotay smiled. "I did tell you they would be able to communicate." "I know, I know," Raye conceded. "Still, it was really weird hearing..." Chakotay opened his mouth to warn her again about speaking of her animal guide, but his fear proved to be groundless. "...an animal speak like that." "I understand," Chakotay assured her. "The first contact is always the hardest one, depending on the individual, of course. On one hand, Captain Janeway's went relatively smoothly. On the other extreme, there's B'Elanna." "Oh?" Raye cocked an eyebrow in a very Tuvok-like manner. It was all Chakotay could do to keep from grinning broadly. "What happened?" "B'Elanna's the only person I know who tried to kill her animal guide." Raye's other eyebrow went upwards. "Fascinating." This time Chakotay did grin, and Raye flushed red and tried to hide her face with one hand. "I don't believe I said that." "I wouldn't worry about that too much. It's only a side effect of the mind link, and Tuvok did tell you it should fade soon enough. Besides, I think Tuvok finds it a little more distressing sounding like you." Raye felt her temper flare, and she glared at Chakotay. "What's that supposed to mean?!?" "Only that a Vulcan is even more embarrassed acting like a human than you should be for acting like a Vulcan," he reassured her. He gestured to the akoonah on the floor between them, "If you want, you could try to re-establish contact." "I don't think there's time for that right now," she answered. She stood up and Chakotay did likewise. "I think Neelix's party is about to start. But I should be able to make contact with it on my own later, right?" "That's right," Chakotay confirmed. "And if what you tell me about your fire readings, you won't need an akoonah either. The fire reading ritual itself should be more than enough to induce the proper mental state." Raye nodded. "Okay, maybe I'll try it after I get back home. Thanks, Chakotay." "Anytime," he responded as she left the room. After she had gone, Chakotay sat done on the floor once more, and rearranged the contents of his medicine bundle in front of him. He had a few things to work out for himself after recent events, and there was no time like the present. He picked up the river rock and, cupping it in both hands, closed his eyes; trying to clear his mind. When he felt ready, reached out with his right hand and placed it atop the akoonah. "A-koo-chee-moya. I am far from the sacred places of my grandfathers. I am far from the bones of my people. I come here seeking guidance..." When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a forest glade much like what one would find in North America. All was still about him except for the sounds of birds chirping in the distance. Then there was a rustling in the bushes on the far side of the glade, from which emerged large gray wolf. Though he did not know it, Chakotay had the same animal guide as Raye, and it was here to greet him as always. Sensing his need for answers, the wolf turned and headed for one of the many trails leading from the glade. Chakotay hurried to follow the guide. It seemed as if he wandered about the forest for hours, though it may well have been minutes. Time was hard to tell on a vision quest. But eventually trail led to the mouth of a cave. It was impossible to see what was within, for the inside was as black as pitch. Still the wolf unerringly went inside, not bothering to see if Chakotay followed. Pausing at the entrance for only a fraction of a second, the first officer went into the cavern... ...and emerged into a sea of white. Yet not entirely white, for the background swirled about him, hinting at colors he could not perceive directly. And the was a large structure nearby, one that resembled a large door or gateway if nothing else. He looked around it carefully, but he could not tell where it led too, only that there was a mass of pulsating energies within the frame of the door. "What is it?" "It is a gateway," a voice answered him. Chakotay whirled about to face the source. It was a humanoid female, dressed in attire that was similar in form to the Sailor Scouts. She also bore a staff which had a vague resemblance to a large key. "The Gateway of Time, to be exact. But what are you doing here?" "I was brought here, by my animal guide." "I see," she replied, then paused in contemplation. "I wonder why the old wolf brought you here?" Chakotay was shocked that she knew what his animal guide was, but he struggled to conceal it. "Who are you?" "I am Sailor Pluto, the guardian of this realm," she answered, staring sternly at him. "I trust you have a good reason for coming here, Commander." 'Sailor Pluto?' Chakotay thought. So far this was turning out to be one of the stranger vision quests he had ever been on... B'Elanna took a moment to wipe off the sweat that was accumulating on her brow. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this." "I don't know what you're complaining about," Lita replied. "I think this is fun." "Some fun." B'Elanna took a moment to look at her surroundings once again. She and Lita were in the middle of the standard Klingon calisthenics holoprogram, and as before, she was having a miserable time in it. "If I wanted to be hot and sweaty, I'd create a program for somewhere on Cardassia Prime." Lita's brow furrowed, showing the puzzlement she felt. "Cardassia Prime? Where's --" Before she could finish, a loud cry echoed around them and various holo-monsters charged the two of them. Lita heard B'Elanna cry out followed by a loud splash, but she was too occupied with the assorted creatures to do anything about it. Handling the bat'leth as if she had been born to it, she block the incoming attacks and disabled the creatures one by one. When the last of the holo-creatures hit the floor and dissolved, she turned and looked for the Voyager engineer. Finding her wasn't hard. B'Elanna was a few meters behind her, sitting waist deep in a pool of marsh water and looking as if she was getting angrier by the second. Lita choked off a laugh, but enough escaped to send B'Elanna flying into a rage. "That does it!' she exclaimed, standing up and trying fruitlessly to wring the water out of her clothes. "I have had *enough* of this ridiculous program!" She bent down and picked up her own bat'leth before slogging her way out of the water. "Computer: end program!" The scenario dissolved around them, revealing the hologrid. Still enraged and thoroughly soaked, B'Elanna started storming for the exit. But Lita grabbed her before she got to the exit. "B'Elanna --" "Let me go, Lita," she retorted flatly. Lita complied but not before she said, "I'm sorry." B'Elanna's anger started dissolving as quickly as it had formed. "It's not your fault," she told the tall girl. "It's just that these type of activities don't appeal to me." "Yeah, I can tell," Lita said. "It just... I had so much fun going through this program with Worf back on the Enterprise, I wanted to take the opportunity to enjoy it here with someone." She smiled apologetically. "I guess I assumed that since you were half Klingon..." "Big mistake," B'Elanna told her gently. "But an understandable one. I've never been too comfortable with my Klingon heritage." "Done already?" They both turned to see Tom Paris approaching. "I just got off watch from the bridge, and I was hoping to catch a little of the action." "I'm afraid you're a little late, Tom. We just finished," B'Elanna said. From the state her clothing was in, Tom had a feeling just how it had gone for B'Elanna. But he still couldn't resist getting a little jab in. "So, is that a bat'leth I see in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?" he quipped. Lita couldn't help but giggle at the joke, but B'Elanna was not amused. "Very funny, Tom." She raised the weapon up threateningly. "In case no one's ever told you, you should never tease a woman holding a sharp blade," she warned him. "Especially one who's soaking wet, and very angry." Tom carefully put his hand on the flat of the blade. "I see your point," he said as he gently shoved the weapon away. Lita wasn't sure if she should intervene or not, but she was saved the effort of deciding by the timely arrival of Harry and Mina. "Hi!" the blonde said brightly. "Is the holodeck free?" "Yeah, we just finished," Lita replied. She glanced over the attire both Harry and Mina were wearing. "What are you guys up to?" "Parrises squares," Harry answered, hefting the ball that was used for that particular game. "Care to join us?" "No thanks," Lita answered, while both Tom and B'Elanna indicated negative answers as well. "I thought you were going to help Neelix finish things up?" "He said he could handle things from there," Mina said. "And I figured it was like you said when you decided to head here -- there's no telling if we'll ever get a chance to try out one of these holodecks again." With that, she and Harry entered into the holodeck. "I better get going then," Lita observed. "Even if he said he can handle things, I bet Neelix wouldn't mind having some help." While Lita walked away, B'Elanna glanced through the open holodeck doors and shrugged. "If nothing else, Harry keeping Mina occupied in there reduces the odds of any of us getting food poisoning," she said quietly as she and Tom walked away from the holodeck door. Evidently not quiet enough, for Mina quickly appeared in the still open doorway. "HEY! What's that supposed to mean!" she challenged the Klingon engineer. But before B'Elanna could reply, both she and Tom heard Harry shouting "Look out!" just as the ball came soaring out of the holodeck, scoring a direct hit on the back of Mina's head. The dazed blonde staggered slightly before she crumpled onto the deck. Pluto sighed. Chakotay had left the Gateway not long ago. She hoped she had been able to help him find the answers he was looking for, but she even more fervently hoped that the Gateway was not going to become Grand Central Station to those on vision quests. The last thing she needed was to become a cosmic counselor. Almost in response to her thinking about unwanted guests, a flash and ripple of sound to her right announced the arrival of Q. The entity seemed somewhat amused, but it was soon apparent as to what. "Well, I see you'll let just about anybody here nowadays." "Now Q, I didn't just 'let' Commander Chakotay in here. He was brought here by another." "Another?" Q scowled at her. "What do you mean by that?" "There are more things on heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Q," she replied, paraphrasing a quote from Shakespeare. Q snorted. "I ask a simple question, and I get a Vorlon-esque answer. Fine, be that way." Turning from her, the entity seemed to sulk. Pluto sighed. For all his supposed age and omnipotence, the entity still persisted in some very petulant behavior. "You did as I asked?" she asked. "Of course," Q replied. "Have I ever let you down?" A small smile came to her face. Opportunities like this didn't come very often. "Many times," she casually replied, causing Q's face to fall suddenly. "But I'm mainly concerned about this instance." "Well I don't know what you are worried about," Q said. He snapped his fingers and a videocassette appeared in his hands. "Here's all the evidence of Voyager's little sojourn to your world. Now all they have is another UFO mystery on their hands." Pluto nodded. "Good." "Now what's all the fuss about? After all the odd events that have occurred in Japan in the last couple or three years, I would've thought a sighting of Voyager in the Arctic would cause nary a ripple." "Just making sure, Q." Darien stepped out onto the bridge but after a quick glance it was evident that Serena was not here, despite what the computer had told him earlier. But before he could make a discrete exit, "If you're looking for Serena, I believe you'll find her in the mess hall." He turned towards the mid-bridge station, where Seven of Nine stood watching him intently. "How do you know..?" "The celebration Neelix is planning is scheduled to commence shortly," she replied. "Undoubtably, Neelix is already setting out the various food plates he has been preparing. Given Serena's eating habits, the rest is simple deduction." "I guess you would know," Darien said with more than a little venom in his voice. "After all, the Borg did make her part of that collective of theirs for a while." Seven continued her work, but she still replied. "Her assimilation was not an easy task for the collective. Serena's... unique personality destabilized several parts of the collective. It was some time afterwards before the irrational impulses were completely eradicated. Were it not for her biological distinctiveness, the collective would not be interested in reassimilating her." "The Borg still want to assimilate her?" Darien repeated, shocked. "Yes," Seven replied matter-of-factly. "Along with yourself and the other Sailor Scouts." "Not that I think they'd succeed, but it's probably just as well that the Borg are from another universe," Darien observed. Now Seven stopped and looked evenly at Darien. "Do not take too much comfort in that fact," she stated. "The Borg possess transdimensional technologies, and are quite capable of crossing over to your universe." "They can do that?" Darien breathed. "Yes, once they have the correct dimensional coordinates. You and the others should remain vigilant at all times. The Collective has placed a high priority on assimilating the six of you... along with the future city of Crystal Tokyo." As Seven had predicted, Serena was in the mess hall, eagerly eying the assorted food trays that Neelix was setting up. Though the forms of most of them were decidedly unfamiliar, the smells were thoroughly enticing. Besides, she reasoned to herself, if Lita had a hand in the creation of most of these, they were sure to be fantastic. For his part, Neelix was taking great delight in explaining to Serena just what each dish was and what went into creating it. He was expecting a good many of the crew to attend at some point, so he had prepared a wide variety of foods using assorted recipes from both the Delta and Alpha Quadrants. "...and in honor of the Sailor Scouts being on board, I even got your friends to help prepare a couple of selections from your world. Such as this one," Neelix said as he placed the try down on the counter. "Do you mind if I try it?" Serena asked. "Of course not. There's plenty for everyone," Neelix replied. As Serena popped one into her mouth, he went on, "I tried it myself earlier, and I must say I thought Mina did an excellent..." The Talaxian's voice trailed off as he watched Serena's face turn a bright shade of red. "Um... Is something wrong?" "Water!" Serena managed to get out over the burning sensation in her mouth. Someone thrust a glass into her hands and she eagerly downed the contents. "Thank you!" Immersed as she was in her task, Janeway didn't hear the door chime at first. But the second chime break through her concentration. "Come." The door slid open, allowing Amy to enter the ready room. "You wanted to see me, Captain?" "Yes, Amy, I did," Janeway answered. "Sorry for keeping you waiting, but I was..." She motioned to the datascreen on her desk. Amy nodded and smiled. "I understand. I've gotten engrossed with something like that before." "I'll just be a moment." While Janeway returned her concentration to the terminal, Amy took a moment to idly look about the room. Her gaze briefly flit upon the floor where she had half expected to see the hole the Negarans cut in it during the siege of the bridge. But since the ship had been completely restored by the Silver Crystal, the floor looked as if it had never been damaged. "There you go." Amy jumped slightly. Captain Janeway had come from behind the desk to stand next to her, and was offering her... "An isolinear optical chip?" Puzzled, Amy took the chip and examined it. "Why are you giving this to me?" "Because I need a favor from you," the captain answered. "I'm not sure that I have the right to ask, not after deceiving you all like I did. And especially after you and your friends helped restore Voyager." "We'd gladly do it again, Captain. And as for your keeping silent about Dr. Dehner, your reasons for doing so were correct. If Mitchell had known about her, he might have been more aggressive in trying to stop us. If that had happened, we might have lost everything." She held up the data chip again. "But that doesn't tell me anything about this." "That chip contains an assortment of Voyager's log entries since we came to the Delta Quadrant," Janeway began. "And it also contains personal messages from my crew to their families and friends back home." She placed both hands upon the desk and leaned back against it. "You've already had three encounters with Starfleet that we know of -- Kirk's Enterprise, Picard's and now Voyager -- so it's entirely possible you'll have others at some point in your future. If you do, and provided they're from a point in time after our current stardate, then give them this data chip. Even if Starfleet Command can't do anything to help get us home, it will let our families know that we're alive... and that we're coming home." Amy didn't even take a moment to ponder this. Producing her computer, she opened it up and placed the isolinear chip inside it. "No problem, Captain." Now it was Janeway's turn to smile. "Thank you. Now unless I'm mistaken, Neelix's victory celebration should be getting underway right about now. How about we head down to the mess hall?" Neelix greeted them with his customary enthusiasm when they got to the mess hall. "Captain, Amy, come in! I was wondering if you two were going to be here." "My fault, I'm afraid Neelix," Janeway told him. "I wanted to discuss something with Amy before things got going." She took a moment to survey the mess hall, which was already rather crowded. It seemed that a good part of the ship's company was already here, including most, if not all, of the senior staff. Over on the far side of the room she could see Tuvok engaged in a conversation with Raye, while nearby Mina was discussing something with Harry. In the center, she could see Serena and Darien listening to Tom expound on their adventures in the Delta Quadrant. "I see you wasted no time in getting things started." "There's no use in procrastinating when a celebration is in order," the Talaxian told her while urging her and Amy towards the buffet table he had erected. "Now come on in and join the festivities." Janeway looked in amazement at the assorted dishes. "You must have worked all night on this, Neelix." "The work load wasn't as bad as you might think, Captain. It helps having a couple of very eager assistants. In fact, I haven't had this much help since..." He paused, thinking. "Well, it must have been since before Kes started working in Sickbay. Now help yourselves." With that, Neelix hustled back into the kitchen area, where Janeway could see Lita still working on something. Glancing back, he saw that B'Elanna had come up to the table. "Don't be afraid to try anything," he heard her say, "Most of is actually edible." Neelix smiled to himself and continued on his way into the kitchen. Lita glanced up from the pot she was tending. "Doesn't that bother you?" "Doesn't what?" Neelix asked, puzzled. "B'Elanna's comments about your cooking. At first I thought it was just her Klingon side showing itself, but I'm beginning to think that she's just being mean." "You couldn't be further from the truth," Neelix told her. "It's just B'Elanna's way of blowing off steam." "But why does she always chose you to do that?" "Because I told her to." That comment threw Lita off her stride. "Huh? You told her to?" "Yes," Neelix confirmed, nodding. "Being half Klingon, B'Elanna has a very volatile temper, but she can't afford to lose control in front of her staff. So I told her that she could come here and use me as a target of her temper. I don't mind." Picking up a wooden spoon, the chef gave the pot a couple of good stirs. Not knowing what to say right off, Lita just watched him tend to the leola root stew for a few moment. You can be a strange guy, Neelix, but you've got a big heart," she observed, patting him on the shoulder. "That must be why so much of this crew likes you." Neelix turned to respond, but in doing so he noted the mess hall doors opening again and Chakotay enter through them. "Ah, a late arrival. That accounts for all of the senior staff." Neelix wasn't the only one to note Chakotay's arrival. Janeway threaded through the crowd and made her way over to her first officer. "Finally decided to join the fun?" "Sorry for being late, but I was on a vision quest," he said apologetically. "A very unusual one, I might add." "Oh?" Janeway was intrigued. "Anything you care to talk about?" Chakotay hesitated before answering. "Maybe later, after I've had some time to think about it." Things were still in full swing two hours later when a beep sounded from the comm system. "Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway." "I wonder what she wants?" Mina mused. "One way to find out," Janeway said. However, she had a feeling that whatever Seven was going to say, it would be of extreme importance. The Borg was not of the habit of making casual interruptions to ship activities. "Go ahead, Seven." "Long range sensors have detected Borg transwarp signatures. They should be able to scan the system within the next twenty minutes." A collective groan went up through the room. "Talk about bad timing," Lita grumbled. "Leave it to the Borg to be gate crashers at a perfectly good party," Serena added, equally disappointed. "I couldn't agree with you more," Janeway said. "Unfortunately, it means we better be on our way." Speaking loud for the benefit of the assembled crew, "If you have any goodbyes to make, I suggest you do so now." "Take care, Tuvok," Raye said. "I hope the personality traits you got from me don't prove too embarrassing to you." "I shall endure it," Tuvok assured you. "However, I think the logic and emotional control you gained from the mind link could prove to be of great help to you." "Don't bet on it," she grumbled. "Goodbye, Amy," the Doctor told her. "But I hope you don't take any offense when I say I'm glad I don't have to exist inside your computer anymore." "None taken, Doctor, she assured him. "I can certainly see why you would think so." "Good," the hologram responded. "I wish I could be there to help you on your way, but even without my assistance, I'm sure you'll make an excellent physician." She colored slightly before responding. "Thank you for thinking so, Doctor." "I'm not just saying so," he noted. "Besides, it's not just my opinion. Remember, my program is based on the logs of some of Starfleet's finest Doctors. And I can say without any doubt whatsoever that both Doctors McCoy and Crusher share the same opinion that you will be among the finest Doctors your Earth has ever seen." Well, I guess this is goodbye," Harry said somewhat lamely. "Take care of yourself, Mina." Mina ignored tentative hand Harry offered, choosing instead to give the young ensign a very affectionate hug. "Just doing my job as the Scout of Love," she told him in answer to the unspoken question on his face. "Hopefully Seven will hear about this and realize that if she doesn't do anything, she might lose to someone else." Harry blinked, too shocked to say anything as she walked away. "Are we talking about the same Seven of Nine?" he finally managed. "Take care of yourself, B'Elanna," Lita told her. "And try not to be too hard on Neelix." Before the half Klingon could answer, Lita moved off to say farewell to another member of Voyager's crew. "What was that all about?" Tom asked. "I'm not sure," B'Elanna replied as she watched the girl move away. "I just wished she could have stayed longer," Tom said wistfully. "I was hoping she could show Neelix how to make a good pizza." "Thanks again for you're help, Serena," Janeway told the girl. I don't think I can ever thank you enough for what you've done for my ship and crew." "I didn't exactly do it all by myself, Captain. You and Dr. Dehner helped." Janeway turned to Neelix. "Neelix, why don't you escort our guests to Transporter Room One," she suggested. "Everyone else, I'm afraid it's back to work." "Of course, Captain. Ladies and sir, if you'll follow me," Neelix said, leading the way out of the mess hall. One by one, the five girls and Darien followed him out, each pausing momentarily to make a last wave to the crew. "It's a pity they have to leave this abruptly," Chakotay commented, as the door closed behind the last of them. "Well, I'm just glad we met them when we did," Janeway said. "Otherwise, I doubt we would have survived this little encounter." Tuvok nodded, agreeing with his Captain. "Indeed, they were instrumental in helping us defeat the Negasleaze on Negara." The others turned to stare at the Vulcan security officer. "Negasleaze?" B'Elanna asked, smiling slightly. Tuvok shifted uncomfortably. "It would seem that there is still some personality overlap from my mindlink with Raye. It should fade with time, and in fact be gone within two weeks." Tom smiled. "I think I'm going to enjoy the next couple of weeks." "Well, here we are," Neelix said as the group entered the transporter room. "If you just take your positions on the pads, we can get you started on your way home." "Just a moment, Neelix," Mina said. "Negara may have been cleansed by Sailor Moon, but we should transform before we beam down, just in case." "Good idea, Mina," Amy said as she took out her transformation wand. Seconds later, the small room echoed with the assorted transformation cries. Neelix watched in awe at the display of light as the five girls changed into the Sailor Scouts and Darien also transformed into Tuxedo Mask. "Wow!" he exclaimed when the light show was over. "That was just... just..." He struggled for a moment to find the right words, but finally just reiterated once more, "Wow!" "Thanks, Neelix," Mercury said as they took their positions on the transporter platform. "I think I can safely say we all have felt the same way about Voyager." "Oh, before I forget," Jupiter spoke up, and tossed Neelix a padd. "From one chef to another." The Talaxian caught the padd and quickly examined it's contents. "Recipes!" he said, beaming with delight. "Thank you, Li- er, Sailor Jupiter." The tall Scout gave him a broad smile. "Anytime." Not knowing what else to say, Neelix turned to the transporter operator. But before he could give the command, Sailor Moon spoke up, "Hold it, Neelix!" "Yes?" "Let us say it this time." Neelix nodded. Whenever you're ready." "Energize!" they cried out simultaneously. On a bluff overlooking what had once been Metallah's citadel, six columns of white energy shimmered into existence and then resolved themselves into the forms of the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask. Venus gazed at the sky above them in awe. "Wow, I can't get over how different this planet seems than when we first landed here." "Crash landed, you mean," Mars corrected her. "But you're right. That sky is a much deeper blue than what we would see back home." "Due to the differences in the atmospheric composition," Mercury pointed out. "But there are other differences to our last visit to the surface." She pointed to the ruins of the citadel not far from their position. Among the toppled stones they could see that the local plantlife was already moving in. "Talk about fast growing plants," Jupiter said. "It's only been two days, but it looks like that stuff's been growing for a year." "The plantlife here must be extremely aggressive," Mercury observed. "A place like this could be a botanist's dream." "Or a farmer's," Tuxedo Mask said. He pointed down into the valley. Though it was still in it's early stages, they could see the beginnings of a village being constructed by the surviving Negarans, along with the outlines of crop fields. "It looks like they're trying to put their lives back together," Sailor Moon said. "Yes," Mercury confirmed. "I'm detecting the remains of a previous village in the same area. Undoubtably the Negarans were an agrarian and peaceful people before Mitchell came here." "And they're getting back to that lifestyle now that he's gone," Sailor Moon said. They stood watching for a bit before Mars shook herself. "We better get going. Captain Janeway said they'd wait for us to leave before they broke orbit, and that Borg ship is on the way." There weren't any protests to Mars' urgings, as they all were anxious to get home. They quickly formed up into a circle, and after a moment's concentration, teleported from the surface. Harry looked up from the sensor readouts. "We've lost sensor contact with the Sailor Scouts. It looks like they've teleported." "We are picking a slight distortion effect in the quantum flux," Chakotay confirmed, glancing at his own panel. "It looks like they made passage through it." He settled back in his chair and looked at Janeway. "Should we try to close it before the Borg get here?" "You mean like the Enterprise did?" she asked. After the first officer nodded, "I don't think that's a good idea, Chakotay." Chakotay frowned. "Why not?" "Because the procedure they used didn't close the quantum flux as they thought it would," she explained. "If you take a look at the subspace signature of the flux, you'll see that it's identical to the flux the Enterprise D traversed before they attempted closing it." "So that means that this is the same flux," Chakotay said after he had a moment to check the readings for himself. "I'm afraid so. It's been redirected twice so far as we know -- first to Delta Vega, and then to here. If we try redirect it, who knows where in time and space it'll end up. We could just end up making things worse." "We can't just leave it here for the Borg to find," Tom protested. "We might as well just leave them a sign, 'This way to Sailor Moon'." "I have no intention of doing that, Tom. Harry, set up an anti-proton burst from the main deflector. That should scramble any readings the Borg might take of it." A universe away, a black cat perked her ears and looked about the courtyard. Nothing was visible, but she was sure that something was about to happen. She cast a baleful glare at the sleeping form of Artemis before nudging him. "Wake up, Artemis." When the white cat seemed reluctant to do so, she cuffed him roughly on one ear. "I said, 'Wake up!'" "I'm awake, I'm awake," he muttered, rubbing the ear painfully. "What's so important?" "Can't you feel it?" "The only thing I'm feeling right now is a headache," Artemis retorted. Luna opened her mouth to respond, but in that moment the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask materialized. Seconds later, they had reversed their transformations, returning to their normal identities. "Thank heavens you're back," Luna said. "You've been gone for hours. What happened? What did you find?" "Hours?" Serena asked, focusing on Luna's first statement. "But I thought we spent a couple of days on Voyager?" She turned to Amy for confirmation. Artemis gave a catlike frown of puzzlement. "Voyager?" Amy was already checking her computer. "I supposed there could have been a temporal variance when we teleported from their universe through the quantum flux." Now Luna was puzzled. "Quantum flux?" "Cool. We don't have to try and cover for where we've been the last couple of days," Mina noted. Amy nodded. "Yes, and we didn't miss any school either." "You would think of that, wouldn't you Amy?" Lita teased her. Before Amy could respond, Luna spoke up, "Excuse me, but will somebody please tell me what's been going on!" "Sorry, Luna," Amy apologized, then launched into a quick account over the events since they had teleported to the Arctic. Though they remained silent, both Luna and Artemis were wide eyed in amazement. "Nuts!" All eyes turned to Serena. "What's wrong, Serena?" Darien inquired. "I just remembered I've got a math test tomorrow!" she complained. "I thought I'd gotten out of it, too." Amy shook her head. "You'd just have to make it up later, so it's just as well." "You're not much help. Amy." "If you'd just study ahead of time, you wouldn't have any problems in math or any other subject," Raye commented calmly. "It's simply logical." The others stared at her for a moment before she belatedly realized just how she sounded. "Not again!" she muttered. "Logical?" Mina asked. "Where you taking Vulcan lessons back on Voyager?" "Odd, I thought Chakotay was showing her how to contact her animal guide," Darien remarked. "Maybe she snuck in a couple of sessions when we weren't looking," Lita suggested. "Amy, I think you better give Raye a quick scan. She's getting a greenish complexion," Serena said, getting into the action. Amy nodded, and produced the small device. Raye glared at all of them, but chose to focus her ire on Serena. "I am *not* turning green!" she snapped. Serena's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow in a distinctly Vulcan manner. "Really Raye, your attitude is... most illogical. What would Tuvok say?" "I don't *care* what he would say!!" "Have you always been this emotional?" "Can it, meatballhead!" "Don't call me meatballhead!!" The others watched as the argument quickly escalated into another one of their infamous tongue wars. "Well, it didn't take them long to fall into old habits," Darien remarked. "If I were you, Darien, I'd be more worried if things *didn't* get back to normal," Amy told him. "True," he conceded. "Things are probably getting back to normal back on Voyager too... At least as normal as it gets for a ship so far from home." "Do you think they'll make it back home?" Mina asked. "I mean... they've got a long ways to go." "Yeah, like sixty thousand light years," Lita chimed in. Amy looked down at her open computer. Attached firmly to the inside of the lid was the isolinear chip Captain Janeway had given her. After making sure that it was secure, she closed the computer and put it away. "It may not be any time soon, but I think they will eventually get home." She smiled at the others before continuing. "Besides, we all know that when all is said and done, Starfleet crews usually manage to accomplish their mission." "We've got the star between us and the Borg ship," Tom reported. "That should be more than enough to obscure our warp signature," B'Elanna said. "They won't know we were ever in the system." "Good," Chakotay said. He half turned to the operations station. "Harry, are you sure that anti-proton pulse from the main deflector will keep the Borg from spotting the flux?" The pulse had seemed to scramble readings from the flux when they had released it over Negara, but it didn't hurt to be certain. The last thing anyone on the ship wanted was for the Borg to discover the passageway to the Scouts' world. "Positive, Commander," the ensign replied. "I been scanning for myself, and even I can't tell it's there. It should be at least a year before it's discernable as a quantum flux." "The collective should lose interest in that world long before then," Seven said. "There is not technology worth assimilating, and the alien's biological distinctiveness is not remarkable enough to warrant the effort." "Since we seem to have covered our tracks as best we can, it's time for us to be on our way," Janeway noted with a smile. "Tom, let's resume our course for the Alpha Quadrant. Warp six." Tom had already made the necessary course computations, but he made a quick check of the helm nevertheless. "Course and speed ready, Captain." "Engage." Outside, the warp nacelles elevated into their flight positions and the ship accelerated into warp. Voyager was once more on course for the Alpha Quadrant. And home. Then end of the Sailor Trek saga. Notes: Comments, critiques and questions are welcome. Just email me at Soton@aol.com. As before, thanks to Gene Roddenberry and Naoko Takeuchi, for creating their respective genres. Additional thanks to Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor for creating "Star Trek: Voyager." (Personally, I think the series is a lot better than some people give it credit for.) I would also like to add a special thank you to Will Wolfshohl, who has patiently provided a lot of critical commentary along the way, and for pointing out a serious plot hole I had left open during chapters 5 & 6. That gave me enough warning to craft chapter 7 in a way to cover up my mistake. Credit to him as well for suggesting that Chakotay should introduce Raye to her animal guide. Additional thanks to Mike Stancel for his own remarks and suggestions along the way, including Neelix's little quip in chapter 7 that Tuvok and Mercury might be related. I would also like to extend my thanks to each and everyone of you that have taken the time to send me comments regarding the stories. This marks the end of the Sailor Trek saga, a series of stories I began working on more than two and a half years ago. It's been a wild ride getting them finished, but one that I've enjoyed. One common question I get is "Are you going to write any other Trek/SM crossovers?" At present I don't have any plans for a story in the same vein as four Sailor Trek stories, but as Spock has said, "There are always possibilities." I do have other stories in development which would involve elements of the Trek universe, such as on that centers on Q and Sailor Pluto and another that brings the crew of the Enterprise E to Crystal Tokyo, but those are still in the future. There are also some possible stories about the Sailor Mercury who ended up going to Deep Space Nine at the end of "Sailor Trek DS9". Next up: the fanfic I actually started first but was set aside so I could complete the Sailor Trek saga, "Highlander Moon" He is Immortal, born in the highlands of Scotland in 1592. For four hundred years, he has battled the forces of darkness, with Holy Ground his only refuge. He is Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander Preview snippet: His train of thought was broken by something landing on his shoulder. As tensed up as he had become in the last few hours, MacLeod's combat trained reflexes kicked in, sweeping whatever it was off his shoulder towards the bench and settling himself into a defensive stance. A loud "Ow!" came from the bench. Realizing that the offending party was a white and very familiar cat, Duncan relaxed. "Artemis," he sighed. "Yeah, I'm glad to see you too," the feline grumbled as he got back onto his paws. Rubbing his head painfully, the cat eyed him. "So what brings you to Tokyo, Highlander?"