Third story in a series so reading Where She Belongs and Betrayal would be advised. As always, I don't own I just enjoy. Please read, review and enjoy.

The away team's shuttle shook as it hit another spaceal pocket. They'd been able to make it through quite a few of the pockets with little damage but this one didn't seem to have an end to it. These types of random spaceal disturbances were frustrating and the small away team inside the shuttle were starting to show the irritation of the situation. It had been a long mission and everyone simply wanted to get back Voyager.

"Can't you keep the shuttle more stable, Ensign." The Doctor bellowed from his seat in the back.

Harry tried not to sigh but rolled his eyes freely since the Doctor couldn't see him. "We're trying our best up here, Doc."

As Harry tried to keep the inertial dampeners and shields online, Seven of Nine was keeping the shuttle on course, sending out a hail to Voyager, and monitoring systems and sensors. She'd barely had time to make adjustments when another pocket formed, its edges coinciding with the one they were it. Seven managed to avoiding hitting it head on, but the left nacelle still slid along the distortion despite her best efforts and the shuttle was sent rolling.

"Nice save, Seven, if we'd have hit that we would have been space kill." Harry said from the co-pilot's seat.

The Doctor groaned. "It's a good thing that holograms don't get motion sickness."

"The proto-mater is stable for now but if we don't get out of this soon it'll destabilize." Neelix said as he came out of the storage area in the back. "I've placed a force field around it just in case."

Seven spotted the end of the pocket they were in and inwardly sighed in relief. "We should be out of this distortion shortly."

When the shuttle stopped shaking, the Doctor let out a long breath just to suck in a gasp when the shuttle lurched forward. The shuttle had smacked right into a sudden pocket, causing the shields to weaken. Neelix quickly got to his feet and carefully made his way to the back to check on the proto-mater. When he retuned none of his crewmates liked the look on his fuzzy little face.

"There's a breach in the containment can. The force field has it under control for now but we need to dump it."

Harry frowned. "If we dump it and it makes contact with a pocket..."

"It will explode." Seven finished for him. "And the shuttle along with it if we are not careful."

Seven and Harry looked at each other for a moment before starting to work out what to do. Seven quickly scanned the area while Harry prepared to dump the proto-mater. The Doctor just shook his head, while Neelix monitored the proto-mater.

"Ok Seven when I say go; go fast." Harry said as his fingers sped over the controls.

Seven nodded as she kept an eye on the area where they were going to dump the proto-mater. It looked clear but as they were finding out the pockets could appear anywhere. Harry released the can of proto-mater and once he gave the word Seven engaged the engines carefully. She couldn't go to fast or they could very well run into another pocket. The can of proto-mater hovered in space for a few long moments and once again just as the Doctor was starting to relax he was ripped from his piece of mind. The can crashed into a pocket and exploded. The shock wave chased after the shuttle and then rocked it hard as it passed over.

"Shields are down to fifteen percent, we've lost warp drive and the left impulse engine." Harry stated as the cabin of the shuttle went dark and the red warning lights went up.

Seven worked quickly as she tried to get the shuttle out of the effected area without any more problems. When she was sure that they had made it clear of the spaceal pockets she began to aid Harry in his attempt to make repairs. Though her mind was on her work, her thoughts drifted to Voyager, to Kathryn and their daughter. She wanted nothing more then to be home with them.

"We took a really bad beating back there." Harry said as he tried to get impulse back at full, but just as he pulled off the deck covering to access the controls the system he was accessing exploded.

Seven pulled Harry away from the explosion before he could be hurt to badly and then went to the pilot seat as soon as the Doctor started to look at Harry. The shuttle had just enough power in the thrusters and enough control left in navigation that Seven was able to steer the shuttle towards an M class planet. "Everyone brace for an emergency landing."

"What are you doing, Seven?" Asked Neelix as he came up behind her.

"This is an M class planet with a small post-warp civilization." The tall blonde Astrometrics officer answered. "We should be able to make repairs and attempt to contact Voyager from there."

Everyone understood and nodded as they strapped in. The shuttle once again rocked and shook as it entered the atmosphere of the small planet. Seven managed to keep the shuttle together and the shields online long enough for them to break though but her landing left a lot to be desired. The shuttle hit the ground hard and bounced once before it came to a stop. Seven was hurled forward, smacking her head on the console, her eyes fluttered as the darkness came over her. The last thing on her mind just before the darkness over took her was Kathryn and Gretchen.

The monthly department reports were surprisingly, yet welcomingly dull. The ship had moved through three sectors of space with hardly any trouble. There had been some minor maintenance problems, a couple computer glitches, and some major boredom, but repairs were made, glitches had been cleared, and Neelix had seen to making sure there was plenty for the crew to do off duty. These lulls were nice, they gave the crew time to rest and relax, to explore without the worry of a threat, and it gave Captain Janeway time to step away from her rank and position and simply be Kathryn for a while.

It had been a year since Voyager's encounter with the Slayer and the Borg cube where they'd found the small infant who had been marked as a future Borg queen, but was now simply the daughter of Kathryn and Annika. Gretchen's first birthday was just a few days away and the whole ship seemed to buzz with excitement over it. Neelix had planned a huge party to be held in the mess hall and the whole crew was acting as if it were some kind of holiday. It was really touching to see the way the crew acted around her daughter.

Putting down the padd she had been reading the Captain once again turned her attention to the hand written list she'd been compiling. She only had a couple of days to pick out two gifts that she would be replicating for her daughter. She would give one to Gretchen the morning of her birthday when it was just the three of them, a tradition her own mother had started with her and her younger sister, and one she wanted to pass on to her own daughter. The second gift she would give to Gretchen at the party with the tons of other gifts she had a feeling the baby would be getting.

As she looked over her list and the list of what was available on the computer she wondered if Neelix would be able to make the extra small cake she'd asked for. It was another Janeway family tradition to give the baby it's own cake to smash it's little fingers into on it's first birthday. As the Captain's mind wandered past Neelix and the party to Seven and what her tall blond partner was going to get for the baby, she suddenly started to wonder why the away team that Seven and Neelix were on with the Doctor and Harry weren't back yet. There had been a nebula full of proto-mater in the area and Janeway had sent the small team to collect some to use as an additional power source two and half days ago. She had expected them back that morning but sensors were picking up a heavy load of spaceal pockets and she figured that the shuttle had been delayed by their attempts to make it through the turbulence safely with the proto-mater.

Janeway looked up from her list when she felt a sudden jolt in her gut and quickly made her way to the bridge. As she walked up the small steps from her ready room to the bridge she called out, "Report."

"There's still no sign of the shuttle." Chakotay reported from his chair in the middle of the bridge. "They should have been here by now."

The Captain nodded as she sat in her own chair. She then looked up at the young woman who was sitting where Harry normally was. "Ensign Willows, have Astrometrics extend the range of the sensors."

"Yes Ma'am." The young woman replied.

Janeway then turned to look at her sandy haired helmsmen. "Tom set course for the nebula. Lets see if we can't run into them, if not we'll back track the course they took when they left."

Tom spun around in his chair and started carrying out his orders. "Aye Captain."

"You think something went wrong?" Chakotay asked as he looked over at the petite auburn haired woman who was not only his captain, but also his friend.

Janeway nodded. "It isn't like Seven to be late."

Chakotay nodded. Seven was almost Vulcan like in her professional demeanor and always seemed to stick to a ridged schedule. It was only the addition of a family that had truly softened the former Borg and Chakotay knew how much his friend hated being away from her partner and child. "I'm sure everything's fine, Kathryn." He told the woman sitting next to him.

Janeway knew that Chakotay was trying to ease her concerns but she couldn't help but noticed the edge in his voice. It almost sounded as if he were trying to consol himself just as much as he was trying to consol her. "I know she's ok, Chakotay, there's just something telling me that something went wrong."

"If there's one thing I've learned over the years it's that you've got damn good instincts." He told her with a warm and reassuring smile.