DISCLAIMER: The Voyager Universe: Paramount's. This story idea and its J/C departure from canon: mine. Profit: I wish. My thanks to Morgan Grendel and Peter Allan Fields, who wrote the teleplay for "The Inner Light."

RATING: PG

SUMMARY: An AU VOY/TNG crossover. What if it was Kathryn Janeway who received a 40-year memory download from an unknown probe, rather than Jean-Luc Picard? This story takes place several days after Voyager retrieves Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay from New Earth.

A J/C Inner Light

Teaser

Captain's Log, Stardate 49944.1. We're back on course for the Alpha Quadrant after taking a few days to run a magnetic wave survey of an unusual trinary star cluster. It's probably too much to ask that our remaining journey through Kazon space remain this uneventful, with Seska having left Voyager to join First Maj Cullah and the Nistrim, but for the moment, we are enjoying our respite from having to contend with that hostile sect.

*****

Voyager, 2372

Bridge

The mood on Deck 1 was lighthearted as Captain Janeway leaned back in her command chair and regaled her Bridge crew with amusing tales about her dealings with Starfleet brass and their particular foibles.

"The last time I encountered Admiral Gustafson," she said, "I ended up spending nine straight hours at the opera."

A loud groan came from the Engineering station to Janeway's right, followed by the stunned question, "Nine hours?"

"The entire 'Ring' cycle at one sitting," said Janeway, as she turned to smirk at an aghast B'Elanna Torres.

Chakotay laughed sympathetically and said, "That's a little too much Wagner for me."

"And for me," Janeway replied, "but not, apparently, for Admiral Gustafson. She went back the next day and sat through it all again. I warned her that the next time…"

Tuvok interrupted the narrative. "Captain, sensors detect an unidentified object twenty-two thousand kilometers off the port quarter."

"On screen." Janeway was immediately all business as she stood and walked toward the viewscreen, stopping to stand just behind the helm. An alien device of unusual shape appeared, although still at a considerable distance.

"Magnify."

The object came into greater relief. It was compact, having a squat cylindrical body with a triangular fin at both top and bottom. A shiver ran down Janeway's spine, but she shook off the strange sense of foreboding. She glanced over her shoulder at Ops. "Mr. Kim?"

"It appears to be a probe of some kind, but there is no Starfleet record of this shape or design," said Harry Kim.

Chakotay turned to Tactical and asked, "Is it scanning us?"

"No, sir," responded Tuvok, "but it has assumed a relative position and is holding course with us."

"The probe is composed of paricium and talgonite, a ceramic alloy," reported Kim.

"Not a very sophisticated technology," said Torres, as she studied the image on the viewscreen from her station.

Tuvok said, "Captain, I'm detecting a low level nucleonic beam coming from the probe."

"Shields up; stand by phasers," ordered Chakotay.

"The beam is scanning the shield's perimeter," said Kim. He frowned, and then continued, "The probe is emitting an unusual particle stream."

"Captain, the beam is penetrating our shields," said Tuvok.

A glowing red point at the apex of the probe's top fin flared briefly, and then the probe emmitted a sudden flash of light. Janeway began, "Increase speed to…," and then stiffened and staggered backward, as through struck.

Chakotay was out of his chair like a shot. He caught her as she sagged and began to lose consciousness.

"Captain?" he asked, as he cradled her head with one hand to protect it while he gently lowered her to the deck. "Captain, I've got you;" he said, "it's all …"

Janeway looked up at him, and the last thing she saw before her surroundings dissolved into a blinding white light was his concerned face leaning in close to hers. Several long moments later, when the brightness finally dissipated and her vision cleared, Janeway found herself staring up at an unfamiliar middle-aged man with olive skin and black hair. He leaned over her, blotting her forehead with a moist towel. As she looked into his warm brown eyes, she thought of how much he reminded her of Chakotay. The man smiled, and his face became a thing of radiance.

"Well, finally," Alain said, cupping Janeway's face with his hand.

Janeway slowly became aware that she was lying in a deep and comfortable reclining chair in the modest but well-kept and inviting main room of a home. Her eyes were dazzled by the bright sunlight pouring into the white-walled room through clerestory windows as she looked around, obviously confused. She was able to make out a wide archway in front of where she was lying. There was an equally wide step up into a large hallway that led to the rest of the home, and off to one side of the hallway, a foyer that undoubtedly led to a front entry.

"How are you feeling?" asked Alain, as he gently stroked her face with the moist towel. "Kamina, can you answer me?"

Janeway sat up as she continued her observation of the simply furnished room. She was still groggy and disoriented. "What is this?"

A frown of concern crossed Alain's face. "You're still feverish," he said.

Janeway continued to survey her surroundings while she attempted to regain control of her faculties. Everything she saw was alien and unfamiliar, which made her wonder if she might be in a holodeck program.

"Computer, freeze program," she ordered. When nothing happened, she threw off the blanket covering her and said, "End program." Getting to her feet, she automatically reached for her communicator. "Janeway to Voyager—" She felt nothing on her chest for her to tap. When she looked down, she saw that she wore a simple, flowing dress in a style unlike anything she owned or had seen on any Delta Quadrant world she had visited.

Alain took Janeway's arm as he tried to persuade her to sit back down in the chair again. "Kamina, please don't get up yet," he said. "You're still not well."

Janeway shook him off, and spoke in her strongest command voice. "I asked you – what is this place?"

Alain looked at her with loving concern. "This… is your home, of course," he said, as he smiled and lightly caressed her shoulder.

Janeway only stared at him, his words making utterly no sense.