The Jarkart officers stood almost at attention as they introduced themselves. They reminded Kathryn of ensigns fresh out of the academy and doing their damndest to make a good impression in front of their superiors. They maintained a respectful distance from her ranking officers, seemingly able to distinguish between them and the two noncommissioned officers in the party. Every comment was made facing the person who spoke, but with their gaze directed just over their head.

"With honour, my Captain," the solid man nodded his head briskly, again avoiding eye contact. "This console will provide you with access to the station's systems. If you choose to voice your requirements, your guard will assist you." He indicated the five others standing stiffly behind him.

"Thank you. I trust my medical teams have been put to work," she said with a smile.

"With honour, my Captain," he chanted again. "Custodian Ameru met with them some minutes ago." Janeway nodded and turned towards her officers, wishing the station guard would relax a little. She could sense their demeanor was putting her own crew a little on edge. They were more than likely worried their Captain would get to like the guard's attitude she thought and grinned to herself.

The cargo bay was not large; about a third of the size of Voyager's main cargo bay. Stacked along one side were several rows of rectangular crates. Both ends of the hold had an oval shaped door and Janeway rightly suspected that any cargo loaded into the bay required a ship to dock and move the goods physically through the access hatch.

"Captain," Seven spoke in a low tone from close beside her. Janeway turned to look at the young blonde woman. Seven nodded towards the opposite end of the bay and the Captain immediately stepped forward to assist Custodian Arrani.

The ease with which the woman walked towards them was at odds with the fact that she was carrying someone near her own size in her arms. Janeway was a little surprised to note that the guards remained standing to one side, not offering to help Aranni with her burden.

"Seven, help me take her." The two moved quickly towards the Custodian.

"Custodian Aranni, let us help you." As the Captain reached to help support the woman's weight, Seven slipped her arms in over hers and took the injured woman into her arms; her Borg enhanced strength making the job easy. Settling the unconscious body against her chest, Seven estimated that the woman weighed approximately 60 kilograms and she was surprised the slight Custodian had been able to carry her so easily.

"Thank you, Captain. Is there a medic in your crew?" she asked scanning the new faces.

"I'm afraid not. We could beam her directly to Voyager," she suggested.

"Trace," Aranni raised her voice to address the guard. "Locate Custodian Ameru and inform him that Custodian Salai has been injured."

"With honour, my Custodian," came the familiar reply as Trace accessed the computer console. Kathryn looked at the young woman in Seven's arms and wondered exactly how many Custodians there were on the station.

"How was she injured?" Janeway asked looking for evidence of a wound.

"I am not sure, Captain. I found her collapsed on the deck below us," she was silent for only a moment before continuing, "Thank you for your offer of help." Aranni indicated Voyager's engineering crew.

"Let me introduce my Chief Engineer, Lt Torres." Janeway waited while they greeted each other. "And Seven of Nine," she finished motioning towards Seven.

"I am glad to meet the both of you and your eight," Aranni nodded to Seven indicating the eight officers standing behind them.

Janeway turned to notice that there was indeed eight other officers, all of whom seemed to be fanned out behind Seven. Grinning broadly at the misunderstanding, Janeway placed her hand on Seven's shoulder about to explain when Seven spoke.

"You misunderstand. Seven of Nine is my designation, my name. There are no others. These crewman are part of Lt Torres' engineering department, part of Captain Janeway's crew," she replied, explaining almost as well as the Captain would have.

"I am sorry if I have offended you," Aranni addressed the group in general.

"You have not," Seven finished. Once again the Captain couldn't help but smile at the interruption.

The cargo door opened at that point to admit a thin balding man. Seeing Aranni, he headed directly for her, not slowing down until he was at her side.

"Ameru, Salai has been injured," the man briefly greeted the Captain and her crew as he directed his attention to the young woman. He pressed his open hand against her forehead and concentrated for several moments. Moving his hand to the centre of her torso he repeated the action. Aranni waited silently for his diagnosis.

"Don't be concerned Aranni. She has reacted to the stimulant is all. I'll put her in a pod for a few hours and let her sleep naturally," he reached out and took the limp form from Seven. Seven awkwardly handed the woman over. It seemed to the Captain that she wasn't sure what to do with her arms once they were empty. Finally deciding to clasp them behind her back, she was once more the image of composure.

"Thank you, Ameru. I'll return to my duties." Aranni was obviously relived. Pausing in his departure, Ameru spoke.

"I understand, Aranni. She is special to me, too. I'll take care of her. If not for you or me, then for Rohan." The two shared a moment before the older man left carrying Salai in his arms.

"I have three repair crews coming out of suspension to assist us. In the mean time, if you are willing, I would like to examine the main power supply."

"Our scans showed extensive loss of power throughout the station as well as hull breaches on some decks," B'Elanna joined the conversation.

"We will need more personell to repair the breaches, but the power we can do something about," Aranni replied. "Captain, the command centre is not far from here but the lifts are out of operation. If you don't mind using the maintenance tubes, we can escort you to Custodian Merik."

She had spent the last ten hours on the station and it had been a while since she had worked so hard. Too long. Commanding Voyager was certainly not a walk in the park but to get back to the basics.... Despite her exhaustion, a smile graced her features.

Her meeting with Merik and Talban had lasted only an hour before both were called to assist with repairs. It seemed the Jarkart were ruled by a system of Technocracy, each of their Custodians were scientists or technicians who had reached a certain level of skill in their chosen fields and proven themselves to their peers in some way Janeway had not been able to determine.

It was as good as any political system Janeway had seen although the reason behind the entire population's extended suspension was an unknown and that bothered her a little.

Part way through the day, Janeway had been informed that the Custodians had decided not to release the people from cryogenic suspension if they could avoid it, although they were still having trouble with the pods. Upon returning to the ship, Chakotay had briefed her on the ships scans of the class M planet below them. It was completely unpopulated and in a state of rapid biological growth. There was little, if any, evidence that it had ever supported intelligent life.

She was keen to investigate further but for now... she had been awake for over 24 hours and her first officer had insisted she rest. Tomorrow she would ask Seven to run further scans on the planet.

Stretching out on the cool sheets, Kathryn dragged her pillow under her neck and snuggled into bed. She could already tell that her muscles would be sore in the morning. A good sore, the kind that reminded you that yesterday you worked hard for something you believed in.

She remembered walking through the crippled station. The suffocating stench of chemical fires and scorched metal. The dark stained floors that were evidance of another life lost. When she had seen the first suspension bay... even now, in her own thoughts, she was without words. Row upon row of people. That they died peacefully was no comfort.

Merik estimated that they had lost close to four thousand citizens. Had it not been for Voyager's assistance... he doubted any would have survived. The Brennan had attempted an attack once before, five years ago. A single fighter which the station had been able to defend itself from. Their home planet was seven years away at warp one, their maximum speed.

The systems on the station were in many ways similar to early federation technology and Janeway had found it impossible not to lend what assistance she could. Neither Merik nor Aranni found it unusual for a commanding officer to work beside her crew and Janeway was immediately allocated her own assignments.

She had spent the last eight hours repairing environmental and filtration systems and re-establishing the shields. And she had loved every minute of the physically demanding work. Even now, as she thought over her day, she smiled.

Science, rather than engineering, had always been her strong point and so she had been partnered with Ensign Collins, one of B'Elanna's more promising engineers. Actually, Seven of Nine had assigned him to work with the Captain when she informed them that she would be assisting with repairs.

Lt Torres' team was working on the main power supply while Seven's team was working with the suspension pods and primary support systems. Merik had given Janeway a brief tour of the station on route to the pod bays, where he thought she would be of the most assistance. Her crew were initially a little surprised to see her, except of course Seven, who, with her usual efficiency, immediately allocated her Captain with an assistant and ample tasks to keep her occupied for the rest of the day!

It took Collins the better part of an hour to become accustomed to working alongside his commanding officer but, after that, the two had worked quite well together. Like the majority of the lower ranked officers, Janeway had had very little opportunity in the past to spend any time with the young man and she made a mental note to speak to Torres about him. If he was any indication of the level of skill B'Elanna was fostering, Janeway was impressed.

Seven of Nine had checked on the Captain's progress a number of times during the day. Occasionally lending a hand, usually suggesting a more efficient means of completing a particular task. Kathryn had laughed the first time she stopped by, partly at the young woman's authoritative tone and partly at the mortified expression on Collins' face. For her own amusement, Janeway found herself coming up with ways to improve their work beyond what was required, simply to see the barely concealed look of astonishment on Seven's face.

Janeway could have sworn it became a game between the two, with Kathryn working faster and more efficiently purely to see Seven raise her eyebrow at her each time she managed to impress her. Seven, for her part, seemed to be encouraging her own team to surpass their Captain's efforts.

It wasn't so many months ago that Janeway would not have been able to consider Seven interacting as she was. Of course, she was still impossibly arrogant and inflexible but it seemed to Kathryn that recently she had started to find her way amongst the crew. Janeway knew a number of her officers found it difficult to work with the former Borg. Her refusal to follow Starfleet protocols and recognise the established chain of command had caused a great number of problems. To see her not only lead a team, but to have that team follow, was a matter of personal pride for Janeway, despite the fact that Seven's behavior towards her commanding officer was inappropriate. Or maybe because of it.

Kathryn valued those occasions when she was able to spend time with Seven, either playing Velocity or when the young woman sometimes stopped by her quarters to talk. The rare moments they had spent in Da Vinci's studios were particularly special to Kathryn and as she gazed out her window at the stars, she admitted to herself that Seven had become particularly special to her.

Rolling onto her back and gazing up at the ceiling, Kathryn sighed. As tired as she was, she couldn't sleep. There was too much spinning around in her head.

As their crews moved from the environmental systems to repair the cryogenic bays, Kathryn noticed a decided change in everyone's demeanor. Seven particularly had been visibly shaken by the deaths on the station and Kathryn realised that since regaining the humanity the Borg had stolen from her, she had never been confronted by loss of life on such a scale. Kathryn decided that tomorrow she would speak with her; see how she was coping. She certainly hoped Seven was having more success regenerating than she seemed to be having falling asleep.