The Conference Room:
Some of the main cast were sat around the large table. Chakotay wasn't at the meeting.

"Oh great a suicide mission," Lena muttered as she read a PADD.

"It's not a suicide mission, Lena," Kathryn mumbled.

"Well it involves shuttles so it must be a suicide mission," Craig said.

"Actually it doesn't involve shuttles, Lieutenant," Kathryn said.

"So how are we supposed to get to the Taranian homeworld when Voyager and the Enterprise is going to Selara Prime?" Craig asked.

"Simple, the Taranian's have their own shuttle system that takes any aliens to their homeworld. We'll just drop you off at one of the stations they have," Kathryn replied.

"What, even their enemies?" Tom asked.

"The Taranians don't have any enemies, Tom," Kathryn replied.

"We're still going in shuttles if you think about it, mum. An alien shuttle sounds even more risky to me," Lena said.

"Their shuttles are the safest in this quadrant, Lena. Nothing to worry about, the stations have high security to stop passengers bringing things like weapons, bombs, you get the idea," Kathryn said.

"If there's nothing to worry about why is Annika on the mission?" Craig asked.

"No reason, if it was a dangerous mission I would just send Annika and a few nameless red shirts," Kathryn replied.

"That would be a really dull episode," Tom muttered.

"So who else is going besides me, Craig and Annika?" Lena asked.

"Just a few regulars," Kathryn replied.

"Mum are you trying to kill me off?" Lena asked.

"Lena, where do you get that idea from?" Kathryn asked.

"Well putting me on an awaymission with Annika, and a few regulars.. that's a death wish," Lena replied.

"No it isn't. Only the regulars will get killed, Annika will just come back as usual," Craig said.

"Damn it, I forgot about that," Kathryn muttered.

"Ok fine.. but having regulars with us is a recipe for disaster," Lena said.

"Lena have you got a problem with this mission, you seem to be making a lot of excuses," Kathryn asked.

"Well I'm needed on my ship, aren't I?" Lena replied.

"No you're not. Your first officer will take over for you," Kathryn said.

"I haven't got a first officer yet, that's the point," Lena grumbled.

Everyone but Lena groaned. "Typical," Kathryn muttered.

"So the Enterprise will be captainless if I go," Lena said.

"Just choose a first officer Lena, and be sensible," Kathryn said.

"Sensible, Lena's version of sensible.. this'll be interesting," Tom said.

"Shut up, I can be sensible," Lena said.

"Well who?" Kathryn asked.

"I dunno... James?" Lena muttered.

Everyone collapsed Pokémon style. Kathryn was the first back onto her seat. "Lena, that is not sensible."

"What's wrong with him?" Lena asked.

Tom sat back onto his chair. "Well hasn't he just recovered from an evil taking over thing?"

"Yeah so? He's recovered," Lena muttered.

"He's already got a job," Craig said.

"A first officer doesn't do anything anyway," Lena said.

"So glad Chakotay wasn't here to hear that," Craig muttered.

"Lena... James doesn't have any respect for command, why should he be in command?" Kathryn asked.

"Neither do I," Lena replied.

"I noticed, that's why I'm against having James as second in command," Kathryn said.

"Well at least he won't blow up the ship everytime he's in command unlike dad," Lena said angrily.

"Yeah, that's Lena's job," Tom sniggered.

Lena narrowed her eyes, and she punched him in the face. He fell out of the chair.

"Mum it's my ship, it's my decision," Lena said.

"So you expect me to let James be in command when you're on the mission," Kathryn muttered.

"Why not, you let Lena command the ship," Tom said as he came back into consciousness. Lena raised her fist. "That's not a bad thing of course."

"Lena you can't have him as second in command, there are lots of people on the Enterprise who have higher ranks," Craig said.

"Fine, I'll promote him.. happy," Lena said.

"You're missing the point I was making," Craig muttered.

"I can't even remember how he became an Ensign in the first place," Kathryn said.

"You were hyper, end of story," Tom said.

"I never get hyper," Kathryn said angrily. Everyone glanced around at each other, raising eyebrows. "I've never been hyper, so lower those eyebrows."

"Mum why don't we just see how he fares while I'm on that mission, and decide afterwards," Lena said.

"That's the most sensible thing you said in this meeting," Kathryn said.

"Thanks... that was a compliment right?" Lena asked.

"Well it depends on how you look at it, I guess," Kathryn replied.

"I hate to ask but why are we going to this planet again?" Craig asked.

"I wish you'd pay attention, Lieutenant," Kathryn muttered in response.

"To get permission to pass through their space," Tom said.

"Oh right," Craig said.

"You leave 0800 tomorrow, dismissed," Kathryn said.

The next day, Taranian Station 3:
The station was extremely busy, the awayteam all had to push their way through to get to where they were heading.

"I hope all these people aren't getting on the same shuttle, we won't be able to get on!" Craig yelled over the noise.

"Well we can easily leave Annika behind if there's not enough room for everyone!" Lena yelled back.

"Hey! I can curse you, you know!" Annika yelled.

"And I can kick your sorry doll a**!" Lena yelled.

"Girls, save it for later!" Thompson yelled.

The awayteam finally got to a waiting area which was less crowded.

"Why bring two security officers on a mission with me and her?" Annika asked.

"You just answered your own question earlier, the last thing we need is you two arguing when negotiating," Thompson said.

"She started it," Annika muttered.

Lena rolled her eyes, "oh she started it, grow up."

"Lena... you do know that your mum sent you on this mission to test you. If you succeed with this mission, with no mishaps, she'll not have any reason to restrict of you command," Craig said.

"Well this is a hard test, she made me bring along the most annoying crewmembers on the ship. Oh forget it.. have we got everyone?" Lena asked.

"Who are you calling annoying?" Ashley muttered.

Craig looked around the group. "We're missing one."

"You'll be missing three in a minute... we just spotted a good place to.. talk," O'Hara said. Thompson turned to her, they both immediately started giving each other the 'look'.

"Oh god... get a room," Lena groaned.

"That's what we plan to do," Thompson said.

Lena rolled her eyes. "Fine, go. Craig who's missing?"

"Er... he ain't missing. I found him," Craig replied. He rushed over to a small crowd of tough looking guys. Someone familiar was talking to them.

"Come on.. punch me! Do it!" Sid yelled at the guys. Craig grabbed his arm and tried to drag him away.

"Sorry... he's a bit of a loony," Craig stuttered as he dragged Sid away.

"Aaaaw, you moron. I just wanted to get hurt!" Sid whined.

He and Craig got back to the others. "Yeah I wanted you to get hurt too, but those guys could easily kill you."

A female voice came over the intercom, "attention please. The next Shuttle Bus to Taranian are accepting passengers now."

"Right, we'd better hurry. Where the hell have Thompson and O'Hara gone?" Lena asked.

"Where do you think," Ashley replied as he looked towards the 'prayer room'.

"Wow they have one of those here?" Lena said.

"Well I doubt we're the only species that pray, stupid girl," Annika muttered.

"And I doubt Thompson and O'Hara have gone in there to pray," Craig said quickly.

Lena tapped her commbadge. "Janeway to Thompson and O'Hara, quit it with the lip wrestling, we've got to go!"

Thompson and O'Hara rushed out of the 'prayer room', and they rushed over to the others. "Let's hope their Shuttle Buses are like old fashioned airplanes," Thompson said.

"I really hate to know what your kid'll be like, let's go," Lena said. She pointed towards the door to the bay. Everyone headed towards it, Lena followed them. She felt a strange wind blowing passed her, she stopped and looked around. She slowly followed the others.

The shuttle:
Almost every seat was taken when the awayteam got inside. The seat layout was similar to a plane's, but there were less seats in most rows.

Ashley had to sit in between two twin sisters. O'Hara managed to find two seats, so she sat down. Annika sat down in front of O'Hara. Sid sat down next to a strange looking alien with red skin. Thompson spotted O'Hara and sat down beside her. Lena and Craig got two seats in front of Ashley.

"Well at least we got on ok," Craig said cheerfully.

Lena glanced out the window, she saw lots of people heading away from the shuttle.

"Are you ok, Lena?" Craig asked.

"I just prefer our shuttles.. at least with them I can ask what's going on if something happens," Lena replied.

Craig smiled and he put his arm around Lena. "It's ok, in about twenty minutes we'll be there."

"Do you mind, public display," Ashley muttered. Thompson and O'Hara glanced at him innocently. "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to them," Ashley said as he pointed at Lena and Craig.

"Lena, are you sure you're ok?" Craig asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine.. quit asking," Lena replied.

"It's just you usually smack my arm off, you haven't," Craig said.

"Oh, sorry," Lena muttered, she hit him on the arm softly. He moved his arm.

"At least put some strength into it," Craig said.

"Ok, fine.. I'm nervous, ok," Lena said as she glanced out the window again. She placed her hand on the side of the window, the metal next to her hand started to crack.

"Ok then," Craig said.

A Taranian woman started walking up the aisle with a small communicator in her hand. "Hello passengers, welcome to flight 013, the last night flight of the day. We'll be departing the station soon. Please stay in your seats as we pass through the Taranian nebula straight away, it does get a bit bumpy. After the nebula it is a smooth trip, so you can leave your seats at anytime to visit the bar. Thank you for your attention."

"Oh god, it's a plane," Lena muttered.

"What?" Craig muttered.

"It looks like the inside of a plane, you have to stay in your seats like you're on a plane," Lena said nervously.

Ashley sat forward and looked through the gap. "Are you ok, Lena?"

"I'm fine, it's just it feels like I'm on a plane just like the one in Tom's Vegas program," Lena replied.

"Ah, that's what's wrong," Craig said.

"What's a plane?" Ashley asked.

"You know that thing we went on before entering the Vegas part. Lena was terrified of it because she doesn't like heights," Craig replied.

"I was not terrified.. and I'm not now. This is just a shuttle," Lena said.

Annika glanced behind her. "Some Chosen Slayers you and your brother are. He faints at the sight of a lot of blood and is scared of the dark. You are scared of heights and hate the sight of the dead."

"Shut up Annika," Craig said.

Everyone felt the shuttle lift off the ground, and fly forward slowly. The shuttle flew straight through the forcefield keeping the air in. The shuttle then entered the nearby nebula. The whole shuttle started shaking violently, the hull started to crack.

Inside everyone was panicking, while Sid was having the time of his life.

"Oh cool, I'm gonna have a painful death!" Sid grinned.

There was an explosion at the front of the shuttle, a huge wave of fire shot straight through the shuttle, killing everyone instantly....

Lena jumped, and she turned away from the window. She looked around, everything was normal, then looked back out the window. People were still inside the bay.

"Are you ok, Lena?" Craig asked.

Lena put her hand against the side of the window, as before the metal beside it started to crack.

The Taranian woman started walking up the aisle with the small communicator in her hand. "Hello passengers, welcome to flight 013, the last night flight of the day. We'll be departing the station soon. Please stay in your seats as we pass through the Taranian nebula straight away, it does get a bit bumpy. After the nebula it is a smooth trip, so you can leave your seats at anytime to visit the bar. Thank you for your attention."

"Bumpy? It's gonna blow!" Lena stuttered. She stood up, Craig grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto her seat. Everyone on the shuttle was watching them.

"Lena, calm down," Craig said calmly.

"The shuttle's going to blow.. Craig get up.. we're leaving," Lena stuttered.

Craig hesitated before standing up. Lena stood up as he went onto the aisle. "I advice everyone to get off the shuttle, as soon as it enters the nebula it'll explode."

Annika rolled her eyes before standing up. She went onto the aisle. "Lena stop scaring all these people."

"I'm trying to save them, you can stay behind for all I care," Lena said.

"How do you know it's going to explode, only I have the flash forwards," Annika said.

The Taranian woman came up behind Annika. "Please, can you take your seats."

"No, the shuttle's going to explode!" Lena yelled.

"Oh give it up Lena," Annika said angrily, she pushed Lena roughly.

Lena tried to lunge for her but Craig held her back. Some security type people came into the shuttle, two of them took a hold of Annika. They dragged her out of the shuttle. The others went up to Lena and Craig, they forced them out as well.

"Guys, get off the shuttle, that's an order!" Lena yelled as she disappeared out the door.

"Oh... getting blown up sounds fun," Sid moaned.

Thompson and O'Hara quickly got up, and they followed the others out of the shuttle. Ashley turned to the twin that had the aisle seat. "Excuse me, she just ordered me to leave," he said. The twin nervously nodded and she got out of her seat. Ashley stood up. More security type people came in, they went straight over to Ashley and the twin.

"You too, come on then," one said. He and the others got a hold of Ashley and the twin. He started to drag them both out. The other twin stood up.

"But sir.. she wasn't going to leave!" the twin yelled. The Taranian woman came over.

"Please sit down, ma'am, we're about to take off," she said calmly.

"Sid... get off the shuttle or you won't be able to get hurt ever again!" Ashley yelled before he disappeared out the door.

Sid's eyes widened, he got out of his seat and he ran after Ashley.

The security type men let go of Lena and Craig, and they forced them to sit down on the bay seats. Annika was forced down too. Thompson and O'Hara rushed over to them, not far behind them was Ashley, Sid and the twin.

"Good work Lena, you really screwed that mission up. Now we're going to be stuck here until their 6 in the morning to get the next shuttle," Annika said.

"I saved your life, Annika.. I could easily make up for it," Lena said.

"Lena," Craig moaned.

"Yeah Lena, leave it," Ashley said.

"No, I don't know what your problem is Barbie, but don't take it out on me," Lena said as she stood back up.

"Oh spare me, Miss Dumbway. The only reason you and James got in command of the Enterprise is because you and him are both 'mommys little hell angels'," Annika said as she stood up.

"You are so dead, b**ch," Lena growled, and she jumped onto Annika.

The shuttle then started hovering, and flew straight through the forcefield, nobody paid any attention though.

The security type people tried to pull Annika and Lena apart, with no such luck. Suddenly a huge shockwave emerged from the nearby nebula and collided with the station. The station shook violently, everyone fell to the ground. Lena backed away from Annika, and stared at the debris that was coming from the nebula.

Everyone looked towards Lena. She pulled herself back onto her feet without taking her eyes off the large forcefield.

The Conference Room:
Kathryn, Chakotay and James were standing around the table, Yasmin was sitting at the table looking bored stiff. Kathryn started pacing the room, Chakotay and James were standing next to each other watching her.

"Kathryn calm down, Lena's ok remember," Chakotay said.

Kathryn glared at him, she then turned her back on him and continued pacing. "You don't care, you just care about your precious Annika."

"Precious is hardly the word," Chakotay muttered.

Kathryn growled and she stood on the other side of James, not daring to look Chakotay's way. "You would say that, our daughter could of been killed and you..."

"I don't care about Annika. I care a lot about Lena's well being, she is my only daughter after all," Chakotay said angrily.

Kathryn turned to face him. "Well show more concern and I may even believe you!"

"Oh yeah?" Chakotay said.

"Yeah!" Kathryn yelled.

"Ok then I will!" Chakotay yelled back.

"Fine!" Kathryn yelled.

"Do you mind.. not in front of the kids," James said.

"He's right, we should be setting a good example to the children," Kathryn said.

Chakotay looked confused. "What children?"

"Are you stupid too? James and Yasmin," Kathryn replied.

"They're not kids, and they're not mine!" Chakotay snapped, and he walked away from Kathryn.

"And he says that like it's a bad thing," Yasmin muttered.

"Who'd want you for their kid," James said.

"Hey! I meant that comment as an insult to you!" Yasmin yelled.

"Oh do you see me looking insulted?" James asked.

"Yes actually," Yasmin replied.

"You must be looking in a mirror then, go and cry on mummy's shoulder," James said as he folded his arms.

Yasmin stood up and she was about to reply when Kathryn interrupted. "Now that's enough! See Chakotay, we set a bad example."

"Oh for crying out loud, stop drinking that damn coffee," Chakotay groaned.

"Hey I need it to relieve the stress," Kathryn said.

"And it makes you look a fool too," Chakotay muttered.

The doors opened and the awayteam came in, followed by three Taranians. Kathryn rushed over to Lena. "Honey are you ok?"

"I don't know," Lena muttered.

"What exactly happened?" Chakotay asked.

"We believe that the shuttle was sabotaged, it exploded as soon as it entered the nebula," one of the Taranians said.

"Sabotage, how can you tell?" Kathryn asked.

"Captain, our shuttles have passed hundreds of safety tests. Our shuttles are among the safest in the quadrant, there is no chance that the shuttle exploded by technical fault or incompetent pilots," the Taranian said.

"Also all of the survivors were your crewmembers, excluding one Taranian female. It seems convenient that the leader of your team ordered the rest to leave just moments before departure," another Taranian said.

"Hang on a minute, you think we sabotaged the shuttle?" Chakotay asked.

"That's ridiculous, you have no proof," Lena replied angrily.

"Lena, calm down," Kathryn said.

"We haven't accused anyone at the moment. We questioned your entire team, we see no reason for them to leave the station just yet," the first Taranian said.

"But we have three important missions, we haven't got time for this," Kathryn said.

"We need to know who caused that explosion. It killed nearly thirty people, most were from alien races that'll want explanations. You understand," the first Taranian said.

"I'm sorry. We'll just have to delay our mission to your homeworld for now. Lena, hand over command to James again.." Kathryn said.

"What for?" Lena asked angrily.

Kathryn ignored her and turned to James. "Take the Enterprise to Selara Prime, I'm afraid you're going to have to do all the trading with the Selarans."

"Oh crap, I hate trading," James muttered.

"Oh boo hoo," Yasmin said.

"Excuse me Captain, but isn't the Enterprise the larger ship?" the Taranian asked.

"Yes, why?" Kathryn asked.

"That ship was the one where your team originally transported from. We'll need to inspect the whole ship for explosives of any kind. It's procedure," the Taranian replied.

Lena smiled. "Looks like I stay in command, Voyager will have to do the trading."

"I don't think you being in command after what happened is a good idea," Kathryn said.

"What? I'm fine!" Lena yelled.

"I hate to say it Lena, but you're still trembling," Craig muttered.

"No I'm not!" Lena yelled.

"I'm sorry Lena, James will have to stay in command at least until he screws up," Kathryn said.

"Why, isn't that the Janeway way?" James commented.

"At least then we can decide whether he can be first officer or not," Kathryn grumbled, ignoring him.

"Oh god, that ship is turning into a monarchy ship. May as well make Yasmin third in command, demote Lena to first officer, and make James the captain," Chakotay muttered. Yasmin perked up and she grinned.

"Chakotay, not in front of the guests," Kathryn said quietly.

"If we may, we'd like to transport to your other ship and begin investigating," the Taranian said.

"Yes of course," Kathryn said.

Everyone but Chakotay, Kathryn and Yasmin made their way out of the room. Chakotay and Kathryn glanced at Yasmin, she rolled her eyes and she left the room.

"This is getting ridiculous. Can't you keep your comments to yourself until we're alone?" Kathryn asked.

"It had to be said, having Lena in charge of that ship is bad enough. She even proved that to you last week when she fired on Voyager. Now you've got James in charge when Voyager isn't around, he's turned psycho a few times," Chakotay replied.

"He won't do that again," Kathryn said.

"You're just not listening to my advice because you hate me right now, I suggest that.." Chakotay said.

"Get out!" Kathryn yelled.

Chakotay sighed and he walked out.

Meanwhile on the station:
The surviving twin stepped inside the 'prayer room', no one was inside and all the lights were off. She pulled a small piece of paper out of her pocket, knelt down and placed it on the floor in front of her. She then began to read from the piece of paper. "Kasuna ta tiruna jas a laroutea." A dark grey could emerged from the ground and circled the twin.

"Of the thirteenth hour of the thirteenth day of the thirteenth month. Oh bringer of all death, take the humans who escaped your grasp. Take them in thy order of which they went into the place of death," the twin said. The cloud continued to circle her before it then spread around the room and went through the walls.

Just after midnight, Enterprise's Sickbay:
Ashley stepped through the door holding a bottle of coke, he stopped in his tracks. The room was pitch black, and there was no one in sight. He carefully stepped further into the room.

"Computer, lights," Ashley said.

"Unable to comply."

"Ok, activate EMH," Ashley said.

"Unable to comply, the EMH's activation system has been encoded."

Ashley continued to go further into the room until he bumped into the main console near the biobeds. He put down his bottle and he started to work on it. His hand moved to the right, knocking something made of plastic over. He managed to pick it up, it felt like his bottle of coke. He took a drink out of it before continuing.

"Come on, work dammit," Ashley muttered as he hit the console. He turned around and immediately crashed into something. He heard what sounded like hyposprays falling onto the ground. He knelt down and felt around for them. He picked up one, he continued to feel around for more.

As he found a second hypospray he felt a strange wind blow passed him, and heard the medical trolley rattling. He felt a hypospray fall onto his back, then he felt something get injected into him. Within a few seconds he felt dizzy, he fell onto the floor.

A few minutes later Lena rushed into the room. "Computer lights," she said. This time the lights came on. She looked around the room, and she saw Ashley lying on the ground surrounded by hyposprays and a plastic bottle. "Computer activate EMH," Lena stuttered as she turned away from the sight.

Freddie appeared out of nowhere. He flickered before running over to Lena. "Hiya pet, I'm so glad to see you." He flickered again. "You're a spoilt little brat, and everyone hates you!" he yelled. He flickered again, he seemed normal before looking Ashley's way. He screamed like a sissy, then grabbed a hold of Lena by the arms and started shaking her. "Oh my god, he's dead... oh my god."

Lena pushed the hologram away from her. "What the hell's up with you?"

"He's dead, he's dead.. oh my god, I'd better get him to the morgue. Oh dear," Freddie stuttered. He pressed some controls quickly and Ashley beamed away. Freddie flickered again. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency...." he flickered again. "State the nature of the engineering emergency.. god you people can't do anything yourselves."

"Computer deactivate the EMH," Lena said. Freddie disappeared.

The Conference Room:
Lena, Craig, Tom, Tani and Nikki were all standing nearby the table. James and Jessie were sitting at the table.

Nikki was reading a PADD as Lena talked. "And there he was surrounded by hyposprays and a bottle of spiked coke."

"It must of been murder right?" Craig asked.

"Of course it was, Ashley would never take his own life," Tani muttered in response.

"Who would want to murder Ashley? He hasn't really got any enemies, plus he hasn't been in any fights or anything," Craig asked.

"So what happened? And when is that dumba** doctor going to revive him?" Tani asked angrily.

"I got a theory, someone who murders for no reason murdered Ashley for .. er no reason," Tom replied.

"I don't think there's anyone on the ship like that," Lena said. Craig and Tom glanced at each other nervously, and they then glanced James' way. He didn't notice straight away.

"What? You think I did it?" James asked, holding a lollipop in his mouth. Lena rolled her eyes.

"Don't be stupid Tom, Craig.. he looks so innocent," Tani said. Everyone but Nikki groaned.

"Innocent? I haven't been called that in a while," James muttered.

"James don't talk with that in your mouth," Jessie said.

Tom shook his head, "looks like you're going to marry your second mother."

"Shut up, Tom," Jessie muttered.

"Anyway getting back to topic, we think this is murder right? Craig, you know the drill," Lena said.

"Yeah.. getting right on it," Craig said.

"Hey Lena, you don't tell him what to do.. I do," James said.

"No you don't, it would be too confusing. I mean I'm your superior when it comes to security, so you can't boss me around," Craig said.

"No need to go anyway. It wasn't murder," Nikki muttered. Everyone glanced her way. "It was most definitely suicide."

"What makes you think that?" Tom asked.

"According to the morgue scanners, he was injected with a pain killing drug and he had a large amount of alcohol in his system," Nikki replied.

"Ashley wouldn't kill himself," Tani said.

"Hey I'm the nurse here, you accept my opinion," Nikki said.

"I do? Since when?" Tani asked.

"All right, both of you stop it," Tom said.

"I think we should get a second opinion on Ashley, I mean Nikki isn't a qualified nurse," Craig said.

"Oh but I'm the most qualified on this ship, besides that doctor.. but he's malfunctioning," Nikki said.

"That's why a second opinion would be a good idea, if we find the same as you then.." Craig said.

"That's a good idea. Someone who knows something about suicide should go," Jessie said.

Lena quickly glanced at James. "Please go, I don't wanna. You know dead bodies give me the creeps."

"Hey, I don't know things about suicide. I just tried it a few times," James said.

"Lena, I'll go. I am chief of security I have to go," Craig said.

"Yeah but you know nothing about suicide, you have no experience," Lena said.

"I do in a way, I know two people who've tried it," Craig said.

"Correction, three," Jessie said.

"What, who's number three?" Craig asked.

"Doesn't matter, I think Lena should go with Craig to check out Ashley," James said.

"But I hate the sight of the dead, I'm the worst person to go," Lena protested.

"It might help you get over your fear," James said.

"Yeah it probably will. I mean James got over his fear of blood by going all evil," Tom said a little too quickly.

"Er... yeah I got over it, I think. Wait a minute.. oh for god's sake I don't know," James said.

"Ok.. he may not of made any sense there, but I think he's right about the whole you coming with me thing," Craig said.

"Oh crap, fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," Lena grumbled.

"James, have you got anymore of those lollipops?" Jessie asked.

"No, just this one," James replied as he took the lollipop out of his mouth.

"Can I have it?" Jessie asked. James shrugged and he handed the lollipop over to her. She kissed him on the cheek before putting the lollipop in her mouth. Everyone looked at her with disgusted looks on their faces. "What? I'm not allowed to kiss my own boyfriend?"

Tani shook her head, Lena quickly elbowed her. "Well yeah, it's just the lollipop. That was in his mouth."

"And?" Jessie said, confused. Everyone but her and James groaned.

End of Part I

Part II

The morgue:
Craig entered the room, Lena stood by the door with a nervous look on her face. Craig went over to the bed where Ashley lay.

"Hmm, I wonder why he's still here. I thought this ship had it's own morgue guy," Craig said.

"It does? Why didn't you say so," Lena said from the doorway. She was about to leave but Craig stopped her.

"Oh come on Lena, it's only Ashley," Craig said. He went back over to where Ashley was, Lena slowly followed him. "I don't get it, Ashley died in similar way to when you tried suicide ages ago yet Nikki can't revive him."

"Oh crap," Lena muttered as she stood behind Craig.

"What now?" Craig asked.

"No one tried to revive him, that stupid doctor just beamed him straight here. Maybe we can revive him," Lena replied.

"Then at least we can find out what happened. Why didn't you mention this before?" Craig asked.

"I thought I did," Lena muttered.

Suddenly Ashley's arm moved, Lena squealed and she hid behind Craig again.

"What the... how did," Craig stuttered.

They both heard a small giggle coming from behind them, they turned around and saw the twin coming towards them. She went over to stand near Ashley. "I'm so sorry, couldn't resist it." She moved her hand up, Ashley's arm moved up at the same time. Her hand lowered, his arm dropped back onto the bed.

"You've got telekinetic powers," Lena muttered.

"No.. I've just been into witchcraft for a few years," the twin said.

"You're the girl who came off the shuttle with us, aren't you?" Craig asked. The twin nodded. "Why are you here?"

"The one in charge of the other ship let me come aboard the ship so you can drop me off at the Taranian homeworld when the Taranians are finished their investigation," the twin replied.

"Oh.. why are you in here?" Craig asked.

"I got lost, you?" the twin replied.

"Just investigating," Craig said.

"I'm sorry, I'm so rude. My name's Lidia," the twin said.

"I'm Craig, I'm in charge of security, this is Lena.. she used to be the captain," Craig said.

"Still am. Now if you're quite finished we have to beam Ashley to Sickbay," Lena said angrily.

"Beam him to Sickbay, why?" Lidia asked.

"That's none.." Lena replied.

"He was beamed to the wrong place, he can be revived," Craig replied.

"You're wrong.. he can't be revived. Death's already claimed him," Lidia said.

Lena rolled her eyes and she stepped out from behind Craig. "Come on, transport him."

"Hang on, what do you mean by death's already claimed him?" Craig asked.

"We were all meant to die on that shuttle. It was our time, but the six of you cheated death once again. The more you cheat him the more determined he'll be to kill you," Lidia replied.

"Death is not a person. Death is something that happens," Lena said.

"Believe what you want, it won't change anything. Isn't it just a bit convenient that the first survivor of who went onto that shuttle died for mysterious reasons," Lidia said.

"Mysterious reasons, he wasn't murdered and he didn't commit suicide. It was obviously an accident," Lena said.

"In death there are no accidents, death has a design for all of us. Right now it's got designs of all your team," Lidia said.

"What about you?" Craig asked.

"If it had designs on me I would of been killed before this one. I may see you later," Lidia replied. She left the room.

"God there's always one isn't there. Beam Ashley to Sickbay," Lena said as she headed towards the door. Craig didn't move a muscle, he seemed to be in mid thought. "Craig!" Lena yelled.

"Oh sorry," Craig said nervously, he keyed in some commands on a nearby console. Ashley beamed away.

"Janeway to Sickbay, Nikki try and revive Ashley," Lena said just before she stepped out the door.

The Mess Hall:
The rest of the awayteam were all sitting on one table, while unknown crewmembers took over the rest of the tables in the room.

"Ok I bet you're all wondering why I asked you here," Craig said.

"Well duh, I was busy," Thompson said. O'Hara giggled.

"You see I think we're all in danger," Craig said.

"Cool!" Sid laughed. Everyone ignored him.

"You see we all survived the shuttle accident, I have a feeling that we're all going to die soon because we skipped death," Craig said.

"Ok, I doubt that. I've skipped death so many times I have a universal record," Annika said.

"No, skipped death means that you just narrowly miss being killed. You keep getting killed, there's a difference," Craig said.

"She does have a point Craig. The whole crew have skipped death countless times when the ship has been in danger of blowing up, yet you don't see a guy with a black cloak and a scythe coming after all of us," Lena said. Thompson and O'Hara laughed, Sid just looked disappointed.

"Don't forgot Jessie, she died yet she came back," Annika said.

"Annika.. I told you. Skipped death means just narrowly missing getting killed off. Like for example being stabbed, yet just being saved at the nick of time," Craig said.

"Craig you're just trying to make sense of what that other witch said. She doesn't know what she's talking about," Lena said.

"She had a point. Ashley died only hours after he narrowly escaped being killed in a shuttle accident. He wasn't murdered, he didn't commit suicide, like the shuttle it was an accident," Craig said.

"Craig if another pretty face told you that all planets were in fact flat instead of round, you'd believe her," Lena said.

"She's got a point," Thompson said. O'Hara and Annika nodded their heads in agreement.

"So believe this pretty face when it says... we are not in danger, death isn't coming for us," Lena said.

"I don't believe that, see I don't believe every pretty face," Craig said.

"It isn't pretty anyway, let me tell him," Annika grumbled.

"I don't think he'd believe slutty faces. I'll prove my point," Lena said. She glanced around, she spotted James and Jessie coming into the room. "Hey, guys over here!" James and Jessie headed towards the table.

"What's up?" James asked.

"I just want Jess to prove a point," Lena replied. She stood up and she whispered something into Jessie's ear.

"I'm not falling for it," Craig muttered.

"Yeah she ain't pretty either," Annika grumbled.

"Oh ok," Jessie said. Lena sat back down. "Er Craig.. is that a spot on your face?"

"What! Where?" Craig panicked. Then he calmed down and pouted. "That was not a fair test."

"It so was.. you'd believe any pretty face wouldn't you," Lena said.

"So that means you're not pretty, Lena," Annika sniggered. Lena narrowed her eyes at her.

"No she is, I just know for certain that my theory is right," Craig said.

"What theory?" James asked.

"It's ok, Jamesy, Craig's just got this really dumb idea that all of us at this table are going to die," Lena replied.

"Jamesy?" Jessie said questioningly.

"My name for him," Lena said, she glanced at Jessie who looked even more confused. Lena quickly turned back to Craig. "Ok Craig erm.. see how I proved my point," she stuttered.

"She's got a pet name for you?" Jessie asked.

"Uhoh," James muttered, he headed straight for the nearest door. Jessie quickly followed him.

"Look Lena.. all we have to do is stick together to stop anyone getting killed. If I'm wrong then it won't do any harm. if I'm right then we'll escape death," Craig said.

"All right, fine," Lena muttered.

"I'm guessing that whoever's next will be the one that got onto the shuttle after Ashley. Trouble is, I don't know who did," Craig said.

O'Hara stood up, "nuh uh, no way. I'm not going to die and that's final." She stormed out of the room. Everyone at the table got up and quickly followed her. Thompson went over to her.

"It's ok honey, I won't let anything happen to you," Thompson said.

"Calm down, we have no way of knowing that Craig's theory is right," Annika said.

"Well if we protect O'Hara then she'll be safe and so will the rest of us be," Craig said.

O'Hara backed into the turbolift door. "I'm never going to die anyway, so you can all leave me alone."

"Honey don't panic, he doesn't know what he's talking about," Thompson said.

"I don't care.. he can just drop f***ing dead," O'Hara said. Suddenly the turbolift doors opened and she fell through the doors.. but there was no turbolift there. As soon as she fell a turbolift came zooming down. The turbolift doors closed.

Thompson dropped to his knees, "Laura... nooooooooooooo!"

"Oh cool! I wish I could die like that," Sid said. Everyone ignored his comment, they just stared in horror at the turbolift doors.

"I hate to say it, but her getting killed by her makeout point is quite ironic," Craig muttered.

"No it isn't," Annika said.

Lena glanced at Craig. "I guess you were right, oh s**t."

"Yeah.. now I wish I wasn't," Craig muttered.

"I hate to ask.. but who went in the shuttle after O'Hara?" Lena asked.

Annika's eyes widened, and she ran down the corridor. Nobody noticed her go.

"I don't know," Craig replied.

Juna's Quarters:
Juna was lying on the sofa reading the spell book. The door chimed. "Like yeah?" Annika rushed into the room.

"Juna, I need your help," she said frantically.

Juna closed the book and she sat up. "Like calm down. What's up like?"

"Look I'm going to die," Annika said.

"So like what else is new," Juna said.

"I know, but I'm sick and tired of dying. Is there a spell in there that'll stop me from dying?" Annika asked.

Juna flicked through the book. "I wish you like asked me earlier. There is like a temporary spell that like stops you from being like killed by your usual means.. like for example knife wounds, like burns, like phaser shots, the writers.. you name it," Juna replied.

"Great, that'll do," Annika said.

"There is a like problem though," Juna said.

"What?" Annika asked.

"There is no way you can like live if you have no like body, obviously. So the like spell can't save you if like you're in an explosion, or your like body is vaporised," Juna replied.

"That's fine, it's better than nothing. Hurry cast it," Annika said.

"I don't like do it, you do it like," Juna said. She handed the book to Annika.

Sickbay:
What was left of the awayteam stepped through the door. Lena and Craig went straight over to Nikki.

"Well, why did you call?" Lena asked.

"It took a while but I managed to revive Ashley," Nikki replied. She stepped to the side, Lena and Craig saw Ashley sitting on the biobed.

"Ashley, you ok?" Craig asked.

"I've been better," Ashley replied.

"What happened?" Lena asked.

"Freddie called me to Sickbay, when I got there it was dark. I couldn't switch the lights on or activate Freddie. I tried to fix whatever the problem was but I couldn't. I turned around and bumped into a medical trolley. When I went to pick up some hyposprays that fell on the floor, one fell on my back. It was like somebody was injecting it into me, but there was no one there. Then I blacked out," Ashley replied.

"How do you know that someone wasn't there?" Craig asked.

"Well for starters I hadn't heard footsteps or breathing. All I heard was a windy noise," Ashley replied.

"It's strange, the lights came on when I asked, and so did Freddie.. yet he was acting oddly," Lena said.

"Someone had tapped into his program, probably somebody wanted a cheap laugh at the wrong time," Nikki said.

"Typical," Craig muttered as he turned to Lena. "Right, Lena."

Lena wasn't listening to him, she was staring at something in front of her. She jumped suddenly, then glanced at Craig. "Annika, she's next." She said before she ran out of the room.

"What? How does she know that?" Craig asked himself.

"Next for what?" Ashley asked.

Annika's Quarters:
Annika strode in looking pleased with herself. She went over to the replicator. "Glass of water," she ordered. A glass with a clear liquid substance appeared. She picked it up, she walked over to her computer. It turned on.

She took a sip of the drink not knowing that there was a crack in the glass, and the liquid was leaking onto the computer. Her face grimaced. "Damn it, this is not water.." she muttered. Then she headed back over to the replicator and put the glass back.

The computer sparked and smoke started to come from it. Annika turned around and went closer to it. "Ohno, not again." Suddenly the computer exploded showering glass from the screen everywhere. Two pieces shot straight into Annika's neck. Blood went everywhere, she quickly put her hand against the wounds to stop the blood but it continued to go all over her hand.

She stumbled into the wall, as she did the flames from the computer spread along where the liquid from the glass spilt. Soon the whole room was up in flames. Annika rushed to the door, as she did there was a huge explosion and she was thrown hard onto the ground. A sharp piece of the door flew in her direction, and landed right in her stomach.

"Oh s***," Annika muttered.

Two people came walking towards her. "Hey, you're getting blood all over the carpet," one said. They both walked straight passed her. The other one stopped and tapped her commbadge.

"Finla to Bridge, there's a fire in Annika's Quarters."

In: "Yeah whatever... the computer will put it out."

In: "Did you say Annika's quarters? Ooh baby, is she in there?"

In: "Tom of course she will be."

"I'm in a lot of pain here you b**tards! Get a medical team here and treat me!" Annika screamed.

In: "Er.. what medical team. Quickly cut the commlink off."

Annika groaned. "Great I can't die so I have to put up with this. I'll have to go to Sickbay myself."

A guy walked passed her and snorted, "hurry up and die already, god."

"That's it, I can't take being hated anymore. There's only one way I'll be able to get rid of this pain," Annika said. She stood up slowly, blood still running from her neck, and blood coming from her stomach. She slowly walked down the corridor. As she did the fire in her quarters died down, and then suddenly went out entirely.

A few minutes Lena arrived outside, she looked inside Annika's quarters. The whole room was burnt to a crisp, she obviously saw no sign of Annika. She looked around, then spotted a blood stain on the carpet. "Computer locate Annika Hansen."

"Annika Hansen is in Engineering."

Engineering:
Nearby the warp core was a small plasma fire, there was a forcefield around the area.

"Wow this is going to be great," Danny said as she stuffed her face with popcorn. Ian stood beside her, he put his arm around her and tried to steal some popcorn. Danny, without taking her eyes off the warp core, slapped his hand away.

Nearby Ian and Danny was Tani, Faye, and the rest of the Engineering staff.

"Er don't you think we should put out that plasma fire?" Faye asked nervously.

"We will when she's finished," Ian replied.

"Yeah she'd better hurry up or she'll kill us all," Tani said.

"Don't try and stop me!" Annika yelled from the above level.

"We won't!" one guy yelled.

"Yeah hurry up!" a girl yelled.

In: "Stuart to Engineering, isn't someone going to sort out that plasma fire?"

Tani was about to answer but Danny covered her mouth. "Yeah in a minute."

In: "Danny, the scanners say it's near the warp core. It'll blow if you don't put it out."

"Ok anything for you!" Tani yelled as she got out of Danny's grip. Danny and Ian held her back.

Lena ran in, she quickly ran up to Danny and the others. "Have you seen Annika?"

"Oh yeah," Danny replied and she pointed to the above level. Annika looked like she was ready to jump into the fire.

"Oh s**t," Lena muttered.

"You people don't care about me!" Annika yelled.

"Right on!" one guy yelled.

"You don't care that I'm in pain, so I'll take you with me!" Annika yelled.

Everyone cheered, then they looked around at each other nervously.

"Uhoh," somebody muttered.

"Annika, come away from the core!" Lena yelled.

"No! I'm going to pretend to be wanting to jump until that fire blows up that core!" Annika yelled.

"Hurry up and jump you b**ch!" one guy yelled.

"You stupid idiots, put out that fire now!" Lena yelled.

"But she's going to jump, can't it wait?" Ian asked.

"Didn't you hear what she just said?" Lena groaned.

"Oh.." everyone muttered.

Danny rushed over to a console, but as she did Annika lost her balance and fell into the plasma fire.

"Ooooh wow," everyone but Lena said.

The fire spread further, the ship started shaking violently as the fire spread to the core.

"Everyone out, now!" Lena yelled. Everyone didn't argue, they all ran towards the main doors. "Computer eject the core."

"Unable to comply."

"Why not?" Lena asked.

"The rule of Star Trek states that any Enterprise is not allowed to eject the core more than once."

"What? That's bulls***," Lena muttered. She rushed over to a console and she started working on it.

In: "Stuart to Engineering, we're detecting a core breach."

"Yeah I know, I have to eject it manually the computer won't eject it because of some dumb rule," Lena muttered.

In: "But Lena the area is starting to fill with plasma radiation, get out of there!"

"What's the point, if I don't we'll all die anyway," Lena said as she worked.

The Bridge:
"Ohno, we're going to die. James are you sure Chakotay's not your father?" Tom asked.

"Definitely, why?" James asked.

"Well whenever he's in command he has a habit of nearly killing us too," Tom replied.

"The core's been ejected," Triah said.

"Tom, move the ship and warn the station, damn it," James said.

"Hey I can't do two things at once," Tom muttered as he worked fast at his station.

The warp core exploded, a shockwave emerged from it, and collided with the Enterprise and the station's shields.

"Shields are holding, so's the stations shields," Jessie said from tactical.

James tapped his commbadge, "Stuart to Janeway. Lena?"

"I was expecting that," Tom muttered.

"Shut up, Tom. Contact Sickbay, tell them to beam Lena there," James said.

Tom nodded, "I was expecting that too."

"We're being hailed by the station," Triah said.

"Crap, put them on screen," James said.

The viewscreen changed to show a Taranian behind a desk. "What is the meaning of this?"

"What?" James said questioningly.

"You sent that thing to damage our station, why?" the Taranian asked angrily.

"We didn't, that was our core.. it breached," James replied.

"We don't want to hear any excuses. Your crew are all under arrest, prepare to be boarded," the Taranian said. The viewscreen changed back to space view.

"Jess, please tell me the shields are still ok," James said nervously.

"Yeah they are, they're at 70%," Jessie said.

"We'd better lower them, they'll think we're guilty if we keep them up," Tom said.

"Would Janeway lower the shields and allow those aliens to arrest the crew?" James asked.

"No, she probably wouldn't," Tom replied.

"Well then we keep the shields up," James said.

Sickbay:
Lena was lying on one of the biobeds, Nikki was standing beside the bed treating her. Craig was on the other side. Thompson was looking through some hyposprays while Sid just stood looking bored. Ashley came over to stand beside Craig.

"How is she?" Ashley asked.

"She'll live, she was only in the radiation for a short amount of time," Nikki replied.

"She wasn't next, of course she didn't die," Craig said.

"So who is next?" Ashley asked.

"Ooh ooh, me me! I want a slow one!" Sid yelled.

"No I want to be next, there's no point in living now," Thompson said.

"Great, I didn't think they'd be fighting over who's next," Craig muttered.

"I am next though, Annika pushed me out of the way so she could get on," Sid said.

"Tough s**t, I'm next," Thompson said as he picked up a hypospray. Nikki rushed over to him and snatched the hypospray off him.

"I think I'd better hide the rest of the hyposprays," Nikki said.

"Thompson I know you feel upset about your wife being dead but there's no reason for suicide," Craig said.

"Yes there is, I have no life now.. I may as well be dead," Thompson said.

"Oh for god's sake wait your turn," Ashley moaned.

"Yeah, I go first," Sid said. He ran out of the room.

Lena woke up, she quickly sat up. "We're not dead, the ship didn't blow up, good it worked."

"Yeah but we may as well be dead, Sid's gone and he's next," Craig said.

"Right let's go," Lena said. She climbed off the biobed, then she and the rest of the team went towards the door.

"You can't go, you need to recover. If you don't you may collapse.. etc.. whatever," Nikki said as everyone left the room. She sat down on the biobed and begun reading a PADD. "I tried."

Outside Holodeck 1:
Lena, Craig, Ashley and Thompson arrived outside the doors.

"Computer what program is running?" Lena asked.

"Program Sid-0089-beta."

"Great that helps," Lena muttered.

Craig fiddled with the side panel, the doors opened. "Let's go."

Everyone made their way into the holodeck. They found themselves in a dark forest.

"Great, a forest.. we're never going to find him," Ashley said.

"Wait a minute do you hear that?" Craig asked. The sound of a train was slowly getting louder and louder. Craig turned to Lena who seemed out of it again. Craig tapped her on the shoulder, she jumped.

"A train... oh crap. We haven't got that much time," Lena said. She ran further into the forest. The guys quickly followed her.

Lena pushed passed some buses and found a single railway track. The guys came up behind her. They all looked up and down the track. "There he is... the crazy son of a.." Craig said. He pushed his way through the bushes and ran up the track. Lena, Ashley and Thompson followed.

They all saw a small car on the tracks. Inside was Sid sitting cheerfully, singing very off-key. Craig got there first.

"Computer freeze program!" Lena yelled.

"Unable to comply, holodeck controls have been frozen."

"What do you think you're doing!" Craig yelled.

"Hey why bother waiting for death to come, it'll probably be quick and painless. At least this way it's more fun," Sid said.

"If you die the cycle will continue and the rest of us will die too," Craig said. Just then the others caught up.

"Oh god, look!" Ashley yelled as he pointed further down the track. Everyone looked, and they saw the train coming.

"Damn it Sid, get out of the car!" Lena yelled, as Craig tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"No.. this'll be fun," Sid said.

"Do I have to explain this again, you won't feel anymore pain when you're dead," Ashley said.

Sid's smiled faded, he started to think. Lena and Craig groaned.

"Hurry up, open the door!" Craig yelled.

"Thompson, Ashley get off the track," Lena said.

Thompson just rolled his eyes and he walked off the track. "I don't want to die like that."

"I won't leave the track until you guys do," Ashley said.

"Now!" Lena yelled, she pushed Ashley off the track and he fell into Thompson. They both fell onto the ground. "Craig you too," Lena said.

"No way," Craig said.

Sid glanced at the two. "Ashley's right, it's not my time." He tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. "Uhoh."

"Ah to hell with it, here's some fun Sid," Lena said angrily, she smashed the window.

"Wow, that was so cool," Sid said as he pulled some glass out of his face. Craig and Lena groaned again, they tried to pull him out of the window.

"Ah s**t," Craig muttered as he spotted how close the train was. The train was now only a few metres away. He pushed Lena off the track as soon as they pulled Sid out. She fell onto the ground. Craig and Sid got off the track, a few seconds later the train smashed into the car.

"Oh god that was close," Lena sighed.

Thompson stood up. "You nearly got us all killed, I want to die my own way thank you very much!"

"You didn't have to save me," Sid said.

"Yes we did, if we didn't the cycle would of continued and killed the rest of us!" Thompson yelled.

"Thompson calm down," Lena said.

"No.. what he did dis-respected all the others who have died because of this, including my wife! Annika's not included, but she never is! You're sick, Sid, sick!" Thompson yelled. The train finally went passed, only bits of metal was what was left of the car. A bit of metal flew in the group's direction, and it sliced straight through Thompson's neck.

"Oh my god!" Lena screamed.

"Holy crap," Ashley muttered. Thompson's head landed nearby him, he stood up and got as far away from it as possible. Thompson's body fell onto the ground.

Everyone glanced Sid's way. "Er.. oops."

"No this can't be.. Thompson was right before me. He was after Sid, Sid survived so it killed him instead," Craig said.

"So the cycle isn't broken," Ashley said.

"No.. I'm next, then it's Lena," Craig said.

"So I'm in the clear, right?" Sid asked.

"I don't know, maybe it'll come back to you," Ashley replied.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Craig said. He, Lena and Sid stood up, then they and Ashley headed back the way they came.

The Conference Room:
Lena, Craig, Ashley, Sid, Nikki and James were all sitting at the table.

"So Sid and Ashley are in the clear?" Nikki said questioningly.

"We don't know, I mean it may come back for Sid. Ashley did die so maybe it will let him off," Craig said.

"So it's just you and Lena left," James said.

"That's right," Lena muttered.

"Well try not to die like Mr Thompson, it took me a while to clean up that mess," Nikki said.

Everyone stared at her. "Nikki, they're not going to die.. right," James said.

"No, they are," Nikki said.

"I give up," James muttered.

"I don't understand, how come this is happening. I mean we've skipped death so many times before and nothing like this has happened," Lena said.

"It has to be something else, it seems too convenient to be true," James said.

"But what could it be?" Craig asked.

"Ashley died by an unknown force injecting him with a drug. O'Hara died because the turbolift doors opened for no reason. Annika killed herself, but her quarters looked like there had been a fire, plus she had blood everywhere. Thompson was killed by a piece of metal that seemed to have a mind of it's own. Maybe it's a ghost that's doing it," Lena replied.

"Lidia," Craig said.

Everyone turned to him with confused looks on their faces. "Who's Lidia?" James asked.

"Lidia was the other survivor. She went onto the shuttle before Ashley, but nothing happened to her.. convenient, I don't think so," Craig replied.

"Yeah... maybe you're right, she's a witch after all. Maybe she put a spell on us," Lena said.

"That sounds better than death stalking you," James said.

"Yeah but even if it is a spell, how do we get rid of it?" Lena asked.

"Maybe Juna knows, she's our best witch right?" Ashley replied.

"Good idea, let's just hope we don't need three witches again. We're short by one.. again," Lena said.

"There's always Sasha, she's not a proper witch but she might be able to help," James said.

"Ok, who's going to see her?" Lena asked.

"I will, I'll go now. I don't want Lena to die," Craig said as he stood up.

"Er.. thanks Craig," Lena said, Ashley rolled his eyes.

"Neither do I but you don't see me talking to a snobby witch," Ashley said.

Juna's Quarters:
Juna was looking through the spell book. Craig and Ashley were sitting on the chairs nearby.

"I don't know why you made me come," Ashley grumbled.

"You don't want her to die either, so you gotta help," Craig said.

"I'm not helping by being here, besides you could of brought her brother," Ashley said.

"I wanted you here to keep me sane, too many like's can drive you up the wall. James isn't the person you should have around if you want to stay sane," Craig said.

"Fine," Ashley groaned.

"Like I found it. This is the like spell she used. It can like only be cast on a like thirteenth date," Juna said.

"Thirteenth date, what's that mean?" Craig asked.

"It's something you'll never have," Ashley sniggered. Craig elbowed him hard.

"It can like only be cast at like 1300 hours, on a like 13th day of the month, and a like 13th month of the year if there is like such thing as a 13th month with the species the witch is. If it isn't like, it's less restrictive.. it like doesn't matter which month," Juna replied.

"1300 hours in Taranian time, in our time that would be midnight... when Ashley died," Craig said.

"Exactly like. It must be the 13th in like Taranian time. The only like way to stop the spell is to like either; kill the like witch that cast it, or like wait until 24 hours have like passed," Juna said.

"Great, computer what time is it?" Craig asked.

"1745 hours."

"I doubt me and Lena can stay alive in six hours, we're going to have to kill Lidia," Craig said.

"Right," Ashley said.

Meanwhile, Deck 2:
Lena was waiting around nearby a turbolift, holding a rifle. She chose to keep a safe distance away from the turbolift doors. Then she tapped her commbadge. "Janeway to Anderson, Craig.. where are you?"

In: "We're in the turbolift now, It took me a while to get on one again."

"This is getting ridiculous, we're going to have to get used to them again," Lena said.

In: "That's gonna be difficult I mean O'Hara splat may be on the bottom of one."

In: "Shut up Ashley."

Lena tapped her commbadge and she shook her head. The lights dimmed, and then fully went off. Lena raised her rifle after switching on the rifle's light. She saw a figure coming towards her, she pointed the rifle fully at the figure to see him or her clearly.

"Lena.. do you always point guns at your guests?" Lidia asked as she held her hands up.

"You, you're not a guest.. you're a murderer," Lena said. She fiddled with the rifle, and fired at Lidia. An invisible shield blocked the shot. As it did Lidia's eyes turned fully black.

"So you know, huh. Took you long enough, too bad there's six hours to go. Plenty time for you to drop dead," Lidia said.

"I'm harder to kill than you think," Lena said.

"Well I did figure that you'll be able to avoid death if it came, so I decided to kill you myself," Lidia said.

The turbolift:
The lift had stopped, but the doors wouldn't open. Ashley was trying to pull them open.

"I don't get it, why won't it let us on deck 2? Any ideas?" Ashley asked as the turbolift continued to its next destination.

Evil C happened to be sharing the lift with them and commented, "chain-saws work on everything."

The turbolift doors opened, getting Ashley's hopes up. It didn't take him long to notice the Deck 3 sign.

"We haven't got chain-saws," Craig said.

"I know," Evil C said.

"Did someone say chain-saws, cool!" a familiar voice said from behind them. Evil C and Craig's eyes widened, they slowly looked around to confirm who it belonged to. They both gaped in shock when they did.

"Hi guys! Do you have any Cherry Coke on you, I'm thirsty," Emma asked.

"Emma? But... but... you're dead," Craig stuttered.

"Funny story, I'm not," Emma said.

The boys stared blankly at her, waiting for her to go on. "Um," Craig mumbled when she didn't.

"What? I woke up in that hellhole, the bald guy singing and the gross things nearby. I had to get the hell out of there," Emma said.

"Are we really going with the coma retcon?" Craig asked. Evil C nodded. "Fantastic," he said sarcastically.

"Well it's either that or revived by ex Tolgs randomly in a no longer canon Monkey Island parody, that fact never to be mentioned again. Which do you think is better? Quit your whining," Emma said.

"I... I... the first one. Wait a minute. Lena and I got on the shuttle, I went first, she was behind me. But she sat down first," Craig replied.

"What are you on about?" Ashley muttered as he stepped away from the door.

"I was never next, it was Lena," Craig said.

"You think that just because she sat down before you that she's next," Ashley said in disbelief.

"I didn't think twice about it, but the turbolift won't let us on the deck she's on. That's a little too convenient," Craig said.

"I guess you're right, let's get back to Deck 2," Ashley said.

Deck 2:
"What are you waiting for?" Lena asked.

"Just for a little boost," Lidia replied. She closed her eyes, a dark red cloud came around her. Lena shook her head, she went straight over her, and hit her with the rifle. The cloud disappeared as Lidia fell onto the ground.

Lena aimed the rifle at her, Lidia kicked her in the leg. She stumbled backwards. Lidia jumped onto her feet, she then pushed Lena into the wall. Purple sparks came from her left hand as she raised it up near Lena's face.

"Fancy a barbecue," Lidia sniggered.

The turbolift doors slowly opened. Craig pushed Ashley out of the way, he aimed the rifle through the gap, then fired it. Lidia screamed as she fell onto the ground. As she did the lights came back on, and the turbolift doors fully opened.

Craig and Ashley got out of the turbolift and they rushed over to Lena. "Are you ok?" Craig asked.

"Yeah, I'll live," Lena replied.

"So I guess the spell's broken, huh," Ashley said.

Meanwhile:
Sid was in his quarters reading a horror book. Suddenly the book shelf started to fall towards him. "Oh cool!" he yelled before it landed right on top of him.

Deck 2:
"I will still avenge my sister's death," Lidia said as she lay on the ground.

"Woah she ain't dead," Craig muttered.

"Of course not, a witch isn't easily killed. The spell is still in full force, you'll see," Lidia said.

"Shut the hell up," Craig said, he fired the rifle at her again. This time she did die.

"Now the spell's gone," Lena said.

"Right, want to get a drink?" Craig asked. Lena and Ashley nodded, and they all headed back into the turbolift.

Acting Captains Log Supplemental: After all today's events I doubt we'll be able to get passage through Taranian space. We're lucky that the Taranians were so understanding about us leaving at all...

"Er James, they're chasing us, I hardly call that understanding," Tom muttered.

"Ok I understand why they're chasing us, Jessie fire some weapons at them," James said.

"Oh for god's sake," Tom muttered.

"All right, finally I get to do something," Jessie said.

"James do you realise Janeway's going to kill you if she finds out?" Tom asked.

"They threatened us, so why not fire at them?" James asked.

"I blew one of their ships up, I'm so good at this," Jessie said.

"Jess, can you please not kill them?" Tom asked.

"Sorry, I'm a little too good at this," Jessie replied.

"Oh crap, I just realised that I'm still log recording," James muttered.

Everyone but James and Jessie slapped their own foreheads. "Idiot," they all muttered.

*******
Did Sid survive having a bookcase fall on him? Will there be turbolifts in the afterlife for Thompson and O'Hara.. ok dumb question. Who will be first officer of the Enterprise? Will Janeway be stupid enough to make James first officer? Was that a dumb question too? How will the Enterprise get away from their chasers when they have no warp core? And will they have a new warp core by the next episode?
Find out the answers to most of these questions in the next installment of Fifth Voyager!.

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****THE END****

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