For James Hamblin.

"Hamblin here," the lieutenant answered her hail.

"I require your assistance in engineering."

"On my way," Hamblin answered and dropped the tools he was working with. Normally, he would take the time to clean them away, but engineering meant a chance to run into Captain Janeway and Hamblin'd be damned to let a chance like that slip by.

He couldn't help wondering why Seven of Nine had asked for him, what could she possibly need his assistance for?

"Lieutenant," the Borg girl nodded when he entered engineering.

"Hi Seven," Hamblin responded, "what can I help you with?"

"I'm conducting an experiment to improve the warp drive. If I can stabilize this warp bubble around the core, it will improve our velocity with .47 percent. You are the best engineer on this ship since Lt. Torres left us and I need you to enter these calculations on my mark."

Seven handed him a padd. Hamblin stared at the complicated calculations before him. How did she come up with this stuff? He shook his head and walked over to the console next to Seven's.

"Ready when you are, Seven." he said and she started the experiment. Her fingers flew over the console, Hamblin had trouble keeping up with her movements. "Now!" Seven exclaimed and Hamblin entered the numbers required to run the experiment. A white flash of light engulfed him and for a split second Hamblin felt like the universe was swept away from him. When he regained his senses, he was back in engineering however and everything seemed stable. He looked over at the console next to him and was momentarily knocked off guard when he spotted Captain Janeway.

"Captain, what are you doing here?" Hamblin asked carefully. "Where's Seven of Nine?"

The Captain turned to him and frowned. Hamblin had trouble maintaining his composure. The Captain's frown tended to have that effect on him. "Seven of who?" she said. "I've been here for the past half hour. Maybe you should stop by sickbay after your duty shift."

He couldn't tell whether she was serious or just joking but he did find it peculiar that he hadn't noticed her before. Normally, his senses picked up the Captain's presence from 10 yards away. And here she was standing right next to him and he hadn't noticed her? And he could have sworn Seven of Nine was standing there before... Hamblin breathed in deep and straightened his shoulders. The Captain was in his proximity, this was hardly the time to go slouching off.

However, he took the Captain's advice and stopped by Sickbay after his shift.

Sickbay was deserted. "Computer, activate emergency medical hologram." Hamblin said and was startled when he saw Captain Janeway shimmer into existence. Clad in Starfleet blue, no pips on her collar.

"What is the nature of this medical emergency?" her throaty voice sounded.

Hamblin stared at her with his mouth open. "C - Captain?" he stumbled, "what are you doing?"

"I'm flattered that you'd call me Captain, but I am still the EMH of this ship. Please state the nature of the medical emergency and don't tell me you've activated me for no reason, you know how much I hate that."

Hamblin swallowed. Something was definitely wrong with him. "I'm here for a routine check-up, Doctor, I haven't been feeling well lately."

Doctor Janeway nodded and ran a tricorder over the lieutenant. "Highly elevated adrenaline-levels, dopamine out the roof, but other than that you seem fine. I'd advise you to lay off the coffee and get a good night's sleep."

Hamblin nodded, his mouth somehow not capable of forming words. He couldn't figure out if he was going insane or if there was something wrong with the ship. He'd better go talk to the Captain. The real Captain.
He headed out of sickbay and entered the nearest turbo lift. "Bridge," he said, his voice hoarse and strange sounding. He noticed his hands trembling and fought to keep himself under control. Knowing that he would enter the Captain's ready room always made him feel nervous and somewhat queasy.

He exited the turbo lift on the bridge and was relieved to see all the familiar faces he'd expect to find there. Commander Chakotay, Lt. Commander Tuvok, Ensign Kim, Ensign Paris. He nodded at his superiors and pressed the chime on the Captain's ready room.

"Come," her oh so familiar voice sounded from inside. At least she was still Captain as well.

Hamblin had to blink a couple of times after he had entered the sanctuary of the lovely Captain. In here, she always seemed more human somehow then she did on the bridge. Hamblin pondered over her beauty for a while and was then snapped back into reality when he remembered the incident in sickbay.

"Captain, I noticed something odd in sickbay. I'm not sure if it's me, or if there's something wrong with the ship, but the EMH..."

"What about her?" the Captain asked.

"Her?" Hamblin replied, "don't you mean him?"

The Captain put down the padd she had been working on and frowned at him. "Are you telling me our EMH has somehow become male?" she asked.

Hamblin was stunned. What was going on here? "N-n-no," he stuttered, "I just thought that he, I mean she, used to be..." He sighed and started over. "The EMH looks exactly like you!" he said finally.

"Well, of course she does," the Captain replied with a smile. "She was modeled after me. Was that what was troubling you, Lieutenant?"

Hamblin felt himself turn pale and ice cold when the Captain placed her hand on his arm and squeezed it. "Maybe you need a good night sleep," she said in a low, soft voice.

Hamblin nodded, no longer able to form coherent thoughts. Who was he to complain about the Doctor's current shape anyway? He attempted to smile back at the Captain, to let her know how thankful he was that she would still be friendly instead of getting mad at him for wasting her time. But all he could muster was a crooked grin.

The Captain smiled at him again. "Dismissed." she said, dipping her head and returning back to the padd she had abandoned earlier. Hamblin scurried out and was so confused and overwhelmed by the feelings the Captain set off in him that he didn't even notice at first that she was sitting at the helm. Hamblin froze on the spot. How was that even possible? He turned around, but the doors to the ready room had already hissed shut.

"Computer, locate Captain Janeway." he said.

"Captain Janeway is in her ready room," the computer responded.

In her ready room, just like he thought, but there she was sitting at the helm. Even though he was looking at her from behind, he was sure that it was her.

"Computer, who is flying the ship at this moment?"

"Ensign Kathryn Janeway," the computer chirped. Hamblin was baffled. He must for sure be losing his mind. There was only one Kathryn Janeway, or was there? Suddenly, he couldn't remember for sure if maybe there was more than one of her... Perhaps he was just a little tired after all.

He returned to his quarters and didn't even flinch when he passed a Kathryn Janeway in Starfleet yellow on his way. Everything would be fine in the morning, he concluded. He'd be rested and clear headed and he'd remember just how many Kathryn Janeway's there were on this ship.

Lieutenant James Hamblin woke up feeling happy and a little flushed. He had experienced a very pleasant dream in which he and Captain Janeway were stranded on a deserted planet together, struck by a virus that would kill them if they ever left the planet. He and the Captain had soon become dear friends and were settling in just fine on the planet they jokingly called New Earth. In fact, she was just about to thank him with a kiss for the bath tub he had built for her, when he woke up.
He rolled over in bed and looked at the stars streaming by outside. As the pleasant feelings of the dream subsided, disturbing thoughts of the previous days re-entered his consciousness. He had thought he was seeing Janeways all over the ship. He remembered it clearly now. Seven of Nine, the Doctor and Ensign Paris all looked exactly like the Captain. Ludicrous, Hamblin said to himself. Of course it was only a matter of time before his infatuation with the Captain got the better of him. He could have expected something like this to happen. He chuckled and got out of bed. He stretched and reached for his robe when he asked the computer for the time.

"The time is 07:35 hours," but that wasn't the computer's voice, it was the Captain's...

"Really Hamblin, you're losing it," he told himself as he got dressed. If only the Captain wasn't his Captain, but his girlfriend. If only he'd be able to hold her at night, rake his fingers through her hair, kiss her on the temple. Then surely, he wouldn't be seeing and hearing her everywhere he went.

He finished dressing and went to the mess hall for a light breakfast. However, immediately after entering the room, he fell silent. Two Captain Janeways were sitting at a table near the window. One in Starfleet blue, the other in civilian clothing. Another two were talking next to the replicator. And one, dressed as a Talaxian, was cooking up something stinky behind the counter.

"N - n - neelix?" Hamblin stumbled over his words. The Talaxian Janeway looked up at him. "The name is Kathryn, Lieutenant," she grinned, "would you care for some Leola root porridge? I made it fresh this morning!"

"No, thank you," Hamblin responded, his throat thick. What was going on? Why was everybody changing into the Captain?

He headed out of the mess hall and made his way to the Bridge. Another talk with the real Captain was in order. On his way to the bridge, he spotted 27 more Kathryn Janeways in various capacities and he wasn't surprised to find the bridge occupied with Janeways as well. "Captain," he said, the Kathryn sitting in the command chair turned to him. "Yes, lieutenant?" she said.

"Don't you find it a little peculiar that everybody looks like you?" he asked. She regarded him with a puzzled look on her face. "What happened to Tuvok, Paris, Kim, Chakotay? Why is everybody on this ship named Kathryn Janeway?"

"I don't know who these people are that you are referring to, Mr. Hamblin. Everybody on this ship has always been named Kathryn Janeway, after all this is the starship Janeway. Why does this puzzle you? Quite frankly, I'm a little concerned about your emotional well-being. Perhaps a talk with Counselor Janeway would be in order."

Counselor Janeway? Hamblin figured he shouldn't even be surprised any more. He even started to wonder if he should be worried about this. Clearly, something was amiss, but being surrounded by the object of his affection everywhere he went was not such a bad thing. Surely, out of all these Janeways, one would be willing to share his bed, his love.

Hamblin mused about the possibilities. All these Kathryns... perhaps he had died and gone to heaven. He grinned broadly and spoke to the Captain. "Everything is fine, Captain. I'll be at my duty station."

"Good," she said and sat back in her chair.

Hamblin skipped of the bridge, barely able to contain his enthusiasm. He darted through the hallways, greeting Janeways left and right. It didn't take him long to win the affection of one of the Janeways currently off duty in the mess hall. After all, he was the most charming guy on this ship. In fact, he realized with a jolt, he was the only guy on this ship. And if he remembered correctly, Kathryn Janeway was straight and even if she weren't all she had to choose from was him and herself. His mind boggled with the possibilities. His life would never be the same again.

Three days later, after almost constant lovemaking with one Kathryn or another, James lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He was a little tired, he hadn't slept for a long time. Several Kathryn's were in his bathroom playing with each other in the shower. Another one was getting dressed. One was making him breakfast. But at least there were giving him a break for a while and let him recuperate. And then it hit him. Seven's experiment.

It had happened before. Years ago, on the Enterprise. Somebody had been working on an experiment involving a warp bubble and the Doctor of that ship had been caught inside. She was living in her own reality, an Enterprise on which everybody disappeared because that what was she had been thinking of when the bubble caught her. He, of course, had been thinking of Kathryn Janeway at the time. He swallowed. This wasn't real? Of course, it had been too good to be true, but still...

And in a way it was real, he thought. This was no less a reality than the one he had come from. And as long as the bubble remained stable, he'd be safe where he was. Together with 147 Kathryn Janeways. He rolled over and fell asleep, a smile curling on his lips.

The End.