"Thanks," Kathryn mumbled as she wiped the sand and dust from her eyes. She looked up into a young woman's face. She looked dirty and grubby, but distinctively human. And she spoke English.

"Got to look out for those dust storms. They can suffocate you. I sometimes spend weeks afterwards coughing sand."

She had a nice sounding voice and a very appealing smile. Was this woman part of her crew? What kind of memory loss was Kathryn suffering from? Then she noticed the woman staring at her. Observing her almost.

"Forgive me for staring at you," she said, as if she had guessed Kathryn's thoughts, "it's been so long since I've seen another person. Where did you come from?"

Good question, Kathryn thought, if only I could remember.

"I don't know," she answered, "I was just here all of a sudden. Last thing I remember I was on my ship observing a plasma cloud. It's all kind of blurry after that. I vaguely remember someone shouting my name."

"Funny, that's sort of what happened to me too; all of a sudden I was just here. And I've been here for about three years now. Or maybe I was always here and everything and everyone around me just stopped existing at that point in time."

She sighed.

"Where are you from?" Kathryn asked.

"Boise, Idaho." The woman answered.

"Earth?"

This was becoming very puzzling indeed. Did she get abducted by aliens?

"No Mars!" the woman snickered. "Of course, Earth. Aren't you from Earth?"

"Well, yes, but..." Kathryn started to feel very confused. "So you are human..."

"What did you think I was, some kind of monster?" She laughed. "Sorry I haven't been able to take a decent bath for years. But I assure you, under all this dust and dirt is a human being."

"Do you have any idea where we are"? Kathryn asked.

"No, not really", she answered. "Somewhere in the United States I guess. I can't really tell for sure."

"We're not on Earth, I can tell you that much."

The woman regarded Kathryn with a puzzled look.

"What are you talking about? Were we swept away by aliens? I mean, seriously, this looks like Earth to me, except there's no living beings on it, apart from ourselves. Or at least I haven't seen any since this all started."

Kathryn started to wonder if perhaps she was the one being out of place here. Maybe this was Earth, maybe she had inadvertently found a way home. Maybe some nuclear disaster or something had wiped out all existence and somehow this young woman had survived, alone.

Kathryn frowned and wondered, then she asked:

"What year would you say it is?"

"2002 according to my calculations. October, I think."

"Hmmmm..." said Kathryn, "see, where I come from it is the year 2376."

"Wow," the young woman responded, "Well, I guess that shouldn't surprise me, since you seem to think were not on Earth either. So you're a gift from the future, huh?"

"Or you are from the past."

The woman looked at Kathryn with a skeptical look. She probably just thinks I'm being silly, Kathryn thought. I guess it doesn't really matter. I don't have any more clues than she does about where we are.

"So you haven't seen or talked to anyone for three years?"

"Nobody. It's been quite lonely." She sighed again. "I miss my husband. My puppy. My family."

"So do I," Kathryn interrupted.

"Already huh? How long have you been here?" That lovely smile again.

"Oh, not very long. On this planet, that is. But I've been away from home for a long time. My ship got lost in the Delta Quadrant about five years ago."

"The what? What or where is the Delta Quadrant?"

"The Delta Quadrant is a region of space approximately 70.000 light-years away from Earth. It has been as of yet unexplored by the Federation, so we have no maps to go with. At our last position we were still about 50.000 light-years away from home. With our technologic limitations, it'll be another 40 years before we reach Federation space."

"Federation space?"

Kathryn explained where the federation came from. And what species it consisted of. She described warp-drive and star ships. The woman seemed interested yet completely mindboggled by all this new information.

"What does your starship look like?"

"I hope to show you soon." Kathryn stared into the starry night. They will come back for me... She wasn't sure if she still believed it. But she wasn't ready to accept she was stuck on this desolate planet.

"Let's eat, I'm starving." The woman jumped up on her feet and headed out the shelter.

"What do people eat around here?" Kathryn asked as she followed her outside.

"I don't know about people," the woman laughed, "but I eat nuts and berries and stuff. There is not much else to be found around here. But it kept me going for three years now, so I guess it's okay."

She started walking towards some other bushes, about 50 feet away. "What's your name, beautiful stranger?" she asked Kathryn.

"Captain Kathryn Janeway"

"Captain huh? Janeway, it sounds like a melody. Let's go that way. No, we are going Janeway! Hahahha! My name is Erin, by the way. Erin Stedman."

As they got closer to the shrubs, Kathryn notice they weren't bushes at all. It was some kind of igloo-shaped hut made out of long branches and covered with large leaves.

"It's not much, but it keeps the wind out." Erin said.

Once inside, Kathryn noticed a hole in the middle of the hut and a little fire place under it. Erin gave Kathryn some dried fruit and nuts and pointed at a heap of dry leaves on one side of the hut.

"That's the 'bed', as it were," she said, "I'll just go out and get some more 'blankets' for myself. I'll sleep on the -uh- 'couch', so to speak," gesturing at the other side of the hut. At that, she started laughing and went outside the cabin.

Moments later she came hopping back in with three large leaves under her arm and a bright smile on her face.
Kathryn wondered what had brought on this good mood of hers, she surely didn't seem to have much of a reason to be happy.

"Forgive me for saying this," Kathryn said, "but you seem to be so happy. I don't understand why."

"Why? Because I am happy of course. For the first time in three years I have company. And such charming company at that." Erin answered with a wink towards Kathryn. Then she lowered her voice and said "Maybe it's just because I haven't seen any people in three years, but you are absolutely gorgeous."

"Oh please! It's probably because you haven't seen anyone for so long," Kathryn replied. "I'm really not that stunning!"

But she couldn't help feeling honored.

"Hmmm, and modest too." Erin winked at her again. For a second there Kathryn felt a warm flash in her stomach. But she quickly brushed it away.

A couple of days later they were crunching on some nuts they found right before another dust-storm had sent them inside.

"It's not exactly first rate food," Erin commented. "I can't tell you how many times I have dreamed of a nice greasy burger."

"With ketchup and mayonnaise, hold the onions." Kathryn added.

"Exactly! It's good to hear some things never change, not even 300 years in the future."

"I sin on them sometimes. Even though we have much healthier food nowadays. It makes me feel closer to home somehow."

"Tell me more about that", Erin said, "How come you are you ended up so far from home on your starship?"

"One day we were sent into a region called 'the badlands' in search for a Maquis ship."

"Maquis? Are they aliens?"

"No, more like a splinter group of former federation people. The Maquis ship and mine, the Federation Starship Voyager, got swept away 70.000 light years by an alien referred to as The Caretaker. But before he could take care of us getting home, he passed away.
We could have used his array to get home, but it would most likely have destroyed or at least endangered a species called Ocampa who lived on a nearby planet. So we chose to go home the long way. Or at least I did. I often wonder if I made the right decision.

"Would you have been able to live with yourself not knowing what happened to these Ocampa because of you?"

No. The answer was short and simple. Yet, Kathryn often felt like the crew blamed her for being in the Delta Quadrant. Especially when things were going wrong. Which they tended to do quite often.

Time passed and before she knew it Kathryn had spent three months on the planet with Erin. She missed Voyager and the crew, but she enjoyed Erin's company so much, it was all quite bearable. In all her life, Kathryn couldn't remember ever meeting anyone as fascinating and interesting as Erin. Or someone who was so interested in her.
They could talk for hours. Erin was especially interested in everything that had happened on Earth since the year she got taken away, 1999. She was fascinated by all of Kathryn's stories about aliens and space travel.
She had told Erin how this was all eerily reminiscent of her time on a planet with Chakotay. They had both contracted some illness and were unable to leave. But things had been a lot more luxurious for them there and least they had known where they were and in what time. Erin had been extremely curious about Chakotay and the kind of relationship Kathryn had with him. Her questioning had been relentless: What does he look like? How old is he? Where does he come from? Do you like him? Is he your best friend? What did you do together on that planet? Maybe she has a thing for dark men with tribal markings, Kathryn had thought to herself. And somehow, this thought had triggered a faint pang of jealousy within Kathryn. And she couldn't explain where that came from.

Meanwhile, on Voyager, the senior staff had gathered together in the briefing room for their weekly staff meeting. Chakotay spoke up:

"I know this is hard on all of us, but I do think we need to move on. We can't spend the rest of our lives trying to find Captain Janeway. I think she would have wanted us to continue our course to Earth."

"But, Commander" Neelix interrupted, "If she's out there somewhere, I think we owe it to ourselves, and to her, to find her."

"For all we know she no longer alive, Neelix." Chakotay responded with a painful look in his eyes. "That wormhole thing that took her away may have killed her instantly. B'Elanna, have you had any luck figuring out what it was?"

"No, Chakotay. It disappeared as fast as it appeared and left no residual traces."

Everbody sat silent for a while.

Chakotay broke the silence. "Tom, lay in a course for the Alpha quadrant." He nodded his head and added "Dismissed."

Everybody got up and left the briefing room, except for Seven of Nine.

"Seven? Is there anything else?"

"I do not wish to stay on Voyager any longer."

"There's nowhere else for you to go, Seven. Do you want us to leave you behind on a planet, unprotected and alone? You know we can't do that."

"Without the Captain, I have no desire to be here." Seven responded with a broken voice. "I wish to stay behind and continue the scans."

Chakotay walked over to Seven and put his hand on her shoulder. "I know this is hard for you, Seven," he started, but he got interrupted by the com channel.

"Captain to the bridge!"

Harry's voice sounded very excited. Chakotay immediately stepped on the bridge with Seven of Nine trailing close behind.

"What is it, ensign?"

"I have detected a class P planet in a nearby star system, with two humanoid life signs. One of which has Captain Janeway's signature!"

This was indeed exciting news. As Chakotay looked around on the bridge, he couldn't remember ever seeing so many happy faces.

"Lay in a course, Tom. Warp 9!"

Kathryn was resting on a little hill and staring at the sky. She had been working on a new and bigger hut, a surprise for Erin.

She was remembering a conversation she had had with Erin about Mark.

"He wrote me a letter saying he got engaged to somebody else"

"A letter?" Erin responded surprised "They deliver mail in the Alpha Quadrant?"

"Long story, I'll tell you one day."

"Okay. So he gave up on you. The rat."

"He just didn't think I was coming back. He waited for four years!"

"Don't make excuses for him, Kathryn. Take it from me, any man who let's you go is a complete idiot. You're better off without him."

Somehow that sounded right at that point in time. She had felt ready to let go of Mark once and for all.

Had that been a sign?

Before Kathryn could ponder about this some more, she heard the sound she had been waiting for all this time.

"Voyager to Captain Janeway. Are you alright, Captain?"

Kathryn felt her heart leap of joy when she heard the familiar sound of Chakotay's voice through the com channel.

"I'm fine. What took you so long?"

"We couldn't find you, Captain. You had disappeared of our sensors. It is so good to hear your voice!"

"It's good to hear yours too!"

"We're ready to beam you up at your mark, Captain. Chakotay out."

Kathryn went to find Erin who was out searching for food.

"Erin, my ship just contacted me, they are ready to take us home!"

Erin's face immediately lost all colour. "They are here?" she stumbled over her words.

Kathryn became worried. Had she missed something? Erin wasn't thinking about staying, was she? They had never really talked about what would happen if Voyager found them. Maybe Erin was shocked to the realization she was indeed 300 years in the future and 60.000 light-years away from home. Somehow, it had never really occurred to Kathryn that this would be a problem for her.

"I'm sorry, Kathy, I know I can't ask you to stay, but I just don't see how I'll be able to survive here without you. I don't think I'll be able too..."

So she did want to stay. That realization came as quite a shock to Kathryn.

"Erin, why don't you come with me, you'll be around people again and decent food and showers, isn't that what you wanted? What does this planet have that makes you want to stay? Are you still hoping it will get you back to where you came from?"

Erin's face lit up as Kathryn was talking. "I can come with you, really?"

Only now Kathryn realized she had never before told Erin she'd more than welcome to stay on Voyager.

"Oh Kathy, that would be fantastic!" Erin went on. "It's just that I never thought, I mean, is there room for me on your ship? Can I stay for good?"

"I'm hoping you will," Kathryn answered. And she truly meant it.

"Besides, I told you I'd show you what a starship looks like. Janeway to Voyager. Two to beam up!"

As they re-materialized, the saw Chakotay and Tuvok waiting for them in the transporter room.

"Welcome home, Captain." Chakotay said and then turned his face to Erin. "Who's your companion?"

"The captain looks like she needs to freshen up." Tuvok interrupted. "Perhaps it would be wise to leave introductions until later"

"Thank you, Tuvok. That sounds like a plan, we need a bath!"

Kathryn and Erin headed for the captain's quarters. In the hallways they met a lot of strange looks. Of course after three months on a planet without a change of clothes, Kathryn did not look her best. Back in her room, Kathryn walked to the replicator.

"Computer, a hamburger, American 20th century style. With ketchup and mayonnaise, hold the onions."

She handed the burger to Erin, who stared at it with her mouth open.

"It is perfectly safe to eat, Erin, don't worry. I'll be having a bath."

Kathryn couldn't believe how good it felt to wash 3 months of sand and rubble off her body. After she was done, Kathryn showed Erin the bathroom, mainly her bubble bath. Her most prized possession on this ship.

"I assume you would like to have a bath and change clothes..."

"Do you people keep scissors around your starships? I sure would like to get rid of all this gross hair" she replied whilst flicking her knotted blond hair back.

"I can do better than that, I'll get you a hairdresser."

She looked at Kathryn with a bright smile on her face.

"Wow, thanks!"

Erin leaned forward until she almost touched Kathryn's face. She whispered in her ear: "I'm seeing lots of other people now Kathy, and I still think you're the most beautiful one."

Kathryn's heart missed a beat. She felt warm inside. She quickly stepped backwards and gave Erin a quirky little smile before heading out the bathroom.

What was that all about? Where did that feeling come from? She hadn't felt that since... well, since she met Mark.
She shook off the eerie feeling and headed for the bridge.

As she entered she noticed all the senior staff on the bridge. Their heads undoubtedly filled with questions.

"What's up, Chakotay?"

"Nothing much, Captain. But it's good to have you back and take care of it! Where's your companion?"

"In my quarters freshening up."

Tom turned around and faced her.

"So Captain, what been up with you?"

Where to start? Kathryn told her bridge officers where she had been and how she met Erin. They were all amazed to find out Erin was human, from Earth, and from the past.

"Curious" Tuvok commented.

And that just about said it all.

The com interrupted their conversation.

"Erin to the Captain"

"Yes, Erin?"

"Where are you? Thanks for the new clothes, they are great. I want to show you my hair, that hairdresser has done wonders with it. I just got this communicator or whatever it's called..."

"The com-channels are not made for personal chit chat," Kathryn interrupted brusquely. "If you want to talk come see me at the bridge."

"Yes Captain. Erin out."

Why had she responded so harshly? Chakotay was staring at her with his brow raised. She chose to ignore it.
Moments later, the bridge doors slid open and Erin stepped in. A clean fresh face. Light blond shiny hair at shoulder length. Bright blue eyes. She was wearing a black tight shirt and pants with a dark red pullover on top that Kathryn had replicated for her. She looked stunning. Kathryn felt her heart miss a beat again. Oh my god, she thought, I am in love with her.

Kathryn regained her composure and introduced Erin to the people on the bridge. Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom Paris, B'Elanna, Seven of Nine.

"What a weird name!" Erin commented "I'd personally give you a ten out of ten though. Even with the strange make-up."

Seven did not seem at all impressed, as usual.

"Those are Borg implants," Kathryn explained. Then she leaned over and whispered in Erin's ear

"Do you still think I'm the most beautiful?"

Erin turned and looked at her. Was that love she saw in her eyes? Or was she just reading into things here... That smile again. By now it was enough to make Kathryn feel like putty inside. She needed to be alone, fast.

"Excuse me, I'll be in my ready room."

Kathryn quickly disappeared, ignoring Erin who was probably wondering what she had done wrong.
Inside her room she leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath. God, I have never felt like this before. This is a thousand times stronger than what I ever felt for Mark. What is happening to me?

The door chimed and Erin came in.

"Are you okay, Kathy? You got me a little worried there."

Kathryn just looked at her. Can she tell how much I long for her to touch me? She thought. She stumbled backwards as she felt her knees buckle. As she sank to the floor, Erin grabbed her and sat down, Kathryn's head in her lap.

"Kathy? Kathy, please talk to me. Are you ill? What's the matter?"

"I'm okay Erin. I just..."

Erin brushed Kathryn's hair from her forehead. She held her face in her hand and gazed into her eyes.

"Of course I still think you are the most beautiful Kathy, I always will."

"Kiss me!" Kathryn blurted out.

Oh god, now what have I done, she thought immediately. Am I insane? But much to her surprise, she noticed Erin bend over and before she knew what was happening, their lips touched each other. Kathryn felt a warm gust of love, desire, lust run through her body. Under Erin's touch she felt her skin tingling and her heart almost leaping out through her throat. She no longer felt capable of breathing.
Erin was still kissing her, moving her lips over Kathryn's face and neck.

"Oh, Kathryn, my love, how long I have waited for you to give me a sign", she mumbled in between a kiss on the temple and a nibble on her ear.

Kathryn wanted to go to her quarters or at least instruct the computer she couldn't be disturbed, afraid that she was of being caught by one of her subordinates. But she was just paralyzed, totally overpowered by the strong emotions Erin had set off in her.
How long had it been since she felt like this? She had never felt like this. This was ecstasy.

Erin had begun to take off her clothes, without which she was even more breathtaking.

"You are so beautiful, Erin." Kathryn's voice sounded raspy, low.

"And all yours", Erin responded softly.

She looked lovingly into Kathryn's eyes, not letting go of her gaze one second while she skillfully got rid of her uniform.

Erin pulled Kathryn up and closer until they were sitting across from each other, their breasts touching.

"I love you so much Kathy," she whispered "I have waited so long for this moment."

Erin kissed her, forcing her mouth open with her tongue and then biting her lower lip, while she scratched her nails down Kathryn's back.
Kathryn groaned and flipped her head back. Erin kissed her breasts and sucked on her nipples. Kathryn just wanted to scream with pleasure, as the burning sensation between her legs became almost unbearable.

"Oh god, Erin, this feels so good!"

Erin smiled at her and started kissing her again. One hand cupping her breast, the other moving down between Kathryn's legs. As her soft fingers briefly found their way inside, touching the layers of wet skin, Kathryn was brought to a new level of excitement. "Take me", she groaned.

"Just try and stop me," Erin whispered.

Her hands moved down until they reached Kathryn's lower back at which time Erin pulled her closer, so close, their engorged centers touching each other. Kathryn could feel her own moisture mixing with Erin's, as she joined her in rubbing her lower body up and down, up and down until that sweet wonderful moment where the Kathryn's world stopped excisting and all that was left was her body, burning, aching, tensing. As she reached the top, Kathryn couldn't help but scream.

She sighed as her body relaxed itself. Erin was lying on her side smiling at her.

Kathryn wondered how soundproof this room was, when she realized they were still lying right in front of the door. Then she concluded she didn't care.

"Now you are even more beautiful, Kathy" Erin said.

Epilogue

"I fell in love with a beautiful stranger" Erin told Kathryn some days later when they were lying in bed after hours of love making.

"I'm not so strange anymore I hope?" Kathryn replied.

"It's a song that was in the charts back when I disappeared from Earth.

'To know you is to love you. I looked into your eyes and my world came tumbling down'

That's how I felt about you from the start. God knows how much fun we could have had on that planet if you hadn't been so slow!'

"Don't remind me! But I am a little older than you, I guess I'm not as quick as I used to be", Kathryn commented jokingly.

"Older? What are you talking about? You are three hundred years my younger!"

Kathryn laughed. Then she asked "Do you think it was destiny?"

"Destiny? We were three hundred years in time and 60.000 light-years apart and then thrown on the same spot on the same desolate planet to meet each other. If that's not destiny, dear Kathryn, I don't know what is."