Throughout her life, there had always been little Kathryn Janeway hated more than not knowing what the hell was going on, especially when her ship and crew happened to be in danger. Also high up on that list was being made a fool of.

Now, when she heard these words come out of the mouth of a person who had so smoothly and confidently promised her a trip home which would essentially be free of this sort of thing, Kathryn reminded herself to keep her breathing steady and all her excitement at bay. She had kept her phaser pointed at him since lifting it, and now she said, “The sooner you tell me what that means, sir, the better, or I will be forced to do what I must do to protect my ship and my crew.”

There were wrinkles on his brow. Surely, she thought, that meant she was having some sort of effect on him. But he said, “It won’t do you any good to kill me, you know, or do anything else to me. You’ll still be in your current predicament.”