Snow Disclaimer: This was my answer to the challenge: strand J/C in the snow... Of course, I didn't go in the same direction as everyone else and not in the direction I anticipated. So with usual homage to Paramount, and thanks to Robert for the smiles, I invite you to read on... When she awoke, it was to a loud and persistent hissing noise. Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Starship Voyager opened her eyes as she shook her head to clear it. Not wanting to believe what she was seeing, Janeway closed her eyes, counted to ten, and then re- opened her eyes. The only thing visible as far as the eye could see was an intensely bright white. Coupled with the hissing noise, it was actually quite annoying, and she wanted it to go away. Thinking that she was in sick bay, the victim of some bizarre auditory and visual hallucinations, she summoned the EMH. When no reply as forthcoming, she again spoke, "Activate emergency medical holograph." "It’s no use, Captain. He’s not here...wherever here is." The mellow baritone of her First Officer caused her to start violently, but she recovered quickly. When she turned in the direction of his voice, the first thing that she noticed was that she could *see* him. Second, she thought that she had never been so glad to see ‘Fleet red and black in her whole life; even if it was the same boring thing she saw everyday, at least it wasn’t white. Close on the heels of that revelation came the discovery that his voice was even more pleasant to listen to than usual, in contrast with the constant buzzing. "What’s our status, Commander? Are any of the other crew here?" "I’ve not been able to find any of the crew besides you. As far as I can tell, the energy burst that struck Voyager has somehow displaced us - separated us from the ship - but I cannot ascertain where we are. We have no weapons, no tricorders and no supplies. I feel as though I’m half blind from all of this white and that constant noise is slowly driving me insane!" To emphasize his point, Chakotay screwed up his eyes tight and covered his ears with his hands. He peeked out of one eye to see if his joke had lightened the mood, and was disappointed to see that the Captain looked just as worried as before. As Janeway spoke, he resumed his usual stance, relaxed yet respectful. In problem solving mode now, she thoughtfully outlined their plan of attack. "I don’t think we should split up, even though we could cover more ground that way. Voyager will be looking for us, but I think that we should also try to help ourselves. So, this is the plan: we look for some clues as to where we are and try to find a way out. We’ll walk in that direction. How is your sense of direction, Commander?" Looking in the direction she pointed, he replied, "Fine, Captain. Shall we get started?" For hours, they trudged forward meeting with no irregularities in the uniform whiteness, and hearing nothing but the ever-present hissing punctuated by their breathing and occasional comments. When they were about to give up, they came to a barrier. Janeway, who was walking in front of Chakotay, smacked into the transparent wall with enough force that she would have been knocked to the ground if not for the quick reflexes of her First Officer. "Captain, are you all right?" "Yes, everything seems to be intact - except my dignity." Her chuckle was directed at her own awkwardness, and Chakotay felt that it was alright to join in. "Well, if I’m done being clumsy, I think we should investigate this new development." The barrier was long and high; they walked in either direction trailing their hands along it, for almost a full kilometer and when Chakotay reached up as high as possible, he felt only smoothness. Puzzled, Janeway was about to ask Chakotay what he thought, when she suddenly felt the familiar tingle of the transporter... * * * * * The white nothingness of static suddenly replaced the faces on the screen and my first reaction was to start yelling at the screen, "No, come back...just when something good was going to happen too." Finally, *finally* the powers that be were letting Janeway and Chakotay have a little fun, and my TV was on the fritz! "Damn thing! It’s just my luck that not only would my television do this, it would do it during Voyager! Come on..." With a last whack of my hand, the picture suddenly cleared to show me the luckless and lost crew of the Voyager, right where they should be, in the Delta Quad. Of course, I had missed the most important part, but that’s what Sunday nights were for, right? "Guess I overreacted a little, huh?" My cats just looked at me; I almost hear their little cat brains saying, 'that’s our master, crazy.' * * * * * "Report." Poor Ensign Kim, who had been frantic to get the Captain and First Officer back, was at a loss for words. "Ummm, Captain, I have no explanation. One minute your comm signals were non-existent, the next you were right there, so we beamed you aboard - it seems that you were pulled out of the ship by some type of electrical charge, and we only found you because the polarity of the charge was reversed. We don’t even know how the charge formed or where it came from." Heaving a frustrated sigh, the Captain answered, "Keep trying to find out what happened Ensign. Lieutenant Paris, maintain our previous course, warp six." "Yes, ma’am." Paris punched in course corrections and engaged the warp drive; Chakotay and Janeway just exchanged smiles and relieved looks. End.