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asked.
    "Mean?" Neelix said. He turned to Kim.
    "I don't like the sound of this." The man made a small harrumphing sound, turned, and started to walk through the throng. He seemed to pay no attention to anyone else in the room, and none of the other travelers noticed him-or the away team-either.
    Torres and Kim had to hurry to keep up with Neelix and the man. Neelix was tugging on the man's sleeve. "I sincerely think you should let us go on our way. Lieutenant Torres is well known for her right hook and-was "Neelix!" Tbrres said.
    "I'm simply letting him know that we can be mean as well. We don't control time, but we control other important things. We can be quite formidable." Neelix still clung to the man's sleeve. The man was staring down at him as if Neelix were little more than a child.
    "I don't think he means angry-mean," Kim said in a loud whisper. "I think he means mean-mean." "That's what I mean," Neelix said. "We can be mean-mean. We have B'Elanna here." "He means-I mean-he-arg!" Torres interrupted herself. "Mean Time Control probably refers to the mathematical concept of average." "Average?" Neelix said. "How can a Time Control be average?" The man stopped and shook Neelix's hand off his sleeve. "The Mean Time Control handles problems outside of Real Time." "Oh," Neelix said. "Well, that clarifies matters." He shook his head. But Torres was beginning to get a little clearer picture of what the man was talking about.
    "You have clearly defined time periods, then?" she asked. "That's what you were referring to earlier when you mentioned the Time Control for this Period." The man nodded. He weaved between members of a family. Torres hurried to catch up. Kim was right behind her. Neelix stared after the children, who were taller than he was, noted that the others were gone, and ran to rejoin the group.
    "So how long is a period?" Torres asked.
    "Five hundred thousand years," the man said, in tone that told her the passing children would have known this.
    Torres wanted to stop walking. She felt as if she had almost grasped the concept the man was talking about. If they operated within periods, separated time into Real Time and Mean Time, then- "Real Time runs forward for you, just like it does for us, then." "Time always runs forward, ma'am. Sometimes we just travel backward." She hated that tone. One of her professors at the academy used that tone with her.
    It made her feel... well, mean.
    She glanced at Neelix. She would not prove him right within one hour of landing in this strange place.
    "I still don't understand why you need to bring us to the Time Control." "Probably because we're strangers," Kim said. He shot her a glance that let her know how uncomfortable he felt. She appreciated his feelings. She was uncomfortable too. But her way was to confront. His was to go along. Her way was the only one that would get them answers. "The Mean Time Control regulates travel," the man said, as if that were answer enough.
    . "I got that," Torres said. "We didn't intend to take the ship. We'll return it. It's a simple case of letting us 90 back." "You cannot go back." "Actually," Neelix said, "we could. We could get on the ship, I could sit down for a nap like I did before, the lights would go on, and-was "No," the man said. "It's against the law." "What?" Torres said. "What law?" "I told you," the man said. "Control Ordinance 852.6l." "Which regulates what?" Torres asked.
    "Intraperiod travel." "If you don't travel between Periods, then how do you time travel?" Kim asked.
    "Intraperiod," Torres said. "You can't travel within a single Period, can you?" That question was pointed at the guard. "Because if you do, you'll screw up Real Time. That's why you people let time run forward. You live out your lives within a Period, then-was "No, ma'am. We may visit any Period we want, any Black Period that is. Red Periods are, of course, forbidden." "Of course," Neelix said, sotto voce.
    "Neelix!" Torres said, then she turned to the