This is a rewrite of Gravity, exploring the possibilities of Janeway, Chakotay, and the Doctor being trapped on the planet with Noss. It is written from the Doc's POV, and is therefore also an experiment in how the crew see their command team. It takes place about a week after the events of Bride of Chaotica. All rights to Paramount.
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DAY 4
A Visit From the Queen
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The Doctor was very glad that as a hologram, he didn't need to eat. Neelix's most imaginative dishes looked like earth French delicacies compared to the enormous brown spiders that Noss was demonstrating how to dismember and cook.
The captain's face registered something between surprise and disgust. Commander Chakotay looked resigned. Noss, clearly delighted that she had something to share with these strangers who had appeared from the sky and rescued her from some hostile aliens, plucked the last leg off the spider and held it up to show Janeway.
Janeway nodded, and then exchanged a look of desperation with Chakotay, who was silently thumbing the spoon that Noss had handed him.
Noss tossed the legs into a frying pan – apparently there was enough meat on them to eat them too – and she said the grease helped take the edge off the taste. She then pointed commandingly at the bubbling pot that contained the bodies of the spiders and looked at Chakotay. "Tavek," she said enthusiastically.
Chakotay looked lost for a moment. The Doctor took pity on him. "She said 'stir,'" he offered blandly, blessing his programmer for not including taste buds in his matrix. He did not want to taste this creation – it was bad enough being able to smell it.
Chakotay gingerly dipped the spoon into the boiling mixture and began stirring. Noss nodded eagerly. "Da yet." She moved away and down the galley, disappearing into the hallway where her room was.
The Doctor sighed and sat down at the table, analyzing anew the small mess hall on Noss's downed ship. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Janeway move closer to Chakotay.
"Spiders?" she asked incredulously. "It couldn't be chickens or rabbits or cabbage but spiders?" There was a note of pleading in her voice.
Chakotay gave her a friendly nudge. "Well, when Queen Arachnia lands on a desert planet, what else would you expect?"
Janeway laughed out loud and nudged him back. "At least I don't have to wear that ridiculous costume," she said, standing on tiptoe to look into the pot Chakotay was stirring. "I don't think I would have lasted one hour in a dress and those heels."
"It was quite the outfit," Chakotay said with a hint of mirth, then laughed and experimentally lifted the round body of a spider up on his spoon. "Then again, if the spiders had recognized Arachnia maybe they would have caught us something tastier for dinner," he said.
"Maybe." Janeway threw him a scathing glance, and then looked into the pot again. "Damn, if there's something bigger than these on this planet, I'm going to catch it even if I have to make a bow and arrow."
"First thing tomorrow we find some rock we can flint knap," Chakotay agreed. "I made a few lousy spearheads when I was younger, maybe I can remember how."
"I don't care how lousy they are Chakotay, we're going to find something more appetizing than spiders to hunt. You're in charge of the arsenal." She brushed her hand across his shoulders and turned to follow Noss.
"Aye, Captain," he replied, and the Doctor saw his gaze linger on the captain as she moved away.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow as he followed Chakotay's gaze down the galley. Then he caught a whiff of the spider legs as they began to sizzle and forgot about it.
Given the climate of the planet, he was surprised anything as complex as spiders had evolved. Clearly, the Captain and Commander wanted a miracle. Given the smell issuing from the pot, he couldn't say he blamed them.
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A/N: I have a sneaking suspicion that Voyager's writers liked arachnids. Queen Arachnia, Scorpion, living off of spiders…something is fundamentally wrong with this picture.