ONCE LOST

Chapter 1

Captain Kathryn Janeway shot a sideways look at her first officer as they stepped up onto the transporter platform. The air around them shimmered blue for a moment, and the gray bulkheads of the transporter room were replaced by a paved pathway just outside the city of N'Dar. Beside her, Tuvok inconspicuously brought his hand up to rest on his phaser. On either side of the pathway, bright pink, yellow, and blue flowers swayed slightly in the breeze. Janeway looked around as three men approached, wearing matching deep red robes. The only difference was the sashes around their waists—two of the men had dark blue, the third wore a golden one. Apparently he was of higher rank. He stepped forward and held out a hand to Janeway. She took it, clasping it for the briefest of moments.

"Captain Janeway, I presume? Minister B'Nen. I spoke to you earlier."

"Yes. This is Commander Chakotay, Lt. Commander Tuvok, Lt. B'Elanna Torres, and Ensign Harry Kim." She gestured to each person as she spoke his or her name. Tuvok had objected to having so many senior officers off the ship at the same time, especially herself and Chakotay, but she had overruled him. He hadn't brought up the subject again, but he was now inspecting each individual closely. She focused her gaze on B'Nen.

"Would you like a tour of our lovely city?" he inquired. He paused for a moment, looking at each member of the away team. "You said that you would be bringing down your Chief Engineer—" A t the mention of her position, B'Elanna moved forward slightly. "Ahh. Well, I'm sure my engineers would be glad to show you around our central power core." B'Elanna's eyes lit up at the prospect, and one of the men stepped forward and touched her shoulder lightly.

"If you would come with me, I will take you there." She glanced at Janeway, who nodded, then followed him into the city. Just then, Harry spoke up.

"Captain, if I may—I'd like to go with B'Elanna." She nodded her permission, and he hurried down the path after them.

"Well then, we'll show you around. T'Ren?" The second man now moved up beside him.

"Follow me please, Captain, Commander, Lt. Commander." Tuvok raised an eyebrow but said nothing. They entered the city.

********

"Minister, as I said this morning, when we first communicated, my crew is in need of some shore leave, and-"

"Say no more, Captain, say no more! Of course your crew is welcome here!" His green eyes focused on her for a moment, and she couldn't help but stare back.

"Captain...Captain...Captain!" She jerked back to reality at the sound of Chakotay's voice.

"Uh, yes, Commander?" She mentally shook herself. He eyed her for a moment.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes-now what is it you wanted?"

"Captain, they have a large supply of dilithium they say they're willing to trade—" She interrupted him.

"For what?"

"They would like a few samples of some of our food from the Hydroponics Bay. They also want the...'technology' that made the growing of the food possible."

"What else do they want?" she asked.

"Various things they use as fuel around here—"

"Do we have a sufficient amount of the 'fuels' to trade without compromising our own stores?"

"Yes, actually, we do."

"Let's do it."

********

Janeway sank down onto the couch next to her first officer, picking up the data padd that held the shore leave roster for the next two weeks. They had decided to extend the normal week of leave to two weeks for the sake of the crew. Chakotay glanced over at the padd.

"I don't see you anywhere on that schedule." She sighed, exasperated.

"Well, I—"

"Have to work. I know. You've used that excuse before. Come on, Kathryn, you need a break."

"Fine." She punched a few keys on the padd. "...I've signed up for the last two days. Happy?"

"Deliriously."

"You're incorrigible."

"I know."

********

Janeway beamed down to the surface with surprisingly little reluctance. She had made arrangements to stay at a secluded little cabin a few kilometers outside of the city. She hiked for a short time before she arrived. She unlocked the door with the access card she'd been given and entered. As she unpacked, she hummed to herself. Later on, as she lay curled up in bed reading, she thought briefly of Voyager, almost wishing she had some company. She liked being alone, however, finding that she actually had the time to read more than a few pages in one sitting. She found herself drifting off to sleep, and she carefully marked her page and set the book down on the nightstand. She laid her head down on the pillow and promptly fell asleep.

********

Janeway was awakened in the middle of the night-0200 hours, according to the chronometer-by strange sounds outside. She slid silently out of bed, snatching her pink silk robe and pulling it on over her matching nightgown as she made her way to where her bag sat, nearly empty, on the floor next to the dresser. She dug around for a moment, pulling out her phaser. She checked it to make sure it was on stun, and crept to the front of the cabin. She heard a quiet beep as someone pushed an access card into the slot, releasing the lock on the door. It slid open and someone dressed in dark clothing came in. Janeway's eyes widened as the person turned to her.

********

"Bridge to Commander Chakotay." Silence met the hail. "Bridge to Commander Chakotay." This time a muffled curse rang out, and the click of an activated combadge followed.

"What is it, Tuvok?" Chakotay asked groggily. "It's 0230."

"There has been a problem at Captain Janeway's temporary place of residence." Chakotay shot up in bed.

"I'll be right down."

********

Chakotay arrived at the bridge two minutes later. "What's going on, Tuvok? Where's Captain Janeway?" The Vulcan turned to meet his gaze from the Captain's chair.

"Captain Janeway is dead." Of all the things Chakotay had expected to hear, this was not one of them.

"Wh-what-she-what do you mean she's...dead?" he stuttered.

"Someone broke into her house 30 minutes ago. They shot her with some sort of disruptor blast. She was killed instantly." Chakotay had to hold onto the railing to keep from falling.

"Did you investigate? Where's her body? Why did this happen? Who did it? Did they catch—?" Tuvok halted the torrent of questions by holding up a hand.

"They do not know who did it, or why they did so. She was vaporized, so there was no body. We did investigate. We found traces of her DNA in the air where they claimed she disappeared." This was all too much for Chakotay. He shook his head slowly, trying to make sense of everything. Chakotay carefully uncurled his stiff fingers from around the railing and excused himself to the ready room. When he entered, he was immediately assaulted by the overwhelming presence of her. She was gone, and yet she remained, here in her domain. He avoided her desk, deciding instead to sit on the sofa. He sank down and buried his face in his hands. How could this happen? How could this be?

The door chime rang.

"Come in," he said, without looking up.

"Chakotay?" It was B'Elanna. After a moment, he lifted his head.

"I—" He stopped, unable to finish. His head dropped back into his palms.

"Oh, Chakotay, I know you loved her. We all do." His head flew up and he stared at her.

********

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