Chakotay walked down the corridor on deck 8. He was heading back to bridge from Astrometrics where Seven had just reported of her findings about an intriguing space anomaly on their current course. Knowing Kathryn's passion for science, Chakotay guessed that they would remain on their current course and head to explore what seemed to be, according to Seven, "an obscure phenomenon that no doubt prompts the curiosity for further investigation."

Suddenly Chakotay stepped on to something. He looked down and saw a padd on the corridor floor. Chakotay kneeled down and took the padd in his hands. He was surprised that someone on the crew had been thoughtless enough to drop it without noticing. But Chakotay became even more surprised once he saw the following words on the small display.

"ONCE YOU SEE THE CAPTAIN ALONE, EXECUTE THE KILLING."

Chakotay felt a cold wave sweeping over him. In a matter of seconds he experienced a variety of emotions from disbelief to deep concern. What was this about? What was going on? Whose padd was this? Chakotay took his hand on his combadge. "Chakotay to Tuvok", he called.

"Tuvok here."

"Report to my office at once."

"Acknowledged."

Lieutenant Jeff Graf replicated a cup of coffee and sat down behind his personal computer. His lunch break, which he had spent alone in his quarters again, was almost over and his post in one of the science labs on deck 13 was waiting. He couldn't, however, leave from his quarters before he had carried out something he considered as his most private and intimate routine. He fully comprehended that this routine of his was ridiculous for a man of his age, but at the same time he couldn't resist himself. He had to do it, no matter how odd it might be. And as far as no one else knew about it, there really couldn't be any harm.

"Computer", he said. "Access the crew manifest."

Computer registered the voice command.

"Display the information of Captain Janeway", he said then.

Captain's picture appeared on the screen. Jeff leaned back on his chair and sipped from his cup. Seeing Captain's face, even if it was just a little picture on his personal computer screen, made him bedazzled. She was the most perfect woman he had ever seen. Everything about her was flawless. What charmed Jeff the most was her control and discipline. She was an embodiment of authority, full of self-confident, and yet there was something so sensual about it. The combination of these different sides of her fascinated him.

Jeff had served under other captains as well, but both of his former captains had lacked the warmth that Kathryn Janeway had. But there was still a difference of seeing someone's amazing personality and being infatuated by it, which Jeff knew all too well. But the heart wanted what the heart wanted and he was genuinely infatuated to Captain Janeway. He had feeling towards her that he had not experienced before. No other woman in his life had succeeded to capture his heart like Janeway had. And as much as his infatuation thrilled him, it was also a burden. He had truly learnt the meaning of loneliness.

Jeff sighed and touched gently the image on the display. His job on Voyager was not always intriguing enough to keep him deeply interested and involved, and there were days when he wished he wouldn't have to leave from his quarters, but Kathryn Janeway had the power to keep him going. She was the one who gave him the reason to carry on, to make him want to give his best. He was ready to do anything for her and all he wanted in return was to see her in daily basis or at least hear her voice via comm. But there had been many days when he hadn't seen or heard from her, and those days were always equally disappointing. Jeff sighed. His life onboard Voyager would have been much easier without him thinking about the Captain as much as he did. But there were certain things in life that weren't in his control, and this was definitely one of those things.

Jeff had often thought about how other's onboard were seeing the Captain, if there was anyone else who saw Captain Janeway as he did. He doubted it, though. Sure everyone onboard felt devotion to the Captain, but Jeff had no doubt what so ever that his feelings for Janeway were unique. And there would not be many onboard who would have truly understood his feelings. So he had kept it to himself. No one knew about this secret of his and he attended to keep it that way. The mere thought of his feelings being exposed was like a nightmare to him. He very well knew that the Captain wasn't available to someone like him and hearing someone else telling him that aloud was something he did not want to experience. But knowing the impossibility of the situation didn't make his feelings to disappear. On the contrary; as the time went by, his feelings had deepened.

Jeff woke up from his thoughts as the computer informed: "It is 1155 hours."

Jeff switched off his personal computer, got up on his feet and left. A dreadful analysis was waiting, which had kept him busy for couple of days. He wished he would finally be able to finish it today, but the work was slow going. Even though he didn't like the task that was waiting for him few decks down, he didn't want to be late. He was never late. So he paced quickly towards the turbo lift in order to get back to deck 13.

Suddenly Jeff froze. To his surprise he saw Commander Chakotay stepping in the turbo lift. For a moment Jeff thought staying behind, but once Commander saw him, he realized he had to share the turbo lift with him.

"Sir", Jeff said once stepped in. "Deck 13."

"Lieutenant", Chakotay said and kept his eyes on his padd.

Jeff didn't know what to say so he remained silent. It was frustrating to him, since he knew this was his golden opportunity to inquire if there would be a need for science officer on the bridge. But at the same time he knew he shouldn't step on the toes of Lieutenant Manning, who was his senior officer in the science lab. So he decided to remain silent, since there wasn't anything reasonable to say.

Once the turbo lift doors opened on deck 13, Jeff almost sighed from a relief to get out. Even though Commander Chakotay was liked among the crew, something about the man made Jeff uneasy. It had been like that as long as he could remember. Perhaps it was his Maquis past that bothered him on some level. Or perhaps it was his friendship with Kathryn Janeway, which he envied deeply. What ever the reason was, he considered himself lucky to be one of the science officers on deck 13, so he wouldn't have to face the Commander in daily basis. Unfortunately that also meant that there were many decks between him and the Captain, too.