by Avalon (avalon99@telusplanet.net)
http://members.dencity.com/avalon_online
J/C, PG-13, 1/1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: To Linda Campbell for improving my stories to no end.
DISCLAIMER: Despite asking for Chakotay for Christmas, he, Janeway, and the rest of the Voyager crew are not mine. I'm only playing with them...and with their minds.
HEAVEN AND ALE
Chakotay didn't know how much longer he could stand it. It was becoming more difficult with every passing moment. He prayed to his spirit guide for the strength to continue, but nobody answered. A hand curled around his neck and a voice whispered his name. He shuddered, and a bead of sweat formed on his forehead, his fists clenching.
Memories flashed through his mind. It had started out as a normal diplomatic mission. When the government of Minoru had refused to discuss Voyager's request for shore-leave over the communicators, insisting instead that he and the Captain make their request in person, he had had no sense of foreboding, no presentiment of danger. The talks had gone well, and the Minoruvians had happily agreed to allow the crew some much needed rest and relaxation. And then it had happened.
He should have realized something was wrong earlier. It was only small things to start with, but he was a Starfleet Officer, damn it! He should have noticed. Maybe he could have prevented this...
"Chakotay." The arm snaking around his neck moved lower across his chest. It was becoming difficult to fly. For that matter, it was becoming difficult to breath. Then something nibbled lightly on his ear, and she whispered. "Put the shuttle on auto-pilot."
"I'm sorry, Captain, I can't do that."
A second hand joined the first. "I gave you a direct order, Commander."
It took all the will-power he had, but he managed to move her hands away. "You're not yourself, Captain. Why don't you sit down...over there...and I'll get you another coffee."
Kathryn Janeway frowned, draping herself even further over her First Officer. "I'd rather have some more of that Minoruvian ale. And you really should try it...It's... invigorating."
Chakotay swallowed. He had had shaves that weren't this close. Clenching his teeth, he reached out a hand and set the shuttle on autopilot then turned and rose from the pilot's chair. She smiled at him and took a step closer, running her fingers lightly over his chest. "You won't regret this Chakotay," she said, her voice a husky purr.
"But I would," he thought, "maybe not immediately... DEFINITELY not immediately...but certainly later. As soon as the effects of that damned ale wore off..." He ignored the small voice telling him that it just might be worth it...No. He was an officer and a gentleman. And if he repeated that enough times, he might just begin to believe it.
All the food and drink the Minoruvians had plied them with had been harmless. Delicious, filling, oddly-flavoured at times...but harmless. Until that last toast before their departure. He had opted for the blue drink with the unpronouncable name, while Janeway had chosen the same ale that their hosts were drinking. Now he knew why the Minoruvians smiled so much.
The effects hadn't become apparent until they were well underway. At first it had just been a look, then a phrase or two that were...well...out of character. But then the Captain had become someone unrecognizable. Well, actually she did bear a remarkable resemblance to the woman in some of his more... heated...fantasies.
Chakotay shook his head, trying to put those thoughts aside. It wasn't easy, given the circumstances. He was effectively trapped with her until Voyager returned to the rendezvous point, which wouldn't be for another...he glanced at the chronometer...Oh Gods!...hour and a half. He didn't think he could last another hour and a half...Maybe he should sedate her. No. He couldn't do that. She'd never forgive him. Maybe he could sedate himself. He glanced down at the woman who had by now worked her hands under his uniform. No. Bad idea.
He was fast running out of ideas. "Think, man, think! You were a Maquis Captain. You've dealt with Cardassians, Starfleet, Maquis traitors...You should be able to think under pressure." Then her hands moved lower and he gulped. "But not this much pressure."
And then she reached up, pulled his head down to hers, and he stopped thinking all together. The voice inside him that acted as his conscience politely asked him what he thought he was doing, but as her tongue met his, he ignored it. The voice repeated the question, a little more forcefully. It grew more frantic as Chakotay pulled her closer and, finally, packed its bags and left in despair as the Commander began to run his hands through her hair...and elsewhere.
There was another voice nearby. It too grew louder and more insistent. The haze in Chakotay's mind cleared momentarily. Tuvok? My conscience sounds like Tuvok? A sense of unreality assailed him. There it was again...
"Commander Chakotay, Captain Janeway. Respond please."
No. It wasn't his conscience. It was Tuvok. Voyager was early. Damn that Vulcan anyway. Reluctantly he wrenched himself away from his Captain...not that he could go far, as she seemed to have molded her body to his. He tried to take a step backwards only to find the console at his back. She reached for him again, and he caught her wrists.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" His voice was hoarse.
"There seems to have been some problem with your communicator, Commander. I am switching to visual."
"No! Visual is...um...offline."
"According to our sensors, everything seems to be functioning normally."
He wasn't kidding. Chakotay transferred the Captain to his left hand, and reached behind him, slamming his fist into the main console bank. "I think you should check your sensors again, Mr Tuvok."
There was a pause. "You...are correct. There seems to be a problem with the shuttle's circuitry. Is everything else all right?"
Chakotay glanced down at the Captain who had opened her mouth to reply to the Vulcan. Moving quickly, he silenced her with one hand over her mouth. She twisted sinuosly against him. "We're fine," Chakotay said, wishing his voice would stop shaking, "but the Captain has eaten something that disagreed with her."
"Are you a requesting assistance?"
"No!" It came out as a yelp. "No. We're all fine... here...Uh...How are you?"
"Commander?"
By now Chakotay had himself under control. Well, as much control as he could with a beautiful woman nibbling on his fingers. He cursed his Maquis training. Why wasn't it working? Kick in! Kick in, damn it! Nothing happened, except that she transferred her attention to a different finger. Chakotay sighed inwardly.
"Sorry, Mr Tuvok. I was...distracted. The Captain will be fine. She's just feeling a bit...under the weather. I'd like us to be transported directly to sickbay when we're in range."
"Yes, Sir. Tuvok out."
Chakotay realized he only had minutes. He couldn't allow the crew to see her like this. He reached past her, and she stepped into his embrace once more, twining her arms about his neck.
"I'm sorry, Kathryn," he said softly.
She smiled seductively. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for..." The hypospray caught her in mid-sentence. Her eyes widened and she slumped forward. He caught her and was just beginning to lower her to a chair when the familiar tingling of a transporter beam caught them both. In an instant they had both vanished.
* * *
The Doctor was speaking. Chakotay managed to drag his attention away from the unconscious woman. "What did you say?"
The Doctor frowned. "If you weren't going to listen to my diagnosis then why did you ask?"
"Sorry?"
"I should hope so." The hologram continued. "As I was saying...the drink she consumed contained a herb that has adrenergic properties and the unique side-effect of increasing the body's supply of epinephrine and other hormones."
"What precisely does that mean?"
The Doctor heaved a long-suffering sigh. "For the layman this means that her normal inhibitions were repressed." The hologram gave him a searching look. "Did you notice any unusual behaviour?"
Unusual behaviour? Chakotay swallowed. "No. None whatsoever."
"Hmmm. How surprising." The Doctor turned back to his patient. "Her system will have returned to normal by tomorrow. In the meantime, I suggest you return to your duties, and leave me to mine."
Chakotay hesitated, glanced down once more at the unconscious Captain, then straightened his shoulders and left the sickbay.
* * *
The summons did not come as a surprise. Chakotay had been expecting it. He took a deep breath then crossed the threshold to the ready room.
He had wondered if she would remember anything that had happened. Now it was obvious that she did, if the stricken look on her face was any indication. For a moment his spirit quailed, and he battled with the insane urge to dive under a desk...any desk. Only the fact that she looked as if he would have to fight her for room under said desk gave him the courage to continue. He schooled his features into his customary expression of serenity with an effort. "You wanted to see me, Captain?" He was proud of his voice. It didn't quaver at all.
Janeway swallowed deeply. "Yes. Sit down. Please." He sat in the chair across from hers. "I...just wanted to apologize...for what happened in the shuttle."
"Nothing happened."
Her gaze met his. "You know that's not true."
"Captain..."
"Let me finish. I just wanted to say...that...if I made you...uncomfortable...I'm sorry. As your Captain..."
"Kathryn. You have nothing to apologize for. You couldn't have known how that ale would affect you. I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. I can't help feeling that I took advantage of you."
"You would never do that." There was a long moment in which neither spoke, then hastily she looked away and changed the subject. "Ah...Commander...how is the scheduling for the crew's shore leave going?"
With difficulty he dragged his thoughts back to ship's business. "Almost done. And everyone has been warned about the Minoruvian ale."
"That's good. I'd hate to think what would happen if the entire crew was affected...the same way I was."
"This may get me court-martialed, but...a Kathryn Janeway without inhibitions
was not exactly a...bad...thing."
She met his eyes, a wicked grin beginning to form on her lips.
"Which leads to the question of what a Commander Chakotay without inhibitions
would be like..."
He smiled back. "Let's just say that it was fortunate that Voyager reached us when it did." He stood and turned to leave.
"That, Commander, all depends on your point of view."
Chakotay stopped in surprise, quelling the irrational impulse to suddenly lunge over the desk and take up where they had left off. "Bad idea, Commander," he thought to himself sternly. Deciding on discretion as the better part of valour, he shot her an enigmatic glance then reluctantly turned and left.
Behind him, Janeway watched him leave, regret crossing her face. Then, with a sigh and an inward shake, she returned her attention to the reports on her desk.
THE END?