Neelix gave a somewhat positive report on morale while Janeway surveyed the conference table. Irritating as her ponytail felt, she relished the freedom to move her head without getting hit in the face by her own hair. B'Elanna had employed the same tactic and had achieved quite pretty results. Neelix ought to give it a shot, Janeway reflected.

She noticed Harry slouching in his seat, fidgeting lethargically with his progress report. He placed it in the air, turned it, and watched it spin lazily. Janeway considered the comment Chakotay had made in the hallway yesterday and wondered how many crew members had noticed Harry's lackluster behavior. None of Harry's duties had suffered, so as his Captain she had no cause for concern. Yet it was hard to watch him struggle through the "disease," as Seven had called it.

"So," Neelix concluded, "with that notable exception pertaining to Naomi Wildman, the crew is hopeful."

"Hopeful they won't die?" asked the Doctor. "How can anyone be hopeful when that's right outside the window?" He gestured toward the eerie image beyond the side of the ship: stars elongated as through Voyager were at warp – which, of course, it was – although none of the stars were moving.

Janeway spared a glance, then swiveled back to the group. True to her assumption, the Doctor hadn't breathed a word about Chakotay to anyone, and she had indeed received the dreaded lecture yesterday afternoon in her ready room. The Doctor had even given her a written report on the thirty-five health benefits of relationships. He had seemed preoccupied with the view out her window, now that she thought about it. Today he appeared positively anxious. "Doctor, that's merely a ghost image of the last visible stars before we entered the dark energy at warp," she reassured him with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry, we're not spinning our wheels."

"You sound like Tom," said B'Elanna, catching Janeway's idiomatic reference to old-fashioned ground transportation. The Doctor hardly looked assuaged, but Janeway smiled at B'Elanna.

"I spoke with Seven this morning," Janeway stated. "The rate of expansion is continuing to increase, but unfortunately, our transmission was breaking up as she tried to send their data to Voyager. The sensor link is completely decayed. It sounds like they're traveling backwards at nearly warp one just to maintain their observation position."

"Tom checked in this afternoon," B'Elanna added. "That comm signal was even more garbled than Seven's. He said – I think – that they had surpassed warp one point five, but that they were picking up incredible data on the edge of the dark energy."

That was bad news – Voyager could be at a standstill soon after all, or worse, traveling backwards. In the absence of sensors they had no way to determine Voyager's actual velocity. Yet without knowing exactly how large the phenomenon was at the moment, Janeway felt that after spending thirty hours traveling at what she hoped was warp six, it was worth it to continue until either they emerged on the other side, or until they realized beyond a doubt that they were going backwards. Taking the time to bypass the dark energy wasn't high on her priority list. Not to mention that the scientific information they would gather once sensors were back online would be too valuable to quit now.

"Any progress with sensors?" Chakotay asked, in tune with her unspoken thought.

B'Elanna's eyes flickered to Harry, who had been working on that particular project with her. "No," she admitted. "None whatsoever. We can't read a single thing."

"See?" the Doctor intoned dramatically. "We could fly straight into a black hole without realizing it!"

Chakotay leaned forward. "Singularities can't exist inside dark energy, Doctor, there's no cause for alarm. We'll be out and on the other side before you know it. B'Elanna, have you at least been able to determine what's wrong with the sensors?"

While Chakotay spoke, Janeway's gaze had fixed on him. Now that he had finished addressing B'Elanna, he looked toward Janeway and gave her a warm, if slightly too intimate, smile. Her guard went up at first and she had to work at relaxing herself. Nobody at the table would notice if the Captain and First Officer exchanged a friendly smile. So she returned the favor.

"... Something to do with the magnetic irregularities in the dark energy," B'Elanna was saying. Janeway focused on B'Elanna, though she felt Chakotay's attention remain on her. She held her hand sideways over her mouth in thought.

"If only," B'Elanna continued, "We could find a way to protect the sensors from magnetic interference... but so far, we can't even protect our mag-lock boots."

"What do you mean?" Janeway demanded.

Harry cleared his throat and spoke up for the first time. "My mag-locks depolarized this morning. Several crew members have reported the same malfunction. I'm back in my Starfleet issue boots; at least these are comfortable."

"This is swell. I'm sure sickbay will soon be inundated with crew members complaining of minor bumps and bruises, not to mention an increased incidence of inter-dimensional body parts. As if I didn't have enough cases of space sickness to treat already. Do you know how many times I've been vomited on?"

"If you don't stop complaining," responded B'Elanna, "I'll bang my head against the table and treat you to a Klingon with a concussion."

"I doubt it," countered the Doctor calmly, "With that skull you'd probably break the table."

"There's no need to get upset," Neelix said soothingly. "Like the Commander said, it won't be long before we're back in normal space, Doctor."

The Doctor had started pacing around the table. "Upset? If the magnetic anomalies destabilize my program I'll be much more than upset, Mr. Neelix." Janeway realized the dark energy was probably already affecting the Doctor – he usually mastered his fears, but today he seemed to pander to them.

B'Elanna, apparently smoldering about his skull comment, darted her hand out as the Doctor passed behind her chair. His program flickered briefly and returned to normal. Janeway saw B'Elanna trying to hide a grin.

"Lieutenant Torres!" cried the Doctor. "Tampering with my mobile emitter is a –"

"Enough," Janeway commanded, giving both B'Elanna and the Doctor warning looks. "Lieutenant, run a diagnostic on the Doctor's program and correct any malfunctions caused by the dark energy, including behavioral ones." Once B'Elanna nodded reticently, Janeway turned back to Chakotay. "Commander, join Ensign Kim and Lieutenant Torres on the sensor problem. The more brains, the better. You might want to try modifying the main deflector to encompass Voyager with a reverse polaron field. If it won't protect the entire ship, we can at least reroute all sensors through the deflector."

"Aye, Captain," Chakotay replied. "Could we try some kind of illuminating charge like a low energy ionic beam?"

"I'm reluctant to fire even a low energy pulse," she answered, "As we'd risk igniting the phenomenon. If the theories are correct, we wouldn't stand a chance against that kind of explosion, and neither would the Delta Flyer. Astrophysicists have wondered if such force could manipulate the timeline. Far be it from me to willingly stick my hand into that kind of snake pit. Now, how many inter-dimensional rifts have opened on Voyager?"

"Ah, that's hard to say, Captain," said Neelix, who had volunteered to monitor the phenomenon in the absence of the three other senior officers. "As you know, they've been opening and closing randomly around sources of energy, like replicators, power conduits, and all over engineering. I've been trying to work a gamma ray scanner into the ship's computer that uses light in the visual range to illuminate the portals as they appear. Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to predict their emergence without flooding the ship with lethal levels of radiation. The best guard we usually have is to stay away from the crackling flash of light."

Chakotay looked from Janeway's hand to Neelix. "Any further cases of crew members becoming trapped in the rifts?"

Neelix shook his head and pushed his lower lip upward. "Just the four crew members in engineering and the Captain."

"'Just,' Mr. Neelix?" cried the Doctor. "You make it sound like treating them was easy! I nearly had to amputate several limbs!"

Janeway had heard about them this morning. Ensign Vorik's entire leg had vanished for almost a minute. "Continue working, Neelix. Feel free to ask any crew members for help. Dismissed."

As everyone exited, Chakotay took a few magnetic steps toward her and together they approached the windows. "B'Elanna must miss Tom more than I thought," he said, quietly, once the door had shut.

"Not to mention that The Doctor appears to be suffering from acute paranoia."

"Contrary to what Neelix says, I believe it's affecting all of us," he said, glancing into space. "Can't say I like the view either. Makes me feel like we are spinning our wheels." He turned to her and some of his disquiet seemed to melt away. His eyes softened.

"You know, we truly might be," she ventured, fairly worried that Chakotay might resume his tempting flirtations now that they were alone for the first time since yesterday morning. If she could control the subject of their conversation, perhaps things wouldn't become so nebulous.

Of course, she could have tromped back onto the bridge if she had really wanted to avoid him. But she didn't. She only wanted to avoid having to reprimand him.

"How so?" In complete disobedience to her thoughts, he feigned desire for a better view out the window and took another casual step, pressing his side flush against hers. The points where her shoulder, arm and hip touched him felt warm and electric.

"I've been studying my astrophysics in conjunction with the sensor logs from yesterday morning right before we entered the dark energy," she said, waving a hand as she spoke. "It's possible this phenomenon is expanding at a rate that's faster than our own speed right now, although without the data from the Delta Flyer there's no way to tell."

"So we could be stuck on the edge. Will it ever stop growing?" he inquired, tipping his head to the side and narrowing his eyes at her in curiosity.

"No, and that's where it gets interesting." She gestured with her finger. "Once the dark energy reaches a certain size – nobody's sure exactly what size, but we're talking several orders of magnitude bigger than ours is right now – it becomes little more than a shock wave. Something as small as a ship or planet would merely rock in its wake. Larger objects, such as distant galaxies, are carried much farther by the wave. That's why the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Dark energy patches are like anti-gravitational reverse singularities."

"Too bad ours isn't that big. It would be nice to be able to see what's in front of us, at least."

She raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms. To look at his face from so near required her cheek to almost brush his shoulder. "One thing I don't understand, Chakotay, is why I was only informed of the increasing rate of expansion after the Flyer parted ways with us. We could have prevented this confusion if we'd remained in normal space long enough to take the complete readings on Voyager."

His innocent expression returned, along with a shrug and a twinkle in his eye. He peered out the window as he spoke. "Is it a crime to find an excuse to spend a few minutes alone with you in your ready room? Granted, it started going downhill when your arm nearly got severed by a parallel universe."

She stepped away and planted her fists on her hips. "You know better, Chakotay. What if that information becomes the key to a life or death situation while we're in here?"

For a moment he only blinked at the warped stars, his hands clasped behind his back. When he set his eyes on hers his tone grew serious. "I apologize, Captain, it won't happen again. I made an error in judgment and in the future I'll inform you of everything right away." He dipped his head slightly and raised his eyebrows. "… To make up for it, how about I replicate dinner tomorrow night?"

If anyone but Chakotay had told her they had compromised the ship's possible safety just to spend time with her, she would likely have felt offended as a woman; yet his sincerity was unavoidably disarming. She tisked in mock outrage, softly punching his arm. "You would've made it anyway. What else have you got?"

"I was saving it for your birthday, but I suppose I could give it to you early."

She smiled. "Will I be short a birthday present, then? Why do I feel like you're trying to give me the raw end of the deal?"

"Do you really think I would leave you hanging on your birthday?" He crossed his arms as though his very soul had been insulted. "The way I see it, I have three whole months to get something else for you."

With half a nod, she schooled her features into determination. "Alright, let's have it then."

"I'll give it to you tomorrow night."

"Oh, so now I have to wait."

"You have the capacity to be patient, Kathryn. I saw it once."

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

"Have you replicated it yet?"

"I can't tell you that." He smirked playfully.

She placed her hand on her hip. "Fine. I don't care what it is."

"Reverse psychology won't work on me, Kathryn."

"I could order you to tell me."

"But you won't because you wouldn't want to abuse your position."

"I thought there were no secrets between us."

"You can't guilt trip me, either."

Finally, she had to laugh at his rapid-fire defenses. "Alright, you win, Chakotay." Her free hand swung up to rest on his shoulder and she raised her eyebrows. "But there's one thing you're wrong about."

"What's that?" He joined his hands behind his back.

"I've never been patient. Not even once."

He grinned and blinked at the floor without answering.

She crossed her arms. "You disagree, do you?" she said, sensing he was about to change the mood. Again, she considered making for the bridge. She didn't.

"By my reckoning, there's only one thing you've been able to wait for without taking the initiative yourself."

"And what's that?"

His brows went up. "Love." He said it so matter-of-factly, as though he'd been talking to the Doctor.

She regarded him for a moment before she decided how to respond. Of course, he was right. But the issue was so complex. Technically, they were both on duty, so it would be inappropriate to have a lengthy discussion on a subject unrelated to the ship and crew.

So, she settled on saying, "You're right, Chakotay," then artfully shrugging in a manner that suggested the subject was closed. "But that's a topic for another time." She began to plod toward the door.

"See what I mean?"

She stopped to listen, but didn't turn around.

"Patience," he continued. "Have you ever wondered whether maybe it's not a virtue in this case? It's been almost a year since you found out Mark has moved on, so you can't use him as a safety net any longer. And you've said you're too busy for a relationship as well – but do Tom and B'Elanna have any more free time than you do?"

Not really seeing the door in front of her, she inhaled deeply and firmly grabbed the chair nearest her just to feel like she was anchored to something. Once in a while zero-g became unsettling.

"I know you, Kathryn. If you continue to ignore the most basic human desire – the need to be close to someone – you'll come to regret it."

Continuing the conversation from here was out of the question. Both were due back on the bridge five minutes ago. She knew she was only proving Chakotay right, but she couldn't ignore the fact that they were on duty. "Maybe so." Then, before she took her leave, she twisted around to get a look at him.

She had meant peer into the familiar, quietly understanding eyes of her First Officer, to give him a reassuring smile, to signal that perhaps the topic could be revisited later on. Yet the expression he gave her from across the room melted her composure. He appeared ready to bound to her side and kiss her if she'd asked him.

She thought about it for a wild microsecond, but… She didn't.