The captain froze, then turned. There was a smile on her face that was tinged with just a hint of malice. She took a few steps back towards him, closing the distance between them. She looked him square in the eyes, resting her hands on his chest, effectively stopping his heart. "Yes," she breathed, leaning in to kiss him with a passion that had him hard in seconds. Chakotay responded eagerly, his arms finding their way around her waist. Her short frame pushed against his body. She had to be feeling his arousal. He couldn't care less. His desire was overpowering. When her hand came up to cup the back of his neck, her kisses growing deeper, he couldn't stop himself from trying to manoeuvre her against a wall. The captain's collection of decorative items left little wall space available, though, so he was just about to push her against the door when it hissed open. They both jumped back in shock, allowing the door to close again, then burst out laughing. She actually giggled. "Do you think anyone saw that?"

They exited the ready room shortly after that in an orderly fashion, trying not to look too flustered. Chakotay was convinced that they were failing miserably. Kathryn was positively glowing, eyes alight and lips reddened. She looked breathtakingly beautiful. He himself was still slightly out of breath and self-conscious about his partial erection that he was trying to subdue. That proved difficult with the waves of electricity passing between them. Chakotay could feel his skin burn wherever she'd touched him. He wasn't the type to rush into physical intimacy, but right now he was sorely tempted to take her right there on the bridge. He felt excessively hot and he didn't even dare look at Kathryn for fear he'd act on his desires. In his effort to look anywhere else, he let his eyes sweep the bridge. To his horror, quite a few crewmembers were looking at him, among them Harry and Tom. His eyes lingered on Tom, who caught his eyes and made a surreptitious gesture with his thumb on his lips. It took Chakotay a moment to understand what that meant. Finally, he clapped a hand over his mouth and saw Tom chuckle silently. Chakotay tried to see his reflection in the console to check for lipstick marks. There were none. Great. Leave it to Tom to embarrass his superior officers and get all the juicy gossip at the same time.

In an attempt to look busy, Chakotay took up a padd and typed in a short message for Kathryn, then sent it to her console. He heard it beep when she received it.

You never answered my question, it read.

He saw Kathryn's lips twitch in a smile. I did. I do think it would be inappropriate for you to ask me out on a date.

The words stung, but Kathryn's actions in the ready room just minutes ago spoke another language.

So are you saying that you won't go out with me? He wished he knew how to mute the sound on these padds. Every single touch of a key resulted in a loud beeping, making their private conversation quite the symphony. She was grinning now, drawing a few looks as she responded: No.

Chakotay had seldom been so happy to see the word 'no' on a screen. He felt his own face split into a huge smile as he typed. Then it's settled. Saturday night. I'll pick you up at eight.

Kathryn blushed slightly. Where are you taking me?

Chakotay caught her eyes and shook his head, still grinning. It's a surprise.

Before she could argue, he put the padd away and turned to his console. He had a lot of work to catch up on if he wanted to have time to design the surprise later. First, though, he pulled up the Doctor's report on the crew's health. While he scanned the results, he could feel Kathryn's eyes on him every now and then, sending tingles down his spine. He was quite pleased with the Doctor's work and with the fact that there were no terrible diseases being spread on board, no major health issues whatsoever. Thankfully, the hologram hadn't included every single detail - Chakotay's hormone levels for example. He made a mental note to put a commendation into his file.

He stayed up late, putting the finishing touches on his holodeck programme. He wanted Kathryn to be speechless and moved, so everything had to be perfect. He checked the chronometer. It was just past midnight. He wondered if Tom Paris was still up. He decided to try his luck, confirming with the computer that he was still out and about. Perfect. The helmsman was currently on the holodeck. Chakotay headed straight down. At the entrance, he quickly checked to see which programme was running. He didn't want to walk in on anything embarrassing, although that might even the score between them. When he recognised the Captain Proton scenario, he instructed the computer to adjust his appearance to fit the monochromatic setting, and entered.

He stepped right into Captain Proton's rocket, sidestepping Satan's robot that immediately started sounding the alarms. This wasn't exactly the kind of archaeology he was interested in, but he could certainly see the appeal. He allowed the robot to take him to Captain Proton, although that was hardly necessary. He'd spotted Tom as soon as he'd entered. He was visible on one of the screens, obviously just returning from a mission. The rocket's main hatch opened and Tom climbed in, looking very pleased with himself. He started greeting the robot when he suddenly recognised Chakotay. Tom looked taken aback, his mouth open in one of his less than intelligent expressions. Chakotay called himself to order. After all, he wanted to ask a favour of Tom.

"Welcome to my rocket ship, Commander," Tom grinned, gesturing around the cluttered space. "You can release him," he added to the robot, who promptly withdrew, making loud clanging sounds as he went.

"Thanks." Chakotay joined Tom at the helm. "So, were you successful tonight?"

Tom looked suspicious, but smiled. "Very. After Harry saved those slave girls last time, I was left with the much cooler task of destroying the slave master's time ship ... don't ask."

Chakotay chuckled. "And you programmed all of this yourself?"

"Yeah, but Harry helped a lot. He's like a holodeck wunderkind."

"I see." Chakotay fidgeted with the padd he'd brought. "I have something I'd like you to take a look at. I'd consider it a personal favour."

Tom regarded him with renewed interest. "Sure. Let me have a look."

Chakotay hesitated, then handed him the padd. Involving anyone in all this still felt risky, but Kathryn had done it too, so just went for it. He waited impatiently while Tom studied his plans, the younger man's brows creeping closer to his hairline.

"You want me to turn your plans into a holodeck ... experience?"

Chakotay nodded. "Can you do it?"

Tom waved the padd. "You went into a lot of detail, so I should be fine on that front, but it would help if I knew why I was doing this." The tone in his voice made Chakotay feel positive that he had already considered what he'd seen on the bridge, and come to the right conclusions. He just wanted to hear him say it.

Chakotay leaned against one of the machines, ignoring the beeping that produced. "Why don't you tell me your theory?"

Tom grinned. "Do you promise you won't throw me in the brig if I get it right?"

"We'll see."

The helmsman's face grew more serious. "I think you're planning to take Captain Janeway here," he indicated the padd. "From what I saw on the bridge I'd say there was definitely something going on between the two of you."

Chakotay didn't respond right away. Tom was spot on. "Was it that obvious?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

Tom let out a laugh. "No offence, Chakotay, but even Seven of Nine would have said it was obvious."

Chakotay shared Tom's laughter out of embarrassment. "I guess it was pretty hard to miss."

Tom seemed to consider asking questions, but settled on saying: "I can show you the preliminary programme tomorrow evening. Say, 1900 hours?"

Chakotay nodded again. "That works for me. I don't think I need to tell you that silence is key."

"That's a given. And if anyone tries to get me to do extra work, can I refer them to you?"

Chakotay laughed. "Don't push it, Tom!" He winked and left the holodeck.

He was surprised by how tired he felt now that he'd gotten this underway. It was already past 0100, so he went back to his quarters. He had just changed and gotten into bed, when his communicator chirped.

"Janeway to Chakotay."

He hurried to fetch the badge from his nightstand, heart thumping. "Chakotay here. What is it, captain?"

He heard her chuckle richly. "Your 'surprise' is killing me. I need to know"

Chakotay lay back, smiling. "Why should I tell you when it's so much more fun to watch you squirm?" He could almost see the outrage in her face. "Don't worry, it'll be worth the wait."

She sighed. "I guess so ... Oooh, remember the tub? You made me wait for that too."

Chakotay felt his breath catch in his throat. This was the first time in a long time that she'd brought up New Earth. He pulled himself together. "How could I forget?" He left unspoken all the times that he'd tried to keep his eyes averted while she bathed, focusing on sand art or some menial work around the shelter. Or that more than once he'd failed entirely, spellbound by the way the water droplets glistened on her exposed skin.

There was a pronounced silence, and Chakotay briefly wondered if Kathryn had fallen asleep. Then he heard a faint rustle from the device in his hand. "Kathryn?"

"Yes?" Her voice sounded wistful.

"If you really want to know, I'll tell you. But I'd rather you waited for Saturday."

She seemed to think for a moment. "I guess I'll survive not knowing for two days."

"You won't regret it," he chuckled.

"Oh, I'm sure I will." She was laughing softly, too. "Goodnight, Chakotay."

He wished she was lying next to him, speaking those words. "Sleep well, Kathryn."

Chakotay couldn't get to sleep for a long time after that. He was going over their remote conversation again in his head, shocked by how easy it had been to talk to her so intimately. He couldn't recall ever having a conversation with her over their badges that didn't involve any shop talk.

He rolled onto his back and tried to imagine what Saturday would be like. He had the whole day off, so he wouldn't put anyone in danger by being less than focused. Also, he'd have time to fiddle with the programme if Tom got something wrong. Chakotay had to admit that didn't seem very likely. He'd included extremely detailed accounts of the flora and fauna surrounding the locale of their date, of scents, sounds, scenery. He was fairly confident that it would be as close to perfect as was possible.

Kathryn put her badge back onto her nightstand and settled back against the pillows. Chakotay had clearly not known how to respond when she'd brought up New Earth. Their second home had been a taboo topic for years now. They'd barely ever mentioned it since they'd been rescued. Too painful was the realisation that their chance at a quiet life together had passed. At least for her. And of course there'd been the guilt she'd felt at allowing a man other than Mark to occupy her mind and her heart.

Now, though, she could hardly stop herself from calling him again to invite him into her quarters. She chastised herself for those thoughts, trying to ban them to the furthest reaches of her consciousness. Such actions could wait. First and foremost, she had a ship to run. Still, the overwhelming curiosity at what Chakotay had planned for Saturday wouldn't let her rest.

She tried to calm her mind by reciting some of her favourite poems. That usually helped put her out like a light. It took a little longer tonight, but eventually she managed to put Chakotay and all her excitement out of her mind and drift into an uneasy sleep.