Chapter 6
The following morning, she woke up with a wince after she tried adjusting her position on the sofa. That, in turn, woke him up.
"Good morning," he said in a soft voice, replacing her hand with his and kneading her neck.
She grumbled in response.
Chakotay chuckled to himself. Whenever he met her on Voyager, no matter how early it was, she would usually have already gone through her morning ritual of caffeine consumption, so she was sociable enough. However, if there was one thing he'd learned about Kathryn on New Earth, it was that she was not a morning person.
She couldn't function properly until she'd had a) time to wake up properly and b) coffee. Light and sound were her enemies then, and she didn't even like being talked to.
Chakotay got up and ordered two cups of coffee from the replicator. After he handed her one of them, he hovered in front of the open door of his side of the closet. He pretended to be sorting out his uniform, but he was actually giving her time to shower first.
He then replicated a morning meal of more coffee, fruit, cinnamon rolls and butter, and he waited.
When she did emerge from the bathroom, she was wearing a thin robe, which meant he had to force himself to keep his eyes on her face.
"Can we please sleep on our bed tonight?" she asked, casually passing by him and leaving a kiss on his cheek, as well as a whiff of that familiar tangy apricot scent. "If I fall asleep on the couch again, I'll need to be transported directly to Sickbay in the morning."
She had her back to him then, and was leaning over her desk to reach a PADD on the other side.
Impossible not to look.
He did what he had been doing for years. He lowered his gaze without moving his head, taking in the contours of her hips while nudging her on with a simple, empty question, just to keep the conversation going.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yes, really," she replied.
He knew her eyes would be on him again in a moment, and so he lifted his. To his surprise, she was already looking at him, over her right shoulder. He gave her a bashful smile, dimples and all, and retreated into the bathroom.
=/\=
Their first stop was the Sickbay.
"Ah, Captain, Commander," the Doctor said. "I was expecting you."
"Did you find anything, Doc?" Chakotay asked.
"Yes. I don't know if it has any relevance yet, but I did find trace amounts of metreon particles in your body."
"Metreon?" Kathryn repeated. "Wasn't metreon radiation the energy source of the weapon invented by that Haakonian doctor who came on board? The one that destroyed Neelix's home world?"
"Exactly," the Doctor confirmed.
"But that was years ago," she said. "Years before Commander Chakotay's most recent memories prior to yesterday."
"If I remember correctly, that scientist, as well as Neelix's family, died of radiation poisoning," Chakotay said.
"That's right, Commander. However, nothing in your scans suggests you have been exposed to a high enough concentration that would cause metremia. I took the liberty of analyzing Doctor Jetrel's logs from that time. I'm positive I can run the test he invented on the samples I already got from you. With your permission, of course..."
"Go right ahead, Doctor," Chakotay said.
"I'll inform you as soon as I have the results."
"Thanks, Doctor," Kathryn said, placing a hand on his arm. "You did a good job".
"I'm only happy to help," he replied.
"Just one more thing. Am I cleared for duty?" Chakotay asked.
"Oh, yes, Commander. Don't worry. You're quite healthy."
Chakotay thanked him as well and left Sickbay with Kathryn. In the turbolift on their way to the Bridge, he noticed she was deep in thought, her brow furrowed and her eyes unfocused.
"Are you worried?" she asked him.
"No. Are you?"
"The Doctor mentioned trace amounts. That is not enough to make you sick. And it's a clue. We can analyze the sensor logs of the shuttle during your last away missions, and we can tell Seven and Icheb where to look. Maybe If we analyze the source of the radiation to which you were exposed, we can determine whether it could have had any effect on your Limbic System. Maybe we can also tell the Doctor what to look for."
He could see she was trying to convince herself, rather than him.
"Good, you're not worried, then," he joked.
"Well, a little worried," she sighed. "I know what you're thinking," she said. "Ten years of marriage and I still haven't figured out how to be objective about you."
"That's not what I was thinking at all," he told her.
"I can be objective in my decisions. I can act accordingly. But it's so hard to pretend when we are alone."
He was about to tell her she didn't have to pretend when the turbolift reached deck 1 and the door opened.
=/\=
The shift had been almost uneventful on the Bridge. All the work was being done in Astrometrics. Seven and Icheb were correlating their sensor readings, modified to pick up metreon radiation, with the logs from Chakotay's last away missions. Around noon, however, the ship's regular sensors detected an M-class planet nearby, presumably brimming with supplies.
As soon as she was notified, the captain – for she was the captain then – ordered her first officer to assemble an away team and coordinate their efforts from the ship.
Chakotay had spent the entire morning reviewing profiles, so he already had a good idea of who to send. Ensign Paris would be the commanding officer on the surface. Her job would be to oversee the transport of whatever supplies were found. Crewman Chell, who was in charge of the mess hall, would scan for edible plants. The third and last member of the party was Crewman Damaris Cordelia, who'd be responsible for security. No life signs had been detected on the planet. It was, however, a precaution Chakotay chose to take.
After he had ordered the three members of the crew to the Briefing Room and informed them of the situation, he returned to the Bridge. All he had to do was wait for them to confirm their position on the planet's surface and then it would only be a matter of reviewing their scans and transports reports.
That gave him the opportunity to think about other things.
Many times during that day's quiet moments on the Bridge, he replayed their conversation from the previous night in his mind. It amazed him how quickly and well he was adapting to being there. He realized he didn't care about what had happened to him, exactly. He was happy. If he had lost his memory, he'd make the most of the time he still had, and would delight in learning about their life from her. If he had been hurled into the future, he didn't see any point in getting back just so he could spend his years waiting for that moment, right then.
And to think that only yesterday he'd told Miral about not wanting to live for the future...
That was different, though. That was no uncertain future. It was where and when he wanted to be. And he was determined to make the most of it.
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice on the comm.
"Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway."
"Go ahead, Seven," Kathryn replied.
"We are detecting a change in the atmospheric conditions of the planet. The levels of electromagnetic activity are rising."
"A geomagnetic storm?" Kathryn asked.
"It's possible. I suggest we beam the away team back before the atmosphere starts to interfere with our transporters."
When Kathryn turned to Chakotay, his hand was already on his commbadge.
"Chakotay to Ensign Paris, come in."
"Paris here, Commander," she replied.
"Prepare for immediate transport," he said.
"Acknowledged."
Then Chakotay tapped his badge again.
"Chakotay to Ensign Tal."
"Tal here, sir," the ensign said over the comm.
"Beam the away team back to the ship," Chakotay ordered.
"Aye, sir."
The proceedings were routine enough. But when the confirmation that the team had been beamed back on board didn't come, Chakotay knew something was amiss.
"Chakotay to Tal, please confirm the transport."
"I can't, sir," came the unsteady voice. "I can't get a lock on the away team. Something in the atmosphere of the planet is causing some sort of interference."
"Acknowledged. Stand by. Chakotay to Ensign Paris."
"Still here, sir."
"We can't get a lock on you. Astrometrics reported increased electromagnetic activity around the planet. You'll have to boost things up on your end, Miral."
"Understood, sir. But I'll need time to adjust the settings on the enhancers. I'm not picking up anything unusual on my end.
"The radiation seems to be concentrated on the mesosphere," said Seven, who had left the channel open. "Adjust your tricorder, Ensign."
"Will do."
"How much time do you need, Miral?" Chakotay asked.
"I'm not sure. I don't even know what I'm supposed to compensate for."
"How much time, Ensign?" he asked again.
"One hour, sir."
"Keep us informed. Chakotay out."
The Bridge was silent for a moment while they all stared at the planet on the viewscreen.
"One hour?! That's absurd!" said Tom, turning back on the helm. "A week's replicator rations says she'll do it in half! Now, come on, who's in?"
Chakotay saw Vorik discreetly raise his fingers.
"Well, Mr. Paris," Kathryn said, rising from her seat. "Since alpha shift ended 20 minutes ago and since you're so invested in the success of this mission, you have the Bridge. Let me know as soon as we hear from the away team again."
"Aye, Captain," he said.
Chakotay got up as well, and followed Kathryn into the turbolift.
=/\=
Kathryn missed Neelix a lot, but she had to admit that the food had gotten a lot better on the ship since Chell had taken over the kitchen.
"No more leola root stew, then?" Chakotay asked.
"No. But we tell Neelix how much we miss it, from time to time. We don't want his feelings to be hurt," she said.
They were not the only ones in the mess hall, but it wasn't crowded either. Chakotay looked around and noticed, with pleasure, that none of the other occupants was paying any attention to them. They had been greeted by those who were nearer them when they came in, but that was the extent of their interactions. There were no curious looks, no side glances, nothing.
The couple sat together at adjacent sides of the table. Their knees were touching.
"How did they take it?" Chakotay asked, indicating the crew present with his head.
"We were so worried about them. So concerned they'd feel we would no longer be able to stay impartial during crew evaluations or personal complaints..." She chucled. "They showed us, all right. You wouldn't believe the number of different polls they had going on about our relationship!"
Chakotay laughed.
"There were polls about when we'd get together, and the bets varied from 1 month into our voyage to only when we got to Earth. And the bets were so random! One year and three months, fifteen years and 11 months... Naomi won that bet."
"Naomi?!" he said.
"Yes! That's how much they discussed our private matters. In front of the kids! And then there were polls concerning... the manner of our union. The title on that one was What will it take?, I believe. Near-death experience? Another man? Another woman? There was one entry suggesting we'd have to go on an undercover away mission pretending to be a couple because, once we kissed, we wouldn't be able to go back to being just friends. Guess who bet on that?"
"Not Miral...?
"The same."
"How did we help raise such corrupt children, Kathryn?" he joked.
"Oh, there's more," she lowered her voice. "I happen to know we'd make half the crew rich if we were to kiss in a public area of the ship."
She laced her left leg around his right one, grazing her calf against his shin. He swallowed, but was otherwise still. The contact wasn't exactly inappropriate, but her tone was, as well as the way she was looking at him.
Chakotay exhaled and reached for her left hand, which rested on her knee. He turned her palm upwards so he could run his thumb up and down the path between her wrist and the base of her third proximal phalanx.
"A public area such as the mess hall?" he asked.
"Exactly."
"And are we?" he said.
"No," she said, looking at his lips. Then she smiled when she heard him exhale once again. "Well," she continued, "there's duty, and principles... and I'll be damned if I'll help Tom earn any more rations."
This got a snicker out of him. He quickly pressed a kiss to her fingers before releasing her hand. Then he grabbed his glass for longs gulps of cool water.
"I'm gonna find some coffee, do you want some?"
He shook his head.
"Oh, and honey?" She approached her lips to his ear. "This time, if I happen to lean over a table, you don't have to look away."
He made a fool of himself by inadvertently spitting half of what was in his mouth.
She laughed as she walked to the kitchen. She actually laughed.
So Chakotay took a deep breath and dried his lips (and chin, and hands). He patiently waited for her to come back and he patiently waited for her to finish her coffee.
"Can we go back to the Bridge?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, complacently.
She raised a suspicious eyebrow but decided to let it go. It was only when the door of the turbolift closed that she realized what he was up to.
He pressed his hands flat against the wall to either side of her shoulders.
"I don't have to look away?" he said.
She gave him one of her half-smiles, shaking her head from side to side. So he deliberately lowered his gaze to the front part of her uniform.
"Computer," he said, still looking, "halt turbolift".
It was her turn to close her eyes and exhale. She opened them again when he touched her waist, and they stared at each other for a few moments.
He licked his lips and moved closer.
"Lt. Vorik to Captain Janeway, please respond."
This time, the two of them let out inarticulate sounds, but she still tapped her commbadge quickly.
"What is it, lieutenant?"
"Captain, we picked up a transmission from the surface. It's the away team. I suggest you come to the Bridge immediately."
"On my way," she said.
They stepped out of the turbolift and onto the Bridge exactly 13 seconds later. All thoughts of their previous conversation had been pushed to the back of their minds.
"Lieutenant, report," she said to Tom.
He seemed calm, but he looked paler than usual and his voice was a little unstable.
"We picked up a transmission, not two minutes ago. It's a recording. You'd... you'd better just listen to it yourselves," he said.
Mike Ayala pressed a few buttons on his console and they heard white noise, and then a male voice, speaking in a language unknown to the universal translator. Then they heard Miral.
I'm Ensign Paris, of the starship Voyager. Please, lower your weapons. We mean you no harm.
The male voice could be heard again, and it was joined by other similar voices that sounded more and more exasperated.
It's OK, Damaris, you can lower your weapon. We have to show them we have no intention of hurting them.
That was Miral talking to Crewman Cordelia, the security officer. But after that, the jumble of unidentified voices was renewed.
Do you think they can understand us?
The low voice was the crewman's.
I don't think so. Listen to me. We thought this planet was uninhabited. We were looking for food. You know, food?
After that, the sound of her voice was muffled. They could hear one or more people struggling. Then Miral was on again, this time from a distance.
Captain - 5 of them - Northeast - and some sort of -
There was a sharp noise, and the audio went silent.
=/\=
