Janeway and Chakotay had decided to take the Jeffries tubes to the mess hall taking the longer route. He was glad that Janeway was wearing Aqua blue trousers under the Aqua blue medical tunic otherwise he would have been distracted by the view. Even though the garments were unflattering, he still thought that she was beautiful.
"I hate this thing." Janeway grumbled as the loose tunic snagged on the plating of the Jeffries tubes and ripped at the hem.
"At least Val'sar was considerate enough to let you replicate those shoes." Chakotay replied chuckling. Referencing the black canvas plimsoles she was wearing on her feet. Janeway stopped, sitting down with her legs pulled up she turned to face Chakotay.
"Well, I wasn't about to walk around my ship barefoot." She said smiling. They had been crawling through the tubes for almost an hour and Janeway needed to rest her legs as they were becoming cramped.
Chakotay had sat down next to her and they had fallen into silence. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I've seen better days but I'll be alright." She replied.
"You shouldn't push yourself Kathryn, you've been through hell these past few days." Chakotay responded, touching her hand.
She took comfort in his touch, she remembered that moment in sickbay when they had almost kissed and she remembered the feeling of his lips against her skin. She had felt his presence when she was in the coma and had felt him squeeze her hand. But the most vivid thing she remembered was hearing him say. "I'll never leave you Kathryn." Being here with him now was the closest thing to heaven she had experienced over the last few days.
"Kathryn, are you sure you're okay?" Chakotay asked, concerned, her long silence had made him wonder if she had fallen asleep.
"Hmm. Yes, I'm fine. We should keep moving." She replied, evading a detailed answer.
Meanwhile, Tom, Harry and B'elanna had decided to alternate between the Jeffries tubes and the corridors. They were currently on deck 5 heading towards the Jeffries tubes, when two Val'haatan guards came round the corner and fired at them. Their shots missed, striking the bulkheads. The three of them fired back. The guards were stunned quickly and they hurried to the Jeffries tubes before anymore guards could show up.
Whilst this was going on Tuvok,Seven,Neelix and Joe were already in the mess hall. Joe Carey had set up a site to site transport and had disabled the internal sensors. He still had a few of the components in his pockets. The doors had been locked and the only way in and out of the mess hall was though the Jeffries tubes or a transport. The hatch to the Jeffries tubes opened and Tom crawled out, followed by B'elanna and Harry. Harry took the mobile emitter out of his pocket and activated the Doctor.
"Has anyone seen Chakotay and The Captain?" B'elanna asked.
"We have not seen them or heard from them for the past two hours." Tuvok answered.
"We should go look for them." Joe suggested.
"Lieutenant, that would no be a logical course of action, if they don't rendezvous within the next hour, we will begin to search for them. " He announced.
Janeway and Chakotay continued their journey through the Jeffries tubes. The cramped space was not an ideal way to spend at least two hours. They had just got onto deck two and were slowly making their way to the nearest hatch. Janeway stopped, instinctively reaching for the disruptor she had tucked into the waist band of her trousers. Chakotay stopped when he nearly collided with her.
"What is it?" He asked, Janeway gestured for him to be quiet. He fell silent. Muffled voices up a head could be heard. Chakotay reached for his own disruptor. They stayed like that as the voices grew louder. Two Val'haatan appeared a few feet away from them and they didn't hesitate to fire. The purple jet that flew towards them missed Janeway by a hairs breadth, she could feel the heat of it against her skin as it passed. She had a few moments to aim and fire the unfamiliar weapon at the Val'haatan. Her shot caught one in the face sending him to the deck. "Kathryn, look out." Chakotay warned. She ducked just in time, the purple jet missed her by inches. Chakotay fired on the remaining Val'haatan who fell to the deck.
"Well, this is going to be intresting." Janeway said smirking a little, before she moved forwards, manoeuvring herself around the Val'haatan's As much as she could in the small space. Chakotay followed. Half an hour later they arrived in the mess hall.
