Star Trek Voyager

Precaution

Chapter 6

Signs of Betrayal

Janeway moaned softly and opened her eyes. Her body ached and there was now a sharp pain in her left shoulder. She tried to massage it, but pain shot up her leg when she moved her arm. Instead she tried to massage her shoulder, by just rotating it slightly. At first it seemed to help, but when she stopped the pain returned moments later. In the end she gave up and dealt with the pain.

She sighed and looked around the cave briefly, but she didn't see Tom. He must have still be outside searching for food, water, and anything they could find useful. She wondered what the outside surface looked like. He said it was hot outside and dry out there. Whenever he returned, he was drenched in sweat. Inside of the cave though, the weather was cool and damp.

Janeway felt her stomach growl. She placed a hand on her stomach and her thoughts drifted back to the meals she would have with Chakotay. She missed them and wished she could be there sitting in front of him, eating one of the meals she prepared, even the ones the replicator burned.

Her thoughts than drifted to the crew and she hoped they were okay. From what Tom had told her, the attack was more than just devastating. When he told her what happened, she could see that he wished that he never went on the escape pod. He regretted leaving everyone behind.

She had a feeling, even a small one that her crew was alive and well. They were a strong and resourceful group and she knew that they would find a way out of the mess. It would be no time until they came with an away team and saved them.

The Doctor would both treat Tom and her and then demand that she stay in sickbay for a couple days, to get much needed rest. Of course she would try to get out of staying there for so long and the Doctor would then state that he had the authority to keep her there.

Janeway chuckled and wiped a tear with the back of her hand. There was no doubt that she missed her crew and ship, but it was the little things that everyone took for granted that she missed the most; for example the Doctors growing bedside manner. Or the holideck addictions that Tom and Harry had. She tried to play one of his programs, but she didn't really like it.

Janeway sighed again and her eyes drifted toward the pile of fruit that was next to Tom's folded uniform. He had taken it off when he left this morning. She wondered how he was out there and how much longer he would be out there, before it got too hot. They didn't have the luxury of studying this planet, but Tom said that it got up to 120 degrees by midday. That meant it would only get hotter.

She winced in pain as she tried to reach the fruit with her good leg. Sharp pains shot throughout her body as she kicked a fruit from the pile. She felt a bit of relief when it rolled toward her. She grabbed it and didn't even bother wiping the dirt off of it. There wouldn't have been a place to do it anyways.

The fruit was crunchy and dry, but it was very sweet. It was hard to chew and the more she chewed it, the softer and juicier it became. She swallowed it and took another bite, actually enjoying the fruit. As she ate, she began to feel a little bit of energy and this made her wish her leg wasn't as injured. She was feeling really antsy and just wanted to move around, whether in the cave or outside, although she wished more on the outside part. Tom had stated that there wasn't anything really special about the cave.

At that moment she heard a tired sigh and saw Tom entering the room. He tossed the bag he was carrying aimlessly on the ground and approached Janeway. "How are you feeling?" He asked kneeling next to her.

Janeway decided to drop some formalities. "I feel like crap," She said with a strained smile.

'Yeah me too," Tom said running his hand through the wet hair on his head. "I walked around for three hours and found nothing more than the same fruit we have been eating for the past few days. All the bodies of water were infected with some sort of bacteria that the tricorder couldn't identify."

"What I wouldn't give for a simple cup of coffee," Janeway said with a smile as she took another bite of the fruit.

"Yeah me too," Tom said shaking his head, "I'd even eat one of Neelix's crazy concoctions."

"I will make a note of that," Janeway said swallowing, "You will make Neelix proud."

Tom looked at her, unsure if she were serious or not. "So how is your leg feeling?" He asked changing the subject.

"It hasn't changed much," Janeway said placing a hand on her leg as small pangs of pain shot up and down it.

"I really wish there was more I can do," Tom said scratching the back of his neck.

"You have done more than enough," Janeway said grabbing him by the wrist. "I owe you my life."

Tim smiled and stood up abruptly when he remembered it. He grabbed his bag and opened it up. "I actually found something that you might find interesting." He looked at her briefly as he rummaged through the bag.

"What is it?" Janeway asked looking at him intrigued.

Tom grabbed what he thought was her uniform. He held it tightly and said, "I found your uniform out there?" He took a few steps toward her as he shook the uniform in front of her. "How would you explain that?"

"What are you talking about?" Janeway asked looking at him confused.

"I found your uniform outside," Tom said raising his voice slightly in a crazy way, "How the hell can that be? I mean you have been in here ever since, am I right?"

"I have been here the entire time," Janeway said her confusion turning to concern. "And the object you are holding is not my uniform."

"What are you talking about?" Tom asked looking slightly mortified. He looked at the object in his hand and saw it indeed was not Janeway's uniform, rather it was a torn up cloth of some sort.

"My uniform is right over here," Janeway said pointing to her folded up uniform that was right next to her. "I have been using it as a pillow."

Tom dropped the cloth on the ground disgusted. He wiped his hand on his dirty pants and then looked at Janeway. "Well then since that isn't yours, who does this belong to and where did it come from?"

Janeway looked at the cloth on the ground and then at Tom. She shook her head, "I have no answer for you Tom."

Tom sighed and cracked his neck as he paced around the cave. "I could have sworn that I saw your uniform out there," Tom said thinking back to it. "I touched it and it felt so real."

"Tom sit down and take it easy," Janeway said watching him pace around. "You are putting yourself under unnecessary stress."

Tom looked at her and realized that she was right. He sighed again and sat next to her. He placed his head in his hands as Janeway wrapped an arm around him. For a few moments they sat like that. Suddenly they heard a tree branch crack and just as they stared in the direction of the noise, they heard a gasp from a young girl who was watching them intently with a curious and frightened look on her face.

0 0 0

Chakotay stood behind Ensign Falcov who had replaced Tom at the helm. He had a determined smile as they got clearance from the repair station. Voyager shuttered as it lifted off the ground. Its landing gears mechanically disappeared as they gained speed into to planets orbit. It took a few seconds but they past through the planets orbit and were soon in space.

Once in space, they joined three of the Artilian ships and then sped to warp 3 toward the coordinates of the perilous altercation that nearly destroyed the ship.

Chakotay glanced at the Captain's chair. He tried not to show it, but he felt his shoulders sink slightly as he thought about how much he missed her. It seemed empty without her sitting there. In fact the whole ship felt empty without her and Tom.

He turned and made his way to her seat. He sat in it, feeling sad and almost felt bad sitting there. He hoped soon that he would soon be sitting by his regular spot, watching her and Tom.

"Commander," Ensign Falcov said turning to look at him. "We should be arriving at our destination in seventy-two hours."

"Thank you Ensign," Chakotay said his mind drifting back his duties.

Three days. Chakotay thought to himself. He knew he had to be patient and keep his anxiousness leveled. The crew needed him right now, more than ever. He knew that right now it seemed like a long trip, but Belanna was working on restoring the warp drive to full capacity and once she did that, the trip would take much less time.

0 0 0

Gelvar watched Neelix with childlike anticipation as he placed the bowl of ice cream in front of him. "What do you call this again?" Gelvar asked as he reached for the spoon.

"The computer database calls it an ice cream Sunday," He said watching him take a spoonful of it.

"That's a strange name," Gelvar said with a shrug. He ate the ice cream and then a smile grew on his face. "This is so good."

"I don't know why it is called that," Neelix said sitting across from him, "But the chocolate syrup and the almonds, really add a nice taste to it."

"I like everything about it," Gelvar said taking another large spoondul of it. He quickly swallowed it and then a sharp needle-like pain throb in his head. He made a face, unsure what was causing it.

"Oh right," Neelix pointed out, "You might want to slow down and savor the ice cream, or else you may get a brain freeze."

"Brain freeze?" Gelvar asked wincing as the pain seemed to slightly blind him. But just as it seemed to get worse, it began to fade away.

"Yeah it is a human phrase," Neelix said with a small smile, "One of the many I have learned on this ship."

Gelvar placed the spoon in the ice cream, but didn't take any. "So tell me more about this Captain of yours," He asked leaning forward in his seat. "She sounds like an amazing woman and leader."

"She is the best," Neelix said proudly, "I owe her my life on more than one occasion. She is a patriot and a saint. She puts her crew before herself and as I have mentioned before I would die for her on any day."

"Oh wow," Gelvar said truly move, "You have such feeling for this Captain of yours."

"Yes indeed I do," Neelix said, "I wouldn't be here alive and well if it weren't for her."

"Have you mated with her yet?" Gelvar asked taking another spoonful of ice cream. He took a smaller portion this size.

"I beg your pardon?" Neelix asked not believing his ears.

"Have you chosen her for conjucation yet?" Gelvar asked wondering why Neelix was giving him such a weird look. "Because there are plenty of other men on your ship and Commander Chakotay is extremely fond of her."

"That is absurd," Neelix huffed giving him a disgusted look, "She is my Captain. My mentor. I would never do something like that."

"Well on my planet," Gelvar said licking his lips that were sticky from the ice cream. "My people are able to mate with as many females that we choose. But we can only mate with them if we want conjugate with them. Until we do that, we strictly have no contact with the females."

"You can have more than one wife at a time?" Neelix asked curiously.

"Yeah we can," Gelvar said with a proud smile, "I myself have six wives and twenty-five offspring."

"Oh my," Neelix said.

"Yeah indeed," Gelvar said scraping the bowl for the remainder of the ice cream. He ate it and then licked off the spoon. "My people feel that the more offspring you have, the faster the population will grow. So since that is obviously a given, we take more than one wife to help." He paused and leaned back in his seat. "Whichever male chooses your Captain as a mate, will be one lucky man. I have faith that your Commander will find your missing crew members."

"Yeah I also do," Neelix said thoughtfully, "It won't be easy, but I know we will find them."


I hoped you liked it! I will have more chapters coming as soon as possible! Enjoy the twists and turns as the story progresses!

shaw 18

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