Chakotay was healing quite nicely. He had regained much of his energy and, for the past week, had been working hard on pod repairs. He knew the escape pod would never leave the surface, it wasn't meant to, but he wanted to fix the internal circuitry. Chakotay and Holly needed it to work if they had any hope of contacting Starfleet, or anyone for that matter. No to mention, they needed the replicators to work, to assist them in making clothing, food and supplies they would need to survive an indefinite length of time on this planet.

Chakotay managed to work his way up inside the main console that ran all the pod's systems. He was laying on his back with only his legs visible inside the cabin area. How can anyone honestly think they can work in such tight spaces? Chakotay thought to himself. He was surrounded on all sides by circuits and support beams, breathing was difficult let alone finding the room to maneuver both arms while repairing delicate equipment.

Beads of sweat formed on Chakotay's forehead as his concentration intensified. If only I could get these two components to sync-up together, I may be able to get the system to bypass the burned-out circuitry. Again, Chakotay was thinking to himself.

"Hey!" Holly yelled down to Chakotay as she stood over his supine form. The sudden disruption caused Chakotay to flinch and a minor explosion occurred as two incompatible pieces of equipment came together. Smoke and flashes of light were visible to Holly, as she cringed because she knew she had messed everything up again.

"No!" Chakotay yelled in frustration. He slowly wiggled his way out from under the main control area and looked up at Holly. He was covered in soot, pieces of charred plastic and enough sweat to fill a liter-sized canteen.

"What now Holly?" Chakotay had difficulty keeping his tone neutral. He knew she was never intentionally disruptive, but sometimes her presence alone could be catastrophic.

"Um. Well...lunch is ready?" Holly said in the form of a question.

With all his might, Chakotay forced a smile and said, "Oh good, I'm starving. I could use a break from this anyway. I'm starting to get a bit...burned out." Chakotay gestured to the charred marks on his clothing. The two of them shared an easy laugh.

After, Chakotay and Holly finished their lunch they sat back and took a few minutes to just relax. They had both been feeling their stress levels climb over the past few days as progress toward repairs of the Pod's systems slowed to a stop.

"I was wondering how the latest attempts at recovering usable circuitry was coming along?" Holly probed Chakotay for answers as she hoped he would be able to give her at least some good news.

"Honestly, not that well. In fact, I would have to say that all repairs have officially stopped." Chakotay said with resignation.

"So what's next? We only have enough rations for a couple weeks at best, water is scarce and we have no idea what to expect from the weather. I mean this is a planet neither of us has any information on! For all we know, this could be winter and when summer comes we could roast to death!" Holly began to speak with an increased urgency and fear.

"You're absolutely right. I have been thinking about it for the past couple of days. After I discovered that the Pod's systems were not going to be repaired with the limited supplies we had I started to think about alternatives." Chakotay said.

"Care to share any of those alternatives with me?" Holly asked

"First, what can you tell me about our surroundings. You have had plenty of time to explore the area around our camp. Were you able to find any signs of intelligent life? Did you go up on that ridge over there and find out how far you could see? Are there any usable resources that we can utilize as shelter, food or hydration?" Chakotay's instincts were beginning to kick in. The training he received as a youth from his father was going to come in handy in a way he never thought possible.

"I went up on the ridge multiple times. I went up there to see if there was any usable materials for fire and shelter, however I was only minimally successful. There are basically shrubs, we can burn them but definitely not use them for making a shelter. Off to the east a few kilometers, there appears to be a body of water. Not huge, but definitely a lake. There may be some edible plants or fish or something we can use for food." Holly sounded as if she really didn't expect to find anything usable on the planet.

"Let's hope for some edible plants. Im a vegetarian like you and I really don't want to have to kill any animal life if I don't have to." The idea of killing animals for food never set well with Chakotay, but if his and Holly's life depended upon it, he would have to temporarily change his ideals.

"I agree one hundred percent. I'd much prefer to find a nice bunch of vegetables to make into a salad. Oh, and as far as intelligent life, I think you and I are it. I detected no lights in the distance, no roadways or trails. I could not see any buildings in the distance that would indicate intelligent life in the immediate area. Im afraid its just you and I for the time being." Holly smiled

"Well it could be worse. You at least know how to cook. Remember how I told you about my friend Neelix? He thought he could cook, and came up with some concoctions that could make a Klingon turn up his nose. Ha! He always gave it his best shot though, and we all appreciated him for it." Chakotay smiled but looked down as he realized how much he missed his friend.

"We have a few hours before it starts to get dark. Is there something you want me to start working on?" Holly inquired.

"Yes, why don't you start making a couple of survival packs for us. Make sure we have all the remaining rations split up evenly between the two bags. We will also need a few liters of water each. Oh, and make sure we have a couple sets of clothing to change into if we need it. I'll start collecting some supplies that will help us make fire, cut wood and that sort of thing. Meet me back here, let's say in an hour. We will go through our packs at that time, and make sure its all in order." Chakotay gave Holly his instructions and got up to start on his half of the duties.

"Do you have a plan as to where we should go?" Holly asked.

"Yes. Now hurry up and lets get this all done before it gets dark. I want us both to have a good night's sleep so we can leave at first light." Chakotay knew he wanted to get moving but, what he didn't tell Holly was, that he didn't yet know which way to go.

Chakotay and Holly worked hard to get everything they needed together. They decided that it would be good to try and get at least a full 8 hours of sleep so they went to bed early. Neither of them knew what the following day would have in store for them. As Chakotay laid his head down to sleep he couldn't help but think about Kathryn. She must be so worried about him. He wondered if she thought he was dead or alive. Chakotay wanted her to think he was alive with all his heart. He couldn't bare the thought of how much hurt she would be going through if she believed him to be dead. Chakotay knew he would again have dreams about Kathryn. He had been having the same dream for days. He would see Kathryn in the distance, he couldn't see what she was doing but she was crouched over something on the ground. All around her, he saw debris that smoldered and gave off a pungent smell. Much like in every one of these dreams, Chakotay would start to walk toward Kathryn and call out to her. She never heard him, she always appeared to be preoccupied with whatever it was that lay before her.

Chakotay often looked forward to going to sleep because he wanted to see Kathryn again, but he wanted to get closer to her and in each dream he managed to do just that. However, every time he got a few steps closer something happened that caused him to wake up. He often battled to get back to sleep and occasionally was successful, however he was never able to get back to THAT particular dream. THAT dream only happened once per night. Chakotay wanted to know what his dreams meant. He felt as if this dream was real some how. It felt differently to him then any other dream he could remember having in the past. He was able to feel the dream, see clearly and even smell what was going on around him in the dream.

"Goodnight, Holly." Chakotay said, he decided it was time to stop thinking and start doing. He needed to sleep and it was getting late.

"Goodnight. Sweet dreams." Holly added as an after thought.

"I plan to." Chakotay smiled to himself and closed his eyes. He wanted to see Kathryn again, even if it was just a dream.

Kathryn found herself amongst familiar surroundings once again. She was back on New Earth, only everything was burned and smoldering. She walked around in a daze, unsure of what happened and equally unsure as to what she should do next. Kathryn looked to the left and she saw what was left of her shelter, it had been reduced to rubble. Had it been another plasma storm? She looked to the right and could see the familiar line of trees that harbored her favorite piece of equipment; her bathtub. Kathryn set off in its direction. As she approached the tub, she could see that lying next to it was a body. A lump instantly formed in her belly. Heart pounding and tears streaming, Kathryn ran the rest of the way. Crouched on her knees, she slowly turned the body supine. While it was nearly unrecognizable, there had only been one other person on New Earth with her; Chakotay.

"Chakotay!" Kathryn screamed. She reached up and wiped soot from his face. Underneath the soot, Kathryn saw catastrophic injuries to his flesh and bone. The left side of his face had been melted, there were lacerations and burns that still oozed fluids. Kathryn looked at her own hand, it was covered in dirt, soot and the necrotized flesh and burned hair from Chakotay's face.

Kathryn screamed again. Her arms limp at her sides, her neck and head extended backwards, she sat back on her heels and sobbed uncontrollably. What had happened? She had no recollection of what disaster had befallen them. How could she not know what was going on? At that very moment she thought she heard something off to her right. Was she hallucinating? She cocked her head to see if she heard it again. There it was again. 'Kathryn'. Someone was calling to her. Kathryn stood up and as she turned in the direction of the voice, she again found herself sitting up in bed.

She was no longer in that horribly destroyed place. A place that she had no memory of. Sure she remembered everything about New Earth; Kathryn could still remember how the plants smelled as they bloomed, how the water tasted after she and Chakotay ran it through a make-shift purifier. However, in her dreams, this burned out shelter, the destroyed camp site, and...and...Chakotay! That never happened. What could this all mean. With each dream, she seemed to get farther and farther into it before she wakes up. This last time she even thought she heard another person calling her name.

"Am I going crazy?" Kathryn thought out loud.

"Excuse me?" Kathryn almost jumped at the response she had posed to herself alone. She turned around to see her mother standing in the doorway.

"Mom, you scared me!" Kathryn said

"Im sorry, but you scared me. I heard you yell out again. I really think you need to talk with someone about your nightmares, Kathryn. They don't seem to be getting any better." Gretchen was definitely growing in concern for her daughter.

Kathryn let her mother's words sink in. "You are absolutely right mom. I'm going to contact the Doctor this afternoon and see if he has time to see me." Kathryn made up her mind that she needed some help. What she needed was help figuring out what these dreams meant.

"Oh good, I really hope he can figure out a way to stop you from having them. You have been losing sleep for weeks now." Gretchen softly smiled and walked out of Kathryn's room.

"I don't want to stop the dreams, just figure them out." Kathryn said, even though her mom was no where within earshot.

Kathryn got up and started getting herself ready for the day. She wanted to be ready for whatever she and the good Doctor were going to find out about her dreams. She decided it would be good to grab a padd and start recording everything she could remember about her dreams. This way, she could hand it to the Doctor and he could read it for himself. She didn't want to have to relate it all, and risk forgetting something. She was sure she would become distracted, by what she suspected would be, a million questions from her friend. Kathryn knew that the Doctor was going to suspect that she was suffering from some kind of depression or post traumatic stress or some nonsense, so she needed to convince him she thought it went deeper then that.

Kathryn stood in front of her dresser and finished getting dressed. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and didn't like what she saw. Her mom was right. She had been losing sleep over the past few months and it didn't look well on her. Her eyes were a bit puffier then usual, darker then usual circles could be seen under the puffy lower lids.

"Im going to look a scary mess. The Doctor will not be able to get past my appearance, he'll be so worried about me." Kathryn said to reflection. She decided to apply some make up. After she did, she again looked in the mirror.

"Eh, better but not great. Oh well. The doctor would just have to get over it." Kathryn then looked down hoping to find some jewelry to wear. Maybe a nice neckless or some earrings. She opened her drawer and her eyes came to rest upon the stone Naomi had given her the night of the funeral. Kathryn reached down and picked up the brilliantly colored stone. She rubbed it in between her fingers. It's smooth surface was cool to the touch and breath-taking to behold.

Kathryn had a change of heart. She was going to take charge of her situation and she was going to do it her way. She quickly changed into her official Admirable attire and placed the stone in her jacket pocket. No one was going to tell her anything but what she wanted to hear. Kathryn was in no mood, except for answers. She walked over to her desk and opened a link to the Doctor. Within a few seconds his face appeared onscreen.

"Kathryn...Admiral, Its great to see you. You look...official." The Doctor was not sure what to say when he got a look at his former captain.

"Its nice to see you again too. I was wanting to come and see you this afternoon. Are you available?" Kathryn inquired with a hint of a demand.

"Well actually I have this seminar I have been wanting to attend. Its on the theory of..." the Doctor began to say. He then realized he was not going to be going to a seminar after all. He was going to be meeting with Kathryn. "Oh, never mind. Actually, Im sure it would be quite boring, the speaker has a lot of good ideas but his delivery is..." the Doctor began to say.

"Wonderful. I'll see you around 1400 hours. Your office will be just fine." Kathryn cut transmission. Like she said to herself earlier. Today, she was not going to be told NO.

1400 hours

Kathryn arrived at the Doctor's office and made herself comfortable in the waiting area after signing in with the front office. She had not been seated more then 30 seconds however, when the door swooshed open and her friend, the Doctor, was standing there.

"Admirable, would you please come back?" The doctor asked, obviously trying to appear strictly professional in front of the rest of the patients that were waiting.

Kathryn stood up and walked past the Doctor to his office. Once inside, she turned to face him.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I know you have a very busy life, but there is something important I want to discuss with you." Kathryn stated.

"This sounds...important and yet also as if you don't want anyone else to know about this." The doctor said while he leaned toward Kathryn in a classic conspiratorial way.

"You're right doctor. I don't want anyone else to know about this. At least not yet. Not until they need to know." Kathryn was all business.

"Ok, then. What seems to be the problem."

"I have been having nightmares." Kathryn stated simply.

"Huh? As in frightening dreams. The kind every child has from time to time?" the Doctor was showing signs of confusion.

"In a way that's correct. However, I think my dreams...nightmares...may have another meaning. I'm coming to you to find out what that might be." Kathryn answered honestly.

"Well tell me about your dreams. Is there a theme? Are the same people in them?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, the dreams have two recurring characters in them. Myself...obviously...and, um...Chakotay." Kathryn's armor cracked.

"Oh." the Doctor was about to continue but the look of pity on his face forced Kathryn to interrupt.

"If you start to tell me how sorry you are for me, or that my dreams are somehow my way of dealing with Chakotay's death, I will erase your programming!" Kathryn stood with her clenched fists on her hips.

"Captain!" The Doctor began.

"Im NOT your captain! Im your patient. I want answers and I want them now. Here," Kathryn handed him the padd she recorded her dreams into. "take a look at this. I wrote down everything I could remember about my dreams. Read it. We can discuss it when your done." Kathryn sat and busied herself thinking of rebuttals to the Doctors objections, as she was sure he would have some.

It took an annoyingly short period of time for the Doctor to complete the reading. He looked at Kathryn with an expression she hated. The Doctor was pitying her.

"Kathryn, please hear me out on this. Before you rush off and do something rash, like erase my programming for instance, I am obligated to give you my honest opinion." The doctor said.

"Fair enough doctor. Continue...please." Kathryn would allow him to say what he needed to and then she would force him to look past his better judgement.

"Your dreams are a manifestation of your mind. You, as anyone in your position, are having a difficult time dealing with the death of a...close friend. The dreams are taking place on New Earth because you were happy there. You told me once, in private, that you had been able to come to terms with your feelings for Chakotay while you were on the planet. Granted, we came back for you and you had to make difficult decisions about that relationship for the betterment of the crew." The doctor paused and looked at Kathryn.

Kathryn took the pause as her time to speak. "I hear what you're saying doctor. I thought about the same things as well. Im not so impossible that I didn't think of that as a possibility. However, these are more then just dreams. They feel...they feel...REAL!" Kathryn said.

"That's just it, Kathryn. Dreams do seem real. That's kind of the point." the Doctor began eyeing Kathryn ready to jump if she went anywhere near his program.

"I know that. I understand what your saying. In fact, if I were in your position, Im sure I would be telling me the same thing. However, Im telling you that its different. Its not just a vivid dream. I feel like there is more at work here. I just don't know what yet." Kathryn had an idea. "Why don't you run every test you have on me. Check my brain for signs of telepathic activity. Check me for alien influences. And here," Kathryn handed the doctor the stone from her jacket pocket. "Run some tests on this and tell me if you come across any anomalous readings."

"Ok, but I want you to know Im doing this against my better judgement. If it were anyone else but you, I would flat out refuse and recommend you go to counseling. I might still make that recommendation." the Doctor took the stone from Kathryn and made himself busy running tests.

After four long hours of sitting and doing nothing but watch the doctor run test after test, Kathryn wanted to scream.

All tests were complete and the doctor came back into the room where Kathryn sat impatiently.

"Well? what did you find, Doctor?" Kathryn asked.

"Aside from the fact that you are suffering from some mild malnutrition, sleep deprivation and high levels of stress, not much." The doctor stated in his typical haughty tone.

"Well that was to be expected. But, nothing else? No unusual brain wave patterns? Anything out of the ordinary?" Kathryn was quickly losing hope.

"Nothing."

"How about the stone? What did you find?" Kathryn knew something had to be unusual about that stone.

"There are mildly higher then normal levels of psionic waves surrounding it. Other then that, nothing." The doctor said.

"Psionic waves. That's got to have something to do with it. Isn't that associated with telekinetic and telepathic capabilities?" Kathryn had excitement in her voice.

"Yes. But the levels emanating from the stone are so low that it was virtually undetectable." The Doctor countered.

"I still feel that there is a connection to the dreams." Kathryn insisted.

"Even if there was a connection, Kathryn. It would most likely just explain the vividness and the "realness" of the dreams. But the dreams are still your own creation." The Doctor tried to sound convincing.

"I understand." Kathryn said. But she didn't mean it. Not a word of it. She knew she wasn't going to be able to convince the doctor to help her, but that didn't mean that her other friends would be so cynical. "Thank you for your time and effort. Im sure I'll start to feel better in a few days." Kathryn tried to sound sincere. She reached up and snatched the stone from the Doctor's palm and put it back in her pocket.

"Kathryn, please try and get some rest. Oh, and drink more water and eat some real food. You're not making it any easier on yourself by drinking too much coffee and not eating healthy meals." the Doctor lectured his patient.

"Good advice. I need to get going. I'll contact you in a few days." Kathryn turned on her heals and walked out of the office.

It was time to pay B'Elanna a visit.