AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

Thank you so much for the support! I'm so pleased that you're excited to work your way through this story with me!

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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It wasn't exactly bluffing, but Kathryn had certainly hoped that she didn't have to follow through with the threats she made to the Mirillian official that had spoken with her about the intentions of the Mirillian officers to hold her crew members for life for a crime which they hadn't committed—having only been in the marketplace at the time and nowhere near the point where the actual incident supposedly took place—because she was pretty sure that Starfleet would have frowned on her decision to blow their trade arena entirely off the face of their planet.

"All members of the away team are safely on board with their supplies," Tuvok informed her.

"Excellent," Kathryn said. "Get us out of here. Warp 4."

The ensign that was piloting in Tom's absence accepted his order and Kathryn felt her muscles relax as the reports rolled in that there were clear skies ahead and they were seeing no pursuit from the planet.

"Good work, everyone," Kathryn said. "Call me if you need me. Continue on our course into the expanse. I'm going to check with our returning away team."

"Since Mr. Neelix has returned," Tuvok offered, "it might be advisable to express interest in an afternoon meal, Captain. I assure you that we can hold the bridge in your absence. There appear to be no concerns ahead."

Kathryn looked at her husband who was more focused on their piloting ensign than he had ever been in the past. She raised her eyebrows at Tuvok, but he remained unbothered.

"While the threat of certain annihilation was effective," Tuvok continued, "and an impressive demonstration of knowing what your enemy would respond to best, it was also a reminder, Captain, that allowing your blood sugar to dip too low can cause a disruption in your mood."

"What he means, Captain," Chakotay offered, "is that you've earned a break and we've got the bridge. A late, working lunch could be a good way to handle the debriefing with Lieutenant Torres in a casual manner."

"That is precisely my meaning," Tuvok said.

Kathryn laughed to herself. She could scold them. She could be offended. She saw very little use in either reaction, however.

"Very well, gentleman," she said. "I will be talking to Lieutenant Torres over lunch. I expect to be notified if anything changes. You have the bridge, Commander."

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"When the officials came into the marketplace, everyone froze," B'Elanna said. "They started arresting people and, at that time, we were far enough away that I just thought something had happened and we'd missed it. Nobody was protesting so we just stayed where we were. It wasn't until I realized that they were arresting all of us that I called back to the ship."

"And you never saw anything happen?" Kathryn asked.

"It was peaceful, Captain," B'Elanna said. "Right up until they told us we were being charged with a crime. By the time we even knew what they were charging us with, they were informing us that we were convicted and sentenced to life."

"And none of the others were protesting?" Kathryn asked.

"Once we were escorted into the—I guess it was some sort of holding space—there were a lot of non- Mirillian individuals present. They were mostly protesting, but the Mirillians almost seemed to expect it. It's like it's something commonplace. They just round up groups of people, charge them with some sort of made up crime, and sentence them to life in prison."

"Excuse me, Captain," Neelix said, coming over. "This is very hot."

He put the tray down in front of Kathryn and he put another tray in front of B'Elanna.

"This looks delicious," Kathryn said. "What is it?"

"It's a personal creation based on a dish that Mr. Paris requested. It's a vegetable lasagna. Captain—for you, I left out the Leola root, though I have to admit that I think it would add a certain zing to the dish. I'm afraid it may be rather bland and boring without it," Neelix explained.

"I'll be the judge of that," Kathryn said, smiling at Neelix. "I'm sure it will be wonderful."

"If I may, Captain," Neelix said, "I couldn't help but overhear a little of Lieutenant Torres' description of what took place on the planet. I've heard stories before that the Mirillian planet is rich in the resources that they offer for trade. Of course, if a planet has a large number of resources, particularly those located underground, it's necessary to extract those resources for use. It was always something of a story that got passed around that the Mirillians held people captive to use as miners underground. Of course there's no sign of all this extra life, but..."

"But if they're underground, then they're more difficult to detect," Kathryn offered.

Neelix nodded his head.

"They're arresting people to use them as miners?" B'Elanna asked.

The question was clearly rhetorical. None of them actually knew what they were doing. They wouldn't ever know, either, because they were now moving quickly away from the planet and they were leaving them to whatever practices had kept their planet going for ages.

"Well—at least we got what we needed," Kathryn said, "and you all managed to escape whatever fate they had in store for you."

B'Elanna laughed.

"How could we expect otherwise?" B'Elanna asked. "Even I got nervous when you told them what would happen to their planet if we weren't released."

Kathryn felt her face run warm.

"Perhaps I was a bit over-dramatic," she offered.

"I thought it was perfect," Neelix offered. "They hardly even pretended that they were going to talk it over."

"We're really thankful, Captain," B'Elanna said, "for you getting us out of there the way you did."

Kathryn, realizing that her food had probably cooled down enough to be able to taste it without scorching her mouth, picked up a forkful of the lasagna and tasted it. She hummed her approval and nodded at Neelix. As soon as she could swallow, she smiled at him.

"This is excellent," she assured him. "If Tom requested it, he'll be pleased."

"I've got a lot more of it to prepare for dinner," Neelix said. "I'll let you both enjoy your meal."

He practically scampered away, pleased with his praise, and Kathryn smiled at B'Elanna. The woman was watching her intently, but with a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Is there something wrong?" Kathryn asked.

"It's just that I don't believe you'd ever hurt his feelings, Captain," B'Elanna said, "so I'm not sure if I should trust your assessment of the food."

"I wouldn't hurt his feelings if it were possible to avoid it," Kathryn confirmed. "And never over something as trivial as food, but I assure you that I meant what I said. It's actually quite good. And these days I consider myself quite the connoisseur. If something is even a little off, my stomach lets me know about it."

B'Elanna tasted her own food and nodded.

"Not bad," she said. "I think that the lack of Leola root really helps things. If you don't mind my saying, it's one of the perks of your pregnancy that the whole crew has been enjoying. You can't stand to smell it cooking, so Neelix isn't cooking it. We're all very thankful to you. Unfortunately—this means that we can never allow you not to be pregnant, Captain."

Kathryn laughed to herself.

"That's going to be some trick," Kathryn responded. "Chakotay and I have spoken about the possibility of more children in the future, but I think we'd like at least a short break between them. In particular, I think I would like at least a short break in between them."

B'Elanna smiled.

"The idea of Voyager as a family ship is something that I wasn't certain about in the beginning," B'Elanna admitted. "But I'm warming up to it now. Perhaps it's you and Chakotay that have helped with that a little."

"There's plenty of room," Kathryn said. She shrugged her shoulders at B'Elanna, not wanting to pry too much but remembering Chakotay's theory on things. "There's a chance that, before we make it back to Earth, we'll need to replace the whole crew. Chakotay and I are certainly not trying to monopolize that task. There's more than enough space, I believe, for everyone who wants one to have a family."

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Chakotay loved being with Kathryn. He could probably be with her twenty four hours a day without ever losing interest in her. Their personalities were a little different, though, and he recognized that. Kathryn loved him, and he had no doubt about that, but every now and again she liked a little quiet time to herself. She always seemed to recharge during that time and then she came back to him, energized and happy to see him.

When she'd dropped a whole trail of hints about wanting to settle down in a bubble bath with a book, Chakotay had picked up all the crumbs that she'd dropped and he'd understood her entirely. She loved him. She wanted to be with him. But, first, she wanted to spend a little time with herself.

They were just three days beyond the Mirillian planet and into the expanse. The skies were clear and, though they were constantly having to reset their course due to changes around them, they were finding that the trip had the potential to be every bit as quiet as they had anticipated. That meant, of course, that they were three days into the journey and some people were already starting to become bored. Most of them, however, were finding ways to entertain themselves. The holodecks, Chakotay was sure, were going to get a great deal of use.

Chakotay made his way down to the holodeck where he knew that Tom would be playing his favorite program. A lot of the crew was gathered there and Chakotay ordered a drink from a passing waitress as soon as he came in. He looked over the pool game to decide if he wanted to join in, thanked the waitress that brought his drink, and then he made his way to the bar where Tom was sitting surrounded by several other crew members.

None of them seemed to notice that Chakotay had come in and he leaned over the crowd to get a look at what Tom was doing.

"What's the bet?" Chakotay asked.

Tom nearly jumped out of his skin and somewhat shielded the notebook he was scribbling in from Chakotay's view. He laughed nervously. Tom wasn't a terrible gambler, but at the moment he wasn't giving off the appearance of being a very good poker player.

"Commander," Tom said.

"Just Chakotay for now," Chakotay offered. "What's the bet?"

"You wouldn't be interested," Tom said.

"I can see you've got two books," Chakotay said. "So that's two pools. I'm a bit of a gambler—let me in on it."

Tom glanced around, but everyone—including Harry who was practically inches away from Chakotay—was looking in a different direction like they hadn't just been involved and weren't capable of hearing anything that was taking place. Chakotay laughed to himself.

"I'm not going to be offended, Tom," Chakotay assured him.

Tom cleared his throat and gestured to one of his notebooks.

"It's about the scan this week," Tom said. "Boy or girl? Two rations per guess and the pot is split between all the winners."

Chakotay smiled at him.

"Put me down for girl," Chakotay said. "There's nothing wrong with that—what's the winning guess so far?"

"Boy by a landslide," Tom said. "But—I'm in for a girl too."

"What's the other bet?" Chakotay asked.

Tom looked around for solidarity from his friends, but nobody came to his aid. He looked at Chakotay and Chakotay could see pure apology on his features. Chakotay laughed.

"Is it that bad?" Chakotay asked.

"I don't think it's one you could participate in," Tom said. "It wouldn't be fair."

"And why's that?" Chakotay asked.

"Because you'd have ways of swaying the outcome," Tom said.

"What's the bet?" Chakotay asked.

Tom cleared his throat.

"What star date will be the first time we see a maternity uniform on the bridge," Tom said. "So you see, Chakotay, you couldn't really participate in that one."

Chakotay hummed and nodded his understanding.

"Whether I participate or not," Chakotay said, "I could still sway it. I suppose anybody could...but I don't think anybody wants the captain finding out you're taking bets over her expanding waistline."

He raised his eyebrows at Tom and Tom nodded.

"I can see you're a man of reason," Tom said. "And logic. Is there any chance that you're part Vulcan?"

Chakotay laughed to himself.

"I don't have the ears for it," he said. "And besides, I can't control my temper."

"It's two rations per date," Tom said. He leaned up and reached over the bar. He pulled out a calendar that he spread out on the bar. "The pot's divided if you share dates. Winner takes it all if they're the only one who chose the date."

"How about—if I win, someone picks up an extra bridge shift that day—all things provided, of course," Chakotay said. "So that I can spend some time with the captain. There's a possibility, after all, that it could be a somewhat touchy day."

"And if you lose?" Tom asked.

"Then someone can pick up an extra bridge shift that day," Chakotay said. "Because whether I win or lose, it might be a touchy day."

Tom laughed.

"Sounds like a plan," he said. "I'll volunteer for the shift. Where is the captain, anyway?"

"Relaxing in our quarters," Chakotay said. "She sent me out to have fun and socialize."

"She kicked you out," Tom said.

"Something like that," Chakotay said.

"Trouble in paradise?" Tom asked.

"Not in the least," Chakotay said. "When you're married, sometimes the time alone makes the time together sweeter." He smiled at Tom. "Maybe you'll have the chance to learn that someday."

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AN: A special thanks to LaiBeli for bringing up the idea that Tom should have at least a few gambling pools throughout the story. There will be more. LOL