At 1400hours Kathryn walked on to an empty bridge. She glanced around at the various repairs and timidly walked towards the ready room. She froze several feet from the ready room doors.
The sound of the turbo lift doors behind her caused her to jump and spin around.
"Harry!" Kathryn was obviously startled.
"Captain." Harry frowned.
Quickly regaining her composure, she inquired, "Did Commander Chakotay give orders about not being disturbed?"
"No." Harry shook his head. "He is available. He's been taking status reports all afternoon."
"Thank you." She smiled to Harry, clasped her hands, and spun on her heel to face the ready room. Not wanting to be seen backing down, she stood tall and approached the door.
Chakotay heard the chime but didn't look up from the computer console on the desk. "Come," he mumbled.
Kathryn entered and the door closed behind her. She waited to be addressed.
He pointed towards a pile of PADDs and began to say, "Put it," until he glanced up to address whoever was before him. "Kathryn." He leaned back against the chair and his mouth remained open punctuating his bewilderment.
She patiently stood at attention. Her hair was up in a tidy bun, not flowing over her shoulders like it did last night. His eyes followed her form and he fought against comparing Kathryn now to Kathryn last night. She looked the epitome of a professional starship captain, and nothing like the sensuous woman that clung to him. He could hardly believe last night happened.
Unconsciously, he rose from her chair as he had done so many times in the past to defer to her.
Kathryn put out a hand to stop him. "I can see you are busy. I only need a moment of your time."
He stood behind the desk and nodded.
"I came to apologize for last night."
Chakotay pursed his lips and looked at the floor. He didn't want to hear this. He knew she was doing the right thing but part of him feared last night's offer might be gone for good. Still, He looked up and listened intently.
"I've never behaved so inappropriately and unprofessionally in all my life. I was disrespectful towards you. I mocked the hard work you've been doing." She swallowed hard and took the smallest step toward him. "And I treated your feelings for me in a crass manner."
He took in a slow deep breath and looked away for a moment. "Kathryn, I…I'm sorry, too. I didn't handle the situation well. I never wanted to embarrass you…"
She held up her hand again. "Just tell me one thing. Everything you said last night, does it still hold true?"
He felt a flash of heat under his collar. He nodded silently. "Yes," he finally added.
"But, Chakotay, what if I can't do it?" She sounded vulnerable, almost fearful.
"Do what?"
"Resume command. What if I can't take back Voyager?"
He winced at the thought and took a step towards her. "Kathryn, I only need one thing from you. That is, a certainty that an intimate relationship with me is something you'll never regret." He gently placed both hands on her shoulders. "And that's something you can't be certain of right now. It's an added pressure you don't need. We need time, that's all."
She looked up into his eyes. "Thank you." Bringing her hands up around his neck she gently embraced him. He wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug. His physical strength and strength of character gave her peace.
"Chakotay?" she inquired while leaning on his shoulder. "You looked troubled when I came in."
"I was, yes, and I still am." He stepped back and guided her to the chair. "Have a look at this." He backed up through the files until he pulled up a selection of video footage. "I received this from the Nihydron last night."
They watched a video feed of an escape pod being pursued by a vessel. It traveled into a nebula, seemed to flicker out of phase and then disappear. "The Nihydron are convinced that the escape pod was destroyed, but I'm not convinced. My gut says there is something more to it, but I can't find the slightest trace."
"Who was aboard the pod?"
"Everything would seem to indicate that Mortimer Harron and Anya Daniels were in that pod."
"Anya is an instrumentation technician and Mortimer… he is something of a genius in astro-physics. He is creative but often impractical in his ideas. Anti-social." She put a finger to her lips and rested her hand on her chin as she thought for a moment. "If they were faced with a potential 'first contact' situation or hiding…"
"You're thinking that the occupants of the escape pod managed to cloak it?"
"It's possible." She replayed the footage. No explosion, no debris, and not a single trace. "I'd say highly probable." She looked up at Chakotay who was leaning over her. "We need to run some deep space imaging from astrometrics."
He looked discouraged. "We still have no astrometrics."
"Give me Seven of Nine and two technicians. We'll have what we need to track that shuttle up and running into two hours."
Hesitation flashed across Chakotay's face. Seeing this, Kathryn avoided eye contact by focusing on the computer consol. "Okay, I'll do that but on one condition."
She looked up at him.
"You know I have protocols I need to follow. We need an assessment of your condition and we need to assign your workload accordingly. You can do this today, but we must hold a meeting first thing tomorrow with Tuvok and the Doctor."
Kathryn rose from the chair. "You'll ask Seven of Nine to meet me in astrometrics then?"
Chakotay stepped back for her to pass and Kathryn set out to solve the mystery.