A/N: Thank you, as always, to MissyHissy3 for betaing and encouragement!

Chapter Seven

His feet were almost numb with cold, but Chakotay could feel that the floor was wet. He noticed this at the same time as he realised that the cell was not quite as it had been when they'd left it. It, like them, stank less. Their captors seemed to have washed the place out. Not that he wasn't grateful for its relative cleanliness, but they could have done without the added damp.

Still pressed against him, the Captain continued to shake. Without letting her go, Chakotay moved them to the metal bunk, half expecting to find it gone and relieved when he found it in the same place. Sleeping in shifts, he had decided, was no longer an option.

Wordlessly, they lay down on the hard bench. Chakotay pushed his back close to the wall and then pulled Janeway to him. She pressed herself into his chest and then raised her knees. Chakotay wrapped one leg over hers, the tangle of their limbs sandwiching their cloaks between them and over their frozen feet. Her head tucked under his chin again, Chakotay could feel Janeway's nose pressed against his Adam's apple. He pulled his hood as far over both of them as it would go and rubbed her back with his free hand.

Slowly, gradually, Janeway's quaking lessened and then eventually ceased. Curled around each other, almost as close as it was possible for two humans to be, they generated a tolerable level of warmth. Chakotay felt her relax, her muscles softening as the taut violence of the cold left them. She smelled faintly of soap, the harsh tang of the chemical tickling his nose where her still-damp hair brushed it. He stopped rubbing her back and let his arm rest, still holding her against him.

Though warmer, they did not separate. Kathryn's breathing evened and stretched, until Chakotay thought she was asleep. He was approaching slumber himself when the featherlike movement of her lips against his neck startled him back into wakefulness.

"Chakotay?" she whispered.

He shifted slightly, raising his hand to smooth a few stray wisps of her hair away from his face. "I thought you were asleep."

"I thought you were. I've been thinking. I think I know where we are. Trianine 3."

Chakotay spread his fingers against her back. "The Vorbrath mining colony? The one we ended up refusing to take on as a trading partner?"

She nodded against his chest. "Out there, in the corridor, I heard something above us. I think it was an engine of some kind. It reminded me of something, but I couldn't work out what. Now I think it was the Vorbrath thermodynamic engine. Remember it? It draws heat from the planet's core, converting it into energy to power their mining operations." Janeway shifted slightly, pulling away from him a little to lift herself up on one elbow. The space her upper body left as she moved chilled him.

Chakotay thought about it. The Vorbrath had been a bullish species. At first, Janeway had attempted to negotiate for some of the minerals that could be found at the colony – Voyager's dilithium stores always needed restocking. But the Vorbrath had only been interested in trading for weapons. Then it had emerged that the Vorbrath's mining facilities were operated by slaves. After that it had taken the Captain about 30 seconds to close down the negotiations and set the ship back on her course.

"Could be," he said, thoughtfully.

"If I'm right, we're in the mines," said Janeway.

"It explains the lack of light."

"Yes."

"If you're right – if it is the Vorbrath who are holding us – there's no way that Tuvok would consider giving them what they must be holding us ransom for – Voyager's photon torpedoes."

"I agree. It wouldn't even cross his mind to make that trade."

"But Voyager must have requested proof of life – which must have been part of some kind of negotiation."

"Or," said Janeway, "that's what Tuvok wants them to think is happening."

"A double bluff?" asked Chakotay. "He lulls them into a false sense of security by making them think that Voyager is ready to make a trade?"

"It's what I would do," said Janeway, "especially if I needed to buy time to pinpoint a location."

"And now he knows for sure we're still alive," said Chakotay. "So the next step…"

"…will be to launch a rescue."

"If you're right, that could happen at any time."

"It could. And in the interests of preparedness, I suggest we both try to get some rest as soon as possible. We'll need to be sharp in the event."

"Aye, Captain," he said. "If we're right and Tuvok's on the verge of an attack."

Janeway sighed. "I want to believe he is, Chakotay. I have to. The thought of being left here…"

In the dark, Chakotay smiled. Janeway was right. It was better than the alternative. She moved again, beginning to shift from beneath his leg.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I – thought I'd let you sleep first."

"Are you uncomfortable?"

There was a pause. "No," she said, a slight huskiness to her voice. "Not at all."

"Then, Captain, I suggest we stay like this. We'll be warmer, and if we're warm we'll rest better."

"You could be right."

"I am."

She laughed slightly, quietly – a small, inward sound that he sensed was directed at herself rather than at him. Chakotay felt her move back toward him, and closed his arms around her. He'd only intended to return her to her original position against him, but she must have already been closer than he'd thought, because a fraction of a second later he felt the unexpected press of something soft against the corner of his mouth, and realised with a jolt that her face – her lips - had collided gently with his.

They both froze. Chakotay heard her draw in a tiny, shocked breath, and then, with the kind of momentary clarity that he was rarely afforded, realised that he could feel Kathryn's heart, beating against his chest. It was thundering - racing with the sudden electricity of the unexpected and yet apparently not unwelcome touch. Chakotay moved slowly, tentatively, turning his face until he could feel her lips full against his, open the slightest amount though she seemed to be holding her breath. She didn't pull away as he parted his own lips just enough to take her bottom one between them. It was a kiss as tender as he had ever given – soft, warm and demanding nothing, and yet in that imposing, encompassing dark it sparked a sensation he wasn't sure he'd ever felt before. The kiss lasted only a moment before they parted – so brief, in fact, that if one really wanted to believe it, it would be possible to say it had never happened at all.

"Commander," Janeway whispered.

Chakotay breathed a sigh of laughter and pulled her against him, tucking her head under his chin again. "Captain," he said, in an answering whisper. "Go to sleep."

[TBC]