Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The beeping of the computer roused Kathryn Janeway from her nap. She sat up slowly and stretched. A strong urge caused her to hurry to the head. The one piece jumpsuits were a pain when one really had to go bad.

After tidying up a bit, she headed for the bridge. Sitting down by Chakotay, she crisply said, "Report."

"We on course for the Alpha Quadrant at warp 8." He leaned over and whispered, "How was your nap?" His eyes twinkled at her teasingly.

"It was nice," she whispered back with a crooked grin. She stood up and began to walk the circuit on the bridge. After checking in with all the stations, she returned to her seat. "If Stellar Cartography's preliminary scans are accurate, that system we'll be coming up to tomorrow should be a good source of plant life and minerals."

"The icing on the cake is the planets appear to be uninhabited, which means no hostile aliens to deal with. At least I hope so."

She nodded, "I do too. I haven't been off the ship since Hanon IV."

Chakotay gave her a disapproving stare. "I don't know if that would be such a good idea…" Her glare stopped him.

"The Doctor says I am in perfect health. Exercise is good for me right now. I don't need to be 'protected,' Commander."

He grinned. "Here I was the one warning you about the crew being over protective, and I'm the first one to say something."

"I'll be careful. I'll have a security officer with me. If there appears to be danger, I'll stay on the ship."

They both chuckled and turned back to the view screen.

The next morning, Kathryn sat in her command seat drumming on arm. She had agreed to wait on beaming down until after the scouting parties reported in. This concession had come only after the Doctor had expressed his concerns that she should wait.

Chakotay grinned at her. "You aren't impatient at all, are you?"

She made a face at him and replied, "You should talk. You've been tapping your foot so long; we may have to repair the deck."

"Captain," began Harry. "We are being hailed from one of the teams."

"Put it on audio, Ensign."

"Captain Janeway, Crewman Dalby here. The scouting parties have completed their initial surveys. They report finding excellent food sources. The minerals that Lieutenant Torres needs are in abundant supply as well."

"Very good, Mr. Dalby. Any indication of danger on the planet?"

"None so far, Captain," replied Dalby.

"Excellent work, Mr. Dalby. Commander Chakotay and I will beam down shortly. Proceed with gathering food and minerals. Janeway out."

She leaned over to Chakotay with a smile. "Hard to believe at the beginning of this journey he was one of our 'problem children.'"

He chuckled, "Kenneth has come a long way. Back then, did you ever think he'd be commanding a landing party?"

"Come on, Commander, the Doctor doesn't want me to be planet side for very long. He wants me to limit myself to no more than ninety minutes. Let's go."

Once they arrived on the planet, Kenneth Dalby met them and showed them samples of what they had found.

"The tricorder says all of these are safe for the crew. Most of them taste good too," he said with a smile. "As long as we can keep Neelix from stretching them with leola root."

They all laughed at that comment. No one but Neelix seemed to care for the leola root, and he served it way too often for their comfort.

"What about the minerals, Mr. Dalby?" asked the Captain.

"We found some very high grade dilithium. It should increase the efficiency of our warp engines by at least thirty percent. We also found some galacite. Not as much as we had hoped, but it will be good to have in reserve."

"Great work, Mr. Dalby. Carry on," said Captain Janeway.

She turned to Chakotay. "Commander, let's go over to the caves where they are mining the dilithium."

As they walked to the caves, Chakotay kept a watchful eye on the Captain. It was fairly hot on this part of the planet, and he did not want her to get overheated.

By the time they got to the caves, Kathryn was winded. This took her by surprise, but she entered the cave and sighed in relief at the cooler temperature.

"Are you okay?" whispered Chakotay.

"Just a little out of breath, I'll be fine. It's much cooler in here."

They checked with each person in the group mining the dilithium. Everything was on schedule. The exceptional quality of the dilithium was a real morale booster for everyone involved. This would mean traveling at higher warp speeds for longer periods of time. They were also collecting enough so that they would not have to worry about it for some time to come.

"Well, Chakotay, let's go check on the team near the river. They are gathering food."

"Okay," he said. "But take it easy. You got winded walking to the caves."

"I'll be fine, Chakotay. It's just a little warmer than I'm used to."

He shook his head and followed her. She was so damn stubborn. He wished there had been a way to get her to stay on the ship.

They were a little over half way to the river when Kathryn stopped and put her hands on her face. Chakotay was at her side in an instant. "What's wrong, Kathryn?"

Before she had a chance to reply, she slumped to the ground.