BREWING UP SOME TROUBLE!

by ALM_Voyager

*I invite you, yes you, to enjoy a day in the life of a Coffee Addict stuck in the Delta Quadrant . . not a pleasant experience to be certain . . . *

DAY ONE, 15:23 hours:

It was going to be one of those days in the debriefing room. No one wanted to hear it. In fact, they were all more than resistant to the idea. B'Elanna Torres was sitting with her arms defiantly crossed. Tom Paris had his eyes shut in misery while Chakotay continued to glare out the viewport at every single star he could lay his eyes on. Even Harry, who was happy-go-lucky until the last moment had, well, reached his last moment; he sat with his head turned directly away from the direction of the Captain.

"I know, I know," she sighed apologetically. "You've all sacrificed quite a great deal over the past two years." No one said a word. "I've tried to find an alternative . . . any alternative," she offered. Kathryn listened numbly, nerves on edge, as random sounds floated about the room . . . a throat clearing here, a chair squeaking there . . . not good.

"Uh, Captain?" Neelix raised his hand timidly and let his voice break the silence. "Then what are we going to do about the crew morale? I can already tell you it's going to suffer incredibly . . that is . . . until we find that 'alternative' you spoke of," he rambled on.

"Well, you're the morale officer, Mr. Neelix. You tell me," Kathryn let the corner of her mouth slide up smugly. "Dismissed!"

"We've all sacrificed . . ." Harry murmured with sour intention. "Yeah, I bet."

"Chakotay?" Tom interrupted as the three of them walked towards their quarters.

"Yes, Mr. Paris?" he asked, clearly already annoyed with the day so far.

"When was the last time the Captain 'sacrificed' a cup of coffee?" he asked sarcastically, not really expecting an answer.

Chakotay stopped abruptly and Harry Kim practically ran into him from behind. "That's a good question, Mr. Paris." He started walking again, the other two men in tow, "A very good question."

"We have to give up our replicator rations altogether?!" B'Elanna roared the question aloud and all of engineering stopped and turned to see what would happen next.

Harry Kim tried to swallow as he uttered the next words, "And holodeck time as well."

B'Elanna just paused, her eyes wide as if he had a death wish she needed to fulfill. "Get -- out --," she stated the words with a crisp intention.

"Not my fault," Harry muttered on his way out of Engineering.

"B'Elanna and more than half of engineering have volunteered to work on sensors, add to them -- whatever it takes -- to see if they can come up with a solution," Chakotay stated, reading from a data PADD.

"Oh? So the news hit home already?" Kathryn chuckled and took a sip of her drink. "Spread like wildfire," he eyed her, debating whether or not to include the rest of what was on the PADD he held. Then, a faint aroma, caressed itself against his sense of smell, "Kathryn, what is that you're drinking?"

She looked at him as if he were insane, "Coffee. What else do I drink, Chakotay? She chuckled until she noted that the eyebrow, which was surrounded by his Native American tattoo, was twitching. She had never seen that happen before. "Commander? Is there something wrong?"

Neelix poured a fresh glass of water for Lieutenant Paris and bent his ear towards the conversation the pilot was engaged in with B'Elanna and the Commander. The messhall was his own Talaxian Grapevine.

"She was drinking coffee?!" B'Elanna asked at the table and Neelix winced as all three individuals turned on him.

"Don't look at me! I didn't give it to her!" he sat down at the table, wanting to hear where the conversation would lead to. "Besides, there's not a single bean left in the galley."

"Perhaps she helped herself," Paris muttered, more than slightly agitated.

"You don't really think she would --?" Neelix took in each face, "Certainly not for --?"

"Yes," they all stated firmly and bluntly.

"Say," Tom spoke up again, never one to be quiet for too long. "What would be the reprimand, you know, the punishment for the Captain breaking one of her own orders?" He glanced at B'Elanna who just snorted and looked away. "Isn't there one?" He directed the question towards Chakotay.

Chakotay's face slowly gave birth to the biggest smile Neelix had ever seen on him, "Yes. There is."

Everyone at the able sat up straight and leaned forward with anticipation.

"You've got an idea," B'Elanna turned a sly smile towards him, "don't you."

CONTINUED IN PART 2!

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