(c) December 16, 1999
Disclaimer: Voyager belongs to Paramount Pictures. No Infringement intended.
"Tell me this, Mr. Paris," Captain Kathryn Janeway circled the chair which her pilot had managed to slide further and further down into. It was anything but a safe haven. "When you bet that the color of mine and Chakotay's underwe. . ."
"Ah, Captain," Paris winced, "do we have to go over this again?" He would have liked to have been anywhere but where he was at . . . even if it meant floating towards a Borg cube in the midst of space.
"Oh, but Mr. Paris," Janeway was thoroughly enjoying extracting her revenge through rank, "I thought you were fond of the topic . . . seeing as how you, yourself, bet ten replicator rations that you had the correct answer." She stopped and leaned closer, whispering a deathly suggestion into Tom's range of hearing, "And I hope, for your sake, you don't have that answer."
"Ahh, . . . red pok-a-dots to match the uniform?" Tom winced noticeably but breathed a sigh of relief as the Captain's attention turned to Chakotay's hailing over the com system of the ready room.
"Chakotay to the Captain," he said in that soft but authoritative voice.
"Janeway here, Chakotay, go ahead," she sighed.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your . . . interrogations . . . but something has sensors running a mile a minute. Ensign Kim has yet to identify the readings," he had no sooner finished then Tom leaned back in his chair with a thud.
"I'll be right there, Commander." She turned to look at Paris, "And you," she gave him the Janeway-death-stare, "we will continue this later."
"Yes, Mam," he stood and walked briskly out of the ready room, his neck flushed a deep red to match his Starfleet Uniform.
Shaking her head, Kathryn followed him out into the sleek interior of the ship's main business hub . . . the bridge. This was her ship, and a powerful thing it was . . . Interprid-class with sustainable cruise velocity of warp factor nine point nine-seven-five.
Originally its primary commission was to enter the badlands and apprehend the Maquis leader and his crew . . . and apprehend them they did, much to Kathryn's delight. Sitting in her chair, she glanced at Chakotay, taking in his handsome features, the strength he offered her crew and his loyalty, with one sweep of her eyes. She hadn't realized she had let a little satisfied sigh escape her lips until he glanced up at her, uncertainly, and questioned, "What?"
"Captain, I'm reading some sort of anomaly," Ensign Harry Kim interrupted. "I can't pinpoint its main location . . . but it's . . it's . . it's . ."
"It's what, Mr. Kim," Kathryn turned slightly frustrated. She hated not being in control of things, not capable of understanding what was going on, and though she didn't fault Harry for that which he couldn't control, her irritation at the lack of information was evident in her words.
"Something is messing with the flight pattern," Paris, who had returned to the helm, pursed his lips together. "Its entering information into my main console," he remarked, surprised as the rest of them, and pushed back in his seat, his arms lifted as if an electric tentacle might reach out and grab him.
"What the hell is going on," Kathryn growled as she stood. She took one step forward before the ship suddenly shuddered violently throwing the senior staff to the floor or left them dangling from the rails in a last minute grip to stop a fall.
"Captain!" Torres voice filled the bridge's com system. All around, consoles were flickering and sparks were flying.
Catching her breath she glanced at her crew, who were climbing to their feet, before she pushed herself up off of the bridge floor. The ship shuddered once more, an aftermath, and Chakotay quickly steadied her with his hand before releasing her to respond to Lieutenant Torres.
"Life support is down," Harry's worried voice carried as he looked frantically from his Captain and Commander before the lights went out and they were left with only the illuminations of Red Alert. "Shields are out."
"B'Elanna, status," Janeway barked as she moved over to Harry's console of Operations tapping her fingers wildly across the system.
"Engineering is a mess Captain. We're making sure there are no microfractures in the Warp Core but there is interference with main controls, not unlike a scan but, not exactly . . . " there was a pause as static filled the background. All was silent as a flash of grey light illuminated the entire ship, causing people to dive to the floor in agony. Though it lasted only five seconds, it took a while for Kathryn to become aware of her surroundings. She stood up slowly.
"B'Elanna?" Kathryn's eyes searched the air around her waiting for a response. Finally it came. "Here, Captain," Torres said, her voice filled with a level of energy that Janeway was accustomed to.
"Lieutenant, this anonymous anomaly is hitting us with everything it has. Can you get us out of here?"
"We don't even have main thrusters. We're stuck . ." The Chief Engineer sounded anything but happy with that status. B'Elanna had always taken any form of Engineering failure as a personal one and this was one of those times she couldn't let it slide.
"Captain," Tuvok's calm and unaffected tone rose above the chaos that was moving throughout the bridge and rest of the ship. "If we were to use secondary power sub-units to remodify our shields that would eliminate the breaches and perhaps give us time to get the main warp core online."
"'Perhaps,' Mr. Tuvok?" Kathryn's inquiry was surprisingly lighthearted set against their reality, but the crew had come to rely on those moments as little pushes when 'weird . .. and deadly . . .was part of the job.'
"Having limited information on this anomaly, the most logical solution would be to take the most immediate path of avoidance of further attacks and ship-wide damage, but as always with the 'unknown', nothing is ever certain." he stated the obvious.
"Agreed," Janeway turned, and stepped down from Harry's console heading towards the viewscreen. "B'Elanna, did you get that?"
"Aye, Captain . . ." static once again filled the vast room, "already rerouting . . ." as soon as she had said it, the emergency lights flickered into existence and she took a deep breath as Harry announced that life support was back online. "I want a full range sweep of the ship by security teams, make sure we didn't have any unwanted guests arrive while our shields were down," she told Tuvok and turned to Chakotay. Even a nod of reassurance from her Commander at a time like this was a saving grace.
"Send out repair crews to decks five and twelve, they're the most heavily damaged" Chakotay gave his own orders. He knew that Kathryn wouldn't mind, in fact they worked well as a pair, always anticipating and acknowledging, without disappointment, that the other was in tune with the decision making process.
"Harry," she turned to the young Ensign and made a silent note of how his eyes always looked like a deer's in headlights when faced with situations like this. That didn't disrupt his capabilities but it only reminded Kathryn of how very young Mr. Kim was. 'Too young to be lost in space,' she thought sadly to herself before getting on with things. "I want you to work full time in engineering with B'Elanna. We have to make sure we've cleared that anomaly . . . with or without warp drive."
"Aye, Captain," he stated with conviction.
"Tom, see to sick-bay, help the EMH with the wounded . . . there's bound to be plenty of that," she stated grimly.
"Commander, you and I will work on getting some much needed information," she gathered up PADDS and moved forward. "Senior staff will reconvene in the debriefing room at 1800 hours. I want answers people." Kathryn rubbed her forehead slightly, wishing that she could put her thoughts in order. As soon as she thought of one thing it lead to another, and then another in a never-ending cascade effect. "Well . . ." she threw down the PADD. "This is the first time I have absolutely nothing beyond the basics."
"How much am I going to have to pay you to not entertain your scientific side by going back into that thing?" Chakotay teased. He looked at the redheaded woman who sat cradling her forehead in one hand, as he stood and sat down in the chair opposite hers of the desk. "Captain, look at it this way . . ." he met her blue-eyed gaze with his own dark eyes, "Your crew is accounted for, ship repairs are underway and we've cleared the . . .anomaly."
"That isn't good enough, Chakotay." She said softly but solidly. "Out here, if we let one thing go, let one thing slide it always comes back to haunt us. It happened with the Vidiians, The Kazon . . . even Ses . . ." she stopped herself. "I'm sorry," she turned to him.
He grimaced but nodded, "It's alright. Seska was a unique case in which your Commanding officer let one to many things slide," he admitted as he went and sat down awkwardly on the ready room sofa.
"Chakotay," she sat by him, her hand on his shoulder, "everything was so new. It was natural to feel defensive of your own crew above and beyond the new one you were being integrated into."
"Yes, but . . ." he paused and took her hand in his, "knowing now, all that I know about this Starfleet . . . about you, Kathryn, . . .I . . . ."
He didn't get to finish as the ready room doors mechanically beeped for someone's admittance. "Enter," Janeway agreed, with little or no choice. Their conversation would have to wait.
Harry Kim entered, paused slightly, noting his Captain's hand in the Commanders and then continued, "Senior staff is assembled and waiting, Captain."
"There have been no permanent structural damages nor have any of the gel-packs sustained any infections. The warp core, however is still offline.
I'll have it up and ready in two days, Captain," B'Elanna stated.
"Understood," Janeway took the chief engineer at her word, knowing she was good for it. "Security check out, Mr. Tuvok?" She turned to the Vulcan.
"Affirmative, Captain," he pushed his fingers together to make a triangular temple with his hands. "As far as we can tell there were no unauthorized beam-ins or outs. I have doubled regular, ship-wide security rounds," he informed the senior staff and raised an eyebrow as Mr. Paris whistled out loud.
"You went all out, Tuvok," Tom, who couldn't even walk down a hallway without seeing a security-op at one turn or another wondered if he'd have to shoulder his way through them now.
"It was . . . logical," Tuvok countered with his Vulcan trait to secretly annoy Paris. Though Vulcans did have feelings they were in total, if not absolute control of them at all times.
"Fine work, unfortunately the commander and I have nothing but basic scientific data to offer any of you on that particular anomaly and what we did get you can find in Starfleet's introductory course at the Academy . . . page . . ." she turned to Chakotay.
"Page five hundred and thirty two, chapter eighteen," he smirked.
"Ah yes," she smiled at the crew members who were enjoying the light hearted banter -- a relief from the stress they had been under these past hours. "Unfortunately it seems to be impervious to our scans. Mr. Paris informs me that all internal and external injuries among the crew have been taken care of by the Doctor, but I want to stress to everyone that if they feel unsure about something . . .anything . . . to not put it off. Is that understood?" She took in the silent nods, knowing her crew appreciated the concern. "Well then . . . let's all get some R&R. Dismissed."
"Captain . . ." Chakotay stepped closer to Kathryn and he rubbed a bit of smokey residue off of the bridge of her nose with his thumb.
"Oh!" She exclaimed rubbing at the same spot in embarrassment after he had removed his finger.
"Would you want to join me in my anomaly-ransacked quarters for a late dinner?" he smiled.
"Are you replicating?" She asked.
"Of course," he offered his arm as they exited the debriefing room.
It was practically a day later when things were finally starting to smooth out and regular routines were once again in full swing. Kathryn had just finished the Alpha shift when she had decided to take a hot bath in her quarters. Lighting some of her replicated candles and placing them around the tubs infrastructure she submerged her tired body into the warm hands of the soft water and blew some of the bubbles from off of its surface. She splashed some of it up onto her neck and placed a soaked washcloth over her eyes. Nothing like a space anomaly to remind a Captain how to relax. Just then a computerized chime indicated that the monitor in her bathroom had come to life, complete with the EMH in full view.
"Excuse me, Captain, for interrupting your bed, bath and beyond moment," he said while Janeway quickly added more bubbles to the rushing water in an attempt to keep at least few secrets that she didn't want to reveal to anyone, not even the doctor, hidden.
He noted her course of action and said, "As I once told Ms. Torres, 'I'm a doctor . . not a peeping Tom.' Nothing I haven't seen before mind-you."
"Doctor," Janeway gritted her teeth, "just what exactly is so important that you use your Medical Override code to access this monitor?"
"Oh!" He remarked, as if he had already forgotten, "yes well, I have an interesting . . . case . . . in sickbay and I'm not sure how to deal with it."
That got the Captain's attention. The EMH was programmed with more knowledge than anyone could account for and yet he had hit a brick wall on something? "I'll be right there," she stated and was about to get out when she noticed the EMH was still there smiling. "Do you mind?" She asked.
"Oh, so sorry," he stated and was about to end transmission when the Captain called out to him.
"Oh, and doctor?" She stated sweetly.
"Yes?" He turned with an expectant grin and was greeted with a soapy, wet washcloth as it hit the viewscreen before blinking out of existence.
"Always the EMH . . ." she muttered as she grabbed her towel, " . . . . never the Commander."
Entering Sickbay she was surprised to see Ensign McHale restrained to the sickbay biobed. The Ensign seemed to be fighting the restraints quite passionately.
"Doctor?" Janeway walked forward, her eyes questioningly.
"I'm fine, I tell you!" Ensign McHale stated passionately. "Please . . .Captain, tell him to release me. This is embarrassing!"
Kathryn was about to say something, her mouth opened slightly before what the Doctor said to Ensign McHale silenced her. "Embarrassing, Ms. McHale is when you chased Ensign Kim through Jeffries tube nine . . . pinching his glutamus maximus." He cleared his throat and turned back to Janeway. "I should let you know, Captain, that Mr. Kim was anything but a willing participant." He used his finger to motion for her to follow him over to the restrained Ensign McHale.
Taking out a medical tricorder, he seemed in awe, "Her estrogen levels have escalated unbelievably . . . I'd say that if Mr. Kim hadn't called for Tuvok . . well there would've been another, shall we say, 'big bang,' introduced to Voyager since that Anomaly."
Janeway closed her eyes slightly, for a moment, trying not to let the Doctor's vivid picture sink in before responding, "Any idea why this is?"
"None . . . as far as I know, she shouldn't undergo this sort of . . .sexual . . . frenzy" he stated.
Janeway raised her eyebrow and the doctor held up his hand, "at least not to the degree that Mr. Kim was subjected to. Besides that," he pulled the Captain over to the side, away from McHales' whining, "Harry says it's totally out of character for Ensign McHale.
That and she is . . er . . was involved with Ensign Darson."
"What would you recommend, Doctor? Obviously something strange is happening here," Kathryn rubbed her eyes slightly. She was tired and wanted a cup of coffee, a hot bath . . a Commander. 'A Commander?!'
She felt her back constrict with that thought . . where the hell had that come from? But the doctor's words interrupted her inquiry.
"Well, I'd like to keep her in sickbay. Unless of course you'd like to release her to the Holodeck to pursue a Holographic Mr. Kim?"
Janeway closed her eyes, sighing and shaking her head as Ensign McHale picked up on that last statement in agreement, "OH yes! Please! I must see Harry! Please, Captain?. I won't pinch, honest."
She glared at the Doctor, "Keep her here. That's an order." I need my Ensign's glutamus maximus in one piece for the bridge's operation console."
Walking out of sickbay she wondered what Ensign McHale saw in Harry's butt . . . in her mind . . .Chakotay's was much . .. much . . . better.
She groaned out loud, frustrated that her mind was sinking so low and only regained her composure when an Ensign stared. Speaking of which, she could see Chakotay rounding a corner walking towards her, PADD in hand. She watched as his thigh muscles rippled and strained against those damn Starfleet issued slacks . . . his mouth turned to a smile and all of a sudden she wanted to experience more than just a smile from those lips of his. "Hot damn, Kathryn," she muttered, and shook her head at her own thoughts. She hadn't felt that affected since the academy . . . even Mark inspired, well, a little more reserve than she had when she thought of Chakotay.
"Oh . . . My . . . Gawd," Kathryn took a deep, cooling breath, as she kept walking. "I make Ensign McHale look like a flirtatious school girl." With each step towards the Commander, she felt her body temperature rise another degree . . . or two . . . or ten.
Chakotay could see Kathryn coming from a mile away . . . 'is it the walk, the hips, or the boots . .' he entertained the possibilities, 'gotta be the boots . . ." He smiled as she approached, waiting for her to acknowledge him, as was customary between the two of them. What he didn't expect was for Kathryn to run right towards him, at warp speed, lock her arms around his neck and lift her chin up close to his.
"Chakotay . . ." she said with a sultry voice. The nearby-Ensign dropped his tricorder and stared.
"Captain?" Chakotay asked questioningly but didn't have time to get answers before his lips were assaulted by Voyager's leading lady. He felt her lips push against his, opening his mouth with a passion that had been unfairly squelched since the day they had met in the Delta Quadrant. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Ensign fall to the floor in a dead faint. The Captain was gettin' jiggy wit it. Chakotay felt Kathryn suck on his lower lip lovingly, with her own, before he pulled her from him. He took a shaky breath and looked her in the eye before tapping his communicator. "Chakotay to sick bay, I'm bringing the Captain in," he stated. "Something's wrong."
"Wrong?" The EMH was clearly confused. "But I just saw her five minutes ago, she seemed fine!"
"Oh yes," Kathryn said seductively and grinned at Chakotay, "I am just fine, Doctor."
"Oh My," came the EMH's voice, picking up on the tone. "Sounds like another case of 1-900-VOY-AGER. Bring her in Commander . . . before the pinching starts."
"Pinching?" The Commander gulped, before jumping due to some lurking fingers.
"Kathryn, now stop it!" Chakotay admonished as he dragged the Captain down the hallway towards sickbay as best he could. "You're making a scene," he pulled her up close with his reprimand so that he would not be overheard by the other crewmen who were passing.
"I tell you what, Chakotay," she smiled, and had that glint in her eyes. "You take me back to my quarters, stay for a . . . a cup of coffee? And we'll make a scene of our own . ." she purred.
Before he could say a yes or a no they were interrupted by the sight of Ensign Carter running through the corridor, "Coming through!" he yelled as he leaped over a Lieutenant who had dove for cover on the floor. No sooner had the startled conversations of crew around them begun before Ensign Sarsonie came rushing madly through the path.
She stopped at the Commander and Captain, "Which way did he go?"
"That way, Ensign," Kathryn cocked her thumb in the other Ensign's fleeing direction. "Carry on," Kathryn said pleasantly, a little too pleasantly before
Chakotay started dragging her along again. Suddenly she sat down on the carpeted floor with a thud.
"You shouldn't have encouraged her like that, Captain," Chakotay grimaced and pulled on Kathryn's arms from her sitting position on the floor. Kathryn wrapped her arms around his legs in a vice-like grip and he wondered how he was going to make it through the five final steps to the sickbay door. "Up-see-day-see," he leaned over and lifted the Captain up into his arms as he walked to the entrance.
"Commander, already carrying me over the threshold? We haven't even been married yet!" She said as they disappeared inside Sickbay.
"Now let's see here," the Doctor flashed a light over and across the Captain's eyes. "Mmm-hmm," he said in thought, out loud, and then an "I see. Right." He stepped back from Kathryn who was sitting on the biobed.
"Doctor?" Chakotay was getting impatient and Kathryn had yet to stop running her finger up and down his neck.
"It seems as though the Captain has what Ensign McHale has," he pointed to the young woman who was still restrained to the bed. The Ensign waved her restrained hand as best she could at the group and only Kathryn waved back and giggled.
Chakotay walked around the biobed, running a frustrated hand through his hair. "I don't believe this they're . . . they're . . ."
"Hot and horny," the doctor finished and slapped a medical tricorder shut.
"Actually, I was going for something a little less up-front," he glared, "something along the lines of adolescent behavior . . . when humaniod hormones are raging and it is a battle to keep them in check."
"Yes well, there seems to be at least some logic to the matter, Commander," The doctor supplied.
"And what would that be?" Chakotay was skeptical.
"These, uh, women aren't just going after anyone they come in contact with. Once they lock onto a target they initiate, well, a tractor beam and pursue their . . . prey . . . with a vengeance until one assumes that they," the doctor offered a little smile, "get what they want. In other words, we shall assume that whatever desires they have been squelching for whatever reason have somehow been amplified to a point where they can't control them like they used to."
"Their deepest, darkest desires are coming to surface against their control," Chakotay said aloud.
"You sound a little hopeful there, Commander," the Doctor raised his eyebrows.
"I'm merely trying to make sense of the matter," he said in a stiff voice.
"One would suppose that it was the anomaly?" the Doctor took a hypospray from the table and held it in front of the Captain who had been secretly advancing on the Commander during their conversation.
"We cleared it almost two days ago. Everything is in order, or is getting back on track on the ship," Chakotay supplied and hid behind the doctor's 'ammunition.'
"Yes, but that's the machinery. Perhaps, the anomaly supplied some sort of bio-charged aphrodisiac of some sort that affected the women crew members? You mentioned a grey-blinding flash? And like liquid-form aphrodisiacs we are commonly familiar with, it took a while for their systems to absorb it."
Just then Chakotay's combadge transported Tom Paris' voice to his location. "Chakotay! Help!" Tom cried. He sounded out of breath and frantic.
"Mr. Paris, what's happening?" Chakotay cried out, his legs electrified to run and help the man but unable to do so due to the lack of information.
"It's B'Elanna!" He gasped and in the background there was the sound of a Klingon-human woman growling and Tom trying to gently suggest she put something down.
"Paris?" Chakotay spit out in frustration.
"I wouldn't bite her and now she's trying to Kill me!" He said before he yelped.
"And here I thought injuring Mr. Paris was part of their regular foreplay," the Doctor muttered and hissed the hypospray at the Captain who was circling him.
"Computer," the Captain said aloud, "End EMH program."
The Doctor flashed out of existence before popping back up again in Kathryn's path, "nu-uh-uh, I don't think so."
Chakotay's head was spinning, he was receiving more incoming messages via the combadge than it could handle. The little device was becoming confused and cutting off each message halfway through. He gathered enough tidbits that he could surmise more and more of the female crew members were after the male ones. As he stalked over to the main communications console of the sickbay he saw out of the corner of his eye the doctor appearing and disappearing over and over again in a blink of the eye . . . Doctor, no Doctor . . Doctor, no Doctor. Kathryn kept ending his program and the doctor kept reinitiating himself. 'At least it's keeping her busy,' he thought, 'but not for long.'
Just as that thought came to mind, he heard the doctor exclaim aloud, "What are you doing!?"
"Run, McHale!" Kathryn's voice encouraged the Ensign and Chakotay saw the restraints fly free from the biobed with her form.
McHale high-fived the Captain as she rushed out, thumbs up sign in air, yelling, "Power to the femme!"
They could hear her crying out Harry's name from three doors down.
"Commander Tuvok?" The Pilot of the night shift turned to look at the Vulcan who was in charge. "I'm getting various emergency calls from all over the ship." With that he tapped at the console and various voices were played back for him.
"Help! Send a security team . . . Ensign Maloney is trying to . . ." another cut in, "Lieutenant Baker here . . ." the voice was gasping for breath, "I've cornered Ensign Jones in Shuttle shoot, OH SHOOT HELP!"
"I think we have heard enough, Ensign," Tuvok's eyebrow was in danger of separating from the skin.
"Shall I send out a security team?" The Ensign never understood how Vulcans could take things so well. He was as clueless about the matter as a Cardassian was about peace.
"Ensign Maloney is currently in charge of security," The Vulcan paused. "And I believe she is . . . busy."
Just then a sweat-drenched Paris rushed out of the turbolift, grasping at the railing for support, "Computer," he waited for the computer to beep its response. "Deny access to the Bridge to Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, authorization ParisAlpha654"
"Mr. Paris," the Vulcan turned towards the man. "Where did that authorization code come from?"
"The security breach in protocol is the least of our worries, Tuvok." Tom moved forward and stopped, his hands on his legs as he leaned over trying to get some blood to his head.
"Explain yourself," the Vulcan demanded.
"B'Elanna is a little too Klingon for my peace of mind, right now," he winced. "As I was . . . running here . . . well, let's just say it's madder than a Cadet's New Year's Celebration at the Academy out there."
"We have received countless other calls, similar to your own," he stated. "We should consult the Captain on our next course of action." He was about to move forward to get a biolock on the Captain's location when he stopped due to Mr. Paris' laughter. "What is so funny?" He asked stoically.
"Currently, the Captain's main mission is to lock onto Commander Chakotay," he smirked.
"Indeed . . ." The Vulcan cocked his head to the side, his eyebrow, once again, reaching for the Alpha Quadrant.
The entire Sickbay was filling to capacity with women who were either happily restrained by their 'conquests' or sedated with a hypospray.
Chakotay stepped over one, then another and finally made it to where Kathryn sat happily on the biobed hitting at the doctor as he tried to move the hypospray into place.
"CAPTAIN, will you stop that!" He stammered, dodging her hands. "Commander, she's in love with you . . . so I suggest you do something to help her," he reprimanded, at his wits end.
With that Chakotay went over and snatched the hypospray out of the doctor's hand. "Once again, I must reiterate, 'I seem to have found myself on the voyage of the damned.'" But that was all he could say as he witnessed more lunacy when Chakotay pushed the Captain back down on the biobed and kissed her with passion. Thinking Chakotay was coming under the influence of it all as well, he was about to intervene before the hiss of a hypospray stopped him. He watched as the Captain gave a small, but thoroughly satisfied sigh before falling down asleep on the biobed.
"There," Chakotay turned to the doctor, who was speechless. The Commander's cheeks were flushed a deep red and he seemed out of breath and nervous before finishing, " . . . wasn't that hard to do."
"So I see," he watched the Commander go, before pondering further.
The debriefing room was filled with the male senior staff. Tom held his head in his hands, Harry shifted uneasily from one side of his glutamus maximus to the other, Tuvok was . . . well . . . Tuvok and Neelix had a great big grin on his face as Chakotay paced around the table.
"I don't see what all the fuss is about," Neelix commented, shrugging. "So they're a little more . . . well, sure of themselves. Nothing wrong with some honesty!"
"Easy for you to say," Harry shot him a death gaze. "You've always wanted Kes, and now you got her.
The rest of us either have a more complicated situation or . . ."
Tom interrupted, "Or a Klingon wanting to Kill them."
"I always thought you were the 'rough and ready' type though, Mr. Paris?" Neelix joked.
"Enough. That's not the point . . . the point is," Chakotay was disheartened, "is that they are a part of this crew . . .we can't function or get this ship going without them. And beyond that they're our friends, family . . . and loved ones," he finished. "We don't even have a Captain . . . and she's one of the best damn Captains Starfleet ever made. We're not about to lose her to this . . this . . . madness."
"What do you suggest, Commander," Tuvok questioned, pleased someone else was thinking logically about the current situation.
"We head back to the anomaly," he stated and everyone winced. Nevertheless, he continued, "The doctor feels that if he could get some residual samples, he could find a reasonable cure."
"The doctor doesn't have one from the last time we visited?" Paris seemed disappointed.
"Not unless we all want to get involved in some . . . . sexual healing" Chakotay leaned on the table with that statement.
"Uh," Neelix's voice broke the silence, "do I get a say in this?"
"NO," all of the members answered in unison.
"But what if we go back into that thing and we," Kim indicated the male crew, "all become affected by this as well."
"That's just a chance we'll have to take," Chakotay stated.
