The shelter was made to go together quickly, even under adverse conditions. The conditions on New Earth were anything but adverse, however, so they allowed themselves the luxury of modifying the floor plan so they would have two small sleeping alcoves and a much larger main room which they would use for everything except else. "Our family room," Janeway laughed. She was only partially kidding. They could very well be here for several months before she found the cure.
She was going to be busy with her research, but she also looked on this time as an opportunity to forge a deeper relationship with her first officer. A rapport between them had of necessity taken hold, grown, and developed during the long months of their journey. They were now at the point where they were a smoothly-functioning unit on the bridge and shared an easy comradarie off duty, but they hadn't yet reached that level of understanding where they could essentially read each others' minds, finish each other sentences. That was the kind of friendship that all the legendary command teams had; it was the kind of friendship she felt they needed to have. This time alone with Chakotay would give her the opportunity to find out more about the man, and it would make them even more efficient when they returned to Voyager.
Chakotay, she soon discovered, could be a demanding task master. The shelter was up and all their equipment unpacked and in place before he allowed them to break for a meal. And that brought the first surprise of the evening. Chakotay actually enjoyed cooking. "I find it an opportunity to be creative," he said, grinning at her when a she blurted out the truth of her dislike for the chore. "Unfortunately, we'll have to make do with replicated food for a while."
"For a while?"
"Until we can start growing some of our own. I found an assortment of seeds in the materials Neelix prepared."
Kathryn experienced a frisson of fear. "None for leola root, I hope?"
His laughter somehow seemed richer and more full in the atmosphere of a planet than it ever had on the ship. What a joyous sound it was. "But of course." He smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry, Captain. I've buried them in the bottom drawer."
Chakotay looked up from his book and across the room at his captain. Her head was bent over the padd she was reading and concentration was apparent in every line of her body. How like her . . . already hard at work. She wasn't wasting her time with pleasure reading. With a small sigh, he rose and went over to the cabinet where they had stored the medical supplies the Doctor had sent. Returning to his seat, he began the task of cross-checking the vials against the list on the padd. Most of the compounds present were familiar to him, but about three-quarters of the way through the list, he came to a name he didn't recognize. "Captain, do you know what seristone is?"
"Hmmm?"
"Seristone?"
She looked up at him with that slightly distracted look of someone who had been interrupted mid-thought. "I'm sorry, Chakotay, I was concentrating. What was it you asked?" Her expression was bland, but he couldn't help noticing that her cheeks were rather pink.
"I asked if you know what seristone is. The Doctor included two hundred fifty doses of it in our medical supplies, but I've never heard of it before."
Her expression didn't change at all, but her cheeks were now bright red. Chakotay found himself fascinated by the sight of his blushing captain. "Yes, I know what it is." She grinned at him. "It's a synthetic hormone that the Doctor used to regulate bone regrowth after I broke my leg." Her smile grew even wider. "He must really think I'm completely uncoordinated to include so many doses."
Chakotay felt himself go cold at her words. "We'll have to be very careful here, Cap . . . Kathryn. It was one thing for you to beak your leg on Voyager with the Doctor and all of Federation medical technology there to help you. But that same injury here, with only me as a medic . . ." He broke off as she stood in an abrupt motion.
"You're absolutely right, Chakotay. And I do promise to be careful. No more diving for tennis balls. But right now I'm exhausted from all that physical labor you put me through today. I think I'll turn in now. Goodnight."
His Goodnight' was said to her retreating back. He quickly went through the rest of the medicines and returned the kit to the storage place they had agreed on, his mind working all the while on a very different problem. Of course she was tired. Although she kept herself in excellent physical condition, she wasn't accustomed to that much heavy work. In addition to being tired, she must also have some pretty sore muscles. Just the type of thing that cried out for a long soak in a hot bath. He had a sudden mental picture of her, hair unbound and floating all around her while she sat in a tub filled with steaming water. Shaking his head, he banished the image and concentrated on the plans he had started drawing up on the padd. When it was complete, he saved the file and went to bed. He'd start building it for her tomorrow.
Kathryn lay completely still on her bed, afraid that if she moved Chakotay would hear her and realize that she was still awake. It wasn't until all the lights were dark and she heard the sound of his soft snoring--Oh great, he snores--that she dared to sit up on her bunk and look again at the padd she'd been reading when Chakotay asked about the seristone.
"Timing is everything," she whispered as she returned to the passage she had been reading. She was certain she would not have been so startled by his question about the contraceptive if she hadn't been so absorbed by the Doctor's text on childbirth. She certainly wouldn't have blushed like a teenager. But this part of the manual was different from the rest of it; this was no simple set of general instructions which could be followed by anyone. These instructions had been written specifically to guide Chakotay through her pregnancy and the birth of their child. "Although she is in excellent health (see Appendix D), the captain is still a woman of mature years and, as such, is somewhat past the optimum age for childbearing, particularly for a first pregnancy. Because of this, there are several conditions whose symptoms you should watch out for . . ." She read on, fascinated. "During the later stages of labor, although she will most likely want to, it is crucial that you not allow the captain to begin pushing until the cervix is dilated completely. You can check the extent of cervical dilation by . . ." Cheeks flaming, Kathryn switched off the padd and tossed it onto the small table by her bed.
What on Earth could have possessed the Doctor to have included this in their kit? Why would he think that any of this was necessary? And why was she reacting to perfectly logical precautionary medical materials like a fifteen-year-old with a crush?
Well, that certainly answered the question, didn't it? She had long since admitted to herself that she found her first officer physically attractive. So what? She found lots of men physically attractive; it meant nothing. Even in the closed community on Voyager, even in the light of their growing friendship, it was a non-issue. She was the Captain; she had to stand alone. But here, here it might be possible for things to be different. She had found herself watching him surreptitiously as they worked today, his muscles straining with the effort, the fabric of his uniform stretching across his body just a little more tightly than usual. Just thinking about it now ignited a small tendril of desire deep within her.
Startled, she sat straight up in the bed. This was bad, very bad. They were only going to be on this planet until she found a cure for this disease. A few weeks, a month at the most. She was going to be completely occupied with her search for a cure. And she most emphatically was not going to start something here that they couldn't continue when they got back to Voyager. With an almost grim determination, she lay back down and settled herself to sleep.
The next morning, Chakotay woke to a silent house. Apparently the captain had already left to put out insect traps. Checking over his plans for the bathtub, he found himself mulling over the events of the previous evening and the captain's somewhat atypical behavior. With an uncomfortable feeling, he tapped into their computer and looked up the uses of the drug seristone. Unbelieving, he read the only known effect of the drug on the human female body. Oh. But why would the doctor include . . .?
The only possible answer hit him like a ton of neutronium, and he cursed himself for a fool. No wonder the captain had left so abruptly. She had probably been furious at the Doctor's assumptions and wanted to spare Chakotay from her anger. Although he'd never seen her blush when she was angry before. And she didn't quite look him in the eye when she'd lied to him about the drug. Could that really mean . . .? He'd been so careful about keeping his feelings for her supressed that it never occurred to him to consider the possibility that she might recriprocate. A whole universe of possibilities was suddenly open to them. This would definitely bear further consideration.
Whistling, he headed out to the woods to begin building her bathtub.