Disclaimer:Paramount owns the characters, I came up with the story. No infringement is intended.
This story was my entry for the SNWII contest. Just thought I'd post it in case anyone wanted to read it. I thought it would be a funny episode to see.
Rated:PG
By Orion
July 1998
"Mind if I join you, Captain?" Chakotay asked as he walked up to Kathryn Janeway's table in the mess hall carrying his breakfast tray.
Kathryn looked up at her first officer. "Please do," she said, motioning with her hand for him to take the seat across from her.
Chakotay sat down and looked at her. "I thought you didn't like Neelix's coffee?" he asked, as she took a sip from the cup in her hand.
"I do prefer replicated, but this will do in a pinch. And since I'm out of rations for the month, I'm definitely 'in a pinch.'"
"What did you use all of your rations on?" Chakotay asked curiously.
Kathryn grinned wryly. "Coffee."
Chakotay chuckled and rolled his eyes. "How you can drink so much of that stuff is beyond me."
As Chakotay spoke, Neelix approached their table carrying a cup, which he set down in front of Kathryn. "I'd like you to try this, Captain," Neelix said, excitement in his voice.
Kathryn leaned partially over the table to view the cloudy brownish-green liquid content of the cup. "What is it?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.
"It's coffee," Neelix answered, oblivious to the look of horror she gave to Chakotay. "When the Knoctarians let us replenish some of our supplies from their planet last week, they introduced me to a few new plants. They raved about a bark they use to flavor their cooking, and gave me some to take along. It's from the brella tree. This morning, I added some to a pot of coffee. I know how you like coffee, Captain. I thought you'd like to be the first to try it."
"That was very thoughtful of you, Neelix," Kathryn said, picking up the cup hesitantly. She held it under her nose and sniffed. "It smells all right." She looked at Chakotay and shrugged. "Well, here goes." She took one small sip, and then another. "Neelix, this is good," she said, surprised. "I can't really describe the flavor. It's almost....nutty."
"I'm glad you like it, Captain," Neelix said.
Taking another sip, Kathryn then offered the cup to Chakotay. "Care to try it, Commander?"
Chakotay glanced at the muddy liquid. "Thanks, but I'll pass. Besides, you look like you're enjoying it too much to part with it."
"Neelix, this is absolutely the best coffee I've ever had," Kathryn told the beaming Talaxian. "How much brella bark do you have?"
"Unfortunately, not very much," he said, and Kathryn's face fell. "But," he added, lowering his voice, "I could keep it just for you, Captain. No one else would have to know." He looked at her conspiratorially. "You could claim 'Captain's privileges' if anyone finds out."
Kathryn thought for a moment. "Yes, I think I will, Neelix. Thank you."
"You won't have to save it for her, Neelix. From the look of it, I don't think anyone else will want it," Chakotay said.
"Isn't it time for your Bridge shift, Commander?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yours too, Captain," he answered, as he stood.
"I'll be there as soon as I get the rest of that pot of coffee."
"I'll get it for you right away, Captain," Neelix said, scurrying to retrieve the pot in question.
Kathryn stood up, too. "Finally I'll have some decent coffee for a change," she said to Chakotay before draining the contents of the cup Neelix had given her. "Make that excellent coffee."
"Yes, but remember, you have a limited supply. Make it last."
"Oh, I intend to," she said, as Neelix returned and handed her the pot. "Thank you, Neelix. You've just given me a little piece of heaven out here."
"It's my pleasure, Captain. I hope you enjoy it."
"I definitely will. Have a good day."
"Thanks, you too," Neelix said to the two Commanding Officers as they left the mess hall
*****
As Kathryn and Chakotay entered the Bridge, Chakotay headed for his chair and sat down. Kathryn waited long enough to hear the report, then said, "Commander, you have the Bridge," and disappeared into her ready room.
Tom turned toward Chakotay. "Is the Captain carrying her coffee around with her these days?" he asked.
"Neelix added some kind of bark for flavoring. She said she loves it."
"Mmmm...bark. Sounds tasty," Tom said.
"You should have seen it. I don't think I could have picked up the cup, let alone drunk from it," Chakotay said, making a face.
Chuckles were heard throughout the Bridge. "Sounds like she'll have it all to herself," Tom said.
"I think she was planning on it," Chakotay ended the conversation and picked up the padd on his console.
Kathryn reentered the Bridge ten minutes later and sat in her chair. "I really can't believe how good that coffee is," she said quietly to Chakotay.
"You had another cup?"
"Only a small one." She looked at the padd she had carried out from her ready room. "I think I'm going to slow us down for a few days and run a level one diagnostic."
"Is there a problem?" Chakotay asked.
"No. I want to make sure there are no 'hidden' problems. If we run into another species like the Hirogen, I want to be ready with all systems functioning at optimum performance. This looks like a quiet section of space, we may as well do it now. Would you let the senior officers know there will be a meeting in the briefing room at 15:00 hours?"
"Will do, Captain," Chakotay said, and walked off the Bridge.
*****
The senior officers filed out of the briefing room at the end of the meeting, each knowing what was expected of him for the shipwide diagnostic. Chakotay and Kathryn walked toward the door. "Well, everyone knows what to do," Chakotay said.
"Yes, and I know what I'm going to do," Kathryn said, holding up her empty cup. "I'm going to ask Neelix for another pot of coffee."
"You drank the whole pot?"
"It wasn't that much."
Chakotay looked at her doubtfully. "Just make sure you get enough sleep tonight so you're ready when the reports start pouring in."
"You too, Commander. You're going to be right there with me, reading those reports," she warned.
"I guess it was too good to be true, to think I'd get off easily and only have to oversee the testing," he teased.
"That's right. You know the old saying 'misery loves company.' If I have to read reports, so do you," Kathryn said, and they both laughed.
*****
Three days later, Chakotay met Kathryn in her ready room to go over the third batch of reports.
"So far the internal sensors are functioning fine," Chakotay said.
"Yes, and the transporters look good, too."
They were interrupted by the door chime. "Come in," Kathryn called.
The door opened and Neelix entered. "Here's the coffee you wanted, Captain," he said.
"Thank you, Neelix, you're a lifesaver," Kathryn replied, taking the pot and filling a cup.
"It was my pleasure. I tried to replicate this for you this morning, but for some reason it didn't work."
Kathryn made a face. "That's odd."
Neelix shrugged. "I'll take the empty coffee pot back with me if you'd like," he said, looking around the room.
"That's all right. I recycled it already."
"O.K. Let me know if you need anything else."
"Thanks, Neelix. I will," she said, as Neelix left the room. "Now," she said to Chakotay, as she settled herself on the sofa aside of him, "where were we, Commander?"
Chakotay looked at the pot on the table. "That's your second pot? Kathryn, it's only 11:00 hours."
"I got up early today, so it seems later to me."
"When did you get up?"
"04:30 hours."
"Maybe you should cut down on that stuff," he said, indicating the cup in her hand.
"Nonsense. I may have gotten up early, but I feel great. In fact, I feel more energetic than I have in a long time."
"Good. Then you can read all the reports," Chakotay teased.
"Nice try, Commander. Here," she said, handing him another padd. "I expect more of these tomorrow."
*****
The next day found Chakotay and Kathryn in her ready room again. This time there were quite a few padds on the table. Chakotay looked up from his seat on the sofa to watch Kathryn pace the room. She was reading the padd in her hand and seemed oblivious to his perusal. "Kathryn, would you please sit down? You've been pacing almost the entire time we've been in here. You're making me nervous."
"I'm sorry, Chakotay," she said, and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot on the table and sat down next to him.
Chakotay watched her drink half of the liquid in the cup and set it down. "They've discovered a minor problem with the Borg enhancements on the ship," he said, still studying her. " Seven is working on it, and it should be corrected by tomorrow."
"Good." Kathryn picked up another padd and began pacing again. The door chimed and she said, "Come in."
Harry entered with two more padds. "Here are the rest of the ops reports," he said, handing them to her.
"Thanks, Harry." She took the padds and added them to the growing pile.
"You're welcome, Captain. I'm going to help Seven now, unless you needed something else from me?"
"No. That will be fine for now," Kathryn said.
"Thanks again, Harry," Chakotay said.
"Just doing my job," Harry said, and walked out.
Chakotay saw Kathryn's eyes follow the Ensign out of the door.
"Has Harry been working out?" she asked.
"What?" Chakotay asked, looking puzzled.
"Oh, never mind," she said off-handedly, and resumed pacing while looking down at the padd again.
An hour later, Chakotay, disturbed by a light bumping sound, glanced up from his place on the sofa and found Kathryn sitting on her desk tapping her heels against the front panel. Her eyes seemed to be transfixed somewhere above his left eye. "Is there a problem with that report?" he asked, referring to the padd lying aside of her on the desk.
"No. I was wondering if you had any other tattoos I should know about. I mean, we're covered up so much, no one would know if you did."
Chakotay didn't know what to say. He was surprised by her unexpected question, not to mention her earlier comment about Harry. "No, I don't," he said carefully. "Kathryn, do you feel all right?"
"I'm fine, Chakotay. Never better," she said, and hopped off the desk to retrieve her coffee cup from the table.
"How much sleep did you have last night?"
"Enough. I certainly don't feel tired today."
"Exactly how much is 'enough?'"
"I don't know, three, maybe four hours. I was up late reading reports."
"You'd better start getting more sleep or you're going to wear yourself down." He was becoming concerned about her. Her lack of sleep could be inadvertently causing her to make those out of character comments.
"I will tonight," she said, but he wasn't convinced.
They continued working on the reports for a few more hours. Kathryn left once, to see how engineering was coming along with their diagnostics, only to return with another pot of coffee. Chakotay didn't comment, but kept on working. Soon he stood up rubbing his eyes and said, "It's 19:00 hours. Why don't we call it a day and get some dinner? The reports won't go anywhere until tomorrow."
"You go, Chakotay. I think I'll finish this report in my quarters and grab dinner there," Kathryn said, holding up the padd in her hand.
"All right. But please be sure you eat. You didn't have lunch."
With amusement in her eyes, she picked up the coffee pot and said, "Yes, Doctor," as they walked out of her ready room.
*****
Chakotay was lying in bed the next morning wide awake. He had been tossing and turning for the past twenty minutes. He checked the time again. It was 04:30 hours, ten minutes later than the last time he checked. I might as well get up, he thought. He got dressed and made his way to the mess hall for a cup of coffee. When he walked in, he was surprised to see Kathryn sitting at a table, legs crossed, foot swinging back and forth.
"Good morning, Commander," she said.
He peered through the dim light as he approached her and was stunned by her appearance. Her uniform was soiled, and two dirty hands cradled the mug in front of her. His eyes moved to her face and saw black smudges on her cheeks, nose, and forehead, and her hair looked like one tangled knot. "Kathryn!? What happened?" he asked.
"What? Oh," she said, as if it dawned on her what he meant. She reached a hand up to her hair, ineffectually trying to smooth it. "I couldn't sleep, and I felt the need to do something, so I cleaned the exhaust manifold."
"You what!?"
"I didn't finish, but what I did do looks great," she said, smiling with satisfaction.
Chakotay sat down across from her and noticed the dark circles under her eyes not quite hidden by the dirt. "You've been up all night? Cleaning?"
"I know it's not my job, but if you want something done right you should do it yourself. Right?" She was speaking a little too fast, and when she set her mug down Chakotay saw it was empty.
"Did you eat dinner last night?"
"Yes, I did," she said, and then frowned. "I think."
"Kathryn," Chakotay said, placing his hand on her forearm, "I think you should see the Doctor." He was now more than simply concerned about her. He was worried.
"Chakotay, I'm fine. I have a touch of insomnia. It will go away. I haven't fallen asleep during duty, have I?"
"No, you haven't," he conceded. "I think you should at least stop drinking that coffee."
"Why? There's nothing wrong with the coffee," she said, standing up.
Chakotay stood up too. "You haven't been yourself since you began drinking it."
"What do you mean? Of course I'm me," she said, holding her arms out sideways as if to prove it.
"No, you're not, Kathryn. You're not sleeping. I'm not sure if you've been eating," he said, and she gave him a disapproving look. "You're doing things out of the ordinary. And you're saying things that 'Captain Janeway' would never say."
"Don't be ridiculous, Chakotay. I assure you, I'm fine. Maybe you need to get a little more sleep."
Chakotay's eyebrows rose. He couldn't believe how she was turning this around. He watched her look down at herself and brush at a spot on her uniform.
"Well, Commander," she said, turning to leave, "since I still have some time, I'm going to work on my experiment in hydroponics."
"What experiment is that?" he asked.
"If it works out, you'll be the second to know," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the corridor, leaving a perplexed Chakotay staring after her.
*****
That afternoon, as Chakotay exited the turbolift, Tuvok called to him. "Commander, may I have a word with you, please?"
"Sure, Tuvok. I'd like to talk to you as well." Chakotay said as they started down the corridor together. "I was held up in astrometrics this morning. I heard we met a new race today." Chakotay made small talk as two crewman passed them.
"That is correct, Commander. A race known as the Yakurren passed by and asked if we required assistance in any way. We informed them everything was satisfactory, and we were running tests on our ship. Which brings me to why I wished to speak with you. Have you noticed any...inconsistencies in Captain Janeway's behavior lately?"
"That's what I wanted to discuss with you. What has she done?"
"This morning, when she was conversing with the Yakurren on screen, she seemed to be acting normally. Then she made a rather unusual comment."
"What did she say?" Chakotay asked.
"Well, the Yakurren's heads are...quite different from ours. She said, and I quote, 'You guys must have trouble wearing hats,'" Tuvok said stiltedly.
Chakotay almost laughed out loud, the phrase striking him as humorous, especially coming from Tuvok's mouth, but he quickly stifled it. "Were they offended?" Chakotay asked.
"I do not believe they heard, as Ensign Kim had fortunately just broken the comm link. I do not understand. Captain Janeway is usually the epitome of diplomacy."
"I agree with you there, Tuvok."
"You said you wished to discuss this same topic with me. So you are aware of her behavior as well?" Tuvok asked.
"I've been witness to a few incidents over the past couple of days. Do you know she spent all of last night cleaning the exhaust manifold?"
"Indeed," Tuvok said, raising an eyebrow, and they both stopped walking.
"I suggested she see the Doctor, but she insists she's fine. And you know how adamant she can be when it comes to not seeing the Doctor."
"That I know. But I, too, think it wise the Captain see the Doctor."
Chakotay thought for a moment. "Maybe the Doctor and I can think of something. Possibly get her there on a false pretext of some sort."
"You mean, trick her," Tuvok said.
"Exactly. I want to do it soon. Who knows what she may do next?"
At that moment, Tom and B'Elanna came around the corridor. "Are we talking about Captain Janeway by any chance?" Tom asked, he and B'Elanna stopping in front of them. He didn't wait for a reply. "I couldn't believe the comment she made to the Yakurren on the Bridge this morning. You should have seen Harry's face," he said to Chakotay. "I don't think his jaw could have dropped any lower."
"She is definitely not herself," B'Elanna said. "Yesterday she came to engineering to see how the diagnostics were coming along. When I brought her the first of the reports, I found her working at one of the consoles mumbling under her breath. I asked if there was something I could help her with, and she said 'no' and quickly left. She didn't even look at the report."
"What had she been doing at the console?" Chakotay asked.
"That struck me as odd, too. She had accessed replicator control and had begun reconfiguring the replicator matrix for her quarters."
"Why would she do that?" Tom asked.
"It has to be the coffee," Chakotay said, more to himself than anyone else.
"What?" B'Elanna asked.
"I think she was trying to replicate the coffee she's been drinking. Neelix said he tried to replicate it but couldn't, and he didn't know why."
"Well, whatever the reason, I think she needs to spend a little more time relaxing on the holodeck," B'Elanna said.
"Maybe she's been out in space for too long and she's only going to get worse," Tom commented.
"Tom," Chakotay warned.
"It's a possibility," Tom said, looking innocent.
"Look," Chakotay said to all of them, "I want this kept as quiet as possible, and I'll see what I can do in the meantime."
"Good luck," Tom said, chuckling.
"Let's go, Tom," B'Elanna said, pulling him down the corridor by the arm.
"So, you are going to speak with the Doctor about this?" Tuvok asked Chakotay.
"Yes. In fact I think I'll do it now."
"Let me know if you require my assistance, Commander."
"I will. Thanks, Tuvok," Chakotay said, and the two men walked in opposite directions.