Tom Paris and Harry Kim sat in the mess hall staring at Neelix's latest
meal. "Think this has leola root in it?" Harry asked.

"God, I hope not. Neelix has been using that spice for the last two
years. I didn't even like it to begin with."

They sat there in silence for a few more minutes before Harry broke it.
"So are you going to try it?"

"I geuss it's now or never." Tom picked up a piece of the wiggly purple
goo on his fork. He was just about to put it in his mouth when Captain
Janeway's voice came over the intercom. "All senior officers report to
the briefing room."

Tom put down his fork and looked at Harry. "Saved by the Bell."

In the briefing room Janewaygot right down to bussiness As you all know
our supplies have been dwindaling over the past few weeks. Lt. Tuvok has
located an M-class planet 3 light years from our current position. The
native race call themselves the Melatin. Their leader, chancalor Jerom
Danes, has agreed to give us a large quantity of food and rare metals in
exchange for any star charts we have of the surrounding area. Chakotay,
Torres, Neelix. I want you to go down to the planet's surface to start
the negotiations. Take someone from Stellar Chartography with you. Fill
them in on the situation. Be ready to transport in 20 minutes."

Just as she was about to dismiss everyone, Tuvok spoke up. "Captain,
Melatin 3 a very dense atmosphere. I do not believe it would be possible
to transport. It may also present complication with pioleting a shuttle.

"Mr. Paris, you go with the away team. Everyone pack for a week. Any
questions?" When no one said anything she dismissed them.

"Hey B'Elanna! Looks like we'll be spending a week together."

"Yeah, I geuss we will, Tom."

"So, do you want to have dinner tonight? We could check out what kind of
food we'll be eating for the next 6 months.

B'Elanna didn't laugh. "Sorry Tom. I can't go. I'm going to be working
all week."

"What are you going to have to do tonight?"

"I have to make up a list of the metalsVoyager needs."

"OK. Maby some other time." Tom walked away looking crestfallen.
B'Elanna started to regret her choice but then she remembered Jonathon.
*No! You promised yourself you would never think about him again!*
B'Elanna couldn't stand hurting Tom. She had really cared about him ever
since that time in the Vidian caves. However, she just couldn't bear the
thought of getting hurt again. She knew Tom's reputation. He was a
playboy, nothing more. He probably just wanted her to addone more name
onto an already long list of women. She had already convinced herself
that in an emergency be with a pretty girl who would go out with him
rather than her.

Tom walked away from B'Elanna. He just couldn't understand why he didn't
want to go out with him. He figured she wanted someone who didn't have a
reputation like his. He was always chasing any pretty girl and was
constantly in trouble. Besides, She had made it perfectly clear to him
that she only wanted to be friends. He would just have to respect her
wishes or he would lose her friendship too.

 After he had packed jis bag he headed to the shuttlebay, eager to get
the mission over with. He didn't know why. After all, being down on the
planet would give him some time to relax. His only reason for being on
this mission was to piolet the shuttle. When he reached his destnation
everyone else was already there. Chakotay had chosen Megan Delany to
with them. *Great, just my luck. We have to take someone from stellar
chartography with us and Chakotay chooses Megan.

Out loud he said "Hi everyone! Ready to go?" Everyone nodded so he
boarded the shuttle. After he ran the pre-flight checks he signaled to
the bridge and took off. If only he knew of the danger ahead.

To be continued.

Disclamer: Paramount owns all the characters except for the Chancelor. I
own the story. Comments would be more than welcome at skuhnt@hotmail.com