~*~ Shift change aboard Voyager. The captain and first officer stretched as they walked towards the turbolift; it had been another lull of a day in the Delta Quadrant. Janeway leaned over to Chakotay as the doors on the turbolift closed. “How about it, Chakotay? Want to come by my quarters tonight for some down time? Tom’s let me borrow his television with some old Western programs. You can have some fun critiquing mid-twentieth century interpretations of Anglo-Native American conflicts.” His eyes lit up with the invite but suddenly took on a shadow. “I’d love to, Kathryn; but I’ve… uh… I’ve got other plans.” “Oh?” she said, looking at him with surprise. “Anything I should know about?” He broke eye contact and she could swear he was blushing. “Unh… not really. “It’s just that I promised I’d see someone tonight.” She lightly jabbed her elbow into his side. “So why all the secrecy? Got a hot date?” He was getting uncomfortable. “No. It’s just… something I’ve got to do.” He turned towards her, attempting to salvage the downward spiral of the conversation. “But I’d love to watch some television with you. Tomorrow night, maybe?” The furrows in her brow deepened. “I guess that will be all right; I’ll see if Tom will let me keep the set another night.” The turbolift jolted to a stop. “Excuse me, Kathryn; I’ve got to go to the mess hall and check with Neelix about something.” “Certainly,” she said sweetly as he exited. “See you later.” But her mood was anything but sweet. She knew that Chakotay had been away from his quarters in the evenings quite a bit recently. She didn’t want to pry, but she was most curious as to where he was spending his time. Maybe she should make some discreet inquiries – not that it was any of her business but… She began to hit her comm badge to quiz Tom and B’Elanna but quickly thought better of the idea. No need to bother them; they were still in that ‘we want to be by ourselves’ mode. Why else would Tom willingly let the crew borrow his precious television set? No, Chakotay certainly wasn’t spending his time with the Paris/Torres duo! The turbolift doors ‘whooshed’ open at her deck. She briskly walked to her quarters, still mulling the mystery as her door opened. Neelix… he’d mentioned Neelix. What on earth would he be doing with Neelix? Forget about it, Kathryn; he’s got his own life, too, you know. She went into the bedroom and rid herself of the confines of her uniform. Ah… that was so much better! Sometimes it felt like all those strangling layers were glued to her body. Now to find something a lot more comfortable, get something soothing to eat from the replicator and sit down, with her feet up, watching some of the other television holodisks Tom had loaned her. He assured her that these additional selections would take her mind off the problems of Voyager for awhile. He called them ‘sitcoms’. She placed all the various parts of her uniform into the storage area, wriggling her toes as they enjoyed their freedom. A bath would feel good, too, she thought; maybe later, though, as she realized she was hungry. She grabbed some old soft knit pants and top from the storage area, slipped her feet into a pair of equally old slippers and returned to the living area of her quarters. Weary feet sloughed their way to the replicator. “Coffee… black,” she said as her first request. Got to jump start the system, she smiled to herself. Now – what did she want for dinner? What would be some good comfort food that she could balance on her lap while watching the television? Her eyes gleamed with naughty delight as the idea hit her. No healthy food tonight! If I’m going to allow myself to watch mindless entertainment, I might as well make it mindless food for the body, too! “And one small sausage and pepperoni pizza,” she continued, pulling the steaming mug of coffee replicator tray, making room for her entrée request. As the pizza materialized, she looked down at the coffee and sighed. A glass of wine would have been much more satisfactory. But, I really shouldn’t waste any more replicator rations. Maybe later. She took her meal over to the sofa, placing the mug and plate on the low table in front of it, trading them for a small box sitting on top of the ancient video device. Opening the small box, she looked at its contents, six disks labeled with their archaic titles:“I Love Lucy”; “The Three Stooges”; “My Mother, the Car”; “Mork and Mindy”; “Home Improvement” and finally something called “Cheers”. The last disk caught her eye – would it cheer her up and get her mind off things? She decided to give it a try. A couple of hours and one pizza later, she sat back, her tired face relaxed and smiling. Tom was right – these idiotic shows did have a calming effect. And after watching those hopelessly dysfunctional people cavorting around and wallowing in their foolishness – well, maybe Voyager and her crew weren’t so bad off after all! Chakotay would like this show; she’d have to play this disk for him. Chakotay… Her mind suddenly reverted to its obsessing about what his ‘plans’ were for tonight. She didn’t like to snoop on her crew, but this was eating away at her. “Computer,” she called out, “give me the location of Commander Chakotay.” “The commander is in storage room two in the mess hall,” the alto voice droned. Mess hall storage room? Janeway thought. That’s most peculiar. But then, he did say something about needing to see Neelix. She swooped up the remains of her pizza and the cold dregs of coffee and quickly took them to the recycler. Brushing her hands of the crumbs, still in her ‘grubs’ and slippers, she took several determined steps to her door. She just had to find out what was going on! ~*~ Janeway arrived at the darkened mess hall, emptied of all its earlier evening meal occupants. Only a small light illuminating Neelix’s galley area gave any indication of occupancy. The doors of the two storage rooms coming off the cooking area were closed, but she could swear she heard some sort of commotion coming from one of them. She tiptoed into the work area, listening for the source of the muted noise. Aha – yes; storage room two! She crept up to it and smiled – this was the place. She could hear muffled voices behind the closed door – the voices of Chakotay and Neelix. She put her ear to the door, hoping that the conversation would become clearer. Unfortunately, it did – and the captain was shocked with what she heard. “No, no,” pleaded Neelix. “You’re not doing it right. You’re putting too much pressure behind it, Commander; you’ve got to be gentle and not push too hard.” “That’s…easy… for… you… to… say… “ Chakotay grunted. “You’re not on this end of things.” “Oh, come now, Commander; I’ve done it before; I know what it’s all about. It’s just because all of this is new to you. Let’s try it again.” Janeway stood up, her face frozen with disbelief. What on earth was going on in there? “Maybe. But I still say it’s too big for this hole,” Chakotay panted. “And I’m starting to ache. Do you mind if I rest for a minute?” “Of course not. All this repetitive action can tire one after awhile. How about if I find something to revive you a bit?” She heard Neelix move across the room. “Ah! Here’s something I think you’ll like. It should have you up and going again in no time!” “Thanks,” Chakotay sighed. The coarse sound of rasping of a moving chair came through the door. “Let me sit down and relax for a few minutes. I’m surprised how much energy is needed to so this. And I guess I’m out of shape; I’m feeling a bit sore.” “Oh, don’t worry, Commander; let’s just keep at it and you’ll harden up. Soon you’ll doing it like a second nature.” Chakotay chuckled. “Yep; before you know it, we’ll be quite a team! You’re a good teacher, Neelix; I really appreciate your helping me learn.” “My pleasure, Commander. Besides – you’re the one doing me a favor! Let’s do a couple more and then call it quits for tonight. There will be plenty left for later.” She heard Chakotay get up and move. “Okay; let’s try again. This time, why don’t you hold it for me? Your hands may be stronger. Then I can concentrate on pushing.” “Good idea. Everything seems to be rather tight tonight.” She heard Neelix moving around. “But isn’t that the way you want it?” Chakotay asked. “Oh, yes,” Neelix answered gleefully. “You don’t want things drying out. That would only cause everything to become spoiled.” “That’s what I thought. All right; you hold on tightly and I’m going to try pushing it in. Ready?” “Ready as I’ll ever be, Commander!” She heard Chakotay strain and groan. “I… think… it’s… working,” he said. More groaning. “Yes… yes… one more push and I’ll… Aghhh! Yes – that’s it! It’s in and it looks like its nice and wet and tight.” She heard Neelix move around, brushing his hands together. “Ah ha, well done! That’s just the way it should be… just the way I like it! See? I told you that you could do it. It’s just a matter of angling it just so and pushing it in with one firm thrust. We do make a good team, Commander. Nothing to it!” “Well, now that I have the knack, Neelix, maybe we could do a few more…” “Only if you’re up to it; I wouldn’t want to pressure you into anything,” the little man said. Chakotay laughed. “I think I’m just getting warmed up…” Janeway had heard enough. No more than two months ago, there had been that horrid holodeck program of Seven’s… and now she was finding out that, after all these years, Chakotay and Neelix were… were… This had to be stopped now – before it progressed any further. She hammered on the closed door with her fist. “Chakotay! Neelix! Open up; it’s me, Captain Janeway.” She heard both of them gasp. “Uh… just a moment, Captain,” said Chakotay. “We’ve got to… uh… straighten things up a bit.” I’ll bet you do, she thought. Like get your pants on? She heard their low murmurs and the movement of something heavy, like a table or bench. She began tapping her fingers against her thighs; was she going to have to call security? “Captain!” Neelix said brightly, opening the door and inviting her into the storage area. “The Commander and I were working on something – sort of a surprise for you and the rest of the crew!” I’ll say it’s a surprise. Are you planning on a big coming out party? she seethed mentally. “Oh? Care to share this surprise with me?” Chakotay walked up to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She felt herself recoil involuntarily. “Actually, Kathryn – we wanted your blessing first.” Her eyes opened widely. “My blessing?” “Yes, Captain,” Neelix chimed in. “Here – let me show you something.” She cringed, wondering what was coming next. He walked over to a closed storage cabinet and opened it, pulling out a large green bottle. “The commander and I have been making wine – real wine – for our First Contact Day party. We found some wonderful grapes on that last M-class planet we visited and I just had to make some up. He said that he thought you would allow some of the ‘real stuff’ just this once.” Janeway blinked with shock. “Wine? You’ve been making wine?” “That’s all right, isn’t it, Kathryn?” Chakotay ventured. Their captain began laughing, her tone nothing like what they had heard before. “So… you’ve been getting together with Neelix lately – all in secret – and been making wine.” “Yes,” Neelix responded, pointing to the large workbench pushed against the wall. “Tonight we were bottling it for the final time. See? There are some empty bottles and our supplies for putting the corks into the bottles.” “And that’s one tough job!” Chakotay chimed in. “We figured that with only about a dozen bottles of wine that we shouldn’t waste replicator materials making a corking machine, so we were putting in all the corks by hand tonight.” “And let me tell you, Captain, the Commander does wonderful things with his hands.” Neelix smiled with admiration. Chakotay held out his broad hands, smiling with pride. “Pure skill, my friend; pure skill.” Tears of laughter began to stream down Janeway’s face. How could she ever have thought what… well, that was what was going on. Neelix leaned in to her. “And you know what else he’s good at doing, Captain?” “No; what’s that, Neelix?” She could barely stand up. Neelix looked over at his compatriot. “What is that little tool you use for opening the bottles, Commander?” “It’s called a corkscrew,” Chakotay answered. “Yes, of course. Captain, let me tell you – Chakotay screws quite well… lots of skill and finesse!” Now it was Chakotay’s turn to turn pale with shock. “Uh… what he means, Kathryn, is that…” Janeway leaned against the door for support; this was too much! “Oh, I know what he meant, Commander,” she laughed. “I know only too well!” She slid to the floor, convulsed in her laughter. “Perhaps you would care to demonstrate this talent.” Chakotay reached down and took her outstretched hand, pulling her up and standing mere centimeters from his face and body. “Maybe so,” he leered devilishly. “Care to name a time and place?” Neelix smiled, holding out one of the filled bottles. “Here – the first bottle goes to the captain.” He looked a little sheepish, asking apologetically, “It’s all right that we did this, isn’t it, Captain?” Janeway took the bottle, nodding with appreciation as she held it up to the light, noting the deep red clarity of its contents. “Perfectly all right, Neelix,” she responded. “It’s time that we had some good cheer aboard this ship. Thank you.” She turned back to Chakotay. “And, Commander, maybe we should do something to celebrate all of these hidden skills of yours. Care to join me in my quarters for some wine and relaxation?” “Only if I can do the screwing,” he winked. The biggest shock of the evening came next. “I can’t think of a better way to end this most interesting evening,” she said sweetly, taking his hand and leading out of the room. ~ THE END ~ TT Home I B’day Party Home I B’day Stories I Sandrine’s Ask the Captain I Cursed by Q I Interviewing with the Commander J/C Slideshow I Favors & Prizes I Puzzles