Title: Scratched 
Author: Mandy
Pairing: J/C, C/P
Rating: PG-R
Disclaimer: Fanfic only, Voyager and her crew are not mine.
Feedback: yes please   mandyfyn@hotmail.com
Archiving: okay, let em know where.

Summary: Some relationships were just meant to be scratched
from life's great race.

Note: 4 parts to this story.


=========================================


Part 1




“A most successful trading mission, Commander, even without
shore leave privileges. We should be able to break orbit at
1600 hours tomorrow.”

Satisfaction was evident in Captain Janeway’s tone as she
and Commander Chakotay left the Shuttlebay.  Once in the
corridor, he proffered the Captain his arm and escorted her
to her quarters.
Lieutenant Paris, who had piloted the shuttle through the
unusual ion storms, stayed behind for a few minutes to
transfer the logs from the navigation console to the main
computer. He also made a list of the damage sustained by the
shuttle during the flight. Most was minor, but it would need
to be dealt with before the shuttle could be used again. He
was tired, even though he’d done nothing for eighteen hours
other than hang out round the transport terminal, thanks to
some regulation that stated only the equivalent of married
or engaged couples were permitted at the Sanctioning
Ceremony, where all trade negotiations had to be ratified.

“Would you like to come in for a drink, Chakotay?” Kathryn
asked as she keyed in her security code.

“Not tonight, but will you have dinner with me tomorrow
night?”

“Yes, of course, especially if you’re cooking.”

He laughed softly and nodded.

“My quarters then, at 2100 hours if that’s okay with you?”

He bent his head and kissed her, gently, teasingly at first,
then more deeply as she opened her mouth. A few minutes
later they broke apart. Even though they had finally
established a personal relationship some months ago, it
wouldn’t do for the Captain and the First Officer to be seen
making out in the corridor, no matter how late, or early, it
was. The Captain was extremely circumspect regarding all
public displays of affection. She looked up into a pair of
warm brown eyes.

“Are you sure you won’t come in for that drink?”

“Save it for tomorrow, wench!”

He gave her bottom a playful slap and pushed her through her
open doorway, lifted his hand in a jaunty wave, then turned
towards his own quarters.

Kathryn headed to the replicator and collected a cold drink.
Her lips burned and her mouth felt slightly swollen. She
pressed the glass onto them, enjoying the relief given by
the numbing coolness. The sensation dissipated and she
forgot about it as she mentally reviewed the day’s trading.

Talks had been satisfactory and the trade deal had been
sealed at the evening banquet, attended by seemingly every
local dignitary. Of course, they had all needed to have
several words with the travelers. The evening had begun to
pall less than halfway through. Boredom had made it hard for
Kathryn to keep track of how many courses they’d been
offered, and the effort of making scintillating conversation
for six hours had given her a headache. She hadn’t even been
able to sit next to Chakotay. He had been placed at a
separate table. The Prime Resna, who was seated on her
right, was an intense little man with much to say.  He had
explained that this was the High Sun season’s Ceremony of
Coalescence, a sanctioning ceremony where their Gods looked
upon a number of fortunates, blessing them in unique ways.
Normally single trade banquets were only half as long,
however it had been possible to combine the two, so
auspicious, wasn’t it?

Chakotay keyed in his own security code and entered his
living area. His lips were burning and he rubbed them
absently. His thoughts turned towards a hot shower. He’d
been awake for over twenty hours, as had the Captain.

The negotiations with the Resna’viaans had been more tedious
than difficult, due to strict protocols and a multitude of
ceremonies that had to be observed. The worst was the hours
long banquet, where he’d been required to sit at a different
table to Kathryn. The First Viaan barely said two words of
his own volition, leaving Chakotay to struggle with the
conversation, and the meal had way too many courses.
Fortunately at least half of the dishes were vegetarian so
he was able partake, or maybe not so fortunately. There had
been other occasions when he had been able to prevail upon
some of the other senior staff to represent Voyager at
various functions, claiming he would be unable to eat the
predominately meat dishes, and thereby risk offending the
hosts. Lieutenant Paris was useful for this type of
substitute. His formal upbringing seemed to have included
training in how to eat a variety of often-unpalatable
foodstuffs with apparent enjoyment, or at least an absence
of outright revulsion. With the exception of leola root
anything, Chakotay hastily amended. He had asked one of the
Viaan aides to provide Lieutenant Paris with a meal, as he
was not permitted to be present at the banquet.

*     *     *      *     *

Some time later the next evening…


“That was superb, Chakotay. I always enjoy your cooking.”

“Thank-you. Coffee?”

“Silly question. Yes please.”

Chakotay collected two coffees from the replicator. Kathryn
inhaled deeply and an expression of pure bliss crossed her
features.

“Mmmmm. Hazelnut.”

Chakotay smiled indulgently. He loved to see her like this.
A favorite piece of music began and he stood and held out
his hand.

“Dance?”

She placed her hand in his and rose gracefully. They moved
to an empty space and she laid her head on his chest as they
moved together. They swayed in time to the music for a few
moments, but the insistent beat of the salsa drove them to
move with more deliberation and pizzazz. Kathryn loved to
dance, and not just the ballet she’d learned as a small
girl.

As the music segued into something slower, they resumed
their swaying. Chakotay nuzzled her hair. He tilted her face
to his and began kissing her. Her breath was faintly tinged
with the hazelnut coffee she’d drunk earlier. The movement
of gently caressing hands became firmer and more deliberate;
tongues thrust more urgently, hips ground more suggestively.
They moved into Chakotay’s bedroom…


*     *     *     *     *


The Commander had the Bridge the next morning. The Captain
had retired to her Ready Room shortly after the beginning of
the shift, saying that as it was so quiet she’d be working
on reports. He tried to find a comfortable position in which
to sit.

Chakotay hadn’t had much sleep last night. It was early in
the morning when Kathryn finally returned to her own
quarters. He’d woken a short time later with lips that felt
swollen and on fire. The burning sensation extended along
both sides of his jaw and to a lesser extent around his
temples and eyelids.  Other areas of his body burned as
well, and he’d dragged himself out of bed to look in the
mirror. There was some slight redness and swelling around
his mouth, but he couldn’t see any other visible changes
elsewhere.

He brushed his teeth again and noticed that the cold water
seemed to ease the sensation in and around his mouth. He
grimaced wryly. Cold showers were supposed to become a thing
of the past since he’d been in a relationship with Kathryn,
but as he couldn’t sleep with the burning around his face,
hands, chest, belly and groin, a cold shower it would have
to be. He hopefully tried the sonic shower first, but it
didn’t seem to make much difference, whereas the colder
temperature of the water definitely did. While standing
under the cascading water, he considered his afflicted
areas. He concluded Kathryn must have used a new perfume or
something that had caused an allergic response.  With relief
he decided it was not something he need consult the Doctor
about, as the cold shower finally achieved its function and
the burning disappeared. He had then meditated for a while,
having decided it was not worth going back to bed.

In her Ready Room Kathryn took the opportunity to indulge in
forty winks. She’d woken too early with a slight headache
and itchy eyes. Her nose and mouth burned and as she’d
raised one hand to brush the hair out of her eyes, she’d
became aware her palms also burned. She then rose and
entered the bathroom. Peering blearily into the mirror, she
noticed her lips were swollen and the lower half of her face
was reddened. A craving for caffeine had overwhelmed her
awareness of the burning and itching of other areas of her
body, but the mirror showed her breasts to be pink and
puffy. The itch in her nipples had become intolerable, so
she showered quickly. When all the itches had diminished she
stepped out of the shower.

Wrapping herself in a large fluffy towel, she headed for the
replicator, calling first for coffee and then a soothing
gel. She’d never had a problem with beard rash from Chakotay
before, but she supposed there was always a first time. No
need to consult the Doctor about this. If it happened again,
she’d talk to Chakotay about it. She applied the gel to all
of the afflicted areas, which served its purpose and
relieved the itch and burning. The swelling and redness of
her face, breasts and hands had dissipated with the shower.
Satisfied she looked as usual she’d elected to sit quietly
and read until her alarm sounded.

*     *     *     *     *
The next day the Commander stayed back at the end of the
staff briefing.

“Shall I see you at Sandrine’s tonight? I’ve been seconded
to Lieutenant Paris’ latest pool tournament.”

“Do you need a cheer squad?” Kathryn’s tone was sympathetic.
The results of the Lieutenant’s pool tournaments were
usually a foregone conclusion, and she knew Chakotay would
be knocked out early on. She couldn’t remember the last time
he’d played pool.

“A little support would be nice. Besides, you need the
break. You’ve been working too hard.”

“Crew evaluations. I suppose you’ve finished yours. But you
rarely play pool, let alone enter the tournaments. Why this
one?”

“A couple of reasons. They needed the numbers, so ostensibly
I’m helping out. However, I’ve got a surprise planned for
Mr. Paris and his cohorts. This is the perfect time to
execute it.”  A tinge of smugness was evident in Chakotay’s
tone.

“Aren’t you going to tell what the plan is?”

“Wouldn’t you rather come and be surprised?”

Kathryn tilted her head and examined Chakotay’s face
closely, but the master of the neutral expression was giving
nothing away. She gave a laugh and capitulated.

“Okay. You’ve convinced me. What time?”

“2030 hours.”

“I’ll see you then.”

She clasped his hand and squeezed gently, before letting go
and heading for the Bridge.


*     *     *     *     *     *


Kathryn changed into an ice-blue scoop necked shirt and
deeper blue skirt; informal but not overwhelmingly so.
Arriving at Sandrine’s a few minutes after the appointed
time, she was greeted warmly by Tom Paris, who provided her
with a drink and a brief update of the proceedings. Chakotay
was already playing Chell, as they had drawn the first round
tournament spot.

She settled back on a stool and prepared to indulge in some
Chakotay-watching. A burst of applause woke her from her
reverie. She had been focused on how his shoulder muscles
rippled beneath the plain white tee shirt he wore and how
his jeans clung to his well-formed rear and legs. She
hastily joined in the clapping, though she had to wait until
Tom actually called out the results to find out Chakotay had
won.

Chakotay shook Chell’s hand, passed his cue over to Ken
Dalby and came to stand beside Kathryn. She smiled her
congratulations and, after checking that they were not the
centre of attention, discreetly hugged him. She returned to
her stool as Tom came over to speak to Chakotay.

“Commander, Congratulations!”

“As it’s a social occasion, we will leave the ‘Commander’ on
the Bridge, Tom.”

“Sure, Chakotay. Nice close game. You played well.”

“Thank you. You’re up next, aren’t you?”

“Yes, against Rollins.”

Tom reached back to grab a bowl from the bar.

“Nuts, anyone? These are the maw-nuts Neelix collected last
week. They are not too bad, especially now he’s roasted them
up with some spices.”

The three of them shared the nuts companionably for a few
minutes. Tom provided them with a softly spoken, slightly
scurrilous running commentary of the match between Dalby and
Gerron, which he delivered in a completely deadpan manner.
As Dalby sunk the last ball, Tom grinned and raised one
finger in a mock salute. He then moved away to announce the
results. Gerron handed his cue to Tom and the next game
began. Chakotay found himself studying Tom’s form with
interest. Faded jeans fitted snuggly, and the navy shirt
complimented his fair coloring. Something inside Chakotay
stirred, as his thoughts wandered in a direction they hadn’t
taken for a long time.  Eventually the noise from those
watching the game penetrated his musings and drew him back
to the present. He joined in the applause as Tom easily
defeated Rollins.

Round two draws were made. Chakotay was placed against Dalby
in the third match. It was another close game, won again by
Chakotay. Kathryn had by now realized what Chakotay’s
‘surprise’ was. When he returned to her side, she tackled
him.

“You’ve been practicing.”

“That’s right.”

“When?”

“When do you think? I don’t spend my whole holodeck time
boxing.”

“Did you place a wager?”

“Of course.”

“What about Mr. Paris?”

“You’ll see.”


The semi-finals pitted Chakotay against Greg Ayala and Harry
Kim against Tom Paris. The general consensus seemed to
indicate it would be a Paris/Ayala grand final. Tom and
Harry played first. Harry had been known to beat Tom
occasionally, but tonight was not one of those times. The
match between Greg and Chakotay was like Chakotay’s previous
games and closely fought. Two pairs of blue eyes followed
Chakotay’s every move. One pair belonged to Kathryn Janeway,
who again had zoned out into her own private Fantasyland.
The other pair belonged to Tom Paris, who gave the
impression he was studying the game closely, but in reality
was indulging of some Chakotay-watching of his own. This was
a strictly private occupation, enjoyed only when Tom was
absolutely sure nobody would notice. He kept his thoughts
about the sexy First Officer to himself, not even sharing
them with Harry. He gathered several images to store for
later replay; the slope of the spine through the white
shirt, the back of the neck, the strong hands clasping the
polished wooden cue, the firm ass encased in well-fitting
jeans, the…

Harry’s voice impinged upon Tom’s subconscious and he
returned to the present in a rush. He covered up his lack of
knowledge of Harry’s question by telling him to be quiet as
he was concentrating on the game, as he needed to study the
Commander’s style. After all, the Commander didn’t play pool
often enough for anyone to be truly au fait with his
strengths and weaknesses. In fact, Tom had been surprised
when the Commander had agreed to play in the first place.
He’d needed one more player to make up the numbers and had
asked Chakotay as a courtesy, not expecting, though hoping,
he would agree to participate. However, now was not the time
to think about that, as Chakotay defeated Greg and Tom
realized he would need all his wits about him for the final
match.

“Would you like a short recess for a drink or something,
Comm…Chakotay?”

“No, but thanks for asking, Tom. We may as well start
straight away.”

“Greg, you toss the coin to see who breaks. Chakotay, you
call.”

“Tails.”

“Tails it is. Chakotay breaks.”

The crowd fell silent. Chakotay broke, and as one ball
rolled into a pocket off the break, he continued playing. He
sank another ball before leaving a difficult although not
impossible shot for Tom. Tom made the game look like child’s
play, sinking that one and another three balls in quick
succession. He happened to glance up and caught an odd
expression in Chakotay’s eyes. It was nothing negative, like
anger or frustration, or even resignation. It was almost as
though the Commander was sharing a secret with him, although
he had no idea what. Combined with his headful of images, it
was enough to put him off his stride and the next ball
failed to fall into the pocket. He backed away from the
table and watched as Chakotay moved neatly into position. He
bent over the pool table to line up his shot, cocking his
hip for better leverage, and sank his third ball. A small
smile lurked at Chakotay’s mouth, as the next four balls
were accurately potted, the last move leaving the cue ball
set in position for his final shot. The room remained silent
for half a minute after Chakotay won, and then erupted into
cheers and congratulations. As he shook hands warmly with
Tom, his smile widened into a full-dimpled grin and his
brown eyes sparkled. Tom’s face finally lost the nonplussed
look he’d been wearing and a wry smile appeared in return.
He’d been set up.

Kathryn wriggled through the crowd of people now surrounding
the Commander and congratulating him with hearty black
slaps, hugs and not a few kisses. She reached his side and
complimented him on his game. She squeezed his hand,
practically all she would allow in public, so it was hard to
say who was more surprised when Chakotay suddenly clasped
her to his chest, theatrically bent her back and kissed her
thoroughly. He straightened them both up, and hugged her
tightly.

“No blatant PDA’s,” she hissed. He sighed deeply. It wasn’t
as if the crew didn’t know about their relationship after
three months. The grapevine was very efficient. He was
getting more frustrated as time went by. He wanted to be
openly demonstrable at social occasions, just a hug, a kiss
or a little hand holding in Sandrine’s or the Resort,
naturally not on the Bridge. He managed to retain hold of
her hand as they stood and chatted to various crew personnel
about the game for a while longer. Chakotay looked down at
Kathryn and raised an eyebrow, inclining his head towards
the door. She nodded, and they prepared to leave. They
passed Tom, and Chakotay stopped to thank him once more for
organizing the tournament and inviting him to take part.

“It was a lot of fun, Tom. Thanks.”

“You will be expected to sign up for future tournaments from
now on, Chakotay.”

“Maybe, Tom. Maybe I will.”

“And please, come and have some practice sessions here at
Sandrine’s, so the rest of us can be a little more
prepared!”

Chakotay laughed, and nodded. With a final goodbye he and
Kathryn left the holodeck and headed towards the turbo lift.
A now familiar burning sensation made its presence felt
around Chakotay’s mouth and he raised a hand to rub it, only
to become aware that Kathryn was doing the same thing to her
face. He stopped abruptly and grasped her chin gently,
tilting her head to get a closer look at her mouth. Her lips
had swollen and the reddened area around them seemed to be
increasing as he watched. A few tiny blisters appeared at
the corner of her mouth. Her tongue came out to lick at them
in an attempt to soothe the intense burning, but her tongue
was no longer pink. It was bright red.

“It burns,” she rasped.

“Same. What do you think…?”

“We need to go to Sickbay.”

“Agreed. Do you want me to call for a transport?” enquired
Chakotay.

“Negative. I can still walk. No need to fuss.”

They entered the turbolift and Chakotay gave the
destination. It was a silent trip, punctuated only by the
Captain’s rapid, somewhat noisy breathing, which had started
as the lift doors closed.

*     *     *     *     *     *

“You may leave now Mr. Rollins, however I suggest you avoid
Mr. Neelix’s spicy roasted maw-nuts in the future.”

The Doctor turned to greet the newcomers.

“Ah, Captain. Commander.”

He scanned them rapidly as he spoke. He muttered something
about elevated IgE levels, antigens and antibodies. After
briefly examining the redness and swelling around the mouths
of both parties, he flung questions at them, barely waiting
for a response.

“Any burning sensations, itchiness, sneezing, nausea?”

Both confirmed the first two symptoms and denied the second
two.

“Were you at Sandrine’s tonight? Did you consume any
maw-nuts?”

A pleased expression settled on his face as they answered
‘yes’ to both questions.

“You have had an allergic reaction to the maw-nuts.”

“But they were scanned and classified as safe to use.”

They Doctor administered the appropriate hyposprays as he
clarified, “Safe to use in their raw state, which is how
they were scanned. However the combination of heat and
spices Mr. Neelix used caused a chemical reaction, which
altered the antigenic determinant on the surface of the
nuts. I’ve had eight other crew members in with similar
allergic responses in the past hour.”

Within a few moments, both the Captain and the Commander’s
color had returned to normal, and both were wearing
expressions of relief as the burning and itching dissipated.

“I’ve ordered all the roasted maw-nuts to be destroyed and
notation made saying for consumption in raw form only. I
suggest you both return to your quarters, as the
antihistamine I have administered will also make you drowsy.
The reaction experienced by you, Captain, has been the most
serious to date. Commander, you were not far behind. Just
how many of those nuts did you eat?”

Not expecting an answer, he shooed them out of Sickbay, just
as Gerron entered, rubbing his mouth.

*     *     *     *     *     *

After six days of safe, uneventful travel, they reached the
end of Resna’viaan space. The Resna’viaan’s reported their
closest neighbors in the next two systems were friendly, and
that while they themselves had been unable to have all of
Voyager’s crew down for shore leave, due to the timing of
the Ceremony of Coalescence, they should be able to spend
time visiting either, or both, of the inhabited planets in
those systems. The Prime Resna had provided them with
introductions to his counterparts to help make their first
contacts smooth experiences.

Voyager would reach the Lineas system in two more days. The
third planet was their goal. Chakotay occupied himself with
drawing up several shore leave rosters for varying lengths
of time, assuming they would be welcomed, as the Prime Resna
had indicated. They hoped to remain in orbit six days,
giving everyone at least two days on the planet. Protocol
for shore leave on inhabited planets meant he and the
Captain would have to spend their actual days off
separately, but there would still be two days and nights
they could spend together on Voyager, with minimal ship’s
business to conduct. With no further urgent business
demanding attention, he gave himself permission to sit and
do nothing for the ten minutes remaining until the lunch
break.

All the crew who had been affected by maw-nut allergy,
including the Captain and himself, had recovered and there
had been no further reactions. He and Kathryn had still not
celebrated his win at the pool tournament, but that was to
be remedied tomorrow night. He had booked the holodeck for
six hours. A private suite for dinner at Copper Beeches, a
classy hotel with excellent food and stunning views from the
upstairs rooms should provide the two of them with a most
enjoyable evening.

*      *      *      *      *      *

There was still some forty minutes remaining of Chakotay’s
holodeck reservation, and he and Kathryn were sleeping in
the big bed in the Copper Beeches suite. They had celebrated
with a superb meal and wound up in bed, sharing strawberries
and champagne.

Kathryn moved restlessly in Chakotay’s arms. The now
familiar burning in her mouth had started again, but this
time it was more intense than previously. Her hands seemed
out of control as they moved between her legs, to scratch
and rub the burning itch that was developing there. Her
palms radiated heat as she dragged them along her inner
thighs. Her movements became more frantic as the sensations
affected more areas of her body. One hand moved up to her
breast and she tried to knead the unpleasant tingling away.
Chakotay stirred. He raised a large brown hand to his face
and rubbed heavily at his lips. He groaned and pulled
himself into a sitting position so he could scratch and rub
his own burning itches. He became aware of Kathryn now
writhing next to him.

“Come on. Cold helps. Into the shower.”

“You too?”

“Yes. Four, five times now. This is the worst.”

Chakotay turned the shower on and held Kathryn under the
spray. Her breath caught and she wheezed with the shock of
the cold. She turned her face up and opened her mouth to
drink, cooling her tongue and throat. Chakotay moved her to
the side a little and drank deeply himself.

After almost ten minutes they were unable to tell whether
any remaining burning sensation was from the cold water or
something else. Chakotay turned off the water, and stepping
out into the bathroom, snagged a couple of towels, passing
one to Kathryn and beginning to dry himself with the other.

“We need to talk.” Chakotay’s tone was serious.

“In the living room.”

They sat facing each other.

“This wasn’t maw-nuts.”  Chakotay was definite.

“No. You said this has happened to you before. When?”

“Two or three times I’ve had a burning mouth, and twice
before tonight there’s been redness, burning and swelling of
my hands, face, chest and lower…” Chakotay indicated with a
wave of his hand. “You?” he enquired.

“The same. The other two times for you, were they after we…”

“Made love? Yes. I wondered if you had changed perfume and
I’d had an allergic reaction.”

“When I saw the redness on myself, I thought you’d given me
beard rash,” Kathryn laughed apologetically, “But it’s not
that, is it? And I haven’t changed perfumes.”

Her hands moved, one to her mouth, and one to her groin.
“Damn it. It’s starting again.”

“Kathryn, we need to go to Sickbay. The cold water alone
hasn’t worked this time. Your mouth is swelling, your hands
are red.”

He reached over and pushed aside her towel, exposing her
breasts. “Look here. They’re red too and these raised areas
aren’t normal. That’s not from scratching.” Several long
clear marks extended outwards for several inches from her
nipples. More wheals were developing as they watched.

By now Chakotay had begun to rub his mouth again. “Get
dressed. Do you want me to call for a transport?”

“Negative. I can walk.”

“I think we’ve had this conversation before. That was after
the maw-nuts at Sandrine’s. Kathryn, we kissed in
Sandrine’s. What if that time wasn’t the nuts?”
Chakotay dropped his towel as he stood. Wheals covered his
lower belly and chest. He tried rubbing with a flat hand,
hoping that would be more effective that scraping his nails
over the itches.
They dressed quickly, and over-ruling Kathryn who had begun
to wheeze again, Chakotay called for a transport to Sickbay.


*      *      *      *      *     *


“Captain, you have swollen bluish red mucous membranes in
the oral-nasal cavities and vagina; angioedema, that is,
diffuse swelling, of the eyelids, lips, hands, feet and
vulva; areas of urticaria, that is, the raised wheals and
red areas mainly on your torso, enlarged lymph nodes, and
multiple areas you report being affected by burning and
itching sensations, but particularly the mouth and groin.
You also have reported difficulty breathing, itchy eyes and
a frontal headache.”

The Doctor paused and consulted his scanner again.

“Commander, you also have swollen bluish red mucous
membranes in the oral-nasal cavities, along with involvement
of the penis; angioedema of the eyelids, lips, hands, feet
and scrotum; areas of urticaria mainly on your torso,
enlarged lymph nodes, and multiple areas you report being
affected by burning and itching sensations, but particularly
the mouth and groin. You, however, have not had any
difficulty breathing or headache.”

The EMH spoke bluntly, ignoring the embarrassment of his
patients.

“You both show extremely levels of high IgE and IgG
antibodies, along with raised numbers of T-cells and
B-cells…”

“Doctor, please tells us what this all means,” interrupted
the Captain. She squirmed awkwardly in her seat, “And can
you please DO something to stop this.”

“You both have a severe allergic reaction, but I have not
yet determined to what you are allergic. I will give you a
general antihistamine to relieve the worst of the symptoms,
but I will need more details as to how and when these
incidents have been occurring. I will also need to run
further tests.”

The Doctor administered the hyposprays, waited for them to
take effect and then resumed his interrogation.

“Commander, you report at least three incidents of burning
and redness around the mouth only and three other incidents,
including this one, involving multiple body areas, this
third time being the worst.”

The Commander nodded.

“Captain, you report the same number if incidents, occurring
at the same times.”

“Yes Doctor.”

“There was only one occasion when you had eaten maw-nuts. I
want you to try and recall a common occurrence, something
the two of you did, or consumed, each time this happened.”

The Commander took a breath, and paused. The Captain sat
rigidly, refusing to look at Chakotay or the Doctor. Her
insistence on keeping their relationship as private as
possible was going to have to take a back seat while they
were dealing with something medical.

“The times where the burning and redness involved only the
mouth happened after we kissed. The other three occasions
have been after we made love.”

“Commander, you and the Captain have been sexually intimate
for approximately twelve weeks now, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“The symptoms you describe have only appeared in the last
eight or nine days, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Have you changed any of your sexual practices in that time,
for example, introduced new lubricants, aids, partners?”

“No, No and NO! Doctor, is this line of questioning really
necessary?”

“Yes, if we are going to get to the bottom of this. I will
require you both to present back here at 0900 hours tomorrow
morning for further tests. In the meantime, please refrain
from any further sexual activity, including kissing and
holding hands, until I give you permission.”

At the last, the Commander visibly choked, while the
Captain, who had remained silent throughout the exchange,
acknowledged the Doctor’s orders and responded
expressionlessly, “Very well, Doctor.”

She stood abruptly and stalked out of sickbay, not waiting
for Chakotay. He caught up to her in the corridor. She
stopped in her tracks, and turned to face him.

“I need to be alone right now. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“At least let me see you to your quarters.”

She nodded, and they continued walking in silence. They
paused outside her door.

“Do you want to meet for breakfast, Kathryn?”

“No. I’ll see you at the senior staff meeting at 0800
hours.”

“We do need to talk about this.”

She gave a crooked smile. “I know. But not right now. Maybe
after we’ve seen the Doctor tomorrow.”

“Kathryn, we’re in this together. We will support one
another through this. That’s what partners do.”

“I know.”

“If you change your mind about breakfast, comm me.”

She nodded, and then pointedly closed the door in his face.


*       *       *       *       *      *






Part 2


Sickbay the next day… 

“Good morning Captain, Commander. Please get changed into
these examination gowns and then take your places on the
biobeds.”

The Doctor handed out two pale blue hospital gowns and
returned to his computer. Kathryn and Chakotay exchanged
startled glances. They remained standing in silence,
somewhat flummoxed by the instruction. Normally the EMH just
conducted the scans through their uniforms.

“Why aren’t you ready yet? We haven’t got all day.”

The Doctor’s manner was testy, so they made haste to comply
and within a few minutes were in position on the biobeds.

“Mr. Paris, I’m ready to begin.”

Tom appeared from the workspace at the back of Sickbay,
where he had been sterilizing some of the Doctor’s
equipment.

“What’s HE doing here?”

“Mr. Paris is rostered for duty here today, Commander, as
you may recall, and will be aiding me with the examination
and testing procedures.”

“Is that absolutely necessary?”

“Yes. I require assistance with the procedures, and it is
part of his training.”

Tom stood quietly, listening to the exchange, but managing
to remain silent. He was bursting with curiosity, but other
than a slight widening of his eyes, there was nothing to
indicate his brain was whirling with questions. The Doctor
had told him he would be assisting with some deep tissue
scans and empirical allergy testing on two of the crew, who
had manifested some unusual symptoms, but had not elucidated
who the patients were. He watched the Commander grit his
teeth and obviously bite back a retort.

“If there are no further questions, Commander? Captain?”

“Can we just begin, Doctor?” asked the Captain drearily. She
too, had remained silent throughout the exchange.

“Mr. Paris, I will be working on the Captain. You will run
the scans and tests on the Commander at the same time. If
you have any questions or concerns, please bring them up
straight away.”

“Yes, Doctor,” replied Tom quietly. He did not want to
antagonize Chakotay at all, and resolved to be on his best
professional behavior.

“Commencing scanning.” The doctor called out the scans he
required and Tom entered the various programs promptly. Some
fifteen minutes later, during which the only sounds had been
the Doctor’s brusque instructions to Tom, Tom’s occasional
responses, and twice, his brief questions that the Doctor
answered succinctly, and the usual beeps from the computers,
the scanning was complete.

“Now we will collect the samples.”

“Samples?”

Something finally roused the Captain from her seeming stupor
to ask the single word question.

“Some of the scans are inconclusive. We need to conduct
empirical tests to get to the bottom of this. Mr. Paris, we
need to collect samples of all bodily fluids. We will begin
with the saliva. If you would get the equipment.”

Tom turned; glad of the opportunity to hide his face, as he
knew he was unable to conceal a faint blush. All bodily
fluids meant saliva, tears, sweat, blood, urine and semen or
vaginal fluids. He could manage the first four, but
fervently hoped for the last two that the Doctor would give
the Captain and Commander the appropriate sample jars and
let them attend to the details without any assistance.

He listened to the Captain expostulating with the Doctor
over the necessity of the sample collection. He handed half
of the containers to the Doctor and returned to stand by
Chakotay. Tom wondered if he should apologize up front, but
decided as it was a medical procedure that had to be
performed he didn’t need to say sorry.  He found himself
looking down into a pair of worried brown eyes. He murmured
something reassuring along the line that he’d done this
before and it was mostly a painless procedure. He tried to
project an aura of calm and trustworthiness.  He must have
succeeded, as Chakotay was surprisingly quiet. He followed
Tom’s instructions to the letter, opening his mouth, and
performing other activities as required. The Doctor was
having a more difficult time of things with the Captain.

Tom carefully labeled the vials of blood, sweat, tears and
saliva, and then turned to the Doctor.

“Doc, about the last two samples?”

He looked beseechingly at the EMH, who for once realized
where Tom was heading with his query.

“Hand the Commander the containers and he can retire to the
bathroom and provide samples of urine and semen without your
assistance.”

“Thanks, Paris.” Chakotay spoke in an undertone as he
blushed and took the containers, and a neatly folded pile of
uniform. He turned and headed towards the bathroom, unaware
that the back of the examination gown gaped open, and
afforded Tom a lovely view of his lower spine and ass.

Once in the small bathroom he was able to produce the first
of the two required samples with relative ease. The second
was different. The small room also contained a shower and a
seat, for use by anyone not actually bedridden who was
required to stay in Sickbay for any length of time. He
debated whether to turn on the shower, but decided against
it as he imagined the abrupt tones of the Doctor ordering
him not to get water in with the semen.

“Make this fast,” he told himself. “And quiet.” .He smiled
wryly as he stripped off the ugly gown and sat naked on the
chair. He closed his eyes and grasped his flaccid penis. As
he settled into a familiar rhythm his mind turned inwards.

    ‘ She moved towards him, the cream colored gown long and
diaphanous. The tips of her breasts were visible through the
material, and hardening to his gaze. She melted into his
arms, slate-blue eyes looking steadily into his as she
opened her mouth to his kiss. One large brown hand kneaded a
round buttock; the other caressed a shoulder, and pulled the
thin strap of her gown aside. He kissed down the side of her
neck and along her collarbone.  He licked towards a nipple,
and teased it with the tip of his tongue, before sucking it
strongly into his mouth.  She shrugged her other shoulder
out of the gown and it pooled around her feet. He bit down
gently, before moving to the other breast. His other hand
walked fingertip by fingertip down to her hip and he planted
warm open-mouthed kisses down her rounded belly to the curls
at the junction of her thighs. A quick kiss there and he
began to work his way back up to her breasts.

     At this point his fantasy Kathryn began to change,
although he did not realize it just yet. Slowly her body
stretched and her stomach flattened. Soft hair appeared on
the previously smooth skin. The hips in his grasp narrowed
and the buttocks firmed. Soft curved breasts flattened out
to muscular, hair-covered pectorals and raspberry shaped
nipples shrank to small, hard pebbles. He continued kissing
back upwards, now finding his fantasy lover had to bend
‘his’ head down in order to kiss Chakotay back. He looked
into eyes that were now sapphire blue. She had become a he.
A ‘he’ that he knew all too well…’
He should have started, been surprised, or reacted in some
way. He loved Kathryn, didn’t he? Had desired her for a long
time and now she was his. He hadn’t thought about the tall
blond pilot in months. A part of his brain told him this was
right, how it was meant to be, and now his cock lengthened,
thickened, hardened even more; his hand stroked faster. He
closed down that train of thought for now, but he would
remember and consider the subconscious messages later, as
some other part of his brain reminded him just why he was
here, doing this. His other hand reached for the container.
He bit down hard on his lower lip, trying to remain as quiet
as possible. He opened his eyes and managed to direct his
ejaculate into the jar. He remained in the chair, chest
heaving, and tried to bring his breathing quickly under
control.

In the meantime, Tom had taken the other samples to the work
area, and tried not to listen as the Doctor explained to the
Captain how he wanted her other bodily fluids to be
collected. His thoughts turned to Chakotay and what he would
be doing for the production of the final sample. His mind
wandered, selecting a picture of Chakotay in the jeans he’d
been wearing at the pool tournament, substituting the white
tee shirt with a shirtless torso from a picture he’d
mentally taken a year ago in the men’s locker room after a
gym work out.  The Sickbay bathroom was not a particularly
attractive location; so he moved Chakotay to a beach, at
sunset, no, make that sunrise. The sand was white and Tom
focused on the contrast between the sand and the long, brown
bare feet. The jeans hugged well-formed calves and thighs,
and molded the perfect ass. Now Tom watched large hands
follow the waistband of the jeans along the hips to the
front, undo the stud and zip, and begin to slide them down,
taking the underwear with them. He groaned softly and licked
his lips as his mind showed a partially erect…

“Mr. Paris.”

The EMH’s strident tones impinged upon Tom’s daydream.

“Mr. Paris!”

“Y-yes, Doc?”  He bit back an expletive with difficulty.

“At your earliest convenience…”

Tom willed his breathing to return to normal and his own
burgeoning erection to subside, now, and was able to collect
the Captain’s samples from the Doctor with equanimity.  He
would have to watch himself. Dreams such as those were
normally reserved for the privacy of his own quarters.

When the Captain and the Commander finally reappeared,
dressed once more in their uniforms, the Doctor dismissed
them, saying he would be obliged if they would return at the
end of the shift, as he hoped to have news for them by then.
He then worked Tom hard until lunchtime, testing the various
samples individually and in combination, all the while
lecturing to him on the fascinating topic of immunology in
general and allergies in particular. Already the tests were
showing an obvious trend; the Captain and the Commander had
developed an allergy to each other, although the Doctor as
yet had been unable to determine why.

Tom decided it would be prudent to eat lunch alone in his
quarters. As he ate his replicated pasta, he thought about
the case history details, which he’d been unable to avoid
reading as he entered the data from the test results on to
the appropriate PADDs.  He couldn’t help snorting. He tried
telling himself it wasn’t funny. It was a serious medical
condition, right?
Well, it wasn’t funny happening to Chakotay, but he could
certainly see the funny side of the Captain turning red and
scratching places where she’d been in contact with any of
Chakotay’s ‘bodily fluids’. He’d been envious when he
realized the Captain and Chakotay had finally taken their
relationship to the next level. Sure, they had been
discreet, so discreet it had taken the crew almost ten days
to catch on to the fact, but Tom had known within
twenty-four hours, and he’d kept his knowledge to himself.

Tom returned to Sickbay and for several more hours assisted
the Doctor with the usual mix of minor injuries that cropped
up on a typical day when he wasn’t running more tests on the
samples they had collected that morning. He was surprised to
find how interesting he found the whole process. It was like
solving a mystery. It certainly beat sterilizing equipment,
a more common task for Tom when working in Sickbay. An hour
before the Captain and Commander were due to return, Tom was
called from his experiments and given a list of items to
replicate.  The Doctor was engrossed in something
complicated he was unable to leave.

“Condoms - male, condoms –female, dental dams…Hey Doc, what
are these?”

“Barrier prophylactics. Historically used in preventing the
spread of diseases, as well as contraceptive devices. They
haven’t been needed for many years with the advancement of
medical treatments and eradication of many of the diseases
for which they were designed to prevent the spread, and
development of the contraceptive boosters. You’ll find them
in the medical database. The Captain and Commander will
require them during the next week or so until we determine
the cause and the cure for this unusual allergic reaction.
This way they will be able to maintain a sexual relationship
without coming into contact with each other’s bodily fluids
and setting off further, possibly worsening each time,
reactions.”

The Doctor sounded smug. He could not be accused of ignoring
the non-medical needs of his patients this time.

“Oh.”

There wasn’t really a lot more Tom could think of to say in
reply to that.

“If you are interested in some further reading on the
subject, you can use the terminal in my office until the
Captain and the Commander arrive. The appropriate references
have been marked. Just remember to replicate all the items
on the list.”

Tom entered the office and sat down. He found the pages the
Doctor had used and began to read. The medical aspects of
barrier prophylactics were straightforward; the latex
barriers were simple and logical, and really quite efficient
when used correctly. Chakotay and Captain Janeway did not
need them for either of their two main uses, only to prevent
an allergic reaction to each other, so they shouldn’t have
any problems at all.

He continued reading. The history of the condom was actually
quite interesting. They were originally made from animal
intestines, at which Tom wrinkled his nose.  The section on
types of condoms that had been produced brought a smile to
his face. It would certainly be a kindness to replicate a
variety of textures and colors.  He could program the
replicator to produce an ordinary looking box with basic
condoms, as specified by the Doctor, to go on the top, in
case any were taken out for demonstration purposes.  A
second box that looked the same would be underneath, but it
would contain a selection of colored and glow-in-the-dark,
ribbed and nubbed condoms, pre-lubricated ones for quickies,
and maybe even a musical one or two.

He considered the ramifications of actually having to use
these things every time you wanted to have sex. Okay, having
a partner roll one of those condoms on your erection had
possibilities. He even began to get a little hard at the
thought of someone sliding back his foreskin, slowly rolling
the sheath down to the base and then applying the lubricant.
He was pleased to find the question of sensation addressed
in the section under lubricants as he’d wondered about how
much feeling one would have after you put on a condom, and
then sliding inside a hot, wet partner or when they closed
their mouth around your latex covered shaft. They did
however need to be used with water-based lubricants only,
which was not on the Doctor’s list. Tom decided to replicate
a selection of plain and flavored types of those as well.
His own preferred lubricants seemed to be all oil-based;
maybe Chakotay’s were too. He didn’t want to leave it to
chance that there wouldn’t be any water-based ones when
needed.

There didn’t seem to be a lot he could do about the female
condoms other than selecting a variety of colors and
flavors, but the dental dams could be programmed in
different sizes and shapes as well as flavors and colors.
The gloves he decided would be best plain. Tom decided to go
for broke and include a data chip containing information on
of some of the history he had been reading, instructions for
use, the sections on lubrication and oral sex, and some
condom games he found. He was sure the Doctor’s discussion
would leave a lot of this important stuff out. Besides, just
because Chakotay was never likely to have a relationship
with him, didn’t mean that Tom wanted him to have an
unsatisfying relationship with someone else. He felt
virtuously altruistic at that thought, and tried to convince
himself he believed it.
“Yeah, right!” he muttered to himself.

Tom had been so engrossed in the subject matter that he had
not noticed that Captain Janeway and Chakotay had arrived in
Sickbay. He hurriedly closed down the sites he’d been
reading and vacated the Doctor’s office, as it would be
needed for their consultation. He reported to the Doctor he
was heading for the medical replicator now.   He’d have the
items on the list ready shortly, and he would place them in
a plain dispatch case on the bench before he left, where the
Doctor would be able to get them when needed. Besides, he
was sure Chakotay and the Captain would rather have this
discussion with the Doctor alone in Sickbay, once they found
out what the topic of discussion was. He was therefore not
happy when the Doctor asked, no, ordered him to remain, as
he would be needed. One of the tests the Doctor had been
working on would not be complete for another thirty minutes.
Tom could supervise the completion of the test, he could
also deal with any minor medical problems that arose during
that time, and he could bring the replicated items to the
office when asked. Tom frowned, but turned to go back to the
workroom in silence. This was not a good time to protest
working past the end of his shift.

“By the way Mr. Paris, there will be another section to the
allergy tests with that will require your personal
participation.”

The gleam in the Doctor’s eyes could practically be called
wicked, as he explained exactly what type of personal
participation was required. The look on Tom’s face was
indescribable.

*      *      *      *      *

“Captain. Commander. My office, please.”

“What can you tell us, Doctor? Can you cure this?”  Captain
Janeway was brief and to the point.

“I have the results of the preliminary tests. They indicate
both of you have developed an allergy to each other.”

“An allergy? To each other? Is that possible?”  Chakotay’s
voice rose in disbelief. He turned to Kathryn, but she
looked steadfastly at the Doctor.

“Yes, it is possible for intra-species allergies to develop.
In fact the first documented cases…but you don’t need all
those details,” the Doctor added hurriedly as he caught a
certain expression developing on the Captain’s face.

“Doctor, why has it manifested now? Why not three months
ago?”  The Captain’s tone was clipped.

“Ah, an interesting question, but one to which I have no
answers yet.  The primary tissue scans reveal only a series
of altered antibodies that was not present three months ago,
at the time of your last complete medicals. The series is
almost identical in you both. These antibodies are reacting
specifically to all of the samples. The possibility of a
delayed hypersensitivity reaction cannot be excluded, so we
are searching for triggers that may have manifested between
six and fourteen days ago as prime suspects given the timing
of the initial incident, and if nothing can be found in that
time period, we will extend the search parameters
incrementally until the date of those medicals.”

“Is it permanent? Is there a cure?”

“Whether this condition is permanent is unknown at this
stage. I have some more extensive tests planned. We need to
determine whether this is something specific to just the two
of you, or whether the problem is more widespread and the
allergy is more generalized.  I am working on a cure,
however that will depend on the results of the next round of
tests. They will take some time to complete.  Standard
allergy desensitization treatments will be able to begin
once the RAST tests have concluded.  I understand there will
be shore leave at the next planet.  You will need to attend
Sickbay for monitoring once every twenty-four hours, but
otherwise you both should be able to spend time planetside.”

“How effective is this desensitization treatment likely to
be?” Chakotay asked, sounding more hopeful.

“Unknown. You may have a response within days or weeks. The
RAST tests will commence tomorrow at 0900 hours. After the
first day, when testing will be more frequent, you will
return for monitoring every twelve hours for four days. That
will give us enough information to prepare the correct
formulae for the desensitization procedure. That will
continue until it is successful or I develop a cure.”

“Doctor, what about our relationship? Are we able to have
any…umm…physical contact during this time?”

Chakotay’s embarrassment increased as the Doctor became
exceedingly pleased with himself.

“You’ll be pleased to know, Commander, that I have already
taken that into consideration. Providing you follow all of
my recommendations there is no reason why you cannot resume
sexual intimacy straight away.”

He stood and walked to the door of his office. He opened it
abruptly and summoned Tom, who had the dispatch case ready.

“Did you prepare your sample vials, as I requested?”
Tom coughed, and reddened.

“Yes.”

That was as much of an answer as he could manage, with the
Captain and the Commander able to hear every word through
the open door.

“Very well then, Mr. Paris. You are dismissed until 0800
tomorrow.”

The Doctor took the case and closed the door.

“As it is bodily fluids causing the allergic reaction, all
you need to do to stop the reaction occurring is prevent
contact of the fluids with your systems, so I am providing
you with a selection of barrier prophylactics. If it turns
out this allergy is incurable, you will still be able to
continue in a sexual relationship by using these devices.
Are there any questions?”

“Err, Doctor, just what is a barrier prophylactic?” 
Chakotay retained enough presence of mind to ask the
question.

The Doctor opened the case with a flourish and drew out the
top boxes.

“Latex barriers, originally used as contraceptive devices
and later to prevent the spread of disease. They will stop
your saliva, semen and vaginal secretions coming into
contact with the other person. Here we have a male condom.
It is rolled over the erect penis. Use with penetrative
intercourse and fellatio. The female condom will require
insertion in advance. Dental dams are to be used during
cunnilingus, analingus, and for the two of you, over any
body part you plan to kiss. I suggest you keep your nostrils
free when using them around your mouths. The gloves are to
prevent sweat from your palms coming into contact with any
skin.”

The Doctor pulled the condom off his fingers, where he had
placed it in his demonstration and handed it to Chakotay. He
accepted it rather gingerly. He turned it over a few times
and placed it carefully back on the desk. The Captain had
barely looked at the female condom the Doctor passed to her.
She had lapsed back into the depressive state she’d been in
since the previous day.
“Do you need us for anything else right now, Doctor?”
“No Commander. Just return at 0900 hours tomorrow. The RAST
test will take only thirty minutes to initialize and you
will be free to resume your duties.”
The EMH repacked the boxes into the dispatch case, which he
passed to Chakotay.
“If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate
to contact me.”
“Thanks, Doctor. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

The Doctor escorted them to the door, and returned to his
research.

“We definitely need to talk.” Chakotay’s tone was firm and
it was clear he was not going to be brushed off. “Do you
want to discuss this over a meal?”

“No. I need to think. Later?”

“Very well. I’ll come by at 2100 hours.”

“Fine.”

“Do you want to take some of the Doctor’s… umm…prophylactic
barriers with you?”

Kathryn shuddered.

“No. You take them.”

“Very well. I’ll see you later.” His tone softened. “We will
get through this.”

Chakotay raised his hand to stroke her cheek, but she took a
step back and he dropped his arm.

“Sorry,” he said wryly. “It’s hard to offer comfort without
wanting to touch you.”

Kathryn dredged up a small smile.

“I know.” She held up a hand, curled into a fist. “I’m sorry
too. This has been…we’ll talk later.”

She turned and headed away from the turbolift, plainly
wanting to be alone.

Chakotay sighed, hefted the dispatch case over his shoulder
and returned to his quarters. He also had a lot of thinking
to do.


*      *      *      *      *      *

At 2100 precisely, Chakotay was at Kathryn’s quarters. He
had brought the dispatch case, however it was now only half
full. He had unpacked it, and explored more thoroughly. He
soon realized the lower boxes contained differently styled
contents to the top boxes the Doctor had taken his
demonstration models from. A quick scan of the information
on the data chip proved enlightening. Chakotay couldn’t help
grinning.

“Tom Paris, you…you reprobate!” he murmured out loud. 

Tom had to have been responsible for this. He sorted the
boxes into two piles and placed one lot in the side table
drawer beside his bed. As he had uploaded the information on
the data chip to his terminal to further study at his
leisure, he was able to place the chip in the case to leave
with Kathryn.

Kathryn replicated drinks, tea for Chakotay and coffee for
herself. They sat facing each other. The silence was
beginning to grow awkward. Chakotay sighed and asked,

“Do you want to start?”

Kathryn started to shake her head, but then changed her
mind.

“Chakotay, I want to apologize. I am so sorry for closing
you out. I don’t know what to say.”

She took another mouthful of coffee, seeking courage from
the caffeine.

Chakotay said nothing, but leaned forward, silently
encouraging Kathryn to continue.

“Please don’t take what I’m about to say the wrong way. This
has been such a shock, developing this…this allergy. It
means more of the crew will know about our relationship;
details I would prefer to keep to ourselves. One of the
hardest decisions I have made was deciding to pursue a full
relationship with you. To move beyond Captain and First
Officer. To move beyond friendship. ”

She continued in the same vein for a few minutes,
reiterating how difficult she’d found it to finally admit
she wanted a sexual relationship.

“You know I am not used to leaning on anyone.  It’s hard.”
Kathryn wound to a close. She leaned forward to grasp
Chakotay’s hands, but remembered to pull back at the last
moment.

“Where are those damn gloves?”

Chakotay found the correct box and they hastily donned a
pair of gloves each, then sat holding hands.

“What do we do if there’s no cure? Do we have to get used to
carrying these gloves on a daily basis, in case there’s a
reason to come in contact with each other? Or wear them
permanently? I will not be made a laughing stock amongst the
crew. Say something, Chakotay.”

He raised their gloved hands, her small ones nestling in his
larger ones.

“I have given this some thought. See what you think of my
plan. Until the Doctor can find a cure, or at least devise a
treatment, we will not work the same duty shifts. You keep
the alpha shift; I’ll transfer to beta. You take Tuvok to
meet the Lineas officials. We wouldn’t have been going down
to the planet together anyway, so nobody is going to think
anything if I do not accompany you to the surface. Therefore
neither of us needs to wear, or even carry the gloves in
public.

“Secondly, if the Doctor does not come up with anything in
the next couple of days, we are going to need to do
something about his…solution…to our current predicament, and
if he can’t find a cure, we need to know if this is workable
for us on a long term basis. We do need to try the condoms
and things. The main thing is to support each other. Try to
remember that we are in this together.” Chakotay was unable
to prevent a note of frustration from entering his voice.
Kathryn and sharing challenges as partners; the two sometime
seemed mutually exclusive.

“There’s a data chip included with the Doctor’s boxes. I
uploaded the information to my terminal. I’ll leave the chip
here with you. Have a look at it soon, okay? People used to
use these all the time. It can’t be that bad.”

Kathryn withdrew her hands from Chakotay’s and stood.

“I need another coffee.”

She moved to the replicator, and spoke without turning
round, “ Implement the shift changes. Transfer Lieutenant
Paris to full-time Sick-Bay duties as well. I do not want
anyone else involved in the test procedures if at all
possible. Inform the Doctor of that also.”

She paused, and swallowed the contents of the mug, with none
of her usual appreciation. Still keeping her back to the
Commander, she continued,

“We will talk about using the…condoms…in a couple of days.
If the Doctor is able to develop a treatment or cure
quickly, then their purpose is moot.”

She turned to face Chakotay again.

“I’d like to be alone now, do you mind?”

Chakotay pasted a neutral expression on his face, and balled
the hurt and frustration he felt into a tight wad and locked
it away. This was not the time to get into an argument. He
peeled the gloves off and dropped them next to his empty
cup, then bid Kathryn goodnight and left.

As she looked at the closing door, a tear escaped and ran
down her face. She went to wipe it away, and felt the latex
against her skin. She stared at the gloves on her hands for
a long time.

Chakotay made his way to one of the Observation Lounges,
fortunately empty, and curled up on the window seat.  He
shouldn’t be surprised at Kathryn’s behavior. She was doing
exactly what she’d done on other occasions, keeping her
thoughts and decisions to herself. He had to wonder why he
thought she would be more inclined to talk to him once they
became intimate. Was he so abnormal, to want to talk to his
partner? Much of his counseling work among the crew involved
communication issues. He tried to view his relationship with
Kathryn impartially, and considered what advice he would
give to someone else in the same situation.



*     *     *     *     *    

The Doctor was in an infuriatingly exuberant mood.

“Good morning Captain, Commander. Have you any further
incidents of allergic symptoms to report? No? Excellent. Did
you make use of the prophylactics? Were there any
difficulties?”

Talking briefly to Chakotay last night, and several hours of
introspection had helped shake Kathryn out of her
depression, so she was able to reply with some asperity,

“Doctor, I fail to see the necessity of providing you with
such intimate details.”

“Captain, with all due respect, you and Commander Chakotay
have a medical condition that if allowed to progress, may
develop into anaphylactic shock and death. As we still do
not know the cause of your condition, a cure has still not
been able to be developed. All empirical data is vital. I am
currently unable to say how long it will take to find a
cure.  The future of your intimate relationship may very
well depend on the use of those devices and if there are
going to be problems, I need to know, so another solution to
that problem can be found.”

“Very well, Doctor. No we haven’t used them yet.”

“Thank you. Now was that difficult?”

Not expecting an answer, the Doctor turned to Tom, who had
been standing in the background, holding a covered tray. He
beckoned him over. Tom placed the tray in front of the
doctor and stood waiting for further instructions.

“Captain, Commander, please roll up your left sleeves. 
Lieutenant Paris, Pick up the other sub-dermal innoculator
and set it like so over Commander Chakotay’s arm.”

He demonstrated on the Captain’s arm.

“Press twice and release. Enter the time of inoculation on
to the files.”

The Commander was unable to stop himself flinching as he
felt the sting of a multitude of small needles breaking the
surface of his skin in a defined pattern. A hiss accompanied
the second maneuver as specific irritants worked their way
into his system through the tiny cuts.

“You will need to remain in Sickbay for the next thirty
minutes. We will be scanning the sites every five minutes.
After that, if there are no signs of anaphylaxis, you may
return to your duty shift. You will be required back in
Sickbay for scanning every two hours for a further twelve
hours and then every twelve hours after that, providing
there are no serious signs or symptoms. If any of the
following develop, you are to come to Sickbay immediately.”

After giving details of everything he considered a serious
enough symptom requiring immediate medical attention, the
Doctor announced it was time for the first scan.

“Observation, Mr. Paris. Not just with the scanners, but
also with your eyes. Note that each pinprick has been given
a number. You are to enter visual descriptions of any
reactions here and here. Then do these four types of scans.”


A line of small red dots had already appeared on the
Commander’s arm, so Tom checked the location of against the
code numbers and made his entries on the data PADD.

The Doctor hummed and hawed over similar lines of red dots
on the Captain’s arm. Even in the short space of time, hers
had grown larger and were more numerous than Chakotay’s
reactions.

The completion of the scans left only a minute before the
next round of observations were due. It was pointless for
anyone to roll down his or her sleeve for the little time
remaining, so they sat with their arms outstretched. Tom was
already engrossed in the information from the scans.
Chakotay tried to read over his shoulder.

“Next readings please,” the Doctor’s voice broke Tom’s
concentration.

“Could you tell me what’s happening here?” Chakotay enquired
softly.

“Sure Commander. The Doctor has placed a specific substance
at each needlepoint and we are seeing which ones you react
to. The scans tell us what your cells are doing, and if
there are any antibodies forming that we can use to
formulate a treatment. If we are able to find a specific
amino acid sequence with a tertiary surface configuration,
we will be able to match it with a site of homologous
antigens. We are also looking for the formation of
antiglobulins, autoantigens, blocking antibodies and any new
cytotoxic factor developments.”

Chakotay was surprised at the enthusiasm in Tom’s voice. It
was almost how he sounded when discussing developing new
flight sims or holoprograms. He never thought he would hear
that tone in Tom’s voice over anything medical. He looked at
the blonde head bent over his arm and found he had a strong
urge to run his fingers through the hair.

“Hmmm.”

“What?” Chakotay became a little alarmed at Tom’s ‘hmmm’.

“I just got a kind of a flare on this scan. I’d better
repeat it just to be on the safe side.”

“Next series please”

The Doctor was better than a chronometer.

Tom raised his voice to question the Doctor.

“Hey Doc. I’ve had a couple of odd flares during the scans.
Have you had anything similar?”

“Flares? What sort of flares?”

“Like the screen lit up for a moment, obscuring the
readings.  I redid each of the scans when it happened.”

“Negative Mr. Paris. There have been no flares of any kind
with the Captain’s scans. Check the scanner is functioning
after you’ve uploaded the information. If it’s faulty, you
may have to repeat the Commander’s tests.”

“Sure thing, Doc.”

“Next series please.”

“Tom, there’s a couple of things I’d like to ask you. Would
you call by my quarters during your lunchtime? ” 

Chakotay wanted desperately to talk to someone and Tom’s
name had topped the short list. B’Elanna, Greg and Tuvok
were eliminated on the grounds that nobody was supposed to
know what was happening, and of those, Greg would have been
really the only one he would have felt comfortable
discussing Kathryn. Besides, there were some things he did
need to talk over with Tom.

“Very well, Commander.”

Tom was engrossed in the information from the scans.
Chakotay tried to read over his shoulder.

“Next readings please,” the Doctor’s voice broke Tom’s
concentration.

“Could you tell me what’s happening here?” Chakotay enquired
softly.

 “Sure. Now see here, and here, Chakotay.”

Tom had forgotten to remain formal as he pointed out where
the first series of skin reactions had continued to enlarge.
Another series had started to produce small red dots, but
these were just pale imitations of the first lot.

“Your body is trying to produce antibodies to the allergens
that were on the needle tips. With some substances it is
more successful than others.”

Tom ran the medical tricorder over the area, its function to
perform accurate measurements of diameter, height,
temperature, color and other basic information.

“Is there anything you can do about the itch? It’s starting
to drive me crazy.”

Chakotay’s other hand was clasping and unclasping
convulsively as he tried hard to restrain himself from
scratching the test area.

“Doc, we can’t do anything for the itch yet, can we?”

Tom asked the Doctor, continuing with the series of scans as
he made his request. He knew the answer would be ‘no’, but
asked anyway.

“I’m sorry, Commander. Not until the end of the first half
hour of tests.”

The Doctor managed to sound apologetic.

“There’s only ten minutes to go,” Tom remarked, at the
Doctor’s, “Next series please.”

“Why are there so many test spots, Tom?” asked Chakotay. “I
mean, I can work out that some of them have come from
the…ummm…samples taken yesterday.”

Tom looked up at Chakotay and tried to weigh up how the
Commander would respond when he heard. There was no question
of not telling him, but maybe he’d try just part of the
information first.

“You can see the marks are in four lines of pinpricks.”

“Yes, and there is nothing happening along the second or
fourth lines. That first line is where the swellings are
largest and the itch is most intense.”

“In light of your case history, the first line of responses
is probably to Captain Janeway’s samples. The second line is
most likely your own samples, included as a control. The
third and fourth lines will belong to two other sample
groups, to try and determine if this reaction is localized
to you and the Captain only, or if the allergy extends to
others.”

“Other sample groups?”

“Yes, it’s standard testing procedure.”

Chakotay considered his arm.

“So there’s at least one person on board I have a mild
allergy to, and one I seem to be…ah…physically compatible
with.”

“That would seem to be a valid conclusion.”

“So who are these people?”

“You know I can’t tell you that, even if I knew, Chakotay.
Besides, the Doctor prepared the testing hypos, and I’m only
hypothesizing the results, based on what we already know,
and what we can see happening here.”

“Last series please.”

Chakotay sat quietly for a minute as Tom entered another
round of descriptions onto the PADD, and then picked up the
tricorder again. He considered the line of Tom’s neck
disappearing into his uniform. His other hand itched to
stroke it and he twitched with the effort to keep his hands
where they were.

“That’s odd. Another flare. I’ll rescan that again.”

Tom returned to formality as the testing wound to a close.
The Doctor then administered a mild antihistamine to control
the itching in both of his patients.

“Captain, Commander. Thank you for your cooperation. Please
return to Sickbay in two hours, unless you develop any of
the signs or symptoms I have already mentioned.”

The doctor began his analysis of the newly collected data
without further ado. There was one significant difference
between the Captain’s test results and the Commander’s that
was obvious straight away. The Captain had reacted to all
three sets of samples other than her own, two of them badly,
while Chakotay had reacted to only two, one severely and the
other was the mildest reaction of all. Tom knew one of the
other sample sets was his own, though he didn’t know whom
the Doctor had prevailed upon to provide him with the fourth
sample.

“Doctor, whose sample didn’t Commander Chakotay react to?” 
Tom asked urgently. He needed to know.

“Yours, Mr. Paris.”

By a remarkable feat of self-control, the only reaction he
made was to say neutrally,

“Oh. Then whose was the other sample?”

The Doctor looked sharply at Tom, but as he considered the
amount of work Tom had been putting in to the allergy
testing, and the fact that for once he hadn’t seemed to mind
that he had been withdrawn from the helm until there a cure
or treatment was found, he saw no reason not to answer.

“Ensign Wildman. I wanted to have human male and female
samples for initial comparison.”

“Whose is the other sample the Captain has had the second
bad reaction to? I’m assuming one is the Commander’s?”

“Correct. One is the Commander’s sample.”

The Doctor paused.

“Curiously, the second sample is yours.”

The Doctor paced his office as he began to theorize out
loud.

“Captain Janeway has had two significant allergic reactions
to the two human male samples, being that of Commander
Chakotay, with whom she notice the original allergy symptoms
developing, and that of secondary male control subject,
Lieutenant Paris. She is showing a minor allergic reaction
to the secondary female control.

“On the other hand, Commander Chakotay showed a significant
allergic reaction to one of the human female samples, being
that of Captain Janeway, and a mild allergic reaction to the
secondary female control. He appears to have had no allergic
reaction at all to the secondary male control.

“In both subjects, there is lesser visible reactions to the
sweat sites and urine sites than there are to the blood,
tears, semen and vaginal fluids sites.

“Due to the difference in response to the secondary controls
samples by the test subjects, it will be necessary to expand
the secondary controls to include a further human male and
female set of samples as well as male and female sets from
non-human species.

“Samples can be obtained during the next round of routine
medical examinations scheduled to begin tomorrow. Samples
will initially be subjected to a battery of computer scans
before proceeding to physical testing on Captain Janeway and
Commander Chakotay.”

The Doctor finished pontificating and turned to Tom.

“Do you understand the direction the analysis is to take? Do
you have any questions?”

“No Doc. You’ve cleared that up nicely for me.”

“Excellent. You may begin analyzing the series one scans
from the last half hour. Correlate the data with your visual
observations of the Commander’s samples. One day you may be
in a situation where Voyager’s computer resources will be
unavailable to you.”

“I’m on it.”

Tom made himself comfortable, and commenced the analysis. He
wondered what Chakotay wanted to speak to him about. He put
that thought aside, along with several others about the
ramifications the allergy had for the relationship between
the Captain and the Commander, and the interesting fact that
‘she’ was allergic to him as well, and Chakotay wasn't.


*       *       *       *       *      *






Part 3



Tom worked hard for the next hour and then checked the
tricorder but could find no reason for the flares. It seemed
to be working perfectly. He decided to use a different
tricorder for the remainder of the scans, just to be on the
safe side. He and the Doctor completed the next set of scans
on the Captain and the Commander when they duly returned to
Sickbay.  There were no unusual flares this time. All too
soon, Tom was dismissed for lunch and reminded to return
before 1330 hours when the latest readings would be due.

 With about forty minutes to spare before he was to return
to Sickbay, Tom found himself standing at the door to
Chakotay’s quarters. He took a calming breath and pressed
the chime.

“Enter.”

“You wanted to see me, Commander?”

“Yes. Have a seat, Lieutenant.”

Tom sat down and waited.

“This isn’t easy for me.” Chakotay paused. “Tom, this is
completely off the record.”

“Sure, Chakotay.” Tom used the man’s name instead of his
rank, confirming the discussion was unofficial.

“Tom, you are now going to know a lot more details about my
relationship…”

“Chakotay,” interrupted Tom hurriedly, “This is a medical
condition. I would never discuss what happens in Sickbay
with anyone.”

Tom was hurt to think Chakotay’s opinion of him was so poor.
He had worked hard over the past few years to develop a good
working relationship with the Commander, and in recent
times, had extended small tendrils of friendship, such as
inviting him to be part of the pool tournament. He hated to
think the man he most respected would believe he would break
doctor-patient confidentiality, even if he weren’t strictly
a doctor.  

“No, Tom, no. I know you would never tell anyone what goes
on in Sickbay. You never have before, and I see no reason
you would start now. Please don’t think that.”

Chakotay was shocked and hastened to reassure Tom. He
continued, “It’s just that I am not particularly comfortable
with anyone, other than the person concerned, knowing the
details of my private relationship with them. You heard the
Doctor. He wants to know when, how often, which positions
even, and by virtue of you being involved with the testing,
since the Doctor has you doing all my scans, you’ll know
too, and…and, well, it’s just a bit disconcerting. What I
was trying to do was apologize to you for any belligerence I
may have shown to you in Sickbay, and to ask you to be
patient with me in this situation.”

Tom softened at Chakotay’s embarrassment. He could
sympathize with the reserved man. There were some things you
just did not want made public, and Chakotay was more
reserved than most. Tom made haste to apologize in his turn,
for jumping in to the conversation without giving Chakotay a
chance to finish speaking, and thereby creating the
misunderstanding in the first place.

“Apology accepted, Tom. There’s something else I wanted to
discuss with you.”

“Sure, Chakotay.” Tom gestured for him to continue.

“It’s about the contents of the dispatch case.”

Tom couldn’t help himself and reddened under the brown-eyed
gaze.

“You were responsible for the replication of the contents,
weren’t you?” Chakotay’s voice was confident.

“Umm… yes.” There was a pause, and then Tom continued,
“Why?”

“The data chip was your idea too, wasn’t it?”

The blush deepened as Tom nodded.

“And the… how shall I put this…‘varieties’ of the…
umm…prophylactic devices?”

“Well, yes. But the Doctor had the original idea for you to
use them. You know, he was intensely proud of the fact that
he’d thought of …” Tom waved a hand descriptively in the
air, unwilling to allude to his superiors’ sex life in any
more detail than that.

Chakotay smiled suddenly, a broad grin lighting up his
features.

“I guess I just wanted to say thank-you. The Doctor’s
explanation was technical, and surprisingly brief, and the
information on the chip answered a number of questions on
information the Doctor didn’t cover.”

Chakotay’s humorous tones became incredulous as he
continued, “But Tom, really. Fluoro-green?  Neon-pink? Black
rib ticklers? What were you thinking?”

“What was I thinking?” Tom fidgeted uncomfortably as he
stalled for a minute.  “I was thinking that the medical
versions were plain and boring, and after studying the
information recommended by the Doctor, the least I could do
for you would be to try and inject a little…I dunno…fun…for
you. I tried to imagine myself in your position, so to
speak. You know, having to think about using this stuff
every time you wanted to…”

 He came to a halt, finding it hard to refer to having sex
with Chakotay. Hang on, he thought. That wasn’t what he
meant. Even in his thoughts he was making Freudian slips. If
it had been Harry, they would have been able to discuss
matters together in any amount of detail, and there would
have been no need for the data chip, but he never thought of
having sex with Harry.

Chakotay watched the expressions crossing Tom’s features
with interest.

“Well, thanks. I appreciate your concern.” He muttered
something to himself, of which Tom only caught something
about musical selections and ‘Bolero’, and then changed the
subject abruptly.

“Two more things, Tom. Firstly, are you okay with not being
at the helm for the foreseeable future?”

“Yes. Really I am. To be frank, this bit of space is safe
and boring, and I’m putting in extra time on developing some
new holoprograms. Besides, what I’m now doing in Sickbay is
fascinating, you know. Much better than the endless
sterilizing of equipment I usually do. And I have a chance
to do something that will make a difference.”

“That’s important to you, isn’t it? Making a difference?”

“Yes,” replied Tom fervently. He in turn changed the
subject.  He did not want to discuss his personal redemption
plan with others. Hell, it wasn’t even something he felt
comfortable thinking about in detail with himself.  “What
else did you want to ask?”

“The Doctor is going to want to test us against samples of
other crew members, isn’t he?”

Tom nodded.

“Level with me, Tom. What will happen if we are found to be
allergic to the rest of the crew?”

“In all honesty? I don’t think that’s going to happen. And
anyway, I believe we will find a treatment, if not a cure.
Once there is an effective treatment, it won’t matter so
much if it takes a little longer to find a cure.”

Tom stared straight into Chakotay’s eyes. He watched them
darken; unaware his own eyes were darkening in response.
Chakotay unconsciously reached out towards Tom, but pulled
back as he came to his senses. He swore under his breath.

“What do I do in the mean time? Carry gloves with me, or
wear them permanently in case something happens?”

“Reach for the forearm, like this, or clasp the shoulders,
through the uniform,” suggested Tom, as he reached and
clasped Chakotay’s forearm over his uniform sleeve. 
Chakotay’s frustration at not being able to spontaneously
touch was almost palpable. Chakotay returned Tom’s grasp and
squeezed in appreciation.

“The Doctor is going to use the crew health evaluations,
which start tomorrow, to run computer allergy scans, so we
should have a list of ‘safe’ crew soon. He’s planning to
start with the Bridge crew and then those you and the
Captain come into most contact with. They won’t know
anything about the extra tests the Doctor will be doing.”

“Well, at least I know there is already one person I can
touch. Can I find out who now, or do I have to wait?”

Tom thought quickly. Chakotay would know soon enough that
Tom was on the safe list, assuming there would be others on
the list. He didn’t mind Chakotay knowing, and he supposed
he could square things with the Doctor if anything was said.
The two men were still in contact, where they were gently
holding forearms, so Tom loosened his grip and slid his hand
down to hold Chakotay’s.  He tightened his grip again when
the other man would have pulled away. He felt the man
trembling and brought his other hand up to cover the back of
Chakotay’s right hand, secretly rejoicing in the opportunity
to touch and hold. He couldn’t help his feelings, as his
love, and lust, welled perilously close to the surface. Tom
tried to maintain a neutrally friendly demeanor, and
concentrated on keeping the rate of his breathing even. He
raised their clasped hands to face level.

“I thought you might have guessed as I wasn’t wearing gloves
in Sickbay, and I thought you heard when the Doctor asked me
about...”

Chakotay pointed to Tom with his free hand.

“You mean when the Doctor asked about ‘your’ sample vials?”

“Uh huh. Do…do you mind?” Tom paused. “That it’s me, I
mean?”

Chakotay looked at their hands. He placed his free left hand
over Tom’s right hand, and slowly tightened his grip until
the firmness felt enough.

“No, Tom. I don’t mind,” stated Chakotay, and both men knew
he spoke the truth.

The two men continued holding hands as they sat in silence.
Chakotay sensed a warmth spreading throughout his system.
His very cells tingled. This was right, so very right. Time
became meaningless.

“Sickbay to Lieutenant Paris.”

The EMH’s page returned them to the present. He sounded
impatient.

“Paris here, Doctor.”

“You were due to start back here ten minutes ago. The next
round of scans is in twenty minutes.”

“On my way. Paris out.”

Tom reluctantly disengaged his hands.

“Tom…”

“I know. We need to talk about this.”

“I’m on beta shift until this is sorted out. Is my break
okay for you?”

“Sure. Where?”

“My office?”

“I’d rather not. Come by my quarters for supper… umm…lunch.”

Chakotay grinned and nodded.

“Supper is fine. See you in Sickbay.”

Chakotay reflected on Tom’s willingness to discuss what was
happening, and contrasted it with Kathryn’s head-in-the-sand
attitude. Right now he felt a maelstrom of emotion. He
really needed to discuss what was happening with someone.
Who counsels the counselor? The wry thought was prominent.
Maybe a session of meditation would bring some insight.
There would be almost two hours after this next lot of
scans. With that plan of action in place, Chakotay headed to
Sickbay.



The Captain was already seated with the Doctor when Chakotay
entered. Her sleeve was rolled up and two lines of angry
looking read lumps were visible, along with a row of smaller
pinkish discolorations. She made a moue of distaste, and
turned to Chakotay.

“How are you?”

The Commander shrugged.

“I’m keeping my mind on other things,” he replied, and
rolled up his sleeve.

Only one row of the same angry red lumps was visible.

“Doctor.”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Why do I have more of these lesions than the Commander?”

“Let me see your arm, Commander.”

The Doctor examined the single row of wheals with interest.

“Mr. Paris, what do you make of this?”

Tom moved in from his position beside the computer. He took
a brief look, and reached for the tricorder. He ran a quick
scan, and then uploaded the results straight onto the
terminal he had been using to analyze the readings.

“Here, Doc. Look at this.”

 Tom pointed to the screen.

“In the last two hours the response to the fourth set of
samples has almost completely resolved, in that there are
only a few small microcellular trace markers remaining. The
second and third samples have developed a new set of trace
markers, but there is no corresponding allergic reaction
detectable, at least at this level of tests. The first
sample now has a level four antigenic reaction on the cell
surfaces and there is an indicator we will probably find
changes at a DNA level, see here, and here.”

Tom paused to draw breath. His enthusiasm had come to the
fore and there was little evidence of the often-resentful
medical assistant to whom they had all become accustomed
over the years.

“Most impressive, Mr. Paris. You may indeed have a future in
the field of immunology. Let us continue with the next stage
of the scans.”

There was no trace of sarcasm in the Doctor’s tones as he
considered the comparison of the test results displayed.

“Doctor.” The Captain’s tone was brusque as she interrupted. 
“Am I to understand that we have been tested with four sets
of samples?”

“Yes, Captain. Standard research procedure requires the use
neutral controls where possible.”

“Two sets of samples are mine and Commander Chakotay’s.”

“Of course. You are the two with the allergic reactions.”

“Then whose are the neutral controls? And why I am reacting
to them and not the Commander?”

“The neutral controls belong to two members of the crew. At
this stage I am unable to tell you why your reactions are
different to the Commander’s. That is why we are running
continuous scans, so we can monitor the progress of your
bodies’ reactions.”  The Doctor remained calm.

“Whose. Are. The. Other. Samples?” Captain Janeway
controlled her temper with difficulty. The earlier
antihistamines had worn off and the itch was unbearable.

“That is irrelevant to the testing.”

“Doctor. I hardly call being allergic to members of my crew
irrelevant. What happens if I have to shake someone’s hand,
or come in contact with him or her during a red alert
situation? I cannot afford to develop red itchy palms at a
critical time.”

“Agreed. I had anticipated such a situation and have planned
computer-screening scans to take place during the next round
of medical evaluations, to begin tomorrow when the two
hourly RAST scans will be complete. These scans are
providing us with valuable information as to how your cells
are physically reacting, and so we will be able to program
the computer to extrapolate similar information, without
having to resort to testing samples from everyone
individually, at this stage.  I understood you wished this
matter to remain private. A list of ‘safe’ crewmembers will
be forwarded to you as soon as it is available.”

“That still does not negate the fact that the two people who
provided the samples are aware of what is going on.”

“Not at all, Captain. One person is a member of my select
group of Sickbay volunteers, who have agreed to provide
various anonymous control samples on the occasions they are
needed.”

Tom interrupted, “The other set is mine.” Before the Captain
could comment, Tom continued, “Because I’m already here.”

“Scanning please. We are now a few minutes behind schedule,”
said the Doctor, anxious not to have his experiments further
interrupted. He hustled everyone into position and called
for the first scan.

Captain Janeway frowned as she watched the dark head and
fair head bent over the other tricorder, discussing the
findings in low tones. She was allergic to these men. They
were not allergic to each other. Her arm burned and itched
intolerably, and her head ached. She was unaware that she
sighed deeply.

The Doctor looked at the frown lines etched on the Captain’s
forehead. The tricorder he was using for the scans also
registered blood pressure and other standard physiologic
measurements. Her blood pressure had risen since the last
lot of tests.

“Please return in two hours.”

The Doctor gave his order as he administered the next dose
of antihistamines; the Captain’s hypospray also contained an
analgesic and a mild tranquilizer.


*     *      *      *      *      *      *

Chakotay replicated a cup of tea and considered the results
of his hour-long meditation.

The physicality of the allergy was relegated to a small
compartment of his mind as something he could not change.
The Doctor and Tom were dealing with that; all he needed to
do was turn up to Sickbay when requested and follow
instructions, and abstain from physical contact with Kathryn
until the allergy became treatable or was cured.

Kathryn.  She occupied a large portion of his thoughts. He’d
loved her, and desired her, for a long time. Now she was
his. She was intelligent, courageous, curious, incisive,
ethical, beautiful, graceful, had a dry sense of humor when
she let it out, and was dedicated to getting her crew home.
She was also stubborn, bitchy, controlling, uncommunicative
and didn’t like to show dependence.

That was one of the things that were contributing to his
frustration. In times of trouble, as well as good times,
he’d expected a partner who shared, protected when the other
needed, or leaned, knowing support would be provided.
Kathryn didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to share in dealing
with something that affected them both.  The second
frustrating thing was he liked to show his affection
physically; touching, holding hands and so on.  In a way,
that was the most ironic thing about this allergy. She
certainly didn’t have to worry about public displays of
affection, inadvertent or otherwise just now. You could
convey so much with touch. Which brought him to the other
person in his thoughts.

Tom. The sense of rightness he’d felt earlier when sitting
here, holding Tom’s hand, washed over him again. He thought
about the younger man. He was intelligent. Yes, not just an
automaton with superior piloting abilities and a quirky
interest in the twentieth century, but skilled in
holoprogramming, engineering, both aeronautical and
mechanical and conversant in any number of other areas.

He was courageous and curious, both qualities demonstrated
repeatedly in the Delta Quadrant. He was incisive at the
helm and on the pool table in Sandrine’s, not so much in his
relationships or when dealing with others. Chakotay realized
that quality surfaced at times when Tom was depending only
on himself.

Ethical. An interesting consideration. It had taken Chakotay
a long time to come to terms with the fact Tom had not sold
out the Maquis, and to realize there were lines Tom would
not cross. So, yes, Tom was ethical.

Beauty. Spirits, the man had that in spades. Tom had grace
too, in all that he did.  If he were honest with himself,
he’d admit to being physically attracted to Tom from the
moment he’d first laid eyes on him, but he’d been too
involved with Maquis business, and Seska, to consider
following up on his attraction. And then the attraction
became a part of the background of his life, to be thought
about, but never followed on through, and pushed further
back as he pursued Kathryn instead.

Tom’s sense of humor was multifaceted, certainly wicked, not
always manifesting in appropriate times or places, and
sometimes only appreciated after the event.

 Could one say Tom was dedicated to getting the crew home?
He certainly flew Voyager to the best of his ability, when
he didn’t have much to look forward to back in the Alpha
Quadrant, so there was dedication.

Chakotay added loyalty to his mental list. Loyalty to the
Captain., the Jonas incident was proof of that. Loyalty to
his friends, something Harry Kim could confirm. One more
thought pushed its way to the forefront. Tom touched his
friends and lovers in public. He was confident to hold
hands, place an arm on a shoulder, give comfort or bestow a
kiss.

On the other hand, the man was stubborn, argumentative,
secretive and reckless. He had more enemies than friends
among the crew. He knew which buttons to push, and sometimes
pushed too hard or too often. He was also said to be
superficial and shallow.

Chakotay slowly lowered his now empty cup to the table as he
realized all the qualities he loved in Kathryn were present
in Tom.

The voice of the computer reminded him it was time to attend
Sickbay again, and still in slow motion he left his
quarters. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this revelation.
He’d taken a long time to develop a good working
relationship with Tom Paris, partially his own fault as he
conceded he had his own share of blind stubbornness. Until
two days ago, their friendship had been deepening slowly.
Now it seemed to have leapt ahead as Chakotay had found Tom
surprisingly easy to confide in over his current personal
issues, and was looking forward to their further discussion
this evening. The feeling of rightness settled around him
comfortably, and he picked up speed. The sooner he reached
Sickbay, the sooner this next round of scans could be
completed.

The Doctor greeted the Commander as soon as he entered and
ushered him to his seat. Chakotay rolled his sleeve up
without waiting to be asked.

“Are there any new developments?” he enquired.

Tom looked over to the Doctor. He wanted to be the one give
the good news. The Doctor nodded but before Tom could say
anything, he suggested they wait for the Captain to arrive.

“I take it there’s good news then,” commented Chakotay.

“Good news?”

Captain Janeway entered in time to hear Chakotay’s remark.

“Yes, Captain. Good news. I shall allow Mr. Paris to tell
you, as he was the one who has been running the tests on the
various formulas. ”

“We think have been able to synthesize individual formulas
for you both that will allow the body to develop secondary
antigens, at least to sweat, tears and urine at this stage.
The computer simulations have been successful. Now we need
to test it on you. It’s not a cure but it is the first step
in the treatment.”

“Normally I would prefer to wait until the RAST tests are
complete before commencing treatment, however you have been
receiving simple antihistamines during the testing with no
side effects, and the sooner this is resolved, the better,
so we will commence the trials immediately after these
scans. I must ask you to return on a two hourly basis for a
further six hours to monitor the progress of the drugs,”
added the Doctor.

“Agreed. Do it.” The Captain was seated, with her sleeve
rolled up, and sounding more like herself for the first time
in quite a while.

“Lieutenant Paris, I must request you to return to Sickbay
for the scans that will occur after the end of your shift.”

“I’ll stay on and process the results, rather than leave and
come back. If that’s okay with you, Doc.” Tom was not
unaware that he’d shocked everyone, including himself, with
that answer. He smiled wryly at the raised eyebrows.

“It seems the age of miracles is upon us. Your offer is
accepted,” said the Doctor.

The test scans commenced. Chakotay found himself focusing on
Tom’s scent, as he inhaled deeply.

“Damn. Flares. Rescanning.”

Tom muttered to himself. There had been no flares two hours
ago. He couldn’t work out what they were. He grabbed another
tricorder that he’d placed in readiness last time but not
used.

Chakotay tried not to breathe too deeply and watched Tom’s
hands instead.

“Fuck. More flares.”

Tom swore under his breath as he noted the time of the
flares. The readings had been consistent with what was
expected. The flares did not seem to be making any
difference to the test results. Just to be on the safe side,
Tom asked the Doctor to rescan Chakotay when he’d finished
with the Captain’s readings. There were no flares during the
Doctor’s scans.

“We will now commence the first stage of the treatment.”

The Doctor recorded his research entries in his officious
tones and indicated Tom should administer the Commander’s
hypospray and rescan.

“Please wait ten minutes when we will perform another set of
scans, and then you are free for two hours.”

The Doctor turned to the Captain and enquired as to her
headache and other symptoms. He was pleased to see her blood
pressure had returned almost to normal. He suggested a
series of therapeutic massage treatments and was almost
surprised not to receive any argument from her. She agreed
to stay after the final set of two hourly scans that
evening.

Tom uploaded the data from the tricorder with the first
flares from that session. He turned the screen so he and
Chakotay could study it together.

“This is what you call a level one scan, isn’t it Tom?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Would it make any difference if the flares were during
deeper scans? Could you read anything then?”

Tom called up the other data when the flares had occurred.

“Damn it, they are all in the first two levels.”

“I have a theory. When you do this next lot of scans, tell
me before you commence the final ones.”

“Okay. Why?”

“I’ll tell you if my theory works.”

The Doctor announced it was time to begin the next lot of
scans.

Chakotay concentrated on keeping his mind clear.

“Level three,” said Tom steadily. There had been no flares
so far. Chakotay inhaled deeply and once again concentrated
on Tom’s scent.

“There’s a flare!” Tom’s voice rose with excitement. Then as
the flare dissipated, “ Rescanning at level three.”

He looked at Chakotay, who was sitting with his eyes closed.

“Level four.”

This time Chakotay concentrated on the feeling of rightness
he’d experienced when holding Tom’s hands.

“And more flares! Rescanning at level four.”

Chakotay opened his eyes. Something was happening to his
body whenever he thought of Tom.

“So, what’s your theory Chakotay?” asked Tom with interest.
“What did you do to make the flares?”

“Can I talk about it with you later, after you’ve had a
chance to analyze the scans?”

Tom could see Chakotay was stunned at what had happened. He
obviously needed a little time to process his thoughts.

“Sure. See you then.”

“Captain, Commander,” the Doctor’s tone was urgent. “I must
ask that you continue to use the latex barriers until
further notice. There is still the risk of anaphylaxis
developing from intermixing of blood, semen and vaginal
secretions.”

They both nodded and left together. The Captain headed back
to the Bridge for the remainder of her shift, and the
Commander returned to his quarters.

*     *     *     *     *

Tom lay awake, staring into the dark. Chakotay had come and
shared supper with Tom during his break. He’d explained just
what he’d been doing during that seemed to trigger the
flares during the scans; he’d been thinking of Tom. Neither
man could explain the phenomenon.  Something had developed
in Chakotay’s cells that recognized Tom physically, and also
on some mental level. The flares during the fourth set of
scans had been accompanied by minute changes at the genetic
level.  These genetic changes were obviously what were
responsible for the absence of allergic reaction between the
two of them. There were genetic changes to Captain Janeway
as well, but the sequencing of her changes was different to
the changes in Chakotay, and the alterations to her DNA had
not been accompanied by any visible phenomena.  He and the
Doctor were still mapping the alterations in order to find a
cure.

They also skirted around the sense of belonging they felt
when in contact with each other, though each was aware the
other felt something. Tom had been happy to just sit and
talk, and hold hands. They had somehow assumed their earlier
posture, facing each other and finding themselves in a
four-handed clasp.

Chakotay was adamant on one point. He did not want to
discuss what was causing the flares with the Doctor or the
Captain just yet. Tom concurred and they agreed not to
mention any future flares, as they did not seem to be
affecting any of the readings. Chakotay would also try to
keep his mind neutral during the scans.

Tom was going to do one more thing, something he would keep
to himself. He was going to perform the RAST test on himself
with the same four sets of samples. Curiosity as to whether
the allergy ran both ways was getting to him. Since he’d
been working in Sickbay, he hadn’t actually come into
physical contact with anyone other than Chakotay. He knew
his shore leave would be in the third rotation - Chakotay
had told him already when they’d discussed the timing of the
remainder of the tests – so he could monitor his responses
for almost five days.

*    *     *     *     * 

Kathryn and Chakotay spent the next evening together, with
the Doctor’s prophylactic devices. After some discussion
with the Doctor during her massage session, and a great deal
of thought, Kathryn issued an invitation. They donned the
gloves as a matter of course, managed to eat dinner, and
even dance a little. They adjourned to the bedroom and
Kathryn reluctantly retrieved an assortment of packets. They
removed their own clothes and sat on the bed, naked except
for the gloves.

Chakotay commented awkwardly, “Damn, I feel like a teenager
again, like it’s the first time and I’m not sure what to
do.”

Kathryn flushed and nodded. “I agree.  What do we do first?”

“Undo some of the packets, I suppose.”

Chakotay reached for some of the larger packages and
proceeded to unwrap a selection of dental dams.  He picked a
bright pink one up and sniffed it cautiously.

“Strawberry,” he remarked.

Kathryn picked up one of the small foil wrapped packets and
as she squeezed it, a tinny rendition of ‘Bolero’ filled the
air. She raised her eyebrows and began to laugh.

As the atmosphere in the room lightened a little, Chakotay
was reminded who had done this for them and mentally blessed
Tom for his perspicacity.

After undoing a few more packets and laying aside the
condoms, they decided to start with the basics and try
kissing with the dams first. Chakotay kept strawberry pink
one while Kathryn selected a cream colored one that held the
scent of vanilla, and had the added advantage of contrasting
nicely with Chakotay’s bronze skin.

With some experimentation they discovered that
mouth-to-mouth contact needed only one dam, not held too
firmly so that tongues could move, and that keeping the
nostrils free to breathe required some concentration. It was
all too frustrating; so Chakotay moved down to explore a
breast. Here some tension on the dam had to be maintained
and he was unable to use his hands to knead the other breast
or tweak a nipple. They tried it with Kathryn holding the
latex to provide the tension but that was equally
unsuccessful. They joked about replicating a latex bra to
free up their hands. Kathryn was marginally more successful
using the dam over Chakotay’s chest due to his male anatomy
having more muscle and less fat there, but he was still
going to need some sort of bra arrangement too. Kathryn
laughed hysterically at the weak joke, trying to break the
mounting tension. She hiccupped over the joke’s natural
progression to a full body covering, which was obviously
going to be needed if they were going to use the standard
missionary position ever again, and the two of them tried to
continue, making up fantasies involving leather fetishes.

Chakotay handed Kathryn one of the female condoms. She took
it and then dropped it on the bed. Covering her face with
her hands, she began to weep.

“I can’t do this,” she cried.

Chakotay awkwardly patted her shoulder, all he could do with
the gloves, and after a few minutes she stopped and began to
apologize.

“I’m so sorry. I just can’t do this, and what’s more, I
don’t want to.” Kathryn realized what she’d said and turned
a horrified gaze to Chakotay. “Oh God. That wasn’t what I
meant to say.”

He stared at her, feeling the hurt knife through him. He sat
in silence, waiting for her to continue. She’d spent a lot
of time refusing to talk to him and he didn’t want to make
things easy for her.  Sure enough, less than two minutes
passed before she began trying to explain. Her well-ordered
scientific mind deserted her briefly and she rambled about
how important Chakotay’s friendship was to her, that she was
still uncomfortable with the public displays of affection
that he seemed to need, that he needed more from her than
she felt comfortable giving, couldn’t he be content with
just the wanting, and she was ‘The Captain’ after all, with
a responsibility to the whole crew.

Chakotay listened carefully to all she had to say. He’d had
a lot of time to think about what had happened in the three
months of their relationship. In all that time, there had
been something he’d never heard. He leaned forward.

“You don’t really love me,” he said. “ That’s why you don’t
want to try.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s true though, isn’t it? Kathryn, you’ve never said the
words. You have never told me you love me.” Chakotay
practically spat. His legendary stoicism deserted him.

“I…I never lied to you, Chakotay.”

“No. You didn’t. I should have realized. I guess I was so
caught up I never noticed until now you only told me you
wanted me. You’re right, I do want more than you’re prepared
to give. You know what you need? ” He narrowed his eyes. 
“You need someone who’s content with just a sexual
relationship. Someone who doesn’t want or need to be shown
affection. Someone who doesn’t make messy declarations of
love, or want to share the other parts of your life. What
you want is a fuck-buddy. Think about it.”

Kathryn gaped. Chakotay’s bluntness was unexpected. He stood
and peeled off the gloves before beginning to dress, and
then gathered up the unopened foil packets. “I’ll return
these to the Doctor, and let him know we won’t be needing
them. I’ll also organize for us to report to Sickbay at
different times. ”

He said good-bye and left.

Unable to settle in his quarters, Chakotay headed for his
favorite observation lounge. He stood at the window, staring
out with unseeing eyes. The sharp spikes of hurt that had
triggered his outburst had blunted and faded. Now he mostly
felt sad and he mourned the passing of something that had
been special to him.

The door chimed and Tom entered. He padded over to the older
man and touched his shoulder.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

“I broke things off with Kathryn,” said Chakotay without
turning round.

“I’m sorry, Cha,” said Tom softly. His tone was sincere. He
turned Chakotay to face him and hugged him gently. “Do you
want to talk about it?”

Tom leant back and looked into Chakotay’s eyes. He read the
sadness and remnants of hurt there. Without waiting for an
answer, he called for a privacy lock and then Tom led
Chakotay over to one of the couches and pushed him down onto
it. He moved behind and began to massage the knotted up
shoulders. The talented fingers gradually worked all the
kinks out and Chakotay gave a great shuddering sigh. Tom
came back round to the front and joined his friend. He
settled into the corner and turning sideways, pulled the
commander’s back against his chest. His free hand stroked a
muscular arm and he was rewarded with another sigh and a
snuggling motion as Chakotay made himself comfortable.

“Better?”

“Uh huh. She doesn’t love me, she never has,” the words
started tumbling cathartically out of Chakotay’s mouth. “I
didn’t realize till now she never said it. She always told
me how important our friendship was to her. Well, her
friendship was important to me too.  She accepted my
spiritual beliefs…I even helped her find her guide. All
those months of flirting…than when we finally came together,
she never mentioned love. I was so blind.”

Tom kept up the rhythmical stroking as Chakotay talked
himself out. As he listened sympathetically, another part of
his brain reveled in holding the older man and rejoiced that
he was free. Tom hoped Chakotay wanted to explore what was
happening between them as much as he did.

The silence that fell between them was comfortable.
Gradually Tom’s hand stilled. Chakotay hauled himself into a
sitting position. Tom did the same and stamped his feet to
get some feeling back into them before rising and going over
to the replicator. He came back with two mugs of tea.

“No coffee for you, Tom?”

“No. My grandmother swore by tea as the universal panacea
for times of emotional upheaval. She was right, as always.”

“I’m sorry I unloaded all of that onto you. Thanks for
listening. But how did you know I was here?”

“Couldn’t sleep, and just got the urge to come.” Tom’s reply
was laconic, as he scratched his arm.

 Something about the way Tom was rubbing the fabric of his
shirt over his skin attracted Chakotay’s attention. He
suddenly reached forward and pushed up Tom’s sleeve,
exposing a row of angry-looking red raised marks. Chakotay
raised his eyebrows.

“Why, Tom?”

“I had to know. It’s a reciprocal allergy. That’s from
Janeway’s sample, the faint marks are from Sam Wildman’s
set, and there’s no response to yours.” Tom paused, and then
slowly added, “The flares are the same. When I think of you
during the scans, the flares happen. I’ve got DNA changes
too.”

“What did the Doctor say to this?”

“He doesn’t know. I didn’t tell him I was going to do it.”

“You’ll have to tell him.”

“I know. I’ll be telling him as soon as I get to Sickbay.”

“At least you know there’s someone else on board you are not
allergic to.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Well, the two of you haven’t ended up with itchy rashes in
awkward places and had to live through the embarrassment of
being instructed in the use of condoms and stuff by the
Doctor,” replied Chakotay gruffly.

Tom flushed and stared down at his arm for a moment before
looking back up at Chakotay.

“I don’t actually know that. I’m not in a relationship right
now.” He continued derisively, “I haven’t even got a
fuck-buddy at the moment to worry about.”

Chakotay gave a sudden snort of laughter and, at Tom’s
enquiring look, explained, “I told Kathryn what she needed
was a fuck-buddy, but I didn’t think. If she’s allergic to
everyone, that’s out of the question.”

“You told the Captain she needed a fuck-buddy?” Tom was
stunned.

“I think it was a case of ‘many a true word’ though this was
spoken in temper and not in jest, but yes, I did.”

“Well it can’t be any of the alpha shift command staff, as
we screened all of them with the computer yesterday. I may
as well tell you now, as you’ll know in a few hours. Her DNA
reacted to all of them in some degree, though none as badly
as the reaction to the two of us.” A sudden thought struck
Tom and he sniggered. “If she keeps going at this rate,
there will only be one person on board left that will be of
an acceptable rank that she will be able to...”

“Who…hang on, you don’t mean...?”

“Yes. Our beloved Emergency Medical Hologram! No chance of
an allergic reaction there.”

Chakotay couldn’t help joining in with Tom’s laughter. He
sobered abruptly and asked,  “What about me?”

“Your DNA seems to set up a trigger for an initial allergic
reaction, but the areas where the alterations have occurred
cause antibodies to form to deal with the cascade reaction.
It’s weird. This is now happening much faster than the
response time to Sam Wildman’s test sample, and I would
venture to guess if we tried another RAST test with
different samples, your body would produce the antibodies
fast enough there wouldn’t be any visible wheals, at least
to sweat, tears and urine. I still wouldn’t stop the hypos
just yet as I could be wrong.”

“My DNA certainly seems keen on one thing.”

“What?” Tom wasn’t thinking as he asked.

“You.”

“Chakotay…”

“It’s okay, Tom. I’ve only just broken up with Kathryn. I’m
not looking to begin another relationship straight away, and
I wouldn’t think you’d want someone on the rebound.”

“But we can be friends, right?”

“Oh yes, Tom. You’ve been a good friend to me just now, in
fact, everything I could want in a friend.”

Chakotay stood. “I’m going back to my quarters. You’re due
in Sickbay in a couple of hours. Do you think you can get
some more sleep?”

“Yeah. What about you? Are you sure you’re okay?” Tom stood
also.

“I’m okay, thanks to you.” He grasped Tom’s hand, and they
found themselves forming the four-handed clasp. “See you in
Sickbay.”

*     *      *      *      *      *      *





Part 4


Voyager was in orbit around Lineas. Contact with the
President of the Northern Lineal Alliance had been
established and shore leave would commence the following
morning. President Justo organized an efficient program,
whereby trade negotiations would be concluded at the end of
the first morning and the formal social gathering would take
place on the fourth evening, leaving the rest of the time
free for the crew to enjoy a variety of activites. Lineas
had a number of useful minerals that had not been available
from the Resna’viaans, which made the Engineering teams
ecstatic. B’Elanna Torres and Joe Carey were to head the
negotiation team from Voyager. Justo announced he would
assign staff to any crew who would be interested in touring
any of the educational, medical or cultural facilities for
an exchange of information. Meanwhile, there were no
particular taboos that would hinder anyone from having a
good time at the markets or on the beach.

Three days later Captain Janeway presented to Sickbay for
her allergy treatment, prior to leaving for the planet. She
had been persuaded to spend the first day of her shore leave
relaxing on the beach, and much of the strain from the
previous two weeks had dissipated.  Her body still had not
begun to manufacture its own antibodies but the daily
hyposprays had eliminated the itch and kept her allergic
reactions under control. The RAST test reaction sites had
finally faded to two rows of faint pink dots. The computer
generated DNA testing had showed she had apparently
developed varying degrees of allergy to most of the crew,
but none as severe as her reactions to her First Officer and
Chief Helmsman. She had persuaded the Doctor to forgo any
further RAST tests using samples from the different species
among the crew for the time being. The reactions to the rest
of the crew were mostly minor, and did not seem to be
triggered by sweat, so using the hyposprays meant she was
also able to eliminate the need for the protective gloves
when dealing with the crew. Today she was spending the day
with the president as her personal tour guide.

“Doctor, I understand you’ll be visiting the medical
research station this afternoon.”

“Yes, a Doctor Dilippe, head of the Alien Biology
department, is a specialist in immunology. As we are no
further forward developing a cure for the condition
experienced by you, Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Paris,
I am hoping his team will have some new treatments or
techniques we can try.”

“Then I’ll see you there.  Justo has included that
department on the itinerary of places he insisted I must see
that he is taking me around today.”

“That will be useful, especially if they are able to assist
us.”

*     *     *     *     *

Later that afternoon…

“Captain Janeway, may I present the Director of Alien
Biology, Doctor Asten Dilippe. Doctor Dilippe, Captain
Kathryn Janeway of the Federation star ship Voyager.”

“Captain Janeway, welcome to Northern Lineal’s largest
scientific and medical research centre.”

“Thank you Doctor Dilippe, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Captain Janeway, I understand from your Doctor that you and
several of your crew have developed an intraspecies allergy
for no apparent reason that you can determine.”

Asten Dilippe was single minded; when he had heard about the
problems experienced by three of Voyager’s most senior staff
he was keen to be the one to solve it, and had requested all
the pertinent data be sent to him for study, prior to
conversing with Voyager’s Doctor.

“That’s correct, Doctor. We were hoping you would be able to
provide some insight into some different directions for our
research to take, or that you have come across something
similar before and know of a cure.”

“In fact, Captain, if you would answer a few questions for
me, to clarify a few things, I may be able to help you.”

“You know of a cure?”

“It’s possible. Please, come to my office. President Justo,
will you excuse us for a short while?”

“I will return in one hour. Will that be sufficient Doctor?”

“Of course. Of course. Right this way please,” and he led
Captain Janeway down a corridor to his office.

“Your Doctor says your symptoms began a little over two
weeks ago.”

“That’s correct.”

“I understand you visited the Resna’viaans at that time.”

“Yes. Commander Chakotay and I went to the surface for trade
negotiations.”

“Ah yes. We have not yet had the pleasure of meeting your
husband.”

There was a small choking sound, which Captain Janeway
hastily turned into a cough.

“I’m sorry Doctor. Commander Chakotay is my First Officer,
not my husband.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I assure you, it’s the truth.”

“But the Ceremony of Coalescence…Captain, the Prime Resna
would have made it clear to you that no off-worlders were
permitted on the planet during the Ceremony of Coalescence.”

“Shore leave was forbidden for the crew, but I was given
permission to attend in the company of my partner, who was,
at that time, Commander Chakotay.”

“Oh dear, oh dear. I can assume that the Commander is one of
those afflicted with the allergy?”

“Yes, he is. Along with my Chief Helmsman.”

Doctor Dilippe made several tsking noises and shook his
head. He was clearly agitated by the Captain’s revelations.

“Think back for me please, Captain. What was the exact term
the Resna’viaans used when telling you who was permitted on
the planet’s surface?”

“We could only send down a couple who were married or bonded
as life partners. If I recall correctly, the term they used
was ‘resh-viah’.”

“Why then, may I ask, did you and the Commander go down if
you were not married? You were clearly informed of the
requirement.”

“As I mentioned, at that time the Commander was my partner.
While we had not made the commitment of marriage, we were in
a formal relationship. I saw that as qualifying as a life
partner.”

“I understand. You had not been actually bonded.”

“Correct.”

“That still does not explain how your Chief Helmsman came to
be affected. He would have had to be on the planet’s surface
during the ceremony…”

“But he was,” interrupted the Captain. “He wasn’t at the
ceremony, but he was on the planet’s surface.”

“Why?”

“He piloted our shuttle. There were some unusually dense ion
storms that prevented us transporting down. He stayed at the
transport terminus until we were ready to leave.”

“Captain, permit me to request the presence of Commander
Chakotay and your pilot…?”

“Lieutenant Paris.”

“Thank you. Lieutenant Paris.  I need to ask them some
questions, and hopefully have all of you identify something
for me, then I will be able to provide you with some
answers.”

Captain Janeway immediately contacted Voyager and requested
the two men be beamed directly to her coordinates. Within a
few minutes they were present and after introductions, Dr
Dilippe led them to one of the research laboratories. The
EMH was already there, conferring earnestly with one of Dr
Dilippe’s assistants.

“Lieutenant Paris, did you consume any of the native food
while you were on the surface?”

“Yes. One of the Viaan aides brought me a selection of
things later in the evening. They were some of the dishes
being served at the banquet. He said one of my people had
asked that I be provided with supper.”

“That’s right. I thought you might appreciate the
opportunity to sample the local cuisine,” interjected
Chakotay.

Doctor Dilippe waved over one of his assistants.

“Doctor Menga, would you call up the visuals of the
Resna’viaan Coalescent Ceremonial dishes?”

He turned to the Voyager crew and said, “My colleague,
Doctor Barday Menga. Now, please look at these images and
tell me if you remembered sampling any of these.”

The first picture showed something that resembled a scarlet
capsicum, stuffed with a fluffy grain. The second was of a
sliced fungus casserole, served inside tiny edible gourds.
The third and final picture showed another type of fungus
that looked like yellow grilled mushrooms.

The Commander spoke first.

“I had some of all of those. I remember the yellow mushrooms
in particular. They were delicious, but we were unable to
obtain any of them as part of the trade.”

“I’m not sure about the second one, there were so many
courses, but I remember the yellow mushrooms too.” Kathryn
studied the pictures closely.

Doctor Menga turned to Tom. “How about you, sir?”

“They brought me out two platters of various things, mostly
a small sample of each type, but yeah, I had the yellow
mushrooms, as they got me an extra serving when I asked for
it, and I had one helping of each of the others.”

“There’s your answer,” announced Doctor Dilippe. He looked
at the confused expressions around him. “Your allergy is a
message from the Resna’viaan Gods. You partook of the
Ceremony of Coalescence and the Gods have spoken. You are
truly blessed.”

“I’m sorry Doctor Dilippe, but I fail to understand how an
allergic reaction of the magnitude we have suffered can be a
blessings.” Kathryn was adamant as she spoke, and
unconsciously rubbed her arm.

“The Resna’viaan Gods are strange to us. They choose to
demonstrate their approval of various significant decisions
made by their people, not with a personal manifestation and
voiced approval, but by a physical blessing, or otherwise.
When we first began trading with the Resna’viaans some five
generations ago, some of our people were afflicted with the
same symptoms your Doctors report showed you experienced. We
spent many hours researching the phenomenon. We have
determined that consumption of these three dishes sets up a
chain of microcellular responses that causes minute
alterations to the genetic structure.”

“But it’s wrong to interfere with a person’s DNA, their very
being, especially without their permission. They are being
altered against their will…” the Captain’s tone became
increasingly sharp.

“Not exactly,” Dilippe interrupted. “Firstly, you must
remember, this IS a Resna’viaan Ceremony and those who are
present know what they are participating in. Secondly, you
were there, supposedly with your bonded life partner. If you
had been, there would have not been any allergic reaction,
quite the contrary in fact. Thirdly, we have found the
actual genetic alterations that take place in a bonded
couple allows what we call soul-cell recognition to take
place. The potential for this was always there. It just
becomes unlocked, if you will.”

“If I may make a comment here?” The EMH interjected, and
continued, not waiting for permission.

“The concept of cellular recognition was first postulated on
Earth as early as the late twentieth century. A Doctor
Lipton headed the team. His research was primarily on
cellular vibration and was responsible for the leading to
the development of the earliest regenerators, however he had
empirical evidence of cellular recognition between mother
and child over distances of ten kilometers. One of his team
had begun work on the theory that cellular recognition
between non-related persons, specifically those who believed
they were in love, or had found their ‘soul mate’, was also
possible. He was unable to attract sponsorship to further
his research, as the medical profession were more interested
in the regenerators, and it was never followed through.”

The Doctor turned to Captain Janeway. “So you see, there is
no alteration per se, just an allowance of what should have
happened on its own.”

“But that means Chakotay and Tom Paris are…”Kathryn choked,
as she was unable to say the words. Feelings warred within
her; dull anger, embarrassment, disbelief, and
frustration…She clamped them down. She would go on, she was
‘The Captain’.

“Soul-mates.” The EMH beamed at the two men. “Lieutenant
Paris, I now have an explanation for the flares on the
scans, thanks to Doctor Menga. It is simply the visual
display of the energy release during the initial DNA
recognition sequence. It occurs during the first dozen or so
times of the meeting between the two sets of DNA. The
chemicals found in the red capsicum-like vegetable trigger
it.”

“But what about the allergic reaction between the Captain
and the two of us?” asked Tom.

“I can answer that,” said Dr Menga. “It was partially the
fact that you are not soul-mates, and the Gods were letting
you know, and partially the simple fact you are not
Resna’viaan. In the Resna’viaan, the reaction is much
different. You must realize that only a small number of
Resna’viaans take part in the ceremony during any one
season, and not everyone on the planet chooses to take part.
As it is a God’s Blessing, and will reveal if you have made
the wrong decision as to your soul-mate, you can understand
that it is not for everyone.”

“And the Captain’s reaction to the rest of the crew?” Tom
couldn’t resist asking.

“The rest of the crew had not consumed any of the ceremonial
dishes, for which we may be thankful. As we have now
determined via the computer simulations, Captain Janeway has
no soul-mate among the crew, and it is possible she would
have died from anaphylactic shock had any other crew
partaken and set up the DNA recognition sequences.”  The
EMH’s tone was grave.

Doctor Dilippe joined in. “The good news is, we can provide
you with a more efficient treatment that will provide
Captain Janeway with long term antibodies. It will only need
to be administered on a ninety-day basis, instead of your
own current treatment that has to be administered daily. I
will provide you with all of the details for synthesis of
the drug.”

“Asten, I should talk to Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant
Paris. There are some things they need to know.” Menga spoke
urgently.

“Yes. Yes. I had forgotten. Take them into the side office.”
Dilippe waved them away and turned back to the Captain and
the EMH. “Come. I will go over the details of this
treatment.”

Doctor Menga led the two men into the small room, and
indicated they should take a seat.

“Your Doctor has given me a little of the background of the
relationships between the three of you as he understands it,
but I need to clarify a few things. Forgive me if I have any
of the details incorrect. I need tell you a little more
about what the Ceremony of Coalescence actually involves,
and as I have experienced it, I am the best one to discuss
this with you.”

“You have a soul-mate? That you bonded with via this
ceremony?” Tom was deeply interested.

“Yes. My soul-mate is named Dennatak. We bonded five years
ago. First, I think, the remainder of the ceremony. The meal
has been consumed. The couple then attends the temple. They
face one another and clasp right hands, repeating vows
declaring their love. There are no set words, each tells the
other of things that are important to them. It is quite
individual. They then place their left hands over the
other’s right hand, in a four handed clasp.”

Both Tom and Chakotay started at that and turned to each
other, smiles breaking over their faces.

Menga noticed their reaction. “Is there something the
matter?” he asked.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time, umm, holding hands like
that,’ said Chakotay.

“It just felt…right,” added Tom.

Menga smiled. “It does, doesn’t it? It’s symbolic, to
indicate that you will provide support and strength to your
other half in times of need and that if you need support and
strength, the other will be there for you. They unclasp
their hands and the temple guardian makes a small nick in
their left wrists. Now, a single tear from each is mixed
together with a drop of blood from each, along with a small
amount of saliva and a scraping of skin cells. This is then
pressed back to the cut.”

“The RAST test. The procedure is almost the same,” exclaimed
Tom, unable to stop himself from interrupting.

“Your Doctor explained the RAST test to me. I understand it
is not something often used. He did not mention why it was
used on this occasion.”

“I can answer that. I am training to be a medical assistant.
This was the first time that any of the crew had such an
extreme allergic reaction to anything, as our scanners
usually detect potential allergens and neutralizes them
where appropriate. Anything they can’t neutralize, we place
on a list of banned substances. Hence the Doctor thought it
was a good opportunity for me to learn this procedure, in
case we needed to utilize it in the future,” explained Tom.

“Thank you. Now back to the ceremony. The four handed clasp
is resumed and the temple guardian speaks the words of the
God’s blessing. The couple enters seclusion for a period of
sixty hours and they consummate their bonding physically, to
share their personal essence and complete the recognition
process.” Doctor Menga paused, and enquired, “Do either of
you have any questions at this point?”

I do.” Tom spoke up. “Are we telepathic now?”

“Is your species naturally telepathic?”

“No.”

“Then you will not become telepathic.”

“Then how is it that I am sometimes aware of how Chakotay
feels?”

“I can answer that,” said Doctor Menga. “Your own Doctor
pointed out that in your planet’s history, research had been
started on the cellular recognition between soul mates. This
is what you are experiencing. It is more akin to empathy. I
must tell you that you will know when your soul-mate dies in
this life.”

Chakotay nodded, and then asked, “What happens if any part
of the ceremony is not completed?”

“I regret to tell you I do not know. It has been so long
since anyone from our planet has been in such a situation
and the data we have accumulated has mostly dealt with
developing the antigen. I do not know if we ever had an
unacknowledged pair of soul-mates take part in the ceremony.
It was usually those who were not meant to be together who
had been to the Resna’viaan home world and developed the
allergy. For them, we developed the treatment. Now we only
visit at other times in the year, unless we have a couple
that wish to take part in the Ceremony of Coalescence.

“Dennatak has a theory. He is one of the Lineal equivalents
of the Resna’viaan temple guardians and he performs the
Lineal bonding ceremony on the new soul-mates when they
return, so they may live within accordance of our marriage
laws. He believes that as the Gods have determined the
soul-mates, they will find each other and the way will
become clear for some form of bonding to take place. These
are not cruel Gods. I believe him.”

“Would Dennatak be able to complete the ceremony for us? If
we wanted it completed?”

Chakotay didn’t look at Tom as he asked, but moved closer
and grasped Tom’s hand, squeezing it gently. Tom’s jaw
dropped and he stared at Chakotay, lost for words.

“Do you not have someone on board Voyager who would perform
the binding ceremony of your culture?”

“We do, but there is a small problem. Normally Captain
Janeway performs the marriages but in light of our recent
break-up and the fact that she will have to come to terms
with the fact Tom and I are meant to be together, I would
not feel comfortable with her finalizing our bonding. It is
within our regulations for us to be legally joined in an
off-world ceremony that complies with the laws of that
world.”

Tom tugged at Chakotay’s hand. He swallowed several times
and stammered, “You…you want to complete the bonding? With
me?”

“Who else would I want to complete it with other than my
soul-mate?” answered Chakotay softly. He turned to Menga.
“May we have a few minutes alone, please?”

“Certainly.” Doctor Menga left the two men alone. He hadn’t
missed the single tear trickling from Tom’s eye.

Chakotay stood and drew Tom up to stand facing him.

“Tom…I…the last three days…we’ve talked and slain a lot of
dragons during the last three days. Kathryn, B’Elanna, the
Maquis, but I haven’t actually told you how I feel about
you.”

“Wait. Chakotay. Tell me at the bonding ceremony.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. If you’ll wait too, I’ll tell you how I feel about you
at the same time. It will make it really special.”

“Do I have to wait for this?” asked Chakotay, bringing up
Tom’s hands so he could kiss them gently, his brown eyes
sparkling with happiness and something else.

“Not likely…waited long enough,” mumbled Tom against
Chakotay’s mouth, and there was no need for any more
talking.

*     *      *      *      *      *      *

END

Note: Dr Lipton’s research on the vibrational energy of
cells, and the mother-child cellular recognition is genuine,
he just never mentioned anything about regenerators or soul
mates.