Part IV

Rennika frowned, sitting in her quarters, seething in anger. Chakotay was nearly ten minutes late. He was never late.

But that wasn't all that was bothering her.

When she had called upon his location, the computer stated that he was in Janeway's ready room. “ What could they be doing in there?” she wondered outloud. He had been in there for nearly an hour. An image of two hot and sweaty bodies tangled together on top of a desk rushed through her mind and she began to feel sick. “ That bitch!” She murmered. “ She can't have him. She can't! I bet she just wants to--” She stopped speaking abruptly, clenching her fists until her knuckles were white. *I shouldn’t be this worried. It isn’t healthy. Why can’t I trust him?* Then Janeway’s face flashed through her thoughts, and her fears rushed back to her.

Her musings were inturruped by a door chime. She jumped up and was at the door in half a second's time.

“ What took you so long?” She demanded immediately upon letting Chakotay in.

“ It's nice to see you too.” Chakotay said. He was somewhat upset about what the captain had relayed to him. The fact that there was someone hunting her... He tried to forget about that, leaving his worries for another day. “ The Captain, Tuvok and I were working on a few new security measures,” Chakotay told her. He bent to kiss her, but she jerked out of his embrace.

“ You could have told me. I’ve been waiting all this time!” She said angrily.

“ I had no idea it would run so long. Besides, I'm only, what, ten minutes late?”

“ Fifteen.” Rennika stared into his dark eyes momentarily before she quickly forgave him. He was telling the truth. It wasn't his fault. It was Hers. Janeway was probably in on it with Tuvok. She wanted him bad enough to turn the whole crew against Rennika. That's why no one would talk to her.

“ It's okay,” she smiled suddenly. “ I needed a little more time to finish cooking anyway.” Rennika led him over to the table where two glases of champagne sat.

* * *

Two hours later, they lay together, tired after making love. Rennika studied his profile from where she was lying besides him. He glanced over at her with a disarming smile, and he leaned over and covered her lips with his. She met his kiss, feeling his erection growing once again against her. *He's really into it tonight,* she thought. She’d never had a lover in her life that could go on as long as he could. She wrapped her hand around it to encourage it. She stroked it and he moaned into her mouth. Rennika abuptly broke the kiss, but she kept her hand where it was.

“ Chakotay, do you love me?” she whispered.

“ More than anything.” He moaned as she quickened her strokes.

“ More than Janeway?” She asked after a few seconds. She felt his whole body stiffen, and his erection noticeably lost its hardness.

His eyes slipped to hers. “ Why are you so fixated on her? We have nothing but friendship, if you can even call it that.”

She stared at him. “ I can still see it in your eyes. You still love her more than me.”

“ You're imagining things,” he replied bruesquely. Chakotay ran a hand up her arm. “Let's just forget about everyone but Us for a while.”

“ Who do you make love to when you're with me?” She asked, pulling a bit farther away from him. “ Is it me or her?” With a sigh, he abruptly got up and pulled his clothes on.

“ Where are you going?” She demanded.

He turned towards her. “ Rennika, she's my friend. That's all she is. If we can't get close without bringing her up, then I don't know what's going to happen to us. Good night, Rennika.” He pulled on his boots and left her quarters.

Rennika was stunned. She reached up a fist and pounded it against the wall behind her. Her rational side told her to just drop the Janeway issue, but her emotional side got the better of her. *Damn that bitch! That bitch! He's never going to truly be with me as long as she's around!* She thought angrily. She sighed and lay back into the bed with her resentment.

“ We have them on sensors, Prelor,” A helmsman reported to Prelor Thaht. Thaht turned to Mordus.

“ Well, that's your ship,” he said. Mordus leaned forward to see the small, delicate little ship floating across the viewscreen. Small, sleek-- it didn't look very powerful, but looks can be decieving.

“ Take us within their sensor range.” Mordus ordered.

* * *

They were almost at Valcrine when Tuvok reported the Bromalian ships. They had managed to elude sensors until the last minute, and now they had surrounded Voyager.

Janeway frowned and stared at the view screen. “ How many, Tuvok?”

“ There are twelve ships. Six of them are in between us and Valcrine, and six our blocking our exit.” Tuvok replied.

Janeway sat down in her command chair, trying to think of a way out of this one. They had taken on twelve ships over the course of a week. Twelve ships at once? No chance.

* * *

“ Signal for their surrender,” Mordus ordered. *Hell, might as well take the whole ship while they're here.* He thought. He had intended to get his assignment alone, but the High Admiral had insisted that if he got the opportunity to capture the ship, he should take it. He would also triple Mordus’s pay. Even though Mordus didn't go after ships, this was an ample opportunity to try.

The message came back audio only, a throaty, feminine voice, asking to discuss terms.

“ No terms,” Mordus replied sharply. “ We demand full and immediate surrender of you, your ship and her crew. You will comply or you will die.”

The audio comn link was cut off from the other side.

* * *

“ I'm open to suggestions, anyone?” Janeway asked, looking around the gloomy, darkened bridge. They were outnumbered, outgunned, and didn't seem to have much of a chance against the Bromalians. Silence was her only response. She sighed. “ All right, Mr. Kim, locate the lead ship.” Harry did as he was told, and Janeway began to feel an idea edge into her mind.

“ Tuvok, prepare four probes.”

* * *

“ They're going to warp, sir.” One of the officers reported to Mordus. Mordus glanced briefly at Vaila. “ What course?”

“ Straight towads us.” The man replied. “ Warp one and increasing. Impact will be in twenty seconds. Shall we move?”

Mordus shook his head, staring at the viewscreeen where the ship was closing in on them. “ Tell all the ships to open fire.” Even when you knew where a ship was going, it was extremely difficult to hit a ship at warp, so Voyager wasn't slowed down in the least.

“ Ten... nine... eight... seven... six...” the computer counted down. Would she really do it? He wondered. Amaroth had noted her unpredictable personality. Insanity or brilliance. Was she insane, or was she brilliant? This was one bluff he wouldn’t call.

Mordus ordered evasive manuevers. The ship lurched, and Voyager zoomed past, dissapearing from the view screen.

“ Take us about!” He ordered, “ and lay in a pursuit course.”

The people about him scrambled to comply with his orders. One of his troops did a double take of his panel.

“ Sir, they've dissapeared.”

“ Dissapeared?”

“ I can't read it anywhere. We've picked up four different warp signatures forking off from where Voyager was, but we can't determine which one is which.”

“ We'll split up,” Mordus said. “ Three ships to each signature. Maximum warp.”

When Mordus's ship caught up to the warp signature, six hours later, they found a probe. All of the other warp signatures were probes as well. He was puzzled over what happend to Voyager until Vaila answered the question for him as she studied the sensor read outs.

“ Voyager passed us, launched the probes, reached a small moon, dropped out of warp, then circled back around it, hidden from our sensors while they were going around, then went on to Valcrine.”

Ragnar read the sensor readings, then let a faint chuckly escape his lips. It soon grew into a full laugh at the cunning of his enemy. Vaila eyed him warily. She had longed for a day when she could hear and see him laugh, but somehow, this laughter didn't have a pleasant ring to it.

* * *

After that, Mordus began to work like a madman. He spend day and night compiling data, reading psyche profiles of people with similar characteristics to Janeway, and tried to figure out what course Voyager would set next. He got very little sleep and ate even less. Vaila watched him with growing concern as she cajoled him to take care of himself. He had begun to revert back to his former self. He was quieter, more moody, more introverted. She had started to believe that he felt something for her as well, but now it seemed to reverse itself.

Mordus, on the other hand, felt much better than he usually did. More alive. His research gave him something to focus his mind on; he had a clear goal: to capture the game. He was a hunter, and this was his sport, his passion. That was his first objective. He'd worry about the rest of it later.

A new sort of longing filled him. He had been through periods like this before in his life when he had sought to learn about something. He had researched and studied and had learned all that he could until he felt a sense of completion, of conquest, but he had never had that feeling towards a person; it was usually directed towards a hobby or interest of some kind. Now, he still felt he had something to get to in this case. He wasn't quite sure when his fascination would end.

Would it be after she had been captured? After the Bureau had stripped all useful information from her and decided to do away with her? After the newly formed resistance movements had seen their 'figure head' broken? He didn't know. He'd just have to wait and see.

Vaila simply noticed that Mordus was becoming more and more fixated on Janeway every day, and it was finally beginning to scare her.

A very similar thing was going on on the very ship he was seeking. This person was a woman named Rennika Meta. She was monitoring Chakotay night and day and she still couldn't get over the feeling that he was cheating on her. Every time he shared a laugh or touch with a fellow crewmember (especially Janeway), an overwhelming sense of paranoia and jealousy would fill her. She couldn’t even control her own emotions now. A part of her was afraid of the sudden change within her psyche, but that one voice of alarm was drowned out by the overwhelming urgency to protect Chakotay from the other women.

After their spat, she made sure not to mention any of it to Chakotay. If Chakotay, the innocent that he was, knew how much she was dwelling on this, he'd be alarmed and probably leave her. She wouldn't let this happen.

She herself had started to get more and more alarmed with the crew's attitude towards her. She didn't want to draw attention to herself, because she knew Janeway was working with Tuvok to keep Chakotay from her; in fact, she knew that the entire crew was secretly against the pairing. To remain inconspicuous, Rennika reverted back to the sweet, care-free crewmate she had been when she first came to the ship. Even

B'Elanna reported to Janeway that Meta was becoming tolerable. Janeway was glad to hear about Rennika's adjustment to crew life. Her mild jealousy had died down to an acceptance, and she and Chakotay were, quite frankly, better friends now than they had been in a long time. The arguments had died down to a minimum, and they even occasionally had breakfast together. Dinner was never an option because Chakotay was tied up with Rennika around that time.

But still, Janeway couldn't help thinking that Rennika had some sort of hostile undertone to her. When she and Chakotay would pass Janeway, a friendly greeting from Rennika would hold a bit of a challenge. Her eyes would be glazed over and her voice had an edge to it. Janeway tried to make Rennika feel that she had nothing to fear from her, she even spoke to her on social occasions and sometimes invited her, but the other woman still seemed paranoid.

Rennika was an attractive woman. They were the same age, and Rennika would probably be about the same rank as Janeway if she hadn't been stranded for nine years. Janeway didn't have anything to confirm her suspicions until another one of Paris's holodeck excursions.

This time, they were on late twentieth-century Earth. It was some sort of nightclub in New York City, and not nearly as entertaining as the last party.

Kathryn carefully avoided any alchoholic beverages, whether Paris claimed it was synthehol or not, and settled for punch. She drank about two glasses and then decided not to drink any more, reasoning that it was probably spiked as well. She could tell by the way her eye muscles seemed to be functioning differently.

She was about to leave the bar when Rennika Meta came up, alone, for her sixth beer. She seemed clearly relieved to see Janeway. Chakotay was delayed, and Janeway's presence meant that Chakotay wasn't with her.

Kathryn nodded her greeting and began to walk away past her. Rennika then said something. It was droned out by the music, so Rennika grabbed her by the arm and directed her to the outside where she could be heard.

“ You know, Captain,” she said, clearly inebriated, “ if you think this can continue forever, then you're wrong.”

“ Lieutenant?” Janeway asked, puzzled.

“ You know what I'm talking about! Don't even pretend you don't understand!” Rennika said angrily, her words slurred by the alchohol. “ I saw you two on the planet today!” Janeway knew who she was talking about immediately, and remembered earlier when she and Chakotay were with Overlai, the Prime Minister of T'Kala Prime. It had been nothing but business, but she had noticed Rennika watching them the whole time.

“ Are you implying something, Lieutenant?” She asked quietly.

“ You want him, but he's mine! *Mine!*” Meta's voice had risen to a yell. “Keep away from him!”

Janeway snapped into a proffesional manner. “ Lieutenant Meta, I assume you're reffering to Commander Chakotay.” Rennika opened her mouth to speak angrily again, but Janeway spoke first. “ I am well aware of your relationship with him, and I have no interest in intervening,. And as for keeping away from him, Commander Chakotay is my first officer and a member of this crew, and it's none of your goddamn business whether or not I go near him. Is that understood?”

Rennika was half stunned, trying to hear Janeway over the buzzing in her ears. She had never heard the Captain speak so harshly to anyone, and it shocked her. “Understood,” She muttered. *What the hell was I thinking?* She wondered. *No, I wasn't thinking. That's why I did it.*

“ Now, if you'll excuse me.” Janeway simply brushed her off and proceeded back into the party. She felt a slight surge of triumph when she put Meta in her place. No, the woman had no right to speak to her like that, but she had to take in the fact that she was drunk. Janeway certainly remembered some very dumb things she'd done when she was drunk. But still, something about that confrontation had unnerved her. Meta couldn't seem to let go of the fact that she and Chakotay were good friends and nothing more... She shook it off, deciding not to let her worries ruin her night. So she proceeded to leave the party like she had originally planned, unaware of two eyes burning holes in the back of her head.

* * *

Chakotay didn't like the fact that the Bromalians had been able to predict that Voyager was going to Valcrine. As it seemed, neither did Janeway. She ordered them to take extra precautions when planetside: not to give any unnecessary information or tell anyone where they were heading next.

Enn Traal, the leader of a small colony they recently had traded with, gave her a few suggestions about where to go next. The senior staff had narrowed it down to two different planets. Either Calruba-Scerne, or Alderragon. Alderragon had more supplies and a larger population. However, Janeway didn't like the fact that Mordus seemed to be learning so much about her decision making process.

“ The sensible place to go would be Alderragon.” Janeway observed. “So I believe we should set a course for Calruba-Scerne.”

Chakotay nodded his agreement. He was as worried about this as she was. Maybe more so. He wasn't just worried about the ship, he was worried about her. Why shouldn't he be? There was a merciless killer after her. He watched her run the meeting. Yes, he was as worried as hell about her, but her collected manner gave him confidence. She would come out all right. No matter what the outcome, no one would get Kathryn Janeway without a fight. They'd have to fight her until the end, and before that, fight him until the end.

He knew she could take care of herself, but he still felt the need to stay by her side. He would never let anything happen to her. Even if she was just a friend now, he still cared deeply about her. And he knew it was mutual. But he had dealt with his feelings a long time ago (or so he thought,) so he watched his friend run the ship in peace. * * *

Meta was looking at Chakotay who was looking at Janeway who had occasional blushing glances at Chakotay, then both the commanding officers looked away in embarrasment.

They were at the Second Annual Talent Night. Meta was paying more attention to the man next to her than she was on Lieutenant Carey's jig.

Chakotay and Janeway were hardly paying any attention either. Chakotay felt half ashamed to be sitting next to Rennika and thinking of Janeway, but he couldn't help remembering what happened earlier today.

The crew was on shoreleave on a deserted planet. It was the first shoreleave they'd had in nearly six months, and it was only a day long excursion. They had to make haste to be out of there by the time the Bromalians reached the planet.

The place was beautiful, full of forests and meadows and mountains. It reminded him of New Earth. It was purely by coincidence that he ran into Kathryn. They began a casual conversation like always.

“ Does this place remind you of somewhere?” He asked her. Janeway met his eyes and smiled.

“ New Earth?” She asked, and he nodded. “ Yes, it reminded me of that, too.” Kathryn's smile soon faded and she sank down to the grass and closed her eyes, exhaustion sweeping over her face.

“ Something wrong?” He was down besides her in just an instant.

She hesitated for a moment before answering, “ I never thought, when we first were stranded, that I'd miss it once I left,” she murmered. “ Life was so simple there. It was just you and I, no command decisions, no crew to watch over, no danger.” Without knowing it, Chaktoay brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. He had meant to move his hand again, but instead it remained there, carressing her. Her eyes were still closed. He had expected her to pull away, but instead she leaned her head into his hand, cherishing the touch. Chakotay could tell that all this Bromaline Order and Mordus business had taken its toll on her, but he hadn't known until this very moment just how much, not noticed how much weight she had lost or the dark shadows under her eyes from lack of sleep. He had been trying so hard not to think about her that he had never noticed any of this.

“ What's wrong, Kathryn?” Her eyes opened upon the use of her name.

“ Christ, Chakotay, how much longer can we keep it up?” She asked, her weariness evident in her eyes and haggard expression. “ Mordus gets closer and closer to us every day, we have to speed through negotiations because we're afraid he'll arrive before we leave, and we've begun to find fewer and fewer people willin to trade with us. We can't go back, and I don't know how much longer we can continue on. I don't know how much longer *I* can continue on.”

“ Kathryn,” he said, taking her hand. “ We'll make it through this. I promise you. Whatever happens, I'm here for you. You will lead us on; I have no doubt about it.”

She gazed into his eyes for a long moment, then a smile crept across her lips. Before Chakotay was exactly sure what was happening, his lips were pressed against hers. At first, she was unresponsive. Then, her lips softened against his, and he found himself gently parting them as his tongue pushed into her warm mouth. Her arms were around him, her hand on the back of his head, in his short cropped hair. It was pure ecstacy, for the moment. When they both realized what they were doing, they pulled away.

“ I'm sorry, that was uncalled for,” she whispered.

“ No, it's my fault,” he said, then gave her a sheepish grin. “If Rennika finds out, she'll kill me.”

Upon mention of Rennika's name, a flush crept into Janeway's cheeks. “ You really care about her, don't you?” She asked.

Chakotay glanced at her. There was no jealousy evident in her expression or voice, just a sort of wondering. “ Yes. Yes I do.” He replied. Janeway glanced away, eyes distant.

“ What is it?” He asked.

Janeway glanced over at him. “ I don't want to offend you...”

“ It's all right. I won't get mad,” he assured her, promising himself that he wouldn't get into a fight with her when she was already so vulnerable.

She sighed and said, “ Chakotay, there's something about her that... bothers me.”

“ And what's that?” Chakotay asked, becoming wary.

“ During Paris's last holodeck excursion, she came up to me drunk and accused me of trying to steal you away from her,” Janeway said. “ Not only that, but the woman has a bad attitude, Chakotay. She has no respect for her superior officers and seems to think she deserves some kind of special treatment.”

“ She's been stuck out her for nine years,” Chakotay snapped. “ I think she does deserve some special treatment. It's just overwhelming for her being in a place with more than ten other people.”

“ Chakotay--” Janeway began, but he wouldn't hear it.

“ I cannot believe you!” He stood up, forgetting his promise to himself. “ You can't seem to give her a chance! You let your own biases get in the way of your judgement of her!”

Janeway was now on her feet as well. “ How can you defend her! If you see nothing wrong with her behavior, then by god, you must be blind! She can't relate to other people and she watches you like a hawk! It's like she thinks that everyone is out to seperate the two of you!”

“ Oh really?” Chakotay asked, eyes blazing. “ Maybe she has cause to.”

“ What are you talking about?” Janeway demanded, incredulously.

Chakotay opened his mouth to reply, then closed it. “ You know what? It's not even worth explaining. I think you know well enough.”

Janeway was now furious as well. “ Listen to me, Commander,” she hissed, not caring what effect her words had on him at this point. She was out for blood. “I don't care enough about you to be jealous, and if that's what you're suggesting, then you're more of a self-deluded bastard than I thought!” And with those words, she turned away from him and stormed off, in blind fury.

He was stung and disgusted as well, and stalked off in the opposite direction, both of them forgetting the tender moment that had passed between them just seconds before.

And now, she was sitting a few seats down from him, next to Tuvok, eyes on the stage, even though he knew her concentration wasn't on the show. She was tense, as was he, but there was something more than that. The same exhaustion he had seen earlier today was even more appearant to him, but she was trying her best to hide it behind a mask of casual indifference.

Chakotay sighed aloud, prompting Rennika's curious stare. He smiled reassuringly at her, and he began to feel guilty about their argument. He shouldn't have even brought up the subject of Rennika when she was in the state she was in. But still, even with his guilt, his anger lingered. What *right* did Kathryn have, after she refused him, to be jealous over Rennika? Because he knew Janeway too well to know that she wasn't jealous.

* * *

Kathryn felt his eyes on her again, and she tried to keep her cheeks from coloring. She knew her last remark during their argument was a low blow, but she had been furious. Partly, because he was being so damn stubborn, and partly because he was so very close to the truth. Kathryn was jealous of Rennika, no matter how much she told herself that she had accepted their relationship. But there was no denying the fact that Meta was a control-freak when it came to Chakotay.

She sighed and turned her attention back to Crewman Nabusha Tondor who was demonstrating a dance form from ancient Africa. The moves were all graceful and fluent, and Kathryn found herself soon mesmerized by the dancing. It was the last act of the show, and Kathryn could tell why it had been saved for last.

Nabusha finished her dance and Janeway joined in on the applause. She knew that she had to wait for the rest of the performers to come out again for another bow, and then, as a duty of the captain, go and talk to the performers, congratulating them all for their performance. When the time came, she wearily dragged herself out of her seat. She was tired, both physically and mentally. Each step felt like an effort in itself, and her feet felt like iron weights.

Her mind was only half paying attention as she congratulated and shook hands with them. She spent very little time on each person, and was done as quickly as possible. Kathryn soon was out of the holodeck and walking back to her quarters. They were located right next to Chakotay's quarters.

She sighed and closed her eyes momentarily. She was too tired for another confrontation. She just wanted to get into her quarters as quickly as possible, avoiding talking to anyone on the way. * * *

Their friendship was once again in peril. They only spoke to one another when absolutely necessary, and never even agknowleged each other off duty, unless a crewmember was watching. Rennika had finally gotten what she wanted, and yet, it wasn't quite right. Chakotay still wasn't completely hers. He seemed to be so sad all of the time, melancholy. He didn't invite her to go out half as much as he used to.

She was getting more and more frustrated, often bored. *If Janeway was out of the way,* Rennika would think, *then it would be different. She's just a constant reminder of their failed relationship.*

Rennika wasn't quite sure what to do about it until one day it was all laid out for her. They had been traveling through Bromaline space for a little over a year now, still with no sign of reaching the end. Outside of encounters with the Bromalians and a few other miscellaneous adventures, not much happened to them. One time, a virus broke out among the crew, and several crewmembers fell ill, among them B'Elanna and Carey. Rennika was in charge of engineering until they recovered.

She enjoyed it, being in charge in some ways again. It gave her a sense of empowerment that she hadn't felt in a long time. The one bad thing was that she had to frequently talk to Janeway as part of her duty, but even that wasn't too bad. Janeway was a good conversationalist, and entertaining to listen to, and at least Rennika knew that when she was in engineering, she wasn't on the bridge with Chakotay. However, when they did talk, their conversations were strained and unnatural, as if they both couldn't help remembering their encounter at Paris's last party.

There was a senior staff meeting, and since the victims of the virus still hadn't recovered, she was invited as engineering liason. It bored her to listen. There was nothing for her to really do other than answer occasional inqueries about ship's systems. She, instead, spent the time studying Chakotay. He was beautiful. More so now than ever. His faced was perfectly chisled out, as if in stone, like he was an ancient Greek God. And his body, she knew, was the same way. A smile that she couldn't restrain played across her lips.

Her attention was piqued when Janeway began to speak about their next stop. A planet called Omri-Wor. Janeway was talking about the xenophobia of their culture, and they'd allow only one or two people on the planet at a time.

“ So I guess that means no shore leave,” Paris remarked. Rennika resisted he urge to sneer at him, that smart ass. But then again, what kind of a person could he be if he was involved with that bitch, B'Elanna Torres?

“ Unfortunately, Mr. Paris, we wouldn't have the time even if they would allow us,” Janeway said, frowning. “ From what I hear, our old friend, Mr. Mordus, and his fleet of ships are in the area, and we'll need to finish this before they get over here.”

“ They'll undoubtably be alerted to our presence the minute we arrive at the planet,” Chakotay said, leaning forward. “ So that will leave us about a day to finish everything up and follow through with the trade.”

The briefing continued on, but Rennika was frozen, an idea forming in her head. She wanted to get rid of Janeway, so why not kill her? If she gave her to Mordus, not only would Janeway be out of the way for good, but Mordus might not have a reason to pursue Voyager anymore.

When the briefing was over, she was walking back to engineering, growing more and more excited by the minute. It would work! She already knew that Janeway would be one of the two people on the planet, so she simply had to tell Mordus where the negotiations were being held.

But then if he knew that, he'd know where Voyager was, and he'd capture the ship as well.

But not necessarily...

A warning bell went off in her head-- that tiny, rational voice imploring her to see reasons. Her emotions won out.

She ignored the voice.