"Get us out of here," Janeway directed in Harry Kim's direction, as she and Neelix stepped out of the turbolift and onto the bridge.
"What happened?" Chakotay asked. He stared at the dry blood on her face.
"Explanations later." Her voice was tense.
Tom Paris' sandy blonde head was nowhere in sight and Janeway noticed Ensign Hamilton had taken over the helm.
"Where's Mr. Paris?" she asked with a look of concern.
"He's in sickbay. Nothing serious," Chakotay replied.
Voyager's engines powered. The ship disconnected from the pylon, rapidly gaining momentum as it sped away from the space station.
"Warp four," Janeway directed. The starship raced into the distance and the Anawin space station moved out of sight.
"There are no vessels in pursuit," Tuvok said.
Janeway studied the myriad of stars that streamed across the viewscreen. She thought about High Councilor Zeron. Her experience with the Anawin leader had not been at all positive. Now they would need to find another source of supplies.
She turned to her left. The crew were all hard at work and the bridge was so quiet she could hear her own strained breaths.
"You need to go to sickbay," Chakotay said, breaking the silence.
Janeway spun around to face him, poised for rebuttal. She could think of a million other things she needed to do first.
"No excuses." He cut off her thoughts. "We're not being followed, so we can all relax a bit now. Tuvok can take over the bridge." There was determination in his voice. He stood up and extended his hand in the direction of the turbolift. He'd already lost one argument today and was making it pretty clear that, this time, he wasn't going to relent.
Janeway could feel the congealed blood that was matted in her hair. She massaged her throbbing temple and felt the tight ninja headband Neelix had created from his torn sleeve. Turning her blistered hand palm up, she noticed the dead skin had begun to separate from the underlying tissue. She wondered how frightful she really looked, that her disheveled state could draw such a troubled expression from Chakotay. Then she smelt the distinct odor of burnt flesh and felt the seared pain receptors in her fingers start to regain some sensation, and figured it might in fact be a good time to go to sickbay.
"That must've been some trade mission," Chakotay said, following on her heels as they entered the turbolift.
She nodded her head and then closed her eyes. Suddenly exhausted, she was thankful for the familiarity of Voyager and stood silent, for the moment, choosing not to enlighten him any further.
***
"Join the queue," the Doctor said with an exasperated sigh, as he heard the sickbay door slide open.
Tom Paris sat on a biobed. His reddened face was slowly returning to normal as the Doctor ran a dermal regenerator over it.
"Welcome back, Captain," Paris said.
"Minor facial burns," the Doctor commented. "Lieutenant Paris had an encounter with an exploding console." The Doctor's usual nonchalant bedside manner quickly provided the captain with a diagnosis of Paris' condition.
"Biobed one, please." Medical tricorder already in hand, the Doctor examined the burn on her palm and forearm. He efficiently mended the seared skin. Then carefully he unwrapped the makeshift bandage Neelix had tied around her head. The last few strands of the ripped sleeve were stuck to the seeping cut and the Doctor worked gingerly to free the threads from the wound.
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Fanfiction"You really care about her, don't you?" Tom said, but the commander didn't answer. So Tom clarified his statement. "The Captain, I mean." "I have the utmost respect and admiration for Captain Janeway." Chakotay's response had been a long time comin...
