SYMBOLS

CHAPTER 49

Throughout the night, they took turns eating from the food containers Masson had supplied. Most of the food was mashed to pulp and it tasted sour, but it filled their growling stomachs.

Janeway lauded the potential energy content of the food and the fact that at least they were eating something. Telling them about the wilderness training she'd been subjected to at Starfleet Academy, she recalled the strange and horrible tasting things she'd had to eat, just to survive. Chakotay and Tom then joined in with their own Academy endurance stories.

Chakotay indicated that the little girl was asleep and Janeway shifted Tayna's floppy head from her arm, which was serving as a substitute pillow, to relocate the child's head to her lap. She adjusted Tayna's dress, now dry, and again covered her with the jacket.

"She badly needs a bedtime routine. She's so tired she can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, even sitting up," Janeway said.

"I know the feeling," Tom said yawning.

Janeway gently ran her fingers through Tayna's matted curls to try and untangle the knotted strands that were splayed out over her legs. While unconsciously toying with the sleeping child's hair, she commented that Tayna's ragged appearance reminded her of the street urchins she'd seen on the west side of the city. Then she glanced up and caught Tom staring at her, a big smile on his lips.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

Tom turned unusually coy.

"Something must be amusing you, Mr. Paris?" There was a definite edge in her voice which reminded Tom that the captain didn't like being kept in the dark.

"Tayna sure has taken to you. It suits you. Parenthood, I mean. You're very natural with her." Tom surprised himself in speaking so openly. He wondered if he was going to have to scrub the plasma manifolds with his toothbrush for the comment. Chakotay had got a serious backlash when he'd made a similar remark the previous day. But Janeway just smiled at him.

"I've had three days to practice," she replied casually and moved her fingers away to play with the sand instead.

Hours elapsed and the last few strands of the lantern wick sizzled and burnt out. The fire of lit sticks still glowed red but the cave was considerably darker without the glow of the lantern.

Not wanting to wake the child, the three officers spoke in whispers. They reminisced about some of the alien races they'd encountered in the Delta Quadrant, and another time they had spent a couple of nights in front of an open fire. The Kazon Nistrim had been responsible then and the whole crew had been forced to become cave dwellers.

"It's a shame we don't have Tuvok with us. We could've passed the night sculpting spears, like you did last time," Tom joked.

"Or bows and arrows," Chakotay joined in.

"At least we don't have to listen to his Vulcan poetry," Tom said.

"It's difficult enough staying awake this late!" Chakotay returned.

"Enough of that," Janeway said in defense of her old friend, trying hard to keep a straight face, while Chakotay and Tom continued their jibing. They were on a roll. It was very late and they were so tired, they ended up in uncontrolled fits of laughter.

Paris wiped the tears from his eyes; he was still chuckling.

Chakotay settled down a little faster. He lifted Tayna's sleeping head so the captain could slide her legs out of the way. She had sat still, taking the child's weight for a long time and her legs had succumbed to the feeling of pins and needles.

Janeway paced the sandy floor to reduce the numbness. She touched her long cream dress that was laid out on the large rock, noting the material had dried. Picking up her dress, she felt her way through the semi-darkness and changed back into her own clothes. Tom caught the shirt she tossed at him. The material was still warm and he threw it over his shoulders.

The three officers yawned in unison as they sat around the campfire.

"What I wouldn't give for a nice warm bed and the lull of Voyager's impulse engines," Tom said.

"Or a cup of coffee," Janeway intoned. She ground her hands into her eyes. She was losing the struggle to stay awake.

Paris smiled at her. There were dark circles under her eyes, a noticeable sign she'd had very little sleep for several days.

"We could do two hourly rotations of keeping watch until sunrise. That way we'll all have a chance to get some sleep," Paris suggested. But no one actively volunteered to take the first shift.

"It looks like we're going to have to draw straws," Janeway said after a few minutes.

Chakotay found a few small, scattered twigs on the cave floor. He bunched them in his hand and they each selected a stick. Janeway measured her twig against the others and found she had the shortest.

"There goes my winning streak... I'd have given anything for a couple of hours sleep," she said offhandedly.

"Anything?" Tom said with a scheming glance at Chakotay. "We might be open to negotiation." Both now wore wicked grins. Tom whispered something to Chakotay and the two officers laughed fiendishly. They were co-conspirators, grown men suddenly transformed into adolescent boys.

The look on Janeway's face said she knew she'd left herself wide open, which was very unlike her. It must have been the late hour and her extreme level of exhaustion.

"Anything within reason," she promptly clarified. "I don't hand out unearned promotions and I'm not going to walk around the bridge in my underwear."

"Any other ideas, Chakotay?" Tom said, elbowing him. He and Chakotay both laughed.

Janeway glared at Paris like she wished she'd had him transported back into the Delta Flyer along with the others.

"How about an hour of cooking lessons with Neelix?" Chakotay suggested with some semblance of sanity. He'd told Paris how much she hated cooking anything.

"Deal!" Janeway returned rather quickly. "On the condition you have to eat whatever we cook. Feeling brave, Commander?"

"Definitely! Just let me know in advance so I can replicate some antacid."

"And I'll enjoy watching it all on A Briefing with Neelix. Should make interesting viewing," Tom said, as he leveled out a bed in the sand and tried to get comfortable on the ground.

Janeway soon did the same, lying down beside Tayna.

It wasn't long before everyone stopped talking and the cave became quiet.

Tom watched the flames dance in the open fire. He saw Tayna roll over and snuggle up next to the captain seeking added warmth. In turn, Janeway pulled the child into her arms, whispering something into her hair, before she kissed her lightly and closed her own eyes.

Tom glanced over at Chakotay who was adding a few more sticks to the fire not too far away. Life aboard Voyager could get very interesting and very complicated if events continued on their current course. He couldn't wait to get home and tell B'Elanna everything that had happened since she'd left.