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Chakotay stepped into the mess hall, smiled at the crew as he walked by, and summarily left out the far door.
“Computer, locate Captain Janeway.”
Captain Janeway is on deck five, section two alpha.
He took the turbolift three decks down in search of his missing lunch partner. She should have been done watching Naomi by now.
“Computer, locate Ensign Wildman and Naomi Wildman.”
Ensign Wilman and Naomi Wildman are in the aeroponics bay.
Odd. He asked the computer to confirm the captain’s location and went up to the door of Sam’s quarters to ring the chime. No answer. He rang again and a soft, distracted voice bid him entry. Her back was to the door, and she didn’t even turn around to see who was coming in.
“Ready for lunch?” he asked as he sidled up next to her.
“Hmm?” She glanced up at him for hardly a second and turned her eyes back down.
On the table before her rested a large children’s book splayed open with an image of a spiral galaxy taking up the entirety of both pages. Chakotay leaned forward and lifted one side of the book.
“Exploring the Universe for Children,” he read and put it back down.
Kathryn nodded and took a breath. She pointed at a spot in a messy star cluster that didn’t look much different from the rest of the galaxy on the page. She didn’t speak, just tapped her finger there a couple of times before leaning back.
Chakotay put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. “We’ll get there.”
She fully looked up at him and he was surprised her eyes were dry and devoid of emotion. “We have to.” She stood from the couch and closed the book while clearing her throat. “Did I miss lunch while I was dreaming?”
Chakotay smiled and held out his arm for her to take. “Neelix always waits for the captain before closing down the mess.”
Janeway took his arm and laughed a little. “If he waited for me, the mess would always be open.”
He leaned in close to whisper conspiratorially. “He hasn’t actually closed it in years. Sometimes he just shuts the lights off.”
Kathryn snorted and slapped his arm playfully. “Stop it.”
Chakotay smiled and led them to the mess hall for their lunch date.