Part Ten Kathryn Janeway woke just as the second sun had risen. She stretched lazily before she got out of bed. She put on her robe, fetched a towel, a bar of soap and her shampoo, then left her shelter and headed to the nearby lake for her morning bath. She wasn't worried that anyone would disturb her. The crew knew that she bathed first thing every morning and wouldn't interrupt her. They respected her too much to do that. When she reached the lake, Janeway put the towel, soap and shampoo on a rock by the edge. Then she slid off her robe and pulled her nightgown over her head, letting it fall onto the robe now lying on the ground. For a moment Janeway stood shuddering in the slight morning chill, then she removed her underwear and stepped out in the water. She walked out until the water reached her breasts, then submerged herself completely. When she emerged a short while later, she headed towards the rock and picked up the soap and shampoo. Then she went to the small waterfall and put the soap on another rock before opening the bottle of shampoo and pouring some into her hand. She put the bottle beside the soap and quickly washed her hair, then stepped under the waterfall to rinse it. Next, Janeway retrieved the soap and cleaned her body. When she was done, she picked up the items again and returned to the shore of the lake. She had almost reached it when she saw that Tuvok was standing there beside her clothes, holding her towel. For a moment she felt surprise, but then she smiled slightly at the idea of being pampered by the Vulcan. She came out of the water and approached Tuvok. When she reached him, he wrapped the towel around her, then stepped back. She hid her slight disappointment, having expected him to dry her off. However, she wasn't able to hide her surprise when he spoke. "Captain, the crew wishes to speak to you," he informed her in his usual calm voice. Janeway lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "They do? This early?" When Tuvok nodded, she asked, "Can't it wait until I've had my coffee?" "No, Captain, it can't wait," B'Elanna answered. Janeway turned her head, her eyes widening in shock when she saw the entire crew standing a few feet away. They'd been so quiet that she hadn't even noticed them until B'Elanna spoke. "Lieutenant, what is this about?" she asked a bit self-consciously. Tuvok left Janeway and moved to stand beside B'Elanna. "We wish to know why Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Paris and the doctor were left behind," he stated. Janeway frowned at him. "You know why, Tuvok," she said. "I told you, B'Elanna and Harry the reason yesterday. If you doubted my words, you should've said something." "At the time, I did not doubt your explanation, Captain," Tuvok said. "However, I have since been informed that the doctor had finished his surgery on Lieutenant Paris *before* you gave the order to evacuate Voyager." "We didn't have time to wait for them," Janeway defended her actions. "That's a lie," B'Elanna growled. "I know for a fact that the doctor finished the operation on Tom forty-five minutes before we had to leave the ship. There was *plenty* of time to beam him and the doctor aboard one of the shuttles." "Are you *sure* the doctor had finished Tom's surgery so long before we left?" B'Elanna narrowed her eyes, suspecting where the captain was going next. "Of course I'm sure. I spoke to the doctor shortly after he'd finished." Janeway frowned again. "If you knew that Tom was out of surgery, why didn't you inform me?" she asked, attempting to put the blame on the chief engineer. B'Elanna met Janeway's eyes head on. She knew what the captain was trying to do, and wasn't about to let her get away with it. "Because, Captain, the doctor had already informed you." "No, he didn't. He probably meant to and then forgot about it." Janeway had realized that B'Elanna wasn't going to accept the blame so she tried to hold the doctor responsible. He wasn't present and couldn't defend himself. B'Elanna's face showed her disdain. "You know as well as I do that the doctor didn't forget to inform you of Tom's condition," she said. "I asked him if he'd told you and he said he had." She held up a hand when she noticed that Janeway was about to speak. "And unlike you, the doctor had no reason to lie." Janeway looked intently at B'Elanna, wondering what the other woman knew. "Why would I lie?" "Because you're afraid of how the crew will react when they discover the *real* reason you left Tom behind," came B'Elanna's answer. Janeway stared at the engineer speechless. Would Tom have told B'Elanna what had happened between them? She never thought he would. Then again, she'd been wrong about that little bastard on many occasions. "So?" Harry finally prompted, annoyed by her silence. "Is it true? Did you really think that Tom would be your whore?" B'Elanna sent Harry a sharp glance, but didn't say anything. She knew that he didn't doubt what she'd told him. It was just that he had admired and respected Captain Janeway and needed to hear it from *her* before he could fully believe that she would do something like that. "Whore? No…" Janeway felt totally naked in front of them despite the towel around her. Under B'Elanna's gaze, she was forced to go on. "Well, I needed company… I have needs too, you know. I thought Tom would have been willing. You know, no strings attached. For helping me, I thought I could offer him other things, like additional holodeck time. That's where Tom blew it completely out of proportion." "Basically, you offered to pay Tom to sleep with you, like he's some kind of a whore," Harry said quietly. "And now you're claiming that he 'blew it out of proportion'?" He sent Janeway a disappointed look. "That's called sexual harassment. You're lucky he didn't bring you up on charges." ***** On Voyager, SicA lay on the bed in the captain's quarters. An onlooker would be excused for thinking that the alien was asleep. The only discernible movement was the raising and falling of its chest as it breathed. However, SicA wasn't sleeping. It was making a few adjustments to its body, making itself female. Since its chosen mate was male, SicA had decided to become fully female. It didn't think that its mate was attracted to members of his own gender. SicA knew it could be wrong about that, but found it unlikely. It was very rarely mistaken about such things. The alien shook off its thoughts and turned its full attention to the task of becoming female. It was certain that its mate would appreciate the effort.   TBC