Chapter Five: Trestune Disclaimer and notes in Chapter One. SD 7607.28 Delta Quadrant Yintaghian Homeworld Conference room & trading post "Well, thank you for your very generous offers, Captain. I certainly wish you well on your- ah, ah, ah-choo!" "Gesundheit!" Captain Janeway smiled at the Prime, who had just sneezed. He sneezed again, and then again, and once more before glancing at her for an explanation. "Gesund-what's-it?" he asked, looking confused. "Oh!" Janeway said, as if she had forgot that she and the alien race was different and had different customs. True, the two species did look similiar, since the only difference was that the Yintaghians had a tiny pair of useless wings on their backs, but she still should have remembered their situation. It had proved most unforgettable, time and again. "Gesundheit. It's a tradition of my people that started as a means to keep the demons that exited your head when you sneezed out." "Oh," the Prime said simply, understanding now. His people, too, had a similiar custom. "In my culture, we call it Trestune." He sneezed again. "Well, then trestune to you. I hope it isn't that serious," Janeway replied, happy that she had learned something new that day. "Thank you, Captain. You are most kind. But do not worry, it is only a slight cold. It will be gone in a few days." "Oh, all right. As long as it's not that serious, then I won't insist you be checked out by our ship's doctor." "No, no, it shall pass. Now, what was I saying? Ah, yes, I wish you well on your journey. Have a safe passage through our space, and may the deities be with you," the Prime finished. Janeway smiled, then stood. "Thank you. I wish you well as well. It's been nice doing business with you, and if you ever do get to see Earth, be sure to look us up." The Prime smiled back. "Of course I will." SD 7607.28 Delta Quadrant U.S.S. Voyager Bridge "I'm starting to get worried about the Captain. She said she'd be back five minutes ago," Harry Kim whined to the first officer, Commander Chakotay. Chakotay grinned. "I'm sure she's just running a bit late. Sensor logs indicate that she beamed aboard two minutes ago anyway. Besides, she's a big girl. She can take care of herself. She should be on this bridge, oh, right about now." As he said the word now, the turbolift doors opened, and in walked Captain Janeway, wearing full Starfleet regalia. Harry and Chakotay started to laugh. "How do you always manage to do that, Chakotay?" Harry asked between laughs. Chakotay just shrugged and continued to laugh, leaving a confused Janeway standing on her bridge, looking foolish. "What?" she asked, moving to her chair and sitting down. "Do I have something on my forehead?" she asked the commander. In reply, Chakotay's laughter grew louder. Janeway frowned and went back to business. "Tom, set us back on course for Earth and away from the Yintaghian homeworld." Tom Paris did as he was told, then turned around in his seat. "Does that mean we got all the supplied we needed?" Janeway nodded. "Yes. B'Elanna's happy with what we have now, for once, and Neelix has enough food to last him months. Leola root free, of course," she added hastily, noticing everyone's frowns at the mention of Neelix and food. "Course set in, Captain," Tom said, then leaned back in his chair to enjoy the ride. "Good," Janeway said, standing up and picking up a few padds. "I'll be in my ready room. I've got quite a few reports to catch up on." Chakotay handed her another padd, and she read it quickly. "Sure, Commander." Chakotay smiled, and she walked to her ready room, only to sneeze and collapse. SD 7607.29 Delta Quadrant U.S.S. Voyager Sickbay Janeway slowly came to consciousness, her senses first registering the voices, then seeing the images and faces around her. The Doctor seemed to be talking to someone, but who he was talking to and what he was saying was a mystery to her. The Doctor noticed her arrival in the waking land and walked over to her. "Ah, so you've finally returned to consciousness," he said, trying to generate his most happy sounding voice. Janeway saw through it, but didn't press the issue. "Doctor," she said. "How did I get to Sickbay? Why am I here?" The Doctor glanced down at his feet, finding them a most interesting study. "Well, Commander Chakotay brought you here. He said you were heading to your ready room when you sneezed and collapsed. You've been unconscious for nearly a day." "What?!" Janeway cried, trying to bolt upright but failing partly because of weakness and partly because the Doctor was restraining her. "Please remain calm. As I said, you've been unconscious for a day. Commander Chakotay has been running the ship. Now, I don't know why you just collapsed, or why you were unconscious for that long, but if you would start by how you feel, it would be most helpful." Janeway relaxed. If Chakotay was running the ship, things would be fine for a few days. "Well, my stomach's cramping up funny, and I feel dizzy. Lightheaded. And when I moved I got a headache." "That's it? That's all? Nothing else?" the Doctor asked, scanning her with a tricorder. She nodded. "What does it mean?" she asked. The Doctor frowned at his tricorder. "I'm not exactly sure, yet. Everything looks okay, except for an unusually high temperature. But that's all I can find wrong. I'd like to keep you in Sickbay for a day or so and try and figure this out." Janeway tried to sit up again, this time successfully. "No, way, Doctor. I've got a ship to run, and-" "Oh, is that it? You don't think I can run Voyager very well?" the second voice said jokingly from the shadows of the room. Janeway could now see who the Doctor had been talking to before. "Oh, Chakotay. It isn't that at all. You know how I like to be in control," Janeway hastened to reply. Chakotay grinned. "Control freak, more like it." The Doctor added his two cents. "Now, Captain, are you going to stay here for observation, or am I going to have to have the Commander hog tie you to this biobed?" Janeway thought out her decision, and though it sounded tempting to have Chakotay hog tie her to the bed, the image was ruined by the thought of the hologram. "Fine," she said finally. "I'll stay. But I don't have to like it." She crossed her arms with a huff and laid back down on the biobed. Chakotay laughed at her behavior, and the Doctor just shook his head and left the two, retreating instead to his office and the relative quiet it offered. Janeway was bored. Yep, definitely bored. Neelix was right, years ago. The ceiling of Sickbay definitely was boring. Very bland. No wonder he had had Kes decorate it like he did. It was very tempting to have Chakotay decorate it for her. That idea was ditched, though, when she figured it might make him think that she was going to actually stay once he left. But he never did. He sat next to the biobed, reading some padd that he had brought with him. She finally got irritated by his behavior, and so she spoke up. "Chakotay, don't you have a ship to run?" she asked. "Trying to get rid of me?" he replied. "It's not going to work. I'm off duty. Tuvok's got the bridge." Janeway pouted. Tuvok was very capable, she knew, but she wanted to get out. Never mind, she could make her escape when Chakotay had to go back to his post in a few hours. Several hours later he still hadn't left. In fact, Janeway was beginning to wonder if maybe she had fallen asleep and was dreaming about making her escape. But then she sat up, and discovered that she wasn't the one asleep. Chakotay was. Taking her chances, she pushed herself off the biobed and, pinning her comm badge to the pillow, tiptoed around the sleeping commander and out of Sickbay. Janeway didn't know exactly where she was going to go. She couldn't go to the bridge or her quarters; they'd look there for her and bring her back to Sickbay. No, she had to go somewhere where they wouldn't look. Maybe the holodeck, or one of the Jeffries tubes. She could hide out there for a while, and no one would be able to find her. She turned the corridor, heading for the holodeck, when she ran into someone and sneezed. "Oof, sorry," she apologized, looking down and trying to keep the person from recognizing her. Fat chance. A member of the crew not recognize the captain? Especially a member of the crew who was in possession of an eidectic memory? Ha. The very thought was laughable. "Oh, I'm sorry, Captain. I didn't see you, and you're so short," Fox Mulder, resident psychologist onboard Voyager, said. Janeway looked up. Short? He was calling her short? Well, she'd teach him. "Short? Watch who you're calling short, Mister. You just might find yourself thrown out of an airlock one day, and then where would you be? Huh? You should really watch where you're going, Mulder. One day my temper's just going to snap and then I pity any who get in my way then," she seethed, clenching and unclenching her fists. Mulder was taken aback. He had never seen the captain like this. Of course, he hadn't been on board Voyager that long, but still, he didn't think she was capable of such anger. "I'm sorry, Captain. I didn't mean to say you're short; after all, Scully's shorter. I just didn't see you, that's all." Janeway tried to calm herself down, but felt she was unable. She had to get out of there; Chakotay could wake up at any moment and find her. After all, she had only gotten a few meters from Sickbay. "Fine. Whatever. Carry on," she said, then started walking again. Mulder watched her go, an odd expression on his face. The captain was acting very bizarre, and he was going to have to talk to the Commander about it. Just then the doors to Sickbay opened, turning his attention from the captain to the person approaching. "Mulder, have you seen the captain? She's supposed to be in Sickbay for observation," Commander Chakotay asked. "Observation? For what?" Mulder asked, feeling like he had missed out on something very important. "She collapsed on the bridge today, after she got back from the Yintaghian homeworld, and the Doctor wanted her in Sickbay. I fell asleep, and she must have escaped then," Chakotay explained. "Have you seen her?" "Yeah, I just ran into her. Or rather, she just ran into me. She went that way," Mulder pointed. Chakotay started running after her, and tossed, "Thanks," over his shoulder. "No problem," Mulder muttered, wondering if there were any normal people on board the ship as he watched Chakotay run off. The Commander wasn't very worried about what Mulder thought of him, being more worried about the captain's well being than anything else. He only hoped that he could catch up to her. Which he did in a matter of seconds. She, in her delerious state, had gone into a corridor of _Voyager_, which resulted in a dead end. Had she not been sick, Chakotay guessed, she might have actually gotten out of going back to Sickbay and not taken a wrong turn to the wall, but turned she had, and wrongly. So now it was time for her to go back to Sickbay and get some rest. "Kathryn," he said hesitantly. She growled at him. He was taken aback. Who would have thought that the captain of a Federation ship, particularly this captain, could growl like that? "Kathryn, you have to go back to Sickbay. You're not well. The fact that you growled at me proves that you're ill." She curved her lips up, as if to growl at him again, but before she could do anything else, she sneezed three times and collapsed. Chakotay gasped, then ran to her side. Picking her up, he began to head back to Sickbay, and to where the Doctor was. SD 7607.3 Delta Quadrant USS Voyager Sickbay Her eyes fluttered open once, slowly, registering the sights and sounds that besieged her senses. There were loud voices, and bright colors. , she thought as she sneezed. Closing her eyes once again, she descended into oblivion. "Doctor," Chakotay called when he heard her sneeze. "She's waking up." Turning from the hologram, he gripped her hand tighter. "Kathryn, can you hear me? Kathryn?" There was no response as her eyes fluttered shut once again. The EMH began scanning her immediately. Confusion entered upon his face as soon as he saw the readings of those scans. "She's lapsed into a coma. But how? All she did was sneeze." Chakotay stood in Sickbay, grasping a limp hand, wondering the same thing as the Doctor. "What? A coma? How can that be?" "I don't know. I'll have to run a full medical diagnostic and look for anything out of the ordinary. There's no knowing when she picked this up, though, and how far it's progressed. The captain's skipped out on a lot of annual check-ups." Chakotay nodded, but before he could reply, a blue beam entered into Sickbay, and two forms took shape on the floor. "Help me get him up onto the biobed," Dana Scully said from the floor. Getting up, she gestured for the Doctor and Chakotay to do so, which they did. "Oof," both the Doctor and Chakotay groaned, picking up the limp form from the floor. "How much does this guy weigh?" Chakotay asked, looking down into a face he had seen not minutes before. Scully glanced at them. "Just help me get him onto the biobed." Once the new patient was securely placed onto the biobed, the Doctor took out his medical tricorder and began scanning. Recognition registered in his face as he glanced up. "Mr. Mulder seems to have lapsed into the same coma like state as the captain." SD 7607.3 Delta Quadrant USS Voyager Bridge Commander Chakotay sat in the chair that the captain usually sat in, tending to the matters which she usually saw to. He was worried about her, but she was in the Doctor's care now, and there wasn't anything he could do anyway. So he just ran the ship. Thus far, thirteen other crewmembers, including Scully, had come down with this mysterious disease. The Doctor couldn't find anything seriously wrong with them, except that they wouldn't wake up. If things continued the way they were, the entire crew would soon succumb to the disease. At first the Doctor had thought it was airborn, seeing as how it had affected those who had just had contact with other crewmembers who were afflicted. But when Chakotay didn't come down with it, he was forced to abandon that theory. Then he thought it might have been something affecting their genetic codes, but he soon dismissed that theory as well. So the Doctor was in Sickbay, working on a way to contain the disease and to cure those afflicted with it. So far he hadn't made much progress, and crewmembers were beginning to sneeze and drop like flies. Chakotay sighed, hoping that they'd be able to make it through this, and decided to go to Sickbay to see what progress the Doctor might have made in the couple hours he had left him alone. 7607.3 Delta Quadrant USS Voyager Sickbay "It seems that whenever they sneeze, they lapse into unconsciousness. With the captain, she woke up within a matter of hours, but the others haven't been waking up so far, no matter what I try. I have been analyzing their blood, and have isolated the cause, but I can't say for certain how to proceed. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. If this was a controlled situation, I would have liked to study it, but I'd settle for a cure right about now," the Doctor explained to Chakotay. "So would I. Where would they have picked it up, do you think?" Chakotay replied, shifting uneasily on his feet. The Doctor shrugged. "That's what I'd like to know. The disease seems to have a short intubation period, so it doesn't take long after it enters the body before attacking and the symptoms begin showing. At most, I'd say that the Captain, who was first to come down with it, contracted it recently, judging by the others. It couldn't have been more than a month or two ago, because then Mr. Mulder and Ms. Scully wouldn't have come down with it. I'd estimate that the first crewmember contracted it less than a week ago, perhaps less than that." Chakotay couldn't believe what he was hearing. Less than a week ago. That certainly narrowed down the possibilities, since the only place Voyager had been to within the last week was the Yintaghian homeworld... Suddenly Chakotay realized what he had to do to help. He didn't have to just sit around and twiddle his thumbs, waiting for the Doctor to come up with a cure which might not even work. He could turn this ship around. 7607.3 Delta Quadrant Yintaghian Homeworld Conference room & trading post "Unusual? While your captain was here? No, no, I don't think so," Prime Regents Sorrisha replied thoughtfully to Chakotay's barrage of questions. "Nothing at all? There were no biological toxins released into the atmosphere, no radiation, no disease?" Chakotay continued, trying to jog the old man's memory. "Like I said, nothing. I did have a slight cold, though, if you're asking about a disease." Chakotay's eyes widened. "Did you sneeze or do anything else which might have transmitted the cold to our captain?" "Well, as I remember, I sneezed, and we discussed on how Earth it's Gesundheit, and here it's Trestune." "Could that have transmitted the cold to Captain Janeway?" The Prime frowned. "I'm sorry, I'm not a medic. Perhaps if you talked to the chief doctor here, he could answer your questions better than I." He walked over to the intercom in the wall and depressed a button. "Srorranate, could you call Doctor Runest in, please?" {Sure thing, Prime,} Srorranate, Sorrisha's secretary replied. In a few minutes a man dressed all in a dark forest green robe walked serenely in. "You called for me, Prime?" Doctor Runest asked, bowing to humble himself before the leader of his planet. "Are you ill or are you in need of my services?" "In need of your services, Runest. But not I. I'd like you to meet Commander Chakotay, first officer onboard the USS Voyager." Runest's green eyes flicked to the commander. "I thought that ship had left our space already." "We had. But our captain became ill, along with several other crewmembers, and our doctor had traced the contraction of the illness to about a week, with the captain Patient Zero. We believe she contracted this illness while on your planet, from your Prime, who had a cold then," Chakotay replied. "Ah, I see. And you are wondering if this is possible. Would you kindly tell me of the symptoms?" Runest asked. Chakotay nodded, and explained to him all that had happened after they had left Yintaghian space, Runest nodding the whole time. "It sounds much like the Yintaghian flu which has been contracted by a few species other than the Yintaghians. I can give you a simple mixture which will counter the flu's effects. It will leave your patients with chronic headaches, but it is a small price to pay for coming back to the land of the waking." "Thank you, Doctor. How much will this cost us?" Chakotay asked, wary that nothing ever came without a price. "Nothing, Commander. It is my job to help people, and the herbs used in the mixture are in abundance on this fine planet. How many people are ill?" "Fourteen," Chakotay replied quickly. Never look a gift horse in the mouth was the old Earth saying, wasn't it? "I will have the serum prepared by tomorrow. I'll contact your ship when it's done, and you can send someone over to pick it up." "Thank you," Chakotay replied, planning on picking up the serum himself if he weren't down with the illness. He then said his goodbyes to the Prime, and the doctor, and beamed out. 7607.31 Delta Quadrant Yintaghian Homeworld Office of the Prime Medic Chakotay glanced around, hoping that Doctor Runest would hurry up. Of course, the commander knew that the doctor had patients to see to and such, but he wanted to return to Voyager as soon as possible and help those people. Runest walked through the doors, reading a chart. He glanced up. "Ah, Commander, you've returned. I'm so glad. Now we can get better acquainted- or rather, I can get better acquainted. With your insides." "What?" Chakotay replied, his eyebrows furrowing. The doctor merely smiled, and didn't say anything until two pairs of metal arms came down from the ceiling, apparently to strap his arms and legs to the chair he was sitting in. Fortunately, Chakotay was ready for any tricks, and jumped up before the metallic arms could pin him down. Runest looked on, amused. "You arne't going to get anywhere, you realize. I've locked the doors," he said, his eyes shining. "Why?" The single word bounced around the room, glancing off the walls. Runest was still grinning. "Well, I locked the door so you can't get out. But if you're wondering why am I keeping you here, the answer to that is as simple as the answer to the former. Black market organs, Commander. They're all the rage here. The Yintaghian people don't like their old, worn out organs, so if we give them new ones, they pay us more than you could imagine." "You'd kill someone to sate your greed?" Chakotay asked incredulously. "No, no, you're wrong. I haven't sated my greed yet." Runest laughed. "Oh, by the way, here's your serum. I'll have it sent up to your ship with your body." He fumbled around in his pocket, then tossed a shiny silver tube to Chakotay. "Thanks," he replied dryly, catching it before it could hit the ground. Runest had a terrible arm. Chakotay glanced around, and realized that the room was not encased enough to stop a com signal from going through. Tapping his com badge, he shouted at the transporter technicians, "Two to beam up, now!" They dematerialized, then rematerialized on the pad in transporter room 2. Chakotay immediately took out his phaser and aimed it at Runest, who sighed. "Guess I'm busted, huh?" Runest simply said. Chakotay nodded, then gestured to the technician to come closer. "Go take this to Sickbay," he said, handing the serum to the ensign. Then he tapped his com badge again. "Chakotay to Tuvok, get a security team to Transporter Room 2." {Yes, sir,} the Vulcan replied. Chakotay waited a few minutes, then when the security team had taken Runest to the brig to await his return to Yintagh and the proper authorities, he nearly ran to Sickbay. "Kathryn," he gasped when he got there. She was sitting on one of the biobeds, holding her head. She glanced up and smiled when she saw him. "Chakotay," she greeted him. "You didn't crash my ship into any planets while I was gone, did you?" Chakotay smiled. "No, Captain." "Good. Now give me a hug, huh?" she asked, hopping off the biobed, with some pain. "Aye, Captain. With pleasure," he replied, sweeping her into his arms. The Doctor, watching, noticed both their faces held smiles. 7608.01 Delta Quadrant Yintaghian Homeworld Conference room & Trading Post "I'd just like to thank you again, Captain, for all your help in catching the ringmaster of this dreadful organ black market. The authorities have been trying for months now, unsuccessfully. I still can't believe it was Runest," the Prime said, again. Janeway smiled. "Don't thank me, thank Commander Chakotay. He was the one who caught the doctor." "Ah, but you were the one who caught the cold that started the 'plague' on board your ship." "But you were the one who gave it to me in the first place," Janeway said cheerfully. A little too cheerfully, Chakotay thought. She was using her, 'I-get-it-now-stop-already-because-I'm-using-the-tone-that-I-only-use-with- Neelix-when-he's-being-annoying' tone. It didn't matter, they were all alive, and by tomorrow they'd be back in space, no matter how much the Prime insisted they get a bit of shore leave in. Janeway didn't want to spend any more time on the Yintaghian Homeworld than necessary. Hell, he didn't want to either. She turned and smiled at him then, and he realized the talk with the Prime was all wrapped up, and they could go. "Ready to go back, Commander?" she asked. He smiled back. "Yes, sir. Let's go home." End Chapter 5