"Under the Old Oak Tree" By Dana Quell The mist rolled over the ground, bringing with it the sweet smell of decay. The pretty dark haired woman walked through the graveyard, unable to resist the urge to kill. She walked for fifteen minutes before meeting up with a jogger. "Hello," she said, breaking into a jog herself. "May I join you? You know, it's not good for a woman to be jogging by herself at night, and I'm starting to get the creeps." The jogger looked at her, and she looked back coyly. "Well, sure. Okay, I guess. What's your name?" he asked, falling into step with her. "Ana. Ana Corbucion," she replied. "And yours?" "Guy. Guy Delphard. Nice to meet you." "It's good to meet you, too. So, what's a pretty boy like you doing in a graveyard like this?" Ana asked. Guy shrugged. "I don't know. Just out for my nightly jog. But I suppose I'd have to ask the same of you." "Then I'd have to reply the same to you," Ana said, her dark crimson lips curving into a smile. Twenty more minutes went by before either spoke again. "Can we...can we rest a minute?" Ana panted. "I'm a little tired." Guy nodded. "Sure. I'm a little winded myself. How about under that tree?" "All right," Ana said. She led Guy to sit underneath the tall oak tree. They sat in silence, then Guy turned to her questioningly. His query was lost, however, when she stared back with intelligent grey eyes. His hand reached up to brush back a stray lock of raven hair as he leaned in closer to her. "The moonlight makes you look so...beautiful," he said for lack of a better word. "A real child of the night, huh?" Ana replied back, her voice dropping several octaves. She leaned in closer to him. "Yes," Guy hissed, leaning as close to her as possible. He wrapped his arms around her neck, as she did the same to him. Their lips then met in a passionate kiss. Then they began making out like two teens. Not long after that, Ana's lips moved off Grey's mouth and down his neck. Pearl fangs slid out to graze her ruby lips, and then puncture the sensitive skin underneath. He screamed his pain. Blood dripped from the puncture wound on his jugular and entered the open and waiting mouth of Ana. She licked her lips and smiled. It tasted good. All too soon, though, it was over, and Guy was dead. She left him, in a pool of blood under the oak, and headed for the exit. "Computer, end program and start velocity game." The game started, and she continued. "Now halt program." Ana glanced around the room, and, finding it satisfactory, exited the holodeck. Alpha shift was coming to a close, and Beta shift was coming to the bridge. Chakotay stifled a yawn, then glanced at the woman next to him. The past few days had been boring, and when he was bored, his mind tended to wander. "Is there something you find interesting, Commander?" Captain Kathryn Janeway's voice said, breaking his reveries. He shook his head. "I'm just glad I'm getting off duty in a few minutes. I'm bored stiff." She laughed. "You think you're bored? This is worse than the two months in the Void. At least there we ran into those freaky aliens and had a few space battles. This is just...blah." She demonstrated, flopping her hand with the word 'blah'. "Well, you get off duty at the same time I do, right? And I've still got those hours on the Holodeck. Would you care to join me?" Janeway considered his offer for a few minutes as her heart soared. "All right," she said, shaking a finger at him. "But remember, you'd better behave, or I'll have you helping the Doctor scrub Sickbay with a toothbrush." "Aye, aye, ma'am," Chakotay replied, giving her a salute. "Good. Now, what time shall I meet you there?" she asked with a smile. "I'll pick you up at 1900 hours. Is that all right?" Janeway was impressed. "Yes, how very gallant of you to pick me up." "I wouldn't be a fine first officer if I couldn't stop by next door." They both laughed at that. Ana paced her quarters, restless for blood. Real blood. Not that phony holographic stuff she had been feasting on for the past five years. She wanted real blood, and it was about time she got it. She had to be careful, though, because on a ship this small there were bound to be people who would see her and report her. And then everyone would know her secret. Word travelled fast on Voyager. She smiled, then walked out of her quarters to find some real blood. Kathryn Janeway paced around her quarters, anxiously waiting her first officer's survival. she corrected herself. The chime on her door suonded, and Kathryn smiled nervously. she thought as she opened the door. Chakotay smiled back at her. "Hello, Kathryn. You ready?" She nodded. "Yes. What program were you thinking of running?" "I was going to let you pick. Just as long as it's not the Da Vinci or Sandrine's program." She laughed her agreement. "All right." "Good." Chakotay held out his arm, and she took it, and together they strolled arm and arm down the hall. Ana could feel the beat of her victim's heart underneath her fangs. It had been fast at first, but the blood loss had slowed it down considerably. Her victim was close to dyin, and she was close to having her bloodlust sated. Soon, the man underneath her took his last breath and died. Pulling away, Ana straightened her clothes and wiped the blood off from around her mouth. "Computer, end program," she said as she headed for the door. She turned right before she was about to leave to look one last time at the gray room. Instead of seeing the empty room that she was so used to, she saw a gray room splattered with the blood of a young ensign. Her thirst for real blood sated for the moment, she turned and exited the holodeck. "Which holodeck did you sign us up for?" Kathryn asked her escort. "Holodeck 1. But I had to make room for us. Ensign Poppy was signed up for it, but she agreed to go after us." Kathryn raised her eyebrows. "You kicked someone off their holodeck time? For me?" "For us," Chakotay corrected her. She nodded her acknowledgement. "Of course." They rounded the corner to the holodeck entrance. "So, which program did you want to run?" Chakotay asked her. Kathryn thought for a moment. "How about a few games of velocity?" Chakotay nodded. "All right, come on." They entered the holodeck, expecting only to see an empty gray room. But what they saw horrified them. Kathryn hit her comm badge. "Holodeck one to the bridge," she said, glancing toward the body in the center of the room. {Bridge here,} Tuvok replied over the comm systems. "Tuvok, I want you to get down here. Bring a security team, and don't let anybody in either of the two holodecks. The Commander and I will be waiting outside Holodeck 1." she though to ther self. {On my way. Tuvok out.} Janeway could about see him raise his eyebrow. They waited a few minutes until Tuvok came, a mass of yellow suited crewman behind him. Janeway led him into the holodeck, where Tuvok looked, for a Vulcan, stunned at what he saw. "Who is it?" he asked. Janeway glanced at the dead body before them. "Chakotay and I both agree that it's Ensign Molochai." "We'll need to get the Doctor down here," Chakotay said coming into the room. "Do it," Janeway replied. Chakotay nodded, then waked over to the wall, where he accessed the Doctor's program. From there he downloaded it to the holodeck. "Please state the nature of the med- Ugh," the Doctor stated upon his arrival. "What happened here? Was B'Elanna practicing with her bat'leh again?" Janeway shook her head. "No, Doctor. We found him like this." "Well, we'll have to transfer his remains to Sickbay, and you'll have to get a funeral service going. I'll perform an autopsy if you'd like, to establish a cause of death." She nodded. "Please do." The Doctor nodded, then took control of intraship transportations and beamed it to Sickbay. Then he transfered his program and disappeared. Janeway turned to Chakotay. "I think we'll have to save our game for another time. We need to make announcements and figure out when we'll hold the funeral service. And then we still have to figure out who did this to him.' Chakotay nodded. "I'll make the announcement." "No, I'll do it," Janeway argued. "It's better if the crew learn about it through me." "All right. But remember, I offered." Janeway nodded, then hit her comm badge. "Captain to all crewmembers. I don't know how to break this to all of you, but another one of us is dead. Ensign Gary Molochai is dead, of causes unknown to us at this moment. He served well, and was an asset to this ship. Funeral plans to come later. Some form of counselling will try to be provided. If you feel you need to talk, you can always come to me. I'll try and make some time to talk to you. Janeway out." She closed the comm link, then sighed. Chakotay heard it, and walked over to her. Then he put one hand on her shoulder as a gesture of comfort. Janeway shrugged him off, and walked out of the holodeck wordlessly, leaving Chakotay in charge of cleanup. Kathryn Janeway walked the corridors quickly, almost running. She couldn't believe that Chakotay was actually putting the moves on her at a time like this. She had thought that they had a mutual _unspoken_ agreement not to get involved with each other. And that's why she had fled the holodeck; she though they were becoming too close. Some small, sane part of her knew that she was only making excuses not to get involved with him, for whatever real reason there might be. Janeway realized where exactly she was, and turning around, headed for her own quarters. Ana smiled when she heard Janeway's announcement. So the result of her bloodlust had been found, much sooner than she had expected. She assumed that it was because of Chakotay's own lust for the captain. Everyone on board Voyager knew that those two had feelings for each other, but wondered why they never acted on them. She shook her head. Why speculate on the captain and first officer's relationship? She had to make her own. After all, if she was to stay on this ship for another portion of her life, she needed to find someone to share it with. But the question was, who? Chakotay headed down to crew quarters, and stopped at the captain's door. He wasn't sure how well he'd be received after the captai's hasty exit, but he was here to inform her on the investigation. He had the computer locate her after he was done in Sickbay, where the Doctor had examined the body. He took a deep breath, then sighed. He raised his hand to ring the chime, but before he could do anything the door opened. "Oh, sorry, Chakotay. I was just going for a walk. I really need to get out of that room. Care to join me? We need to talk anyway," Janeway said. "Sure, Kathryn." Chakotay followed her. They walked for a bit in silence before she broke it. "Chakotay, I think we need to talk," she stated. Chakotay interrupted her. "About what? The investigation? Or about defining parameters again?" She sighed. "Again, we have to define parameters. But only because you keep crossing them. This is the final time I want to define them." "Why now?" he asked. "Why not before, when I asked you to the holodeck?" She stopped in front of a door. "Because I've been thinking, Chakotay. And thinking is a very dangerous thing to do in a situation like this. It only hurts people." She stopped, took a deep breath, then continued. "And it's only going to hurt me in this situation. It's unaviodable. Because the captain of a starship cannot get involved with anyone, much less her first officer. I'm sorry, Chakotay, but you'll just have to settle for just being a friend and a first officer. I'll just have to settle for just being a captain and a friend. I'm sorry." Chakotay felt his heart break in that instant. "All right," he said, even though it wasn't. "Whatever you want, Kathryn." She sighed. "Now, what were you going to tell me?" "The Doctor wants you to come down to Sickbay. He's got something to show you about the body," Chakotay said. "He couldn't have used the comm system for that?" she asked, confused. Chakotay shook his head. "He wanted me to prepare you for what you're giong to hear." "Well, all right," she replied, starting to walk again. "Let's get to Sickbay. You can brief me on the way." Ana paced around her quarters again. Ever since she realized she needed someone to share the rest of eternity with, she had been restless. She decided to take a walk and scope out some of the potential fellow-kind. Opening her door, she quickly closed it, and accessed the intercom system she had installed outside her door when they first arrived in the Delta Quadrant. Now she was glad she had. {...unavoidable. Because the captain of a starship cannot get involved with anyone, much less her first officer. I'm sorry, Chakotay, but you'll just have to settle...} Captain Janeway's voice stopped as Ana turned off the intercome. This was valuable information. FOr the first time, Ana considered the first officer. she thought. She decided she didn't have to get out of her quarters just yet afterall and settled in to read a long novel on one of her padds. "What are you saying, Doctor? I know Chakotay told me before, but...exsanguination?" Janeway asked the hologram. He nodded. "Exsanguination by some very sharp teeth." "You're saying that a human did this? With his or her teeth?" she asked, disbelievingly. The Doctor nodded again. "Yes." "SO it has to be a member of our crew. Unless there are undetected alens on board," Chakotay said. Janeway loooked at him. "Conduct some scans, see if we have any unwelcome visitors," Janeway ordered. Chakotay nodded, then left Sickbay. Janeway turned to the Doctor. "Can you do some scans on the crew? My guess is whoever did this has extremely pointy teeth. And you can match their their teeth with the pattern left on the punctured skin." The Doctor nodded, then set to work, calling each crewman to Sickbay in alphabetical order. Chakotay moved about Astrometrics, for once not tripping over Seven of Nine, who had gone to regenerate. He was almost finishing his scans, which were showing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Which led him to the conclusion that one of the crew idd this. {Janeway to Chakotay,} the captain's voice came through the comm system. Chakotay replied immediately. "Chakotay here." {Anything on those scans?} "Not yet," Chakotay said, his heart sinking a little at the thought that she just wanted to talk and not apologize for her lecture earlier. {Keep me posted. Janeway out.} The room was filled with silence once more, and Chakotay waited a few seconds for the last test to finish before heading out of the rom. Ana saw him exit Astrometrics and sighed, heading after him. she thought with a smile. "Commander!" she called after him. He turned and wakled back to her a little ways. "Yes, Ensign?" he asked guardedly. Ana lowered her eyes. "I was just wondering...ah...well, if you're not busy...um," she said, pretending to be nervous. If he thought he was the one in controlthen, he might be more willing. "Yes, Ensign? Spit it out. I haven't got all day," he said, shifting restlessly on his feet. Her anger flared, then she quelled it. "I'm sorry to take up your time, especially in this time of crisis, sir. But I was wondering if, maybe, if you're not busy, we could...kind of...date?" she asked, batting her eyelashes slightly. Chakotay was taken aback. For a moment he though about refusing, out of courtesy to Katrhyn, but then he remembered their earlier discussion. "Sure," he heard himself reply. "When are you free?" Ana smiled. Her plan was going well. she thought to herself, then answered his question. "How about tonight?" "Sounds good. I get off duty at 1900 hours. I'll meet you in Holodeck 2?" he replied. She nodded. "That will be fine," she said, her voice giving off a sound that was quite like a purr. "Se eyou then," CHakotay said, walking away. Ana turned and started heading back to her quarters to prepare for tonight. "Yes, my dear. See you tonight." "So you're saying a member of the crew did this?" Janeway asked, horrified at the prospect that one of them could do something so terrible. Chakotay nodded. "It appears that way, yes." {Doctor to the captain,} the comm system beeped. "Yes, Doctor?" Janeway answered. {Captain, I've finished examining the crew, and found nothing unusual with their teeth. Nor have I found a match for those bite marks.} Janeway sighed. "So it's not a member of the crew," she said, obviously relieved. {Well, there are a few people I have been able to examine yet.} "Fine, Doctor, call them down and examine them." {Very well. Will all members of the senior staff please report to Sickbay for examination?} Janeway and Chakotay looked at each other and headed down to Sickbay. Ana smiled to herself as she got ready for her date with the Commander. She had just come back from Sickbay, where the Doctor had scanned her mercilessly. She was glad for her retractible fangs, for she never would have been able to fool the conceited doctor otherwise. She pulled a light blue cardigan on, then stepped outside her quarters and headed down to Holodeck 2, ready for the best night of her long life. Chakotay slid off the biobed. "Done?" he asked the Doctor, fidgeting slightly. "Yes. You're fine, your teeth don't match the pattern. But if you don't mind me asking, why are you so fidgety?" the Doctor replied, shutting his tricorder. Chakotay could feel his face growing red. "Uh, I've got plans, and I'm already late." The Doctor put his medical instruments away to where they belonged. "Oh. Well. I'm sure the captain will tolerate a little tardiness. After all, she's the one who gave the orders-" Chakotay cut him off. "My plans aren't with the captain," he said, not elaborating any further. "Oh, well. Enjoy your evening," the Doctor said, a little surprised and a little embarrassed. Chakotay smiled. "Thanks, I will." He left Sickbay, and headed to his quarters to change out of his uniform and into more comfortable, casual clothes. The doors to Holodeck 2 opened to reveal a familiar setting. Ana sighed, feeling more in her element. She walked among the familiar gravestones and paused at the last one in the row. It read Guy Delphard. "Oh, poor Guy," Ana laughed. "Your life was cut so short. How tragic." She laughed again, then continued to walk past all the headstones of those she had killed in the past four years to reach the old oak tree and sat beneath its branches. The doors opened, and Chakotay walked in. "Anne? he called, not seeing her in the darkness. "Ensign Poppy?" Ana got up. "I'm here, Chakotay," she said, moving to him and leading him to the tree. "Please, call me by my real name, though." "Real name?" Chakotay asked, confused. "I thought Anne Poppy was your real name." Ana sighed, then shook her head. "You mortals just don't understand things at all, do you? My real name is Ana Corbucion, and I was born in the year 1983. When I was seventeen, I was turned into a vampire by my boyfriend at a new millenium party. And then I continued throughout the generations, the first few generations with my boyfriend. But then we broke up, and I was alone, so very very alone." Her voice took on a childish quality, and her gaze grew distant. "Until now. I'll never be alone again, Chakotay. Because you'll be with me for the rest of eternity." Chakotay backed up, and began to head to the doors. Ana saw him. "Computer, seal the doors. Command code authorization 0712935474." The computer beeped in reply, and Chakotay didn't know how to overrirde that particular code. Ana knew this and smiled. "That's one of the good things about being four hundred years old, Chakotay. You know old command codes which nobody else does." Chakotay backed up as she began to advance on him, and he broke into a run down the path. Ana sighed, then began to run after him. Janeway paced restlessly in her quarters, unable to get Commander Chakotay out of her mind. She knew she had been a bit blunt earlier, and felt like she had to apologize. Finally she couldn't take it any longer. "Computer, locate Commander Chakotay." "Commander Chakotay is in Holodeck 2," it replied. Immediately Janeway grew alarmed. She knew he wouldn't have gone to either of the holodecks unless it was something important, and if it was something important, she would hvae known about it. She ran out of her quarters, not knowing quite why she was running, but knew it was imperative that she hurried. Ana rinned at how fast he was running from her. She hadn't taken so much time in years to catch her prey. She must be getting old. Commander Chakotay was beginnning to get very irritating. "Oh, Chakotay, darling," she called. "Are you playing hard to get?" No answer. And she couldn't hear his footsteps on the path anymore, either. She stepped under the giant oak, trying to listen for something, anything that would give his position away. Suddenly a huge weight jumped from the branches above and landed on he rback. Ana smiled. "Commander Chakotay, how nice of you to drop down." They wrestled in the graveyard for a few minutes before Ana finally got in the position she could strike best in. She straddled him with her legs, making sure he couldn't move, then leaned towards his neck. Pearl white fangs slid out once more, and were just breaking the skin when- "Stop!" Captain Janeway's voice ran out from the holodeck's doorway. Ana turned to her. Janeway held a phaser in one hand. Ana hissed. "Get away! He's mine! You had your chance, now go!" Janeway shook her head. "I don't think so." Ana got off Chakotay and slowly headed for the captain. Janeway fired her phaser, and her target crumpled to the ground. Janeway raced to Chakotay's side. His hand was on his neck, trying to stop the bleeding. Janeway took his hand away, and gasped. Then she tore off a strip of her uniform jacket and pressed it to his neck. In all her worries over Chakotay she never saw or heard the movement behind her. "Kathryn, watch out!" CHakotay yelled at her. She turned around, and saw Ana coming at her with a glittering knife. Janeway swerved to the right, almost missing her attacker's knife, but not completely. The knife cut through her left arm, not too deeply, but deeply enough to cause her to cry out in pain. "Kathryn," Chakotay gasped, watching her fall to the ground next to him. He used most of his strength to sit up and search the ground for a weapon, or something he could use to stop this madwoman. Finally he found a large branch from the oak tree overhead. "Computer, disengage safety protocols." "What are you doing?" Ana asked over the computer's warning. Chakotay grimaced at the pain, but wielded the heavy branch in front of him anyway. "What I should have done long before she got involved," Chakotay said in answer to her question, preparing to defend himself and Kathryn if necessary. "Override," he said in response to the computer's warning. Ana's face twisted into a grotesque shape, and her usually clear grey eyes turned stormy. She lunged for Chakotay's throat, heading straight for the jugular, her dark hair flying behind her like a flag. Chakotay held his branch in front of him, and she, unaware that he had moved it, ran full force into it. It went straight through her chest and through the other side. Her eyes widened, and she made a gagging sound in the back of her throat. Chakotay and Janeway atched, and gasped in horror, as the woman before them colapsed and disappeared, leaving behind only a pile of ash. Minutes went by before either found their voices. "Are you okay?" Chakotay asked. Janeway nodded, holding her arm. "As long as we get to Sickbay soon." Chakotay nodded, and slowly got up. Janeway called for a vial, and gathered up some of the ash on the ground. Then she and the Commander exited the holodeck, heading towards Sickbay. Epilogue: The Doctor had analyzed the ash, and concluded that it was the remains of one ensign, Anne Poppy. Or as she had called herself, Ana Corbucion. Chakotay and Janeway were fine physically after the Doctor patched them up, but they were scarred emotionally. To help with the healing process (at least, that's how they justified it in their minds), they decided to visit the holodeck together. They activated Poppy's program and entered, hand in hand. Cautiously they walked through the headstones, ready for anything that might choose to pop out at them. Finally they reached their destination. "Hard to believe that she kept it a secret for so long." Janeway commented, staring at the gravestone before her. Chakotay squeezed her hand. "Holodeck records show that over the course of four years, she had killed off 47 holographic characters, using this program. ALl of these headstones," he said, gesturing with his free hand at the cemetery. "All those headstones represent a character killed here." "ANd this last one is for her?" Janeway asked in reply. Chakotay only nodded his head. "Come on," he said, guiding her away from the gravestone and heading towards the door. She shook her head. "I don't want to go yet." "All right," Chakotay said. He didn't really want to go, either, so he gave no argument. They walked towards the tall oak ad leaned next to it, then sat. Janeway leaned in close to Chakotay, and he held her tightly to him, unwilling to let her go. And they stayed that way, under the old oak tree, for the rest of their time together. The End Finished November 17, 1998, at 9:42 am.