Ensign Kim practically ran down the corridors.  The Commander’s call had come just as he was finishing his breakfast.  The entire mess hall, or about half the crew, had heard Chakotay’s order. Chakotay’s words were ominous and being asked to go to the Commander’s office was extremely rare.  Harry had no idea what was wrong, but it must be bad.  He reached the door, took a breath and signaled for permission to enter.  *Here goes nothing.*

“Reporting as ordered, Commander.“  Kim entered Chakotay’s office and stood stiffly in front of Chakotay's desk.

“Didn’t the captain tell you to relax before you sprained something, Ensign?”  Harry visibly relaxed at Chakotay’s words and friendly tone.

“Yes, Commander.”

“Well, then sit down.  I need to discuss something with you.”  Chakotay waited while Harry pulled a chair closer to the desk and sat down.  “OK.  You’ve been given more responsibility over the last few months.  How do you think you’re doing?”

Harry wasn’t sure how to respond.  If he thought he was doing well, he would sound cocky; if he thought he wasn’t doing very well, he would have to explain why he hadn’t done better and lacked confidence in his abilities.

“I think the assignments I’ve been given have been completed accurately.  I think I’ve delegated tasks to the appropriate people most of the time.  Once or twice I may have involved more people than I should have.  I know I can’t write the reports as quickly as you do, but that will improve as I get more experience.  If I had to pick a word, I suppose I would pick “adequate.”  You and the captain have asked questions about my reports, but have not pointed out obvious errors or omissions.  I am inefficient compared with more experienced officers and I have a lot to learn, but I am learning.  I hope I haven’t let you or the captain down, sir.”

Chakotay watched Harry’s face as he struggled with his response.  Harry was nervous but regaining control of himself.  By the time he had finished he seemed a lot more confident of himself and his work.

“I think your summary is basically accurate with one exception.  I believe the captain would agree with me when I say your work in not ‘adequate’.  While it may not rate an exemplary yet, your work has been much better than we expected from someone with your level of experience.  Now before your ego gets too big, I have another assignment for you.  You probably read your own report about the planet’s resources?”  Harry nodded as Chakotay continued.  “Well, we will be sending four away teams to the surface, three for mining and one for plant collecting.  You are to coordinate the away teams, from selecting team members to giving them their specific orders; in short, you are in charge of the whole thing.  I will be available to assist you should you need advice or recommendations, but I expect you to make the final decisions.  I don’t expect to have to change anything you decide, but if I think it will endanger anyone, I will do so.  The captain has indicated that Carey and Wildman are to be on one team and that Tom and B’Elanna are to stay on board Voyager.  While you are doing this, I think you should bring your best Ops person to the bridge to cover your shift.  Any questions?”

“There were two sites recommended for plant collection.  Is there a specific one I should be sending the away team to investigate?”

“Yes.  The one on the west coast of the large island between the two main continents will not have an away team investigate at this time; send them to the smaller island to the south.  Now, I want the shuttles out of here as soon as possible.  Bring me the list of the teams for each shuttle when you have it ready.”  Harry was puzzled; that location was the most promising on the planet and had the best climate.  He was even more puzzled when Chakotay got up to leave his own office.

“Commander, where are you going?”  Harry was confused; the Commander was leaving but had not yet dismissed him.

“You need a place to work without the distractions of the bridge.  You can use my office this time, but don’t get used to it.  I may not be in here much, but it’s still my office.  Now, get to work.”

“Yes, sir!”

Chakotay debated whether to find the captain or stay on the bridge.  His internal debate ended as he entered the bridge and found the captain already in her chair.  He touched her shoulder as he passed her chair on the way to his own.

“How’d Harry take the news, Commander?”

“About as well as could be expected under the circumstances.”  Both were watching the back of Tom’s head move restlessly.  Tom had heard Chakotay's orders to Harry and was practically dead from unsatisfied curiosity.  Kathryn and Chakotay exchanged a smile before continuing to other business. “Any changes to my orders, Captain?”  Chakotay was confirming that Tuvok had approved landing Voyager.

“No, Commander, your orders and the previous plans stand.  I would like an update on that site in an hour, along with a ship’s status report.  Will the away teams be on their way as scheduled?”

“Yes, Captain.”  Now Tom was really confused.  Chakotay usually handled the initial away missions from his office or sometimes the shuttle bay, going to the bridge only when they had departed Voyager.  There was clearly more than one away mission scheduled, but he did not appear to be working on it.  Tom liked and respected his commanding officers; he enjoyed their company off duty and thrived in the relaxed atmosphere of the bridge, but at times their conversations and actions were simply beyond his comprehension.

Three hours later, Tom was no longer confused and he was not trying to figure out the command team.  He was focused on landing Voyager on the planet.  Harry had appeared with a report that he gave to the Commander to review; Chakotay had looked it over, asked one question before handing it back to Harry nodding his head.  “Interesting choices, Ensign.  We’ll discuss them later this afternoon.  Proceed with your assignment.”  Harry left the bridge quickly.  Within half an hour the shuttles had departed and neither the captain nor first officer had left the bridge.  Harry returned to Ops about ten minutes later.  Tom finally decided Harry must be involved, but before he had a chance to figure out just how involved, the captain ordered him to begin systems checks in preparation for landing Voyager.  When Tom had them finished, she gave the orders to land the ship and the location was the remaining landing site from the Delta shift’s report.

Tom had been at Voyager’s helm for nearly two years now and he knew how she handled better than anyone else, but he had never taken her into a planet’s atmosphere much less landed her.  He had his hands full, but not too full to know that his next holoprogram would be a training simulation for him and the other crew who regularly stood watch on the helm. He would probably also suggest that the captain and first officer practice in the simulation.  Tom didn’t know who had designed Voyager’s planetary landing systems but they had not tried it themselves with a real ship, because Voyager was not responding as she should have been.  She was much more sluggish than would be expected for a ship her size.  It seemed as if the landing thrusters were just not powerful enough to handle the ship’s mass.  He also made a mental note to discuss the problem with B’Elanna.  His thoughts were interrupted.

“Engineering to bridge.”

“Yes, Lieutenant, what is it?”  Janeway responded to B’Elanna’s signal.

“All our systems show landing thrusters are operating at 99% of maximum output, but our external sensor readings indicate that actual output is closer to 61%.  We’re trying to track down the reason for the discrepancy, but I wanted to alert you to the problem.  It could make Voyager much harder to maneuver as we approach our landing site.”

“Tom, do you have enough control to land Voyager?”  The captain asked for his input on the situation keeping the line to engineering open.

“I’ve noticed the problem, but since I haven’t landed Voyager before, I wasn’t sure whether it was a design problem or an engineering glitch.  If we were going through a storm or other disturbance, I might suggest returning to orbit, but we have a clear path to our landing coordinates and should be on the ground in about five minutes.  I think I can handle Voyager under these conditions.  B’Elanna, just don’t let that power drop further, OK?”

“OK, Tom, you’re flying her.  You heard him, B’Elanna; keep an eye on those power output readings.  If they start dropping any further, advise me immediately.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Four minutes later, Tom powered down the last thrusters.  “We’re down, Captain.”

“Secure all ships systems and shut down the thrusters, Tom.  When your station is secure, go to engineering and see if you and B’Elanna can come up with the reason for the low power output on the thrusters.”

“Aye, Captain.”  Tom locked down his station and headed for the turbolift.  Chakotay stepped in with orders of his own for others on the bridge.

“Harry, get an away team assembled and out foraging for our dinner.  I’ll expect a status report from all five teams by 17:30.” Chakotay sent Harry on his way. The rest of the bridge crew settled back to their routine.

Kathryn looked at Chakotay but pitched her voice so only she could hear.  “17:30?  Why then?”

“I thought the captain would be wanting my report by 18:00, so I’ll need Harry’s report in order to prepare mine.  A half hour should be enough.  Can we talk . . . in your ready room?”  Kathryn rose and led the way.

“Why in here?”

“Your couch is more comfortable and I can hold you while I talk.  I also have a couple of proposals to make and would much prefer you shoot them down in private instead of the bridge.”  Chakotay pulled Kathryn toward the couch and onto his lap.  She settled herself in his arms and waited for him to continue.  “I thought I would implement a revised duty roster effective with Alpha Shift tomorrow and put the extra people on away teams to search for possible food sources in the area, depending on what the first five away teams learn this afternoon.  I’d like to put at least one, if not two teams, on scouting assignments.”

“Scouting for what?”

“Likely spots for the crew to use for their shore leave.  You know, beaches for swimming, woods to hike, or just any place they find where the crew could get away from the ship.  I was hoping you would approve a leave schedule while we’re making repairs and scouting that would give everyone at least three consecutive days leave plus three or four hours on one or two other days.  We might not get the chance for extended leave again for a long time.  They are going to be moving quarters while we’re here, too.  Later I would like to implement the leave schedule I mentioned earlier.”

“I knew you were anticipating shore leave for the crew, but I hadn’t expected you to recommend so many days for everyone.  Do you really think they need that much?”

“No, I don’t think they need it. I think if they had to, they could and would all keep going just as they have been. But I think they all have earned a break. I know I would like a break and I’m sure many would agree with me.”

“OK.  If you had tried to tell me they needed the break, I might have argued. When you put it in terms of their deserving a break, I can’t argue. They do. Tell me one thing. Why do you need a break?”

“Oh, I’ve never had a chance to take my best girl for a quiet walk along a beach, so I thought I’d try to arrange that, plus maybe a honeymoon of sorts away from the crowd. I thought maybe I’d post that announcement just as we were leaving the ship for our three days. Then the crew could gossip to their hearts' content for a few days and maybe have it be old news by the time we got back.” Chakotay had been punctuating his sentences by nibbling Kathryn’s neck with his lips.  Kathryn was enjoying this conversation, but suddenly remembered she was on duty.

“Hey, mister, you’re on duty. You promised none of this kind of behavior on duty.” Kathryn pushed herself away from him and stood up.

“Actually, Captain, I’m not on duty. My shift ended five minutes ago. You, ma’am, are still on duty for another two hours. My promise did not include any reference to your being on or off duty.”

“Semantics. Get out of here and get those leave rotations completed. I want to see them at 18:00 along with that away team report. Bring a copy of the duty roster for the next two weeks, too. I may as well see all your plans before I approve them. You may be off duty, but you can still get some work done. If I like the reports and approve the leave rotations, maybe we’ll discuss those other plans of yours later.”

“I’d like that, Captain.”  Chakotay stood then bent to kiss her gently then left for his office.  Since he was off duty and had gone to such pains to point it out to the captain, Chakotay thought it would be a really bad idea to work on the bridge for the next few hours, so he headed for his office.

The crewmen who wanted to stay in the dormitory quarters presented a plan to Chakotay later that evening after he and the captain had finished their meal.  Somehow, they had managed to come up with a list that they could all accept and which met Chakotay's requirements.  He assigned those who would not be staying in the dormitory rooms to other quarters, then posted the list.  Those moving to Deck 2 were given two days to move before others started the relocation process.  Other crewmen were to start relocating the third day.  Everyone had two days to move to new quarters.  There were a few who were being assigned to virtually identical quarters, but Chakotay had decided that everyone should move.  Leaving a few in the same place didn’t feel right.  Chakotay made sure they all had at least 6 hours off duty the day they had to move.  Because someone could not move in until the previous occupant had moved out, they moved in groups.  All those moving to quarters that had been empty were in the first group.  Those moving into their quarters were in the second group.  The seventh and last group to move was the former residents of the dormitory quarters.

All things considered, the relocation process went fairly well.  Someone besides Chakotay remembered the old Earth game and dubbed the whole process Project Fruit Basket.  Tom was even referring to the boxes being used to transfer personal items as “fruit cases.”  The humorous references helped to lighten the tension on more than one occasion when someone was ready to move in but the previous occupant was not completely out yet.  Someone in the second group to move put a piece of fruit in front of their old quarters for the new resident when they had finished moved out.  Within 24 hours, it was not unusual to see fruit in front of doors on the residential decks.  Kathryn and Chakotay were pleased with how well the relocation was accomplished.