by Dakota

"It's a class M planet, Captain with a nitrogen/oxygen ratio a bit lower than Earth's at 4.2:1; lots of plant life and some animal life; and no signs of any technological development."  Harry finished his summary of the planet Voyager orbited.

Chakotay looked at the captain.  "Looks like a perfect place to restock our supplies and give the crew some shore leave.  It all checks out, maybe we can even land Voyager and replace our entire air supply."

"It's certainly something to think about, Commander.  Care to join me on the away team for the initial survey?"

"Of course."

"Get together a team then and have them meet us in thirty minutes in transporter room one."

"Aye, Captain."  Chakotay watched as the captain left the bridge for her ready room, probably to have a cup of coffee before beaming down to the planet.  He smiled as he realized she had managed to get his approval to her leaving the ship with the first group without an argument simply by including him in the landing party.  He turned his attention to assembling the away team.

An hour later the captain had satisfied herself that each member of the away team was assigned a task and had started to wander away from the beam down area.  Chakotay had been scanning the native plants for heavy elements but was keeping an eye on her.  When she headed off through a lightly wooded section, he followed at a slight distance.  The trees ended about fifty feet from a stream, leaving a place for an abundance of flowers to grow.  The captain stopped near a tree and just stared giving Chakotay time to catch up with her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

The captain jumped slightly when he spoke.  "I didn't hear you come up."

"I'm not too good with fires, but I can move fairly quietly."

"Well, here's hoping I never need a fire started."  She was surprised at how familiar the smile he gave her had become and even more surprised to realize that she had spoken those words to prompt it.  In two years they had developed into quite a command team.  There were times she saw something in his eyes that made her wonder whether something else had developed as well.  Uncomfortable suddenly at his nearness, she sought escape.  "Oh, look!  Those look almost like roses.  I do believe they even have a scent like roses."

The captain stepped away from Chakotay and walked toward a vine looping down from a nearby tree.  Chakotay looked in the direction she had taken and saw a beautiful pale yellow flower that did indeed resemble wild roses from Earth.

The captain reached out and pulled the vine toward her so she could smell the flower's scent.  Chakotay noticed a few insects in the area as she inhaled the aroma.  Then everything went into slow motion.  The captain let go of the flower and took a step away from the vine gasping for air.  Then she crumpled to the ground.  Chakotay never remembered moving to her side – he was just there, checking for a pulse and respiration.  When he realized she was barely breathing, he started CPR and called for an emergency beam out, then ordered the away teams recalled.  He could still smell the flowers on her breath.  He was starting to feel light-headed as the transporter beam captured him and the captain.

"What happened?"  The EMH's voice made Chakotay change his focus for a minute to something other than the Captain and the scent of the flowers.

"I'm not sure.  There were some insects near her, then she just collapsed."  The EMH thought it was very poor timing on the commander's part to demonstrate his last words as he finished speaking.  The commander's words were their only lead to the source of the virus so the doctor started searching for insects that could be carriers despite the fact that neither of his patients had any detectable bite marks.  They never considered the source of the infection could be an air-borne virus from a plant that bloomed only a few days each year in a single valley on the planet they would later call New Earth.