Chapter Text
Kathryn paused on the stairs to look out across the city. A huge building loomed above the others: the power distribution plant, she hoped. She was already running late, but she couldn't help lingering a moment to take it all in. It was massive—even larger than the one she had accidentally found herself at that morning.
She glanced back down at the datapad in her hand, confirming that this was indeed the right place before rejoining the stream of people on their way to work. It wouldn't do to be even later than she already was. Not on her first day on the job.
She had searched long and hard for this job. It was the first good opportunity she'd had in years, and she couldn't afford to mess it up. Quarra was the most incredible planet she'd ever seen. The city was huge and busy, but it was clean and safe: two things she'd never thought she'd find. She'd never seen so many different species in one place, living and working together in peace. It was amazing.
The interior of the building was as impressive as the exterior. The ceiling was so high up she could barely see it, and the large open space in the centre continued deep into the ground. She had to admit, she was glad she didn't have to go all the way down there. Her station was only one floor down.
Kathryn managed to slip onto the open lift just before the gate closed. The platform slid into motion, and she stepped to the rail to peer over the edge. There were at least four floors beneath them. Luckily, she had a good head for heights.
After leaving the lift, she quickly found herself in a maze of walkways above a room full of various workstations. Dozens of workers hurried between them, but she needed to find who was in charge.
She stopped a purple-skinned alien coming towards her. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the supervisor?"
He pointed to a room at the other end of the walkway. "Over there."
"Thank you."
A man stood framed in a window overlooking the workers. She hurried down the walkway to him.
He spotted her and stepped out of the office to join her. "Your authorisation and licences please?"
She handed him her datapad, and they started down the steps to the work floor.
He checked the pad. "Level six in Thermal Dynamics and Quantum Fusion. Well, Janeway, I'm impressed."
She nodded. "Thank you, sir." She'd worked hard for her qualifications, and knew she had every right to feel proud of her accomplishments.
He handed the pad back to her. "Now if you can just manage to report to your shift on time."
"I'm sorry, I boarded the wrong transport. I ended up at the Atmosphere Filtration Facility." She was babbling, something she only did when she was nervous. Thankfully, the supervisor didn't seem to notice.
"They're always looking for skilled workers. I'm surprised they didn't offer you a job."
"I promise I won't be late again."
They came to a stop by one of the consoles.
"Well, it's easy to get disoriented when you're new here. I've been in this city all my life, and I still get lost on occasion." He gestured to the workstation. "Now you'll be monitoring the primary reactor coils. They process more than eight thousand—"
"Eight thousand metric tons of tylium per second at ninety-four per cent thermal efficiency." Eager to please and slightly embarrassed at having interrupted her new boss, she explained, "I memorised the specifications." It had taken her half the night, so she had woken tired which was probably why she had ended up on the wrong transport.
He nodded. "Let me know if there's anything you need. You'll find we like to keep our workforce happy."
"I can already tell it's going to be much better than my last job."
She grinned, and he left her to get to work. She glanced at her console before taking another look around at the room, still in awe of the feat of engineering. But she had a job to do, and she was determined to do it to the best of her abilities.
So far, Chakotay's first day on the job had been everything he'd been hoping for. The work wasn't too difficult, but it did require a thorough understanding of the systems he was working with. But with the amount of trouble he'd had finding a job, he would have been happy mindlessly pushing buttons on a factory floor. This job was better than anything he could have asked for.
The city wasn't bad either. After Earth, he'd been sceptical of living anywhere so busy and crowded, but this was a totally different experience. The streets were clean. The air was clean. The city was safe and the people were friendly. It was a good place to live.
He obviously wasn't the only one who thought so. He had never seen so many different species in one place. Clearly, this planet was a wonderful opportunity if so many people would come here from so many different places. There were even quite a few other humans working in the same plant as he was. Even on the same floor. He wondered if he might run into anyone he'd known back on Earth, though he doubted it.
Within a few hours, he had found a rhythm in his work. Most of the time was spent by the console, inputting the codes needed to compensate for various fluctuations in the reactor coils. Occasionally, he would have to enter something into the coils themselves or cross to a console on the other side of the floor for new orders.
He had just dropped off a datapad when an alarm sounded. Momentarily startled, he looked around for the source of the sound. It was coming from a nearby workstation where a woman was frantically trying to correct an error. She looked behind her, either hoping to find help or that no one had noticed her blunder.
He found himself moving towards her. There was something about her that was drawing him in, beyond the fact that he thought he could help. She was leaning over her console now, and he realised she was speaking.
"Come on, shut off that damn alarm, and I promise I'll never violate you again."
He watched her fingers slide across the console, momentarily hypnotised by the motion. The sound of the alarm snapped him out of it, and he reached out to touch a control. A couple more commands and the error had been fixed.
An amused smile tugged at his lips. "You almost started a core overload."
Kathryn stared up at her rescuer, hoping she wasn't blushing. "I would have corrected it." That probably wasn't a lie, though since she hadn't even managed to figure out what the problem was, it would have been hard to fix it. She obviously hadn't learned the system quite as well as she'd thought.
The man grinned, revealing a dazzling set of dimples. "Well, then I'm sorry for interrupting."
She could feel her cheeks growing warm, so she quickly looked away. Her first day on the job, and she'd already goofed spectacularly.
Chakotay wasn't sure what to make of her reaction, but she seemed more embarrassed than upset. Besides, anyone who tried to stop a core overload by talking to her control panel couldn't be that bad.
He'd thought she was pretty when he'd first seen her, but now that he could see her up close, he was revising that opinion. She wasn't just pretty. She was beautiful. Shoulder-length auburn hair framed high cheekbones, and blue eyes shone with intelligence.
He wanted to keep speaking to her.
"And I didn't mean to eavesdrop." He nodded at the workstation. "I overheard you talking to your console."
She was avoiding his gaze, but she didn't seem upset. He thought he could even see a hint of a smile. "It's an old habit."
"Does it work?"
Kathryn found herself fighting a grin of her own. She suspected it was a losing battle. "I'm not sure this control panel and I speak the same language yet." She patted the top of the workstation.
"Well, if you need an interpreter …" He offered her his hand. "Chakotay."
She glanced at the hand before looking back at his face. She knew she was being a bit standoffish, but it was only because she was embarrassed. He seemed like a nice man, especially if he was willing to put up with her prickly attitude. He was very handsome: tall and dark with dark hair and eyes and an interesting pattern of lines on his left temple. He looked human, but the name was unfamiliar to her.
At any rate, he seemed harmless enough, so she accepted his hand and introduced herself. "Kathryn."
"I work just down there." He nodded towards the other consoles.
He was pleased when her face broke into a smile. "That's good to know."
She was even more beautiful when she was smiling.
The warm moment was interrupted by a rather icy voice.
"This station doesn't require two operators."
They looked up to see a young woman approaching them, datapad in hand. She also looked human, but she had what appeared to be cybernetic implants around her left eye and by her right ear.
Chakotay started to introduce himself. "I don't think we've met. I'm—"
"Employee eight five seven four, and you're employee eight five eight four."
Kathryn nodded, but the woman took no notice.
"Since you're both new here, you may not be fully familiar with the labour protocols. Fraternising is not permitted during work hours."
Glancing at Kathryn, Chakotay gave her a quick wink before turning back to the woman. "And do you have a number? Or maybe a name?"
"Annika Hansen."
"And what is your position here?"
"I'm the new Efficiency Monitor."
"Ah, yes. Sounds … efficient."
He shared another glance with Kathryn who was finding it difficult not to smile.
Miss Hansen looked less than impressed. "Then in the interest of efficiency, I suggest you return to your station."
Kathryn decided to come to her new friend's rescue. He'd saved her once, it was time to return the favour. "We weren't fraternising. He was just helping me correct an input error. We're almost finished."
"Do it quickly."
She nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Kathryn couldn't help the face she pulled as Hansen moved off with a sharp, 'efficient' nod. She glanced at Chakotay who grinned.
"I thought we were fraternising."
She started up at him, surprised by his bold statement. Somehow, she hadn't expected it from him. With a soft laugh, she shook her head and got back to work. It wouldn't do to upset the new 'Efficiency Monitor' on her first day, particularly not after nearly starting a core overload. She couldn't afford to lose this job.
"Maybe we could get acquainted after work. I found this little place not too far from here. We could get a meal."
Kathryn looked up at him with an apologetic smile. She was tempted to agree—more tempted than she'd expected to be—but this wasn't a good time to get involved with anyone. "I can't."
"Wouldn't you like someone to talk to? Besides your console, of course."
She felt her cheeks colour again. "I appreciate the offer, but with this new job, I don't really have time to socialise."
He let out a resigned sigh. He was more disappointed than he felt he had a right to be. He hardly knew this woman, but that was the whole point, wasn't it? He wanted to know her. He'd just met her, but he felt drawn to her. He wanted to know every little thing about her. From the moment he'd stepped in to help her, he'd felt there was something familiar about her. That was probably what had made him bolder than he usually would have been. He wondered if she'd felt it too.
His sigh made her feel a bit guilty. She really wished she could accept his offer, but she couldn't afford the distraction. She'd already made enough mistakes today.
Reaching up to touch his arm, she gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry. It really is a tempting offer. If this wasn't my first day …"
He smiled. "I understand. It's my first day too, you know. Maybe some other time."
"Maybe." She glanced over her shoulder. "But for now, shoo. Before the Efficiency Monitor catches us again."
Chakotay raised an eyebrow at that comment—the Efficiency Monitor had been after them for 'fraternising', after all—but he decided to let it go. He did have a job to get back to. Offering her another warm smile, he made his way back to his workstation.
Kathryn peeked over her own console, watching where he went, but she ducked behind it when he met her eye. She couldn't let herself be distracted like this. Playing peekaboo over the workstations was not an efficient use of their time.