LOVE GAMES (PG-13)
Summary:Strange gifts keep popping up aboard Voyager — all for the
Captain… maybe!
— “Delta Story” January 1998
Sleep was still heavy in her eyes and body and mind as Kathryn Janeway
heard
the *tweep* at her door, signaling her from semi-sombulance to
demi-wakefulness. Reflexively, she answered, “Just a moment.” Then, in a
lower voice she requested, “Lights;” and the artificial illumination
brought her
into another “day”.
She grabbed the robe laying at the foot of her bed, and summoned her body
to
alertness as she quickly walked towards the door. She took several deep
breaths, licked her dry lips, and reached up to her hair, to smooth away
the
tangles of slumber. All of these motions took her mere seconds; she
invited her
visitor to enter.
“Come,” she chimed, securely tying the soft sash of her pink satin robe.
The doors remained closed.
“Open,” she requested of the entry panels.
The doorway opened… to no one. She took a few steps towards and then
through the entrance, only to find a deserted hall… save for a tray on
the floor to
the left of her door… a tray from which she now discerned the aroma of…
coffee!
Real, honest-to-goodness, non-replicated coffee! There on the tray sat a
gleaming silver pot, steam escaping from its interior treasure, and filling
the air
with one of her favorite fragrances. She leaned over and picked up the
tray,
again looking down the abandoned hall and calling to any one who might be
there.
“Hello? Who’s there?” she asked, feeling a little uncomfortable with the
echo of
silence that bounced back to her. With a slight shiver and a shrug of her
shoulders, she turned and reentered her suite.
She carried the full tray over to a table. Not only was there the
welcoming pot of
coffee, but also a beautiful covered container of floral porcelain about
six inches
wide, unlike anything she had ever remembered seeing on Voyager. She
slowly removed
the lid, and saw a plate of golden brown, flaky pastries, thickly filled
with cherries
and apples. The captain reached towards them, and felt their warmth… and
smelled their sweet, spicy scent.
The temptation was too great. She immediately poured some of the
delectable
brew, sat down, and indulged herself with a decadence that she had long
forgotten. The first sip of the coffee started her transport; biting into
the cherry
pastry whisked her along Only then, now sufficiently awake and alert, did
she
see a white corner peeking out from underneath the pastry server. She
moved
the dish, and a small white card appeared. Picking it up and opening it,
she was greeted by two computer-printed words:
“Good Morning!”
Kathryn’s mind was now wide awake. Who… why… what was going on? To her
horror, she half-thought, half-spoke out loud, *Q, this better not be any
of your
doing!*
She sighed, but decided that she was *not* going to waste any of the treat
that
set before her, no matter who was responsible for it. And then she
finished it —
to the last drop and the final crumb.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Captain on the bridge,” called out the young ensign as Janeway made her
initial duty appearance of the day.
“At ease, Ensign,” she smiled at the young man, making her way to her
console.
The rest of the crew was already in place, reviewing logs, setting and
calibrating
instruments and generally engrossed in all the early-shift chores. Janeway
swung up onto the raised platform where the command chairs were positioned.
Just as she started to seat herself, she noticed a small package on the
cushion
of her seat. Its contents were wrapped in a glossy, bright pink paper, and
the
paper was held in place with silver ribbon. She looked at it with
surprise, but did
not pick it up.
“What’s this? Does anyone know anything about this package?”
Tuvok answered her immediately. “Captain, I was the first of our shift
here. It
was in place already. I asked Lt. Banneck, who had the con during gamma
shift,
if he had put it there. He said that it had… just appeared; it seemed to
be
transported to its place.” The Vulcan security officer cleared his throat.
“I have
taken the liberty of scanning its contents; they are harmless. It appears
to be… a
book,” he stated.
“A book?” she queried, glancing up with an incredulous look. “Does anyone
else
have anything to add to this?” she continued, as she started opening the
mysterious package. Her eyes scanned the other residents of the bridge,
and in
a sudden cacophony of voices, their many responses giving her no answers.
Before the paper was completely off of the book, Janeway glimpsed at the
volume. It was an old book, probably a couple of hundred years old. Its
title was
even older, and she felt the blood of a blush rushing to her face as she
read it:
“Sonnets to the Portuguese”, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It was one of
her
favorite selections of poems! Protruding from between the cover and the
frontispiece, she saw the corner of another white card.
She deftly pulled it out, and, in the same computerized lettering as she
had seen
before, she read the inscribed words:
“Beautiful words for a beautiful woman.”
Once more, the tale-tell flush crept up throughout her face. She felt
several pairs
of eyes on her, most notably those of Tom Paris — the one person whom she
did *not* want to see her current emotional state.
“Captain… are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes… I’m fine,” she recountered, breathing deeply to compose herself.
“I’m
fine.” She quickly put the card back into the book and gently refolded the
paper
around the tome, placing it on the floor beside her chair.
Janeway turned to Chakotay, whom she knew was earlier watching with the
others as she opened the parcel, but who was now studying position data
scrolling across his screen.
“Commander, do you know anything about this… gift?” she asked seriously.
He looked at her, his eyes matching hers in their solemnity. “I only know
that it
was here when I arrived; sorry!” And he went back to his concentration of
the
figures displayed on his monitor.
She continued to look at him, as he appeared deep into the thoughts of
duty.
She shook her head, as if to erase an unwanted idea, and set about on her
daily
rounds.
Content with the status reports from the bridge stations, Janeway
announced, “I
need to find some information for Lt. Torres regarding a supplemental force
field
to contain the dilithium we brought aboard yesterday. I’ll be in my ready
room. Mr. Chakotay, you have the con.”
“Yes, Captain,” he responded obediently, as she quickly walked towards her
office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The doors to Janeway’s inner sanctum closed behind her. She wanted some
more coffee, but knew that any that she replicated could never match the
earlier
treat that had surprised her. Reluctantly, she decided to forego any more,
and
sighed as she sat down at her desk, starting to ask the computer for the
force
field information.
She glanced around the room, waiting for the computer to comply with her
request. Her eyes abruptly stopped when her sight came to rest at a table
in the
corner. Its usual coffee service was not there; in its place was a large
crystal
urn. The container was overflowing with the bending stems of at least
three
dozen deep pink tulips…
She uttered a shallow gasp. Pink tulips… absolutely her most favorite
flower!
She had fallen in love with them the time she spent an April holiday in
Amsterdam; she could never have enough of them. Where had they come from?
Again, who…? The only person she had ever remembered mentioning her
fondness of the flowers to was Kes. In some strange way, was Kes behind all
of
these surprises? Her eyes began to fill with tears, remembering her dear
friend…
Kathryn forgot her chore, and walked over to the bouquet. She tenderly
cupped
the overflowing blooms in her hand, drinking in the richness of their color
and
the exquisite positioning of the flowers. It was like… a Dutch Master’s
painting!
The arrangement completely took over the table, and transported her spirits
to
thoughts of sunlight and color and vibrancy… thousands of light years
away, to
another time, another place.
The white edge of a card quickly returned her to the present. It was
underneath
the vase, hidden by the curtain of color of the flowers. She slowly pulled
it out
from underneath the heavy glass container and opened it. The anonymous
printed lines read:
“Only you surpass the loveliness of the lilies of the field.”
She closed the card, knowing that she should be upset at the
presumptuousness of whoever was playing this little *game*. But, she
thought, it is so nice… that someone cares. It had been so long… but
who? She hit her comm badge.
“Mr. Kim, would you please come into my ready room?” her voice inquired.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry Kim looked up in surprise at hearing his captain’s voice.
“Uh…. yes; right away, Captain,” he answered.
Chakotay heard the request and answer, and turned to face the young man as
he started his short trip to her private room.
“Uh… Commander, the Captain wants to see me,” he said to the bridge’s
senior
officer.
“Yes, Mr. Kim; I heard. Please attend to her.”
Harry buzzed his arrival at her door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ah, Mr. Kim. Please, come in and have a seat,” Janeway said as the doors
closed behind him. She was still standing by the flower-laden table, the
card in
her hands.
“Captain,” he greeted her, remaining standing. His eyes widened as he saw
the
huge bouquet. “Uh… nice flowers, Captain. What’s the occasion?”
“That’s what I would like to know, Harry. I want you to do a little
detective work for
me.”
“Well…uh,… sure, Captain. What is it?”
“I’m sure you saw the package on my seat this morning; now, these flowers.
And, there was something… earlier in my quarters. Each gift also has
come
with a card,” she said as she waved the one that had come with the flowers
through the air. She started pacing.
“Harry, I think all of the items have been… um… *delivered* by
site-to-site
transport within the ship. Can you search the transport logs and find out
where
all of them originated and who did the transporting?”
“Sure; that shouldn’t be too difficult,” he responded with a promising
smile.
“Good,” she affirmed, a glimmer in her eyes. “I want to get to the bottom
of this
as soon as possible.”
Harry took his leave and returned to the bridge to begin his inquiry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within thirty minutes, Harry buzzed Captain Janeway.
“Captain, I have some information, but not an answer,” the young ensign
told
her.
“Explain, Ensign. Better yet, come back into my office.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, again notifying bridge command of the captain’s
request.
Once behind the protection of her doors, he stammered his findings to her.
“Captain… ma’am… um… the transports are occurring from sites within
the ship,
but there seems to be some sort of security lock on points of origin, and a
cloaking file hiding the identity of whoever has been making the transfers.
I’ve tried several overrides, and even asked Commander Tuvok to help, but
we can’t seem to break through the coding. Do you want me to continue
searching?”
She was sitting behind her desk. She leaned back in her chair and released
a
deep sigh. “No, Harry; that will be all. I’m sure that the perpetrator
will make
himself known eventually. I guess there really is no harm in it. Except
that
someone is going through an awful lot of replicator rations!” She smiled a
secret smirk. “Thank you for your trouble, Harry. Dismissed.”
And Harry Kim, more puzzled than ever, returned to his post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The figures were ready for Torres, but Janeway wanted to oversee their
implementation herself. She notified B’Elanna that she had some ideas
about
the force field, and would like to come down to engineering herself to talk
with
the staff.
“Of course, Captain,” responded the chief engineer, in an unusually
cheerful
tone. “We’ll be waiting for you.”
Janeway exited her ready room, and crossed the bridge on her way to the
turbolift to go to deck . While crossing the room, she announced her
destination.
“I should be back within the hour,” she told them, as she entered the lift.
The doors closed with their usual “whoosh”. She closed her eyes
momentarily,
only to open them quickly… as strains of music softly filled the confines
of the lift.
The delicate sounds of a harp and a guitar were playing “Spring” from “The
Four
Seasons” by the composer from Earth’s Old Renaissance, Antonio Vivaldi.
It
had been years since she had heard the piece of music, and never
interpreted
so… sensually than by these two instruments. She manually halted the
turbolift,
just so she could enjoy the haunting sounds.
She leaned back against the wall of the compartment, caught up for several
minutes in the lilting harmonies of the music. Then… she saw it. Tucked
in
behind the rail opposite her, she saw the familiar sight of another white
card.
She took the two necessary steps to cross the stall to secure it, opening
the
folded paper as she picked it up. The black print read:
“If music be the food of love, play on…”
The mysterious transporter had struck again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was mid-afternoon. The work in engineering had gone fairly smoothly,
with no
major glitches in getting the force field set up. B’Elanna was satisfied
that it
would work, and Kathryn Janeway made her way back to the bridge. She was
somewhat disappointed that there was no “elevator music” to accompany her
back.
The senior officer had just finished going over a request from Seven for an
expanded duty roster for astrometrics, now that they were headed into an
area of
heavy asteroid activity. She buzzed the former Borg woman on her comm
badge.
“Yes, Captain?”
“I have looked at your figures for your request, Seven, but I’m unfamiliar
with the
procedures you mentioned. Could you enlighten me further regarding the
laser-polarized xenon technique?”
“Certainly. But I can explain it better by showing you. Can you come to
astrometrics?”
“On my way,” Janeway signaled, as she trudged out of her office, mumbled
her
destination as she crossed the bridge and entered the lift.
And once more, the music filled the space. This time, it was a flute and
organatild, sweetly playing melodies from ancient Orion. *Lovely…* she
thought,
again transported by the mesmerizing music.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seven was waiting for Captain Janeway, prepared to show her the laser
technique being used to obtain magnetic resonance images of the asteroid
field. The hyperpolarization of the gas was producing much clearer images
than
they had obtained before. The captain was obviously impressed.
“Seven, you continue to surprise me with your knowledge. These results are
amazing! I’m sure we can accommodate your personnel requests; I’ll pass
them along to Chakotay with my approval,” she smiled at the tall blonde
Borg/human, as she continued walking around the room, looking at all the
innovations that filled the space.
“Is there anything else that you would like to show me, while I’m here?”
Seven looked at Janeway, debating whether she should bother the captain
with
her discovery of a short time earlier. Finally, she decided that the
strange
occurrence should be reported, as the captain *was* here.
“Yes, there is a… peculiar item that I found just a while ago,” the young
woman
said seriously. She led Janeway to a corner of the room, where a small
work
table was located. On it, there was a medium sized transport container, to
which was attached… a white card, simply addressed to “KJ”.
“Are these letters not your initials?” Seven asked.
Janeway swallowed, wondering what this was now. “Yes, they are.”
She looked up at Seven, and issued a slight giggle, shaking her head.
“I’ve
been getting… strange gifts today,” she nervously explained to the
younger
woman.
Seven seemed somewhat bewildered. “From whom are you receiving them?”
she asked.
“That’s the problem… I don’t know.” Janeway tenuously opened the card,
upon
which was inscribed:
“The blue of your eyes is almost impossible to rival, but this just
might.
It reminds me of you — please wear it tonight.”
She looked at Seven, who had read the note over her shoulder and who now
looked at the captain with a puzzled expression.
“Why would anything blue remind someone of you, Captain?”
Kathryn Janeway felt the flush of her face as she was unfastening the metal
closures on the container, remembering a blue dress… in another time and
place. She raised the lid, and there, inside, was a sea of periwinkle
blue,
shimmering with flecks of golden highlights. She slowly pulled the
gossamer
fabric up and out of the box, and it floated into the form of a dress that
would
have come from her dreams: simple, tasteful… and elegant. The fitted
bodice
had a low scooped neckline, long narrow sleeves. The skirt flared from its
snug
waist into a wide circle of flowing fabric. It was if the skies of a late
summer
afternoon had been caught up in its cloth.
Kathryn’s gasp was over taken by Seven’s surprising comment.
“It’s… it’s beautiful, Captain. Although I cannot see much function to
its design,
but I do find it quite pleasing to the eye. I am certain that you will
find it more
than satisfactory.”
Janeway turned to her. “Seven, I am truly embarrassed. It isn’t right for
me to be
given such… a *personal* gift. I really don’t know what to say or do.”
Seven looked at her with great seriousness. “Wear it. I’m sure that
whoever
gave it to you will find you.”
A contented smile crept across the captain’s face. “Do you really think so,
Seven?”
“Yes,” came her short but concise reply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Janeway returned to the bridge, the closed transport container under her
arm. If
she noticed every pair of eyes on the bridge looking at her, she ignored
them.
She placed the metal box beside her chair and finished out the shift
without a
mention of the container.
As the period of duty drew to a close, she rose to go to her ready room for
a final
time. Chakotay was preparing to leave the bridge, and turned to her.
“Captain, you seem to have acquired some additional baggage during the
course of the day. Would you like me to get someone to help you take them
to
your quarters for you?”
She turned towards him. “That would be very thoughtful, Commander. Yes…
yes. Please ask Crewman Ackers to come by in about oh… about thirty
minutes
or so.
“Done,” he said to her with a wink and a wave as he left the bridge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Safe in the privacy of her ready room, the inner woman in Kathryn Janeway
surfaced. She raced to open the transport box, removing the luminous gown.
With silent reverence, she draped it over her chair, mesmerized by its
beauty.
Pulling herself out of her reverie, she quickly took off her uniform,
shedding her
boots as well. She slipped in-between the liquid layers of fabric,
drowning in the
luxury of a real dress, murmuring with delight as its silkiness caressed
her skin.
There was no mirror in the office, so she went over to the long window
opening
onto the dark vastness outside. It was enough for her to see her
reflection in the
tempered glass… and she let out a small gasp at the image that came back
to
her. The dress fit to perfection, gliding over the curves of her upper
body,
clinging to her slim waist, and flowing in long waves down to her lower
calves.
This seemed impossible; who would know her so well that a garment of this
type could be constructed?
Her mind was recounting the series of events that had transpired throughout
the
day. Coffee… her favorite poems… music that she adored… flowers that
charmed… and now, a dress that brought back fond memories. A sense of
tranquil serenity washed over her.
Suddenly, her glazed eyes became alert and fully open, breaking her
trance-like
state. Of course… why hadn’t she thought of that earlier? Was she so
inundated
in her own conceit that she hadn’t noticed the clues? The room brightened
with
the knowing smile that rapidly overtook her face. She started humming one
of
the Orion tunes that had serenaded her earlier as she lovingly took off the
dress,
replacing it tenderly in its box and donning her confining uniform.
Just as she finished putting on her boots, there was a buzz at her door.
She
invited crewman Ackers in, and the two of them made quite a parade of
taking
the flowers, the book and its wrappings, and the transport case with its
enclosed treasure
across the bridge and on their journeys to her quarters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kathryn thanked the young woman for her help, urging her to leave without
answering any of the dozens of questions she knew must be going through the
crewman’s mind. Perhaps she should have said something… *that’s how
rumors get started,* she thought.
But… there was much to do!
Her first step was to contact the doctor. She needed to borrow something
from
him for a short time; could he bring a certain instrument to her quarters
as soon
as possible?
“Of course, Captain. Is there something I can do for you? Why are you in
need
of this type of analysis?” the EMH questioned, in his ever-curious manner.
“Oh, it’s just a little experiment I’m doing. I think I can handle it.
But, thank you
for offering,” she answered with as straight a face as she could muster.
Yes,
this little idea would probably work…
The doctor was alerting her to his presence almost before she expected.
She
opened the door, took the scanning device from him, and hurriedly thanked
him.
He was left in mid-sentence as the door closed on his inquisitive
countenance.
Kathryn Janeway had lined up all of her mysterious gifts. Using the
doctor’s
device, she carefully scanned all of their surfaces, then downloaded the
gathered information into her computer. She called up some selected files,
and
cross-referenced them with her recently acquired data. Yes… there it
was! Her
face beamed with delight, as the information provided bore out her
hypothesis.
She then enthusiastically entered several commands; gleefully thinking *two
can play this little game!* However, before issuing the directive to
dispatch the
final order, she wanted to be completely ready.
A quick shower… fingers through her hair to shake off the fatigue of the
day… a
splash of skin refreshener… a few dabs of makeup… and then to her
closet to
search for suitable shoes… no, she decided; no shoes — barefoot! Yes;
she would go barefoot… The cloud of blue of the dress was the last thing
she put on.
A final check in her mirror satisfied her that she presented an acceptable
appearance. *No, damn it; a ‘great’ appearance,* she nodded with
self-satisfied
smugness at her small, taunt figure.
She picked up her comm badge, taking a deep breath. Was she really ready
to
do this? Well, it was either her way… or his. He had had the upper hand
up to
this point; but, after all, she *was* the captain, wasn’t she? From now
on, it was
*her* way!
“Computer, Janeway, program theta-chi 053; proceed.”
The alto voice of the computer replied, “Executing now.”
And then Kathryn Janeway disappeared into the molecular fog of an
intra-ship
transport.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chakotay was in his quarters, ready to relay yet another clandestine
command
in his day-long series of secret operations, when he sensed his body
reacting to
the slight disorientation of a transport beam. He had only enough time to
look
up with a bewildered expression and started to utter, “What the hel…”
before he was
transmuted.
Seconds later, with the same expression on his face, he found himself
standing
next to Kathryn Janeway, resplendent in the shimmering blue gown, her face
relaxed with a wide grin.
“Good evening, Commander; so nice of you to join me. This *is* what you
had
planned, isn’t it?” she asked with confident glee.
The first officer blinked with disbelief, scanning his surroundings and
trying to
compose himself.
They were standing on the wide verandah of a house on a steep cliff,
overlooking turquoise waters forty meters below. The rhythmic cadence of
towering waves breaking against the algae-covered rock walls far below were
muffled by the resonance of a breeze, rustling through the canopy of leaves
of
the giant mahogany and ebony trees surrounding them. The deepening sky
reflected an intense golden glow of a sun just having dipped below the
horizon,
with tiny stars from afar starting to twinkle their nocturnal presence.
Four
torches lit the verandah area, their warmth and fumes blending with the
flower-fragrant humid air, enveloping the two people in heady
intoxication.
Chakotay shook his head slightly, trying to assimilate the rapid
progression of
events. Here they were, just where *he* had planned for them to be; how
could
she have discovered it? It was all so well concealed…
“Kathryn… how did you… I… I mean, … when… I’m…?” Chakotay
stumbled over
his thoughts and words.
Her closed lips turned up into that wonderful little crooked grin of hers.
She
walked over to his frozen form and put her right hand on his chest, in the
way
only she could do… shivers ran through him with her touch. Her lips were
only
inches from his when she finally spoke.
My dear Chakotay, you simply *must* learn not to leave your DNA lying
around!
As I recall, that’s gotten you into trouble before,” she said with a
twinkle in her
eyes.
“You see, I borrowed a DNA scanner from our beloved doctor, and I was able
to
detect the presence of your DNA on each of the items that you had so nicely
prepared for me. Then, I put a further computerized search to look for
residuals
of your DNA in any of areas of dispatch of the mystery gifts. Strangely
enough, your DNA pattern was present at all of the sites, and it seems that
all of the transports had originated from orders by you. Finally, I locked
onto this holodeck program, scheduled by
you for activation at 1900 hours tonight.”
She backed away a little, turning to one side and looking at him over her
shoulder. “I must say, though, you did a marvelous job in your masquerade
attempts. All that Maquis experience, I would presume?” she asked
teasingly.
He began to laugh, lowering his head and shaking it. He glanced at her,
over the
edges of his brows, his eyes merry with her pride of discovery. His
dimples
deepened, as he started to speak.
“Kathryn… Kathryn… I should have known that with your determined
tenacity that
my covert maneuvers couldn’t remain a secret. But, I guess that I had
hoped
that you would let me play it to its conclusion.”
She turned to face him again. “So, Commander, just what *is* your
conclusion?
Are you saying that a transport to this lovely site isn’t conclusion
enough?” she
asked coyly.
Now it was his turn to answer flirtatiously. He leaned nonchalantly
against one
of the posts on the verandah, folding his bare, muscular arms in front of
himself.
“Oh, I may have a few more things up my sleeve,” he answered blithely.
She reached up to the short length of the sleeve of his off-duty garb.
“But,
Commander, this sleeve isn’t that long,” she said in a low voice.
“It’s long enough for my plans,” he said to her. “Come.”
He led her over to a white wicker table, and seated her in one of the two
wide-backed chairs placed next to it. Standing beside her chair, he then
commanded, “Computer, Chakotay extension, beta-0073.” The table was
suddenly covered with a deep coral cloth, upon which was a tray of bread,
cheeses and fruits. Two crystal glasses were sitting beside a large silver
bucket, frosted from the ice it held, which in turn surrounded a bottle of
champagne.
“My final gift to you, Kathryn. I wanted you… us… to have some time
together,
away from duty; away from crew and problems. Just us for once. I hope you
don’t mind.”
She arose from the chair and, as before, touched his chest with her hand.
Then,
she slid her hand up to his shoulder, and around his neck. Her other hand
joined it. Pulling him close to her, she whispered huskily, “Commander,
this
isn’t your final gift to me. That’s yet to come.”
Kathryn pulled him down to her, her lips searching for and demanding his;
his
ardent response equaled her eager one. The fading light of the sunset
wrapped around them, as their arms encircled each other.
It was then that they both knew… that their love games with each other
were only
beginning.
*************** FINIS: “LOVE GAMES” *****************