The BLTS Archive - Contagion
by ILuvKate

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"This is a paradise, isn't it?" Kathryn stopped in the middle of the
broad expanse of meadow and stared out over the velvety green grass
that stretched as far as she could see. Silvery-barked trees rose here
and there, their deep green glossy leaves spreading cool shade. The
planet's hot yellow sun blazed from a cobalt sky. Janeway felt as if
she could have been in any meadow back on earth. No alien features
could be seen anywhere she looked. Even the flora that dotted the
grass didn't look strange, for all their exotic colors: lilac, pale
blue, bright yellow, and orange.

B'Elanna flipped her tricorder closed and smiled at Kathryn. "It is
beautiful," she agreed. She moved closer to Kathryn and slid an arm
around her waist. Kathryn circled B'Elanna's slim waist with her own
arm and they gazed at each other.

"I've thought so much about making love to you back on Earth," Kathryn
whispered, leaning over to place a kiss on the corner of B'Elanna's
mouth.

"This is the next best thing, isn't it?" B'Elanna said softly, turning
so that they faced and put her other arm around Kathryn. Kathryn
smiled and pulled her close, kissing her deeply. B'Elanna murmured
deep in her throat and returned it passionately. They kissed for long,
satisfying moments, tasting each other, tongues curling over and
around tongues, lips sucking gently on lips. They drew apart and
Kathryn's eyes roved over B'Elanna's lovely features.

"Have I told you lately how very much I love you?" she asked.

"Not lately enough," B'Elanna replied. "Tell me again. And never stop
telling me."

"Never ever," Kathryn promised, "for you are my heart and soul, my
love." B'Elanna brought her hands up to hold Kathryn's face and drew
her mouth to hers for another kiss.

"And you are mine," she said. "I don't know what forces of Fate
brought us together, but I am forever grateful." Kathryn nodded
wordlessly, and took one of the hands on her cheek and turned its palm
to her mouth, pressing her lips to it. Then she took B'Elanna's hand
and together they walked over to the base of one of the trees and sat
down on the ground, holding each other in contented silence.

They began to kiss again, their passion rising and uniforms began to
come off. Kathryn kissed B'Elanna's throat, nuzzling the pounding
pulse there, and trailed hot, wet, kisses from ear to jawline and back
again. B'Elanna kissed her way down from Kathryn's lips to her
breasts, stroking, fondling, and sucking on soft warm nipples that
quickly hardened. B'Elanna rolled the stiffening points of flesh on
her tongue and Kathryn arched her back to press herself more deeply
into B'Elanna's mouth. "Oh, baby, don't stop," she murmured, drawing
deep breaths of pleasure, feeling the heat begin between her legs.
B'Elanna circled Kathryn's breasts with her tongue, moving in outward
circles, and then moving in inward circles. Kathryn's hands stroked
her back, scratching lightly with her nails.

B'Elanna gathered both of Kathryn's breasts in her hands, squeezing
them together so that she could lick and suck them both almost at the
same time. "God, you taste good," she said, grinning up at Kathryn,
who reached up to draw her mouth to hers, kissing her hard and deeply.
B'Elanna returned it in like fashion and then moved back to Kathryn's
breasts. Kathryn grasped her shoulders and rolled her over on her
back, capturing her hands and pinning them over her head. She nibbled
her way from B'Elanna's ear to her collarbone and back up again,
coming back to kiss her throat again, catching folds of skin lightly
between her teeth and making B'Elanna writhe and give small sounds of
pleasure.

She moved down to B'Elanna's breasts, bringing her hands down to cup
them and roll the nipples between her fingers. She ran her tongue
around the circumference of the firm mounds, circling the nipples,
sucking on them hard. After minutes of this, B'Elanna rolled Kathryn
back over and began to kiss her way down Kathryn's body, nipping this
spot and that one. She kissed and licked her way to Kathryn's thighs
and placed a trail of wet heat along the soft insides. She slid one
finger deep inside Kathryn, who cried out. "Oh, darling, please!" She
found the sensitive nub of flesh and teased it lightly as she kissed
her way up and down Kathryn's thighs with maddening deliberation.
"God, B'Elanna!" Kathryn gasped. B'Elanna began to move her finger
just a bit faster and Kathryn shuddered. "Please, baby," she moaned.
B'Elanna gave the soft inside of Kathryn's thigh little sharp nips
with her teeth, making Kathryn twitch in response. Then she moved over
and replaced her finger with her tongue, using the same feathery touch
against Kathryn's throbbing clitoris. "B'Elanna, B'Elanna,
B'Elanna-a-a-a!" Kathryn groaned. "You're killing me, baby! Please!"
B'Elanna raised a falsely innocent face from her ministrations.

"You don't supposed I should stop, then, do you?" she wondered,
eliciting a frustrated glare from her lover and laughing in response.
She bent to her task again, taking pity on Kathryn and moving her
tongue harder and faster, licking the length of her sex. Kathryn came
explosively and before the last spasm had died away, had flipped
B'Elanna over and plunged her own tongue deep into her hot, wet sex,
not bothering with teasing her, but going after her swollen clit hard
and fast. She made B'Elanna come twice, holding her lover's bucking
hips as B'Elanna climaxed violently, howling her pleasure. Kathryn
slid up her lover's hot, sticky, sweaty body and they held each other
in drowsy contentment. They kissed.

"I can't seem to get enough of you," Kathryn murmured, stroking
B'Elanna's damp hair back from her hot, flushed face. "No matter how
often we make love, I'm always ready for you." B'Elanna snuggled
closer to Kathryn, holding her close.

"I know," she said. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Kathryn said, her voice trailing off." They began
to drift off when suddenly Kathryn gave a jerk.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed. B'Elanna sat up.

"What's the matter, darling?" she asked. Kathryn sat up, too, and
began trying to reach a spot on her back to scratch it because it had
suddenly began to itch violently.

"I don't know," she said. "I've suddenly began to itch--goodness!"
B'Elanna turned her around and frowned at the red splotches that were
blossoming on her back.

"You're breaking out with something," she said, touching the hot red
spots lightly.

"Ouch!. They hurt, too!" Kathryn said, flinching.

"Hmmmm, that's stra---ohh!" B'Elanna suddenly felt a burning itch,
too, but it was on the backs of her thighs. She and Kathryn looked at
each other in consternation.

"There's something here that's toxic," Kathryn said, looking in dismay
at splotches appearing on her stomach and thighs. B'Elanna got up and
retrieved one of their tricorders and scanned the grass and them. She
frowned at the read-out and tapped some keys. Irritatededly, she
clawed at one of the splotches on her shoulder that was itching and
stinging. She glanced from the readout to the grass and back again,
bringing the tricorder down closer to the grass.

"This is really strange," she said. She paused and ran the tricorder
over her own body and then tapped keys again. Kathryn waited
expectantly, trying not to scratch the virulent rash spreading over
her body. "The grass, itself, is not toxic," B'Elanna finally went on,
"but when our perspiration comes in contact with it, it produces an
allergic reaction." Kathryn swore.

"This is just wonderful," she said with irritation. "We're going to be
the laughingstock of the ship." B'Elanna closed her tricorder.

"Well, it's true that if we'd kept our clothes on, we wouldn't look
like Meenockian bee-sting victims," B'Elanna agreed, referring to an
incident in which members of Voyager's crew had been attacked by giant
bees on a planet called Meenock, resulting in huge welts that itched
and stung, but were not life-threatening. Kathryn blew out an
explosive sigh and swore again. "But, Kathryn, we did come down here
to see if the planet was suitable for shore leave--" She broke off as
Kathryn looked at her sourly. Sighing, she reflected that Kathryn
would always acutely conscious of her Captain-Image. Never mind she
had the utter loyalty and respect of every member of her crew down to
the last die-hard Maquis, and probably had the love of the crew, too,
for all the times she'd above and beyond the call of duty any time one
of them was threatened. Never mind all that: Kathryn still felt
compelled to present a certain image to the crew and when she was
unable to, she didn't handle it well.

Kathryn reached over and retrieved her commbadge. "Janeway to
Voyager."

"Transporter room here, Captain," came the voice of the transporter
chief.

"Beam me and Lt. Torres directly to our quarters, Ensign," Kathryn
said tersely. B'Elanna raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "On my
command, Ensign," Janeway added.

"Aye, Captain," came the response.

"Let's get dressed," Kathryn said shortly, reaching for her uniform.
Silently, B'Elanna did the same and the dressed in silence. Kathryn's
face was set with the discomfort of the itching and stinging, but she
stolidly refused to scratch. Tapping her commbadge, she said,
"Energize, Ensign." She and B'Elanna disappeared in the familiar blue
shimmer and rematerialized in their quarters. "Transporter room,"
Kathryn said, "notify Cmdr Chakotay that he has the bridge until
further notice."

"Aye, Captain," the transporter tech responded. Kathryn was already
tearing he uniform off, grunting in discomfort and frustration.

"Kathryn," B'Elanna said, ignoring her own itching, "let's go to
Sickba--"

"No!" Kathryn interrupted, scratching furiously, "I'm not about to
face that sarcastic, supercilious doctor under these circumstances.
No, thank you."

"Kathryn, dammit," B'Elanna burst out in frustration, "he's just a
computer subroutine, for God's sake, and you're the Captain! You don't
have to put up with anything from him!"

"You're right," Kathryn responded, heading for the shower, "and I'm
not. You can go if you want to, but I'm staying right here til this
stuff clears up."

"What if it doesn't?" B'Elanna shot back.

"Then I'll break down and go to Sickbay," Kathryn's voice drifted from
the bathroom. The sound of the water shower could be heard and
B'Elanna threw up her hands. She considered the possibility of
throwing Kathryn over her shoulder and hauling her bodily down to
Sickbay. No, she decided, that really would damage Kathryn's dignity.
She glared at the bathroom doorway. Sometimes, she fumed, that woman
can be so damn pig-hea---

Her ire was interrupted by an agonized yell from the bathroom and she
raced into it to find Kathryn, her face contorted in pain all but
dancing outside the shower. "What's the matter? What happened?"
B'Elanna demanded.

"Oh, hell!" Kathryn sputtered. "The water was too damn warm and I had
it as tepid as I could get it. Dammit!"

"Oh, sweetheart," B'Elanna commiserated, "I'm sorry you're so
miserable. Please come to Sickbay."

"No," Kathryn said firmly. "I am not. Don't bug me about it." She
glared at the innocent shower. "Damn, I miss Kes," she said
mournfully. "She wouldn't be like him." B'Elanna stared at her as an
idea occurred to her.

"Stay here," she said unnecessarily. "I'll be right back." She
sprinted from the quarters, leaving a puzzled Kathryn staring after
her in mystification.

In Sickbay, B'Elanna overrode the Doctor's controls and summarily
deactivated him, much to his surprised indignation, and retrieved his
portable holo-emitter. She packed a medikit with equipment and then
she hurried to Holodeck Two. Rapidly, she keyed in a sequence of
commands on the holo-controls. Then she went to the holodeck entrance.
"Computer," she said, "run program Kes-Alpha."

"Program has been activated," the computer's neutral voice informed
her. She entered the holodeck. A slender figure with a gentle,
compassionate face, soft blue eyes, and short blonde hair turned as
she entered. A holographic recreation of Kes, with all her memories
and her knowledge.

"Hello, B'Elanna," the holographic Kes greeted her. B'Elanna walked
over to her and attached the portable holo-emitter to her sleeve.

"Hello, Kes," she returned the greeting. "I need you to come with me
to my and Kathryn's quarters. We've been poisoned by something on the
planet we're orbiting, and Kathryn refuses to see the Doctor." Kes
nodded in understanding and they left the holodeck.

Arriving at their quarters, B'Elanna keyed the door and she and Kes
entered to find Janeway at her terminal talking to Chakotay.

"It's not anything serious enough for the doctor, Chakotay," she was
saying resolutely as they entered. She glanced up, and her eyes
widened in shock. "Kes?" she whispered.

"Captain?" came Chakotay's querying comm-voice.

"It's a hologram, Kathryn," B'Elanna explained hurriedly. Kathryn's
face cleared and she nodded.

"I'm sorry, Commander. It's nothing. I'll be back in touch directly.
You're in command until further notice."

"Aye, Captain," came the First Officer's uncertain reply. "Keep me
informed, please."

"Will do. Janeway out." Kathryn pushed the terminal away from her and
rose, looking questioningly at B'Elanna.

"This is a holographic Kes, Kathryn," B'Elanna told her. "She can
treat you just as the real Kes would." Kathryn smiled.

"My darling, you never cease to amaze me," she said softly, studying
the holographic Kes. "What a brilliant idea."

"Tell me what happened, Captain," the hologram said gently, taking
Kathryn by an elbow and leading her over to the couch. Janeway sat
down on the couch, removing her robe as the hologram opened the
medikit and took out a medical tricorder. B'Elanna handed her her own
tricorder with which she'd recorded data on the planet and the
hologram downloaded the data into her medical tricorder, studying the
readout intently. Kathryn related the events down on the planet and
the hologram nodded as she listened, glancing at B'Elanna.

"Were you affected, too, Lieutenant?" she asked. B'Elanna nodded.

"But not as badly as Kathryn was," she said. "Mine itches and stings,
but it's not nearly as violent."

"You were correct in determining that it was the interaction of
perspiration with the grass on the planet that caused this outbreak,"
the hologram said, closing her tricorder and rummaging in the medikit
for a hypospray. "I will need to use your replicator, Captain," she
said to Kathryn, who nodded.

"Of course," she said. The hologram got up and went over to the
replicator, keying in commands.

"However," the hologram added, "it was not the Captain's sweat that
interacted with the grass to cause this." She picked up a handful of
vials that materialized on the replicator's pad and came back over to
Kathryn, loading the hypospray. "It was your sweat, B'Elanna."
B'Elanna grimaced.

"Of course," she muttered. The hologram injected Kathryn.

"This should take effect in about twenty minutes, Captain," she said.
Kathryn nodded gratefully.

"Not a minute too soon, either," she said. "Will this antidote work on
B'Elanna, too?"

"Yes," the hologram responded, reloading the hypospray. She injected
B'Elanna and then turned to Kathryn.

"You will both need two more injections of this to completely
neutralize the reaction," she said. "Eight hours from now for the next
one. Eight more for the second." She laid the other vials and the
hypospray on the table.

"I expect I'd better get back to Sickbay and reactivate the Doctor,"
B'Elanna said. "And hope he doesn't take my head off."

"He's just a computer subroutine," Kathryn said, straight-faced. "You
don't have to put up with anything from him." B'Elanna made a face at
her.

"Very funny," she said. "Kes?" Impulsively, Kathryn rose and enveloped
the hologram in a hug.

"I know you're not the real Kes," she said somewhat sheepishly, "but I
miss her so."

"If I didn't know you better," B'Elanna quipped, "I'd be jealous."
Kathryn snorted.

---

A few hours later, they lay in each other's arms, naked, amid a tangle
of sheets. Kathryn lazily stroked B'Elanna's back still damp from the
sweat of their exertions. "So far," she murmured, "so good. No
splotches." B'Elanna lay with her head on Kathryn's shoulder, her eyes
closed, one hand drowsily circling one of Kathryn's breasts.

"No grass either," she mumbled sleepily. "Smart-ass." Kathryn
chuckled, bending to kiss her lover's sleepy lips, her tongue teasing
them open.

"Don't you ever get enough?" B'Elanna mumbled, pretending to be
irritated, Kathryn knowing she was anything but.

"Nope," she said promptly, "I don't, and neither do you." B'Elanna
shifted positon so that she could kiss Kathryn more thoroughly.
Kathryn's hands roamed over her lover's warm, smooth skin, smoothing
the flat of her hand over her belly and bottom. B'Elanna made small
sounds of pleasure, pressing herself more tightly to Kathryn, her own
hands kneading and fondling Kathryn's breasts, making her groan deep
in her throat.

B'Elanna turned Kathryn on her back and positioned herself over her,
bracing herself on her arms. She lowered her head and kissed Kathryn
deeply and hungrily. Kathryn put one thigh between B'Elanna's and
B'Elanna moved herself against it. As she slid her sex against
Kathryn, she smiled down at her tenderly and Kathryn returned it,
gazing into her lover's dark eyes that were gleaming with arousal.
B'Elanna shifted again and cupped one of Kathryn's breasts in one
hand, pinching the nipple til it became erect.

"Oh, yes, baby," Kathryn murmured, placing her hands on B'Elanna's
hips. "You're making me so hot, lover." B'Elanna bent to kiss her
again, still moving her body up and down against Kathryn, still
fondling her breast. Their tongues battled, each sucking the other's
deeply. B'Elanna turned herself so that she was positoned over
Kathryn's mouth and she over Kathryn's sex. She flicked Kathryn's
clitoris with her tongue, circling it, sucking it. She probed deeply
and licked hot, slick flesh as Kathryn did the same. Kathryn's hands
gripped her hips as they rocked in time to the rhythm of Kathryn's
busy tongue. B'Elanna groaned deep in her throat as every movement of
Kathryn's tongue sent fire licking through her. Kathryn's own hips
rose and fell in counterpoint to B'Elanna's probes and licks. They
both climaxed violently with mutual cries and groans of pleasure.
B'Elanna settled herself alongside Kathryn, stroking her belly and
thighs as they basked in the sated aftermath of their orgasms. Kathryn
caressed her in turn, fondling her bottom and the backs of her thighs.

"Good thing," she remarked sleepily, "that Klingon sweat doesn't react
negatively with Starfleet sheets." B'Elanna dissolved in giggles and
after a few minutes they drifted off into contented slumber.

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Copyright 1997 ILuvKate

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The End