The stars quickly flew by as the darkness of space surrounded them. Tom Paris sat behind the behind the helm of the Delta Flyer, gliding his fingers over the consoles, making sure they were still on their way to the M class planet they picked up on the long range sensors. Behind him sat one Kathryn Janeway, his captain and the woman who he had been having a secret relationship with for the last few months.

Seeing her smile at him, Tom felt his heart beat a little faster. He had never been with a woman who knew what she wanted and Tom didn't realise he found that a massive turn on until the first time they slept together.

He knew that his feelings for her were getting stronger and stronger by the day, and deep down he hoped that she felt the same way. One day when they get back to Earth he would maybe like to settle down with her and raise a family, this time not as lizards.

"We'll be at the planet in about forty minutes," Kathryn said, breaking the silence that filled the Delta Flyer. "I've been running continuous scans the closer we get and it seems we may actually find something to eat there. I'm still yet to pick up on any life signs on the planet surface."

"Any food will be better than what Neelix has been making lately. I've never eaten so much mush and leola root concoctions in my life." Earning a small laugh and shake of the head from Kathryn, he grinned at her and pressed a few buttons on the console.

Getting up from his chair, he walked over to where Kathryn was and leaned over her, looking at the sensor readings. Feeling her hair against his cheek, he got a bit closer and pointed to the screen. "I think we have something akin to apples showing up."

"How do you know that they are apples?" Kathryn asked, curious.

"When I was a kid I studied the composition of apples to see which way would work best on blowing them up. I tried the old-fashioned way of trying to use something called a microwave but it wasn't as epic as I was expecting."

"Why am I not surprised to hear this." Seeing Tom stand up, she soon felt a strong hand on her shoulder, gently rubbing it and it felt good.

"Because you know me too well my dear Kathryn." Using both hands to gently rub her shoulders, Tom felt her begin to relax under his touch.

"Maybe I just do," Kathryn replied, gently stopping Tom as she stood up in front of him.

"We have half an hour or so until we arrive, can you think of anything to do to fill the time?" Tom softly asked as he pulled Kathryn into a gentle kiss.

Kissing Tom back, she felt herself melt into him, wanting more, but she had things she needed to do and this would kind of derail them. Pulling away, she rested her hands on his chest and took a second to think. "We could but at the moment we need to concentrate on the readings; there may be food down on that planet."

"Anything you say," Tom said, gently, running his hands down her sides to her hips and giving her one more gentle kiss.

"Well then Lieutenant, get back to the helm," Kathryn replied, raising an eyebrow at the blond man.

Leaning down, Tom couldn't help but to give Kathryn one last kiss before he went back to the helm and took the Delta Flyer off auto pilot. Smiling to himself, he could see that Kathryn was doing the same thing and it made him feel warm inside.

Thinking off the planet they were quickly nearing and the thought of fresh, juicy apples, Tom's attention was drawn back to the console in front of him as a loud beep brought him back into the moment. Noticing that they were now above the M class planet, he lowered the Delta Flyer through the atmosphere and landed the vessel smoothly on a large, open field of bright green grass.

"Good landing, Tom," Kathryn said, getting up and giving him a pat on the back.

"Only the best of landings for my beautiful captain," Tom grinned, earning himself a whack on the arm.

Exiting the Delta Flyer, they pulled out their tricorders and scanned the area. Walking through the long green grass, they saw rainbow coloured birds flying overhead and heard water flowing. Following the sound they walked through a patch of large trees with yellow and red leaves and over a small hill. Coming to a bank, there was a good sized pool of water with a waterfall above.

Watching the water flow, Kathryn leaned her head on Tom's shoulder and took in the moment. The sun was shining, the weather was nice, and the sound of flowing water brought her peace. Seeing a large fish jump out of the water, she smiled and relaxed for only a moment more.

Knowing they had to check out the planet for food and return to Voyager within a certain timeframe, Tom placed a quick kiss to Kathryn's head, and checked his tricorder. "We should probably check out the area some more, this planet may hold a lot more beauty."

"You're right, we should, I could stay here all day if I had the time, it's just so beautiful. According to my readings there may be edible food over that hill. I'm still not picking up any life signs and I'm yet to see anything that isn't man or machine made." Looking down at her tricorder once more and pinpointing exactly where they needed to be, Kathryn started walking in the direction of the source of her readings.

"If I'm right they're most likely apple trees, not sure on which colour though," Tom said, stepping over a fallen branch.

"If they're safe for consumption, I don't care what colour they are, I haven't had a good apple in so long." Walking a little faster as they went uphill, they reached the top and looked down into the valley below.

Seeing a whole valley of apple trees, Tom whistled and started to head down the hill. Offering a hand to Kathryn, they safely made it to the bottom and walked over to the closest tree. Its large branches hung wide providing shade as the apples hung just within reach when Tom stood on his tippy toes.

Pulling an apple off the tree, he held it out as Kathryn scanned it, making sure it was safe to eat. "Take a bite Tom, tell me what you think?"

Shining the apple on his uniform, Tom took a good look at it. It was both red and green and reminded him of a Pink Lady apple he had once while in New Zealand. Taking a bite of the fruit, he slowly chewed it and swallowed. "It's nice and sweet and I'm not dead so I think we hit a gold mine."

"Excellent, we can head back to Voyager and bring the ship here; we are going to need all the hands we can get to harvest enough apples for us while leaving more than enough for the local wildlife. I'm just so surprised that with so many different animals here there are no people. I've run every scan possible and there is no sign what-so-ever of even people visiting before us." Reaching up and taking an apple from the lowest leaning branch, Kathryn looked at it and smiled. "One for the trip home."

Making their way back to the Delta Flyer after grabbing a few more apples, they put the apples in the cargo hold and prepared for takeoff.

"Before we leave the atmosphere can you take us around this area, I want to see with my own eyes how many trees there are." Sitting down in her seat, Kathryn prepared for takeoff as Tom rose them off the ground and spun the Delta Flyer around, heading back to where the trees were.

Moving closer to the windscreen, Kathryn put her hand on Tom's shoulder and watched as the trees gently swayed in the wind as they moved over them. There were acres of trees all full of fruit, ready to be picked.

Moving them up a little higher and over the next hill, more trees came into view full of gold fruit. Setting the sensors to scan up close, Tom raised his eyebrow as he pointed to the screen. Down below mixed in with the gold fruit trees were masses of leola root.

"Neelix is going to have fun with that," Kathryn said, rubbing her forehead. "Let's get back to Voyager, they should be expecting us soon."

"Can do." Taking them up through the atmosphere, Tom set a course for the rendezvous location. Looking back at Kathryn, he let a small smile grace his face. He was thankful for the time they got to spend together and he was glad she decided to accompany him and get some much needed fresh air.