He was strapped to a bed. Beside him, still unconscious and also strapped down, lay his sister. Neither of them appeared to be injured. Ellis had company; there appeared to be at least five stasis chambers that Chakotay could see. The clear material set into the almost coffinlike pods revealed the ghostly, unmoving faces of humanoid males. One was an alien; Chakotay groped for the name of the species but couldn’t come up with it. The others, including Ellis, were human Starfleet officers.
Memory floated back to him: standing on the stone, regarding the chamozi. Then the bright light, the pain, and then…nothing. He looked back over at Ellis. Clearly, whatever had stunned Chakotay and Sekaya had also stunned his first officer. He wondered fuzzily why Ellis was in the chamber and he and Sekaya were strapped down on the beds.
But this was not how the Sky Spirits operated. They were peaceful, friendly. They wouldn’t stun strangers and put them in…
Federation stasis chambers.
He was becoming more alert. Shapes he could not put names to a moment ago now had identities. The dim light glinted off glass, metal, and other materials, and Chakotay realized that they were in some sort of hospital…or laboratory. There was a great deal of equipment that glowed and hummed softly. Looking directly up, he saw the rough surface of a cave wall instead of the smooth walls of a building or a ship.
Underground, then. And probably still on Loran II. He heard a soft moan beside him.
“Sekky,” he hissed, keeping his voice quiet. “Are you all right?”
Chakotay turned to look at his sister. She appeared to be uninjured, but she was obviously as groggy as he had been when he had first awakened. She blinked and tugged dazedly against her restraints.
“What happened?” Sekaya asked in a slurred voice.
“An excellent question,” came a crisp, assured voice. “And one we’ll be happy to answer.”
Both Chakotay and Sekaya turned their heads toward the sound. Sekaya uttered a brief, strangled cry and began to struggle in earnest. Chakotay’s own eyes went wide with the shock of recognition.
Standing in the doorway, a look of superior confidence on his gray, scaly face, was the infamous Cardassian scientist Crell Moset.
But he was dead, had been killed in a prisoner transfer accident several years ago, after the battle for Betazed. How could he—
“You!” shrieked Sekaya. She struggled futilely against her bonds, fury distorting her attractive features. “You son of a bitch!”
Still slow in comprehension, Chakotay realized only after a few seconds what her reaction meant. Sekaya recognized the Cardassian. Horror swept coldly through him as he realized that this was doubtless the scientist who had “experimented” on his people. This was the man whose orders had cost Blue Water Dreamer and other innocent men and women their lives. This was the man whose atrocities had slain countless Bajorans in the name of “science,” and who had then moved to continue his work first on Betazed and then on Chakotay’s people.
For his part, Chakotay recognized the Cardassian from a holographic simulation the Doctor had constructed aboard Voyager years ago in order to save B’Elanna Torres’s life. The Doctor had chosen to permanently delete the program; he could not reconcile using this man’s knowledge, obtained through utterly despicable means, even for good.
“Hello, Sekaya. I’m flattered that you recognized me.” The Cardassian smirked. “I must have made quite an impression. No, no, dear, don’t struggle, you’ll hurt yourself and I’ll have to sedate you.”
“And that just wouldn’t be any fun at all, would it, Chakotay?”
Another person had entered the small laboratory. Another person Chakotay recognized.
Commander Andrew Ellis.
Chakotay made a small noise of confusion, then glanced back over to the first stasis chamber that had caught his eye. No, he hadn’t been imagining it. Andrew Ellis was still enclosed inside, face quiet, eyes closed.
Chakotay looked back wildly at the Ellis who stood, grinning, beside a mass murderer, trying desperately to comprehend.
“It wouldn’t be any fun at all,” said Ellis. And then, before Chakotay’s shocked gaze, his features shifted, blurred, and rearranged themselves.
Rearranged themselves into those of a man Chakotay hated more than anyone else in the universe.
The Bajoran traitor Arak Katal.
“So good to see you again, Chakotay,” purred the shapeshifter.
About the Author
Award-winning author CHRISTIE GOLDEN has written twenty-four novels and sixteen short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
She is best known for her tie-in work, although she has written several original novels. Among her credits are the first book in the Ravenloft line, Vampire of the Mists, a Star Trek Original Series hardcover, The Last Roundup, several Voyager novels, including the recent best-selling relaunch of the series, Homecoming and The Farther Shore, and short stories for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel anthologies. Sales were so good for Homecoming and The Farther Shore that they went back for a second printing within six weeks of Homecoming’s publication.
In 1999, Golden’s novel A.D. 999, written under the pen name Jadrien Bell, won the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel. Golden has just launched a brand-new fantasy series entitled The Final Dance through LUNA Books, a major new fantasy imprint. The first book in the series is entitled On Fire’s Wings and was published in trade paperback in July 2004. Look for the second in the series, In Stone’s Clasp, in summer 2005.
Golden invites readers to visit her website at www.christiegolden.com.
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