Flashback - Diane Carey [60]
"I can't... I can't tell you," Neelix attempted. "I swore an oath to Kes not to tell. She made me promise. She doesn't want anything to interfere with the captain's effort to help Mr. Vulcan, and I have to ... well, I have to."
"Maybe, but when she's up on the bridge and firing the phasers, the whole story changes, doesn't it? As acting captain, I order you to fill me in."
Neelix wrung his hands and hung his head. He wouldn't look up. "Ask the Doctor."
Chakotay pushed him back against a console and leaned right into his face. "I did. He won't talk. His neck I can't wring, but yours ..."
Maybe Chakotay's jaw was out an inch more than usual, or there were spikes coming out of his eyes, but Neelix buckled.
"All right. . . I'll tell the Doctor to explain it to
you. As Kes's next of kin, I'm authorized to do that."
Chakotay pushed off the console and stuck his head back out into the ward. "Doctor, come in here, please."
The Doctor gave Kes some orders that Chakotay and Neelix couldn't hear, then strode through to where Chakotay and Neelix stood almost in a storage closet.
Instantly Chakotay faced him down. "I tried to keep away from here and not get involved, but now I'm compelled to participate. This mind-meld business is endangering the ship. It's time for you to tell me what's going on, Doctor."
The Doctor looked dubiously at Neelix. "The commander has a point. May I?"
Neelix waved his hands. "I think you'd better. Just do it-you know-quietly."
Hesitating for a moment, the Doctor searched for a way to explain the unexplainable. "Yes, I suppose so. This is something very complicated and unscientific, but Kes is, at times, in contact with Tuvok's mind somehow. She seems to be experiencing flashes of Tuvok's memory, and sometimes even participating in the scenario as a character or some other extension of the vision. But not being a Vulcan, she doesn't have Tuvok's control. And she's not under the shackling influence of the meld, as the captain is."
He held a hand out toward Kes, who at the moment looked perfectly fine and normal, sort of like a poison flower.
Chakotay asked in an annoyed tone, "Why isn't she affected right now? They're still involved in that meld, aren't they?"
The Doctor's brows went up and down a couple of times. "I haven't figured that out yet."
"Well, you're going to have to figure it out. It's affecting the safety of the ship and crew. It almost-" He paused, looked at Kes, and lowered his voice. "It almost killed Paris and Torres."
"Kes is not responsible for that, Mr. Chakotay. You must know that."
"I know she isn't, but I still need to understand it. Make me understand, Doctor."
"At the moment, I don't understand myself. All I can tell you is that Kes is sometimes, not all the time, in contact with Commander Tuvok's telepathic mind, and this elicits an irrational response to some things, such as B'Elanna's Klingon background. Tuvok's Vulcan mind is degrading, and this is causing an aberration in his telepathic senses. His mind is ... supercharged. I have no way of judging what its limits are, but I can tell you it's dangerous to Kes."
Neelix pushed forward and took Chakotay's arm. "It's going to kill her, Mr. Chakotay!"
Chakotay motioned him to be quiet, and continued facing the Doctor. "Dangerous how?"
"The degradation of Tuvok's mind is advancing. The captain's mental condition is matching his and could collapse if his does. And if the dementia becomes stronger or more persistent, the shock of an imaginary incident could actually cause Kes to die."
Neelix's expression became even more emotional than usual. He grasped Chakotay's arm. "We can't let that happen! We're all hanging on the edge of that cliff. When Tuvok falls, should the captain and Kes and maybe all of us be dragged over the side with him?"
Chakotay stared at him. "What are you saying, Neelix?"
"I'm saying what neither of you has the courage to say! If necessary we should . . . terminate Mr. Tuvok. After all, everything the Doctor has