Homecoming - Christie Golden [65]
Blows rained down upon him, and he felt a kick to his midsection. Eshe cried, “Stop it, you’re killing him!” and Icheb was vaguely aware that Sam was trying to pull an enraged Tim off him. Everyone was yelling, and for some reason, Icheb wasn’t feeling the [193] pain of the blows as much. It was as if he were floating away. Tim landed a kick to his groin, and after the exquisite flash of white-hot agony, the world around Icheb started to go gray.
Although physically he was ceasing to feel the beating, intellectually he knew that Tim wasn’t letting up even though he felt himself start to go limp. He wasn’t fighting back anymore, was offering no resistance. A phrase flickered through his brain, and even at this awful moment he found it humorously ironic: Resistance is futile.
It was at that moment that he understood that unless Eshe and Sam succeeded in pulling Tim off him, Tim would continue striking him after he lost consciousness, after he was no longer a physical threat, and that it was entirely possible that Tim would continue to beat him until Icheb was dead. The knowledge hurt worse than the physical attack.
Abruptly, the shower of blows stopped. Icheb’s face was so swollen he could barely open his eyes. He struggled to do so, and when he did, he saw blue sky and clouds. Then a face appeared in his vision—a dark face, with brown eyes and pointed ears.
Tuvok lifted him easily, and Icheb knew no more.
Chapter 16
SEVEN WENT ALONG QUIETLY, though anger and confusion smoldered inside her. She feared for her aunt’s safety if she failed to comply and knew that it would not take long for Admiral Janeway to hear about the incident. Seven had done absolutely nothing wrong, and despite repeated queries, none of the guards would tell her what she was charged with. She had stayed at Irene Hansen’s house from the moment she arrived home. Whatever she was accused of, it was false, and surely she would be released soon.
She held her fair head high as they marched her down a corridor to a holding cell. She paid no attention to the other prisoners, but heard a gasp and a cry of “Seven!” Turning, she was startled to see the Doctor imprisoned in a cell across the corridor.
[195] “You two know each other?” one of the guards said. “Well, you’ll have plenty of time to chat.” He keyed in a code and the forcefield dropped. Seven stepped inside. There was a hum as the field was reactivated. The two guards left.
“Seven, what’s happened?” the Doctor cried. “Why are you in prison?”
“I do not know. They will not tell me what I am accused of. What are the charges you face?”
“I’m not sure what exactly, but they think I’m somehow connected with the holographic uprising.”
Seven arched a blond eyebrow. “Are you?”
“Of course not!” he huffed. He glanced away from her, though, as he added, “I did speak to the ringleader, I admitted as much. And I was working on a holonovel based on a holographic revolution, but it was purely a work of fiction. I am beginning to think that Starfleet and the Federation have changed a great deal from the institutions with which we are familiar.”
“I am utterly unfamiliar with them, and had I known what awaited me I believe I might have left Voyager before it returned to Federation space.”
“A sentiment I’m beginning to share,” said the Doctor. “I’ve spoken with Admiral Janeway. I’m sure she’s doing everything she can to—”
Seven followed his shocked gaze and realized why he had stopped in midsentence.
When she saw Icheb shuffling slowly toward her prison cell, two armed guards poking him in the back, Seven couldn’t completely stifle a cry of alarm. He ran to her and she hugged him, then stepped back to stare [196] at his swollen face. Fury raged in her and she whirled on the guards.
“He is only an adolescent boy,” she cried. “Was it necessary to enact such violence upon him?”
The guards bridled