Spirit Walk_ Enemy of My Enemy (Book 2) - Christie Golden [72]
It was, to Kaz’s surprise, Sekaya who spoke first after Moset had finished the explanation. “I think I know why your previous subjects had so much trouble,” she said.
Moset looked at her with indulgent fondness, much as a doting owner might regard the antics of a kitten. “Really, my dear? Why is that?”
Despite the note of condescension in his voice, Sekaya regarded her tormenter evenly, calmly. Kaz felt a sudden rush of renewed pleasure that she was alive and, thus far, well.
“They had no seklaar,” she said. “No roots, no anchor.”
Moset looked puzzled, but Chakotay was nodding. “Pray continue, my dear,” the Cardassian invited.
“You know a great deal about the aliens whose genes you have used on the colonists and on the Changeling,” Sekaya said. “But you don’t know a lot about the Sky Spirits.”
“I thought they were the same thing,” said Kaz, wondering how confused he really was after all.
Sekaya turned to him. “Yes, and no. Moset knows about the scientific aspect of the aliens—the abilities of their minds. But forty-five thousand years ago, no one on Earth could even grasp such things. We knew these beings as the Sky Spirits, with the emphasis on spirit.”
Moset sighed. “I don’t really have time to get into a theological discussion right now, not when—”
“I’m not talking about theology,” Sekaya said harshly.
“I’m talking about spirit. The realm of the imagination. That’s all wrapped up in the brain, too. I don’t want to get into a discussion about the reality of our spiritual beliefs. What Chakotay feels, what I feel—that’s our business. But what you’re about to do requires knowledge of the spirit end of things, and you have no grasp of that.”
“Native peoples used to use psychotropic drugs or extreme physical deprivation in order to achieve an altered mental state,” Chakotay said. “It was in that state that we received visions. Now we use something called an akoonah to access that part of the brain. We call it spiritual; others call it mental.”
“What you call it doesn’t matter,” Sekaya said. “But, Moset, you have failed to take this into account at all. Have you ever studied my people’s beliefs?”
“I’m a scientist, not a cultural historian,” Moset replied.
“Exactly. When we go on vision quests, or as my people call them, spirit walks, we usually don’t journey alone. We meet the spirits of those who have gone before us, or animal spirits who befriend and advise us. We call these beings seklaars. They are the anchors that keep us sane.” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “Maybe they really are separate entities. Maybe they’re just part of our imaginations. I don’t know and right now I don’t care. What I do care about is, you have experimented on these people and done things to them they haven’t been prepared for. They had no idea what they would experience, no way to call on seklaars. No wonder they went mad.”
“Sekaya,” said Kaz, very gently and very respectfully, “insanity doesn’t turn men into monsters. Not literally, anyway.”
She looked at him with her large, dark brown eyes and challenged him, “Doesn’t it?”
Moset was now regarding Chakotay’s sister with a new respect. “You could be on to something there,” he said. “When you’re dealing with mental powers at the level that the Sky Spirits possessed them, it isn’t that hard to alter the physical reality.”
“ ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,’ ” Chakotay said. “Shakespeare wasn’t a quantum theorist, but he knew what he was talking about.”
Sekaya regarded her brother. “I don’t want you to do this,” she said.
“Sekky, I have to. The Changeling is much more powerful than any of us, even if he can’t shape-shift. The only way I have even a chance of stopping him is to take on the Sky Spirit powers myself. And I can’t handle them unless I’m prepared, unless I undertake a spirit walk.”
She held his gaze. “Then you aren’t doing it alone.”
Suddenly Kaz understood. “You’re volunteering to be his seklaar,