Spirit Walk_ Enemy of My Enemy (Book 2) - Christie Golden [88]
“I’m not sure, but I think that part of my powers permitted me to manifest help. She exists in the spirit world, in my mind. I wanted Her there with me, physically, and She came.”
“What about Moset and Katal?”
“We’ve got Moset. He’s in the brig right now. Something happened to him—he’s a wreck. Astall is trying to talk to him, but he’s just babbling incoherently and crying.”
Sekaya felt shamefully pleased. “I know it’s not kind, but I’m glad. He killed so many, Chakotay, on Bajor, on our world, on Betazed. He should suffer for it.” She smiled a little. “But I understand Astall. She tries to see the good in everyone.” She paused. “You said you got Moset. What about Katal?”
Chakotay grimaced. “Unfortunately, he escaped. We think he had a cloaked vessel, as we detected nothing. We’ve transported the colonists aboard Voyager, and my friends Seven and the Doctor already have some ideas for how to help them.” He hesitated. “I was able to reach them, Sekky. I was able to touch their minds, to remind them that they’re human. They can’t communicate verbally, and of course I don’t have the ability anymore to understand them mentally, but they seem…different. More rational.”
Sekaya’s flesh erupted in goose bumps. “Then they’re halfway home,” she said softly. “Once they begin to see themselves as people again, most of the hard work will be done. It will just be a question of physically disentangling the DNA.”
Chakotay laughed a little. “Yes, just that,” he said.
She punched him playfully, but weakly. “You know what I mean.”
He sobered. “Yes,” he said, “I do know.” He bent and kissed her forehead, on the tattoo that they both wore. “Get some rest. Everything is all right now.
As she drifted into slumber, Sekaya heard a gentle voice saying, Yes, everything is all right now.
Marius Fortier stared at the large, red-furred creatures who had once been his friends and family. Tears filled his eyes. “May I…can I have some privacy?” he asked of the security guard.
“Certainly,” the guard said quickly. “I’ll be right outside.”
The animals behind the forcefield had become aware of his presence. They turned to look at him steadily. Marius’s skin prickled when he saw intelligence in their black eyes. They were no longer monsters; they were people, trapped in this form.
“We’ll get you back,” he said softly. “I don’t know how, but we’ll get you back. I swear.”
One of them lumbered forward, stopping just shy of the forcefield. It looked over at the controls, and then back at Marius. Knowing he shouldn’t be doing this, but also knowing at a deep level that it was all right, Fortier lowered the forcefield.
Slowly the big creature stepped forward. Clinging to it was a smaller one, a younger one.
“Guillaume?” Marius whispered. “Paul?”
They nodded, and reached to embrace him. Marius Fortier began to weep as he held his brother, who shuddered and clung tightly to him. He couldn’t understand Guillaume’s thoughts, but the feelings that washed over Marius were clear: Guillaume was in torment, and had no desire to return to the place where such atrocities had been performed.
“I understand, my brother,” Marius murmured, awed and humbled that he did. “We will make you whole, and then we will make a new beginning.”
Two weeks later the old friends were back in Sandrine’s on a quiet Thursday evening, shooting pool, downing drinks, and soaking up the atmosphere. Janeway couldn’t help but reflect how much had changed since she was last here with Kaz and Chakotay. Then they had been discussing Chakotay’s first mission as captain, the upcoming conference, and what a shame it was that Tom Paris couldn’t have been first officer.
Now, while the bar itself was almost exactly the same, and the drinks in their hands were similar, and Janeway continued to beat the pants off of everyone at pool, nearly everything else had been turned on its ear.
“I heard from Seven and the Doctor today,” Janeway said. “The progress they are making with the colonists is extraordinary. The documentation you retrieved from Moset