Spirit Walk_ Old Wounds (Book 1) - Christie Golden [59]
“How tricky will navigating it be? Will we be able to go to warp?”
Tare scrutinized the data. “We can go to warp,” she decided.
Fortier swallowed hard. Astall moved to step beside the colonist leader and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Sekaya, too, knew what the man was thinking: Did this reach my land? Did this war claim my people?
“Then resume course, Lieutenant. Warp nine.” Chakotay looked at his guest. “Mr. Fortier, you are, of course, welcome to stay on the bridge, or you may wish to take this time to notify and prepare your people.”
Fortier looked at Chakotay appraisingly. There was no real need to hurry, and he knew it. The debris was old. The colonists who had remained on Loran II had said nothing of an attack, and it was only recently that they had ceased to be heard from.
But Sekaya knew her brother, and knew that he was concerned about the colonists. Now that there was a reason to be concerned, even an old reason, Chakotay was going to see to it that the colonists learned as soon as possible the fate of their friends who had remained behind. And Fortier recognized what Chakotay had done for him.
“Thank you, Captain. I think I will tell my companions. They…will want to know. I appreciate your willingness to hasten our arrival.”
“Of course.”
Astall stopped Fortier on his way out, placing a gentle hand on his arm.
“Please let me know if Sekaya and I can be of any help,” she said earnestly.
Fortier’s face softened, and Sekaya wondered if those were tears in his eyes. Huanni often tended to bring out the best in people, she had observed. They encouraged people to be soft, to be open, when it was so easy, so natural, to be hard and defensive.
“Thank you,” Fortier replied gently, then left.
Sekaya turned toward her brother and regarded him. Quietly, he said, “Sekaya, you came to the bridge before I requested your presence. Did you…need to see me about anything?”
Yes, she cried inwardly. I need to tell you what happened to us. I need to let you know what they did.
She cleared her throat. “Yes, but it can wait. The Loran II situation needs our immediate attention.” She hesitated, then said, “On the way back, we’ll talk, yes?”
He smiled, the smile she remembered from their childhood, the smile that had always warmed her heart.
“Of course. I look forward to it.”
Kaz was aware that his heart was beating rapidly. Sweat gathered at his hairline, and he clenched his fists. Seeing the ruins of old Maquis ships, the type of ship that he himself had flown, knowing that his friends had died here—
No, damn it, he thought. I never flew a Maquis fighter. I knew no Maquis personally until after the war. These are Gradak’s feelings, not mine.
Astall stood beside him in the turbolift. They were alone. For a while, they didn’t speak, but he was fully aware that the Huanni was keenly observing his every reaction, every expression that flitted across the face he was trying so hard to keep impassive.
“We still have a few hours until we reach Loran II,” she said at last. “There would be time for us to finish what we started.”
He looked at her then. “Can you guarantee that there won’t be any lingering effects that might impair my performance as a physician?”
Astall sighed. “No. There’s no question that it will be emotionally intense. Ideally, I’d want to have a buffer zone to factor in recovery time.”
Kaz shrugged and sighed. “We’ve just found one thing we didn’t expect out here—wreckage from a battle we didn’t even know had been fought. We might very well find something else. I have to be at full capacity in case there are injured who need immediate treatment.”
She regarded him steadily. “Gradak is still very much present with you. Are you at full capacity right now?”
Silently, Kaz asked himself that question. The answer was a definite yes. Unhappy as Gradak was, his memories prowling around in Kaz’s brain like a caged animal, Kaz knew the Maquis would not stand in the way of anything Jarem Kaz needed to do in his capacity as a doctor. Gradak knew full well how awful it