Spirit Walk_ Old Wounds (Book 1) - Christie Golden [60]
At least, for now.
But if Gradak Kaz were allowed to speak, what kind of reaction would Jarem Kaz have? How exhausted or depleted would he be by the experience?
What kind of mistakes does a distracted doctor make?
“Yes,” Kaz said. “I’m fully competent.”
Astall sighed. Her ears drooped slightly. “I’m sorry. I suppose I should have waited.”
“We couldn’t have known we’d come across a battlefield,” said Kaz. “And I completely agreed with you. I wanted to have this over and done with too.”
“Well, let’s just hope that we won’t encounter anything too unusual on Loran II. We can drop off the colonists and get on our way. Then we can give Gradak the audience he’s waited for so patiently.”
Kaz couldn’t think of anything he’d like better.
Chakotay quickly changed out of his tennis clothing and back into his uniform. When he returned to the bridge, he saw that Ellis had done the same.
“We’ll finish the game up later,” he told his first officer as he sat in the command chair and called up his computer.
Long-range sensors were pulling in vast amounts of data, but there seemed to be nothing significant yet. The debris they had encountered did not overly trouble Chakotay. The war had been a long and bitter one. It was likely that Federation starships would keep stumbling across unknown battlefields like this one for many years to come.
Nor did Ellis’s badly timed, dispassionate comment about M-Class worlds bother him. But he knew that Fortier was worried, and so he had increased Voyager’s speed. The sooner they got to Loran II and discovered what remained there, the better Chakotay would like it, whether it was good news or bad.
Sekaya’s door chimed softly. “Come,” she called.
The door hissed open and Fortier entered. She welcomed him with a smile and waved him in. She was sitting on the floor. In front of her she had spread an assortment of various representational items.
“I’m pleased you decided to come,” she said. “How are your people handling the news?”
He shrugged as he sat beside her. “They took it well enough. I tried to concentrate on what Captain Chakotay had said, to emphasize that the battle had been fought some time ago and we had been in communication with our families on the planet until very recently. But one can’t help but worry.”
Sekaya nodded sympathetically. “I understand,” she said. “And so does my brother. At least we’ll be there in just a few hours.”
“Your brother?” His eyes traveled over her face and then his lips curved into a smile and he nodded. “Ah, yes, I see the resemblance now. You are very similar, in fact. You’re not twins, are you?”
She smiled. “No. Chakotay’s a little older than I am, but we are very much alike.”
He nodded. “Indeed. So, Sekaya—you asked me to come. I am here. What is it you wish?”
“I wanted to know if you had given any thought to what we discussed in the holodeck—about doing a ritual.”
His expression darkened. “I don’t know what kind of ritual to prepare. I don’t know what we’re going to find.”
Gently, Sekaya said, “I thought of that. I have two ideas I’d like to discuss with you. One would be a sort of offering to the land. It would thank the planet for taking care of your people and welcoming them back to stay. The second one would be…would be to honor the dead.”
He regarded her steadily. “You think we will find our families dead, then?”
She met his gaze without flinching. “I don’t know any more than you do. But it’s a possibility. You are too intelligent a man not to know that.”
Fortier smiled sadly. “Intelligent, perhaps. Hopeful, certainly. But you are right. We should prepare both ceremonies, just in case.”
Sekaya gestured to the objects spread before her. “These are items typical of what I might use if I were designing the ritual for my people. These symbols all have meaning; the items represent the elements and some of the various spirit beings in which my tribe believes. Tell me what is important to you, to those who remained behind. We can replicate whatever we need