The Garden - Melissa Scott [69]
There was really no choice-as Chakotay had said, Voyager was in a no-win situation. Still, Janeway found it hard to suppress the sense of uncertainty as she faced the viewscreen, waiting for the Kirse to complete contact. / have my crew to think about, she told herself, they have to be my first responsibility, but the words were cold comfort.
"The connection is established, Captain," Kim announced, and Janeway nodded, drawing herself up to her full height.
"Thank you, Mr. Kim."
The image solidified quickly out of the multicolored static of the Kirse communication system, and Adamant's sculpted face looked out at her. "Captain Janeway."
"Adamant."
"Have you had a chance to look over the samples yet?" the Kirse leader went on.
"Yes." In spite of herself, Janeway's eyes strayed to the datapadd balanced on the arm of her chair. The doctor's tests had left no doubts at all the samples had met, even exceeded, every requirement he could make; if Voyager resupplied here, even the most pessimistic projections allowed them to reach the next M-class planet with stores to spare. "And we are interested," she went on, "but there are some technical matters that will have to be cleared up first."
"It has been my experience, from working with Thilo, that our technologies are compatible," Adamant said.
"Apparently," Janeway answered. "But we cannot spare any of the transporter hardware. We're willing to trade information about the system but that's all."
Adamant frowned. "There are-limits-on the technical resources here. Particularly hardware that requires a great deal of metal in its manufacture. At the very least, I would need the raw materials for such hardware before I could consider this bargain."
"That might be possible," Janeway answered. They had expected that answer, had planned for it, but it was all she could do to suppress the feeling of desperation. The longer they had to wait to get supplies, the more likely it was that more of the crew would fall ill, and the harder it would be to hold out for the bargain Voyager needed. She made herself continue as though there was nothing wrong, no hurry in the world. "Perhaps my chief engineer could meet with some of your technical staff and discuss the matter-see how much metal, or other raw materials, you might need, and whether that can be made to fit with our supply situation."
Adamant blinked, then nodded slowly. "An excellent suggestion. Send your engineer, I'll be waiting."
The screen went dark before Janeway could respond. She looked over her shoulder, and Kim gave an embarrassed shrug.
"They've stopped transmitting, Captain."
"Right." Janeway stared at the screen-once again filled with the green-and-white disk of the Kirse planet, all artificial features obscured by clouds and distance-for a moment longer, then shook her head. "Very well, Lieutenant Torres, it's up to you."
B'Elanna Torres glanced around the courtyard. The Kirse seemed to have an aversion to people beaming down into the citadel itself, but she couldn't be sure why, or even if, it was significant. Underfoot, the sun-warmed stones had been laid out in a checkerboard pattern, alternating squares of deep purple and warm gold, the same material as the road that had first brought her to the citadel, but otherwise the courtyard was completely empty. Even the walls that defined it were without doors or windows, and the nearest tower, rising up over the wall to her right, was equally blind on her side. From everything Kim and Paris had said, this was normal-the Kirse would create a door when they needed one-but it took every bit of self-control not to treat this as a hostile reception. She touched her communicator instead.
"Torres to Voyager."
"Voyager here." It was Chakotay's voice, and Torres was startled by her own disappointment. Still, she told herself, you can't expect the captain to hang around monitoring an away team's conversations.
"I've arrived, but there's no one here yet." Even as she spoke, she