The Murdered Sun - Christie Golden [22]
"Sickbay," came the doctor's annoyed voice. "Captain, I've got twenty-seven people in here, some with severe injuries. Kes has her hands full and so do I. May I ask what--?"
"I'll tell you myself in a few moments when I'm down in sickbay," Janeway soothed. "No casualties?"
"Only my nerves," replied the hologram.
Janeway smiled. "I promise, Doctor, I--"
"Captain," interrupted Kim, pleasure on his golden face, "Veruna Four is hailing us!"
Relief vied with apprehension as Janeway replied, "On screen."
The graceful, composed visage of Viha Nata again appeared on the screen. This time, though, she was surrounded by rubble and scenes of wreckage. Her own face was bruised and cut, her clothing stained and torn. Behind her, her people bustled with activity. Janeway saw many limp, torn bodies being carried off to sounds of mourning and cries of fear. She'd known to expect this scene, but it moved her deeply nonetheless.
"Captain Janeway," said the Verunan, her voice deep and laden with grief. "Thank you. We know that you tried to defend us, indeed succeeded. Had the Akerians been permitted to continue bombarding our poor planet, they would have left nothing behind.
We are grateful."
"I'm pleased to see you well, Viha Nata," said Janeway sincerely.
"Can you tell us"--What? Janeway thought, with an uncharacteristic flash of bitterness, How many of your people died? How much of your civilization lies in ruins?--"the extent of the damage to Veruna Four?"
"We cannot yet know for certain, but the casualties number in the thousands," replied the Viha soberly. "And that is not counting the two hatching pits, filled with dozens of our unhatched younglings, that have been obliterated." She paused, fighting for composure and losing it. Great tears welled in her eyes, made wet furrows down the fine fur of her face. "Three of the dead are two of my daughters and my mate of twenty turns."
"Viha, I am sorry," breathed Janeway. The words sounded so useless, but she hoped the Verunan elder knew she meant them.
"We can best help you if we understand the situation with the Akerian ships. We rendered one dead in space. The second one fled, but not into Sun-Eater, as we expected. Do you have any idea where it has gone?"
Viha Nata looked so lost and forlorn, Janeway ached to comfort her.
The captain didn't even want to think how she'd hold together had she undergone what Nata had just suffered--her people slain by the thousands, her husband and children lying dead somewhere, and she, because of her duties, unable to go and properly mourn their loss.
With the strength that had made her the leader of her kind, Nata composed herself and answered.
"This star system is not their home. They are strangers here.
They have a base inside Sun-Eater, but their home planet lies in another system a few light-years from here. Where, we do not know; we cannot travel at the speed of the light. I suspect that Linneas has taken the Victory there for repairs."
"And from what we've been able to determine about Sun-Eater, Linneas would not have been able to communicate with the base inside."
Hope flickered on Nata's exhausted face. "They will not return for hours, certainly, perhaps not even for days. Thank you again, Captain Janeway. You have bought us time--the most precious thing in the world to us now."
Janeway conjured a mental picture of the system's sun being drained of its hydrogen as if by some celestial vampire and knew that despite the Verunan's kind words, time was running out.
CHAPTER 5
Janeway discovered, as she entered the sickbay, that the doctor had not exaggerated. The place was crammed with patients. The most seriously wounded occupied the three beds and the biobed, and a few others sat on the chairs in the doctor's office. Even so, many who were bleeding or who clearly had injuries that were far from trivial had to sit on the floor or even stand. The captain's first instinct was to let others proceed ahead of