Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [106]
Furious with herself, Eden ceased her struggle and glared at Batiste with eyes that would have immolated him on the spot were such things possible.
“I promise you, Afsarah, I had my reasons.”
Eden felt her strength fleeing, replaced by shock. She tried to imagine what those reasons could possibly be, tried to remember the last time she had seen him so filled with purpose and so certain of himself. She was surprised by the memory that came immediately to mind—Willem seated in his apartment almost three years ago, arguing the necessity of sending Voyager back to the Delta quadrant.
But that makes no sense. Why would he fight so long and hard to bring us here, only to scuttle the mission after just a few weeks?
His eyes followed the working of her mind and a soft crease formed at the edge of his lips.
“You had to get to the Delta quadrant, to an area where subspace was destabilized by the Borg’s use of transwarp to easily access fluidic space,” Eden said as the truth began to coalesce in her mind. “Your command codes are the only ones that could have compromised so many of Voyager’s and Galen’s systems. You set all of this in motion and made it look like Chakotay was to blame. But if you thought the Borg were dangerous, you know they’re nothing compared with Species 8472. Why antagonize them intentionally? You don’t seek out conflict any more than I do. That’s not your nature. You can’t want another war.”
“Of course not,” he replied gently. “I only want to go home.”
Chakotay had believed he was ready for anything. His years of service to Starfleet had taught him how quickly things could change. He was reeling from the disquieting shock of being accused of sabotage, confined, and wondering what he would have to do to convince Captain Eden that he was not responsible. Then a transporter beam had taken ahold of him.
He sensed the tension on Voyager’s bridge the moment he materialized. He turned to see the beautiful, aqua blue eyes and loosely upswept auburn hair of the creature he had known as Valerie Archer.
The first time they’d met, she had been his assignment. Voyager had discovered that Species 8472 had constructed an exact duplicate of Starfleet Headquarters. They didn’t know why. As the aliens had perfected a means of genetically altering their bodies to appear human, Chakotay was able to pass among them undetected. He found that despite their obvious differences, there was much that he and Valerie shared in common, not the least of which was genuine curiosity about each other.
She had kissed him once, to test him. A bond had formed between them, and he found that it had not diminished over the years.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?” Valerie asked, clearly responding to his obvious warmth.
“I’m not certain,” he replied sincerely. “What I can tell you is that we’ve been experiencing a number of technological failures. We suspect that someone onboard might be attempting to reach fluidic space, though we cannot guess why.”
Confused consternation spread over Valerie’s face. She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them in alarmed discovery.
“What is it?” Chakotay asked immediately.
“I believe you have a stowaway onboard, Commander,” Valerie replied.
“What kind of stowaway?” he asked.
“It’s surprising,” she went on, “because we did not detect his presence the first time we encountered your vessel .”
“A lot has happened since then,” Chakotay admitted, well aware of how greatly he was understating the case.
“You made it home, didn’t you?” she asked, smiling in realization. “How did you manage it? ”
“We had help,” Chakotay admitted. “We actually made it back to the Alpha quadrant almost three years ago. We’ve returned to continue our exploration and diplomatic efforts.”
“Then this makes a great deal more sens e,” she replied.
“Not to me,” he said.
Valerie paused. He knew her well enough to understand that she was struggling against her desire to trust him and distrust the Federation.
“ The last time we met, we advised you that we were able to