Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [107]
“I remember it well.”
“That was partly true.”
Chakotay felt his face hardening. “Which part did you leave out?” he asked, careful to keep his tone neutral.
“Just after the Borg compromised our realm and you came to their aid, we sent agents to the Alpha quadrant for reconnaissance purposes,” she said with emphasis. “There were a number of uncharted anomalies that allowed us to create small interdimensional rifts. Those anomalies were collapsed after our agents used them to infiltrate your space. They were advised that their mission was one-way. They gathered the information we required to supplement your databases and began to assess the threat you posed. They were provided with only enough isomorphic compound to maintain their human forms for a few years. We believed that all of them had followed their orders to terminate themselves. It appears that one of those agents is now onboard your vessel.”
Chakotay always wondered at the amount of detail Species 8472 had acquired about the Federation. The possibility that one or more of their agents might still exist in the upper echelons of Starfleet was terrifying to imagine.
“I thought we agreed to stop spying on each other,” Chakotay finally said, dismay clear in his voice.
“ We did. And we intended to honor our side of that bargain,” Valerie replied quickly. “As I said, we believed those agents to be long dead.”
Chakotay paused. He didn’t really have the authority to authorize the next logical course of action, but he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea right now to make Valerie aware of that fact. Tom immediately stepped toward him and said softly, “I think we should authorize her to transport the long-lost agent onboard her vessel.”
Chakotay turned back to the viewscreen and said, “I’m not sure how best to proceed from here, but if you’re willing to transport our stowaway to your vessel …”
“ I’m sorry, Chakotay,” Valerie replied. “That won’t be possible.”
“Why not?”
“He has maintained his human form long past the time it should have been possible. His return would corrupt our realm. We will not allow it.”
Oh, and this reunion was going so well, Chakotay thought sadly.
Eden had listened as Willem had explained to her his predicament. He had come to the Alpha quadrant years ago to spy on the Federation. He had utilized his position to gain access to the medical facilities required to extend the life and effectiveness of the isomorphic compound he’d brought with him. Once Voyager had returned to the Alpha quadrant, he had recognized the futility of his mission, but found suicide unacceptable. He knew that in time, Starfleet would once again set their sights on the Delta quadrant. His only goal was to accompany them and find his way back to fluidic space.
Eden had wasted too many years wondering what she had done wrong when it came to Willem. Standing in the cold, gray shuttlebay, learning that her struggle had been in vain and that the life they had been living was a lie, she was overwhelmed by regret and anger.
“Was our marriage part of your mission?”
Willem had the grace to appear stung by her words.
“Yes,” he replied. “Most of my counterparts had families and often questioned my insistence that domesticity never appealed to me. I got tired of their questions, but ultimately found living constantly with a human more trouble than it was worth.”
Tears welled up in Eden’s eyes, but she refused to allow them to fall.
“You never loved me at all.”
“I tried,” Willem insisted. “I tried to accept the fact that I might never return home, and wanted to be a good companion to you. But humans are so frail and weak. Your doubts are crippling. You reject the simplest course of action in favor of endless debate and high-minded principles that reality has shown time and again are untenable. Unless you accept your place as masters of what little space you have managed to explore and colonize, you will never survive.” After a short pause in which he searched her eyes for