Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [94]
The single path sloped gently downward and as they went deeper they discovered hundreds of remains entombed in the walls. The deeper they went, the colder it became, and the skeletal debris was little more than dust when they finally reached a small chamber.
There they discovered a single Neyser, its back against a small wall, struggling for breath as it clutched a gaping wound in its abdomen. Cambridge was instantly by its side, and after a quick scan said compassionately, “There, there. Let’s make you a little more comfortable.”
Placing his hand around the being’s neck he gently lowered it into a recumbent position. As he did so, the creature let out a plaintive shriek.
Cambridge then tapped his combadge but received no response from the shuttle’s transporter .
“Damn it,” he cursed.
“The signal won’t reach through the rocks,” Chakotay advised. “We need to move her to the surface. We can transport her from there.”
“She’ll never survive the trip,” Cambridge warned.
“So we do nothing?” Chakotay demanded in frustration.
“No,” Seven said as she knelt beside the figure and took a deep breath. “We do what we came here to do,” she added as she disengaged her inhibitor. She immediately grabbed the sides of her face in pain, and Chakotay hurried to Seven’s side. She turned wide, terrified eyes on him, but as he reached for her neck to reengage the device she stopped him, clasping his hands tightly in hers.
For the next few seconds, she rocked back and forth, holding on to Chakotay for dear life. Cambridge turned his tricorder on her and his fearful eyes met Chakotay’s.
“Her heart rate has increased and her neurological activity is off the charts, particularly where her cortical node used to be.”
“Seven,” Chakotay said insistently, “can you hear me?”
She squeezed his hands in response, but made no move to terminate the communication.
After a moment, she released him and turned to the darkness, searching the ground on hands and knees.
As her arms buckled, Cambridge said, “We have to put a stop to this.”
Seven lowered herself to the ground and raised a hand to slap at the back of her neck. Chakotay immediately intuited her purpose and quickly moved to activate the inhibitor.
The tension slowly left Seven’s body and her breath came in gasps. On shaking hands she pulled herself toward the Neyser who stared at her with pain-filled eyes.
“I understand,” Seven barely whispered.
“What do you understand?” Cambridge asked impatiently.
“She is dying.”
“That much we knew,” Cambridge said. “There’s nothing we can do to help her now.”
“The holes …” Seven began.
Cambridge and Chakotay shared a confused glance.
Seven pointed into the darkness she had explored only moments earlier. Chakotay illuminated the area and revealed what appeared to be eight freshly dug holes.
“Are these graves?” Chakotay asked.
“No,” Seven replied, her breath coming easier now. “They were secrets. They were hidden here for protection.”
“That’s intriguing,” Cambridge noted.
Finally Seven struggled to rise to her feet with Chakotay’s assistance.
“Her people are coming. They can’t find us here. They’ll think we took them.”
“Took what?” Chakotay asked.
“We have to move!” Seven insisted as she lurched forward unsteadily.
Chakotay and Cambridge moved to either side of her and clasping her under her shoulders began their ascent as rapidly as they could.
As they neared the first level of the catacomb Chakotay activated his combadge. “Emergency transport. Three to beam up.”
They materialized in the shuttle. “What happened?” Cambridge asked.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Chakotay answered.
Breathless and frantic, Seven demanded, “We need to contact Voyager immediately. You must tell Captain Eden. The canister the Indign transported to Voyager … it wasn’t an offering. It was a weapon … the most destructive they possess. There were eight and now all are missing. They were weapons of last resort. You have to tell …” Seven said, her head lolling forward as