CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
Kodari was the eleventh planet of the Kandor Star System, close to the perimeter of the Delta Quadrant. Between this system and the last outpost of the Alpha Quadrant, the Domar Dwarf Star System in Sector 599, lay several hostile sectors. Hostile, since many vessels that ventured into No-man's-land, as this area of space was called, were lost or destroyed, becoming drifting derelicts of space, available for roving bands of scavengers to strip down without the fear of being apprehended. Through these sectors many vessels carrying refugees braved the dangers to deposit their valuable cargo on Kodari.
Most refugees were Cardassians discontented with the war, men and women who were branded as dissidents, but who were mostly pacifists, from the outset not agreeing with what their Union was doing. They could not accept the dictum that forceful subjugation ensured loyalty and extended the empire of the Cardassian Union, although they conceded that their own world was collapsing from ever decreasing natural resources. They, along with Klingons, Romulans, K'tarians and many smaller groups from other homeworlds that had come under the siege of the Cardassians, made their home on Kodari.
Formerly uninhabited, Kodari was not the most hospitable of planets. Its highest recorded temperatures ranged between 45°C and 50°C. It was marked by continual dry weather, sandstorms that occurred once in every lunar cycle, and occasionally, a plasma storm. The planet's water source - the main reason the settlers selected this planet - was an underground system of rivers that ran from its equator to the northern and southern hemispheres and which could be reached through subterranean caves and potholes. Many settlers used their expertise in various fields to make the world habitable, developing irrigation systems and terraforming large tracts of land all over the two hemispheres so that the planet could yield the food they needed for consumption. From the derelicts that drifted just outside their star system, as well as those not already stripped down for parts by the scavengers, they could get valuable items such as replicators. One group of Kodari, as they now called themselves, who were trained pilots and engineers, even travelled to the war zones to remove any equipment they could find from Federation vessels destroyed during battles. They took anything they could find that would help improve conditions on their own ‘New World’, and make it a better place for all those tired of fighting, as well as displaced peoples from conquered worlds and orphans of war.
Already, a new generation of children were being raised on Kodari. Many were Cardassian and Bajoran orphans, as well as many orphans who were born of Cardassian-Bajoran liaisons, some rejected when one of the parents were killed, or the Bajoran mothers who were slave mistresses of Cardassian men, were killed or died of their privations in labour camps.
Penytt Sarra was a Cardassian woman who had come to Kodari with the first groups of settlers. Several children were placed with her as an interim caregiver, before being permanently settled with sets of parents or single parents who took the children into their homes and raised them as their own. Penytt lived in the Kodar Alpha settlement, which enjoyed the yields of terraforming, was close to water sources and which was scheduled to become the first city of the Kodari. Her abode was small, but cool on the inside. She boasted a replicator and a few other luxuries, being one of the first persons to have made her home on Kodari.
Although Penytt Sarra could mingle with neighbours close by, she was a lonely woman who presently cared for only one child of about six years old. On this particular day, the child exited the house.
"You must not venture too far in the sun," Penytt Sarra said as the dark haired little girl walked away from the abode towards a small outcrop in the distance. "You will make yourself ill again..."
Penytt watched as the child turned to look at her. Her eyes were dark and hollow, a haunted look in them. Penytt sighed. In six months she had not been able to reach into the child's heart and her efforts to dispel the darkness had given her moments of extreme disappointment. The girl's pause was only long enough so that she could give Penytt a penetrating look. Penytt moved just outside the door of the abode. She felt the heat and sweat were too cloying to stand long outside. Today, the temperatures had risen to 47°C, and while Penytt could endure the privation of extreme heat under normal circumstances, this planet with its sandstorms and dry conditions made living difficult, although it would have been worse without the cool underground caverns and rivers.
"Be careful..." she added to her concerned injunction.
The child nodded, or that was what Penytt imagined she did. Penytt thought her look was one that said, "I will be alright." Then she turned on her heel and ran off to the low hill. Penytt watched as she disappeared into the distance, her short legs carrying her fast over the hard, dry, dusty ground. She did not look back once.
"Please..." Penytt whispered to herself. She crossed her hands over her bosom as if in prayer. "Please..."
Then Penytt retreated just inside the doorway, although the sun beat down into the short lobby that led to the rest of the house. Leaning against the jamb, Penytt Sarra stared out in the direction the child had moved towards. She made a low sound as she shook her head.
She had lost five sons in the War; when she’d heard of this place of refuge, she had wasted no time in making a new home here. The Union had shrugged off her entreaties as the miserable objections of a woman who should know that anyone dying during the war was a casualty; it could not be helped. Thank you, they said, for your sons who fought in the name of Cardassia Prime and sacrificed their lives for the cause.
What cause? The mindless murder of millions?
Penytt had been bitter, her heart empty and inconsolable at the loss of her children. She knew no one, except Kor'ena Landral who had been married to a Cardassian gul called Deren, and Miral Torres, and they were Klingons. Most of her own race had elected to stay on Cardassia Prime. Miral Torres knew Nadr Bok, who helped to relocate displaced Cardassian and Bajoran orphans; sometimes they found survivors of other decimated homeworlds - Bolians, Oranians, K'tarians. From Dorvan V they brought to her the only survivor of the massacre on that homeworld.
That the survivor was only a child, human, brought to her six months after Dorvan V was wiped out, was still a mystery. No one had known about her except Gul Evek and the crew of the Vetar, who certainly weren’t going to divulge any information. Secretly, Penytt Sarra thought that no one on the Vetar had known a child was smuggled on to the the ship by Xandor Landral, son of Kor'ena Landral. Xandor Landral, half Cardassian, half Klingon had more nobility in him than all the people of Cardassia Prime when he saved only one child from that massacre...
Eventually, Xandor was caught transporting yet another group of children, and was tortured and beaten as punishment. Penytt had no idea if he’d survived. Still, she doubted that he had divulged any information about the child. The Cardassians, suspecting what he had done, but unable to prove the existence of a survivor on the Vetar, felt humiliated by having their defences and ultra-strict security breached by a Cardassian-Klingon hybrid. Yes, she had no doubt that Xandor Landral had been tortured and his wasted body despatched to his mother when they couldn't kill him outright. Penytt Sarra wondered idly why they hadn’t killed Landral summarily, although she suspected that was because his father was Cardassian and still on active service somewhere in the war zone.
Penytt Sarra sighed. Her own people... what they did turned her even more against them. Penytt had lost five sons; still, children orphaned by the war outnumbered parents who outlived their children. Which would be worse for her if she weighed options?
Winonah - the only human child on Kodari – had lost all her family and it did not matter that she, Penytt Sarra, gave the child the best possible treatment borne of her own losses and her naturally sympathetic nature. Her heart had gone out to the lonely child. Yet, there was in Penytt a conviction that children overcame their adversity and could live meaningful lives eventually. It was still possible that one day Winonah could marry and have children of her own.
What did Penytt Sarra have? Her own children were gone. Her husband was gone. She had no history, and whatever history might have continued for another twenty generations, had stopped when her sons died. There was no one to carry the name of Sarra, no heroic deeds, no legends, no myths, nothing. The genealogy of Penytt Sarra had stopped abruptly. The only light in her life was caring for children on whom she showered all her affection. Many of those in her care were eventually placed with parents who joyfully added to their own families, or with those who’d lost their children in war as Penytt Sarra had. It was a sound arrangement and no child was left without someone to care for her or him. The children grew up as the second generation of Kodari, and were mostly well-adjusted. They were undisturbed by war and the extreme privation that slavery engendered, and could blossom the way children should, according to the elders of Kodari.
Penytt Sarra was a member of the Council responsible for placing children who were brought to Kodari. While all the children in her care went to others, she had grown particularly close to the last group. She knew, and had made many parents aware, possibly one day, the children would be claimed by their real parents.
Now, even the boys she cared for no longer resided with her. All she had was a child placed in her care after the boys had left. Now, she cared for a child in whose eyes Penytt could see the fear, trauma, the same longing and hollowness. The haunted look remained in Winonah's eyes. When she had taken the child into her home, Winonah had already lived for almost six months with other caregivers who told her that the child had cried without ceasing in the first months.
They told her the child's name was Winonah.
They also told her that Winonah could not speak. It was as if her tongue had been cut out of her mouth.
Winonah was a human child, the only human to live on Kodari, though Penytt Sarra heard that there were some on their way from the Demilitarised Zone. The child was pretty, Penytt Sarra supposed, for a human. Winonah's hair had grown long and the one time Penytt had tried to cut her hair, she had gone into hoarse hysterics - a wordless struggle against the older woman. Since then, Penytt had not troubled the child about her hair, although she made certain that Winonah's it was always clean, washed, shiny. Winonah's eyes were dark, and sometimes, standing close to the child, Penytt Sarra could see not so much a clear brown, but a liquid golden colour. Many times she wondered whom the child resembled, or who her parents were. All she knew was that Winonah had seen her parents die, had been torn from her mother's arms and experienced shock so great that it impeded her speech.
Winonah never talked. It had been a year.
Penytt tried, and gained some measure of success. She could understand that the shock of seeing her parents die, could render a child of five years completely mute. Where her previous caregiver had been impatient, trying to get the child to make some sound other than her hopeless crying in the dead of night, Penytt Sarra had not pressured her or provoked her into talking. She knew that someday, perhaps, some shock or just a natural resilience to life would restore Winonah's speech. For now, Penytt worked around that and with some kind of signing, managed to communicate, or, to understand Winonah.
Winonah spend most of her days running off to the outcrop behind which there was a set of small subterranean caves where she played. Penytt sometimes went there, just to keep an unobtrusive eye on the child. Once, she had seen Winonah sit on a flat little rock next to a stream, and the child's lips move in a stirring prayer. Penytt believed it was a prayer, for Winonah's eyes were closed, and she was hardly aware of the tears that had rolled down her cheeks.
Many times during the night Penytt would wake up, hearing the hoarse breathing and gasping coming from the small room that was Winonah's. Then she knew that the girl was in the throes of a nightmare. The first few times when Penytt wanted to comfort Winonah, the child had gone into hysterics when Penytt approached her, and then she knew that it was her Cardassian features that frightened the child so. How could it not be? Winonah had seen Cardassians kill all the members of her family.
Penytt Sarra sighed. It was time for Winonah to return for her evening meal. Tomorrow was school and discovering that Winonah possessed an inquiring mind - she had caught the child at her computer, trying to decipher Cardassian script - thought that she could just sit in the class and observe. How the other children would view Winonah's presence was unknown, but Penytt Sarra believed that Winonah would weather this storm too.
She walked the distance to the outcrop and made her way from there to the small system of caverns where she knew Winonah had escaped to. One day, Penytt Sarra thought, Winonah might find her voice, and might even find some happiness again.
*************************
Winonah sat on a small flat rock close to the edge of the river and swung her feet in the cool water. She liked to come here every day when the sun turned red and night spread a blanket over the land. It was very hot every day but she had become used to the heat. Here in the caverns, it was cooler and she could never keep refraining from putting her feet in the water. Yes, she liked it here. It was quiet then and she could imagine hearing eagles' cries, or the sound of children, or even the voices of her ancestors. Here she could imagine she was wearing the fallen feather of an eagle in her hair and pretend that she was sitting with her grandfather outside the Habak. Sometimes, she liked to pretend that her mother was speaking with her. Then, picturing the kind face of her mother, seeing her wise eyes and gentle smile, made her heart flutter.
"Winonah, one day, you will go to the Academy, just like your Uncle Chakotay and Aunt Kathryn..."
She could hear her mother's voice as if her she stood in the doorway of the house and not Penytt Sarra.
Aunt Kathryn...
Always, she wondered about Aunt Kathryn, and what she was doing.
Winonah wrung her hands together and tried to make a sound.
Mama...Aunt Kathryn...
Only her lips moved.
Mama...Mama...Mama...
Why could she not speak? No one told her why she could not speak, but she knew that she’d stopped on the day a warrior pulled her away from her dead Mama and took her with him.
Winonah felt the tightness in her chest again; she couldn't breathe. Her mind whirled, as images came to her. Men who looked like Penytt Sarra ripping her from her mother's arms. Papa running to help.
Papa's screams... Mama's screams... long, like the eagles' never-ending cries in the heavens.
No...no...
Winonah tried to scream, but it was only her lips that moved.
You must always think of your Aunt Kathryn, little bird.
They were her mother's words. Her mother's kind words and kind voice when Winonah asked again when her Aunt Kathryn would visit them. Her Mama told her that she had to be patient, and that thinking of Aunt Kathryn all the time would make the longing less. Mama said that whenever she had pain and bad dreams, she had to think of her Aunt Kathryn.
For one day, you shall be on Earth...
Winonah felt the tightness in her chest ease little by little until she could breathe again.
When she was in her bed, she would dream of her mother and father, and Grandfather Kolopak and Grandma Hannah. She would see their faces, always smiling, and many times she would see how Grandfather Kolopak would lift her high in his arms, and then he would hug her to him.
"See, little Winonah? I will never let you fall."
"And Grandfather, when I grow up, will I go to Earth?"
Kolopak would look at her, and she would see how his face creased and looked just like her Uncle Chakotay. She would cup his cheeks and kiss him.
"Yes, little one, you will go to Earth. It is your destiny..."
"My destiny? What is that, Grandfather?"
Grandfather Kolopak had given her a long look, one that reminded Winonah of the eagle she had seen one day perching on a dry wooden stump. The eagle had looked at her as if it were a long dagger that cut right through her, but did not hurt her. She had not been afraid of the eagle that day, just as she was not afraid of the look in her grandfather's eyes.
"It is what is meant to be, little one. One day, you will understand."
"What is meant to be..."
"Yes, little one. Now, go to your Mama. I see she is waiting for you..."
Kolopak had put her down as she saw Roshana waving at her. There was a gentle smile on her mother's face.
Mama...
Winonah shook her head and looked into the water. Leaning over, she could see her reflection, although the ripples distorted the image a little.’ She sat perfectly still, not moving her feet. Her hair had grown long. The lady Penytt made sure she brushed it every day. It fell forward and the long, sleek black strands felt soft as she ran her hands through it. She wanted her hair to look like the golden corn on Dorvan V, or the way Aunt Kathryn's hair looked. It always looked like the sun came out of it.
A-u-n-t- K-a-t-h-r-y-n...
Winonah saw her lips move, but no sound issued from them. Her voice had stopped when the big warrior took her away and took her to his ship. She was afraid, but he had been kind to her, not like the other bad men who hurt them. The warrior did not look like the others, but that day she had been afraid of him. When one of the other men grabbed her, Xandor had ripped her away from him.
"No, Grodek, this little one is mine. I'll have her for myself."
She’d screamed as loud as she could for her Mama and her Papa, but Xandor had run round the back of the house where there was no one.
"Shhh... not a sound from you. My name is Xandor. I'll not hurt you. I'm taking you away."
She had been so afraid and wanted to scream again; only then, something happened. It felt as if all the clouds in the sky came down on her and it was dark, so dark; when she opened her eyes, she was in a strange place. It was then that she found she could not make any sound.
"Little girl, what is wrong? Can you not speak?"
She felt many tears roll down her cheeks as she nodded to him. Xandor had hidden her in his cabin. She cried every day and he had come in the evenings and dried her tears. He would tell her not to make too much noise, although he made sure no one could hear there was another person in his room.
On the first day in his cabin he had shown her the locket and her eyes had lit up. She did not know it had fallen off. Maybe, she thought, it was when she had struggled and screamed so when the men grabbed her away from her mother. Winonah could not think clearly anymore about how it happened. She just knew that she was so afraid. Aunt Kathryn had given her the locket and her Mama had put a picture of herself and of Papa in it.
"See? It is the shape of a heart, Winonah," her mama told her. "Aunt Kathryn says you lie very close to her heart..." Winonah had not understood much then, but just knowing only that it meant Aunt Kathryn loved her because when she sat on Kathryn's lap, she wanted to rest her head against her softness and it felt like when she sat on her Mama's lap.
Xandor held the heart locket to her.
"Here, let me put this on for you..." Xandor said.
She’d shied away from Xandor, even though she couldn’t tell him about Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Chakotay, who, she knew, would come for her one day. Xandor had thought she was afraid of him, but she was not. The locket with its shiny gold chain had lain on his palm and Xandor had looked at her with a frown.
"I will not hurt you, little girl."
I know you will not hurt me, Xandor...
"Do you understand me?" he asked.
Winonah had nodded her head.
"That is good. Here, don't you want me to put this on for you?"
She shook her head again and then she had walked up to him, for he had gone down on his knees so his eyes were level with hers. She closed his hand around the locket and pressed his hand against his chest.
Give it to my Aunt Kathryn...
And although no sound came from her, it seemed that Xandor had understood that he had to give the locket to someone.
"I understand now, little Winonah."
Her eyes had widened when he said her name. How did he know her name was Winonah?
"Your mother called out your name, Winonah," he said, as if he just knew what her question was. "She called many times..."
Winonah had seen how Xandor's eyes became even darker than her own and he looked very sad.
"You want me to give this to someone who knows who you are."
She nodded.
She could not say the name and it hadn’t occurred to her that she could write down the name for Xandor. She had waited for her Aunt Kathryn but she’d never come. Even when she lived on a strange world called Kronos, they all thought that everyone she knew had died, and so they never asked. After a while she could not make any more effort to try and speak, because her throat got so sore. Then she became sick many times and thought that Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Chakotay were dead anyway.
A warm tear rolled down Winonah's cheek and joined the water of the river. She thought about how many tears had fallen in the river. She was certain that Aunt Kathryn would not come anymore. She was lonely...lonely...
Please come...
Only the silence in the cave answered her.
At last, she sat back and drew her feet out of the water. The cavern was not too dark, because light from outside shone at the entrance.
The day was becoming redder. Drawing up her knees, she hugged them with her short arms and rested her head on them, wondering how the tears were going to stop falling.
"Winonah! Winonah?"
It was Penytt Sarra who entered the cave and Winonah lifted her head to look at the old woman.
"Come, you must eat, Winonah. Tomorrow, I take you to the new school..."
Winonah took the hand Penytt Sarra proffered and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Winonah bent quickly to put on the espadrilles Penytt had made for her. Then she stood up again and gave Penytt a tearful smile.
"You like school?"
Winonah nodded.
"Then it is good. You will meet other children..."
Together they walked, Penytt Sarra bending a little because she was very tall. Once outside, Penytt took Winonah's hand and walked over the dry, dusty ground to the abode. Just before they entered, Penytt paused.
"One day, I should like to see you smile, Winonah..."
***********************
"Mama...Mama..."
There were many soldiers. The houses were burning and the smoke rose up...up...up and mingled with the blue sky, and the eagles screamed and the wolves howled. Everywhere she heard people screaming and she saw flashes of weapons and more screaming.
Then they came for her Papa. He fought against five men. They hit him a hundred times. On and on. Papa could not move, but still they beat him and Mama... Mama kept screaming.
"Let my Mama go..."
A warrior pulled her from her Mama. He drew a phaser and held it to her chest.
"Let me give you something, little girl, before I kill you..."
The warrior grabbed her and she screamed, over and over. He pulled at her clothing; something tore into her neck. It was her locket and chain. She screamed again. Then suddenly, she was pulled away from the warrior. She saw him fall...fall...fall... Then the other warrior picked up her chain as he scooped her up. She screamed again and pummelled his chest.
"Let me go...Let me go..."
"Shhh... I will not hurt you..."
"Mama! Mama!"
"Mama is dead."
Dead...Mama joined the sky spirits... Papa joined the sky spirits... Grandfather...? Grandma...?
She tried to scream...scream...scream...
Someone shook her. The storm clouds gathered and they whirled and whirled around her. Then, slowly, they stopped churning and drifted away. Winonah opened her eyes. She gasped, a sharp intake of breath. She saw the Cardassian warrior with evil eyes who tore at her clothing. Winonah backed away from the comforting hands that pulled her closer to a warm bosom.
"It's me, Winonah. Penytt Sarra..." Winonah stared for a long time, until Penytt Sarra spoke again.
"Winonah...little one, you have been dreaming again..."
The room lightened and she could see Penytt's face; The old looked worried. There were tears in Penytt Sarra's eyes. Winonah gave a soft sob and threw herself in Penytt's arms, crying with soundless abandon.
***********************
Kathryn Janeway entered the turbolift on the bridge and ordered sick bay's deck. She smiled grimly. There were many repairs to be made after their stand-off with a Cardassian posse that had followed them halfway across six sectors. This time, they had back-up, and the Cardassian vessels were destroyed swiftly. It was time, she thought, that they created dents in the enemy's fire power. But it had come at a cost, as Tom had tried his best to outmanoeuvre the enemy vessels. Voyager had sustained damage and now, with B'Elanna, Ken Dalby and Joe Carey in Engineering effecting ship's repairs from that end, she felt that they had scored an important little victory. It meant that on their return via practically the same route, the field would be clear. Sector 987 lay in what the Federation called No-man's-land, an inhospitable area of space, with here and there hostile races, clannish about protecting their region of space. Now that they’d determined where the trouble spots were, it was easier to negotiate a route. Even so, they still had to be careful. How ships had arrived here to bring refugees to the Kandor Star System, Kathryn could but admire greatly. They had courage to hide themselves so deep in No-man's-land which, if it weren't for the absence of pernicious plasma storms, would have resembled the Badlands.
She had long ago ruled out the heart of the Badlands as a possible place where Cardassian dissidents and refugees could make a home for themselves, although Chakotay and Ken Dalby had listed a few co-ordinates on the other side of the Badlands. Any Cardassian vessel would have been destroyed by the Maquis who ruled that area of space. Now, with the Maquis fighting alongside the Federation, it was easier, though many still found forgiving the Cardassians difficult.
B'Elanna had managed to curb her short fuse and agree on a kind of truce with Joe Carey. Kathryn sighed. She had to concede that the sometimes 'creative' solutions B'Elanna thought of and that were not listed in any Federation rule book, were at times the only solutions that at times helped Voyager. With B'Elanna's field expertise and Joe's ability to organise, they formed a good team.
They had already come to blows before, when B'Elanna broke Joe's nose. When they activated the EMH after Sergei had taken a few hours off, that doctor snorted and treated Joe with the disdain of the superlatively trained and programmed hologram that he was. The EMH had little sympathy for Joe and she recalled, sighing. He didn't let B'Elanna get off easily either. Kathryn hoped that the truce, uneasy as it was, could last long enough until the war ended and B'Elanna could return to the Academy, as she had once confided in Kathryn.
Ken Dalby, whom Kathryn also placed in Engineering, was put in charge of the Maquis contingent to help them integrate as fully field commissioned crewman and officers of Voyager. Though he had a hard time getting them into line, he succeeded.
"I always think of how Chakotay would have dealt with a problem, Captain."
"Chakotay was known to use his fist sometimes, Dalby," she replied drily.
Dalby had looked a little embarrassed when word had come to her that Ayala 'kissed the turf' when he challenged Dalby. Ken had given her a broad grin and nodded affirmatively. Ken had no problem decking any of his Maquis crew. Already Ayala and Chell had run the gauntlet. Once, Dalby told her, "It's the language they understand."
She had great empathy with Chakotay's crew. Some of them had been transferred to other vessels and were reportedly doing quite well in the circumstances. For most of them , being in uniform was something foreign. B'Elanna and Tom were fine, although B'Elanna did often scratch at her collar in the beginning. But they had been Starfleet and knew the rules, the ropes. Young Gerron, the Bajoran boy, had in his interview with her, very shyly told her that he wanted to attend Starfleet Academy. She had seen the desire; it radiated from him and she had known that Chakotay had a great deal to do with Gerron's rehabilitation. Gerron had been an unwitting pawn when Seska had come on board the Liberty. Kathryn shivered at the thought. Dalby had told her, but not before she had virtually coerced him into telling her the details of how Chakotay killed Seska.
"It was swift," Captain. "Chakotay was...how shall I say? Bloodless."
The other Maquis had never been to the Academy, although Dalby had been in Law Enforcement.
A month ago, Ken had studied the remaining locations with her and pinpointed the Kandor Star System as a likely spot. B'Elanna and Karan Tor had gone to Bajor and gained valuable evidence that they were on the right track. She had had an instinct that Karan Ardra knew something about a crewmember on board the Vetar who could give information about a - now - six year old little human girl. Her hunch had worked, and sending Tor and B'Elanna had been an inspiration. Tor needed to make contact with his mother and B'Elanna had gone because of Kor'ena Landral, a Klingon woman whose son was a hybrid like B'Elanna and who could not, according to reports from the two members of the away mission, live with accepting the Cardassian part of him. Still, it was Xandor Landral's honour and heroism that had saved Winonah's life.
She expelled a sigh again as she exited the turbolift and walked down the corridor to sick bay. If this failed... They were on their way to Kodari where Winonah was living. Once she brought the child home, Kathryn could find rest in the knowledge that at least this wish of Chakotay had been fulfilled.
Failure is not an option. This has got to work...
Kathryn Janeway entered the medical bay and was greeted by Sergei Karkoff, who had just finished with a patient He snapped the scanner back in the tricorder and nodded to the crewman who rose quickly from the bed, greeting Kathryn shyly before hastily making her way to the door. Sergei smiled as he approached Kathryn.
"I completed your physical a week ago. What can I do for you, Captain?"
"You know, Sergei, you were present at the birth of my daughter. You're my husband's best friend. I am your daughter's godmother. You're my friend. You can call me Kathryn."
It amazed her constantly. Sergei was such a stickler for protocol. He never called her by her name when they were on duty, yet they were good friends. Kathryn smiled at his slightly harried look. At the beginning of Voyager's journey she had always thought he was stressed, hence the look, but as she got to know him better under working conditions, she had come to realise he always looked like that, and it meant nothing. His hair was bright sandy-red and he had freckles which gave him a boyish appearance.
Sergei gave a sheepish grin. The sick bay was now empty, except for the Special Medical Assistant Iliana Madred, a Vulcan woman who looked impassive all the time and who was parked at the other end of sickbay at the console. Kathryn nodded to her and she had acknowledged Kathryn's greeting with barely an incline of the head.
"Well, Kathryn it is, even though I'm still on duty. I'm a stickler for rules - "
"You, Sergei? Good heavens! The things I've heard Chakotay say about your exploits on the Ormskirk - "
"They were legends, didn't you know?"
Kathryn laughed, feeling lighter than she had in days. She had tried not to think of Hannah or Chakotay. Most of the time they had been so busy fighting enemy vessels that she had no time to lapse into morbid yearning. Still, her current mission was about to reap results, and Sergei was to be part of it.
"I refuse to take you lightly on that score, Sergei."
"So, to what to I owe this visit, Kathryn?"
"We're about to enter the Kandor Star System."
"I know. I understand," he said soberly.
"I want you on the away mission."
"You have finally gotten conclusive evidence of Winonah's precise co-ordinates, Kathryn." Sergei's voice was soft, coming through half closed lips like a whistle.
"B'Elanna and Karan Tor brought the evidence I needed. Now, we've eliminated more than 99% of the possible places she could be..."
"Kathryn, Chakotay would not leave Dorvan V when he discovered that she had been possibly abducted. He was demented, you know."
Sergei gave Kathryn a keen look. So much had happened since she had first met Chakotay's best friend; more than any other person, Sergei Karkoff knew how Chakotay had suffered. He had been present every step of the way as Chakotay tried to find the bodies of his parents, his sister, his brothers, their wives and their children. Sergei had seen how eventually Chakotay internalised his anger and embarked on a sinister, evil mission to bring Sedeka down.
Kathryn gave a sigh as she thought of what Chakotay must have gone through.
"I know," she said at length. "I know, Sergei."
"So, Winonah left the locket with Xandor Landral - "
"Who saved her life and died saving other children."
"Do you think Winonah might be ill-treated, Kathryn?"
"No, from what I've heard of Xandor's character, he made sure that she was safe."
"It's been a year..."
"I know. I hope she'll recognise me still. Poor child. She witnessed her parents' dying."
"She'll be among family again, Captain," Sergei said, becoming suddenly formal.
Kathryn looked at Sergei for long seconds.
"Did you know that Chakotay was convinced that Winonah never died? He - he told me the day that - that..."
"It's alright, Captain. You don't have to say it."
"No, I must. The day he transported to Evek's ship, he told me to adopt Winonah when I found her..."
"I am glad. She's going to need all the friendly faces around her. She'll be Hannah's new older sister."
"Yes..." Kathryn said. "Yes..."
"And Captain..."
"What is it, Sergei?"
"I know Chakotay isn't here with us now, and Hannah is home with your mother and Admiral Ponsonby. I know it must be painful right now, but - "
"What, Sergei?" Kathryn asked, sensing what Sergei was going to say. No one on board knew.
"I haven't forgotten. It's the eleventh of December. Happy anniversary, Captain. And for Hannah and Chakotay, happy birthday."
Kathryn felt her eyes burning with unshed tears and her throat was thick with emotion. She touched his arm and gave it a friendly squeeze.
"And for Anatoly," she said softly, knowing that Sergei's son shared a birthday with Hannah and Chakotay. "Happy birthday..."
"Thank you, Kathryn. The kid's growing like a weed. You've contacted your mother?"
"Indeed. Hannah's first birthday, and I missed the cake! But we...talked..."
Sergei laughed.
"I can just picture that. Hannah talked, huh."
"I miss them, Sergei," Kathryn said on a wistful note.
"We'll find him, Kathryn. We'll find Chakotay."
"Yes."
***
"Tom, bring us in to just the perimeter of the first asteroid belt," Kathryn ordered. She stood behind Tom at the conn and rested her hand on his shoulder.
"Aye, Captain. We could come to within a metre Kodari's orbit if I manoeuvre this little baby to just inside the belt," he replied, turning to look up at her as he spoke.
Tom's daring was sometimes exceeded only by his smirking wisecracks, Kathryn thought as she smiled down at him and gave his shoulder a squeeze before she moved away from him.
"Good. Do it."
Kathryn was glad to have Tom on board. With Karan Tor and James Hamilton relieving him at Gamma and Beta shifts, she had the best team of pilots on Voyager. Karan Tor had been trained in Flight Manoeuvres by Chakotay himself; she had been surprised to learn when she studied the service records of the crew of Voyager before they set out from Deep Space Nine. Then Andra Stadi had been Chief Pilot... Now, Kathryn felt the intense excitement curiously mingled with apprehension coursing through her. It wouldn't be long now before they beamed down to the planet. They had already requested permission to enter Kodari's orbit, the Interim Committee Representative quite amenable when Kathryn had stated their mission.
A few minutes later, Voyager was manoeuvred expertly through the hail of rocks that flew at them as they reached the inside edge of the belt. Kathryn held her breath, as she was certain every other officer on the bridge did as well. But Tom, past master at letting them teeter on the brink of alarm by shaving close to the rocks or escaping a millisecond before something actually hit them, cleaved the sudden black expanse so gently that when Voyager was brought to a virtual halt, he fingered the panelled array of the conn, then raised his hands as if he had just guided an orchestra through the final bars of a concerto.
"There. Safely packaged and delivered..." Tom swivelled in his chair, his hands on his thighs; he looked at her with a bright smile and shining eyes. Kathryn shook her head. She returned to the command chair and gave a sigh of relief when she sat down.
"The man's good," Commander Eamon Daley whispered.
"The brightest and the best for this vessel, Eamon."
Eamon smiled, his eyes friendly and warm as he basked in the compliment she bestowed on him.
"We'll be away for no more than one day, Commander. Take good care of my ship."
"Always, Captain," he replied and Kathryn could have sworn that he wanted to salute her. She rose from her chair and walked to the turbolift.
"Lieutenant Rollins, meet me in the transporter room in twenty minutes. The doctor and Lieutenant Karan will be waiting for us there..."
"Aye, Captain."
Kathryn sagged back against the wall of the turbolift and closed her eyes. She needed to return to her quarters first before meeting Rollins, Karan and Sergei in the transporter room. Earlier in the day they had received inoculations from Sergei, who had winced when he inoculated himself , and then endured the teasing of the others.
"The temperatures of Kodari fluctuate between 45°C and 50°C, Captain. While the Cardassians and Klingons are accustomed to high temperatures, we need to insulate ourselves against UV radiation. I'll have to treat all of us again when we return to Voyager."
"Winonah?" she asked, her voice filled with trepidation. She had no idea what the living conditions of her niece were and the child could very have succumbed to the extremes of heat.
"Captain," Rollins reminded her again after they had studied the planet's weather conditions three days ago, "Winonah was born on a planet with temperatures averaging 40 degrees Centigrade. I don't think you should worry too much on that count."
She had nodded gravely to Rollins, thinking that she only needed to have some assurance that the child would be in good health. Now, making her way to her quarters to get something first before meeting the others, she battled to keep down her growing sense of alarm that all might not be well. Despite assurances from the others, and remembering how Chakotay would always tackle a problem head-on, she had butterflies in her stomach. She grinned. Butterflies indeed, and she a Starfleet Captain too. The last time she’d felt like that had been when she considered for a long time after her blind date with Chakotay, whether she should contact him. She had been holding her little Grey Eagle between her fingers when she felt it speak to her. Even so, after she made the connection, she had been all jitters then. Now, she was to look into the eyes of a child, eyes that resembled Chakotay's.
Winonah needed to see familiar things and the chances were that she might not recognise the woman whom her Uncle Chakotay had married. When she had visited with Chakotay on Dorvan V, it was only a two week vacation; now Kathryn wondered if the time she had connected with the child, who was then only four and a half, was enough for her to recognise her "Aunt Kathryn". Winonah had lived the past six months with someone whom she might not want to leave...
But Winonah, even if she had bonded with her caretaker, would have to come home to Earth with her, to live with her and Hannah and call her own parents Grandma and Grandpa. Already Hannah, who’d had a birthday the day before, called Admiral Ponsonby "Grampy" and Gretchen "Grammy". Winonah would be Hannah's older sister... It was a gamble, but one well worth taking, even crossing all the sectors and braving all the Cardassians attacks. She had Winonah's locket and Kathryn prayed fervently that it would link the child to her past as well as her present and her future. Kathryn felt the old burn deep inside her as she thought of Chakotay's little niece, thought of Roshana, the child's mother, of Xandor Landral whose incredible valour had saved the life of a child who’d lost everyone known to her, Xandor Landral, who died saving the lives of many other children.
"Make her our daughter, Kathryn..." Chakotay's words came to her from the last time she had seen him. "She will need you."
"She has been gone a year, Chakotay... I don't know if she'll recognise me..." Kathryn whispered the words to herself.
"I have seen terrible suffering on Dorvan V. No man should witness such devastation, such terrible atrocities such as I have seen. Winonah saw all of that, and she is only a child...only a child. In the name of all the spirits, Kathryn, no child should ever witness that..."
Chakotay's words were a reminder keeping her hope alive that one day he might be back with his family.
Then there was Karan Tor, who had begged her to be on the away mission. He had to bring home his two younger siblings, boys who were respectively eleven and thirteen years old. She had granted him permission and it warmed her the way his eyes lit up.
"I have never seen them, Captain, except in holovids my mother was able to send me in the early days. But they know about me. My mother had taught them to understand they have an eldest brother," Tor had said.
"I'm very happy for you, Tor. You have a unique opportunity to unite your family again."
Tor had smiled, a slow smile of pride that spread across his solemn face.
"As do you, Captain."
When her commbadge beeped the minute she exited the turbolift, she was startled from her reverie.
"Torres to Janeway."
"Go ahead, B'Elanna."
"Captain, I wish you well on this mission. Let Tor know I'll break his nose if his brothers don't show up on this vessel."
"Thank you, Miss Torres. I'll tell him you'll take care of his brothers - "
"Captain! That's not - "
"Janeway out."
Kathryn smiled as she entered the codes to her quarters.
****
The heat hit them like a flame of fire the moment they beamed down about a hundred metres from Penytt Sarra's abode. Kathryn sucked in her breath sharply as she flipped open her tricorder.
"49°C!"
"Too hot for humans, Captain."
"That is the house," Kathryn said as she pointed to an abode in the distance. Not far from there they could see an outcrop. "Those are entrances to the planet's caverns..." They continued walking slowly and Kathryn's heart raced.
"Captain..." Karan Tor whispered and as she looked at the house, a figure appeared in the doorway.
"Penytt Sarra. I've been told by the Representative that a human child resided with her."
"Then Winonah is probably inside the house."
"I hope so!"
"I notice signs of terraforming, Captain," Sergei said as he looked around the dry landscape.
"The Cardassians living here have harnessed their skills and become productive," Rollins responded.
Kathryn was hardly aware of their conversation as they approached the house. Penytt Sarra was tall, her Cardassian features hardened by the weather conditions, but she stood still, almost serene, as she waited for them. Did her movements slow down? Kathryn took the last steps to the door of the house, the rest of the away team almost forgotten as she looked at the woman before her.
"Penytt Sarra? I am Captain Kathryn Janeway, of the Federation starship USS Voyager."
The woman stared at her for long seconds, seconds in which Kathryn's heart sank one moment, flared with hope the next, then sank again.
"I was told only minutes ago of your arrival, Captain Janeway. You have come for Winonah."
It was all the confirmation Kathryn needed. Her eyes burned.
We're almost there, Chakotay...almost there...
Kathryn reached to touch the hand Penytt Sarra extended.
"Yes. I have come for Winonah. She is my husband's niece..."
Penytt Sarra nodded gravely; Kathryn gained the impression that the woman was sad.
"Winonah is not here."
Kathryn froze.
"What?"
Only then did Penytt Sarra smile. Kathryn turned to the rest of the team who waited about three metres behind her, and then back to face Penytt.
"Winonah could draw your face... I recognise you... Come, Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Starship Voyager..."
They followed the Cardassian woman to the hill.
"You say she could draw my face, Penytt. How is it then that - "
Penytt stopped in her tracks.
"Be prepared, Captain Janeway. The child is mute. She has been mute since the day she was taken from her homeworld."
Kathryn had gone cold inside. She turned to Sergei.
"A not abnormal occurrence after the trauma she has suffered, Captain."
She nodded, and gestured to Penytt that they should proceed to the outcrop. It was not a great distance, but walking over the scorching ground was energy sapping. A trickle of perspiration ran down Kathryn's neck and when she glanced quickly at the others, saw that they were not any better off. Sergei’s face was red, his nose already blotched. Still, he smiled at her. She gave a little sigh of relief. At the entrance, Penytt stopped and looked at them.
"Captain Janeway, I shall accompany you into the cavern. It is quite safe. The child comes here every day."
"I understand."
Penytt looked at Karan Tor, as if she were seeing him for the first time and she frowned.
"I am Karan Tor, son of Karan Ardra of Bajor."
"Then I have good news for you, Karan Tor. Walk towards the first row of houses. At the end of that street, you will find an abode. It has a black door. The sons of Gul Gorek reside there. They were in my care for several months..."
"I thank you, Penytt Sarra." Tor nodded to Kathryn, then strode away from the outcrop with great haste in the direction Penytt Sarra indicated.
"Captain, I'll wait here," Magnus Rollins said, his hand hovering ever near his phaser.
"Come, you must get out of the sun. If you wait in the shade just inside the cavern, you will be fine."
The men nodded, Kathryn noting how Sergei had already flipped open his medical tricorder. She walked behind Penytt who had to bow low in the cave although Kathryn, being much smaller, was able to walk upright. They crossed an uneven cavern floor and passed through a short passage. Kathryn noticed how much cooler it was inside here, and she wondered idly why more Kodari didn't frequent the caverns. Then again, they were already so accustomed to the heat. Penytt didn’t look as if it bothered her.
"I hear water," Kathryn whispered.
"Our underground rivers. It may not appear so, Captain Janeway, but water is plentiful here." Penytt spoke in low tones as well.
"Understood."
A few metres after exiting the passage, they stood at the entrance of a large cavern. Kathryn realised the light in the cavern came from a small aperture as well as the residue light from the main entrance that filtered through like an osmotic process. She saw large flat rocks at the edge of the river bank, and at the farthest end, she saw the child.
A hand rested gently on Kathryn's shoulder.
"Go now, Kathryn Janeway," Penytt Sarra said softly.
She could see Winonah only in profile. The child appeared deep in thought, caught in a world of dreams and fantasies. Kathryn's eyes were riveted to the still figure. It seemed that even the river calmed as she approached the child.
Strange... Strange...
Winonah sat, unmoving, oblivious of any intrusion, so close to the edge that she could pitch forward if a sudden sound or movement startled her. Her feet dangled in the water and she was leaning over a little, looking at her reflection. Then Kathryn noticed something else. Winonah's lips were moving. Was she in conversation with an unseen entity? Kathryn's eyes closed a moment. She had a vision of eagles in flight, saw an image of a kindly smiling Hannah, of Kolopak, of Chakotay as he sat outside his sister's abode one day and held Winonah on his lap, telling her a story... She felt the moment was too hallowed to disturb the child. A hand squeezed tight around Kathryn's heart, and she felt the familiar burn of unshed tears.
I wish you were here, Chakotay, to witness this moment in which a child is communicating with her people...
Kathryn opened her eyes. Winonah sat in the same position, but her lips had stopped moving.
"Winonah..."
There was not sudden startled surprise at hearing a long lost, familiar voice. All the expectations Kathryn had of her first meeting with Winonah, were shattered in the next few moments. There was no jumping for joy, no screams of happiness; there was no sharp intake of breath or sudden springing into life at the sight or sound of a familiar one. Always, when her father returned from a long mission, she and Phoebe had jumped all over him, literally hanging from his neck. They'd kiss him, hug him repeatedly because he was home for the first time in six months. No, it was not how she even watched Hannah shriek when she saw Kathryn's face in their weekly communications.
Winonah turned slowly to the direction from which she heard her name called. Her long hair swung with the turn of her head. Kathryn noted idly that soon, Hannah's hair would be that long too. Winonah's face held no surprise, her eyes were large, and in the light that came from the roof of the cavern and from its entrance, they were shiny pools of golden wine.
It was as if she waited for Kathryn, expected to see her standing there.
Kathryn was simply an extension of Winonah's thought process, whatever it was she was thinking about. The child drew her feet out of the water and stood up.
Oh, God...she is so small, so fragile...
"Winonah..."
Winonah stepped slowly towards her. Kathryn was strangely aware that the child seemed to be measuring the distance between them. Then she stopped and reached to touch Kathryn who had gone down on her knees. Little fingers rested for a long time against Kathryn's cheek. In complete awe Kathryn watched how Winonah's throat worked; she swallowed several times. Then Winonah's expressive eyes misted over, her lips quivered, and the words rushed from her.
"I waited for you to come, Aunt Kathryn..."
***********************
END CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE