Atonement (6 page)

A new thought occurred to her. “Take Naomi with you.”

“She is not scheduled to be done for several weeks, and her liberty is only four days long.”

“Call it a family emergency,” Wildman suggested.
Come to think of it, that wasn't even a lie
.

Gres's eyes softened.
“I'd love having her all to myself for a few weeks.”

“Do it,” Wildman insisted. “It will be good for both of you. Will you be able to stay in contact?”

“I doubt it.”

Wildman's jaw tensed. But the stakes were too high to allow fear a foothold. “Take care of her. And yourself.”

“Always, my love.”

Wildman nodded.

“One more thing?”

“Yes?”

“Does Doctor Sharak have any friends on Earth right now?”

“I'll—” she began.

“Ratham,” Sharak's voice said clearly over her shoulder. Turning, she saw him standing behind her, a tray heavy with two bowls and glasses in hand.

“I apologize for dropping eves,” he said.

“
Teema at . . .
where was it?”

“Gayara,” Sharak replied.

“
Teema. At Gayara
,” Wildman repeated. Turning back to Gres, she asked, “Did you get that?”

Gres was chuckling at both of them.
“Ratham, was it?”

“Yes,” Sharak confirmed. “She is a fellow at the Federation Language Institute.”

“Sam told me you were teaching her Tamarian.”

“Your wife is a very quick study.”

“That's not how I remember her,”
Gres teased.

“Hey,” Wildman interjected.

“Safe travels, you two,”
Gres said.

“Samantha and Sharak on the ocean. The winds fair.”
Sharak nodded.

“For all of us, I hope,”
Gres said.

STARSHIP VESTA

C
aptain Regina Farkas stood before her bridge's center seat giving half her attention to the report of her chief engineer, Lieutenant Phinnegan Bryce.

“. . . are
estimated to be complete within the next three hours,” Bryce finished.

“You're telling me that the majority of our systems are fully operational but you wouldn't call us ‘battle-ready' just yet?” Farkas asked.

“I don't believe our temporary repairs to the secondary shield generators would be sufficient to meet the demands you would place on them should we again face that Voth ship,” Bryce said.

Farkas smiled faintly as she glanced toward the earnest young man who'd earned her respect and confidence in only a few months.

“I don't believe ten more years of tinkering would be sufficient for that, Bryce. Your concern is noted. I'll do all I can to keep us out of harm's way.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Bryce said.

Returning her eyes to the main viewscreen where most of the major players could be seen taking their places for the admiral's trial, she asked of her operations officer, “Jepel, do we have control of the transmission frequency?”

“Aye, Captain. Our
modifications
are stable.”

“Can the
Kinara
detect them?”

“A really good communications officer might notice the errant compressed wave,” Jepel admitted.

“Then let's hope they don't have one of those,” Farkas said. “Sienna?”

Her tactical officer, Kar Sienna, replied, “Status unchanged. The Voth vessel is holding position near the
Manticle.
”

“Do we have a name for her yet?”

“The
Scion.
”

“Lovely. And the rest?”

“Two Turei, one Vaadwaur, and one Devore vessel have stationed themselves just outside the Gateway. The Skeen
Lightcarrier
and the Karlon
Denizen
are continuing their perimeter sweeps. The other three
Kinara
vessels we still can't identify, but they are positioned to protect the
Manticle
's flank.”

“What about our ships?”

“
Galen
is holding position to port. We are standing by to extend our shields around
Voyager
on your order.”

“Then we are as ready as we could possibly be,” Farkas noted. “Ensign Jepel, route the
Manticle
's transmission to my ready room.”

“Aye, Captain.”

A familiar face was seated at her desk, already watching the show when Farkas entered her sanctuary.

“Hello, El'nor.”

“Regina.”

“Can I get you anything? A
borst
ale? Maybe some pretzels?”

“This is the first chance I've had to sit in thirty-six hours,” Doctor El'nor Sal replied. “And
this
,” she added, gesturing to the small desktop screen, “isn't my fault.”

“It isn't mine, either.”

The captain's oldest friend favored her with a withering glare.

Farkas perched on the front edge of her desk for the second-best view in the room of the transmission. “I realize I didn't give you enough time to yell at me before I ordered you over to
Voyager.
I'm sorry about that, El'nor.”

“I know Admiral Janeway gave the relevant orders, but as far as I'm concerned, if we're under fire, you failed to do your job, Captain.”

“I agreed with you the first time you made that pithy observation. Thirty-five years later, I still do.”

“Good,” Sal began, then paused as on-screen Admiral Janeway was ushered into the room. The admiral's hands were shackled by heavy metal circlets connected by a short bar. Her shoulders were pulled forward by their weight, making it difficult for her to walk in her normal poised and steady gait.

More alarming, her personal security detachment, Lieutenants Psilakis and Cheng, were not present.

Farkas heard her breath catch. Wordlessly, Sal placed a comforting hand over hers and patted it gently.

A lump was forming in the captain's throat when a face Farkas had grown to dislike intensely, Devore Inspector Kashyk's, appeared, taking up most of the screen. Compassion was
replaced by fear. Anyone who could lie that easily and convincingly scared the living daylights out of her.

“Greetings to our friends of the Confederacy of the Worlds of the First Quadrant and our former acquaintances of the Federation. Prior to turning herself over to the custody of the
Kinara,
Admiral Janeway requested that her appearance before the tribunal established to weigh the charges presented against her be transmitted in real time, and we have agreed that it is only appropriate that you bear witness to it.

“The tribunal empaneled to hear evidence of the admiral's illegal, immoral, and unjustifiable acts of aggression against current
Kinara
members consists of myself, First Minister Odala of the Voth, Magnate Veelo of the Turei, Commandant Dhina of the Vaadwaur, and Rigger Meeml, representing the Skeen, Karlon, Muk, and Emleath. Once the charges have been read and answered, a swift verdict will be rendered.

“Our goal is not revenge, but justice. As you will all realize once you have heard the charges, Admiral Kathryn Janeway, formerly captain of the Federation
Starship Voyager,
has personally transgressed against us. The time has come for her to answer for her past actions. Once this matter has been resolved, we look forward to continuing our peaceful negotiations with the Confederacy.”

Everything about the scene before her, particularly Kashyk's obvious relishing of his position as arbiter of Admiral Janeway's fate, suggested that what was about to unfold was worse than Farkas had yet dared imagine.

MANTICLE

Lsia tried to focus on Emem.

Kashyk
, she reminded herself again.

She tried to keep her face neutral, her affect professional. But her eyes betrayed her, continuing to stray toward the face of Kathryn Janeway. Despite Emem's insistence that she be shackled—a needless humiliation that served no security purpose—the admiral still managed to carry herself like royalty. The pride, determination, and utter fearlessness of the woman might have
been galling had these not been traits common among and held in high regard by the Seriareen.

Of course, the admiral probably believed that no fair tribunal would find her guilty when her side of the story was set beside the one Emem would tell. Had there been anything “fair” about the tribunal, she might have been right.

Lsia watched Janeway study the face of each panel member as they introduced themselves. The admiral's gaze was curious, penetrating, as if she were sizing them up. For the few moments her eyes locked with Janeway's, Lsia experienced the momentary certainty that the admiral could see
through
her, but quickly dismissed the notion.

Finally, Emem addressed Janeway directly and from that moment forward, her eyes remained glued to his.

“Admiral Kathryn Janeway, a list of charges has been prepared and submitted to this panel by individuals with firsthand knowledge of your previous interactions with their species. As each charge is read, you will be permitted to answer it with direct testimony either substantiating or refuting the charge. Once you have addressed all of the charges, panel members may ask follow-up questions. When that process concludes, the panel will render its verdict on the charges and issue your sentence.

“Please bear in mind that while many lesser violations were submitted for the panel's consideration, they were too numerous to add to the present list of charges and have been waived. Only the most serious issues have been brought to this tribunal for consideration and, in most cases, the proscribed penalty is death.”

“I understand,” Admiral Janeway acknowledged.

“Do you have any questions before we begin?” Emem asked.

“No.”

“Very well.” Emem smiled cheerily at her, then turned to include the panel. “Admiral Kathryn Janeway, you stand accused of the following crimes.

“You did knowingly and willfully bring prohibited telepathic individuals into the territory controlled by the Devore
Imperium, in breach of the agreement you accepted in return for safe passage through Devore space.

“You did not turn those individuals over to Devore custody, as was required by your agreement. Instead, you harbored them aboard the vessel you commanded, the Federation
Starship Voyager,
to hide them from Devore inspection teams and violated your course restrictions on at least two occasions in order to access an unstable wormhole that allowed the telepaths in question to escape Devore territory without facing charges for their illegal trespassing.”

Emem studied Janeway's face for a moment before asking, “Can you offer any evidence to refute or mitigate this charge?”

Janeway's chin dipped ever so slightly, though her eyes continued to hold Emem's steadily.

“No,” Janeway replied.

FIFTH SHUDKA

Captain Chakotay's heart had stilled the moment Kathryn was brought in to face the panel. He had forced his breath to remain steady, reminding himself that he was going to enjoy watching Kathryn frustrate the designs of those she now confronted.

But one word from Kathryn set Chakotay's pulse pounding furiously.

“
No.
”

He was risking everything on his certainty that he
knew
Kathryn's mind as well as his own.

But did he?

“I do not understand,” Presider Cin said softly.

Chakotay didn't either, which severely limited the range of responses he could offer her.

MANTICLE

Cautious jubilance rose in Emem's eyes at Janeway's response.

Lsia should have been relieved at such an auspicious beginning. Instead, soft internal alarms began to sound insistently.

“Moving
on, then,” Emem continued. “You, Admiral Kathryn Janeway, did knowingly and willfully refuse a direct and reasonable request by Turei Magnate Veelo to allow his officers to board your vessel in order to delete the information your ship's sensors had gathered while traveling through the ‘underspace' the Turei claimed as part of their sovereign territory. You fired illegally upon the Turei as you attempted to flee and in doing so, caused the deaths of thirty-nine individuals and the loss of two Turei vessels.”

Janeway's eyes found Tirrit's, dark holes embedded in a face so ghastly, even by alien standards, that Lsia had hesitated on principle to consider the Turei acceptable Seriareen hosts. The Turei visage was roughly humanoid, but composed of several small, pasty-white overlapping flaps of flesh that gave it an unformed appearance, like something half-melted. It occurred to Lsia that the admiral might never have known exactly how many Turei had perished during that encounter. The death toll seemed to trouble her deeply.

“You did knowingly and willfully bring six hundred nineteen Vaadwaur officers out of self-imposed stasis. That act was in direct violation of Turei law. Under their code of justice, any Vaadwaur individuals discovered in their space were to be immediately transferred to Turei authority. You further assisted the Vaadwaur in activating several of their grounded vessels in preparation for assisting them in fleeing their former homeworld. This, too, is considered treason under Turei law.

“In the battle that ensued between the Turei and the Vaadwaur, another seventy-three Turei officers were killed, forty-seven were injured, and four vessels were destroyed.

“Do you wish to dispute these facts, Admiral?” Emem asked.

Returning her gaze to the man she believed to be Inspector Kashyk, Janeway replied, “No.”

“You agreed to protect the Vaadwaur you had brought out of stasis from harm while seeing them safely to an uninhabited world beyond Turei space. You refused to arm them appropriately to enable them to defend themselves, in fact insisting that several
disarm themselves completely for the transit, and then knowingly and willfully abandoned those ships to battle the Turei. You are also responsible for the deaths of two hundred ninety-one Vaadwaur officers and the destruction of sixteen of their vessels.