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THE LINK

CHAPTER 25

Warm...soft...

Kathryn opened her sleepy eyes and, as the haze before them cleared, she saw that she was lying on a bed. A large bed with blue satin sheets. Her bed aboard The Dormer.

"Welcome back, Admiral."

The voice was Tuvok's and Kathryn turned towards it.

"Tuvok..."

The Vulcan was sitting in a chair before a window of still stars.

"You were unconscious when I beamed you aboard," he said, "due to your injuries and the site's inhospitable environment, but you will make a full recovery."

Kathryn spoke her first fear. "The baby..."

"You are still pregnant."

Relief consumed Kathryn and she smiled. "I knew it...I knew she'd fight too."

"I have catalogued and treated your injuries, which were many but mostly superficial, and I have done all that you instructed. As you suspected, I was unable to deactivate The Doctor, but I have confined him to his bedroom and secured him within a forcefield. Opal Reese is likewise secured. In the absence of a morgue, I have placed Admiral Derry in a stasis chamber in the cargo bay. I have also placed Commander Chakotay in one as he shows indication of brain trauma and, as I am not a qualified physician, I thought stasis was for the best. It will preserve him without deterioration until he can be properly treated."

"Good thinking. Thank you, Tuvok."

"I have also sent out a distress call. The closest Starfleet ship, The Preslyn, is less than a light year away and will be with us as soon as possible."

"The Preslyn. I can't say I've heard of it. Who is the captain?"

"Marcus Brent. I do not believe you know him, but I had the good fortune of meeting him once and he is a fine man and a brave one. We will be in good hands."

"Let's hope so."

Tuvok gestured to a shelf beside the bed, on which lay a small silver tray. Upon the tray was a glass of orange juice and a plate stacked with sandwiches of different shapes.

"I have taken the liberty of replicating you a glass of orange juice and a selection of sandwiches. You require hydration and nutrients."

"Thank you, Tuvok," Kathryn said, sitting up and reaching for the glass. "I'm not hungry, but I'm certainly thirsty."

"Regardless of how you are feeling, do try to eat. Even if you are not hungry, I assure you Janeway Junior is."

Kathryn had to smile at that. "Then if there's a chicken sandwich amongst that mound, consider it eaten."

"There are several. The triangle sandwiches are chicken, the round sandwiches are egg, and the square sandwiches are cheese."

"Very...efficient."

"I strive to be in all things."

Kathryn took a sip of orange juice and then picked up a triangle sandwich. "Have you spoken with Opal?"

"Affirmative. However, I was unable to question her due to her distress at news of her aunt's death."

At these words, Kathryn lost the little appetite she had managed to muster and put the sandwich down. "I had no choice, Tuvok," she said quietly. "It was her or me."

"That I have concluded," he answered. "While I was recovering all items from the surface, I recovered a most bizarre card that offered logic to a most illogical puzzle. Based on the images and the words upon it, my conclusion is that Admiral Derry wished to kill you and the Commander because of his Maquis past. Her son, Luke, was killed in a conflict with the Maquis and that, to a disturbed mind, could be sufficient motive. Given that she had no injuries, but you and the Commander considerable, I conclude that she made the Commander fight you by using mind control. During the struggle you fired at the Admiral and then at Chakotay. Am I correct?"

"Yes. Her plan was to frame Chakotay as my stalker and have him incarcerated for it."

"That I did not guess. My belief was she intended to kill him after he had killed you."

"No. She had it all worked out. I would die and Chakotay would go to jail. And, the scary thing is, had I not survived then he probably would have. No jury would have believed his word over that of a decorated Starfleet Admiral."

"I am not so certain. Admiral Derry can be linked to all the attacks against you. Chakotay cannot. There would also have been many, including myself, willing to testify in his defence. While I did, to my regret, believe him capable of adultery, I would never believe him capable of harming you. His care for your safety has always been profound, even religious. I believe the incident with Opal Reese was staged by the Admiral for your benefit. I do not believe the Commander was having sexual relations with her of his own free will."

"Of course he wasn't. I never thought for a moment that he was."

"Your faith in him, your trust, will no doubt be a comfort, but he may have difficulty coming to terms with what he's done under mind control."

"I know," Kathryn said sadly. "And I need your counsel, Tuvok."

"As always, I will advise you any way I may."

Kathryn put down her drink and then spoke. "Under mind control," she began, "Chakotay didn't only try to kill me, he tried to rape me. I would rather spare him the knowledge of that, as I believe he would find it harder to come to terms with that than anything else, but there will be an inquest into Natalie's death and I will be asked to give a full account of what happened. I may even be interrogated. Should I follow my heart and say nothing about the attempted rape, or should I follow my head and tell them everything?"

"Your desire to protect the Commander is both understandable and admirable," he replied, "but the investigation into Admiral Derry's death will be thorough. Withholding information may harm your defence. Your account of events must satisfy every scrutiny."

"You're right. If, by withholding details, my account appears unconvincing or inconsistent, then I could face prosecution. Chakotay too."

"Indeed. Admiral Derry was, as you say, a well respected officer and one of high standing. The argument may well be made that Chakotay was using mind control upon her and not she upon him. But if you speak the truth, and give as detailed an account as possible, then your statement will be above reproach."

"Then I'll do what I have to do, but I wish it was otherwise."

"You will also need time to come to terms with what has happened. I suggest counseling."

Kathryn picked up her drink again and took a sip. "I'm fine, Tuvok."

"On the contrary. You have discovered that a close friend has tried to kill you several times, and you have been subjected to a vicious assault by your husband."

"Not my husband, Tuvok. That wasn't Chakotay."

"No, but it was his body. That, in itself, makes the incident traumatic."

"I'm over it. We've fought before, many times, and he never spared me the full force of his strength to be kind. Being kind wouldn't help me. My concern is for him." She gestured to the sandwiches. "Please, help yourself."

"I will eat only if you will," he answered.

Kathryn relented. "Very well." She then picked up a chicken sandwich and, as Tuvok picked up a cheese, she spoke. "Did you examine Natalie?"

"Affirmative."

"Did you find a neural transceiver?"

"Affirmative. It was attached to the base of her skull and concealed by her hair. I presume she used it to control Chakotay."

"Yes." Kathryn took a bite of the sandwich in her hand and forced herself to swallow it. "Did you find one on Opal too?"

"Negative."

"Then only Natalie was controlling him. I thought maybe the pair of them were."

Tuvok picked up another sandwich, this time an egg. "I did not, however, detect a neural transceiver upon the Commander."

"That's because he has one embedded in his brain," Kathryn told him. "It was placed there by Riley Frazier and her people. They led us to believe that they were ex-drones, but in fact they were a species called Raylix in disguise. They placed an undetectable transceiver in his brain so they could control him. By tuning into it, Natalie was able to do the same."

"I see. But if that was the case, why did he not revert to himself once the connection with her was severed?"

"I'm guessing because recovery is gradual. That would be consistent with his episodes of late. He has been acting out of character and has had periods of memory loss."

"How did the Commander find out about this implant?"

"Natalie suspected he had one, and that the ex-drones were Raylix, after studying our logs. She brought her suspicions to me and I took them to Chakotay. He was eager to know the truth and agreed to be examined by a specialist. The specialist found that he did indeed have an implant. The Doctor believed he could remove it safely, or at least with low risk, and Chakotay opted to have it out. That's when things ended between him and Seven. Somehow their mutual implants bonded them and, as soon as his was gone, that bond was severed."

"That certainly explains their attachment. I always believed the Commander's relationship with Seven of Nine was...peculiar. But if this implant was removed, yet Natalie used it to control him, then I can only conclude it was reimplanted."

"Yes. When Chakotay heard about my attack on Starbase FX-5, that I'd had my throat slashed, he collapsed, and The Doctor discovered a second implant that he concluded was a failsafe device. His theory is that the device is meant to shutdown the transceiver in the event of extreme emotional trauma, but in its absence, the device rendered him unconscious instead. As it was too risky to remove the implant, incase it is controlling other brain functions, on my instruction The Doctor put the transceiver back." She paused. "There was a chance that putting the transceiver back would change him, so when Chakotay started acting out of character lately, I put it down to the implants. It didn't occur to me that he was being manipulated. Ironic, in a way, because the very reason we haven't told people about the implants is for fear that he would be violated and manipulated. Aside from myself, Chakotay and The Doctor, only Natalie, B'Elanna, Seven and the specialist know."

"It is suspicious," Tuvok said, "that Admiral Derry would inform you of the transceiver and then use it for her own ends. It raises the possibility that she somehow put the transceiver in his brain in the first place."

"There's no way she could have done that," Kathryn answered. "She simply wouldn't have had the expertise. She says she told me about the implant in the hope that removing it would kill Chakotay, and I believe her. He and I were not a couple then and her intention at that time was not to kill me but to maim me. It was only after I married Chakotay that she was determined to kill me. When her attempts failed, and she learnt of the reimplantation, it was only then that she planned to use Chakotay as her weapon of revenge."

"Admiral Derry was clearly not of sound mind."

"Clearly. I just wish I'd realized. Maybe I could have helped her."

"Considering what she has put you through, that is very generous."

"Not really. We were friends for a long time, best friends for a while, and the Natalie Derry I knew would never have hurt anyone. She adored her son, he was the apple of her eye, and losing him...it was too much for her to bear."

"I presume she was responsible for the deaths of Captain Sandor, Captain Barry and Captain Gilmore."

"Yes. She believed they, like me, had betrayed her. Them, because they were Maquis sympathizers. Me, because I integrated the Maquis into our crew."

Tuvok reached for a third sandwich. "Why do you think she has tampered with The Doctor?"

"For the same reason she's tampered with Chakotay...so he would do and say what she wanted him to do and say." She paused. "How does he seem...The Doctor?"

"Himself. He was eager to examine you, which I could not allow, and he was willing to try and deactivate himself, which he could not. But appearances can be deceptive."

"I'm sure B'Elanna or Seven would be able to deactivate him, but as they're not around, I'll have to try myself."

"I must object. The Doctor may harm you."

"Holograms can be restrained by holograms. I will transfer him to the lounge, which doubles as a holoroom, and program holograms to restrain him. Then I will be able to access his holoemitor."

"The Preslyn will be with us in less than two hours. It would be wiser to keep The Doctor confined and let a team of theirs attempt to deactivate him."

"If they can't, they may destroy the emitor and The Doctor along with it. I won't take that risk, at least not without doing everything I can to deactivate him first."

"Then I must insist on being present."

Kathryn gave a wan smile. "As you wish."

END OF CHAPTER 25