CHAPTER 48
Janeway fought down the urge to be sick. Beside her Chakotay's face turned grey, while Paris, covering his face with both hands, turned away.
Before them Torres and Kim resembled nothing human. Their bloated bodies covered with massive black tumors, many of them open and bleeding. Faces distorted beyond recognition.
Neelix grabbed Kes' arm. "Come! We're not needed here."
Daggin went with them.
Janeway managed to address the man, who despite the sudden intrusion of so many strangers, appeared calm and serene. "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway, Harry and B'Elanna are missing crewmembers which we have been searching for."
The man, standing quietly with hands folded before him, spread his arms in a gesture of finality. "I'm sorry….we did all that we could. They left us minutes ago."
Taking out his tricorder Tuvok approached the beds. "Captain, there are still life-signs. Minimal brain activity, infinitesimal, very erratic."
Janeway took a step forward. "Get them to sick bay!"
"Captain!" Chakotay cried out. "My EMH would be better equipped to handle this."
"Go!" Agreed Janeway, hoping beyond hope for these two. "Join me back here as soon as possible."
Fighting down the repulsion that they were feeling, Chakotay and Paris gently picked up the lifeless bodies.
Chakotay slapped the ship-shaped insignia on the front of his shirt. "Seska! Emergency beam-out! Obtain the coordinates from Evans, lock onto my position and the Starfleet one next to me. Transport us directly to sick bay, have the EMH ready!"
The next instant they disappeared.
Well, well thought Janeway, the Maquis had designed comm badges similar to that of Starfleet. She had noticed the insignia on Chakotay and the other Maquis, thinking that they were nothing more than symbolic, she had paid little attention. When they returned home her father was in for a surprise, so to was Starfleet intelligence.
Tuvok turned to the away team. All of them with faces as gray as the surrounding walls. "Wait outside."
They moved quickly, having had enough of the Ocampa hospital.
Slowly the attendant approached Janeway. "I hope that you can save them. They held on longer than any of the others, the lad was certain that you would come."
He smiled gently. "Harry kept his companion under control, she had a bit of a temper."
"If only Harry's trust has not been misplaced." She responded sadly.
The man gave a slow, understanding nod.
Janeway glanced around her. At the gray unadorned walls. At the Utility shelves containing only basic medicines and instruments. At the simple beds with no bio-readout technology. At the lack of life-saving emergency equipment. At a room as barren as the lives of the Ocampa.
She turned back to the attendant. "According to Kes this has been going on for some time. Do you know why? Is there anything which might explain what this is all about?"
"I'm afraid not." His voice serene, not the least perturbed over recent events. "The Elders assumed that the Caretaker was sending these people to us. We believed that it was to protect others."
His answer did nothing to life Janeway's spirits. It was exactly what Kes had said. "These Elders, have they ever seen the Caretaker?"
He shook his head. "No, no. According to the records nobody has ever seen, or spoken, directly to him. The archives, which go back to the 'Warming', are written in a language difficult to understand, much of our history has been lost. We know nothing of the outside world, except what we see on the screens."
To a Vulcan the search for knowledge was the very essence of their being. Trying to comprehend the Ocampa's complacency Tuvok approached the attendant. "Do you not seek to learn about, or see, the outside world?"
The attendant nodded sadly. "Some do. The younger ones….like Kes and Daggin. They do not understand that the Caretaker has sent us here for a reason, he provides for us, we do not lack for anything. There is no reason to be discontent."
Silently Janeway thought 'no reason except your freedom and opportunity to grow and expand as a people'.
She kept her reflections to herself. "Thank you for taking care of Harry and B'Elanna. Perhaps, by caring for them as you have, their lives might still be saved."
The man inclined his head. "May it be so."
