Chapter 114.

Memorial.

(Leah POV)

"Delta Flyer to Voyager. We are on Final approach," Chakotay said.

"We've kept a candle burning in the window for you," I said.

"Forget the Candles. Break out the Champagne," Tom said.

"I take it the mission was a success," I said.

"15 planets scanned in 14 days, we've got a cargo hold overflowing with Dilithium ore," Tom said.

"That's the news I love hearing, The Doors are opening, Come on home," I said.

"The Delta Flyer has docked," Tuvok said.

"Good, Helm resume course, Full impulse," I said.

XXX

I was Called to Sickbay.

"I gave him a mild sedative," Doc said.

"Any ideas what caused the delusions," I said.

"His norepinephrine levels are 3 times what they should be," Doc said. "Neurochemically speaking, He's suffering from a form of Post traumatic stress Syndrome,"

"I dreamed I was fighting in an alien war," Chakotay said. "The same war Neelix seemed to be reliving,"

"Harry Kim was in earlier he had an anxiety attack," Doc said. "I haven't spoken with Mr. Paris yet,"

"3 members of the same away team, Did you run into any kind of trouble while you were gone," I said.

"None, the mission was by the book," Chakotay said.

"Your engramatic activities contradict that, commander," Doc said. "These are real memories, not mere dreams or hallucinations,"

"Maybe you were abducted, Manipulated into fighting, Then they tried to wipe you memories of it. Our memories have been tampered with before, We're going to retrace your mission, Start reviewing the Delta Flyer Sensor logs, See if you come up with anything unusual," I said. "How long before Neelix is back on his feet?"

"I can wake him now if you'd like," Doc said.

"Do it," I said. "Each of you seems to hold a piece of the puzzle, Let's see if we can start putting them together,"

XXX

"I don't remember much, just bits and pieces, I dreamt I was on a planet in the middle of a battle, I have no idea how I got there, I can't remember," Tom said.

"When I was in the Jeffries tube, I heard weapons fire, screams, People were screaming, I got so frightened," Harry said.

"Of what," I said.

"I don't know," Harry said.

"I remember getting shot," Tom said.

"There's no evidence of a wound," Doc said.

"If our memories were wiped, our physical injuries could have been masked as well," Chakotay said.

"Do any of you recall who you were fighting," I said.

"It was dark, I couldn't see them very well," Neelix said.

"They were firing at us," Tom said.

"The Naka, Na, Nakana," Neelix said.

"The Nakan, They were called the Nakan," Harry said.

"Right, Right," Tom said. "They lived in a remote colony, We were trying to evacuate them,"

"But they were fighting us," Neelix said.

"Why couldn't they just do what they were told," Harry said.

"We had no right to be there," Neelix said.

"It was for their own good," Harry said.

"Enough, Focus," I said. "You said you were trying to evacuate their colony, Why,"

"Those were our orders," Tom said.

"Who gave them," Doc said.

"Saavdra," Chakotay said.

"Commander Saavdra," Tom said.

"He was in charge of our unit, we were part of an attack force," Harry said.

"You were coerced," I said.

"No," Tom said. "No, I volunteered we all did,"

"I find that difficult to believe," Doc said. "You were obviously manipulated somehow,"

"No, No, I remember now, We held a briefing to plan the evacuation," Neelix said. "You were there, Commander, Tom,"

"It was a command post," Tom said.

"That's right, it was night, 0200 hours," Harry said.

"We'd been awake for days, We were exhausted," Chakotay said. Then Told me what they remembered. "The Mission proceed as planned, We disabled their shield generators and entered the colony,"

"We were rounding up the Nakan, To be honest, I expected them to give us a little more trouble," Harry said.

"But they we came to the last enclosure, Do you remember the last enclosure," Neelix said. "It was empty, Where were they, they were supposed to be there,"

"24 colonists unaccounted for, We thought the spotters had made a mistake," Tom said. "We should've known something was wrong, We should've gotten out then,"

"Those 24 colonists they had already left and made to a weapon stash they could of hidden," I said.

"Yes, Then they came for us. Attacked us," Tom said. "They fired the first shots, It wasn't our fault,"

"You can't be sure of that," Chakotay said. "It could've been one of our own people, Fatigue, Phaser malfunction, you just don't know,"

"Either way, It doesn't justify what we did," Neelix said.

"What happened next," I said.

"They started running. Others started shooting them," Tom said.

"We didn't have any other choice," Harry said.

"Like hell we didn't," Chakotay said.

"They were wiping us out," Harry said.

"That didn't give us the right to murder civilians," Chakotay said.

"I tried to protect the children, But I couldn't stop them from running away," Neelix said.

"I ran, too, Sounds of phaser fire, people shouting. I had to get out of there," Harry said. Then Told us about a cave where he found people. But one of them reached for something and when he turned back. "He was going to kill me,"

"Easy, Harry," Tom said.

"They wouldn't listen, Why," Harry said. "Why wouldn't they listen,"

"What happened as soon as morning came," I said.

"We killed 82 civilians that night, No one was left alive," Chakotay said.

XXX

"Captain's log Supplemental, We've entered the system where the away team conducted its recent survey, hoping to find an explanation for their memories of the Nakan massacre, End Log," I said.

As I got to Astrometrics.

"This was your first stop on the away mission," 7 said. "A Class M Planet with one natural satellite,"

"Did you send anyone to the surface," I said.

"No, We only scanned for Dilithium deposits, we were in orbit for less than an hour," Chakotay said.

"Next," I said.

"You came into contact with this vessel en route to your second destination," 7 said.

"Captain Bathar of Hodos," Chakotay said.

"Photogenic," I said.

"He's a merchant, Claimed to have a formula that stops the aging process," Chakotay said.

"Oh you didn't happen to buy any did you," I said.

"It was only a triploymer enzyme," Chakotay said. "Makes great shoe polish though,"

"Moving on," I said.

"Your second stop," 7 said.

"Tarakis, The Planet, It's called Tarakis," I said. "Oh no, These aren't our memories, There may be something on that planet. Sending something out. Send the Coordinates to the Helm. Get a course full impulse,"

XXX

Then Next thing I know I woke up in Mess hall. After seeing the dream of the memories of people getting Vaporized.

"How long have I been out," I said.

"3 hours, Not long after Chakotay left you started to hallucinate, 7 called me," Doc said.

"I saw it, It was like I was there, At the Colony, With Saavdra," I said.

"You're not the only one," Doc said. "39 Crew members have begun to experience the same memories,"

It appears that the entire crew has been affected," Tuvok said.

"It started of us the second we entered this part of space, The cause of this must be on that planet," I said.

"We are on route to the Planet as we speak," Tuvok said.

"Clara, Chloe," I said.

"Nothing yet," Doc said.

"Let me know as soon as you hear about them," I said.

XXX

We finally were approaching the Planet.

"We're approaching Tarakis, Captain," Harry said.

"Red Alert," I said. "Shields up, Weapons ready," As the Klaxons went red. "On screen, Scan for vessels,"

"There are none," Tuvok said.

"Take us into orbit," I said.

"Ma'am," Tom said.

"Do it, Tom, I bet you whatever is doing this is on that planet," I said.

"Lifesigns," Chakotay said.

"The planet appears to be uninhabited," Tuvok said.

"Looks the same as it did a few days ago, When we scanned for dilithium deposits," Harry said.

"Signs of weapons fire or phaser residue," Chakotay said.

"Negative," Tuvok said.

"Run a full spectral scan, Look for anything unusual, Even energy readings," I said.

"Nothing on geometric sensors," Tuvok said.

"Hold on, Captain, I'm picking up a power signature," Harry said.

"Source," Chakotay said.

"I can't tell," Harry said. "The Signal's erratic, but it's coming from the northernmost continent, Coordinates 172 mark 5,"

"Then let's gear up," I said. "Tom, Harry, Chakotay, You're with me,"

As we went and got the Transporter room.

As Tuvok was there.

"Phasers, Energize," I said.

As we were beamed down to the Planet.

"Call it an educated guess, but I don't think this looks like a war zone," Chakotay said.

"There's something familiar about it though, Those mountains," I said.

"Those trees weren't here," Harry said.

"Search the area, Chakotay, With me," I said.

As we walked for a bit.

"A faint energy signature, That way," I said.

As we started to head up a hill.

As we saw it. "Got you," I said.

"What is it," Chakotay said.

"I bet it why we have been getting these memories. Chakotay. We weren't part of it, This thing is our war," I said.

As we got the Astrometrics.

"The Structure contains a synaptic transmitter, I believe it was designed to send neurogenic pulse throughout this system," 7 said.

"So anyone passing through would experience the Nakan massacre, like we did," I said.

"Precisely," 7 said.

"Try running those symbols inscribed on the base through the translation matrix," Chakotay said. "Words alone cannot convey the suffering, Words alone cannot prevent what happened here from happening again, Beyond words lies experience, Beyond experience lies truth, Make this truth your own,"

"It's a memorial, We weren't victims of a conspiracy, We were witnesses to a massacre," I said.

"More than Witnesses," Chakotay said. "By being forced to relive those events, half the crew's been traumatized,"

"Maybe this the point. I certainly won't forget what happened here," I said.

"Anything in that database that might tell us who built this thing," Chakotay said.

"No, the technology has been neglected for more than 2 centuries, It's power cell are deteriorating," 7 said.

"That could explain why the memories were so fragmented, It was probably designed to transmit the experience in sequence," I said.

"Fascinating. Now let's try to shut it down so nobody else has to go through this," Chakotay said. "Leah,"

"Yes," I said.

XXX

"Even if we do shut down the transmitter, I'm afraid your memories of the massacre are permanent," Doc said.

"But we'll prevent this from happening to other passing ships," Tuvok said.

"If we do that, all record of what happened here would be lost," Neelix said.

"The monument will still be here," Chakotay said.

"But that doesn't really tell the story, Someone put a lot of time and care into building that transmitter," Neelix said. "We can't just deactivate it, We don't have the right,"

"Did they have the right to force us to relive all that," Harry said.

"They wanted others to know what it was like, In the hopes that nothing like it would happen again," Neelix said.

"Why should anyone have to experience an atrocity they didn't commit," Chakotay said.

"Because that's how you learn not to make the same mistake," Neelix said. "If we destroy the evidence, we're no better than Saavdra,"

"Maybe he had a point," Tom said.

"It wasn't our fault," Harry said.

"Given the danger involved. It's only logical," Tuvok said.

"This isn't about Logic, It's about remembering," Neelix said.

"Some things are best forgotten," Chakotay said.

"Not this," I said. "Not again,"

"Captain," Doc said.

"I watched while Saavdra vaporized the bodies," I said.

"No offense, but those were other people's memories," Tom said.

"The Obelisk at Khitomer, the Fields at Gettysburg, Those were other people's memories too, but we don't honour them any less, The 82 Colonists who died here the deserve their memorial," I said.

"Captain," Chakotay said.

"We're not going to shut down the transmitter, Clear," I said.

"Are you suggesting we leave it intact," Tuvok said.

"No We repair it, recharge the power cells, I want that monument for function properly for another 300 years, We'll place a warning buoy in orbit, Anyone who enters this system will know what to expect, Dismissed," I said.

It wasn't long before it was ready and we transferred power to the Obelisk.

"We're ready Captain," Chakotay said.

"I know this was hardest on the 4 of you, but if you hadn't stopped at this planet, All the people who died here would have been forgotten and if they could, I know they'd thank you, McCall to Voyager, Stand by to initiate power transfer, Energize," I said as we beamed up.

Then once the power transfer was completed we resume a course for home.

That's all for this chapter.

More to follow.

Stay tuned and safe.

Love Y'all

PEACE!