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CHRISTMAS ANGEL
CHAPTER 4
CHRISTMAS EVE, 2379
Cold, despite the layers of clothes she was wearing, Kathryn opened the door to her tenth-floor apartment in Bloomington, Indiana, and tried not to drop the pile of Christmas cards she was carrying. They had arrived at reception that afternoon and had to be at least a hundred in number. Warm air greeted her as soon as she stepped into her lounge, and a fluffy white cat came to meet her with a meow. Kathryn put the cards down on a table, petted the cat, and then took off her coat. Then she fed the hungry animal, replicated herself a coffee, and sat before a simulated fire to look through her pile of cards. Directly opposite her, next to the lounge's only window, was a Christmas tree. It was adorned with decorations, and amongst the tinsel and beads, were two special baubles. One was green and the other was blue.
Kathryn looked through her pile of cards quickly, as she hoped to find one from a certain person, but while there were cards from all over the Federation, there wasn't a single one from Herintan. This was the planet where Chakotay was stationed. He had left Earth eleven months ago, with a team of stellar archaeologists, to excavate an ancient site on the surface. The project had initially meant to last only eight months, but as their work could not be completed in that time, it had been extended to a year. That year would soon be up and then he would be back. At least, she hoped so. Just as her older-self had predicted, he and Seven had gone their separate ways after getting home, but their parting of ways had not led to the happy ending that Kathryn had hoped for. Quite the contrary, she had Chakotay were more distant now than ever. They had only exchanged a few letters over the past year, most of them hers, and her last communication from him was three months ago. Even though Chakotay's people didn't celebrate Christmas, he had always given her a Christmas card, every year without fail, and it concerned her that she hadn't received one this year. Was he ok? There was no reason for him not to be, and surely she would have heard if he wasn't, but she worried nonetheless. But Herintan was a long way away, at least a week's journey, so it was quite possible that her card had disappeared into oblivion during a postal transport relay. Message relaying was unreliable at the best of times and transport relaying was even more so. It was much better to think the card had been lost than to think he had not sent one. But she couldn't help but wonder if he simply had forgotten. He'd mentioned a Helena a few times in his letters, a woman archaeologist on the dig he'd become friends with, and maybe they'd become an item. If so, a christmas card to an old friend back on Earth would hardly weigh heavily on his mind...or on his heart.
With tears in her eyes, Kathryn looked up at the Christmas tree before her. On top of it was an angel, a small angel with golden hair and golden wings, that her father had given her as a child. As she looked it, looked at the baubles, she thought of the little girl in an angel's costume who had come to Voyager with a message of hope so many Christmases ago. That little girl would probably never exist now. Perhaps it was time to let go of the hope that she would. Perhaps it was time to let go of Chakotay.
Then, suddenly, a red light flashed before the tree and the little girl appeared. Her dark hair was loose over a shimmering white dress, just as it had been six years ago, and on her back were silver wings. The child smiled, a beautiful smile that was Chakotay's, and in her hands was a red bauble.
"Hello again, Mommy," she said.
It took Kathryn a moment to find her voice. "Hello...Angelica."
The little girl held out the bauble. "This is for you."
Kathryn took the bauble. "Thank you."
Scout, the cat, wandered over to Kathryn and studied the child curiously. When she saw him, Angelica hurried over to him and hugged him. "Oh, Scout, it's so good to see you! I've missed you!" She kissed the animal twice and then turned back to Kathryn. "I can't stay long, Mommy. Q says I have to make this quick. So, I'll give you my message. Daddy needs you. He's very sick and is dying."
Kathryn flinched. "Dying?"
"But don't worry, Mommy. He won't die, not if you go to him." The child then smiled. "Goodbye, Mommy. Goodbye, Scout."
Then, as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone.
Dazed, Kathryn looked at the bauble in her hand. It was exactly the same as the other two, identical except that it was red.
Red.
Red for danger. Chakotay's danger. He was sick, Angelica had said, dying. Those words had knifed her heart and she felt the pain still. But were they true? Was he really dying? There was only one way to find out, and that was to go to him. Resolved, she got to her feet, hung the bauble on the tree, and then started to pack.
A WEEK LATER
"I'm very sorry you were not informed of the Commander's condition, Admiral," a male human doctor apologized to Kathryn at Herintan's only hospital in its only city, "but that is not our fault. It was up to his colleagues to inform his friends on Earth. We have relayed a message to his sister, who is his only listed next of kin, and that is all we are obliged to do."
"I understand that, doctor," Kathryn answered, "but I'm damned angry that no one thought to inform me." From what she had learnt at the dig, Chakotay had been hospitalized with a deadly virus six weeks ago and had been in and out of consciousness ever since. "Chakotay is a very dear friend."
"I appreciate that, Admiral, but the fact of the matter is you are not his next of kin. You are not even a work colleague. You are just his former captain. We were not obliged to tell you."
Tears stung Kathryn's eyes. He was right. There was no affiliation between her and Chakotay any more. That had ended the day she had stopped being his captain. Now they were nothing to each other. Nothing except what their hearts made them.
"How is he?" she asked quietly.
"Not good," the man replied. "This virus, which is native and exclusive to this planet, is curable, but surviving it takes a strong constitution and a strong will to live. The Commander has a strong constitution, and we have the virus under control, but he seems to lack the will to live. And, to be frank, I'm not surprised. In the six weeks he's been here, he's hardly received a single visitor. He may feel there is nothing, or no one, to live for. But if he is to survive, he needs to start fighting."
A tear ran down Kathryn's cheek. "I'll see that he does," she said. "I promise you."
The doctor put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Would you like to see him?"
Kathryn nodded.
"Then come with me."
The doctor led her from his office into the hospital's intensive care unit. Chakotay was one of only three patients there and he was in a room on his own at the end of the corridor. It was a small room of clinical white and Chakotay was lying on a biobed in the middle of it. He was attached to several machines and was covered with a white blanket. The sight hurt Kathryn's heart and at the pain her vision blurred.
"I'll leave you alone with him," the doctor said. "We can talk some more later."
The doctor then left and Kathryn slowly made her way over to the bed. Chakotay was lying still, propped up by pillows, and his eyes were shut. Kathryn glanced at a monitor behind him, to see if he was conscious or not, and she was relieved to see that he was conscious. Quietly, she sat on a chair beside the bed and took his hand in hers.
"Hello, Chakotay. Long time no see."
At the sound of her voice, Chakotay's eyes fluttered open. "K...Kathryn...?"
"That's right," she said. "I'm here."
Chakotay's kind brown eyes looked into hers and tears filled them.
"I didn't know you were ill," Kathryn went on. "No one told me. But I'm here now and I'm going no where until you're coming with me. Understand?"
Chakotay nodded and squeezed her hand as a tear escaped his eye. Kathryn squeezed back and then raised his hand to her cheek with a kiss.
END OF CHAPTER 4