Star Trek Voyager characters are the property of Paramount Pictures.

Switched

Chapter 35

As soon as Kathryn woke up after almost nine solid hours of sleep, the Doctor presented her with a tray of food. Upon it was a bowl of chicken soup, a warm bread roll, a plate of vegetables with slices of roast ham, a bowl of fruit topped with ice-cream, a slice of chocolate cake, and a glass of water. Kathryn groaned at the sight of it.

"I can't possibly eat that much, Doctor," she said.

"It isn't all for you," he replied. "Some of it is for Junior. Even if you're not hungry, I can assure you Minessa is." He picked up a spoon and held it out to her. "Eat up."

Seeing that she had no choice, Kathryn took the spoon.

"Any news on Cayla?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered. "Your twin has regained consciousness and I've had the...I can't quite call it pleasure...of meeting her. If I've called you a difficult patient in the past, Captain, I owe you an apology. Next to your twin you're a saint. I almost had to tie her to the bed to keep her here. And talk of paranoid! She thought I was working for Taron. Me! I've been accused of many things in my short...though it sometimes seems eternal...existence, but never a hitman. It was only by convincing her that she's safer from Taron here than anywhere that I was able to persuade her to stay."

The Doctor would have ranted on but his commbadge bleeped and flashed.

"I'm in demand," he said. "I'll leave you to your meal."

He left Kathryn alone and she tucked into the soup. It was hot and tasty and she found herself enjoying it more that she'd anticipated. In fact, she found that her appetite was greater than she'd estimated and it wasn't until she started to tackle the bowl of fruit that she began to feel full. By the time she got to the chocolate cake, she could only manage a couple of mouthfuls before feeling like she'd burst if she ate anymore.

Suddenly, the door chime sounded.

"Come in!" Kathryn cried.

The doors lid open and Admiral Dawson came in. "I hope I'm not disturbing you," he said, seeing the tray of food before her.

"Not at all," Kathryn replied. "I've just finished." She pushed the table to the foot of the bed and then lay back against her pillows. "How did the meeting go with Chakotay?"

"It didn't," Dawson said.

"How do you mean?"

"He didn't show up. That's why I'm here. I was hoping he would be."

"He isn't," Kathryn replied. "I haven't seen him since this morning. In fact, I'm waiting for him to arrive."

"Then he's on his way?"

"Not exactly. I just assumed he'd come eventually. Why didn't he show up? Is he ok?"

"I don't know. I've tried to get in touch with him all day but with no success."

"He might have been shut out of the controls on Cayla's shuttle," Kathryn surmised, "and is struck in orbit. I'll call him." Her commbadge was lying on a silver bedside cabinet next to her and she picked it up. "Kathryn to Chakotay."

Silence.

"Kathryn to Chakotay. Please respond."

Nothing.

"The shuttle's defenses must be blocking communication," Kathryn concluded. "Cayla will have to shut down the defenses and unlock the system."

"I'll go and ask her," Dawson said. "She's right next door."

Kathryn drew back the covers and got to her feet. "I'll come with you."

"You need to rest."

"I've been sleeping for nine hours," Kathryn said, putting on her nightrobe. "How much rest do I need?"

The Admiral smiled and then held out his arm to her. "Then at least let me escort you."

Kathryn tied up her belt and then took his arm. "If you must."

"My shuttle isn't in orbit," Cayla told Kathryn and the Admiral after she'd analyzed data on her comm-device. "It's parked outside and is both undefended and unmanned."

"Outside?" Kathryn asked in surprise. "You mean here? Outside Rylan Dock?"

"Yes. In the shuttle-park."

"And you're sure it's empty? That no one's inside?"

"That's what I'm reading."

"Give me the shuttle's co-odinates and an access code and I'll go and see for myself. This facility's security shield might be interfering with your device's sensors."

Dawson spoke now. "You'll do no such thing. Ms Brenton, give me the co-ordinates and code and I'll go."

He held out his padd to Cayla and she downloaded the necessary information.

"Thank you," Kathryn said.

"No trouble. I'll be as quick as I can. Transporters are in this wing. I'll get a site to site transport."

Cayla returned the padd to him and he put it in his pocket.

"I don't want my shuttle left naked," she said. "Cloak it."

"It's quite safe here," Dawson assured her.

"I don't care," Cayla answered. "I want it cloaked."

"Very well," he replied. "I'll cloak it."

Dawson then left and Kathryn turned to Cayla. "How are you feeling?"

"This is no time to worry about my feelings," Cayla replied. "Taron's men might have Chakotay."

"How could they possibly have him?"

"Because Taron has ways and means of finding anyone, anywhere. My cloak failed when I was in the Urpin Sector and one of his scouts followed me. I managed to escape, and get the cloak back online, but because of that brief exposure Taron has my shuttle's signature. Normally I'd have replaced my shuttle as soon as I could but because I was so set on changing history I didn't bother. I just kept my shuttle cloaked. But as soon as Chakotay deactivated the cloak, he would have shown up on Taron's sensors. Either they've taken him thinking he was me or to find out from him where I am."

"I'm not willing to jump to that conclusion," Kathryn said, sitting on a silver sofa. "If Chakotay has been abducted, then yes, I agree Taron is the most likely culprit, but there are all kinds of other reasons why he didn't make the meeting with Admiral Dawson. Let's just wait for the Admiral to return. Most likely Chakotay's stuck in your shuttle."

"And if he isn't?"

"I'll call around, see if anyone's seen him or heard from him. If not, and only then, will I entertain the possibility that Taron's got him."

To Kathryn's left was a window that happened to overlook the shuttle-park and she saw Admiral Dawson enter a long silver shuttle. It was evidently Cayla's. As she watched him disappear inside, Cayla watched her. For a long while Cayla studied her twin, profound sorrow in her eyes, and then she spoke.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Kathryn turned away from the window. "What for?"

"For everything. I've brought nothing but grief into your life. And now Taron might have Chakotay. I never wanted this. I never wanted any of it." A tear ran down her cheek. "I'm not a bad person, Kathryn, and I'm not a hard one. What I said to you...about not caring about anyone...it isn't true. I love Lacey, dearly, and I love her children. I haven't had much to do with them, nothing in the past few years, but they're her children and I love them. I only said those things because I didn't want you to like me. I had to keep a distance between us because of Taron."

"I see," Kathryn replied. "And what you said about your...our...parents...was that true?"

"Mostly true. I'm sorry. I suppose you thought they'd be great people. And I suppose they were...just not great parents." She paused. "Everything that I've done...abducting you, stealing the time-ship, I did it because I thought it was the only way of putting things right. I didn't want you and all the people I love to suffer for my mistakes." She paused. "It hurt so much when I heard you'd got attacked. And then when I heard you might have lost the baby the guilt was overwhelming. I had to do something. I had to do something to protect you all."

"I understand that," Kathryn said kindly "But changing the past, it wasn't the answer. The police are close to catching Taron. It's only a matter of time now before they do. Then this nightmare will be over, I'm sure of it."

"No. It will never be over. The police won't catch him. They were never able to get into his head, not the way I could. He'll outsmart them. He always does. I was the only one who could catch him and for that I've paid a terrible price. But the debt was paid. Getting me chucked out of the force and thrown into prison paid the debt. Taron would never have bothered me again if I hadn't bothered him. But after I lost my kids I was so depressed and suicidal that getting even with Taron was the only thing that kept me going. I knew he'd go back to his old ways as soon as he was released and that was the time for me to get even. It never crossed my mind for a second that you, and not Lacey, was my real twin. I was sure, absolutely sure, that Taron would never make the connection between me and Vonra. And the chances are he wouldn't have, except you got home and the rest, as they say, is history."

"Which raises the question of who has caused who the most grief," Kathryn said.

"Me you, definitely. And I'm sorry. You haven't deserved any of this."

"Neither have you."

"I've brought it on myself. I played with fire and I got burned...literally." She paused. "Admiral Dawson says you saved my life. That you dragged me out of the ship when it went up in flames."

"Yes," Kathryn replied. Cayla knew nothing about the temporal loop. Admiral Dawson felt it was better that she didn't know. All she had been told was that the ship had gone on fire while trying to make a temporal transport.

"Why? After everything I've put you through, why did you?"

"Because you needed me. I'd have done the same for anyone."

"But you didn't do it for anyone, you did it for me. Even though I've caused you all this suffering, you saved my life. And you shouldn't have. You shouldn't have risked yours for me. You should have left me there, it would have been better for everyone. But thank you."

Kathryn got up and went to sit on the chair beside her twin's bed. "I'd like us to be friends," she said. "I'd like that very much."

"So would I," Cayla answered. "But it's too late, Kathryn."

"It isn't. We've got the rest of our lives to get to know each other."

"We don't. There's only one way of ending this. I have to give myself up to Taron. Only then will you, Lacey, and my kids be safe."

"No way. I won't let you do that."

"And I won't let you stop me."

The doors suddenly slid open and Admiral Dawson came in. At the sight of him, Kathryn got to her feet. "Well?"

"No sign of Chakotay," he said. "Your readings were correct, Ms Brenton. The shuttle is empty and defenses are offline. Chakotay clearly had no trouble landing the craft or exiting it."

"Then where the hell is he?" Kathryn asked.

"I told you," Cayla said. "Taron's got him."

Kathryn turned to her twin."Not everything that happens revolves around Taron," she said, her concern for Chakotay making her reply sharper than she intended. "And I'm not heading down that road until I'll searched every path."

"Who's Taron?" Dawson asked.

"Someone you don't ever want to meet," Kathryn replied. "I'll start calling around. Maybe Chakotay got called away. He has family in Mexico and a sister on Trebus. Anything could have happened."

"It's Taron," Cayla insisted. "And there's only one way to get Chakotay back. Only one way to end this."

"That's what you said about changing history," Kathryn said. "There's always another way, Cayla. Always."

With that Kathryn left the room and Admiral Dawson followed.

"Would you like me to call the police?" he asked.

"No... Yes. Ask for Detective Vic Elliot. And tighten security around my sister. I can't trust her with her own safety."

"Right away," the Admiral replied.

Kathryn then returned to her room and the doors shut behind her.

END OF CHAPTER 35