Star Trek Voyager characters are the property of Paramount Pictures.

Way The Wind Blows

Chapter Thirty Three

Held firmly in Polark's strong and hostile arms, Kathryn helplessly tried to convince the angry Cardassian of her innocence.

"I didn't kill Seska," she cried. "She died as a result of her own actions."

The man tightened his grip on her, the pressure suffocating. "Don't give me that. I know you're to blame for her death. You and that vile Maquis husband of yours. You and he made her life hell on Voyager, and then you gave her up to that savage species who were no kinder to her than you."

"I don't know who told you all that, but it isn't true. Seska left of her own free will."

"No, she didn't! My sister would never have gone to live with the Kazon! You gave her to them so they would leave Voyager alone. I know all about how you treated her, know all about the blackmail and the abuse. No doubt when..."

He stopped speaking suddenly and the next thing Kathryn knew she was falling to the floor, locked tight in the Cardassian's arms. She landed on her side with a thud, but the large man's body against hers protected her from the full force of the fall.

Then footsteps hurried towards her and someone knelt beside her.

"Kathryn...Are you hurt?"

The voice was familiar. Oh, so dearly familiar. It was Chakotay's.

"I don't think so," she replied, not aware of any pain.

Chakotay's strong hands freed her from the grasp of the Cardassian, and then pulled her to her feet.

"That's what I call good timing," Kathryn said, standing up. "Another minute and..." She gasped in astonishment when she looked up and saw an older Chakotay standing before her. His hair was silver, his face aged, and he was wearing a mock black leather jacket over black pants.

"It's alright," he said kindly. "Don't be afraid. I'm from the future. I'm here to help you."

Kathryn made no reply, just stared at him

Chakotay looked over her shoulder and then back at her. "We have to get out of here. The house is on fire. "

Kathryn turned around and inhaled sharply when she saw ferocious flames dance with smoke behind the solid glass doors of the living room.

"Go into the garden," Chakotay urged. "I'll get Topsy."

As quickly as she could, Kathryn left the conservatory. Chakotay went over to Topsy, who was still lying in a collapsed heap at the foot of the table, and gently picked her up. Then he hurried into the garden.

When Kathryn saw him emerge from the conservatory, she approached him, her eyes on her beloved pet. "How is she? Is she...?"

"She's still alive," Chakotay answered. He then looked around. "We're going to have to get out of here. It's not safe. Any minute now there will be an explosion. I only narrowly survived it before."

"Before?"

"This isn't my first visit...long story." He saw the tail of Kathryn's shuttle at the side of the house and turned towards it. "Your shuttle. Let's go there."

He began to walk in the direction of the shuttle, and Kathryn followed. When he reached the vessel, he keyed in the access code and the door slid open.

"I guess you're thinking that for a rescue mission this is really poorly planned," Chakotay said, extending his hand to help Kathryn climb into the shuttle, "but I wasn't expecting the fire. I thought he'd set the place alight after he'd..." He stopped, bit his lip. "I just wasn't expecting the fire."

Once Kathryn was safely inside the shuttle, he climbed in himself, closed the door, and put Topsy onto the floor.

"Computer, bring shields online and maximize."

"Shields online. Shields maximized."

Chakotay then took off his jacket, revealing a black shirt underneath, and gently put it over Topsy. He then took out his tricorder and turned to Kathryn.

"Are you sure you're not hurt? That was quite a fall."

"I'm fine," Kathryn replied.

Chakotay looked up at her and a twinkle filled his dark, sad, eyes. "That's no reassurance," he teased. "We both know you'd say you were fine if you had your legs torn off by a trachon beast."

Kathryn laughed softly and for a moment all Chakotay could do was gaze at her. He had done it. After so many years, so many obstacles, he had finally done it. He had saved his Kathryn.

Kathryn's smile faded as she looked into his eyes. There was so much sadness there, so much pain and longing.

"He killed me, didn't he?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Tears filled Chakotay's eyes and he lowered them. "Yes," he said quietly. He fiddled with his tricorder and then held it up. "But that all belongs to a future that will never happen now."

"How did you get here?"

"Take one guess."

"The temporal transporter?"

He nodded. "It's taken years, but finally a serum has been produced that will protect humans from Post Transportation Trauma when they are transported through time and space. Needless to say, both the serum and the transporter have been guarded with the utmost security. They're hoping to develop similar transporters without the temporal capacity, but they're still a long way from achieving that."

"How did you gain access to them?"

"I stole them," he answered plainly. He then scanned Kathryn and smiled. "You're okay. A few bruises, but you're okay. So is the baby."

Kathryn looked down at her dog. "What about Topsy?"

Chakotay knelt beside the animal and scanned her.

"Some bruising and a nasty bump on the head, but she'll be ok too."

Relief consumed Kathryn at that.

Chakotay got to his feet and made his way to the helm. "I'll take you to our cabin in Canada. You'll be safe there."

As he sat down and powered up engines, Kathryn went over to him.

"We can't leave Seska's brother in the house."

"It's the best place for him," Chakotay said, bitterness in his voice. "The fire will finish what I couldn't."

"How do you mean?"

"My plan was to kill him before he...But I was afraid that if he moved suddenly, I'd have hit you instead."

Kathryn looked at him sadly. Chakotay was the gentlest man she knew. To bear so much loathing towards this man that it was stronger even than his humanity, he must have suffered tremendous heartache. "Computer," she said, sitting in a vacant black chair beside him. "Power down engines and deny Chakotay access to all systems."

"Request in process. Request complete."

Chakotay turned to her sharply. "What are you doing?"

"Getting Seska's brother out of there."

"No, Kathryn," Chakotay cried. "He's intent on killing you and won't stop until..."

Kathryn interrupted him. "This is not up for negotiation, Chakotay. We're getting him out of there." She began to operate a console. "He only wants revenge because he thinks we mistreated his sister and handed her over to the Kazon to save ourselves. Who told him that, I don't know. Someone who got the wrong end of the stick, maybe, or someone with a grudge against you but too cowardly to act themselves. When he knows the truth, perhaps he'll have a change of..." She was going to say 'heart', but she didn't think Cardassians had one. "Opinion. And even if he doesn't, I can't stand by and let him die." She addressed the computer again. "Computer, lower shields and initiate transport. When male Cardassian materializes, raise shields, identify him as an intruder and contain him within a forcefield."

"Request in process."

"You can't let him get away with this," Chakotay argued.

"He'll be taken into custody, Chakotay, and he'll be charged with attempted murder, assaulting an animal, aswell as putting our house on fire. He'll be going to prison for a very long time."

A blue transporter beam glowed behind them and an unconscious Polark materialized in the rear of the shuttle.

"Request complete."

"Scan intruder to determine if in need of medical assistance."

A red beam quickly scanned Polark's body.

"Intruder in need of minor medical assistance."

"Elaborate."

"Intruder has mild asphyxiation."

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion outside and the shuttle shook as debris fell on it.

"We haven't got time to waste on him," Chakotay cried. "We've got to get out of here."

"Agreed," Kathryn replied. "Computer, restore Chakotay's access to all systems."

"Access restored."

Chakotay powered up engines again and in seconds they were soaring through the sky at terrific speed.

"Monitor condition of intruder," Kathryn continued. "Raise alarm if urgent medical assistance is needed."

"Intruder monitored."

As Chakotay piloted the vessel, Kathryn sat back in the chair and watched him. There was pain etched in every line of his face, just like there had been in Admiral Janeway's. A cold shiver ran through her body. This was the third time in three years that a ghostly figure from the future had appeared in some form to prevent a disaster. First there was Harry, then herself, and now Chakotay. She could only hope this was the last time.

"We're there," Chakotay said. "Preparing for landing."

He brought the viewscreen online, and Kathryn watched as they descended through a wet gray sky onto welcoming Canadian soil.

As soon as the shuttle landed, Chakotay powered down engines and got to his feet.

"I don't know how much longer I'll be here," he said, pulling out his phaser. "I might be stuck in this time-frame, but on the other hand I might disappear any moment. I'd better give you this."

He held out the phaser to her.

"It's a classic phaser. 2378. I replicated it especially. You can say you fired at Polark in self-defense."

Kathryn took the phaser gratefully. "Good thinking. The last thing I want to do is have to explain yet another temporal infraction." She paused. "I guess I can say I grabbed the phaser from the table when Topsy distracted him and then shot him in the side. He won't know any different because one moment he was holding me and the next he was on the floor."

Chakotay reached into a pocket in his shirt and pulled out a small, round, flat silver container. "I also want to give you this."

Kathryn put the phaser down on the console behind her and took the object. "What is it?"

"The ovum you had stored when we were in the Delta Quadrant."

Kathryn looked up at him. "But... how?" The ovum had been destroyed during a skirmish with the Hirogen when they had invaded Voyager. She had not preserved any more incase Voyager was boarded again and they fell into the wrong hands.

"The temporal transporter. I used it to send myself back to Voyager the night before the Hirogen invaded. It wasn't an easy task as I had to make sure I'd got the time, date, and location absolutely right, otherwise I'd find myself a floating corpse in open space." He paused. "The first time I tried to save you, I arrived too late. The second time, I arrived thirty years too early and was stuck in 2349 for almost two days. Not knowing what else to do, I booked myself into a hotel. While I was staying there, I saw a news feature on FNBC about an infertile woman having a baby after using ovum she'd stored before a disease left her barren. This reminded me of the ovum you had asked the Doctor to store after Q's visit, and I guess one thought led to another. I figured that if I could only find a way of determining the correct codes without transporting myself, I could send myself back to Voyager and get your ovum. I knew Voyager's sensors wouldn't detect me as an intruder because they would recognize me only as Chakotay, First Officer. In the end I came up with the idea of transporting a tricorder to my desired location and setting it up to read the time, date, and place it was transported too and from. This helped immensely. It took about a dozen attempts, but eventually I got it right. I transported myself to sickbay, knowing the Doctor would be in the Mess Hall attending one of Harry's concerts, and found the container in which your ovum were preserved. I put an empty one it's place, and opened the container to inject the solution inside with some serum to protect the eggs from damage during transport. When I got back to my shuttle, I scanned the ovum to see if there was any damage, but the serum had done the trick. All four were in perfect condition."

Tears welled in Kathryn's eyes. "I don't know what to say. This means..." A tear ran down her cheek. "Thank you."

Chakotay smiled warmly and put his hand on her shoulder. "Let's get you into the cabin. You've had a shock and need to rest in warmth and comfort."

He made to move, but Kathryn stopped him. She then got to her feet, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hugged him. Chakotay tentatively responded, and then tearfully buried his head in the crook of her neck.

"Oh Kathryn," he whispered. "I've missed you so much. All these years..."

"I know," Kathryn replied. "I missed you too... all those years after you'd gone."

Chakotay kissed her soft hair and cherished the feel of the woman he had loved, and missed for so long, in his arms.

A little moan filled the air, and Kathryn broke away from Chakotay. Topsy had regained consciousness and was moving beneath Chakotay's jacket. The animal shakily got to her feet and whimpered as she looked around in confusion.

Chakotay went over to her and gently picked her up. Kathryn closed the gap between them and held Topsy's trembling paw in her hand.

"You're going to be just fine, honey," she said reassuringly. "You're safe now."

The dog calmed at the sound of Kathryn's relaxed voice and lay still in Chakotay's arms.

"Come on," Chakotay said kindly. "Let's go to the cabin. I'll make myself scarce and you can call emergency services."

Kathryn looked up at him. "Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know. But my mission is complete. Wherever I go, whatever becomes of me, I'll be happy."

He went over to the door, opened it, and dismounted the shuttle. It was raining outside and the grass beneath his feet was muddy.

"Be careful," he said, offering Kathryn his hand. "It's slippery."

Kathryn carefully stepped out of the shuttle, and then accompanied Chakotay to the cabin's front door. She quickly keyed in the access code and the door opened.

"You first," Chakotay gestured.

Kathryn stepped inside and smiled to see a roaring fire greet her in the hearth.

Chakotay followed her inside, and for a moment stood in the doorway and looked around the room. Everything looked so new, so bright and vibrant. It was very different to the sad and shabby cabin he had left behind.

Kathryn put the silver container in her hand down on a table and then turned to Chakotay.

"Put Topsy on the couch. She'll be more comfortable there."

Chakotay did as she said and Kathryn went to sit beside the trembling creature.

"I'll replicate her a blanket," Chakotay said. "It will be lighter and softer for her than my jacket."

He went into the kitchenette, and Kathryn carefully removed Chakotay's jacket from around her dog.

In no time at all, Chakotay returned with two white fleece blankets.

"I replicated one for you aswell," he said. "You need to keep warm."

He handed Kathryn a blanket for Topsy, and watched as she put it over the dog and tucked it around her. When she was finished, he gently placed the blanket in his hands over her shoulders.

"Thank you," Kathryn said, looking up at him.

Chakotay smiled warmly, and then took his jacket from the couch. "I think I'll be needing this."

Kathryn looked at him in concern. "You have nowhere to go, Chakotay. You don't even have a shuttle. You can't wander around this mountain just hoping you'll get to wherever you want to go. Remember what happened last time you tried that."

"It was a totally different situation," he reasoned. "I have to leave, Kathryn. I don't belong here. You know that as much as I do."

"Then at least accept some help. As long as you make yourself scarce for a few hours, you can stay here with us tonight. Tomorrow we'll get you a shuttle and you can head anywhere you want."

Chakotay smiled gratefully. "Thank you. That would be wonderful."

"Don't thank me," Kathryn answered. "It's me who should be thanking you." Tears welled in her eyes. "And I do, Chakotay. For everything."

Chakotay reached out and brushed her pale cheek with the back of his fingers. "I would do anything for you, Kathryn."

They looked into each other's eyes until Chakotay broke their gaze and put on his jacket.

"I think I'll go down to the castle for a while. Hopefully, this time, I won't get lost in a fog."

It was wet and miserable outside and Kathryn didn't like the thought of Chakotay going to the castle in such weather. "I don't think that's a good idea. How about I transport you somewhere? Mexico City? Then I'll transport you back tonight when it's safe."

"You need to call emergency services and get yourself and Topsy seen too."

"It won't take two minutes to transport you. It would make me happier."

"Okay," Chakotay replied, relenting at that. "If it would make you happy."

"It would." She got to her feet. "Move Topsy onto the rug before the fire. If we leave her on the couch, she might wriggle and fall off. I'll make my way back to the shuttle."

With that, she walked away from him and made her way to the door. Just as she reached it, she stopped and turned around, talking as she did so. "On second thoughts, they might want to the check the shuttle's transportation history. I think it would be better to..."

She stopped talking when she saw that, except for a little white dog lying on the couch covered in a fleece blanket, the room behind her was empty. Old Chakotay was gone.

END OF CHAPTER THIRTY THREE