Chakotay stared at his father's face on the screen. Kolopak seemed suddenly much older than when Chakotay had last seen him on Dorvan V, the day after the talks with the Tribal Elders. The deep dimples had given way to elongated furrows.

But it was Kolopak's eyes - always his eyes - that brought home the message of his concern.

"We have already informed the Federation, Cha-ko-tay," Kolopak spoke. "They have replied, and indicated that their hands are tied."

"Who said that?"

"Admirals Hays and Nechayev. They are adamant that we should have left Dorvan V when we had the opportunity to do so. It is clear to them that they've washed their hands off us, Cha-ko-tay. They will not help."

"But you've said that there are munitions build-up in the DMZ, which is a clear violation of the Federation-Cardassian Treaty."

"That's what we've told them. Already, a neighbouring planet in our star system has been laid to waste. Cha-ko-tay, we fear we may be next. A few of our people have already left, though most remain, regardless of the infractions we know is occurring in the DMZ - "

"But surely," Chakotay cut in, "there are patrols by both Cardassian vessels and Starfleet that must ensure no military installations are built anywhere in that area of space."

"Yes, we know that and that is about all Starfleet is willing to do, Cha-ko-tay."

"In spite of the fact that they know the Treaty is being violated?"

"We believe they know about the military operations, and we feel Starfleet's presence in the zone is mere window dressing. Things are happening, Cha-ko-tay. The Cardassians are preparing for war…"

Chakotay saw his father's worry increase as he spoke. Kolopak would defend his homeworld to the last, and so would most of the tribes on Dorvan V. But with their archaic military apparel, they were no match even for two Cardassian war ships which could wipe out half a continent with one blast from their phaser banks.

"What about Mama and the children? Tomaso...Winonah?" Chakotay asked.

"They are my chief concern, Cha-ko-tay...they wish to remain," Kolopak said, a flash of anger and pride in his eyes. "Although I have suggested they leave Dorvan V. Winonah is only five, Cha-ko-tay, and I fear for her safety. I shall speak with Roshana again. Perhaps you can arrange to let

Kathryn - "

"Kathryn left me, Father. You know that."

Kolopak shook his head.

"And Kathryn is also with child…"

Chakotay wondered why he should be surprised at his father's intuition. He hadn't told Kolopak that. Kolopak frowned. "She will forgive you, Cha-ko-tay, but only when the time is right and at the right time... It will be time…"

Chakotay sighed. Why did his father have to be so prophetic when the truth was that Kathryn had already made her decision clear, helped by a vitriolic Phoebe Janeway who was ready to kill him if he so much as looked at Kathryn?

"I am asking you," Kolopak cut in, returning to his original request, "that you plead on our behalf that Starfleet send us reinforcements or assistance. We need to get our people off Dorvan V, Cha-ko-tay. You were right from the start. The Cardassians have already homed in on Dorvan as a base for a halfway station, to store vast caches of arms. We - we…" Kolopak coughed, but there was a sudden proud gleam in his eyes when he continued. "Young Tomaso has broken into some of their communications. You must inform Starfleet of this, Cha-ko-tay."

Chakotay closed his eyes. Tomaso was only fifteen, the age he was when he joined the Academy. Tomaso hacked into the Cardassian communications…The kid was already a rebel…

"We are currently in Sector 451. I will make a plea for help, Father. I hope for all our sakes that Starfleet will send assistance. But, Father, you must also remember this - "

"I know what you will say, Cha-ko-tay. We have relinquished Federation citizenship for Cardassian rule. They will tell us that that we gave up our rights with the signing of the Treaty. Do they not know that they will be treating us the same as they did our ancestors on Earth? Once we were part of Earth's soil, its blue skies and the wind and the rain."

Chakotay couldn't deny that. And, his father was right. It was a convenient loophole Starfleet would use not to get embroiled in a war with Cardassia. Despite his father's pleas on behalf of the people of Dorvan V, already the Federation has turned a cold shoulder to the plight of its former colonists. There was a deep, brewing anger in Chakotay at the dismissive manner in which the Federation was handling the very volatile situation. It couldn't care less…

"They do not care, Cha-ko-tay," his father said as if he read Chakotay's thoughts.

Chakotay gave another deep sigh. He was on duty again in an hour, but at his next off-duty, he would make contact with Starfleet and confront them - it was the only way he could describe a head to head with Nechayev - with the plight of the colonists on Dorvan V. Then he would see about what to do getting his people, especially his family, off the planet and settle them outside the DMZ, spiritual connection or not.

"I will be in touch with you, Father, as soon as I have news."

Kolopak smiled for the first time, but the smile did not reach his eyes as it always did. Still, Chakotay felt again the old thrill of being part of his family again after Kathryn had plagued him about being the least of men and going to his father on his knees. "Like the prodigal son did, Chakotay. His father forgave him and welcomed him back into his heart without condition. He didn't ask questions about why, or where his son was; he just welcomed him with open arms... Your father will too, just you see..." Kathryn's voice resonated in his heart as he heard her words of more than a year ago. Now he faced a man, his father, whom he loved; he was humbled by the fact that Kolopak had been unswervingly loyal to him, had loved him unreservedly and waived all the harsh words that had ever been spoken between them when he was a rebellious teenager and a young Academy cadet who was embarrassed by having a father who wore a strange tattoo and who shunned technology.

Yes, he loved Kolopak. Kolopak had welcomed him, his first born son, into his heart as if he had never been away for fifteen years. Chakotay touched the screen in acknowledgement of his father's incredibly generous gift. Kolopak's eyes which had been so worried earlier, shone with pride.

"Thank you, my son."

When communication closed, Chakotay still stared reflectively for a very long time at the blue Federation insignia. He touched the monitor again and traced the outline of the white laurel wreath.

Peace...

When Chakotay rose from the chair to leave for the bridge, he murmured an anguished little cry:

***

"She is in good health, Chakotay," Sergei told his friend later that evening as they made their way to the observation lounge on the Ormskirk.

"There is something you're not telling me?" Chakotay asked, pausing in his tracks and forcing Sergei to stop too.

"She has been depressed, according to Doctor Paris, but now seems to have rallied a little." Sergei stood hands behind his back.

"She did?"

"Especially after - " Chakotay saw how Sergei's face became flushed. The doctor was hiding something, but not for long.

"After..." Chakotay coaxed.

"You invited her to move back into your home."

"I did?" Chakotay's face broke into a reluctant grin. He hadn't been feeling too good about his father's last communication, and Phoebe's outburst still rang in his ears. The nursery they had prepared for the baby had filled him with renewed hope.

"I...er...went to Indiana, to see Kathryn."

"Sergei!"

"Look, Chak, I know I promised not to tell Kathryn about Sedeka and the truth about what happened. I didn't, you know. But, comrade, she looked real glad to see me, as if she knew I'd be bringing news of you..."

"You gonna stand there and gloat till I punch you, friend?"

"So I gave her your message...er...the one you were always intending to give: Kathryn is welcome to return to your home. You know that she might need to be in her own place with the baby, and that no matter what happened between you, you still care very deeply about her and will always think about her and Hannah..."

"I could have said that myself - " Chakotay started, then clamped his mouth shut. When did he have any opportunity to do that? When he tried, Phoebe was ready to phaser a hole through him. He missed Kathryn; his heart burned like hellfire every time he pictured her, swollen with child. Sergei's eyes softened.

"I know you could have, Chakotay. Kathryn, though, looked pleased. I could see some of the dark clouds moving away. She - "

"She what, Sergei?"

"She touched her belly, very protectively, and murmured the baby's name. Hannah..."

Chakotay nodded, the news about Kathryn and Hannah lifting some of the deep gloom that settled in him since his communication with Earth and his father. He had asked Sergei to keep him updated on Kathryn's progress. He felt embarrassed that he had to ask his friend to keep an eye on Kathryn. When he had seen Kathryn from the distance he had been watching, even then he could see how detached Kathryn had been.

"Then I'm glad. When she - she had the first miscarriage, it was very difficult for her, you understand? I'd not like anything to happen now. And you say she's still taking classes at the Academy?"

Sergei stopped in his tracks again. His hair looked like he had been standing in the wind for hours. His eyes twinkled.

"Didn't I tell you that she had been forced to stop at seven months? Apparently Dr Paris recommended she do so."

"And Kathryn went out fighting that decision tooth and nail..." Chakotay said reflectively, knowing how Kathryn would be headstrong and not do what the doctor said just because the doctor said it.

"Actually... Kathryn welcomed it," Sergei replied as they entered the lounge and walked over to the bar counter where Lieutenant Tongwat asked: "And what can I concoct for you today, gentlemen?"

"That's a first," Chakotay responded to Sergei's statement, looking surprised.

"What is?" the barman asked. It was Tongwat, who was an engineer, doubled up as medical officer and sometimes barman and saver of lives.

"Nothing that you should know, Tongwat," Sergei replied. "Raktajino for me. Commander Chakotay will have..." Sergei looked at Chakotay who paled slightly when Tongwat used the word 'concocted'. It reminded him of Sedeka.

"I'll have a celery drink."

"Coming up! Gentlemen, please seat yourself. I'll bring your drinks to you." Tongwat's blue face creased into smiles.

"Thank you," both men responded before they walked over to a far corner where they seated themselves at a table they always used.

"Beats sitting in my quarters. I need that drink," Chakotay said as he looked at Sergei.

"And I need my wife," Sergei sighed. "I want to get home, comrade. Don't you?"

Chakotay sensed the yearning in Sergei's words.

"Of course I need Kathryn." he added and Sergei gave a sympathetic click.

Chakotay sank into his own thoughts again. He missed Kathryn... Kathryn was going to give birth next month. He won't be there. He won't see his baby. He won't know what Hannah will look like just seconds after being born, or hours after being cleaned up and lying snugly in her mother's arms. He'll not see Hannah's mouth locking greedily on a nipple. He'll not see his daughter grow up, take her first steps, or give her first smile...

He wondered what Kathryn was doing right now. He had been disturbed at what Phoebe pointed out to him, for he had seen it himself. Kathryn was not connecting to their baby. It was so unlike her, so totally uncharacteristic. Sergei seemed to think she was improving. Perhaps it was because Kathryn saw the nursery...Then she would also have read his letter. It had taken him several tries and swiping some of Kathryn's credits to replicate four more sheets of rice paper before he could finally relax and find the right words. Yeah, he missed her. But there were other, perhaps more pressing problems he had to contend with and he gave a scowl as he thought of Hays' face when he had looked at the Admiral and tried to plead the case of the colonists.

"Hey..." Sergei's voice broke into his meandering.

"Sorry."

"So, you're going to tell me what Starfleet said? Anything that is different from what they told your father?"

He had not minded telling Sergei. After all, the Ormskirk also had to do duty patrol along the Demilitarised Zone, and everyone on board knew that the Cardassians were not playing games on unprotected homeworlds where they forcibly subjugated the inhabitants.

"We're banging our heads against a wall, Sergei," Chakotay told his friend. They paused their conversation when their drinks arrived and Tongwat, who once saved Chakotay's life as he swore the Commander himself said, left without saying another word. Chakotay shrugged. He'd make it up sometime when he was in a better frame of mind.

"You're preoccupied, Chak. What did they say?"

"Why didn't I remain on Dorvan V and ensured that my people got off the planet."

Sergei paled at Chakotay's words. The inference of Starfleet cut sharply.

"I'm sorry, my brother. You couldn't tell them the truth..."

"Nechayev and that consort Hays were not very complimentary. We gave up our citizenship; we relinquished our rights for protection; we should have left when the time was right, and they have their hands full protecting those colonists of other homeworlds who left for other safe havens. We made our bed. Ours is not the first complaint to Starfleet, by the way..."

"Chakotay, I'm certain the Federation is not that insensitive to your plight?"

"Perhaps not. Who the hell knows? Operations at Headquarters appear to be controlled by Nechayev and Hays. I haven't been on my best behaviour when they reiterated the Federation's policy regarding the Treaty."

"There's going to be war."

"I know. Told them that too. I was told I must see what I can do myself. They're not sending assistance, since the Federation would be violating the terms of the Treaty."

"Jeez, Chakotay."

"Aye, Doctor," Chakotay said morosely as he sipped his celery juice. He grimaced. Kathryn hated it. Kathryn... He wondered if she still drank -

"And Dalene has said that Kathryn's been warned off coffee."

"Are you a prophet?"

When Sergei didn't reply, Chakotay thought about his request to Starfleet Command. Hardly had he come off duty after conversing with his father, when he hurried to his office to place a subspace message to Admiral Hays. The man had looked stern, uncompromising as he addressed Chakotay. No, they couldn't accede to such a request as the colonists on Dorvan V had refused to leave, and gave up their citizenship. Chakotay could see from the Admiral's expression that Hays had not been too happy that a simple order given to Jean-Luc Picard to get the people off the planet had not been followed, something Chakotay could clearly see from the Admiral's expression was an outrage. Instead, Picard had bargained along diplomatic lines, and accepted the best arrangement, even if he didn't like the fact that the colonists would potentially lose all rights to be protected.

What was Hays thinking? That the people on Dorvan V would leave at the drop of a hat, even if that hat sat on the head of the Captain of the Enterprise? Picard had done his best, but he wasn't going to injure a single colonist just to follow such a machiavellian order given by a man who himself thought that he was the sole representative of the Federation. It was a question of pride, Chakotay thought; a political game in which admirals jockeyed for positions higher up - whatever the hell that meant in Starfleet Command - regardless of those who lay in the wake of their journey up.

It was, Chakotay decided, all about power.

It bode ill for his people. The Admiral's voice rang in his ears: "Your people lost the right to that protection."

Now, he worried. His father was not getting younger. Since the talks in May, he had become older, his face more gaunt with a perpetual frown. Chakotay pictured his quiet mother who had so much inherent grace, something his sister inherited. They were at risk. Everyone on Dorvan V was at risk.

He didn't want to pursue any thought of Sedeka and what she had done to him. He had been a fool to be taken in by her. Still, he had given the whole incident considerable thought and wondered whether he could have avoided what subsequently happened. His fortunes after that day had spiralled downwards and they were still going down. He had cheated on his wife, his wife was pregnant, and she didn't want to see him again. It left him with half a life.

Half a life.

He felt how his insides boiled. He was angry. Angry that Kathryn was no longer part of his life, angry that he was never going to see his little girl, and angry that Starfleet had taken such an uncompromising stance against the colonists.

He didn't realise just how hard he gripped the stem of his glance until the green liquid spilled over his hand and shards of the glass scattered on the table.

"That's one angry warrior..." said Sergei as they watched Tongwat rush to their table to clean up the mess.

"My apology," Chakotay muttered as he rose from his chair.

"Chakotay..." Sergei's voice was strong and insistent.

"Yeah?"

"No matter what happens, I'll do everything I can to help..."

Chakotay looked at his friend, then nodded. He flexed his fingers and smiling grimly, said: "Nothing that the nurse in sick bay can't fix. You stay here, Sergei. Enjoy the rest of the evening."

Then Chakotay walked quickly out of the observation lounge, heading for his quarters on deck four. He had to get away. Where? He felt the air squeeze out of his lungs and at the entrance to his quarters, he gripped at his chest as he murmured Kathryn's name.

The feeling of pending doom persisted, and none of the rubaiyats he read could sink in. They lost meaning, the words became twisted metal and debris and broken bodies. If he pulled his eyes away from the words, then he could hear cries - the children's cries rising above those of their elders.

Still, when he could fix on one rubaiyat, Chakotay felt his heart turn cold.

***

Sergei Karkoff watched as Chakotay strode out of the observation lounge and he shook his head. Kathryn had been surprised when he and Svetlana visited Indiana immediately after leaving Chakotay in San Francisco.

Her eyes had a tired look about them, and he knew it had nothing to do with her pregnancy. He felt bound by an oath he made Chakotay and in the last number of weeks he felt guilty that it could have made a difference had he said anything about Sedeka, or shown Kathryn the proof.

Still, Kathryn had been happy to see them. He sensed Kathryn was hungry to see anyone who knew Chakotay well, as her eyes had an eager shine in them when he mentioned Chakotay's name. She tried to mask it quickly, but it was too late. She asked about Anatoly and Irina, who was her godchild, asked after their own health and well-being. There remained a question in her eyes all the time she spoke as she invited them into the lounge of the farmhouse.

"Chakotay - "

Her head swung quickly so that she could face them.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Uhm...I - we..." he couldn't quite say what Chakotay said because Chakotay didn't say anything. He was taking matters into his own hands. But during the two days he and Svetlana and Chakotay turned the room into a nursery, the desire had been there, in Chakotay's eyes. The very fact that they were furnishing a baby room was an indication of that desire. Chakotay had never said it in so many words, but it was his yearning that Kathryn stay in their home. Wherever Chakotay found himself in deep space, he would know at least that Kathryn was safe, that she used their home as her base.

So, talking it over with Svetlana who had some of Dalene Buccholtz' nosy and naughty streak, they decided to tell Kathryn it was what Chakotay asked. But he bumbled. Svetlana saved the moment.

"Kathryn, Chakotay has refurnished - with a little bit of help from his friends - the second bedroom into a nursery..." Svetlana paused, waiting for her words to sink in. Sergei felt proud of Svetlana. She was the one for all the dramatics. Reading all those holo-love stories gave her that sense of high drama. Svetlana was beaming.

"I - " Kathryn's surprise was obvious. She stared at the flames in the hearth, and a smile graced her features, softening the worried, drawn look she had. She touched Svetlana's hand as she turned to face them. "I hadn't prepared anything..." she admitted. Svetlana had shown no surprise, simply carried on as if the admission didn't shock her.

"He insisted on building the crib and rocking chair himself..."

Kathryn smiled.

"He would do that. He used to say he doesn't sculpt half as well as Grey Eagle, but he was lying..."

"Chakotay is way too modest," Svetlana replied.

Kathryn gave them a quirky smile. Svetlana rolled on beautifully.

"Anyway, there's this beautiful nursery and it be a shame not to use it - "

"I - you know Chakotay and I..." Kathryn's voice trailed away, but she didn't avert her gaze.

"It's all he asks, Kathryn, that you as least make use of his home. He - he won't bother you, if that's what you're thinking..."

But Kathryn's face lit up again and Sergei had begun to wonder about his oath in those moments. If Kathryn could live in the home she and Chakotay shared, who knows? He knew at some point he was going to tell her, but now, at this moment? Chakotay was knee-deep worrying about his parents and family on Dorvan V. He had to settle that matter first...

"I..." there was a heavy pause again before Kathryn sighed and continued. "I'd like to use it."

"Then I'm very happy. I'm sure Chakotay will be happy. He will be more than happy, Kathryn. In fact we will all be very -" He had just managed not to cry out when Svetlana kicked his shin neat and hard.

"There's everything, Kathryn. You don't need to worry at all! Sergei painted the room, and he didn't miss a spot!"

They didn't stay too long after that. It had been evening and Kathryn had finally given in to the tiredness. When they departed in their flitter, Svetlana had given him a hard hug and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

"That's for not telling."

"Telling what?"

"She'll forgive him, Sergei, and then nothing else will matter, not even the truth..."

He had shaken his head and they remained quiet, thoughtful, for the rest of their journey home.

Sergei rose from the table, realising with a pang that he didn't finish the raktajino. Chakotay had so much on his plate. So much. He worried about his friend. Something was happening on Dorvan V, and they had their hands tied. They couldn't go barging in and demand the colonists leave.

Still, it would be a useful suggestion to make to Roger Petranoff that the Ormskirk rendezvous in Sector 450, closer to the Demilitarised Zone.

Yes, that might be a very good idea...

******

The insistent beep of his commbadge woke Chakotay from a restless slumber in which he thought the beeping was part of his dream. He groaned as he took his commbadge and activated it.

"Medical Bay to Commander Chakotay."

He rose sluggishly when he heard Sergei's voice.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Doc?" Chakotay asked irritably. He had gone to sleep in the early hours of the morning and now it seemed, it was still early hours of the morning.

"0500.You are to come to sick bay, Chakotay. It is urgent."

By the time Chakotay heard Sergei's voice clearly, he was already up and in the process of dressing. He wasn't going to ask: why the sickbay when he wasn't sick?

"Five minutes, Sergei. Chakotay out."

He had given himself only time to splash his face, trim down his uniform and run his fingers through his hair before he hurried to sick bay, all alarm bells going off in his head. Something was up. Sergei wouldn't call him to sick bay for nothing. Sergei wouldn't wake him from his sleep on a whim. They did that in their Academy days. But those days were gone. The running of a starship meant instant alert and little time to fool around. Sergei's voice sounded…gruff, like he wanted to cry. Chakotay had never known Sergei to cry, yet his friend sounded like that. Perhaps something had happened to Kathryn. Kathryn! His feet carried him faster, his heart pounding at the thought that something may have happened to Kathryn.

There had been no time to ask, and asking while on his way to sick bay was not in good spirit, not while there were the odd crewmen about who stalked the corridors during gamma shift. Chakotay knew something seriously was up and Sergei's very tone suggested that he wait till he got to sick bay, which was about during the next few seconds.

The doors opened as he touched them.

"Sergei, what is it?" Chakotay asked without preamble, surprised to see Roger Petranoff there as well. Chakotay turned ice-cold seeing their sombre expressions. Roger Petranoff - more Captainly than Chakotay had ever seen him. Sergei…always ebullient, always joking - his comrade…looking like the earth had opened beneath him.

Sergei looked at Roger Petranoff.

"Captain?"

"Go ahead, Doctor."

"Will you tell me why I've been called to sick bay at this hour?" Chakotay asked, an edge to his voice. An icy hand clamped around his heart in a vice grip. Something must have happened. "Kathryn?"

Sergei expelled a deep breath. His hand touched Chakotay's arm. Chakotay stiffened.

"Come on, Sergei!"

Sergei closed his eyes and Chakotay saw the tenseness in his facial muscles, how Sergei battled to be as calm as he could. Chakotay felt a sudden pounding in his ears, and Sergei's words sounded far away, muted almost.

"There has been an attack on Dorvan V, Chakotay."

Dorvan...Dorvan V. Not Kathryn after all. Worse...

Worse. His eyes closed and he clenched his fists, the effort to speak hurting his throat. It felt his head was swelling and inside his head swirled every child, every man and woman, reaching out to him in helpless supplication as they screamed.

The voices screamed...screamed...

"Damage?" he asked. He had not been aware that his lips moved.

There was a deathly silence as Chakotay asked the question. They were quiet. Too quiet, too long. "Damage?" he repeated. Silence. Chakotay grabbed Sergei's shoulders. "Dammit, tell me!"

Roger Petranoff stepped forward. Chakotay let go of Sergei and jerked to attention.

"There are no survivors, as far as we know. The last communication to this vessel came from a young boy who said his name was Tomaso. You're his uncle…" Chakotay looked from one to the other, his eyes already wild as the reality sank in. "I believe the Ormskirk is the first Federation vessel to receive the news..." Chakotay turned to the doctor.

"S-Sergei?"

Chakotay felt the floor giving under him as his legs buckled. Still, he remained on his feet. Something was happening to him. The bulkheads of the sick bay started spinning, round and round until Sergei and Roger's faces began to merge, then split, then merge again as Chakotay tried to focus. He still managed to ask:

"My - my mother…my father?"

When the spinning continued and two heads nodded in affirmation, it felt to Chakotay as if his head were falling off his body.

Or did their heads fell of their bodies? He couldn't know. He floated off and somewhere a hand touched his neck. Chakotay rocked to attention again, tried to focus and push Sergei's hand away with frantic movements.

"No!" he screamed. "Don't touch me! Not with that thing! Leave me clear, Sergei. Leave my head! Serge - " For a few moments he fought Sergei, not wanting to be sedated. He sank down...down...

"Chakotay, listen." It was Sergei's voice. Why was Sergei's face bent over him? Was he lying on the biobed? "We're leaving for Dorvan V. We have clearance to inspect the planet and do what we can to - "

He wasn't listening to Sergei. He was lying on a biobed. He was fighting. Did they sedate him? Why? He could take it, couldn't he? He needed control, didn't he? He could take it.

He could...not stand the look in Sergei's eyes. It said 'yes' to all his questions he didn't ask.

Pity. Compassion, even...anger.

"They're gone…"

"Then we'll assess the damage," Sergei continued. "See if there aren't any surv - "

"Gone, Sergei. Those bastard Cardassians made good on their word."

"You're not rational, right now, Chakotay," Roger Petranoff said. "Lie still."

That moment Chakotay flew off the bed again and grabbed Sergei.

"They killed my people…you hear me? Killed them in cold blood…in cold blood…c-cold blood…" Chakotay's hysteria was rising. "Bastards! He saw flashes of a smiling father, a mother whose aching muscles he massaged, little Winonah smiling up at him, proud she could do the nine times table like Kathryn taught her.... Tomaso...Tomaso...Tomaso... Barely out of his teens, prospective Academy cadet.

Kolopak who said: "Welcome home, my son..."

"They killed my people...killed them...k-killed - "

Chakotay started shaking Sergei and when the Captain nodded and held Chakotay down, Sergei finally managed to jab the hypospray in Chakotay's neck.

Sergei looked at Roger Petranoff and shook his head.

"Roger, tell me of any person you know to whom in a matter of months so many things happened and he still manages to walk, keeping everything bottled, in here?" Sergei beat at his chest. "You know any man who is the unluckiest person in the universe? You know who gets picked every time when a calamity strikes? This man…" Sergei pointed clumsily at Chakotay. He took in a deep breath to calm himself. "His wife left him, you know. Next month their baby will be born and he'll not be there. You know the hungry look in a strong man's eyes when you tell him how Kathryn's pregnancy is progressing? You want to answer a thousand questions a strong man asks, that he wants to know about his wife's well-being during this time?" He looked with compassion at his friend, then looked at Roger Petranoff.

"I know what you mean, Sergei. You're wondering how much more Commander Chakotay can take, aren't you?"

When Sergei nodded, closing the dome over the distraught First Officer of the Ormskirk., Roger Petranoff spoke again.

"I fear we're going to lose him, Doctor," Roger said soberly.

When Sergei frowned, Roger spoke again.

"Commander Chakotay is to be offered a vessel - "

"He's being promoted to Captain?"

"He doesn't know yet. When we return to Earth, he'll see Admirals Paris and Ponsonby. My guess is in the circumstances, Commander Chakotay will refuse the commission."

"There's more, isn't there, Roger? It was a good call to inform him here in sick bay where we could be on hand. But when he wakes up, he'll wake up to the same reality."

Sergei was on the point of telling Roger about the rare hallucinogen a Cardassian woman used to disable Chakotay, then he held his tongue. The fewer people knew, the better. It was why Chakotay hadn't wanted to be sedated. He wanted to be alive, with his pain the reality, than imagining something that turned out to be horribly, devastatingly real. Being sedated meant he wasn't in control of his faculties. His reality when he woke up... The entire population of colonists on Dorvan V being dead. Not a member of Chakotay's family alive…

No connection. No relations.

"Yes," Roger sighed, standing with his hands on his hips. "The Federation has only given the Ormskirk clearance to assess the damage and do whatever we can to help clear up."

"It's a bit late for the little the Federation is offering, Captain. Commander Chakotay made representation a week ago, warning Starfleet Command of the pending attacks on unprotected homeworlds. They brushed him off with the old story: The people of Dorvan V gave up their right to be protected. The Federation was not going to stick its neck out, Captain. Chakotay was understandably infuriated by the stance the Federation took."

While he spoke Sergei could see the surprise on Roger's face.

"Yes, Chakotay's father, Kolopak, first requested help on behalf of the colonists, and then he asked Chakotay to plead on their behalf. Those pleas were turned down…"

Sergei allowed the words to sink in and Captain Roger Petranoff shook his head.

"Did you know this young boy who communicated with us?"

"Chakotay spoke of him often, saying the boy wanted to join the Academy. He was only fifteen, Roger. A boy."

Roger drew in his breath.

"Some of us are forced to grow up more quickly than others, Doctor."

"And some of us get to be dealt a cruel set of cards, time after time."

**

Sergei Karkoff thought that he would remember for the rest of his life the scene that met him on Dorvan V two days later. After traveling at high warp and dealing with a demented Chakotay who wanted to be transported at long range to the planet, they had finally arrived and received clearance from a Cardassian gul to enter the orbit of Dorvan V. Already, from 20 000 metres, they could see the rising smoke especially on the planet's southern continent where most of the colonists settled. Sergei had been on the bridge and kept a constant eye on Chakotay, whose expression had remained drawn and reflective in the last hours, as if he finally accepted that the carnage on his family's homeworld did take place.

He had known Chakotay for twenty years, although he was almost three years Chakotay's senior. He had been an eighteen year old first year cadet in the medical sciences while Chakotay started out as a fifteen year old prodigy in military science and strategy. Somehow, the reticent, sometimes sullen looking cadet warmed to him during one of their joint classes and from that time they had never looked back, ensuring that both always got assigned to the same vessels. Sergei gave an inward sigh. He had fallen in love with the woman Chakotay had been dating and Chakotay, bless him, had become aware and gently pushed Svetlana in his direction. From Dalene's side, she had done the same, although she had never seen Chakotay or knew much of him.

They had done so many things together, and the faith they had in one another allowed for sharing of confidences Chakotay would never share with anyone. In the last two years that changed a little as Chakotay became more and more attached to Kathryn Janeway and the old confidences they once shared, though not gone, became the gift he now gave to Kathryn Janeway. Sergei didn't mind that, since they always talked. The events of the last few months had been the most traumatic for Chakotay, and, Sergei believed, only he and Kathryn Janeway knew most of what happened, what caused the rift in what he could swear was a great love between his best friend and a Starfleet captain.

The away team comprised of Chakotay, Lieutenant Tongwat, and six members of the medical staff.

They beamed down near the shuttle launching platforms just outside the village in which Chakotay's family lived. The stench of death hung in the air, heavy, cloying. In the distance Sergei could still see the smoke, although the attacks had taken place three days ago. Chakotay walked ahead, his scientific tricorder flashing continuously as they searched for signs of life.

"The number of inhabitants total seven thousand," Sergei said to the rest of the team. Chakotay had looked up sharply, then stalked away from them

"There must be a few still alive. Our job is to find them," he said hopefully as they walked. In the distance they could see the first of the abodes of the pueblo, smoke still rising from some of them.

"Cardassian phaser banks devastated most buildings, even from outside the planet's atmosphere," Tongwat said. What kind of war is this?"

"Total war. They meant to destroy everything completely, it looks like."

"Come on!" Chakotay shouted as his face contorted with impatience and fury.

Sergei worried. They haven't found any bodies yet, and he wanted to be near Chakotay when he reached his parents' home.

"Doctor, there are prints of Cardassian war boots around here," Tongwat said to him.

"It means they - "

"Say it, Sergei," Chakotay swerved round to face them. "Come on, say it! They came to finish off what they couldn't from space..."

A few Cardassian soldiers could be seen patrolling, but the away mission was left alone. The team carried medical bags, and Sergei knew that at least from a medical emergency perspective, they would be left alone. The Cardassians were morose, lounging rather than looking upright and ready for arms. Sergei shrugged. What arms? They already destroyed this world. Around them there were fires, debris, and the first human body.

Tongwat rushed forward.

"Commander!"

Chakotay rushed to Tongwat as he approached what had been the doorway and front of the abode. Chakotay turned the body over, a stiff legacy of his death three days ago.

"I know him," said Chakotay heavily. "His name was Almana, a father of five young boys... Check under the rubble."

While Tongwat and the others searched, Chakotay moved towards where he knew his parents' home had to be. Sergei kept on his heels, not letting Chakotay out of his sight. Chakotay's jaw already twitched without stopping. His eyes had been flinty, but cold.

Angry.

When Sergei reached him and touched his shoulder, Chakotay jerked away and kept on, holding his tricorder as if his life depended on it.

"Here..." he said as he approached the abode of his parents. When he looked up, for he had been looking down on the readings on the tricorder, he clipped the instrument to his waist and ran forward. Surprised to find most of the abode still standing, he rushed inside.

"Chakotay, wait. Let me go in with you. Don't go in..."

"It's my parents, Sergei, dammit! Stay there!"

"And I'm a doctor, Chak. I'm doing my job!" he shouted. Chakotay's eyes warred furiously as he considered the split-second option.

"Stay there," he said resolutely.

Then Sergei watched as Chakotay vanished into the house.

He waited.

Waited.

Then the scream filled the air. Long and howling, like an injured wolf, the sound echoed around him. When the others ran towards them, Sergei waved them away and indicated they should investigate other streets, other homes for signs of life. They all looked strangely at him, then their eyes filled with compassion. Sergei sighed. This was the hardest part of their work. Finding survivors where he thought they'd find nothing. But who knows? The crew nodded solemnly and continued searching. Where they found bodies, they were brought outside and covered with what covering they could find among the debris. The bodies were in various stages of decomposition, an indication that some of them may have died only hours ago, and others three days.

Minutes later Chakotay came outside carrying a body. He covered her with a dusty blanket. The sun beat down on his face, smudged with dust. He walked up straight, holding the body close to him.

When Chakotay reached him, he sank to his knees, still holding the body. He raised his face to Sergei. Chakotay didn't speak. His lips moved, as if in a silent prayer. Then the wheezing started. Open mouthed, Chakotay drew in and expelled breath as he held the body. Somehow the blanket fell away from her face and Sergei forced himself not to grimace at the sight.

He reached down to take Chakotay's mother from his arms, but Chakotay held the decomposing body closer to him, burying his face against the dead woman. Then he gave a few raw sobs that tore from his heart. Sergei stood back and waited for Chakotay. Finally, when the sobbing subsided, Chakotay put the body down gently and pulled the blanket over his mother's face. Still on his knees, he looked at Sergei.

"They raped her, Sergei. I found traces of - of seven different Cardassian DNAs on her body. They - they did not let her go with dignity, Sergei..." Sergei bent down and gripped Chakotay's shoulder, mindless of the stench of death around them. "No dignity..."

"We'll bury her, Chakotay. We'll bury, lay her to rest as a final token of your respect. There will be dignity. I swear it."

Chakotay looked at him very long, then he nodded wordlessly.

"Come, we have go to through the village."

Chakotay rose stiffly to his feet, looked one last time at his mother, then nodded again. They searched every house, and wherever they found bodies, they brought them out, to the street, and lay them in rows. There were women - old women, young women and children who... Sergei sighed. All bore the signs that they had been raped. They found DNA traces of various Cardassians on one body, as in the case of Chakotay's mother.

Chakotay looked at Sergei with hollow eyes. There were no tears, just a croaky, empty sound of the voice

"My sister...Roshana..."

"Jeez, Chakotay..."

A Cardassian who stood watching them, laughed.

"You crazy bastard!" shouted Chakotay and started towards him. "I'll kill you!"

It was only Tongwat who was with them, and Sergei who held Chakotay back. Chakotay was breathing hard; and all he wanted to do was run in and stick a dagger through the Cardassian's heart. He broke free of them, but both ran forward and pulled the blindingly angry Chakotay back just as the Cardassian edged forward with his phaser.

"Don't, Commander. We need you alive, okay?" Sergei calmed him. Chakotay turned on him, then slowly he pulled himself together, the hollow look back in his eyes, the flat croaky voice also returning.

"My father... We haven't found him yet, Sergei. He would never leave my mother. If her life were threatened, he would fight. He would fight. I know he would."

"We'll find him, Chakotay," Sergei replied resolutely. "We'll find him and bury him side by side with your mother."

"You know their ritual..."

"I know..." he said gruffly, trying to work away the lump in his throat. Chakotay had been quiet, reserved as they found more bodies and brought them out of the houses, digging at times under the rubble to pull them out.

Sergei had ordered a beam down of teams of most of the Ormskirk's crew to work on other, smaller villages.

"And Captain, leave only a skeleton crew on board, but let Counsellor Ulyat beam down."

"Affirmative, Doctor."

They were alerted when one of the medical officers hailed them as they proceeded in the direction of a building from which smoke still rose.

"Commander! There are signs of life coming from that building," shouted Tongwat.

"The Habak!"

Chakotay was already running towards the Habak, with Sergei hot on his heels. If someone were alive in this carnage... They ignored the sole Cardassian who patrolled that part of the pueblo. The soldier grinned as if he knew they were on a fool's errand.

But even the faintest sign was something. Even the faintest sign...

***

Chakotay reached the Habak first, then Sergei. Sergei turned to the others and ordered them to wait. The structure had two floors, or rather, what he could call a mezzanine floor which all but collapsed on the lower level.

"They're right," Chakotay breathed, for the first time showing animation in his face.

"Comrade, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sergei asked as they began frantically removing debris. Chakotay's hands were raw, but he lifted large chunks of the structure as if it weighed nothing. He was gasping as he paused to turn to Sergei who had taken out his medical tricorder. "The reading is very faint, Chakotay. Very faint."

"If not by my mother's side, they surprised my father here. He would be here, Sergei, alive...alive..."

Sergei turned to the others and hailed the Ormskirk. Chakotay only vaguely heard Sergei request the crew to prepare for the mass burials. He kept digging, wheezing as he gripped the tricorder again and the beep sounded louder. He was close...close...

Finally he reached a pocket of air in the rubble. With renewed energy he pulled away at the flat stones until he could see the figure. There was a soft groan.

"Father..."

Sergei moved forward quickly and moved the scanner over the injured man. He said nothing, just clipped the tricorder to his waist again and helped Chakotay lift his father out of the debris.

A minute later Chakotay cradled Kolopak in his arms while Sergei scanned him.

Kolopak's eyes glazed with pain.

"Father..."

Chakotay, who breathed a sigh of relief, soon realised that the relief would be short lived. It was clear to him that no amount of medicine, or the finest herbs of Dorvan V could save the old man. Kolopak was dying. He saw that in the way Sergei shook his head. His was appalled at his father's condition.

"Every bone in his body appears broken, Chakotay, with severe lacerations on his stomach and thighs...your father must have crawled all the way here..."

Chakotay didn't hear Sergei. He was looking at Kolopak, whose eyes briefly rallied as he heard Chakotay's voice.

"They - they took your mother, Cha - - ko - - táy..."

"I know, Father. I found her - "

"Violated her..."

"I know..."

"They - they f-forced...me...to watch... Then they killed her"

Chakotay felt his heart contract. For a fleeting moment he saw Kathryn's face as she stood in the doorway of his bedroom and watched him with Sedeka. The anger boiled inside him. He didn't want to scream. Kolopak needed to see him calm, to take charge. But all the time he was bleeding inside...bleeding...

"I tried to stop them...tried to fight them... They dragged me into the street...kicked me...they shot me...left me to die... "

"We'll get you to our medical bay, Father. Sergei will heal your wounds - "

"I am dying, son. Leave me here...with your mother... The women..." Kolopak's breathing was erratic, there was a gurgling sound in his chest. Chakotay, distraught, looked back where two of the medical officers were still moving about, pulling bodies from the rubble.

"Father, I must get you to safety..."

"I will die here, my son." Kolopak's eyes rested on him. There was no pleading, no anger, just a quiet knowledge that the air of Dorvan V would receive him. Kolopak gave a shudder .

"Father!"

"The Sky Spirits...didn't you know they are here, and I see Hannah with them? That is where I want to be, Cha-ko-tay."

"Sergei, we must get him to sick bay!" Chakotay said in an urgent voice. But the dying Kolopak's hand came up once, then slumped again as he waved Sergei away.

"It is finished, Cha-ko-táy. Let me die here, where the sand and the sky and the air and the water will be my part..."

"Father...?

"Do you not know, Cha-ko-tay?"

"What, Father?"

"Alive, I am...dead...without....my...Hannah..."

Chakotay hauled his father closer to him, and like with his mother's decomposing body, rocked his father in his arms. There were no tears this time, no hard sobbing, just an empty, bottomless gasping and waiting. Overhead, the sky turned grey with smoke, and Chakotay heard them, the eagles flying overhead, calling in distress. The sound bore into his brain, and his heart became host to the terrible noise of the eagles. On and on that sound continued.

Still, Chakotay kept rocking Kolopak.

Then the sound of the eagles stopped.

Everything became quiet. There was a stillness in the air, a hallowed stillness that bowed to the power of the sky spirits.

Chakotay heard these words from the mists of the past. He looked down at his father.

Kolopak was no more.

**

The next day the crew of the Ormskirk oversaw the last of the burial rituals of the colonists of Dorvan V.

Chakotay stood impassive in front of the pyre on which his family rested. They found Tomaso at the communications centre. He had been beheaded. Chakotay flinched. It was the only sign of emotion. Then he raised his phaser slowly and pressed.

Sergei's hand was on his shoulder all the time they watched the pyre burn. When it was over, he turned to Sergei and nodded solemnly. Sergei hit his commbadge.

"Karkoff to Ormskirk. Two to beam up..."

*

Captain Roger Petranoff entered into his logs that they found the planet destroyed, and all its inhabitants dead.

There was not a single survivor.

There was only one body unaccounted for.

Sergei Karkoff looked at Chakotay in disbelief.

"I found my sister and her husband, Sergei. I couldn't find their little girl anywhere. She wore a locket I had given her on my last visit. There is no trace of it. Winonah would not have removed it, I am dead certain."

"The Cardassians would have."

"It's possible. Roshana...she would have done everything to protect her little girl, Sergei. Winonah must have been forcibly removed from her..."

"We've run as many scans as we could, Chakotay. You're certain?"

"Yes. Winonah is gone."

"A Cardassian must have taken her. A kind Cardassian - "

Chakotay's face turned livid at Sergei's suggestion. Sergei wanted to avoid looking at him. He knew he was right. Many Cardassians took Bajoran children into their homes and it was not unlikely that one of the soldiers had taken her to be a companion to his own children. He didn't realise that he was voicing his concern aloud, when he heard Chakotay reply angrily.

"Or, taken to some orphan labour camp."

Sergei sighed.

"Yes, That's possible."

"The fact is, Sergei Karkoff, my little niece is missing, and I swear she is alive somewhere. Somewhere in this Quadrant. I must find her, you hear me," Chakotay said urgently as he gripped Sergei's shoulders. "I must find her...I must find her..."

"Fine, Comrade. We have to leave now. You will have to resume your fight another day. It's a long haul back to Earth and we have to prepare for the debriefings..."

"Debriefings!" Chakotay spat. "You're right. Starfleet will want to know, right? They weren't interested in protecting my people, but we have to give them a full report of what happened here..."

"Chakotay - "

"Leave me alone, Sergei!"

With that Chakotay strode out of the medical bay, and made for the holodeck.

He was going go kill a few Cardassians, even if they were only holograms.

***

END CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

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