Atonement Read Free Page A

Kashyk had already told her.
    She had kissed him once before. It had been a spontaneous gesture, born of the closeness that had developed between them over several days and nights when they had seemed to share a common goal and purpose. But it had also been a test. Hers mightnot have been the most experienced lips in the galaxy, but they had assured her of Kashyk’s genuine response. The heat and desire in that kiss had been unmistakable.
    His heart, of course, had never been hers.
    The truth of the second kiss had been more painful than the first. The moment their lips had touched in the Manticle ’s shuttlebay, Janeway had felt Kashyk’s desire once again, but this time there had been urgency, desperation to it. The sensation had vanished too soon as his lips had hardened and rough hands had pushed her away.
    Decan had been right. Kashyk was still there, but he was no longer controlling his mind or body.
    Her thoughts unwillingly returned to what little she remembered of her time as a Borg Queen. Some small shred of Kathryn Janeway had existed, secured in a cell within a mind that was no longer hers. From that cell she had witnessed atrocities. She had felt the Queen’s ecstasy. She had fought desperately to regain control, but it had been impossible.
    Despite the fact that Kashyk had been her enemy, she wondered if that was now his reality. If it was, he did not deserve it. No sentient being did.
    That the entity that now possessed Kashyk clearly wanted her dead was neither surprising nor relevant. Janeway could not hate Kashyk. She couldn’t even fear him. All she could do was pity him.
    The door to her “quarters” slid open and a Devore security officer flanked by two armed guards entered holding a set of heavy silver manacles. Lieutenants Psilakis and Cheng, her personal security team, rose and moved to stand between her and the Devore officer.
    â€œYou will remain here,” he advised them.
    â€œNo. That was not our understanding,” Psilakis said firmly.
    â€œIt’s all right, Lieutenant,” Janeway said, placing a hand on his arm and gently pressing him back. She then lifted her eyes to meet the Devore officer and extended her hands to him, her palms upward.
    Her life might be over within a matter of hours. But until it was, a number of battles remained that must be won.
    FIFTH SHUDKA
    â€œTherewas no good answer, Presider,” Captain Chakotay insisted. “We settled for the least bad one, which was often the case during our first journey through this quadrant.”
    Most of Chakotay’s interactions with the peoples of the Confederacy had been with Leodts like General Mattings: dark-skinned humanoids with black eyes, flattened noses, and mouths composed of a ring of sharp protruding teeth. Presider Isorla Cin was Djinari. The golden, diamond-shaped scales that covered her scalp did not seem to allow for a variety of facial expressions that might betray subtle reactions to his words. The long, thin tendrils that extended from the base of her neck were more fluid. They tensed and relaxed conspicuously, but Chakotay had yet to assign meaning to their movements.
    Cin had sat placidly behind an ornate, gilt desk in her receiving room aboard the Shudka and listened patiently while Chakotay had provided some much-needed context to the charges “Devore Inspector Kashyk” had made against Admiral Janeway and the Federation before the battle that had cost the Confederacy thirty-five of their ships and the Full Circle Fleet their admiral. The captain had not yet advised Cin that he believed Kashyk, and several of the other Kinara leaders, to be possessed by Neyser essences. The truth of Voyager ’s first contact with the Voth, the Turei, the Vaadwaur, and the Devore Imperium should have been more than enough to convince Cin whose side she should take.
    The presider had seemed relieved by Chakotay’s recounting of Voyager ’s encounters with the Delta