As Kathryn Janeway expected, Largat, only planet in the binary system,  was protected by a  forcefield that covered the entire planet. The Oregon would be turned to cosmic dust trying to barge a way through. Fortunately, the forcefield was layered in grids, which were the most vulnerable at the joints. To the Oregon at least. There was no other life on the planet, save for those souls buried in the belly of the mountain.

Only minutes earlier she had hailed Commander Bel of the lead Kelsoan ship. They were now close to the Oregon.

"We cannot breach the grid, Admiral Janeway. Our vessels will be destroyed."

"We'll find a way, Bel. I've located weaknesses in the forcefield. I'm working on it right now. Remain in orbit until I give the signal."

Now she worked furiously to create a tear in the forcefield along the planet's equator. For once, she was glad that the Oregon was fitted with a small phaser bank and torpedoes. If she could convert the phaser fire to an elongated beam of energy that would make no burn and at the same time neutralise a section of the grid...

Kathryn remembered the work Seven of Nine had done on Ketarcha Prime. A thought came to her. Seven had been particularly proud of her work and had given the  Federation a full report on the atmospheric grid she had constructed for Ketarcha. They could create thoroughfares for their vessels during their persistent ion storms. The Ketarchans could control the apertures from a control centre on the planet. Here , she could adapt Seven's calculations and create an opening directly from the Oregon.

About two hours later, Kathryn cursed in frustration. Twenty simulations and still no luck as the apertures narrowed too quickly for the larger Kelsoan vessels to pass through. Sighing, she continued the simulations, reconfiguring the beam relays until finally, she gave a silent whoop of success. Right at that moment she received a hail.

"Bel to Admiral Janeway - "

"Janeway here. What is it, Bel?"

"We've located the central control room, Admiral."

"Good. Our first order of business is to destroy it. The planet has no weapons systems other than the security grid and shields."

"Have you had any success with the aperture?"

"Yes. Just give me five minutes."

"Aye, Admiral. Bel out."

Kathryn looked at the simulation again. The aperture was large enough for the largest of the Kelsoan vessels to pass through undetected. The next moment, another beep, but this time her screen changed to a schematic of the mountain and the area where the control centre was located. Bel had transmitted it to the Oregon. Kathryn's eyes narrowed as she looked at the mountain. As she had suspected, there was a shield cover.

"We'll have to shoot a hole in the shielding before we can neutralise the control centre," she murmured to herself. 

Seconds later, she was on audio link with Bel.

"I'm ready. The second we're through, three of your men will transport to this vessel. Then immediately after, we raise shields. The grid might narrow just before the last ship has passed through."

"By that time, Empress Mirah will have no time to regroup if she senses our tampering. We are ready on your command, Admiral. Bel out."

Kathryn started the firing sequence, smiling grimly as she watched how the phaser shafts hit the grid. Holding position for several minutes, the gap appeared, growing steadily bigger. There was no sound and Kathryn knew that Empress Mirah must  be unaware of what was happening. There were no counter actions as yet and was relying heavily on the element of surprise. Mirah would only know the moment they approached to the surface of Largat. Her heart raced as the hole was finally large enough.

"Janeway to Bel."

"Bel here."

"We're going through. Beam your men over."

A second later three Kelsoan warriors appeared in her shuttle. She nodded quickly to one of them to take the co-pilot's seat.

"Your name?"

"Alberon."

"Well, Alberon, piloting this shuttle is easy. You know what to do."

"I've done the simulations," he said, giving her a smile.

She moved the shuttle slowly to the aperture and slipped through. On her viewscreen, she could see the other vessels come through one by one. Once all the ships were through, Kathryn looked at the other two Kelsoan warriors.

"You'll need this," she said quickly and attached synaptic enhancers to their temples. Then she attached her own. She grimaced a little at the shock of the cold steel against her skin. "Now, you've been briefed for this. Be careful..."

"Yes, Admiral," they chorused, slapping a fist against the chest as sign of acknowledgement. She was armed with a phaser as well as her compressor phaser rifle. The warriors were going to carry the rest of the equipment. She felt safe knowing that the five vessels were not far behind.

"All three of us will beam down at once," she said as they stood on the small transporter pad of the shuttle. "Alberon, on my mark...now," she ordered.

Seconds later they were  on the surface of the planet, looking at a mountain peak. It was bright sunlight and they had to shield their eyes against the glare. A quick scan revealed the mountain's height at 3000 metres, with an extensive system of caverns. Its shielding was nothing that the Kelsoan vessels couldn't blast through... By this time several of the crew of the Kelsoan vessels had also beamed down, armed and ready.

"Janeway to Bel."

"Bel here."

"All vessels on alert. Standby to fire at the given co-ordinates to neutralise the shields. On my mark...now!

They watched as all five vessels fired simultaneously.

"Janeway to Alberon."

"Alberon here."

"Three to beam to these co-ordinates," she commanded, as she relayed the co-ordinates to him. Moments later they beamed inside, finding themselves in a large  cavern. She saw the control centre instantly. But, a tall, very thin woman was waiting for them. Janeway knew it was Mirah. She wore a queenly head-dress.

"You are intruders," she barked. Then she pressed something. Janeway and the two Kelsoan warrior remained where they were, showing no reaction. Mirah pressed again. "What - ?"

"Surprised, Empress Mirah? We are protected by our enhancers. The same thing your prisoners are wearing."

"But - "

Janeway nodded to the two warriors who dashed forward, and before Mirah could do anything more, they caught her. Kathryn stepped up to her and tapped her enhancer.

"I reconfigured these to repel your own. We don't feel anything."

Meanwhile the rest of the Kelsoan troops arrived and two of them fired at the control centre. Mirah screamed as she realised that they'd neutralised her completely. Kathryn had been prepared. She secured a device to Mirah's temple.

"Who are you?"

"Admiral Kathryn Janeway. You have my husband prisoner here."

"He smuggled the stone flower out - "

"Just so you  can't transport yourself at will," Kathryn said. She tapped in a few commands on her tricorder, and a faint whirring sound could be detected. Kathryn nodded to one of the warriors. "Bagur, you're in charge here. Make sure she doesn't get away - "

"Yes, Admiral," he replied.

Kathryn left Mirah with the two warriors, who held on to her while the rest of the men followed Kathryn from the control room. Now her tricorder picked up the presence of Chakotay quite easily.

"There are fifty prisoners here," she said quickly as she turned to look at the men. "I detect them in various caverns. Spread out in pairs and bring them out to the main cavern. They may need medical assistance."

Her heart was thumping wildly as she rushed in the direction where Chakotay was. The signals became stronger and stronger. She walked briskly for about three hundred metres until she spotted a very large cavern, where there were numerous partitions. It had to be their work stations, she surmised.

"Chakotay...?"  Her voice was soft, but urgent.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the others moving about as they searched for the survivors. She stopped by a workstation, larger than the others. On a counter she saw a stoneflower. It beckoned her, the red blossoms.

"Rose of Sharon..." she murmured as she attempted to touch it.

"It will break if you do..."

Chakotay...

Kathryn froze for a few heartstopping seconds, her hand still outstretched towards the flower. His voice sounded strange in the echoing cavern, but it was his. A voice she hadn't heard in more than three years. A desperate attempt not to burst into tears, to remain collected as she turned around to face him.

Somewhere, from another realm maybe, Kathryn had heard his words as he read from his favourite poem to her one evening in Indiana, lying on a deep piled rug in front of a blazing fire.

I remember the eternal

and the dead seasons, and the living present,

and its sound, so that in this immensity

my thoughts are drowned, and shipwreck seems sweet

to me in this sea.

'God, he looks so tired'. His hair was long, hanging past his shoulders. His eyes were sunken. There was the enhancer attached to his temple as she had suspected.

"Chakotay..."

She walked slowly forward and into waiting arms that enfolded her with such tenderness that the first tears rolled unbidden down her cheeks. She could feel how his lips pressed against her hair. He trembled as he held her; she clung to him, absorbing once again his nearness. Then she looked into his face. His fingers came up and caressed her cheek, wiping away the dampness, tracing the outline of her lips. He frowned as he touched her temple. His eyes looked tired, heated. He had suffered. Three years of constant pain. How had they survived?

"Kathryn..."

"I couldn't accept that you were dead," she whispered hoarsely. "Just couldn't."

"Every day, I thought about you. I thought about home and coming home one day to you." He pulled her back gently into his embrace again, but the action was brief. He held her away from him. She saw the question in his eyes.

"We have neutralised Mirah, for now," she said.

Chakotay nodded, then turned to look at the activity in the passageways. He was worried about the rest of the prisoners. When he moved, she followed him. At the end of their corridor, he stopped. A man was lying on the floor. Kathryn rushed forward and bent down, flicking on her tricorder.

"He's still alive, Chakotay."

"It's Kraf," he said by way of explanation. "He is very weak." Chakotay lifted the unconscious man in his arms. Kathryn thought how weak Chakotay himself appeared, but he held the sick man comfortably.  She pointed in the direction of the control centre and he followed her; they moved briskly. "The enhancers may be deactivated, but there is residual pain," he said as they walked. "Kraf needs medical attention. Mirah knew something was going to happen. She - "

"Turned the enhancers to high?"

"Yes..."

They were stopped by one of the Kelsoan warriors, who relieved Chakotay of the unconscious Kraf and ran towards the control centre. Chakotay breathed a sigh of relief when Kraf's weight was taken off.

"We've brought medical supplies. The Kelso contingent  will be looking after the prisoners. I've also ordered them to collect the art works of the sculptors."

Chakotay stopped in his tracks. For the first time since she entered the caves, she saw how he had trouble swallowing, and his eyes looked red, as if he wanted to cry.

"What were the words that I engraved on the stone flower, Kathryn?"

She froze, then frowned heavily. How couldn't he know what he had written?

"You don't know?" she asked. "Magnus Rollins's Science chief established they were written by your hand, that you, in fact, did handle the stone flower. We found traces of human DNA - yours - on it, as well as blood..."

"I wrote, but it was a strange power... Kathryn, it was as if something came over me, controlled my thoughts and my hands. What I thought I wrote was not what I wrote. I don't know what the actual words were... Sometimes I had these visions that I was sending you messages. Deep in the night, I would lie awake and think of you or I dreamed them... I don't know..."

Kathryn took his hand. He looked so completely confused that she wanted to cry. She felt like crying herself, for she was certain now that he not only wrote the words that were written on the stone flower, but that all the other cryptic messages must have come from him as well. But now was not the time to reason about scientific facts and evidence or conjecture about magic and strange events and telepathic communication. It was something she had accepted, for if she hadn't it might never have led her to Chakotay.

"Chakotay," she said softly, "we need to get you out of here. We will talk about this, I promise. Right now, you need medical attention." She took his hand and led him to the control centre, where all the others waited. Chakotay ran first to Kraf , who had regained consciousness.

Kraf looked at him with grateful eyes.

"Maestro... I will see my people again..."

"You will, Kraf. You will. Everything is over now. No pain, okay?"

Then Chakotay very carefully removed Kraf's synaptic enhancer. Kathryn saw how the old man's eyes first showed fear at the touch, then the realisation sank in that no pain accompanied the removal of the torture device. Kraf gave a deep sigh, and closed his eyes for a second.

"No more pain. I dream of my children..."

"That is good. You will go home now. These kind people will make sure you get home."

Kraf turned his face to look at Kathryn.

"Is she...?"

Chakotay gave a little smile. Kathryn wondered absently how often Chakotay had smiled or laughed in the last three years. His face looked stiff; he had not exercised those muscles in a long time.

"This is my wife, Kathryn Janeway, Kraf. She found us..."

"Your husband," Kraf started, his voice stilted, "is a very good man. He saved us."

"He is a good man. The best." She thrust her hand in Chakotay's; he gripped it tightly.

"Where is Mirah?"

"She has been transported to Commander Bel's vessel. She is to be taken to Megiddo to stand trial for Raël's murder."

"Then it is good. I never want to see her again."

This time Kathryn raised her hand to Chakotay's temple. Very gently she removed the enhancer and dropped it to the ground. His hand came up and covered hers.

"You may not have to. Mirah will stand trial on Megiddo. Don't worry, Chakotay. We're going home."

Chakotay smiled, a shared memory of a time on Voyager when he had said the same words to her. "We're going home, you understand?"

"Home. Sounds good to me."

**** 

She had been prepared for the prisoners' venture outside the confines of the mountain caverns. Chakotay had been given a visor to protect his eyes from the glaring sunshine. He had uttered a little cry the moment they came outside and held on to her.

"Where is this planet, Kathryn?" he asked, holding her hand, for he stumbled despite the visor he was wearing.

"It's called Largat. It's a D-class planet in sector 493 of the Gamma Quadrant. It has a binary system..."

Kathryn held her breath, waiting for Chakotay's response.

"I was on Elora... I've been transported over fifty sectors..." he said reflectively, as they walked towards the shuttle. Kathryn had overseen the transport of the released prisoners to the five Kelsoan vessels. Chakotay's artworks had already been beamed to the shuttle.

"Quite a distance for a telepath to transport any person," she replied.

"Yet she still needed technology to keep us in chains. It - it wasn't easy."

"I understand. We will go to Megiddo first, to meet Raël's parents - "

"You've met them?"

"They were very saddened at their son's death, but I promised I would stop by on my return. I am sure they would like to meet you. You can tell them more..."

"I was with him constantly during his final days, Kathryn. There were no medical facilities and Raël was already weak. He found the displacement too difficult."

Kathryn stopped when Chakotay stumbled again. "We can beam to the shuttle," she suggested, concerned. Even through the visor the glaring sun was too much for him. She shook her head. It was going to take a while before he would adjust fully to bright sunlight.

"No...I want to walk. I need the exercise," he quipped. But it was true. Although he looked emaciated, he was also not fit. "Come here...let me hold you again. I need to feel that you're very close to me..." She walked into his embrace, sighing at the pleasure of it.

"I missed you so much, Chakotay... I was asked to give you up for dead..."

"Standard Starfleet procedure. I thought about it a lot..."

When they could see the shuttle  after they rounded a jutting rock, Kathryn hastened her step, then cursed inwardly as Chakotay struggled to keep up with her. She took his hand.

"Come, it will be easier if I just keep on holding your hand," she said.

He nodded, grasping her hand like a blind person. When they reached the shuttle, the hatch opened. Kathryn smiled. Alberon was a quick learner. He smiled as he peeped at the entrance and waited for them to walk up the small ramp.

"Alberon, I want you to meet Captain Chakotay."

Chakotay removed the visor, and gave a sigh as he blinked several times. Kathryn thought how he had become used to darkness. Alberon greeted Chakotay, who nodded in acceptance.

"I do not have a bond mate as yet, Captain Chakotay, but I will not rest until I find one as good as Admiral Janeway. She was guided to you by her love for you, that we can see clearly, shining from her eyes..."

Alberon smiled as he said the words and Chakotay, Kathryn could see, basked in the compliment.

"Alberon, I must thank you for what you have done."

"It has been my pleasure. Now, I must take my leave."

Alberon hit his fist against his chest and Kathryn could swear that he clicked his heels. Kathryn moved to the controls while Alberon stood on the small transporter pad.

"Ready?" Alberon nodded. Seconds later, he was gone.

Kathryn turned to Chakotay. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. He opened his arms and she threw herself against him bursting into sobs.

"Shhh... Don't cry, my love. We're together now. Your love for me was so strong that it brought you here. I called you, didn't you know?"

But she couldn't seem to calm; Chakotay's words were reassuring and comforting, yet not enough to stop her tears from flowing.

"I missed you... You don't know how much. It's been so long," she said, her words muffled as she pressed into his chest.

She marveled that he could wait so patiently until her tears stopped. Yet, he stood holding her close, at times softly whispering words of comfort to her. She wondered absently who was stronger. She had come to rescue him, but in those moments, Chakotay was her saviour, offering solace. She thought of the years she had been without him, of the first months when she had been frantic when they couldn't find him, the bitter longing. She thought of his smile, the way his eyes lit up when they had their quiet moments, and she paused in her work to look at him. She thought how, after two years she had been told to accept that he was dead, because he was declared officially dead. She thought, in those moments, how she had refused to believe that he'd died, that he was somewhere in the universe thinking of her, dreaming of her.

Later, she made him sit next to her in the co-pilot's seat to initiate the start-up sequence. They were quiet as the shuttle lifted off and headed for the Alpha Quadrant. The security grid that surrounded the barren planet was no longer there. With the destruction of the control centre, there wouldn't be one for a long time. For a  long time neither of them spoke, preoccupied with their thoughts.

"Kathryn..."

"Yes...?"

"I wasted three years of my life."

For a second, she was overpowered by blind anger. Sighing, she controlled her emotion, trying to sound as level as she could when she gave him a sideways glance.

"As far as Starfleet and your career are concerned. You haven't wasted three years of your life, Chakotay. You lost three years, okay? You lost three years, but honey, they were years in which you were productive. If it weren't for your fabulous, perfect and flawless stone flower, I might never have found you."

"It was flawed, Kathryn. I deliberate flawed it..."

"I know, but it's perfectly flawed," she countered.

"I understand. Now, will you tell me what the message was I engraved on the flower?"

You will not have to walk alone

when once you see the flower of stone...

She knew every word of every cryptic message by heart. The words just rolled off her tongue. They were engraved permanently on her brain as the creation of Chakotay. Did he even know how, through his adversity, he had sought to express himself not in the perfection of art and beauty, but the evocation of beauty in the power of the word? Just as powerful as the stoneflowers were as portenders of hidden messages, so were Chakotay's words, an art he had not known he was capable of. He wasn't going to believe her, she thought with some wonder. He had already been too sceptical at his ability to be a great sculptor. He had memorised one of the obscurest poems in the Federation database, but because it expressed all that he felt for her, it was important for him to commit that one to memory.

"The words are...beautiful..." he said softly.

"They were not the only words," she replied. He looked at her, surprised at her revelation.

"Tell me," he said.

She sighed. Chakotay's eyes were drooping; he was exhausted. He had not needed much medical attention after all. His total exhaustion gave the impression of illness. She initiated autopilot, rose from the command chair and took his hand.

"You must sleep. Come..."

He acquiesced. She was not surprised, considering his weakened state. He had frowned heavily once and she had looked up startled. Why hadn't she seen how he was perspiring? He had then taken a cloth from his pocket to dab brow. He hadn't lied about the residual pain. She knelt beside the bunk, holding his hand.

"What were the other words?" he asked sleepily.

The rose of peace I made for you

where Empress Mirah rules a few

She spoke softly, soothingly. Then,

"In darkest nights I think of you,

the day brings pain in added hue"

"I learned to train my thoughts... Sometimes, during the day when the enhancers were on, I'd think of you. Sometimes I passed out..."

"Shhh...it's over now, Chakotay," she said, smiling a little. "Now you can think of me every night and every day..."

He pulled her close and she leaned to kiss him. His lips were warm under hers, a stirring of their old passion just under the surface. Her fingers skimmed his tattoo, traced its outlines, then finally rested tenderly on his lips. Chakotay's eyes closed at the touch.

"I'm going home," he murmured, the words already slurred as he battled sleep.

"Yes...we're going home, Chakotay."

**** 

END PART SEVEN

PART EIGHT