Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - Voyager - 03 - Quarantine by Patricia Barnes-Svarney

Author:Patricia Barnes-Svarney [Barnes-Svarney, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780606138031
Amazon: 060613803X
Publisher: Demco Media
Published: 1997-10-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

It was nighttime, and Blinar, Timothy, and L’as’wa were trying to get comfortable enough to sleep on the hard wooden floor. A soothing light came from two of the Chatoob moons shining in the singular crystal window, but Kathryn didn’t care. Mari was lying on a cot, shivering from an unseen cold-the first sign of the plague.

A few hours before, he seemed to be all right. While Blinar stood in front of the Great Hall monitoring camera, Kathryn, L’as’wa, and Timothy tried to take apart the communications console on the wall, but to no avail.

Right when L’as’wa managed to pull the covering off the console, Mari collapsed.

Kathryn sat on the edge of the cot and stared down at her shivering friend, remembering Lane’s words: the bone-deep cold, like the kind you feel in the middle of snow-time.

Snow-time on Chatoob was no doubt similar to Earth’s winter, and being from Indiana, Kathryn knew the deep bitter cold of that season. Mari, who had lived in the northern regions of North American with his people, the Yupiaq, would know even more about winter than she did.

And here he was, shivering in the warm room.

“Don’t worry, Kathryn,” whispered Mari, looking up at her and trying to smile. “I have my bear with me.”

“Bear?” she asked in a low voice.

Mari pulled out a leather string from inside his shirt.

On the end was a small, black object. He held it up for Kathryn to see. “This bear. My father carved it. The Yupiaq believe that animals have certain powers. The bear represents strength. So I’ll get strong again. I promise, Kathryn, and my bear promises.” He put the bear back inside his shirt and closed his eyes.

She smiled and put her hand on Man’s forehead just one more time, hoping the fever would be gone. But it was still there. Kathryn felt powerless-and scared.

Would she and the others catch the plague just as easily?

All she could do right now was sit and wait and depend on the Chat government, the Tsiolkovsky, or just plain luck to pull them through.

She wanted to do something-anything-to get them out of there. If I could just get back to the ship, she thought, maybe I could help Dr. Hess and Tobassa find an antidote.

“Is he feverish?” a deep voice whispered behind her, breaking into her thoughts. Kathryn turned to see Lane, his tall forehead furrowed over his large blue eyes.

She nodded in reply. “He’s been this way for about two hours now,” she whispered back. “I just thought he was tired at first, and now, he seems to have a fever. I wish I knew more about medicine,” she added, frustrated.

“Here, maybe I can help,” he said, opening his hands.

Lane moved over to Mari’s side and took out the pack he carried over his shoulder. Kathryn watched as he carefully unfolded a large white cloth filled with what looked like dried leaves. With his long, thin fingers, he scooped into the middle of the leaves and crushed them into a fine powder along Mari’s forehead.

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