Atonement Read Online Free Page A

by moment. Once the trial began, their responses would be critical. His experiences with General Mattings had destroyed any confidence he’d once felt in his ability to predict Confederacy choices. He hoped that Kathryn had been wiser in her assessment of the presider.
    Her life depended on it.
    VOYAGER
    The doors to engineering were open as Lieutenant Harry Kim approached them, weaving through the constant flow of foot traffic with some difficulty. Officers and crewmen double-timed their way in and out, their hands heavy with freshly replicated replacement parts and tools. No one spoke in conversational tones. Orders, requests, and reports were shouted over the constant din and commotion. Despite the sense of chaos, their focus was singular: get Voyager moving again as soon as possible.
    Fleet Chief Engineer B’Elanna Torres stood in the eye of the storm, her face and uniform covered with grime, her hands flying over the main console stationed just beneath the combined warp/slipstream core that was the heart of Voyager. The ship’schief engineer, Lieutenant Nancy Conlon, stood on the catwalk that circled the room’s second level just outside the doors of her private office, deep in conversation with two of her subordinates who had the good sense to simply nod quickly as she tersely issued their orders.
    Kim caught Conlon’s eyes as he headed toward the central console without distracting her from her current duties. A smile so faint he might have imagined it crossed her lips. Kim felt his own face soften a bit and nodded in response without missing a step.
    On any other day, the speed, precision, concentration, and devotion Kim saw before him would have buoyed his confidence in his ship.
    Today, they merely reinforced the fragility of Voyager ’s current predicament and reminded him how close they had just come to annihilation.
    â€œB’Elanna,” he said softly, certain she was already aware of his presence.
    â€œWhat is it, Harry?” she demanded without lifting her eyes from her console.
    â€œIt’s time,” he replied.
    She turned sharply to face him.
    â€œThe Manticle just established an open channel. They’re going to start in a few minutes.”
    â€œHave we sent our transmission?” Torres asked.
    Kim nodded. “ Vesta is handling it. Their comm systems are fully operational.”
    Torres’s face hardened. Kim wondered why she wasn’t already moving to join him in the briefing room. What other possible response was there?
    We are currently hanging dead in space surrounded by hostile alien vessels. Until I can get our shields restored, we are too vulnerable for me to leave my post, Kim could hear her protest.
    Instead, she said softly, “I can’t watch it, Harry.”
    Her words set his stomach churning. Kim squared his shoulders. “You heard Chakotay. The admiral’s going to be fine.”
    â€œMaybe,”Torres agreed. “But if she isn’t . . .” Her words trailed off.
    â€œHey,” Kim said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
    â€œMy first duty is to the fleet, to this ship,” Torres said. “I’m needed here.”
    â€œOkay,” Kim said. His feet were noticeably heavier as they carried him back to deck one.
    Counselor Cambridge was the only senior officer waiting in the briefing room when Kim arrived. He had not taken any of the available chairs, but stood with his back resting against the bulkhead, his arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes glued to the large viewscreen embedded in the wall.
    Five individuals were seated on a raised platform behind a long table. Kim recognized three of them, the Voth Minister Odala, Devore Inspector Kashyk, and the Skeen commander, Rigger Meeml. The others were Turei and Vaadwaur officers who looked familiar, but Kim could not place them.
    Cambridge’s back stiffened as Admiral Janeway was led into the room. Kim’s stomach soured again as