VOY - String Theory 2 - Fusion (c)

by Star Trek

  “I don’t know. We’ve analyzed the readings from Tom’s tricorder and they suggest that there are multiphasic properties to it.”

  “Commander,” Seven interrupted, “if it was a multiphasic organism, our sensors can be modified to track it. All of the potential life-form readings we have picked up from the array are difficult to analyze because they fluctuate so rapidly. If there are others like the creature you saw, and they are also multiphasic in nature, that would account for our inability to confirm their existence up to this point.”

  “She’s right,” B’Elanna added. “Maybe our sensors haven’t actually been malfunctioning in respect to these life-forms. Even the slightest phase variance as they move in and out of our precise phase modulation makes it look like they exist and then cease to exist from one fraction of a second to the next.”

  “If we can track them, can we also count them?” Chakotay asked. “I’d like to know how many we’re up against.”

  Seven rose, moved to the room’s computer interface, adjusted the sensors to account for the multiphasic properties of the organisms, and said, “There are nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six creatures that share this signature aboard the array.”

  Chakotay and Tom exchanged a worried glance.

  “Great,” Tom said. “So, basically we’re talking about an army of them.”

  “An army against which we’re currently defenseless,” Harry added.

  “Not entirely,” B’Elanna said. “We’ve restored the shield generators to full power and as long as the shields are up, we should be safe aboard Voyager.”

  “So you believe we can remain here indefinitely?” Chakotay asked.

  “In theory,” B’Elanna replied. “We might also be able to find some kind of a defense, in the event they find a way through our shields.”

  “Let’s assume they will. Developing a defense needs to be our first priority right now,” Chakotay said. “Setting that aside for the moment, let’s also assume that whoever or whatever Phoebe actually is, her intentions are hostile. What was she doing here? And why go to such lengths to insinuate herself among us? What did she want that she couldn’t have simply taken by force?”

  “The Key to Gremadia,” Seven said, as if everyone should already know that. When the others faced her with a mixture of irritation and disbelief plain on their faces, she elaborated. “The captain asked me to locate the Key, which was, at that time, missing. I discovered that shortly before we boarded the array, the Key was transported into our warp core. The transporter logs were deleted in a manner similar to the log alterations that Ensign Kim has described. Therefore I suspect that Phoebe was responsible for the transport.”

  “Why would she have done that?” Chakotay asked.

  “As we have not engaged the warp engines in several days, it was a perfect hiding place. The residual antimatter in the core provided a natural shield for the dissonance waves that emanate from the Key, which have increased significantly since we boarded the array. It appears that her primary interest is not in us, but in the Key itself, and in making sure that we are unable to discover its purpose.”

  “So what does an ancient religious artifact have to do with us, apart from the fact that it was given to us as a gift?” was Chakotay’s next question.

  “We found a large collection of historical records aboard the Betasis. From that data it is possible to extrapolate at least a partial hypothesis,” Seven continued. “The first and only Monorhan to ever touch the Key was the haran who discovered it, Dagan. It imparted visions to him of Monorha’s ancient past, which he integrated into their existing religious mythology. Dagan died shortly after he touched the Key, and for reasons I can only speculate about, the Key became a sacred and terrifying object of reverence. It was encased in a box, the same box in which it was presented to the captain.”

  “Do you have a theory as to why the Monorhans were so frightened of it?” Chakotay asked.

  “Much of the Key’s history between Dagan’s death and its retrieval by Kaytok’s family is lost to us. However, I believe it is significant that according to the calculations we did when we first encountered the Monorhan system and the Blue Eye in particular, the gravitational shift which ultimately resulted in the destabilization of the star began at exactly the same time as Dagan’s death.”

  “Did the Monorhans make a connection between the activity of the Blue Eye and Dagan’s death?” Harry interjected.

  “No, Ensign,” Seven replied. “They were much more perturbed by the various ecological disasters that accompanied the death of Dagan. But given their limited understanding of interstellar phenomena at that stage in their development, it is unlikely that they would have. Perhaps more instructive is that fact that the name ‘Blue Eye’ was only given to the star after it began its unnatural collapse and came into common usage within a hundred years of Dagan’s death.”

  “But do we know anything about the Key’s purpose?” Chakotay asked, nudging Seven back to the point.

  “In one of Dagan’s letters he asserts that the Key is the final and crucial piece of a larger mechanism, one which he was unable to describe clearly given his limited understanding of complex technology. But he does say that the mechanism is located within the promised city and that the city will circle the ultimate darkness, which does suggest, at least metaphorically, the array. More important, he says that only the Key’s owner will be able to put the Key in its proper place in the ‘Time of Knowing’ and open the conduit of light.”

  “That’s fascinating, Seven,” Tom interjected, “but what does it all mean?”

  “According to Ensign Kim, Phoebe most likely arrived shortly after the captain was given the Key. It is logical to assume that since the captain is the first person in thousands of years to actually touch the object, that she is also its owner. If Phoebe were able to use the Key, she would have taken it from us long before now. But if the captain is the only person who can use it, Phoebe needs her. This might also explain why ‘Phoebe’ chose to assume the form of someone who is close to the captain…someone she would trust instinctively.”

  “Did the captain also see visions after she touched it?” Chakotay asked.

  “No, Commander,” Seven replied. “The Key had no obvious effect on her. But the Monorhans of the Fourteenth Tribe were highly telepathic. It appears that their vessel is equipped with an organic neural network which most likely responds to telepathic commands.”

  “So you have to be a telepath to see the visions?” Tom asked.

  “Or hear them…” Chakotay suggested.

  There was a pause as every face in the room turned to him curiously.

  “The Doctor believed that Tuvok might have left the ship in response to a telepathic message only he could hear,” Chakotay explained. “His proximity to the Key might have been the cause.”

  “But why would it have drawn him to the array? The Key has been aboard Voyager since we left Monorha,” Tom said.

  B’Elanna rose and joined Seven at the computer interface, calling up Seven’s analysis of the data recovered from the Betasis. When she had found what she appeared to be looking for, she said, “I don’t think the Key brought Tuvok here.”

  “Why not?” Chakotay asked.

  “I think the Monorhans did.”

  “Explain,” Seven demanded.

  “Right now we’re reading nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six multiphasic life-forms aboard the array. That is almost the exact number of Monorhans who came to the array aboard the Betasis fifty years ago. The backup Doctor believed that Tuvok is actually gestating a new life-form. If the Monorhans were attacked by the same thing Tuvok was, then perhaps these life-forms we are seeing were created when the parasites merged with the Monorhans.”

  “But the Monorhans are dead,” Harry said. “We found Tuvok in a room that was filled with their bodies.”

  “And have you asked yourself how he got there?” B’Elanna asked. “Given the severity of his injuries, there is
no way he could have left his wrecked shuttle on his own.”

  “You think the Monorhans somehow brought Tuvok…” Tom began.

  “…to a place where he could also be infected and transformed, just like they were,” B’Elanna finished. “The Doctor said that some part of Tuvok would be incorporated into the new life-form. If the same thing were true of the Monorhans, then perhaps they retain their telepathic abilities and used them to contact Tuvok.”

  “So what did they want with him?” Tom asked no one in particular.

  It was a good question and one that no one seemed prepared to speculate on at the moment.

  “There is one flaw with your premise, Lieutenant,” Seven said finally.

  “What’s that?” B’Elanna retorted.

  “I do not believe that all of the Monorhans were transformed as you suggested.”

  “What are you basing that on?” Chakotay asked.

  “When we were aboard the Betasis, I attempted to interface with their computer core using my assimilation tubules. When I interfaced with the neural network of the ship, I discovered a presence there…a consciousness.”

  “How is that possible?” Harry asked.

  “I hesitate to speculate as to how,” Seven replied. “Nonetheless, it did communicate with me.”

  “Don’t you mean through you?” B’Elanna demanded, obviously still irritated at Seven’s rash actions when they had boarded the Monorhan vessel.

  “That might be a more accurate description,” Seven acknowledged. “The presence demanded that we leave the ship and threatened us with imminent death if we did not comply. Among the records we discovered were descriptions of Monorhan rituals that included the transfer of consciousness between certain members of the tribe. I believe that one of the Monorhans attempted such a transfer between themselves and the organic components of the Betasis. If they succeeded, then they are still alive in a manner of speaking, within the ship, and would therefore not have been infected by the parasites as the others were.”

  The others pondered this possibility silently for a few moments before Neelix asked the obvious.

  “Well, if one of them is still alive, maybe we should try and talk to them again. They’ll know more than we do about these creatures.”

  “I do not believe they will comply,” Seven replied.

  “Neither do I,” B’Elanna agreed.

  “What if we could offer them something they need?” Harry suggested.

  “What’s that?” Chakotay asked.

  “A body,” Harry replied.

  The only thing Janeway could feel as she entered the blackness was Phoebe’s firm, icy hand holding hers as if their lives depended upon remaining in physical contact. For a few disorienting seconds it seemed that the darkness around her was as impenetrable as it was eternal. She heard Phoebe calling to her, her voice echoing around her as if it were coming from everywhere at once, and not from the firm solid presence that walked beside her.

  “The Beginning…” Phoebe called, over and over.

  Suddenly Janeway found herself standing on the transporter pad of Voyager’s main transporter room. Admiral Patterson strode toward her, extending a warm hand as he said, “Welcome aboard, Captain.”

  Janeway had automatically reached out to accept his hand when he froze where he stood and Phoebe appeared beside him.

  “What is this moment, Kathryn?” she asked.

  Janeway didn’t have to think to answer. It was one of her fondest and least complicated memories.

  “This was my first day aboard Voyager,” she replied.

  “Not the day,” Phoebe said patiently, “the moment.”

  Janeway considered briefly. “This moment…when I first appeared on the transport pad…was the beginning of my life aboard Voyager.”

  “Fine,” Phoebe replied. “It is a beginning. But not the beginning. Try again,” she said.

  “The beginning…” Janeway said softly.

  The image of the transporter room grew dim and fractured. Colors and sounds whirled into blackness as Janeway closed her eyes and forced herself to focus on the word “beginning.”

  When she opened them, she found a familiar pair of blue-gray eyes staring lovingly into hers. Her arms and legs were bound closely around her, but the warmth and comfort she felt in this position overwhelmed any sense of danger at her sudden immobility. She couldn’t speak, but as she looked beyond the beautiful eyes, she caught flashes of light and sound that some dim part of her associated with her first sight. Suddenly she knew that this moment was also a memory. This was her first moment of consciousness after birth. She quelled the instinct that came from she knew not where, to begin screaming and crying. Part of her sensed the emptiness in her belly and knew she needed nourishment. But the part of her mind that was still the fully grown Janeway could also experience the memory with some detachment. She acknowledged this moment as the beginning of her life.

  Phoebe’s face loomed large above hers, blocking out any view she had of her mother’s eyes.

  “Yes, Kathryn, this too was a beginning. Do you understand the difficulty…the imprecision of your most basic tool for communication…your language? This is the beginning of your life…your existence. But imprinted upon the strands of amino acids which form your DNA are memories which predate your life. You and every other living thing hold the memories of the beginning of all existence within you. Try again,” she commanded.

  Reluctant as Janeway was to abandon the warmth and comfort of her mother’s arms, she obeyed and cast her mind into darkness, searching for a memory she had never known was part of her.

  She found herself suspended in blackness, staring toward a tiny speck of light.

  “Better,” Phoebe said.

  Turning toward the sound, Janeway could barely make out the vague outline of her sister floating in the darkness beside her.

  “Where are we?” Janeway asked.

  “Closer to the truth,” Phoebe replied enigmatically.

  “That’s comforting,” Janeway replied, hoping that saying the statement would make it real.

  “I know this is difficult, Kathryn,” Phoebe said. “The answers you are seeking are buried far beyond the parts of your mind and body where you normally seek them. Unfortunately I can only show you those things for which you have some sort of context, even if it is theoretical. Once we have established the limits of your knowledge, we will attempt to push past them. But I will only be able to present that knowledge to you in images that you can relate to experientially.”

  “All right,” Janeway said, turning her attention again to the tiny speck of light that seemed to beckon in the distance. “So far I understand that we are looking for a beginning.”

  “That is correct,” Phoebe said.

  “And that the word ‘beginning’ is imprecise because from my particular point of view there have been several events which were, in fact, some kind of beginning.”

  “Also correct,” Phoebe replied, then asked, “What is this beginning?”

  Janeway studied the speck of light. She was already growing weary of the exercise. She remembered vividly her days in early school, and then Starfleet Academy. She had always possessed a visceral thirst for knowledge. It drove and defined much of her existence. But the moment just before a concept or new piece of information had been integrated into her larger understanding of the subject at hand, that casting about in the unknown searching for the thing which would anchor her in her search had always been painful. She realized in this moment how much of her drive and discipline as a student had been calculated avoidance of this exact feeling. She needed to know the answer, the correct answer to the question. Only that could stave off the inevitable physical discomfort of ignorance.

  In a flash, these thoughts brought her to the appropriate memory. She had been seated in Professor Philemon’s theoretical quantum mechanics course in her first year at Starfleet Academy. Philemon had been presenting a lecture on the origins of the universe, accompanied
by a holographic projection of the moment still referred to in some circles as the “Big Bang.”

  The moment she realized where she was, the fleck of light began to dance before her. A split second later it burst forth in a cascade of light that enveloped the room.

  Turning to Phoebe, she said, “This is the beginning of the universe.”

  “As you understand it,” Phoebe replied.

  “Are you telling me that this theoretical model of the formation of the universe is wrong?” Janeway asked. “That the basic principles of space and time which have allowed humanity and countless other species to venture out into the universe and safely explore space are…what?” she demanded.

  “Incomplete,” Phoebe replied.

  Janeway planted her hands on her hips and asked, “In what way?”

  “Look closer,” Phoebe demanded.

  Resigning herself to the attempt, Janeway considered the fragments of fiery light flowing out from the original speck that she had always imagined as the beginning of the universe. Suddenly, the shrapnel that had exploded forth reversed itself and rushed back into its formation as the tiny speck of matter that somehow contained in its densest form all matter that had eventually become the universe.

  In her mind, Janeway saw herself examining the speck. As she did so, she found herself standing right in front of the speck. Reaching out, she grasped it in her hand and began to turn it one way and another, hoping to see some hint of what Phoebe was suggesting. Janeway visualized all 246 of the elements known to Federation scientists and imagined that they were contained within the palm of her hand. She saw their atomic structure. She had committed them to memory years ago and knew them the way a child of seven knew their multiplication tables.

  “Closer,” Phoebe demanded, and somehow Janeway knew that in this place even her thoughts were not her own.

  She forced herself to see the atoms of the elements contained in the palm of her hand, the protons and electrons circling the nuclei of the atoms. Tiny circles zoomed in their stable orbits in a timeless dance that came as close to perfection as Janeway could possibly imagine. But her mind rebelled at the thought of anything beyond this. Certainly there were smaller, subatomic particles, and even as she thought this, she saw them weaving among the identifiable pieces of the atoms before her.