Spock remained a part of all their lives. There was an immediate change in the mood of Kirk’s friends and child.
“Admiral,” Kirk said.
Janeway didn’t bother with preambles.
“This is what we know,” she said, and the briefing began.
The disappearances had started almost a year ago. If Spock was one of the victims, then it was possible he was the first.
As for the others, one hundred and twenty-eight– or twenty-nine– in all, Starfleet Intelligence had no answers. There was no pattern they could discern that clearly connected all the victims.
Indeed, Intelligence had not become involved in the investigation until seven months earlier, after at least fifty disappearances had already occurred with nothing to suggest a link between them.
In some instances, a single individual had vanished. An archaeologist on a dig on Bajor. A physician on leave from Starfleet Medical. A computer engineer at the Daystrom Institute who had walked into his office one day, and never left.
Kirk’s interest was caught by Janeway’s mention of the Bajoran archaeologist. Two years ago, Kirk and Picard had attempted to take a vacation on Bajor and dive among underwater ruins. Several archaeologists had died at that site. At the time, all of their deaths had been accounted for as part of a failed Cardassian plot to obtain a lost “orb,” also known by Bajorans as a Tear of the Prophets.
But Janeway added for Kirk’s benefit that Starfleet Intelligence had already concluded that the more recent case of the missing archaeologist appeared to be unrelated to his and Picard’s Bajor experience.
Kirk noted Janeway’s use of the word “appeared,” but let her continue.
Starfleet Intelligence had become involved in the scope of the disappearances during their investigation of a disaster at Starbase 499.
On stardate 57503.1, the base had been destroyed. In addition to the entire staff of Starfleet personnel and civilians, the dead included six admirals, four starship captains and their science officers, and three civilians.
In response to his questioning, Janeway confirmed for Kirk that the admirals and captains had been present at the base to attend a classified meeting regarding the disappearance of the Starship Monitor almost four years earlier. Kirk knew the Monitor and her captain; both had been instrumental in helping him and Picard wipe out the threat of the machine world that had created V’Ger and might also have given rise to the Borg. The details of the Monitor’s loss and almost certain destruction were tragic. Her crew and captain were heroes.
At first, Janeway explained, there seemed to be no connection between the subject of that meeting and the disaster that befell the starbase-the inexplicable destruction of its static-warp-field power generator.
The generator failure, however, became the link to a number of other malfunctions-some large, some small-that did appear to have a bearing on the other disappearances.
Warp technology.
Almost eighty of the missing individuals-human, Vulcan, Betazoid, and Tellarite-were involved in some way with the study of multiphysics and the ongoing refinement of warp propulsion.
Their areas of warp expertise varied. Only a few were involved in cutting-edge research. The missing archaeologist had written a paper thirteen years before about the early development of warp theory on Bajor; there were no secrets there.
But, as Kirk knew, the Monitor had disappeared on a mission to test a prototype transwarp drive, based, in part, on recovered Borg technology.
Janeway concluded with a summation of Starfleet Intelligence’s best estimate of the threat they were facing: “An enemy or enemies unknown appear to be launching a series of covert strikes against Fleet and Federation assets, with the purpose of diminishing our ability to make further developments in warp technology.”
Kirk thought it was an elegant, even logical summation.
Except for one detail.
It was wrong.
“What about Spock?” Kirk asked.
“Admittedly,” Janeway confessed, “his disappearance doesn’t have a strong connection to the pattern identified by Intelligence.”
“It doesn’t have any connection,” Scott said bluntly.
Janeway sighed as if in resignation. Kirk’s interest sharpened. If the admiral had been hoping to at least keep back some details about the investigation, she seemed closer to surrender. He needed to learn something he didn’t already know.
Janeway closed in on the crux of the mystery. “Starfleet Intelligence put forward the question: Who would benefit from slowing down our ongoing development of warp technology? Already our ships are capable of staggering velocities. In terms of conflict or space battle, we’re well beyond the threshold velocities at which it’s even practical to engage in offensive maneuvers. So Intelligence looked into the defensive aspects of warp technology, and that’s where the link to Spock comes in.”
Kirk saw it at once.
“Norinda,” he said.
Janeway nodded. “The entire Jolan Movement.”
McCoy coughed. “At my age, I expect to be confused about most things. But this time I’m really lost.”
Kirk laid it out for his friend. “Norinda wanted to incite a civil war between Romulus and Remus. The first strike was going to be simultaneous attacks on three Reman cities, carried out by warbirds traveling at warp velocities… simply crashing into them.”
McCoy looked troubled.
So did Scott. “Kilo for kilo, the energy release would be greater than a matter-antimatter reaction.”
“Obviously,” Janeway said, “if hypervelocity warp weapons are on the horizon, Starfleet needs to build a defense.”
“Admiral, there’s no shield ye can make that’ll stop something with th’ mass of a warbird traveling at warp.”
“No shield that we know of,” Janeway conceded. “But they used to think it was impossible to travel faster than light.”
“Technically, it still is,” Scott said with his characteristic passion for all things technical. “Y’see, the warp field alters the dimensions of space-time so that our relativistic framework remains unchanged and we never actually move at a velocity greater than…” His voice trailed off as he registered the impatient looks on the others’ faces. Basic warp theory, like calculus, was taught in the earliest grades, and no one on this bridge needed a refresher course. “Sorry,” he said. “You were saying…”
Janeway turned her attention back to Kirk. “Norinda wanted to use warp ships as weapons. Norinda disappeared. When she disappeared, Spock disappeared, as well. That’s the connection Starfleet Intelligence is pursuing.”
“You think that creature is still out there,” McCoy said, “determined to strike again.”
“At least one working group in Intelligence believes that’s possible. Whatever her species, Norinda is a fanatic. She’s been talking about bringing ‘love’ to the galaxy for more than a century.”
Kirk looked away from Janeway, to study the surface of Vulcan as it moved steadily across the trio of screens at the fore of the bridge.
“Captain Kirk…?” Janeway said. “You don’t seem convinced.”
Kirk wasn’t. He was certain that whatever Norinda’s true motives were, they still hadn’t been fully revealed. But before Janeway could question him about his doubts, her combadge chirped.
She touched it. “Janeway.”
“Admiral, we’ve received a priority-one message from Starfleet Command, your eyes only. We need to beam you back at once.”
Janeway shot an apologetic look at Kirk. “An enthusiastic exec,” she explained. “He’s not familiar with what your ship can do.” She touched her combadge again. “Mister Nas, the Belle Reve is capable of receiving encrypted Starfleet transmissions. Please forward the message to me here.”
After what Kirk considered to be a long pause, Janeway’s executive officer replied, not quite as
