Lifting her tricorder to scan the walls, Patel continued, “Many of the same minerals and metals found in the tunnels leading to Station Four are also present here.”
“I’m not picking up any power signatures,” Seven noted.
“That’s to be expected, isn’t it?” O’Donnell asked. “I assume Species 001 found a way to tap the planet’s natural power source to sustain their stations. But all of that stored power was released a few days ago.”
“Do we believe that these caverns were natural formations, discovered and utilized by Species 001?” Seven asked.
“It’s hard to know for sure,” Patel replied. “The planet itself was designed by the Edrehmaia. The larger caverns containing the conduits were probably pre-existing. But I suspect that most of this,” she added, gesturing to the tunnel walls, “was done by those who came later.”
The entrance tunnel where the team had materialized quickly gave way to a wide, long rectangular space where a solid floor made of a single, seamless piece of thick metal alloy was surrounded by squared-off walls embedded with nonfunctional screens and interfaces. Inches of dust covered every surface.
“This looks familiar,” Commander O’Donnell said as they began to play their lights over the floor. “We found one of these huge metal plates on the surface in the biodome we were studying a few days ago.”
“What was your analysis?” Seven asked.
“We couldn’t make heads nor tails of it,” O’Donnell replied. “It was too big to have been transported to its position and didn’t appear to have been constructed of smaller pieces.”
“Did you consider the possibility that smaller sections had grown together over time, eliminating any seams?” Patel asked.
“Given that it was metal, no,” O’Donnell replied. “But knowing what we do now about the Edrehmaia substance, we probably should have. I wish you’d been with us, Lieutenant.”
They continued forward until they reached a single transparent column centered on the floor, extending ten meters high, where it disappeared into the rough, rocky roof of the cavern.
“Huh,” Patel grunted as she began playing her light along the walls on both sides of the column.
“Something you’d like to share, Lieutenant?” Seven asked.
“Station Four contained a similar structure, but it was activated by sensors and wasn’t solid,” she replied. “I wonder…” she continued as she approached the column and placed a hand on its surface.
“Careful,” O’Donnell said too late as Patel’s hand moved through the column, forcing her to catch herself before she tumbled to the floor.
Seven immediately raised her tricorder. Its unhelpful report on the column’s composition was “Unknown alloy Atomic structure does not correspond to database records.”
Patel stepped back and again began to search the walls. Finally, she seemed to find what she was seeking, a small alcove five meters overhead, embedded in the wall across from the column. An extremely faint light emanated from a sphere embedded in the alcove.
“What is that?” O’Donnell asked.
“I believe it is a data storage device,” Patel replied. “There were dozens of these at the other station. Each one contained the records of the experiments of a single species and could be analyzed in detail within the station’s library. But in order to retrieve them, you had to access the column of light.”
“Perhaps this is an earlier prototype of the same technology,” Seven suggested.
“That’s my thought as well,” Patel agreed. “I’m going to try something.” Steadying herself, Patel faced the column, then stepped inside. Cascades of faint light ran up and down the column once she was within it.
“Hello there,” she said as she began to move her hands over the edges of the column. “The interface appears to be operational. Let me see if I can find the appropriate designation.”
Seven again lifted her tricorder, this time searching for the power source activating the data interface. The only readings present came from the column itself.
“At least we know some of it still works,” O’Donnell said. “That’s good news.”
“I would feel better if we understood why it was still working,” Seven noted.
“Heads up,” Patel warned as the sphere in the wall grew suddenly brighter and ejected from the alcove, flying directly toward Patel’s hands. She caught it and exited the column. Roughly the size of a grapefruit, its black surface was mottled with lighter patches that now blazed with a greenish hue.
“Shall we see if they also have a library interface?” she asked cheerily, holding the small sphere before her.
“Yes, please,” O’Donnell replied, stepping closer to study the sphere.
As Seven joined them, a tingling at the back of her neck raised the fine hairs there. She felt her head tilt slightly to the right as she searched for what felt like a memory. “There is something familiar about this device.”
“How so?” Patel asked.
“Species 419, a humanoid-crustacean hybrid, regularly stored their genealogical records in something similar.”
“So, of course, you assimilated them,” O’Donnell said.
“I didn’t,” Seven said, a little testily. “Their entire planet was assimilated more than a thousand years prior to my joining the Collective. But we did retain knowledge of their technology.”
“Crustaceans?” Patel asked.
“Once their exoskeletons were removed, they made excellent drones,” Seven said.
“But when you think about that now…?” Patel began.
“I prefer not to,” Seven said, ending the discussion.
The team continued forward into the darkness, but apart from several low, rectangular metal-stone hybrid formations that appeared to be randomly placed on the floor, nothing else looked familiar to Patel.
“If the sphere contains data on Species 001, we might be able to use our own computers to access it,” Seven suggested.
“We’re definitely taking that back with us,” O’Donnell agreed. “I’m not getting any readings consistent with the Edrehmaia substance.”
“Confirming what our ship’s sensors showed. It is also possible that Species 001 did not experiment with it in this location,” Seven suggested.
“Let’s not give up just yet,” O’Donnell said. “Watch your step here,” he added as the floor began to slope downward. They had covered another fifteen meters when they realized they had descended into an oval depression. From here, the floor sloped upward again. It was as if
