“Not to be discouraging, but you and an entire team of Starfleet’s finest medical minds have been working on this issue for some time. I like your optimism, but this decision needs to be based on facts and evidence, not hope, Doctor,” Glenn replied.
“The facts are quite clear, Captain. If we refuse to allow Lieutenant Barclay to modify my emitter for Conlon’s use, we will be without a competent chief engineer until we rejoin the rest of our fleet. If we proceed, we will have access to both my program and hers.”
“I’m not going to approve this unless you do, Doctor,” Glenn advised.
When the Doctor had decided to pursue the creation of this hologram, he had weighed the consequences of inaction against his desire to continue to survive. It had been a statistical problem, an intellectual exercise, albeit one born of his intense desire to continue to exist. It had now become a more personal matter. In the first scenario, one where Conlon was lost, the odds of the ship surviving without her had been given great weight, but in the event she did not survive, the likelihood was that the entire ship, including the Doctor, would be destroyed. Now, the Doctor was forced to reckon with the possibility that the ship would continue, but his existence could end.
He did not relish this possibility. Indeed, it was somehow more disturbing to contemplate. But if nothing else, it incentivized successfully healing Nancy Conlon in a way nothing else could.
Rather than wallow in unknowns and probabilities, the Doctor reached for the only solution that honored both his identity and the needs of those he considered his friends.
“Computer,” he called. “Transfer Chief Medical Officer’s program to the main holographic emitter.”
A light chirp confirmed completion of the operation. He then detached his mobile emitter from his arm and handed it to Barclay.
Glenn nodded somberly. “I appreciate your willingness to make this sacrifice, Doctor, but I also believe we must prioritize healing Nancy Conlon as soon as possible…”
“Bridge to Commander Glenn.”
She tapped her combadge and replied, “Go ahead, Lieutenant Kim.”
“Please report to the main airlock right away.”
“On my way,” she said, clearly concerned by this odd summons. “Gentlemen,” she said curtly as she departed.
Lieutenant Kim and Ensign Selah met Commander Glenn as she approached the airlock. “Report,” she ordered as soon as they were in sight.
“We have incoming,” Selah said as she began to unlock the interior access to the airlock.
“Not long after you left the bridge, we detected two contacts approaching the ship,” Kim added. “They sent a transmission as soon as they were in sight consisting of the precise coordinates of our airlock.”
“Are we about to be boarded?” Glenn asked. “Because I’m going to have an issue with that.”
“They also transmitted Velth’s genome again,” Kim said.
Glenn’s heart paused momentarily, before beginning to race.
“You said there was no chance he survived.”
“I didn’t think there was,” Kim confirmed.
“Do scanners detect any life signs?”
“No,” Kim replied. “They might just be returning…”
“His body,” Glenn finished for him. “I guess that speaks well of them, in a way.”
“We identified him as a member of our set. They could have construed that as a request that they bring him back to us,” Kim said.
“Sirs,” Selah said, her voice tense.
Glenn stepped into the airlock and peered through the port. One of the approaching forms was consistent with the Edrehmaia. The other appeared to be an EV suit. “Both of you, step back,” Glenn ordered.
“I really don’t think you should face them alone,” Kim said.
“Not your call, Lieutenant,” Glenn replied.
Kim and Selah cleared the airlock and Glenn sealed the interior access. She then made haste to don the room’s emergency EV suit. She had just clicked her helmet into place when the approaching party paused less than ten meters from the ship.
Velth’s suit looked functional, but it was impossible to see if he was conscious through the faceplate of his helmet. Terrified, but determined, Glenn activated her magnetic boots, planting herself on the deck, and opened the airlock.
She was greeted by an almost blinding display of light from the alien. She could not translate it, but there was something almost joyful in it. Of course, that could have been her characteristic optimism talking. It had been a while since it made its presence known, and the feeling was one of heady relief.
The EV suit drifted toward her. Only now did she see that it was dotted with holes, all of which had been sealed with a solid black substance. More important, she finally saw the face of Ranson Velth.
As she welcomed him back, grasping his suit in a firm embrace and guiding him into the airlock, tears began to stream down her cheeks.
Velth’s eyes were open.
12
VOYAGER
Lieutenant Commander B’Elanna Torres had faced and overcome enough challenges in her life that she found it impossible to believe that there was no way through this one, especially if it included bringing Harry, Nancy, the Doctor, Reg, and the rest of Galen’s crew home. Captain Chakotay’s directive had been quite clear as to the first step. She, Lieutenants Bryce and Elkins, and Ensign Icheb must find a way to bring the Edrehmaia back to the fleet’s current location so that true communication could be established between them.
Bryce and Icheb ran headlong into the thick of it, tackling the problem the way Miral had attacked her first electromagnetic building set. Lieutenant Garvin Elkins, Demeter’s chief engineer and the man who had essentially built her, sat silently, his gaze fixed stubbornly out the room’s nearest port.
“They must still be monitoring the star,” Bryce insisted. “You don’t go to all the trouble of creating a planet that can store enough power to move a star without also developing the means to track that star’s movement.”
“But how? It has already traveled millions of
