Get in line rose immediately to mind, but some small shred of rational thinking urged Kim against direct insubordination.
They now had at least three pressing problems. Kim didn’t know what the captain’s was, so it was difficult to prioritize. Drur’s sounded like his should top the list, but neither mattered as much to him at this moment as the possibility that he had just lost Nancy Conlon.
“What is it?” Kim asked anyway.
“Velth isn’t Velth anymore,” Glenn replied. “Whatever they did to him, they didn’t just save his life. They changed him in ways that aren’t readily apparent except for the fact that he now drinks straight from power conduits with his hands.” Turning to the Doctor, she said, “He’s unconscious for now, and he needs to stay that way until we can do a full work-up.”
“Understood,” the Doctor said.
“I can continue working with Conlon,” Barclay offered, “if you need to…”
Conlon rose from the chair where she had rested. “If he has accessed our main power supply, I’m going to need to lock that down.”
“I rerouted from here,” Barclay said, “but the affected conduit remains open.”
“We can’t just bleed power,” Conlon said. “We barely have enough to keep the ship operational as it is.”
It destroyed Harry to see her so completely herself, yet not.
“Where is it?” Conlon asked.
“Observation room three,” Glenn replied.
Turning to Barclay, Conlon said, “I’m fine. You can continue the diagnostic but I’m going in there to see just how much damage has been done.”
Barclay glanced toward the Doctor, who said, “Very well. But bear in mind that the mobile emitter you are wearing is one of a kind. If anything happens to it, you…”
Conlon placed a protective hand over the emitter. “Understood.”
“There are two security officers guarding the door,” Glenn said. “If he regains consciousness, you are to evacuate immediately.”
“I can make sure he remains sedated,” the Doctor offered. “In this case, Lieutenant Conlon and I are probably the only members of this crew who should get within arm’s length of Velth until we understand what’s happening to him.”
Glenn considered this for a moment, then nodded. “Do it,” she said. “Mister Kim?”
Both Admiral Janeway and Captain Chakotay had often spoken of the calm that lay at the center of every storm a captain faced. It was the only place from which the most difficult decisions of a Starfleet commanding officer could be made. Kim could not locate that place within him. He stood buffeted by powerfully conflicting needs and life-threatening realities, unsure where to go or what to do.
Glenn seemed to realize how hard he was struggling. “Harry,” she said more gently, “what’s happened? Are you all right?”
“No,” he replied. “I’m not all right. None of this is all right. The woman I love, the mother of my child,” he continued, “doesn’t remember who I am. There’s a monster unconscious down the hall, and apparently, Drur has just made first contact with the most powerful and truly alien life-forms I’ve ever seen. It’s, you know, a bit much to deal with all at once. I can’t even…”
Glenn’s eyes went wide. “What was that last thing?”
Drur has made contact with the Edrehmaia.
The center quite suddenly found Kim.
“We have to get to the bridge,” Kim said.
Glenn nodded. “I agree. Doctor?”
“We’ve got this,” he said. “Go. I’ll report in as soon as we know more.”
“It’s called compartmentalizing,” Glenn said as she and Harry stepped onto the turbolift. “Normally, I’m not a fan. It can lead to all sorts of psychological issues. But right now, we both have to let everything else go, and focus. The Doctor and Reg will take care of Conlon and Velth. Are you with me?”
Kim had remained silent as they had hurried through the corridors toward the lift. He nodded. His eyes had lost the frantic, panicked quality they’d held minutes earlier back in sickbay, but she couldn’t tell just by looking if he was truly here, or a thousand light-years away.
“Harry,” she said sharply.
His eyes snapped toward hers.
“Yes, Captain,” he replied. “I’m with you.”
Glenn still didn’t know exactly what this man was made of, but she believed him. “Honestly, is this the worst day the Delta Quadrant has thrown at you?” she asked.
He didn’t pause to ponder. “Right now, it is.”
The doors to the lift opened and they stepped out together. Ensign Drur stood at his normal operations post but the main viewscreen displayed an unusual sight. Hanging in space, perhaps only a few kilometers from the ship, were five Edrehmaia. Four were solid black, but bright white flashes of light cascaded over the body of the fifth.
“What do you want to bet that’s John, Paul, George, and Ringo?” Glenn asked.
“Who was the fifth one?” Kim asked. “Pete?”
“No, that’s Fred,” Drur said.
“Report, Ensign,” Glenn ordered.
“I was attempting to enhance our ability to communicate with the Edrehmaia by adding to our shared vocabulary using mathematical terms and it worked,” Drur said.
“Which terms?” Kim asked dubiously.
“We began by defining our sets. That led to the most important breakthrough. Fred was the first to understand that our words represent concepts. Since then, I thought we were making progress, but then these four showed up and Fred started talking about ‘positive infinity,’ and I’m not sure what to make of that.”
Kim moved to the ops console. “Show me,” he said. “Captain, keep an eye on our friends out there.”
Glenn did more than that. Tapping her combadge she said, “All hands, this is the captain. Alpha shift bridge officers are to report immediately. Yellow alert.”
As Kim reviewed Drur’s work, Lawry and Selah hurried onto the bridge and took their helm and science stations. Both looked pleasantly surprised to have been summoned until they registered the image on the main viewscreen.
“Lieutenant Kim, I hate to ask you to multitask, but I may need you at tactical,” Glenn said.
“I’m going to do my best to make that unnecessary, Captain,” Kim replied.
“Understood. What have you got?”
“I need a
