She knew that the transfer had not been completed exactly as anticipated. The Doctor had taken her to see the child her body had created, and poor Lieutenant Kim could not look at her without a pain and longing she understood as a matter of fact but could not reciprocate. At some point she was going to have to interrogate that situation more thoroughly, but it was only one of many priorities before her and was easily shifted down on her to-do list without creating the slightest hint of anxiety.
To exist in this state was remarkable. She gave absolutely no thought to how it would necessarily change when her consciousness was returned to her body. For the moment, she didn’t honestly care if that ever came to pass.
There was work to be done, work that she was uniquely able to perform. Her purpose was simple and clear.
She was ready.
Once the preparations were complete, Glenn, Kim, and Barclay stood outside the cargo bay around a display screen from which they could monitor the events unfolding within it. Velth’s transfer from sickbay had gone off without incident, and he was resting on a biobed within a columnar force field that was the maximum the ship could generate.
Conlon and the Doctor stood outside the field and a dedicated comm line was opened between the interior and immediate exterior of the bay. Drur continued to update the Edrehmaia on the team’s work and indicated that for the moment, they seemed content to continue waiting.
Just before they passed through the force field, the Doctor said, “His current scans show normal physical readings.”
“But that could change quickly, so be ready,” Glenn warned over the comm.
“Of course, Captain,” the Doctor replied.
They passed through the field. Conlon kept as much distance as possible as the Doctor moved to Velth and placed a hypospray on his neck.
As soon as the stimulant hit his system, his eyes snapped open and turned immediately toward the Doctor.
“What happened? Where am I?” he asked.
“You don’t remember?” the Doctor asked.
Velth blinked a few times, perhaps searching his recollections, then said, “I was hungry.”
“Are you still hungry?”
“No. Not even a little.”
Conlon stepped forward. As soon as he noticed her, he smiled as if surprised to see her there.
“Lieutenant. It’s good to see you.”
“You too,” she said.
The Doctor’s tricorder beeped: an alarm set to indicate shifts in Velth’s quantum state.
“We have run a number of tests and you need to be aware that while you were with the Edrehmaia, they made certain changes to your DNA. Those changes have begun to manifest in unusual ways. But we believe that there was a purpose to them. The Edrehmaia have said that you can help us understand them better. Is that true?” the Doctor asked.
Velth clearly didn’t comprehend the question. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I already told you everything I saw out there. I think they tried to communicate with me, but I never understood them.”
“It’s okay,” Conlon said. “There have been a lot of big changes around here lately. We’re all doing the best we can to keep up. We think,” she continued, “that their work out here is inhibited by the galactic barrier. We believe they want us to help them pass through it so they can leave our galaxy. I’ve given the matter some thought and the only solution I can come up with involves using our slipstream drive. Slipstream tunnels are created at the intersection of normal space and subspace. They are a bridge of sorts between these two dimensions. A properly calculated jump could take us through the barrier without breaking it, but even so, I’m not sure our ship or crew would survive passage.”
“I don’t really…” Velth began, but before he could finish that thought, his body began to tremble. Panic flashed briefly across his face before he seemed to stabilize.
“His state has begun to fluctuate,” the Doctor noted.
“Be careful,” Glenn ordered.
Both the Doctor and Conlon stepped back as Velth lifted himself up and stepped down from the biobed. He stood silently, ignoring the two holograms, and scanned the cargo bay.
“Get them out of there,” Kim’s voice came over the comm.
“Agreed,” Glenn said. “Step outside the force field.”
The Doctor and Conlon complied. Velth didn’t seem to mind. He kept focusing on various cargo containers until, finally, his eyes fixed on a small set of crates. He walked toward them, passing through the force field as if it didn’t exist.
“So much for that,” Conlon said softly.
“We are ready to vent the bay,” Glenn said.
“Wait,” Conlon said as she realized exactly which cargo containers had attracted Velth’s attention. “That’s what’s left of our benamite supply.”
Velth crossed to the containers, opened the topmost, and gathered a handful of pulverized benamite in his palm. As Conlon watched, fascinated, he closed his hand around the tiny fragments. His hand began to glow with a bright, orange light. When he opened his hand, a solid chunk of benamite rested on his palm.
Conlon moved toward him. Velth turned to her, extended his hand, and passed the crystal to her. Even as she recognized the extraordinary nature of what he had just done, there was no accompanying sense of elation. Those feelings were apparently beyond her. Still, she understood that one huge problem she had been working on since they arrived had likely just been solved.
“I’ll need to test its purity,” she said.
“There is more to be done,” Velth said, his voice low and toneless.
Conlon nodded. “How much more?”
“I require access to this vessel’s propulsion systems.”
18
VOYAGER
Counselor Cambridge had been standing outside the door to
