Atonement (47 page)

Reg might be able to fix this oversight. But that would give Xolani time to fight back. The longer he existed inside the Doctor's program, the more likely it was that he would find a way around or through his security protocols.

More important, Nancy Conlon was already dead and only the Doctor could bring her back.

Without further hesitation or remorse, the Doctor transferred Xolani into the segregated buffer Lewis Zimmerman had designed and Reg Barclay had modified. He then deleted the
entire segregated file and was immediately granted an overwhelming rush of solace through the “dopamine effect” Zimmerman had included in the subroutine.

It had taken the Doctor less than one second to secure his matrix and sacrifice forever a small piece of his soul. Once done, he ordered Nurse Bens to lower the force fields and enter the surgical area. He then set about reviving Nancy Conlon.

•   •   •   •   •

Admiral Kathryn Janeway stepped down into the command well and moved to Chakotay's side. She immediately noted the body of Kashyk lying on the deck, his face mangled and bloody, his torso charred. Before she could ask, a familiar shrill whine sounded and his body vanished in the cascading brilliance of transporter beams. Seconds later, the bodies of Tirrit and Adaeze were taken.

“Dead?” she asked of Chakotay.

“Tirrit and Adaeze turned their weapons on each other. General Mattings executed Emem,” he replied.

Janeway immediately looked to the general, her eyes blazing.

“In my defense, Admiral, he was asking for it,” Mattings noted.

Janeway's jaw clenched. She felt Chakotay's hand come to rest on her arm. The look in his eyes clearly communicated that he shared her disgust at the general's actions, but the situation was more complicated than they had time to discuss at the moment. “He literally was,” Chakotay said softly. “Decan says they've all left the ship.”

“To go where?”

“We don't know. Ensign Gwyn, I thought we were trying to move away from the hax,” Chakotay said as the creature grew larger on the viewscreen, now clearly approaching the ship's position.

“That's a hax?” Janeway asked.

“Technically, the Obihhax,” Chakotay corrected her. “It's a subspace-born life-form the Seriareen used to carve their corridors. This one was combined with an ancient Seriareen essence named Obih several thousand years ago.”

“This is why Lsia brought us here,” Janeway realized.

“She
intended to rouse it, which she did, and then tame it in some way. She would have had us guide it away from here,” Chakotay advised.

“How?”

“We didn't get that far.”

The view of the creature from the bridge was more alarming than it had been in engineering. Its massive head came to a diamond-shaped point. At its widest, the head was ringed by spherical gray protrusions. They might be eyes and would give the creature three-hundred-and-sixty-degree sightlines. Behind the protrusions, several sheaths of long, spiked tendrils flowed outward in all directions, a headdress of sorts. From there, its body extended for kilometers, its girth the size of several
Vesta
-class starships.

Its motion suddenly became incoherent. Ceasing its forward motion, it thrashed about as if attempting to elude capture. But its head and most of those eyes remained focused on
Voyager.

Its cries still reverberated through Chakotay's mind. Several other bridge officers also appeared to “hear” it, including Gwyn. The helmsman was clearly doing her best to comply with Chakotay's orders, but
Voyager
's motion was as sluggish as the creature's. The only two people on the bridge seemingly unaffected by the psionic communication of the hax were Admiral Janeway and General Mattings. Chakotay wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that neither of them had experienced direct telepathic contact with the protectors.

“Every time it moves, the creature is throwing off new energy waves,” Gwyn reported. “It creates new subspace instabilities with every shift.”

“Can you navigate around them?” Chakotay asked.

“Not quickly,” Gwyn replied.

“Best effort,” Chakotay ordered.

“Aye, sir.”

“This is nothing compared to the size of the new instabilities it would create should it decide to start making new subspace tunnels,” Janeway noted.

“Do
you think it would agree not to if we asked it nicely?” Chakotay asked semiseriously.

Suddenly, the Obihhax surged decisively toward
Voyager
. If its intention was to appear menacing, it succeeded.

“Back off,” Gwyn said, clearly shocked. “And pipe down,” she added, briefly massaging her temple.

Captain Chakotay watched as the creature's head lifted, and it cried out again.

“Captain,” Waters called from ops. “Three new energy readings have been detected. They're emerging from the hax.”

Chakotay inhaled sharply. Three of the spiked tentacles near the hax's head had begun to elongate. Once they had reached a length of a thousand meters, they separated from the main body.

“Are those . . .?” Chakotay began.

“Offspring,” Janeway suggested. “I guess we know where the Seriareen went.”

The three new, smaller versions of the creature began flitting about the head. Whether they were communicating with it or simply trying to get its attention was hard to discern.

“Lieutenant Aubrey, I assume our weapons are once again online and functional?”

“Aye, sir,” Aubrey replied.

The Obihhax again brought its head down and looked ready to cross the few thousand kilometers that separated them and take a bite out of the ship.

“Fire a warning shot,” Chakotay ordered. “Don't hit it, but let it know we can defend ourselves if it forces us to do so.”

“Captain, no,” Mattings said quickly, but too late to stay Aubrey's hand.

A short series of phaser bursts flew forth, and for a moment, it looked like an explosion had detonated all around the hax.
Voyager
shuddered under the impact of its own phasers.

“Report!” Chakotay demanded.

“The shots were refracted by the various instabilities,” Aubrey said. “I don't think we should do that again,” he added.

“That's a problem throughout the wastes,” Mattings noted.

“You
picked a hell of a time to share that information,” Chakotay said, clearly furious.

“We came out here as friends. I wasn't anticipating a firefight,” Mattings said.

The shots did have the effect of disorienting the Obihhax. It arched its body downward, and the head momentarily disappeared from the viewscreen. Waters automatically adjusted the magnification on the display, and the hax could be seen writhing strenuously.

“We can't let the hax leave this area,” Chakotay noted.

“But how can we force it to stay?” Janeway asked. “Or better yet . . .”

“Eliminate all of them,” Chakotay agreed.

Harry Kim's head shot up. “Friends,” he said softly.

“Harry?” Chakotay asked.

Kim rose, staring at the viewscreen.

“We have friends here,” Kim said.

“Who?”

“The protectors.”

“These wave forms were created by the hax,” Chakotay reminded him. “They have no idea who we are.”

“The ruptures allow any wave form existing anywhere in subspace to access this area,” Kim said. “We don't need to worry about the ones that are already here. We need to call the ancient ones.”

“They'll hear us?”

Kim nodded.

“Harry, are you sure you can do this right now?”

Kim's eyes locked with his captain's. “I apologize for my outburst, sir.”

Janeway had no idea what “outburst” Kim was referring to, but figured the explanation would figure prominently in Chakotay's report, should they all live that long.

Chakotay studied Kim. “Apology accepted. Do it.”

Kim moved quickly to the ops station, and Waters stepped aside to allow him access. As he began to work, Janeway said, “We might be able to create a firing solution using photon torpedoes targeted to avoid any of the subspace instabilities.”

“Aubrey,”
Chakotay ordered, “see if it's possible.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Any detonation large enough to destroy the Source would take us with it,” Mattings advised.

“If the choice is sacrificing ourselves to keep this creature from carving its way through inhabited systems, I can accept that,” Janeway replied coldly.

“The Source would never hurt us, Admiral,” Mattings argued.

“You can't know that.”

“Yes, I can.”

Finally, several familiar shapes emerged from a nearby instability and moved toward
Voyager.
The ancient protectors had arrived.

“Good work, Harry. What are you telling them?” Chakotay asked.

“I'm trying to make them understand the danger the hax poses to us. I'm asking them to contain it.”

“You mean destroy it?” Mattings asked.

“If that's the only way,” Kim replied.

“No, son,” Mattings said, stepping toward the ops station and looking up at Kim. “You can't.”

“General,” Chakotay said, “do not give orders to my crew.”

“It's not an order, Captain. It's a request. The Source is ours. You have no right to destroy it.”

“It's a fascinating life-form, but it's also an immediate threat to this ship and the galaxy,” Chakotay said.

The protectors Kim had summoned began to merge and expand in size. As they did so, they began to move toward the hax, clearly ready to act against it.

“There has to be another way,” Mattings exclaimed. “With all you people have learned in your travels, you expect me to believe that the best you can do is just kill it?”

“No, no, no,” Kim said suddenly.

The forward motion of the protectors had ceased, and they were beginning to separate.

“What's the problem, Lieutenant?” Chakotay demanded.

Before Kim could answer, the hax let out another shriek and moved toward the ancient protectors, weaving in and out through them.

Kim was clearly struggling to interpret the data he was receiving. “They won't harm the hax,” Kim finally replied.

“Make them understand what will happen to us if they don't,” Chakotay ordered.

Kim transmitted another message. This time, in response, one of the ancient ones broke off from the group and began to move swiftly back toward
Voyager.

“Aubrey, prepare countermeasures,” Chakotay ordered. “Disperse it.”

“Wait,” Kim said. “It's transmitting a response.”

“Well?”

“They believe we have been corrupted by our exposure to their creators,” Kim reported, aghast. “Otherwise, we would never ask this of them.”

“The Confederacy did what they did for material gain,” Chakotay said. “We're trying to survive.”

“I'm afraid they don't see the distinction, Captain,” Kim said.

“Can they at least protect us from the creature?” Janeway asked.

“I'll ask,” Kim replied.

Moments later, the nearest protector again altered course and rejoined the others. Gwyn was slowly but surely putting more distance between the ship and the hax, but not enough to make anyone on the bridge feel safe.

“I guess we'll take that as a ‘no,' ” Chakotay said.

“They didn't say ‘no,' Captain,” Kim reported. “They said we did not require their protection.”

Suddenly, the three smaller creatures that had been moving erratically near the head of the Obihhax broke off and began to move decisively toward
Voyager.

“I think they were wrong,” Janeway noted.

“Aubrey, do you have a firing solution for our torpedoes?” Chakotay asked.

“Can
I ask them something?” General Mattings requested. “Can I ask the Source something
through the ancient ones
?”

Chakotay turned to Janeway. “At this point, can it hurt?” she said.

“Go ahead, General,” Chakotay replied.

Mattings was momentarily overcome with embarrassment. “I'm sorry. I'm not used to praying, let alone in public.”

“Whatever you plan to say, General, make it quick,” Janeway insisted.

Stepping closer to Kim and leaning over his console to speak softly, Mattings began, “I know what you are. I know what you've done for my people. I know that your plans for us are greater than any one moment in time can contain. Not for myself, but for those who have come to know and trust in you, I ask your mercy. I ask you to continue to guide us, to watch over us, and, as you see fit, to reveal yourself to us. Please, do not abandon us. We are a better people, thanks to you.”

Silence fell heavy over the bridge. Given the fact that the protectors did not speak in words, but in images, Janeway wondered how Kim had translated the general's message.

As the hax began to move, she stopped wondering.

Its writhing stilled. Turning its head again toward the ship, it lurched forward, covering more space in a single motion than it had until now. As it surged, its mouth opened wider.

“Source, no,” Mattings said softly.

“Gwyn, evasive maneuvers,” Chakotay ordered.

The Obihhax continued forward until it reached the three small hax it had just released. Their forward momentum ebbed, and they were suddenly sucked back toward the open mouth of the Obihhax. With a violent screech, the Obihhax brought its mouth closed around them, swallowing them whole in one bite.

It then lifted its head gracefully and reversed its direction, heading toward roughly the same point it had occupied when it had first been discovered.

The ancient protectors Kim had called had begun to expand
again, this time joining with many of the other wave forms native to the area.