Dark Matters_ Cloak and Dagger (Book 1) - Christie Golden [12]
Janeway hesitated. Seven of Nine spoke up. "There is no question about it. Voyager would fall almost immediately before thirteen warbirds."
Telek swiveled his seat and his eyes widened as he took in Seven's implants. "Are you an android?" he asked.
Seven straightened in her seat and replied haughtily, "No. I am-I was-Borg."
"Borg?" Telek cocked his head.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Janeway had to smile. "Now that one is a long, long story, Doctor. Suffice it to say that if Seven says something, the odds are it's right."
Telek cleared his throat. "As you will. To con-
tinue, once we had seized control of Voyager, it would be easy to take her back through the wormhole. The Empire would thus have captured a ship twenty years in advance of anything known."
"The ease with which the Romulans would have been able to study and replicate the vessel is disturbing," said Tuvok. "The Federation of 2351 would have had a difficult time defending itself effectively."
"It was a Romulan dream come true," said Telek. "But it didn't happen that way. Not yet. And if I have anything to do with it, it never will. I did yield to the Tal Shiar to save my family, Captain Janeway. But I never intended to betray you or the timeline. The wormhole through which you beamed me aboard should have remained open. The warbirds were preparing to traverse it. However... accidents do happen. Accidents," he amended, sorrow tingeing his voice, "such as my being trapped on the wrong side of the wormhole when it closed."
"But, that's good," said Torres. Everyone glared at her. She didn't seem the least troubled by the nonverbal censure. "Think about it. Telek, from what I've heard, this whole project was your baby. You have the knowledge to create these wormholes."
He nodded. "Yes."
"Then with you here, they're stuck. They won't be able to make another wormhole."
"Would that it were so easy," said Telek. "Once, this was indeed my project, and mine alone. Toward the end, I was given assistants-if you can call them that. My notes were taken and analyzed. Given time,
others would be able to decipher the encryption. They could learn to manipulate the technology I designed without me. And believe me, with a prize such as Voyager hanging before them with all the allure of fruit ripe for the picking, the Tal Shiar will not give up."
"Forewarned is forearmed," said Chakotay. "So, finding us was your first set of orders. What was the second?"
Telek frowned. "Chairman Kaleh was not the only notable personage waiting for me. With her was an alien from a race I have never seen before. He called himself Ambassador Lhiau and said he represented a race called the Shepherds."
Paris coughed. Janeway didn't spare him a glance.
"For the last several months, the Tal Shiar, Ambassador Lhiau, and I have been working covertly together on my wormhole technology." He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "You see, Captain, Lhiau tells us that the Shepherds are able to manipulate dark matter."
"Such a statement is highly improbable," stated Seven. "While we can recognize it and have even encountered dark matter nebulas, no known species has been able to properly categorize dark matter, let alone manipulate it. Your doubt regarding this... this Shepherd is apparent. It may be well placed. Lhiau must have been lying to you."
The upswept eyebrows lifted in offense as Telek turned to Seven. "You may have met many people in the Delta Quadrant, but I dare say you have not met every species that exists," said Telek tightly.
Seven frowned. "The Borg have assimilated over-"
"I've seen it done!" Telek said, his voice rising. "Lhiau is coy, he will not share the secret of how the Shepherds can do it, but they can indeed control dark matter. They have a device that is able