• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Seven shook her head, as if she could physically dislodge the disconcerting thoughts. She had been on Voyager for over two years now. She was more human than Borg. And yet, every time she met a new race, she immediately lapsed into the old, Borg way of cataloging them.

She did not like it.

Seven forced herself to return her attention to the task at hand. Long fingers, some formed of flesh and some of metal, flew over the controls as she broke down the sample of Neelix's brain tissue into its various components and entered the formula Telek had requested.

She saw nothing unusual and was about to move on when the shadow of the Romulan fell across the console.

"Wait a moment," said Telek. "If I may

Without waiting for an answer, he stepped forward and adjusted the controls. He tapped in a second formula, frowned, entered a third. Seven raised an eyebrow in admiration. This scientist knew what he was

doing. In fact, he knew more than she did. The numbers meant nothing to her, the formula was a jumble. She was about to open her mouth to request mat he explain what he was doing when Telek stiffened.

"You have found something?" she asked.

At once, the Doctor was at their side, peering over Telek's shoulder. "What is it?"

Telek's deft fingers flew again over the controls. An image appeared, barely visible. "Computer," he instructed, "enlarge image."

Seven realized she was looking at a single cell. Genetic material floated in the watery cytoplasm, enclosed within the plasma membrane. So much she was familiar with.

"Computer, enlarge grid C-four." At once, the computer focused on and enlarged the requested grid. "Again."

Seven frowned. A small black dot floated freely in the cytoplasm. "That is unlike anything I have ever seen," she said.

"That," said Telek heavily, "is because it is something you have never seen. Computer, calculate estimated amount of gravity on this vessel. Cross-reference with known amount of matter present."

Seven and the Doctor exchanged puzzled glances. What was Telek doing? How did this absurd exercise relate to Neelix's condition, or the strange black dot floating about in one of bis cells?

"Calculation complete," said the computer in its cool, crisp, female voice. "There is a discrepancy of.000000173 grams."

"Lighter or heavier?"

"Heavier."

"Doctor R'Mor," began the Doctor, "we are allegedly working with you in solving this conundrum. Perhaps you'd care to enlighten us?"

"A moment, Doctor," Telek replied absently. "Seven of Nine, can you run this calculation on Voyager's- what were they? The gel packs we were discussing?'

"Bio-neural gel packs," Seven replied.

"Yes, of course. Can you run the calculation on the bio-neural gel packs and the structure of the ship itself, if you would."

Seven let the accomplishment of the task be the answer. Unaccustomed to human reaction as she still was, she felt the prickling of hair along her body as a primal chill raced through her when she saw what her calculations yielded. In both the physical structure of the vessel and in the bio-neural gel packs, mere was clear evidence of the same mysterious black dots mat they had discovered in Neelix's body.

"Behold one of the greatest mysteries of science of this or any era," said Telek, his voice filled with both harshness and wonder.

"What is mis we are seeing?" demanded the Doctor.

Telek looked him square in the eye. "Something that has until recently never revealed itself to mortal eyes. You have the dubious pleasure of looking upon an individual particle of dark matter itself."

CHAPTER 4

JANEWAY STARED AT THE BLACK SPOT ON NEELIX'S brain cell. A slow, hot anger rose in her.

"Whatever you may think of us, Telek, surely you know we're not fools. Dark matter isn't the mystery it was to us a few hundred years ago. We've even piloted Voyager through a dark-matter nebula, and the only threat we encountered was