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By Root 545 0

none of them is from our time. The Shepherds are the ones who are causing all of mis, and yet it's precisely the Shepherds to whom we're turning for help. A planet just blips in and out of existence, and the only living thing on it can't possibly be alive according to your readings. You've got to admit," she said, playfully shoving the tricorder into his chest, "it's pretty funny."

He followed her as she walked back to the group. "I see nothing at all humorous hi our situation I"

"Come on, Doctor," Janeway said, "laughter is the best medicine."

He sniffed. "Oh," he said, sarcasm dripping from the words, "there's a line I haven't heard before."

Sobering, Janeway changed the subject. "Regardless of what your tricorder is saying, everything does point to a life-form reading on the planet Telek, keep monitoring the Shepherd activity. I want to know if there's any kind of change: if it changes location, changes to a different frequency, grows stronger or weaker, anything. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Paris, Chakotay, you two stay here and get us ready for..." She paused, glanced up at the mountain and the churning black skies beyond it, and grimaced. "For that Doctor, you and I are going to find this strange being and see if we can't get some answers."

The two of them followed the trail the bizarre readings indicated. Once, the planet trembled from aftershocks. Janeway immediately checked in with her crew, and luckily no one was injured.

Janeway wasn't sure what to expect. There was nothing to indicate that mis might be one of the Shepherds; the readings were entirely different.

But what was it? A new life-form, bom the moment the rest of this ghost planet died? The killer, come to gloat about his cruel victory? She knew she shouldn't be speculating. She had nothing to go on.

The Doctor was silent, save for a few muttered complaints against the equipment. Because there was no protective ozone layer, the grass beneath their feet was already turning brown and crackly. Dust stirred with their footfalls. Their path led them out of the demolished city of the newly dead and into the soft, rolling shapes of the foothills.

"The readings are getting stronger," the Doctor said.

"Approximate mass size?"

"The tricorder refuses to cooperate," growled the Doctor, whapping the offending instrument with his hand. Janeway had to smile. "Ah, there we are. Fifty-five kilograms, one hundred sixty-four centimeters tall."

"Humanoid?"

"The measurements fit, but it could be anything. Especially if any of these readings are actually accurate." He paused. "Six meters up ahead," he said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Behind that pile of boulders."

Janeway drew her phaser. She locked gazes with the Doctor and nodded.

"Come out from behind the rocks," she ordered in a clear voice mat carried. "We are armed and we will defend ourselves if necessary."

There was no response at first. Then Janeway heard a heavy, very human-sounding sigh. "You won't need any weapons," came a soft, female voice.

The being rose from where she had been sitting behind the boulders. She was the most beautiful young woman Janeway had ever seen, and her eyes held a world of pain.

CHAPTER 13

PARIS WAS NOT IN THE MOOD FOR MOUNTAIN CLIMB-ing, and by that indication alone, he knew he was really ill. Hie others had talked about his displays of "paranoia," but his thoughts and reactions always seemed rational to him. He couldn't understand what they were talking about

But this... Tom remembered loving the exhilaration of a good climb. He knew that once he'd have tackled this challenge with a grin. Now, all he wanted to do was go back to the ship and sit in his quarters, seeing no one, not even B'Elanna, and doing nothing. And mat's how he knew that he was indeed as sick from the dark matter infection as he could possibly be.

"Ready to beam down equipment," came Lyssa's voice on bis combadge.

"Okay," he told her.

Two pairs of hiking boots and a backpack