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And then there he was, looking stunned and not a little offended. He straightened and strode up to her. "How dare you abduct a Kwaisi captain! This is an insult, an outrage!"

She smiled in relief. Good, simple, healthy anger. Gone was the cowering, despairing figure about to assassinate his own people and himself in the mistaken belief that they deserved such treatment.

"But, Ulaahn," she said mildly, "what does it matter what we do to you? You deserve to die, remember? You were about to annihilate your own species. Shall we beam you back to your vessel and let you continue?"

The black eyes widened. "So I was," he said, softly. "I was about to-Fate forgive me, I did destroy one of-Captain, how did you effect this cure? What wondrous thing have you done?"

"No wonder," said Janeway, "just science. But time is crucial here, Captain. You need to speak with your people before it's too late."

"Open a hailing frequency to Ulaahn's vessel," said Janeway as she and the alien strode onto the bridge from the turbolift.

"Captain!" exclaimed the paler alien who was

clearly Ulaahn's second-in-command. "You just disappeared. We didn't know what to think!" His thick lips turned downward. "Though any end would have been fitting, after what we have done."

"Orric!" snapped Ulaahn. "Listen to me. I am commander of this fleet, and I am about to issue a direct order. No one will disobey it."

Orric seemed chagrined. "Of course, as ever, I listen, Captain."

"I have agreed to permit Captain Janeway to transport everyone onto her ship, one by one, and to have full run of our vessels until such time as I deem fit. Is this understood?"

Orric cocked his head. His voice was full of confusion. "Yes, Captain. Understood. Though it will only prolong our eventual and much-desired self-destruction."

"Never mind that," said Ulaahn. In the turbolift, he and Janeway had agreed mat trying to convince the other Kwaisi that the dark matter was the real threat was a waste of precious time. Obedience was all mat was required now, and from what she was gleaning of Kwaisi culture, obedience would be granted. There would be ample opportunity for discussion once the crew members were all returned to their right frame of mind. "You are trained to obey your captain. Obey him now."

"I shall, Captain."

Ulaahn turned to Janeway. "Prepare to beam my crew aboard, Captain. They are in your capable hands."

By the time they had transported thirty Kwaisi and completely eliminated all traces of dark matter from their systems, Torres was beginning to feel cautiously optimistic. At one point, during a brief break, she glanced at the hovering ball with something akin to affection. They were all getting used to the awful screeching noise the ball emitted every time they utilized it as a conduit for the dark matter. Seven had adjusted her ocular implant to account for the bright, bloodred light so that she, unlike the others, was not forced to look away and could continue working.

With Janeway's permission, they rotated their own crew with those of the alien vessels. One by one, slowly but steadily, the crews of all the ships were being purged of the deadly dark matter. Everyone in engineering had been transported and reassembled. Torres couldn't speak for everyone, but she knew she felt calmer and more stable now that she knew the dreadful stuff was no longer in her tissues.

So far, everything was performing without a flaw. Khala was monitoring the status of their warp bubble universe and just kept nodding her head every time. All was well there. It pleased Torres to watch the affected Kwaisi enter as hostile, frightened, or otherwise mentally disturbed beings and emerge after the transport slightly stunned and sometimes sheepish, but sane.

Results. Torres liked results.

"Lieutenant Torres," came Seven's cool voice.

Please, no problems, not now that we've finally figured this out. "What is it, Seven?"

"Because of the adjustment to my ocular implant,

I have been able to