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"It does," said Seven. "We have been able to ascertain that all dark matter within its circumference was transported first to the orb and then to the warp bubble."

"All dark matter save that which is within living tissue," said Janeway thoughtfully. "It might be a safety measure of some sort"

'Too bad we don't have a real guinea pig," said Torres. "It would be nice to have a test subject other than a humanoid."

"Living tissue," said Janeway again. "Ensign Vorik, go to the aeroponics bay. Take your tricorder and scan the plants there for traces of dark matter. If you find any, bring them back here at once."

Vorik nodded and left immediately. Telek understood what Janeway was driving at. Plants had their own complexities, to be sure, but they weren't as complex as humanoids. Maybe the sphere would work on them.

Now, for perhaps the first time, the true scope of the task they had been set dawned on him. They would have to remove dark matter not only from space and from individuals. They would have to remove it from ships, from plants-from planets. From stars. From solar systems, perhaps. True, not every person or plant on every planet would be contaminated. In fact, the odds were that only a small percentage of dark matter would be present any time it was detected. Still, when one considered the vastness of space, it was a daunting task.

And the tiny, purple, floating orb was their only tool.

Vorik returned, carrying a tray with three plants of varying sizes. Torres appropriated them at once. "Seven," she asked, "is the radiation still present?"

"Affirmative, though it is slowly decreasing."

Carefully, holding the tray firmly, Torres extended it toward the sphere and held it there.

"The plants are within the radiation's-" began Seven, but the terrible noise and bright red light interrupted her. When they had faded, she checked the computer.

"The dark matter has been removed from all three of the plants," she said.

"Do you realize what this means?" said Telek, unable to control himself. "Captain, we can extract dark matter from anything now-plants, people, ships, even planets! All we need to do is to increase the size of the radiation sphere!"

"It's a good beginning," said Janeway, placing a cautioning hand on Telek's shoulder. "But we're far from being able to sweep entire planets clean."

"The transporter was operating at maximum capacity, and we were only able to increase it a little over a meter," added Torres, somewhat glumly.

Janeway's keen blue eyes examined each of them in turn. "Unless I'm greatly mistaken, we're well into the second shift. That means all of you are off duty."

They all protested at once. Janeway raised her hands, smiling. Her decision had been made. "Right now, it's going to take several more hours' worth of work before we've even transported the crews of the Kwaisi ships. The second shift should be able to handle that without a problem."

The door hissed open just as she was speaking. Harry Kim entered. He smiled when he met Khala's eyes. "I must agree with the captain," he said. "Khala, will you join me for dinner?"

Khala looked from Harry to Torres to Janeway. "You'll be back at work first thing in the morning, I assure you," said Janeway. "Because, like Dr. R'Mor, I too am looking forward to being able to rid entire planets of dark matter at a single go. In the meantime, eat something and go to bed. You all look exhausted."

It was nothing less than the truth. Telek could not see himself, but he could feel the strain in his shoulders and neck from the constant tension, could sense how bloodshot-green his eyes must be after hours with no breaks.

The crew exchanged glances, then silently headed for the door.

Harry had spent an entire hour wondering what to do for dinner with Khala. Should he program the holodeck? Khala might enjoy the slightly run-down but cozy atmosphere of Sandrine's, or the laid-back milieu of Polynesian resort simulation three. Perhaps she'd like a picnic on a ship