Dark Matters_ Ghost Dance (Book 2) - Christie Golden [64]
If only they knew what had happened to him.
Most of the time, B'Elanna had mentally integrated Khala as a member of the crew. But now and then, with no warning, she would stop and regard the blue woman with fresh eyes. She was an alien, with a strangeness to her that they had never encountered before, and she was here, and Tom was gone.
And Chakotay. Once an object of misplaced romantic attraction, he was now the dearest friend B'Elanna had in the world. Captain Janeway inspired fierce loyalty and absolute trust, but Chakotay had an ease about him that relaxed the crew in stressful times. Everyone was suffering because of his absence.
"Dammit," she said angrily. She rose and went to the shower. To distract herself from missing Tom and Chakotay-a fruitless exercise that did nothing but cause her heart to contract and distract her from the true business at hand-she turned her attention to the puzzle they'd been working on last night
That Damned Ball could extract dark matter from transported objects. It could extract it from any plant or any inanimate material placed within the sphere of radiation it created when supplied with sufficient energy. But the radiation would not extract dark matter from humans.
Sufficient energy were the two key words. Torres stepped out of the shower and began to dress. The transporter could provide only a certain amount of energy, and they'd utilized it to the fullest yesterday.
When it occurred to her, Torres literally groaned. It was so obvious, why hadn't she seen it before? Why hadn't anyone seen it before?
She struggled into her uniform, pulled on her boots, carelessly ran a comb through her wild locks, and almost ran to engineering.
"The warp core," she said as she entered. Everyone turned to stare at her. Seven was there, as usual, and Khala and Telek were just coming in.
"What about the warp core?" asked Khala. Her eyes widened. "The warp bubble-it is holding stable, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes," said Torres impatiently. "For the energy. To boost the circumference of the radiation sphere around That Damned Ball. We need to use the warp core."
Torres ordered strong coffee, as close an approximation to fresh-brewed as Neelix could make, sent down from the mess hall. She was annoyed and gladdened to see that Neelix had also sent down some delicious-looking pastries, conveniently cot into bite-sized pieces for a quick gulp now and then.
"Are these-" began Khala, then she stopped herself. "No, I won't ask. It doesn't really matter whether they're replicated or not, and if I don't ask, I won't be able to tell." With an incongruously grim expression, she picked up a piece of pastry and ate it
Torres bit back an angry retort. She had, frankly, had it up to here with Khala's reluctance to eat food if it wasn't replicated. Food was food, and if it tasted good and it nourished you, who the hell cared if it came out of the dirt or a replicator? But it was clear that Khala was trying. Which was good, because the next time the alien woman complained about Voyager's fresh food, Torres wasn't sure if she could resist shoving it in Khala's face.
They ate and drank and talked excitedly with their mouths full. They ran some simulations, and it looked as if it could work. There was only one slight problem.
"We're going to have to take the warp core offline," Torres stated in a staff meeting a few hours later. "And probably the shields will have to be down as well."
Janeway raised an eyebrow. "I see," she said.
"Everything seems to point toward a direct proportional increase," said Telek. "If we were to attempt to cleanse a ship, for instance, we would require less power than if we were attempting to cleanse a whole planet."
"I