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"Tialin appeared differently to each of us, in the form of an elderly female we all knew and trusted," said Telek quickly. "I should have warned you."

The woman Seven saw was not elderly, but it was the only woman the child Annika had ever known. She steeled herself to watch and learn, and not be distracted by whatever form Tialin the Shepherd chose to assume.

"I am Tialin of the Shepherds," said Annika's mother. "You need my help-and we need yours."

"I don't understand," said Janeway. "You need our help?"

Tialin sighed. "1 suppose after your encounter with Lhiau I can understand your suspicion."

"You bet," muttered Torres.

"/ don't have time for this," snapped Janeway, stepping forward. Her hands went to her hips. "Are you a member of the Q continuum? You're certainly behaving like one."

"Oh God," said Torres over the captain's next comment. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"Ah, the Q," Tialin said. "Most amusing. Tricky folk, though, don't you find? "

"No trickier than you," said the videorecording of Telek. "We are dying. My people back in the Alpha Quadrant are dying, and all because of Shepherd-"

Looking uncomfortable, Telek stepped forward and pressed the keypads. The recorded image sped forward. "There is nothing here about the orb," he said by way of explanation. "Tialin explained that Lhiau was a rogue. This was when she removed the dark matter. There is absolutely no physical indication of how it was done. Here. This is where the sphere appears."

"Gaze into the sphere," said Tialin. "See there, caught safely, the First Things which have so plagued you. We have removed every trace of altered dark matter from your bodies and your vessels, and have contained it all within this sphere. I have rendered it visible to your limited range of viewing. It will trouble you and your crew no longer."

"See? She put it in That Damned Ball," said Torres.

"But think, Lieutenant. The sphere contains all the dark matter from our bodies and the ship, yes. But Tialin later indicates that there's much more out there.

How can this small orb contain so much dark matter? It must be an example, not the final container."

"Dark matter is very tiny," Torres pointed out.

"So is a drop of water," said Telek. "But an ocean is a very large thing indeed."

Seven gazed at the levitating orb. "Perhaps there is more to this sphere than we think." She was anxious to begin examining it on the precise frequency Telek had used before and was impatient with the recording. Nonetheless, it had proved useful already. There might yet be more to learn from it.

On the video, Tialin was tossing the ball to Paris. Torres's expression sobered somewhat. They listened in silence as Tialin explained that dark matter existed simultaneously in all universes, completely in none, save when it came into contact with subspace. This was what the evil Lhiau was doing: pulling the dark matter completely into the universe, rendering it incredibly dangerous. She asked for Voyager's help in tracking down the rest of the mutated dark matter.

"Here it is," said Telek.

"We gift this technology to you," Tialin said.

"Yes," said Torres, "I know that, but..."

"Shh," said Telek. "Listen."

"We will give you the ability to locate and contain the mutated dark matter," continued Tialin.

"We know how to locate it," said Telek. "We've already reconfigured the transporters. The orb is the key to telling us how to contain it."

Torres had opened her mouth when the scream startled them all. It had come from the tricorder recording,

and it had issued from Khala's throat. They stated, transfixed and silent, as light flooded the cavern.

"No!" Khala was crying. "No, not again, not to another dead place-"

Seven recognized that light. It was the same brilliant illumination they had seen just before an entire planet winked out of existence, only to return devastated. Rocks seemed to appear from nowhere, and