Dark Matters_ Ghost Dance (Book 2) - Christie Golden [83]
"The shields are down," said the captain. "Do it."
"Energize," Torres said, and crossed her fingers.
The transporter did not explode. The warp-core bubble did not burst. The extra terabytes provided by shutting down all nonessential computer activity enabled them to successfully dematerialize the first
two hundred without any problem. If only that awful noise and light would stop, Torres might begin to think of this task as a cakewalk.
"Get the next batch," she ordered.
Again, they dematerialized two hundred people, separated out the lethal mutated dark matter, and rematerialized them. And again, everything seemed to be all right.
"We were successful on our end, Captain. Awaiting your orders."
"Harry, any reaction?" asked Janeway.
For a moment, Kim didn't reply. "There's a lot going on. I've been following one signal that's been broadcasting every known instance of violence in the capital. They're saying that suddenly, in the midst of a street brawl, people shimmered out of existence and then reappeared."
"And?" Try as she might, Janeway couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice.
"And when they returned, they were horrified at what they'd done. The wounded are being cared for by the same people who inflicted the injuries." His face shone with delight. "It's working, Captain!"
"Tuvok?"
"Still no sign of aggression from the planet directed at us," Tuvok reported.
"Excellent. B'Elanna, continue."
There were fewer infected with the dark matter than Torres had feared. In groups of two hundred at a time, they located those whose tissue was inundated by the dark matter and freed them from the infection. Bit by bit, person by person, the Kwaisi returned to their normal selves.
Torres didn't let herself get too carried away. Then- plan might be working-all right, so it was working perfectly-but there were still so many dead, so much damaged. For not the first time, she wondered what the enigmatic Tialin was keeping from them. Certainly, the rogue Shepherd she had mentioned, Lhiau, was a danger. But why? What did he want? What was it Tialin had told the away team? "Far, far more is at stake than I am permitted to tell you." Torres had been so caught up hi figuring out how to unlock the orb's mysteries mat she had forgotten about the bigger picture. Well, that big picture was right below their orbiting ship. People were dying, were killing, because of Lhiau, and once this was over Torres was going to get some answers.
The process was a time-consuming one, as Seven had predicted. But the more people they cured of the dark matter contamination, the easier it became. The Kwaisi started working with them, instead of running madly in the streets. Janeway was able to establish contact with the Council, who had, by this time, returned to their former official building. They were able to negotiate shutting down the few weapons that would pose any threat. The replicators were put to work making blankets, clothing, and medical supplies. So as not to interfere with the transport of infected persons, all the shuttlecrafts, loaded with supplies, went to the surface.
Neelix sent little Naomi Wildman down to engineering with a tray of sandwiches and coffee. The nearly exhausted team partook eagerly. Torres noticed that Khala hesitated only briefly before taking her own sandwich; she did not inquire if it had been replicated.
They took breaks in shifts, calling in Carey, Vorrik, and others in engineering to take over for fifteen minutes at a stretch. Finally, hours later, it was done. Everyone on the planet surface who had been infected with dark matter had been cleansed of it.
"Well done, Torres," said Janeway. "How about non-humanoid life forms that have been infected?"
"Seven has the numbers on that. We can do it the same way we did the Kwaisi. It's a lot, but not more than we can handle."
"Excellent.