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"Eriih, may I say that Ulaahn cannot be held responsible for his actions, any more than you or the vandal in the street who attacked his neighbor. The dark matter rendered everyone affected temporarily insane, if it didn't attack them physically."

"Yes, the dark matter," said Eriih, deftly changing the subject. "We know of dark matter, Captain. Our scientists theorize that it is quite harmless. Please, if you have learned anything that may protect us in the future, we would be grateful to learn it."

"Dark matter is harmless in its natural state," said Janeway. A servant refilled her glass. She did not take another sip. "But the dark matter you encountered had been mutated, rendered dangerous."

"How?"

Janeway sighed. It had become abundantly clear to her that these people were litigious, orderly, detail-obsessed, and autocratic. She did not think that they would willingly let her go until they understood everything, down to the last detail. So, gritting her teeth, she explained everything as quickly as possible. She told them of the pursuit by the Romulans, of Telek's wormholes and their unwitting abduction of him. She spoke of the disasters her own ship had

faced, of locating Tialin, of the quest she had accepted to help remove all the mutated dark matter from the quadrant. She told of what the dark-matter cloaks had done to the Romulan warbirds, and how they had all worked together to decipher the purple sphere's mysteries.

"This Telek R'Mor-he is on your ship now? And he is the one who released this dark matter into the Delta Quadrant while he searched for your vessel?"

Janeway nodded. Then she realized why Eriih was asking the question. "Dr. R'Mor was forced to release the dark matter. He had no choice. His family was being held hostage," she said, perhaps too quickly. "Also, he had no idea at the time that the wormholes were releasing anything dangerous. It's largely because of him that we were able to utilize the Shepherd technology to save your world. You ought to be grateful to him."

"Oh, we are, we are. And to you, Captain." Eriih saluted her with his glass while the rest of the Council nodded their agreement. "And such evidence will no doubt exonerate your Romulan friend."

Janeway sat up straighter in her chair. "Exonerate?"

"Certainly. He released this terrible plague upon us, unwittingly or no. That he volunteered to correct his error will stand him in good stead at his trial."

Her eyes went icy. "There will be no trial of Dr. R'Mor. You have seen what this mutated dark matter can do. There are dozens of systems just like yours, infected and destroying themselves right this minute.

We have to go and help them. Surely you understand that!"

Eriih chuckled. "I'm not asking you to stay, Captain. Just release the doctor to us and you can be on your way."

"I can't do that. We need Dr. R'mor's knowledge and skill. Besides, he has more than atoned for-"

"That will be for a court to decide!" interrupted Ulaahn. "Dr. R'Mor committed a terrible crime against the Kwaisi. He must be tried by us!"

"I have had enough of this," said Janeway. She rose. The security guard behind her stepped backward. "We prevent Ulaahn from blowing up his entire fleet of ships and, incidentally, from killing hundreds of people, including himself. We work without ceasing to find a way to help your people and dozens more races just like yours. We come to your planet, render ourselves vulnerable in order to save your world, and you thank us by demanding that we turn over a skilled, remorseful scientist who will do far more good saving other people than languishing in a Kwaisi jail."

Eriih was frowning, but she didn't care. She pressed on.

"I have no wish to be rude, but it seems to me that R'Mor has done more than enough to help those he injured. Thank you for your hospitality, but we must be on our way." She touched her combadge. "Janeway to Voyager. Two to beam up."

Nothing happened. She touched