Dark Matters_ Shadow of Heaven (Book 3) - Christie Golden [34]
Engineering is operating at maximum capacity. There is dark matter everywhere, it seems. It is a good thing that we are not alone in this quest, that Tialin and her kind are also working toward this end. Our little ship couldn't hope to get it all.
Janeway paused and leaned back in her chair. "End entry to captain's log. Call up captain's personal log."
"Personal log awaiting entry."
"I really didn't expect it of Ulaahn," Janeway said quietly, her eyes seeing not the computer console in front of her but Ulaahn's last, determined look. See that you succeed. "He was arrogant, short-tempered, rude... and yet he believed us. He gave up his freedom, probably for the rest of his life, in order that we could go about accomplishing something that must seem incredibly far-fetched. And there's no way to prove to his council that he was right. If we succeed, his world will keep turning as it always has. And if we fail, well, no one will be around to gloat. The universe owes this man a great, great debt. Thank you, Ulaahn."
She turned around and regarded the stars streaking past in a graceful, silent ballet. A yawn caught her by surprise. It was late; she needed the rest. Janeway knew that she had a bad habit of driving herself too hard, and was not always the best judge of when to rest and when to push just a little bit more. But she'd said it herself in her log-she had a capable crew who knew exactly what was at stake, and exactly what to do about it. No captain could ask for more than that.
She yawned again, instructed the computer to lower the lights, and dressed for bed. Crawling in between the cool, crisp sheets, Janeway smiled a little to herself. They would succeed. Failure was not an option.
Alone in his quarters, Telek was feverishly entering his own thoughts into his personal log. Most of this he had already recounted, at the mockery of a hearing and to Janeway's senior staff. But he had to make certain he recorded it all. It would be vital for his Statement, when the time came.
"The Shepherds came into existence shortly after the dark matter itself," he said, speaking quickly and forcefully. "They realized what awesome power it had in forming and shaping the universes. Once they saw all the wondrous things that came into being, they realized that, knowing what they did, they could not be responsible for these things blinking out of existence. So they began guarding the dark matter, making certain that all the universes stayed at the critical balance, which we call the Omega balance.
"But Lhiau and others like him thought that this was foolish. What did they care about what pitiful creatures evolved, or were destroyed? They were safe in their third spaces, in their own universes that were not impacted by the presence or lack of dark matter. Perhaps they were not doing good after all. Perhaps they were interfering by making sure the universes stayed in perfect balance. The natural state of the universe is chaotic, and they decided to take it upon themselves to restore that chaotic state."
By duping foolish Romulans, and who knows how many other greedy, gullible races. By offering conquest as fleeting as a raindrop, conquest which will lead to the destruction of literally everything. My only hope is that there are wise heads who are daring to stand up to
Lhiau. Surely they must realize by now that the dark-matter cloaks are dangerous!
Telek did not underestimate the role he himself had unwittingly played. Thanks to his wormholes, the mutated dark matter had spewed into this quadrant like so much sewage. Now Voyager was racing to repair the damage, with the highest stakes imaginable.
He took a deep breath, and called up his Statement His mind was too active for him to sleep. He might as well keep working.
"We had no way of knowing