Death of a Neutron Star - Eric Kotani [33]
"I can do that," Seven said. "Five minutes."
"Good," Janeway said. "Out."
"Doctor," she said to Maalot, "would you join us hi my ready room in five minutes." He nodded at the request.
She was almost back to the door into her ready room when Ensign Kim stopped her.
"Captain, the Xorm ship is hailing us."
Janeway shook her head. In the fight with the Qavok and all the push to solve the problem of directing the neutron star so it wouldn't destroy entire systems, she had forgotten about the Xorm ship.
"On screen," she said, moving over and standing in front of her command chair.
Captain Fedr's face appeared. He was smiling, still wearing the same garments he'd worn earlier.
"Nice fighting, Captain," he said, almost laughing. "The Qavok do not take easily to defeat."
"I've heard that," Janeway said. "And if they'd just left us alone, they wouldn't have lost those ships."
"I know that," he said. "You seem to be an honorable race, you humans."
"We do our best," Janeway said.
"I'd like to warn you about something we've heard," Captain Fedr said.
"Well, thank you," Janeway said.
Fedr shrugged. "Anyone who can set the Qavok on their heels as you did deserves all the help they can get."
"So what have you heard?" Janeway said. She really didn't have time to stand here and gossip. There was too much work to do and not enough time to do it.
Captain Fedr took a deep breath and dove right in. "The Qavok intend to try to alter the course of the larger neutron star. I know that sounds impossible, but they seem to think they can do it. We're not exactly sure where they plan on trying to aim the thing."
Janeway nodded. "We've heard the same thing. But we are at a loss as to how they intend to do it."
"As are we," Captain Fedr said, almost relieved that Janeway knew about the Qavok plot. "The energy needed would be too extreme for them to produce."
"We've come to the same conclusion," Janeway said. "But what worries me is that they believe they can do it. They must have run the same mathematical calculations as we did."
"True," Fedr said. He was now frowning. "Very true. The Qavok are not entirely stupid."
"My people are working on the problem now," Janeway said. "If we discover anything, we will let you know at once."
"And we will do the same in return," Fedr said. "Good luck."
"And to you," Janeway said.
Captain Fedr's face was replaced by the images of the revolving neutron stars. She stared at it for a moment, just taking in the incredible beauty of it. And the magnitude.
It was Dr. Maalot who set the tone for the meeting with a provocative question.
"Seven," he said, "if a warp core were dumped into the neutron star, what would be the result?"
"The tidal forces would tear it apart, causing a breach and a warp-core explosion."
"And would such an explosion have an effect on the less massive of the neutron stars?"
"Of course," Seven said. "But the energy would not be enough to cause the explosion at an exact point in time."
"Not at the exact moment of the warp-core explosion," Dr. Maalot said. "But it would alter the eventual time of the final moment of the binary, and thus alter the course of the neutron star runaway. Am I correct?"
Seven stared at him for a moment, then said, "You are correct."
"So," B'Elanna said, slowly. "If we know the exact time of the coming explosion and then work backward, we should be able to find a point where applying enough energy would change that time enough to cause a desired change of path for the runaway star."
"Exactly," Dr. Maalot said.
"That would not be practical to predict," Seven said.
Dr. Maalot ignored her. "The two stars are orbiting each other every few hundred milliseconds at the moment. Even the slightest change in the equilibrium of the secondary could cause it to explode sooner."
"Very true," Janeway said. She glanced at B'Elanna. From the look on her