Mosaic - Jeri Taylor [122]
Their retreat, however, was just a first step in the ultimate goal: rescuing the away team. And as yet, Janeway had no clue as to their whereabouts or their condition. The nagging thought that they could have suffered the same fate as the Kazon was one she kept to one side of her mind. She'd come this far and she wasn't about to let quibbling doubts stop her now.
Many of Tuvok's team had fallen into an exhausted slumber, the events of the last nine hours having taken a heavy toll. Tuvok and Kim, however, were determined to analyze and master the technology that was operative in this strange chamber, and to gain control over the entrance. They couldn't simply stay cooped up in this room forever; somehow, they had to find a way out of the underground labyrinth and make contact with Voyager. But so far, their efforts had been futile. Harry had tried every approach to alien technology he'd ever studied and quite a few that he invented there on the spot. And finally, he decided to try the one thing his scientific mind had rejected. "Sir," he said to Tuvok, "it's possible the technology is telepathically controlled. Maybe you could try accessing the program that's controlling this chamber."
Tuvok's eyebrow lifted slightly, but he immediately put his fingers on the panel they believed to contain the controls, and brought his formidable Vulcan telepathic powers to bear on them. But after several minutes, he removed his hands and turned to Harry. "I am unable to make a telepathic connection," he stated.
Harry moved immediately toward Kes, nestled in Neelix's arms, and roused her from a drowsy slumber. "What is it, Harry?" He repeated what he'd said to Tuvok, and Kes listened intently. "I'm not sure how to do that," she replied.
"Neither am I. But you seemed to have some kind of intuitive connection to whatever was happening hereyou were drawn toward this room for no clear reason, you heard things..."
She looked up at him, eyes troubled. "You're right. And I certainly heard the message the humanoid left. But I don't know about accessing a program-that's pretty specific. I wouldn't know how to start."
"Maybe you could focus on the humanoid projection. It could be more of an interactive program than it first appeared-you might be able to get him to reappear. At least it's a beginning."
She nodded, and wentto the panel that seemed to contain the controls. Harry saw her close her eyes and concentrate, frowning slightly with the effort. Minutes passed as Harry and Tuvok watched and waited, accompanied by the sonorous breathing of the sleeping crew. Occasionally, a flicker of something would seem to cross Kes' face, and the two men would become alert, watching for some indication that she was achieving success, but each time her features relaxed again into her pose of concentration.
Finally, she opened her eyes and shook her head. "It's no use. I've tried every technique I know. When I wasn't trying, I seemed to get all these sensations, but I can't get them back now."
No sooner had those words left her lips than the holographic humanoid shimmered back into view, wings beating gently as before. Startled, Kes turned to him and refocused her concentration. Harry and Tuvok watched as she stood silently for a moment, listening, and then the hologram disappeared once more. Kes turned to them.
"We have to leave," she said. "I don't exactly understand what's happening, but apparently the reawakening isn't supposed to happen now."
"What does that mean?" wondered Harry, but Kes simply shook her head. "The message isn't