Pantheon - Michael Jan Friedman [145]
“Brain scans, for the most part,” the starbase commander elaborated. “Also, some blood workups.”
“And what did you find?” asked Ruhalter.
Eliopoulos looked at him gravely. “While both Daniels and Santana looked perfectly normal—perfectly human—on the outside, their brains were different from those of normal Homo sapiens. Their cerebellums, for instance, were a good deal more developed, and the blood supply to their cerebral cortices was greater by almost twenty-two percent.”
“Which suggested what?” Ruhalter wondered. “That they had been born with the mind-powers that Mitchell acquired?”
“That was the inescapable conclusion,” Eliopoulos told him. “With the cooperation of our guests, we performed additional tests designed to gauge the extent of their telepathic and telekinetic abilities.”
Picard leaned forward in his chair, eager to hear the results. Ruhalter leaned forward as well, he noticed.
“Mind you,” said Eliopoulos, “Daniels and Santana could have been holding back and we would have been hard-pressed to detect it. However, what we did see was remarkable enough. They could tell me what I was thinking at any given moment, as long as I didn’t make any effort to conceal it. And they could maneuver an object weighing up to a kilogram with reasonable precision for an indefinite period of time.”
Remarkable indeed, thought Picard.
“In addition,” Eliopoulos went on, “Daniels and Santana underwent psychological tests. If we’re to believe the results, they’re a good deal more independent and desirous of privacy than the average human being. Whoever said that no man is an island never met these two.”
“Did you ask them why that might be?” Picard inquired.
Eliopoulos turned to him. “We did. They told us that in a society where people can read each other’s thoughts, privacy necessarily becomes an issue of paramount importance.”
“I’ll bet it does,” said Werber.
“So you were right about them,” Leach observed. “Both of them had powers like Lieutenant Commander Mitchell’s.”
“Like them, yes,” Eliopoulos noted. “But we didn’t find any evidence that their abilities are as devastating as Mitchell’s were. For what it’s worth, both Daniels and Santana claim that they demonstrated the full extent of what they could do.”
Leach grunted. “And if you believe that, I’ve got some prime land to show you in an asteroid belt.”
Werber laughed at the remark.
“This is all very interesting,” Ruhalter said, his tone putting a lid on his officers’ banter, “but what’s the Stargazer’s role in it?”
Eliopoulos looked at him. “Despite our suspicions about Daniels and Santana, we’ve yet to prove they’re telling anything but the truth. As a result, Command wants a vessel to go through the barrier and investigate their story about the Nuyyad invasion force.”
Leach rolled his eyes, making clear his incredulity. At the same time, Werber muttered something under his breath.
Ruhalter eyed them, the muscles in his jaw bunching. “Let’s maintain an air of decorum here, shall we, gentlemen?”
“Of course, sir,” the first officer responded crisply.
Werber frowned and said, “Sorry, Captain.”
But to Picard’s mind, neither of them looked very apologetic.
“I don’t blame your officers for being wary of Santana and Daniels,” said Eliopoulos. “As I said, I was wary too…until I received verification that the Nuyyad exist.”
Leach’s brow creased, just one indication of his discomfort with the announcement. “Verification? From whom?”
“I’d like to know that myself,” said Ruhalter.
“From Nalogen Four,” replied the starbase commander.
Picard knew the place. “There’s a colony there,” he said. “A Kelvan colony, if I’m not mistaken.”
Eliopoulos nodded. “Since it was established more than a century ago by refugees, they’ve been accepting other Kelvans from the far side of the galactic barrier.”
“And they’ve encountered the Nuyyad?” Cariello asked.
“One of them has,” Eliopoulos told her. “One of the colony’s more recent arrivals—an individual named Jomar. He told a Starfleet investigator that he had witnessed Nuyyad aggression and atrocities with