String Theory_ Fusion (Book 2) - Kirsten Beyer [107]
“Are you suggesting that we have found ourselves in the middle of some kind of civil war?” Chakotay asked.
Neelix nodded. “I am, Commander. Naomi’s description of Phoebe in her true form and the effect on the Caretaker’s remains mean that Phoebe was probably Nacene. Just as the Caretaker unintentionally destroyed Ocampa and devoted the rest of his existence to compensating for that broken harmony, I believe the Nacene were also instrumental in damaging Monorhan space. There are too many properties to this system that do not obey natural laws. Ensign Kim was kind enough to explain in some detail the few that I could understand. But with the Caretaker and Suspiria, there was disagreement between them as to how to proceed once the harmony had been broken. The Caretaker remained aboard the array so that he could tend to the Ocampa. Suspiria took some of the Ocampa with her. Phoebe and the Blessed All-Knowing Light must have found themselves in a similar disagreement with these Others.”
“But we don’t know why Suspiria took…” Chakotay interrupted.
“Kes did,” Neelix added.
This was news to Chakotay.
“Kes and I talked many times about her experiences while in contact with Suspiria. Though Suspiria was able to exponentially heighten the natural abilities that Kes and all of the Ocampa share, and that was alluring to her, Kes always believed that ultimately Suspiria’s intentions toward her people were malevolent. Suspiria didn’t care for her people, the way her mate did. She took them so that she could continue experimenting with them. Kes sensed a need for power and control in Suspiria that went far beyond the more nurturing, if misguided, efforts of the Caretaker.”
“If what you’re saying is correct,” Chakotay said, “then one Nacene, or group of Nacene, may be functioning like the Caretaker, stabilizing Monorhan space, while the other, Phoebe and/or this All-Knowing Light, are working to undermine their efforts for their own ends.”
“Which is where the Key comes in,” Neelix added.
“How so?”
“The Key opens the conduit of light,” Neelix continued.
“Assylia told me that her people believed that was merely a metaphor for the truth the Key revealed,” Chakotay said.
“I think they might have been wrong about that,” Neelix said. “Dagan does describe the mechanism where the Key fits and I have found something very similar to what he described aboard the array.”
“Where?”
Neelix handed Chakotay a padd that showed a diagram of the mechanism’s location. It took Chakotay only a moment to realize that the mechanism was centered at the base of the spore sack he had discovered aboard the array.
Neelix continued as Chakotay tried to work this piece into the puzzle. “According to Dagan, the ‘owner’ of the Key is the only one who can use it to unlock the conduit of light. This will destroy the boundary that separates the All-Knowing Light and his followers from the Others.”
“So if the captain were to place the Key in this mechanism…” Chakotay began.
“And if the boundary that separates them is Monorhan space…” Neelix added.
“Then Phoebe and the Nacene who are with her will be forced to fight the battle with the Others who are trying to maintain this space,” Chakotay finished.
“That’s why she took the captain,” Neelix said. “She has to keep the captain away from the Key and the lock.”
“Why didn’t she just kill her?” Chakotay wondered.
Neelix hesitated before he said, “If Seven was right about Dagan’s death causing the changes in the Blue Eye, then it is possible that the captain’s death might destabilize the system in a similar way. Perhaps Phoebe was trying to prevent that from happening. At any rate, we don’t know the limits of the Nacene’s abilities, but if this array is any indication, they go far beyond what we know of the Caretaker or Suspiria. Bottom line, Commander, if the captain is still alive, I doubt very much that Phoebe will ever return her