String Theory_ Fusion (Book 2) - Kirsten Beyer [130]
Kneeling before her, he said quietly, “My mind to your mind…”
The meld was initiated. He was all too aware that the enhanced mental abilities he was currently enjoying, the same abilities that had allowed him to call to Vorik and find the strength to deliver the Monorhans’ message to Assylia, would be lost to him forever if what he was about to attempt succeeded. But the part of him that knew compassion did not care.
Once his mind was firmly linked to the consciousness that was embedded within Assylia’s holomatrix, he opened the door that linked him to the minds of Assylia’s people. For a moment, both were bathed in a sea of conflict and terror.
Something was wrong.
Protect them.
The Key has been recovered.
Danger.
It is the Time of Knowing.
It must be stopped.
Blessed be the All-Knowing Light.
Resist.
Surging through the sea of these vast conflicting fragments of thought, Tuvok saw the chamber where the Nacene known as “Phoebe” was slaughtering the Monorhans.
His despair was overwhelming. But from Assylia he received an infusion of righteous rage.
She knew what he knew.
These were her people, and they were once again under attack. But this time, there was something she could do to help them.
Tuvok?
He heard her words clearly in his mind.
The choice is yours, he answered her.
This responsibility is mine. I must help them, she replied.
Then do so.
Tuvok was again seated in front of the fire, grasping the hand of his mirror image. Assylia sat beside him, and as he made his wishes clear to the creature that had shared every aspect of his being since the transformation had begun, the image of the face across the fire began to shimmer.
For a brief moment, Tuvok knew sadness. The features of the face distorted and were replaced by a mirror image of Assylia. Though Tuvok did not remember releasing the hand of his counterpart, he saw now that the entity firmly grasped the hand of Assylia.
Then, the fire was gone. He was alone again in the darkness of his mind. But the anticipated and familiar loneliness did not ache within him as it had so recently. An icy wave washed it away as the pain, regret, and compassion buried themselves deep in the recesses of his mind where they belonged.
The Doctor watched in amazement as the glowing creature that had engulfed Tuvok began to writhe and wriggle, moving down Tuvok’s arms and beginning to envelop the holographic body of Assylia.
She did not seem to resist the transfer. In the space of a few short moments, the creature completely disentangled itself from Tuvok and covered every visible portion of Assylia.
Force of habit called the Doctor to scan both of them with his tricorder, but it wasn’t necessary to understand what was happening. Tuvok had said that the final choice to accept the creature was his and his alone. Clearly he had made the choice to allow the creature, now fully formed, to merge with Assylia’s consciousness rather than his own.
The transfer was complete.
Tuvok fell unconscious to the deck as the creature formed itself into a tight cocoon around Assylia. A few moments later, the Doctor watched in awe as an organism of unspeakable beauty burst forth from the cocoon, unfolding its massive wings and beginning to beat the air with them to hold a stationary position above Tuvok’s supine form.
Two delicate arms emerged from the creature’s torso. Long tapered fingers reached for Tuvok’s face and gently caressed him. Then, in a brilliant flash of blinding white light, the creature was gone.
The Doctor knelt over Tuvok and activated his tricorder. The readings were impossible, but confirmed when Tuvok opened his eyes and started to sit up.
“Gently, Lieutenant,” the Doctor said in his most soothing voice. “It appears you are going to be fine.”
The first thing Janeway was conscious of as she materialized in the center of the