String Theory_ Fusion (Book 2) - Kirsten Beyer [36]
B’Elanna nodded.
Before she could enquire further as to the nature of the sensor’s findings the computer chirped, indicating that the simulation it had been running was complete. As both women turned instinctively to check the results, however unpromising they would surely be, they shared a moment of breathless awe when they saw that the computer had been able to create an exact duplicate of the Key by following B’Elanna’s hypothetical parameters. What was amazing and disturbing was the estimation of the number of sporocystian life-forms that would have to be integrated in order to produce the Key.
“That’s not good,” Janeway commented.
“No, it isn’t,” B’Elanna agreed. “If this is right, the Key is comprised entirely of sporocystian remains… almost a hundred thousand of them.”
The thought was intriguing. Everyone who had actually met the Caretaker had grown used to thinking of him as a highly unique life-form. True, they had also met his mate, but the idea that at some point in time there had been enough Nacene within the galaxy to result in the formation of the Key with no other record or evidence of their activities seemed incomprehensible.
“No wonder it wasn’t destroyed,” B’Elanna said. “I can’t even imagine how many Nacene it would take to disrupt subspace enough to completely destabilize this.”
Janeway was absorbed in an analysis of the subatomic alterations of the fusion process that were required to stabilize the bond between the remains. It suggested something even more disturbing.
“This occurred naturally,” she finally said.
“Captain?” B’Elanna asked, studying the same analysis.
“No external force short of dozens of suns going supernova at the same time could have forced the kind of fusion we’re seeing here.”
“You’re saying that tens of thousands of Nacene somehow fused together of their own accord as they were dying?” B’Elanna asked.
“Possibly,” Janeway said. “Or maybe…” she said, choosing her words extremely carefully.
“What?”
“Maybe the reason they are still resonating is because they aren’t dead.”
This was a fringe hypothesis, even for B’Elanna.
“We know the Caretaker died. That’s why he brought us here, along with Kahless only knows how many others. That’s why Suspiria tried to kill us. His remains were only resonant in the presence of another Nacene, but their molecular structure was constant.”
“But if thousands of Nacene were also near death, this might be the only form they could survive in,” Janeway posited.
B’Elanna seemed anxious to disprove this possibility. She instructed the computer to scan the Key for anything remotely resembling life, saying, “This is the one scan I didn’t bother to initiate from the beginning because it simply hadn’t occurred to me to do so. The first time the Caretaker’s remains started to vibrate we mistook that for life signs too. I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. At any rate, I still think it’s much more likely we simply encountered another Nacene.”
“Phoebe was in my cabin the entire time,” Janeway argued. “She’s not the most observant person I’ve ever met, but I don’t think she would have missed an intruder boarding the ship right in front of her.”
“She’s pretty focused when she’s working,” B’Elanna teased. “She kept me waiting outside holodeck three for over an hour last week while she was working on something in your da Vinci program. She swore she didn’t hear me, but…”
“Point taken,” Janeway smiled. “I suppose we could just ask her. Captain Janeway to Phoebe,” she called, tapping her combadge.
There was no response.
“Computer, locate Phoebe Janeway.”
The computer’s reply was inconceivable.
“Phoebe Janeway is not on board Voyager.”
There wasn’t time to address this impossibility, as, a moment later, the diagnostic display confirmed Janeway’s hypothesis.
The Key was alive.
Phoebe hid herself between the second and third electrons orbiting the phosphate