The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [117]
This foray into the rings was unable to captivate Deanna as the first trip had done. When they reached the gap where Beta had been, Deanna instructed Taurik to hover above it as before. “Ensign, try to configure the sensors to search for the isotopic compounds similar to the ones that the computer detected on the thruster unit from Beta. Start from Beta’s original position and work outward.”
“Aye, ma’am,” said Taurik. “There do seem to be concentrations of similar compounds on several of the larger fragments near Beta’s original position.”
“Is the transporter working well enough to bring a sample on board?” asked Deanna.
“There is not much power to devote to the transporter, Commander. However, if we get quite close to one of the fragments, I believe the transporter can bring a sample aboard.”
“Do it,” she said. “Approach one of the larger fragments very slowly, no more than one-eighth impulse. Watch for signs of outgassing and be prepared to react quickly.”
“Aye, Commander.”
Deanna tensed as they approached the nearest sizable fragment, but Taurik was as skilled a pilot as Geordi had claimed. He eased the runabout closer until they hovered only thirty meters above the fragment and then transported several cubic centimeters of the fragment into the isolation chamber.
A spark of confusion, flaring briefly and then gone. That was from the fragment, Deanna thought. This time she was sure. And inside the chamber, a faint… satisfaction. “Ensign,” she said over the comm. “I think the material you just pulled from the fragment is reacting to the particles from Beta that are still inside the chamber. It’s as if they’re aware of each other on some level. And I think the fragment is confused, as if it knows there’s something missing. Pull away from it, just in case it’s going to react somehow.”
When Taurik reached an altitude of five hundred meters above the plane, Deanna told him to hold position.
“Once more, to make sure,” Deanna whispered to herself. She retrieved the sample jar she had brought on board from Beta and pushed it through a pressurized seal in the side of the isolation chamber. She then eased her hands through a slot covered by an ultrathin, flexible membrane that allowed her to manipulate the jar without actually contacting anything else inside the chamber. She unscrewed the lid and poured Beta’s soil on top of the sample they’d just transported aboard.
Satisfaction. Confusion. Fulfillment.
Coming directly from the isolation chamber.
She was right. There was life here. It might not be any form of life recognizable by the sensors—yet—but it was here in the rings, and it was, not quite happy, but content, to have even this small bit of itself restored.
She went forward to share the information with Taurik, who raised his eyebrows in an expression that might have indicated pleased wonder had he not been a Vulcan.
A beep from the console redirected their attention. “Commander, the Enterprise has dropped out of warp only a few kilometers from Beta.”
“Can you raise them?” Deanna asked.
“We should be able to contact them, but I can’t get through,” said Taurik. “I believe we are being jammed.”
Enough is enough, thought Deanna. “Ensign, put your helmet back on. Divert all power except sensors and short-range communications, including life support, to propulsion. I want full impulse and then some. Is there any sign that Enterprise is powering weapons?”
“No, Commander.”
“Engage,” said Deanna. “I’ll keep trying to raise them, just in case.”
The trip back seemed twice as long, even though they were traveling faster. When they arrived at Beta, Taurik, without prompting, parked the runabout squarely between Beta and the shuttle, which was piloted by two rather confused technicians from the outpost. Apparently Maher had not fully explained matters to them either.
The jamming, now futile, quietly disappeared, and Deanna