Cybersong (23 page)

“Different people have different ideas of what is ethical,” Chakotay said meaningfully, staring at the Vulcan.

“And neither of you will make that decision,” Janeway said. “I will.

And now if we can get on with gathering information, I would like to know if Ensign Mandel has recovered consciousness.”

“Yes, Captain,” Kes reported. “And The Doctor would like Ensign Kim to report back to sickbay for a final evaluation.”

Harry Kim groaned. “I don’t have time. Maybe after I finish the firewall and help the chief engineer get the new power on line for the replicators, maybe then I can get down there.”

“Mr. Kim, you will report to sickbay directly after this meeting,” the captain ordered. “And since I want to talk to Ensign Mandel, I will escort you there myself.”

Paris shot Kim a sympathetic look.

“Captain, I’ll go down with you if I may,” Kes said.

Chakotay wondered what Kes wanted to tell the captain and what Ensign Mandel would say. He looked at Janeway sympathetically.

As if she doesn’t have enough problems, he thought, Mandel’s a handful when she’s healthy. She must be a real joy when she’s not feeling well. Chakotay shivered, but then tried to suppress a smile. There were advantages to being second in command.

Nonetheless, however much he pitied Janeway at the moment, he understood her need to speak with Mandel. The captain had not been in direct contact with the AI; it was important that she talk with everyone who had. Chakotay wished he could count himself out of that category, but the damage was already done.

The AI had already polluted him with its rage.

Or was the anger his own? Pondering that question made him realize that it wasn’t entirely the AI that he hated. It was the fact that he couldn’t be sure anymore what emotions were his own and what came from outside. That he couldn’t trust his sense of reality.

The spirit guides never did that. He was always well aware of what was his own and what came from them. His own guide never troubled his emotions but always brought tranquility to his restless mind. It showed him that the answers were there before him, if only he could become still enough to see them.

And so he would be able to see these answers, too, if he could find that stillness, that peace again.

But he was afraid to call on his guide while the AI was able to get into his mind. There was something far too personal, too private in his spirit life. He couldn’t share it with his closest friends. He wasn’t about to open himself on that level to a creature as immature and obnoxious as the alien.

Obnoxious? Immature? I’ll show you just who’s in charge. I’ll show you …

Chakotay almost had the urge to smile. Now that he could identify the thing, it no longer permeated his consciousness.

And as it had coalesced into an identity, it was no longer dangerous.

Not dangerous? Look at all those ships, the ships of those who defied me. I’ll turn you around again and you’ll be just like them.

Until now, this final tantrum, where it no longer could control Voyager. Where it couldn’t touch any of them.

Chakotay was amazed by how clearly he could see the entire assault.

Fast, it all went by so quickly. The AI attacked, trying to read in yet another virus.

And Harry Kim’s firewall held. It wasn’t an elegant structure but it was solid. The alien computer couldn’t find a weak spot in the seamless programming. There was no foothold, no place to invade.

Chakotay watched in fascination as its frustration spiraled out of rationality. It groped, it searched frantically for someplace to get into Voyager.

And it tried to get into his own head. He could feel the memory of it, the first time it had made the connection and slipped past his conscious control. It was plotting, trying to slide into his emotional makeup again.

Only it couldn’t. He had made no effort to fight the thing. He was just conscious of it now, aware of its manipulations and avenues of attack.

Chakotay felt himself complete. His thoughts and feelings, his beliefs and actions, all melded. He knew who he was, his strengths and his weakness, his history and his desires, his faith and his fears all together. And together he made sense.

Everything fit smoothly.

There was no room for anything or anyone else. Certainly not for the AI.

It recognized him, too. It knew that it had no hope against him.

And it dissolved from his mind, still searching for that perfect vehicle to bring it into full life. But that person or thing was not Chakotay.

He felt light and free as it vanished from his conscious awareness. It was no longer needling him, trying to find the ingress it had exploited before. Now it knew that that had been just another blind alley, and it was in search of far more vulnerable game.

That worried him. Where it would try to attack next—Kes. It had to be. And though she was tougher than she looked, Chakotay was still worried. Very worried.

The captain was with her, and The Doctor would be there, too.

Somehow that didn’t reassure Chakotay at all.

Instead he turned and headed directly for sickbay. Just in case.

***

“So, Kes, what is this alien really like?” Harry Kim asked as they entered the turbolift. “Is it really as impressive as everyone says?”

Kes smiled softly. “In some ways. But its personality is rather underdeveloped. We were all really surprised, I think, when everyone on the second away team could hear it telepathically. I think it’s learning, and it’s trying to learn about us, but it isn’t doing too well. She shrugged. “Commander Chakotay says it needs a good spanking.”

“I wonder why anyone would create an AI like that,” Kim commented.

“They probably didn’t,” Janeway said. “Probably it was meant to be taught and mature, but something happened to the original ship. And like any child left to rear itself, it didn’t do a very good job.”

Kes suddenly brightened. “That makes sense, Captain. I hadn’t thought about it that way and I couldn’t understand why it was so—mixed up.

But if it’s a child, then it’s looking for a parent figure. Someone it can trust to guide it and guard it while it learns.”

Daphne Mandel was already sitting up when they entered sickbay.

“This is ridiculous,” she told The Doctor in exactly the same sullen tone of voice he used all the time. “I’m fine now. I want to get out of here.”

“You will not go until I have finished this set of scans,” The Doctor said firmly. “I have to know if there was any internal damage while you were linked with that being.”

“Then why don’t you scan Kes and Chakotay as well?” Mandel complained.

“They have had a lot more contact than I have.”

“It takes less time if you just let him do it,” Harry Kim said as he and the captain and Kes entered. “I’ve just been through it all, and it’s no good protesting.”

“And as for you, Mr. Kim, you are late for your most recent set of scans. I have not certified you fit for duty yet.”

Mandel favored Kim with a wry smile.

“As for you, Captain,” The Doctor said. “Your most recent readings show a remarkable recovery. I am very pleased to see that you have suffered no serious aftereffects from your injury.

If you would come to my office, there is something I want to show you.”

Janeway followed The Doctor into the glassed-off area that was his private office and lab. As soon as the soundproofing doors closed, he began. “You were right in your assessment of the food storage temperatures. The deterioration is exactly what I would predict from an increase of three degrees Celsius in storage facilities. I accessed our data from sensor scans of the abandoned ships, and it appears that this is consistent with the overall pattern of this entity.

“However, we have lost more than just these samples. The remainder of the Grolian flour has the beginnings of mold. It’s microscopic at this level. No one would ever think anything was wrong. But the mold produces a chemical that in very small doses makes people more susceptible to receiving telepathic impressions. At higher concentrations the toxin produces hallucinations that most of the Betazoid researchers think are connected to the empathic centers in the brain.”

“So if anyone has ingested this flour, they are more likely to be open to linkage with the alien,” Janeway said. Then she touched her comm badge briskly. “Neelix, come to sickbay immediately.

Janeway out.” She turned off the communication before Neelix could ask questions. She had more than a few questions for him.

“And Ensign Mandel?” she asked.

“Ensign Mandel appears to be fine,” The Doctor admitted. “But I want to run a quick scan to see if she shows any signs of Grolian flour mold contamination. I might not see traces at this point, since she would have had to have eaten the tainted food at least yesterday. The very small amount of mold needed to produce the effect will have been broken down already, but perhaps some of the molecular signature is still there. Ms. Mandel has not exerted herself physically over the past few days and her metabolism is not very high now.”

“Very good work, Doctor,” Janeway said.

“I’m only sorry it’s all bad news,” The Doctor replied. “But at least with the new replicator capabilities, we can manage until we get new supplies.”

The captain nodded thoughtfully. It could be much worse. And she was certain that the AI didn’t have any idea about Grolian mold. She remembered hearing vaguely of such a thing at a conference once. She had not paid much attention at the time; now she wished she had.

But now she had to turn her attention to Neelix, who was waiting next to Kes to be admitted to The Doctor’s sanctum. Kes opened the door, and Janeway invited him in. Kes hesitated uncertainly at the door.

“Would you prepare the final scans for Mr. Kim, Kes?” The Doctor ordered her. She turned to the work and left Neelix alone with The Doctor and Captain Janeway.

“You wanted to see me, Captain?” Neelix said.

“Yes, Neelix. It’s about the Grolian flour. Have you been using it?”

“Only a little,” the Talaxian admitted. “I’ve tried to save it since it keeps so well and makes such good pastry. But I have been using it in the cookies I’m trying to keep available.

They’re very popular. And I did freeze the flour. We’re so low on everything that I had to be really innovative to keep up with desserts.

But we can’t let anyone know there’s a shortage, and there would be a lot of talk if we went missing dessert one night.”

“I think we have the answer, Doctor.”

“We’ll have to destroy the rest of it,” The Doctor said to Neelix.

“Space it with the next garbage dump.”

“No!” Neelix was visibly upset. “Not my Grolian flour. I can’t make Grolian tortes without it, and it’s better in fruitbread than anything else.”

“The sample The Doctor took was contaminated,” Janeway told him.

“There’s some microscopic mold that affects humans. We will have some additional replicator power soon, so you can replicate an entire replacement stock.”

“Replicated? That doesn’t sound very good. Not the same thing at all.

People around here are going to be very disappointed if the Grolian tortes aren’t light and crisp. It’s hard to get them to rise the full ten centimeters, but mine do it every time. If we have soggy tortes, I’ll hold you personally responsible, Doctor.”

The Doctor snorted and turned back to his experiments. “As I was saying, Captain, I suspect that the tainted flour is responsible for those with no known empathic ability to communicate with this creature.

Such a thing is not unknown in history. Certain types of mold on bread caused the great hallucinogenic outbreaks in Earth’s medieval period, leading to great witch-hunts and a belief in magic.”

“Are you saying that my cookies are responsible for some great catastrophe?” Neelix demanded. “I take exception to that, Captain.

“Neelix, it was nobody’s fault. You couldn’t know about the mold growth. No one knew until The Doctor conducted his experiments.

But we have to find out how many cookies Ensign Mandel ate. And how much anyone else had.”

“I was going to run a scan on her just as you came in, Captain,” The Doctor said.

“Well, why don’t you just ask her?” Neelix interjected. “So she liked my cookies. There’s no harm in that. What are we going to do, round up everyone who likes my cookies? That would be most of the ship.”

“No, but we could find out who ate the largest amounts of them,” The Doctor replied, opening the office door pointedly. “And if there was any effect.”

Neelix stood his ground defiantly for at least five seconds before exiting.

Kes came up to The Doctor immediately on his arrival into the main area of sickbay. “Mr. Kim is in excellent condition. His scans show full recovery of the injured areas, with the exception of a few light contusions that do not require treatment and will not impair his ability.”

“Excellent,” the hologram said. “Mr. Kim, you are now going into the log as fit for duty.”

“Just what do you do during those scans?” Neelix whispered to Kes.

“What do you mean?” Kes asked. “I scan them. I tune the equipment to whatever injury or treatment we’re tracking, and I hold it the prescribed distance from the area for the appropriate duration while the medical sensors collect data. Neelix, why are you asking me about this? You’ve never been interested in the technical side of my work before.”

“I’m interested in everything you do, Kes,” he replied gallantly, ignoring a raised eye from The Doctor and a look of disbelief from Kim.

“Now, Ensign Mandel, this won’t hurt a bit,” The Doctor said as he touched a blood sample extractor to her arm. She hissed as a red fluid half filled the vial. He inserted the entire device into a discreet opening in the equipment and watched the readout.

“Hmmm. There seems to be a very low trace of contamination here, but not enough to get a good fix on it,” he commented.

“Did you eat any of my cookies?” Neelix interrupted them. “Did you like them?”

Mandel looked at the Talaxian as if he were possibly crazy and had to be humored. “Yes, I ate them. They were very good.