The Light (2 page)

Almost five hours later, she was no closer to getting any sleep, nor had she come up with a viable solution that would allow her to shrug the incident off. No, this one was going to linger, in a bad way. If she was going to deal with it in a mature professional manner, she was going to need some sleep. Was that so much to ask?

“Gold to Gomez.”

Maybe she
had
fallen asleep, after all, and the captain's summons just now was a part of this whole twisted nightmare. That would be ideal.

No such luck. She sighed and leveled her gaze at the ceiling. “Gomez here.”

“I apologize for waking you, Gomez
—”
I wish,
she thought with a roll of her eyes. “—
but Starfleet has just given us a priority mission that needs our immediate attention. Have your team assembled in observation in twenty minutes.”

“Acknowledged, sir,” Gomez said, then sat up as her professional mode kicked into gear. This priority mission had her curious. What was so urgent that it couldn't have waited another three hours?

She rolled out of bed and headed to the sonic shower.

G
omez didn't exactly take her time getting to the meeting Gold had called, but neither did she make any effort to move any faster than her regular stride. It wasn't a race, after all, and she would get there eventually.

As she rode the turbolift to the bridge, Gomez wondered if she'd blown things out of proportion with what had happened with Stevens. Was she overreacting? It had been an innocent mistake that had bloomed in the heat of an emotional moment between two close friends. Surely things like that happened all the time. In fact, if she were to tell Corsi about it in the mess hall a day or two from now, they'd probably both get a rousing chuckle out of it.

Like hell.

The lift came to a halt, and Gomez stepped out onto the bridge. Gamma shift was still on duty, and she nodded at Winn Mara at tactical on her way to the observation lounge. As the door parted, she saw that everyone was already assembled around the long conference table, minus the captain, their quiet chatter drifting out as they met her gaze.
It's like they all know,
she thought, even though she knew that wasn't the case. Based on Stevens's reaction last night, the last thing he'd want to do is blab about it. She glanced quickly at Stevens, and he flashed an awkward smile before finding something of interest on the bare table before him.

Great. We're off to a wonderful start.
“Good morning, everyone,” she said. Maybe if she dove into business, it would allow her to shove the events of last night aside. “I'm sorry for having to wake you up ahead of schedule, but the captain felt it couldn't wait.”

“Do you have any idea what this is about, Commander?” Corsi asked, turning her blond head in the first officer's direction.

Gomez held the security chief's level gaze for a moment.
She doesn't know anything. She doesn't know anything.
“Only that Starfleet has ordered us on a priority mission. Beyond that, we'll have to wait for an explanation from the captain.”

As if on cue, the door hissed open again, and David Gold entered the room. Gomez took in the expression on Gold's face and knew something was wrong. Well, not
wrong,
necessarily, but it was clear something had put him on edge, and she suspected the mission details he'd received from Starfleet were the source of that discomfort.

But as a member of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, Gomez knew, as did Gold, that they were often given assignments that weren't ideal. Some of them, such as her experiences on Sarindar, Teneb, and Vemlar had provided some personal close calls she could have done without. And the Galvan VI incident…well, the point was that from one extreme to another, despite the odds, the ship and crew had always come through, working together to come out more or less intact.

Gold paused behind his chair at the head of the table and took them all in with a glance. He inhaled deeply, then let it out as he finally sat down. Gomez couldn't remember him being so hesitant about discussing a mission and thought he was being a little over-dramatic.
How bad can it be?

“All right, there's no use in my stalling any longer,” Gold said, speaking more to himself, it seemed, than to those gathered before him. “We've been ordered to investigate a faint Borg power signature that was picked up on a remote planet deep in this sector two days ago by a Boslic freighter.”

Borg? Okay, that
is
bad
. Like the crack of a whip, Gold's mention of the Borg snapped everyone in the room to attention, and a flurry of worried and uncertain looks passed from face to face around the table. Gomez herself was unable to suppress an involuntary shudder. Eleven years ago, she'd been aboard the
Enterprise
-D when they were forced into Starfleet's first meeting with the cybernetic species. The meddlesome being Q had flung the ship some seven thousand light years to System J-25 in order to illustrate his point that humanity wasn't ready for what awaited them out in the galaxy. It was an encounter that had claimed the lives of eighteen crewmembers, and one which Gomez had not forgotten. The experience had frightened her enough that, even today, any mention of the Borg gave her pause.

“So, naturally,” said Stevens, “they advised Starfleet.” His voice was light, but Gomez detected a note of cynicism there as well.

Gold acknowledged with a soft grunt. “When it comes to the Borg, Starfleet has become the go-to guys for beating them back. God knows few others have had success at it.”

“That may be so, sir,” Gomez said, “but
we're
not equipped to go hunting down the Borg. The
da Vinci
isn't exactly armed to the teeth.”

“I'm well aware of that, Gomez,” Gold said, “but we won't be going into battle. The signal is coming from a cube, but it appears to have crashed on the planet's surface a long time ago.”

“How long?” asked Corsi.

“At least two decades before Wolf 359, based on the information Scotty passed along to me,” Gold said, referring to their Starfleet liaison, the legendary engineer Montgomery Scott.

Gomez shook her head. A Borg cube in Federation space twenty years before they were first seen here? It didn't make any sense. How could it not have been detected by long range observatories or nearby starships? And why, after all this time, hadn't the Borg returned to retrieve the vessel or any drones that might have survived?

“An advanced team from the
Hood
has been onsite since day one and has deemed it safe,” Gold continued, then glanced at Gomez. “It's the power signature inside the cube that you and your team need to contend with. The output is negligible enough that it doesn't reach far beyond the planet, but Starfleet doesn't want to take any chances. They want the power shut down.”

Aside from the Borg factor, this all seemed fairly routine to Gomez. The specifications of Borg cubes could be easily accessed by any starship in the service, so she still wasn't clear why the S.C.E. was being sent. She voiced this concern to Gold, adding, “The
Hood
is already onsite. Wouldn't it be simpler for them to send a team in to turn the thing off?”

“Under normal circumstances, yes,” Gold said, “but there's another element to this, and Scotty wants Starfleet's best engineers to look into it.” He paused to make sure he had everyone's attention. “There's apparently an odd energy distribution pattern that indicates the power is no longer being directed throughout the ship, but rather below the surface.”

“That
is
peculiar,” said P8 Blue from her specially-designed seat at the opposite end of the table. The Nasat's comment was accompanied by a tinkling sound that indicated the insectoid engineer's growing interest. “This would also explain why the cube appears dormant despite the minimal active power flow.”

“I concur,” said computer specialist Soloman, the lone Bynar on the ship.

Gomez had to admit, her own curiosity was piqued. Although she still believed this was a task that the
Hood
's engineering team could readily deal with, part of Gomez was glad that her team would be the one to investigate the mystery, despite the fact it was centered around a Borg cube.

“If, for whatever reason, you're unable to shut the power down, our orders are to clear the site and destroy the cube,” Gold said. “Any questions?”

Sitting opposite Gomez, Mor glasch Tev, the
da Vinci
's Tellarite second officer, cleared his throat roughly and raised a stubby index finger. “Perhaps I'm missing something here, Captain, but why are we complicating matters by looking into this power distribution anomaly? We're talking about a Borg cube. Why not just destroy the thing and be done with it?”

“Because we're the S.C.E., Tev,” said Gold. “It's our job to investigate engineering anomalies. And as I've already mentioned, the cube shows no signs of any danger. I can appreciate your reticence where the Borg are concerned; I'm sure we can all relate in one way or another. But I assure you, we wouldn't be going anywhere near that ship if I didn't think it was safe.”

“Very well, sir,” Tev said, “although I still have my reservations.”

“So noted,” Gold said, then glanced at the rest of them. “Any other questions?”

When no one else spoke up, Gomez said, “All clear, sir.”

“Excellent.” Gold rose from his chair and fixed his eye on Gomez. “We'll reach the planet in just over four hours, so you have until then to review the data and prepare a mission plan.”

Gomez stood as well and bobbed her head. “Aye, sir.”

“Dismissed.”

Soloman almost sent Dantas Falcão sprawling to the deck as he sprang out of the turbolift the moment the doors parted. The attractive human female, the
da Vinci
's medical technician, avoided the collision by twisting out of the way at the last second, completing a graceful three-hundred-and-sixty-degree pirouette before falling softly against the bulkhead. The impromptu display was one of the most impressive evasive maneuvers the diminutive Bynar had ever seen.

Unfortunately, he was late for the meeting Commander Gomez had called in the mess hall to discuss their upcoming Borg mission, and there was no time to compliment Falcão on her impressive feat of acrobatic legerdemain. He'd been in sickbay when the team was summoned, and Dr. Lense didn't see the need to interrupt his annual physical.

“I'm sure they can do without you for a little while,” the increasingly pregnant Lense had said as she passed her tricorder near his thoracic region. Soloman had reluctantly agreed, though it pained him that he was going to be late.

Once Lense was through with him, however, he'd darted out of there as fast as his legs would take him, making his way through the ship as though his very life was at stake.

“I'm so sorry!” he called over his shoulder at Falcão.

Falcão smiled and gave him a wave. “No harm done.”

Soloman smiled back, then picked up his pace again. In moments he passed through the mess hall doors and saw his associates sitting around a table in the far corner. In addition to Gomez, present at the table were Fabian Stevens, Tev, P8 Blue, and Lieutenant Commander Corsi, who would be heading up the security detail for the inevitable away mission. Notably absent were Bart Faulwell and Carol Abramowitz, though based on the mission parameters Captain Gold had outlined, there did not seem to be any need for a linguist or a cultural specialist on the mission. Soloman hadn't expected the group to wait for him, but he was still a little disappointed to see them already immersed in discussion. He hoped he hadn't missed anything significant.

“Ah, there he is,” Gomez said as he approached. She gestured to the empty chair next to Fabian Stevens, and he quickly took his seat.

“I apologize for being late.”

“That's all right,” Gomez said, “we were just discussing what our tasks should be for the upcoming mission.” Soloman listened as she quickly outlined what had been determined in his absence. Stevens and Pattie would be responsible for accessing the power core and finding a way to shut it down, while he and Tev would research any pertinent data the away team would need once they reached the Borg cube's power core.

Soloman's heart fell at the implication. “I won't be joining you on the away team?”

“I'm afraid not, Soloman,” Gomez said. “We need to limit the team to as few as necessary, plus we'll be taking some security personnel as well. At the moment, you'll be the most use to us here, pulling up data that will help us in the cube.”

Soloman nodded. He understood that the specialized skills of the S.C.E. team members were not always needed for every mission, nor was it necessary for certain individuals to beam down to a mission site in order to be of the most use. Still, he always felt a small pang of disappointment when he was left behind. He enjoyed visiting new worlds and seeing what kind of technology was used by alien cultures, and he doubted he would have many other opportunities to examine Borg technology firsthand. But depending on how the mission went, there could be an opportunity for him yet.