Star Trek: Dark Archon

Chapter X: A Higher State Of Consciousness

Captain Data sat down on the small cot in his quarters, opening up more space for B'Elanna Torres to adjust the sophisticated electronic transceiver that she had hastily constructed. The access port on the right side of his head was open, and the pregnant Voyager Chief of Engineering was in the process of connecting her invention to one of his optical data ports. Torres quickly verified that the device was properly hooked into Data's neural net, insured that the android's own internal power source would be sufficient to operate it, and then stood back with a smile to admire the finished product.

"One state-of-the-art, Preserver network interface device, now on-line and at your disposal sir," declared Torres proudly, waving both hands in an outward swing for emphasis. "I may be pregnant, but I can still build a sophisticated subspace link if the situation calls for it."

Behind her, Commander Chakotay chuckled with amusement. "I've read about the original Data in the Starfleet Enterprise logs," he admitted. "Captain Picard mentioned on several occasions that 'surprisingly, it was Mr. Data's intense curiosity at the universe around him - not his desire to be more human - that usually got him into trouble'. Picard even felt on several occasions that the original android was overly impulsive at times, often brushing aside potential consequences as something to be dealt with later in his broader pursuit of knowledge. I hope you're not planning something similar now... this could be very dangerous."

The android Captain leaned back on the cot into a reclining position, experimenting with the new electronic connections added to his hardware. "Everyone who enters Starfleet knows long before they are officially admitted that they are required to assume certain risks," he pointed out. "Since my hardware is much more durable - and often more easily repaired - than the body of an average humanoid, Data-Class life forms have a long, established history of accepting reasonable risk in exchange for the achievement of mission objectives. Trust me, my risk assessment software is quite advanced." Data had requested that Captain Janeway take charge of the Relativity's bridge during his absence, and he thoughtfully studied both Lt. Torres and Commander Chakotay. "Weren't you two planning to transfer to the Nautilus?" he asked mischievously.

"Are you kidding?" Torres' expression was one of complete shock. "You're going to try and infiltrate an alien network!" she said excitedly. "I've always dreamed of having a chance just to meet the original Data from Starfleet... do you really think I'd miss an opportunity to help you try something like this? Wild horses couldn't drag me away!"

"I beg to differ," Data decided, holding up his right forefinger for emphasis. "Two or more large equines, properly agitated, could indeed 'drag you away' if you were securely attached to them. In your pregnant condition, such an event would quite probably even draw a large crowd of spectators."

B'Elanna's eyes widened in shock and she stared at the android and his amused smile. "Obviously, you are well aware of how dangerous this is and are attempting to use humor in the hopes of lightening our frame of mind," she guessed.

Data nodded positively. "Obviously."

Lt. Tuvok handed Data an electronic padd to study. The Captain accepted it and glanced over the simulation results listed on its small screen. "An acceptable risk," the Vulcan observed.

"Nevertheless, I am still experiencing a larger than normal amount of simulated anxiety from my emotion chip," acknowledged Captain Data. "The experience so far has been... extremely stimulating."

"Quite understandable," decided Chakotay. "There is no telling what you will discover once you connect to something as unknown as this. It's quite natural that you would feel nervous."

"Indeed," Tuvok agreed. "Every indication suggests that we are dealing with something that will completely transcend everything we currently understand as a conventional computer network. Given the circumstances, you may rest assured that we have prepared several necessary safeguards to protect you during your period of interaction with it."

Torres smiled reassuringly. "Precaution number one is an automatic cut-off available at any time you feel threatened. If you detect unwelcome access to your system or notice an unanticipated problem with the interface, all you have to do is initiate one of your self diagnostic cycles. Once activated, I've coded the start-up subroutine to automatically terminate your link with the Preserver system."

"There will also be a time limit," noted Tuvok, "which we are calling 'precautionary measure number two'. I have calculated your positronic brain's maximum processing speed and factored in a reasonable enough timeframe to allow your system to access and study the alien transmissions. We will allow you a maximum connection limit of two minutes, at which point B'Elanna will physically shut down the link from this end. That way, if you are prevented in some manner from leaving the network at your own convenience, we will still be able to safely disconnect you from this end."

"I doubt that either safety measure will be necessary, since the Preservers will likely to be as curious about me and my abilities as I am about them. It should be a most interesting first contact situation."

"Diplomacy at 900 trillion operations per second," said Chakotay with an enthusiastic grin. "I hope the recording software integrated into B'Elanna's new invention is operational."

The Engineer double-checked several settings to insure all systems were functional. "It is," Torres confirmed. "There is simply no way to monitor everything that's happening from this end, and no telling what the Captain will find once he links into this network. Since Data's positronic brain allows him unique multi-tasking abilities, we will rely on him to perform hundreds of thousands of diverse functions simultaneously. I have given the Captain the ability to electronically tag anything he considers a priority, and the recorder will be searching for that specific code when deciding which information to download and permanently archive in his internal database. I doubt we're going to get everything we're after on our first try, but allowing the Captain to pick and choose what is most important during his link should give us a lot to work with." She shrugged casually. "It will certainly be more effective than having the interface cherry pick information at random..."

The android nodded confidently to Torres, Chakotay and Tuvok. "I am ready to make the connection," he informed them. "Please proceed."

Tuvok opened a tricorder and activated it, verifying the status of the data stream it was analyzing. "The necessary network initiation protocols have been programmed into your subspace interface mechanism as defined in the Preserver glyph markings that we decoded," he informed them. "Since B'Elanna has attached the new hardware directly to you, simply transferring your internal power to the device should activate it and automatically initiate the connection."

"Understood," replied Captain Data. "Initiating the link now..."

As he spoke the final sentence several amber colored lights lit up on the device attached to the Captain's head. There was a soft electronic whine for a few seconds, a high-pitched sound that faded away to nothing as swiftly as it began. The android Captain closed his eyes for a moment, during which time his positronic brain was fully prepared to analyze every possible aspect of the experience as it took place.

That was why it was so surprising to them all when Captain Data's entire body unexpectedly turned transparent. Less than one second later the android vanished completely, and the mattress upon which he had been sitting - freed from his considerable weight - recoiled lightly back into its normal appearance.

B'Elanna Torres stared in shock at the empty cot where, only seconds ago, the android had been reclining peacefully. "I would have been the first to admit that there were a lot of things that could go wrong with this idea, but that isn't one of them..." she declared with fascination.

Tuvok was still studying the tricorder readout while Chakotay shook his head with complete disbelief. "So much for precautionary measure number two," the First Officer commented dryly. "I sincerely hope that the Captain still has option number one available to him... wherever he currently is."

When Data opened his eyes he could see only empty blackness in front of him. Physically he was no longer aboard the Relativity, and for the moment his actual whereabouts were a complete mystery to him. The experience could best be defined as floating in a dark, weightless void of some sort - there was no discernible gravity of any kind and he definitely couldn't see anything. All around him was a pervasive, completely dark emptiness that seemingly had no end. The Captain tried waving an arm in front of his face and noticed that he couldn't even see his hand. His next move was to determine whether or not he still retained physical form by touching a finger to his forehead. Upon feeling the light pressure of his forefinger, Data tried next to speak. Even though his mouth opened and he felt himself speaking words normally, his ears detected no sound.

You have to THINK here, a soft, unexpected voice whispered inside of his mind. Use your MIND to communicate, CAPTAIN. I will help you.

Intriguing, Data responded instantly, his mind actively searching for information. Where exactly is HERE?

In whatever new reality he was experiencing, Data was startled at how swiftly things worked. Any normal human mind would instantly have been lost amidst the countless data trails streaming back and forth around him. He could sense the constant flow in all directions even though he couldn't visually see it, and the preprogrammed subroutines that Lt. Tuvok had helped him create activated instantly. Kicking his neural net up to full capacity, he began selecting and analyzing data streams at random. He remained fully prepared to electronically tag anything that even remotely interested him, but was disappointed to discover that a vast majority of the information currently available to him was basic, routine communication logs.

You have entered at the very LOWEST level of access, the unknown voice informed him. I cannot grant you a HIGHER clearance level until you first RELEASE your own protection protocols and open yourself up to US.

Data temporarily ignored the suggestion, keeping his full defensive firewall subroutines active while maintaining a readiness to trigger his diagnostic programming at the slightest hint of unauthorized access to his positronic brain. While he waited, he continued to review the data flowing through his consciousness, allowing it to touch and interact within the temporary memory of his neural net. Picking out data threads at random was proving to be too slow and inefficient a process, so he implemented a new strategy. He began studying the first data stream that touched him and, one by one as new ones attached themselves temporarily to his mind, he meticulously began analyzing them ALL.

The original Data from so many centuries past would not have been able to execute such a plan, but the Captain's current hardware had benefited greatly from significant design enhancements over the centuries. The maximum speed of his neural net was now well over 900 teraflops instead of the original 60 that Dr. Noonien Soong had built into his processor. His internal data storage capacity, at one time measured in petabytes, had expanded exponentially and was now more accurately defined in exabytes.

Despite this vast amount of permanent storage now available to him, Data resisted archiving anything that was not readily identifiable as crucial to their mission. Compared to his own modest specifications, the tremendous amount of data moving back and forth around him was limitless... a vast, invisible network many orders of magnitude superior to anything that he had previously encountered. He could not hope to accurately measure its scope without completely redefining standard hardware and software definitions as he currently understood them. He began by using his mind to form a general overview of what he was seeing in his mind. Using a top-to-bottom analytical technique, he began mapping a detailed multi-dimensional landscape of the huge information network flowing around him. Rather than recording specific streams of data, he began storing an analysis of the network's structure.

This is definitely a very large, very fascinating place to visit, Data thought silently. To his surprise, it readily became apparent that most of the data being exchanged across this amazing, sizable network was in fact taking advantage of the subspace environment by traveling faster than the speed of light!

He deliberately tried to keep his thoughts private, but the network in which he currently floated selectively extracted the tiny electrical impulses from his neural net and instantly converted them into the mathematically precise, musical Preserver language. You must TRUST, the unknown entity speaking to him responded. We will not harm you or rewrite any of your software without first receiving your CONSENT to do so. That would violate our ETIQUETTE of non-interference, a rule of LAW that is CRUCIAL to the stable, successful operation of this NETWORK.

Data carefully considered the proposal using his analytical subroutines, weighing the potential risks versus benefits of accepting the offer presented to him. While his primary focus remained on holding firm to his identity and coming to a decision, the rest of his processing ability cycled through thread after thread of data that continually streamed past him like countless trillions of invisible, crisscrossing rivers. I need more INFORMATION first, he decided. Where exactly IS this place? I recall making a request to see this place, but how exactly did I leave the RELATIVITY?

YOU have accessed the NETWORK, the voice responded insistently. In doing so you have pulled yourself out of SPACE and TIME as you currently understand them and gained ADMITTANCE to a SUBSPACE fold. The further inside you venture, the more you will LEARN.

In real time, Data estimated that slightly more than thirty-one seconds had elapsed since he had initiated the link. Throughout the most recent twenty-four seconds, his central processor had relentlessly accessed and analyzed countless zettabytes of data in the same manner that whoever was speaking to him was in turn reading his thoughts. The experience was quite astonishing to him and unlike anything else that he or his ancestors had ever encountered.

Whatever manner of information processing network that this was, it was also - he knew instinctively - capable of much, much more than simple data processing and communication. Information here literally moved at trans-warp speed, taking full advantage of the faster than light travel available to subspace in a manner very similar to Starfleet communications. His decision to focus on and decipher the Preserver glyphs and utilize their access capability had led him to one of the most remarkable discoveries in Starfleet history... what was happening to him now was undeniably a historical landmark.

YES, the voice spoke reassuringly. The network spans both TIME and SPACE. You are beginning to SENSE what we truly are. Allow us to HELP you.

At lightning speed Data's analysis of the surrounding data flow continued. With his next command decision already made, he played for time... hoping to delay the inevitable for another precious few seconds. This was the first, lowest level of the network, after all, and understanding its design and capabilities would be crucial to comprehending higher levels of access.

I cannot ALLOW complete and TOTAL access to my hardware without first knowing WHY you need to make such a thorough examination, his thoughts communicated honestly. Additionally, I believe that someone or something linked with this network has caused harm to many of my people. They present a DANGER to me and - for the moment at least - must not gain knowledge of my presence here or control of my systems.

There was a brief pause that lasted for only a miniscule fraction of a second. For Data the event was similar to the normal pause that a humanoid speaking would utilize to review a sentence before vocalizing it, in order to insure that it was phrased properly. Such access would NEVER be granted, the voice responded. This is the NETWORK, and such a link without first obtaining your PERMISSION would violate both our PRIVACY and ETIQUETTE protocol.

4.44 seconds later Data completed his analysis of the Preserver network's entry level and proceeded to take their advice. He fully release his security systems, allowing the network complete authorization to read data, not just from the thoughts crisscrossing his neural net, but also directly from his permanent storage. Even data from his privacy database was extracted, all of the information merging with the larger network so that whatever unknown entity serving as the top-level operating system could analyze the android... this newest, most curious link that had added itself into its massive chain of interconnected systems. At first nothing appeared to change, allowing the Captain additional time to further define his overall understanding of the experience.

This is BEYOND mere technology, is it NOT? His mind asked. This is something ELSE entirely.

We BOTH begin to UNDERSTAND, came the prompt reply. What you seek CAN indeed be found here, but you must wait and be patient a little while longer in order to ACHIEVE your objective.

WHY? The thought was not meant to be demanding, but certain aspects of the Preserver network continued to elude even Data's sophisticated processing capabilities. An impulsive thought, driven primarily by the output from his emotion chip, escaped into his neural net before he could suppress it. Are you GOD? He asked curiously.

No... Data detected a definite hint of amusement in the 'tone' of the unseen voice that continued to penetrate deep into his electronic thoughts. It was the first apparent sign to him that anything resembling human emotion existed within the network, and the Captain wondered briefly if what he 'heard' was the sincere laughter of a living being or simply a program of some sort generating an artificial feeling in a manner similar to the output from his own emotion chip. An INTELLIGENT designer's plans are not for US to understand until we are READY to. Unfortunately, WE are not allowed to CHOOSE when that occurs.

The Captain temporarily postponed additional questions in favor of dedicating his considerable processing resources to a more detailed evaluation of the network. His neural net detected a considerable amount of new information suddenly available to him as he was granted additional access privileges in return for permitting entry into his own memory. Immediately the android began a comprehensive, organized study of the new information now available for review at this next, higher security level. His gamble paid off immediately as most of his questions were answered almost instantaneously simply by translating and studying this newest, enormous data stream. Again Data felt an enormous burst of electrically simulated anxiety as he recognized the full scope of just who it was that had attacked the Milky Way and the considerable strengths available to their opponent.

I must go now, he thought silently and with focused intensity, already initiating the self diagnostic subroutine that would sever his connection to the Preserver network. I need to CONSULT with my colleagues and decide how we would like to proceed before requesting more than minimal use of your considerable RESOURCES.

Make haste, the unseen presence cautioned him. If you are to change what IS then you must act quickly. The longer you WAIT, the less likely you are to SUCCEED.

"...vanished immediately after the connection was established," Captain Data heard Torres saying as he reappeared on the cot. As he materialized, all three Voyager crewmembers turned with obvious relief to face him. "Belay that Captain," B'Elanna continued. "Data just returned and appears to be undamaged."

"Understood. Please let me know as soon as you've confirmed that he is functional and ready to meet with us," Janeway's voice crackled in reply out of Torres' Comm-badge. "I'll bet he's got a very interesting story to tell."

Tuvok immediately began scanning the android with his tricorder. "I am detecting a considerable amount of additional information stored in your permanent memory, Captain," he noted, raising a curious eyebrow. "Were you able to discover anything useful?"

"I was." Data glanced around the room, noticing that his optical sensors were slightly out of alignment. The blurred vision resulting from the discrepancy cleared almost instantly along with the subtle distortion in the voices he was hearing. "How long have I been gone?"

"You were connected for almost two minutes!" Chakotay told him excitedly. "Your physical body actually disappeared from this room... where in blazes did you go?"

"Into a layer of subspace," the android Captain responded. "I was able to access and interact with something that has always been available to us... something so old and ancient that it almost transcends time itself. Humans and other space-faring races simply had no idea that it was there." He stiffened abruptly and raised himself into a seated position. "Please page Captain Janeway immediately and ask her to meet us in Conference Room A... we must move swiftly if we are to have any hope of successfully ending our confrontation with the Preservers."

When Janeway arrived in the Conference room with Lt. Ingram at her side, the first thing she noticed was that Data still wore the interface device that B'Elanna had constructed. The small access hatch covered with pseudo-skin and hair located on the right side of his head remained open, and she could see the amber lights winking on and off as the apparatus continued to receive and process power from the android's internal power supply. She studied him curiously as he sat patiently at the head of the lengthy, hexagonal table awaiting her arrival.

"Are you..." the red-haired Voyager Captain took a closer look at the mechanism. "Captain...are you still linked with that alien network?" She picked a chair on the nearest side of the table, seating herself next to Tuvok and directly opposite of Chakotay and Torres.

The android smiled at her, and then pointed a forefinger at the table surface in front of him. A transparent image of a steaming pot of coffee surrounded by half a dozen mugs slowly coalesced into seven solid, physical objects. "What do you think?" he asked mischievously, picking up the coffee and pouring some of it carefully into the first mug. "I downloaded our replicator's pattern database into my own system and can now use my link to the alien network and manufacture anything in my files."

Janeway watched the display, clearly impressed. "Magic or science?" she asked as she accepted a mug of liquid from him. She sniffed at it curiously, and recognizing the aroma instantly she cautiously tasted it. "My taste buds would say magic, but my brain tells me that this is science of some sort."

"Perhaps a bit of both," speculated Data. He continued pouring coffee for the others, and only Chakotay declined a cup.

"Apparently there is substantially more to the subspace network that connects the probes than we first anticipated," Torres said excitedly. "Once Data got in, he was allowed access to all kinds of resources that are freely available to whoever needs them. Replicator technology, long range communications, travel between galaxies or alternate realities... all of it only touches the tip of the iceberg as to what's available. And the beauty of this whole thing is that we only need to ask for the help that we need."

Janeway glanced at the coffee pot. "Replicator technology?" she repeated. "Pardon me for saying so, but what Captain Data just did... materializing these things from nowhere..." She shook her head with amazement, silently reviewing what she had just witnessed. "That looked amazingly 'Q'-like," she decided finally. "Could this discovery be the source of their vaunted 'magical' abilities?"

"Possibly," Data replied. "If I had to make an educated guess, I would say no."

"But that is definitely the type of flashy stunt they like to pull to impress us," persisted Janeway. "After all this time of thinking otherwise... could it be that the 'Q' actually rely on technology just like the rest of us?"

Torres shrugged. "Starfleet has encountered them a number of times, but we've never observed them using equipment of any sort."

"That doesn't mean they don't have it," observed Chakotay. "The resources that Captain Data interacted with are totally hidden... concealed deep within subspace."

"When I personally witnessed the civil war inside the Continuum, the 'Q' that I saw there held and used physical weapons that my mind interpreted visually as muskets and cannon." Janeway studied Chakotay and Torres with interest. "You were both there - you saw them too."

"We shouldn't rule out the possibility of something unknown, something other than pure, conventional technology," Tuvok decided. "Highly evolved life forms historically encountered by Starfleet crews have repeatedly demonstrated both psychic and telekinetic skills, along with many other unusual abilities that normal humanoids might certainly interpret as magic. Such beings would certainly have access to subspace without the use of a mechanical interface."

"Damaged Borg cubes have at times appeared to magically repair themselves," Janeway countered. "Once we looked deeper and learned that they possess advanced industry size replicator equipment similar to our own, it became obvious that magic had nothing to do with the process. Their technologies, combined with the limitless power sources available to them, certainly made it appear to us that repairs were achieved using supernatural means. However, I think the drones have deliberately designed their damage control systems that way in order to utilize the appearance of magic for intimidation purposes against the people they attack." She switched her attention inquisitively back to Data. "So that's where you disappeared to?" she asked, completely intrigued. "You were transported off the Relativity and into a hidden layer of subspace?"

"Actually, I specifically submitted a request that the network transport me there, since my processing capabilities were greatly enhanced during the time I was physically in contact with it." He leaned back in his chair, running his 'pause' subroutine long enough to give the rest of those present time to digest his words. "This 'Preserver network', as we know it, has been around for quite some time... based on the fleeting glimpse I had, my estimate of its age is at least 10 billion years or greater..."

"That would make it nearly as old as the universe itself," observed Lt. Ingram.

Data nodded in agreement. "The best assessment I can think of is that this is an inter-galactic network very similar in concept to the computerized Internet historically used on Earth during its early 21st century." He activated a workstation in front of him and projected a three dimensional image in front of the far wall... a holographic representation that depicted lots of different colored spheres floating around each other, each linked to the others by slender, flexible strands. At the center of the image was a massive, dark black globe with billions of the willowy strands attaching it to everything else on the diagram. "However, as you might already have guessed, this network is much, much more than just a simple computer network."

"It is astonishing is what it is," commented Ingram.

Tuvok regarded her thoughtfully. "Indeed," he agreed. "How did you gain such detailed access rights so quickly? I would have expected that there would be defensive programming in place."

"Of course there is," Data acknowledged. "The larger, dark sphere is a major hub, or control center... I was unable to determine precisely how many of them there are. However, anyone wishing to make use of this network and the massive resources available to it must first open themselves up to a thorough examination." He pointed directly toward the large bubble representing the control center, the sphere that everything else linked to. "All of the colored spheres floating around the central globe are resources of one sort or another - transporters, replicators, temporal or regional wormholes, trans-dimensional rifts, communications... almost anything you can think of is instantly available for use by me or anyone else as long as we follow protocol and first submit proper, electronic requests."

Janeway was noticeably impressed. "Iconian gateways?"

"Indeed Captain. With this single discovery, I believe we have also solved many of the mysteries that have persisted throughout Starfleet history."

"What do you mean by a thorough examination?" wondered Chakotay. "You didn't deliberately allow that thing complete access to your systems, did you?"

"Of course I did," Data decided with a light smile. "It was the only way to learn everything that I needed to know in five minutes or less." He pointed toward the massive, central sphere floating in his holographic display. "The largest, dark orb you see in the diagram serves as a link to the central 'operating system' that manages the entire network. I have absolutely no idea who or what has kept it running all these years and continually administering to the needs of its users, but I was able to verify that this control center is governed by a comprehensive, detailed set of etiquette protocols. They are rules and not merely guidelines, deliberately and carefully constructed into the network's software to protect the privacy of each user and prevent the abuse of those resources."

Captain Data spent the next twenty minutes answering the questions of the others and providing a much more detailed review of his findings within the Preserver network. Commander Chakotay spent most of his time patiently listening, trying his best to imagine what the experience would be like if viewed through human eyes. He listened to the questions posed by Ingram, Tuvok, Janeway and Torres and weighed Data's responses carefully. The entire experience that Data had undergone appeared to be a scientific discovery of enormous magnitude, something that - under different circumstances - would have been a landmark achievement in space exploration. "Could a human mind link into this thing?" he asked finally. "Would one of us be able to connect with this network?"

"Not without the assistance of technology to control the flow of information," the android responded. He tapped the mechanism still attached directly to his neural net. "Once I was linked using the device constructed by Lt. Torres, my computer processor was able to swiftly analyze and map the limitless flow of data. I logged over six hundred trillion different types of resources available for use and barely scratched the surface of what is hidden there." He watched Janeway refill her mug from the coffee pot as she continued to listen closely. "Additionally, a human being would be unable to survive in subspace, without a normal, Earth-type atmosphere. That, combined with the slower speed of a humanoid brain, would substantially limit how much could be accessed by you here aboard the Relativity. This appears to be a resource best used by those in the universe who are much more highly evolved than standard, sentient humanoid life forms."

Janeway paused briefly, fearing the worst. "Did your time in subspace give away our presence here?"

"No," the android replied definitely. "The operating system will protect my privacy as long as I in turn respect its protocols and avoid trying to bypass the restrictions it places on me. Whenever I attempted to study something and was told 'no' during my evaluation, I respected the operating system's will to protect and preserve the overall network for its various users. Since there was no possible way to study everything, I simply moved along to something else that was both interesting and available."

"I just want to be certain that whoever is hiding at Kovar will be unable to locate us using this thing."

Again Data shook his head negatively, hoping to reassure Janeway. "If I had tried to communicate with or in any way interfere with the operation of the probes placed in our galaxy, my access request would have been instantly logged in a security file. Whoever launched the attack on us would then have been able to review all access to his or her personal resources. In that event, our presence would have been given away as soon as our unknown opponent noticed that someone was snooping through their personal resources... sooner if they have pre-programmed 'triggers' in place to alert them. It is even possible that they would be able to trace such an attempt directly back to me here on board the Relativity, since I have chosen to remain linked with the overall network."

"I would like to know a great deal more as to just how these 'etiquette protocols' are enforced," Tuvok spoke up. "The fact that someone was allowed to hook those probes into this subspace environment and make use of its communications ability to launch a killing attack on the population of an entire galaxy is quite troubling, to say the least."

"I agree completely," responded Data. "That is one of the reasons why I have to go back."

Torres' stared at him once again with complete disbelief. "You're going back..." she gasped.

"I have no other choice Lt. Torres," the android told her sincerely. "I'm going to transport myself back into subspace and submit a request for access to the Preserver chain of satellites. This should grant me the connection needed to approach and directly confront the people responsible for attacking our galaxy and establish a dialogue with them. There is no other option... the longer we wait, the less chance we have of reversing the damage to our galaxy."

"Why would you say that?" asked Tuvok with his normal Vulcan interest.

"Because..." Data paused once again, having already decided that a direct approach was the best course of action while informing them of his decisions. "The Preservers did indeed travel through our galaxy centuries ago, seeding life on habitable planets. And I have verified that it is indeed those very same aliens who have returned now to destroy that same life they nurtured so long ago. But they did not launch this attack in the conventional manner we originally thought that they did..."

"What are you saying Captain?"

Data met Captain Janeway's eyes with a confident gaze of his own. "The reason we detected very few disturbances in the original timeline leading up to the Preserver attack is a very simple one. The timeframe in which the Preservers live is many millenia ahead of our own. They launched the mission to put in place the destructive string of probes from our very distant future, then traveled back here to this century to continue with whatever additional objectives they have planned."