Disclaimer: Enterprise and all related characters belong to Paramount. Not me. Oh, drat.

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MIND AND BODY

Chapter 3: Intersections

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"Well," said Hoshi, "we don't have to tell him that the captain decided not to waste our resources this far into the Expanse. We just don't wake him up."

"That's hardly fair, Ensign," said Reed, tapping his fingers sharply on the console. "He's been in that thing for who knows how long."

"Three hundred and forty-seven years," said Hoshi. "In Terran time anyway."

"You carbon-dated the body?"

She nodded, fiddling with the padd in her hands. Malcolm sighed and ran a hand through his hair, leaving it mussed and standing on end. "Great," he said. "So we thought it unlikely that any of his family would still be around if he'd only been there for a few decades.... It's pretty much an impossibility now, though, isn't it?"

"Well, they could be a longer-lived race than us, of course," said Hoshi quietly.

"They could, I suppose," Reed murmured. "Still...."

"He's been in there for a very long time," said Hoshi. "And I doubt that he's actually aware of anything in there. If we just---held on to the box--- maybe...."

Reed shook his head. "Like I said, Ensign, that's hardly fair. At least the captain is willing to let him try and find his planet on our charts. We can drop him off on the way or try to contact his people, at least."

"Are you so sure that anyone will respond after three hundred years? That anyone will want him back?" said Hoshi, looking down at the tool case. Too small for a human to fit inside, but a coffin nonetheless. She shivered and closed her eyes. "What a horrible thing, to be stuck inside a little machine for centuries. Like being dead, only not really dead, and then you wake up and all you can do is be a hologram, unable to touch anything or do anything at all."

Reed goggled at her, surprised by the ice in her tone. "Are you all right, Hoshi?" he asked.

"I think it might be better to leave him there," said Hoshi. "Not wake him up. Just put him back on that planet and leave him. He won't know anything until someone else finds that box and taps on it."

The armory officer glared at her, black eyes locking with blue for a moment, flashing fire and ice. "Ensign, I am not going to leave Jolas trapped inside that box," he said, flipping open the lid on the tool kit. Ignoring her scowl he gave the slim silver machine inside a sharp whack, and stepped back as the familiar golden swirl of light whooshed into the air.

"Ah....Lieutenant Reed," said Jolas, smiling pleasantly. "And the beautiful Ensign Sato. Has your captain come to a decision then?"

"He has," said Reed. Hoshi turned away from the hologram and gazed down at the floor, mouth set in a grim line. "Captain Archer has decided that we are unable at this time to spare the resources to, er, create your new body for you. We are, however, willing to let you examine our star charts and try to find your planet, or send out a message to attempt to contact your species."

"I see," said Jolas. The hologram's expression did not change, showing only the fairly pleasant complacency that had been present on the alien's face all along. "And are we still orbiting the planet on which you discovered my ship?"

"Only for another few hours," said Reed. "Why?"

"I wish to recover some supplies from my ship," replied the hologram. "A few things essential to the maintenance of the thought-saver. At rest it conserves power, but the supply is lower than I had thought previously. A--- what is the word?---ah, yes, a battery. And a few tools, which I will instruct you in the use of in order to keep my thought-saver maintained and in good order."

"I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult to arrange that," said Reed slowly.

"Thank you," said Jolas. "Pick up the thought-saver. The hologram will adjust itself." Gingerly Reed touched the surface, drawing back as the display flickered. "Go on," Jolas urged.

Hoshi watched, uneasy for some reason, as Reed picked it up between a thumb and forefinger. Jolas' figure shimmered and disappeared, then reformed, as shining and golden as before, but now as tall as Reed. They stood together, Reed looking the alien up and down. "Well.... That's interesting."

"Lead the way, Lieutenant Reed," said Jolas, gesturing elegantly toward the armory door. Reed glanced at Hoshi and walked out, the hologram gliding in his wake. Hoshi gritted her teeth. She couldn't understand quite why this alien angered her so---or why Reed did.

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"There," said Reed, clicking the last of the attachments into place. The paranoid conscience within him did not like putting strange machines together without knowing what they did. But the compassionate side of his mind, the side that empathized with Jolas' plight---until now, somewhat suppressed for the good of his job---felt that it was the right thing to do.

"Thank you," said the hologram, standing over his shoulder. "That will serve to keep the thought-saver for a few hundred years more."

Reed, not expecting this, dropped the heavy tool in his hand right onto his toes and swore loudly. "We will not leave you in there for a few hundred years," said the lieutenant without meeting the hologram's eyes.

"You did not tell me how long I was here."

"Well, at first we didn't know."

"I have refigured your time frame to match my own," said Jolas sadly. "Seven hundred cycles. It seems my people are not as long-lived as your own, despite what I had thought at first. Seven hundred cycles is a very long time on my world."

The question was on the tip of his tongue---how do you know how long a human lives?---but Reed did not ask. He supposed Jolas must have found that answer when he downloaded their translation matrices.

And that made Reed even more nervous, but he did not fully understand why. The thought reverberated around his head but refused to settle down and let him comprehend it. "I am sorry," said Reed. "I would like to help you. The captain will not let me, though, and I can't disobey his orders."

"I understand, Lieutenant," said Jolas. "I have all I need here. Let us return to your ship. I will attempt to compose a message to send out."

Reed nodded and picked up the thought-saver with some difficulty. The pieces he had just attached were sharp and pointed and stuck out at odd angles, making it hard to get a good grip on the little silver box. "What are all these things, anyway?"

"I would have to explain the entire process of personality transference in order for you to understand," Jolas replied. "And since I believe you have a limited amount of time on this planet, it would be best left until later."

"Er....right," Reed said. He gingerly passed the thought-saver back and forth from hand to hand. "Anything else you need while we're down here?"

The hologram looked around at the ruined ship, stroking his chin in an oddly human gesture that Reed found disconcerting. Of course, he admitted to himself, he found the whole thing disconcerting---but a good deal of that was because he was really, really hoping Jolas didn't ask what had happened to his skull.

"I have a few personal items here," said Jolas. "I would be gratified if you would take them as well." The hologram shimmered out and reappeared next to one of the bulkhead compartments. "In here."

Reed pulled the drawer open, grunting as the rusty hinges screeched in protest. He lifted out a small glass cube with a white spot on the top and several cloth-bound books with metal clasps to hold them shut. "Press the white spot," said Jolas.

When Reed touched his thumb to the smooth surface, the cube lit up from the inside, displaying in holographic form above it a group of people with facial features similar to Jolas' own, or at least the ones he had first worn before adapting a more human appearance. The alien's expression saddened as he gazed at the little holograms, all smiling and nodding their heads.

"My family," said the Halparen, a tinge of sorrow in his voice. "They may be still alive, but I doubt I would recognize them. They will be much- changed from when I knew them."

"How would they be still alive?" asked Reed quizzically. "You said your people lived shorter lives than humans."

Jolas pointed at the thought-saver, one glowing golden finger passing right through it. "We do not die, Lieutenant Reed. When our bodies are used up we create a new one, of course. A clone, or sometimes an android form, depending on preference. We can survive for thousands and thousands of cycles." He looked at the tiny holographic photo again. "But as I said before, seven hundred-odd cycles is still a very long time. My family will be very different. My world will be very different. And of course, many of us do choose to pass into the next life eventually, so some of my family may no longer be alive at all."

"But for you, it's like it's still several hundred years ago. You don't know anything that's happened," Reed said.

"Exactly. It is as if I have traveled into the future," Jolas replied. "Things are different. Very different."

"I'm sorry," said Reed, silently wondering if that body in the corner was Jolas' own or a clone.

"Don't be sorry," Jolas told him. "If you had not awoken me, many more years could have passed. Or no one may have awoken me at all, and I would simply have slept for all eternity."

"Death, more or less. But of course, with the chance to come back from it," said Reed, shuddering at the thought. "That's more of a chance than most anyone else ever gets." He checked his watch. "We're due back at the landing site in about ten minutes. Is there anything else you need?"

"There is nothing else I require," Jolas said. "Let time take the ship and myself, and perhaps I will find my people. There is another thing to worry about---we are wanderers at heart, and it may be that none of us are left in this part of the galaxy."

"Well, we'll do our best to help you," said Reed firmly.

"And I will aid you, if I can," said Jolas.

Reed nodded, and picked up the thought-saver again. "Let's go," he said. Jolas cast one last look at the ship, golden light flickering, as Reed clambered out into the jungle. The ship creaked behind them, vines fluttering in the breeze, letting the wild claim it for good.

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Back in the armory that night, the golden light flickered out and into the computer circuits once more, spreading through every available system with quiet elegance. No alarms went off, no alerts were triggered; every firewall fell under the gentle invasion.

And this time, the light found more than mere information. Wires sprouted from the silver box, integrating themselves seamlessly into the well-oiled systems of the great starship. The bridge still held control, to all appearances---but it was a mere illusion.

When the invasion was complete, at any moment, whenever he desired it, every single one of Enterprise's systems would fall under the iron control of Jolas. No human hand could retake them.

It was only a matter of time.

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Okay.... this update is hugely late in coming. And for that I apologize. First, I had many, many papers to write for exams. Then I had another story in the Garth Nix section to work on, since I left that one for even longer, and to top it all off I got appendicitis so I was sick for a good two weeks. But I'm better now, and school is only just beginning, so I will be (hopefully) updating more frequently! Let me know what you think of it so far. More action in the next few chapters.