Chapter 10: Two direct questions.
Nguyen entered Sisko's office, flanked by a young woman and a young man.
"Ah, Professor, thank you for coming."
"Commander, I'd like to introduce you to my two assistants, who will be helping me in my project," Nguyen began, smiling. "That is Judy Zurich, and this is Gil Francisco." Zurich and Francisco stepped forward to shake Sisko's hand.
"A belated welcome to Deep Space Nine," he offered diplomatically.
With a gesture, and a curt, "The two of you may return to what you were doing," Nguyen dismissed his two assistants. Sisko and Nguyen sat.
"Professor, I wanted to ask you how things are going."
"Smoothly, I'd say."
"Any problems with storage?"
"No, no."
"Are station personnel being helpful?"
"Oh, goodness, yes!"
"Are your quarters okay? Do the replicators serve up your favorite food and beverages?"
"We have no complaints."
"Any idea when you'll be planning to start conducting your experiments?"
"We expect we could be ready to begin preliminary activities in three or four days."
"You mentioned you were going to draw up a schedule of experiments for me. Do you have your schedule ready?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't."
"Ah. Well, I would like to review your schedule before you begin any experiments."
The grave tone of Sisko's voice made Nguyen suspicious. "Of course, Commander."
"And, since I will need to make note of the experiments in my station log, I wonder whether you could give me a general explanation of what your experiment is, what equipment or apparatus is going to be used, what you think you might be trying to learn, and what the side effects of the experiment might be, if any."
Nguyen stared at Sisko for a few seconds, before speaking again. "I would like to put a direct question to you, Commander, and I would greatly appreciate a direct answer. Are you going to stop me from conducting my experiments?"
Sisko stared right back at Nguyen. "At this time, Professor Nguyen, no. But I do want to know what you're planning to do with the wormhole."
"I want to be clear about this: I won't hurt the wormhole in any way. Some top physicists have reviewed my proposals, and there is a complete consensus that nothing I plan to do will have any permanent adverse effect on the wormhole."
"Professor, I always understood 'experiments' as being actions where the outcome was not known with certainty. The outcome could be hypothesized, of course, but in the case of a true experiment, the actual outcome might not be what was expected."
"That's true, in a sense," Nguyen answered slowly. "But in this case, I have already had to prove to Admiral Seth's satisfaction that my experiments will do no harm. And although I may be presumptuous to say so, Admiral Seth would not have authorized me to come here, if she thought there was any chance that I might harm the wormhole."
The good professor is becoming a tad defensive, Sisko thought.
Nguyen continued: "Perhaps I ought to ask Admiral Seth to contact you to explain that the most educated minds have determined— unanimously determined, I might add— that none of what I plan to do will have any chance of damaging the wormhole!"
Though Nguyen's voice had been rising, Sisko's voice stayed even. "Are you planning any experiments in which verteron particles are to be normalized within the wormhole?"
Nguyen was thunderstruck. "Where did you hear that?"
"Never mind where I heard it. Are you?"
"Yes. Verterons have to be normalized, otherwise they'll distort the measurements we're trying to make. But normalization lasts only a fraction of a second, and the effects will not be permanent. Once we discontinue normalization, the verterons will return to their previous states."
Sisko rose and began pacing around his office. "Professor, my title here is 'Station Commander,' and that title has been conferred upon me by Starfleet. Among the local Bajorans, however, I have another title, one they have conferred upon me. That title is 'Emissary.'"
Nguyen understood at once. "You're worried about the wormhole aliens."
"The Bajorans call them 'The Prophets.' They reside in the wormhole."
"My experiments will not affect them in the slightest. And I'm so certain of that, that I'll tell you this: whenever I conduct an experiment in the wormhole, I personally plan to be in the wormhole myself. I have no intention of exposing myself to any unreasonable risks. And if my experiments won't hurt me, they won't hurt the Prophets, either."
"What would happen to you if you were exposed to null time?"
Once again, Nguyen was thunderstruck. "I can tell you have done your homework, Commander! I am very impressed! Surprised as all hell, but nevertheless impressed."
"Thank you. What would happen to you if you were exposed to null time?"
"Nothing. Nothing! I can say this with total confidence, because this very thing has been tested, dozens of times. Creation of a null time region would have no adverse effect upon me, even if I were in the middle of it. Nor would it have any adverse effect upon any other living being. If you and I were placed in a null time region right now, we wouldn't even notice it. So if I were to be inside the wormhole when its interior became a null time region, time would cease to exist for me momentarily; but I have no reference by which I could know that, and the effect is so brief that it is totally harmless and imperceptible. This is because null time preserves momentum and displacement and boundary conditions along the null time envelope."
Sisko paced. He did not understand much of what Nguyen had just said, but his demeanor was that of a man who understood it all. "But you and I are linear beings. We experience linear time."
"And—?" Nguyen didn't see the point.
Sisko continued. "The Prophets do not experience linear time. They exist simultaneously in the past and the present and the future. If you place them in null time, what will happen to them? What will happen to them when the past, the present, and the future cease to exist for them?"
"Nothing, I assume, Commander, since the effect is of very short duration and is only temporary," Nguyen stammered, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
"But to say that something is temporary implies a sense of linear time," Sisko urged gently. "Professor: you once asked me a direct question and requested a direct answer. I now have a direct question for you. Can you guarantee that that the Prophets will not be affected by the experiments you plan to perform?"
Nguyen sat silent. He would not look at Sisko. Eventually he said, "Commander, this wormhole represents the only known place in the galaxy where we can test these theories."
"That is not an answer to the question I asked. Can you guarantee that the Prophets will not be affected?"
"Admiral Seth approved this project. Other Starfleet people did as well. It is an important research project!"
Sisko put a little more heft in his voice. "That is not an answer, either." Sisko took a PADD from his desk and showed it to Nguyen. The PADD displayed the memo signed by Admirals Seth and Ross. "Admiral Seth may have authorized you to come here, but she also authorized me to, and I quote, 'prevent or terminate any experiments that may do any harm to Deep Space Nine, or the wormhole, or any life forms in or near the wormhole,' unquote. The Prophets qualify as 'life forms in or near the wormhole.' Can you guarantee that they will not be harmed? Can you guarantee it?"
Nguyen considered his answer for more than thirty seconds.
"I— I— I do not know whether I can." After a few moments, Nguyen quietly added, "It most certainly has never been my intent to harm any life forms."
Sisko sat down at his desk and spoke calmly. "Then, by the authority granted to me by this authorization, and as Station Commander, and as Emissary of the Prophets, I hereby refuse you permission to conduct any experiments on, in or near the wormhole. I will notify Admiral Seth and Admiral Ross of my decision and the reasons for it. In the event that you acquire evidence that leads you to believe that you can guarantee the safety and well-being of the Prophets, then you may petition to have my refusal reconsidered."