Hi! Happy (almost) Halloween! I've been working way past midnight the past couple nights and I only just finished writing out this brand new chapter offering a bit more detail about the scientists' theories and the nature of the mysterious Stairway of Sawrina the Great. Hope you like it! Please let me know what you think! :D
Next Time: What's going on with Ishta? And, later, more on Mikey. Stay tuned, and thanks so much for reading and for your patience with my slow updates! :D
Chapter Fifteen
The meeting was just getting underway when Data and Dr. Crusher walked into the cafeteria dome. The lights over the long, fold-out table had been dimmed and the far wall, across from the replicator, had been set up with a holoprojector to provide visual aids as the archaeologists took turns making brief presentations. Now that they'd come to accept the Starfleet officers, not merely as tourists, but as volunteers - albeit reluctantly - the team had agreed to bring their visitors up to speed on their theories so they could all make the most of their remaining week and a half together.
Nat Kapoor stood at the podium, a detailed, full color diagram of the cavern and tunnel system under the Stairway projected beside him. He paused as the two latecomers moved toward the table where Picard, Riker, Tu'Pari, Freja, Kurak and Kahlestra were already seated.
"Ah! Doctor, Data, excellent," Picard greeted cheerily. "Come, sit here. Dr. Kapoor was about to share his recordings of the peculiar wave patterns he's seen cropping up near the Stairway."
"Thank you, Captain," Crusher said, and offered the group a friendly smile as everyone shifted over slightly on the bench to allow them room.
"Deanna isn't with you?" Riker asked.
"The counselor intends to join us for supper," Data told him. "She has chosen to take advantage of the current lack of atmospheric interference to contact Federation authorities regarding Ishta's status."
He raised his chin, the light from the projector making his amber-gold eyes look oddly wolflike as he cast them over the darkened room.
"Where is Ishta?"
"Who knows," Kahlestra said, rather irritably. "She'll probably turn up when she gets hungry."
Data furrowed his brow.
"Perhaps she did not realize she was included in Dr. Anders's summons." He started to rise. "I'll go look for her."
"Stay here, Mr. Data," Picard said, more than a hint of impatience in his voice. "You can search for your young friend later."
"But sir—"
"Data, I know these children have kept you preoccupied, and I do understand. But, this meeting is being held for our benefit. After what we saw this afternoon, and with all that we know to be at stake, I would think this information should warrant your full attention."
Data leaned back and blinked, his features tensing in a way that made Riker brace for protest. But, the android just nodded and said, "Yes, Captain. I will go after the meeting."
Picard nodded his satisfaction, and gestured for Nat to continue. As he did, Riker leaned in close to Data's ear.
"Don't worry," he said, "Deanna's been on the alert ever since you got back. She'd contact us if she sensed anything out of the ordinary."
"Of course you're right, Commander," Data acknowledged. "Our recent experience with those Orion kidnappers has put me 'on edge.' I'm sure Ishta is—"
"Psst," Crusher whispered to the two men, giving them both a teasing poke in the arm. "Pay attention."
Silarra crouched like a spider atop a thin, duranium support strut, peering down at the meeting from the domed ceiling.
She had considered taking the form of the Starfleet empath, or the Boss-man's Orion Skin, intending to get in some one-on-one interaction…maybe ask a few questions. But, after spending most of the afternoon in the runabout sickbay pretending to be a helpful, upbeat robot, she was too tired attempt an evening performance.
Besides, the intense stare the android had given her before he and the doctor headed out for the meeting had left her with a genuine chill. If he hadn't been on his way out the door, she was convinced he would have forced the fawningly obedient 'Howard' into some scan that would have exposed her little trial act right then and there.
Most humanoids tended to see what they expected to see and accept the familiar with very little question, dismissing anything unusual or out of place as a trick of the eye, or simply their imagination. It was an attitude magicians had played on for centuries, and it was what Silarra relied on for her success. It had, quite literally, been a snap to temporarily deactivate the silver-green robot and take his place in the runabout's sickbay, and even easier to slip away again by feeding the busy Starfleet nurse some vague line about needing to 'recharge'.
The android didn't work like that. He saw everything with computer clarity and perfect recall. And, like most Starfleet officers she'd observed, once his curiosity had been roused, he wouldn't back down until it had been appeased.
Silarra snarled. If her infiltration scheme was going to pan out, she'd have to find some way to keep that Starfleet android distracted - or, better yet, out of commission all together - long enough for her to learn how to access and steal the ancient energy source everyone seemed so interested in. And she had to do it without provoking the curiosity and suspicion of the other Starfleet officers. The stasis field the android was constructing for the sickly human Skin had possibilities, but effective sabotage would require some pretty advanced technical know-how and Silarra had always considered herself more of a performance artist than any sort of tech expert. She knew how to work technology, not how technology worked.
Unlike the Boss-man, though, Silarra was in no particular hurry to make her move. Until she came up with a suitable scheme to remove the threat the android posed, she could observe quite well from the shadows, relying on her chameleonic abilities to keep her and her miniature data recorder hidden as the scientists below unwittingly outlined the closely guarded research information the Boss-man had sent her to collect…
"Scientists and fantasists alike have been speculating about the Stairway's purpose and function ever since its initial discovery," Nat was saying when his unseen eavesdropper tuned back in. "And, it is pretty unusual to come across a massive flight of stairs, however complex, standing on its own without at least the remains of some building or bridge or natural landmark those stairs were meant to scale. But, there is absolutely no sign that any such construct has ever existed, or even been planned. The nearest structure even half as tall as Sawrina's great Stairway is located in the ruins of the ancient city, several kilometers from here.
"So," he said, using the podium's keypad to shift the holo-image beside him to a side-view of the towering, interweaving, eye-twisting stairs. "What could be the point of building something so enormous and so elaborate way out in the middle of the desert?
"Lacking any written records or reliable oral accounts, most researchers have pretty much settled on the conclusion that it's a ceremonial structure, built here by the ancient Exo-Akkadian peoples of Nineveh IV to honor their First Dynasty Sarru-Kan, or True Ruler, Sawrina the Great. Like the triumphal arches of ancient Earth built to honor the conquests of the Roman emperors and, later, Napoleon, its purpose would have been more decorative than functional: an intricate tribute sculpture dedicated to their gods and designed to celebrate the achievements of their civilization.
"But," he said, holding up a hand. "there are a few problems with this theory. Dr. Anders, would you care to elaborate?"
Freja stood and moved toward the podium as Dr. Kapoor took her place at the table.
"This is one of the better images of Sawrina the Great," she said in her faintly accented voice, changing the floating holo-image to a detailed portrait of a cloaked woman with green eyes, sun-bronzed skin and dozens of golden-brown braids twisted into an elaborate bun at the top of her head. "It is taken from a work of fiction because, the truth is, we have no real evidence that such a ruler ever existed here on Nineveh IV. Let me explain," she said in response to Picard's startled look as she shifted to an image of the ruined city.
"Nineveh IV has been home to three successive civilizations that we know of, the first two being long extinct. The current settlement is quite modern, founded by a Federation trading company nearly eight decades ago. They were the ones who discovered the Stairway, all but buried in the sand of what had, until then, seemed to be an unpopulated world. When they stumbled upon the ruined city shortly after that, the company called in the first group of archaeologists. Most of what is popularly known about Nineveh IV today derives from that early, rather cursory study - including the theory that the Stairway was constructed in tribute to an early ruler of a race of people once native to this planet, and that the ruler's name was Sawrina.
"As far as we can tell, this name, and the archaeologists' supposition, derives from a rather hamfisted attempt to translate the cuneiform-like symbols that appear over the main door frame of one of the largest ruins in the ancient city. Unfortunately, their translation does not pan out. The symbols may seem vaguely familiar in shape, but the language and grammar behind them is unknown and, unless we somehow find a Rosetta Stone of our own that includes a known language along with these symbols, they will likely remain so. Still, this has not stopped the legend of Sawrina the Great and her mysterious Stairway from becoming entrenched in Federation fiction and popular culture.
"Another, perhaps greater, problem with this myth of Sawrina the Great lies in the fossil record which shows that, even if a ruler named Sawrina did exist at some point, she could not have been native to this world.
"As you probably know, our team is the first to make a truly long-term, in-depth study of the Stairway and the nearby ruins. Yet, it may surprise you to learn that in the years we have been working here, we have uncovered no fossil record indicating the development of intelligent, humanoid life forms native to this planet. Rather, it seems the first humanoids settled here a little less than five thousand years ago - about the same time Sawrina's Stairway and the caverns beneath it were constructed. It's a similar tale for the vast majority of plants, animals, and insects that populate this treacherous desert landscape. Improbable as it may seem, genetic scans show they are all but identical to species found on Earth, and studies indicate they also made their initial appearance on this world, as if by magic, about five thousand years ago.
"But, how could this be? Archaeological evidence indicates the earliest peoples here used tools and weapons remarkably similar to early Bronze Age artifacts developed by Earth's ancient Mesopotamian cultures. Namely, the Sumerians, the Akkadians, and the Babylonians. Surely, these peoples did not have the technological capacity for deep space travel. So, how did they come to be living here, so many light years from Earth?"
She changed the image again, this time to show the opalescent wall beneath the Stairway, the images, raised glyphs and symbols seeming almost to float against its gleaming surface.
"Enter the Preservers," she said. "Ancient beings that we theorize have, as your Lt. Commander Data put it, at various points interjected a willful influence on developing civilizations in our galaxy. It is our theory that, in an effort to 'preserve' the ancient Mesopotamian cultures of Earth before wars and other forces could cause their early civilizations to be superseded by those of Egypt, then eventually Greece, then Rome and so on, the Preservers took 'samples' of the peoples, plants and wildlife there with the intent of transplanting them to a new habitat where their unique cultures could continue to develop unimpeded by outside influences.
"Unfortunately, we now know that, unlike the displaced Native American settlement discovered by Captain Kirk's Enterprise, events did not turn out so well here. Archaeological evidence indicates the first settlers were nearly wiped out by this planet's terrible sandstorms. Survivors lived in caves, forced to revert to a paleolithic, hunter-gatherer type existence. There is evidence the Preservers may have noticed their struggle, however, because a second wave of settlers seems to have appeared here some two hundred years after the first. It was this later group, with their more advanced tools, that constructed the ancient city. They also developed that cuneiform-like writing system we have been struggling to translate. Dr. Baker had been working on that but…"
She closed her eyes and took in a long, rather shaky breath.
"In any case," she said, flicking through a series of illustrative images as she went on, "this second civilization seemed to get by well enough for the next thousand years or so, branching out to construct a second city as well as several smaller towns and villages. But it seems, as the population grew, the struggle for resources provoked a series of devastating wars. We have found weapon hordes and catacomb-like tombs in the ruined city filled with skeletons displaying injuries consistent with those inflicted by Bronze Age-style weaponry. Eventually, whether as a result of war, hunger, storms, or a terrible combination of the three, all humanoid life on this world was wiped out. The desert swallowed up the tombs, the ruined buildings, and most of the Stairway. And, this time, the Preservers did not interfere."
She looked up, casting her pale eyes over the group.
"If the Preservers were responsible for relocating two successive groups of early Bronze Age humans from Earth to this world as part of their 'seeding' endeavors, it would certainly explain why we have found no fossil record of their evolution here. The Preservers' involvement could also explain the appearance and function of the Stairway, the existence of the dampening field and the strange energy source it seems designed to protect, and the sound-based code required to unlock this beautiful, mysterious wall. To explain further, I would like to invite Dr. Tu'Pari to carry on from here. Tu'Pari?"
The Vulcan took his place as Freja settled in next to Nat.
"Before I begin," he said in a rather flat monotone, "may I presume that, as graduates of Starfleet Academy, you all have at least a passing familiarity with quantum physics?"
Riker and Crusher shared a look, but Data, oblivious to any derogatory undertone, quickly volunteered: "Probability mechanics was one of my specialties as a cadet."
Tu'Pari raised a nonplussed eyebrow.
"I'll try to keep this as simple as I can," he said, and Data's eyes crinkled.
"Ignore him, Data," Riker whispered. "Vulcans may bite back their emotions, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to be snide."
Data still seemed befuddled, but he knew better than to press the issue while Tu'Pari was beginning his talk.
"The questionable legend of Sawrina the Great notwithstanding, the Stairway may be more aptly named than most people realize," the Vulcan said. "Both in a literal and metaphorical sense."
He pulled up an image of a long, brick wall, then added an animated humanoid figure repeatedly tossing a small ball at the wall, then catching it when it bounced off the bricks.
"Allow me to introduce you to to the concept of quantum tunneling," he intoned.
Riker quickly clasped Data's arm to keep him from commenting or correcting the scientist.
"In the macro world of classical physics," Tu'Pari said, "where every action is said to have an equal and opposite reaction, it is to be expected that when you throw a ball at a solid barrier, that ball will not pass through the barrier. Rather, if thrown with sufficient force, it will bounce off the barrier and return to you.
"The same cannot be said of the quantum world. Quantum particles typically do not have a defined position until they're observed. Instead, they are described by a wave function. Probability. If there exists a probability, however small, that your particle will appear on the far side of your barrier, then it will. This, very basically, is quantum tunneling. It occurs when a particle passes through a section of space - in this case, your barrier - typically forbidden to it in classical physics.
"Now, how does this relate to the Stairway and the energy source it contains? It is our supposition that this ancient structure is actually a means of transportation, constructed by the Preservers to transfer their chosen samples from one world to another uninhibited by the vast barriers of time and space. Those samples, typically, seem to have been life forms - plants and animals - which is why Dr. Kapoor's recorded wave patterns are so significant. Until today, those patterns had only been observed around living forms. Plants and animals composed of living cells, as opposed to sand, rocks, rucksacks, electronic equipment, and the like. The curious fact that this afternoon's recordings showed them appearing around your Mr. Data, a mostly inorganic mechanical construct, suggests an aspect of agency may also have a part to play in that selection."
Data's shoulders tightened beneath his vest, but he didn't say a word.
"You may ask, how might all this be possible?" the Vulcan continued. "We hypothesize that, with the Stairway, the Preservers have, somehow, managed to develop an energy field in which complex, massive, macro objects can operate like quantum particles.
"In the quantum universe, energy is quantized. It is not continuous, projecting a full spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Rather, energy emitted by particles has a certain length that can be observed with a spectroscope as a discrete band. Different types of atoms emit different wavelengths: unique patterns and bands of energy that serve to identify them, rather like a fingerprint.
"You can picture it like this," Tu'Pari said, shifting the holographic illustrations as he spoke. "Here, we see a smoothly sloping ramp. This ramp represents continuous energy, or a full spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. As you climb the ramp, you can stop at any position along its length and, thereby, stand at any elevation you choose.
"Here, we see a flight of stairs. These stairs represent quantized energy: discrete bands, or wavelengths, as opposed to the full spectrum. In this diagram, you can stop at each step, but you cannot stand in between the steps. Unlike the ramp, you cannot stand at any elevation you wish. Only at the elevations allowed by each step.
"To put it more scientifically, as the frequency of the electromagnetic radiation increases, its energy also increases in increments defined by, what you humans call, Planck's constant. These increments can be illustrated to look rather like a stairway.
"Now, if our hypothesis is correct, and the Preservers did design and construct the Stairway, its very shape would seem to indicate its intended function: namely, a means for complex, macro beings like ourselves to traverse space, time and reality via quantum tunneling, freed from the confines of classical physical laws. In this system, each macro individual, regardless of mass, would take on the unique properties of a quantum particle, or photon. Like a quantum particle, these individuals would become subject to quantum decoherence and gain the improbable ability to pass through spaces normally forbidden to objects of our size and mass.
"This implies, if we were to release the energies contained within the Stairway and allow the Preservers' program to fully activate, we could use their quantum tunneling system to travel anywhere. And, quite possibly, any-when. That is, of course, if the calculations I made based on the data we collected this afternoon are, indeed, correct."
"Then, according to your theory," Picard spoke up, "the energy source behind that wall was designed to power a quantum tunnel on a macro scale. A gateway that could potentially take us to any location, and possibly any time period, in our universe?"
"Not merely our universe, Captain," Tu'Pari said. "There is a fifth-dimensional aspect to these new equations that seems to support the 'many worlds' view of alternate realities, or parallel universes. If this is the case, it may explain what happened to the Preservers, and why they seem to have disappeared so completely. It is entirely possible they left our universe for another plane, perhaps using a device not dissimilar to this."
"Incredible," Crusher breathed.
"Now, you understand our great concern," Tu'Pari said. "If some unscrupulous enemy should gain access to the Stairway and its energy source, and somehow managed to release the dampeners—"
"They would obtain the key to instantaneous travel, not only in space, but also through time," Picard said. "Reality itself would become subject to their whim."
"Then, maybe the best thing would be to shut it down," Crusher said. "Dr. Kapoor showed us the recordings made down in that cave. Every one of you shimmered with those quantum probability waves and, if your experience down there today is any indication, the effect is only going to get worse. If the dampening field should weaken, or grow more unstable—"
"I understand where you're going, Doctor, but I'm afraid it's no good," Freja said. "There seems to be no way to shut down the energy source from the outside. Even if we did, we have no idea what the reaction of the system might be. There is a possibility the Stairway may implode…taking out both this planet and whatever unfortunate planet was at the far end of its last established quantum tunnel."
"Earth…" Riker grunted.
"This is why it's so damn important we gain access to that energy source, study how it works, what it's hooked into…if anything…" Nat said. "It's the only way figure out if there's any way to safely deactivate the thing. If we can't work out how to control it before this fluctuating dampening field fails all together…"
"It will not come to that."
All eyes turned to Kurak, who smirked and shook her head.
"You saw it yourselves," she said. "The android cracked the code. We have his recording of the precise procession of sounds required to access the chamber that houses the energy source. However accidental and unintentional it may have been, that wall did open and, for a moment at least, you did have access."
"It's playing with fire, Kurak," Nat said. "Sure, the doors opened, but they closed again a few seconds later - nearly bringing the roof and the entire Stairway down on our heads in the process."
"Then, we need to experiment. Study the sounds. Break them down, compare them to that tone-based control panel in the cavern wall."
"The kind of in-depth study you're proposing would take a lot longer than a week and a half," Nat said. "Especially with Melinda gone, and more than half our equipment out of commission. I mean, I hate to bring this up, but have you seen the condition of your lab?"
"If I might make a proposal," Picard said. "I suggest Kurak work with Mr. Data on this. With his android speed and positronic brain—"
"Captain, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I must protest," Data said, his pale face growing rather flushed. "Mikey's surgery is scheduled to take place tomorrow afternoon, and I promised him that I would be present."
"Will you be taking any active part in the surgical procedure?"
Data shared a long look with Dr. Crusher. Reluctantly, he admitted, "No, sir."
"Then, you can consider yourself assigned to work with Kurak," Picard said. "You can visit your young friend when he regains consciousness."
Data worked his jaw, turning his unhappy glare from the captain to Kurak, who seemed almost equally as displeased with her new partner.
"I prefer to work on my own," she growled.
"No kidding," Nat joked. "But, in all honesty, you probably should go with the captain's suggestion. This compound's already been attacked once. If there's to be a next time, I want to be sure we've learned as much about that energy source as we possibly can."
He gave her a significant look, which she reluctantly acknowledged.
"Very well," she rumbled. "I will work with the machine. Tell him to meet me outside my dome at 0700, sharp."
"Mother," Kahlestra admonished. "He's not 'the machine.' He's Data, he's my friend, and he's standing right there."
"Thank you, Kay," Data said.
Kurak bared her teeth in a snarl.
"0700 is pretty early," Crusher said, her expression concerned. "Will that be enough time for you to finish work on your stasis field?"
"I can work through the night," Data told her. "But, you will require sleep. When would you be available to go through that test run?"
"0600 would work for me, if it's not too much of a strain on you. My internal clock is still on ship's time, some five hours ahead."
"0600 would be acceptable," Data assured her. "I would ask, however, that you please contact me when you are ready to begin the surgical procedure. I would like to be present for Mikey before he is anesthetized."
"Would that be all right?" Crusher asked the captain.
"Yes, very well," Picard said, and she and Data shared a smile.
"All right," Nat said, slapping his hands down on the table. "If this meeting is over, I say it's time to eat. After a day like today, I could down a whole vat of Ma's famous coconut chicken and still have room for dessert."
"If that is the case, I will go find Ishta," Data informed them, making a rapid bee-line for the sliding doors as if worried he might be stopped. "I don't wish her to miss out on sharing our evening meal."
"Kurak," Freja asked as the doors closed behind him. "Are you still planning to lead the memorial after supper?"
"Of course," the Klingon said. "Melinda Baker was my closest friend. I would not be here if not for her. It is my duty to honor her memory."
"Do you think you'll stay on…I mean, now that she… And, what happened with that Nausicaan attack…?"
"I have no desire to return to the Empire at this time," Kurak said. "I will stay for the duration."
Freja smiled.
"I'm glad," she said. "So, Kay, are you looking forward to your mother's performance tonight?"
"Whatever," Kahlestra grunted, squeezing her scarred hand into a tight fist as she stomped her way toward the replicator.
To Be Continued…
References Include - TNG: Suspicions; The Chase; Parallels; Yesterday's Enterprise; TOS: The Paradise Syndrome; Mirror, Mirror; a few stacks of Brian Greene, John Gribbin and Michio Kaku books; a few books on Sargon of Akkad and Ancient Assyria; The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Reviews are always welcome! Please let me know what you think. :D