Chapter 12

"Why isn't it moving? What is it doing?" B'Elanna asked as she rubbed her temple, frustrated and confounded by the anomaly's – the entity's – behavior.

"I hate to be the pessimistic voice here," Harry started, his voice sounding strained over the comms, "but has it occurred to anyone else that it might be buying its time? Feeding on the energy within the wormhole, and growing?"

"Its purpose is irrelevant," Seven's voice cut in. "What matters is figuring out a way to retrieve Admiral Janeway and Captain Chakotay."

"Assuming they're still in there," B'Elanna retorted, the helplessness inside her growing at an exponential rate.

"We have to assume that they are," Captain Uang calmly but sternly replied. "Commander Tuvok, you've been gathering data from this… entity since it appeared. What have you learned?"

"Very little. It interacts in the same space as we do, but it has no known organic or nonorganic molecule. It behaves like a gas – rather than a wave – yet its atomic and subatomic make-up remains unknown, including how that gaseous substance is contained into a fluid shape. Even more intriguing is how it moves through space. I believe it consists of a kind of matter, or perhaps even dark matter, yet it does not behave like any known matter."

"Exactly like those stories… Extraordinary," Neelix commented from aboard Aspire, almost wistfully, before shaking himself out of it. "I apologize, I just never imagined that so much of the story would turn out to be real."

"I don't suppose there's anything in that story that can help us send it back the way it came?" B'Elanna retorted.

"Not that I can recall, but I'll ask the others."

"Please do," Captain Uang agreed before returning her attention to the conversation. "Meanwhile, if it's sentient," Captain Uang resumed, "as Lieutenant Torres suggested earlier, it might respond to stimuli. I think it's time we test that hypothesis."

oooOooo

The force field worked. Chakotay was no longer feeling Kathryn's emotions. It felt like a weight had been lifted, as if he could see clearer – and yet, he missed it. He missed her presence there, the feelings that had anchored him to reality, to her. He missed that strange connection to her.

But those feelings he had gotten a glimpse of were still there, he reminded himself. The only difference was that now Kathryn had to willingly share them with him. But what if she didn't? Would she ever be able to let go of whatever it was that still made her uphold the line between them? It was so tempting to just stop trying to guess what was going on in her head and ask her, to make her tell him why she was fighting her feelings. What she was so afraid of. But… that felt like an incredible breach of privacy. A violation. And he had once vowed to her that he would follow her lead where the two of them were concerned, and he meant to honor that promise.

And yet… what if he never got another chance to tell her what she meant to him? He could feel the entity anchored somewhere within and around him. What if he couldn't do what he needed to do? What if he didn't survive the ordeal? Fear tightened his stomach painfully, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

He shook himself. They'd find a way. They always did.

And then, once they were safely back aboard Voyager and it wasn't inappropriate for him to do so, he would show her that she could trust him with her feelings, and with her heart.

But now is not the time, he reminded himself again. He had to focus on the task at hand, just as she was doing.

Chakotay had resumed his meditation position as he sat on the other side of the force field, in the back of the Flyer cockpit. This time around he'd been able to reach a little deeper than before through his meditative state, and closer to that force that seemed to radiate from the entity. He couldn't quite get to it though, no matter how much he tried to reach out and touch it.

It didn't help that whatever it was that Kathryn was doing as she fumbled with the subspace transmission relay, it was making a racket.

He opened his eyes and threw her a glance. "Kathryn, what are you doing?"

"You're doing your own communication thing, I'm doing mine…" She drawled with a raised eyebrow. "I'm trying to boost the transmission signal to reach the fleet. Assuming they're still out there."

"How's it going?"

"I'm having about as much luck as if I were reassembling a shield modulator blindfolded. Where's B'Elanna when you need her? I guess it's ironic that I'm doing this so I can talk to her."

Chakotay smiled at the all too familiar tone.

"You?" She prompted, her attention still focused on whatever her hands were doing as they worked inside the open panel. Sitting on the floor with her brows furrowed at the challenge, she made an endearing picture. Her hair was still free from her hair clip and there was something enticing in the way it flowed freely around her face and on her shoulders, without any of the control she usually wielded over the strands to style them. He hadn't done that in a long time, he realized, simply taken the time to watch her, and enjoy the way her features shifted with her emotions: the beautiful blue eyes that often spoke louder than her words, the delicate curve of her eyebrows when they rose sarcastically or furrowed in concentration, the enticing lips whose bright smile (all too rare these days) never missed to make his heart beat faster… It felt intimate to see her like this, somehow, because it was her, without most of the behaviors and affectations that usually came with the way she performed her rank. This was Kathryn. And she was beautiful. He felt something swell in his chest at the thought.

"It's hard to concentrate… with all the noise," he replied teasingly.

She took the bait and shot him an indignant look. When she saw that he was teasing she huffed her protest. "I see you're feeling better…"

Chakotay smiled again. He was feeling better, although all things considered, it might just be that he was getting used to the sensations. The pain was still there but had become white noise in the back of his mind now that it was reduced to a dull, throbbing ache. The hypospray had seemed to help with the fever, though he still felt heavy and his movements too slow. The entity had not made itself known for a while now.

"I haven't had any luck either. I'm starting to think I might need some help in order to do what I'm trying to do. Maybe some medication could help me reach a deep enough meditative state."

"It's worth considering," Kathryn replied distractedly, her attention still focused on what she was doing.

"Have you tried rerouting power from the plasma emitters?" He suggested.

She responded with a quick smile. Just a small twitch of her lips. "Great minds think alike. That's what I'm doing right now. I think I'm almost there…" She trailed off as she put in the finishing touches and rose to her feet. She threw him a hopeful smile before she walked to the primary controls and sat down in the pilot chair. Chakotay rose to his feet as well, but remained where he was, mindful of the force field.

"This is Admiral Janeway, can anyone read me? Voyager, Aspire, this is Admiral Janeway, can you read me?"

There was some static and Kathryn touched her lips anxiously as they waited 5 seconds… 10 seconds… 15 seconds…

"Something else must be dampening the signal-"

"Thi… i… ..ven of Nine, we ..ead y… It is a reli.. … .ear your voice."

Kathryn perked up and sent Chakotay a triumphant grin and he couldn't help but reciprocate.

He gave her a teasing smile. "Blindfolded, huh?"

oooOooo

"This is Seven of Nine, we read you. It is a relief to hear your voice," Seven replied. "What is your situation?"

"Seven! We ap….ear to be … within the dar.. ent….y."

Seven pressed her combadge. "Commander Tuvok, is there a way to clarify their signal?"

"I am attempting to do so now… Try it now."

"Admiral, you were breaking up, please repeat," Seven instructed.

"I repeat, the Delta Flyer appears to be trapped within the dark entity. We're both safe for now, but something's going on with Chakotay. We think the entity, whatever it is, gave him some… unusual abilities."

Seven gave a satisfied nod at the improved quality of the transmission, then quickly patched the open transmission through to the sickbay in addition the network of starships, so that the Doctor could monitor or ask the appropriate questions to determine the state of Chakotay's health. After the Doctor had received the appropriate information regarding Chakotay's symptoms, he instructed Janeway to use the tricorder to make sure that the entity was not actually parasitical.

Janeway then informed them of their hypothesis that Chakotay might be able to communicate with the entity through his newfound empathic abilities, though he had yet been able to do so.

"Doctor, do you have any suggestions to help me attain a deeper meditative state?" Chakotay asked.

"There are a number of options, of course. Did you have anything in particular in mind, Captain?"

"I thought that perhaps a mild sedative might do the trick, it's worked in similar situations before," Chakotay's voice replied. Seven was impressed at how calm he sounded. His poise under pressure had always been a trait she had admired in him, as few humans seemed to possess it. A few months ago, a thought such as this would have triggered a strange malaise within her, but she now realized that it was no longer the case. Now her admiration of him was that of a friend, nothing more, nothing less.

"That might help, and you should have a number of options in the Flyer medical kit." The Doctor went on with his recommendations and the risks associated with each of the treatments until Janeway, Chakotay and the Doctor were satisfied. The Doctor went on. "Admiral Janeway will have to administer it.

Captain Uang joined the conversation.

"Admiral, Captain Chakotay, allow me to say that it is a great relief to hear your voices. The fact that the anomaly is some form of sentient being confirms our own hypothesis based on its behavior thus far. We have come up with a number of ideas to figure out its behavioral patterns – if we could coordinate with Captain Chakotay's abilities to communicate with it, we might be able to get an even better sense of what our next course of action should be."

"What did you have in mind?" Janeway asked.

"Admiral, this is Neelix speaking. I have to second Captain Uang, it's really good to hear your voice!"

"And yours as well, Neelix."

"I've been discussing the Legend of the Living Stars with my fellow Talaxians. Even though most of them were unfamiliar with it, I did talk with a number of elders who remember a different version of a similar story, in which the Darkness is reasoned with."

"How?" Chakotay asked.

"By coming to a compromise by which the living stars provide the darkness with enough light to sustain its appetite long enough for it to travel to another system."

"What do you make of it?" Janeway asked, an open-ended questions to all those monitoring the discussion.

"One of the common theme in both stories is that the entity feeds on light," Tuvok commented.

"So if it feeds on photon particles, maybe we should give it what it wants," Icheb suggested – his first words spoken as part of this discussion.

"Well, careful you don't end up domesticating it," B'Elanna replied, her tone cynical. "We wouldn't want it to come back for more. Or get angry when it doesn't get it."

"If we can find out whether it is actually feeding on photons," Icheb went on, and Seven was pleased to hear that he didn't let counterarguments defeat him, "then perhaps we can figure out what it dislikes. Why hasn't it fully come through the event horizon, for instance?"

It was Janeway who replied. "I agree that we need to learn more about this thing, hopefully Captain Chakotay can help with that as well once he's able to sense it better. One thing we do know, it didn't like the Flyer's thrusters when we activated them earlier."

Seven committed this information to memory before she spoke again. "It might be related to the matter-antimatter released, but in order to test that, logic dictates that we first need to test our first postulate: that it finds sustenance in photons."

"Alright," Janeway conceded, "once Chakotay has achieved the desired meditative state, we'll release a photon beam, and see how the entity reacts. We should probably make sure that the Deep Space station is evacuated."

"We anticipated your order, Admiral," Tuvok replied, "it has already been done. We have also relocated the Talaxians, with the exception of Neelix, to the Cousteau. It is ready to depart at warp speed at a moment's notice, should the need arise."

"You read my mind, Tuvok. Alright, let's do this. We'll keep you posted. Janeway out."

Seven let out an anxious sigh as the transmission was terminated. She busied herself with adjusting the sensors and creating alarms that would indicate any changes in both the entity and the Entraptor as well as the still-connected wormhole.

Her mind wandered of its volition to the situation aboard the Delta Flyer. She briefly wondered whether this time alone, with their lives in the balance, had provided Janeway and Chakotay with an opportunity to bring an end to the romantic tango – to use a common metaphor that related to a specific dance rhythm and motions from Earth – they had started years before.

Even though Chakotay's decision to end their relationship months before had caused her greater emotional turmoil than Seven had anticipated, she had also moved on from it more quickly than what she had expected considering what she had observed was the average recovery time in her fellow shipmates. But perhaps this was a sign – much like the fact that she had felt no resentment or jealousy toward either Chakotay or Janeway – that what she had felt for Chakotay had not truly been romantic love. Perhaps, as she had once heard Tom Paris describe Lieutenant Kim's amorous disasters, what she had been in love with, was the idea of a romance, or perhaps even love itself.