The Light

by Jeff F. Jacques

  She had to admit, however, that the achievements of the population impressed her. It was proof of their resilience as a species that they’d been able to endure for so long, living beneath the earth. Right now, she and Gomez were on their way to visit the hydroponics chamber where food was grown and stored. It was difficult to gauge just how many people lived in this society, since she’d never seen more than four or six people at one time, aside from their initial sight of the pathway hub and the children in the classrooms. For all she knew, there could be no more than several hundred, or as many as five thousand people living here.

  Their guide, Tey’sa, led them through one of the impressive archways situated throughout the system of corridors where the pathway inclined. The ceiling along the incline was lower here, and both Corsi and Gomez had to duck a little to avoid hitting their heads.

  When they reached the top of the pathway, Corsi almost staggered at the sight.

  Opening up before them was no mere “chamber.” It was a vast cavern, illuminated softly by elongated lights that simulated daylight and were fitted against the curved ceiling high above, like gargantuan archer’s bows. Crops grew below in a tiered arrangement, with larger plants on the floor and smaller ones suspended on one of the three upper levels, where a number of individuals monitored the vegetation to make sure it was healthy and producing the way it should.

  From where they stood on an observation gantry, Corsi could see that the crops filled the entire surface of the cavern’s floor area, about a thousand meters side to side and about half that deep. The immensity of the place was stunning, and it reminded her of the first time she’d visited the Roman Coliseum on Earth, how she’d felt so minuscule in the face of its enormity.

  “This is unbelievable,” Gomez said before Corsi was able to voice her own reaction. “And you’re able to feed your entire population with these crops?”

  “Yes,” said Tey’sa with a prideful smile.

  Corsi shook her head at the scale of the operation. “Okay, even I’m impressed.” She didn’t like to make preconceptions about a newly encountered species, but she never would have imagined these subterranean people were capable of the achievements she’d seen. “Was this cavern naturally-occurring, or did you—”

  She broke off as she felt fine beads of moisture dapple the skin of her face. Corsi looked up to see a light mist falling from above, glimmering like flecks of starlight against the overhead illumination.

  “Is that rain?”

  “Moisture for plants,” Tey’sa said. “It cycles on and off. The light, also. It drops to simulate the darktime.”

  Night, thought Corsi, tipping her head back and welcoming the refreshing kiss of wetness.

  “Where does it come from?” Gomez asked. As always, she was eager to get to the bottom of the engineering question. She scanned the heights for any sign of the water’s origins, but there was nothing apparent.

  “Pipe system pulls water from underground spring,” Tey’sa explained. “Takes water to homes as well.”

  “Remarkable,” Gomez said, passing a hand through her dark, now-damp hair. By her expression, Corsi guessed Gomez still couldn’t see the pipe system, which made Corsi feel less like a fool for not spotting it herself.

  “More,” Tey’sa said abruptly and gestured back the way they’d come. “Something better.” She said this with her arms open as though to suggest something bigger.

  “Better than this?” Corsi asked. It was difficult to imagine that anything could be more impressive than the hydroponics chamber, but Tey’sa nodded, smiling. This I have to see. “Lead on.”

  Chapter

  8

  O n the bridge of the da Vinci, David Gold sat in his command chair and had to force himself not to ask Lieutenant Shabalala if there had been any word from the away team. Gold had been on the bridge since Gomez’s last transmission, so he would have been aware of any subsequent messages. Asking about it would make little sense, yet this was the third time in the past ninety minutes that he’d felt compelled to do so. He wasn’t sure if his anxiety was the result of his natural concern for his people or the presence of the Borg cube, which, admittedly, had proven to be no threat at all. He preferred to think it was the former.

  To distract himself from his worry, he looked to the rear of the bridge where Tev and Soloman continued to work side-by-side in relative peace. The pair appeared to be working well, conferring with each other as they researched relevant data on the interior of Borg cubes. Gold rose and made his way over to where they sat.

  “Anything to report, gentlemen?”

  Soloman opened his mouth to respond, but it was Tev who spoke. “Nothing of significance, Captain. Specialist Soloman was unable to locate any useful information in the logs made by Captain Picard’s crew on the occasions they boarded a Borg cube.” Gold noted that Tev mentioned the Bynar’s failure before his own. “And while Captain Janeway’s reports from the Delta Quadrant on Voyager’s encounters are more significant, I have yet to find anything that would be of use to us on our particular mission. But there are still many more logs for me to look through.”

  Gold nodded. Kathryn Janeway’s crew in the Delta Quadrant had had an inordinate number of experiences with the Borg, and the intelligence already forwarded through to Starfleet Command via the Pathfinder project would keep the analysts there busy for years.

  “Keep at it,” Gold said. “Soloman, why don’t you help Tev with Voyager’s logs, and maybe something will turn up faster.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Gold noticed Tev didn’t appear particularly enthused about that idea, but the Tellarite wisely kept quiet.

  “Captain,” Shabalala said, “I’m receiving a message from the surface.”

  “Finally.” Gold joined the tactical officer at his post and nodded for him to proceed.

  “Stevens to da Vinci .”

  Stevens? Gold had expected Gomez to report in, but evidently it couldn’t be helped. He hoped nothing had gone wrong. “Go ahead, Stevens.”

  “Sir, we’ve discovered an underground society here, and they’re the ones who are using the power from the cube.”

  “So those lifesigns Blue discovered were legitimate?”

  “Yes, sir. They’re using the power to light their world, grow crops, and, basically, to sustain themselves. In fact, they pretty much worship the light.”

  Gold considered that and realized their mission plans needed to be modified. “Would Gomez agree, then, that just shutting the power off outright is no longer an option?”

  “Yes, sir. Since communications are blocked beneath the surface, she sent me and Pattie back up to the cube with Hawkins and Kim to report in and try to find another option in the cube.”

  “Understood. Tev and Soloman are still looking for any information on Borg power systems that would apply to your situation, but so far nothing has jumped out.”

  “That’s good to know, sir. We’ll figure this out one way or another.”

  “I know you will,” Gold said. They always did. “Where are Gomez and Corsi right now?”

  “They’re taking a tour of the city, sir,” Stevens replied. “One of the natives extended the invitation, and the commander didn’t think it would be diplomatically sound to refuse.”

  “Does she think these people pose any danger?”

  “Negative, sir, but she figured it would be a good way for her to learn more about the people here and how their society works.”

  “Probably true,” Gold said. “Proceed as ordered, Stevens, and have Gomez contact me when she returns to your location.”

  “Will do, sir. Stevens out.”

  So then, no need for him to worry after all. The mission was still underway, and they’d made a first contact. It was clear they now had to find an alternative solution to their problem—eliminate the Borg power signature without shutting the power off. It was a challenge, but if he knew his people, they’d find some way around it.

  “Well, I’m stumped.”<
br />
  Fabian Stevens scratched his hairline and scowled at the Borg computer interface in the central core. Their goal was clear enough, but accomplishing it while trying to understand how the Borg systems worked was proving more difficult than expected. Because the power flow to the cube itself was negligible, the option to leave well enough alone had been available due to the low probability that the Borg would detect their power signature. However, one chance in a million was still a chance, and it was a fairly significant one that Starfleet wasn’t willing to risk.

  “It’s not like you to give up so easily, Fabian,” Pattie said with a note of amusement. “As a talented, resourceful engineer, this kind of thing should be second nature to you.”

  “And you,” Stevens said with a smirk, then glanced at Hawkins and Kim.

  The deputy security chief raised his hands in mock defense. “Hey, it’s all Greek to me.”

  “Maybe we should brainstorm a bit,” Pattie said. “What do we know?”

  Stevens took a breath to gather his thoughts. “We know that the natives have redirected the power from the cube to give life to their city beneath the surface. As a result, there is very little power left bleeding through the cube itself, but there’s still a trace Borg power signature detectable from orbit.”

  “Options?” asked Pattie.

  “Well, the obvious one is shut the power down, thereby eliminating the power signature.”

  Pattie nodded. “But?”

  “But that would have a negative effect on the native population below, as the power seems to support their very existence. And that Sage woman hooked up to the alcove could die, not to mention all of their food crops. We’d be essentially condemning a species to death.”

  “Isn’t that something we typically prefer to avoid?” Kim asked with a smirk.

  “Absolutely,” Pattie agreed. “Secondary option?”

  “Uh…keep the power flowing to the city somehow, yet still eliminate the Borg power signature,” Stevens said, then shook his head.

  “Exactly,” Pattie said with an airy tinkle. “It’s just a matter of realigning the power grid so it emits a different identifying signature. The problem is just figuring out how this works,” she said, waving her two upper right appendages at the core interface, “so we can access the systems. Hopefully, Soloman and Tev will be able to help us in that department.”

  I hate feeling so useless, Stevens thought. “So, until then, I guess we just tinker around inside the thing and hope it doesn’t blow up in our faces.”

  “Uh, should I maybe stand back a kilometer or two?” asked Hawkins.

  Stevens gave him a withering look. “Funny.”

  Pattie tinkled gaily. “Sounds like a plan. Now, see if you can find an access panel and open her up. Hawkins, Kim, you guys stay put.”

  Hawkins grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “No problem,” Kim added.

  As Stevens searched around for some sort of opening, his thoughts drifted to the U.S.S. Voyager and their resident ex-Borg. He’d been keeping up with the logs they sent along from the Delta Quadrant—indeed, the mobile emitter/interface device he’d cobbled together that got blown up by Luaran was inspired by those selfsame logs—and he knew that they had a de-assimilated drone onboard now.

  “It’s too bad we can’t just open a comm line to Voyager,” he said. “A chat with Seven of Nine would really be helpful about now.”

  “Wouldn’t it, though,” Pattie agreed. “I’d love to pick her brain about the structural fortitude of the Borg design and regenerative properties.”

  Fascinating stuff, Stevens thought, smiling as he rolled his eyes. “Aha,” he said as he spotted a square drop-down panel near the control interface that looked hopeful. But before he had a chance to open it, the sound of hushed voices and footsteps echoed around their metallic environment and drew his attention. The voices belonged to Corsi and Gomez, he realized, and a few moments later the two women came around a corner, bright airy expressions on their faces. They couldn’t have looked more relaxed and refreshed if they’d spent the day at a Risan spa. Obviously Sonya hasn’t told Dom about last night. As they came closer, he noticed something a bit odd.

  “Your hair’s wet,” he said. His curiosity went into overdrive as he wondered what the two of them had been up to.

  Corsi raked her damp blond hair with her fingers. “You noticed, huh?” Oh yeah, thought Stevens. Her hair looked great when it was wet.

  “Did you get caught in a rainstorm down there?” asked Pattie, then laughed at the crazy notion.

  “Nah,” Gomez said with a nonchalant gesture. “After the tour, we went swimming.”

  “Swimming?” Hawkins asked skeptically.

  “Where?” Stevens asked.

  “Where else?” Gomez shrugged. “The beach.”

  “The beach?” Stevens had the feeling that he was the victim of some joke hatched by the two women. “Come on, you guys are pulling our legs.”

  “Honestly, Fabe,” Corsi said, apparently enjoying the moment as much as Gomez. “They have an underground lake down there, complete with a sandy beach. The water’s even heated by an underwater fissure. It’s incredible.”

  “Remarkable,” Pattie said. “That would have been something to see.”

  “It was,” Gomez said. “And you should have seen the crops, Pattie. It was an unbelievable sight to behold. Maybe if there’s time after the mission, we’ll go see it again.”

  Pattie waved her antennae delightedly.

  “Hang on a second,” Stevens said. “Your uniforms are dry.”

  “Of course they are,” Corsi said. “You don’t really think we’d go swimming wearing these things, do you?”

  Stevens’s eyebrows lifted slowly, as a series of delightful implications occurred to him in vivid detail. “Now I really wish I’d been there.”

  “Fabian,” Gomez said, getting back to business, “did you contact the captain?”

  “Yeah,” Stevens said with a nod. “Soloman and Tev are still looking for any useful Borg tech in the database, but nothing so far. We’ve decided what we need to do is change the frequency of the power signature so it no longer identifies as Borg. That way we can allow the power flow to continue down to the city. It’s just a matter of figuring out these systems.” He gave the central interface a pat. “Frankly, we could really use Soloman for this.”

  “You’re probably right,” Sonya said. “I’ll mention it to the captain when I report in. In the meantime, go ahead and fiddle around, and see if you can make any headway.”

  “Right,” Stevens said as Gomez moved off to contact the ship. He returned to the access panel and opened it with little effort. The guts of the computer interface stared at him, all twinkling telltales and snaking conduits. “Right,” he said again, and stared right back.

  David Gold listened to the report of his first officer and was astounded at what the away team had discovered in the underground city. That these comparatively primitive subterranean dwellers had created so much despite their limited means was truly inspiring. Gomez’s descriptions of the vast hydroponics chamber, interior rooms, and indoor beach could not possibly compare with seeing them firsthand. For now, though, he could only let his imagination run free in an attempt to visualize these impressive accomplishments.

  “Truly unbelievable, Gomez,” Gold said. “More and more I’m glad Starfleet didn’t give this mission to the Hood. Otherwise, a tragedy might have happened here today.”

  “Agreed, sir,” came Gomez’s voice through the bridge’s comm system. “And truly, words cannot do this place justice. I hope you get a chance to see the place for yourself.”

  “Me, too,” Gold said, though he realized sight-seeing wasn’t their top priority. “What about the big issue?”

  “Fabian and Pattie have come up with a plan to alter the frequency of the core’s power signature so it no longer registers as Borg. It’s a simple enough plan, but they can’t make heads or tails of the control interface. We
need Soloman down here.”

  “Stand by,” Gold said, turning his chair toward the aft stations. Soloman was already half-turned in his own chair, as though anticipating that his services would soon be required. “You ready to join the away team, Soloman?”

  A smile spread across the Bynar’s face. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Report to the transporter room immediately.” Soloman jumped out of his chair and hurried to the turbolift. “Soloman’s on his way, Commander. Anything else?”

  “I’d like to go back down and explain our plan to this Sage woman,” Gomez said. “It’s clear she’s the leader of these people, and while I’m not sure if she’ll comprehend everything, I think we owe her the courtesy. I don’t want any surprises.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Gold said. “Keep me apprised of your progress.”

  “I will, sir. Gomez out.”

  Gold turned again and faced his second officer. “Will you be able to continue without Soloman’s assistance, Tev?”

  Tev stared at him for a long moment, as though trying to decide whether Gold was being serious or not. “I’ll manage, sir.”

  Gold pursed his lips, then turned back toward the main viewscreen, using every ounce of his willpower to keep himself from smiling.

  “I think I’m getting the hang of this,” Corsi said with a smile as she floated face-up on the cushion of air within the pathway hub’s gravity well. She’d expected some sort of response from Gomez, and when none came, she twisted around and “swam” after her friend as they made their way toward the pathway that would take them to the Sage’s chamber.

  “Sonya,” she said. “What’s wrong with you?”

  Gomez’s arm and leg movements ceased, and a telling pause followed before she half turned to face Corsi. “What do you mean?”

  “Come on, you’ve been distracted ever since this mission started,” Corsi said. “Before it started, even. I’m here if you want to talk about it.”

  “I appreciate that, Domenica,” Gomez said. “Really, I do. I just have a lot on my mind. It’s nothing.” She turned and started moving forward again.