Shadow of Heaven Read online

  The Entity expressed its gratitude for the experiences it had undergone while gathering the dark matter. It had been enriching, and had completed the Entity. For now it understood so much of what had been strange to it. Memories were recovered. Holes were filled. Wounds it had not realized it had were healed, and all because it had helped the Presence help every universe that had ever existed.

  When the Presence informed the Entity of its destination, the Entity was overjoyed. Full circle, it would come now. It sped off to surrender the dark matter to those who were also engaged in a quest to gather it. Eventually, it would all be harvested by the Presence, but for now, the Entity had a destination.

  It had a name. A place which had once been its home, to which it now rushed aflame with delight at once again seeing those it had loved so dearly.

  Voyager.

  CHAPTER

  16

  JANEWAY ROSE AND STRODE DOWN TO THE SCREEN. KALEH had not cut off communications, but the screen showed only beeping, flashing consoles and the interior of the ship.

  “Kaleh!” she cried. There was no response. Janeway whirled to look at Tuvok, the question plain on her face.

  “Sensors indicate there are only two life signs aboard the Talvath. Both are unconscious and weakening.”

  “Beam them to sickbay. Janeway to the Doctor. You’ve got a pair of Romulan patients.”

  “Now is not a good time,” came the Doctor’s irritated voice. “I’m presently in Engineering, assisting Lieutenant Torres with erecting a forcefield around the disintegrating warp-bubble universe.”

  “Doctor, can’t the engineers handle Engineering?”

  “Not when it involves the same delicate technology I am using to erect a forcefield around Khala,” he said. “I’ll return to sickbay the moment I’m through.”

  “We do need him, Captain.”

  The Doctor wasn’t available. Paris was gone, and she couldn’t spare Kim. Janeway’s mind went back to when they had discovered the Romulans on board. The Doctor had requested a hand with the autopsy, but she couldn’t spare any of her senior staff.

  “I’ll have Ensign Campbell assist you,” she had said.

  “She’s the transporter officer!” the Doctor had complained.

  “She’s got two good ears, she can learn,” Janeway had replied.

  Now she tapped her combadge. “Ensign Campbell, report to sickbay. You’ll be in charge of welcoming our visitors.” She turned to Telek. “They need you down in Engineering, Dr. R’Mor.”

  He nodded and hurried into the turbolift.

  * * *

  Ensign Lyssa Campbell did not want to be the only one in sickbay when a pair of severely injured Romulans materialized. Like everyone else on the ship, she had of course undergone the rudimentary emergency field medical training required of all cadets at the Academy. And sure, she’d helped the Doctor out once or twice before.

  Key word: “helped.”

  As the doors hissed open and she strode into sickbay, she saw that her patients had already arrived and were lying unconscious on the beds. They both looked bad. The male had burns on his hands and face and what looked to be a deep wound in the abdomen. The female—God, she looked fragile—was bleeding copiously from a large cut on her ridged forehead. Green blood. Lyssa had never seen that.

  “Okay,” she told herself, needing to hear a voice, even her own. “Okay, this guy looks the worst. Medical tricorder, medical tricorder—here it is.”

  She found it and began analyzing the patient.

  And then she crumpled to the floor.

  * * *

  Swaying slightly, Jekri Kaleh surveyed the body of the blond young human female. Knowledge of the Vulcan nerve pinch was proving to be very useful.

  She spared a moment for Verrak, critically surveying his wound. The burns could be treated with a dermal regenerator. The wound in his abdomen looked bad at first, but a quick examination revealed that the cut, although bloody, was shallow and did not affect any vital organs. The blood was already slowing; he would not lose much more. He would survive.

  She had to move quickly. How to find her quarry? Her gaze fell on the limp form of the ensign. On her left breast was what Jekri recognized as a communication device. Romulans had voice-activated computer systems. Did the Federation?

  Jekri again knelt and tentatively touched the badge. “Computer,” she said cautiously.

  “Awaiting request,” came a cool, crisp female voice.

  Jekri smiled. “Locate Telek R’Mor.”

  “Telek R’Mor is in the turbolift.”

  “What is his destination?”

  “Engineering.”

  “On which deck is sickbay located?”

  “Deck five.”

  “Which level is Main Engineering?”

  “Main Engineering is located on deck eleven.”

  Jekri sprinted out the door.

  * * *

  Jekri’s heart was racing from the exertion, but she forced her breathing to slow as she flattened herself against a bulkhead. The turbolift door hissed open, and Telek R’Mor emerged.

  She sprang quickly, pinning one arm painfully behind his back and locking the other one around his throat.

  “You are coming with me, Dr. R’Mor. I confess it would be easier if you were conscious, but I can carry you if I have to. Do you understand?”

  He nodded as best he could. She released him, but remained tense. He outweighed her, and she was injured from the recent battle and weakened by her time in prison, but she knew she could take him down if he fled or fought.

  R’Mor gazed into her eyes, and saw her confidence. Recognized it. “They probably already know you are not in sickbay,” he said.

  “Then we must make haste. Let’s go.”

  She had ascertained the quickest way to get to the nearest transporter room. Placing one hand on Telek’s back, within easy reach of his shoulder and neck area, she walked him back into the turbolift.

  “We are on the same side, Kaleh,” he said. “We both wish to save our people.”

  “You are the key, R’Mor. If I bring you back with me, the Empress will listen.”

  “She already listens to the chairman of the Tal Shiar.”

  “I am no such person.” She glanced up at him. “You can see.”

  He nodded, taking in her gaunt features, her bony body. He saw. He knew.

  The doors hissed open. They raced down the corridor and headed into the transporter room.

  “Get on the pad,” she told him. He obeyed. Jekri stared at the console. She could not decipher it. She pressed first one button, then another. Finally she swore in frustration and pounded her fist on the console.

  “Your chances of successfully beaming off the ship would have been better had you not rendered the transporter officer unconscious with a Vulcan nerve pinch,” came a calm, masculine voice.

  Jekri looked up to see a tall, dark-skinned Vulcan. He pointed a phaser directly at her, and to either side were two men also clad in mustard and black.

  Despite her chagrin at being thwarted, Jekri could not suppress a sudden, quick rush of pleasure. A Vulcan. If only there were time for discussion. There were so many questions she wished to ask.

  “You will accompany us to sickbay. The captain has many questions for you.”

  * * *

  “I think it’s working,” said B’Elanna, cautiously. It was an interesting conundrum. She could program the Doctor, but there were some things he could program better than she could.

  “It’s getting the resonance correct that’s the tricky part,” he said, running a tricorder over Khala. It had all been the alien woman’s idea. She had theorized that, just as her cells were dematerializing in this universe, so was the warp-bubble universe. A shield around her would trap the cells, for the time being at least; a shield around the warp-bubble universe might render it more stable.

  The thought that she would have to go around with a shield over her body from now until who knew when obviou
sly depressed Khala. Torres could understand. To be in love, and not be able to touch one’s beloved, possibly not even to say goodbye—that was something Torres wouldn’t wish on anyone.

  The field around Khala was invisible, and wrapped around her almost as tightly as a garment. She could continue to move objects, input data. The field was holding, as far as the Doctor was able to tell. Now to test it on the warp-bubble universe.

  Torres took a deep breath, forcing knotted muscles to relax, as the Doctor turned toward the warp core. His holographic fingers moved deftly over the controls. There was a sharp, crackling sound, and for a wild instant Torres thought, That’s it, it’s over, this is the end.

  “Please confirm,” said the Doctor, his dark eyes on the warp core.

  Torres checked, and for a moment felt weak with relief. “It’s back to normal.” She turned and favored the Doctor with a grin. “Well done. You make a passable engineer, for a doctor.”

  He preened, just a little, then headed to sickbay.

  * * *

  Janeway had briefed the Doctor while he was in the turbolift as to the escape. His captain was there, arms folded, when the Doctor entered. An embarrassed-looking Campbell was busy running the medical tricorder over the male Romulan, who was just now regaining consciousness.

  “Are you all right, Ensign?” asked the Doctor, taking the tricorder from her.

  “Nothing bruised but the ego,” she managed, smiling ruefully.

  “No one expected a Romulan to know a Vulcan attack method,” said the Doctor. Even as he spoke, the door hissed open and Tuvok entered, escorting their wayward Romulan.

  “Jekri Kaleh,” said Janeway crisply. “And here I thought we could talk like civilized people.”

  Weak and injured as she was, the other woman shot her a look of such hauteur that Janeway was impressed. She had spirit, that much was for certain.

  Tuvok assisted Jekri onto the bed. The woman snatched her hand away and clambered on by herself.

  “Why did you try to kidnap Telek R’Mor?” Janeway asked.

  The woman did not reply at first. Finally, she seemed to reach a decision.

  “I will tell you all, Captain Janeway of the Federation. If I am wrong in my trust of you, then soon nothing will matter. I was once the chairman of the Tal Shiar. In that office, it was my duty to attempt to retrieve your vessel and the presumed traitor, Telek R’Mor. Since the time when he—disappeared, I have learned a great deal about a being who calls himself a Shepherd. His name is—”

  “Lhiau,” interrupted Janeway. “And let me guess. You began to suspect that he wasn’t what he seemed. That he was not helping your people, he was using them to further his own ends.”

  Only a slight widening of silver eyes conveyed Jekri’s surprise. She nodded her dark head and winced at the pain the movement engendered.

  “Don’t do that,” the Doctor remonstrated. He began to treat her lacerated scalp.

  “Correct, Captain. After our last encounter with you, which destroyed thirteen warbirds, I began to suspect that there was something dangerous involved. Lhiau tried to blame Dr. R’Mor, but I wondered. The more I learned, the more obstacles were flung up in my path. Finally, I must have learned too much, or have been close to stumbling upon something. I became a target of the Family of the Blade.”

  At Janeway’s lifted eyebrow, Telek explained, “Formally trained assassins. They do not exist, if you understand what I am saying.”

  “I do,” said Janeway, grimly. “Go on.”

  “I thwarted the assassination attempt by using—” Jekri stopped abruptly. She looked over at Tuvok. “There are people on my planet who believe that reunification with the Vulcan people is desirable. I studied Vulcan meditation techniques from one such woman. That is where I learned the nerve pinch, as well as ways to block my thoughts from being influenced by Lhiau. He could not corrupt me mentally, so he arranged for me to be branded a traitor. I was imprisoned, but thanks to Verrak and some others whom I do not know, I escaped.”

  Janeway must have looked skeptical, because Telek R’Mor, who had no cause to love Jekri Kaleh, said, “Look well at her, Captain. Look at her body, her face. She has been tortured.” He smiled without humor. “I recognize the signs.”

  Surprised by Telek’s words, Janeway again regarded Kaleh. The woman flushed green, but did not look away. Now that Janeway looked, she saw. Telek was right. Granted, she would not put it past the Romulans to torture one of their own to make a lie seem more convincing, but what would be the point? And the last Janeway heard, studying to learn Vulcan mental disciplines—or the ever-useful nerve pinch—would have been enough grounds for a high-ranking Romulan to be interrogated.

  “Our Empress was not as fortunate. She is utterly his pawn now. But there are others, who mistrust Lhiau, who were willing to follow where I would lead.” Jekri looked at the floor. “Captain Idran was a good friend. The Para’tar was a noble ship.” When she looked up again, her silver eyes almost glowed with intensity. “Their deaths must count for something.”

  “Your suspicions were right,” Janeway said. “Lhiau’s purpose isn’t to help the Romulans. It’s to make you destroy yourselves, and take the whole universe along with you. The more dark matter the Romulans use, the more the balance tips. It’s my understanding that we are pretty close to the end right now. We’ve been trying to harness the dark matter, render it harmless. We’ve met the other side, the good Shepherds. It seems that they have been guarding the balance that keeps the universes—all of them—intact. Lhiau wants to tip the balance and destroy everything.”

  Jekri seemed to believe Janeway. “But why? Why destroy everything? Wouldn’t he die as well?”

  “And if he had the power to do such things,” put in Jekri’s companion, now sitting up, “why would he try to trick us into doing it for him?”

  “All good questions,” came a melodious voice that made Janeway’s skin prickle and her heart speed up. A warm, purple glow filled sickbay, faint at first, then growing in intensity until Janeway had to shield her eyes. When at last the glow faded, Janeway knew whom she would see.

  Tialin stood, smiling with that heart-calming benevolence. Janeway felt the tension ebb from her body.

  “Questions,” Tialin continued, “that it is time for me to answer.”

  CHAPTER

  17

  “WHO ARE YOU?” KALEH DEMANDED. “YOU CANNOT BE Dammik R’Kel, though you wear her face and form.”

  “My name is Tialin. I am of Lhiau’s people, and I wish to stop his terrible deeds as much as, nay, more than, you do.”

  She fell silent, and Jekri Kaleh’s face suddenly went blank. Then she shook her head, as if waking from a dream. New respect was on her face as she regarded Tialin.

  “I understand,” she said, and so did Janeway. Tialin had telepathically informed Jekri of everything that had happened to date. Janeway wished that the Shepherd had shown such consideration with them earlier, but let it go. No doubt Tialin had her reasons.

  “Time grows short. Lhiau is, when all is said and done, a Shepherd, though a renegade. He will not violate the Oath that we all took, back when the universes were young. He will not actively destroy life. But he can trick others into destroying themselves.”

  “I have been,” said Jekri firmly, “a veruul.”

  “No,” said the other Romulan. While they had been talking, the Doctor had been busy healing their visitors’ wounds. Now the Romulan male, a handsome young man, rose and went to Kaleh, though Janeway noticed he stopped short of actually touching her. “You have been wise, Jekri.”

  “As have all of you,” said Tialin. She cocked her head, her eyes unfocused, as if listening and watching something Janeway could not see or hear. A faint smile curved her lips. “It is time you have arrived, my friend,” she said, softly, with great love.

  * * *

  The Entity rushed toward Voyager filled with joy such as she had never known. What a precious thing it would be, to come home to the people w
ho had freed her, then loved her, then let her fly to her true destiny. How fulfilling it would be to, for a time at least, assume that small, female form into which she had been born, and speak with them of all the marvels she had witnessed.

  She had lacked control, the last time she had been with them. Her powers were overwhelming her. They were the master, not she. Now, she was complete. She had attained mastery. She had the vast comprehension that this transformation had granted her, and, thanks to Tialin’s Presence, she had gone on this quest not only to recover the traces of the dangerous dark matter but also to remember her own identity. She knew who she was, at last.

  How satisfying it would be to say hello and then farewell, but not forever, to people whom she had not been able to before. She envisioned chatting with the Doctor, sharing her medical knowledge; eating Neelix’s food and simply loving his sweet presence. And Captain Janeway, her mother and friend. Now, she could thank this remarkable human.

  There it was! Oh, sweet home, forgotten and remembered with new poignancy. The Entity swept down, penetrating shields and metal alike with carefree ease, flying through corridors down which she had once walked. They were in sickbay, a place she knew, she knew! In she came, and—

  The Entity’s joy turned to icy horror as the gentle tendrils she had sent forth found something dreadful.

  They would not welcome her. They would fear her. They would be afraid that she would come filled with fury as she had once before, to march through the ship leaving death in her wake. No, no, this was not she! She loved these people. She would never harm them!

  You would not, came Tialin’s thoughts. But another you would. And has.

  And then the Entity understood. There were universes upon universes, and there was more than one destiny for every being. This was not her Voyager, her Janeway, her Neelix, her Tuvok. This was a Voyager from another universe, one in which she, the Entity, had not ascended to a greater height of knowledge and compassion, but had descended to depths of terror, pain, and rage. In this universe, when she returned, she had come with vengeance in her heart.