sure if I’m relieved it’s not a Prophet. Another us? What makes them think they can help? We have no way of knowing if our two universes are compatible in any way.”
“Well, sir,” Duffy interrupted. He glanced at Sonya and then back at Gold. “Now that you mention it…”
“I just thought of something, a way to get Soloman out of there,” said Gomez. “You just said that Betazoids and other telepaths have high levels of psilosynine in their brains, right?”
“Yeah,” said Nog. “So?”
“So why not give Soloman a broad-range neural suppressant? Just…take him offline that way.”
“But that will make him incapable of communing with Empok Nor’s computer. Then we’ll be stuck,” said Nog.
“We’re stuck either way,” said Conlon. “Right now, we can talk to them but that’s all. We can’t control what’s happening here or there, and Soloman either can’t or won’t deactivate the system. Probably it’s the latter because they’re the ones who are looking for something, not us. Either they find it, or they don’t. Unless they shut down on their end, it won’t matter.”
It was her decision; Gomez knew it. “We give them a couple more minutes. Let’s see what they say.”
When Duffy finished, Gold looked from Duffy to Gomez, who’d gone very white. To Jadzia. Salek returned his stare then said, “That would seem to answer the question.”
“Yes, it does. And it means they’re probably telling the truth. That machine’s ripping their universe apart.” Gold tapped his combadge. “Feliciano, contact Captain Kira. Beam her directly to sickbay. Tell her I’ll explain when she’s aboard.”
Then Gold put a gentle hand on 111’s shoulder. “When Captain Kira gets here, this is what I want you to ask.”
“The Prophets? The wormhole? ” asked Gomez. “ That ’s what this is about?”
“That’s what they say,” said Nog. “Seems they don’t have one, and they thought this device would help them find it.”
“It has, in a weird sort of way,” Gomez mused. “I mean, it reached out and found this version of Bajoran space. Maybe we’re the only universe with a wormhole.”
“Well, I’m not sure we should tell them,” said Conlon.
“What harm would it do?” asked Hawkins.
“You ever hear of the Prime Directive?”
Gomez raised a hand. “Wait a sec, let’s think this through. This whole thing started when they activated that device—111 says that they think the Hebitians left it as a beacon of some sort. Whoever can access it supposedly can use it to find the wormhole. Well, what if they’re right? First, you access micro-black holes; you establish a coherent datastream to a parallel realm, or you find the region of space most vulnerable to gravimetric inversion.”
“In theory,” said Conlon. “Okay. But if we give them the coordinates and then we, I dunno, disconnect Soloman, how do we know we’ve picked the right side? ”
“You ever hear of Pandora’s box?” asked Gomez. “Well, it’s open. They know we’re here. We know what they’re looking for. From what it sounds like, they’re running out of time. What incentive do they have to turn the thing off?”
“None.”
“Right. If they don’t stop, things don’t get better here. Seems pretty cut and dried to me.” Gomez looked at them all in turn. “We tell them.”
“Once you tell them, you can’t take it back,” said Conlon.
“I know that.” Gomez looked over at Nog. “Do it.”
“The Denorios Belt?” Kira frowned. “No one goes there. It’s a mess: high-energy plasma, neutrino storms, tachyon bursts. I’ve always assumed a wormhole would have to be in a stable, less kinetically energetic region of space. Best place for that is a black hole.”
“Well, guess again,” said Kane.
“But maybe that’s the point, Captain,” said Gomez. “The Denorios Belt we know about is pretty hot, right? Think about it. The Remans use a quantum singularity for their warp
“Well, sir,” Duffy interrupted. He glanced at Sonya and then back at Gold. “Now that you mention it…”
“I just thought of something, a way to get Soloman out of there,” said Gomez. “You just said that Betazoids and other telepaths have high levels of psilosynine in their brains, right?”
“Yeah,” said Nog. “So?”
“So why not give Soloman a broad-range neural suppressant? Just…take him offline that way.”
“But that will make him incapable of communing with Empok Nor’s computer. Then we’ll be stuck,” said Nog.
“We’re stuck either way,” said Conlon. “Right now, we can talk to them but that’s all. We can’t control what’s happening here or there, and Soloman either can’t or won’t deactivate the system. Probably it’s the latter because they’re the ones who are looking for something, not us. Either they find it, or they don’t. Unless they shut down on their end, it won’t matter.”
It was her decision; Gomez knew it. “We give them a couple more minutes. Let’s see what they say.”
When Duffy finished, Gold looked from Duffy to Gomez, who’d gone very white. To Jadzia. Salek returned his stare then said, “That would seem to answer the question.”
“Yes, it does. And it means they’re probably telling the truth. That machine’s ripping their universe apart.” Gold tapped his combadge. “Feliciano, contact Captain Kira. Beam her directly to sickbay. Tell her I’ll explain when she’s aboard.”
Then Gold put a gentle hand on 111’s shoulder. “When Captain Kira gets here, this is what I want you to ask.”
“The Prophets? The wormhole? ” asked Gomez. “ That ’s what this is about?”
“That’s what they say,” said Nog. “Seems they don’t have one, and they thought this device would help them find it.”
“It has, in a weird sort of way,” Gomez mused. “I mean, it reached out and found this version of Bajoran space. Maybe we’re the only universe with a wormhole.”
“Well, I’m not sure we should tell them,” said Conlon.
“What harm would it do?” asked Hawkins.
“You ever hear of the Prime Directive?”
Gomez raised a hand. “Wait a sec, let’s think this through. This whole thing started when they activated that device—111 says that they think the Hebitians left it as a beacon of some sort. Whoever can access it supposedly can use it to find the wormhole. Well, what if they’re right? First, you access micro-black holes; you establish a coherent datastream to a parallel realm, or you find the region of space most vulnerable to gravimetric inversion.”
“In theory,” said Conlon. “Okay. But if we give them the coordinates and then we, I dunno, disconnect Soloman, how do we know we’ve picked the right side? ”
“You ever hear of Pandora’s box?” asked Gomez. “Well, it’s open. They know we’re here. We know what they’re looking for. From what it sounds like, they’re running out of time. What incentive do they have to turn the thing off?”
“None.”
“Right. If they don’t stop, things don’t get better here. Seems pretty cut and dried to me.” Gomez looked at them all in turn. “We tell them.”
“Once you tell them, you can’t take it back,” said Conlon.
“I know that.” Gomez looked over at Nog. “Do it.”
“The Denorios Belt?” Kira frowned. “No one goes there. It’s a mess: high-energy plasma, neutrino storms, tachyon bursts. I’ve always assumed a wormhole would have to be in a stable, less kinetically energetic region of space. Best place for that is a black hole.”
“Well, guess again,” said Kane.
“But maybe that’s the point, Captain,” said Gomez. “The Denorios Belt we know about is pretty hot, right? Think about it. The Remans use a quantum singularity for their warp
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