"Good! Where's the scunner going?"

"On a course of two-four-four mark six-three, the only stellar body he can be making for is Delta Five in the Gamma Zeta Alpha group."

The name was vaguely familiar to Scotty, but all those alphanumeric designations were infuriatingly familiar without being truly memorable. Names were always better. "Is that a pulsar . . ."

It was Leah who provided the name he had been trying to remember. "The Split Infinite." She called up a file image, and put it up on the main screen. A mercurial silver ball slashed open by red and gold power. "The image was taken by a sensor array three pa.r.s.ecs away from the Infinite, nearly two decades ago."

"That's a pretty remarkable stellar phenomenon," Nog said.

"Pulsars and neutron stars aren't that rare." Qat'qa opined.

"It's not the star that's remarkable," Leah said, "but the fact that it shares its position with one of the very few cosmic strings whose positions have ever been recorded in normal s.p.a.ce. The string intersects with the neutron star, producing a wormhole that could theoretically give direct access to the string-"

Scotty's eyes narrowed. "Of course . . . That's why Rasmussen has come here."

"For a rotating cosmic string?" Nog asked.

"Not such an unlikely idea," Leah said slowly. "There's a lot of energy tied up in there, but he doesn't have the equipment to collect it in any usable form."

"He doesna need a collector for what he wants," Scotty said, his voice leaden. "It's a natural Tipler cylinder," Leah said suddenly. "That's why he's come here. We've all been looking at Bok the wrong way."

"In what way?" Nog looked blank.

"We've all viewed Bok as being obsessed with Jean-Luc Picard, and obsessed with revenge. But that's not it at all. His obsession is with his son's death."

"Caused by Captain Picard."

"Yes, but the subsequent obsession with avenging himself on Picard isn't the actual obsession. It's just the only thing he thought he could do in relation to his son's death. A grief he can't get over."

"And now he's found something he can do about it," Scotty said, understanding. "Mister Nog," Scotty began decisively, "would ye kindly put in a call to the people at the Department of Temporal Investigations. I'd like to think that our friend Rasmussen there is somebody that they will have been takin' some interest in."

15.

Intrepid slowed to impulse power on the outskirts of the Delta Five Gamma Zeta Alpha system. Far ahead, at the system's heart, a shrunken silver eye burned dully. The poles of the neutron star were visible in most spectra, but the center of it was obscured by far greater energies, which somehow seemed to both originate far beyond the neutron star and blaze out ahead of it. slowed to impulse power on the outskirts of the Delta Five Gamma Zeta Alpha system. Far ahead, at the system's heart, a shrunken silver eye burned dully. The poles of the neutron star were visible in most spectra, but the center of it was obscured by far greater energies, which somehow seemed to both originate far beyond the neutron star and blaze out ahead of it.

Wherever the Intrepid Intrepid went, the star always looked the same. The two arcs of the neutron star were above and below, providing a frame through which a wormhole vortex was seen. Deep in the heart of the vortex, which itself tore at the star without diminishing it, a blazing serpent twisted madly, spinning thousands of times a second. It spun a web of golden energy, which beamed out from the wormhole, obscuring the rest of the star. went, the star always looked the same. The two arcs of the neutron star were above and below, providing a frame through which a wormhole vortex was seen. Deep in the heart of the vortex, which itself tore at the star without diminishing it, a blazing serpent twisted madly, spinning thousands of times a second. It spun a web of golden energy, which beamed out from the wormhole, obscuring the rest of the star.

Close to the star and its anomalies, the stony remnants of planets had formed several crossed bands, dancing between each other under the effects of tremendous gravitational forces.

The silver and golden light cast from the anomalous star played out from the main viewer and across the faces and furnishings on Intrepid Intrepid's bridge. Bok, standing in front of the screen, gazed at the light playing across his hand, and felt his heart skip a beat. His hand looked as if it were made of gold-pressed latinum, shining and powerful. "Impressive," he murmured.

"The stuff that dreams are made of," Rasmussen agreed. He flexed his fingers.

"It's beautiful," Barclay whispered. His expression was somehow as muted and hushed as his tone. He and La Forge were, under the watchful gaze of a Breen guard, monitoring the master systems table at the rear of the bridge, and were just as affected by the sight on the main viewer.

"La Forge had seen a lot of beautiful and strange astronomical phenomena over the years, but none quite as radiant a jewel as this. "The energy readings coming out of there are like nothing I've ever seen before."

"What about planets?" Rasmussen asked.

Geordi shook his head. "The level of gravimetric forces centered on the star is whole . . . levels of magnitude greater than anything a planet could withstand. They're just so much rubble now."

"Most neutron stars have a few dead planets...o...b..ting them," Reg said.

"Most neutron stars don't have all that other stuff pouring out of them." Geordi indicated the figures scrolling across the tabletop screen. "Elevated neutrino and chroniton readings. . . . It's a wormhole, but it doesn't seem to go anywhere."

Barclay made a few calculations on another screen. "I think it just loops round and goes to where it already is, but that can't account for the gravitational power we're seeing."

"What is that at the center of the star? Beyond the wormhole."

"I suppose . . . No, it's impossible."

"In my experience most of what we think is impossible are just things we haven't come across yet. Go ahead, Reg, what are you thinking?"

"Readings suggest a cosmic string, but its throwing off kinetoplasmadynamic readings like n.o.body's business."

"It's moving?" Geordi was surprised.

"Spinning, I think. Incredibly quickly too."

"A cosmic string?" Geordi tried the thought out for size. "Intersecting with a neutron star . . ." The thought was disturbing, on too many levels. Between radiation and gravitational instability, this was not a good system to be in.

"And the gravimetric interference patterns between them create a wormhole link from point to point, allowing energy to come off the string . . ." Reg's eyes widened. "The Split Infinite!"

La Forge could have kicked himself. "Right! I knew the system designation was familiar." How could he not have remembered the name?

"The radiation levels are off the scale," Reg went on. "Only a gamma ray burst could flood the system more."

"Yeah, which makes me wonder . . ." La Forge lowered his voice further. "What the h.e.l.l are Bok and Rasmussen doing here?"

Reg shrugged. "Wait . . . Bok is obsessed with getting revenge on Captain Picard, and Rasmussen wants to steal technology and claim the credit for it . . ."

"Right. But what could they want that they could get here?" La Forge asked.

"The radiogenic particles flooding out of it could be collected, I suppose . . . used for fuel?"

"Or as a weapon."

"But neither Intrepid Intrepid nor their marauder is equipped for that sort of energy collection." nor their marauder is equipped for that sort of energy collection."

"It would take some really specialized equipment to harvest the particles or the energy, Reg. So . . . they'd have to wait for it."

"Wait?"

"Yeah, Reg. A rendezvous is the only reason I can think of for someone to come here. Whether it's a rendezvous with something to collect the energy coming out of the Infinite, or just with another ship for smuggling or to pa.s.s along the Intrepid Intrepid to a private collector of antiquities I don't know." to a private collector of antiquities I don't know."

"Scientific study?" Barclay offered.

"Rasmussen may be a scientist of sorts, but Bok doesn't strike me as the kind of person who's that much interested in scientific research."

Bok suddenly turned his attention to the two Starfleet engineers. "You don't know why we're here? That's disappointing, coming from two of Starfleet's finest engineers."

"Maybe you'd like to gloat as you tell us," Geordi said sourly.

Bok smiled tightly. "I think I prefer enjoying the fruits of my labors over talking about them."

"You're expecting to make a profit?" That was the Ferengi way, though La Forge couldn't see where profit would come from here.

"Oh yes, La Forge. More profit than you can dream of."

"n.o.body in Starfleet dreams about profit. It's not why we join the service."

"Perhaps, then, I should say more profit than Ras-mew-son dreams of."

"I think Rasmussen can dream of quite a lot," said La Forge.

Bok laughed. "I'm sure he does. But he doesn't think of what you would call the big picture."

"You mean your plan's a little different than his." La Forge had expected as much. It was Bok's way.

Bok scowled, glancing back at the entranced Rasmussen. "That is not what I said."

"Does he know that you're thinking of a bigger picture?"

"He knows what he needs to know."

"I guess that's a 'no' then."

"What we are doing originated with him. This began with his plan."

"But it ends with your plan, right?"

Bok grabbed Geordi by the collar and shoved him against the wall. Barclay moved forward as if to intervene, but the Breen guard stuck the barrel of his rifle into Reg's gut, none too gently. "Don't think for one second that you understand me, hew-mon!"

"Maybe you can explain," La Forge gasped.

Bok's eyes narrowed. "Ah, you're trying to rile me? Make me let something slip? This isn't a game of tongo, tongo, La Forge." La Forge."

"Whoever you're waiting for here-"

"Waiting for? You're in for a great surprise." He shoved La Forge aside, and turned away. Bok paused to speak to Rasmussen for a moment before leaving the bridge. La Forge considered whether this was a suitable moment to try to take some action to remedy the situation they were in, but the guards were taking even more interest in them now. He decided to wait. This ancient bridge was dark enough to make misinterpretations of movements all too easy, and he didn't want to get shot for scratching an itch. Fighting smarter, rather than harder, was always for the best. He couldn't sabotage Bok's scheme before knowing what that scheme was, or how it was supposed to work.

"Commander," Reg said cautiously, "I've been thinking about string. I mean, the the string. It's spinning, right, and also a cosmic string is the only thing we know of that can be infinitely long. Or at least, can stretch across the length of the universe's timeline . . . string. It's spinning, right, and also a cosmic string is the only thing we know of that can be infinitely long. Or at least, can stretch across the length of the universe's timeline . . .

Ice seemed to be crystallizing around La Forge's back, and he felt goose b.u.mps rise on his skin. "That gives me a really nasty idea, and I hope it's not the idea that Bok and Rasmussen have had."

"The string is spinning, and if it's long enough . . ."

"It could act as a Tipler cylinder."

"A doorway into the past."

"Yeah . . . That would fit with Rasmussen's being here. He might see it as a way home. But Bok . . . ?"

"I dread to think what Bok might do in the past." La Forge stepped away from the table, and stepped up to address Rasmussen, who slouched in the center seat. "That's it, isn't it? You want to take Intrepid Intrepid through time. Enter through the wormhole, and fly a spiral course back along the string, at warp." through time. Enter through the wormhole, and fly a spiral course back along the string, at warp."

Rasmussen applauded. "I knew you'd figure it out! Now, be honest, Geordi, it gives you a buzz to have worked out the right answer yourself, even if it's an answer you'd rather not have?"

La Forge didn't want to make himself a liar, so, dodging the question, he said, "Intrepid "Intrepid wasn't built to be a time machine. She's not designed for expeditions to grab future technology or to take it to the past." wasn't built to be a time machine. She's not designed for expeditions to grab future technology or to take it to the past."

Rasmussen shrugged. "All I intend to do is take Intrepid Intrepid home." home."

"That's where she would be going anyway. We'll fly her back to Earth-"

"No, Geordi, you don't get it. I intend to take her properly home." home." La Forge felt the blood drain from his face, and a pit open in his stomach. "Next stop, 2162." La Forge felt the blood drain from his face, and a pit open in his stomach. "Next stop, 2162."

"So, all this is just another scam to take back future technology into the past so that you can 'invent' it and get rich?"

"The Intrepid Intrepid isn't future technology," Rasmussen protested. "It's a ship from isn't future technology," Rasmussen protested. "It's a ship from my my time that wasn't destroyed as the authorities thought it was." time that wasn't destroyed as the authorities thought it was."

"It's also got a twenty-fourth-century Klingon cloak aboard, not to mention all the upgrades and tools we brought over from Challenger." Challenger."

"Ah, there are a few knickknacks, I admit. Poor Mister Nog, going to all that trouble to scan me every time I stepped out of a runabout, and never looking at the stash of souvenirs I had left in in the runabout. They're just a bonus, really, though. Not the objective of the exercise." the runabout. They're just a bonus, really, though. Not the objective of the exercise."

"A pretty big bonus."

"And, to tell you the truth, I wouldn't care if none of them were on board. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to look that gift horse in his mouth, but . . ." His voice saddened a little, La Forge thought. It was a good act, but he wasn't going to be fooled by it.

"Okay, it's a bonus. So, for a bonus you'll be 'inventing' our gear, and trying to force us to help you?"

"Yes and no, respectively." Rasmussen spread his hands magnanimously. "If you want to disappear off to some remote Alaskan isle and never be noticed by history, I won't stop you." Geordi didn't believe a word of it.

"Commander La Forge . . . I just want to go home. I want to go and eat at the Hidden Panda's buffet, and drink bourbon served by Jo-Well, you don't know her anyway." He turned away with a shake of the head and a wave of the hand. "I want to smell and taste the air I grew up with. Walk down the streets and the riverside that always used to inspire me. Don't you understand?"

"I think I do, but . . . Sometimes you just have to accept that your past is . . . past. past. Once you've left your home, it can never really be home again." Once you've left your home, it can never really be home again."

"I didn't really leave New Jersey by choice."

"Stealing a time ship sounds like a choice to me."

"I only ever intended to briefly visit a few places, and return home. I no more intended to leave Earth than I intend to leave home forever when I go grocery shopping. But the time pod had its own ideas . . ." His habitual and annoying supercilious smile had gone, and La Forge thought this this time that Rasmussen was telling the truth. time that Rasmussen was telling the truth.

"Commander . . . I know you think I'm just a thief and a conman, and you're not totally wrong, but . . . I've been living out of my own time for over a decade, and it's time to go home."