Guinan frowned before pa.s.sing on the message. "You are not the Valken," she said.

"The Valken?" Sela echoed. "What's the Valken?"

"I don't know. I don't even know whether it was a statement or a question. It was a toneless voice."

"That's probably the fault of the system," Alyssa said apologetically. "I had Vol put it together far too quickly."

"Either way they'll expect a response," Sela said.

La Forge agreed with that sentiment. "Since we're not the Valken, I guess we should say so."

"Aren't we?" Guinan asked.

"What do you mean, 'Aren't we?'"

"If we don't know what the Valken is or are, maybe we are it. Maybe it's their word for humanoid. Maybe it's their word for crew. Or for themselves. Who knows?"

Sela folded her arms, considering this. "She's right, and there's something else: We also don't know whether whatever the Valken is is good or bad. Perhaps not being the Valken will provoke an attack."

La Forge was exasperated by this. "Then we'd better hope that your friend Varaan has quick trigger reflexes. Tell them we're not the Valken."

"We are not the Valken," Guinan said. Then, a moment later, "They say beware the Valken."

"What are the Valken?" Geordi asked.

"Beware the Valken," was the only reply.

"Can you ask them why they don't go around our ships?" La Forge asked.

"Ships? What are ships?" This time the voice came through the comm system. This time the voice came through the comm system.

"The vessels like this one," Guinan explained.

"You never spoke before."

"Not for want of trying-don't say that!" La Forge said. "Are you from Andromeda?"

"We are from every . . . pool."

"Pool?"

"Pool of stars."

"Galaxies," Ogawa murmured. "They must visit a lot more galaxies than just ours." That made sense to La Forge. The distances involved were almost unimaginable, but if they could travel five hundred million light-years in a matter of minutes, there must be millions of galaxies within their reach. "A truly universal life-form."

"Do you know the harm you sometimes do?" La Forge asked.

"Harm?"

"Many of our people died when you brought us here."

"We saw no people. Until you spoke."

A suspicion grew at the back of Geordi's mind. "We are a person, a life-form?"

"Evidently."

"And the Romulan ship, which attacked you, what of that?"

"Inert debris."

La Forge had thought as much. He looked up at Ogawa and Sela and felt comfortable knowing that Leah was listening in from the bridge. h.e.l.l, half the ship was probably listening in. "They don't recognize us as life-forms. We're like ants to them, and our ships no different than . . . asteroids." It was clear that everyone in the room agreed. "We were debris, until we spoke?"

"Yes. But now we know you are alive."

"The other piece of debris is also alive. It cannot speak, but we speak for it."

"We understand."

"Sometimes . . . when you travel into our galaxy, you bring debris along with you."

"It is an effect of our wish to go. We are, of course, careful to not disturb life where we find it."

"But you have have been disturbing life," La Forge said urgently. "Much of the debris you pick up on the way through our . . . pool, is life, not debris." been disturbing life," La Forge said urgently. "Much of the debris you pick up on the way through our . . . pool, is life, not debris."

"We . . . mean no harm. We apologize."

"You said you don't disturb life when you find it. How do you avoid disturbing it?"

"We move more carefully in our wishes." That was the answer La Forge was hoping for. That was the answer La Forge was hoping for.

"We would ask, on behalf of our pool . . . Could you move more carefully when you visit it? There is much life there that you may mistake for debris."

"Of course. We will be more careful."

"And that was it?" Leah asked, when they returned to the bridge. "We asked them nicely to be more careful, and they agreed?"

"Why shouldn't they?" Guinan responded. "They seem to be a very nice people. They didn't know they were doing any harm."

Sela was fuming, pacing around the bridge. "This doesn't help our mission. We need that trans-slipstream drive."

"Are you still thinking of forcing it out of them?" La Forge asked.

"Why not? Now that we know how to talk to them, we can offer an alliance."

"Which they'll ignore, if they understand the idea at all," Guinan said.

"This isn't the first time the Romulans have tried to s.n.a.t.c.h a living ship, or a living technology," La Forge pointed out.

Sela looked like she was trying hard to remember. "You're referring to the ent.i.ty called Gomtuu?"

"The Tin Man, yes."

"This species' technology is far beyond that."

La Forge couldn't remain reasonable with Sela any longer. He had wanted to give in to his feelings of anger toward her since she first beamed on board, and now was the time. "They have no technology! Don't you get that yet? They're not like the Tin Man; that had mechanisms, warp drives, but these don't. It's not technology, it's a natural ability. I always knew that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and I'm sure they have a similar saying on Romulus."

"Of course."

"But what we're seeing here is . . . the opposite," said La Forge.

"Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology?"

"Well, that's one way of putting it. I think a more precise way of putting it would be that these . . . ships, beings, whatever they are, have a sufficiently advanced nature, nature, maybe a sufficiently advanced biology, to be indistinguishable from technology. Or maybe it's the word technology that's wrong. The quotation should say that any sufficiently advanced scientific property or method is indistinguishable from magic." maybe a sufficiently advanced biology, to be indistinguishable from technology. Or maybe it's the word technology that's wrong. The quotation should say that any sufficiently advanced scientific property or method is indistinguishable from magic."

"Don't insult my intelligence," Sela said frostily.

"All right, not magic, because it's still science, but it's the natural sciences. Exobiology. We use technology to do what we can't do naturally, but if we could . . . For some species, I guess maybe we should say that there are some sufficiently evolved abilities that can be indistinguishable from magic."

"Then perhaps we should look at harnessing the ability."

La Forge laughed out loud. "Harness the ability? Do you think they can teach you how to do this?"

"They don't have to. The Gomtuu ent.i.ty had crew s.p.a.ces; perhaps these can be modified to do so."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Humans harnessed other life-forms on Earth, to provide transport. I think they're called 'horses.'"

"The difference is that those . . . whatever they are, are so far beyond humans or Romulans, or d.a.m.n near anybody else as we are beyond . . . ants. Let me put it another way: yes, humans ride horses, and trained dogs to do jobs, but trying to get those things to be your mount would be like trying to train an Organian to be your flashlight. And I don't think you'd get very far."

46.

Scotty walked out into the clear s.p.a.ce in front of the Hera Hera's interior, away from, well, anyone who might have a chance of reading him either by Vulcan telepathy, logical deduction, or just being too close to the right interpretation of his expression.

The Hera Hera cityscape was, as he suspected, the safest region on the planet. The living planet could create antibodies anywhere, except on the scab over the wound it had sustained. cityscape was, as he suspected, the safest region on the planet. The living planet could create antibodies anywhere, except on the scab over the wound it had sustained.

He wanted to find a place where he could walk and give in a little to both the good and the bad about where he was and how he felt. Being on a planet was always a nice change of pace, but he missed the sounds of a starship, and the vibrations in the wall panels and deck plates. You didn't get those rea.s.suring sensory stimuli on a planet, except maybe if you could hear the surf at the coast, or the rain drumming on the roof.

The moss forests on the hills that Scotty could see reminded him of the Highlands, where the areas that hadn't been re-forested over the years still rose up out of the earth. He was amused by the irony that he was involved in building starships these days, and the original forests in the Scottish Highlands had largely been cleared to build the ships of the ancient Royal Navy.

"Mister Scott! Mister Scott!" Barclay hurried across to Scotty, carrying a heap of tricorder parts and circuitry that the Hera Hera's survivors had found useful. "I've done it! At least, I think I've done it!"

"If you don't calm down you'll end up doin' it again," Scotty warned. He sighed when he saw Barclay's blank look. "All right, Mister Barclay, what is it ye think ye've done?"

"I've figured out a way to communicate with the Challenger." Challenger." Scotty was immediately interested. Scotty was immediately interested.

"That's great!"

"You see I got to thinking about the spatial fold, and the ma.s.s readings we're getting from it."

Scotty understood immediately. "There must be some level of background radiation seepage through the fold. And it has to work in both directions, because we get an anomalous ma.s.s reading from this side. So if we can send narrow-focus gravimetric-"

"-pulses in an orbital pattern through the spatial fold, we can talk to Challenger," Challenger," Barclay finished excitedly. Barclay finished excitedly.

"If they know to look for a signal in that form," Scotty said, dour caution taking over.

"I've thought of that. They'll be constantly monitoring the gravitation from the Hera, Hera, so I've encoded a signal that the astrometrics computer will flag with an alert to the bridge." so I've encoded a signal that the astrometrics computer will flag with an alert to the bridge."

"In that case, Reg, it's time to get back to our own corner of the universe."

"It is? I mean, it is, but . . . How is it even possible?"

"I've been thinking about how to reunite this bubble of the universe with our bubble of the universe."

"But aren't they the same universe? I mean, if we knew where this planet was in relation to Challenger, Challenger, and imagining that and imagining that Challenger Challenger could travel to other galaxies as easily as from Earth to Vulcan, in theory could travel to other galaxies as easily as from Earth to Vulcan, in theory Challenger Challenger could fly from where she is now to here, without intersecting the fold." could fly from where she is now to here, without intersecting the fold."

Scotty nodded approvingly, like a teacher giving a good grade. "That's right."

"Then there's no need to re-unite the universe with itself, surely?"

"Ah, but there is."

"Maybe if we could establish a wormhole . . ."

"By artificial means? With quartz and moss to work with?" Scotty shook his head. "I may be a miracle worker, but I think you'll find that's a wee bit beyond even my level." He started walking back to the Hera Hera. "Let's go talk to the others."

Scotty had everyone gather in a big circle around him, while he stood on the viewport that opened onto intergalactic s.p.a.ce, where the alien vessels were now a shoal around the Challenger Challenger.

"Mister Barclay, Miss Voktra, Commander Savar. The first thing we're going to need is a way to contact the Challenger." Challenger."

Savar raised both eyebrows this time. "To what purpose, if I may ask?"

"To the purpose of getting you poor b.u.g.g.e.rs off this planet, and getting the universe back to the shape it's supposed to be in. I have an idea that ought to work just fine, but we'll need the Challenger, Challenger, and that means we'll need to be able to tell her crew what it is that we need them to do." and that means we'll need to be able to tell her crew what it is that we need them to do."

"And what is it you're not telling us?" Barclay asked slowly.

"What do you mean?"

Barclay beckoned Scotty over and whispered into his ear, "I can see it in your face, sir. I'm afraid I could see it when you told us you were recovering from your injuries, and that's something I won't mention to the others, by the way." Barclay hesitated, perhaps a little embarra.s.sed. "But I can see that worried look on you now too. There's something you don't want us to know, or . . ." Perhaps it was his long experience with counselors that gave him the insight, or perhaps it was being in the vicinity of so many Vulcans exercising their mental disciplines, but Barclay suddenly knew that Scotty wasn't trying to hide something from them them. "Or that you don't want to think about yourself."