The Voyage Without

[Hiver]

The universe contains some massive things. Like the Great attractor that seems to be pulling large amounts of galaxy clusters in its direction.

Or the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, a section of the cosmic web ten billion lightyears across.

All of which paled in comparison to the size of my current migraine.

But do you know what made my migraine look weak in comparison?

The absolute red hot burning rage at what the Kazons had done to my stuff. They had been left alone with my stuff for twelve hours and in that time they had managed to break a matter synthesizer power coupling.

It's a solid chunk of metal, I didn't even know they could break! They also couldn't be replicated.

Apparently they had used it as a hammer, trying to get into one of the shuttles.

And if whomever is cutting that metal beam with what sounds like an angle grinder doesn't stop, my anger will manifest as a fucking rage elemental!

But instead of eating whomever was making my migraine worse, I took slow and deep breaths, eyes closed beneath my helmet.

"It's worse than it looks," Carey said as he walked up to me, carrying a PADD, "We should have the last shuttle space worthy in twenty minutes or so and should be ready to get things loaded around that time. We'll be taking off in an hour or so, sir."

"Very well," I agreed, "Leave the fences and other non-critical components. We'll blast them from the air to not leave any tech behind, but they take too long to pack away. Captain Janeway wants us off the surface asap. They can all be easily replaced."

"That'll cut our departure time by at least twenty minutes," he agreed, "I'll get people on it."

"Please do."

He wandered off before I had to make an excuse to leave.

This was way worse than when I learned to fly. Those psionic nerves learned to slowly take the strain, leaving me with a headache. Apparently, the fire breathing thing was an 'all at once' thing.

Which gave me a migraine of 'would it be worth it to cut my own head off?' levels.

My rage at the Kazons damaging my stuff kept me from going away into a corner until it was time to leave, but monkeys jabbering at me did not help my mood. Or migraine.

At least dimming the view through my helmet by something like ninety percent kept the local star from burning holes straight through my head. Or at least that's what it had felt like.

Luckily for them, when Voyager shot down their airborne shuttle, the Kazon on the ground had been smart enough to not pile into their shuttles and left. Instead they did what we had done and evacuated into the forest.

So all my shit were still here, they had not actually managed to steal any of it.

No, they just broke a bunch of it.

They're lucky I could barely move or I would be hunting them right now.

Pirates. They're pirates and should be treated like pirates. I had already rigged charges to their shuttles, they'll detonate on a signal. Purely to stop them from trying to intercept us on the way up from the surface of course.

Someone poked at my chest and I growled, looking down to find that Dinah had ducked down and was poking my chest scales with the probe of a medical tricorder, "...What in the world are you doing?"

"Making sure you're not cooked."

"...One of those doesn't work for me. My skeleton caused a disruption effect on sensors."

She glanced up, "I don't need to go that deep, it works just fine on your surface layers. Actually, this would be way easier if you laid down or something."

I growled at her, "I'm fine."

"And I have nothing to do, my people are already covering the surroundings and I do have some medical training, so I think I rather see that our chief engineer is not medium rare."

"And nobody else dared try it?"

"Oh shut up and roll over."

I growled at her before I sighed and did like I was told. Not like she was wrong after all, "I'm fine. Scales took it."

She was quiet for a couple of moments, working the probe across my chest, "...I think you're right, the damage only seems to be surface level on the scales. Damn, you took a plasma charge to the chest."

"I doubt it was on full charge."

"No," Dinah mused, "But it would have gone straight through me. And the one inch steel plate behind me."

I snorted and rolled onto my stomach, "Well, humans are small and squishy."

"So we are," she agreed and eyed me, "You breathed fire."

"And still regret it," I grumbled, "I have an outright apocalyptic migraine."

Dinah nodded and patted the side of my neck, "You're wounded, all we need you to do is stay out of the way and get onboard a shuttle before we leave. Until then, just sit tight, alright?"

I grumbled at her, "Very well."

Not like she was actually wrong, I wasn't of very much use for anyone like this. This fucking migraine made it hard to think and made me even more irritable than I should have been my the situation.

You know what made it even worse?

Knowing that if I wanted to be able to use my fire breath, I needed to train up those parts of my brain and those nerves. By using the fire breath.

Which each time would hit me with another migraine.

If anyone asks, I was not laying on the ground, sulking and hating the universe.

I was reviewing reports.

"Lieutenant, the last shuttle is almost fully loaded," Lieutenant Carey said as he walked up to me a little while later.

"Well done," I said and pushed myself onto my paws, "Let's get off this miserable mudball."

"...You okay, sir?"

"I got shot with a plasma weapon and have a migraine the size of the local galactic cluster," I answered him honestly, "I've been better."

The ramp soon closed behind us and I kept an eye on the sensors as we lifted off.

I waited until we were a couple of kilometers away before I triggered the charges mounted on the shuttles. The explosion wiped out the shuttles and what remained of the camp, throwing dirt and dust high into the air.

"And boom."

Dinah was sitting with her back against one of the crates, arms crossed as she frowned slightly, "We are stranding them on a primitive planet. Doesn't feel right."

"Their people will pick them up," I said and then snorted, "Or not. Either way, they tried to kill us, so I don't particularly care."

Dinah frowned but didn't say anything.

 

[Hiver]

I studied the shape from over Huginn's shoulder. Shifting my angle slightly as I regarded the bundle of sticks.

Commander Tuvok waited patiently from across the small table as streaks of light passed by the window outside.

Finally I made my choice and marked it in my hud and its new location. Huginn reached out and picked the holographic gray stick up and moved it to its new location. Once in place, Huginn froze and let me adjust the position slightly before letting go.

The Kal-toh game shifted, forming a quarter sphere, the rest still a jumbled mess.

Commander Tuvok studied it for several long moments before he spoke up, "Impressive."

"Impressive?" I asked, tilting my head as I moved my study from the game to the Vulcan across from me.

"Indeed," he said, "for a beginner, that was an astute move. Most beginners attempt to balance the sphere, not place the pieces where they logically should be."

He moved a piece of his own, the orb shifting once more, this time to a half sphere.

Half done, but this is when things became the most difficult as the amount of pieces and locations went down by half, which meant that mistakes mattered a lot more.

And now it was my turn.

"I am intrigued by your assistant drones," Tuvok said, "I understand one of your designs is currently undergoing testing by Starfleet for wide scale use?"

I nodded and shifted a bit, eyeing the game, "The previous version," I agreed, "Specifically as personal assistants for people that require it. Primarily anyway. They could easily be used for other tasks as well. With some luck, by the time they return, them or a later version will be all over Federation space doing menial tasks."

"An impressive accomplishment, Lieutenant. That will help a great many people."

I snorted, "A side project that turned out to be useful for others as well, so I sent the design in for evaluation and testing," I explained, "The previous version was the first that I judged good enough to be a real upgrade to the current systems for most people to bother with. They are in continuous development, trying to improve them."

"Considering our personnel shortage, perhaps we could use more of them."

I nodded, "I'm sure that would help, but they're dumb as a bag of hammers. My current ones are only as smart as they are because they integrate the same sort of biopacks Voyager does. We can't make more of those and the regular ones not using that for fuzzy logic are even dumber. They can follow orders and instructions well enough, but they can't deal with outside context problems, just like a hologram program."

Holograms could pretend to be people, but they just couldn't think for real. They could adapt a limited amount, but basically they were like those old generative AI models back from my time if a bit more advanced.

The light might look like it's on, but nobody's home and if you look closer the light is a decal stuck on the window.

"Even so, I can see a number of places where they could be quite useful."

"Knock yourself out, the design is in the database under Zephyr-Assistant-Public-One," I said and had Huginn move another piece, "I'll get around building some in my copious amount of free time."

"To my understanding, that has increased lately."

He moved a piece of his own.

I nodded, "Admittedly," I agreed, "For once, we're ahead of things. A month traveling mostly through interstellar space has helped."

We had not seen a Kazon vessel since the ambush at the hunting grounds. Voyager was back to spec, all systems functioning according to or above specifications. Mostly, one of the shuttles was still off the flightline due to some minor damage.

Hell, I even was able to get started on trying to figure out how to build more photon torpedoes, at least enough to confirm it will be a massive pain in the tail to do.

Likely possible, but damn. The big problem was the seekers, they had components that didn't replicate. Of materials we currently didn't have.

"As I can assume," Tuvok agreed, studying the game as I had Huginn move one for me.

"What about you, Commander?" I asked, "New position is always an adjustment."

"Indeed," he agreed and moved a piece, "It has been an interesting challenge."

"Our biggest problem as I see it is people," I said and snorted, "It's going to self correct eventually, but we can't wait fifteen years for them to start being somewhat productive."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow, "Agreed," he said, "I have discussed the matter with the Captain. We may be able to decrease the requirements by shutting down deck seven and eight, relocating everywhere there to other decks."

"Which would lessen life support a bit and nothing else. Waste of effort, things there will still break and need to be fixed," I countered, "No, what we need is more people or more automation. Drone assistants will help when we get time to build them, but the most important thing is the ship's computer."

His other eyebrow joined the first, "In what way?"

"It could do a lot more proactive than it currently is," I explained, "I want to start poking at it and load my own assistant software to run. It has significant amounts of processing power, enough to make my drones look slow without even affecting operations."

"You wish to try to attempt to turn it into a true AI?"

I shook my head, "Nothing so grand. But something smart enough to watch the sensors and logs and alert somebody for anomalies without being specifically told what to look for would save us an enormous amount of manhours, perhaps given the ability to make adjustments on the fly as well. Hell, Huginn and Muninn are already smart enough to do that by sitting at a console."

"Interesting," Tuvok said, "But it does not seem necessary to go as far. The ship's computer is already capable of these actions."

"You would fucking think so, sir," I grumbled, "But no. It's more than smart enough, but it has zero initiative. You have to actively script or tell it what to look for and what to do."

"And your drones do not?"

I reached out with a paw and pushed the metal cup that had once held his tea off the table. The cup went clattering onto the floor.

Huginn smoothly got up and collected the cup, returning it to the table and the tray it had been sitting on before walking over to the replicator.

A couple of seconds later it returned with a rag to wipe the drops of spilled tea off before going to dispose of the rag in the replicator.

Tuvok regarded it as it returned to its seat before me across from him, "And this was not programmed?"

"Not directly. It runs an adaptive logic matrix inspired by those used by holodeck characters. In combination with a predictive algorithm, an extensive information library as well as base instructions to assist me, at any moment they calculate how best to assist me at that time and possible outcomes of their actions. For example, the spilled tea," I said, "This is not my quarters. It does not need to clean up. But someone can slip on the wet floor, and it was caused by me, so it moved to clean it up. As I did not correct it, it filed this away in the library as a correct action which will weigh its decision making in the future. In a word, they're less programmed than they are trained."

"An interesting approach," Tuvok admitted, "I will bring the proposal up with Captain Janeway."

"Also suggest the simple drone design," I said, "I may be able to spare some people to assemble a couple for testing. Maybe we'll find a use even for the dumb version."

Tuvok nodded when his combadge beeped and he tapped it, "Tuvok here."

"It's the Captain," Janeway's voice came through it, "Please report to my ready room."

"Acknowledged. Tuvok out," Tuvok said before he looked at me, "I am afraid we need to finish our game at a different time."

I nodded, "Of course. I enjoyed it."

"I as well," he answered as he got up and collected his game, "Good night, Lieutenant."

"Good night, sir," I answered as he left the mess hall.

Hmmm.

I studied the star streaks outside the window for several long moments before getting up and heading towards engineering. If we were to make any drones, I had some improvements from my current generation of prototypes I needed to merge with the design.

 

[Hiver]

I woke up and then instantly regretted that fact.

I snarled and twisted, my claws ripping through the normal claw resistant sleeping pad and leaving a score in the metal beneath it as I rolled, twisting.

The feeling of ants all across my body was not going away! It wasn't a dream!

Snarling, I rolled and wiggled on my back as I looked at myself. I couldn't see anything, what's happ- oh no.

I had felt like this before, but somehow now it was different. It felt stronger.

Growling I rolled onto my paws, unable to stop myself from digging my claws into the deck, "Computer," I snarled, "Open channel, Janeway."

"Janeway here."

I tried not to rip a piece of the deck free from the sudden furious annoyance, how dare she spe-

Clamping down on that hard, I tried not to crash through the nearest wall, "Captain," I answered, trying to keep my voice under control, "I regret to inform you that I and holodeck one will be unavailable for the next few days."

"Some more details please, Lieutenant."

Now I did growl, "I am shedding, Captain. It is an extremely unpleasant experience and I need somewhere with a lot of sand and no people that may accidentally become not people. Once I am inside, I require the doors to be locked until I am done."

There was silence before she answered, "Understood, do you require assistance getting there?"

"Keep people out of my path," I growled, "I am not in the best of moods."

"Understood, Lieutenant. Janeway out."

I headed for the door and a couple of seconds later the ship's intercom activated,

"This is the captain. Medical alert. Please remain in your quarters. If you are in a hallway, find a room and get inside it as quickly as you can. More information forthcoming."

The door was too slow to open.

I snarled at it, barely able to keep from ripping it out of its mountings because I knew that if I did, I would be the one to fix it.

Then I rubbed against the doorframe firmly on my way past out into the corridor. It helped for about a second on that side and then it was back as strong as before.

I bounded down the corridor, stopping to scratch against each corner.

By the time I reached the holodeck, I thought I'd lose my mind.

This was so much worse than last time!

"Computer," I growled as I came to a stop, "Load scenario, Zephyr-Scale-Alpha."

"The program is re-"

"Open the doors! Open the doors!"

The doors opened and I bounded through them fast enough that I almost took them out in my rush. I landed on a sand dune of rough sand and I rolled quickly, wiggling on my back. After last time, I had made a program specifically for this when it happened again. Not just a random dessert, but rather one with plenty of different kinds of sands, rocks and outcroppings.

"Computer, s-security override," I growled and rolled onto my stomach, "Seal holodeck one. Lock access to Chief Engineer Zephyr. Authorization, Zephyr-Mouse-Lambda!"

The arch with the doors disappeared.

"Command initiated."

I wiggled against the sand, rubbing the side of my head against a nearby rock. Whenever I find whomever made me like this I'll rip their head off!



#########



I slowly blinked my eyes open. Where was I?

Who am I?

For several long seconds my befuddled brain had no clue. Then information started to slowly filter in. The last... I had no clue how long it was just a blur to me. I didn't itch anymore and at some point I had to have fallen asleep, but I had no memory of either of those events.

I was also half buried in sand right now and despite just having woken up, I felt exhausted and starving.

Slowly blinking my eyes, I looked out over the landscape, the sun warm above.

Am I going to go through this every five years for the next six hundred years at the very least? Fuuuuck that. Next time, I'll have somebody sedate me and then have them peel me like an onion.

There had to be a better way to do this.

Forcing myself to start to move, I pushed myself up to lay on my stomach at least, the holographic sand streaming off me as I shifted my wings before slowly stretching, looking down at my forelegs.

As much as it sucked, it wasn't all bad. My scales were all shiny again. I stopped polishing them for a while after the battle at wolf 359 and never got them back to that state again.

Best be better about it this time, I liked how it looked. I likely couldn't keep it quite as good all the way until next time, but I could try.

"Computer, time?" I asked, shaking the worst of the holographic sand of myself.

"The time is 16:34."

Which told me absolutely nothing.

Suppressing a sigh, I decided to poke Tuvok about my suggestion of attempting to make the ship computer a bit more proactive.

"Computer, how long have I been in the holodeck?"

"The holodeck has been active for four days, seven hours and four minutes."

Damn.

No wonder I felt like I could eat a bison.

"Computer, open a channel. Zephyr to Janeway."

"Janeway here. Do you feel better, Lieutenant?"

"Much, thank you, Captain. Shedding skin is an unpleasant experience, it feels like you have ants crawling all over you. It's... itchy. My apologies if I caused any trouble."

"Not at all, Lieutenant. But I do want you to report to sickbay to let the Doctor look you over, just to be safe."

"Of course, Captain. Please lift the holodeck lockout and I will do so at once."

Felt unnecessary, but likely for the best. And I best signal Muninn to go clean this place out, there was bits of dragon all over the place."

"Your access is restored," she said after a couple of seconds, "Good to have you with us again."

"Thank you, Captain. Zephyr, out," I said before getting up, "Computer, end program," I then added as I headed for the door. It opened only for me to find Dinah waiting outside, her back against the wall, arms crossed.

"Have you been there the entire time?" I asked, tilting my head.

"No, just an hour or so, I figured you wou- woah!" she exclaimed.

I posed a bit, wings a bit raised. That's right, bask in my magnificence.

"You're red!"

Not the reaction I expected and I blinked at her, "I'm what?"

"On the top of your head and along your spine!" she said and motioned at me, "Look!"

I turned my head and sure enough, while the rest of me was still a greenish grey, where it before turned more towards a green on my back, it now faded into a deep red along my spine and the top of my tail..

I quickly retreated back into the holodeck, "Computer, mirror, maximum size."

One of the walls turned into a mirror and I looked at myself.

The red started more or less on the top of the bridge of my snout and continued all the way along my back to my tailtip. Not a lot, only like a decimeter wide strip that then faded into my usual greyish green.

Well, that's new.

 

[Hiver]

"Interesting," the emergency medical hologram said as it ran a tricorder across my head, "Is it common that you shed your skin?"

"Seems to happen every five years or so. Should be in my medical file."

The EMH nodded and studied the readings before holding it out, "Kes, come look at this," he said, "What is your take?"

Kes walked up and took the tricorder. She had been training in sickbay. Her species had a nine year lifespan, so I'm not entirely sure what the point is, but completely not my department. She seemed to like it and learn fast, so no real argument from me.

She studied the readings for a while and then poked the controls for a minute, "I am comparing them to previous scans and your scales seem stronger now," she said and then looked up at me, "I think you are maturing."

"Very good, Kes," the EMH told her and then looked up at me, "That is my conclusion as well. This is simply part of your species maturation process. As your file notes, you are a very young member of your species. You are simply maturing, if slowly."

I slowly blinked at him, "I already figured that out. Why am I red?"

"I don't know. There are no other individuals to go off and insufficient data of your genetic structure to base any analysis of," it said, "If you are asking why the scales are red, it's because they now contain an additional pigment. If you're asking why red, I would say to attract mates. If you wonder why there, I would speculate that it'll grow with each molting until you are red."

I barely suppressed a growl at it, "I am a predator. I can't be entirely red, prey would have seen my species coming kilometers away."

The EMH nodded, "Good point. Maybe it's only along your dorsal side. My point is, expect it to spread next time you shed your skin."

Sighing, I nodded, "Anything else to expect?"

It closed the tricorder, "Don't know. You're not a humanoid, nor a mammal. Your biology is different enough from anything in the database that any speculation is just guessing. But you seem to have entered a maturation phase so expect changes. Mood swings, hormones, that sort of thing. Kes, bring a hypospray, we should start taking monthly blood samples for analysis and tracking."

"Yes Doctor," she said and moved to get one.

I growled at that thought. I didn't like the sound of that at all.

Any of it, blood samples included, even if I did understand why. So when Kes returned, I opened my mouth and stuck my tongue out to let her take one. For some reason, that makes doctors way more comfortable than needing to stick their hands into my muzzle, no idea why.

I waited until she finished before I looked at the EMH, "My scales are stronger?"

"Only by ten percent or so," he said, "That's not unexpected. The hides of adult individuals with that sort of natural protection are usually significantly tougher than young offspring."

Not everything about this was bad I suppose. Stronger scales could prove useful after all, being harder to injure was never a bad thing.

"What of my size?" I then asked, "My growth hasn't accelerated, has it?"

The EMH shook its head, "Not that I can detect. But it is not unheard of for species to have growth spurts in cases like this. We will measure you each month along with the blood samples. If you grow faster, you will be molting with a much lower interval. Make sure you eat healthily."

I snorted in slight annoyance before I looked over and nodded to Kes, "Thanks for the help," I told her, "I need to get back to work."

"Remember, next week Lieutenant."

"I will," I agreed and carefully turned around before leaving sickbay, finding Dinah still waiting for me outside.

She pushed away from the wall and looked up at me, "Well?"

"Don't you have anything better to do?" I asked her as I walked past.

"Ah, moody teenager. Got it."

I bared my teeth and growled at her, "Stop that!"

She grinned, "I'm wrong?"

"I am not a teenager!"

Dinah raised an eyebrow at me and held her hand up, "Growing, check. Bodily changes, check. Moody for no real reason, check. Just wait, soon you'll be getting piercings and telling people 'It's not just a phase!'"

I grumbled, "Pest," and started to move again.

Dinah laughed and sped up to catch up to walk next to me, "Come on, I'm just teasing. Are you okay?"

"...I'm fine," I said before I sighed, "...I may just be a bit sensitive about transformations."

"...Yeah, I guess that's understandable," Dinah admitted and then sped up, putting her hand up to stop me as she turned to face me, "Serious time. If you need to talk or help or anything, I'm here, Zeph. You know, about anything."

"Thank you," I told her quietly before touching my snout to her shoulder, "Same offer from me."

Dinah smiled and put a hand on the side of my head as she leaned her head against the other side, "And hey, at least I won't be the person with the worst dating prospects in the quadrant anymore!"

I responded with a small growl, but not like she was wrong. If I ever became interested in that sort of thing, women of my species didn't exactly grow on trees. And the alternative seemed to be tiny monkeys, so that's out.

"I'm the only one of my kind, what's your excuse? Aren't humans one of the most populous species in the Federation?"

"Ouch!" Dinah laughed and let go with a grin.

I chuckled and raised my head, "You started it," I said and then stretched as much as I could in a cramped corridor, "I need to get to engineering."

"And I have an armory inspection to do," Dinah agreed, "See you in the mess for dinner?"

"The Neelix is there, so no. I usually eat around nine or so when he has left."

And the place had time to air out.

Dinah sighed and nodded, "Alright, I'll see you then. Want to introduce you to some people. I was thinking maybe play some board games?"

"That sounds fun," I agreed, "See you tonight then."

I was tired, but not that tired. Besides, it really could turn out to be fun.

She smiled with a nod, giving my snout one last pat before heading off through a cross corridor. I moved towards the closest cargolift.

Getting to work was exactly the sort of thing I needed to take my mind off things.

 

[Hiver]

I peered into the nacelle of the shuttle having just removed the cover, slowly tilting my head.

What.

Raising my head, I blinked before I lowered my head and looked again.

What.

Raising my head once more, I looked around before spotting somebody, "Ensign Kim?"

"Lieutenant?" Harry Kim asked as he changed course, walking up to me, "What can I help you with?"

I motioned towards the open nacelle with a paw, "Mind having a look in there and tell me what you see?"

"Alright," he agreed and leaned down to look into the open nacelle for several seconds before he quickly stood back up again, "...Is that…"

"The object blocking the power coupling from closing properly," I agreed with a nod, "It's an… adult toy. Thank you for confirming that for me. I am not seeing things."

"...What is…"

He looked as confused as I felt.

"I don't know," I admitted and sighed, "And I don't care to investigate," I continued before raising my voice so it carried for the rest of the people working on the hangar deck, "But if it happens again, I will be pulling DNA and whomever the owner is, will be eating it."

People suddenly got very busy.

I really, really hope it was a prank instead of somebody trying to hide it to keep from getting caught. I took a deep breath before I nodded to Kim, "Thank you, Ensign. Could you…"

He raised his hands and backed away, turning away and walking away.

…Yeah, fair…

I eyed the shuttle.

Maybe I should just burn the entire thing? Or… hmm. The Val Jean was low on shuttles, I knew that much. Maybe we should offer them one of ours, we did have sufficient after all.

"Janeway to Zephyr."

"Zephyr here."

"Please report to my ready room."

"On my way, Captain," I said and headed for the exit while ordering Muninn to dispose of the offending object and then go through a full decontamination cycle.

This is one thing I am suddenly feeling a need to attend in person.

I made my way through the ship and was soon unfolding myself from inside the lift to the bridge before moving across to touch the door.

"Enter."

I did so and moved to sit down, curling my tail to allow the door to close, "Captain."

"Lieutenant," Janeway said and put down her coffee cup, "I discussed your suggestion to Commander Tuvok."

"Which one, sir?" I asked, tilting my head a bit.

"Your idea to replace some less critical locations with drones," she said and leaned back in her chair, "The same model that's currently being tested back in the Federation."

I nodded, "Your thoughts about it, Captain?"

Janeway looked thoughtful, "Right now our biggest problem is our lack of people. We were running light even before we lost people being thrown across the galaxy. If we have the resources, and if they can do the job, your drones can very well help us quite a bit."

"Indeed. They're not magical, they have zero initiative, they're meant to supplement and assist. They're not meant to replace a person," I said and sighed, "They just don't have the processing power for anything else. Did you discuss my second suggestion?"

Janeway frowned, "A managing AI."

"In a way," I clarified, "It's actually the same matrix used by the drones, but with the processing power of the ship's main computer behind it and with a limited overlaying personality matrix similar to a holodeck character to give it some initiative. It wouldn't actually be thinking, no more than any other holodeck character, but it could be used to guide the drones."

The Captain studied me for several long moments, "Just like that? Just whipping up an AI?"

I snorted, "We do AI all the time. Holodecks use generative AI within specific parameters. Most of our sensors and computer systems, all the way down to phasers already use AI for such simple things. What we can't do, barring Lieutenant-Commander Data, is create actual sophont AI. My suggestion is something significantly simpler than even the ship's main computer, but give it a bit of initiative."

Janeway frowned, "It sounds risky."

"Oh it is," I agreed with a nod, "But do you remember the subject we discussed in the past where I was to reveal classified items I worked on in the past if it may be important for the safety of the ship?"

Now both eyebrows went up instead, "You worked on an AI for Starfleet Intelligence?"

"I was on the team to create an AI for Starfleet Intelligence, using exactly the method described," I told her, "Specifically for analyzing intelligence data. Anyone can do that, we have all the puzzle pieces and have had them for years. The issue is processing power and to keep the stupid thing from wanting to murder us all."

In theory, we could make super intelligent AI using this method by just throwing processing power at the problem. In theory. So far however, all that had been accomplished by trying was to make something that was pretty dumb, faster at being dumb and with horrendous diminishing returns.

So yes, the thing I built when I worked with SFI was pretty fast and really good in its specific area while an idiot in the rest, it also took up the entire processing power of the largest supercomputer in the Federation, barring possibly the one at the Daystrom institute.

"Excuse me!?"

"A joke, Captain," I chuckled, "It's a specially programmed holodeck personality matrix overlaid on some extra processing power, not a super intelligent AI. It would be specialized mostly in managing and directing groups of drones according to instructions."

AE MKVII I made for SFI had not tried to kill anyone.

Hell, they had not tried that since MKIV and I personally fixed that bug. That and it was a left over since before I joined the project anyway.

Janeway looked thoughtful, "Let's start with a couple of drones, see how it goes before we pour a bunch of resources into it."

"Agreed, Captain."

 

[Hiver]

"What do you know of this world?" Janeway asked, looking towards Neelix.

"Oh, very friendly," he said with a smile, "And fairly advanced. They have some of the biggest museums in the quadrant!"

Tuvok raised one eyebrow, "Intriguing."

Janeway glanced at him, "The crew could use shore leave," she mused, "The last couple of times were not really successes."

"If they're advanced enough that the Kazon do not bother them," I said through Huginn, "Perhaps that is viable. Neelix, how advanced?"

"Oh, nothing like Voyager. But more so than the Kazon and they have large and powerful ships, even if they don't control a lot of space," he said, "They don't seem like they like to travel. The Veluu are an insectoid species, about this tall," he said, holding his hand up above his head, "Love their sweets."

Janeway smiled, "Well, you convinced me," he said, "Mister Paris, get together with Neelix and plot a course. Anyone else have anything to bring up?"

Nobody said anything so she nodded, "Dismissed."

As everybody started to file out, I had Huginn remain behind.

Janeway remained behind before looking at Huginn, "Lieutenant?" she asked with a frown, "Are you there?"

"I am indeed," I said, turning Huginns head towards her, "Captain, I can't help but notice that we have visited two worlds so far on Neelix's recommendation and we have been ambushed by the Kazon each time."

She folded her hands on the meeting room table, "You think he is doing it on purpose?"

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. A quote back from where I grew up. We are currently at two times, Captain," I told her, "There is another one, there is no such thing as coincidence."

Janeway looked thoughtful, "You don't trust him?"

"No. Why is he here? Self interest clearly. He has his own little ship, he has his Kes. He is clearly not bound to this area of space, he could leave for friendlier space anytime he wishes," I said, "He is not bound to this territory. He is not bound to us or this ship. Nor does Voyager give him protection as we attract Kazon attention."

The Captain frowned slightly, "You think he's working with the Kazon?"

"No, I think he's a selfish idiot," I snorted, "And that he doesn't know this area of space anywhere near as good as he put on. What I do think is that nothing he says can be trusted, not necessarily out of malice, but because he's giving us what he thinks we want. I also think that the moment it will be advantageous, he'll sell us out."

Janeway shook her head, "Chakotay has shared similar thoughts. As has Mister Tuvok"

At least somebody has some sense.

"We'll keep an eye on things," Janeway said thoughtfully, "No more than a third of the crew at shore leave at a time. Set the computer to monitor Neelix's movements."

I snorted in amusement. Like I had not had the computer do that since the start. With no result either, so maybe I was unfair.

But better safe than sorry.

"Done, Captain," I agreed with a nod, "I will also expand it to Kes, just in case. I'll discuss it with Lieutenant Navari."

Janeway frowned but nodded, "Very well. Dismissed."

I nodded and then disconnected from Huginn, ordering the drone to return to engineering. Stretching a bit, I pushed myself up to sit on the upper level of engineering, turning my head to look at the warp core.

It hummed away calmly.

Neelix… traitor or not? I had no evidence for that. No direct evidence anyway… and I admittedly was biased against him because of the fact that I couldn't be in the same room without gagging.

I guess we'll see what happens this time.

"Dinah to Zephyr."

"Zephyr here."

"Hey, do you have anything planned tonight?" she asked and I tilted my head before answering,

"Not particularly. Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm hosting board game night in my cabin. You're coming, right?"

I hesitated, "...How many are invited?"

"Not many, even without counting you, I don't live in a ballroom. The ones I have confirmed are Harry, Tom and Jennifer."

"Who?"

Dinah sighed, "Harry Kim, Tom Paris and Jennifer Harrison."

I slowly blinked and then let it go. I'd likely recognize her when I see her, "Fine," I said, "When?"

"Awesome. Be there at seven, don't bother bringing anything. I'll arrange all the snacks. Navari out!"

The channel closed and I studied the warp core.

Oh well. The Convict could likely not be trusted, but at least he didn't smell any worse than any other human and he was entertaining enough. Nothing against Harry Kim and I had no clue who Jennifer Harrison was.

I suppose I'll find out.

 

[Hiver]

Studying the board for several long moments I then nodded, "Vulcan," I said and carefully gave my piece a poke with a claw to slide it across the starmap before giving the spinner a small flick, "Twelve. With my modifier, that's sixteen. Ground forces, correct?"

"Correct," Dinah grumbled and reached over to put the planet card on the table before me, "You've never played this before, how are you winning!?"

"Natural abilities."

"Beginner's luck is more like it," Tom Paris said with a grin and looked through his cards, "If he's taking Vulcan, I'm going to fortify Andoria with 'Increased supplies', bringing it up to plus six."

I snorted, "That will not save you. The galaxy is mine."

As it should be.

"I like this game, we should play it more often," I then added to Dinah.

She glanced at the clock, "...Speaking of which, it's 01:00. We should likely pause for now and continue later."

"Oh damn, it's that late?" Jennifer asked and stretched, "I have an early shift, I need to get going."

She turned out to be somebody I did recognize, if only by sight. She was a crewman, working in security. Redhead and taller than Dinah. While not against regulation, if Dinah was looking for a mate that was still a poor choice.

Then again, they were likely just friends. Besides, it's not like she had a lot of options.

"Same," Harry agreed and smiled, "Should have known better, no such thing as a fast game of Alpha Quadrant. Back at the academy we had one that went on for months."

"Ah, you have all fallen for my devious plan," Dinah said with a grin, leaning back in her chair, "...same time next week?"

I chuckled, "Dinah, we're stuck in interstellar space for the next decades. Scheduling conflicts are going to be few."

"Ah, so that's what it takes to get a regular game going," she said, shooting me a grin.

I mean... she wasn't wrong.

"Likely helps," I agreed and then nodded, "Same time next week works for me."

"Sounds good to me too," Harry agreed. Jennifer nodded in agreement.

"Sure," Paris said and started to get up.

I studied the board as everyone started to head out. I still needed to lock down my occupation of Vulcan, but everybody likely expected me to move on to Andoria after that. So let's not do that. I needed to figure out what to do instead, but I had a week to think about it.

Finally I pushed myself onto my paws and looked to Dinah, "Good night."

"Night Zeph," she said and continued picking up mugs to put in the replicator.

I left and headed down the corridor only to find Paris waiting for me.

I paused as he held a hand up, "Yes?"

"Let's talk," he said and crossed his arms.

I tilted my head slightly, "We need to discuss something?"

"I don't know, do we?" he asked, eyebrows raising, "We played that game for six hours and I can count the sentences you said to me on my fingers. You don't like me."

Shifting slightly, I sat down on the deck of the corridor as I studied him, "No. I don't."

"Because of my past."

I blinked in surprise, "No."

"No?"

"No. I don't like you because you're this ship's main pilot and you are likely to get us all killed."

"What!?" He asked, sounding surprised, "What the hell do you mean by that!?"

"Exactly what I meant," I said, "Your history shows it."

"That was an accident!"

I shook my head, "I don't mean your shuttle accident, Paris. Not directly. I have read your file. I speak of your lack of a spine. Some people died, you ran and tried to hide it. And then instead of keeping it going, you folded to your own pressure and admitted it. You got kicked out of Starfleet and instead of making something of yourself, you let it get to you and joined the Maquis. Not because of any sort of conviction that can be admired in a way, but because it was easy. They'd take anyone, especially somebody with Starfleet training. Then you got caught in your first mission. Instead of taking your prison sentence, you folded and betrayed your previous comrades for a reduced sentence by agreeing to guide Voyager through the badlands to find them. So no, Paris. I don't like you and I don't trust you. Something will go wrong in a dangerous situation and you will fold."

He more or less gaped at me.

"You're a coward, Paris," I told him, "What's worse, you don't even admit to it because that would mean standing for something. And that's going to get people killed."

He stared at me for several long moments before he turned and walked away without a word.

Case. In. Point.

I looked after him until he walked out of view before I started to move again, heading towards my quarters.

Suppose that'll make gaming night awkward next time if he bothers showing up. I didn't particularly care if he did or not, I might not like him, but he wasn't actively unpleasant company.

Entering my cabin, I crossed over and settled down on my sleeping mat.

Sleep.

 

[Hiver]

I had not even bothered leaving my quarters, yet alone my sleeping pad.

I didn't need to move to review reports and logs. By the time we reach the alien system tomorrow, I wanted to be sure everything was in top shape just in case it turned into a shooting gallery.

Even in the best case, we would need every available shuttle ready and in top condition to move crew up and down from the surface. In an emergency at least, according to The Neelix, the aliens had a space elevator.

Which is strange to think of as not very special, all that meant was that they were motivated to go to space before they had cheap space lift capability.

If you were limited to chemical rockets, a space elevator was one hell of an upgrade.

If you had countergrav and thrusters, not so much. But if you already have it, you might as well keep using it.

Everything should be fine, but we're arriving tomorrow and I wanted a final look at things.

The computer beeped and I glanced at the notification in my visor. Incoming comm signal from the Val Jean.

I opened it, voice only, "Zephyr here."

"Zephyr, it's Torres," the Val Jean's chief engineer said, "I don't suppose you have any M31 power converters in storage?"

M31 power conv- "Your ship doesn't use M31 power converters," I said, "Your model uses M29. They don't even have the same mounting socket."

"I'm well aware, but it can be made to fit. And in the Maquis we rarely have access to Starfleet requisitions."

"...We don't really have access to that now either," I grumbled, "One second," I then added as I checked the database, "...Yes, we have some. How many do you need?"

"How many have you got?"

We can manufacture them, even replicate most of it, but the inner coating had to be made with an energy resistant alloy, meaning it didn't replicate. Or at least didn't replicate well.

"Five, I'm willing to give you two," I admitted.

"Then I guess I need two," she answered with a sigh, "It's been a couple of months and we're already running out of supplies. We have mountains of what we don't need and nothing of what we do need."

I snorted, "Tell me about it. A crewman doing inventory last week found that we have an entire container of selfsealing stembolts. Of the wrong model for the Intrepid class. Where did that come from? And why is it in a container marked 'recreational equipment'? Nobody seems to know."

That got an amused sound, "Starfleet haven't changed much it sounds like."

"I doubt that's Starfleet as much as any major organization, bet you anything the damn Tal Shiar have the same problem," I grumbled, "And don't you dare tell me with a straight face you don't have containers of stuff you have no idea how they came onto your ship and where from."

"In our defense, we did have to pack up rather quickly."

"True," I admitted, "We still have some of your junk clogging up one of our holds. Quick survey when it was moved showed mostly personal effects."

"From people lost," Torres said and then let out a sigh, "We didn't have time to pick and choose, we just took everything we could in the time we had. Now.... now we'll likely find a use for it."

"Eventually," I agreed, "Oh, and before I forget, your captain requested a shuttle from us. Approval came through yesterday, when we drop out of warp shuttle someone over and you can take shuttle two."

It'll save me the effort of burning it.

"...What's wrong with it?"

"Why would anything be wrong with it?" I asked innocently.

"Because you would be the one to choose which one and you would send us the one giving you the most headaches," she growled, "Engineer to engineer, what's wrong with it?"

I laughed, "I'm not sure why, but the thrusters are a bitch on that one and refuse to stay in calibration for more than a couple of weeks. Shuttle wrenches will be really happy to be rid of her."

"Sounds like a relay issue."

I chuckled, "You'd think so, but I pulled the entire assembly myself. Good luck, and if you figure it out, please let me know what it was."

"Will do, we'll pick it up with the converters. Thanks, Torres out."

Torres was alright. She might have a temper, but she had a brain and she didn't bother me uselessly. Good engineer too. Not as good as me, of course.

Assuming this wasn't another trap, I was actually starting to look forward a bit to going down to the surface. I might be able to get some flying in and they apparently had some great museums.

Assuming I fit inside of them anyway, but worst case I could lounge in the sun and send Huginn inside.

That sounded pretty nice actually.

Hell, even with what happened the last couple of times, just getting out of this maze called a ship had been nice. Just to be able to stretch my wings whenever I want to had been worth hunting Kazons for a bit.

Seventy years stuck in here was just a depressing thought, even more so as it would start to feel smaller and smaller as I grew, and that was without any possible growth spurts.

Which was just unacceptable.

I need either a bigger ship or faster engines. Surely either or both of those can be arranged. I was not as much of an expert in warp propulsion as I would need to be to speed my ship up.

And I wouldn't just be able to take things we already knew either, the ship already flew as fast as its engines could sustain. Sure, we could sprint a lot faster than our cruise, but it would wear out the engines really fast.

But if we could keep our flank speed the entire way, it would make the journey a lot shorter.

We usually cruised at around six point five to seven point five.

It would take some seventy years to get back. If we were able to go at maximum warp the entire time, we'd be back in less than a decade. Sadly, doing that for even a day would require a full engine rebuild and likely materials we wouldn't have at the moment.

But even being able to step our standard cruise up by point one would have some real benefits over time.

I eyed the log I had been reading before Torres called.

Fuck it, it could wait. Closing it down, I considered things for a second before I started to access everything we had in the way of courses on warp fields, warp engines and such from the academy.

Might as well start with reviewing what I already knew and then go from there.

 

[Hiver]

The locals seemed friendly. The Veelu looked a bit like ants, but bipedal and with a green carapace. The usual clothing seemed to be mostly different cuts of robes.

There were other aliens around as well, especially here in the capital, but like usual I got a lot of stares just moving down the street.

Some rules had been put together for anyone going on shore leave in addition to the usual ones. Stick to groups of four and don't go wandering off was the major one.

Chakotay and Janeway had come up with another one to 'promote friendly relations between crews'.

Meaning, mix the groups up with half Maquis and half Starfleet as much as possible. Which is why I was in a group with Dinah, Chakotay and Seska.

Funnily enough, Chakotay and myself were the ones actually enjoying ourselves.

"-hat's fascinating is the way they seemed to have jumped from stone to iron tools," Chakotay said as we moved up the stairs towards the next museum.

"Indeed," I agreed with a nod, "But in retrospect, it's not that surprising. This is an iron rich world and the oxygen levels are almost thirty five percent. It makes it a lot easier to get fires hot enough to work it."

Chakotay nodded, "Which likely has something to do with it, but it's still fascinating. The same conditions also make copper and bronze easier to melt."

"True," I said, "But it likely had a lot to do with locations of early settlements as well as metal deposits. Easily accessed iron and difficult to access copper and tin could make all the difference. Take Earth for example, there were not many spots where tin could be readily accessed."

"Likely," he mused, "I wonder if it would be possible to get access to some of their old maps."

"...And now we're visiting another museum?" Dinah asked, "That's three."

I turned my head to look at her, "And the last one, then we'll find some food. Besides, I bet you'll find this one more interesting."

It was their version of an aerospace museum. Everything from early flight to their first warp ships.

"Hey! Hey!"

I looked forward again, seeing a Veelu in red robes quickly approaching, arms waving.

"You can't bring that in here!" He or she yelled. I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I knew what to look for, apparently it was something in the antenna but I just couldn't see the difference.

"I assure you," I told them, "All three are quite well behaved."

That made them stop and stare at me with big compound eyes, "You... you're a guest?"

"I am a guest," I told them with a nod, "Thinking and speaking and everything."

"My greatest apologies!! Dishonor on my family!"

I shook my head, "No dishonor required. I know the way my species looks is unusual. You do your family honor in trying to preserve the contents of this museum."

I actually liked the Veelu. In general anyway, they seemed to be a very friendly people and very honor focused. Not at all in the way of Klingons, who seemed to be mostly bluster to be honest, but more in the way of... wanting their kin to think well of them?

So far, this didn't seem like a trap at all which was a nice change of pace.

They bowed deeply, "My gratitude. I am Ruli, a guide at this collection. Please, allow me to show you our collection as an apology."

Ruli, male then. Their male names seemed to commonly end with 'i' or 'y'.

"Most appreciated, I am Zephyr. This is Dinah, Chakotay and Seska," I told him.

What followed was fascinating. They didn't just have pictures or holograms or even models. They had some of the actual craft as well!

Including what I was looking at some thirty minutes later. Suspended in a force field, surrounded by noble gas to protect it was their first ever heavier than air airplane. Which to my amusement could have passed for a cousin if not a sister of Kitty Hawk. It even had the same general configuration with double levels of wings and split controls between front and rear.

The biggest difference was where the Kitty Hawk had had two propellers, this had a single one in the rear.

Standing before it, I carefully spread and stretched my wings as wide as I could.

Seska looked amused, arms crossed as she leaned against a nearby railing, "Almost."

"I'm over a meter short," I admitted and folded my wings again.

"You are capable of independent flight?" Ruli asked, looking up at me.

I nodded, "I am. I'm actually looking forward to going flying a bit later, your higher than average oxygen and slightly thicker atmosphere will make it quite easy for me."

Ruli gazed up at me, "Amazing. In which case, perhaps you would be interested in continuing to our last exhibit? It's dedicated to our exploration of this quadrant."

"That sounds interesting," Chakotay said, "Do your people still explore?"

"Some," Ruli said and made a small buzzing sound as he led us into the next chamber, "We have a few exploration vessels, but mostly they are dedicated to finding useful natural resources. It was decided that exploring for exploration's sake was not cost effective."

The Veelu still used money. Which while not exactly rare, sure seemed to get in the way of fun a lot.

Their way seemed healthier than most anyway, they seemed to be doing it more like the Trill, a fair way to distribute resources for effort instead of the hyper capitalistic like the Ferengi or old Earth.

Pausing, I watched what looked like a warp capable space probe. Three warp nacelles?

Interesting.

The rest moved on to look at artifacts found as I studied the probe. There had been talks about trying three nacelles on a Galaxy prototype, I know that much. Something about being able to make her faster in sprints.

There may be some data in the database about that, that was an interesting idea. Usually warp fields had two poles, but if a third could be used... perhaps instead of increased power, it could be used for increased efficiency?

Unlikely to apply it to Voyager, that sort of thing usually took an entire new design, but maybe it could get me some ideas.

Maybe run it past Torres if I get an idea, see what she thought about it.

Noticing I had fallen behind, I quickly trotted up to join the rest as they studied a selection of artifacts. Some sort of old weapon, a partial destroyed what looked to me like power coupling and a white and gold sphere about the size of a human head.

The orb started to glow brightly and I paused as everyone turned to look at it.

I eyed it. It was difficult to see through the glow, but it seemed to be made of some white material inlaid with a simple pattern of gold, "Is it meant to do that?"

Ruli shook his head, "No. Definitely not. It has never done anything like that before."

"Zeph," Dinah said, "Back off a bit."

I blinked at her and then did as I was told. When I was some five meters away, the glow faded away into nothing.

Then I moved closer again. When I reached three meters away, it started to glow.

"What is that?" I asked Ruli.

He turned to look at me and then at the orb again, "...We don't know. But it was found on a planet four lightyears from here during a mining operation. We have been unable to test the age of it, but the sediment around it was over sixty-eight million years old."

 

[Hiver]

"Are you getting anything, Lieutenant?" Chakotay asked Dinah as she held her tricorder out towards the glowing orb.

Dinah shook her head, "No and I don't get it, I really should be seeing something," she admitted and looked at me, "This is more your field."

"I'm not sure mysterious glowing orbs is anyone's field," I admitted but eyed the readings in my visor, "It's... odd. There is no energy detected other than visible light. No infrared, no ultraviolet. No radiation of any sort other than photons. I can't even detect what generates it, no energy readings at all other than visible lights."

Chakotay looked at the orb for several long moments before he turned to me, "Psionics? Maybe it's reacting to your psionics, you're the only psionic species here."

Ruli turned to look at me in what I assumed was surprise, "You're a telepath!?"

I shook my head, "No. That would be really useful, but no. My species uses psionics to generate additional lift when we fly," I said and then snorted, "Dinah, could you help me take off my harness? We best make sure it actually reacts to me and not something I'm wearing."

"Sure," she said and put her tricorder away before coming to help me with the fasteners.

Most of my stuff was standard enough, just a different formfactor. But best make sure.

I handed my visor over at the end and backed away as she moved closer to the orb. It faded down to nothing as I moved away.

"It seems to be you," Chakotay mused, "That's interesting."

"Especially as it's close to seventy million years old," I agreed.

"Is your species from this area of space?" Ruli asked and then checked his communicator, "The conservator will be here soon."

I nodded to him, "Good. And I don't know," I admitted, "My appearance in Federation space was a bit of a surprise to everyone and I'm afraid I don't know what species I am or where I'm called."

Ruli regarded me for a minute, "You look a bit like a Kriit."

I blinked, "What's a Kriit?"

"A mythological creature, they don't exist," he explained and motioned with his hands to the side, "And I mean no disrespect."

"Why would I take disrespect?"

He shifted slightly, "While they are described as large flying reptiles, they are also described as greedy, hungry and evil. Able to wipe out entire villages with their breath of fire and blot out the very stars."

Now everyone was staring at me.

I had done some research into dragons of course. Many species had dragon-like myths. Almost all, actually. I'm not sure how, but figured the same as most researchers, that it was just natural to think up the biggest threat and most scary monster you can think of for your ancient stories and myths.

But we're clear across the galaxy and that was a... hurtfully accurate description.

"Well, I can vouch for the hungry," Dinah said with a smirk, "The rest, not so much."

"Thanks," I grumbled.

"What's going on here!?" a voice asked loudly and another Veelu in a blue and orange robe asked as they quickly walked towards us.

Ruli hurried over to them to explain in a quiet voice.

I turned my head to look at the orb. It was pretty, actually. It looked like it was made from... white marble without any discolorations or maybe polished bone. Just smooth white, broken only by the flowing lines of symmetrical gold. It didn't look like a script, more like decoration.

My visor had reported that it was a perfect sphere, down to as small a degree that it could measure.

Which even with tricorder sensors was impressive. That meant that if you expanded it to the size of a planet, it would still be smooth to the touch.

And if it had been buried for dozens of millions of years in the dirt, that means that it was not gold and stone, no matter what the tricorder was telling us.

I turned towards Ruli and the conservator, "Excuse me?" I asked.

They both looked at me and the conservator stepped forward, "I'm Ollia, conservator at this collection."

"I am Lieutenant Zephyr, Voyager's chief engineer," I said and motioned towards the rest, "Chakotay, Captain of the Val Jean. Lieutenant Navari, Voyager chief of security. Seska, of the Val Jean."

She bowed slightly before straightening again, "An object in our collection is reacting to your presence?"

"Yes," I agreed, "We were wondering what you can tell us about it."

She looked towards the orb, "Not a lot," she admitted, "It was found in a layer of rock during a mining operation. The layer of rock was approximately sixty eight million years old. The orb has resisted any sort of examination. Despite seeming made of some sort of white stone and gold, we have been unable to take samples. As far as our best instruments can determine, it's a perfect sphere."

"So you put it on display?" Chakotay asked with a frown.

She motioned with her hands, "As far as we knew, it was completely inert," she said, "Move closer to it, please?"

I did as she asked and it started to glow again.

"Fascinating," she said and walked up, studying the now glowing orb, "You have taken readings, yes?"

"We have," Chakotay said, "We'll share them with you, but they don't show much. We detect light in the visual spectrum, but nothing else."

The conservator looked at him, "Yours or his visual spectrum?" she asked.

"Mine," I answered for him, "My visual band is only slightly wider, but it matches mine better."

My day vision was almost identical to a human and I could see the same colours, but my visible spectrum was a couple of percent higher at the high end. Not enough to be useful as seeing UV, it wasn't even noticeable in day to day life.

She regarded me for several moments before seeming to make a decision and walked over to a control. She touched something and then the glass covering the display retracted and she motioned to it, "Try touching it."

I considered it for several long moments, eyeing the glowing orb.

If this was a movie and I touched it, it would turn me into some sort of monster or mind control me or teleport me or…

But this is not a movie. And it may be a clue of how I ended up here, of what I was. Who I really was. Maybe it will open or something.

If there was more of my kind. If it was glowing when I got close, maybe it would unlock or something if I touched it. Or send out a signal to others of my kind.

"Uhm, Zeph?" Dinah said, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No," I admitted and moved closer, "But sensors aren't telling us anything. And... maybe it will have some answers for me."

Besides, exploration and knowledge was why I was in Starfleet in the first place.

Fuck it.

Lifting my right paw, I extended to touch a claw tip to the surface of the or-

In a split second, the orb stopped being an orb and flowed into my claw like a mist, the glow disappearing with it.

I blinked, staring at my paw, "Well, that can't be g-"