What Judgments Come

“Is it me,” O’Halloran said, “or does that thing just look pissed off?”

Anderson leaned back in his chair. “I think you’d be feeling the same way if somebody stuffed you into a fishbowl.” Then, he asked Xiong, “We’re sure this thing is safe?”

“As safe as it’s going to be,” Xiong replied. Given the awesome power already demonstrated by the Shedai entities since his first encounter with them on the planet Erilon, the young archeology and anthropology officer had his doubts that there existed one place or containment system that would render the artifact and the being it held “safe.” The last attempt even to co

“Once we activate the damping fields,” Xiong said, “the chamber will be completely self-contained.” Even the couplings co

“I should’ve taken bets,” Anderson said.

Xiong ignored the remark as he studied the status displays before him. All power readings were nominal. All that remained would be to activate the additional layer of damping force fields al-Khaled and his team had designed to act as a buffer for the series of sensor and communications scans to which the artifact would soon be subjected. If they were lucky, they would be able to examine the enigmatic object, and perhaps even the equally mystifying entity it contained, without threat of another attack.

And if we’re not lucky, Xiong mused, it could be a bad day for everyone.

The sound of the cargo bay’s hatch opening drew his attention, and Xiong turned to see al-Khaled entering the room. The commander was followed by Doctor Carol Marcus, the civilian supervisor of Starbase 47’s Operation Vanguard research team.

“Good morning, everyone,” Marcus said as she and al-Khaled approached. Exchanging smiles with Xiong, she added, “Lieutenant, I trust everything is ready here?”

Nodding, Xiong replied, “Just about, Doctor.” He paused, offering a small smile. “I just wish Nezrene was here.” Operation Vanguard’s Tholian benefactor, Nezrene, had defected and sought asylum aboard the station, and her knowledge and assistance had helped Xiong and the Vault research team to better understand the artifacts of Shedai technology they had encountered and acquired on a handful of planets throughout the Taurus Reach. Nezrene had also helped Xiong and his people to better comprehend the Shedai themselves, offering a much-needed yet terrifying perspective on the ancient race and the incredible power it commanded. Present at the time of the Shedai’s attack on Starbase 47, the Tholian had been killed when the powerful entity tore its way through the station and penetrated the Vault in search of the Mirdonyae Artifacts to which it had been drawn.

Marcus reached out to place a hand on Xiong’s shoulder. “Me, too, but I like to think she’s here, after a fashion.”

Comforted by her words, Xiong smiled before turning his attention to al-Khaled. “Are we in position?”

“Yes,” said the head of the Lovell’s Corps of Engineers detachment. “We’ve established orbit at the limits of Vanguard’s weapons range. If anything goes wrong, they’ll be ready.”

“Why don’t I find that comforting?” O’Halloran asked.

Marcus replied, “Relax, Lieutenant. We may not be the Corps of Engineers, but we have a few tricks up our sleeve.”

“Exactly,” Xiong replied. “The damping fields may not be able to fully block any signals or energy the artifact might emit, but they should at least weaken and scatter them, thereby preventing a repeat of the last time we tried this.” Eyeing Marcus, he added, “After all, I really don’t think we want another of those things coming after us.”

“I can certainly live without it,” the doctor said. “What about sensors and communications?”

Al-Khaled answered, “That’s where we’re still shooting a bit in the dark. Since we’ve had no apparent success contacting the Shedai entities within the artifacts, we’ve decided to go back and start from scratch. We’ll begin with low-intensity scans and work our way back to the levels that triggered your prior … incident. At each step, we’ll reexamine the findings and see how they measure up so far as this new setup is concerned, and make the appropriate adjustments before continuing.”

“Even after all of that,” Xiong said, “there’s still no guarantee we’ll learn anything new, much less make actual contact with the Shedai entity.”

“And we might just irritate it all over again,” Marcus added.

Nodding, Xiong said, “That is a possibility, Doctor.” It was this scenario, above everything else, that was behind the extraordinary lengths to which he, al-Khaled, and their teams had gone to prepare for this round of experiments. Despite all the precautions, Admiral Nogura had been reluctant to see the research continue, but had relented when offered the idea of using the Lovell as the test bed rather than the station itself. That the suggestion had been presented by the ship’s captain, Daniel Okagawa, after he had explained the situation to his crew and they all—to a person—had supported the plan, had convinced Nogura to allow the effort to proceed.

“Well,” Marcus said after a moment, “if there’s one thing I’ve learned from working with Starfleet, it’s that risk is part of the game. Let’s do this.”

As al-Khaled oversaw the chamber’s final preparations, Xiong moved to the console that had been configured for monitoring the artifact. On the workstation’s main monitor, the image of the crystalline artifact continued to emit its purple-white glow. Despite the physical distance and the very real barriers separating him from the object, Xiong could not help thinking he had still felt the odd tingle across his entire body when he had held the artifact in his bare hands. He tried to dismiss the strange sensation as a figment of his imagination, concentrating instead on the cold, precise data being fed to him by the container’s network of internal sensors.

“Baryonic array, chroniton gauges, and tachyon sca

“All containment field readings are green, Ming,” al-Khaled replied from where he had taken up station at an adjacent console. “Disabling main power and switching to internal systems.”

Another of Xiong’s console screens indicated the transfer to the containment chamber’s independent power source. All of the other status indicators remained steady, and he nodded in approval. “Transfer complete. Everything looks good.” Turning in his seat, he regarded his companions. “Only one thing left to do.”

Al-Khaled nodded. “Initiating scans.”

“All systems reporting active,” Anderson noted, pointing to one of the screens at his console. “Internal sensors at optimum, and the telemetry’s already coming fast and furious. Look at it.”