The computer beeped once more, and the doctor looked up to see that his search query had yielded an additional result. “What have we here?” he asked as he reviewed the data now scrolling across the screen.
“I don’t believe it,” Xiong said, leaning in closer in order to get a better look at the display.
Frowning, Fisher regarded the lieutenant. “Don’t believe what?”
Xiong pointed to the viewer. “The computer has identified similarities between part of the DNA coding from this new sample and a string of data from the carier wave that gave the station so much trouble months ago.”
Fisher stroked his beard as he absorbed that. He of course had been aboard the station when the odd alien transmission had wreaked havoc with so many of Vanguard’s sensitive systems, and Reyes had explained the nature of the signal—as much as was known, anyway—while briefing him about various other aspects of the station’s clandestine mission here in the Taurus Reach. Despite the limited amount of information which had been gleaned from the signal in the months since it had stopped transmitting, one thing that seemed to be accepted was that the carrier wave was in fact a type of communications protocol from a race never before encountered.
According to the data on the screen before him, however, Fisher could see that at least the station’s computer thought it might also be something more.
“That signal wasn’t transmitting DNA information,” he said. “We would have caught that early on.”
Xiong shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. We only had the original meta-genome samples from Ravanar at the time the signal was being studied, which are different in several respects from those we obtained from Erilon.” He paused, examining the data on the screen once more before continuing. “On the other hand,” he said, pointing to one column of information, “that string from the Erilon sample has some commonalities with the Ravanar specimens.”
Already seeing where the lieutenant was heading, Fisher keyed a new query to the workstation. “Let’s see what happens when we broaden the search parameters a bit.” Both men said nothing as they waited for the computer to process the request, though the doctor felt his pulse beginning to quicken in anticipation. You know what it’s going to say.
Then the screen displayed the results.
“Both sets of samples share traits with the carrier wave?” Xiong said, his eyes wide with astonishment. “How did we miss that?”
“You didn’t,” Fisher said, tapping the screen. “The similarities are so remote that the computer needed a third set of data to help with triangulating anything. It’s not so much that the samples themselves are similar. The carrier wave is the key to both.” Sighing, he shook his head. “Of course, I have no idea why that is.”
“It’s still a huge step forward,” Xiong said, a broad grin brightening his features. “Don’t you understand? The carrier wave might be the very cipher we’ve been looking for: the biometric key that can help us understand how that thing we fought on Erilon was able to interface with the technology there.” Xiong’s smile seemed to widen. “You may just have found a very important piece to this puzzle, Doctor.”
And how about that,Fisher mused, unable to resist returning the smile. Still a few tricks in this old dog yet.“The question now,” he said, “is what do we do about it?”
Both men looked up to the sound of a bosun’s whistle—rather, the computer-generated version of one, anyway—filtering through the intercom system.
“ Desai to Dr. Fisher.”
Reaching to the workstation’s comm unit, the doctor opened the frequency. “Fisher here. What can I do for you, Captain?” His eyes widening in realization, he looked toward the chronometer mounted on the nearby bulkhead. “Did I miss our lunch? I just need twenty min—”
“ No, that’s not it,”Desai interrupted. “ Actually, I’m calling to cancel. I need some time…to myself. I’ve got some…stuff to process.”Fisher frowned as he listened to the tone of his friend’s voice. He imagined Desai sitting in the solitude of her office, slumped in her chair with her head in her hands.
He looked over to Xiong, and the lieutenant merely nodded as he stepped away from the workstation. “I can get started reviewing this new material,” he offered in a low voice. “I’ll be in my lab if you need me.” Excusing himself, he gathered his belongings before exiting the morgue. Fisher smiled as he watched the younger man go, part of him envious that Xiong would now get to spend an inordinate amount of time pursuing the puzzle they had only just begun to pursue together.
Lucky bastard.
“Rana,” he said as the doors slid shut, leaving him alone in the room, “something you want to talk about?” He considered terminating the conversation and going to her. If she indeed had something troubling she wanted to talk about, it would be better for her to do so face-to-face with someone she could trust.
“ No,”she said, her response coming almost too fast. A moment later, she added, “ Zeke, I talked to Diego.”
Zeke? Then thisis serious.
“I see,” he said, leaning back in his chair. Folding his arms across his chest, he reached up to stroke his beard. “Not to pry,” he said, “but are you all right?”
“ It’s nothing like that,”Desai replied. “ It’s just, well, work stuff. Diego told me…told me about some things he thought I should know. It’s a little…overwhelming.”
“Ah,” Fisher offered in return.
Reyes had briefed her into the project, he realized. While he was sure the commodore had told her only those aspects of the station’s true mission which were necessary to keep her from compromising the security of that assignment—a measure he also had taken with the doctor himself—Fisher knew that even such a limited amount of information was in all likelihood more than Desai would ever wantto know.
“If it helps,” he said after a moment, “I felt the same way when he told me. Don’t worry about lunch. We can always reschedule. Open invitation, and all that.”
“ First chance I get, Fish,”Desai said, and Fisher already could hear a lift in her voice. “ I promise. I just need to do some mental filing today, is all.”
Hating the distance imposed by the impersonal communications system, Fisher sighed. “Absolutely, Rana,” he said, hoping his words offered the support he wanted to convey. “And, for what it’s worth?”
“Yes?”
“What happens with the commodore stays with the commodore,” he said. “No obligations to share with me, know what I mean?”
“ Only if you make the same promise,”Desai countered, and Fisher imagined he could see her smiling on the other end of the channel.
“No problem. You know me. We’ll leave shop talk in our offices and just bad-mouth your boyfriend. Deal?”
The genuine laughter filtering through the intercom made him smile in satisfaction. “ Agreed. Desai out.”
As the connection was severed, Fisher actually felt relieved that Reyes finally had brought Desai into the fold, in a manner of speaking. In the doctor’s opinion, the commodore needed a confidant, someone he could trust with the very human moments of indecision and struggle that he could never reveal to his staff. That Desai was that counsel and not Fisher himself did nothing to bruise his perceived standing with his friend. After five decades in service to Starfleet and knowing Reyes as long as he had, the doctor had carried more than his share of confidences; he certainly felt no need to gather any more.
He knew also that Desai would at times be troubled by the things she surely would discover as Vanguard’s mission in the Taurus Reach continued. Such anxiety no doubt would be exacerbated by the fact that Reyes would have ordered her to keep much of what she learned to herself.