Star Trek Starfleet Corps of Engineers - 27 - Balance of Nature by Star Trek

Author:Star Trek
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780743475938
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2003-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

“Whatever it is that happened out in the forest seems to be temporary,” Zoeannah said, attaching the neural sensors to Pattie’s head. Sitting on a wheeled stool, she scooted back and forth the length of the bed, adjusting the biobed settings and checking the readouts. “You seem to be communicating just fine now.”

“By the time the pair dispatched by the base team found me, I’d regained most of my language skills,” Pattie explained, feeling more than a bit frustrated. “Before that, though, I can’t explain why I couldn’t speak. I tried all my usual techniques, but nothing seemed to work.”

Prostrate on a biobed, Pattie had spent the last hour submitting to examination by Zoeannah and Tarak. Tarak, who had undergone Nasat attender training, had worked her up medically. Not surprisingly, he had found nothing. Tarak had taken possession of Pattie’s tricorder, hoping that her discoveries in the forest might give him a clue as to what caused Pattie’s muteness.

From where she sat at the computer, Zoeannah twisted back and said, “Go ahead and initiate the scan, Tarak.” To Pattie, she said, “No talking. You know the rules.”

P8 pivoted her eyes in annoyance. From where she lay, she watched Zoë’s panel lighting up as a map of her brainwaves appeared on the monitor.

“This is unexpected.” Tarak removed a stylus from a desk drawer and was marking points on the computer screen. “The central cortex has been hyperstimulated.”

“What?” Pattie clicked.

“You.” Zoë placed a hand over Pattie’s mouth. “Quiet. Now.”

Anxiously, Pattie contemplated Tarak’s revelation. Before she learned to speak, her upper brain functions were primarily based in the central cortex. Nasat scientists believed the central cortex was the most primitive part of the Nasat brain. Whatever functions it had served had become obsolete as the species had evolved. In an average Nasat, the central cortex might show low-level brainwave activity a handful of times during a day. As a result of her work with Zoë and Tarak, activity in her central cortex had slowed to normal levels. To have it activated again couldn’t be a good sign.

“My readings are complete, Zoeannah,” Tarak said. “Both of you should examine this data.”

Zoeannah rolled her stool over to Tarak’s terminal, with Pattie following close behind. He projected a holographic representation of Pattie’s brain with color being used to map concentrations of brainwave activity. The hologram showed color variation from blues and greens (mildly active) to reds and oranges (extremely active). Just as Tarak had said, the central cortex glowed red-orange, indicating that it had been heavily stimulated.

“Out there in the forest, you were exposed to stimuli you’d never encountered before, Pattie,” Zoë noted. “It’s possible that your sensory intake was overloaded and it activated this cortex.”

Brow creased, Tarak studied the readout on Pattie’s tricorder. “The toxin, perhaps, when inhaled or touched, could provoke a violent nervous system reaction. I will generate models that will allow us to study the toxin’s effects without having to reexpose you or other Nasat.”

“But it’s the humming thing I keep coming back to, Tarak,” Zoë said, chewing on her fingernails.

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