Star Trek: Corps of Engineers: Enigma Ship by J. Steven York & Christina F. York

Author:J. Steven York & Christina F. York
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Star Trek, Fiction
ISBN: 9780743456753
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2002-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter

7

Dr. Lense leaned over Stevens’s shoulder and stared at the console. “How much do you trust this data?”

Stevens shrugged. “I’m guessing maybe seventy percent accuracy. All our information is inferred, and Enigma was trying to mask our pulse.”

On a viewscreen to Stevens’s right, a tall, nervous-looking officer with a high forehead looked on. Lense understood that his name was Barclay, and he was some kind of expert on holotechnology.

Barclay shook his head in wonder. “A neutrino hologram. I—I wouldn’t even have thought it was possible.”

Stevens looked up at the screen and smiled wryly. “They haven’t seen anything like this in the Delta Quadrant, Lieutenant?”

“Voyager has encountered some amazing things. But nothing like this.”

“So you’re saying Enigma represents a more advanced technology than ours?” Stevens said.

Barclay seemed hesitant to commit. “In some ways, but there’s no sign of warp drive. You’re familiar with Principles of Parallel Technologies?”

Stevens nodded. “It’s already come up several times since this mission started. You think this is exception that proves the rule?”

Barclay’s eyebrows lifted. “Technically, the exception can never prove the rule, but it’s possible this is an exception of some sort. Waldport thought the urge to explore and to seek simulated experiences, through storytelling, or more advanced technologies like holodecks, were interrelated. Perhaps that might lead the occasional civilization down a different—different technological path.”

Lense squinted at the readouts. “I’m not an engineer, but how different are they? I mean, the ship hypothesis is mine, but shouldn’t there be more metal in there?”

Stevens shrugged. “Given the resolution of this method, we pretty much had to know what we were looking for, so there could be lots of nonduranium alloys inside there that aren’t showing. But we do show plenty of carbon-organic signatures, and only a small number of them correspond to the Lincoln crew. If we assume those are living creatures, and not corpses or somebody’s food supply, then it still looks like a ship.”

“There’s—there’s something else that’s bothering me,” said Barclay. “You said that Enigma showed some sign of—telepathic capabilities?”

Lense nodded. “According to our Betazoid crewmember, yes. Why does that bother you?”

“If we assume the crew have some telepathic abilities she’s picking up, then probably not. But if it comes from the holographic systems, possibly. Starfleet Intelligence, years ago, did some studies of a telepathic hologram feedback system. A system like that is capable of showing a viewer exactly what they expect to see, and that feedback can be quite—powerful.”

“Holodiction,” said Lense.

The very word made Barclay squirm in a way Lense found intriguing. She’d have to ask Gomez or Duffy, who served with him in the past, about his background sometime.

“No, not holodiction—though it could lead to that, I suppose. What we’re talking about is an absolute suspension of disbelief, about hyperreality. The mind providing the source of the illusion is hypnotized—seduced by the illusion, until they find it almost impossible not to accept as reality.”

* * *

P8 Blue looked up from her tricorder, antenna waving excitedly. Her voice sounded over Duffy’s com-link. “I think I have an idea how the Lincoln survived the impact.

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