Then we deal with it. One crisis at a time.
Docking Bay Three buzzes with tension when we arrive. Security personnel stand at strategic positions, phasers holstered but hands ready. Chief Harrison coordinates from the control booth while Dr. Yakamura runs scans on the Matrix artifact, which sits in its shipping container like a caged star.
Ambassador Jorem stands near the bay’s main entrance, flanked by two Zephyrian attendants who carry what looks like medical equipment. The neural purging device, I assume—a crystalline construct that hums with barely contained energy.
“Captain MacGray,” Jorem says as we approach. His voice carries formal courtesy edged with barely controlled fury. “I trust you’re prepared to submit to necessary medical intervention.”
“The only thing I’m prepared to submit to is a full report on why you brought unauthorized weapons aboard my station.”
“Medical equipment, not weapons. Though I suppose the distinction is academic for someone whose judgment has been compromised by alien influence.”
Careful,Zylthar warns through our link.He’s trying to provoke you into an emotional response he can use as evidence of instability.
Too late. I’m already pissed.
I keep my voice level, falling back on the command training that’s served me through countless diplomatic crises. “Ambassador, you’re welcome to observe our security protocols, but the artifact remains under Starfleet jurisdiction.”
“Unacceptable.” Jorem steps forward, and I see the cold calculation in his violet eyes. “That device contains technology sacred to my people. More importantly, it’s actively contaminating everyone on this station with psychic resonance.”
“Definecontamination.”
“Enhanced neural activity. Increased empathic sensitivity. The beginning stages of forced evolutionary change.” His voice takes on the cadence of religious conviction. “Captain, your crew is transforming into something no longer purely human. Surely you see the ethical implications.”
I glance around the bay, noting the subtle changes in my personnel that our enhanced awareness makes obvious. Sharper focus. Better coordination. An indefinable sense of connection that wasn’t there before.
“They seem fine to me.”
“Now, perhaps. But these changes are progressive. Within months, your people will be as alien to baseline humanity as we are.” He gestures toward Zylthar. “Is that really what you want for them?”
The question hits harder than I expected. Through our bond, I experience Zylthar’s anguish—he wonders the same thing, worrying that our joining might have consequences beyond our personal choice.
Selena,his mental voice carries quiet pain.What if he’s right? What if we’ve condemned your crew to exile from their own species?
Then we help them adapt. Evolution isn’t always a curse.
But doubt creeps in despite my brave words. The crew didn’t choose this transformation—it happened because of decisions Zylthar and I made. If the changes are permanent, irreversible, then we’ve fundamentally altered the lives of two thousand people without their consent.
“Dr. Yakamura,” I call. “Medical assessment of the crew’s condition.”
Yuki looks up from her scanner, expression troubled. “Captain, I’m reading enhanced neural activity across all departments. Brain chemistry is shifting toward greater empathic sensitivity and improved cognitive processing.”
“Temporary or permanent?”
“Unknown. But the changes appear to be stabilizing rather than fading.”
Oh.The thought escapes through our bond before I can stop it.
Jorem’s smile is cold as vacuum. “You see? The contamination spreads with each passing hour. Soon your crew will be unable to function in normal human society—exiled, like you, to the space between worlds.”
“And your solution?”
“Complete neural purging for all affected personnel. Yes, there will be some cognitive impairment, but they’ll retain their essential humanity.”
“You want to lobotomize my entire crew.”
“I want to save them from a fate worse than death.” His eyes fix on Zylthar with particular venom. “Beginning with the source of contamination himself.”
He means to kill me,Zylthar’s mental voice is steady despite the fear I sense through our link.The purging procedure will destroy my neural pathways entirely. Zephyrians can’t survive that level of cognitive damage.
