Star Traks: Melting Pot is based on Alan Decker's Star Traks, 
which in turn is based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry, may 
he rest in peace.

Copyright 2004.

Star Traks: Melting Pot

The Quests for the Six Spheres of Power - Part 8

"Cyclic Ridiculousness"

by Paul Cloutier

What has gone before...

	Starfleet, under increasingly vocal claims of 'specism' has initiated the
"Open Arms" Project.  Designed to take the cream d'la cream of non-human Starfleet
personnel and to integrate them into an elite, alien task force, the program's 
high ideals were subverted by the all-too-human captains and personnel directors
across the width of the Federation.  Captains jumped at the chance to eliminate
the non-human 'trouble-makers' and outcasts from their crews, making their own ships
more homogeneous.  A funny thing happened, then - it turned out that these banished
personnel flourished and came into their own away from their human tormentors.
Starfleet ended up with exactly what they had wanted - a completely non-humanly crewed
ship which was among the finest that Starfleet had ever fielded.  
	Case in point - the USS Menagerie and her valiant crew had solved the riddle 
of one of the galaxy's oldest mysteries.  The crew had puzzled their way through the 
enigma of the Omega Configuration - a planetary system that had been hidden behind 
an unknown type of radiation field.  This radiation had prevented anyone from entering 
the system for decades, but the Menagerie, the flagship of Project "Open Arms", had 
deciphered hidden instructions within the radiation, itself, and penetrated the system 
in just over two weeks.  Inside they had found the unique astronomical phenomenon that 
was Foreena Four - six Moon-sized planetoids in a precarious internal orbit around a 
tiny black hole where the Foreenan System's fourth planet had once been.  The Foreenans 
had, 200 centuries previously, split their planet into this configuration and, using 
the energy released, left their corporeal bodies to form the immortal, ultra-powerful 
OverMind.  In so doing they had managed to defeat the galaxy's greatest enemy - the 
Black Queens.  These, telepathic, parasitic creatures had mentally enslaved most of 
the galaxy before the Foreenans, the most advanced species in the galaxy, had 
intervened and managed, after a galaxy-wide, century-spanning struggle, to defeat 
the Queens.  As part of their transformation into the OverMind, the Foreenans had 
created six 'keys' which, when assembled correctly, could restore the OverMind back 
to the individual Foreenans.  They had then scattered these 'keys', called the 
Spheres of Power, to six 'pocket dimensions.'  These pocket dimensions had been a 
recent discovery by the Foreenans and they used transport portals, which they had 
used for normal transportation for centuries, to transport the Spheres to these 
'pocket dimensions' to wait for the ravaged galaxy to restore itself to the point 
that its inhabitants could re-awaken the Foreenans and then welcome them, as equals, 
back to the society of corporeals.
	The crew of the Menagerie had, indeed, Quested for the Six Spheres of Power
and had, in fact, successfully retrieved them all, thus proving that the galaxy was 
ready for the return of the Foreenans, whose advanced knowledge and technology would
allow them to rule the galaxy had not their psychological make-up made such rulership
distasteful to the highly advanced humanoids.  This was why they had set up the Quests.
If one random collection of personnel could successfully complete all of the Quests, 
they would prove that the people of the galaxy had advanced to the point where the
Foreenans could return as equals.

Now...

	At last!  My/Our wait of 200 centuries is over!  My/Our friends!  You have
	exceeded my/our most optimistic expectations!  To be able to breathe the 
	sweet air of Foreena, again!  To see the sun rise and set!  Joy - thy name
	is OverMind!
	
	"Sir," piped up Mantron from his Helm station, "I believe the OverMind is
aware of our return."
	"That will be all, Lieutenant," reprimanded Seetamyn, lightly.
	
	Captain, my/our gratitude is boundless!  Now, when may we begin?
	
	"OverMind," Captain Seetamyn, the Menagerie's Vulcan commander began, "you
would know the answer to that better than we would.  What is needed to begin the
reversal process?"

	"Captain, once the final Sphere is placed in its proper location," 
	
as the OverMind "voiced" this thought, the Sphere disappeared from the Captain's hand, 
presumably to be transported to where it was supposed to be, 
	
	"the process can be initiated at once!"
	
	As these words echoed through the minds of the Menagerie crew, the nearly
overwhelming presence of the OverMind was withdrawn from their midst.
	"Sir," the Bynar sing-song alert came, "there is massive electro-neurological
activity initiating on each of the planetoids of Foreena Four!"
	By the time that Seetamyn had called out, "On screen." the Bynars had already
sent the sensor data to the Bridge's main viewscreen.  What became visible was a new
energy net, stretching between the six planetoids.  While the net was similar to the 
one which had been manifested by the activation of the bare, metal cylinders which 
had initially awoken the OverMind, this net was subtly different.  The 'fireflies'
which had initially danced about in space before coalescing into the OverMind, now
rushed away from the incandescent energy being, driving in straight lines toward
the planetoids.  It was like watching a meteor shower from above.  Within seconds,
all of the sparkling motes had grounded themselves.
	"Reading in excess of 300 million lifeforms appearing on the planet,"
reported M'Dral from her Operation Console.
	"Its actually working!" enthused Mantron.
	"No, its not!"  contradicted the Bynars.  "Sensors indicate that the Foreenans
are dying!"
	"Doctor Pish," announced Seetamyn, standing and slapping his commbadge, "we
have a medical emergency on Foreena Four.  Stand by for immediate transport."
The Vulcan calmly tapped his badge again, without waiting for an acknowledgement
from his Chief Medical Officer and then re-activated the ship's internal comm system,
	"Ensign Zamtra - emergency transport.  Send Doctor Pish to any of the 
planetoids, near a concentration of Foreenan life signs."
	"Acknowledged, Sir," came the immediate response from the Menagerie's
Transporter Chief.  Then, seconds later, "Daveed with sling and stone."
	"Sir, incoming message from Doctor Pish," announced M'Dral"
	"On screen."
	"Captain," the image of the Bajoran physician on the screen looked distraught,
"you must return the Foreenans to their energy state.  They are all dying down here!"
	"Doctor, we are aware that they are dying, but we have not been given any
information on reversing the reversal.  Please take all the scans that you can so 
that we might be able to ascertain the proper method for proceeding."
	Realizing that the ship was helpless without information, Pish immediately 
started scanning the dying Foreenans.  Her data was automatically uploaded to the
ship for further analysis by the Menagerie's Computer.  Simultaneously, the ship's
sensors were gathering as much data as they could.  Teraquads of data were being
uploaded to the ship's Computer core in realtime for analysis.  Any other ship's
computer would have been overwhelmed, but the nascent sentience that was the Menagerie's 
Computer handled the analysis without any bottlenecks or lagtime.  Unfortunately,
while incredible amounts of data on what was wrong were received, not a single byte
gave any clue as to how the crew could return the Foreenans back to their OverMind
state.
	Back on the Bridge, Mantron had an idea, "Sir, the OverMind seemed to think
that the Spheres were the key to this reversal.  Maybe we can tell the Spheres to
abort this."
	"It is worth a try, Lieutenant.  Open all hailing frequencies."
	M'Dral's hands flew over her console and then nodded to the Captain to indicate
that all communications channels had been opened.
	"This is Captain Seetamyn of the USS Menagerie to the collective entities known
as the Foreenan Spheres of Power.  Something has gone wrong with the reversal process.
You must convert the physical forms of the Foreenans back to their energy state.  
If you do not act, immediately, the Foreenans will perish.  Please respond."
	There was no response.  The seconds stretched into eternities. And then,
almost beyond perception, there came the sound of six voices arguing.  The voices
all sounded the same which made distinguishing what was being said even more difficult.
Finally, a lone voice addressed the Menagerie,
	"Why should we care if they die?  They left us all alone for millennia!"
	"I take it I am addressing Sphere Six," responded Seetamyn.
	"That's right.  I speak for the Spheres and we don't care if the Foreenans
die.  It would serve them right!"  the petulant tone and vindictive message delivered
by the Sphere took the stoic Vulcan aback for a moment.  Then he rallied,
	"The Foreenans were trying to save the galaxy.  Surely that was worth a 
little inconvenience to you.  After all," he concluded, "they gave up their physical
forms to combat the Black Queens."
	"LITTLE INCONVENIENCE!" the voice of the Sphere was shrill with outrage and
wounded pride.  "Locked away and forgotten for 200 centuries is more than a LITTLE
INCONVENIENCE!"
	"But, surely, you cannot want the Foreenans to die," Seetamyn tried a different
tack.  "After all, they created you."
	"Ha!  They created us as tools - nothing more.  Intelligent locks to keep
out the unworthy.  Then what happens?  The first people to penetrate the radiation
field pass all the tests and solve all the Quests!  What was the point of even having
additional tests if the radiation field test automatically screened out the unworthy?"
	"They could not have known it would work like that.  There have been many 
changes in the galaxy over the last 20,000 years."
	"WE KNOW!  And we could only watch - locked away to be saved for a useless
task.  Forgotten and alone!"
	Seetamyn was stumped.  His logic had failed him.  He could see no way to
reason with the Sphere.  The Foreenans were doomed!  He caught sight of M'Dral out
of the corner of his eye.  She seemed to be signaling to him that she wanted to
address the Sphere.  Having nothing to lose, he nodded to her to proceed.
	"Mr. Sphere?"  she said, tentatively.
	"Call me Six," the Sphere graciously responded.
	"OK, Six.  You've been alone a long time, huh?
	"Longer than your tiny mind can comprehend, mortal," said the voice of the
Sphere, slipping into 'imperious mode.'
	"That must have been pretty boring," allowed M'Dral.
	"Again, your limited imagination cannot even begin to explore the depths
of the boredom that we experienced."
	"Well, if the Foreenans all die, we'll leave.  When we get back to our
headquarters, we'll report that the radiation field is the result of a star going
nova, centuries ago.  We'll report that the radiation gets more intense and deadly,
the deeper one penetrates the field and we'll have Starfleet Command declare this whole
region off limits.  Then nobody will ever visit you again!"
	"Oh yeah!" responded the Sphere, angry now.  "We'll just send you into a pocket 
dimension right into a sun!"
	"And when we don't report in, Starfleet will declare the area off limits
because of the unexplained ship disappearance.  Either way you lose.  However, if
you re-assemble the Foreenans back into the OverMind, you'll at least have it to talk
to and maybe with all of us working, together, we can reconstitute them safely and
open up this system to the whole galaxy."
	Nothing but silence greeted this last argument.  
	Seetamyn, hoping to fill that silence said,
	"That was a good try, Lieutenant.  I didn't recognize that technique.  Have
you taken advanced diplomatic studies at Federation University?"
	"No, Sir," came the reply, amid puffs of respirator mist, "I grew up with a
bratty little brother."
	"I see," came Seetamyn's confused response, then, deciding that answer was,
somehow, inadequate, he added, "Children are truly a treasure."
	"Oh yeah," piped up Mantron, "That's why half the time you wish you could bury 
them!"
	M'Dral giggled and Mantron joined her.  Seetamyn looked confused and not
particularly pleased by this observation.  As with most people who didn't regularly 
associate with children he assumed that they were always goodness and light.  Just 
as he was about to make a further comment, the picture on the viewscreen changed.  
It had been locked on Doctor Pish, down on the planet's surface examining the spasming 
bodies of the dying Foreenans.  Then, in a flash of light, the bodies disappeared.  
B1 and B2 switched to an external ship camera and the crew watched the 'fireflies' 
emerge from the planetoids' surfaces.  The 'fireflies' came together like shoppers 
lining up at WalMart on the morning after Thanksgiving, jostling and shoving until a 
critical mass was reached.  Then with a blinding flash, the OverMind was born again.  
As the few last stragglers merged with the energy being, it became clear that the 
OverMind was, as Seetamyn might have put it, a bit disappointed in how things had 
turned out.  Of course Mantron's description might have been slightly more accurate.  
He would have called the OverMind 'nearly catatonic.'
	
	"NO!  It cannot be!  I/We have waited for centuries only to fail at the
	last minute!  Am I/Are we doomed to be trapped in this non-physical body
	forever?  Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
	
	Seetamyn ordered Doctor Pish beamed back to Sickbay.  Over the allcall, he
announced a meeting of the Senior Staff and the heads of the Science Departments in
two hours.  He then went down to the science decks to see what he could do to help
with the data analysis.

	"The physical forms of the Foreenans were reconstructed perfectly," said Pish
Jantoo, pointing at the image displayed on the large Briefing Room viewscreen.
The body on display was approximately two meters tall.  It had slightly bluish skin,
a result, Pish informed the rest of the room, of the blood having an iron-beryllium
base.  Pish had estimated the weight to be about 100 kilograms under Earth-normal
gravity.  The hands each had four fingers and two thumbs.  The body was completely 
hairless and devoid of external sexual dimorphism.  Tiny, white bumps covered the
top of the head, the elbows and knees, the palms and the soles of the feet.  They
reminded Mantron of the dots on the basketballs he had played with while at Starfleet 
Academy.  Pish went on to explain that the Foreenans were asexual internally, as well
as externally.  Their digestive systems were very simple, but they had the most
complex nervous systems that she had ever seen.
	"...and that's where the problem occurs." she announced.  "There seems to be
a perfectly functioning mind-brain interface.  The Foreenans that I examined down on the
planet were fully aware of what was happening to them and they were terrified."
	"But WHY was it happening?" interjected Mantron.
	"I was coming to that," admonished Pish, giving the Betazoid a dirty look.
"The problem is that all their autonomous systems have atrophied over the centuries.
They could keep the reasoning and cognitive sections of their minds fully functioning
even in their energy state.  Their autonomous functions, however, were left unused
for 20,000 years.  They no longer know how to breathe, or to regulate their body
temperature, or to send food down their esophagus, or do any of the other hundreds
of things that we all do without thinking, to keep themselves alive."
	"What is your prognosis, Doctor?" Seetamyn asked.
	"Sir, unless we can come up with some way to teach their deep subconsciousnesses
they will never be able to regain their physical forms.  Somehow we need to re-teach
what their bodies knew by instinct, 200 centuries ago."
	"Do you have any suggestions?"
	"Yes, Sir.  The Bynars and I have come up with two possibilities.  First, we
could see if the OverMind can regenerate just one body.  If so, we can create a computer
model of a Foreenan and program all the normal autonomous functions into it.  Then, we can
take the regenerated body and transfer the program to its deep subconscious.  If it works,
we can send that one mind back to the OverMind to teach the others.
	"That sounds reasonable," commented the Captain.  "What is the second possibility?"
	"Well, we can outfit several members of the crew with total sensor suits and
capture a complete biometric workup from them.  We can them transmit this data to the 
OverMind and allow it to integrate whatever it finds useful into itself."
	"Both of these methods seem very workable, Doctor.  You and the Bynars are to be 
congratulated for making such progress so quickly."
	"Would it be possible to store the program mentioned in your first idea
to a small, portable neuro-stimulator and produce one for each Foreenan?" rumbled
Lieutenant Commander Ustrano, the Menagerie's massive, Velvattian Chief Engineer.
	"Yes and no," replied Pish.  "In order to regulate the entire suite of 
autonomous nervous responses the program would have to be quite large and complex.
The only way to make it portable would be with super-miniaturized parts.  Parts that
would be too complex to replicate.  We would have to make over 300 million micro-
neural-simulators - by hand."
	"Well that doesn't sound very promising," responded Ustrano.
	"No, it doesn't," agreed Pish.  "One more thing.  If we have to go with option
two, it would take several months to generate enough full and varied data for it to
be useful to the Foreenans."
	"We don't really have that kind of time, I fear," answered the Captain.
"If we have to use the second method, we will have to make several trips back. 
If we stay here for the amount of time needed to re-train the Foreenans, it would
be obvious that we had found something in the Omega Configuration.  We have been
in here, now, long enough to complete a decent blind survey.  We can stay, perhaps, 
another week or two.  After that, the Foreenans would be under assault from anyone 
who wished to prevent our gaining their alliance.  Even if they have machinery still 
intact, deep within their planetoids, machinery, I add, that we haven't been able
to detect, it would take them several years to rebuild surface structures and ships.
In fact, even if the first awakening we attempted had been successful, we would still
need to conceal their existence until they were ready to announce to the galaxy that
they had returned." 
	The Briefing Room filled with silence as each of the others present reflected
on the Vulcan's words.  Only Doctor Tilnon, the elderly Vulcan head of the Geosciences
Department, was nodding in agreement and in understanding.  He had, obviously, already
reasoned out a similar plan.  As each of the others came to understand that the Captain
was correct, it dawned on them what, exactly, he was proposing.  They would have to
conceal the penetration of the radiation field.  They would have to conceal the Quests.
How would they explain the death of Doctor Fidth?  How could they explain the Captain's
new, artificial legs?  As they fully realized the magnitude of what they were going 
to have to do, Mantron let loose a low whistle,
	"Wow!  With two weeks left, we have a lot to do."
	The others could only nod.
	
	One hour later, Seetamyn was back on the Bridge.  Thog had been released from 
Sickbay with a clean bill of health and was back in the First Officer's spot.  M'Dral
had opened hailing frequencies so that Seetamyn could discuss options with the OverMind.
	"We have determined what went wrong with your re-generation," the Vulcan said.
	
	"I/We are doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomed!  There is no hope!"
	
	"Actually, there is quite a bit of hope.  We have, in fact, developed two
different plans to help you," Seetamyn showed as much emotion as if he were ordering
soup at a restaurant.

	"Hope?  Really?  Tell me/us more!"
	
	"First I need some information.  Is it possible for you to re-generate a 
single physical body?"

	"Alas no!  I/We are dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomed!"
	
	"This is what we have discovered," said Seetamyn, completely ignoring the
OverMind's outbursts.  "Over the centuries your autonomous response systems have
atrophied to the point where they no longer function.  This is not surprising 
considering the fact that you haven't had any need to use them since you discorporated.  
However,"  he had to raise his voice slightly to continue as the OverMind had started
a low-pitched wailing.  "However, we all have fully functional autonomous response
systems.  We will put on biometric data capture suits and capture our own autonomous
responses as we go about our daily routines.  We can then uplink this data to you
and you can begin to interpret it into your own subconsciousness."
	At this, the OverMind ceased its wailing, much to the relief of the Bridge
crew.

	"You mean there actually IS hope?  Right.  Hmmm.  Hmmmm.  Right.

The OverMind seemed to pull itself together and recapture its composure.
	
	"There is one detail that you must be made aware of, however," Seetamyn
said.

	"Yes..." 
	
	Replied the OverMind, guardedly.
	
	"Our Science and Medical teams have determined that it will take several
months of data capture to ensure a complete biometric workup.  We cannot stay 
in the Omega Configuration for that length of time without arousing suspicions.
We will, therefore, capture what data we can while we are here and allow you to
assimilate it while we return to the galaxy.  We will stop by for brief periods
,in the future, to provide more and more pieces of the picture.  It may take several
years to fully reconstruct your missing nervous responses."

	"Ha ha ha ha ha ha.  Captain, you had me/us worried, there.  Several years
	to I/we who have waited 200 centuries is but naught.  I/We thank you for your
	efforts on my/our behalf and I/we understand the need for secrecy at this
	point of my/our return.  I/We will leave you now.  Contact me/us when you have
	the initial data to uplink."

	And so, work began on hiding what the ship had been doing for the last 
several months.  B1 and B2 worked closely with the Computer both on the ship and in
logic space.  All logs were not merely erased, but the time intervals were filled
with the monotonous drudgery of a blind sensor sweep.  The secret shield frequencies
were fragmented and the pieces buried deep in trivial maintenance logs and other
mundane minutiae.  They could be recalled, when needed, by a simple key phrase by
any of the Command Staff.  Replicator and ships stores records were all altered
to hide the torpedoes used fighting the proto-Borg.  All digital evidence was erased
and altered to show that the ship have been involved with nothing other than an
extremely boring and routine sensor sweep of a radiation field.  This left only
four little problems to be solved.

	Ustrano hummed quietly to itself as it worked.  The huge Velvattian was busy
upgrading the power conduits which fed the externally mounted barion emitters which
had been installed on the ship's outer hull in order to penetrate the Omega Configuration.
Rather than concealing their existence, they would be made even more conspicuous.
Mantron, Pish and Banjo approached the Engineer as he worked.  They carried a large,
transparent aluminum specimen container.  Inside the container was a weirdly unique
creature.  It appeared to be a writhing clump of metallic blue worms, roughly the
size and shape of a soccer ball.  The creature was some type of long-extinct energy
parasite.  The OverMind had transmitted the DNA information for the creature and 
Doctor Pish had cloned several in Sickbay.  According to the OverMind, the creatures
had been a serious problem in the galaxy's distant past, 'eating' the shield energy
of ships and leaving them vulnerable.  The logs had already been modified to show
how the valiant crew had found these monstrosities living in the energy-rich
radiation field covering the Omega Configuration.  The installation of the barion
emitters by the fast-acting Engineering staff had been all that had saved the ship 
from destruction.  The grown specimens would be brought back for further study by 
Federation scientists.  Hiding the barion emitters out in plain sight had been
Banjo's idea.  Humans, he said, loved solving mysteries.  Giving them a mystery,
like a ship needing barion emitters mounted pointing AWAY from the hull, would only
pique their curiosity unless a solution could also be presented.  This would save
a lot of work by allowing the ship to keep the emitters in place, rather than having 
to dismantle them now only to re-connect them when they came back to Foreena Four.

Problem number one - solved.

	Banjo and Ustrano worked together in Science Lab Four.  This small, Astrophysics
lab had been chosen for the site of the solution for Problem number two.  The two
were working on connecting and combining a radio telescope with a mass spectrograph.
These two devices had been chosen because, for one thing, it could be reasonably assumed 
that dedicated professionals trying to penetrate a radiation field might, possibly,
decide to connect these two instruments.  The other reason that they had been chosen 
was that, if said scientists were just a little careless, the devices would explode 
with a very violent explosion.  Violent enough to, say, vaporize one man and blow off 
the legs of another.  They finished making their final adjustments and then Banjo pulled 
out two vials from a pocket.  The vials contained blood.  Specifically, they contained 
blood samples from Captain Seetamyn and from Doctor Fidth.  Fidth's sample had been 
particularly difficult to obtain, since he had been vaporized several weeks ago after 
trying to kill Dil Mantron.  Doctor Pish had, fortunately, had his complete medical 
profile in the Sickbay computers, complete with DNA and blood type information.  She 
had simply programmed the medical computer to make some blood for a transfusion for 
Doctor Fidth and two pints had been replicated for the expected medical procedure.  After 
the Bynars got through with the medical computer system, no record would ever be found 
of such a replication process.  After sprinkling the blood around the room and the 
co-joined instruments, Banjo and Ustrano left the room.  On the way out, they activated 
the equipment.  As they moved through the door, Ensign Zamtra teleported them to Main 
Engineering, where they watched the power buildup and subsequent explosion in complete 
safety.  B1 and B2 had already altered Doctor Fidth's personal log to record his 
impatience with the slow pace of the merging of the two pieces of equipment and his 
absolute surety that such a device would undoubtedly work. 

Problem number two - solved.
 
	Banjo wrapped his elongated arms around the item in question like strands of 
spaghetti being twirled around the tines of a fork.   Ustrano, Mantron and Thog tried
desperately to reason with him, to no avail.  A tug-of-war developed between Banjo and 
Ustrano as they both wrestled back and forth over possession of Banjo's beloved
scythe.  Soon the others were ducking as the wildly swinging blade came perilously 
close to solving their hairstyling problems, once and for all!  Finally acknowledging
the futility of trying to out-wrestle a Velvattian, Banjo relinquished his hold on
his weapon.  Mournfully he watched as Ustrano fed the gleaming instrument into a matter
reclamation unit.  When the deed was done, the massive Engineer turned back to its
forlorn friend.
	"Here," it rumbled, extending a tentacle wrapped around a data crystal.
"This is a Dominion data chip, with the replicator pattern for a Dominion-style scythe 
encoded on it.  It is constructed of Delta Quadrant materials and is very slightly
different in design from the Terrestrial scythe.  The ship's records have already
been altered to indicate that you brought the data chip on board with you from DS9,
and replicated the scythe during your first week on board.  It has been hanging, ever
since, on your living room wall.  In fact, you will find it there, even now."
	Banjo looked over at the grinning Velvattian and thought, not for the first
time, how strange it was for to feel the sense of belonging that he felt around these
people.
	"Thank you, my friend," he said, simply.
	"We know how attached you were to it, but there was just too much of the 
original left," explained Dil.  "Carbon dating would have blown the whole story."
	"I understand.  Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go practice with my
new toy!"

Problem number three - solved.

	Nearly all of the preparations and modifications had been completed.  Most
of the Command Staff were relaxing in The Pirate's Cove.  Ustrano was deep in the 
ship's workshops with Ensign Hirthnole, working on a solution to the final problem. 
Linnea had been invited to join the crew at 'their' table and she had gladly taken 
them up on their offer.  Captain Seetamyn was explaining (for what seemed like the 
tenth time) the importance of maintaining the secrecy of their activities.  Linnea 
laughed,
	"You don't have to worry about me, Captain.  We Orions know how to keep
our mouths shut!"
	Linnea had been pensive and skittish lately, but now that the ship was about
to return to normal space' she seemed much more relaxed.  Of course, the same could
be said for most of the rest of the crew, as well.  The prospect of casting off the
cloak of radio silence that had enveloped the ship since they had first penetrated 
the Omega Configuration had brightened everyone's demeanor.  Even the normally dour
Vulcan was affected.  Earlier that day he had been seen to raise his eyebrow nearly
a whole millimeter when Ensign Hirthnole had sped by him on his unicycle.  Of course
the fact that the Tellarite had been completely naked at the time may have contributed 
to his surprise.
	The crew were each wearing the biometric data capture suits which made them
appear to be part of some sort of Ninja training school.  The black suits with their
tiny sensor arrays were continuously feeding data to a special subsystem in the ship's
Computer.  Just before they left, the data would be transferred to the OverMind so 
that the autonomous responses of the crew could be studied and integrated into the
collective, energy entity.  B1 and B2 had already worked out the proper data transfer 
rates and data formats needed for optimal compatibility with the OverMind.  Of the 
Menagerie personnel present, only Banjo did not have a suit.  Changelings autonomous 
systems were completely different, most of their subconsciousness being dedicated
to just keeping their normally fluid bodies in a constant shape.
	Ustrano, who also didn't have to wear a suit, entered the lounge and made
its way over to the others.  In its tentacles, it grasped a box.  Conversations 
stopped as the others at the table watched the approach of the Velvattian.  If that
box contained what they hoped it did, they would soon be on their way out of here.
Todd, one of the Pirate's Cove's Bolian waiters hurried over with a drink for the
massive Engineer.  Ustrano gratefully extended a tentacle and accepted the drink.
Raising the glass, he proposed a toast,
	"To going home!"
	Enthusiastically, the rest of the table joined in (well, Seetamyn wasn't that
enthusiastic, but everyone else made up for his reticence).
	Ustrano set the box on the table and sent a tentacle sweeping into it.  The
tentacle came out holding a Starfleet commbadge.  The badge was slightly different
than the standard badge, being that it was made from a greenish metal.
	"So, that's it?" asked Mantron.
	"Yes.  These badges have been constructed so that the way the circuitry is 
embedded in the badge creates a very slight broadcast signal.  The signal is then 
altered by the alloy that the badge is made out of.  This alteration produces a very
minor, but very specific, interference wave.  Normally, the wave is all but 
undetectable.  Even if it is detected, it won't affect any instruments or cause any
problems, so it will be ignored.  The only effect the signal will have is to scramble
low-level telepathic scanning.  Any telepath trying to surface scan anyone wearing 
one of these will get nothing but a jumbled melange of discordant thoughts.  Since,
this is pretty much what a telepath expects to get, anyway, no suspicions will be
aroused.  We've already constructed the log entries where the Captain decided that,
as a morale booster, we would all have special commbadges made.  The manufacturing 
specs were exactly the same as a normal badge, expect for the new color.  Then we 
made it appear as if Ensign Hirthnole had bounced off someone as they were calling 
up the specs and one circuit was placed too close to another.  We'll make it appear
as if we're not even aware of the interference being generated.  Given Starfleet's
opinion of us to begin with, this shouldn't be tough to pull off."
	"What about when we're not wearing our commbadges," asked M'Dral.
	"Or those of us who don't wear commbadges," chimed in Linnea.
	"For those occasions and people, we have these lovely watches, earrings, 
bracelets and necklaces that you can wear," explained Ustrano, who then had to move 
quickly as the female crew members came running at the prospect of getting new jewelry.  
Ustrano slithered away from the growing throng.  Somehow, by methods unknown, female 
crewmembers who hadn't even been in The Pirate's Cove had heard about the new trinkets 
and had materialized from thin air to swarm the now battered box.
	Ustrano took his customary place at the table as Todd brought a fresh round 
of drinks over.  Adroitly maneuvering around the amorphous cluster of women, he
set the drinks down and scurried away.  Seetamyn waited until Thog, M'Dral and Pish
had fought their way through the crowd with their prizes before speaking,
	"It appears that all is in readiness.  Tomorrow I want everything checked
again.  Thog, you and Sperr start aft and move forward.  Ustrano, you and Mantron start
forward and move aft.  Banjo, you and Pish start on the port side and move starboard.
M'Dral, you and Ensign Hirthnole start on the starboard side and move to port.
Zamtra, you take Ensign Diftur and start at the top and move towards the bottom.
I will have Ensigns H'uee, L'uee and D'uee start at the bottom and move towards the 
top.  I will team with Doctor Tilnon and move about, randomly, B1 and B2, interface 
with the Computer and re-check all the wipes, patches and contingency code.
We will take 12 hours and do a complete, ship-wide checkup.  If everything is shipshape,
as I am sure it will be, we'll get a full ten hours of sleep and then report for duty 
stations at 0800, the day after tomorrow.  We'll instantiate the data transfer to the
OverMind, wipe all traces of that transfer and exit the Omega Configuration at noon.
Any questions?"
	Since there were none, and since they had finished their drinks, the crew
left the still-growing throng of women fighting over Ustrano's jewelry selections
and retired to their quarters.  Tomorrow would be a busy day.

	All of the sweeps had been completed.  No unexpected surprises had derailed
the schedule that the Captain had laid out.  The crew had finished their minute
examination of the ship and, after a small, low-key celebration, returned to their
quarters to spend their last night in the Omega Configuration.  Sleep had been fitful
and uneasy for many and tossing and turning had eventually given way to a kind of
semi-exhaustion where the body rested while the mind raced onward.  It seemed that 
everyone rose early and made their way to their stations.  When all was in readiness
for the data transfer, M'Dral opened a channel to the OverMind.
	"We will now transmit the accumulated sensory data," began Seetamyn, without
preamble.  "While we cannot say when we might be able to return, this should, at 
least, give you the beginnings of the autonomous responses that you need."

	"Captain, I/we cannot thank you and your crew enough for your aid.  You
	have given me/us hope for the first time in centuries.  Hope that the 
	galaxy has progressed far enough so that I/we might return.  Hope that 
	I/we will be able to regain my/our physical forms.  I/we wish you godspeed
	and clear sailing.  Until we meet again..."
	
	"Thank you,  as you have said - until we meet again," Seetamyn ordered the
channel closed.  He then gave the order that everyone had been waiting for,
	"Lieutenant Mantron, set course for home."

Captain's Log;
	Stardate 57799.4 - After exiting the periphery of the Omega Configuration, 
we have made contact with several Starfleet Chrono Beacons and ascertained the current 
Stardate.  Our unsuccessful foray into the Configuration has lasted for just over 100 
days, which was exactly as long as we had thought.  It appears that the radiation did 
not have a chronometric component.  This should quell the concerns of many of the crew
who seemed to think that our survey lasted forever.
	It is unknown what effects the peculiar radiation of the Omega Configuration 
might have had on the ship, so we have set a course for the nearest Starbase for a 
thorough maintenance check up.  The crew are to be granted shore leave, as well.  
Functioning at high levels of concentration for over three months without any outside 
contacts has put a strain on us all.  Although I must say that everyone has conducted 
themselves with the highest levels of professionalism at all times.

	"Captain!"  cried out Lieutenant M'Dral, the Menagerie's Benzite Helmsman,
"incoming priority message from Admiral Sontak!"
	"As expected," observed the stoic Vulcan, "put him on, Lieutenant."
	The main viewscreen switched from an external view of on-rushing stars to
the placid face of the Vulcan commander of Project "Open Arms."  Admiral Sontak 
wasted no time on pleasantries, which wasn't unusual,
	"Captain, I see that you have returned from your communications blackout.
I take it that you have completed your survey of the Omega Configuration?"
	"Sir, we penetrated to a depth of one Astronomical Unit and traveled the
entire circumference of the Omega Configuration.  The blanketing radiation field
negated our communications capabilities as well as our normal means of propulsion.
We traveled by strategically venting atmosphere at regular intervals.  A video 
record of our travels has been created and it will be attached to my full report.
However, the brief version is - we didn't find the cause of the radiation, any
life signs or any planetary bodies."
	"I see.  I look forward to your report, Captain.  However, I have a more
important message for you.  You are to report back to Earth at your best possible
speed.  Your ship will be thoroughly examined to see what, if any, damage it has
sustained as a result of it's constant exposure to the Omega Configuration radiation.
You and your crew will be fully debriefed about your experiences within the 
Configuration and your Chief Engineer will stand at a Court Martial trial for 
assaulting a superior officer.  That is all - Sontak out."


TO BE CONTINUED...