“I think we all know the definition of kidnapped, Lieutenant,” said Calhoun. “The question is, where did you go? What did—?”

“Captain, with all respect, those questions can wait. I want to show you something.” Without waiting for Calhoun to reply, she turned and walked toward the inner chambers of the senate. Calhoun glanced at the others, shrugged, and followed her.

Moments later they were standing in the observation gallery of the senate. It was not at all the way Calhoun remembered it ... or, for that matter, the way Si Cwan recalled it either. The Thallonian was shaking his head in what was obvious disbelief.

“What do you see, Si Cwan?” inquired Soleta, leaning forward on the railing, her smile only growing.

“Well,” Si Cwan said slowly, “as opposed to my previous stay on Danter, when a typical senate meeting was marked with arguments, hostility, crosstalk, and very little sense of anything being accomplished ... what I’m seeing here is quite the opposite. Discussion about various topics seems to be proceeding in a reasoned, calm manner. People are ... well, they’re smiling ... and ...”

“It goes deeper than that, Ambassador.” She seemed to be warming to the topic. “The spirit of the senate these days is one of total cooperation. Various projects designed to help the needy—projects which once would have stalled in endless committees—are gliding through. Resources are being allocated where they’re truly needed, instead of being hijacked by whomever has the most political coin to spend. What you’re seeing here is the ideal government, operating in perfect unity ...”

“Like the Borg?” said Calhoun.

She shook her head, that unassailable smile still fixedly in place. “Not at all. The Borg endeavor to use the concept of unity to obliterate races. The Danter simply use unity in order to build up their own strength of character.”

“And the unity,” Spock said slowly, “comes from concerted worship of the Beings.”

“Yes.”

“And they, in turn, give you ambrosia,” said Calhoun, making no effort to hide his mounting anger. “Like drug dealers endeavoring to get poor fools hooked into a habit ...”

She raised an eyebrow as she asked, with no heat, “Are you calling me a poor fool, Captain?”

“You’ve eaten the ambrosia.”

“Of course.”

Indeed of course.Calhoun wasn’t stupid. He had more or less figured out exactly what had happened. “Lieutenant,” he informed her, “you are to report back to the Excaliburimmediately. Dr. Selar will—”

She shook her head, never looking anything less than polite and attentive. “I’m afraid that won’t be necessary, Captain. There’s nothing Dr. Selar needs to do for me. I’m quite well. Better, in fact, than I’ve ever been in my life. Than anyone has ever been in their life.”

“Lieutenant ...”

“Captain,” she interrupted. When she spoke her voice was slightly singsong, almost loving. “You have no idea how much confusion I’ve lived my life in. I can’t really convey it to you, but trust me, it was a lot. And now ... everything is fine. Everything is peaceful. The voices and noises in my head have stopped. Different aspects of my life make sudden sense now. And I have the Beings to thank for it, and their ambrosia. Look around you, Captain,” and she indicated the entirety of the senate chamber with its many senators working in smooth tandem and harmony. “This is the race that conquered Xenex. Who oppressed your people for so many years. They could never do anything like that now. They are interested purely in benevolent acts, in helping themselves and others.”

“They’re interested in serving and worshipping the Beings,” replied Calhoun.

Soleta’s shoulders moved in a half-shrug. “That’s certainly true enough. But everything comes with a price.”

“And tell me, Lieutenant ... what would happen if the Beings instructed the Danteri not to be so benevolent,” he asked, his voice becoming frosty. “If they dispatched them upon a holy war in order to serve their needs and desires.”

“They would never do that.”

“You don’t know that,” Si Cwan spoke up.

And suddenly Calhoun felt the hair on the back of his neck prickling, a typical indication that things were suddenly about to take a downward spiral. Sure enough, there were bursts of light from all around them seconds later. Calhoun didn’t know where to turn first, but reflexively his hand went for his phaser and it was in his outstretched hand. It didn’t provide him with all that much sense of security, but at least it was something.

A Being flared into existence next to Soleta, and Calhoun immediately recognized him from the descriptions he’d heard as Thoth. But to one side of him was Anubis, and to the other side, Artemis. They were smiling at him in the archly superior manner that only creatures who believe they hold all the cards can have. Unfortunately, Calhoun was hard-pressed to think that they didn’t hold all the cards.

“She does know that,” Thoth said quietly. “And, candidly, it’s rather discourteous that any of you would question her understanding of matters that you know nothing about.”

“I know you’ve given her something that’s controlling her mind,” said Calhoun.

“Controlling? No.” In what looked appallingly like a gesture of tenderness, he brushed a strand of hair from her face. “No, the ambrosia has simply eased away some of the more frustrating and distracting concerns that have cluttered her mind. Far from controlling, she is now free to think clearly for the first time in her life.”

“And by a fascinating coincidence,” said Spock, “once she is thinking clearly, all she is able to think of is you?”

Thoth looked at Spock suspiciously. Then he glanced at the others as if seeking confirmation. “You know who this one reminds me of ... ?”

“Pan,” Spock said with a slight sigh.

The Beings actually appeared surprised. “You’ve met him?”

“I have never had the pleasure.”

“Captain, you really don’t have to worry about me,” Soleta assured him.

“At the moment, I’m less worried about you than I am about the objects of your worship,” said Calhoun. “I’ve had people injured and killed because of you creatures. Did you think I’d just forget about that?”

“We hadn’t actually given it any thought at all,” Artemis said. “That’s always been the problem with you mortals. You operate under the impression that what you say or do means anything to such as we.”

“And yet,” said Spock, “you crave worship.”

“We crave nothing,” Anubis spoke up, with that voice that sounded as if it was coming from beyond the grave. “We seek only gratitude in exchange for our generosity.”

Thoth draped an arm around Soleta’s shoulders. She looked up at him with an expression of such puppylike devotion and adoration that it nearly turned Calhoun’s stomach. Every impulse screamed within him to attack this creature and its associates, but he wasn’t exactly in love with the odds.

“In response to your other stated concern,” Thoth said, “you need not worry yourself. Holy wars generally start when mortals take it upon themselves to try and determine where the interests of the gods lie and act on their own accord. Invariably such endeavors are far more attuned to the desires of the mortals than any matters that are of concern to the gods. We are more than capable of attending to our own needs.”

“As we are about to demonstrate,” Artemis said with a smile.

“What are you talking about?” said Si Cwan.

At that moment the steady, calm drone of voices and discussion which constituted the senate erupted into excited cries of joy. There were flashes of light throughout the senate floor. More of the Beings were appearing, clad in regalia from a variety of cultures and times throughout Earth history.

“What’s going on,” said Calhoun, his eyes narrowing. “What are you up to? If you’re thinking of—”

Anubis took two strides toward him. “You are a most strident and demanding creature for someone who we could obliterate as easily as crushing a bug beneath our feet.”