“It’s not a game,” Moke said suddenly. Then he said to Calhoun, chagrined, “I ... I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just saying what he said. He said it’s not a game.”

“I get that, Moke.”

“Why is he invisible?” asked Mueller. “Why is he communicating this way instead of just appearing to us, as the others have ... ?”

“If we are to believe that he is endeavoring to aid us,” Spock said, “then the logical assumption is that this condition was, in some way, inflicted upon him by others of his kind.”

“He says that’s right,” said Moke. “He says you remind him of Pan.”

Spock made some sort of odd grunt.

“It’s not easy for me to hear him,” Moke said. “He kind of ... of flickers in and out. Sometimes I catch a whole sentence, sometimes only a word. I think he said just now that he’s able to talk a little more directly through me because the Beings aren’t as strong as they were,” Moke continued.

This prompted bewildered glances among the officers. “Not as strong,” said Shelby. “They annihilated that Tholian ship with what seemed to be minimal effort. If that’s them in their weakened state, I’d hate to see them when they’re firing on all cylinders.”

“He says ... What?” Moke was addressing the corner of the room. He looked as if he was straining to hear. “The ... worshippers are key,” said Moke.

“What?” More puzzled looks. “Worshippers are key?” asked Kebron. “Key to what? If—”

“Of course,” said Spock in such a way that it was the closest Calhoun had seen the Vulcan come to expressing annoyance with himself ... or at all. “Of course. It is obvious. Painfully obvious. I am a fool.”

“Then we’re all fools,” said Calhoun, “because I’m still not entirely certain what you’re talking about or what’s going on.”

“You have no reason to feel that way, Captain,” Spock told him with certainty, “because you have no reason to have figured out what is happening here. I, however, have no excuse, for I have encountered this before.”

Slowly he began to circle the room, and it appeared as if he was talking more to himself than to anyone else at that point. “Going all the way back to the Enterprise’sencounter with Apollo, there has been one main area of consistency in the behavior of these Beings. That is their desire to be worshipped ... prayed to. A wise man once asked, ‘What does God need with a starship?’ One might also wonder ... ‘What do gods need with worshippers?’ ”

“But they’re not gods,” Calhoun said firmly. “They’re ... Beings. Beings of energy ...”

“In a humanoid form,” Gleau chimed in. He had been standing there with a distant, even annoyed air that so much attention was being paid to Moke, and that information was being gathered through this bizarre manner. But with the flow of ideas, he was starting to go along with it, even build upon it. “But even energy beings need sustenance of some sort.”

“I have encountered creatures on several occasions,” said Spock, “that actually derived nourishment from such things as emotions. Usually negative emotions, such as fear or anger.”

Mueller looked at Spock with something akin to bemused wonderment and asked, “Is there anything you haven’tencountered?”

Spock gave it a moment’s thought. “No,” he decided.

“Is this right, Moke?” asked Calhoun. “Ask your ... friend. Is what we’re saying correct?”

“He’s nodding,” said Moke. “I think it’s getting harder for him to talk ...”

“So what we’re dealing with here,” Shelby now said, “are creatures that draw their power from positive emotions—the worship—that people feel for them.”

“And also from doubt,” added Calhoun. “If an opponent becomes concerned that the Beings will triumph, they derive strength from that as well.”

“If, however, they are of the same type of creature as I have encountered,” said Spock, “thriving on psychic energy ... then their outward appearance is a sort of construct, to provide frame of reference for onlookers ... not unlike the Organians.”

“Mr. Spock ... I’m sorry, Ambassador Spock,” Gleau said. “Not to sound foolish, but I’ve taken a special interest in your career. In fact, you were the subject of my dissertation at the Academy.”

“How exciting this must be for you then,” said Mueller dryly.

Gleau ignored her, instead continuing to address Spock. “I remember studying that incident with Apollo. During that encounter, didn’t you destroy some sort of ‘energy source’ of his?”

“Yes. In the shape of a place of worship.”

“All right. So I’m thinking,” Gleau said, “that the temple was a sort of repository, a final battery of absorbed energy that Apollo had been storing. So I’m speculating that such energy has a shelf life; eventually, over enough time, it dissipates.”

“It would make sense,” said Spock. “It would explain why he so needed the Enterprisecrew to worship him. That worship was what he required to sustain his power and form.”

“So let’s theorize, then, that when the Beings first confronted us, they were in a weakened state,” said Calhoun.

Burgoyne looked stunned that Calhoun would even suggest it. “Weakened state? Sir, I seem to recall they came damned close to destroying us!”

“But they didn’t,” Calhoun reminded him. “They didn’t ... because the Tridentshowed up. Because when the Tridentshowed up, we believed that we’d been saved. That we were going to be able to fight back. And the Tridentcame barreling in with no preconceptions as to whether she would win or lose. They were just determined to win.”

“What are you saying, Captain?” asked Si Cwan. “That the Excaliburwas vulnerable to the attack ...”

“Because we believed we were. Yes. Because we believedwe were in danger from them ... because we believed that they were—if not gods, at least beings with nearly godlike power—that gave them the energy they needed, like vampires. Our own belief in their ability to hurt us ... gave them that very ability. That’s why they’re encouraging races to attack them. They wantword of their power to spread, because the more it is believed that they are invincible, the more so they will become. Basically they’re living incarnations of the term ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’ ”

“That’s a hell of a theory, Mac,” said Shelby, looking somewhat dubious. “Moke, what does your invisible friend have to say about all this ...”

“I ...” Moke blinked. “I don’t see him. He’s ... he’s gone. And so is McHenry.”

“Where did they go?”

“I don’t know!” said Moke with growing urgency. “I don’t know!”

III.

“I don’t know ... how much longer ...”

The Old Father’s words echoed Moke’s, except they were outside the conference room.

McHenry had found himself becoming oddly accustomed to his twilight existence, if for no other reason than the constancy of Woden’s company. Now, though, Woden was looking shaken and weak, even for a ghost. They stood in the corridor, and McHenry wondered—not for the first time—how two beings who were insubstantial could stand anywhere at all. But that was the least of his concerns.

“You don’t know how much longer what? What’s going on?”

The Old Father let out a slow breath, which was rather ironic when one considered that he had no reason to breathe. “The energy of belief that the others are tapping into ... I can access as well, even from my current state. With greater effort, and not to as impressive an effect, but I can accomplish it. The others, however ... they’re taking a great interest in what transpires on this vessel. I can sense them doing so. I’m doing what I can to block them, however.”

“What, you’re saying there’s essentially a whole battle going on that the captain and the others have no idea is happening?”

The elder god forced a smile. “You would be amazed how often that is the way of things. The truth is that mortals only perceive a fraction of what is happening in the universe. They think they know so much, but truly comprehend so very, very little. It is the job of higher beings to help keep them safe. To protect them.”