“No one knows for certain,” Data said as he executed an extraordinarily human‑looking shrug. “It is possible that only the primordial fireball from which all matter and energy originated could have created such a dense concentration of energy and mass.”

“The Big Bang itself,” Picard said, the awe in his voice unrestrained.

Crusher fidgeted. “This all sounds a little too huge to comprehend. What does all of this mean in practical terms?”

“That’s a fair question, Doctor,” La Forge said. “ Theoretically, this subspace singularity has a gravitational potential millions of times more powerful than that of even the most massive black holes. We’ve known for a long time now that Romulan ships are powered by small artificial singularities. If the Romulans manage to harness this thing, it would yield trillions of times more energy than even their largest singularity‑driven warp cores.”

Batanides whistled quietly, obviously impressed. Picard, too, seemed to grasp the implications immediately. Zweller stood in brooding silence, his hands clasped behind his back.

“With a power source like that at their disposal,” Picard said somberly, “the Romulans might be able to manage transwarp drive, like the Borg. Their ships could venture from Romulus to Earth in moments.”

“And that’s only the beginning,” La Forge said. “With that much energy on tap, they could probably build and dismantle stable wormholes at will. They could send their troops anywhere in the galaxy–maybe anywhere in the universe–without even having to bother building ships.They’d make the ancient Iconians look like they were standing still.” He paused while everyone in the room silently pondered the implications.

Finally, Riker ended the silence. “Well, now that we know whythe Romulans want this system so badly, the next question is: What to do about it?”

“Agreed,” said Picard. “Options?” The captain looked quickly at each person in the room. Another uncomfortable hush descended.

This time it was the admiral who broke the spell. “I’m inclined to agree with Commander Roget’s interpretation of this thing,” she said, massaging one of her temples. “The fact that this singularity is still belching fire and subspace distortions every so often tells us one thing loud and clear: The Romulans don’t have complete control over it yet.”

“That may be, Admiral,” La Forge said. “Commander Data, Commander Keru, and I have been wondering all along if the Romulans haven’t bitten off more than they can chew.”

La Forge nodded to Keru, who activated another control on the railing. Instantly, a multilayered graph superimposed itself over the image of the subspace phenomenon, highlighting it with a series of colored bands.

Data spoke again. “The amber‑colored areas show the pattern of gravimetric stresses that the singularity is bringing to bear on normal space. These stress‑patterns seem to indicate that the Romulans are trying to maximize the phenomenon’s energy output by keeping it balanced precisely between normal space and subspace.”

“This is where things get very dicey,” La Forge said. “If they’ve miscalculated the stress‑points between normal space and subspace, then the singularity will rip into our universe directly through these stressed regions. It’ll be like an iron anvil smashing through a rotting wooden floor.”

“And what happens then?” Riker said, his blue eyes wide.

La Forge spread his hands and shrugged. “Worst case scenario? All of normal space gets sucked into subspace.”

“Or perhaps vice versa,” said Data, obviously intrigued with this line of speculation. “In fact, it is possible that all of space and subspace would be drawn intothe singularity, precipitating a repeat of the Big Bang explosion itself. Such a phenomenon might even subsequently create an entirely new universe.”

“After blowing this one to quarks first,” Riker said dryly.

The admiral spoke up, getting everyone’s attention. “Just before the first atomic bombs were tested on Earth back in the twentieth century, nobody was sure what the outcome would be. Some physicists worried that they might burn up every last oxygen molecule in the atmosphere in a single colossal, unstoppable firestorm. But they went ahead and detonated the first bomb anyway. The worst didn’t happen. Luckily.”

She looked gravely at every person standing in the cathedral‑like room before continuing. “This time, we can’t afford to be quite so . . . callous. Or allow the Romulansto be.”

Picard stood by quietly as the singularity’s image blazed overhead, eerily quiet. No one spoke for perhaps an entire minute as the captain ruminated, his expression unfathomable as he stared at the representation of the singularity. Finally, he looked away and regarded each and every face in the room once again, settling at last on La Forge and Data, who still stood on the dais beside Keru.

“If the Romulans were smart enough to beat us to discovering and harnessing this thing,” Picard said, “then surely they’ve also anticipated the risks. They must have a plan to abort what they’re doing. Some means of jettisoning the singularity permanently into subspace.”

“That would be a rational contingency plan, Captain,” Data said. “A successful abort, however, would involve causing a deliberate and extremely precise collapse of the Romulans’ containment forcefields, while simultaneously sealing the breach between subspace and normal space. There would be no margin for error.”

“If we could neutralize this new Romulan toy,” Batanides said, “then losing the Geminus Gulf to them would be an acceptable price to pay.”

“And it would also remove the Romulans’ entire reason for coming here in the first place,” Riker said, smiling slightly at the irony.

“Mr. Keru, please deactivate the image,” Picard said, signaling that he had come to a decision. Keru touched a button and the singularity abruptly vanished.

Once again, the captain spoke toward the dais. “Mr. La Forge, Mr. Data, in just under four hours, the Chiarosan referendum will officially conclude. I expect that we won’t be able to remain in this system for very long after that without seriously provoking the Romulans.”

La Forge smiled. “Data and I already have a plan that we think we can pull off before the electoral deadline.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Picard said, a slow smile crossing his face. “What will you need?”

“The Romulan scoutship, Mr. Data, a good pilot, and a couple of hours of preparation time. That singularity ought to be back where it came from permanently by the time we get booted out of here.”

“Hold it,” Batanides said sharply. “You can’t be planning to fly that scoutship into the lion’s den, Mr. La Forge. The lion already has a pretty good idea that we’re coming.”

“Fortunately,” Data said, “the element of surprise will be entirely irrelevant to our plan. We will need only to stay within the cloaking field long enough to establish a link between the Romulan security network and my own neural nets.”

“With a little luck, the scoutship will be halfway back to the Enterprisebefore the Romulans even know what hit them,” La Forge said.

Zweller was wearing a sour expression. “So that’syour solution? Destroythe most potent source of power ever discovered?”

“I’m not thrilled about it, Commander,” said the engineer. “But it seems like a better idea than giving the Romulans a chance to use it against us.”

“Why are you so sure your plan is going to work, Commander La Forge?” Batanides said, sounding skeptical.

The engineer placed an arm about Data’s shoulders, momentarily surprising him. “Because, Admiral, even the smartest Romulan can’t think nearly as fast as the Enterprise’s second officer.”

Data looked embarrassed. “Why . . . thank you, Geordi.”

Picard smiled. “Then make it so, Mr. La Forge, Mr. Data. Mr. Hawk, I’d like to have you aboard that scoutship as well.”