Star Trek by Robert T. Jeschonek

possible,” she said when she turned back to the group. “Em-Lin herself might possess the full knowledge, and she prolongs the fantasy that Or-Lin has survived by claiming to channel the knowledge from her.”
    Vance shook his head. “I’ve spent time with Em-Lin,” he said. “If the dead sister is nothing but a fantasy, she must be one hell of a fantasy.”
    â€œI tend to agree,” said Lense. “There might be something at work here that isn’t under Em-Lin’s control.”
    â€œThen whose control is it under?” said Fabian.
    â€œIts own, maybe,” said Lense. “Instead of a vivid fantasy or memory construct, it could be similar to the Vulcan katra passed on before death—a copy of a person’s consciousness imprinted on a host’s brain. Em-Lin might be dealing with a lingering remnant of Or-Lin’s mind, one with access to all of Or-Lin’s specialized knowledge and skills.”
    â€œIn which case, Em-Lin’s making her offer in good faith,” said Gomez. “The dead sister’s consciousness really would be helping her work on the transmitter.”
    â€œHow wonderful,” said Soloman. “To have a departed companion continue to guide you after death.”
    Although Vance knew that Soloman would have loved to still hear the thoughts of his deceased bond-mate 111—he had gone to extreme lengths just to talk to an alternate-universe version of her not too long ago—he knew there was no joy in this. “I bet Em-Lin wouldn’t agree, and that worries me. As badly shaken up as Em-Lin has been, I don’t think Or-Lin’s been treating her very well lately.”
    â€œThat suggests another possibility to explain Or-Lin’s influence,” said Lense. “What if Or-Lin is a katra or a fantasy or some other kind of echo of consciousness, and she’s been twisted by the effects of the Dominion transmitter? Who knows what her real intentions might be?”
    â€œSounds like just the kind of ghost we don’t want anywhere near that transmitter,” said Fabian.
    â€œOr-Lin’s presence has definitely gotten stronger since we came down here.” Vance looked up at the huge yellow-tinted tank as it continued to turn, the protoplasmic clumps melding and dividing and spinning in the fluid inside it. “Em-Lin went from zoning out periodically to zoning out all the time. After a while, I had a hell of a time just getting through to her. Even then, I had to talk to Or-Lin first.”
    â€œShe didn’t answer you, did she?” said Fabian.
    â€œNot directly,” said Vance.
    â€œThat you know of,” said Soloman. “What if Or-Lin has taken over?”
    Vance looked across the chamber at Em-Lin, and he felt uneasy. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
    â€œAll right,” said Gomez, raising her voice just enough to command her teammates’ full attention. “We could speculate all day about this, but people are dying every minute we stand here and talk. The bottom line is, do we need Em-Lin’s help?”
    â€œAs I said earlier, this system is far more robust than the Dominion systems we encountered in the shrine.” A flicker of annoyance crossed Soloman’s features. “I have attempted to apply a variation of the morphic virus that I used on the booby traps, but without success.”
    â€œThis is some kind of hyper-changeling tech down here,” said Fabian. “It’s so good at staying a step ahead of us, I’ve been wondering if it can see the future.”
    â€œI’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ ” said Gomez. “We need her. Let’s take her up on her offer.”
    â€œAnd hope the dead sister isn’t thinking some dead Starfleeters might be fun to hang around with,” said Fabian.
    â€œWe’ll watch her carefully,” said Gomez.
    â€œI do not know if we could tell if she does anything