The Light by Jeff D. Jacques

feeling of weightlessness was a pleasant one. As a Starfleet officer, she’d had her zero-g training, of course, and over the years opportunities had arisen that required her to embark into the void of space to perform her duties, but this subterranean location was the last place she expected to be floating around without gravity.
    â€œSwimming” through the air was a little harder than it looked, though. Corsi kept wanting to push off with her feet, but there was nothing to push off from. She watched Fabian a ways ahead of her, then, matching his approach, managed to get some pretty good momentum going.
    This is fun, she mused and decided to keep that thought to herself.
    By the time she reached the pathway, the others were already waiting. Corsi wasn’t sure how they managed to remain grounded to the pathway itself and suspected there might be some additional power being utilized beneath it to generate an anti-grav effect.
    The natives on this path—and every other path for that matter—stared openly at the away team, and Corsi kept a close eye on them as well. They appeared pretty docile, but one never knew in these situations.
    Corsi caught movement down and to the right and saw a male native looking up at her from beneath the pathway. She cocked her head as she processed the odd sight, then shook it off. Weird.
    â€œYou come,” the native woman said once again, then headed for the opening in the cavern wall. Corsi fell into step with Gomez as the da Vinci ’s first officer followed their guide, while the others trailed behind with Hawkins and Kim bringing up the rear.
    As they walked, Gomez tapped her combadge to try contacting the ship again. “Gomez to da Vinci .” There was no response.
    Pattie was already pointing her tricorder at the rock walls and ceiling. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to contact the ship from down here, Commander. I’m detecting trace amounts of something similar to kelbonite in the rock. It’s refracting communications.”
    â€œPerfect,” Corsi muttered, but Gomez just nodded as though she’d expected this.
    â€œI already mentioned this possibility to Captain Gold,” she said. “For the moment, let’s just stick with our host. If necessary, we can always send someone back.”
    Assuming they let us, Corsi thought. But I swear, if we’re being led to a kitchen, I’m shooting first and asking questions later.
    Their guide brought them through a dimly lit corridor that smelled of dirt and stone. Light fixtures were embedded in the solid rock of the ceiling and spaced out every three meters. They didn’t give off a whole lot of light, but it was enough for Corsi and the others to see where they were going.
    The native woman led them into a large room with pew-like seats that were arranged in a semi-circular fashion and appeared carved out of the floor itself. The seats faced a tall mechanical device that had power conduits leading out to connection points in the ceiling. Corsi couldn’t help but see the disturbing similarity to the Borg alcoves in the cube above. As she drew closer, Corsi was shocked to see one of the natives enmeshed within the device, conduits twisting around her body like coiled serpents. She was an older woman, perhaps in her sixties, with a gaunt frame, bright piercing blue eyes and long thin gray hair that hung from her scalp like spiders’ silk. Dark tendrils were visible beneath her pale skin, giving her the appearance of someone who’d been a victim of assimilation. And although her eyes were open, she seemed not to be aware of the away team’s approach.
    Corsi glanced at Sonya, who had an equally astonished look on her face. Corsi found herself in the rare position of not being certain how to proceed. Her instincts would have her run to the old woman’s aid, but clearly she didn’t appear to be in any distress, and their guide wasn’t the least