"Dangerous Thoughts"

[Sean Xiang 0]

Sean sat at the secondary science console on the bridge. Behind and beside him, he could hear the clicks and taps of T’Parek and Grey working at their stations. The three worked in silence, all focused on their own task.

 

Sean’s task at this time was to find any radiation signature similar to the one emitted by the recent alien intruders. He tapped a few keys and a multi-colored diagram came to life on his screen. Three jagged lines, one red, one aqua, and one violet streaked across the monitor. Each one represented a different signature associated with a common type of radiation. As he tapped at the keyboard, those streaks dimmed and a new one, colored pink, flashed to life on top of them. This one represented the signature radiated by the aliens.

 

Sean leaned in close to the screen, comparing the crests and troughs. But it was no use, the patterns were distinctly different. Sean furrowed his brow. He did this multiple times, with numerous types of radiation. A virtual rainbow of colors danced across his monitor, highlighted and contrasted by the ever present pink signature. Some came close, and a few times he almost thought he had a match, but in the end the results turned out the same as the first group of signatures. Negative.

 

He leaned back in his seat, his vision slightly blurring from all the varied colors they had taken in. There was no doubt in his mind he would see that pink wavy line in his sleep tonight. He closed his eyes, attempting to refocus them. He had failed his task, he could not locate any type of radiation that was similar enough to be called related to the one emitted by the aliens. But in failure, he had made a discovery. Whatever these beings were giving off, it was not radiation.

 

Then what? He questioned himself. Hypotheses and theories began to swim in his mind. Was it some form of trickery? Another illusion brought on by the one called Sonica? No, from what Grey had told him, Sonica’s companion’s powers had been anything but an illusion, but yet the same signature had accompanied them. However, they all seemed to control their abilities, to one degree or another, mentally. It was as that thought finished, that a new theory floated to the top of his mind.

 

Opening his eyes, Sean began typing on the keyboard again. Three new jagged lines appeared on the screen, one deep blue, one dark green, and one yellow. Dimming these lines, Sean superimposed the pink one on top of them. His mouth fell open a fraction as he compared the four lines. Each of the new lines held a distinctive similarity to the alien signature in their own way.

 

Sean’s mind reeled. Of course it was possible, he was looking at the data right in front of his face. But the implications of this discovery astounded him. It astounded him not because he had found a match…but because of what that match was. The three new jagged lines on the screen were not forms of radiation at all, but brain scans of members of telepathic and telekinetic races. They were literally brainwaves.

 

But for those waves to match with the alien signature was puzzling to say the least. Brainwaves were not emitted in the same way that radiation was, and as far as Sean knew there was not even a device on board this vessel that would detect such waves. And for that matter, brainwaves did not physically effect matter. But the burns in Engineering were evidence against the alien signature merely being their brainwaves…which were in essence their thoughts. Sean’s mind grasped for an answer that made any sense at all.

 

As he stared at the lines on the screen, something clicked in his mind and he gained traction against this problem. To accomplish this, however, he was forced to trade in his concepts of the laws of physics. A worthwhile trade, he thought, as the answer began to take shape in his mind. Somehow these aliens were able to force their thoughts to manifest as physical actions.

 

This, of course, was not to say they could simply think a thought and make anything happen, they all seemed to have their own specific talents. Also, it seemed that the one called Sonica was only able to manifest her thoughts into illusions, not physical actions.

 

Sean knew he had just begun to scratch the surface of this enigma, but it was a start none the less. He turned to Grey, to reveal what he had discovered to his chief. And as he did a chilling thought took root in his mind. Though their powers seemed to have limits, one thing was clear about these alien beings: There was no way to predict what they were capable of.