Star Trek: The Original Series - 082 - Federation (48 page)

The only difficulty would be in physically overcoming the most powerful member of Picard’s crew without causing any perma’ nent damage that could compromise the safety of the real Data. picard hoped that personality was still somewhere in the android’s body and could, at some time, be restored.

The last crushed phaser clattered to the deck, scattering pieces of its casing, as the Data-thing turned to face Picard. “I’m fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of this body, Captain Picard. I have access to the full range of what you call Data’s mcmory. If any of you attempt any action—absolutely anything —that is intended to harm me, I know I can remain operational long enough to kill several of you and seriously damage your ship.” Picard studied the Data-thing for a moment, then deliberately adopted a belligerent tone. It was worth taking a chance if he could provoke the Thorsen personality into another round of crratic emotional responses—anything to keep him off balance.

“First of all, Colonel Thorsen, I know you will not cause any damage to the Enterprise because you need her to get to the black hole. And second, you won’t kill anyone because you need us to operate her.” The Data-thing cupped his chin in a thoughtful pose, then chuckled. “Jean-Luc, just as a friendly reminder: I don’t need the Wesley child to run the ship; this body I wear doesn’t need the doctor: and I certainly don’t need the empath. So if I do need to make an example of anyone, they’ll be the first to die. Are there any other threats you’d care to make?” “Why are you doing this?” Riker asked from his position on the floor.

“Don’t question your orders,” the Data-thing warned.

“You’re not my commanding officer,” Riker said.

The Data-thing looked at Riker in confusion. “What kind of army is this? Do you all question your superiors?” “This is not an ‘army,’” Picard said forcefully. He was beginning to wonder if it was somehow possible that the personality of a twenty-first-century military madman had survived to the Present. If so, it might give him a clue as to how to reason with Thorsen. “We,re explorers, not soldiers.” “You mean you’re weak,” the Data-thing said contemptuously.

“You*11 never be optimal.”

“Optimal? Do you honestly expect us to believe that you’re the Adrik Thorsen from the Third World War?” Riker asked in disbelief. Picard was pleased that his first officer had made the same connection to Thorsen’s name as he had. Perhaps Riker also realized that there was a chance to regain control of the ship if anyone could get close enough to Data.

“I am more than Adrik Thorsen ever was,” the Data-thing said.

“I contain the core of him, the best of him, spread out to realms undreamed of in his day. I have transcended the Thorsen flesh and become the one true Optimal.” “What’s so optimal about having to threaten to kill people to get them to do what you want?” Wesley asked, making no attempt to hide his angry frustration, though it was still tempered by fear.

“I forgive you your doubts because you are not yet formed,” the android replied. “If you survive to serve me, you will learn.” “Serve you in what way?” Picard asked.

“You shall be the soldiers in my army in the war to come,” the Data-thing said emphatically, swept up in the grandeur of whatever perverted vision he held. “Old dreams need not die. Red banners wave and black eagles fly. I shall remake this age in my image. A new order among the worlds. Peace in my time.

Salvation from chaos.” “You’re too late,” Riker said dismissively. “The worlds of the Federation are at peace. There is no chaos in our affairs.” “Commander Riker, you forget, I have all the knowledge of your Data. I know the true condition of the Federation. Treaty disputes, planets on the brink of war, inefficient resource allocation—you’re just a duplicate of Earth and her colonies before the atomic cleansing. Your Federation is crying out for order. Nothing has changed except the size of the battlefield.” Picard stepped closer to the android. “Colonel Thorsen, no planet in the Federation has been on the brink of war for decades.

You’re thinking of the nonaligned worlds. As for treaty disputes, they are a given in any collection of thriving civilizations. The wants and needs of cultures change from generation to generation. The Federation exists to accommodate those changes in the most peaceful and equitable manner, and we do. And however > inefficient our allocation of resources is, we do a better job of it today than we did ten years ago, and we will be doing a better job again ten years hence.” Picard could not help himself. He felt his voice become more powerful, as if he were speaking to an audience far greater than just Thorsen. “The Federation is not static. which is what gives us our strength. The Optimum Movement’s backward, inhumane dreams of a society made perfect Ioccause every regimented member looks alike, behaves alike, and believes alike was recognized for the hateful abomination it was centuries ago and rightfully abandoned.

“I don’t know what you really are or how you came to be in this time. but no matter how you threaten us, we have outgrown you and you no longer have a place among us.” The Data-thing looked around at Picard’s crew in sarcastic amazement as they regarded their captain with pride. “A philosophical debate about humanity’s maturity? On a starship with weapons enough to destroy entire planets?” The android turned back to Picard. “Captain, this is an argument I am destined to win for one very simple, very self-evident reason.” “Which is?” Picard demanded, taking another step closer, preparing to make the one move he hoped the Data-thing would not anticipate.

“This.” the Data-thing said. And then his fist moved up so quickly that Picard never saw it coming.

How are you feeling?” Beverly Crusher asked.

Picard blinked up at her. The lower half of his face felt numb.

He touched his chin.

“Careful,” the doctor said. “You’ve got two broken teeth so I had to switch off a few of the nerves.” Picard realized he was flat on his back, though he could hear the steady sounds of the bridge and knew where he was. He started to sit up and Dr. Crusher helped him. On the main screen, he saw the glowing gas spiral of TNC 65813, but it was no longer a COmputer graphic—it was a real-time sensor image. “Beverly, how long—” “Almost six hours,” Crusher said. “He didn’t hit you that hard, but he decided you would not be ‘conducive to the smooth running of the mission’ so he had me use a neural blocker on you.” Crusher frowned, apologetic. “I’m sorry, Jean-Luc, but if I hadn’t, he would have medicated you himself.” “You did the right thing,” Picard assured her as he got to his feet. “But why am I being allowed to awaken now?” “We’ve arrived at the black hole,” the doctor said softly, “and there’s another ship here.” Picard saw the Data-thing sitting in his command chair, legs crossed, hands cupped around one knee. The other seats in the command area were empty. Except for McKnight and O’Brien, the remaining crew were on the upper level, looking grim, ready to fight.

“So good of you to join us,” the Data-thing said to Picard. He indicated the seat beside him. “Join me.” “Are we about to rendezvous with your partners?” Picard asked as he walked slowly toward the android, carefully rubbing his jaw.

“And who would those partners be?” the Data-thing asked.

“The Romulans, of course.” The Data-thing laughed scornfully. “Captain, the Romulans are just pawns. Commander Traklamek was even easier than you to convince that he had found an authentic Preserver device.” “So the object in the shuttlebay isn’t what it appears to be?” The Data-thing shrugged. “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. The point is, it’s so old and so badly damaged that it’s completely inoperative. I’ve been searching space for a long time, Captain, and it’s surprising the things that can be found in it. That object, half-destroyed as it is, is just one of many unusual items I’ve salvaged. Originally, I had planned to use it as a test. I added a
diagram of my own to its inscriptions, to see if anyone could build the warp bomb for me. But once I had contacted the Romulans, ii and learned that they had their own reasons for seeking a Galaxy-class ship, I had only to add a power source and some… ‘appropriate circuitry’ to the object to get me passage on your ship.” “What was Traklamek expecting out of all this?” “What else?” the Data-thing replied. “Your ship. Traklamek thought he was dealing with a machine intelligence eager to be transported to the vessel from which it had been separated. So we worked out an ‘arrangement.’ If Traklamek could get me aboard the En[ct7“‘ise’ then I would seize control of it, send it into the Neutral Zone to initiate certain aggressive acts, and then make certain that he could capture it relatively intact.” “And in return?” “l told Traklamek that I knew where the rest of’me’ was, and if he would take me there, I could reunite with my own ship and be free to go home.” The Data-thing grinned nastily. “Romulans have such childlike devotion to their home that Traklamek believed me without question. Such a gullible people.” “So you coming aboard the Enterprise was his idea,” Picard asked. Fie still wasn’t any closer to understanding what the Thorsen personality was after.

“Of course not,” the android replied in irritation. “Being here, now, was tin’ goal from the beginning. I just had to do it in a way that would guarantee you would connect me with your computers. And if you had just ‘happened’ to find me floating by in space, you would have been far too cautious to ever allow that.

“No, the Romulans were very clever to use the Borg artifact as a Trojan horse. And to bring in the Ferengi to add further layers of deception designed to lull you into acceptance. But it is my goal which has been achieved.” “What about Commander TariT’ “She was Traklamek’s wife. Those fools had visions of becoming proconsuls or some such together. I really couldn’t spare much attention for their backward culture.” For a moment, Picard didn’t know what to say. If Tarl and Traklamek had been mates, then Picard was surprised that the instant the Etz[erprise had destroyed Traklamek’s Warbird that Tarl hadn’t attacked in revenge. He wondered if the Thorsen entity was actually speaking the truth. Picard was certain no Romulan mate could leave such an outrage unavenged.

“So who h meeting us around the black hole?” Picard asked, hoping that Data’s possessor would continue to shed light on his actions and thus help Picard and his crew to outmaneuver him Omehow.

“That’s why I called you back from the void, Captain. I’m not expecting to find anyone around the black hole. I believe the ship that is there is one of yours. And I want you to deal with it.” “In what way’?.” The Data-thing’s eyes glittered. “It seems to be a Federation vessel. Feel free to order it to withdraw. And if it doesn’t, destroy it.” Picard stood in front of the android. “If you want me to do anything, get out of my chair. Anyone who sees a lieutenant commander sitting there with the captain beside him is going to know something’s wrong.” The Data-thing shrugged and moved over to sit in Counselor Troi’s position. Picard watched the move with increased interest.

The Thorsen personality hadn’t moved to the first-officer position. If he had access to all of Data’s memories, he should have known that that was where he belonged as operations manager in the first officer’s absence. Perhaps the slipup meant that while he had access to Data’s memories, he wasn’t in the habit of looking up every detail in them. That might be another advantage to be exploited.

Picard made himself comfortable. Just by being in this seat, he felt the situation was halfway back to being salvageable. “Mr.

O’Brien, status update, please.” Fromhis position at the ops board, O’Brien replied, “We’re operating on ninety-percent automatic controls, sir. Engineering is under direct control of the engineering crew. The majority of the crew remains unconscious after exposure to anesthezine. The ship remains closed off by locked doors, security fields, and inoperative communications.” “None of that is your concern,” the Data-thing warned. “I want that Federation vessel gone.” Picard tried to ignore the android beside him. “Do we have identification of the vessel in question?

“None, sir,” O’Brien answered. “It appears to be an Oberth-class starship, now orbiting one thousand kilometers above the singularity’s electromagnetic event horizon. Without access to the computer, I can’t call up any Fleet records so I have no way of knowing which ship she is or what she’s doing there.”

-Where are we, exactly’?” Picard asked. u ‘Three million kilometers away and closing on impulse.” “Mr. Worf.” Picard said. “Open a hailing frequency.” 1’he Klingon’s response was terse. “Communications remain inoperative. sir. Colonel Thorsen has placed lockout codes on all key t’unctions.” i’icard looked at the Data-thing with a shrug. The Data-thing shrugged theatrically in return, swung around a command console. and entered a series of commands. u ‘Subspace communications back on-line,” Worf said. “Hailing tile unidentified vessel.” 1’he main viewscreen image of the plasma jets and gas disk was
uddcnlx replaced by a transmission from a Starfleet vessel. A young human captain sat in her command chair, brushing crisp brown hair from her forehead. “Hello, Enterprise and Captain t’icard.” she said cheerfully. “Captain Bondar, U.S.& Garneau. I knew this recovery operation was big, but I didn’t know it was this big. Glad to have you along.” Picard didn’t recognize the woman, though she obviously knew of him. “Greetings. Captain Bondar,” he began. “What recovery operation do you mean?” The Data-thing spoke in a menacing whisper. “Tell her to leave or you will destroy her.” Captain Bondar shifted position in her chair, suddenly taking on a more tbrmal demeanor. “Excuse me, Captain Picard, but you
m’ here as part of the recovery mission, aren’t you?” Picard could see that the Data-thing was about to speak again,
o he replied quickly, before he could be stopped. “We have no kno
ledge of any recovery mission.” “Last ,:hance,” the Data-thing said.

“We are. however, on a classified mission,” Picard continued.

“
\nd we require you to leave your position at once.” Bondar looked stern. All sense of friendly welcome was gone.

“Under xhose authorization?” “Admiral Hanson,” Picard said, grabbing the first name to Come to mind. “Starbase 324.” Bondar reacted with dismay. “Oh, damn, it’s something to do with the Borg, isn’t it?” She motioned to someone out of the viewer’s range to come closer. “Captain, you’re presenting me with a real conflict. We’ve been on station here as a priority-one science mission for the past three months, and we’re coming up to a critical time in the mission profile.” A Bolian commander stepped up beside Bondar, giving her a padd as she continued speaking. “Our command authorization is such that I am going to have to request verification of your orders from Starfleet Command. I hope you i” “Viewscreen off,” the Data-thing said. He tapped more commands into his console. “Phaser banks on-line. Tactical officer will now target the Garneau.” “Captain Picard,” Worf said in consternation. “I cannot fire on a Federation vessel.” Picard turned to the Data-thing. “Why is it so important for us to be here and that ship not to be?” “The Enterprise will be going into hiding soon, and the fewer who know her last location, the better.” The Data-thing looked up over his shoulder. “Now, Klingon, destroy that ship or I will do it myself and kill one of you as an example.” Picard clenched his fists. “Mr. Worf, fire a warning shot across the Garneau’s bow.” “Locking phasers,” Worf replied.