Star Trek-TNG-Novel-Imzadi 1

by Peter David [lit]

  rescue.

  Her Imzadi.

  First, though ... he had to get out of there.

  He went over to the far wall. He knew that the

  officer in the adjoining cabin was already on duty, so

  this was definitely the preferred exit route.

  He held the phaser close up to the wall and

  set it for as low and quiet a setting as he could.

  He couldn't risk giving the guards any sort of

  warning at all.

  He pressed down on the trigger device and a

  pencil-thin beam of light emerged from the miniature

  phaser. Forcing himself to be patient, Riker

  proceeded to cut a hole in the wall.

  The ship's security system, programmed

  to recognize 398 different weapons, did not

  recognize the futuristic phaser for what it

  was. Therefore, it identified the weapon as the

  closest analogue in its system, a hand-held

  arc welder--j as the admiral knew the computer

  would do. Hardly a weapon, the welder was not something

  that required any sort of security alert.

  Riker continued his work undisturbed.

  When Will and Deanna entered the conference room,

  they saw that Picard and the delegates from the

  Cordians, the Luss, and the Byfrexians were

  already there. Only the Sindareen had yet to arrive.

  Dann was sitting next to the Luss

  ambassador, and he had a profoundly befuddled

  expression on his face. His inquiries as to how

  in hell he had come to be unconscious in his

  cabin had not really been answered by anyone. When

  he saw Deanna, he started to rise, his entire

  face a question. But Deanna silently gestured for

  him to sit back down, somehow putting across that

  she'd speak to him later about it.

  Will turned to Worf and the other guards and said in

  a low voice, "All right ... we'll be okay

  for now."

  "If you are certain," said Worf slowly.

  "Yes," said Riker, and he patted his

  phaser. "I have the only working weapon in the room

  --x's keyed into the safe code of the null

  field. I'll sit next to her and make sure

  no one gets near her. All this attention ...

  it's disconcerting to her. We'll be fine."

  "Very well," Worf said. "But summon me

  instantly at the first sign of trouble."

  It sounded remarkably like an order, which was not

  particularly appropriate for a lieutenant

  to issue a commander. But Will took it in stride.

  "Yes, sir."

  If Worf picked up on the amused

  sarcasm, he gave no sign. Instead he

  grunted again and then turned and exited the room.

  "I see the Sindareen are not yet with us,"

  observed Picard as Riker and Troi settled

  into their seats.

  "Perhaps we should start without them," suggested the

  Cordian ambassador. "After all, the

  Sindareen peace initiative will probably go far

  more smoothly without the Sindareen actually being

  involved." This produced a small chuckle from

  around the table.

  "I think we'll wait for them," said Picard

  good-humoredly. "After all ... it would be the

  polite thing to do."

  Data sat on the bridge, watching the home

  planet of the Sindareen turning beneath them.

  The turbolift door opened and Worf

  emerged. Data waited until the Klingon had

  taken his station before rising and saying, "I

  have something I must attend to, Mr. Worf. You

  have the conn."

  He walked out before Worf could say anything.

  Mentally, the Klingon shrugged. Whatever Data

  had to take care of, certainly it was none of his

  concern.

  Lieutenant Barclay, deciding that the entire

  previous night had been one, long bad dream--

  overstimulation of the imagination--stepped out of the shower,

  dried himself off, and got dressed for duty.

  The two security guards outside Riker's

  quarters took no notice when the door to the

  adjoining quarters hissed open.

  As a result, they never had a chance to react

  before the phaser beam, now set to stun, cut loose

  from the miniature weapon in the hand of Admiral

  Riker. Instantly, they both fell to the ground,

  unconscious.

  Riker bent over them, glancing around quickly and

  breathing a sigh of relief that no one was coming. He

  grabbed each of them by one wrist and, moving as quickly

  as he could and cursing the achiness of his aging

  muscles, backed up and dragged them into the cabin

  from which he'd just exited.

  He left them lying on the floor, next to the

  large piece of wall that he had cut out and pushed

  through into this cabin. He knew that the phaser blast

  would have knocked them both out for at least an hour.

  When he reemerged from the cabin, he was wearing the

  uniform of one of the guards. Although there was nothing he

  could do about his obvious resemblance to the

  Enterprise's second-in-command, at least

  he could make himself a bit less noticeable as

  he moved through the corridors.

  He had a little bit of time. He hoped that would

  be all he needed.

  Data, he thought desperately, if you are

  here ... where would you be? What would you be up to?

  Would you really be so coldhearted as to kill

  Deanna ... and if so, how would you go about it?

  Data stood on the turbolift as it whisked

  him to his destination. He had worked out what needed

  to be done and was reasonably certain that he could

  succeed.

  He would leave some confusion in his wake. But

  confusion could easily be dealt with. There would be

  nothing absolutely incriminating.

  And Deanna would be dead.

  The Sindareen entered the conference room. "Our

  apologies," said Ambassador Nici. "We

  were unaware that the switch had been made to this

  conference room."

  Eza was staring at Troi with a most peculiar

  expression on his face. And Deanna started

  to feel the first tickle to her mind of something ...

  something that she was starting to place ...

  That vague feeling that she had encountered once

  before ... when she had been the captive, years

  ago, of a Sindareen raider.

  In the corridor, Admiral Riker suddenly

  skidded to a halt.

  "Of course," he whispered.

  He turned and barreled down the corridor.

  Data stepped off the turbolift and

  abruptly a voice called, "Data!"

  Geordi LaForge came up to him quickly.

  "I'm glad I happened to run into you. We've

  been getting some weird variants in the warp

  field fluctuations."

  "Now is not a good time, Geordi." Data

  started down the hallway.

  Geordi stopped him, looking at him with

  concern. "Data, are you okay?"

  "Functioning perfectly. We can discuss the

  field fluctuations at a later date,

  Geordi. For the moment, I have other things to attend

  to."<
br />
  "But it's really odd. The time-space

  capacitors seem to be reacting to ...

  well, to nothing that I can detect."

  "Later." Data's voice was firm. He

  turned and walked off, leaving a very puzzled chief

  engineer behind him.

  Will Riker studied the ambassadors around the

  table. Everyone seemed perfectly calm.

  Everything seemed friendly ... or at least

  polite.

  He looked to Deanna. A faint, puzzled

  expression was on her face that he knew quite

  well. She was concentrating, trying to pick the

  threads of emotions out of the air and weave them

  into something that she could examine and make

  pronouncements on.

  He thought of giving her a gentle nudge,

  to ask her what was happening ... but then decided

  against it. When she was ready to tell him, she would.

  Lieutenant Barclay checked his morning

  duty log, saw nothing particularly unusual,

  glanced in the mirror once more, approved of his

  hairstyle, and walked out of his quarters whistling and

  ready for a far more sane day.

  He walked past Lieutenant Commander

  Data, who barely afforded him a glance. "Good

  morning, sir."

  "Good morning, Barclay. You look much more

  relaxed today," said Data, and kept on going.

  Barclay, still whistling aimlessly, headed for the

  turbolift.

  Admiral Riker dashed into Data's quarters

  and moaned softly.

  Data was lying, unmoving, on the bed. From his

  skewed position, it was clear that he had been shut

  off and tossed there like a sack of wheat.

  And to make matters worse ... his head was

  gone.

  Riker allotted sixty seconds to locate

  it before he went after the future Data himself. It

  would have been nice to have the strength of the present

  Data as backup ... but he would make do if

  he had to.

  He always had in the past ...

  ... or future ...

  ... or whatever.

  The door to the conference room hissed open, and

  Data stepped in. Picard looked up at

  Data questioningly.

  "A private matter, sir, for Counselor

  Troi."

  "Very well," said a slightly puzzled

  Picard.

  Troi rose, as did w. With Data, they

  stepped over to one of the corners of the room.

  "You are aware that the captain has filled me

  in on the present situation," Data said softly.

  When Riker and Troi nodded, he continued, "I

  have some rather bad news. Admiral Riker ... your

  future self ... seems to have suffered some sort

  of massive heart attack. Dr. Crusher

  says he's barely stabilized and"--he turned

  to Troi--?he's calling for you,

  Counselor."

  Deanna frowned. "I ... I don't feel

  him in that sort of distress."

  "He's barely conscious, Counselor. Perhaps

  that affects your empathic abilities ... or

  perhaps the proximity of our own Commander Riker

  deters your ability to focus on the other. I

  took the liberty of coming in person, rather than using

  communicators. In the event that unauthorized

  individuals are somehow tapping into our comm

  systems ..."

  "Yes, good thinking, Mr. Data," said

  Riker.

  "I'd better go to him," Deanna said

  worriedly.

  "I'll go, too," Riker added.

  "Are you certain you wish to do that, Commander?"

  Data asked. "Watching yourself die ... I'd

  think it would be difficult for you."

  Deanna turned to Riker. "He's right, w.

  Please ... I don't want to put you through that.

  Data's with me. I'll be fine. Honestly ...

  if you ask me, I think you're being

  overconcerned. The danger is probably over."

  Data nodded in agreement.

  CHAPTER 42

  With three seconds to spare in his

  self-imposed countdown, Admiral Riker found

  Data's head. It had been wrapped carefully

  in a sheet and shoved into the back of the closet ...

  just inconvenient enough to serve as a delay, but not so

  dangerous that it would actually endanger the future

  existence of the android called Data.

  Riker activated the head as soon as he had

  pulled it free from the cloth. Data blinked and

  looked around. Then he stared up into the face of his

  liberator.

  "I assume you are not the person who put me

  into this predicament."

  "No, Data. You did this all to yourself."

  "You appear to be Commander Riker ... but

  significantly aged."

  "Come on," said Riker, getting to his feet.

  "Can you operate your body from here?"

  With a cybernetic impulse from Data's

  positronic brain, his body lurched off the bed

  like something from an old horror film.

  "Good," Riker snapped. "I'll

  fill you in on the way. Come on, let's go!"

  "Be certain to face me forward so that I can

  see where I am going," Data cautioned him.

  Riker bolted into the corridor and started down

  the hallway, Data's head tucked under one arm.

  Behind him at a rapid jog came Data's

  body.

  "Would you care to apprise me of what is

  happening?" asked Data.

  Riker was ready for this. He knew that if he

  told Data the truth, or even part of the truth,

  he might have a bigger problem than when he started.

  If this Data decided that the future Data's

  mission was a sound one, then he might very well have

  two androids trying to kill Deanna. That he

  did not need.

  So he lied through his teeth.

  "I'm Will Riker, all right, but from another

  dimension. We're pursuing the individual you know

  as Lore. He crossed over into our universe,

  killed Deanna Troi there for reasons that we do

  not know, and now has returned to this dimension and is

  intent on performing the same murderous act. We

  have no idea why he's doing these things."

  "Neither do I," Data said, "but Lore has

  been known to behave in an irrational manner. He

  must be stopped. Shall we warn Counselor Troi

  via communicator?"

  "No. Lore might be monitoring the

  frequencies. Our best hope is to catch him

  by surprise."

  Commander Will Riker sat down again as Data and

  Troi walked out of the conference room together.

  Picard leaned over to him and said, "Number

  One?"

  In a low voice, Will said, "My future

  self is ... very ill. Data says he's

  calling for Deanna. She's going to him."

  Picard studied Riker to make sure that his

  second-in-command was dealing with this news. But

  Riker's face was inscrutable ... in fact, he

  seemed lost in thought.

  Deanna Troi looked worriedly at

  Data as he stepped to one side when they emerged

  from the conference room and said, "After you,

  Counselor." She started down the co
rridor,

  Data a foot or two behind her.

  Barclay stepped out of the turbolift ... and

  stopped breathing.

  The Riker from the holodeck pushed past him and

  onto the lift ... which was impossible. Under his arm

  he'd tucked the head of Lieutenant Commander

  Data ... which was also impossible since Barclay

  had just left Data on another deck. He

  turned, staring at the bizarre sight in utter

  shock, and then was rudely shoved out of the way by what

  appeared to be a headless body, which joined the other

  two ... or maybe it was one and a half ... in

  the turbolift.

  "Hope you're keeping your nose clean,

  Barclay," Riker warned him.

  "Good morning, Barclay," said Data's

  head. "You look much more relaxed today."

  Then the turbolift hissed shut.

  "Thank you, sir," was all Barclay managed

  to say, before he mercifully passed out.

  Deanna Troi and her escort started down the

  hallway. Data had already determined how he would

  pin the blame on Lore, thus leaving his own time

  line unaffected. Now he studied her long

  neck, trying to decide what would be the most

  painless method of disposing of her. For some reason,

  now that the moment would shortly be at hand ... he

  felt ...

  Reluctant.

  But his duty was clear.

  In the conference room, Riker suddenly jumped

  as if someone had jammed a rod into his back.

  He had done so right as Nici began to make

  her opening remarks, and she looked at him with stern

  disapproval.

  "Commander?" said Picard.

  "Data said he's calling for her." He

  turned to face Picard and looked as if he'd

  seen a ghost.

  Picard was at a loss, but he saw the

  consternation of his first officer. "I know, Number

  One. You told me th--"

  Riker's voice became louder. "You don't

  understand, Captain! That's exactly what Data

  said. "He's calling."' He said "he's."'

  Several times! He used contractions!"

  "But Data doesn't use--"

  Immediately both officers were on their feet, but

  Riker was nearer the exit. The

  ambassadors were babbling in utter confusion as

  Riker bolted out the door.

  He saw them, just turning the corner of the

  corridor.

  As if from a separation of years, he shouted,