A Call to Darkness - Michael Jan Friedman [104]
“Relax,” she said. “You are all safe here. In a little while, all your questions will be answered.”
There was something about her that made Picard want to trust. He could feel some of the tension going out of him.
“But first,” she said, “we must see that you are made comfortable. Won’t you come with me?”
Picard was the first to comply. And why not? He was curious to see what was out there.
As the sickbay doors opened, and the four of them stepped through, Burtin was still bringing Pulaski up-to-date. Until now, he had restricted his monologue to medical information.
“And so,” he said finally, “I advised Commander Riker to take off for Starbase Ninety-one- where we could have enhanced our ability to keep our people alive. We were on the verge of doing that when Mister Data here called up for a teleport.”
Pulaski glanced at him. “You mean you were going to sacrifice me and the others so you could get to Starbase Ninety-one a little sooner?”
Burtin inspected her profile, taut with purpose. “Yes,” he said. “That seemed to me to be the best course of action.”
Pulaski nodded. “And you were absolutely correct, Doctor.” Another glance in his direction, this time accompanied by a conspiratorial smile. “Though if my theory stands up, we can take care of this little epidemic without any help from Starbase Ninety-one.”
Sickbay’s diagnostic area was littered with field generators, most of them in use. There were biobeds everywhere, including more than twice the usual number in critical care. And every blood purifier they owned was hard at work, with a nurse to oversee it.
“How many?” asked the chief medical officer.
“At last count,” said Burtin, “thirty. Less than I expected,” he admitted.
Pulaski grunted. “It could have been worse.” Reaching into her rough-spun garment, she removed a square of the same material that had been gathered into a makeshift pouch.
“Here,” she said, handing the package to her colleague.
Burtin took it, looked at it. “What’s this?”
“Gruel,” said Pulaski. “Or the antidote, depending on your point of view. I snatched it from the captain’s cell before we left.”
Riker seemed puzzled, but not Data. He voiced the explanation even as Burtin was putting it together in his own head.
“Interesting,” said the android. “Since none of the away team has come down with the disease, you have isolated a common denominator: an element in your diets.”
“Exactly,” said Pulaski. “And since all any of us ate was this foul-smelling stuff” -she indicated the contents of the half-open pouch in Burtin’s hand- “it’s not unreasonable to assume that it contains a natural antibiotic. Coincidentally, the one we’re looking for.”
Burtin regarded his superior with redoubled admiration. “Have you got a good feeling about this one too?” he asked.
“Pretty good,” she told him. “But there’s only one way to find out for sure. I want the gruel fed whole to Fredi and Vanderventer. And at the same time, we’ll analyze it-so when it works, we’ll have a fair idea why.”
“What about the memory-restoration procedure?” asked Riker.
“That will have to wait,” said Pulaski. “A few hours, anyway. It’ll take time to set things up. And until I dose Fredi and Vanderventer, and get the analysis process under way, memory-restoration is on the back burner anyway-the epidemic is my main concern.”
Now it was Data’s turn to look puzzled. “Back burner?” he echoed.
“Come on,” said Riker, turning him around. ‘I’ll explain on the way to the bridge.”
Chapter Twenty
PICARD LEANED BACK in his seat at the conference table. “You are to be commended, Data. If I were here, I must admit, I would have expressed the same reservations as Mister Fong. Yet you carried off your masquerade quite well. With-shall we say-a certain amount of flair.”
The android smiled, obviously pleased with himself. “It is good of you to say so, Captain. But I was fortunate in that my red-dyed hair and my uniform put me in a position of implied authority. Once I realized that I enjoyed certain advantages, I merely