A Call to Darkness - Michael Jan Friedman [19]
“No problem,” he told her.
Pulaski met his gaze. “Good. I like the sound of that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend.”
Outside the observation lounge, stars and planets alike were only points of light. Neither Trilik’kon Mahk’ti nor A’klah’s golden presence were visible to Picard as he took his seat.
Just as well, he thought. They would only be distractions.
He waited for the others to file in and find their places. First Troi, then Riker, Worf and Data. A moment later, Geordi. And finally, Doctor Pulaski.
The captain leaned his elbows on the long conference table, placed his palms together to make a wedge of his hands.
“Mister Riker,” he said, “would you bring Mister La Forge and the good doctor up to speed?”
His first officer nodded and gave an account of what had transpired on the bridge. It was short and to the point.
“Thank you, Number One.” Picard sat back in his chair. “So, though the Klah’kimmbri are not proving very helpful, we must nonetheless find out what happened to those on the Mendel. The only way to do that is to board the vessel.” He looked from one face to the next. “However, as I understand it, there are some obstacles to be overcome in such an endeavor.” He looked to his chief engineer.
Geordi nodded. “That energy mantle makes beaming over a real can of worms…”
Picard couldn’t help but notice how Data’s face screwed up at that. Holding up a hand to stop Geordi, he asked: “Is there a problem, Commander?”
The android seemed startled by the sudden attention. “Sorry, sir,” he said, “but the reference eludes me. Can… of worms?”
“A set of difficulties,” explained Riker.
“Right,” said Geordi. “My apologies, Data.”
“That is all right,” said the android good-naturedly. “I understand now.”
“In other words,” said the chief engineer, addressing all of them again, “it may not be possible to teleport onto the Mendel-at least, not with positive results. If our sensor capabilities are hampered by the energy field, who knows what obstacles it’ll present to our transporter technology?”
“Even at close range?” asked Riker. “What if we were to bring the ships almost hull to hull?”
“I would not recommend it,” said Worf. “That would place the Enterprise inside the mantle.” He shook his head slowly from side to side, frowning. “What if the energy level is raised suddenly? We could find ourselves trapped. Or worse.”
“Noted,” said Picard. “But if we were to approach the very limits of the mantle-without actually entering it-what would that do to our chances for a successful teleport?”
Geordi shrugged. “It’d improve them significantly. But the results would still be uncertain.”
“What about a tractor beam?”
The question came from an unlikely source: Doctor Pulaski.
“Why can’t we just drag the ship out of there? And then beam aboard?”
“We’ve already tried that,” said Worf. “To no avail. The tractor beam is adversely affected by the field as well.”
“I see,” said Pulaski.
“Good try, Doctor,” remarked Picard.
“Of course,” said Riker, “we could board the Mendel physically-but that would mean having to cut our way inside.”
“Exactly,” confirmed Geordi. “And without knowing how volatile those engines might be, or what kinds of gasses might be loose, we’d stand a good chance of blowing the ship up before we got very far. Even if nothing exploded, we’d still have the problem of keeping things from getting sucked out of our entrance hole.” He paused. “Just imagine if we’re wrong about those people being dead, and we let out all their oxygen. I wouldn’t want to be the one to take responsibility for that.”
Picard looked around. “Any other ideas?”
No one seemed to have any. Out of habit, he turned to Troi. It wasn’t unusual for her to remain silent until the very last, though her insights were often what tipped the scales.
But not this time. Like Pulaski, she was a little out of her element.
Then Worf spoke up. “If we are to beam aboard,” he said, “we must do it one at a time. To minimize the chances of something