Dyson Sphere - Charles R. Pellegrino [10]
“Be prepared for surprises, Number One,” Picard said. “They’re the only certainty here. In less than two weeks, all hell is going to break loose. And when it does, hell itself will look like shore leave by comparison.”
Troi’s fingers tightened around her cup of tea. “Or like Dyson but a little colder,” she added.
“The front line?” Worf said, wishing that a Klingon vessel were nearby, if only to gather what information it could about any advanced weaponry.
Picard looked grim. “That’s one of the things we must determine, if we can, and if there’s time-which brings up the question of who will make up the away team that is to go in with the Darwin.”
Crusher and Troi looked at the captain expectantly. La Forge and Data were still, while Will Riker, with his familiar look of anticipation and restlessness on his bearded face, was clearly hoping to command the away team. They all wanted to go; they would all be thinking of what they might discover inside the Sphere. Worf was still contemplating the neutron star that might destroy it.
Picard turned his head toward Riker. “Number One, normally I would put you in charge of the away team, but in this case I shall assume that position, and leave you in command of the Enterprise.”
“I expected that,” Commander Riker replied, but he looked disappointed nonetheless.
Worf knew what was coming next. “And since the neutron star is out here,” Picard continued, “and since the Sphere’s interior seems less likely to produce work for a warrior, Worf will remain outside with you. Data, you will also stay, and take charge of perfecting our method of entrance and exit from the Sphere.”
“So who else is going?” Beverly Crusher asked. “You might need another physician aboard the Darwin.”
“If you had experience treating Hortas as well as humans, I’d agree,” Picard said, “but I’d rather have you aboard the Enterprise for now.”
Data said, “Then by process of elimination, Captain, it must be La Forge and Troi who will accompany you.”
“Yes.”
Worf heard the excitement in the captain’s voice, and noticed that Troi was looking at him as if to ask how he felt.
“I’m fine,” Picard said, as if anticipating her question. “Just had a physical last week.” He glanced at Crusher, who nodded. “I must admit that I am excited by the prospect of exploring the Sphere. Thrilled, if I may say so. I wish our circumstances were less apocalyptic, but this is the hand we’ve been dealt, and there is no reason not to play it out. Does anyone disagree?”
Once again, Worf knew why he liked to serve with Picard. The man was not a coward; cautious only to the point where less caution would make him foolhardy; brave even to death if that were the right course.
“Well, then,” Picard said as he stood up. “It’s time to kick the door open. Data?”
“Yes, Captain. I shall make it so.”
Worf’s eyes narrowed in admiration. Once Picard had glimpsed the interior of Dyson, even with a relativistic shotgun aimed at his head, it was inconceivable that he should not go inside again and take a closer look.
“There is gold scattered under our beds,” wrote T. E. Lawrence of his archaeological villa in Babylon. Picard knew this particular tale of Earthly archaeology well, and was reminded of it as he materialized aboard the Darwin. Thomas Lawrence and Leonard Woolley had provisioned their villa with a huge fireplace, ankle-deep sheepskin rugs, coffee tables with ancient Babylonian sphinxes for legs, and a huge bathtub with beaten copper trim. They ate dates from a golden dish found in the tomb of Shubad Khan, and drank tea from Hittite clay goblets. When a visitor asked them if they were worried about dropping and breaking the treasures, Lawrence (who happened, at the time, to be wearing a Babylonian king’s robe of gold and silver thread) replied, “If we drop them, the British Museum will be glad to have the pieces.”
That was about five years before World War I. Picard could get extremely depressed thinking about the archaeological treasures that had vanished during Earth’s world wars. Much about the science of archaeology had changed