Fortune's Light - Michael Jan Friedman [5]
The captain grunted. “Then I will be receiving a message myself, no doubt. And it will instruct me to remain in the vicinity of Imprima as your backup, should you need it.” He grunted again. “Is your friend that dangerous, Commander?”
Riker straightened. “I don’t think Teller’s the culprit, sir.”
“Really. You think the evidence is circumstantial?”
“I think it’s no evidence at all. Teller was like a brother to me. I know him better than anyone, and I know he could never have done anything like this. Someone has framed him—set him up. And when I find out where the seal has been hidden, I bet I’ll find Teller as well.”
Picard did not discount his first officer’s intuitive powers. He had proved himself a fine judge of character again and again. But the fact pattern did point to Conlon.
“Are you sure,” asked the captain, “that you’re not allowing your own regrets to cloud your assessment, Number One?”
Riker’s face went taut. “What do you mean?”
“Simply this—that you feel guilty for having allowed your close friend to go astray. You feel as though you should have done something to prevent it.”
“My brother’s keeper?” suggested Riker.
“Something like that, yes.”
The younger man shook his head. “No. Teller is innocent, and I’m going to prove it.”
“All right,” Picard said gently. “You do that. But first, let’s get you to Imprima.” He looked up, as he always did when addressing someone via the ship’s intercom computer. An unnecessary gesture, of course, but one that seemed to be endemic to Starfleet personnel.
“Mr. Data, set a course for the planet Imprima in the … Dante Maxima system?” He looked to his first officer for confirmation and got it in the form of a nod. Again, looking up: “Make it warp eight, Commander.”
“Aye, sir,” said the android. “Working … done. Course plotted and laid in.”
“Engage,” said the captain.
As the ship surged into warp drive, Riker got up to go. He mumbled something about having to prepare for his mission, though Picard privately wondered how much preparation could be required in this instance.
“Good luck, Number One. I hope the facts come to bear out your beliefs.”
His first officer looked at him. “Yes, sir. I know you do.”
When the ready room doors closed behind him, they barely made a sound.
Chapter Two
DATA HADN’T STARTED OUT with any intention of using the holodeck. He’d only been passing by when he noticed something that piqued his curiosity.
A combination of two somethings, really. Two bits of information displayed on the holodeck computer monitor. One indicated that the holodeck was in active use—that the program was proceeding in real time. The other told him that there was no one inside.
Of course this was explainable in any of several ways. Most likely someone had forgotten to terminate a program before leaving or for some reason had left before using all of it. It could also have been a sign of a holodeck malfunction—something that happened rarely, but happened nonetheless. Or someone could be inside, undetected by the computer.
Just to be on the safe side, Data called up the details of the programming. He scanned the identity of the user, the nature of the program, and the projected duration.
There did not appear to be anything potentially dangerous about the environment selected. In fact, it seemed quite benign. However, it was an environment with which Data had had no direct experience. The best course, it seemed to him, was to find the programmer—to make sure he wasn’t trapped in the holodeck, a prisoner of his own creation.
The android tapped his communicator, waited less than a second before it beeped in token of its readiness. “Commander Riker,” he said out loud.
“Riker here,” came the near-immediate response. “What’s the matter, Data?”
“You are safe?” confirmed the android.
A pause. “Assuming there are no poisonous lizards under my bed, yes. Why do you ask?”
Data told him.
“Oops,” said the first officer. “Sorry about that.”
“You need not apologize,” said the android. “There has been no harm done.”
Another pause. “Say, Data, I’m not going to get