Ghost Ship - Diane Carey [39]
With a childish blink, Data said, “Oh. No sweat.” He pivoted and bent once again over the screen. “The phenomenon’s physical makeup is confusing to the passive sensors. There is little for the sensors to focus upon because the entity is out of phase as often as in. Entity or mechanism, I cannot define it.”
Standing between Riker and Geordi as they each bent over different computer access panels, Data indulged in an all-too-human frown at the graphics that danced at him there.
To his right, Riker furiously went on hammering the pressure points of the molecular microelectronics board. “Let’s start by using the most obvious criterion of life,” he suggested. “Are there any signs of organism? Skin? Bones? Cells? Anything?”
“Organism neither suggests nor precludes life, sir. I am partly organic, but also mechanical-“
“Don’t take everything so literally, Data,” Riker snapped. “I want a starting point. I’m not saying all lifeforms are organic. This is just a process of elimination. I know perfectly well that life isn’t physical components alone. We can keep a body alive indefinitely, but that’s not life. Not human life, anyway. Get back on those instruments and interpret what you read.”
He tightened his left hand into a ball and felt the sweat squish in his palm. A tangible enemy was one thing; he could deal with that. But all this business of life and nonlife, this wrestling to grab a definition so they could know whether or not they were killing something when they fought to save their own skins … I hate this. And I hate the position I’m in. Advise the captain? How? Help him fight this thing? How?
His hands might as well be strapped to his sides. As first officer, he might as well be nothing. First officer was the supreme go-fer of all time. Not a scientist, not a tactical expert, not a psychologist-nothing specific, and yet a little of everything, anything the captain needed him to be at the moment. What would it be the next time? Would he be ready? Frustration gnawed at him.
Picard … damn him. Figure out a way to fight the phenomenon. That’s all. Easy. Yes, sir, right away, sir.
“These readings defy interpretation.”
Data’s voice grated across Riker’s nerves. That tone of his, that take-it-or-leave-it tone …
“But if I must verbalize, I would say the phenomenon is behaving in a pseudo-mechanical manner.”
“Try to be specific, will you?” Riker barked, his tolerance straining.
“Always. It’s made up of individual energy components, but it acts like neither a machine nor a being. It seems to be a living tool-something fabricated at so high a level of engineering that it’s virtually a lifeform.”
“Sounds familiar,” Geordi grumbled.
Data glanced at him, his mouth open, but he still stung from Riker’s demand and continued on that tack. “I’m reading high-potency disruptive energies. As soon as it finds us, it could rub us out.”
Riker straightened sharply. “Stop doing that.”
Data’s eyes flickered as he raised his head. “Sir?”
“You’re annoying the hell out of me. You’re distracting everyone with that kind of speech. Cut it out.”
“Slang, sir. Colloquial terminol-“
“It’s insulting.”
“I … beg your pardon? I am trying to be more human.”
Data backed up against the panel as Riker closed in on him, and he could see that somehow he had infuriated the first officer.
“You’re never going to be human,” Riker ground out. “You’re not human. You don’t seem to get the difference between being human and mimicking humans. You can’t be creative because you only see the affectation and none of the substance. You’re missing life. Until you learn the difference, you’ll always be a puppet.”
“Sir-” Geordi appeared beside them. “He’s only trying to-“
“I know what he’s trying to do,” Riker snapped.
They were all silent for a moment.
A look of deep injury crossed Data’s face and he glanced at Geordi, then back to Riker. “I … I am only attempting to improve myself … to serve in the best-“
“Then serve,” Riker blurted. “Put yourself to use in your true capacity. You’re an android. Use that to