Gulliver's Fugitives - Keith Sharee [21]
Her rational counselor voice told her that she couldn’t really be blamed since she would never have intended harm. She tried to push the guilt aside.
“The Rampartians have a primitive level of technology by Federation standards,” Data was saying. “There is a question of why our security staff did not discover the one-eyes’ capabilities before transporting them aboard.”
“Our people checked them thoroughly,” said Riker. “But I suspect that the Rampartians had the jump on us from the beginning; that they stole information on Starfleet technology from the minds of the Huxley crew, and after they somehow disposed of the Huxley, used the information to perfect their capabilities against future Starfleet ships—like us.”
“Commander,” said Troi, “Crichton knows about the Other-worlders, or at least about some aliens analogous to them. It’s a secret he shares with no one. I felt it very strongly when I asked him.”
“That might be significant.”
“Might? I think it’s the linchpin of his mind.”
“Then it’s significant,” said Riker. “But right now I have to stay on my main track—retrieving the captain. I welcome your empathic impressions; in fact, we need them, but I don’t have enough time now for a full psychoanalysis of Crichton.”
“What about Oleph and Una, here on our own ship?” asked Troi. “What if they have something to do with the Other-worlders as well?”
“Worf and his staff are monitoring them. I didn’t have the chance to tell you before, but Worf seems to be involved with Oleph and Una. He’s got something secret going with them.”
“Then I think we should question him.”
“I already have, and found out nothing. But Worf’s got their confidence, and a favored position to observe them—he’ll report when he finds anything. We’ll just have to trust him. Right now we have to think about the captain. We’ll beam down in five minutes,” he said, rising.
Troi thought Riker was missing the mark. But a counselor’s view wasn’t always in accord with the rest of the officers’, and she had gotten used to that a long time ago. Her different view was what made her useful.
Her earlier feeling of guilt subsided as she experienced a surge of stubborn pride. After all, she was a top expert on the most complex phenomenon in the universe, the mechanism of consciousness. If the mystery of the Other-worlders was hers to solve, then so be it.
She followed Riker and Data out of the ready room and onto the bridge. Her gaze fell on Worf, who looked up and registered her stare. She sensed that Worf was concealing something. Whatever it was, there was no time to ask him about it now.
Chapter Six
RIKER, TROI, AND DATA beamed down into an abandoned ore-extraction factory. The site had been chosen by Data.
Crepuscular blue nebula-light spilled in through the top of the roofless building. Catwalks, snake-spiralling cables, and a delirium of metal pipes spread out above and below the away team’s perch, a small platform along a wall of the building.
Data tuned his tricorder to a GEO setting that would help him find any shaft or duct that communicated with the natural tunnels underground. The threesome took a several-minute tour around the floor of the facility, returning eventually to the vantage point of the platform. Data wasn’t able to pinpoint a way down, though in one area he had found a concentration of methane gas he pronounced “intriguing.”
“Your taste in beamdown sites runs to the Spartan, Mr. Data,” said Riker.
“Spartan?” asked the android, as he reviewed information on the small display screen of his tricorder. “As in Sparta, Helen of Troy’s queendom?”
“No,” said Riker, his gaze resting on a large cart still