Immortal Coil - Jeffrey Lang [9]
“Excuse me?” Rhea McAdams said, stepping forward between Riker and Picard.
“Ak’voh,” Data repeated. “Some Klingons practice a tradition of watching over a fallen comrade to keep away predators, possibly dating back to—”
“No, no,” McAdams said, waving her hand. “I know what Ak’voh is. What I mean is—” She stopped, started over. “I’m sorry, Commander. We haven’t even been introduced.”
“An oversight on my part,” Picard admitted. “Data, this is Lieutenant Rhea McAdams, our new head of security. She transferred aboard while you were away.”
Data extended his hand and McAdams shook it. “How do you do, Lieutenant? I wish you success in your new duties.”
“Thank you, Commander. Please accept my condolences and excuse my rude behavior, but I have to confess I’m a little confused.”
“Again, my fault,” Picard said. “I should have briefed you more thoroughly before inviting you down here. Data, I explained to Lieutenant McAdams about your mother’s death, but I did not feel comfortable telling her about her unique condition. However, under the circumstances …”
“Certainly, sir,” Data replied. “Perhaps you could speak to her while I download my flight record to the ship’s main computer.”
Riker followed Data as he disappeared into the shuttle, and Picard drew McAdams aside. “As you know,” he began in a low voice, “Data is an android—the only fully functional android that Starfleet is aware of. He was created by Dr. Noonien Soong, something of a maverick in the field of artificial intelligence.”
McAdams nodded. “Yes, sir. I read this in my personnel briefs. The colony on which he was created was destroyed in an alien attack. Data was recovered and activated by Starfleet, which he subsequently joined.”
“Yes, at least partially so he would have opportunities to find his creator,” Picard said, “which he did, as well as a ‘brother’ named Lore. The part of the story that almost no one knows is that Soong was married. His wife—the woman Data thinks of as his mother—was fatally injured, and rather than lose her completely, Soong created an android duplicate of her and transferred Juliana’s memories to the android’s neural net. Soong programmed her to believe she was the original Juliana.”
“And never told her the truth?” McAdams asked, sounding slightly appalled.
Picard shrugged. “I believe he must have felt it was a kindness. He had installed a complex masking system into the body so no one ever discovered her true nature until she met Data several years ago. He noticed that she blinked in Fibonacci sequences—”
“Right,” McAdams said blankly. “That would give it away, wouldn’t it?”
“In any case,” Picard continued, smiling, “Data was able to determine that Dr. Tainer’s android body was designed to simulate the passing of years and would eventually expire. When Pran Tainer contacted him, Data knew that the time had come and he would have to act quickly if he was going to preserve her secret.”
“But he called her ‘mother,’ ” McAdams said. “Maybe this is just my being new to the situation, but it strikes me that Dr. Tainer is more like a sister.”
“She helped Soong assemble Data,” Picard explained. “And was responsible for some of his most distinctive characteristics. She’s the one who insisted that Soong give Data a creative capacity, and, perhaps most significantly, influenced Soong to not give Data emotions.”
“Why?”
“She was concerned about Data developing like Lore, who had something of a psychotic streak, I’m afraid. He proved so dangerous, in fact, that Data felt compelled to deactivate him, but it was a difficult decision …”
“…Because he was family,” McAdams finished for him. “Yes, I understand. The only thing I don