Intellivore - Diane Duane [60]
He held out his hand to Picard. “How real does reality have to be, Jean-Luc?”
Picard looked at the hand for a long moment, then took it and shook it.
“Gods’ speed, Jean-Luc.”
Slowly, he got up from the stone and, without looking back, walked on down the ridge and out of the holodeck.
On the bridge, from the center seat, “Report,” Picard said.
“Mr. La Forge has completed his work on the device,” said Data. “It is loaded into one of the photon torpedo tubes and is ready to be launched.”
“Very good. I see that your own equipment appears to be ready.”
This was a fact nearly impossible to miss, since Data’s station was now a nest of additional optic cable and various black boxes; a framework to support more cable had been attached to the back of his chair. “Yes, Captain. Mr. La Forge is on his way up to assist with linking me to the ship’s systems.”
“All right. I take it you’ve had unnecessary systems taken out of the control loop.”
“No, Captain. We are still uncertain about the intellivore’s ability to read our own interior activities. I have decided it is safer to make no changes for the moment.”
Picard nodded. “Very well. Status of the intellivore?”
“Same course, Captain,” Riker said, “same speed. It seems quite content to let us run after it, for the moment.”
“That’s excellent,” Picard said. “And possibly that’s evidence that it has not yet been able to tell what we’re up to.” He looked over his shoulder as La Forge came in. “Mr. Worf, you have the necessary linguacode message ready?”
“Yes, Captain. It requires the intellivore to cease the attacks on any ships or planets in this area, and to leave at best speed.” The look on his face suggested that Worf very much hoped that it would not. “I will regret, however, missing the battle that will follow.”
Picard let out a breath. “That goes double for me, Mr. Worf, but it would seem, for a change, that the best and only way for us to achieve victory in this particular fight is to go to sleep, a requirement that most fighters of the past would probably envy us. Picard to Crusher—”
“Here, Captain. Are we ready?”
Picard looked around at Riker and the rest of the bridge crew for any dissenting opinions. “I would say so. One thing first. Marignano—”
“Here, Captain,” said Ileen Maisel’s voice.
“Are you ready, Captain?”
The laugh that followed was just a touch nervous. “To have my brains drained? I’m not too sure about that.”
“I pity the poor creature that tries to drain your brain, Ileen. Operationally, are you ready?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve got the thought-screen generators linked into the shields, though since we’re not going to be testing them, we have no idea whether they’ll work.”
“If Mr. La Forge installed them,” Picard said, “they’ll work.”
“I should make you put money on it. Meanwhile, all nonessential crew are now aboard Enterprise.”
“Then we’ll proceed. Everyone aboard will be unconscious within an hour from my mark. Doctor Crusher—”
“Ready.”
“Mark. Action will begin at an hour and five minutes.”
La Forge came down to stand beside Data, and peeled away the “hair” from the back of his head, revealing the small, glittering, telltale lights that acted as diagnostics for the positronic interfaces. “I’ve done three sets of checks on the hardware,” he said to Data, “and everything seems to be in order. Let’s get you hooked up and see how it feels.”
Geordi lifted one of the more delicate cable connections and plugged it into the back of Data’s head. Data blinked. “That connection is patent.”
“Good. Now the weapons system interface—”
Geordi clicked it in place. Data’s face worked oddly for a moment.
“Don’t sneeze,” Riker said.
“There is no reason for me to do so,” Data said. “The weapons interface is functional.”
Data froze where he sat.
Geordi looked at him with some concern. “You all right, Data?