Metamorphosis - Jean Lorrah [14]
“I had hoped,” Data replied, “that you would be willing to help disguise me, Doctor. I would not be alone; if an encounter with Elysian natives became unavoidable, I could remain in the background and say nothing. Surely my skin could be temporarily colored like that of a human.”
Pris Shenkley smiled at him from across the table.
“I could help you do that-but I’m afraid there’s no way to change your golden eyes, Data.” “My eyes are kept clean and lubricated by a fluid which serves the same function as human tears,” he explained. “Therefore I could wear contact lenses.”
“I’ve never prescribed them except as a tempo-38 rary protection while an eye injury heals,” Pulaski said. “But they were once used for both corrective and cosmetic purposes. Your medical laboratory could easily manufacture a set that would make my eyes appear brown or blue.”
“Data’s got you, Doctor,” Adin said with a grin. “I see no reason he couldn’t pass for human in a brief encounter, and that’s all an away team would allow.”
Pulaski shook her head. “He’d give himself away with every act, every movement. No one would believe for a moment he was a living humanoid.” Adin scowled at the doctor. He was a man used to authority, but in this case Data sensed that something other than having his opinion challenged disturbed him.
He looked from Data to Pulaski, and then asked her, “How long have you known Data, Dr.
Pulaski? You weren’t aboard when I was last on the Enterprise. his “I’ve been aboard for several months,” she said. Adin shook his head. “Well, you’ve hardly gotten to know Data in that time, or you’d never question that, at the very least, he is a “living humanoid.”
Data, you have an open invitation to come and work with me if Starfleet fails to appreciate you.”
“There are times when we could certainly use you, Data,” Pris Shenkley added, staring at Pulaski with a glare that rivaled Dare at his most glacial.
The doctor, however, was intent on explaining her position further. “I should have said “organic” humanoid; Data has been designated a lifeform. That he is a sentient being, a person, has been established 39 by law, and rightly so.” She turned her gaze to Data. “But you’re not a human being-and I’m afraid I’ll never understand your desire to become one.” The table fell silent for a moment. Data saw no cause for offense at Dr. Pulaski’s words-after all, his desire to be human (impossible as he knew it to be) was no secret-but he could sense that Dare and Pris were upset. Pulaski obviously sensed it, too, for she continued, “You can all”-she spread her hands to indicate the table at large- “anthropomorphize Mr. Data as much as you wish, but he acts and thinks like a machine.
Elysians might not understand what he is, but they would certainly recognize that he is not one of them.”
“Would you care to make a wager on that?” Adin asked, baring his teeth with a faint smile.
Pulaski rose to the challenge: “What do you want to bet?” “My money’s on Data,” Pris put in. “I know how charming he can be when he sets his mind to it.”
“And I have never observed him to misstep in a fight,” added Worf. “What is the wager?”
Pulaski smiled sweetly at Worf. “What do you suggest?” Data was astonished at the trust his friends placed in an ability he was not certain he had-but the point was moot, anyway. “I cannot join the away team in an attempt to win a bet, and even if the captain sent me for other reasons I could certainly not attempt contact with the Elysians merely to test your faith in my acting ability.”
Pulaski laughed. “We should have wagered-I’d have won by default.”
“Oh, no,” Adin said. “You don’t get off that easily, Madame. Or you either, Data.
Elysia may not provide the opportunity, but if we reach a starbase or a Federation planet-was “You’re on!” Pulaski said with that sweet smile Data knew concealed supreme confidence.
“Like taking candy from a baby.”
Adin responded with an almost identical expression. “Then we must agree upon terms.”
Data considered warning