Metamorphosis - Jean Lorrah [20]
“Not so fast, Number One,” came Picard’s voice. “Get every piece of information you can without approaching the mountain first, and report your findings.
Then we will decide whether to attempt to explore the cave.” “Roger.” Riker closed the channel; at his command, the four away team members spread out around the mountain.
Five hours later, they met back at the same spot. None of them reported anything new. They prepared to beam up along with rock samples and readings, and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION recommend to the captain that they see if the cave was merely that, or an opening into the realm of Elysia’s elusive gods. “Wait,” Data said as they moved into position for beamup. “There is a lifeform reading-but it is faint. No…” He frowned at the faint flicker on the tricorder screen, and turned up the gain. “Commander, I cannot get an accurate directional reading, and on open range your readings interfere.” Riker nodded.
“We’ll get out of your way, then.” He tapped his combadge. “Three to beam up, Mr. O’Brien.
Mr. Data to follow at his command.” Data stepped away from the other three. They dissolved in the transporter beam, and he turned up the gain on his tricorder again. Nothing. He turned full circle, annoyed; he could not have been fooled by that flicker-He was about to signal for beamup when he heard a sudden splashing noise. Looking toward the swamp, he saw nothing until he used infrared vision to penetrate the fog. There was someone coming!
It was a flat-bottomed boat, poled by a single person whose slow efforts, head down, bespoke desperate tiredness-yet over and over the weary traveler retrieved the pole, placed it, and shoved again. They had wondered how anyone could traverse the swamp with its poisonous atmosphere.
Now Data saw that the boat was surrounded by a bubble of fresh, clear air, obviously generated by the same mysterious means as the atmosphere of the habitats. That was what Drahanna had meant when she said the gods “allowed” some Elysians to cross the swamp: they 56 provided such protection only to those they deemed worthy of the quest to the sacred island.
Fascinated, Data watched the boat with its lone occupant approach the shore. Suddenly she looked up, and he saw for the first time that it was a woman, tired and bedraggled from her arduous journey. And he also realized that she was now close enough to glimpse him through the swamp fog. He backed off, reaching for his combadge, intending to let her think weariness had made her see visions in the fog-Too late. The woman’s eyes widened, her face was suffused with wonder-and the pole she was using to steer the boat with slid out of her grasp. Eyes still on Data, she bent to recover it-and set the boat rocking from side to side. The bubble of clear air around it quivered and burst. Swamp gases poured in around her, and she began to choke and cough, rocking the boat even more wildly-attracting the attention of something that lived in the water. Ropy arms reached into the boat to grab at the hapless woman. Data dropped his hand to his phaser, whipped it out and fired-or tried to. The weapon was dead!
That woman would be, too, if the thing pulled her under, . or just held her in the noxious gases long enough to suffocate.
Data ran to help her, jumping from one sharp rock to another and then into the water. He sank ankledeep into swamp ooze with every step, but the boat was less than ten meters from shore. If he could only get her away from that thing and to the protection of the island-He reached the boat, and grasped the woman about the waist with one arm while he tried with the other hand to pry loose the arms of the thing pulling her overboard. As fast as he tore one tentacle loose, another refastened on its victim-and some were now fastening about Data as well. There was no use attacking the arms, he realizedbut did the thing even have a head?
Time was running out; the woman was unconscious, her lips turning an unhealthy blue.
Data lifted woman and beast