Metamorphosis - Jean Lorrah [22]
THE WOMAN PusHim a strand of dark hair out of her eyes. “My name is Thelia. I come from Atridia.”
“I am called Data,” he replied.
“Data,” she repeated, trying the sound.
“Your name is as different as you are. What is your land called?”
Stay as close to the truth as possible, he remembered, and replied, “Starfleet.”
“Starfleet,” Thelia said. “What a beautiful name. Do the stars truly move more swiftly there?”
“They do, in fact, appear to do so,” Data replied, bemused. “disIt must be a magical land,” Thelia said, dreamily. It would seem so to you, Data realized, but he did not say so aloud.
Despite his reticence, Thelia asked, “Are you under a spell? Is that why you are questing?”
“A spell? No.”
“Then is everyone in your land like you?” the young woman wanted to know. “No, not like me,” he explained, “but many in Starfleet are very different from you.” He assumed that would not offend Elysia’s gods, who had allowed a similar explanation in the habitat the away team had visited. “You have obviously had a long and difficult journey,” Data continued. “You should rest before-was “The Quest begins now.”
Data spun around, but there was no one else to be seen, no one else he could hear, even with his augmented senses. Was this what Drahanna had meant-that the “gods” literally spoke out loud to those they had chosen to hear? Thelia’s face again took on a look of joy and wonder. “I am permitted?
Ah, blessed gods, let me pass through with the help of this One from Afar, and reach your sanctuary.”
“This sanctuary,” said Data. “There we will meet the gods themselves?” “So it is spoken.”
He nodded. “That is what I came seeking.”
He tapped his combadge again, but it was still dead, as was his tricorder. By this time the Enterprise crew would have used every means at their disposal to locate and recover him. Elysia’s gods must have blocked their efforts-their technology was clearly comfar beyond that of the Federation. They must have assessed the away team members, decided they desired contact, and determined that the android was best equipped to record such a meeting.
But he would not get that far if he did not succeed in this Quest. The Elysian gods obviously insisted that even visitors from other worlds play by their regulations, something the Enterprise crew had encountered on enough other planets to consider it the rule rather than the exception. So Data said, “I am honored to undertake the Quest. I hope we both succeed.” “May it be so,” Thelia replied formally.
“We should begin the climb now, I think. Where are your supplies?”
“I have nothing else,” he said, putting phaser and tricorder into their holsters. They might be useless now, but he was sure that once he had done whatever the Elysian gods required they would function normally again. “You have not brought food?” Thelia asked. “Or did you use it up on your journey?
I will share mine with you if need be.”
Data decided to postpone further explanations until they were better acquainted. Elysians were not accustomed to machines at all, let alone sentient ones. So, as she turned to the boat she had come in and lifted out a pack designed to be worn on the back, he said, “I will carry that for you, as I am sure the way will not be easy.”
“Thank you,” she replied, and reached for a pouch of animal skin-a water bag, he realized. Of course; she could not have drunk the water of the swamp.
But the container was nearly empty. “I was four days in the swamp,” she said, pulling the cork and offering the bag to Data. He shook his head, and she dran”kcarefully, he noticed, not spilling a drop despite the awkward vessel, taking only two measured swallows although he suspected that after her exertions she was thirsty enough to empty