Metamorphosis - Jean Lorrah [40]
Once Data had discovered the perimeter of their little habitat by bumping his nose on it, he saw that the trees they might have built a raft from were all beyond their reach, part of the illusion of background scenery. Only the gring-nut tree was “real,” but the widest point of its trunk was hardly as thick as his neck. Even if Data had had the tools to cut it into lengths to build a raft, he doubted it would provide enough buoyancy to counteract his density.
However, the gods had certainly scanned him thoroughly by now; they might not know all his capabilities, but he was sure they had discovered every detail of his physical structure. Possibly that tree would yield a raft just barely able to float Data across the lake. If so, what would he fasten the logs together with? The closest thing to ropes he could see were the tangled stems of the water pears. When he tested them, however, they broke at the slightest tug.
Another test, it seemed. Data could attempt to cut up the tree, but the only tool available was Thelia’s knife. His strength might allow him to complete the task with such an inadequate tool, but not without dulling it beyond function. Before he risked that, he had to know if there was any use in the exercise.
Data chose a tree limb slightly bigger around than his arm, and twisted until it splintered away from the trunk. He stripped away leaves and twigs, and dropped the limb into the lake.
It sank.
That wasn’t possible.
His sensors could not be so garbled that he would not have felt it to be excessively heavy. And organic material almost always floated. Is this an answer to my assertion that even gods cannot break the laws of nature?
But then, if Elysia’s gods wanted to have trees too dense to float, they could do so here, in their own domain. It was nothing more than a holodeck program could achieve. But their powers surely could not affect anything beyond Elysia, any more than a holodeck figure could walk out into the corridors of the Enterprise.
Apparently the gods were determined that Data go through that water. He would send Thelia across first, he decided. She must not be in the water at the same time, in case his circuits shorted out. He would not allow her to risk electrocution. Once Thelia was safely on the opposite shore, Data would walk across on the bottom of the lake. If it was not too deep, perhaps he could keep his right hand, with its gap in the synthoskin, out of the water entirely.
He wondered how deep the lake was at its center. With his normal range of vision, he could have seen it. Geordi would certainly have known with a glance-Geordi.
Suddenly Data remembered the cylinder the Elysian gods’ version of Geordi had given him. “When you have need to see beyond sight, use this. was Data had put the cylinder into the holster with his tricorder. It was still there, undamaged. It hadn’t shown him anything before, but perhaps it would only work at the time it was intended for.
Data peered through the cylinder at the lake. Yes … he could see beyond surface reflections now,
beyond the water pears’ tangled stems and the murk beneath. The vision grew clearer. The bottom. sloped gently downward for perhaps ten meters, then dropped off sharply.
Data waded out until the water was nearly up to his knees. From there he could see into the depths … bottomless depths. The chasm beneath the lake went down beyond the measurement capability of the instrument he held. Its sides were sheer verticals, as smooth as glass. Not even Data could climb such a wall.
The chasm was a good fifteen meters across, a leap that would test Data’s ability on dry ground. With the drag of water against-him, it was far beyond his