Planet X - Michael Jan Friedman [47]
As it happened, his search took him to Holodeck Two, where Robinson had booked an hour’s worth of time. When he got there, he found out her program was already in progress.
Sovar stood outside the interlocking doors for a moment, wondering whether or not to interrupt his friend. After all, it might have been a personal fantasy Robinson was pursuing in the holodeck, and he didn’t want to intrude on something like that.
On the other hand, he didn’t think he could wait an hour. He had to talk to someone now.
Accessing the holodeck controls, the security officer opened the jigsaw-puzzle doors. As they slid apart, he caught a glimpse of a figure standing with her back to him.
She was wrapped in a purple cloak, the hem of which moved in a gentle wind. Beyond the figure, framed by columns of shadow-blue marble, distant peaks blazed in the fierce, golden light of sunset.
A scent of flowers and honey came floating out to Sovar on the breeze. Drawn by it, he took a step forward into the holoscene and realized it wasn’t just the columns ahead of him that were made of blue marble. So were the floor under his feet and the peaked ceiling above him.
The holodeck doors closed behind him, wrapping him completely in the illusion. Here, a simple, stringed instrument rested on a wooden stand. There, a silver pitcher and two silver goblets stood on a table. And in a third place, a dark velvet divan stretched like a Terran cat.
The figure in the cloak turned and reacted to his presence. It was Robinson, of course. She smiled at him, looking a little embarassed.
“Marble halls,” she said, as if that were explanation enough.
Suddenly, Sovar understood. His friend had created the place from the words of Banshee’s song—minus the vassals and the serfs, apparently. What’s more, she had done a breathtaking job of it.
But he hadn’t come here to admire her skill with a holodeck. He had something much more pressing on his mind.
“B.G.,” he said, “I did not wish to interrupt your scenario, but something has happened on my homeworld. Something almost …” He tried to find the right word. “… unimaginable.”
Robinson’s brow creased. “What is it.?”
He told her about the development of strange abilities in young people all over Xhaldia. He talked about the fear that had gripped the planet’s people when they discovered superbeings in their midst. And he spoke of the reaction of their leaders.
“The government must have become frightened, too,” Sovar related, “because it incarcerated these beings. They said it was for the protection of the transformed, but—”
“The transformed?” asked Robinson.
“It is what the superbeings are being called,” he explained. “In any case, the government’s action backfired. The transformed broke out of the fortress at Verdeen and disappeared.”
“I don’t blame them,” said his friend.
“No,” said the security officer. He took a step toward her. “You don’t understand, B.G. There are thousands of people in the vicinity who are neither superbeings nor armed guardsmen, but ordinary Xhaldians—people whose lives are at risk.”
Robinson nodded. “And you’re afraid for them.”
“Yes.” He sighed. “The government has called for assistance from the Federation. Though Xhaldia is not a member planet, it has ties—”
“I know,” she said gently.
Of course, he thought. He had described them to her himself.
“The Enterprise,” he said, “was the vessel closest to my homeworld. We are on our way to Xhaldia now … to see if we can accomplish what Verdeen’s guardsmen cannot.”
“To round up the superbeings?” Robinson asked.
“Yes. And to re-establish order.”
His friend came closer and held him by the arms. “How did you find all this out, Relda?”
He sighed. “Commander Riker told me—with the captain’s permission, of course. Captain Picard will inform the rest of the crew in a little while, but he wanted me to know first.”
His friend nodded. “That was—”
Before she could finish her statement, there was a flash of blown diodes, and an entire section of the sunset-painted mountains behind