Planet X - Michael Jan Friedman [74]
“I’m ready when you are,” he told her.
As Data regained his senses and opened his eyes, he had one thought: Nightcrawler.
The last time he had seen the mutant, his fuzzy, blue head had been encased in a solid piece of crystal, which was preventing him from drawing a life-sustaining breath. If Nightcrawler had remained in such a condition for more than a few minutes, he had surely suffered brain death.
Leaping to his feet, the android scanned the room in which he found himself. It was tiny—more like a large closet, actually, a wan sliver of light coming through under its door. And he was alone, though his supersensitive hearing could pick up the sounds of not-so-distant battle.
Obviously, he was still in the building where he had lost consciousness. And ifthe fight outside was still going on, hardly any time could have elapsed. Unfortunately, his internal chronometer couldn’t shed any light on that question; the electrical charge he had sustained had caused it to stop functioning temporarily.
In fact, all of him had stopped functioning. But as far as Data could tell, he was back in working order again.
Finding the door, he didn’t bother to determine if it was locked. He simply straight-armed it and walked outside, ready for anything.
A couple of transformed whirled at the sight of him. One was the young woman who had shocked him into insensibility; however, the android didn’t give her the chance this time. He crossed the room with inhuman quickness and administered a nerve pinch he had learned years earlier.
The Xhaldian collapsed in his arms, providing a fortuitous shield against the powers of her companion. It was just as well, considering Data didn’t know what the other transformed was capable of.
Whatever his abilities, he must not have considered them equal to the task. Instead of going after the android, he turned and ran into the next room, shouting a warning.
“The other one’s awake!” he roared.
Relying on the element of surprise, Data burst into the room—the same one he and Nightcrawler had teleported into earlier. The transformed whirled, looking cornered and determined to defend themselves.
The mutant was there as well, lying against a wall in a pool of shadows. The crystal casing was gone from his head, but his eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving.
The android moved to his comrade’s side and checked his pulse. It was weak but detectable, and he was breathing on his own—a good sign. Still, he guessed Nightcrawler had been subjected to more than a lack of oxygen.
As Data got to his feet, one of the transformed pointed at him. “Stay where you are!” he warned him, “or we’ll do to you what we did to your friend!”
The android shook his head sadly. “I tried to tell you before … we are not your enemies. In fact, we may be your only prospect of salvation.”
“Don’t listen to him,” one of the transformed told the others.
Data turned to him. Unlike some of the youths, this one looked like any normal Xhaldian.
“Once our guards are down,” the transformed went on, “he’ll turn us over to the aliens! Do we want that?”
His companions answered him with a resounding; “No!”
The android held his hands out and moved out of the shadows. “Why do you mistrust me so? Can you not see that I am like you?”
The transformed looked at him askance. “You’re nothing like us,” one of them railed.
“Nor am I like anyone else,” Data replied evenly. “In fact, I am unlike any other creature in the entire galaxy.”
He pushed up his uniform sleeve and opened the access compartment in his forearm. The display of circuitry inside him brought a gasp of surprise from the transformed.
“You see?” the android asked them. “I am like you. I am different. And because of that, I have been treated unfairly on occasion. I have even been ignored, which is sometimes worse than being treated unfairly. But despite everything, I still trust.”
Having demonstrated his artificial nature, he closed the compartment in his arm and pulled his sleeve down. The transformed looked