Possession - J.M. Dillard [109]
It was an unheard-of event, a Vulcan being able to transfer her consciousness without the medium of direct physical contact; Deanna had no doubt that the Vulcan metaphysicians were puzzling over the fact. To Troi, it was resoundingly simple: logic might fail when faced with the impossible, but love would not.
The emotional overload in the room was overwhelming, but Troi basked in it. Never had she felt this much power from the people around her, this much anticipation, this much resolve. It was a heady reaction and it made her feel a little woozy.
“Are we ready, Mr. Data?” Picard asked.
“Yes, sir,” the android responded from behind the transporter console. “Dispersal pattern is laid in. The computer estimates that the probability is twenty-five billion, seventeen million, two hundred and fifty-eight thousand to one that any single entity will ever intersect with an inhabited planet, and that the probability of that individual entity being able to infect a living creature on that planet is—”
Everyone in the room turned to stare at him impatiently.
“Very, very small,” he concluded. “Ready to transport on your command, sir.”
“I think that honor belongs to Counselor Troi.” Picard turned to her, smiling. “Counselor?”
With pleased surprise, she moved to the console beside Data and placed her hand on the lever he indicated. “Energize!”
A familiar whine filled the room. The objects on the transporter pad shimmered for a few moments, but the dispersal beam had been calibrated to transport only the entities and leave the equipment behind. As the whine subsided, the small shell-shaped artifacts fell open—dark, lifeless.
The final tendrils of their possession were cut adrift; Deanna laughed aloud at the sensation of utter freedom. “They’re gone! We’re free… .”
Epilogue
GUINAN WALKED LEISURELY through the multitudinous displays of the enormous TechnoFair, scanning the roster in her hand for Data and Geordi’s booth. She was both surprised and amused to learn they had a display; when she’d left for her convention, Picard had insisted they wouldn’t have time even to disembark here, what with the Enterprise’s impossible schedule of ferrying scientists here and there. Luckily, he’d gotten some other ships to assist with the transport, so that his crew could enjoy the fair.
And an amazing thing it was. In all her years, Guinan didn’t think she’d seen so many different races or species in one place, all of them sharing their knowledge to promote science and its peaceful use.
She grinned suddenly at the familiar face in the distance, at a small booth nestled between two larger displays. She scurried over, her long mauve robes rustling, her enormous hat carrying her along like a sail through the parting crowd.
“Guinan!” Deanna cried happily. The empath stood with Will Riker to one side of Data and Geordi’s little booth, in front of another booth featuring an android display. “How good to see you! You look so rested!”
The darker woman patted her friend on the arm. “I had a wonderful time! I just can’t wait to tell you! I mean, I feel a little guilty leaving the rest of you to the drudgery of all that moving around, all that transporting, all those grim-faced scientists going on and on about their work.” She peered at La Forge and Data suspiciously. “So, what condition is Ten Forward in?”
“Exactly as you left it,” La Forge promised her, with an oddly secretive little grin. “You don’t think Data and I were ready to face the wrath of Guinan, do you?”
“Not if you’re smart! So what is this you guys have here? I didn’t know you had plans for a display.”
La Forge shot Data a bemused look. “It was sort of a last-minute thing.”
“Yes,” Data agreed. “Very last-minute. By using Geordi’s VISOR, we have perfected a frequency-modulation device which will—”
“Sounds fascinating,” Guinan agreed half-heartedly, knowing if she didn’t cut him off the android would quote her chapter and verse of a scientific discovery she had no interest in. “Nice booth.