Possession - J.M. Dillard [59]
Is this what Janice Ito felt the instant before the power surge killed her?
In the fantasy, Skel caught him, just as the Vulcan child had been caught by his father. No need to enhance Geordi’s fear now; it bloomed powerfully as he realized how close he was to infection.
Geordi groaned, wishing for the brief moments it took the entities to travel to his brain and overwhelm it that he really was Data—an android who could learn to emulate friendship but who could actually feel nothing. Skel’s possession slipped away as the Vulcan ended the meld, just as the entities took up residence in Geordi’s cerebral cortex. Geordi trembled in the chair as if still in touch with the conduit and relived Skel’s terrifying memories of his own infection by his father. The entities fed ravenously on his rampant emotions and the hormones they produced, and once sated, they withdrew to his amygdala.
In the chair, Geordi took a deep breath and slowly stood, feeling his feet firmly beneath him. Skel and Tarmud watched cautiously. He nodded at them, feeling stronger, feeling sound.
“Good work, gentlemen,” he said, as if addressing his own subordinates. “We are now in possession of the chief engineer.”
Chapter Six
WHEN ENSIGN BARBARA EVANS left Master Scientist Skel’s quarters, she proceeded to interact with the various scientists she’d had assigned to her. She infected three of them, who in turn infected their aides, spouses, and assistants. Those people, in turn, infected other members of the crew during the time they spent at the mini-fair in Ten Forward, as well as other scientists and staff. Barbara, in the normal course of her day, interacted with fifteen members of the science team, who interacted with others in that group, who interacted with still others. During these interactions, at least forty percent of the people met were infected.
By the end of her shift, Barbara had successfully fulfilled most of the orders Skel had given her, with the notable exception of one—the contamination of Kyla Dannelke. Barbara had interacted with that scientist before seeing Skel, and, afterward, any contact any of the Possessed had with Dannelke had been unsuccessful in engaging her with their group. The woman seemed wary of body contact and managed to keep everyone well out of her “private space.” Desperate to fulfill her orders, Barbara disguised herself as a dark male and made one last futile attempt to incorporate Dr. Dannelke.
Due to her own skillful maneuverings, Barbara had managed to avoid detection and cast doubt on Dannelke’s report of being attacked. Her Possessed colleagues helped cover her tracks as she pursued Dannelke through the ship, but Lieutenant Worf’s interference had terminated her pursuit.
The only advantage she’d gained from the attempt at capture and pursuit was the injury and pain that Dannelke had inflicted on her body. Her nose was broken, and she’d been hurt in various other places, hurt severely. None of the wounds were fatal, but the adrenaline and hormone production that resulted from the pain fed her starving entities. She’d retreated to a seldom-used storage area in the depths of the ship and huddled there, allowing her entities the privilege of temporarily sating their everlasting hunger. They, in turn, would heal her rapidly, returning her body to normal in less than a day, so she could continue her recruiting.
As she hid there, the other entities sensed her presence and the source of nourishment she had to offer. For several hours afterward, a steady stream of scientists and crew members came to the out-of-the-way storage room to draw sustenance from the battered ensign. Until the Betazoid was roused from her drugged sleep and captured for their use, their ability to feed would be limited. For to feed was to cause chaos, which aboard the tightly run vessel of Jean-Luc Picard would be entirely too noticeable.
So, for now, Barbara was pleased to aid her companions, the