Possession - J.M. Dillard [83]
Within the chamber, Geordi slid off the cot and stepped to the transparent wall that held him inside. “Data, are you saying that we were infected with the madness?”
“I am afraid so.”
La Forge let go a long slow gust of air. “I don’t remember it at all. The last thing I knew, I was talking to Skel …”
“And I was performing a last-minute check on the artifacts before going off duty.” Beverly rose, groaning, and rubbed her neck and shoulders. “Good Lord, that’s some infection. I feel like I was trampled by a herd of wildebeests.”
Picard permitted himself a small smile of relief at the sight of Crusher, back to normal. “Actually, Doctor, the herd consisted of a single Klingon.”
Worf lowered his gaze, clearly abashed.
Beverly straightened and shot first the captain, then Worf, a sharply quizzical look; abruptly, her curiosity turned to alarm. “If we really were infected, then—Jean-Luc, I didn’t hurt anyone, did I?”
“Of course not,” he reassured her, resisting the impulse to smile at the Klingon’s discomfort. “Although you did briefly present Mr. Worf with a … security challenge.”
As the captain spoke, Data moved over to Skel’s quarantine chamber; Picard rose and went to stand beside the android, who proffered him the tricorder to study.
“As you can see, sir,” Data murmured, directing both their attentions to the readout screen, “here are the results of Dr. Crusher’s brain scan. It exhibits the starburst pattern indicative of memory loss. Commander La Forge exhibited an almost identical pattern. However …”
He swung about to scan the silent, unprotesting Vulcan once more, then showed the result to Picard. “What I do not understand is the pattern Skel exhibits. Here you can see a vague starburst pattern—not the same as Dr. Crusher’s, since Vulcan patterns are markedly different from human. It still indicates minor memory loss. But I am also detecting a rather unusual reading of electrical activity …”
Picard scowled at the readout, then drew back, suspicious. “The entities?”
“Not necessarily, sir—” Data began, but the Vulcan at last broke his silence to interrupt:
“Or perhaps the trauma I underwent as a child.”
Picard shot him a skeptical glance, but Data nodded.
“That’s quite possible, Captain. These readings are not inconsistent with severe childhood trauma.”
“But could it possibly indicate that he was—or still is—a carrier?”
Data tilted his head, thoughtful. “That is also possible, sir, but I can neither confirm it nor rule it out. Certainly, the information we have on the outbreak of eighty years ago never mentioned the presence of carriers.”
“That doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist, or couldn’t evolve over almost a century’s time,” Picard persisted.
“True,” Data agreed. “Although I cannot ascertain whether Skel is a carrier at the moment, I did use the past four hours to do some research which might help us.” He pointed over at the lab counter, where a familiar-looking device rested. “I have been working on a version of Geordi’s VISOR which can conclusively detect the frequency of the entities. With it, we would be able to actually ‘see’ them and know whether someone harbors the infection.”
Softly, so as not to offend the Vulcan, Picard asked, “You mean, in eighty years, no one ever developed a way—”
Data shook his head. “No, sir. It was never needed, as the entities were contained behind multiple forcefields.”
“I see.” Picard released a breath of pure gratitude that, save for Barbara Evans, his crew had apparently been spared; yet he could not permit himself to relax completely, not until the entities were off his ship. “We need the device as soon as possible, Data. The Vulcans will be here in fewer than six hours.”
Data glanced at La Forge, who stood eagerly at the entrance to his quarantine chamber. “I am not sure I can meet that deadline without assistance,” the android said. “But now that Geordi is himself, we might be able to have a prototype ready for you within a few