Possession - J.M. Dillard [88]
No. Don’t take it. You can’t let them know where you are.
There was only one person aboard the Enterprise she could trust: Data. He was also the one person aboard the Enterprise she could not read. If she asked the computer where he was, or tried to contact him, the others might be monitoring the conversation; they could track him down and turn him off.
The thought made her realize that the android needed her as much as she needed him: for he could not detect who was infected, and she alone could. If they were both to survive, they had to find each other.
Whatever she did, she could not remain here; until she could decide where to go, she would go to Data’s quarters and hide there. Trying to quiet her mind against the fear, she drew a breath and moved through the bedroom, into the outer living quarters, and out into chaos… .
The madness came in febrile waves, forcing Picard at times to lean, quaking and perspiring, against the cool hard surface of the lift bulkhead.
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED.
“No,” he said, gasping, struggling to contain the helpless rage evoked by the image of himself as Locutus—rage he knew served as fodder for the entities. Yet the sensation was all too horribly the same as the mental rape he had endured at the hands of the Borg: the sensation of his own consciousness being overtaken, subdued, relegated to passivity while a mindless, heartless, soulless force acquired the use of his arms, his legs, his tongue …
“Not this time,” he whispered, pressing his face against cold metal.
Abruptly, the lift ceased its motion; the doors slid open. His volition was still strong enough to resist them—perhaps because the direct contact with Will Riker had been blessedly brief, or perhaps, as the communiqué had suggested, he would be able to stave off the effects a short time.
He needed only long enough to warn Data… .
He pushed himself from the bulkhead and drew a sleeve across his damp forehead. His first step onto the engineering deck was unsteady; his second, surer. Desperation and determination married to grant him a modicum of control.
By the time he reached Data and La Forge—who worked together over a console in the exposed heart of the vast engineering center—he managed a small smile despite the war raging in his brain, despite the chilling realization that La Forge was no doubt still infected.
He would verify it soon enough.
“Gentlemen,” he said easily. “How goes it?”
Data glanced up first; if he perceived Picard’s unrest, his matter-of-fact gaze failed to show it. “Quite well, Captain. We should have a test model for you within the hour.”
“Very good.” Picard paused, fighting the urge to capitulate to the entities’ insistence that he feign interest in the readout on the android’s console, sidle around him, and reach for the control on Data’s side… .
Instead he said, “Mr. La Forge. A moment with you, please.”
Geordi’s expression was one of eager innocence. “Sure, Captain.” He rose and followed Picard to one side, out of the android’s earshot.
With his back to Data, Picard at once graced La Forge with a knowing smile. “I’ve joined you, Geordi. But as for Data—”
The chief engineer’s expression changed to one of such covert, grinning malevolence that Picard fought to repress a shudder. “Wonderful, Captain! But … I’m having a difficult time with Data. I tried to infect him, but our theories are right—he merely traps the entities, and they starve within him. And I’ve been working all this time to try to turn him off, but he’s just too defensive about that side. Every time I maneuver into position, he moves away, guarding it. And so far I haven’t been able to get the jump on him. But I’m going to have to, because once we have the detector working, he’s going to realize—”
Picard nodded knowingly. “Is everyone in engineering with us?”
Geordi shook his head. “Not yet, sir; only about half. So I can’t exactly initiate a big brawl