Possession - J.M. Dillard [93]
“And now you do?” Deanna asked.
“Yes. Instead of only relying on the Jeffries tube work stations, which are limited, we can also access empty quarters—now that you, Counselor, can advise us as to their level of occupancy.”
She smiled tiredly. “Yes, of course.”
Quickly, Data packed up his computer padds. “Then we must leave now. Alexander, can you recommend another location?”
“I always liked Jeffries tube sixteen. It’s really small.”
Yes, Mother would call this quite a motley crew, Deanna thought, almost smiling as the group moved on. The phrase evoked the memory of Lwaxana’s battered face, but this time Troi found the strength to analyze it. My mother was warning me, in spite of her pain and fear. Trying to communicate …
Perhaps there was more Lwaxana could tell her, if Troi stopped running from the image and faced it. At some point, she knew, they would be forced to stop and rest so Data could continue his work. Even now, Kyla discussed that work and how she might help him with it. Perhaps when they were secured again, Deanna would find the resolve to seek out her mother and hear all that she had to say.
“Attention all hands! Attention! This is Commander Data, I have been given command of the Enterprise …”
Skel stood before the brig cell that held Jean-Luc Picard’s huddled form and listened impassively to the warning that blared over the ship’s intercom. On every deck, klaxons sounded in a continuous red alert that La Forge had not yet been able to silence.
“Trust no one, unless you know for certain that person cannot have been infected by other crew members. Avoid physical contact and especially eye contact. Secure yourself in your quarters, and, if possible, secure your decks. Arm yourselves with phasers set on maximum stun. Be prepared to fire on any crew member, no matter their rank or relationship, who attempts to touch you. Infected crew members may cause serious physical harm to noninfected crew in an attempt to feed their entities. Do not give them this opportunity.”
The automated message droned on endlessly, but Skel had no difficulty tuning it out.
Before him, Picard crouched on elbows and knees, collapsing with laughter punctuated by grimaces of pain. Tears streamed down his sculpted, shadowed cheeks. “You can’t get him, Vulcan. You can’t! He has no feelings! And he’s smart, smarter than any of us. He’ll find a way to defeat us. We can’t win… .”
With an abrupt roar, the captain leapt to his feet and lunged viciously at the invisible forcefield. Despite himself, Skel recoiled.
For a crackling instant the forcefield gripped Picard’s convulsing body; he cried out, then fell groaning to the deck.
The entities within Skel pulled at him to touch the human, to feel Picard’s pain so that they might feed. Had it been possible to override the fused circuitry, the Vulcan might have obliged them; as it was, he could only watch as Picard gave his own entities exactly what they wanted.
If the captain of the Enterprise continued in this manner, he would die. It would be a terrible loss, but, logically, there was nothing to be done about it. Riker had recovered from his head wounds, thanks to Dr. Crusher, and would be able to convince the Vulcans that all was well aboard the Enterprise. The android had done such an excellent job of fusing the circuitry that, without his help, it would take hours for regular technicians to cut through the bulkhead and release Picard. By then, the Vulcan ship would have already arrived.
Skel had come to see Picard’s condition, to calm and convince the human to let the entities within utilize him in their plan. Even though Picard could not assist them in welcoming the Vulcan vessel, he might be freed by the time they reached the TechnoFair, and by then his help would be invaluable.
Yet something was wrong; the entities had clearly infected