Requiem - Michael Jan Friedman [22]
Riker considered the star chart. “Is there any chance the captain could have been transported into the future?”
The engineer shook his head. “No. Not according to our analysis of the subspace transporter circuits. If he was transported through time at all, it would have been into the past.”
“So we’ve got a search on our hands?” Riker asked.
“A pretty big one, sir,” Geordi replied.
The first officer nodded. “Mr. La Forge, if the Enterprise executes the search, can you get the alien transporter going well enough to retrieve the captain from the past—if that’s where he is?”
Geordi thought for a moment in silence. “Given a little time, I think I could figure it out.”
“Would going back to the station be safe?” Riker asked.
The engineer hesitated again. “Assuming we went over by shuttle instead of by transporter, I think we could avoid setting off the equipment. Power is building up again on the station, but it’s happening very slowly. We’d have plenty of time to get off if there was any trouble.”
Riker bit the inside of his mouth. “All right. Prepare a team and the equipment you’ll need. Just make sure you take every possible safety precaution.”
He turned to Data. “How many star systems are in the search area?”
“One hundred and seventy-four, sir,” said the android. “Of course, we should be able to eliminate most of those as uninhabitable. But before we continue, I should point out that given the size of even a single sector, the chances that the captain was transported to a planet, let alone a habitable one, are …” Data hesitated for a moment as he performed his calculations. “Very remote indeed.”
Riker’s hopes fell.
“Hold on, Data,” Geordi said. “Don’t forget the aliens who built the station had life support requirements similar to ours. They probably had safety devices to prevent the transport signal from depositing a living being anywhere but on a habitable world.”
But the android wasn’t satisfied with that response. “We have already observed that many of the station’s systems, including some of its safety routines, were not functioning. We have no reason to believe—”
The first officer cut him short. “Mr. Data,” he said. “It is my firm belief that Captain Picard is on a class M world somewhere in this sector. Any other situation would be unacceptable. We will search every possible system until we find him. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” the android replied evenly.
Riker cleared his throat. “Then the only remaining question is how quickly we can execute the search. Mr. Data?”
“I will have to actually plot the search pattern to be certain,” the android told him. “But I would estimate at least ten days to two weeks.”
“And we’ve got less than one week,” Geordi muttered.
The first officer stood up, ending the meeting. “Then we had better get lucky and find him before it’s up.”
Leaving the meeting, Geordi was already making a list in his head: portable generators, portable computer, diagnostic kit, subspace transmitter, and general food and supplies for as much as a few weeks.
He entered the turbolift with Beverly, Troi, and Barclay. No one said a word, which gave Geordi a chance to work out the logistics of his mission.
The makeup of the team … that was a problem. It wouldn’t pay to take very many of his people with him. They’d just be tripping over each other. Besides, he wanted to minimize the number of people he exposed to risk.
Earlier, he had held a brief staff meeting to tell the crew about Varley’s death. His people were professionals, but the chief engineer knew the news had taken its toll on his staff. Undoubtedly, they were nervous: Well, he certainly could understand that. The idea of spending an extended period back on the station gave him the creeps,