Slings and Arrows 01_ Sea of Troubles - J. Steven York [32]
“Very well, Mr. La Forge. At least carrying the chip may limit its mobility.”
La Forge’s foot bumped against something on the floor. He reached down and gingerly picked up Data’s head access panel. Again he tapped his combadge. “Security, send a team to Mr. Data’s quarters. I believe he may have been attacked by the Changeling. I’ll meet you there.”
He grabbed a tool kit just as Huff returned, a distressed look on her face.
“I’m sorry, sir. He got into a Jefferies tube and was gone. I swear, I’ve been with him every moment since he left his quarters. I didn’t- “
La Forge held up his hand to cut the woman off. “He fooled me too, Lieutenant. Let’s go find the real Data.”
Picard arrived at Data’s quarters to find Data, or at least his torso and head, propped up on the floor. The panel was missing from the side of his head, and flashing and flickering circuitry could be seen inside, but Data was at least operational.
La Forge bent over him, working diligently to reattach his right arm.
Data looked up sheepishly. “It only hurts when I laugh, Captain.” Then he laughed nervously at his own joke. He hesitated a moment before saying, “Ow.”
Looking up, La Forge said, “We found him partially disassembled, parts stuffed under his computer console and in various hiding places around the cabin. The Changeling took his head access panel, and used it to help fool me into believing he was the real Data.” La Forge looked down at him. “How did he disable you, Data?”
Data frowned. “I am embarrassed to report. I was…playing with my emotion chip.”
La Forge shook his head. “What?”
“I was moving it. Manually. The chip is fused into my circuitry, but it wiggles. This is both disturbing and fascinating.”
Looking up at the captain, La Forge chuckled. “It must be like having a loose tooth. Listen, Data. We can’t remove the chip, but I can lock it down a little better for you.”
“That would be appreciated, Geordi.” Data continued. “In any case, the access panel was open, and I was preoccupied. The Changeling appeared from under my computer console in liquid form and actually entered my body through the open panel. Once inside, it was able to disable my main power relay, but before I stopped functioning, I could feel it. The sensation was- ” Data actually shuddered.
“Data,” Picard said, “before you were disabled, were you able to complete the special project I assigned you?”
“Yes, sir. I have created a false shakedown log, convincing in every detail, and yet inaccurate enough to be essentially useless for strategic purposes. It can be accessed through my console, file name ‘booby prize.’” He tilted his head. “Funny, no?”
Picard didn’t have time to be amused. “Geordi, I’ll need this file transferred to an isolinear chip identical to the one the Changeling took.”
La Forge frowned in puzzlement. “But, Captain, he already has the logs.”
“Just do it.”
The engineer stood and stepped over to Data’s console, opening a panel to expose the chips inside. It took him only a moment to transfer the file.
Just as La Forge finished, his combadge chirped. “Commander La Forge, this is Ensign Jarka. We’ve got more problems down in engineering. The Changeling must have gotten to the shield power relays before leaving here. They’ve been splattered with some kind of acid, and we’re losing shield power. We’re already down four percent, and it’s just going to get worse.”
La Forge slammed his fist against the side of the console. “Captain, there’s no way we can replace those relays without dropping shields, and with the star becoming more active, the only way we can do that is to move away and out of the nebula.”
“Now that it has its prize, the Changeling is attempting to force us to leave the nebula.”
“Doing a good job of it too, sir. At this rate, we’re going to lose shields in an hour or so no matter what we do.”
“Finish repairing Data. Data, when you’re functional, get to engineering and do