Synthesis - James Swallow [0]
“I am everything this ship is, every fragment of knowledge and data. And you are my crew. This will not do,” it said. There was a swirl of virtual pixels, and the hologram melted into the shape of an attractive human woman. Her hair was dark, her eyes bright with intelligence; she wore a formfitting Starfleet uniform in command red, without insignia or rank. She smiled. “This will suffice.”
The captain’s eyes narrowed. “Why have you chosen to look like that?”
The avatar appeared confused. “Does this aspect trouble you?”
Riker shot the others a look. “The woman… her name is Minuet.”
Vale got the sense that she was missing something. “If you’re part of this ship, if you know who we are, then you have to know that your… creation presents a concern for us.”
The hologram nodded. “I am not a danger, Commander. I can maintain all normal shipboard functions without interruption. Currently, four thousand eight—”
Riker stepped forward. “You recognize my authority as the commanding officer of this vessel, yes?”
The avatar nodded. “I do, sir.”
“So if I give you an order, you’re going to follow it.”
“To the best of my ability,” came the reply.
Riker nodded and turned away. “You’re dismissed.”
“I—” The hologram broke off and then nodded. “Aye, sir.” With a whisper of virtual light, the avatar faded into nothing.
“This complicates things,” said Troi.
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STAR TREK TITAN™
SYNTHESIS
JAMES SWALLOW
Based upon
Star Trek® and
Star Trek: The Next Generation ®
created by Gene Roddenberry
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First Pocket Books paperback edition November 2009
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Cover design by Alan Dingman; cover art by Cliff Nielsen
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-1-4391-0914-4
ISBN 978-1-4391-2349-2 (ebook)
For Marco,
with thanks
PROLOGUE
Input 68363-28583-29548-2939. [2G White-Blue] Resume sublight motion from subspace shear vector. Defold operation complete. Error Parity 0.04%.
“Clockset Check”
Working…
Confirm beacon ident. Relative spatiotemporal locative range is nominal.
“Clockset Resume”
Scan coordinates reached. Commence deep pattern sweep.
Working…
Working…
Working…
“Alert Condition”
Processing. Go to Status 1.
Energetic barrier raised. Power to offensive systems.
++WARNING++