The Devil's Heart - Carmen Carter [16]
“I’d like to see the team profiles again.”
Data had kept the files cued for instant access. On reflection, he realized that this was an example of anticipating the captain’s request.
Picard leaned over Data’s shoulder and called the names out one by one. “Skorret …
Sohle … Sorren …”
Data was careful to run the biographical profiles at a speed that would accommodate the captain’s slower neural responses. The android’s own positronic brain had already committed all the information on the archaeological team to memory after one scan, but he accepted the fact that Humans required this continual review process to fully assimilate new information.
“Soth … T’Challo … Tessin …”
The lagging pace was never boring, however, because Data could occupy himself with alternate sensory input, such as the conversations of the bridge crew passing by the science station; he could also generate simulated poker hands to calculate odds and refine his betting strategy; or he could compare various renditions of musical compositions to better understand the aesthetic impact of a conductor’s style. At the moment, he was doing all three of the above.
“Run the Vulcan distress call again,” said Picard.
“Yes, Captain.”
Data cued the transmission to begin with the archaeology team’s identification frame, written in both Vulcan and Federation Standard.
This was followed by the image of a Vulcan male with the long face and high cheekbones characteristic of his species; although exact age was always difficult to determine in such a long-lived race, he appeared to be less than a half-century old.
He was dressed in a dusty worksuit; the ruins of an ancient alien edifice served as his backdrop.
“I am Sorren, assistant to our expedition leader, T’Sara. It is the consensus of the archaeological team that T’Sara is in need of medical attention. Her behavior is growing increasingly erratic she is prone to outbursts of emotion and persists in …”
[crackle] …
“There,” said Picard, with a jabbing motion of his hand. Data responded instantly, freezing the badly fragmented image on the screen. “That short burst of static obliterates part of Sorren’s message. From the context, it appears to be an elaboration of what constitutes T’Sara’s erratic behavior.” The hand dropped and Data continued the review.
“… is my belief these symptoms are characteristic of Bendii’s syndrome. I request immediate transport so that T’Sara can receive appropriate medical treatment before her condition deteriorates any further.”
Data stopped the recording and waited for the captain’s next command.
“That missing segment was unimportant while Sorren was alive,” said Picard with a thoughtful rub of his chin. “But now it may be our only clue as to what happened in the camp these last few days. Is there any way to recover the information?”
“If the team followed standard communications procedures, an intact original would be stored in the memory banks of the subspace radio transmitter. Unfortunately, the equipment damage erased all records of previous activity.”
“Just as the expedition’s data files were destroyed,” said Picard. “If this vandalism is an example of T’Sara’s “erratic” behavior, she was also extremely methodical in its execution.”
Data added two new tracks of activity to his mental processes. In one of them, he analyzed the captain’s voice and identified the stress pattern as indicative of irritation, suspicion, and curiosity; of all the crew, Data found Picard’s complex emotional states the most challenging to unravel. The second train of thought led to an announcement. “Captain, I have identified the static interference as a substantial burst of Hovorka radiation.”
Given the captain’s lack of reaction, Data belatedly realized that the conundrum was not self-evident.
“Hovorka emissions are generated during the collapse of brown dwarf stars, but there are no such sources for this radiation anywhere in this sector or in the area stretching between this solar system and Starbase 193.”
“Then how can you account for its presence?”
“I cannot.