The Eyes of the Beholders - A. C. Crispin [70]
Moments later, he thought, I will live for thousands of years. I can be destroyed, but, barring injury, my mind and body will endure indefinitely, given proper replacement parts.
He thought of the humans again. But they will die. Another thing that sets us apart.
Data looked up at the sky, wondering where their ship was now. Would they keep their promise and return? Or would he be abandoned here, on a dead world, left to exist for centuries until some vital circuit failed and his consciousness was erased? The notion of that happening filled him with a fervent wish that it would be otherwise. He did not want to be left alone. He desired companionship. He knew that he had been made to be useful, not to exist in solitary idleness.
He spoke aloud, gazing up at the sky. “Do not leave me alone … please. I wish to go with you.”
Thinking of the humans aboard their ship, talking, sharing companionship, duties, and a purpose in life, Data experienced for the first time the thought that would characterize and define his entire existence. I wish I could truly be one of them. I wish I could be human …
“Just one more tap on this loose connection … there! That should do it!” said a familiar voice. Data opened his eyes and found Geordi La Forge and Doctor Selar regarding him intently. “Data, can you hear me, buddy?” asked Geordi anxiously.
“I hear you, Geordi,” Data said, and he watched La Forge’s dark features break into a broad, relieved grin. Even Lieutenant Selar’s normally expressionless face relaxed slightly.
“Great!” La Forge said. “Man, you had me worried there for a moment, Data! I thought we had you all put back together, but you still hadn’t regained consciousness. Scared the pants off me, until Selar saw this one connection that wasn’t quite touching.”
The android ignored his friend’s words as he realized something extraordinary. “Geordi,” he said urgently, putting a hand on the engineer’s arm, “I had a dream!”
“You what?” La Forge’s mouth dropped open. “Is that possible?”
“It happened,” Data said wonderingly, remembering. “I dreamt of when I first awakened on my home planet, where Doctor Soong made me. I relived the entire experience, just as it happened!”
“Do you think it was the artifact?” La Forge said, still struggling to comprehend the notion.
“More likely the loose connection,” Selar opined. “It stimulated a specific location in your memory core, Data.”
“However it happened,” the android said, “it did happen. I shared the experience of the rest of the crew. This time”—he tightened his grip on La Forge’s arm (careful, as always, not to exert too much pressure)—”I was not set apart. I shared the experience of so many humans aboard this ship. I reacted in a human fashion.”
Geordi shrugged. “I guess you did. Tell me, Data, was it a good dream or a nightmare?”
“It was a very good dream,” Data said with profound seriousness. “Dreaming it made me realize how far I have come in the twenty-eight years since then. Unlike most of the other beings on this ship, I must be grateful to the artifact for giving me this glimpse into the past.”
Chapter Ten
THERE WAS DANGER, and it was all around him. The entity that in the outside world knew itself as William T. Riker was acutely aware of the danger, and the necessity of staying hidden, of remaining still, safe for the moment in this dark, secret place. He was not entirely sure where he was … all he knew was that the things that had driven him into this refuge, this hiding place, had not found him. For the moment, he was safe. But he also knew that if he tried to leave, the things would get him. They would devour him, swallow him whole, and he would be gone forever. Even though part of him chafed at hiding, because he was someone who had always been courageous and had faced danger head-on, the tiny rational part of him that remained