The Eyes of the Beholders - A. C. Crispin [74]
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” she murmured.
“Captain,” the Klingon said, fixing Picard with a somber gaze beneath his extraordinary eyebrows, “I concur with Commander Riker’s assessment. The artifact is a most deadly weapon, and we must make every effort to destroy it immediately!”
“But we don’t know that photon torpedoes will get through the artifact’s protective field,” the captain pointed out. “And launching them at this close range would be extremely dangerous for the ship.”
“That’s true, sir,” Riker said. “But I feel we must take that risk, whatever the cost.”
Picard turned to Data. “What are your views, Commander?”
“I must point out, Captain, that I was not conscious long enough to have gained any impression of the artifact’s interior. However, if the artifact is indeed malign, a weapon, why is it that some of the dreams and hallucinations experienced have been benign—even, by report, pleasant?”
“A good point,” Picard said. “However, I don’t believe that the purpose of the artifact’s construction—as a weapon or not—is nearly as important as the effect it is having, which is overwhelmingly negative and dangerous. I am beginning to believe that taking whatever measures necessary to destroy it, whatever its original purpose, is our only course. Yes, there is considerable risk, but staying here means insanity and eventual death for all those aboard this vessel. Doctor Gavar, do you have anything to add?”
“No, Captain,” she said. “I’ll leave the tactics and decisions to you and the officers who are experienced in such matters. My main interest and duty, at this point, is returning to my patients.”
“I understand.” Picard nodded at her. “You are dismissed, Doctor.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Hastily, the Tellarite beat a retreat.
“Lieutenant La Forge, you are the only one we haven’t heard from,” Picard said. “What do you think our best course would be? From all your observations and readings, should we launch photon torpedoes at the artifact?”
The chief engineer sighed. “Yes, Captain … I believe that is probably our only choice, as things currently stand … although I have to say that my gut feeling is that they won’t have any effect—at least on the artifact. The backlash of energy could have plenty of effect on us.” His fists clenched on the tabletop before him. “But I must say that it’s a damned shame to have to destroy such beauty.”
Riker, Data, and Worf all turned in their seats to stare at La Forge incredulously. Riker was the first to say it. “Beauty? Geordi, did that thing get to you? It was terrible over there! How can you call it beautiful?”
“I agree that it was terrible over there,” La Forge conceded. “It nearly drove me insane, too, remember!” His mouth tightened stubbornly. “But I know what I saw. The images on the walls, the flowing colors, the designs and patterns—they were the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I could have looked at them for hours.”
Picard leaned forward intently. “Mister La Forge,” he said, “I want you to describe as accurately as you can exactly what you saw over there.”
Geordi gestured helplessly, then shrugged. “Captain, it was literally indescribable. There were images of things, and some of them were the same. They flowed, and moved at times, and some of them were still. The images were on the walls, and some on the ceilings. They were different colors from any I’d ever seen before, but they looked beautiful to me.”
As if realizing how incoherent he sounded, he sighed again. “I’m guessing, of course, but I think the images that were repeated the most often were the artifact’s builders. They had bodies, but not like anything I ever saw before. They were like … elongated triangles made from different kinds of crystals, or metals, because they were shiny. And they had these streamers coming off them, different for each one. Each