The Farther Shore - Christie Golden [16]
“And Starfleet won’t allow them to regenerate,” said Janeway bitterly. “Seems the outcome is inevitable then.”
[46] “Not necessarily,” said Kaz. “And your Doctor—I told you I feared for him. I was unfortunately correct. It seems that the EMH Mark Ones don’t really need surgical and medical knowledge to mine dilithium and haul rocks, so they’re going to be reprogrammed with only the most basic subroutines. Your Doctor is going to be the first so reprogrammed. Montgomery wants to set an example and send a warning to those who would participate in the HoloRevolution.”
He turned and looked at her at last, and his blue eyes were filled with sympathy. “If he were human,” he said softly, “we’d call this a lobotomy.”
Despite herself, Janeway’s hand flew to her mouth. It took her a moment to recover from the full blow of Kaz’s predictions of the fate of three friends.
“Why are you telling me this?” she said at last, regaining her composure.
“Because I took a vow before I joined Starfleet to harm no one,” said Kaz. “I won’t sit by and watch them do this to three innocent people. I can’t.”
“You can’t get them released,” said Janeway, hoping he’d contradict her.
“No,” he replied. “But I can get them out. With your help.”
She scrutinized his face. “You’re taking a great risk, Doctor,” she said. “You could be court-martialed for this, barred from practicing medicine.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Part of me has died before doing what it felt was right. Sitting in a comfortable Starfleet prison for the rest of my life pales in comparison. Even if I die, the symbiont lives on. So in a sense, I’ll go on. Life and freedom are deeply [47] precious to me, as they are to any living creature, but they’re not quite what they are to humans. Joined Trills have a bit of a longer view. Besides, you run the same risks as I do, Admiral.”
“But they’re my crew,” she said. “They’re my friends. They’d do the same for me.”
“From what I’ve seen, I believe they would.”
Janeway hesitated, then said, “I don’t suppose you’re particularly close with Harry Kim?”
“Lieutenant Kim?” At her nod, he continued. “I examined him, of course, and we chatted a bit, as you and I did. But no, outside of that one encounter we’d never met. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” She’d been hoping to learn that Kaz might be Harry’s mysterious contact, but no such luck. She switched the subject quickly. “Radara and Gradak would be proud of you.”
His lips twitched. “You’ve been checking up on me.”
“I’m willing to bet you’ve been doing the same, or else you’d never be walking along the beach with me having coffee and proposing a jailbreak,” she replied.
He heaved a mock sigh. “Guilty as charged.”
“So, Dr. Kaz, what’s your plan?”
When Janeway returned to her apartment, she saw that her computer light was blinking. She mused on the fact that although she was technically not on assignment, she was almost busier than she had been aboard Voyager.
When the gold-skinned, yellow-eyed face appeared on her viewscreen, her heart leaped.
“Good morning, Admiral Janeway,” said Data. [48] “Captain Picard has granted me shore leave for the next ten days. I am looking forward to meeting you.”
Nothing more. No indication of whether or not he was game for the plan—which, of course, had suddenly and quite drastically been changed. Just a willingness to meet.
Fair enough. She really couldn’t ask for commitment from someone she’d never met, especially given the present circumstances. She sent him a reply, asking him to come to her apartment at 1800 hours. She then began firing messages off to her former crewmen.
When Commander Data arrived, he seemed surprised to find that Janeway was not alone in her apartment. Nonetheless, his expression was pleasant as he looked around at the expectant faces.
“Greetings!” he said.
Janeway made the rounds, introducing Chakotay, Paris, Kim, and Tuvok. Everyone, of course, had heard of Commander Data, but only Tuvok had actually met him. Data politely shook hands with the humans and gave