The Farther Shore - Christie Golden [66]
“I see,” said Seven. She exchanged glances with Icheb, who swallowed and nodded. Montgomery was puzzled. All three of the sickbay residents looked strangely solemn and resolved. He was now sorry he had doubted Grady. Clearly, something was indeed going on here.
He went to the door and motioned two security guards to enter. Normally he and Grady would be enough to handle two weak prisoners, but Montgomery was alert and wary. The guards aimed their phasers at the two Borg.
[195] “That won’t be necessary,” said Icheb. “We will ... accompany you freely.”
They rose, and to Montgomery’s further confusion, they clasped hands. Followed by the guards, Seven and Icheb strode out the door of sickbay—and disappeared.
Chapter 17
THE GUARDS SPRANG into action, calling for reinforcements and sprinting out into the corridor. Montgomery whirled on Kaz.
“What’s going on here?”
“They’re gone,” Kaz said softly, sadly.
“Gone where?” Montgomery bellowed. Kaz didn’t answer, but averted his eyes and stared at the floor.
A dreadful suspicion took hold of Montgomery. He looked at the small red lights that ran along the floorboard of sickbay.
“Computer, locate Dr. Jarem Kaz.”
“Dr. Jarem Kaz is not in the facility,” replied the computer.
“You’re the EMH,” said Grady, his voice filled with shock.
[197] The EMH who bore Kaz’s face nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Are you going to delete my program?”
Delete my program. They’re gone. “Seven and Icheb weren’t really here,” said Montgomery, slowly, working it out as he spoke. “Those were just holograms. And when they left sickbay, their programs were deleted, weren’t they?”
“I have been instructed not to say anything,” the EMH replied.
“You will,” Montgomery said grimly. “Grady, keep talking to him. I’ve got another clever EMH to interrogate ... if he’s still here.”
When he reached the Doctor’s cell, Montgomery decided it was time for a good bluff. He strode boldly up to the hologram, and nodded to the guard. The force field was deactivated.
“Seven, Icheb, and Dr. Kaz are gone.”
The hologram arched an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”
“They’ve disappeared. Replaced by holograms. Know anything about that?”
“No I don’t,” the hologram replied, though he added archly, “but I can’t say I’m sorry. If only I, too, could escape.”
“I think you did.”
The hologram stared at him and spread his arms. “It appears to me as if I’m still unfortunately fully present and accounted for.”
“What was your daughter’s name?”
The hologram stared. “Admiral, are you well? I’m a hologram, I couldn’t possibly—”
“Answer me! What was her name?”
[198] He had been right. The hologram that had replaced the Doctor was doing a fine job of imitating the Doctor’s facial expressions and snide comments, but there had been no time to completely fill him in on the Doctor’s developments over the last seven years. Fortunately, operating under the conventional wisdom of “know thy enemy,” Montgomery had been brought up to speed on the Doctor.
“Elizabeth,” it replied, trying to look confident as it took this wild stab in the dark.
“Nice try,” said Montgomery. “It was Belle.”
The hologram sagged. “He had a family?”
“Made up a holographic program. Little girl died. Lieutenant,” he said, turning to the guard, “I’ll need you to deactivate this hologram and download its program. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to—”
The blow caught him off guard. He stumbled and recovered just in time to see Lieutenant Garris drop silently to the floor from the Doctor’s Vulcan nerve pinch. Montgomery drew his phaser before his brain could tell him it was futile. The hologram raced for the door, and disappeared as Seven and Icheb had done.
“Suicide run,” Montgomery said aloud. But to use that term would mean that a hologram had a life it could choose to sacrifice, wouldn’t it?
Montgomery shook his head. Time to ponder such niceties later. Right now, he needed to shut the facility down. The whole place could conceivably be riddled with holograms.
The hologram posing as Robinson jumped. She had felt a slight