Jean-Luc Picard leaned forward in the Captain's chair, staring at Peridius IV. The planet was a beautiful shade of azure with white encompassing it, allowing small strips of azure to shine through. The Enterprise had been called to Peridius IV due to the unexpected disappearance of the Excelsior two days ago. The last reported position of the Excelsior was in orbit of Peridius IV.
"Lieutenant Commander Data, what can you tell us about Peridius IV?" Picard asked in his authoritative voice.
"Peridius IV is a Class-L planet with no known inhabitants. The planet has one major land mass and scattered islands in an ocean of the substances ammonia and hydrogen. The majority of the land is barren wasteland. The atmosphere and environment are not suitable to sustain humanoid life for long periods of time," Data said.
"Scan the planet for life forms," Picard said.
Data's hands flew across the control panel at his station in fluent movement. The closest thing that an android could show to surprise crossed his face. "The scans are inconclusive, Captain."
"Elaborate on that," Picard said, becoming very concerned for the Excelsior. Captain Higgins was a good friend of his and had been since their days together at the Academy.
"There are several areas masked from scans by advanced shielding systems. As well as a system of underground caves on the main landmass," Data responded.
"Would it endanger humanoid crew members to beam down to the planet?" Picard asked.
"I would recommend myself as an ideal away team member. Vulcans are the prime humanoid candidate for an away mission," Data replied.
"Data, report to Transporter Room 3. Three Vulcan crew members will join you there," Picard said.
Data stood and walked from the operations console, into the turbolift. He arrived in Transporter Room 3 shortly there after, finding a Vulcan science officer, medical officer and security officer waiting there. He walked to the transporter and inputted some coordinates into it. He approached the transporter pad and stood in the front left position.
"Beam us down, Chief O'Brien," Data said.
The four crew members shimmered away in a blue light and appeared on the planet's surface soon after. The area the tetrad beamed into was covered by reddish rocks and completely void of life. Data pulled out his tricorder and began scanning the area for the shields. The Vulcan officers were doing the same.
"The shield system is 8.25 kilometers to the west," T'Lera, the tall female science officer said.
Data nodded. They began to walk west, tricorders still trained in the direction of the shield system. After walking eight kilometers, the shield system disappeared off of his tricorder.
"The shields have vanished from my tricorder readings," Data said.
"As they have from mine," Nerok, the male medical officer said.
The other two Vulcan officers confirmed that the shields were no longer on their tricorders.
"There are several possibilities. The tricorders could be malfunctioning due to the shield systems or some other outside factor. The shield systems may have actually lowered or simply modulated to a frequency that our tricorders cannot read," T'Lera said.
"I suggest caution as we move forward," Data said, returning his tricorder to its holster and drawing his phaser.
After taking about ten steps forward, the three Vulcans fell onto the ground unconscious and a loud whining sound filled the thin air.
Picard walked up to the operations console and looked over Ensign Quentin's shoulder, the young man that replaced Data when he went onto the away mission.
"Captain Picard, the away team has disappeared off of sensors!" Quentin said, apparently very shocked.
"Recalibrate the sensors, Ensign," Picard said very calmly.
Quentin quickly recalibrated the sensors, but it had no effect. "The away team is still not on the sensors."
"Lt. Worf, open a channel to Lieutenant Commander Data," Picard said.
"Aye sir," Worf replied and tried to contact the away team several times. "There is no response."
"Captain, the shields have also vanished from the sensors. The four officers are still not on sensors," Quentin said from the operations console.
Picard walked back to the Captain's chair and seated himself on its edge. He turned to Troi. "Can you sense the Vulcan officers?"
"No. But the planet seems to be interfering with my empathy," Troi replied.
After a moment of thought, Picard called a Senior Officers meeting in the Observation Lounge.
Data found himself in a cavern alone. He looked around himself, turning in a complete circle, his phaser still drawn and ready to fire at a moment's notice. He reached his left hand up and clicked his commbadge. "Data to Enterprise...Enterprise please respond." After several vain attempts to contact the Enterprise, he stopped trying and pulled out his tricorder. It was not functioning. He turned his phaser down to the lowest stun setting and attempted to fire it. Nothing happened.
Data turned around and saw the three Vulcan officers behind him. They said nothing, just stood there silently. "Lieutenant T'Lera?... Ensign Nerok?...Ensign T'Barik?" Data asked the trio into the near darkness. He reached his hand forward and touched the Vulcans. They did not respond for a moment.
"Lieutenant Commander, we have discovered the shield source," T'Lera said.
"Why did you not respond immediately?" Data inquired.
"The thin atmosphere is difficult to breathe. We had just walked over a kilometer. I required a moment to return to a state in which I could talk," T'Lera replied.
"Ah," Data said, accepting the answer T'Lera gave.
"Follow us," T'Barik said, pulling out his phaser.
"Phasers and tricorders are not functional," Data said to the young ensign.
The ensign returned his phaser to its holster and walked forward with T'Lera and Nerok. Data followed the trio, still a bit wary of them. He moved it to the back of his mind, excusing it as due to extended exposure to the atmosphere.
Picard sat down at the head of the long, black, reflective table in the Observation Lounge. Beverly Crusher, Geordi LaForge, Will Riker, Deanna Troi and Worf were also seated at the table. He looked down into it and saw a reflection of himself, his subordinate officers and the planet through the outside window.
"As you know, the Excelsior disappeared two days ago without a trace. The last known position of the Excelsior was Peridius IV, a Class-L supposedly uninhabited planet. Four Enterprise officers beam down to Peridius IV. The sensors can no longer detect them, though, and we cannot establish contact with them. The mysterious shield system that we detected before is now also not on the sensors," Picard said.
"I've looked at the sensor readings of the shield system, and I haven't seen anything like it before," Geordi said, slightly shaking his head. "And now that it's been deactivated, we should be able to detect a source with the sensors. But nothing that could possibly provide enough power to operate those shields has shown up on sensors."
"Assign a team to study the shield readings and find possible sources. We must be missing something," Picard told Geordi.
"I've already got a team on it," Geordi replied.
"We have to hurry. The atmosphere won't sustain the Vulcans for more than a few more hours, even with their high endurance and physiology," Crusher said, a look of urgency and concern in her blue eyes.
"The away team could be in the cave system," Riker said. "They could have detected a power source and gone underground to deactivate it. That would explain everything. The shields are now deactivated, and the away team is not on sensors because they are too far underground to be detected. I suggest we do a shuttle fly-over. The shuttle sensors, if calibrated correctly, could detect Data's components. Even deep underground."
Picard considered Riker's proposition carefully before saying, "We should wait until we have conclusive evidence, Number One. I don't want to put anyone else in danger. Dismissed."
The crew members left one by one until Picard was left in the Observation Lounge alone. He looked out at the stars and Peridius IV. He had a feeling he could not explain, a feeling there was something more to all of this that no one was seeing.
Data and the trio of Vulcans walked deeper into the caverns. It began to get progressively darker until there was no light remaining. Due to his android construction, Data could see perfectly in the dark. He knew that his Vulcan counterparts could not.
"Wait a moment," he said, stopping to pick up two rocks and a strange stick-like object from the floor. It was a dead alien plant of some sort. 'This planet must have been home to life at one point,' he thought. He struck the rocks together over the large stick, and it lighted. The cave was instantly illuminated.
"Thank you," T'Lera said.
They continued walking in silence. Data noticed the cave was beginning to change slightly in structure. The walls and floor were becoming smoother and more consistent in color. The air was becoming colder and much harder to breathe. He accessed Vulcan physiology and the extremes of what they could be exposed to and remain conscious. He found that the trio of Vulcans should be unconscious and possibly dead at this point.
At that moment the realization came to him. If the tricorder and phaser were not working due to the conditions, he may also be malfunctioning. Someone or something could be manipulating his neural network, causing him to see, hear and touch the equivalents of hallucinations. The Vulcans could also be holograms. There were many possibilities, but these being the same officers he beamed down with was definitely not one of them.
'My first priority is to find a way to contact the Enterprise,' he thought, removing his commbadge and examining it closely with his superior android vision. It seemed to be in perfect working order, but he had already learned that everything in this cavern was not what it seemed. He was wary of the Vulcans' every move, watching them intently as they progressed.
The cavern was beginning to widen out. Data was not sure what he was expecting to see. A power source for the odd shield readings or the center of an advanced alien race were near the top of the possibilities list. The Vulcans abruptly stopped as they reached a new chamber, while Data was still not within view of it. They turned around and began to physically urge Data away.
"We have made a wrong turn somewhere. It is a mere dead end. We must go back," T'Lera said, much to urgently for the emotionless all logical Vulcan she supposedly was.
"Yes, Lieutenant Commander. We must head back," Nerok said, just as urgently.
Data knew it was the time to ignore the officers. He turned around, pushing past them and stepped into the chamber. The sight that he beheld caused him to halt in his steps. This was definitely neither of his top possibilities for what he had expected to see, nor like anything he had ever seen before.
Picard's silent contemplation in the Observation Lounge were suddenly interrupted by the door opening and an obviously very disturbed officer entering the room. He was a chief petty officer, Picard noticed, and wore a golden uniform. 'Transporter Chief O'Brien,' he thought to himself.
"Captain, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I have made a discovery I believe you would like to hear in person," O'Brien said.
"Go on," Picard replied, curious to what could have upset the officer so much.
"I just discovered the remains of Ensign Nerok and Lieutenants T'Lera and T'Berik in the transporter buffer. They never made it down to the planet," he said solemnly, looking down at the deck plate below him.
"Did Data?" Picard asked.
"I have found no traces of him, only the usual pattern in the buffer," O'Brien said. "As far as I can tell, he is down on the planet still."
"Thank you, Mr. O'Brien," Picard said, standing up and following O'Brien outside of the Observation Lounge.
He pressed his commbadge and said, "Lieutenant Commander LaForge, please concentrate adjusting the sensors to find Commander Data, but don't forget about the Vulcans."
"Aye sir," LaForge replied via commbadge.
Picard seated himself in the Captain's chair, leaning forward pensively as he steepled his hands over his face. None of this seemed to have a positive outlook. He was hoping O'Brien was wrong, and he had lost no crew members. It always effected him personally when he lost crew members. The worst part of his duties was informing the families, even if they were Vulcan and did not express emotions, about the death of their kin. He began to plan out what he would tell each family, in case things did not take a turn for the better.
Data was shocked to behold a white room, not cave chamber, that held many large pieces of equipment, most identical. The walls caved in to hold what appeared to be about two hundred large stasis chambers. They were cylindrical golden bubbles that were translucent. Intricate verdant vine-like strips intertwined across the chambers' tops and bottoms, occasionally dipping down into the middle. He saw the silhouettes of many bodies in the vast majority of them. They were of all species, some Data did not recognize. One chamber was empty, opened and appeared to be ready for use or just had finished being used. Several purple aliens, about three to four feet tall and stout, covered in a thick, unkempt coat of fur with nearly fluorescent green eyes huddled around a long gurney-like table in the center of the room. They picked up pieces of equipment from a small rectangular table that was composed of a glowing metallic substance.
Data cautiously approached the table in total silence, very curious to what the aliens were so engrossed with. He moved extremely close, and one of the aliens turned around to face him. He stopped dead in his tracks, not moving at all. The alien just turned back around to his work. 'He did not seem to see me,' Data thought, intrigued. He was soon even closer to the gurney, close enough to see over the aliens' heads.
Geordi LaForge continued working in engineering and around the Enterprise on adjusting the sensors to detect Data and the Vulcans, if they were still alive. He was not only doing this as a duty assignment. It meant much more than that to him. Data was, and had been since the beginning of their tour on the Enterprise, his best friend. He had always pictured Data outliving him by centuries.
"Lieutenant Commander LaForge," Geordi heard over his commbadge, surprising him out of his thoughts of Data. "Please report to Transporter Room Three."
"Aye, sir," he replied and told his engineering second in command to begin working where he had left off.
After arriving in the transporter room, he saw a few officers at the console, all looking very confused. He moved closer to them and looked over their shoulders. He had to bite his tongue to hold the tears back. The readings read that Data had not made it down to the planet either. The away team they had picked up was residual traces, enhanced by the planets high content of beryllium.
"Are you sure this isn't just a malfunction?" Geordi asked.
"We haven't found any malfunctions in the transporter or sensors," Higgins, a transporter officer replied.
"We should run some tests. Let's beam down some objects," Geordi said.
"We've begun tests already," Carter, a science officer, said as two security officer carried in several large empty metal containers for more tests.
"Sit them by the transporter pad," Higgins said authoritatively.
The security officers placed the bins by the pad and left the room quickly. Geordi gestured for Carter to follow him and help him put one of the containers on the pad. They did this together and then stepped off, but stood close by.
"Beam it down to the coordinates the away team was beamed to," Geordi said.
As the transporter was beaming it down, he saw flecks of magenta that he had never seen before in the particle stream. He adjusted his VISOR quickly, but they were still there. The exact same readings returned for the container as had the away team. It was a very strange coincidence. They performed a second test, and Geordi still saw the magenta flecks. The same results came of it. He had an odd feeling about all of this. He decided, after this next test, he would make some transporter modifications.
Data saw himself on the gurney, stripped out of his uniform, being experimented on and dissected by the aliens. They had fortunately not managed to do much along the lines of dissection, however there were several thick needle-like apparatuses protruding from his synthetic skin. He reached out to touch himself, and his hand went straight through. 'The elemental composition of the planet must be allowing my mind to wander around the facility,' he thought. 'If I am the mind, I should be able to make the body work according to my commands.' He attempted this for the first without success. The second time, though, he caused his arm to fly up, knocking one of the aliens into another. It was the domino effect and soon all of the aliens were toppled over on the floor. He made his body stand and then walk away quickly, the aliens in pursuit. The needles within his skin touched the circuitry, causing the task of escaping them to be much more difficult.
The pursuit went through the caves, the aliens closely behind all the way. He was not aimlessly searching for the surface. With his mind, he could sense altitude changes. He simply headed what appeared to be up. He soon sighted a light in the distance. He reached it and saw it was an exit to the outside. He moved his body towards the outside to discover it was a forcefield. The aliens approached quickly, in a hostile manner, with assorted weapons ready for use in their paws.
Geordi went over the readings several times. He began to run the fourth test. The object was beamed down, and all went as had before. When the attempt to beam the container back up began, it succeeded. He went over the readings and discovered that the trace readings of the 'dead' container were in the transporter log. His suspicions were confirmed. The entire away team, unless something unthinkable had happened to them on the planet, were still down there.
The mystery at hand now, though, was how the transporter readings were being altered. The magenta flecks seemed to have something to do with it. He assumed it was either outside interference from someone or something down on the planet. There were also other possibilities, but that seemed the most plausible.
The transporter room quickly alerted Captain Picard of their discovery, and a plan was beginning to be formulated.
Data was cornered before he sighted a small box on the cave wall to his right. He made his body pull one of the needles from his skin and feign to attack the aliens. They slightly jumped back as he hurled the needle at the small box, which he hoped controlled the forcefield. Due to his great physical strength, the forcefield shorted out. He caused his body to run for it. As he began running, his mind united with his body again. He knew his destination, the beam down point, and headed there at break neck speed. If the Enterprise had departed, he knew he would not survive.
Geordi had figured out what was causing the readings on the transporter: a virus sent up from the planet when the away team was beamed down. It was not very advanced, but it was very hard to detect unless one was looking for it. He would have never even seen it if it had not been for his VISOR, which picked up the wavelength it was visibly on. He had eradicated it and found a way to filter it out with the biofilters.
The transporter room suddenly picked up Data on sensors by the beam in point. They were all very surprised and did not move for a moment.
"Beam him up!" Geordi exclaimed.
Data was beamed up to the Enterprise. Geordi was nothing short of shocked by what he saw. He was expecting Data to be a bit scathed by the planet, but not totally naked with needles coming out of his skin at all angles. If it had been a different situation, he would have laughed.
"Go get him a uniform," Geordi said to Carter who left accordingly. "Are you all right, Data?"
"I am functioning within parameters, though I would suggest that a scan be run to affirm my condition," Data replied, stepping down off of the transporter pad. "There are many individuals in the cave system in stasis chambers. I believe they are the crew of the Excelsior and the rest of the away team. A group of hostile aliens is also down on the planet. I suggest we exhibit extreme caution in the rescue efforts."
After being informed of the situation by Data and Geordi, an away team composed of Doctor Crusher, Data and Geordi beamed down. They were equipped with skin tight forcefields that prevented being transported by any transporters other than those on the Enterprise. The forcefields only worked for a maximum of twenty minutes, though.
They hurried to the caves, where the forcefield was still down. They entered them cautiously but quickly, phasers drawn. After a rather long trip down into the depths of the cave, they reached the chamber where the aliens had been. The room was vacant but for the stasis chambers. Data hurried over to the first chamber and noticed a console beside it. It was a transporter console.
Fifteen minutes had passed already. He had five minutes to figure out how to beam the entire away team and the stasis chamber victims up. Four minutes passed, and he still had no success. He pressed in a code that appeared to be the correct transporter combination and pressed the button that seemed to be beam up. The alien language was strange, and there was a possibility of mistranslation. He felt the transporter beaming them, hopefully up to the Enterprise transporter rooms.
Picard waited in Transporter Room Three for the away team to return. Time was running out for them, but he knew they were all good officers. Ten seconds remained as he watched the away team and some unconscious aliens beam aboard.
"168 non-crew members, plus the away team and the three missing Vulcan officers have beamed aboard, sir," the transporter officer said to Picard.
"Good work," Picard said, seeing the last away team approaching him. "Dr. Crusher, create a make shift Sickbay and resting place for the non-crew members in Cargo Bay 5. Lieutenant Commanders Data and LaForge, go down to Sickbay and have a scan run on Data's neural network. We don't need to have any viruses floating around the Enterprise. Dismissed."
The away team headed off to perform their orders, and Picard sighed a sigh of relief. It had been a long mission with several close calls, but still successful. Now it was time to fill out the paperwork and have the Enterprise report to Starbase to drop off the non-crew members. 'All in a day's work for the Captain of the Enterprise,' Picard thought with a slight smile.
Please review and tell me how I did, but be gentle. This is one of my first real fan fics.
"Lieutenant Commander Data, what can you tell us about Peridius IV?" Picard asked in his authoritative voice.
"Peridius IV is a Class-L planet with no known inhabitants. The planet has one major land mass and scattered islands in an ocean of the substances ammonia and hydrogen. The majority of the land is barren wasteland. The atmosphere and environment are not suitable to sustain humanoid life for long periods of time," Data said.
"Scan the planet for life forms," Picard said.
Data's hands flew across the control panel at his station in fluent movement. The closest thing that an android could show to surprise crossed his face. "The scans are inconclusive, Captain."
"Elaborate on that," Picard said, becoming very concerned for the Excelsior. Captain Higgins was a good friend of his and had been since their days together at the Academy.
"There are several areas masked from scans by advanced shielding systems. As well as a system of underground caves on the main landmass," Data responded.
"Would it endanger humanoid crew members to beam down to the planet?" Picard asked.
"I would recommend myself as an ideal away team member. Vulcans are the prime humanoid candidate for an away mission," Data replied.
"Data, report to Transporter Room 3. Three Vulcan crew members will join you there," Picard said.
Data stood and walked from the operations console, into the turbolift. He arrived in Transporter Room 3 shortly there after, finding a Vulcan science officer, medical officer and security officer waiting there. He walked to the transporter and inputted some coordinates into it. He approached the transporter pad and stood in the front left position.
"Beam us down, Chief O'Brien," Data said.
The four crew members shimmered away in a blue light and appeared on the planet's surface soon after. The area the tetrad beamed into was covered by reddish rocks and completely void of life. Data pulled out his tricorder and began scanning the area for the shields. The Vulcan officers were doing the same.
"The shield system is 8.25 kilometers to the west," T'Lera, the tall female science officer said.
Data nodded. They began to walk west, tricorders still trained in the direction of the shield system. After walking eight kilometers, the shield system disappeared off of his tricorder.
"The shields have vanished from my tricorder readings," Data said.
"As they have from mine," Nerok, the male medical officer said.
The other two Vulcan officers confirmed that the shields were no longer on their tricorders.
"There are several possibilities. The tricorders could be malfunctioning due to the shield systems or some other outside factor. The shield systems may have actually lowered or simply modulated to a frequency that our tricorders cannot read," T'Lera said.
"I suggest caution as we move forward," Data said, returning his tricorder to its holster and drawing his phaser.
After taking about ten steps forward, the three Vulcans fell onto the ground unconscious and a loud whining sound filled the thin air.
Picard walked up to the operations console and looked over Ensign Quentin's shoulder, the young man that replaced Data when he went onto the away mission.
"Captain Picard, the away team has disappeared off of sensors!" Quentin said, apparently very shocked.
"Recalibrate the sensors, Ensign," Picard said very calmly.
Quentin quickly recalibrated the sensors, but it had no effect. "The away team is still not on the sensors."
"Lt. Worf, open a channel to Lieutenant Commander Data," Picard said.
"Aye sir," Worf replied and tried to contact the away team several times. "There is no response."
"Captain, the shields have also vanished from the sensors. The four officers are still not on sensors," Quentin said from the operations console.
Picard walked back to the Captain's chair and seated himself on its edge. He turned to Troi. "Can you sense the Vulcan officers?"
"No. But the planet seems to be interfering with my empathy," Troi replied.
After a moment of thought, Picard called a Senior Officers meeting in the Observation Lounge.
Data found himself in a cavern alone. He looked around himself, turning in a complete circle, his phaser still drawn and ready to fire at a moment's notice. He reached his left hand up and clicked his commbadge. "Data to Enterprise...Enterprise please respond." After several vain attempts to contact the Enterprise, he stopped trying and pulled out his tricorder. It was not functioning. He turned his phaser down to the lowest stun setting and attempted to fire it. Nothing happened.
Data turned around and saw the three Vulcan officers behind him. They said nothing, just stood there silently. "Lieutenant T'Lera?... Ensign Nerok?...Ensign T'Barik?" Data asked the trio into the near darkness. He reached his hand forward and touched the Vulcans. They did not respond for a moment.
"Lieutenant Commander, we have discovered the shield source," T'Lera said.
"Why did you not respond immediately?" Data inquired.
"The thin atmosphere is difficult to breathe. We had just walked over a kilometer. I required a moment to return to a state in which I could talk," T'Lera replied.
"Ah," Data said, accepting the answer T'Lera gave.
"Follow us," T'Barik said, pulling out his phaser.
"Phasers and tricorders are not functional," Data said to the young ensign.
The ensign returned his phaser to its holster and walked forward with T'Lera and Nerok. Data followed the trio, still a bit wary of them. He moved it to the back of his mind, excusing it as due to extended exposure to the atmosphere.
Picard sat down at the head of the long, black, reflective table in the Observation Lounge. Beverly Crusher, Geordi LaForge, Will Riker, Deanna Troi and Worf were also seated at the table. He looked down into it and saw a reflection of himself, his subordinate officers and the planet through the outside window.
"As you know, the Excelsior disappeared two days ago without a trace. The last known position of the Excelsior was Peridius IV, a Class-L supposedly uninhabited planet. Four Enterprise officers beam down to Peridius IV. The sensors can no longer detect them, though, and we cannot establish contact with them. The mysterious shield system that we detected before is now also not on the sensors," Picard said.
"I've looked at the sensor readings of the shield system, and I haven't seen anything like it before," Geordi said, slightly shaking his head. "And now that it's been deactivated, we should be able to detect a source with the sensors. But nothing that could possibly provide enough power to operate those shields has shown up on sensors."
"Assign a team to study the shield readings and find possible sources. We must be missing something," Picard told Geordi.
"I've already got a team on it," Geordi replied.
"We have to hurry. The atmosphere won't sustain the Vulcans for more than a few more hours, even with their high endurance and physiology," Crusher said, a look of urgency and concern in her blue eyes.
"The away team could be in the cave system," Riker said. "They could have detected a power source and gone underground to deactivate it. That would explain everything. The shields are now deactivated, and the away team is not on sensors because they are too far underground to be detected. I suggest we do a shuttle fly-over. The shuttle sensors, if calibrated correctly, could detect Data's components. Even deep underground."
Picard considered Riker's proposition carefully before saying, "We should wait until we have conclusive evidence, Number One. I don't want to put anyone else in danger. Dismissed."
The crew members left one by one until Picard was left in the Observation Lounge alone. He looked out at the stars and Peridius IV. He had a feeling he could not explain, a feeling there was something more to all of this that no one was seeing.
Data and the trio of Vulcans walked deeper into the caverns. It began to get progressively darker until there was no light remaining. Due to his android construction, Data could see perfectly in the dark. He knew that his Vulcan counterparts could not.
"Wait a moment," he said, stopping to pick up two rocks and a strange stick-like object from the floor. It was a dead alien plant of some sort. 'This planet must have been home to life at one point,' he thought. He struck the rocks together over the large stick, and it lighted. The cave was instantly illuminated.
"Thank you," T'Lera said.
They continued walking in silence. Data noticed the cave was beginning to change slightly in structure. The walls and floor were becoming smoother and more consistent in color. The air was becoming colder and much harder to breathe. He accessed Vulcan physiology and the extremes of what they could be exposed to and remain conscious. He found that the trio of Vulcans should be unconscious and possibly dead at this point.
At that moment the realization came to him. If the tricorder and phaser were not working due to the conditions, he may also be malfunctioning. Someone or something could be manipulating his neural network, causing him to see, hear and touch the equivalents of hallucinations. The Vulcans could also be holograms. There were many possibilities, but these being the same officers he beamed down with was definitely not one of them.
'My first priority is to find a way to contact the Enterprise,' he thought, removing his commbadge and examining it closely with his superior android vision. It seemed to be in perfect working order, but he had already learned that everything in this cavern was not what it seemed. He was wary of the Vulcans' every move, watching them intently as they progressed.
The cavern was beginning to widen out. Data was not sure what he was expecting to see. A power source for the odd shield readings or the center of an advanced alien race were near the top of the possibilities list. The Vulcans abruptly stopped as they reached a new chamber, while Data was still not within view of it. They turned around and began to physically urge Data away.
"We have made a wrong turn somewhere. It is a mere dead end. We must go back," T'Lera said, much to urgently for the emotionless all logical Vulcan she supposedly was.
"Yes, Lieutenant Commander. We must head back," Nerok said, just as urgently.
Data knew it was the time to ignore the officers. He turned around, pushing past them and stepped into the chamber. The sight that he beheld caused him to halt in his steps. This was definitely neither of his top possibilities for what he had expected to see, nor like anything he had ever seen before.
Picard's silent contemplation in the Observation Lounge were suddenly interrupted by the door opening and an obviously very disturbed officer entering the room. He was a chief petty officer, Picard noticed, and wore a golden uniform. 'Transporter Chief O'Brien,' he thought to himself.
"Captain, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I have made a discovery I believe you would like to hear in person," O'Brien said.
"Go on," Picard replied, curious to what could have upset the officer so much.
"I just discovered the remains of Ensign Nerok and Lieutenants T'Lera and T'Berik in the transporter buffer. They never made it down to the planet," he said solemnly, looking down at the deck plate below him.
"Did Data?" Picard asked.
"I have found no traces of him, only the usual pattern in the buffer," O'Brien said. "As far as I can tell, he is down on the planet still."
"Thank you, Mr. O'Brien," Picard said, standing up and following O'Brien outside of the Observation Lounge.
He pressed his commbadge and said, "Lieutenant Commander LaForge, please concentrate adjusting the sensors to find Commander Data, but don't forget about the Vulcans."
"Aye sir," LaForge replied via commbadge.
Picard seated himself in the Captain's chair, leaning forward pensively as he steepled his hands over his face. None of this seemed to have a positive outlook. He was hoping O'Brien was wrong, and he had lost no crew members. It always effected him personally when he lost crew members. The worst part of his duties was informing the families, even if they were Vulcan and did not express emotions, about the death of their kin. He began to plan out what he would tell each family, in case things did not take a turn for the better.
Data was shocked to behold a white room, not cave chamber, that held many large pieces of equipment, most identical. The walls caved in to hold what appeared to be about two hundred large stasis chambers. They were cylindrical golden bubbles that were translucent. Intricate verdant vine-like strips intertwined across the chambers' tops and bottoms, occasionally dipping down into the middle. He saw the silhouettes of many bodies in the vast majority of them. They were of all species, some Data did not recognize. One chamber was empty, opened and appeared to be ready for use or just had finished being used. Several purple aliens, about three to four feet tall and stout, covered in a thick, unkempt coat of fur with nearly fluorescent green eyes huddled around a long gurney-like table in the center of the room. They picked up pieces of equipment from a small rectangular table that was composed of a glowing metallic substance.
Data cautiously approached the table in total silence, very curious to what the aliens were so engrossed with. He moved extremely close, and one of the aliens turned around to face him. He stopped dead in his tracks, not moving at all. The alien just turned back around to his work. 'He did not seem to see me,' Data thought, intrigued. He was soon even closer to the gurney, close enough to see over the aliens' heads.
Geordi LaForge continued working in engineering and around the Enterprise on adjusting the sensors to detect Data and the Vulcans, if they were still alive. He was not only doing this as a duty assignment. It meant much more than that to him. Data was, and had been since the beginning of their tour on the Enterprise, his best friend. He had always pictured Data outliving him by centuries.
"Lieutenant Commander LaForge," Geordi heard over his commbadge, surprising him out of his thoughts of Data. "Please report to Transporter Room Three."
"Aye, sir," he replied and told his engineering second in command to begin working where he had left off.
After arriving in the transporter room, he saw a few officers at the console, all looking very confused. He moved closer to them and looked over their shoulders. He had to bite his tongue to hold the tears back. The readings read that Data had not made it down to the planet either. The away team they had picked up was residual traces, enhanced by the planets high content of beryllium.
"Are you sure this isn't just a malfunction?" Geordi asked.
"We haven't found any malfunctions in the transporter or sensors," Higgins, a transporter officer replied.
"We should run some tests. Let's beam down some objects," Geordi said.
"We've begun tests already," Carter, a science officer, said as two security officer carried in several large empty metal containers for more tests.
"Sit them by the transporter pad," Higgins said authoritatively.
The security officers placed the bins by the pad and left the room quickly. Geordi gestured for Carter to follow him and help him put one of the containers on the pad. They did this together and then stepped off, but stood close by.
"Beam it down to the coordinates the away team was beamed to," Geordi said.
As the transporter was beaming it down, he saw flecks of magenta that he had never seen before in the particle stream. He adjusted his VISOR quickly, but they were still there. The exact same readings returned for the container as had the away team. It was a very strange coincidence. They performed a second test, and Geordi still saw the magenta flecks. The same results came of it. He had an odd feeling about all of this. He decided, after this next test, he would make some transporter modifications.
Data saw himself on the gurney, stripped out of his uniform, being experimented on and dissected by the aliens. They had fortunately not managed to do much along the lines of dissection, however there were several thick needle-like apparatuses protruding from his synthetic skin. He reached out to touch himself, and his hand went straight through. 'The elemental composition of the planet must be allowing my mind to wander around the facility,' he thought. 'If I am the mind, I should be able to make the body work according to my commands.' He attempted this for the first without success. The second time, though, he caused his arm to fly up, knocking one of the aliens into another. It was the domino effect and soon all of the aliens were toppled over on the floor. He made his body stand and then walk away quickly, the aliens in pursuit. The needles within his skin touched the circuitry, causing the task of escaping them to be much more difficult.
The pursuit went through the caves, the aliens closely behind all the way. He was not aimlessly searching for the surface. With his mind, he could sense altitude changes. He simply headed what appeared to be up. He soon sighted a light in the distance. He reached it and saw it was an exit to the outside. He moved his body towards the outside to discover it was a forcefield. The aliens approached quickly, in a hostile manner, with assorted weapons ready for use in their paws.
Geordi went over the readings several times. He began to run the fourth test. The object was beamed down, and all went as had before. When the attempt to beam the container back up began, it succeeded. He went over the readings and discovered that the trace readings of the 'dead' container were in the transporter log. His suspicions were confirmed. The entire away team, unless something unthinkable had happened to them on the planet, were still down there.
The mystery at hand now, though, was how the transporter readings were being altered. The magenta flecks seemed to have something to do with it. He assumed it was either outside interference from someone or something down on the planet. There were also other possibilities, but that seemed the most plausible.
The transporter room quickly alerted Captain Picard of their discovery, and a plan was beginning to be formulated.
Data was cornered before he sighted a small box on the cave wall to his right. He made his body pull one of the needles from his skin and feign to attack the aliens. They slightly jumped back as he hurled the needle at the small box, which he hoped controlled the forcefield. Due to his great physical strength, the forcefield shorted out. He caused his body to run for it. As he began running, his mind united with his body again. He knew his destination, the beam down point, and headed there at break neck speed. If the Enterprise had departed, he knew he would not survive.
Geordi had figured out what was causing the readings on the transporter: a virus sent up from the planet when the away team was beamed down. It was not very advanced, but it was very hard to detect unless one was looking for it. He would have never even seen it if it had not been for his VISOR, which picked up the wavelength it was visibly on. He had eradicated it and found a way to filter it out with the biofilters.
The transporter room suddenly picked up Data on sensors by the beam in point. They were all very surprised and did not move for a moment.
"Beam him up!" Geordi exclaimed.
Data was beamed up to the Enterprise. Geordi was nothing short of shocked by what he saw. He was expecting Data to be a bit scathed by the planet, but not totally naked with needles coming out of his skin at all angles. If it had been a different situation, he would have laughed.
"Go get him a uniform," Geordi said to Carter who left accordingly. "Are you all right, Data?"
"I am functioning within parameters, though I would suggest that a scan be run to affirm my condition," Data replied, stepping down off of the transporter pad. "There are many individuals in the cave system in stasis chambers. I believe they are the crew of the Excelsior and the rest of the away team. A group of hostile aliens is also down on the planet. I suggest we exhibit extreme caution in the rescue efforts."
After being informed of the situation by Data and Geordi, an away team composed of Doctor Crusher, Data and Geordi beamed down. They were equipped with skin tight forcefields that prevented being transported by any transporters other than those on the Enterprise. The forcefields only worked for a maximum of twenty minutes, though.
They hurried to the caves, where the forcefield was still down. They entered them cautiously but quickly, phasers drawn. After a rather long trip down into the depths of the cave, they reached the chamber where the aliens had been. The room was vacant but for the stasis chambers. Data hurried over to the first chamber and noticed a console beside it. It was a transporter console.
Fifteen minutes had passed already. He had five minutes to figure out how to beam the entire away team and the stasis chamber victims up. Four minutes passed, and he still had no success. He pressed in a code that appeared to be the correct transporter combination and pressed the button that seemed to be beam up. The alien language was strange, and there was a possibility of mistranslation. He felt the transporter beaming them, hopefully up to the Enterprise transporter rooms.
Picard waited in Transporter Room Three for the away team to return. Time was running out for them, but he knew they were all good officers. Ten seconds remained as he watched the away team and some unconscious aliens beam aboard.
"168 non-crew members, plus the away team and the three missing Vulcan officers have beamed aboard, sir," the transporter officer said to Picard.
"Good work," Picard said, seeing the last away team approaching him. "Dr. Crusher, create a make shift Sickbay and resting place for the non-crew members in Cargo Bay 5. Lieutenant Commanders Data and LaForge, go down to Sickbay and have a scan run on Data's neural network. We don't need to have any viruses floating around the Enterprise. Dismissed."
The away team headed off to perform their orders, and Picard sighed a sigh of relief. It had been a long mission with several close calls, but still successful. Now it was time to fill out the paperwork and have the Enterprise report to Starbase to drop off the non-crew members. 'All in a day's work for the Captain of the Enterprise,' Picard thought with a slight smile.
Please review and tell me how I did, but be gentle. This is one of my first real fan fics.