Chapter Nine:
"Geordi, that's extremely risky!" Captain Riker exclaimed the following morning in his ready room. La Forge and Data had entered a few minutes earlier and had explained a plan they had devised to gain more information about the aliens fifty-seven thousand light years away. Geordi was growing increasingly excited by the idea as he and Data explained what they had worked out while in Engineering.
"Every test we have run on the stability of that particular pocket," Data said, " indicates that it is structurally sound. There have been no problems retrieving any of the probes. We can't just abandon the possibility that we will one day be able to send crew members through and explore regions of the galaxy decades sooner than we would through normal travel."
"We can't pass up the chance to interact with people from thousands of light years away," Geordi argued.
"Let's say the wormhole is as stable as the probes indicate. Traveling in a class-eight probe is risky by itself. When Embassador K'Ehleyr traveled in a class-eight probe, the probe was expected by the Enterprise-D and K'Ehleyr was let out immediately. You cannot open this probe from the inside. And even if your probe is noticed by these people, we still don't know whether they'd be friendly or hostile toward your uninvited visit."
"It's our only option, sir," La Forge pleaded. "We either send someone there, or we might as well leave this sector."
"You mean send you over there."
"Let's face it, sir--neither you nor Data are small enough to fit inside a class-eight probe. I never thought my height would be an advantage, and yet I'm the best suited for this mission. There are others among the crew short enough to fit inside a class-eight probe, but I wouldn't recommend sending anyone over there who does not possess the knowledge or the experience to improvise. We're not going to learn anything just sitting here like a giant duck."
"How much life-support can a class-eight probe hold?" the captain asked.
"We can modify one to hold a life-support unit with approximately two-point-three hours of oxygen," the android replied, "for a Human of Geordi's body weight."
"Then we'll set the probe to automatically return after one-point-seven-five hours," Geordi said. That would afford me plenty of leeway time to get out before any chance I might suffocate. If the aliens do happen to discover me, it will take more than an hour or two to learn what they know about the wormhole and the destroyed ships. In that event, I'll leave a note on a data padd inside the probe."
"That is if the aliens are friendly enough to allow you to do that," Data interjected, obviously concerned about his friend. "I am beginning to believe that this is not such a good idea. Maybe we would be better off sending a message inside the probe and waiting for a response from the aliens."
"No, I disagree with that," the chief engineer said, shaking his head. "We could send messages back and forth with the aliens for days before we accomplished anything."
"Days really don't mean much if access through the wormhole saves us decades in exploration time," Riker admitted. "We are trained to be brave when facing the unknown, but that doesn't mean hastily going in blind."
"It's logical to send a person for direct first contact. Talks will more likely go smoothly with a face-to-face interaction. We have to realize that they could have the same doubts about us. My presence in their portion of the galaxy could help allay any of their doubts as much as it could ours."
Riker sighed heavily, pulling at his tunic. Geordi knew the captain was about to give in to his proposal. On one hand, this pleased him and yet, he couldn't help feeling uneasy about treading into the wormhole like a bug buzzing around a Venus flytrap.
Geordi placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Data. I plan to be back home in time for supper."
At one time, the android would have questioned such a comment, but since he had had the emotions chip installed, the android could fully understand Human humor and cliches. He merely nodded at La Forge.
"All right, then," the captain said. "Is there anything else either of you would like to suggest before we get this mission underway?"
"A set of transmission relays, one planted inside the probe and another inside the wormhole, may prove useful," Data answered.
"That would allow communication up until the point I exited the pocket," Geordi added. "But that would hardly be for very long."
"And what if the pocket narrows so far as to not permit passage of a class-eight probe?" his android friend asked. "With open communication, redirecting the probe to exit would be more easily managed."
"I happen to agree with Data on this one," Riker said. "We don't want to take any unnecessary chances. Data, I want you to accompany Geordi to the launching bay on Deck Twenty-six. Can you have a class-eight probe ready to launch in one hour?"
"That would be an adequate time frame."
"Make it so."
"Aye, sir," they said in unison, and all three men exited the captain's ready room.
"Mr. Watson," Riker said to the lieutenant at tactical once he'd sat down in his command chair, "prepare to send a communication relay into the wormhole and then launch a class-eight probe at quarter-impulse power at ten hundred hours."
"A class-eight probe, sir?"
Riker glanced back at his tactical officer, smirking at the young man's curiosity. "We're sending Commander La Forge through one of the pockets."
"Aye, sir!"
When Corrine Berlitz went to Ten-Forward for lunch, she spotted Barclay sitting alone and went to join him. They discussed the captain's decision to send Geordi through one of the pockets. She didn't know how to react. Instinctually, she wanted to scream out, to tell him it wasn't right for Geordi to risk his life for something that could offer none of them any guarantees.
"How do you feel about Geordi's going through with this?" she asked instead. "You were there in Engineering when he and Data were discussing the idea. Did you say anything to them?"
"Of course," he responded. "I expressed my fears, my doubts, but what could I say that would change Geordi's mind once he's gung ho about something? He'll be entering the wormhole in a few minutes and there will be no turning back. He will only be gone for a short while, but if the aliens discover him-" Barclay hesitated.
"What?" Corrine suddenly wished she'd picked up her son from daycare for lunch. She knew she needed to spend more time with him. Would she have the same chance tomorrow or would they be engaged in a bloody battle?
"He may return with more information than a thousand probes could provide us. If these aliens allow him to return." Barclay looked away from her, yet she could clearly see the concern in his eyes.
"You doubt they will be friendly toward him."
"We are interfering with their technology," Barclay emphasized. "How many times has Starfleet intervened when our own technology was threatened?"
Berlitz saw the engineer's point. She shared his fears and for once agreed with him that they might be committing a tactically bad move. What if the aliens view Geordi's arrival as hostile? Could the Federation survive a war against a more-advanced race?
"Are you ready, Geordi?" Data asked with concern as he hovered over the open class-eight probe, peering down at his friend. After only a moment's hesitation, La Forge nodded. "I shall miss you while you are gone."
"Thanks, Data. Maybe we can enjoy some recreational activity when I get back."
"I have a new holodeck program you are sure to like."
"Then we have an appointment. So I have to return." Although he spoke with conviction, his voice still quavered.
The android closed and latched the lid. He believed in the rightness of what his friend was doing, however, he still had his doubts about Geordi's safety.
Suddenly caught inside the cramped probe, Geordi again felt like the five-year old blind boy he had been so many years ago caught in a fire. He gasped for breath. He wanted to call out to Data, to ask his friend to open the probe, but the urge soon passed, and Geordi consciously told himself to breathe normally and relax.
"Ready to launch the probe," he heard Data say and a moment later Riker's reply came, "Acknowledged. . . engage."
Geordi had read about the amusement park rides that had existed on Earth during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, but until the moment he felt himself being thrust outside the ship into the vacuum of space, he had no idea how thrilling those rides had been. Almost immediately, he was jostled around the inside of the cramped probe and feeling grateful that the captain had ordered that it be maintained at quarter-impulse power. The probe was capable of warp nine!
"Can you hear me, Geordi?" the captain asked. The relay crackled a bit, but the captain's voice came through clearly.
"Yes," La Forge replied. "The speed is a little dizzying, but I'm starting to get used to it now. I never imagined that a ride in a probe at quarter impulse would seem so bumpy compared to traveling at warp inside a starship. I guess you can't really appreciate inertial dampers fully until you take a ride without them."
He heard the unmistakable sound of the probe entering the wormhole and braced himself for the pocket wormhole next. Would he reach an impasse? Or worse, would the pocket collapse around him?
"Sensors indicate that you've just entered the pocket. Can you still hear me."
He had not even realized he had already entered the pocket! Why had he not heard any sound that distinguished the opening of the pocket? "Yes, Captain."
"Your probe has not slowed much below quarter impulse. Sensors indicate that the pocket is still plenty wide enough."
"Now, if only I didn't feel so cramped."
Several seconds later, he exited the pocket and entered an area fifty-seven thousand light years away--and into the hands of the unknown. He had lost contact with the Enterprise, of course. The probe came to a complete stop. He wondered how close he was to the alien ship, or if the alien ship was anywhere nearby. What were the odds that the alien starship hadn't warped out of this sector?
He waited.