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Chapter Thirteen

The Klingon Bird-of-Prey loomed above them, the sweep of its green wings shielding them from the worst of the sun's baking rays. Here in the open, away from the protection of the jungle canopy, the heat and humidity were almost unbearable. Guinan broke a smooth frond from a nearby plant and used it like a fan.

"Sure is hot," she commented.

"Indeed," Data agreed, and leaned against the ship's warm hull, crossing one foot over the other.

Guinan raised a non-existent eyebrow. A brief acknowledgment like that was all that was really required, given the circumstance. There was no reason she should have expected more. Still, Guinan recalled a young android so desperate to join in with human small talk that, given the slightest opening, he inevitably drowned the moment - and the unfortunate speaker - in a torrent of trivia. No longer, it seemed.

She waited a beat more, then said, "Data?"

The android blinked and straightened, as if startled out of a reverie. "Yes, Guinan?"

She smiled.

"What were you thinking about just now?"

"My ship," Data said. "My crew. I was wondering how they are getting along without me, and if they managed to collect any information from the probe I stationed before the Nexus hit. In addition..." he hesitated.

"Go on," she said.

"Why are we here, waiting?" he said, a hint of frustration coloring his voice. "Why are we not approaching Worf directly, as you approached me in my dreamscape?"

"Worf wants to be here, Data," Guinan said. "His immersion in this reality is totally complete. If we're to stand any chance of convincing him to leave it behind, we'll have to do it as part of his dream, or he's likely to recoil and treat us as his enemy. It was different with you. Unlike most of us here, you are an inherently rational being. The Nexus had a real struggle drawing you in to its illusions, and even then you kept fighting it. And before you say anything," she added, "it's not just because you're an android. As I recall, Picard had a similar difficulty when he was here. Kirk too. It's that tendency you explorer types have for always confronting mysteries head-on; the drive to seek answers and to question details others would easily dismiss."

"I wanted to believe," Data said. "More than anything. To know such love, to share such an unconditional sense of belonging, of family bonds... It was...deeply alluring..."

"But not convincing," Guinan said. "There were too many flaws, too many missing facts - and too much still waiting for you on the outside. Your ship, your crew, your mission. Your life. My appearance was just the reminder you needed to break the trance."

Data nodded.

"Guinan," he said. "May I ask a somewhat impudent question?"

"Impudent?" She smiled. "Go ahead."

"You are correct in your appraisal. I did doubt the reality the Nexus created for me from the start. Yet, for some reason I have not been able to pin down, I experienced no such doubt when I encountered you. Quite the opposite, in fact. I trusted you without hesitation. I allowed you to lead me from one dreamscape to another."

"And that disturbs you?"

"It does," Data said. "Given the illusory nature of reality within the Nexus, how can I trust that you are, in fact, the individual you appear to be? How can I be certain that you are not another figment of my imagination, bent on deluding me and drawing me into yet another false reality my rational mind would find more convincing?"

"That's easy," Guinan said. "You can't."

Data blinked.

"Unless," she went on, "you trust your intuition. That ineffable knowledge that lurks behind the stated facts. It's a learned skill, one you put into practice every time you play poker, investigate a mystery, or stand off against an enemy starship commander."

"I am aware of the term," Data said. "And I have had occasion to trust my decision making process to what some may describe as a form of intuition."

"OK," Guinan said. "Then tell me, Commodore. What does your intuition tell you about me?"

Data frowned, clearly struggling.

"It tells me that you are not a part of this dreamscape, any more than I am. Nor were you a part of my own dreamscape. You are something other. Something else. An independent mind, trapped here just like me."

He shook his head in frustration.

"But I cannot explain how I can know that with such certainty!"

Guinan placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Data," she said. "The Nexus is a realm of energy, and it's acting on us all the time. Concentrate. Try to make it show you what your mind has been perceiving all along."

Data looked helpless for a moment, then his eyes widened in sudden comprehension.

"That's right, Data," Guinan said. "You can control it. Space, time and thought, working together as one."

"I...I can see it," he said, his voice bright with wonder. "Waves of energy. It bends around you, around me... And them..."

He straightened, looking beyond the jungle, beyond the ship and the sun and the sky. What he saw reminded him of his friend Geordi, and the spectral chaos the blind engineer had seen through his VISOR before he got his optic implants. At first, it all seemed random - colors and shapes with no meaning or order. But, his mind soon learned to focus and he was able to pick out the swirls and eddies that marked separate mindscapes.

"There are so many," he said. "I count at least...eight hundred thousand beings. Is this how you found me, Guinan? How you found Worf? Are you able to distinguish individuals from this...dizzying morass?"

"Only after about a century of practice, Data," Guinan said, and he returned his focus to her with some relief. "Until you came, I was unique here in my ability to see all this, and to move from dream to dream without getting drawn in."

"Why?" Data asked curiously.

Guinan sighed.

"It's complicated, Data. You're probably aware that I was one of the El-Aurian refugees rescued by the Enterprise-B when the Nexus hit our convoy."

"Of course. Captain Kirk was lost on that mission," Data said. "He was presumed dead until he returned from the Nexus with Captain Picard, only to perish during their struggle with Dr. Soran."

"Yes," Guinan said. "I was already half-phased when the Enterprise transporter beam locked onto my signal. My physical form rematerialized aboard the ship, but part of myself was left here. I am aware of my other self, and she is aware of me. I can sense her thoughts, her memories. That's how I know so much about you. But, I am just an energy echo of a being who already exists outside. The Nexus cannot draw me in, and I cannot leave it. The only physicality I have is here."

Data's golden eyes shone with compassion.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "Perhaps, when we have retrieved Worf and Alexander, my crew and I could find a way to-"

"No, Data," the El-Aurian said. "No."

"But, surely-"

"I told you, I'm already out there. I've already been rescued. Do you understand, Data?"

"Yes," he said, and shook his head with a sigh. "I am sorry I doubted you, Guinan. You have always been quite important to me. I should have..." He smiled. "Listened more carefully."

Guinan patted his hand.

"You're doing just fine, Data," she said. "And here he comes..."

Data straightened as Worf strode into the clearing, his gray hair wild and his rough hunting clothes splattered with mud. He was flanked by two women dressed in full Klingon battle armor. Data looked slightly bemused by the sight -

- until Worf drew his sword and charged.

To be continued...

References include Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, TNG episodes "Manhunt," "Starship Mine," "Clues," "Heart of Glory," "The Mind's Eye," "Time's Arrow" and "Where No One Has Gone Before," and the TNG novel "Immortal Coil."