Chapter Fourteen
"Commander Kinoshita, there's an incoming call from Starfleet Command," Lt. Devna announced from her tactical station. "Admiral William Riker Troi requests a private channel, security protocol level one."
Kinoshita rose from the command chair and tugged the wrinkles from his uniform. "Inform the Admiral I'll view him in the Briefing Room, Lieutenant," he said, already striding across the bridge to Commodore Data's office.
The moment he stepped through the sliding doors, though, he realized he'd made a mistake choosing this room and not the Observation Lounge. The Commodore's Briefing Room resonated with Data's personality. Normally, Akira liked the room's eclectic atmosphere, but today… Today, he felt like an intruder, trespassing inside the Commodore's private sanctum. The Commander knew these feelings were irrational, that in his absence the Commodore would expect his executive officer to use the Briefing Room for private conferences, but that knowledge didn't make the sense of incursion any less...uncomfortable.
Akira took in a deep breath through his nose, then slowly let it out. The scent of rare, leather-bound books permeated the spacious office, lending it a soothing, academic feel. The familiar smell transported Kinoshita back to his days at Starfleet Academy, and Professor Data's weekly exobiology tutorials. His eyes grazed across just some of the well-thumbed volumes in Data's collection: The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Works of Shakespeare, The Origin of Species, Reeves-Stevens' History of the Federation, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Prose Edda, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Code of the Woosters, Flatland, The Caves of Steel, The Positronic Man...
Kinoshita touched the spine of that last one, then moved to the computer terminal the Commodore had personally modified to display information with much greater efficiency and speed than those used by the other officers. From there, Kinoshita could see Data's artwork on the walls – strikingly skillful and imaginative paintings the android had created himself. A black and white striped lionfish swam languidly inside a round aquarium near the porthole window. Museum quality mementos and souvenirs from a lifetime of interstellar travel and academic study lined the shelves, and tucked away in the corner behind the console, a wall mural proudly displayed the Commodore's numerous commendations – tangible proof of Starfleet's acknowledgement of Data's status as a living, sentient, independent being. Medals, after all, were awarded to people, not machines – people who pushed themselves beyond their perceived limitations. Kinoshita knew, better than most, how much that validation meant to the android.
The commander sighed and sank slowly into the commodore's chair.
"Just keeping it warm for you, sir," he spoke to the room, and activated the viewer.
The air in front of the console rippled and the holographic image of Admiral William Riker Troi was suddenly sitting across from him, looking as real and solid as if the old man were actually in the room instead of sitting in his own office back on Earth – where Kinoshita knew the Admiral was viewing a similar hologram of him.
"Admiral Troi," Kinoshita acknowledged, and reached across the desk to shake his hand. "It's good to see you again, sir. I just wish the circumstances were different."
"As do I, Commander," Troi said, his lined face grim. "How are you holding up? I know you've been friends with the Commodore for many years…"
"Almost twenty years, Admiral. Since he was a captain and I a cadet," Kinoshita said. "Data was my supervising professor at the Academy, sir. And we're not giving up on him, so if you're calling with orders to abandon our attempts to–"
"No, no, nothing like that," the Admiral said. "Not yet, anyway. I've been fighting tooth and nail to get your people the time they need to find out how to retrieve the Ambassador and revive the Commodore. But, you should be aware, Akira: Starfleet wasn't keen on granting Data's request for this assignment in the first place. They didn't like the idea of the Federation's flagship involving itself with what they view as an internal Klingon matter, and quite a minor one at that. But, you know Data – the master of the fact-filled monologue. Frankly, I think they gave in just to get him to shut up."
Kinoshita smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"Admiral," he said, "you requested a secure channel..."
The Admiral sat back and nodded.
"Quite right, yes. It's about the Nexus ribbon," he said. "As you know, it only passes through our galaxy once every thirty-nine years. That makes this pretty much our one and only opportunity to study the thing within our lifetimes. It's on this basis that I was able to convince Starfleet to grant you three weeks to learn all you can about that mysterious energy ribbon and – hopefully – complete your rescue operation. But, their condition for this extra time is your silence. All research and communications regarding the ribbon is to be coded top secret until its tactical advantages can be fully explored by Starfleet's security experts."
Kinoshita wrinkled his nose.
"Tactical advantages? Of the Nexus ribbon?"
"Don't look at me," Troi said. "Personally, I don't believe this thing can be exploited as an effective weapon either by or against us. It's far too powerful a force to be controlled like that – at least, at our current level of technology. But given Dr. Soran's clumsy attempts to change the ribbon's course by destroying stars –"
"I think I understand, sir," Kinoshita said. "Starfleet wants us to find out whether the ribbon's energy can be harnessed or deflected to destroy ships or even planets."
"And, if so, to devise a defense to make sure other unscrupulous renegades like Soran can't use the ribbon against us in the future," the Admiral finished. "In the meantime, Akira, with the Commodore out of action, you have been granted the field commission of Captain of the Enterprise for the duration of this mission. This position may become permanent, depending on the outcome."
"Then, I hope I'll be forgiven, sir, when I say I look forward to stepping down," Kinoshita said.
A small, distant smile creased Troi's lined face, no doubt provoked by memories of his days as Captain Picard's executive officer.
"I understand, Captain. I understand completely," he said, and chuffed a slight, humorless laugh.
"You know, I think this must be the third time Data's gone and gotten himself killed doing some damn fool heroic stunt. The first time, he lost his head, and I thought he was gone for good. The second time, he blew himself to atoms saving us and the Romulans from that Reman clone, Shinzon. It took his android mother, her immortal husband, the work of the late Dr. Ira Graves, and practically every cybernetics expert on Galor IV to bring him back to us then, and the details are still classified. When you get him back this time, you tell him I want to speak with him right away, you got that? The moment you get him back. Worf too. Machine or not, Klingon or not, I don't want either of those old coots getting the idea they can put me and my wife through this hell of not knowing whether they're alive or dead, and just get away with it. Understood?"
"Will do, Admiral," Kinoshita assured him. "And, thanks...for the extra time, and for saying 'when' instead of 'if.'"
"Hey, Data was my friend long before you were born," Troi said. "Don't forget I'm rooting for you, Enterprise. Me and Deanna, both."
"Aye, sir."
"Troi out."
Kinoshita nodded, and the Admiral's hologram faded away. The Captain stared at the empty space where Troi had been for a few moments, then pushed Data's chair back and got to his feet.
"Three weeks," he muttered, walking to the replicator to order his - he hoped - temporary Captain's insignia. "Three damn weeks." He attached the pip to his uniform's collar, then marched back onto the bridge and up the ramp to where Asil and Rudo were collaborating at the science stations. Jemma Elbrun stood behind them, her expression pinched and tense.
"All right," he said as his officers turned to face him. Feeling their eyes on his collar, he hurried to assure them, "The promotion's only temporary, until we get our Commodore back. The Admiral's given us three weeks to get to the bottom of this mess. Anything to report?"
"We've been working to plot out the ribbon's full course in an attempt to determine its most likely origin," Asil said, the utter flatness to her voice belying her frustration. "But this has proven very difficult. There is practically no data available regarding the ribbon's movements beyond our galaxy."
"Captain," Devna spoke up. "I should inform you that, in the next three weeks, the ribbon will cut across Klingon and Romulan space and finally leave the Beta Quadrant. If our intention is to follow it, we will have to pass through the Galactic Barrier."
"Theoretically, the Enterprise should be able make it through the energy barrier, Captain," Rudo rumbled, "but I can't promise you a smooth trip."
"I believe that to be a vastly overstated assessment," Asil said. "Our galaxy is ringed by a spherical halo of dark matter that extends beyond even the most ancient globular clusters. No known Federation starship has yet made it through using conventional means."
"There's always a first time," Rudy said, starting to get defensive. "This ship is more advanced than any in the Federation. She was designed to traverse the outer limits of our galaxy, dark matter and all. With a few modifications to reinforce the containment tanks and the shields, I'm sure we could make it through."
"Through, perhaps. But would we be in any shape to make it back again?" Asil countered. "And what of the energy outside the barrier? We have no idea what forces we might encounter."
"OK, OK," Kinoshita cut in. "Traversing the Galactic Barrier may be a possibility but, hopefully, we'll get this thing solved before it's one we have to face. Now, are we any closer to determining whether our Commodore's consciousness has actually been absorbed by the Nexus, or how we can get him and the others out of there?"
Asil stared at her console screen. Rudy lowered his head.
Kinoshita nodded. "I see. Councilor, do you sense anything from that ribbon?"
Elbrun sighed. "There is life there, Captain," she said, her dark eyes deep with frustration. "But there is so much interference, I can't distinguish individuals. It's like staring at static - all I get is brief, fractured impressions of images that may or may not be real."
The Captain put an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "Well, keep trying," he said. "Devna, how long until we reach Romulan space?"
"At current speed, twenty-eight hours, sir," the Orion reported.
"Contact the Romulan Senate and request permission to pass through their territory. It's not technically necessary under the terms of the treaty, but a moment's politeness can save a week's paperwork, and I don't want anything getting in our way."
"Aye, sir," Devna said, and set about carrying out his orders.
"There wouldn't be a treaty if not for the Commodore," Rudy muttered. "They better let us through."
"Permission is granted, Captain," Devna reported, and Kinoshita smiled.
"Well, at least something's going our way today," he said. "Asil, I-"
"Captain!" Elbrun exclaimed, her hands at her temples. "There's someone...something...approaching. I...I can't quite make out..."
The space between Devna's tactical station and the primary turbolift pulsed and rippled. A form began to coalesce, vaguely humanoid...
Devna grabbed her phaser. "Security to the bridge!" she ordered.
The form finished shimmering and stepped forward; a fully materialized human man, perhaps sixty years old. The man was pale, of average height, slightly stocky, and dressed in a simple white shirt, tan vest, and loose tan trousers. His hair and beard were silver-gray, and neatly trimmed. Looking around at the faces of the wary crew, he smiled and said, "I should have known it would be a Federation ship causing all this trouble. You won't need that."
He seemed to flicker for a moment, and Devna's phaser was suddenly back in its holster, her hand empty.
"Or them."
He flickered again, and the turbolift arriving with the requested security officers was suddenly headed back where it had come from. The man glanced at the nearby computer readouts with the air of an expert, and his small smile broadened into a genuine grin.
"Ah, it's the Enterprise! Even better. Data commands this ship now, am I right?"
"Who are you?" Kinoshita demanded.
"Wesley Crusher, Traveler," the man said, holding out a friendly hand to the captain. Akira hesitated before briefly taking it. "I used to serve on a ship like this once, when I was very young," the man went on, wandering down the ramp to the lower bridge and stopping at the ship's registration plaque. "That ship was called the Enterprise too."
"Look, Mister-"
"Crusher," the man said. "Wesley Crusher. Call Data if you want my credentials. He'll vouch for me. And while you're at it, remind him of what curiosity did to that proverbial cat."
"What are you talking about?"
"The Nexus," Crusher said. "My people have been detecting some very disturbing energy anomalies within the ribbon. I've been sent to get you to stop whatever it is you've been doing to it before the whole ribbon destabilizes in a great big blinding energy boom."
Kinoshita and Rudy shared a startled look. Asil rose to her feet.
"We have done nothing to the ribbon," the Vulcan stated. "But if you are familiar with Commodore Data, perhaps you could determine whether or not his consciousness is recoverable."
"Recoverable?" Crusher frowned, then his eyes widened in something like horror. "Wait, crap, no, don't tell me," he groaned. "There's been an accident. Your commodore got himself pulled into the Nexus. And now you're here trying to figure out how to get him back."
He clenched his fist and swore under his breath.
"The Nexus wasn't designed to admit machines, but Data's something different. His neural nets are so complex, so closely modeled on human neural patterns, the stupid ribbon might have misread his thought patterns as organic. If that happened..."
He trailed off and strode straight for the turbolift.
"Mr. Crusher," Kinoshita started, but the man brushed him off.
"I assume I'll find Data's body in sickbay?" he said.
"Mr. Crusher!" Kinoshita snapped, stopping the man in his tracks. "If you have served on a Federation starship, as you claim, then you know unauthorized personnel, such as yourself, cannot just-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know all about Starfleet rules, discipline, whatever," Crusher said. "Look, Captain..."
"Kinoshita," he said. "Akira Kinoshita."
"Captain Kinoshita," Crusher said impatiently. "My name is Wesley Crusher. I represent a consortium of highly advanced beings known as Travelers. We have been keeping a close eye on the Nexus ribbon since its inception in an attempt to minimize its impact on the species that encounter it, but never in all that time have we gotten readings as disturbing as the ones we're getting now. It's possible the strain of sustaining the consciousness of a mechanical being like Data is the cause of the instability, but I'll have to study the problem to be sure. Now, I can either do this with your help, or I can freeze all of you in time and conduct the full investigation on my own. Your choice, Akira. Make it quick."
To Be Continued...
References include Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: Nemesis, the Star Trek novels Immortal Coil, Cold Equations, and Imzadi, and TNG episodes Tin Man, Time's Arrow, Datalore, The Measure of a Man, Journey's End, and Where No One Has Gone Before. Holographic "viewing" adapted from Isaac Asimov's Robot series "The Caves of Steel," "The Naked Sun," and "The Robots of Dawn," featuring Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw.
Note: "The Positronic Man" by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg was based on Asimov's short story "The Bicentennial Man" and tells the tale of the NDR-series robot Andrew Martin as he seeks to attain the legal rights and status of a naturalized human being. It is, quite possibly, my favorite book of all time...perhaps tied with "The Little Prince." :)