"Captain's log, stardate 45286.3. After the terrible attack in which Lieutenant Data has been murdered, we have got orders from Admiral Nechayev to return to Earth in order to transfer the prisoner to Starfleet headquarters and getting a new science officer assigned. All members of the crew are shocked by the loss of our dear friend and comrade, so it is a good thing that we take a quiet trip to the Sol system instead of returning to patrol the Romulan border, as was originally scheduled for tomorrow. The U.S.S. Desperado has been informed about our early departure from Nerewia II and will proceed with scanning the planet, but there won't be much to find out as the unknown radiation emitting from it has stopped about two hours after Mr. Deckard appeared there, in the same mysterious way as it began in the first place."
Looking at his first officer, Picard asked "Is that entry about accurate, Will? I happen to have big troubles concentrating, slept very bad the last night. I still can't believe I let this individual kill Data." They were both sitting in the Captain's ready room, looking very tired and as if having a headache.
"It was not your fault, Captain", Riker said in a not very believable tone, "and I'm also feeling bad. I think all of us will need some time dealing with it."
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Sitting in his prison cell, Deckard was thinking about his situation. Most likely, this whole ship was android-infested, Data having been just the most obvious specimen. While they were originally only outlawed on Earth, the spacefleet didn't tolerate them within it's ranks, either. They might have hijacked this vessel, such things had happened before. But then, Deckard had never seen plans of a spaceship with configuration similar to this one. The idea of an android group powerful enough to manufacture their own battleship frightened him, but how could he know, they might just have taken over the whole Centaurus colony, giving them control over an industry as potent as whole Earth was just after the war. But what did they want from him?
His reasoning was interrupted when the door opened and a very female-looking woman entered the room where he was held hostage. He remembered the woman, she had also been present in the briefing room the other day, so obviously she was one of the more important parts in this conspiracy. She had long, dark hair and an almost exotic body with big bosom and bottom, Deckard liked looking at her.
"My name is Troi, I'm the ship's Counselor. I'll interrogate you." She was trying to sound as serious as she could but in fact she was quite insecure, Deckard noticed amused.
"So you're something like a psychologist?", he asked.
"Yes."
"Are you trying to find out if I'm insane? Haha. Well, I won't believe a single word of what you say, so you can't manipulate me into believing your fake stories. We'd better use our time talking about you, hottie. Do you know what you are?"
"I do for sure...", Troi answered, annoyed.
"You may think you're a human psychologist, but telling from your looks I'm pretty sure I know the purpose you were originally built for", Deckard remarked, smiling a very dirty smile.
The Counselor got angry, "You're a madman! I should inform you that I have telepathic abilities, so I know what you're feeling and thinking about. Even from a murderer I would've expected a little more politeness when dealing with a woman."
"Maybe I'm mad, but at least I'm a man. That's more than you'll ever be... So, you claim to be telepathic, let's see if that's true: The idea I'm thinking about right now, for the two of us, does that sound like a nice suggestion? I'm sure you'd enjoy that..."
"You pig!", she shouted. The thoughts of Deckard being too much for her, Troi ran out of the prison room, crying.
After all, she might have been telling the thruth about her nature, Deckard concluded. Well it didn't matter.
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Later the same day, the Captain of the ship personally paid Deckard a visit.
"Ahoi Cap'n," Deckard joked, "how do I earn the honor of being visited by you? You want to find out if your guest is being treated well? The food still has a lot of potential for improvements but..."
"If I were not such a civilized man, I'd have you thrown out the next airlock immediately", Picard interrupted. He was displaying a perfect poker face, but his voice still gave his mood away. "Listen, Deckard. I don't know what's wrong with you and if you really believe that paranoid story you're telling, but I'd want to know what's going on there in that sick head of yours."
"Why are you so mad at me, 'Captain'?", Deckard asked honestly, "Because I destroyed some of your property?"
"You killed my second officer!"
"I retired it! You can't 'kill' something that has no life."
"Mr. Data was sentient. He did have a life until you took it! He also had friends and, hell, he even owned a cat!"
"Oh, that happens. Seldomly, but i've seen andies having animals before. Legally, they can't own any property, of course. Tell me about the cat, can i have her?"
"The hell you can!"
Deckard had anticipated that response. He wan't really on the Captain's good side, after all. "Tell me, Picard, are you an android, too?", he asked.
Picard laughed. "You're a very paranoid man, Deckard", he said, "I'm as human as you. Even though I have a heart and you're just a pervert maniac, biologically we're equal."
"Would you prove it? What about a little test?"
Picard first hesitated, but his nature as an explorer finally overcame him and he agreed to go through Deckard's procedure. Maybe it would help him better understand the man's motives, he thought.
Under extreme security measures, the V-K apparatus was brought into the cell and the two men placed themselfes near to each other, only Deckard's machine and the force field between them. After having installed everything, the bounty hunter began.
"Please concentrate on the questions and answer as fast as you can. What is your name?", he asked.
"Jean-Luc Picard. Is that already the test?", the Captain replied.
"Not really, this was basically for warming you up and calibrating my instruments. I'm beginning now: Think about your family, your loved ones. Imagine there's a terrible accident and they all die. You're completely alone now, lost with nobody near to you. How would that feel, Jean-Luc?"
It took the Captain a few seconds to answer, the needles of the machine flipping around erratically while he reflected over it. "I... I can imagine this desperate situation." was all he finally said.
The strong reaction surprised Deckard, maybe Picard was no android after all. But what sense would this make? Was the Captain voluntarily collaborating with a group of androids wanting to abduct him, an innocent human being? He carefully chose his next question.
"Fine. Now what about this: What do you think, Captain, how would it feel to be a cybernetic organism? The cold, heartless calculating nature of such a creature, it's very frightening, don't you think? Could you imagine how it is?"
The Voight-Kampff machine registered an extreme peak response, a reaction as strong as Deckard had never seen it in his career before. But Picard did not say a single word, his face looked as if freezed, his eyes staring right through Deckard, as if looking into the void.
Abruptly, the Captain got up and turned around. Only showing Deckard his back, he spoke up. "I'm done with you! Luckily for you, Starfleet has abolished the death penalty centuries ago, but I will personally make sure that they put you into the worst prison we can find for the life sentence you'll get. In about five days, we will arrive in San Francisco, ironically being the place where you claim to be coming from, where we'll finally get rid of you."
To the security guard he said "Lieutenant, no more visitors for this individual!", then he walked out of the room, still looking freezed as if he had just been confronted with his worst nightmare.
Deckard was puzzled. After only two questions, the test was all but inconclusive but it seemed very much as if Picard was a real man. A bunch of rogue androids lead by a human? It didn't make sense. Maybe he had just asked him the wrong questions.
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The next day, the door opened and an adolescent boy entered the room.
"You know that you're not allowed here, Ensign!", the guard said.
"Come on, Charley, please! I need to know who the man is who killed Data and got Counselor Troi and the Captain so pissed. Just give me a minute."
"Okay, 'Wes. But make it quick and don't tell anybody I let you talk to him."
The boy walked to the cell and looked at Deckard sitting on his bed, the way little children look at predatory animals in a zoo.
"What do you want?", Deckard asked, bored.
"Data was my friend."
"I bet you don't have many live friends, right?"
"W-w-what d-do you mean?"
"Nevermind. Aren't you a little too young for wearing an uniform, son?"
"I'm... special", Crusher stated proudly.
"I know. I can tell you're a chickenhead."
"A chicken what?"
"It doesn't matter. I refuse talking to your kind. Go away, kid!", Deckard ended the chat.
"You heard the man, Weasley, leave us alone", the guard intervened, amused.
His face red, the boy left.
Smiling at Deckard, the guard excused. "Sorry for letting the little son of a bitch loose on you. Maybe you're a murderer, but not even you deserve being exposed to that little pest."
They both laughed.