Part 20 (1/2)

”Not now, Ensign,” Riker said.

Perry looked at Riker, obviously puzzled by his abruptness.

Worf deposited Baldwin like a sack in the extra chair. The exologist seemed gray and shrunken. His hair was not combed or even rakishly disheveled, only in disarray. He was not dirty, but then, Enterprise offered few opportunities to get that way. He would not look at them.

”Eric,” Picard said as gently as he could. He had to say it again before Baldwin looked up. The eyes, the slackness of his face, everything about him suggested madness.

Picard said, ”Eric, we need to know how you changed the d'Ort'd code so that it would erase any mention of you from Federation doc.u.ments. We need to know so we can save the s.h.i.+p and you and the d'Ort'd.”

Baldwin laughed. The laugh was terrible and had no intelligence behind it; it went on and on.

Chapter Fourteen.

THE LAUGHTER CONTINUED. It made Picard itch in places he could not reach, inside his brain, up and down his spinal column. From their actions he could tell that the others felt the same way. Even Worf looked anxious. Only Pilgrim, the d'Ort'd persona, sat calmly.

Picard knew that Baldwin, in his present state, was far beyond his reach. None of the other sleepers had suffered what Baldwin was going through. Perhaps it had something to do with being chosen by the d'Ort'd. Or something to do with Baldwin himself. Eventually they would know. It was possible that Starfleet would someday have its own pushers, giving the Federation interstellar travel without warp engines. An age-old dream. The exploration of s.p.a.ce would truly become a human adventure at last.

Picard walked to a corner of the big room. The walls absorbed sound and made the laughter seem much farther away than it was. In the relative quiet, Picard heard the Enterprise creaking like a s.h.i.+p at sea. Holodeck illusion or more Boogeyman mischief? Could the sound be real, caused by the stress put on the s.h.i.+p by the Boogeymen? Maybe things were even more desperate than he had thought. Ever hopeful, Picard touched his insignia and said, ”Sickbay.”

”n.o.body here by that name,” said a Boogeyman.

Picard came back to the overstuffed chairs and ordered Worf to go down to sickbay and bring back Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi. ”Ask Dr. Crusher to bring a complete medikit.”

”Aye, Captain.”

”What about me, Captain?” Ensign Perry said.

Picard glanced at Worf, but he was stone-faced, as usual. ”Very well,” said Picard. ”Stay sharp.”

Worf and Perry left the holodeck together. Did Perry think they were friends? It was possible; human women had been attracted to Worf before. The coolness, the blatant animal magnetism, the sense of humor that he tried mightily to hide-all had admirers. Interesting, but not Picard's business. Maybe she just wanted to get away from Baldwin.

Wesley could not remember being more brainweary. Yes, he could. He'd once stayed up all night to review his plasma physics notes before the final exam. He'd forced himself to take two hours off for sleep, and it had been enough, but just barely.

He and Geordi and Data were sitting at Engineering's master situation monitor, but not using any of the terminals. If they wanted information or lightning-fast computation, they had to use tricorders. Testing theories and figuring mathematical answers had become a frustratingly slow process.

”What about this?” La Forge said. ”We can create a feedback loop so that whatever the Boogeymen do to the Enterprise will come back to bite them.”

Data shook his head. ”I believe we tried a tricorder simulation of that solution four hours and thirty-seven minutes ago.”

”Did it work?” La Forge asked.

Wesley laughed at that, but Data merely said no, which only made Wesley laugh harder. The comical look of confusion on Data's face made La Forge laugh, too. Then he took a deep breath and said, ”We're all a little slaphappy, I guess.”

All of them except Data. Being an android, he was still alert and fresh. Long after Wesley and La Forge sat staring into s.p.a.ce, trying not to lose the trail of some possible but obscure solution, Data was still eagerly punching information into his tricorder.

The three of them sat without talking. The normal sounds of Engineering twittered and bonked around them. Computer screens were blank or were rolling up line after line of gibberish or showing distorted images of Boogeymen. Occasionally a Boogeyman would laugh or make a threat or tell the world that they had won.

At least one good thing had come out of this situation. The Boogeymen, while still disturbing, had ceased to frighten Wesley. Familiarity had diluted their power. He guessed that even if he saw them in his sleep, he would no longer consider the experience a nightmare, but only a mildly unpleasant dream.

La Forge's staff tried to look busy, but they had little to do while the Boogeyman-d'Ort'd virus was in control of the s.h.i.+p. They occupied themselves mainly in staying away from La Forge, Data, and Wesley.

”Gentlemen,” Data said.

Both La Forge and Wesley jumped.

La Forge stretched. Wesley opened his eyes very wide while trying to will himself back to alertness. ”You have something?”

”I believe I do,” said Data. ”If we simplify the interface codes between input and lobe one of the mainframe, I believe it will allow a new machete program to access, recognize, and delete the Boogeyman-d'Ort'd virus.”

”That's great,” said Wesley. The excitement that came with the possibility of success made him feel more awake.

”Let me see that,” said La Forge. Data handed him the tricorder. He studied the screen for a while, punched a few b.u.t.tons, and studied it again. He said, ”This'll erase the combination, not just the Boogeymen.”

”Correct,” Data said.

La Forge puckered his lips and shook his head. ”I don't know, Data. If what Captain Picard guessed is true, the d'Ort'd virus is part of the information Professor Baldwin brought up from Tantamon Four. I don't feel right about erasing it.”

Wesley said, ”The virus in our computer is only a copy of what's still on the infowafer, isn't it?”

”Maybe,” said La Forge. ”But the virus has probably been changed by its contact with the Boogeymen and with the Enterprise operating programs. Studying those differences might be useful to Lieutenant Shubunkin and Professor Baldwin.”

”Ah,” said Data. ”Very good.”

”Then we can't do it?” Wesley said.

”Not without the captain's approval.”

”Let's get it, then.”

”Right.” La Forge touched a companel and said, ”Engineering to Captain Picard.”

Over the comlink came a hiss of static and Boogeymen singing a primitive chant that Wesley could not understand.

Wesley said, ”I don't think we're going to get any help from the usual places.”

”No,” said La Forge. ”The Boogeymen are taking our s.h.i.+p away from us a little piece at a time. It's like being nibbled to death by ducks.”

They all were pretty whipped. Even Data looked grim. Wesley had an idea he was sure was in everyone's mind. He suspected that none of them liked it any more than he did. But it had to be said out loud and n.o.body else seemed willing to say it. He said, ”Maybe we should simplify the interface codes and do all the rest of it without the captain's approval.”

”Not until we're sure we can't find him,” La Forge said.

”It's a big s.h.i.+p,” Wesley reminded him.

After a moment of thinking about exactly how big the Enterprise was, Data said, ”Perhaps the tricorders can be of use.”

”Limited range,” La Forge said.