Part 10 (1/2)
”The planet was an Earth colony.”
”Yes, sir.”
”But you told me you were built by an alien race.”
”That is also correct,” Data replied calmly. ”It occurred on Kiron III, where a human colony there faced accidental extinction. Unknown to that colony, an alien race of highly advanced machines lived there too. Seeing that the humans were to be destroyed, the aliens built me. They wanted to preserve what they considered the most important quality of the humans -their knowledge. Being machines themselves, they naturally considered information the most important quality of all. It appears I was completed and programmed shortly before the final catastrophe.”
”What happened?”
”I am-afraid I don't know, sir. I have a conscious memory only of what happened after everyone was dead. Someone had set a repeating distress beacon in orbit. A Starfleet vessel finally responded and discovered I was the only one alive on the planet. Humans are the first sentient life form I ever met.” He smiled a little shyly. ”I was taken to Earth for study by Starfleet, but in the question of how the catastrophe occurred or what its trigger was, I have no programmed information.”
”The aliens?”
”Their fate is also a mystery to me. Apparently, they died as well.”
”Odd that they built you in the shape of the humans and not themselves.”
”Perhaps they felt that humans would relate better to me this way. At least, they built me to approximate what they judged to be human form.”
”Mmmm.” Riker looked at Data's yellow eyes and opalescent-gold skin, the only two features he could see that signaled that he was not human. ”You are biomechanical in construct. Does that mean you eat?”
”I can consume almost any kind of solid material and convert it to fuel, and my systems do require oxygen for certain chemical balances. Ordinary liquids are of no use to me, which was why I was puzzled when the admiral insisted on trying to press a drink on me.”
”Don't worry about that.” Riker smiled. ”That's just the admiral.”
”Yes, sir, I understand,” Data said eagerly. ”Perhaps you can explain something else to me. Do you understand why he kept calling me 'boy'? Of course, I was designed as a fully functional male.”
Riker cleared his throat, unsure of what to reply to that. ”I believe... it's just an expression the admiral uses for any male younger than he is.”
”Ah.” As far as Data was concerned, that answered that.
Riker was still uncomfortable and decided to push the conversation into areas in which he had concerns. ”You have the rank of lieutenant commander. Honorary, of course.”
Data shook his head and replied cheerfully, ”No, sir. Starfleet Academy cla.s.s of ”78; honors in probability mechanics and exobiology.”
The android smiled at Riker's expression of surprise. ”Actually, sir, Starfleet regulations allow the acceptance of any qualified candidate so long as he, she or it tests out as a sentient life form.
Does any of this trouble you?” asked Data.
”To be honest... yes, a little.”
Data nodded sagely. ”Understood, sir. Prejudice is very human.”
”Now that troubles me. Do you consider yourself superior to us?”
”I am superior in many ways. But-” Data hesitated. ”I would gladly give it up to be human.”
Riker studied him a moment, a.n.a.lyzing his own emotions. The fact Data was an android seemed less and less important in the face of his open honesty, his gentle philosophy, and his obvious yearning to become more than a biomechanical construct. Finally Riker said, ”Nice to meet you-Pinocchio.” Data stared at him, uncomprehending. ”A joke,” Riker explained.
”Ah! Intriguing,” Data said. ”You must explain it to me.”
Riker grinned spontaneously. ”You're going to be an interesting companion, Data.” Aware of the time, he added, ”We should go back. The captain will want the away team to get started as soon as possible.”
They walked back along the path that Riker had followed to the glade. Riker looked around again at the incredibly convincing foliage and shook his head. ”This is marvelous,” he said. ”The Hood had a holodeck, but it was nothing like this. I understand it can be programmed in almost endless combinations.”
”Yes, sir. Some seem to be requested more than others. For instance, this woodland pattern is quite popular. Perhaps because it duplicates Earth so well, coming here almost... makes me feel as if I'm human too.”
Riker paused and picked up a long blade of gra.s.s to study. ”I didn't believe these simulations could be so real.”
”Much of it is real, sir. If the transporters can convert our bodies to an energy beam, then back to the original pattern again-”
”Yes, of course.” Riker pointed the blade of gra.s.s. ”The rocks and vegetation here have much simpler patterns. I saw a hummingbird on my way in ... and I heard squirrels and a crow... .”
”Projections, sir.” Data waved his hand at a nearby area. ”The rear wall.”
Riker stopped and stared intently. The wooded area stretched away in a dense growth of trees, low brush and shrubs. A few spots of color were visible where wildflowers spread a throw rug of blossoms on the gra.s.sy stetches. ”I can't see it.”
”We are practically next to it.” The android bent and picked up a large rock as Riker squinted vainly to see the wall. He pitched the rock about eight feet in a line directly ahead of Riker. The stone hit something in midair with a heavy thud and then bounced back to fall in the thick gra.s.s. ”Right there, sir,” Data said helpfully.
”Incredible.” Riker knew he had twenty/twenty vision, but stare as he might, he could not make out the wall that confined the holodeck. Wesley's voice in the near distance brought Riker around as the boy called out.
”Isn't this great?”
Wes was hurrying down the opposite slope toward the stream. ”This is one of the simple patterns, Commander Riker. They've got thousands more, some you just can't believe.” He started across the creek, nimbly bouncing from rock to rock. ”I was just over in the Himalayas, tracking the Yeti-”
Riker suddenly remembered the stone that had wobbled perilously under his feet when he had crossed.
”Careful,” he yelled, ”that next rock is loose!”
Wes stepped on the slab, and it tipped sharply under him. His arms flailed, and he fell off balance, tumbling into the stream with a huge splash. Data bounded down the hillside in swift, ground-covering leaps, landed with perfect balance on the treacherous rock, and reached down to grab the front of the boy's tunic. Riker stared in amazement as the android easily lifted Wesley out of the water with one hand and hoisted him overhead.
Wes shook the wet hair out of his face and stared at Data in awe. ”Wow!” he gasped. Data smiled faintly and set him down on a dry rock. ”You must be the android. I mean, sir... uh, thank you. I can swim, but-”
”The water is ten degrees centigrade to simulate a mountain stream. I believe you should return to your quarters and change into dry clothes as soon as possible. It is an old Earth remedy for such an event.”
”I'd have to agree, Wes,” Riker said. He saw the plea dancing in the boy's eyes and knew what he would have wanted at that age. ”Lieutenant Commander Data,” he said formally, ”may I present Wesley Crusher.”
”How do you do, Mr. Crusher,” Data said. He offered his hand and lightly but firmly shook the boy's. Wesley loved it. Now he had an adventure to tell Adam and Craig Harris.
The intricate hatchway from Holodeck area 4-J into the corridor slid smoothly open at their approach.
Data, Riker, and a very soggy Wesley stepped through. The boy was happily trailing behind a dirty wake of muddy water as he listened to the two officers talk.
Picard was on his way through the holodeck with Commander Reasons of Stores and Supply when the three figures emerging from the parkland area caught his eye. Two of them were instantly recognizable as Riker and Data. The wet and bedraggled boy was unknown to him, but he was clearly making a mess on the scrupulously clean deck. Reasons paused and looked inquiringly at him, and Picard motioned him ahead. ”Go on, Mark. I'll meet you in the Stores office.” Picard waited for the other three to approach him.
Wesley cringed inside, aware of his dripping clothes, his squelching shoes, and the long snake of muddy footprints he was leaving behind. There was no doubt in his mind as to the ident.i.ty of the intimidating man with the severe eyes who waited for them at the corridor intersection. Even if he hadn't immediately recognized the four small gold disks of a Starfleet captain, he had seen the holo of his mother and father and Jean-Luc Picard often enough. As they halted in front of the captain, Wes would have liked to wish himself away-but there he had to stand, his wet clothes steadily forming a puddle on the deck around his feet.