Star Trek TNG - 59 Gemworld 2 by John Vornholt

Author:John Vornholt [John Vornholt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction/Fantasy
ISBN: 9780671042714
Publisher: Star Trek
Published: 2014-02-21T16:00:00+00:00

When the comm signal sounded, Deanna Troi stopped floating leisurely in the cabin of her shuttlecraft and pushed herself into her seat. She checked the chronometer to make sure it wasn’t time for another check-in, and it wasn’t. This had to be an emergency.

“Away Team Two,” she answered. “Troi here.”

“Picard here,” came a gruff response. “We’ve been successful, but we had to give up our shuttlecraft as part of the bargain.”

Melora Pazlar snorted a laugh, but she kept her eyes on the nourishment strand they’d been following for hours. Troi gathered that the Elaysian had half-expected something like that would happen.

“Understood, sir,” answered Deanna. “Do you want us to come and get you?”

“No, we’ll contact the Enterprise for another shuttle. Your first priority is to get the key from the Lipuls. Take down our coordinates. If you finish quickly, you can come get us, and I’ll cancel the other shuttle. We’ve got our jetpacks, so we’re still mobile, but slow. I wanted you to know that we can’t be of much assistance to you.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Team One out.”

Troi flicked off the signal and leaned back in her seat. The concerned face of Reg Barclay floated overhead. “What does that mean? Are they stranded?”

“Apparently so. It just means we’re on our own.” Troi glanced at Pazlar. “What are you smiling about?”

“Outsiders often get out-bargained by the Yilterns,” she answered. “They’re the closest thing we have to Ferengi.”

“Why didn’t you warn the captain?” asked Troi.

“He has his guide, Mr. Nordine,” she answered brusquely. “Just be glad you have me.”

“We are glad,” said Reg sincerely.

“How much farther?” asked Troi, losing a bit of her infinite patience.

“Until this strand reaches the engineer’s base prism,” answered Pazlar. “It should be soon. I just didn’t want to lose it.”

Reg moved closer to Melora. “Is that strand the only way the Lipuls have to get to and from the shell?”

“Right,” she answered. To her credit, Melora had stopped looking lovesick the moment she put her hands on the controls of the shuttlecraft. If she had any interest in Reg, it was only as a somewhat talkative passenger in her shuttlecraft.

She peered intently out the window, as if they were about to encounter something significant. “These are the right coordinates,” said Melora. “Commander Troi, put the sensors on that pale blue crystal at ten o’clock. See if there are any life-signs.”

“Okay.” For the sixth time in their journey, Troi ran a scan of a large old-growth prism. This one was a dull icy blue, although it was striated with disturbing blotches of black mutant crystal. Deanna didn’t know why, but she had envisioned something grander. This didn’t look like the kind of prism where a senior engineer would live. It seemed old, cracked, diseased—far past its prime—although it was still gargantuan.

“No life-signs yet,” she reported after surveying the readings.

“Hmmm,” grumbled Pazlar. “That’s odd. Look . . . the strand ends here.”

Sure enough, it was plain to see as they circled the old blue monolith that the nourishment strand they had been following for the better part of a day did indeed go no farther.

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