Star Trek: The Next Generation - 106 - Q&A by Keith R. A. Decandido

Author:Keith R. A. Decandido [Decandido, Keith R. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Media Tie-In, Space Opera, Adventure, Interplanetary Voyages, Star Trek Fiction, Picard; Jean Luc (Fictitious Character)
ISBN: 9781416527411
Publisher: Star Trek
Published: 2007-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

11

Enterprise

In orbit of Gorsach IX

One day before the end of the universe

“ALL RIGHT,” GEORDI LA FORGE SAID AS HE STARED across the console at Ensign Taurik and Kadohata, “we need to get creative.”

Taurik raised an eyebrow. “I fail to see what use creativity will be in this circumstance.”

La Forge chuckled. Taurik was a good straight man. Just like Data. Damn, where did that come from?

“We’ve scanned every millimeter of the surface. We’ve found no signs of those animals you encountered.”

“Q was right, by the by, about their being yrilijk. Whatever came after us looked just like the cave drawings on Berengaria.” Kadohata let out a breath. “Honestly, if my tricorder hadn’t made a record of the bloody things, I’d be convinced it was a hallucination.”

“It is unlikely,” Taurik said, “that the same hallucination was shared by Commander Worf, Lieutenant Leybenzon, and you.”

Shaking his head, La Forge said, “Q’s involved, Taurik. That means all bets are off.”

“We could run an icogram,” Kadohata said.

“That is an illogical request,” Taurik said flatly. “An icospectrogram is generally run to determine the presence of dilithium. However, we already know there are dilithium deposits on the planet.”

“I gotta agree with Taurik,” La Forge said. “The icogram isn’t gonna tell us anything we don’t already know.”

“That is precisely why I want to do the scan,” she said.

Frowning, La Forge said, “I don’t follow you.”

“I was thinking back on some of the other examples I came across in the records of ‘constructed’ planets like this—in particular I was thinking about Talos IV. The Talosians were able to fool not only the Enterprise crew but also their sensors into thinking that the planet wasn’t a nuclear wasteland. What if something—Q, or what have you—is doing the same thing here?”

“If that is the case,” Taurik said, “then an icospectrogram would confirm the presence of dilithium.”

“Or deny it. Discrepant data can be as useful as corroborating data, particularly when there’s a wild card like Q and a planet that simply cannot exist.”

“Of course it can!” said an all-too-familiar smarmy voice from behind La Forge. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Jean-Luc’s silly old Bard said that, and for once, he got it right.”

Ignore him, La Forge told himself forcefully. He could see Kadohata tensing. However, Taurik was proceeding as if Q hadn’t spoken. “Logical, I shall proceed.”

“This whole thing is a waste of time!” Q said, materializing on the other side of the console from La Forge. “Why are you just standing around up here throwing all this technobabble around? Why not just go down there?”

Taurik said, “We should…”

Q rolled his eyes. “Here it comes. It amazes me that Vulcans even managed space travel, given how much time they’ve wasted on being pedantic.” He grinned. “Of course, they developed space travel before they became boring, which probably explains it. Ah, the good ol’ days before Surak—that’s when your people really knew how to party.”

Given Vulcan’s history of brutal warfare before Surak united the planet with his tenets of logic, La Forge doubted “party” was the right word.

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