Star Trek: Corps of Engineers: Foundations #2 by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

Author:Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket
Published: 2002-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

6

As his connection with the Lovell crackled and finally died out altogether, Scott closed his communicator and returned it to his belt. His expression was somber, a fact not lost on his companions.

“Did they make it?” al-Khaled asked. “Have they left orbit?”

“Aye, that they have,” Scott replied. “They’re out of range now. We’re on our own for the time being, lads.”

“I don’t understand,” Lindstrom said, finally bringing his breathing under control. “I thought that you removed Landru’s control over everything.”

Al-Khaled nodded. “We severed the ties between Landru’s central core and the rest of the network that it once oversaw. We also removed any trace of the Landru personality from the databanks we found.”

“Landru is all powerful,” Marplon said as he lowered himself into one of the few chairs in the command center. “He foresaw a time when he might face enemies such as you, and provided for that eventuality. The Guardian, Hacom, must have been the instrument of that will.”

Shrugging, al-Khaled replied, “Obviously there was some sort of recovery or backup system in place that we missed. That must be what Hacom found.”

“Well,” Scotty said, “it doesna matter now how it happened. All that matters now is that Landru is active again and is regaining control of its computer systems.”

“But his overall influence will be limited, Scotty,” al-Khaled countered. “Landru doesn’t have the control he once did over the rest of the automated network. We saw to that. None of our modifications tie into the central core yet, so we still retain control over most of the city’s automated systems.”

“He still has control over the important parts, though,” Lindstrom said. “We’ve already seen that he is reasserting his influence over the people. There’s nothing to say he can’t order someone to launch physical attacks on those areas we’ve removed from him.”

“Exactly,” al-Khaled said. “Landru is like a severed head in search of a body.” When his friends looked at him with odd expressions on their faces, he amended, “Sorry. Bad choice of words.”

“Actually,” Scott said, “that brings up a good question. Landru may have regained control of the systems he used to keep the people under his control, but will the people fall back into his grip that easily?”

Marplon mulled the engineer’s questions. “We all are vulnerable to some degree, but the indoctrination runs undeniably deep in many. There are those among my people who long for Landru’s return.”

“You mean like Hacom,” al-Khaled said.

Shaking his head, the Elder waved the suggestion away. “You do not understand. Hacom was chosen by Landru to protect his will at all costs. His role as the Guardian was decreed for him long before you came to us.”

Hacom was only the cause of their current problem, Scott knew. The effects of the Elder’s actions were continuing to reveal themselves with each passing moment. The longer he and his friends waited to act, the harder he knew their task would become.

“We have to find a way to shut down Landru again, for good this time. Not simply deactivate him, but disable him completely.

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