A Time to Harvest

by Dayton Ward

  Additionally, the effort would take time. Years would pass before the planet was ready for habitation by the Satarran people, so patience was essential to the success of the operation. By the time the Dokaalan discovered what had happened, it would be too late and the world’s atmospheric composition would be well on its way toward conversion for the Satarrans’ needs. Daeniq’s people would no longer need to live in dilapidated fleets of ships or anywhere else they could find safe harbor. They would once again have a world to call their own.

  As for the Dokaalan themselves, part of Daeniq regretted their place in all of this. Such were the misfortunes of war, he knew, even if one was victim to a war in which one did not fight.

  Of course, everything he and his people had been working toward had been endangered thanks to the untimely arrival of the Enterprise. At least, that had been the original thinking.

  Daeniq’s attention was drawn to Lorakin as he moved to the simple metal desk that was the office’s primary piece of furniture. Reaching for a carafe, his companion poured himself a glass of water.

  “I wonder what Picard will say once he finds out he allowed us to reduce our timetable by nearly two-thirds,” Lorakin said after taking a sip of the water. “I really must find a way to properly thank him for his assistance. His, and Dr. Geliu’s.” Holding up the glass in salute, he added, “It was her idea to make use of the android’s scheme, after all.”

  That much was true, of course. Having assumed the identity of Science Minister Creij, Geliu had been in perfect position to examine and comprehend the Starfleet android’s plan to deploy a suite of torpedoes to the planet. With each of the weapons carrying an artificially created substance that Federation science had developed for their own terraforming efforts, the transformation of the planet’s atmosphere would be accelerated far beyond the capabilities of both Dokaalan and Satarran technology. Acting as the science minister, Geliu had been able to provide the necessary information that allowed the Enterprise crew to unwittingly answer the Satarran’s needs in one fell swoop.

  Still, the mission was not yet complete.

  “You look troubled, Daeniq,” Lorakin said a moment later.

  Sighing heavily, Daeniq replied, “Now that he is aware of our activities here, Captain Picard will exhaust every resource at his disposal to expose us.”

  “Of course,” the senior officer said, nodding. “In fact, I welcome that.”

  Daeniq did not like the sound of that. “We still have the initiative, but only for a short time. If we do not act now, there may not be time for us to counter any action they put into play. We should end this.” Shaking his head, he added, “Order our operatives on the Enterprise to destroy the ship.”

  His face adopting a reproachful expression, Lorakin replied, “The Federation will simply send another ship.”

  “They are weeks away,” Daeniq countered. “By the time they arrive, we will have restored control over the situation and be able to offer any number of explanations for what happened.”

  Lorakin shook his head. “Not yet. We may still have need of the ship’s resources.”

  Unwilling to believe that, Daeniq fixed his friend and superior officer with a stern gaze. “Do not allow your desire to exact some type of vengeance on Picard to cloud your judgment and compromise the mission.”

  The interior of the office echoed with Lorakin’s laughter. It was a comforting sound, one that had in times past never failed to put Daeniq at ease.

  “I would be lying if I said I had not considered that, but do not worry,” he said. “Like yours, my training and loyalty is too strong to fall victim to such petty emotions.” A sinister smile abruptly curled the corners of his mouth. “At least, not until our work here is complete.”

  He laughed again, but this time it was a sound Daeniq found most unpleasant.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “THERE YOU GO,” Geordi La Forge said as he watched Data rise to a standing position and hold it for several seconds before lowering his body back to his chair. Once he was finished, a chorus of applause erupted in main engineering, the rest of La Forge’s team all smiles at this latest milestone in Data’s repair efforts. “Looking good, Data.”

  Seated in the antigravity work sled, Data raised his left leg until it extended straight out and away from him before testing his knee’s range of motion. “I have nearly finished rerouting the neural pathways which oversee my motor functions,” he said as he repeated the movements with his right leg. “At my current rate of progress, I anticipate regaining full mobility within two point seven hours.”

  Though he was certainly happy to see his friend making such excellent progress, La Forge could nevertheless not shake a nagging sense of guilt. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when this happened to you, Data. Who knows if I might have been able to help?” Even as he said the words, he knew they rang hollow. After all, he had already reviewed the diagnostic logs recorded during the android’s incapacitation. Whatever had caused the extensive cascading failure in Data’s internal processes was unlike anything La Forge had ever seen, far surpassing any similar damage his friend had suffered in all the time the chief engineer had known him.

  Holding his left leg extended in front of him again, Data said, “Given the amount of damage, I do not believe you would have been able to effect a swift resolution.”

  “No, but I might have at least been able to help with the rebuilding,” La Forge countered. “Why in the hell did you have to start without me?”

  In order to fully recover from the harm done to his neural pathways, Data required a near-total reconstruction of his positronic network. By the time La Forge and Taurik had returned to the Enterprise, Data had already managed to affect a temporary solution based in the immense system of software he carried to oversee his numerous functions and abilities. It was not a substitute for the physical repairs needed to permanently overcome the damage he had suffered, but it would, theoretically, allow Data to return to duty until such time as the various current problems involving the Dokaalan were resolved.

  “I am sorry, Geordi,” Data replied as he lowered his left leg. “There was no way to know when you might return, and Captain Picard had already assigned me to develop a means of assisting the Dokaalan’s terraforming efforts. After assessing the situation, it seemed crucial that I return to duty as quickly as possible.” He affected a better than fair imitation of a human shrug. “Still, I would have liked for you to have been present during the process. With the obvious exception of myself, you know more about my construction and internal systems better than anyone.”

  La Forge chose not to argue, even though he knew there were those who would gladly debate the point. An entire department back at Starfleet Command had been formed a few years ago with but a single mission: Study and understand Lieutenant Commander Data. Several high-ranking officials had on several occasions made public their ambitions to duplicate the android, but such efforts had consistently failed. Starfleet science and technology, as advanced as it was, had simply not yet caught up to the talent and skill of Data’s creator.

  That was fine with La Forge, who had always wavered between disappointment and disgust at Data’s treatment by those who saw him as an object of opportunity, especially when those people were in positions of power in the very organization to which he had sworn loyalty. In addition to being a unique and remarkable individual in his own right, Dr. Noonien Soong’s crowning achievement had chosen to devote the totality of his functional life to serving Starfleet and the Federation. He deserved better than to be the focus of curiosity and potential exploitation, at least so far as Data was concerned.

  There’s that motherly instinct of yours acting up again, he mused, knowing there was some truth in the notion. From their earliest days serving together on the Enterprise-D, La Forge had been protective of Data in ways that went far beyond his role as the ship’s chief engineer. Though he of course had not participated in his friend’s creation, he had taken it upon himself to unders
tand everything there was to know about the android, a stance that had helped him to assist Data in recovering from various injuries and other problems he had suffered.

  And it was that attitude which made him feel guilty and even angry that he had not been here when his friend had needed him most.

  “Well,” La Forge said finally, “I’m here now, and we’ll get you through this. Then, the first chance we get, we’re going to see about reconstructing your neural net the right way.” It was a laborious task, and one that he did not relish performing, but in the long run it was the best means to ensure that Data experienced no lasting effects from his incapacitation.

  “The measures I have enacted will be more than sufficient for the time being,” Data replied. “Until now I was able to divide my attention between my internal diagnostics and continuing my investigation into what happened on Ijuuka. With the progress I have made, I can now also assist you in your efforts.”

  Nodding in grudging agreement, to say nothing of unfettered admiration at his friend’s ability to simultaneously concentrate on several tasks, La Forge sighed heavily. “Well, I can sure use your help.” He indicated the workstation display monitor and the series of instructions he had so far devised for modifying the ship’s internal sensors. “Without knowing what species we’re dealing with, and considering the variety of races that make up the crew, figuring out how to isolate someone using just variances in body temperature isn’t enough. Even if we screened out biosigns for the different species represented by the crew, that’s still not a guarantee that we’d pick up anything.” Shrugging, he added, “It’s worth a shot, anyway, but I think we need something else.”

  Looking around, he allowed his ocular implants to home in on the heat signatures of the various engineers working throughout the room. None of them seemed out of the ordinary to him, even the body temperatures of the nonhuman members of his staff. Taurik’s was warmer than Ensign Leisner, for example, while Ensign Veldon registered as cooler than Lieutenant Diix.

  “If we went with the idea that it’s a spy using some kind of holography to alter his appearance,” La Forge said, “we could reprogram the sensors to register anyone who looked to be carrying a portable power source.” As soon as he said the words, though, he shook his head and dismissed the idea even before Data could counter the suggestion.

  He did so, anyway.

  “The ship’s sensors are already configured to detect and report the use of any unauthorized power sources anywhere on board,” he said. “If such a source is in operation, it seems reasonable to assume that it is being concealed in some fashion.”

  “You’re probably right,” La Forge said, shaking his head. “At least if they were Founders, we’d have a few tricks up our sleeves.”

  During the Dominion War, methods had been developed to identify shapeshifters who had infiltrated Starfleet and the Federation as well as the Klingon Empire and the Cardassian Union, in some cases adopting the personas of individuals possessing much influence and authority within each society. The tactics had been crude, consisting of blood tests of suspected impostors and, in more extreme situations, phaser sweeps of rooms where changelings were believed to be hiding while assuming the forms of other people or even inanimate objects.

  Allowing his gaze to wander about the room, La Forge caught site of the two security guards. Ensign Forst, a human male, and Lieutenant Jeloq, a Bolian female, were each armed with a phaser rifle and positioned just inside the main entrance to the engineering section. Teams like this one had been deployed throughout the ship in accordance with Captain Picard’s order, a course of action the chief engineer could not remember being put into play since the war.

  In engineering, La Forge had taken additional proactive steps, most notably in erecting the forcefield intended to protect the warp core. Even now he could hear the telltale buzz of the active shield, just barely audible over the powerful thrum of the core itself. If indeed a saboteur was aboard the Enterprise, the possibility of that individual disabling the ship’s main propulsion system or even using it as a weapon to destroy the ship altogether was a very real concern.

  Looking once more at the guard, he shook his head in resignation. It had always unsettled him when circumstances required the employment of such martial methods aboard what was supposed to be a ship of peaceful exploration.

  How long has it been since we really were that, he asked himself.

  Even their current mission, which had started off with such little promise and evolved into an unparalleled opportunity to aid and learn from an alien race never before encountered, had just as quickly deteriorated into a situation with many sinister underpinnings. Still, helping the Dokaalan through a difficult time in their lives and introducing them to the larger interstellar community that would soon become their welcoming neighbors was absolutely in keeping with the very reasons he had joined Starfleet in the first place.

  With that in mind, La Forge decided, the unfortunate militaristic aspect of trying to protect their new friends from those who sought to do them harm was worth enduring.

  “So,” he said a moment later, “you know what kind of luck I’m having. How’s your research coming?”

  Turning from the workstation he had occupied for the four hours since the last staff meeting, Data said, “Based on all of the information at my disposal, I have so far been unable to find an explanation for the effects of our introducing the phylocite into Ijuuka’s atmosphere. I am now proceeding from the theory that Science Minister Creij was somehow able to deceive me with the information she provided.”

  “You think she’s an impostor?” La Forge asked.

  “That, or she has also been misled by someone who is,” Data replied, “though I confess I do not feel as confident in that theory. Creij was with me during most of the computer simulation testing, and she played a central role in the final calculations and programming of the torpedo launch sequence. Her unmatched knowledge of the Dokaalan’s terraforming procedures was also vital in the final determination of how best to spread the phylocite across the planet’s atmosphere.”

  Listening to his friend’s recitation, La Forge found himself nodding in agreement. “So, you’re thinking that it wouldn’t have been easy for someone trying to fool her.”

  “Precisely,” Data said. “Therefore, I am compelled to pursue the hypothesis that it was Creij herself who undermined the experiment.”

  Though he had been concentrating on discovering a way to detect the presence of the interlopers pretending to be Dokaalan, or perhaps even members of the Enterprise crew, La Forge had not given serious thought to just how far into Dokaalan society these people might actually have insinuated themselves. If Data was right, then how many members of the Dokaalan leadership had they replaced? Positioned as they might be, had they in fact caused the disaster at Mining Station Twelve?

  Based on what Barmiol had told him, it seemed likely that he and his companions were orchestrating a carefully plotted campaign of manipulation through clever deception and, yes, fear. If left unchecked, this band of impostors would almost certainly succeed in maneuvering the rest of the Dokaalan into doing whatever was needed for them to succeed in their mission. The arrival of the Enterprise would have disrupted their plans to some degree, of that the chief engineer was certain, but it seemed obvious that they had already adapted their methods, if his and Taurik’s capture and Data’s theory about the failed terraforming acceleration were any indication.

  The question now was, could he and Data, and the rest of the crew for that matter, adjust in time to stop this rogue group before they did any more damage?

  “Commander La Forge?”

  He turned to see Lieutenant Taurik standing behind him and holding a padd. The Vulcan’s expression was one of concern. “What is it, Ensign?”

  Holding out the padd, Taurik replied, “We’ve received a report from computer operations, sir. They have noted numerous discrepancies in the primary core’s database access logs over the pas
t several days.”

  “Let me see,” La Forge said as he took the proffered padd, frowning at the report it contained. “The autonomous maintenance subprocessors show more traffic than the system master log can account for.” Automated and operating outside the boundaries of the ship’s vast computer network, the maintenance subroutines tracked the wear on the system’s physical components, notifying operations personnel when scheduled cleaning of data-storage facilities and other pieces of equipment was required based on an individual unit’s level of usage.

  If the report La Forge was reading was correct, several of the core’s data-storage units were in need of routine maintenance far ahead of projected schedules, based on a high level of activity that had not been recorded by the system’s access logs.

  How was that possible?

  “Lieutenant Henderson has been going over the logs for the past several hours,” Taurik said, “but he reports that he is unable to account for the disparity. He requests that a level-one diagnostic be scheduled for the entire computer system at the earliest oppor…”

  The Vulcan’s abrupt pause made La Forge look up from the padd to see Taurik’s attention focused on something just over his shoulder. “What is it?” He turned to see that, still seated at the engineering workstation, Data had turned away from the console and now sat motionless in his chair. His expression had gone completely blank, and for a panicked moment the chief engineer thought his friend had suffered a relapse of his earlier incapacitation.

  “Data?”

  The android’s eyes blinked in response to the query, and he turned his head until he faced La Forge. “Geordi, I have finished the review of my internal diagnostic logs leading up to the point of my deactivation. It was the result of an actuation servo deliberately directed at me.”

  Confused, La Forge frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “I am afraid so,” Data replied, “just as I am sure about who was responsible.” Looking about the engineering section, he then pointed toward one of the workstations near the warp core. “It was Lieutenant Diix.”