Star Trek: Earth Strike
Episode 19: Data at Large
�Tractors.� Spock said flatly.
A general air of disappointment replaced the hope that the vulcan had engendered just moments before. All had considered the tractor beam as a possible solution to their predicament - considered and discarded. By reversing the polarity of the tractor beam and setting it to wide-spread they could use it as a repulsor and ad-hoc deflector. The option had not been raised, however, for as Captain Picard explained: �Our tractor beam generators were damaged beyond repair when we attempted to stop the supercube fragment from crashing to Earth.� Privately Picard wondered to himself that Spock could have forgotten - the Ambassador was young yet for the vulcan version of senility - but then Spock was half-human.
�I am well aware of the events of episode nine,� Spock said, unfazed by the reactions of the bridge crew. �However, now, as then, the Enterprise�s own generators are not the only ones available to us.�
�Daisy and Dotty!� Picard said, snapping his fingers in realisation.
�Quite.� Spock agreed, �The Stardock tugs have generators that could be made to serve our needs.�
�Mr Worf: hail the tug�s pilots.� Picard ordered. In moments the image on the viewscreen was replaced by a split-screen view of two identical cockpits with two very different occupants.
�This is Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise,� Picard introduced himself, �am I correct in assuming that your vehicles exterior clamps would be strong enough to hold you to us at impulse speeds?�
�We could hold a politician to an election promise!� Boasted a young man in a yellow environment suit who sat like a knight in golden armour in the Daisy�s cockpit.
�Uh... thank you, Mr... Anderson,� Picard said, reading the pilot's name off the label on his suit. �Hopefully we wont need anything quite so drastic.�
�That�s Captain Anderson,� Daisy�s pilot demanded, �this is my realm and I am it�s master!�
�Very well, Captain,� Picard conceded gracefully - if he found it incongruous to have to deal with an orbital service vehicle's commander on even terms one could not know it from his tone.
�You concur, Captain... Alya?� Picard asked the Dotty�s pretty young female pilot, reading her name from the tag on her pink environment suit. The young woman�s mouth moved but there was no sound. She was confused at their lack of response and fiddled with the control board in front of her.
�Is this thing on? Can you hear me?� Her melodic voice suddenly burst through, heavily laden with a gallic accent.
�Indeed we can, Madam Captain.� Picard said smoothly.
�Alya.�
�Madam Alya.�
�Mademoiselle,� she said, with a glint in her eye.
�Of course. And are the clamps of the Dotty as effective as those of the Daisy?�
�They could keep a lover to a boudoir vow, ma cherie.� Alya purred.
Quickly Picard explained what was needed.
�Sounds good, Captain Picard,� Anderson said, �but it wont work.�
�And why is that?� Picard asked.
�Oh, Greg, you are so negateeve!� Alya protested, �but of course you are right: zere is only the one problem.�
�Our tractor generators are run on fusion motors,� Anderson explained, �and so are out of commission.�
�He is, �ow you say - correctomundo, mon Capitan.� Alya agreed.
�Captain, if I may?� Data interjected, continuing after Picard gave his nod of permission. �Are your vessels equipped with type IV exterior plasma charging ports?� He asked the Tug pilots.
�Yep: so what?� Anderson confirmed.
�Then it may be that we will be able to supply your energy needs through exterior conduit links.� Data stated.
�Time is of the essence,� Spock reminded them, �to get two work-crews prepared for extra vehicular activities and two conduit links established would take...�
�I believe I will be able to accomplish the task within the time limit parameters.� Data avowed.
�Very well: make it so Data.� Picard ordered. The android sprang out of his seat and walked with rapid but precise movements to the turbolift. Frosty slid over to take his place at Op�s. �Captain Anderson, Mademoiselle Alya: please take your positions.�
�All right then,� Anderson allowed, though doubt was evident on his face.
�It will be just as you say, Jean Luc.� Alya added. Worf cut the connection and the previous image of the Earth system battlefield returned to the viewscreen.
�When did the Captain become �Jean Luc� to Alya?� Frosty asked Hawke, whispering.
�I don�t know,� Hawke replied just as quietly, �but she is a belle, isn�t she?� he added appreciatively, �Is a belle indeed.�
* * *
Janeway coughed again. �It�s getting thicker again, Chakote,� she complained. A constant stream of oily smoke was pouring between the gaps of the turbolift doors. The bridge was also growing uncomfortably hot. Both the captain and her first officer had discarded their tunics and now worked in their vests.
�The environmental systems cant handle the build up,� Chakote reported, �all I can do now is isolate the bridge.�
�Do it.� Janeway ordered, clutching the console as another �ship-quake� shook the bridge. �There�s enough oxygen left in here to keep us alive until this fight is either won or lost.�
At her command Chakote made the necessary adjustments. The invisible force-field that he instigated stopped the flow of smoke through the turbolift doors as the laboured whirring of the circulation system�s fans ceased. Without the stirring of the fans the heavy smoke began to settle, making a thick layer a couple of feet off the deck.
* * *
�Bridge says they�re going to need a plasma power supply to conduits Gamma 17 fore and Lambda 23 aft.� Lt. Barclay said, looking up from the console comm link to the chief engineer.
�What?� Geordi asked, �they�re on two completely different circuits! Don�t they realise that we�re kind of busy down here?�
�Calm yersel� laddie,� Scott admonished him, �Starship captains want what they want and there�s nae arguing wi� them.�
�Sure,� Geordi said, �but who are we going to...� At that moment Lt. Patterson walked in, accompanied by a young Klingon woman in an out of date uniform.
�...And I�m telling you: it�s nae a skirt!� the Arachnoid engineer was saying.
�Ah, Peter, I�ve got a job for you,� Geordi said in relief, �and who are you?� he added to the Klingon. �I�m B�laana Torres of...� she began.
�Never mind, I don�t care if you�re the Queen of Ursa Minor - can you configure and reroute a plasma conduit?��Well, yes.�
�Reg, show them what�s needed, then get back to work on the leach coolant manifold.�
Geordi looked around, his cybernetic eyes widening, �Well? What are you waiting for? Get to work!�
* * *
�Processing...� the computer voice reported yet again.
�What�s taking so long?� O�Brien asked angrily.
�You�re trying to adapt one of the most complex engineering systems ever devised for a purpose for which it was never intended,� Leah Brahms mollified him, �the number of variables alone... running the simulation would tax even the Binar�s planetary computer.�
The control room of the Yellowstone Geo-thermal Power Plant shook with another quake and a cloud of dust fell from the ceiling.
�I just hope everything works OK.� O�Brien said, thinking of his wife and children at home in the Starfleet Complex at San Francisco. Dr Brahms put a re-assuring hand on his shoulder. O�Brien covered it with his own and gave it a squeeze. Each looked to find hope in each other�s eyes, but saw only desperation.
* * *
The airlock door slid open, a puff of escaping vapour betraying the fact that it had been rushed through it�s cycle. A moment later a figure clad only in standard Starfleet uniform emerged into the vacuum of space.
Data grasped the edge of the airlock and used his grip as a pivot to swing out onto the Enterprise�s hull. As the android�s boots touched the duranium surface the electromagnetic coils built into hi very feet held him fast. Since these circuits could be varied under direct control from Data�s conscious mind, he was able to move in a much faster and more fluid manner than was usually the case with crewmen wearing gravity boots, who normally had to stamp around.
Taking a brief moment to get his bearings - he was just aft of the central point of the saucer section - Data began to walk rapidly towards the rear of the ship. The android had no trouble navigating the contours of the ship, easily shifting his perspective so that the hull remained �down� to him, no matter what �incline� he was travelling on. As he reached the rearmost point of the engineering section the tug Daisy was just completing her manoeuvres. The tug had extended it�s massive claw like clamps - as big as Data himself - and was gripping onto the hull of the Enterprise. The strengthened alloys of the clamps actually dug into the duranium hull as they closed and held fast.
Data quickly located and opened a small hatch on the Enterprise and yanked out a length of conduit some thirty centimetres thick and manhandled it towards the tug. Jumping from the Enterprise to the tugs hull, Data pulled the conduit behind him and found the corresponding socket on the tug. The android plunged the type IV connector in and twisted and locked it into place. Looking through the tug�s small window Data gave Anderson a �thumbs up� signal. Anderson made a couple of checks on his control board then returned the gesture, though Data, easily reading the tug pilot�s lips could tell he was grumbling to himself: �Why do I have to be the pimple on the Enterprise�s bum?�
Wasting no time Data jumped back to the engineering section and began to make his way to the ship�s prow.
�We�re running out of time, Data.� Captain Picard urged him. The communication was of course without sound in the open vacuum, the subspace message being picked up by the android�s receptors and translated directly to his positronic brain.
�I shall endeavour to proceed with increased alacrity.� Data replied in a similar manner.
From a fast walk Data increased his pace to a jog; both feet actually losing touch with the ship between strides, relying on their electro-magnetic properties to pull him back for the next step. The technique allowed him to almost double his speed with no problems until he was �descending� the forward slope of the saucer section. Suddenly, between steps, he lost contact and could not regain it!
It took Data only nano-seconds to realise what had gone wrong: he had been passing over where the ship�s registration number was painted on the hull and the thin layer of paint had interfered with the attraction coefficient of his calculations. The android pointed both feet towards the hull and increased their magnetic strength to their highest level. The tactic slowed the rate at which his distance from the Enterprise was increasing but didn�t stop it.
Data was adrift!
