An...unexpected visitor drops in on T'Lara's meditation program.
The last remnants of the blazing sun-like molten metal-slipped toward the hot, red crags of mountaintops, trailing in its wake a fabulous sky of crimson, scarlet, vermilion, and yellow without a vestige of cloud to be seen.
Atop one mountain, the highest, a gossamer canopy was strung on a wrought-iron framework. Several candles flickered, teased by a cool breeze. The woody scent of incense lingered in the dry air.
It was cooler up here, away from the burning sand and rocks, heated by the merciless sun...
She knelt peacefully, casting her long shadow on the barren cliff. Hands clasped, two index fingers steepled, eyes closed, face lifted toward the awesome sunset, she murmured in airy tones to herself. Her pale skin seemed to glow with the vibrancy of the colors around her...
Tranquility.
She spoke in her native tongue, quietly, if at all. Her robe-white and silky-shimmered, caught flashes of the sun and gently released them into the breeze.
All was calmness. All in perfect solitude.
The last traces of the sun were absorbing into the parched hills. She opened her eyes, watched the faintest sliver of fire seem to vaporize beyond the horizon. She exhaled slowly. Completion. It was time to end her meditation. Rising slowly, she extinguished each candle, then, clasping her hands and inclining her head to the place where the sun had disappeared, she turned.
"Hi there!"
She stopped, stared, then blinked in silent disbelief. The jaunty figure before her-a humanoid girl of approximately 18, dressed in a tuxedo and top hat-extended both a hand and a warm, sloppy grin. "Don't believe I've met you! Put 'er there!"
She continued to stare, not quite sure of what had just happened. Quietly, trying to regain the last fragments of serenity she had experienced just moments ago, she spoke.
"Computer, what is this character doing in my holodeck program?"
"Unable to determine," a painfully computer-like female voice responded. "Character not filed in holodeck program T'Lara1."
T'Lara restrained a sigh and stepped around the bewildered-looking girl. She started for the door.
"Computer, delete character from T'Lara1 and return character to its proper database designation."
"Unable to comply. Character not filed in any Maverick database."
T'Lara stopped, turned, looked at the quite astounded looking girl, then spoke again.
"Computer, what is the origin of this character? Where did it come from?"
"Unable to determine," the computer responded again. "Character's file is a form of non-destructive virus. Database cleansing suggested."
T'Lara made a mental note to look into that when she returned to her shift, and started again for the doors. "Computer, close program T'Lara1."
The computer complied, and the mountaintop scene, now bathed in purples and the hints of nightfall, disappeared to reveal a greyish room lined with a yellow holographic guidance grid. In the middle of it stood the girl in the tuxedo, blinking in stupefaction. Her face twitched, then she ran after T'Lara. She clamped a hand on the shoulder of the woman's white robe.
"What kind of a greeting was that?" the girl demanded, looking rather cross. "I say hello, and you tell a computer to delete me?"
T'Lara blinked once in the girl's face. Without a word, she continued to the doors, leaving the disgruntled holographic youth behind.
"Aren't you at least going to tell me your name?" the girl shouted as T'Lara passed through the doors. They shut behind her. T'Lara breathed a sigh. So much for that meditation. She paused, then continued to her quarters. After she changed back into her uniform, she would meet Jadari for lunch. It would be a chance, at least, to warn Jadari of the rogue character. After lunch, T'Lara thought, it would be best to give the holodeck computers a thorough purging of all such...viruses.
* * *
Jadari grinned. Grinned so wide, in fact, her spots moved from their original positions. "That's rich. You got harassed by a rogue hologram?"
She paused, still smiling a bit, to take a long drag on the straw of her milkshake. T'Lara looked on, as Vulcan as ever.
"That is correct."
Jadari chuckled. "Reminds me of the time one of the Klingon warriors in another crewman's program came blazing into one of JezNe's experimental procedures programs. From what I hear, it gave her a real scare."
"Undoubtedly."
After another long sip, Jadari raised an eyebrow at T'Lara-teasing. "Oh lighten up. You're an engineer. You'll fix it."
T'Lara seemed to ponder this over her bowl of plomik-mollusk soup. Every now and then she glanced up to fix her dark eyes on Jadari, who was happily consuming the artery-clogging French Fries she was so fond of, as an accompaniment to her...chocolate milkshake.
"And you can say with good conscience that you had nothing to do with the sudden appearance of this character in my program?"
Jadari, mouth still puckered around the milkshake straw, looked up. "Hmm?"
A slender Vulcan hand pinched off the straw, ceasing the flow of milkshake. Jadari, annoyed, wrinkled her nose in protest and sat up.
"What was that for?"
"To procure an answer," T'Lara said bluntly. "Can you say truthfully that you were uninvolved with the appearance of this character in my program?"
Jadari frowned. "So you think it's my fault?"
"You have a track record, Jadari. I will not conclude who or what is at fault until I examine all angles of the problem. I am giving you a chance to state your innocence."
"No, your Honor, I had nothing to do with that or any misplaced character in your program. May I finish my milkshake now?"
T'Lara released the straw and calmly finished her soup. Jadari, still irked at having been suspected, frowned at her milkshake for a while before shrugging and finishing it off.
"If you'd like, we could go to the holodeck after lunch and check this out," Jadari suggested after several long minutes. T'Lara shook her head.
"I'm back on shift after lunch. When I have time, I will try isolating the character's subroutines. If no one claims its presence belongs in any of their programs, I will delete it."
"Don't delete it until I've seen it, at least!" Jadari protested. "I'd like to see what it is that you're accusing me of before you delete all evidence of it!"
T'Lara nodded and rose to leave. "Acknowledged. See you at Holodeck 1 at 2100 hours."
"I'll be there."
* * *
Wires and conduits and bio-neural gel packs...she dug farther into the holodeck bulkhead, engineering tricorder in one hand and a self-made device in the other. Locating a processor, she selected a tool from a small toolbox and gingerly began to fidget with it. Well, to anyone else it would have appeared to be fidgeting, but nimble Vulcan fingers knew exactly what they were doing.
Several officers on break had stopped by the holodeck, only to find T'Lara systematically tearing apart a bulkhead. Each time, she would inform them that special adjustments and small repairs were being made. Each would nod with understanding and leave. That was just how she liked it.
Before long, she had wired her device into the computer system. Finally, she spoke.
"Computer, locate the non-detrimental virus that appeared in holodeck program T'Lara1 at approximately 1400 hours."
There was a brief pause before the computer answered, "Virus has been located."
T'Lara nodded to herself. This might actually work.
"Computer, locate the holographic database and emitter I have wired into the holodeck system."
"Located."
T'Lara permitted just the tiniest hint of pleasure into her mind-she'd make up for it in her next undisturbed meditation. "Computer, download virus's subroutines into the holographic database and emitter. Make sure no trace of the virus remains in the main holodeck computer system."
"Downloading."
Her plan was working. Not that it came as any surprise. She had pondered exactly how to build the device for a full half hour-a long time in Vulcan standards-before taking a few minutes and the replicator shares she'd been saving to actually create it.
"Download complete."
"Good. Shut down power to the bulkhead."
The computer complied and T'Lara spent a minute or two to remove the device. If this had worked-completely worked-the rogue character was now trapped in the tiny device. It could not appear spontaneously in holodeck programs anymore.
T'Lara rewired the device slightly, now making it capable of emitting the hologram. She brought it to the center of the holodeck and turned it on. Instantly the hologram of the girl in the tuxedo and top hat appeared, looking flustered and confused.
"What the heck just happened?"
T'Lara, standing with hands folded neatly behind her back, did not bat an eye at this question. "Your program has been transferred to a mobile projector. You no longer exist on the holodeck computer system."
The girl bit at a fingernail. "That's...a bit discombobulating. Being relocated and all... hey, wait a minute." Her eyes narrowed, she pointed a finger. "Aren't you the one who never said a word to me that one time? The one who tried to delete me?"
"That is correct."
"Just what was that all about?"
T'Lara raised one eyebrow, ever so slightly. "Your program, as you may or may not know, is a non-detrimental virus. While you cause no harm to the holodeck system, you have the capability of roaming from computer system to computer system. This has the potential to be dangerous. Thus, I removed your program from the ship's systems."
The girl stuck out her lower lip peevishly. "I get the feeling you don't like me. And anyway, you never told me your name."
"T'Lara. I am an engineer on this ship."
"What ship?"
"The ship we are presently on," T'Lara explained. "The U.S.S. Maverick."
"I'm on a ship? Cool."
T'Lara blinked again, but said nothing. "Are you cognizant of the fact that if you do not belong to any of the ship's systems, any officer's private holodeck program, and have no useful purpose, your program will most likely be deleted?"
The girl stopped. Stared. "You're still going to delete me, huh? What is it that you have against me? I'm sorry if I annoyed you. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on..."
"T'Lara!"
T'Lara and the hologram both looked at the sound of Jadari's voice. Jadari appeared presently through the holodeck doors, face beaming.
"Is that her? The hologram?"
"Yes. I successfully isolated her program in a mobile projector database. She is no longer able to access the holodeck computer programs."
"So this means I can take her to the mess hall with us?"
T'Lara did not respond to Jadari's question. Clearly the idea of toting the holographic girl around the ship was not one that would have occurred to her.
"It is possible, yes."
"Great! They're serving Chakan zingers as before-bed treats. I'm going to go get one...think the hologram would like to mingle?"
Before T'Lara could offer any advice, the holographic girl shrieked, "Oooh! People? Yes! Take me!"
Jadari smiled at T'Lara; it was a victorious smile. "Well, that' settles it. Let's see if we can find a niche for her to fill. But first, Chakan zingers, here we come!"
With that, Jadari turned off the hologram, scooped up the mobile projector, and headed off to the mess hall. T'Lara, watching Jadari leave, wasn't entirely sure what had happened.
