Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #6: Mystery of the Missing Crew by Michael Jan Friedman Page A
Authors: Michael Jan Friedman
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android heard it first.
It was the clicking sound that the intruders made when they ran. Stopping just short of another intersection, Data motioned for Sinna to stop as well.
“By the twin moons,” she gasped, nearly out of breath from her exertions. Her brow wrinkled as she listened. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It is the intruder,” the android responded, just in case she really expected an answer.
The clicking sounds were getting louder, but Data and Sinna didn’t dare run away yet. They had to make sure that when they did run, the construct came after them. So they waited.
And waited .
At last, when it seemed that the thing was right on top of them, Data peeked around the corner, hoping to sight their adversary. As it turned out, they sighted each other .
Even the android wasn’t prepared for what followed. He was expecting to see a machine much like the one he had seen earlier, with much the same abilities.
He was wrong. And he would have been dead wrong if he hadn’t managed to pull his head back in time.
As it was, the intruder’s energy beam ripped away a large section of the bulkhead where he’d been standing, leaving only a smoking heap of metallic sludge in its place. Allowing Sinna to pull him behind her, they took off back down the corridor.
“That blast…” the Yanna began.
“Was much stronger than those we have seen previously,” the android noted. “That is because we are dealing with a different sort of construct here … one which is obviously a good deal more powerful than the specimen we encountered earlier.”
Then there was no more time to speak, because the bulkheads on either side of them were turning into blazing slag under the destructive influence of the intruder’s beams.
In three strides Data caught up to Sinna; one more and he had passed her. Then, as before, he took advantage of his superhuman quickness to keep them just ahead of their pursuer’s barrage.
Making a right at the junction, the android skidded a little—and it almost cost him his artificial existence. Fortunately, his positronic reflexes allowed him to recover before the invader’s blast took his head off. Spurred by a new sense of urgency, he bowed his head and sped off.
The construct wasn’t as far behind them as Data would have liked. He could hear the thing’s feet hitting the deck at a pace that matched his own. Not only did this intruder command more firepower, the android decided, it was also faster than the other intruders.
Data negotiated the corridor in broken-field fashion. Zig. Zag. Zag again. And Sinna followed, zagging right along with him.
The android regretted the fact that their evasive maneuvers cut down slightly on their speed, but it couldn’t be helped. No amount of swiftness would help them if the construct could get off an easy shot.
At the next intersection Data turned left, wary of going into another skid. Still, their adversary’s blasts came within inches of hitting them, leaving the bulkhead to one side of them a blackened, hissing ruin.
“How much farther?” asked Sinna, her breath coming in huge gulps, her face bright red as a result of her exertions.
“Not much,” he replied, careful not to break stride even the least little bit. “I programmed the gravity trap to be created just beyond the next corridor crossing.”
By now the Yosemite ’s computer should have had enough time to carry out his orders. The trap should have been set.
But what if it was not? What if something had gone wrong, and there was nothing to halt the intruder in his tracks?
The android didn’t want to think about that. Instead, he concentrated on making it to the end of the hallway, where he and Sinna would take their chances.
As if it somehow sensed that the chase was coming to an end—one way or the other—the construct increased the intensity of its onslaught. Its blasts ripped through the bulkheads on either side of Data, sending up a noise like a thousand
It was the clicking sound that the intruders made when they ran. Stopping just short of another intersection, Data motioned for Sinna to stop as well.
“By the twin moons,” she gasped, nearly out of breath from her exertions. Her brow wrinkled as she listened. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It is the intruder,” the android responded, just in case she really expected an answer.
The clicking sounds were getting louder, but Data and Sinna didn’t dare run away yet. They had to make sure that when they did run, the construct came after them. So they waited.
And waited .
At last, when it seemed that the thing was right on top of them, Data peeked around the corner, hoping to sight their adversary. As it turned out, they sighted each other .
Even the android wasn’t prepared for what followed. He was expecting to see a machine much like the one he had seen earlier, with much the same abilities.
He was wrong. And he would have been dead wrong if he hadn’t managed to pull his head back in time.
As it was, the intruder’s energy beam ripped away a large section of the bulkhead where he’d been standing, leaving only a smoking heap of metallic sludge in its place. Allowing Sinna to pull him behind her, they took off back down the corridor.
“That blast…” the Yanna began.
“Was much stronger than those we have seen previously,” the android noted. “That is because we are dealing with a different sort of construct here … one which is obviously a good deal more powerful than the specimen we encountered earlier.”
Then there was no more time to speak, because the bulkheads on either side of them were turning into blazing slag under the destructive influence of the intruder’s beams.
In three strides Data caught up to Sinna; one more and he had passed her. Then, as before, he took advantage of his superhuman quickness to keep them just ahead of their pursuer’s barrage.
Making a right at the junction, the android skidded a little—and it almost cost him his artificial existence. Fortunately, his positronic reflexes allowed him to recover before the invader’s blast took his head off. Spurred by a new sense of urgency, he bowed his head and sped off.
The construct wasn’t as far behind them as Data would have liked. He could hear the thing’s feet hitting the deck at a pace that matched his own. Not only did this intruder command more firepower, the android decided, it was also faster than the other intruders.
Data negotiated the corridor in broken-field fashion. Zig. Zag. Zag again. And Sinna followed, zagging right along with him.
The android regretted the fact that their evasive maneuvers cut down slightly on their speed, but it couldn’t be helped. No amount of swiftness would help them if the construct could get off an easy shot.
At the next intersection Data turned left, wary of going into another skid. Still, their adversary’s blasts came within inches of hitting them, leaving the bulkhead to one side of them a blackened, hissing ruin.
“How much farther?” asked Sinna, her breath coming in huge gulps, her face bright red as a result of her exertions.
“Not much,” he replied, careful not to break stride even the least little bit. “I programmed the gravity trap to be created just beyond the next corridor crossing.”
By now the Yosemite ’s computer should have had enough time to carry out his orders. The trap should have been set.
But what if it was not? What if something had gone wrong, and there was nothing to halt the intruder in his tracks?
The android didn’t want to think about that. Instead, he concentrated on making it to the end of the hallway, where he and Sinna would take their chances.
As if it somehow sensed that the chase was coming to an end—one way or the other—the construct increased the intensity of its onslaught. Its blasts ripped through the bulkheads on either side of Data, sending up a noise like a thousand
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