Star Trek: TNG: Cold Equations II: Silent Weapons (40 page)

Another of the Immortal’s hundred-odd
noms de voyage
had been Johannes Brahms, whose only major composition for the violin—Violin Concerto in D Major, opus 77—bore striking and unmistakable similarities to the new concerto whose passionate strains guided Data forward. He reached the outer edge of the penthouse, which was ringed with great sloping windows that looked out on an eternal starry night. Then he passed the final partition and came face-to-face with the musician, who ceased playing as their eyes met.

The woman was youthful and striking in her beauty, with high cheekbones and a pale but flawless complexion. Her long and lustrous hair was the deep red of burnished copper and braided into a long tail that she wore draped over her shoulder. She graced him with a sweet smile, and her cornflower-blue eyes opened wide at the sight of him. “Hello, Data.”

He had expected to find her here, and thanks to his inheritance of his father’s memories, he had known she would be rejuvenated into the portrait of her long-lost youth—but nothing had prepared him for the profound joy he would feel upon this, the moment of their reunion. Tears filled his eyes, and his lips trembled as he tried to smile back. “Hello, Mother.”

Juliana Tainer set aside her violin and bow, got up, and took him in her arms. Wrapping him in a fierce but loving embrace, she peppered his cheek with kisses. “I knew you’d find us someday,” she said with more than a trace of her old Irish lilt. “We both did.”

“It was not easy.” He leaned back to look at her. “First, I had to analyze several decades’ worth of financial transactions that fit the profile I had come to associate—”

She pressed her index finger to his lips, silencing him. “Data. It’s not important. All that matters is that you’re here now, and we’re safe.”

He looked around the penthouse, searching for any sign of the Immortal, but as far as he could tell, he and his mother were alone. “Where is he?”

“You mean Akharin?” She let go of him and stepped away, toward her instruments. Suddenly, her manner took on a haunted quality. “I don’t know.”

Masking his concern, he asked in a gentle voice, “Do you know when he will return?”

Tears fell from Juliana’s eyes, and this time they were not ones of happiness. “I don’t know if he’s
ever
coming back, Data.”

It was difficult for him to read the turbulent emotions behind her sorrowful display. “Did the two of you have some manner of falling out? Did he abandon you here?”

Wiping her cheeks dry, she snapped, “No, of course not. Nothing like that.”

“What, then?” He edged forward, irrationally hoping to bridge their gap of understanding through proximity. “Please, Mother. I have come a long way to find him. I need to know.”

Juliana crossed her arms and retreated from him, to stand beside one of the windows and look out at the nightscape. “There’s nothing I can tell you that’ll help.”

“You cannot know that for certain. Any piece of information, however trivial, might prove beneficial.” He drifted toward her in slow steps until he was at her back, and then he rested his hands on her shoulders. “Mother, please. Akharin possesses knowledge that I desperately need. It is imperative that I find him, no matter how long it takes, or how far it takes me.”

She turned and pressed her hands to his chest. “Don’t say that, Data. Just forget about him, and stop trying to find him. I’m begging you—stop looking and let him go.”

The emotion behind her fervent plea was an easy one to parse: fear. But her distress was not reason enough for him to desist. He took her by her shoulders. “Why? Tell me why!”

“Because if you don’t, the Fellowship of Artificial Intelligence will abduct you, too.”

COLD EQUATIONS

CONCLUDES IN BOOK III

THE BODY ELECTRIC

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Once again, I shall strive for brevity with my acknowledgments. First, I thank my wife, Kara, for her encouragement and constant support.

Readers of the first book in this trilogy are already aware of this next detail, but for those who might read this book before that one, I’d like to point out that the
Cold Equations
trilogy was conceived as a direct sequel to author Jeffrey Lang’s truly exceptional
Star Trek: The Next Generation
novel
Immortal Coil
(2002). Many of this trilogy’s coolest ideas either originated in that book, or else would not have been possible without it to build upon.

My thanks also go out to author, editor, and
Star Trek
savant Keith R.A. DeCandido, who vetted the scenes involving President Bacco and her retinue, an ensemble he originated in his
Star Trek
novels
A Time for War, A Time for Peace
and
Articles of the Federation.

Also worthy of my praise and thanks are the excellent wiki-based reference sites Memory Alpha and Memory Beta, as well as the perpetually useful tome
Star Trek Star Charts
by Geoffrey Mandel. My
Star Trek
brain trust also included author and designer Michael Okuda, and authors David R. George III and Christopher L. Bennett.

Lastly, thank you, gentle readers, for continuing to keep the dream of
Star Trek
alive, both on screen and in print, in the hope that future generations might also share our desire “to boldly go where no one has gone before.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Mack abides.

Learn more at his website:

www.davidmack.pro

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ISBN 978-1-4516-5073-0

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