The Devil's Doorknob BBS Capture (1996-2003)/devilsdoorknobbbscapture1996-2003.iso/Dloads/TEXTFILE/STDUNE.ZIP/DUNE3.TXT

Text File | 1992-02-07 | 18KB | 514 lines

Item    6022072                 92/02/06        23:09

From:   J.HYCHE                         Jeff Hyche

To:     M.ALLEGRETTO                    M Allegretto

Sub: Dune/Star Trek 3 of 5

escapes, literally, on the crest of the resulting explosion.

Riker:  What kind of warhead?

Data:  I am not certain.  The engineers of Cey-4 are credited with developing
an unstable-proton device.  Such a device could - in theory - achieve a
destructive force of several giga-tons.   Virtually disintigrating matter
within many, many miles, and creating a colossal shock wave for hundreds more.

Riker:  Could such a device be used in space?

Data:  The warhead would be very large, making for poor missile performance.
And damage resultant from the shock wave would be trivial, if not non-
existant.

Worf:  And a starship poses far different a target than does a city.

Picard:  Yes. Mobility.  That is the key to space.

Data:  The ship itself is quite mobile.  Effective results could be achieved...

Worf:  Effectively suicidal.

Data:  Effective and suicidal.  But is not the career of a soldier an
excercise in suicide?

Com Officer:  Captain, we are receiving a transmission from the vessel.
Colonel Lexis, commanding.

Picard:  Onscreen.

Lexis:  Greetings, Captain Picard.  I am interested.  What is it you plan on
doing next?

Picard:  As it stands, Colonel, I too am very interested in that question.



______________________________________________________________________



Well, I apologize for how my additions have become relatively few and far
between.  It has been a rather hectic period for me of late.  I remember
someone remarking how several stories have been begun but not finished, and
that you are being left hanging.  Well I, too, would like to know what happens
to the Enterprise aboard the Death Star...

Anyway, moving right along:


[Wesley in a lift.  It goes down.  He exits.  A seemingly deserted portion of
the ship.  Ill-lit and warehouse-like.  He moves as if he has been here before.
He stops at a hatch for a few seconds, looks around, opens it, and disappears.
A tube, very long and dim with regular intervals of blue light.  Wesley comes
into view and moves quite a ways down the corridor, then stops.  Odrade
appears]

Wesley:  A monitor tube.  Used to check on the main engines.

Odrade:  You come here often?

Wesley:  Often enough.  It gets very tiring to always be the captain's son.

Odrade:  Such feelings are common in youth.  Not limited by the occupation of
one's parents.

Wesley:  That doesn't make it any less tiresome.

Odrade:  No.  It does not.  It is good you have a place of your own.  We must
all be masters of something.

Wesley:  I don't think of it that way.  May I ask you something?

Odrade:  You just did.

Wesley:  Something else?  What are you?

Odrade:  As I have said, I am a former Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit.  I
am also a member of the Atreides line.  That helps you little.  I know this.
There is, however, little else I can offer.  I do not know how it is I have
come to be here.  In this universe.  Which is plainly not my universe.  But I
am here.  And many, many others like me are here as well.

Wesley:  In my mind?

Odrade [laugh]:  Oh, no, Wesley.  We are in the mind of a woman - much like me
this woman - aboard the No Ship.

Wesley:  No Ship?  The huge carrier?

Odrade:  Yes.  A Heighliner, it is called.  The finest built.  The last as well.

Wesley:  You said a woman.  One woman?

Odrade:  Yes.  The last Mother Superior of our Order.  Possibly the last
human in our universe.  We have a different definition of 'human' than you.  I
think you would find it exclusive and pretentious.  Yet that matters little.
Mother Superior holds in her mind the memories of our entire Order.  And of
all her female ancestors.  The latter is typical of Reverend Mothers.  However,
this Mother Superior holds her male ancestors as well.  Such a feat is beyond
average Reverend Mother's, if such a thing is truly possible.

Wesley:  So you and the Baron are memories of this Mother Superior?

Odrade:  Yes.  That is what we are.  But we are also ourselves.  Almost alive.
And some want to be alive very badly.  They seek to possess their hosts.  To
control an individual.  This Sisterhood trains its Reverend Mothers rigourously
in the means to prevent this.  But occasionally, someone will come to possess
Other Memories and yet not possess the training of a Reverend Mother.

Wesley:  Whereupon they become possessed.

Odrade:  Yes.  Very good.  I like you Wesley.

Wesley:  Is Troi at risk?

Odrade:  Yes.  Her empathic powers have opened her to the full onslaught of
Mother Superior's Other Memories.

Wesley:  But I don't have empathic powers.

Odrade:  You are a beacon of an entirely different nature.  Your genetic
structure is harmonic with Mother Superior's.  And my own, for that matter.  A
crude match, to be sure, but close enough.  You are attracting the ghosts of
Atreides.  Myself.  The Baron.  Others would come if you knew to call for them.

Wesley:  I don't particularly want to.  Why did you come?

Odrade:  Because, Wesley, I rather like the thought of living once again.




_______________________________________________________________________________


Well, I'd like to thank various people who have written me this past week or
so with bits of information.  Including the corrections.  I had been calling
Troi 'commander' instead of 'counselor' all this while.  I'll stop doing that,
I hope.  I was also informed, to my great embarrassment, that Wesley is not in
fact related to the Captain.  I do not know where it was I came to be of the
persuasion that he was, but kindly disregard my previous reference to that
state of family affairs.


[Enterprise conference room.  Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, and Colonel Lexis]

Picard [voice-over]:  Captain's log supplemental.  We are one week into our
encounter with the Cey Behemoth - as we've come to call the giant vessel onto
which the Nadia stumbled.  Dr. Crusher has just informed me Counselor Troi
has apparently recovered.  The Dr. would like to keep her under direct
observation for at least one day.  There are many questions I have for the
Counselor.  For the past three days, we have been in constant contact with
Cey-4.  Colonel Lexis of the Al-Mossad has brought her Tev bomber into the
sphere to support us.  The time for action, I believe, is drawing near.


Data:  We have been collecting information from probes launched by the
Enterprise...

Lexis:  Had not the Nadia already performed such reconnaisance?

Data:  As first and foremost a combat vessel, the Nadia does not possess the
more sophisticated intelligence gathering equipment this vessel does.

Lexis:  I see.  Then your 'more sophisticated' devices have provided more
'sophisticated' information on the nature of the Behemoth?

Data:  Yes.  And no.  They have not provided any insight into the energy source
driving this cloaking sphere.  Nor have they provided any additional clues as
to what may have transpired to bring about the Behemoth's current state - its
apparent abandonment by whoever constructed it.

Riker:  Or whatever...

Lexis:  You said additional clues.  You have some already?

Data:  Only that the ship is, indeed, here.

Lexis:  I see.

Picard:  Well, Data, then what exactly have our 'more sophisticated' probes
found?

Data:  I believe we have found a way in.

Picard:  Oh, really?

Data:  I believe.  As you can see, the forward section of the vessel is not
a part of the hangar region.  Separating it is a roughly oval wall of
indeterminate thickness.  Previously, the support apparatus within the hangar
had obscurred much of this wall's detail from the Nadia probes.  We have flown
ours much closer, and have covered nearly the entire surface, generating a
nearly complete map of it's features.

Riker:  And you found the doorbell?

Data:  I do not understand.

Riker:  Never mind.

Data:  Whatever manner of civilization built this, it possessed what could
only have been an astronomical level of real wealth.

Riker:  'Real?'

Data:  The level of available resources - both in capital and labor - must
have been literally limitless.

Riker:  Because?  I mean, other than the size of the vessel?

Data:  The entire surface of this oval section is covered, completely covered,
with very intricate and ornate carvings, apparently of a purely decorative
nature.  A reconstruction of that surface...

[An image appears on screen.  Point of view tracks across a surface comparable
to a reef in complexity]

Data:  There is an observed deviation of seven meters from an average
'surface.'

Worf:  Meaning this region is fourteen meters in thickness?

Data:  Yes.

Worf:  Such a collosal decorative element would show an incredible productive
capability.  Such a waste of valuable resources...

Picard:  'Waste' is perhaps not the correct word.

Lexis:  There is a potential military advantage.  One we have stumbled across
already.

Riker:  That being?

Lexis:  Should the ship come under attack, it would be very difficult for the
attackers to find a way inside the main compartment.

Riker:  If anyone actually wanted to try.

Lexis:  The ship appears wildly out of scale to us.  A civilization capable
of producing one such vessel probably possesses the wherewithal to produce
two.

Data:  Entirely plausible and in fact likely.

Picard:  How so?

Data:  The 'decoractive flair' we see here is not limited to this bulkhead.
The entire interior of the hangar is covered with such flourishes, on a
smaller scale.  An observed deviation of only on meter.  While the colonel is
correct, and the baroque main wall does obscure entrances, these smaller
ornaments serve very little function.  A civilization capable of building only
one such vessel would probably not embellish it.  They would most likely be
sparing with resource consumption...

Worf:  In the hopes of building another?

Data:  Yes.

Picard:  And then there is the matter of filling it up.

Data:  Yes, Captain.  The very fact that this is a carrier of some kind points
to a vast supply of vessels in need of carrying.  Very large vessels, at that.

Riker:  Getting back to an earlier train of thought.  You said you may have
found a way in?

Data:  Yes.  Here.  This circular region appears to be some kind of door.

Riker:  You have doubts?

Data:  The industrial technology borders on magical.  I have detected what I
think to be a seem in the surface.  'Hairline fracture' would more accurately
describe it.  It is remarkable only in it's regularily.  A circular portal of
some kind is my best guess.  However, notice how small it is.  The Enterprise
would not fit.  Interesting, given the overall scale.  Only a relatively small
ship - such as the Tev - could shuttle personnel between the main compartment
and the outside.

Picard:  Assuming this is the only way in.

Data:  Yes.

Lexis:  Said another way, only a small craft could supply boarding parties.

Data:  Granted.

Riker:  How do we open it?

Data:  I do not know.

Picard:  And what's on the other side.

Data:  I do not know that either, Captain.

Lexis:  A door that cannot be opened is not a door.

Troi:  I can be of help, Captain.






Well, first a complete tangent.  This may be old news to some of you (or even
on the Net) but...  a friend just showed me a wonderful parody of the both the
old and new Star Trek done in the comic series "Dreadstar" put out by, I
believe, First.  The issues in question are sixty three and four (dated march
of this year).  On the cover of one, you see Kirk (close to Kirk...) and
Spock doing battle with Dreadstar.  Kirk has a light saber given him by....
you guessed it... Vader (though we don't actuall SEE the big V).  In the end,
Picard shows up, with a Jacque Cousteau accent, and explains that all the
nasty stuff Kirk and company did isn't the way the Federation is anymore...

It's wonderful.

End tangent.

[Enterprise bridge]

Worf:  Captain, the Nadia is moving into the sphere.

Riker:  What are they trying to do?

Picard:  I don't know, Number One.  Hail the Nadia.

Worf:  Yes, Captain.  Nadia responding.

Picard:  Visual.

Worf:  Visual, Captain.

Kilpatrick:  Hey there, Picard.  Didn't want you to have all the fun.

Picard:  I don't recall asking you to relieve us of the burden.

Kilpatrick:  Fancy that!  I don't recall your asking, either.  I crashed my
ship into that thing, Picard.  I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit waiting on my
butt outside not knowing what's going on.  When you told us to bug out, I
thought something serious was up.

Riker:  Something serious may be up.  We can't protect both ourselves and you.

Kilpatrick:  Excuse me, I don't know who you are.

Picard:  Command Riker.  My first officer.

Kilpatrick:  Ah, well, thanks for your vote of confidence, Commander.  First,
we do not require protection.  Second, if that thing should so much as fart,
your technicolor peacock wouldn't stand more or less of a chance given our
presence or not.

Lexis:  'Technicolor peacock?'  I must remember that.

Kilpatrick:  Oh, well hey there, Colonel Lexis.  So, how do you like the creme
de la creme?

Lexis:  I prefer my own vessel.

Kilpatrick:  There's no pleasing some people, is there Picard?  Oh, well.

Troi:  He's hostile, Captain.  He believes we are trying to trick him.

Picard:  Thank you, Counselor.  But it's rather obvious.

Kilpatrick:  Eh?  I thought your gypsy was out cold.

Riker:  She appears to have recovered.

Kilpatrick:  Right.  So it would seem.  Well, I am hostile.  Just what the hell
are you up to?

Picard:  We're not up to anything.

Kilpatrick:  Why have us leave?

Riker:  Because we were afraid whatever had knocked our 'gypsy' out cold might
do the same to one of your crew.

Kilpatrick:  Then why not leave yourself...

Picard:  It's a rather long story...

Kilpatrick:  I don't like long stories.  Suffice it to say, we're back.

Picard:  Well, then.  Welcome back.

[Wesley's quarters.  He sits in a meditative pose on the bed]

Wesley:  The nature of the trap becomes clear.

Odrade:  And the nature of the solution?

Wesley:  No.  The solution eludes me.  It is clear the state of technology
threatens the state of man.  Indeed, why do we need a crew when we have the
holodeck?  I could replicate their function with but myself and the main
computer.  Of course, not completely, but very close.

Odrade:  And what you cannot now replicate you will yet be able to replicate.
The march of technology is inexorable and blind.  The cliff lies ahead but is
not seen.

Wesley:  We will rid ourselves of it, or be ridden of.

Odrade:  Ridden of not by the technology, but by the reaction of the many to
the creations of the few.

Wesley:  A sense of irrelevance will grow within the fiber of our society.

Odrade:  First among the less able.  But even the most precious skills of the
talented will not long be proof to the assualt of thinking machines.

Wesley:  Society will decay from the ground up.  And when it has reached a
structurally critical point, it will burn.

Odrade:  We burned it.  Twice did we set the old wood aflame and start afresh
with the new.  And twice did our strength grow tenfold.

Wesley:  I wonder.  Do we have the option to so grow?

Odrade:  There are always options.

Wesley:  The flames would not be directable.  They would produce catastrophic
change.

Odrade:  It is from such change that the greatest growth occurs.  The Butlerian
Jihad.  The Scattering.  This were great points in our evolution.

Wesley:  The scar of such change takes centuries to heal.

Odrade:  But the flesh holds strength where before it belonged to decay.

Wesley:  The wound would not heal in isolation.  Our foes circle about always.*M
The blood would attract them.  We would be destroyed.

Odrade:  I see.  We had only ourselves.

Wesley:  To die slowly from within or to discard the shackles of pervasive
technology and be slain quickly from without.  A quandry.

[Conference room.  Troi has entered.  Dr. Crusher follows.]

Picard:  Is this 'direct observation,' Dr. Crusher.

Beverly:  She convinced me it was urgent.  I'm not altogether thrilled with the
idea.

Troi:  The risk is over.  It is more important I tell the Captain what I have
learned.

Picard:  Can we really be sure the risk is over?

Beverly:  No.  It was very close last time.  Another cardiac seizure...

Troi:  Will not happen.  Captain, this vessel posses a terrible danger to us
all.

Picard:  What kind of danger?

Lexis:  Not an imminent one.  It has been here two hundred years already.  Are
we to believe we have stumbled on it the moment before an attack?  Improbable.

Troi:  A danger is a danger.  It could strike at any time.

Picard:  What could strike?

Troi:  A being sleeps aboard that ship.  So long as it sleeps, we are safe.
But should it awaken, there is nothing we could do to stop it.  The memories of
a million minds supply it's intellect.  A calculating capacity beyond
measure.  And we already can guess at the enormity of the physical resources it
would have at it's disposal.

Picard:  Such resources do not dictate hostility.

Lexis:  But the potential cannot be ignored.

Picard:  We you able to communicate with these minds?  T'Selar indicated it
might be possible.

Troi:  Only in my usual fashion.  I have felt their intents and desires in
aggregate.  They want to be free.  They want to conquer.  They overflow with
confidence.  They sense us, and they sense we are weak.

Worf:  Then why have they not already struck?

Troi:  They are figments of a controlling entity which sleeps.  They can do
nothing so long as the physical being cannot act.

Lexis:  Well, it has not acted in over two hundred years.

Troi:  And it may well do nothing for another two hundred years.

Piard:  Or it may.

Worf:  Small odds do not offset great risks.

Lexis:  Then I suggest we find a way in.





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