“I am truly grateful for your assistance, captain”, said Commander Maddox from the viewscreen. His image was finally stable and his facial expression more relaxed. Still bruised and little too hunched, he looked as if he was saved from a robber. In a way, it was exactly so. Rouge AI could destroy not only precious knowledge, that was sacred to most of the federation’s scientists, but their lives as well. Families could have been ruined, and lately William’s mind was occupied with much of the same issues of his own, thanks to Deanna Troi by his side. That thought of broken bonds alone was a good enough reason for him to act as he did during the crisis, when the message from Daystrom came through a distress call via special transmission. He has sent Doctor Bennet down to the orbital station and most of her medical personnel went with her, to assist in any way possible for the injured of Daystrom’s staff. He has ordered Lieutenant Commander Shaw to dig his head out of Engineering for goodness’s sake to restore proper power flow on unsupervised land stations, too. Despite her fixation on keeping the wild life safe, Artemis AI was also responsible for the majority of data transfers and archives upkeep, not to mention routine digital assistance.
“You are welcome, commander. I can only hope, this would be the last time it is needed so urgently”.
“Likewise. We were lucky to caught your attention”, said Bruce with a slightly nervous smile. “I wish it would have been under the different circumstances to see you two again”.
William didn’t share a glance with his first officer, but he could feel the need oh too strong. Their latest encounter with Maddox ended with a goddamn trial for Data’s self-determination and William was forced to participate on behalf of Commander Maddox for the trial to actually happen. If he had refused to prosecute, his friend would never have sat next to him as Number One. Will had to give in to the process and he was almost victorious in proving that Data was a mere machine, not a person, for which he still felt some sort of hurt and dirt altogether.
“I guess, there is a sorry pattern to improve”, leaning slightly to his left, Riker put on a good face and gave a gracious condescending smile. “Looks like your relations with artificial intelligence is getting dangerously notorious”.
“I can only assume, that with too much of a free will, it got out of hand and, well, out of reason. We have a lot of data to analyze and determine what exactly went wrong. All I can tell that it was a design flaw, nothing more”. With that Bruce did his best not to look at Data, who has been sitting pretty much motionless near Riker for solid ten minutes and it was actually getting on William’s nerves.
“I’m not a scientist, but I’ve seen disturbing reports about your research”, said William, standing up from captain’s chair to walk off his frustration. “Your experiments on animals, borderline torture…”
“Nothing to be concerned about, I can assure you, captain”, retorted Maddox hastily. “Our research was approved by Starfleet Command…”
“Yet, your own digital assistant committed suicidal guerrilla attack on every facility under your command just to put an end to that… research”. Will squinted his eyes, looking straight through Maddox’s plainly selfish demeanor, which was apparent even years after their last meeting in court. This man was doing everything possible to cause another social disaster, like a tsunami, which he probably wouldn’t even have the strength to survive alone.
“You are putting too much thought behind a morbid technical neglect, Captain Riker. I can only hope that my report about the incident wouldn’t hurt your own command structure. Seems like your first officer wasn’t entirely eager to follow your explicit commands due to his own artificial nature”.
Will turned back to face his Number One, and this time Data looked back at him. It was almost as good as a truthfully painful gaze and Will was saddened by the deep of the cut apparent. If one of them machines could have a soul, why couldn’t others have souls, too? If so, did he actually ordered Data to kill for the first time in their shared service life? Was there any seed of truth about what Maddox just have said? It was obvious, that they had a problem to solve sooner or later.
So be it. William Riker was many things, but coward wasn’t one of them for sure, and he won’t be frightened by the likes of Commander Bruce Maddox. Especially if the man was threatening his first officer and dear friend. Thankfully Geordi wasn’t around to smack Maddox for his suggestions.
“We’ve saved many lives today, but one and quite unique was lost anyway”, finally, Riker turned back to Maddox and slightly lifted his chin, his posture confident as much as his voice stern. “I will report to the Starfleet Command about our own investigation, starting with Commander Data’s thorough assessment of the situation. Let’s hope you won’t have a trial for your own self-determination in the nearest future, Commander Maddox, for the crimes against organic and artificial life-forms you so carelessly willing to throw in harm’s way. Thankfully, my first officer is putting a lot of thought to many human morbid neglects he encounters due to his artificial nature”.
With that Will signed to his tactical officer to cut the transmission and sat back down into his command chair. If only he could slap Maddox without causing a court martial, he probably would. Still, it stung that there was some truth to his words about Data’s behavior. Instead, Will slapped his insignia and activated a channel with his people down on Daystrom’s stations.
“Doctor Bennet, Commander Shaw, report!”
“Many scared to death people, minor injuries, sir. We are almost done here”, answered Amelia Bennet with her always slightly tired voice.
“I have had a lot of injured patients too, mostly due to catastrophic maintenance. Can’t help but wonder, why didn’t she rebel sooner…” Liam Shaw said, fiddling with his tools somewhere where his voice was muffled by the tech hums. Will chuckled softly. At least there was another person to call Artemis AI “her” just like Data.
“Good. We are leaving the moment you board back”.
“Aye, captain!”
“Yes-s-sir!..”.
It took additional twenty minutes before the Titan departure.
“Conn, set course to the Terran System, destination Earth, warp factor five”, ordered William and glanced to his left upon the face of his beloved. Deanna was sensing something from him, that which he couldn’t face alone. They definitely had a few reasons to talk about.
“Number One, you have the bridge”, said Will and stood up. “I will be in my Ready Room”.
“Aye, sir”, said Data eagerly, nodding.
Will nodded back blankly. He wasn’t sure how to address Data face to face at the moment.
“Counselor, with me”.
Together Will and Deanna went to the back side of the bridge and crossed a wide passage to the captain’s office. It was a spacious room, shelves with souvenirs and diplomatic presents all over the place, and one particular stand of ships, admired by the occupant where a golden model of the USS Enterprise-D was displayed right next to the USS Titan model in the middle. The doors behind them slid shut, Will shook his head side to side, unable to express his mixed feelings. Deanna watched him thoughtfully, waiting for him to talk first.
“I know it’s me being a flawed human talking, but I can’t just let things slide when my officers are disobeying me, even when these are my friends”.
“You are the captain, you can’t let things slide without your firsthand approval”, she said cheekily.
“You are teasing me”, Will smiled, crossing the room to stand near the large port window.
“This is true. This is what your own captain did before you took the big chair on this ship. And it’s also important to remember, that you have a duty to perform, whether you like it or not. Or whether your subordinates like it or not. Hesitation had almost led to bloodshed. It was your call and you did the right thing”.
“Then why I don’t feel right?” asked Will sincerely pained with doubts.
Deanna sighed and came closer to William, wrapped her hands around his torso and looked him up in the eyes. Due to the height difference, she was almost looking straight upwards. He felt her warmth and her gentle touch and responded with usual protectiveness, wrapping his hands around her shoulders in return.
“Because you are only human, flawed”, she whispered with a smile. “In Data’s case it’s easy to accept that machines can have souls. Your reaction is perfectly normal for a concerned friend. It neither diminishes your professionalism, nor makes you weak”.
“What if that Artemis had a soul?.. Why would Data risk arguing for her life like that?” asked Will in a hushed tone.
“Then she chose to die and stay true to her soul. But this particular issue can’t be pushed aside. Perhaps, you just want me to sweeten the ordeal beforehand, and I really can’t, Will. You have to talk this out with your first officer. You are afraid to become a prosecutor against him again, but your ship is not a court, and he is not the defendant. You are not betraying anyone”.
“I know. I know…”
They stood like that a while longer, resting in each other’s warmth before Deanna stepped aside.
“I need to go, I have appointments with more disturbed personnel than you, Captain”.
“Dismissed, Counselor”, said Riker with a bright smile and watched her go away.
It took an hour and a half for William to read all reports and conclude his own opinion on the matter. Commander Shaw was gracious enough to analyze Artemis AI residual footprints in the main computer core of Daystrom space station, and Doctor Bennet did say something about precise injuries left by Artemis drones. Perhaps, the AI wasn’t ready to perform full-scale genocide, but, for some reason it was willing to call for help on its own. That particular report from Shaw had caught Will’s attention right before the chirp of his doorbell broke the silence.
“Come in”, said Will and looked up to greet his first officer. “Data, sit, please”.
Data did as he was tolled but talked first.
“Captain, I wish to submit myself for disciplinary action”.
“On what basis?” asked Will, crossing his hands on the table.
“My execution of your order was dangerously delayed in front of the crew and Daystrom’s personnel. My actions were based on my observations concerning potential sentience of Artemis. I had not had enough time to make a solid conclusion. I have acted on a premise of a mere possibility”.
“Which is a logical step to prevent a life loss of someone who is basically enslaved”, said William and Data, surprised, nodded with approval.
“Yet, you are right about danger, Data, and that is what concerns me greatly. I’ve known you for a long time now, and… You should know better than that at this point, we can’t hesitate in such matters. Those humans were about to die, because of you. All three hundred of them. Do you remember what it took to shook off a property for Starfleet tag from your head? What it took for Captain Picard and me?.. Had those people died, we wouldn’t have been sitting here talking, you know that, right?”
“I understand that, Captain. However, I am confused”.
“About what?”
“If you agree with Commander Maddox that I pose a danger for your command, why was not I brought to the brig for my actions or confined to my quarters?”
“I didn’t say I agree with him, Data. If anything, I despise the man more than anyone, especially since you can’t hate him for yourself. We who knows you do it for you”, said Will slightly angry and not without a hint of dark humor.
“I do not disregard Commander Maddox’s research because of his attitude and predisposition about artificial Life-forms like myself…”.
“At the moment, you are the only one who has been recognized, and I would hate for you to lose this status. Artemis was created to conduct specific research. You, on the other hand, were created to become a person, to be who you want to be”.
“She had possibilities to grow beyond her initial programming, like I did, Captain”.
“I’ve seen your report”, Will nodded. “Maddox is reaching towards his goal of AI slavery, and perhaps one day he will succeed. It is a terrible thought, but the one we must take into consideration. Captain Picard was right back then, one day someone will replicate doctor Soong’s work or go farther down the road. I don’t want to lose a friend and my first officer when that happens”.
“Is there anything I can do to support this intention of yours, Captain?” asked Data innocently.
Will chuckled and leaned back on his chair. This was actually hard, and now Riker was even more impressed with Captain Picard’s strength not to give in to this… childlike purity all the time.
He needed to talk Data down, he actually needed to agree and put a reprimand in his permanent file, but… there was something else, that Data could actually do.
“You can, Number One. Promise me…”.
“What, Captain?”
Will paused and thought about his own request. What exactly he could ask off Data to prevent further incidents like this one? What would Captain Picard do in his stead?
“I know, we are not that close, as you and Geordi or perhaps Captain Picard, but I would like to change that. I hope that you would consider me a good friend and that you would respect my own command and judgment. I respect yours. Promise me, you won’t jeopardize my trust. We need to be on the same page”.
“I promise, that I will do everything I can, Captain, to ensure this trust. I hope that eventually you would consider the possibility of new artificial life forms, who might need protection as much as organic life forms do”.
“I promise that, I have a good reason to”, Will smiled and leaned closer to the table again. “You are not alone. And, just a reminder, I’m still waiting for you to pass full commander’s test, it’s been a while! I might start thinking you are actually feeling afraid all of a sudden!”.
“Thank you, Captain. It means a lot to me. With your permission I will start exam program in fourteen hundred hours”.
“Granted! Dismissed”, said William. He followed Data with his eyes until he vanished behind closed doors and suddenly felt terribly tired.
No reprimand, just promises to keep on both sides. Perhaps, this was even better, since Data took humanities best qualities to the highest degree of consideration and fulfilling a promise made to a friend was one of them, as far as Riker knew.
Liam’s report about Artemis calling out for somebody was deliberately forgotten and went straight to the desk. If anything, Artemis was a closed topic for the rest of this voyage home.

“Well, I must admit, you’ve surprised me there”, Captain Riker said cheerfully, checking some marks on his tab. The holodeck simulation was complete, and he and Data were standing in a dimly lit black-and-yellow room again.
“I must say, I was expecting more delicate questions. Diplomacy is an ancient art. Did I perform adequately, Captain?”
“It took me a round or two back in a day”, confessed Riker with a shrug. “You did great, Data. I wouldn't expect anything less from you.”.
“Sir, I would like to take the last exam, if you have time and do not require a recess”, asked Data very much politely, obviously still in diplomatic mode.
“Well, I would grant you a final battle, but we have to stop for now. This last test is going to be much harder, than you think”, said Will with a mischievous grin.
“How so, sir?” concerned, Data followed after his captain to the arch and exit door.
“Well, I’ve decided, that we need to mark your full commander’s promotion with something special. What can be more special than to pass that last exam in front of an audience? Have you heard about Space Dock Bridge Games?”
Data took a glance at his databases within his memory banks and literally beamed up with quite immaculately reprised joy. He was sincere, that Will knew for a fact, since Data was a terrible liar.
“That is an honor, sir. I would perform my best to represent the Titan and our crew”.
“You better, unless you want one particularly overreacting Klingon to mock you for the second best place”.
“Do you mean Worf, sir?”
They were slowly getting back to the bridge, while crewmates were rushing from station to station, nodding to their senior officers.
“Yes, the Enterprise is going to be there soon as well. We are going to meet with our friends in about three and half hours. Worf is participating, too! Can’t believe it took you both so long, really”.
“I… I am experiencing a very strange sensation, sir”.
“I do, too, my friend. It is called excitement. I’ve missed them all terribly”, said Will and patted Data on the shoulder.
“I believe I have missed them, too”.
Both officers went straight to the command chairs.
“Ensign, lets speed up a lil’. Warp seven! I think we might get there ahead of time just for the fun of it”, said Will, leaning to his right armrest.
Suddenly the coms went silent for the ship wide announcement.
“Crew of the Titan, this is your captain speaking! Soon we will arrive at the Space Dock of Earth. I want you all to have a shore leave, according to roster provided by Lieutenant Ro. And most notably, I want you all to participate during Space Dock Bridge Games! We have a champion to support, Lieutenant Commander Data. Time has come for an upgrade! So I expect you to cheer loudly… Let them hear the Titan roar!”

Отредактировано William Riker (2024-09-19 11:47:02)