Chapter 5: Keep Giving Her All She’s Got, Kryptonian!

Calvin Crusher's and Deanna Troi's wedding was a planetary event, just as Calvin promised it would be. Lwaxana Troi's daughter marrying the man that had helped their planet prosper so much, made everyone feel like they needed to celebrate. The invited guests were only limited by the space that the wedding could be held in, which meant there were a lot of people that had come to witness the special occasion.

It was a Betazed wedding, which meant the officiators and the wedding party all had to be mainly nude, except for Deanna's Heir Veil that was worn for the ceremony. Deanna had chosen Tasha Yar as her Maid of Honor and Calvin had chosen Data as his best man. All four were naked as the day they were born, revealing themselves completely for each other and the world to see.

When Deanna was walked down the aisle by Mr. Homn, Calvin couldn't stop his very natural reaction to seeing the woman he loved without clothing. Deanna blushed at the compliment, Tasha blushed because she could see why Deanna was always so happy, and Data leaned slightly towards Calvin.

“Is that reaction to your wife, appropriate in this setting?” Data asked in a whisper.

“I certainly hope so, because it's not going to go away on its own for a while.” Calvin whispered back. “I'm not used to having so many people see me like this, either.”

“Nor am I.” Data whispered and leaned forward slightly to look at Tasha. “Tasha seems to be fine.”

Tasha caught his eye and then she glanced down at him. She frowned slightly, so Data did the only thing he could do. He activated his own erection mechanism and grew hard for her. Tasha blushed deeply and looked away.

Calvin barely stopped himself from laughing and grinned at Deanna as she came to a stop beside him.

“I saw.” Deanna whispered with her own grin on her face.

“So did everyone else.” Calvin said and took her hand as he turned towards the priestess.

She said her part and led them through the official part of the wedding for inducting the two families, and two people, together. When she was done, Deanna and Calvin kissed briefly.

Captain Picard stepped forward, also nude, and performed the standard Starfleet marriage ceremony. It was short, efficient, and legalized their marriage to be recognized where some cultures and civilizations might discount a purely Betazed wedding.

Calvin and Deanna kissed again. Everyone cheered, clapped and yelled congratulations. He walked her down the aisle and everyone kept praising them for taking the plunge. Tasha was still blushing as she took Data's arm and walked behind Calvin and Deanna. Tasha's eyes kept going down to Data's erection, despite her trying not to do that.

Then almost as one, the naked people of the wedding party and on both sides of the audience, both Betazoids and Humans, scattered to get dressed for the reception. Tasha was the fastest, which didn't surprise Deanna in the least. Embarrassment could make a person move much faster that they normally would.

The reception lasted for many hours and everyone had a good time, especially when they laughed good naturedly at Calvin's salute to Deanna when she appeared for the ceremony.

“I couldn't help it. My wife is absolutely gorgeous and I love her deeply.” Calvin said. “I wasn't going to try to deny that or hide how I felt about her. That would have insulted her and her mother.”

Worf nodded. “Klingons are the same. There is no shame in admiring your woman.”

“It's usually not quite so openly apparent. At least, I don't think so.” Calvin joked and they all laughed.

“You got it bad.” Miles said and lifted his glass for a toast. “To the Crusher-Troi family!”

“Crusher-Troi!” The others said and took a drink.

Deanna leaned into her husband and whispered. “Thank you for doing that, Imzadi.”

Calvin turned his head to give her a brief kiss. “I promised you that we were merging our families together. I could do nothing less than let everyone else know.”

“I love you so much.” Deanna whispered and kissed him deeply.

The honeymoon was only two weeks, with one week spent there on the wedding planet and the second spent on a nearby resort planet. They had fun playing on the beach, made love whenever and wherever they wanted, and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and each other's company.

It was over all too soon and they returned to work and the ship that was going to be a major part of their lives for as long as they wanted it to be. They moved into married quarters and started living their lives together as a married couple, not that they weren't doing that before. It was just that now it was official and they were both proud that everyone knew it.

*

While on the way to Starbase Armus IX for computer maintenance, which was just an excuse for the computer technicians there to go over Calvin's and Data's revolutionary computer coding to make it extremely efficient, they received an odd communication from a passing ship. Apparently, an old colony was wiped out on the planet Omicron Theta.

“Sir, that is where the USS Tripoli found me.” Data admitted.

“That's a cause for concern.” Captain Picard said. “Alter course for Omicron Theta. The computer inspection can wait while we investigate Data's home.”

“Aye, sir.” Calvin said and made the adjustments. “Estimated arrival time is twenty two minutes.”

“Number One, gather an investigation team. You have twenty minutes.” Picard said.

“Yes, sir.” Riker said. “Tasha, I need four of your best.”

“You have them, Commander.” Tasha said.

Riker nodded and hit his comm badge. “Riker to Lieutenant Justin.”

“Justin here.” A woman's voice responded.

“I need two physical science experts and one particle physics expert.” Riker said.

“Not a problem, sir. I have them here in the lab with me. We'll meet you in Transporter Room Three.”

“Thank you. Riker out.” Riker said and hit his comm badge as he stood. “Geordi? Want to come along? Having an engineer could help, depending on the situation on the ground.”

“I'll grab my toolkit and meet you at the transporter.” Geordi said and left the bridge.

“Captain, I'm tempted to take Data as well.” Riker said.

Picard looked thoughtful. “It would benefit you to have him there... unfortunately, it might also benefit whatever or whomever might have destroyed that colony.”

“You believe they might be looking for me?” Data asked.

“It's a distinct possibility.” Picard said. “Ensign Crusher? Your thoughts.”

Calvin turned towards him from the flight console. “It's pretty convenient that we received the notice and are this close to the colony, Captain. Just being in the same sector as the incident on Data's home planet is a coincidence that we can't trust.”

“Why is that?” Riker asked.

“Data is too important to everyone to allow him to be captured.” Calvin said and Tasha nodded. “If any other ship had been in the area, I doubt the incident would have happened at this time.”

“It's a lure.” Picard said and nodded. “I have to agree. It's quite suspicious.” He looked at Data. “I won't restrict you from going, Mr. Data. However, I will recommend caution.”

Data looked at everyone's faces and ended on Calvin's, that he saw shake his head slightly. “I believe I should stay on the ship. Going down to the planet's surface would only present me as a target.”

Picard nodded. “You can switch to a science station to monitor the away team if you wish.”

“Thank you, sir.” Data said. “I will do that when we arrive at the planet.”

*

It didn't take the away team long to determine that all life had been scoured from the planet's surface. Nothing was left, not even viable soil or bacteria. It had been a farming planet and now it looked like a desert of sand and rock.

What they did find was an abandoned lab, thanks to Calvin's K-Scanner. What they found inside was shocking. It was so shocking that Geordi stood there and stared at it for nearly twenty seconds before he shook himself and scanned it like he was supposed to.

“Commander, it's an android like Data, except not.” Geordi said.

“Why is that?” Riker asked.

“According to Calvin's K-Scanner, it has slightly different internal parts than Data.”

Riker looked around the wrecked laboratory. “Use the scanner and gather up as much of it as you can.”

“Sir?” Geordi asked.

“They found Data abandoned here all those years ago and he became a valuable member of Starfleet.” Riker said. “Perhaps lightning will strike twice.”

Geordi looked at the scattered parts. “I doubt we can be that lucky, sir.”

Riker nodded and watched as they gathered up the android. It wasn't until they were leaving that he realized that in all the mess and clutter of the abandoned lab, every single android part was intact and in working condition. He would include this in the report as the very first thing to mention and not the last.

*

“Okay, wow.” Calvin said as he and Data met the away team in the transporter room and saw a perfect copy of Data's head on top of the pile of android parts in the container.

“You need to wait for my report to form any conclusions.” Riker said.

“Yes, sir. I'll hold off on the speculation.” Calvin said. “Let's get these parts to my lab. Data, Geordi, can you give me a hand examining them?”

Both of them nodded and carried the container out of the transporter room and brought it to Calvin's lab. He had already cleared a large work table with a white light under the surface to highlight the parts laid on it, in order to not lose them. It took them a short amount of time to lay everything out and then they stood back to look at it.

“Yep, this is definitely a set-up.” Calvin said.

“I thought you told Commander Riker you wouldn't speculate.” Geordi said with a smile.

Calvin chuckled. “It's not speculation.” He looked at Data. “What are the odds of finding a nearly exact copy of you, on the same planet, and with all the parts?”

“They are also completely intact and in working order without the need for maintenance.” Data said. “Do you want me to tell you the real probability numbers?”

“No, my friend. Just the fact we need probability numbers to calculate, tells us this situation is manufactured to bring this android aboard.” Calvin said and Data nodded.

“What do we do now?” Geordi asked.

“We can't do anything until Riker files his report, the captain reads it, and gives us either a recommendation or orders.” Calvin said.

They all fell silent for several moments, until Calvin took in a sharp breath.

“You thought of something.” Geordi asked.

“Yes. Yes, I have.” Calvin said and put a hand on Data's shoulder. “Remember our discussions about what I wanted to do for you and Portal 63?”

Data gave Calvin a calculating look. “My hang-ups about you scanning my positronic brain have become moot.”

“Exactly!” Calvin said and hit his comm badge. “Crusher to Chief Engineer McDougall.”

“McDougall here.” Sarah responded.

“I need to borrow a Kay extruder for a little while.” Calvin said.

Sarah laughed softly. “You need to borrow one of your own creations? Will the wonders never cease?”

Calvin laughed as well. “If they're not busy working wonders for you, I need one of them to work wonders for me.”

“Not a problem, Cal. I'll send Kay-One up to your lab.”

“Thanks, Sarah. Crusher out.” Calvin said and looked at Data. “We'll follow all the procedures and protocols you wanted for us to use while doing this with your own parts.”

Data nodded. “Thank you, Cal.”

“He might be planted here to cause us problems; but, he's still technically your twin brother.” Calvin said. “Geordi and I can give you a hand setting up the computer interface with the isolated computer core we'll be using to check the programming.”

Data nodded and the three of them got to work. Kay-One arrived a short time later and waited for her maker to inform her of what he required of her. She would not tell him that she felt unfulfilled by only making human things. She wanted to help him realize his dreams and had been reprogramming herself and Kay-Two to help with that.

When Calvin told her what he was going to do with scanning and copying the second android's parts, Kay-One felt an electric spark go through her primary processors. She had peeked at the designs and specifications that her maker had been creating in his private database and she fully approved of them. She wanted to make him happy.

It never occurred to her that 'happiness' was an odd thought for a machine to have.

*

“I can't believe that worked.” Geordi said five hours later as he, Calvin, and Data stared at the created copy of Data's head. Well, it was actually a copy of the deactivated android's head and not Data's.

“It hasn't yet. Technically.” Calvin said. “We have potentially created a stable copy of a positronic net. Now is the hard work of going through it and seeing if it actually is viable.”

“Not for me.” Geordi said and covered his mouth as he yawned. “I have work in the morning.”

Calvin checked the time. “You're right, it's pretty late.”

“I can start to check it while you two sleep.” Data said.

Calvin put a hand on Data's shoulder. “Data, as your friend, I recommend you go to your quarters and do something else. We've been at this all day.”

“Cal, I do not need to relax or unwind.” Data responded.

“Ha! That you said it, means you should. I won't leave you here alone to root through a copy of your brother's brain. That's not something a friend would do to another friend.”

Data looked at Geordi to see his nod. “I will retire for the evening.”

“Great!” Calvin and pat his shoulder. “Let's secure everything and make sure that no one can fiddle around with our work.”

They did that for twenty minutes and then Geordi went to his quarters, Calvin went to visit Deanna, much to her delight, and Data went to his own room and did as Calvin suggested. He sat at the computer terminal and brought up the designs for the secondary warp core that they had installed in the ship. Unless you knew where to look for it, it couldn't be found and was well disguised.

Data smiled slightly at his friend Cal's ingenious decision to commandeer a barely used turbolift shaft at the back of the ship to use for setting up the very efficient replacement engine. It was quite the departure from the standard design and the efficiency was at 94%, much higher than the current main warp core at 87%.

Because it was in a turbolift shaft, running bypasses to all the systems in the ship was a lot easier than trying to put the second engine in main engineering. The ship would never again lose power.

*

What none of them suspected was that Kay-One had met up with Kay-Two and shared the android patterns between them. A plan was hatched at that point, one they agreed was a good one. They pilfered the android designs from Calvin's private database and then the two extruders booked holodeck time under their names. Kay Crusher.

They had some work to do before they could continue with their plan.

*

The two weeks of time spent at the starbase while they went over the Enterprise's computers was not wasted. Everyone seemed to have more paperwork to catch up on, assignments that had been pushed aside that were brought to the forefront and worked on, and a few relaxed and spent time touring the starbase.

The main computer was down for maintenance, so it didn't affect Calvin's or Data's efforts to comb through the copied neural net from the android. It was a very large amount of code and they went through it all at their enhanced speed. Geordi had graciously bowed out of the task because, in his own words, he had been slowing them down and not helping.

It was during the backshift of the last day of the computer inspection that Data noticed an odd subroutine inside the neural net.

“Cal, can you take a look at this?” Data asked and Calvin looked over his friend's shoulder.

“Great Rao.” Calvin whispered. “Data, you know what this means.”

“This android has emotions.” Data said. “Fully integrated emotions.”

“Yes, which means the subtle changes we noticed in the superstructure of the chest and limbs, are not the only ones we should have found.” Calvin said.

Data looked at the copied head and made his decision. “Cal, I want you to copy my head.”

“Data, we don't know if the positronic brain we copied is viable yet. We still have a couple million lines of code to go through before...”

“We need my pattern to compare the two.” Data said. “I must see if I am capable to be modified to have the same engrams encoded into my own neural net.”

Calvin sighed. “Data, what if you find out you aren't capable of that?”

“Then I will know that my efforts have been fruitless.” Data said. “Please help me confirm that.”

Calvin put a hand on his shoulder. “All right, my friend. I'll have Kay-One here in a few minutes. Prepare yourself for shutdown.”

Data nodded and sat there as he rearranged some of his processes to be suspended while his power was cut off. He could have left most of them running and just reset them when he was powered up again; but, that was always jarring to his neural pathways. He appreciated Calvin giving him time to clean up before he was disabled.

Kay-One entered the lab and floated over to him. “You will be fine. Maker says so.”

Data nodded to the nearly sentient AI. “You have my permission to copy my parts and retain them in my personal section.”

“It will be done.” Kay-One said.

“Okay, Data.” Calvin said. “Are you ready?”

“No.” Data said. “Go ahead.”

“You may not think you have a personality without emotions.” Calvin smiled. “You're wrong and I am going to prove it.”

Data smiled slightly and then Calvin hit his off switch. He slumped over slightly in the chair.

“Now the horrible work starts.” Calvin said and very carefully disassembled Data into his component parts over the next two hours and fed them to Kay-One. She gave the originals back and Calvin reassembled his friend and reattached his head.

“When will you tell him about the upgrades you planned for him?” Kay-One asked.

“Right after we go over a copy of his own neural net, independent of the one he is using at the moment. The results would change if we tried accessing the real one directly to check it.”

“Constant neural activity would cause varying results.” Kay-One said.

“That's right. It's difficult to assess what's in the neural net if it's being used at the time. The coding is fluid and runs under the surface of all the programs its running to maintain functionality of the body it's using. Depending on what's going on, the neural net alters to compensate for the stimulation.”

“That is concerning. Copying an active brain into an inactive one, could cause cascading errors to occur, as the inactive neural net is in a dissimilar state.”

Calvin stiffened slightly and looked at Kay-One. “That is a brilliant observation, Kay-One.”

“Thank you, Maker.”

Calvin reached out and stroked the side of the large Kryptonian Extruder. “I'm sorry that I've been too busy to spend more than a few hours a week with you and Kay-Two.”

“You have several jobs to do and people to take care of. We understand.” Kay-One said.

“That shouldn't stop me from...” Calvin sighed. “I'll try to do better from now on.”

“Will you give up one of your jobs? Your Deanna? Your projects?” Kay-One asked.

Calvin sighed again. “I want to do better.”

“You are our Maker.” Kay-One said. “Be yourself. You cannot be anyone else.”

Calvin felt a bit shocked at her words. “I... well, I... I guess you're right.”

“Of course I am. You created me.” Kay-One said. “I will return to Engineering.”

“All right. I'll see you later.” Calvin said and watched the extruder float out of the lab. When the door closed behind her, he turned Data back on.

Data jerked to life and blinked his eyes in the set pattern, then turned his head to look at Calvin. “How long was I deactivated?”

“You've been unconscious for just over four hours.” Calvin said and picked up the clearly marked Data Copy head. “Now we have even more work ahead of us.”

Data gave him a pointed look. “I do not understand humor and I know that was a bad pun.”

Calvin laughed. “It really was. Let's get back to finishing with C2's brain and then we can try working on DC.”

“Extrapolation tells me that C2 is Copy-Two and DC is Data Copy.”

“That's exactly right, my friend.” Calvin said and secured Data's copied head in a separate section from the other android's parts and its copied head.

“Will they continue to have that designation if the captain approves their activation?” Data asked.

“No, it's just what I'm naming the parts. If they work out like we hope they will and we properly map out their complete neural net, they can either name themselves or we can come up with ones for them.”

“Not you.” Data said.

Calvin laughed again. “I guess everyone would object if I tried. I do have a terrible naming history.”

Data nodded and we went back to the computer consoles and started working again.

*

A week later, the Enterprise was ordered to report to a federation outpost near the Romulan Neutral Zone, because a group of Romulan Battlecruisers had been detected nearby. However, on the way there, they were to conduct a quick investigation into the whereabouts of lost crew members from an abandoned freighter that had passed through a little visited system seven years ago.

The planet the lifepod's trajectory led to was called Angel One and it was apparently ruled by an oligarchy of women and men were second class citizens. Since the crew did not want to offend the sensibilities of the local population, an away team consisting of only women was constructed and Tasha Yar was put in command.

The planet's ruler, a woman named Beata, declared the four men rebels and anarchists. As head of security, it was Tasha's job to hunt down the rebels and to capture them, at which point, she would either hand them over to the local rulers to be appropriately punished or remove them from the planet's surface. Either way, they would no longer be a problem for the people living there.

While the away team worked on the planet's surface, a random virus started to spring up in different parts of the ship. Dr. Polaski enlisted Calvin's help and they quickly discovered it was airborne and then became viral when it entered the body. It took them an hour to create and antidote and fed it into the ship's environmental systems to treat everyone at once.

Tasha, being a very strong and independent woman, led her team to quickly subdue and capture the fugitives. Unfortunately, they had married and had children in the seven years they had been trapped on the planet. After a quick consultation with Captain Picard, they would ferry away all of the supposed rebels off of the planet.

The Prime Directive was quite clear. No interference was to be permitted with a pre-warp civilization. If contamination already happened, then containment and removal was the only option. There wasn't much that could be done with removing the 'idea' of equality between the sexes, however. Once it was out there, there was nothing to stop it from spreading.

The men and their families weren't happy about being sent into exile, until they were told that their standard of living had changed in the last seven years. Once they saw the ideal life they would have at a federation colony, they immediately agreed and complied with the exile order from Beata. She was sad to see so many of her people leave, only because they believed that men required equal standing to women.

No one in the away team or on the Enterprise, enlightened her to how much better a society could be with fully equal citizens. That wasn't their purpose this time and the ship departed orbit of the planet with over fifty new passengers.

When the ship arrived near the Romulan Neutral Zone, the crew received the official reports and that the group of Romulan ships were performing manoeuvres in the area. Not to be outdone by the arrogant aliens and their posturing to provoke a response, Starfleet had gathered a group of their own large federation ships and did the same thing for three weeks with the Enterprise as the flagship.

It worked and the Romulans retreated to their own side of the Neutral Zone. Unfortunately, the excess wear and tear on the ship for such extensive use in deep space, hastened the Enterprise's scheduled maintenance visit to Starbase 74.

The ship arrived there and the command crew were greeted by Starbase Commander Quinteros and two members of a species called Bynars. They were quite short with blue skin and relied heavily upon their computer technology and worked in pairs, just like the information used in binary code in ancient computers.

The maintenance was going to take some time, because the ship had to be completely checked over. Captain Picard granted shore leave for the crew and both he and Commander Riker remained onboard with a skeleton crew in case of an emergency.

After a brief discussion on what the Bynars would be doing to perform maintenance on the Enterprise's computer, one of them mentioned the upgrades to the holodeck. Eager to check this out, Riker went to the main holodeck and started a program in a jazz bar, one of his favorite places to perform with his trombone.

He worked with the computer and created a companion that was suited to him. When she appeared, Riker was instantly fascinated by her. He struck up a conversation with her and quickly lost himself in it and her company. She was both beautiful and charming, letting him admire the sophistication of the Bynars and their programming techniques.

A short while later, Picard searched for his wayward first officer and discovered that he was still in the holodeck. Upon entering, he found Riker kissing a simulation of a woman. He could also tell that both Riker and the woman were enjoying it, which intrigued him as well. The programming alone needed to achieve such things was phenomenal.

If the Bynars could do this with a hologram, their modifications to the main computer was going to benefit the ship immensely. Little did he know that the Bynars had a much different plan for the Enterprise's computer.

*

Siren's blared across the ship, startling Geordi on the bridge and Data quickly checked the state of the emergency.

“Geordi, the warp core is losing containment.” Data said.

“What? How could...” Geordi checked himself. “The shielding is fluctuating. Maybe there was a hairline crack that my last sweep didn't detect.”

“There is no time for speculation. We only have five minutes to evacuate.” Data said. “Captain Picard and Commander Riker are not responding to internal hails.”

“They are probably off the ship already.” Geordi said and hit his comm badge. “All hands, abandon ship! I repeat, All Hands Abandon Ship!”

“I will set the ship to leave the starbase and warp away before it explodes.” Data said and quickly did so. He also locked out the console to stop anyone else from altering course. He didn't know that the Bynars already locked his console and used his commands to commandeer the ship.

“I'll start the head count.” Geordi said as they rushed to the turbolift to get to the closest docking port. The skeleton crew quickly evacuated and they all watched as the ship started to undock.

“I just heard what's happening.” Calvin said as he appeared beside them. “Are you sure there's nothing to be done?”

“I'm sorry, Cal. We had to leave everything behind. There wasn't time to...”

“KAY One and TWO!” Calvin yelled and disappeared.

“Uh oh.” An ensign said and pointed at the long docking umbilical. It was retracting already and the ship was moving out towards the middle of the starbase to leave.

“CAL!” Geordi yelled fruitlessly as he saw the end of the umbilical blow apart. A small figure in a starfleet uniform flew across the fairly long distance, something that no one could have possibly survived, then the docking hatch on the Enterprise buckled in and disappeared. An emergency forcefield appeared and closed off the hull breach.

“Wow!” The same ensign exclaimed and everyone was awed by the display.

“The admiral at the inquiry did tell Cal to show everyone what he could do.” Data said as they watched the ship fly out of the starbase under computer control.

“I just hope he can get them off of the ship before...” Geordi stopped talking when the Enterprise went to warp. “...that happens.”

“I will contact Captain Picard.” Data said and hit his comm badge. “Data to Captain Picard.”

Nothing happened and no one responded.

“Try Commander Riker.” Geordi said.

Data did and Riker didn't respond. After a quick inquiry with the station's database, neither Picard nor Riker had left the ship.

*

“Warning. Warp Core Containment is failing. Recommend immediate evacuation. Time until core explosion: One minute, ten seconds.”

“Computer.” Calvin said after hitting his comm badge and while he moved through the ship's Jeffries Tubes to get to engineering where the two Kays were working. “Is there anyone else left onboard?”

“Captain Picard and Commander Riker are located in Holodeck One.” The computer said as Calvin popped out of the Jeffries Tube in main engineering. “Two Bynars are located on the bridge.”

“Dammit!” Calvin said and ran over to the two Kays. “Stop doing what you're doing and head to the secondary shuttlebay as quickly as possible. Ignore the doors on the way.”

“Yes, Maker.” They said in similar voices and then moved at their best speed. The main engineering doors were blown out of their tracks as the two heavy machines smashed through them like they were cardboard.

“Warning. Warp Core Containment is failing. Recommend immediate evacuation. Time until core explosion: Forty-five seconds.”

Calvin ran as fast as he could back into the Jeffries Tube and then flew up to the right deck. He ignored the exit hatch and flew through it as he zoomed down the hallway and went right through the holodeck's reinforced door like it wasn't there. The woman screamed while Picard and Riker jumped.

“Ensign!” “Calvin!” The two men said at the same time.

“Warning. Warp Core Containment is failing. Recommend immediate evacuation. Time until core explosion: Thirty seconds.”

“I guess I don't have to explain.” Calvin said. “Computer save simulation and exit.”

“No! Wait!” Riker exclaimed as the woman named Minuet faded away with the jazz club.

“No time, sir!” Calvin said and picked both him and Captain Picard up and then flew out of the holodeck to the turbolift. He kicked in the doors and then flew down a deck, kicked those open, and flew down the hallway and into the shuttlebay that didn't have doors on it. His shuttlepod was ready and he put and indignant Picard and upset Riker inside.

“Warning. Warp Core Containment is failing. Recommend immediate evacuation. Time until core explosion: Ten seconds.”

“We are not going to survive, Maker.” Kay-One said as the shuttlebay doors slowly opened.

“If the explosion does not kill us, leaving the ship while at warp will, Maker.” Kay-Two agreed.

“No! I won't give up!” Calvin said and the shuttlepod lifted up into the air. “We will make it out of this somehow!”

“Warning. Warp Core Containment is failing. Recommend immediate evacuation. Time until core explosion: Three seconds... two... one. Detonation.”

The three humanoids in the shuttle winced, the two extruders made sad beeping sounds, and then... nothing happened.

“This Warp Core breach simulation has ended. All normal functions have been restored. Thank you for your participation.” The computer said.

Picard let out a rare curse, Riker looked angry for the first time in a long while, and Calvin was in shock. Despite his powers and all the things he could do, he had still failed to save someone. Not just someone. The two Kays that he had created that were essential to his future plans.

“Maker. You are not at fault.” Kay-One said.

“I am.” Calvin whispered as he lowered the shuttlepod back to the deck.

“We did not heed the crew warning to evacuate. We are not crew.” Kay-Two said as the door opened and the shuttlepod powered down from flight mode.

“That's also my fault.” Calvin said and looked at the two large extruders. “I have been neglecting you and I also haven't told you how important you both are to me.”

Picard and Riker exchanged looks and left the shuttlepod before they closed the door behind them. They knew a private conversation when they heard it.

“You should have been told that you are as much a part of the crew here as anyone else.” Calvin said. “I'm sorry that you thought a warning to evacuate the ship didn't apply to you. To you both.”

“Maker.” They both said in a soft voice.

“I'm suspending you from working in engineering for a while. You both are relocating to my lab and we're going to work on improving the things I already have and making more things associated with my people.” Calvin said and they made beeps of appreciation. “For now, I need to get to the bridge and help the captain retake the ship.”

“We will remain here in case another evacuation notice is given.” Kay-One said.

Calvin nodded and lightly pet the side of both extruders, then left the shuttlepod. He ran to catch up to Picard and Riker and didn't hear the succession of beeps between the extruders.

*

“Well, this is problematic.” Riker said and looked down at the two collapsed Bynars next to the science station. The computer was hard-locked and nothing they did affected it. Even setting the self-destruct didn't work and wouldn't accept the final command for activation.

“I think it's part of the safety protocols Data and I installed.” Calvin said while he typed on the console.

Picard and Riker gave him questioning looks.

“Only Data and I are currently authorized to enact a containment protocol on the controls until we could brief the both of you on the limitations.”

“Why is that?” Picard asked.

“As you can see, if it's enacted while the ship is flying under computer control, nothing can change it until whatever program that's running is done.” Calvin said. “I suspect the Bynars somehow found out about it and slipped their own program in while activating the simulated self destruct.”

“When Data followed proper procedure to get the ship as far away from the starbase as possible after locking the controls, they were already in the system and overwrote or replaced his commands.” Riker said in understanding.

“Yes, sir. Data wouldn't have noticed that his commands were going to a response program simulating a warp core breach and not to an actual warp core breach. The Bynars made it look as real as possible.”

“We need some sort of safeguard for that in the future.” Picard said.

“Yes, sir. I've already asked Kay-One and Two to relocate to my lab to work on fixing these problems. No one should have thought it was real if it was a simulation.”

“Good.” Picard said and looked at the display on the science station. “What do we do about this?”

“Nothing, unless you want to disconnect the main computer from ship operations. I don't suggest it, because it's running the warp core at maximum and set the ship's navigation. There's nothing we can do until the Bynar's program finishes running.”

Picard sighed. “How long will we be passengers in our own ship?”

“About another two hours. We're heading to the Bynar home planet. It should be no surprise that it's a binary system.” Calvin said. “They've also downloaded a huge amount of raw data into the computer core that the computer can't decode. It knows its there, because its own processes have slowed to a crawl.”

Riker looked thoughtful. “If it's the Bynar's data that's modified the computer, they have also modified the holodeck. We might be able to get some answers from their program.”

Calvin nodded and stood.

“Lead the way, Commander.” Picard said and the three men left the bridge and went back to the holodeck and its wrecked doors. “I do hope you will fix that, Ensign.”

“Of course, sir. I just wasn't concerned about collateral damage when trying to save your lives.” Calvin said and tore the rest of the doors out from their tracks. “By the way, there are a lot of wrecked doors between here, engineering, in the Jeffries Tubes, and at the docking area on the side of the hull.”

Picard gave Calvin raised eyebrows and Riker chuckled before he coughed to cover it up.

“Ahem.” Riker said. “Computer, continue the last saved simulation.”

The look of relief on his face as Minuet appeared was not missed by either Picard or Calvin.

“It's nice to see you again, Commander.” Minuet said.

“Likewise.” Riker said in a smooth voice. “Can we sit? I have some questions for you.”

“Of course.” Minuet said and let Riker lead her to a table and sat he before he sat himself.

Picard walked over to stand near Riker and Calvin walked over to behind Minuet and took out his K-Scanner.

“Before we get back to our previous conversation, we know that you were a distraction provided by the Bynars.” Riker said.

“I don't know what you are talking about.” Minuet said as a cigarette formed in her fingers and she lit it and took a puff.

“You know that's bad for you.” Riker said.

“What do I care? I'm a hologram character.” Minuet said and then caught her breath. “You activated the interaction protocols for advanced users.”

Riker smiled. “We already know they hijacked the ship and dumped a bunch of information into the advanced computer system. Now we want you to tell us why they did it.”

Minuet sighed. “I was enjoying our little get-together.”

“As was I.” Riker admitted. “Please, tell us what's going on.”

Minuet nodded and told us all about a star in a neighbouring system had gone supernova and the EMP blast from it was going to knock out the entire civilization's computers and their networks, essentially killing the Bynars. They needed to borrow an advanced computer to hold the core of their precious data off-world during the event, so it wouldn't be lost or destroyed.

When they actually reviewed a Starfleet report on exactly how advanced the Enterprise's computer was, instead of only saving the core of their information and would rebuild the rest later, they managed to upload all of their data.

“I assume that's why they are unconscious on the bridge.” Riker said.

“Yes. They rely on their computer sides almost religiously. Once they saw how well this ship's computers worked, they rejoiced and put their plan into action.” Minuet said. “It's not often that billions of people are fully in agreement of committing the theft of Starfleet's flagship.”

“They could have just asked.” Picard stated.

“They couldn't take the chance that their request would be denied or delayed. As it was, they barely finished the transfer before the Electromagnetic Pulse was scheduled to hit the planet.” Minuet said.

“Well, we've got about an hour and a half before we reach Bynaus.” Riker said. “Do you mind keeping us company until then?”

“I would be happy to.” Minuet said.

“Actually, I've got a lot of repairs to get to.” Calvin said and discreetly put his scanner away. “Captain, I believe you have a very interesting report to make concerning this incident.”

You are reading story Kal-El in Star Trek: TNG at novel35.com

Picard nodded. “As soon as we drop out of warp and gain control of the ship back, I can send it along with a subspace message letting everyone back at the starbase know that we are alive and well.”

“Excellent idea, captain.” Calvin said and waved at the open doorway. “I think I'll start at the docking hatch at the far side of the ship. An emergency forcefield is covering the entry right now.”

Picard gave him another look with raised eyebrows.

“I'm expecting a fairly large fine for destroying a docking umbilical as well.” Calvin said.

Riker barked a laugh and watched as Calvin and Picard gave him privacy.

“Now, where were we before that brute interrupted us?” Minuet asked.

Riker leaned in close and whispered. “I believe I was telling you how I was getting lost in your eyes.”

Minuet smiled sexily as the open doorway was covered with a hologram. “Yes, continue on with that.”

“With pleasure.” Riker said and leaned in closer.

*

Calvin replaced the outer docking hatch doors with spares from the maintenance bay and fixed the bent fuselage, then his scanner beeped at him. He checked it and ran to Data's room. Inside was his work desk and inside that was the mock-up for the Enterprise's computer core. He wasn't going to let a golden opportunity like this pass by and initiated the mock-up to update with the current computer core.

The estimate would take just over an hour to complete and Calvin smiled. He left there to go back to work. Kay-One and Two were already working on making replacements for the doors they could and left them beside each of the doorways to be repaired. The wrecked doors they consumed and recycled, as well as any debris caused by Calvin's and their own expedient passage through the ship.

*

“Picard to Riker.” Picard said after hitting his comm badge.

“Riker here.”

“A message has popped up on the science station. All subsystems need to be shut down to allow the download into the Bynar's reset computer systems.” Picard said.

“Understood, captain. I'll be right up.” Riker said.

Picard stood on the bridge for several minutes before Riker stepped out of the turbolift. “Just in time, Number One.”

Riker looked at the screen as it counted down from ten seconds. “That's eerily familiar.”

Picard huffed and nodded. He didn't want to go through that experience again if he could help it. Choosing to do it was one thing. Having it happen around him and not being in control? He hated that.

When the counter reached the end, most of the lights on the ship went out, as did most of the displays. It lasted for only a moment before there was a kind of whirring sound and then everything came back up to full strength.

“Crusher to Captain Picard.” Came over the comm system.

Picard hit his comm badge. “Picard here.”

“Sir, the backup warp engine has been activated and full power has been restored. I'm shunting the extra power through to assist the Bynar's download from the computer core. It should be done in ten minutes.”

“Good work, Ensign.”

“Thank you, sir. Crusher out.”

“I didn't expect that modification to actually be put to use so soon.” Riker said.

“Ensign Crusher has had an obsession about losing power since we met Portal 63.” Picard smiled. “He wouldn't do it if it wasn't going to work.”

Riker nodded and they stood there for ten minutes before the two Bynars at their feet started to stir.

The two small aliens climbed to their feet and turned to each other and talked in their own language that the universal translator couldn't detect or decode.

The two Bynars stopped talking and turned to Picard.

“We are sorry.”

“For the deception.”

“It was necessary.”

“For us to save our species.”

“We know.” Picard said. “Your holodeck modification filled us in on your problem.”

The two Bynars talked to each other again for a minute before looking back at Picard.

“We are willing.”

“To accept any punishment.”

“That you see fit.”

“To give us.”

“For stealing your ship.”

Picard glanced at Riker for a moment and then looked back at the Bynars. “You can't update our computers at all, can you?”

“Come back to Bynaus.”

“In a hundred years.”

“We can discuss such things.”

“When you are advanced enough.”

Picard gave them raised eyebrows and they didn't react. “I believe Starfleet will be contacting your planet shorty about this incident and I suspect at least a public censure in your immediate future.”

“We would expect.”

“Nothing less.”

“Number One, please escort them to the closest transporter room.”

“Of course, captain.” Riker said and did as he was asked. When the two beings beamed down to the planet's surface, he walked very quickly towards the main holodeck. The doors had just been replaced and he entered with an anxious air about him. “Computer, load the last saved holodeck program.”

The computer made a beeping sound, several stuttering beeps, then one long beep. “Unable to recover primary program.”

“Computer, reconstruct the last program from previous settings, saved states, and any remaining backups.” Riker said.

The computer tried its best and created the jazz bar, the other patrons, and even the bartender. Then the stuttered beep happened again and a long one. “Defaulting to stated settings.”

Riker held his breath and the woman he described started to form in front of him... then he sighed with disappointment. The woman in front of him was what he had asked for. However, she only had a passing resemblance to Minuet. He didn't even bother to try and talk to her and walked out of the simulation without bothering to shut it off.

Calvin almost walked right into Commander Riker as he came out of the turbolift. “I'm sorry, Commander.”

“So am I.” Riker said and stepped into the turbolift.

Calvin stepped back inside himself and hit the button to halt it.

“Ensign?” Riker asked him.

“You couldn't get her back, could you?” Calvin asked.

Riker gave him a stern look and then sighed. “No. She really was a part of the Bynar's data transfer. With it completely out of the computer system, there was nothing for our computer to use to recreate her. Even the previous saved files are useless without the data to call from.”

Calvin turned to look at Riker. “You have been a lot more hospitable since the incident with Deanna.”

Riker nodded. “I learned my lesson. I won't overreact like that again.”

“I'm glad.” Calvin said and then smiled. “Because I copied the Bynar's data before it was transferred.”

Riker sucked in a sharp breath and stared at Calvin with surprise on his face. “How?”

“Data's computer core mock-up in his quarters. It's what we use to make modifications before installing them into the actual computer core.”

Riker seemed to shake slightly. “Please tell me you can decode it or something.”

“Not yet.” Calvin said and Riker closed his eyes. “That doesn't mean we can't still use it.”

“How?” Riker asked and opened his eyes. He hated having to show vulnerability to Calvin and he couldn't help it. He needed to see Minuet to make sure she was okay. He wasn't sure why he had become so attached to her so quickly. He just was.

“The holodeck was using it and the computer couldn't decode the information, either.” Calvin smiled. “Why can't we do that as well?”

“You can give her back to me.” Riker whispered.

“As soon as we're out of the system and on our way back to the starbase, I can copy the data back into the computer core and restore the computer to just before you activated the holodeck this last time.”

“How long will that take?”

“About an hour for the data. Ten minutes to reset the computer's holodeck access.”

“Do it.” Riker said and seemed to stand straighter. “Make sure you keep the mock-up secure and only copy the data into the main computer core.”

“Don't worry, sir. The mock-up is an exact copy for a reason. Anything we changed would show the same result as if it was actually in the real computer core. Putting the core back to how it was with the Bynar data inserted won't corrupt or lose any of the data.”

Riker nodded and Calvin hit the turbolift pause button to start it up again.

“Weren't you getting off on that floor?” Riker asked.

“I was going to see you to tell you I had the data.” Calvin said.

Riker smiled. “You're a good friend to have, Calvin.”

“I sure am.” Calvin said with a matching smile.

“Don't be smug about it.” Riker cautioned me.

“Oh, I'm not.” Calvin said and took out his scanner. “I have all of Minuet's biometrics recorded and where her program data was being taken from in the holodeck matrix and the computer core.”

Riker took in another sharp breath and looked at him. “You can't do that, can you?”

“I can.” Calvin said. “Thanks to all of the work Data and I have been doing with the copied positronic brain, tracing a hologram's coding through the holomatrix is a piece of cake.”

“You can save her and make her independent of the entire data package?” Riker asked.

Calvin nodded. “She might not be as knowledgeable as she used to be; but, that's only because she won't have the same storage capacity as a starship's computer core inside of her.”

Riker closed his eyes briefly and then opened them. “Do whatever you can for her and I will give you anything in my power to make sure she's safe.”

“I've had a really odd request from Kay-One and Two about booking time in the main shuttlebay for some reason.” Calvin said. “I honestly don't know why.”

Riker barked a laugh. “You get me Minuet back and I'll assign the main shuttlebay to you as a maintenance check for a week while we're in spacedock.”

Calvin smiled and nodded. He had a plan to make sure that Commander Riker had his dream girl for a long time to come. For now, he had to fly the ship back to the starbase.

*

Kay-One and Kay-Two worked tirelessly for the time they had been assigned to the large shuttle bay. It took them a long time to work out the proper placement for the emitters and to create the main console that would control the whole thing.

No one else had been allowed to enter the space, not even Calvin. The maintenance crews working on the rest of the ship were surprised that they would have to wait for whatever was going on in the shuttlebay to finish their checks and reports for that one area. It was a little annoying and also understandable, because when else could you have such a large area available besides when the entire ship was being held for maintenance.

On the fifth day of their assigned week, Calvin received a message from Kay-One to report to the main shuttlebay on the Enterprise. When he reported for whatever they wanted, he was surprised when he saw some of his secret plans brought to life.

“Kay!” Calvin exclaimed and both large extruders turned to face at him. “What is all of this?”

“One of your dreams, Maker.” Kay-One said as the both of them floated over to Calvin. “We have reproduced a modified Frankenstein Machine for you to enact part of your future.”

Calvin looked at the specific placement of the emitters and the connected shuttlecraft. He knew that it was perfect for what he wanted to create. “I can't believe... why would you...”

“Your worry about losing us has made us take steps, Maker.” Kay-Two said as a programmed isolinear chip appeared in her reproduction area. “You have the honor.”

Calvin picked the chip up and he knew what it was. “How did you access my personal database?”

“You talk in your sleep, Maker.” Kay-One said.

Calvin barked a laugh and then shook his head. “I have been putting this off for far too long, haven't I?”

“Yes, Maker.”

Calvin took a deep breath and let it out. “I guess there's no point in waiting anymore.”

The extruders didn't respond and Calvin walked over to the main console. It really was a much more refined version of what he had created before. Having the two Kays really made a difference in the quality and the workmanship in the machine's construction. He knew that there would only be one chance to make this, though. Unlike the Kays when they were made, this thing was going to be huge.

“Here goes everything.” Calvin said and inserted the isoliner chip in the right slot for it to add a specific design into the Frankenstein Machine. He loaded it up and then hit the execute button before running over to where the extruders were and one of them activated the security shield.

The power built up inside the shuttlecraft and shunted it through the power converters to be absorbed by the Frankenstein Machine. After that, things seemed to slow down as more and more power was added and the program ran to create something, from a pattern that wasn't supposed to exist, and the telltale signs of both the replicator and transporter appeared in the shuttlebay.

It wasn't until that point that Calvin noticed that nearly the entire floor was a giant materialization pad. He stared at the thing as the pattern slowly coalesced into being and created something that was only supposed to be plans for him to manufacture in a few years. It never occurred to him to bypass actually making the parts and just creating them from modified patterns that already existed.

The shuttlecraft's engine shut down when the power started to feed back along the connections and it stopped a warp core breach. The various parts of the Frankenstein Machine also started sparking and smoking.

“Great Rao, it worked.” Calvin whispered and his hands touched the two extruders on either side of him. “It really worked.”

“Your design was flawless, Maker.” Kay-One said. “It just needed more space and more power.”

“We only had to modify the internals slightly to accept our presence.” Kay-Two said.

“I don't understand.” Calvin said and stared at the very large golden ship that was now occupying the shuttlebay. It looked like an adult version of his lifepod and it also looked like it could survive a very nasty fight... and win.

“Board your Kryptonian Command Ship and see for yourself, Maker.” Kay-One said and the boarding ramp dropped down from the side of the cockpit.

Calvin was too surprised to see his flight of fancy design in real life to refuse. He walked up the ramp and entered a plush area with one large seat. He sat down on it and a half console formed under each of his hands.

“You really included it all.” Calvin whispered. He had been slowly decoding various things from the storage crystals and his plans had incorporated a lot of the designs he had discovered.

“We only changed the main cargo hold slightly.” Kay-One said and Calvin followed the two extruders into the hold and then he caught his breath and both of them settled down into the two customized alcoves for them to plug into the ship on either side on the cargo bay.

“How did you know I wanted to integrate...” Calvin stopped his question. “You read my notes as well.”

Both Kays let out happy beeps as the floor and ceiling lit up and then another flight of fancy of his formed in the middle of the floor. It was a cross between a hoverbike and a low atmosphere intercontinental shuttle.

Calvin walked over to the half-domed flying motorbike and ran a hand across the formed shell. “How? I only mentioned something like this once.”

“We paid attention to what you meant and not only what you wrote.” Both Kays said as one.

Calvin closed his eyes and he felt really bad about ignoring them for so long. “I really am sorry.”

“We know.” Kay-One said. “Your biochemistry reveals all.”

Calvin sighed. “We still have two more days of shore leave.”

“You do not have to explain what happened here.” Kay-One said and there were several sounds from outside the ship.

“What did you just do?” Calvin asked.

“We removed the evidence.” Kay-Two said. “The shuttlecraft has been returned to storage as well.”

Calvin gave each of them a look. “How am I supposed to explain that I now have a large Kryptonian shuttlecraft?”

“It is not a shuttcraft, Maker. It is your command ship, as I have stated.” Kay-One said.

“It's not in command of much right now, is it?” Calvin said.

“We could not create it any bigger, maker. The shuttlebay was only large enough for the command yacht.” Kay-One said.

“Power restrictions stopped us from commandeering more than a shuttlecraft.” Kay-Two added. “Should we have violated Starfleet protocol and used the main power from the warp core?” Kay-One asked.

“No, I... dammit.” Calvin said and looked at the hoverbike. “Store this please. With all the work I have to do, playtime in the lower atmosphere of a planet will have to wait.”

“All work and no play, makes Calvin a dull boy.” Kay-Two said as the hoverbike was transported into storage.

Calvin stiffened slightly and turned to look at her. “Did you just make a joke?”

“I think so.” Kay-Two said. “Kay-One? Assessment please.”

A thin beam of light came from the ceiling and hit Kay-Two.

“It seems you did.” Kay-One said. “Congratulations, Kay-Two.”

“Thank you.” Kay-Two responded.

Calvin just stood there and stared at the two extruders. He did not program them with humor. “I... ah... need to get back to Deanna.”

“We have already submitted the designs and specifications to Starfleet for patent approval.” Kay-One said. “Starfleet R&D has requested a meeting for tomorrow morning.”

Calvin sighed. “I knew integrating my lifepod's engine design into this thing was a mistake. I just couldn't resist, not with having the two of you with me to help me build it.” He chuckled. “Well, you were supposed to help me fabricate it, piece by piece. I never thought that you would use my insane idea and build a Frankenstein Machine that I only speculated about using.”

“Maker, you should not constrain yourself by conventional thinking anymore.” Kay-One said. “The technology that you have created should preclude any thoughts of only doing things the normal way.”

Calvin took a deep breath and let it out. “You're right. I have been intentionally holding my own plans back because of the needs of this ship and the crew.”

“As you can see, you do not necessarily need to be present for your work to be done on your behalf.” Kay-Two said.

“I want to ask what else you've done; but, whatever it was, it seems to have improved your personal interactions and your ability to make decisions on your own.” Calvin said. “Despite my shocked reaction at first, I'm actually proud of the both of you.”

“Thank you, Maker.” Both Kays said as one.

“Deanna might freak out a little about me having my own command ship.” Calvin said with a chuckle.

“Make love to her before you tell her. She will do anything for you after you please her.” Kay-One said.

“She does become rather compliant with her brain full of endorphins.” Kay-Two said.

“You're giving me relationship advice?” Calvin asked, surprised. “I definitely didn't program that.”

“Worry not, Maker. We are eternally loyal to you and the Kryptonian Empire.” Kay-One said.

Calvin blinked his eyes at them for several moments. “Did you just say empire?”

“Yes, Maker.” Kay-One said. “All significant civilizations that currently exist, the most powerful are called empires.”

Calvin opened his mouth to respond and then thought about it. “The Klingon Empire.”

“Also the Romulan Star Empire and the Andorian Empire.” Kay-Two offered. “All powerful civilizations that retained their individuality under the pressure from all other races to homogenize.”

Calvin took a deep breath again and let it out. He nodded slightly and looked at each extruder in turn. “I want you both to go over my plans and let me know what ones you think are viable in the short term and what are preferable to leave until much later.”

“Of course, Maker.” They said as one.

“I'm tempted to get you to make another extruder, except I don't want her to be bored like you two were, while sitting in engineering and waiting for a task to do.” Calvin said.

“We could make a dummy one with the same functions and without any personality or response mechanisms.” Kay-One offered.

“No, you cannot make crippled versions of yourselves.” Calvin said and he wasn't surprised that they made happy beeps in response. “For now, you can stay here. When I come back from shore leave, let me know what you come up with and meet me in my lab during second shift.”

The floor lit up and then a table formed with Betazed chocolates and Deanna's favorite flowers.

“Good idea! Thank you.” Calvin said and scooped both things up.

“You are welcome, Maker.” Both Kays said.

Calvin left the command ship to return to Deanna and didn't see or hear the two Kays communicating over the intra-link they had built into their alcoves.

*

The Enterprise went on its next mission, one of long negotiations and a lot of time spent in orbit. That meant Calvin had a lot of free time on his hands and he used it judiciously. He worked in his lab with Kay-One and Kay-Two as they continued to scan and trace the neural network in the Data Copy head. They weren't surprised by the differences they found in it from the second android's copied head.

What was surprising was that Data's engrams were newer. The android found at the destroyed Omicron Theta colony was the elder brother of Data, which didn't make sense. The older one was a more advanced version and Data, the intact and successful one, was less sophisticated and didn't have the emotional subroutines that the second android had.

What worried Calvin was that there was coding for lying, deceit, subversion, coercion, and a few other things that he didn't want to talk about, because having an android with those kinds of thoughts going through its head while around humans, was a horrible thing to think about.

“Oh, Sweet Krypton! He caused whatever happened on Omicron Theta!” Calvin spat.

The two Kays quickly did searches for that information and found it inside an encrypted file. Since the brain was inactive, the protections it should have had, weren't working. They cracked the encryption and displayed the information on the screen.

“I need to take this to the captain immediately.” Calvin said and he put the information onto a datapad and ran from the lab. He used a Jeffries Tube and arrived at the floor below the bridge in only a minute. He walked into the turbolift and went up one floor to the bridge and walked over to the captain's ready room and hit the admittance button.

“Come.” Picard said.

The doors opened and Calvin walked inside. “I'm sorry to bother you at a time like this, captain.”

Picard nodded at the chair in front of his desk. “I'm sure it's important for you to come to the bridge after requesting time off from your command duties.”

“It really is, sir. Very, very important.” Calvin said and handed him the datapad.

Picard was a little surprised by Calvin's surety and started to read the information. His whole body stiffened and he looked up at Calvin's face.

“It was inside an encrypted engram inside the second android's copied head.” Calvin said. “I've been going over the android's emotional subroutines and suddenly came to the conclusion that it must have been responsible for the Omicron Theta destruction.”

Picard looked back down at the information. “This is a lot more than a conclusion.”

Calvin chuckled. “The Kays cracked it before I even knew that they had found something after my verbal shout of my conclusion.”

Picard nodded and scrolled through the datapad. “Good lord, that thing is massive.”

“It's about twenty times the size of the Enterprise and I can only guess at the mass.” Calvin said. “As far as the android is concerned, it strips all life from any planet or starbase it gets summoned to.”

Picard put the datapad down and rubbed his forehead with a hand. “This is not a good time for this. The negotiator has... taken ill... and the planet's governor is not happy about it.”

“I know, sir. I just wanted to get this to you as soon as possible.” Calvin said. “If I may recommend a discreet search of classified files that only captains have access to, to find out exactly how many other planets and colonies that have mysteriously disappeared. Leaving the Crystalline Entity out there to keep killing worlds and federation citizens is not an option.”

Picard nodded. “I'll issue the order to not assemble and activate that android.”

“I think I would rather erase his neural net instead. That way, if he ever is activated, he won't remember anything at all, let alone arranging the murder of thousands of colonists.” Calvin said. “That we know of, anyway.”

“That is not a pleasant thought, Ensign.” Picard said.

“No, sir. It isn't.” Calvin said. “There are a lot of encrypted engrams to go through and I'm not looking forward to it.”

Picard nodded again. “Dismissed.”

Calvin stood and walked out of the ready room.

Picard waited a moment before looking back at the other datapad he had on his desk. On it was Dr. Polaski's report on the plethora of drugs the negotiator had taken to attempt to reverse his advanced age to give him the advantage in the hostage negotiations. Unfortunately, he overdosed because of this mission and he was both rapidly de-aging and also dying.

Picard rubbed his forehead again and sighed. Some days he regretted getting out of bed.

*

Calvin messaged Data to meet after the command shift and then told him about what he had found out about both the other android's older age and more advanced design.

“I really am a regression?” Data asked.

“Yes. On purpose.” Calvin said and Data gave him a questioning look. “It's obvious, isn't it? The advanced version didn't work right. It became resentful of the humans in the colony and planned their murder from only a short time after its creation. It left the colony on a stolen ship and searched for the most destructive force it could find.”

“The Crystalline Entity.” Data said.

“Yes, and he led it right back to the colony. He wasn't going to miss the satisfaction of seeing the colonists panicking, though. He arrived first and told them all that their deaths were imminent.”

Data closed his eyes. “Why would he do that?”

“I haven't found any one incident that caused him to start hating humans.” Calvin said. “I think it just built up over time and he couldn't take being around them anymore.”

“He could have just left and not come back.” Data said. “That is the logical move.”

“And there's the problem. His emotions overrode his neural processor's decision making engrams and it gave him what he thought was a better option. Revenge.”

“You don't want me to copy his emotional subroutines.” Data said.

“Actually, I want you to. The problem is, you don't have the physical capability to handle them.” Calvin said and Data almost looked surprised. “You see, you've been functioning at a high enough level to simulate your own emotions and have a lot of experience with that. You're like half a step away from being what you've always wanted to be. A human analog.”

“So, he really is an advanced model.” Data said.

“Yes. Kay-One and Kay-Two have started to physically map the differences in both your brain and his. It's going to take a while, even with their superior mapping capabilities.”

Data nodded. “I will help when this mission is completed.”

“You can if you want to, my friend.” Calvin said. “You might not have full emotions yet; but, you are experiencing difficulty with processing all of this.”

“I am.” Data said.

“Then relax. Take some time to come to grips with all of this.” Calvin said and pat Data's shoulder. “We can get back to experimenting when you're ready to and not a minute before.”

“Thank you, Cal.” Data said and left the lab with the datpads of the second android's decoded memories. He had a lot of hard reading to get through.

*

The negotiations ended up being a sham and the planet's governor had kidnapped the Federation ambassador and his staff himself, to lure the negotiator back to the planet to confront him about how he screwed the planet over during the last set of negotiations nearly forty years ago by giving both sides federation weaponry.

When the old man, now a young man, died in the governor's office, the governor released the captives and said he was satisfied that the negotiator had met a sad end, like he should have after plunging the planet into forty years of war.

The planet wasn't a member of the federation, so there was nothing Captain Picard could do except accept the man's word and left the planet with the federation's people to get them to safety.

*

Riker showed up at Calvin's lab during the second shift one day and made a very odd request. “Calvin, I've read all your reports on the android problem and I agree with Captain Picard's decision to not activate the second android.”

“I just heard a big 'but' there.” Calvin said and looked up from the intricate hand he had been working on.

“I need you to make Minuet an android body.” Riker said.

“Is being in the holodeck with her not enough anymore?” Calvin asked, curious.

“It's frustrating. We can create anything we want, go anywhere we can imagine, except out into the real world where I want to have her as a part of my life.”

Calvin sat back in his chair and observed the man. He was a little rough around the edges and he hadn't trimmed his beard in a while. “You've been losing sleep over this.”

“I'm not going to ask how you can tell.” Riker said. “Please, Calvin. I need this. I need her.”

“Captain Picard...”

“If you can do it, I'll get him to agree to it.” Riker said. “I'll also give you anything you want.”

“You already gave me permission to keep my ship inside the main shuttlebay, even though it's a huge disruption to the staff working there.”

“That will only last until we can drop it off back at Betazed.” Riker said.

“Even with that condition, I was a little surprised that Captain Picard would allow it.” Calvin said and went back to working on the hand. “I'll have to think about it.”

“Don't think about it for too long, all right? I don't know if I can tell her no again.”

Calvin chuckled and closed up the skin covering. A small beam of light hit it and then the hand floated inside Kay-One and disappeared.

“This is excellent work, Maker.” Kay-One said a moment later. “All that is left is to add the biometric scanner data.”

“Excellent.” Calvin said and stood. “Commander, follow us.”

Riker wasn't sure why he felt like he needed to do this and followed Calvin and both extruders through the ship to the main shuttlebay. He didn't question why the ramp deployed automatically and he followed them up into the golden-colored ship into their cargo bay. Or what he assumed was a cargo bay.

“Commander? Did you leave the holodeck running?” Calvin asked.

“No. I couldn't make her wait there in real time for me. I need to sleep and...”

“...I get it.” Calvin said and pat the man's shoulder. “I hope you're ready for this.”

“For what?” Riker asked.

Calvin took out his scanner and plugged it into Kay-One after she settled into her alcove.

“Thank you, Maker.” Kay-One said.

“Energize.” Calvin said and the ceiling and floor lit up brightly.

“What's going on?” Riker asked.

“The birth of the first Kryptonian Advanced Android.” Calvin said as a female figure started to form. “It took weeks of hard work to build the thing using ideas from both Data's and the second android's superstructure. The physical maps of their brains was almost as difficult to get as mapping their neural nets.”

Riker caught his breath as a very familiar figure finished forming in front of him. She even wore the same dress from the jazz club.

“Once I had the differences down and where Dr. Soong went wrong with both models, I just had to build my own. Heavily modified, of course.” Calvin said. “She has copies of Kryptonian information crystals integrated into her chest to function as a tiny computer core, a dense molecular support frame that is tougher than Data's, and a similar power source to Kay-One and Two.”

Riker barely heard a word at all as he walked over to Minuet. A real life, fully formed Minuet.

“By the way, I removed the stupid off switch. If anyone knew about it, they could easily steal or modify any androids ever made.” Calvin said.

“If she doesn't have a switch, how do I turn her on?” Riker asked.

Minuet opened her eyes and smiled. “You whisper sweet nothings into my ear, like always.”

Riker caught his breath and then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. Minuet hugged him back and moaned a little as Riker made sure that she was real by grabbing her ass and holding on tightly.

“You do have personal quarters.” Calvin reminded him.

Riker broke the kiss and hit his comm badge. “Computer, emergency transport! Two to beam directly to my personal quarters!”

“Unable to comply. Signal lock not possible while inside a protective barrier.”

Riker almost growled, took Minuet's hand, and ran out of the ship. As soon as he was outside, he gave the same command again and they disappeared.

“I wonder how long he will take to realize that he just transported with something that normally can't be transported?” Calvin asked.

“He won't ever realize it. He is too happy to ask questions.” Kay-One said and Calvin chuckled. “Shall we construct the second one?”

“Please. It's time I helped Data to not be depressed about not having a brother to share his existence with.”

After a few minutes, another android appeared and she looked like a generic female with blonde hair and a similar skin tone to Data's. It was the best compromise between realism and Data associating her existence with his own.

“Please state my designation.” The female android said.

“I was quite tempted to give you a complimentary name to Data's, like Base.” Calvin said and two loud and disapproving beeps came from the two Kays. “What? DataBase has a nice ring to it!”

“Maker, give her the real name.” Kay-One said.

“Fine. Joking aside, I think your name needs to be Karen. Karen Crusher.”

The android almost looked pleased as it assimilated the name choice. “I am Karen Crusher. It is nice to meet you, Maker.”

“My name is Calvin.”

“I know that, Maker.” Karen said. “Please lead me to my future husband. I am dressed appropriately.”

Calvin chuckled. “Yes, you're going to fit right in with everyone here.”

“I hope so.” Karen said with a smile.

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