download?”
“That’s the main problem. I’ve got the computer working on an ‘expert’ scan-for program: looking for loaded contexts and phraseology, certain kinds of mathematical and physics statements. Hwiii has made some suggestions and so has Data. Stuff in the program, squirt it into the core, get a fast reading of how many files have multiple matches of text—then do a hands-on assessment.”
“That’s where you’re going to lose most of your time. How long are you planning to spend at this? How long are you going to be able to keep your counterpart on ice?”
“How long do we dare?” Geordi said, pausing to watch a black admiral butterfly soar by, leisurely and unconcerned. “But I have to get as much as I can—winnow it out, then squirt it out, probably. And as soon as I do that, the game’s up. I’ll have to get away however I can, meet the rest of the team.”
“You don’t think you’re going to make it,” Hessan said softly.
Geordi stopped, kicking gently at the pinecone again, scuffing it away and not going after it. “It’s bizarre. I’d be less scared to go aboard a Borg ship than I feel about going aboard this one. Because it’s familiar. Because it should be us—and it’s
not
Whatever we are over there—we’re not what we ought to be, or so it seems.”
Hessan sighed and strolled over to the pinecone. “How many chips, do you think?”
“Two hundred fifty-six terabytes per chip.” He raised his eyebrows. “Ten or fifteen.”
“You could piggyback them. A little surgery: they can take parallel architecture. Tell the replicator to sandwich on another layer of storage solid, with an intervening layer of nutef, or some other insulator. That would bring the chips up to five hundred twelve ters each, and you could still take fifteen if you felt the need. But you’re going to want to transmit everything, you said.”
Geordi nodded. “I’m bringing a small sealed-squirt transponder. I can hook it into the subspace generators in the core and lock onto a securable frequency—then narrow the squirt down so it’ll pierce even erected shields, encrypt it, and blast the whole business back home in a matter of a few seconds.”
Hessan nodded. “Better let someone else do the encryption key.”
Geordi looked at her in surprise. “Why?”
She shrugged. “If the you over there is
really
like you, he might be able to figure it out, if
you
devised it. Whereas if I do it…”
Geordi smiled at her. “Now I understand why Commander Riker’s been following you around.”
She blushed, and he saw the bloom of infrared quite clearly and refused to comment.
“Oh, yeah?” she said quite coolly.
“Yeah. Because you like to
manage
… but you make it look nurturing.” He grinned, and slowly, she did, too.
“What do you mean ‘look’ nurturing? I nurture just fine.”
“Yeah,” Geordi said innocently. “I heard you with the warp engines last week. ‘Is Mummy’s naughty little antimatter generator having a tummyache in its matter inlet conditioner? Now, now, have a nice stream of deuterium and everything will be—’”
Eileen clouted Geordi upside the head, not hard enough to unseat his visor, but hard enough to make him see stars that weren’t the usual ones. “When I was finished,” Eileen inquired sweetly, “did it work?”
“Absolutely it worked, would it have dared not to?” Geordi said, enthusiastic, and half-choked with laughter.
“Well, then,” Eileen said, and leaned against the nearest pine tree with her arms folded and a satisfied expression on her face. “I’ll do you a crypt key and store it in the computer for you. Don’t peek at it.”
Geordi nodded. “Can you do that tonight?”
“Only after you come down to Ten-Forward with me and have a cup of coffee or something before you go back to work. I refuse to leave you out here getting lost in the woods and worrying yourself.”
From off in the depths of the forest came a long, low howl,
“That’s the main problem. I’ve got the computer working on an ‘expert’ scan-for program: looking for loaded contexts and phraseology, certain kinds of mathematical and physics statements. Hwiii has made some suggestions and so has Data. Stuff in the program, squirt it into the core, get a fast reading of how many files have multiple matches of text—then do a hands-on assessment.”
“That’s where you’re going to lose most of your time. How long are you planning to spend at this? How long are you going to be able to keep your counterpart on ice?”
“How long do we dare?” Geordi said, pausing to watch a black admiral butterfly soar by, leisurely and unconcerned. “But I have to get as much as I can—winnow it out, then squirt it out, probably. And as soon as I do that, the game’s up. I’ll have to get away however I can, meet the rest of the team.”
“You don’t think you’re going to make it,” Hessan said softly.
Geordi stopped, kicking gently at the pinecone again, scuffing it away and not going after it. “It’s bizarre. I’d be less scared to go aboard a Borg ship than I feel about going aboard this one. Because it’s familiar. Because it should be us—and it’s
not
Whatever we are over there—we’re not what we ought to be, or so it seems.”
Hessan sighed and strolled over to the pinecone. “How many chips, do you think?”
“Two hundred fifty-six terabytes per chip.” He raised his eyebrows. “Ten or fifteen.”
“You could piggyback them. A little surgery: they can take parallel architecture. Tell the replicator to sandwich on another layer of storage solid, with an intervening layer of nutef, or some other insulator. That would bring the chips up to five hundred twelve ters each, and you could still take fifteen if you felt the need. But you’re going to want to transmit everything, you said.”
Geordi nodded. “I’m bringing a small sealed-squirt transponder. I can hook it into the subspace generators in the core and lock onto a securable frequency—then narrow the squirt down so it’ll pierce even erected shields, encrypt it, and blast the whole business back home in a matter of a few seconds.”
Hessan nodded. “Better let someone else do the encryption key.”
Geordi looked at her in surprise. “Why?”
She shrugged. “If the you over there is
really
like you, he might be able to figure it out, if
you
devised it. Whereas if I do it…”
Geordi smiled at her. “Now I understand why Commander Riker’s been following you around.”
She blushed, and he saw the bloom of infrared quite clearly and refused to comment.
“Oh, yeah?” she said quite coolly.
“Yeah. Because you like to
manage
… but you make it look nurturing.” He grinned, and slowly, she did, too.
“What do you mean ‘look’ nurturing? I nurture just fine.”
“Yeah,” Geordi said innocently. “I heard you with the warp engines last week. ‘Is Mummy’s naughty little antimatter generator having a tummyache in its matter inlet conditioner? Now, now, have a nice stream of deuterium and everything will be—’”
Eileen clouted Geordi upside the head, not hard enough to unseat his visor, but hard enough to make him see stars that weren’t the usual ones. “When I was finished,” Eileen inquired sweetly, “did it work?”
“Absolutely it worked, would it have dared not to?” Geordi said, enthusiastic, and half-choked with laughter.
“Well, then,” Eileen said, and leaned against the nearest pine tree with her arms folded and a satisfied expression on her face. “I’ll do you a crypt key and store it in the computer for you. Don’t peek at it.”
Geordi nodded. “Can you do that tonight?”
“Only after you come down to Ten-Forward with me and have a cup of coffee or something before you go back to work. I refuse to leave you out here getting lost in the woods and worrying yourself.”
From off in the depths of the forest came a long, low howl,
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