Old Friends, New Upgrades

Aki had missed Stefen at breakfast. They had arranged to meet in the officers’ mess at 08:00 hours before heading to their meeting with Commander Barker. Instead she had eaten alone and wondered where her Intel officer could have got to.

After breakfast, she headed to the guest quarters Stefen had been assigned, to check if he was there. What she found was a room which appeared not to have been slept in. Her next port of call had been the Security office, where she had finally learnt of the attack on the holdeck and the whereabouts of her missing officer.

Now she stood at the door to the Infirmary and stepped inside. Looking around, the place was smaller than she had expected, it wasn’t much bigger than Sickbay on the Leviathan.

“Captain Taybar.” A voice announced, I believe you’ve come to see our patient.

The man was dressed in a medical\science uniform and was obviously the doctor, although he had no rank insignia.

“How is he Doctor ?” Aki enquired.

“He took quite a beating.” The Doctor replied. “He’s got three fractured ribs, a hairline fracture to the skull and has broken both his ankles. He also suffered a concussion and lost several pints of blood, which given his unusual physiology we can’t easily replace. We’ve managed to accelerate his blood cell production, but it will be at least a week before he’ll have a ‘full’ tank. At the moment his body’s in a self-imposed coma, healing itself.”

“How long will be in here ?” Aki asked.

“We’ve treated and repaired the injuries.” The Doctor stated. “As soon as he comes out of the coma, he’ll be able to leave. But he may need at least a couple of days rest before he’ll be fit for duty.”

The two officers arrived at the bedside of Stefen and Aki looked down at the sleeping body on the bed. He looked pale and helpless lying on the bed.

“How long will he be out ?” Aki enquired.

“Hard to say.” The Doctor replied. “But his blood levels are increasing and he’s healing very well. At a guess, I’d say he’ll be out of the coma in a few hours.”

“I’ll check back on him later.” Aki stated. “I have an appointment to keep.”

Aki left the Infirmary and headed for the holo-research facility. Arriving at the outer office, she was greeted by Commander Barker and a young woman.

“Where is Lieutenant Moss ?” Commander Barker enquired. “I thought he was coming with you.”

“He was, but he was attacked late last night.” Aki replied. “I don’t know the full details and I doubt we’ll get them until Stefen wakes up. He took a beating and is in the Infirmary, but they think he’ll pull through.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Chu stated. “Then I guess we should get on.”

Chu led Aki into the inner lab and she looked around. In the corner was a balding, grey-haired old man, with his back to them.

“Doctor Zimmermann, I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet.” Chu announced. “Captain Aki Taybar, this is Doctor Zimmermann.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Doctor.” Aki stated, holding out her hand.

“And you young lady, my former colleague speaks very highly of you too.” The Doctor replied. “I guess you’re here to see Ensign ASHER.”

“ASHER’s here !” Aki remarked.

“In a way.” Chu replied. “Computer, activate holo-programme ASHER-Beta one.”

From out of thin air, Ensign ASHER appeared in the room, just as Aki remembered him. ASHER had been the most advanced hologram Aki had ever encountered, part Federation hologram, part Protector Technology the two had been merged to create ASHER. ASHER had served onboard the USS Leviathan-A until he was re-programmed by another ASHER from an alternate dimension. To prevent himself becoming a danger to the ship, ASHER had ‘locked’ himself away in his mobile-emitter, leaving just a trace of his former self in the Leviathan’s computer banks.

“So you finally managed to retrieve ASHER from the holoemitter.” Aki stated.

“Not yet.” Chu replied. “But we’re getting there. This is actually ASHER Mark II, you might say. I very quickly realised that I would never be able to extract the ASHER trapped in the mobile-emitter as a whole, the re-programming was just too complex. So I created a duplicate holo-matrix and recovered the data from the Leviathan’s databanks. Since then, I’ve managed to download most of ASHER’s memory files into the new matrix, but there are still gaps.”

“How long until you’ll complete the process ?” Aki enquired.

“Hard to say, that’s why I came back to see Doctor Zimmermann.” Chu stated. “I needed his help in finding a way of bypassing the re-programming without damaging any intact original Protector coding and I think we’ve found it. It’s going to take some time, but I think we can get Ensign ASHER back.”

“I thought the young lady had come to see your latest development, not talk about old friends.” Doctor Zimmermann interrupted. “I know you’re very fond of Ensign ASHER and you’ve spent the last year trying to get him back online, but we must focus on the request she made.”

"Sorry Doctor.” Chu apologised. “This is what you’ve come to see.”

Chu walked over to a messy bench in the far corner and came back with what appeared to be comm. badge.

“This is the next generation mobile emitter.” Chu announced.

The device wasn’t much larger than a standard comm. badge, but as Aki studied it closer, she realised that it was made of a very different material.

“It was hard to create a working emitter, our only two references were the original holo-emitter used by Voyager’s EMH and the two prototypes we created for ASHER. But ASHER provided a lot of help in creating those and that information is trapped with him. So we started from the basics up, re-creating as much as we could from memory.” Chu stated.

“What’s the casing made of ?” Aki asked.

“It’s a new form of ablative material, which Starfleet R & D hopes they can eventually turn into a cloth for use in uniforms. It’s not a tough as the alloy Voyager’s EMH emitter was created from, but it’s far tougher than a standard comm. badge.” Chu stated. “Most of the internal workings are taken from the prototype we created for ASHER, but we’ve managed to make some improvements. Just like ASHER’s mobile emitter, it’s got a sub-space interlink to allow the hologram to integrate with any computer system within range and a sub-space transceiver. We’ve managed to increase the power of the internal processor units and the sensor range as well. It’s on a par with ASHER’s emitter in many ways and I think it’s just what you want.”

“Has it been tested ?” Aki asked.

“No fully.” Chu admitted. “We’ve had problems integrating a holographic matrix into the emitter’s circuits. We think we’ve solved the problems, but we won’t know until we’ve tried the solution out.”

“Why haven’t you tested your solution out yet ?” Aki enquired.

“The solution involves creating a very complex link between the matrix and the emitter’s circuitry. ASHER’s matrix was far more advanced and he could perform the complex balancing act, but a standard holo-matrix would be overloaded. What our solution entails is creating a customised buffer programme which manages the link between matrix and emitter. However once this is created and activated, the three elements are entwined for good.” Chu explained.

“So what you’re saying is that once the matrix is loaded into the emitter, it can’t be removed.” Aki said, trying to make sense of all the technical information Chu had given her.

“Not quite.” Chu corrected his friend. “The matrix could be removed and loaded into the emitter at will, but you wouldn’t be able to download another matrix into the emitter, the buffer programming wouldn’t integrate correctly.”

“Which is why you’ve not tested it yet ?” Aki stated, finally realising the problem. “As you only have the one emitter, you need to download the right matrix or lose it for good.”

“Once we download the holo-matrix of T’Val into the emitter, that’s the only matrix the emitter will accept…...” Chu said. “….which is why I’m coming back to SB 901 with you. You’ll need me to make any final adjustments to the emitter before we activate the matrix.”

“And you’re sure this will work ?” Aki enquired.

“With a little luck….” Chu stated. “…yes.”

Infirmary

Aki walked into the Infirmary onboard Jupiter station for the second time that day. Heading straight for the bed of Stefen Moss, she was surprised to find the Half-Human, Half Vulcan sat up in bed, reading a data Padd.

“Captain.” Stefen said as he noticed Aki walking towards her.

“How are you feeling ?” Aki enquired.

“Like I’ve done ten rounds with a nursing Targ.” Stefen joked, the pain from his healing ribs the only thing stopping him laughing out.

“What exactly happened ?” Aki asked.

“I ran into an old friend from way back and we had a little bit of a talk.” Stefen relied. “A friend of K’Lang’s to be precise, brought back from the dead to seek vengeance for leaving him behind.”

“Would you like to talk about it ?” Aki enquired.

“I’m afraid I can’t Captain.” Stefen replied. “Starfleet Intel rules and all. All I can say is that I thought he was dead, but somehow with K’Lang’s help he must have survived.”

“I’ve spoken with Commander Hartmann an hour ago.” Aki stated. “It looks like our new first officer is quite the slave-driver. From his report, the Leviathan is almost ready to leave spacedock twelve hours ahead of schedule. I’ve ordered him to come pick us up early tomorrow, from what the Doctor’s have told me you should be fit enough to leave here by then.

“Stefen was suddenly very quiet as something in the back of his mind came to the front. The attack and his subsequent coma had prevented him from thinking about it, but talk of the Leviathan had brought it back.

“Captain, did the Commander say anything about T’Val or Jessica ?” He asked.

The smile on Aki’s face dropped at the question, she had hoped that she could have left the details about the attack on Stefen’s wife and her bodyguard until the morning. Stefen obviously picked up on the change in mood and Aki quickly regained her composure.

“Jessica is fine, safely onboard the Leviathan thanks to our new Command Marine.” Aki reassured Stefen. “For some reason, Jessica was persuaded to leave the relative safety of the ship and transport down to Earth to see her parents.”

“Why would she do something so stupid as to leave the ship ?” Stefen said more to himself than to the Captain. “And who persuaded her to go down to the surface ?.”

“That I don’t know.” Aki admitted. “But someone was waiting for them in the compound on Earth and it was very well planned. It was only due to the fact that Major Typho had come onboard the Leviathan and acted so quickly that all three weren’t captured or killed.”

“At least they’re safe I suppose.” Stefen admitted. “How did your meeting with the Commander go, I’m sorry I missed it.”

“I think you’ll be surprised at what he has offered us.” Aki smiled. “And I think when you see tomorrow what Chu has provided us with, many of your fears for Jessica’s safety will be averted. For now get some rest and that’s an order.”

Aki took the Padd from Stefen and glanced at it. She had originally intended to shut it down and put it out of Stefen’s reach, but something on the Padd caught her attention.

“So this is K’Lang.” Aki stated, reading in more detail the Starfleet records. “Klingon’s are so tricky to read aren’t they, one minute they’re your best friend, the next your sworn enemy.“

“I will stop K’Lang.” Stefen stated strongly.

“But not today.” The nurse stated as she came into the room. “Captain Taybar is right, you should get some rest.”

“And correction Mister Moss, WE’LL stop K’Lang.” Aki confirmed. “Up until now I hadn’t realised just how determined this K’Lang was to get to you and your family, but he’s put too many members of my crew in danger. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that Aki walked out of the Infirmary and back to her guest quarters, still holding the data Padd in her hand. She read through it again and again, before heading for dinner with Chu and Doctor Zimmermann. Tomorrow, she would have her ship back and be heading for the Briar patch and Starbase 901.