Captain's Log, Stardate 87210.7: The Enterprise has entered orbit around a mysterious and distant planet. Two small federation vessels have disappeared in this area and Starfleet has asked us to investigate. The people who live on the planet below are not members of the Federation and may not be willing to assist us. They are a quiet people and have previously resisted all Federation contact, their only response being a desire to be left alone.
"Orbit established, Captain," Data announced. The planet below was a swirling mix of green and blue, a planet rich in plant life with abundant bodies of water.
"Open hailing frequencies," Captain Picard instructed. Before the command could be carried out, a bright flash of light blinded the bridge crew through the view screen. Picard, out of his command chair to greet the natives of the planet below when visual communication had been established, stumbled momentarily but recovered quickly. A few seconds later, another explosion rocked the ship, this time unaccompanied by any flashes of light.
"What's happening, Data..."
The bridge crew scrambled to their stations.
"Unknown, sir. Ship sensors are not responding."
"Red Alert," Picard announced. He stabbed the button on the arm of his command chair. "All hands to battle stations."
Picard's orders were not carried out and the alert system remained silent. Data's attempts to regain control of the console in front of him failed. Wesley Crusher, sitting next to Data, was also mystified.
"I think our computer system crashed," Wesley said. "But that's not supposed to happen..."
No further explosions took place. The ship stood eerily silent, still in orbit around the planet. Every member of the bridge crew reported the same thing: They no longer had computer control. Major catastrophic failures in the computer network on starships were unheard of. There were redundant systems everywhere, and computer glitches were always corrected quickly. It became quite obvious to the crew of the Enterprise that they were facing a crisis caused by an act of terrorism, specifically designed to thwart these many redundant systems.
Suddenly, the computer consoles lit up and roared back to life. For a brief moment, the crew thought that they were back in control of the ship. The displays were providing all of the necessary readouts, but the controls were still completely inoperative.
The communicator insignia on Picard's uniform activated.
"La Forge to Picard..."
"Picard here."
"We have a complete computer system failure, Captain. I manually plugged in a backup drive and the ship is currently operating on the programming we have archived for the previous hour. The computer will be using this information to begin rewriting itself and we should be okay. But -- for the next hour, we have to leave the computer system alone."
"Understood, Mr. La Forge."
Picard sat down. He made a general announcement to his crew to avoid all interactions with the ship's computer systems for the next hour. This would inconvenience many people aboard the ship, but it would not be critical. Picard considered checking up on Beverly Crusher in the medical wing of the ship. Perhaps she would need assistance with patient care while the computers were down.
"Captain," Data said abruptly.
"Yes, Data, what is it?" Picard responded impatiently.
"The first explosion appears to have been a focused tachyon burst of a type that we have not seen before. This burst created the computer memory damage we are now experiencing. The second explosion was designed to push us out of our proper orbit. I don't have the sensor data to calculate exactly, but I estimate that in forty minutes our orbit will decay and the Enterprise will begin overheating in the atmosphere below. In ninety minutes, the Enterprise will be destroyed."
"Ninety minutes. That should be enough time. When the computer system is finished rewriting itself, we'll leave the area and repair any physical damage."
"Uh -- there is a problem, sir," Wesley said quietly. Wesley was usually unwilling to speak up as a part of the bridge crew, mostly out of respect for the experienced members on board. Occasionally, his knowledge demanded that he assert himself.
"I studied holodeck software at the academy. I remember that the holodeck records these kinds of catastrophic failures and writes them into the software for study later. It's very useful for..."
"And what does this mean for us now, Mr. Crusher," Picard answered, sensing young Crusher's excitement but wanting him to get to the point.
"One hour from now, when the ship has finished rewriting its own programming, the holodeck will again cause another catastrophic failure. I think..."
"Then, we'll have to reboot again, but we will be out of time. The Enterprise will burn up."
"Yes. I think so."
"Who is in the holodeck right now?" Picard ordered.
"Commander Riker, Sir."
Picard considered for a moment. He needed more information. He needed his best minds working on this immediately. Picard called for a meeting.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Riker had been enjoying his time in the holodeck thoroughly. This particular holodeck program created four of the most sensuous women he had ever seen. Riker justified his passionate love-making session with the four women as pure exercise designed to keep him in top physical shape. He kept his use of this program a secret. He dreaded having the conversation with his Captain where he had to explain this sort of behavior.
Riker usually spent three hours "exercising" in the holodeck . The women were knockouts, and they were tireless. They were not human, of course, but holodeck constructs that looked and behaved realistically. They smiled, flirted, kissed, made love and climaxed as other women might. Well, no, Riker supposed, that's not quite right. The programming was tweaked somewhat to make sure the women were a little more enthusiastic and energetic to meet his unique physical demands.
Riker tried to end the program when he recognized that something was wrong with the holodeck software, and perhaps the entire ship as well. All four of the holodeck women had disappeared abruptly, leaving him nude in the center of the holodeck floor. His attempts to interact with the program were met with silence. A minute later, the women reappeared, along with the oversized waterbed, star ball and stereo system that had been programmed as the scene for his extended sexual calisthenics. "Afternoon Delight" played loudly in the background while the women prepared for Riker's return to bed, betraying his passion for twentieth-century pop music.
Riker recognized immediately that something else was wrong. The women were partially clothed again and repeating dialogue from much earlier in the scenario. The women were acting as if the scenario was just beginning. Riker had already climaxed several times, and felt capable of several more (he was, after all, a well-trained Starfleet officer). The sexual challenge took a back seat to his concern for the vessel, and he wondered what had occurred onboard the Enterprise for the holodeck to reboot as it had.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
