Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #6: Mystery of the Missing Crew by Michael Jan Friedman Page B

they had never been gone in the first place.
    Captain Rumiel was standing in front of his chair. He looked around. “We’re back,” he whispered. “We’re on the Yosemite .”
    “That is correct,” said Data, though he knew he was stating the obvious. “The T’chakat let you go, once they realized they had nothing to fear from us.”
    The captain’s eyes narrowed. “The … T’chakat? Those are the people who put us in that huge cell?”
    “I am not familiar with the place of which you speak,” the android responded. “However, they are indeed the ones who imprisoned you.”
    Rumiel tilted his head to one side. “And how do you know that?”
    “We spoke with them,” Data responded. “And they are quite reasonable, once you get to know them.”
    The captain seemed to be at a loss. “What are you saying? That you were responsible for their releasing us?” He took in Data and the Yann with a disbelieving glance. “Come on. Don’t tell me a handful of cadets did that.”
    “I will comply with your wishes,” the android told him. “However, it will leave a significant gap in your understanding of the situation.”
    The captain’s eyes narrowed even more. “Then you are responsible.” Slowly a smile crept over his face. “You’ll have to tell me more about this, Mr. Data—later. First, I’ve got an alien ship to deal with.”
    “You mean the Opsarra?” asked Data.
    Captain Rumiel was swinging into his seat, turning his gaze on the viewscreen. “The Opsarra?” he replied offhandedly. “Who are they ?”
    “The Opsarra,” the android replied smoothly, “are the beings you are attempting to contact … whom we have already contacted. You will find that their experience at the hands of the field creators was much the same as ours, and that they will be only too happy to leave this sector—once they effect the same repairs we will need to effect.”
    The captain’s eyebrows converged over the bridge of his nose. “Repairs,” he muttered, remembering. “That’s right … we took quite a hit, didn’t we?”
    Turning to his Ops officer, he asked: “What’s our status, Ensign Turner?”
    The woman frowned. “Most of our systems are down, sir—including the warpdrive—though we seem to have plenty of power for the time being.” She paused. “Fortunately, life support. is one of the systems still functioning—though it seems it was shut off on all decks except this one until just a few minutes ago.”
    Inwardly, Data thanked the T’chakat. Not only had they charged up the Yosemite ’s batteries as they promised—they had also reactivated the life support systems. Had they failed to do that, crewmen would be at risk all over the ship at that very moment.
    “And the Opsarra?” continued Captain Rumiel.
    “They’re as badly off as we are,” replied Ensign Turner.
    The captain snorted and turned to his first officer. “Commander Leyritz, you`ve got the conn. Before we go one step further, I think I ought to speak at length with our young friends here.”
    Rising from his seat, Rumiel headed for the bridge’s single set of turbolift doors. “Cadets,” he called back over his shoulder. “Briefing room. Now .”
    Obediently, the android fell in behind the Yosemite ’s commanding officer. Despite the name of the room that was their destination, he was sure that their meeting would be anything but brief.
    After all, Data hadn’t even mentioned the robots yet.

CHAPTER
10
    As Data turned a corner and headed for the ship’s lounge, he observed that life on the Yosemite had returned to normal. There was no evidence of the Opsarra’s robots or the gravity traps that had held them in place, and the bulkhead panels that had been scarred by the robots’ fire had been replaced with new ones.
    One other thing had not changed. As before, the crewpeople he met in the corridor began to whisper as soon as they had passed him.
    But this time their remarks weren’t about his lack of blood, or