Chapter 20: In a place unknown . . . really Alaska?

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. . . March 1st . . . 2011. . .

. . . Alaska forest. . .2:49 PM

When Riker opened his eyes he could see flames from what seemed to be a unreliable source. He felt a sharp un-dignifying pain in his left leg. He closed his eyes wondering how he got such a injury. Riker remembered going down to a planet with Data. He also recalled a few days ago being informed of a 'Q-trial' and to be  prepared for it whenever it happened.  The last he recalled was taking a snooze while Data piloted the shuttle.

Riker heard a voice struggling to speak.

"D. . .Dat. . . Data. . ."

His eye were open again to see where it was coming from.

"Data. . .Data . . ."

Then Riker realized it belonged to him.

"Data!" Riker shouted.

He could see the body of a man mere feet away from lacking a left arm. His left arm was two feet from Riker. The commander could see the remains of the shuttle all over the place. He could feel pain coming from the side of his head. He continued to shout. Almost like shouting would wake the android up from whatever mode he was on. Data faced the ground with his uniform burned at the back and shoulders.

"DATA!" Riker shouted.

He saw Data's right arm move then his knees and his head.

"Yes Commander?" Data asked.

"Data, your face!"  Riker said.

Data tilted his head.

"What is wrong with it?" Data asked.

"Data. .  . Is it just me or did you get a new android body with blue eyes?"  Riker said

 Data raised his new eyebrows.

"Rest assured, I am still in the same body I was activated  in," Data said. "Perhaps it is my optical color that is fooling you." Data's blue eyes changed to their usual bright yellow color "Does this seem more relaxing?"

"Data, your skin . . ."

"Yes?"

"It's . . . Caucasian."

Data tilted his head, acting confused.

"Commander? It has always been that way."

For a few minutes there Riker had forgot all about his pain and his attention went to the android who had Caucasian skin, synthetic blue blood, and a undeniably human like blinking pattern.  Data went over then plugged his left arm into the socket.  Data appeared to be puzzled by the remains of the shuttle all around them.

"I am confused," Data said. "By the degree of burns. . . and  injuries we have and the crash site; you should be dead and I should be the survivor. . . This is intriguing."

"Data, what did we hit?" Riker asked.

"Commander, I believe we hit a missile or another shuttle," Data said. "But  I seem to see no  remains."

Riker tried to lean forward but a sharp pain in his back prevented him from doing so.

"Ow!" Riker yelped, falling back.

"I believe your back has been injured and that we are in Alaska's great forest due to the mountains in the distance."

It was then that  Data made some quick estimations.

"I believe we collided with another version of our shuttle due to . . . a strange rhythm in time," Data explained. "You were wide awake when we crashed."

"I was asleep." Riker said.

"Then that means I am not your Data and you are not my Riker," Data said. ".  . . Which may mean my Riker is dead or dying.  Your Data is more than likely to be alive than not as he an android as I, for example you may call me Soong." So  this is going to get a murky, let's start calling this version of Data just 'Soong'. "I will find a piece of scrap metal to tie you on for you to heal on."

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. . . March 1st . . . 2011. . .

. . . Alaska forest. . .3:28 PM . .

Data  found himself dangling halfway out of a tree upside down. Data calculated his inertia,how to wedge his wedge his ankle out from in-between the two tree branches, and how to safely land without breaking apart the tree. Data  recalled checking the side view mirror while piloting the shuttle down when he saw a second shuttle trailing after him. It was then that he decided to stop and hail them.

Only for a high speed Shuttle crash to commence.

The driver must have been  paralyzed in shock.

Or they were calculating the chances of coming across a exact shuttle like this and were redoing it just to be sure.

Data twisted his ankle, stood on a tree branch, then leaped down the tree.

Data landed with a thud to the ground on his two feet.

"Data . . ." Came what sounded to be Riker.

"Commander?" Data went in the direction he had heard Riker's voice.

Don't doubt Data's ears. He has rather state of the art audios. Data came to stop seeing  a badly burned Riker pressed against a  log with  large thorn sticking halfway out of his chest. Data could feel despair and disgust. Data came over to the badly burned Commander (Or he thought at the time that was his Commander Riker) to where he saw the man's eyes widen.

"Data. . ." Riker said. "Your . . . Your skin. . ."

"My skin is golden, and other colors according to when lights hits it."  Data said.

"You. . . are not Data." Riker said.

"Why yes, I am Data." Data said.

Riker closed his eyes, briefly.

"Deanna. . ." Riker said. "Tell Data this. . . My Data. . . If you come across him."

"But I am Data." Data said.

"Not the one I know." Riker said, and then he spoken in a different language as how it sounded to Data.

"I do not understand that." Data said.

". . . My . . . Data. . . will. . ."  Riker said.

Riker stopped moving.

Data closed Riker's eyes.

Possibility: This is a different Riker. Main Riker is still alive. Need evidence to confirm.


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