Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #5: Atlantis Station Read online

  Geordi La Forge and his fellow cadets are headed to Atlantis Station, the underwater research base located near a volcano in the Atlantic Ocean. Up until now Geordi has spent most of his life in space with his Starfleet officer parents and he is more than ready to explore this strange, new world deep underwater.

  The first stop for the cadets is the above-ground complex on Isla del Fuego, where the students barely escape a small volcanic eruption. They finally arrive at the underwater station shaken and fighting among themselves, but determined to carry out their assignments.

  Then suddenly an earthquake rocks the station and the cadets are trapped in their lab with tempers running high. Now, as debris blocks their path back to the aquashuttle, Geordi and the others, together, must race against time and the dangers of the freezing seawater to escape the station before it disappears into an underwater abyss!

  Cover art by Catherine Huerta

  Interior illustrations by Todd Cameron Hamilton

  Geordi gripped the sides of his seat, holding on while the aquashuttle slammed into the sea floor again.

  “When we stop moving, I’m going outside,” Geordi said. “The grapples won’t let go.”

  “That is dangerous undertaking,” Yoshi replied. “I, too, will go. Perhaps with more muscle, job will he done quicker.”

  “Thanks, Yoshi.” Geordi was surprised at how much better Yoshi’s offer made him feel. Too many things could go wrong once he left the safety of the shuttle.

  Geordi looked out the window. More chunks of debris sailed past them, but the shuttle appeared to be moving slower. He glanced down at the speed gauge, which confirmed his guess. “We’re slowing down. Let’s suit up so we’ll be ready when we stop.”

  He unrolled his suit, admiring the lightweight, waterproof fabric. He smiled, thinking he would almost enjoy going outside wearing this suit. He glanced out the window and froze.

  Two rock towers, fifty or sixty feet high and as many feet apart, loomed out of the darkness. The shuttle and the station were headed right for them.

  “Brace yourselves!” he yelled. “We’re going to crash!”

  Star Trek: The Next Generation

  STARFLEET ACADEMY

  #1 Worf’s First Adventure

  #2 Line of Fire

  #3 Survival

  #4 Capture the Flag

  #5 Atlantis Station

  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

  #1 The Star Ghost

  #2 Stowaways

  Available from MINSTREL Books

  The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A MINSTREL PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  A Minstrel Book published by

  POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 1994 by Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.

  STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of Paramount Pictures.

  This book is published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc., under exclusive license from Paramount Pictures.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  ISBN: 0-671-88449-2

  First Minstrel Books printing August 1994

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

  A MINSTREL BOOK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.

  Cover art by Catherine Huerta

  Printed in the U.S.A.

  To

  all the Next Generation fans

  who know that

  Geordi is really the hero

  STARFLEET TIMELINE

  2264

  The launch of Captain James T. Kirk’s Five-year mission, U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701.

  2292

  Alliance between the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire collapses.

  2293

  Colonel Worf, grandfather of Worf Rozhenko, defends Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy at their trial for the murder of Klingon chancellor Gorkon. Khitomer Peace Conference, Klingon Empire/Federation (Star Trek VI).

  2323

  Jean-Luc Picard enters Starfleet Academy’s standard four-year program.

  2328

  The Cardassian Empire annexes the Bajoran homeworld.

  2341

  Data enters Starfleet Academy.

  2342

  Beverly Crusher (née Howard) enters Starfleet Academy Medical School, an eight-year program.

  2346

  Romulan massacre of Klingon outpost on Khitomer.

  2351

  In orbit around Bajor, the Cardassians construct a space station that they will later abandon.

  2353

  William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge enter Starfleet Academy.

  2354

  Deanna Troi enters Starfleet Academy.

  2356

  Tasha Yar enters Starfleet Academy.

  2357

  Worf Rozhenko enters Starfleet Academy.

  2363

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumes command of U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-D.

  2367

  Wesley Crusher enters Starfleet Academy.

  An uneasy truce is signed between the Cardassians and the Federation.

  Borg attack at Wolf 359; First Officer Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko and his son, Jake, are among the survivors.

  U.S.S. Enterprise-D defeats the Borg vessel in orbit around Earth.

  2369

  Commander Benjamin Sisko assumes command of Deep Space Nine in orbit over Bajor.

  Source: Star Trek® Chronology / Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda

  CHAPTER

  1

  Geordi La Forge hurried along the corridor toward Starfleet Academy’s shuttle pad. He wasn’t quite running, because running would get him a lecture from any passing instructor or upperclassman, and then he would be really late—but he wasn’t exactly walking, either. If only his Warp Dynamics class hadn’t run overtime—again—he wouldn’t be ten minutes late. It would be just like Lieutenant Muldov—the teacher who organized this field trip—to order the shuttle out on schedule.

  Geordi groaned and increased his speed. He had to be on that shuttle. By the time he’d gotten around to signing up for the class field trip, there had been only three spaces left. Today was the one time when he didn’t have a test in another class.

  He should have signed up earlier, Geordi knew. Doing well in Lieutenant Muldov’s Introduction to Planetary Exploration was mandatory for any cadet who wanted to get ahead in Starfleet. In fact, Geordi had heard it whispered, doing well in Exploration was more important than the legendary Kobayashi Maru test. After all, Starfleet had plenty of jobs for people who failed their command-officer testing, but there wasn’t much one could do if one didn’t know how to investigate strange environments.

  It was just that Lieutenant Muldov’s class wasn’t his favorite. Perhaps because he saw things so much differently than everyone else, the class seemed almost irrelevant. Geordi couldn’t re
member when he hadn’t felt like he was exploring an exotic world. Warp dynamics, on the other hand, was so alien, so much a world of the mind, that most of his classmates were more disadvantaged than Geordi. After the struggle to imagine the world around him before he got his VISOR, visualizing how a ship’s warp drive affected the universe was a fascinating game.

  The door leading to the landing pad whisked open. Geordi scanned the area with his VISOR. The VISOR, a Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement device, compensated for his blindness. The sensory imputs spotted the telltale heat sources that told him where his classmates were. He threaded his way through the shuttles until he reached the one assigned to his group. It was an aquashuttle, more compact and streamlined than the standard atmospheric craft.

  “It is about time you got here.” The open hostility in the soft, lisping voice made Geordi cringe. Ven of Almadixarian was an Andorian. He had blue skin and shoulder-length white hair. Small, curved antennae on the top of his head gave him extremely sensitive hearing. Like all his people, he was hot-tempered and quick in his judgments. Geordi didn’t know how, but he had offended Ven on the first day of class. Their relationship had gotten worse as the semester progressed.

  “He is twelve point three minutes late.” T’Varien, the dark-haired Vulcan girl, deliberately ignored Geordi. Her upswept eyebrows lowered as she turned toward the shuttle’s controls. “I shall note the reason for our deviation from the filed flight plan in the ship’s log.”

  “l’m sorry I’m late.” Geordi threw himself into the unoccupied seat, panting for breath. “Jes’NDau kept class late again.”

  “Honorable Jes’NDau never keeps our class over. It is most shameful to hide one’s mistakes behind story of teacher’s offenses.” Yoshi Nakamura looked over his shoulder at Geordi, his expression as bland as T’Varien’s. Yoshi was from a colony world settled by traditionalist Japanese, Geordi remembered. He seemed determined to make his classmates behave like sixteenth-century samurai. Worse still, he wouldn’t believe anything that differed from his own experience.

  Gritting his teeth to keep from arguing, Geordi buckled his safety harness. How had he gotten stuck on the same field trip as the three most obnoxious cadets in the class? He checked to see who else was in the shuttle.

  Amray and Amril Stenarios sat in the rear seats. Both girls had dark eyes and dark, curly hair tied back in ponytails. Their identical, olive-skinned faces wore identical expressions of long-suffering patience. They were clones, two of six genetically identical girls. They usually stuck together and rarely had much to say; Geordi didn't think they could read each other’s minds, but their teamwork was close enough to make some of his classmates wonder.

  The other two cadets were Lissa Jordan and Todd Devereau. Geordi didn’t know either of them very well. Lissa was tall and slender, with short copper-colored hair. Her huge, flashing smile always made Geordi’s palms sweat; in fact, that happened even when she wasn’t smiling at him.

  Todd was shorter than Geordi and had blond hair and blue eyes. On the first day of class, he had announced that he was going to be Starfleet’s finest captain, better even than the legendary James T. Kirk. Most of Geordi’s friends laughed at Todd’s claims, but Geordi didn’t know Todd well enough to know if he could succeed.

  The shuttle shivered as Ven brought the engines to full power. Geordi wiggled himself into a more comfortable position as Ven cleared the aquashuttle for launch. Within moments, they were airborne and on their way.

  As the shuttle soared through the sky, Geordi took out his PADD to read his assignment. The class had been split into teams of eight. Each group, like a starship’s away team, was given its “mission” as it left the Academy. After the field trip, each cadet would write a report, just as Starfleet officers did when they described what they found on new planets.

  Geordi grinned as he read the words on his screen. His team was assigned to visit Research Station Atlantis. Two centuries earlier, volcanic eruptions had formed a new island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It had been named Isla del Fuego, Island of Fire. To study the new island and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near it, scientists had built Atlantis Station.

  He continued reading. The main station, built on the island, had work space for fifty to seventy-five scientists. These people explored the island and its volcano, the ocean around it, and the nearby ocean floor.

  For Geordi, the undersea dome was the most interesting part of the station. It was located almost two kilometers below the surface of the ocean. The thirty people assigned there lived and worked in the strangest and most dangerous place on Earth.

  They were over halfway to the station before Geordi realized that Ven was still flying the shuttle. “We’re supposed to trade off the pilot’s duties.” His voice was sharp with protest. According to the duty roster, Ven should have given him command of the shuttle fifteen minutes ago.

  “I only fly with qualified pilots,” Ven said in a tone that implied that only he was qualified. “The computer aboard this shuttle does not show a passing score on your flight tests.”

  “My scores are higher than yours, and you know it! I had the top qualifying scores on the navigation specialty test this year!” Learning to interpret the flight controls through his VISOR had not been easy. To earn his high scores, he had spent many extra hours practicing his piloting skills.

  Geordi squeezed his fist against his leg. He had been looking forward to piloting a real shuttle instead of the Academy’s training ships. Still, it wouldn’t do to lose his temper, even if Ven had somehow deleted his flight rating from the shuttle’s computer.

  “We changed the piloting schedule before you arrived.” T’Varien’s tone was absolutely neutral. “It is illogical for you to assume that your tardiness will go unpunished.”

  That’s not your job! Geordi caught himself before he said the words aloud. Arguing with them would not change their minds. All he could do was control his temper and excel on the rest of the assignment.

  He began reading again. After losing points for not taking his turn as pilot, he needed much higher scores on everything else. He had his work cut out for him.

  CHAPTER

  2

  Ven was still piloting the shuttle when they arrived at Isla del Fuego. Except for Geordi and the Stenarios clones, the other cadets had traded off the copilot’s duties. Amril and Amray insisted on working as a team, but Ven refused to let anyone replace him as pilot. Geordi wondered how soon the shuttle’s computer would grade the Andorian down for interfering with his classmates’ work.

  Despite Geordi’s worries, Ven landed the shuttle like an experienced pilot. The door slid upward, letting a warm breeze into the cabin. Geordi took a deep breath. The air smelled of salt, seaweed, and a hint of sulfur. Eagerly, he unbuckled his safety harness and hurried outside.

  The sunlight was so bright that it temporarily overloaded his VISOR. Everything was white, hot, too intense for him to sort out. The blazing light translated into fiery needles jabbing through his head.

  “Quit blocking the door.” Someone bumped Geordi from behind. He thought it was Ven, but the pain from the light made it hard to be sure. “If you cannot see what you are doing, get out of the way.”

  Someone else pushed past him on the other side. Geordi stumbled and lost his balance. He went down on his hands and knees. The crushed gravel of the landing field burned into his palms.

  Before he could react, hands grasped his shoulders. “Are you all right?” The girl’s voice was unfamiliar.

  Struggling to get his bearings, Geordi straightened to a kneeling position. He wasn’t hurt—at least, not seriously. One of his knees felt scraped, even through his uniform, but he wasn’t going to admit that right now. If what had happened was an accident because everyone was too impatient to get outside, he didn’t want to call any more attention to himself. His only real problem was the brilliant sunshine. Carefully, he adjusted the inputs from his VISOR, setting the sensitivity to a lower level.
/>   The landing, field was one of the few level areas on the island. To the north, the black mass of the volcano towered over them. Geordi’s VISOR told him the summit was hotter than the rest of the mountain. He thought he saw steam rising from the volcano’s mouth. In the opposite direction, foam-tipped waves rolled onto the beach.

  “Are you all right?” the new girl asked again.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” Geordi thought his voice sounded a little shaky. Luckily, no, one else noticed, He stood quickly, before anyone decided to help him.

  The girl stepped away and faced the group. She was short and had long, dark hair. Her skin was deeply tanned from spending long hours in the hot sun. Much to Geordi’s surprise, she was wearing a Starfleet cadet’s uniform.

  “Welcome to Atlantis Station. I’m your guide, Leilani Kamehameha. I’m a science specialist at the Academy, and I was assigned here for my senior project.” She started toward the cluster of low, tan buildings opposite the landing field. “You’re very lucky to be visiting us just now. We’re getting some very exciting results in our work.”

  Inside the station, everything was cool and dim. With a sigh of relief, Geordi readjusted the inputs from his VISOR. Even with the trouble the device sometimes gave him, working without all the information it showed him was harder still. He was used to the VISOR, and he needed it to see the world around him.

  Geordi had been born blind, without optic nerves to carry information from his eyes to his brain. The scientists who designed his VISOR gave him the best vision they could create. The device scanned the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared through ultraviolet, reading a far wider range of frequencies than a normal person could. The VISOR fed that information directly into Geordi’s brain. Sometimes, having to sort through the extra information gave him a headache, but he figured it was worth it. The VISOR showed him things about his world that no one else could see.