（外文电子版资料）STAR TREK - SCE - 02 - Fatal Error.pdf

Star Trek S.C.E. Fatal Error by Keith R.A. DeCandido approx. 24,500 words Keith R.A. DeCandido Alb-Shiloh Inc. 21 West 100th Street, 3rd floor New York, NY 10025-4842 212-666-3025 fax 212-666-6256 krad@ For David, Alexandra, Steven The holo in the center of Anseds living room showed a comedy program that had stopped production a decade earlier, and for which Ansed owned no recordings. A minute ago, it had been showing archival footage of the landing of the Pevvni ship that colonized the ninth planet fifty years ago. A minute before that, it had been showing a real-time image of the weather on Hendorf Island. But for the life of her, Ansed, First Speaker of Eerlik, could not get the holo to open a simple communications channel. That was only part of the problem. Scratching her hairless teal-colored head, Ansed looked around the living room, currently illuminated by candles since the lights no longer worked, and out the window at the hailstorm that shouldve been stopped by the weather control system. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders with her short arms-necessary as the houses heating system was no longer functioning properly. The unthinkable had happened. The great Ganitriul was breaking down. And if someone didnt stop it, the entire fabric of Eerlikka society would collapse. Suddenly, the staccato slamming of hail against the outside of Anseds house ceased. She looked out the window to see that the storm had finally abated. There was no chance shed be able to convince the holo to go to communications mode. Shed tried for hours to contact anyone she could, from her fellow Speakers and the priests who kept the knowledge of Ganitriul on-planet to the Pevvni colony or the nearest Federation outpost off-planet. Nothing worked. The priority at this point was to consult the clergy. Ansed feared that even they could do nothing-after all, the transporters and spacefaring vessels were also operated via Ganitriul, so they probably did