"Jean-Luc!" said Guinan.  "It's critical up here.  What should
I do?"
     "Captain," said young Wesley boy genius.  "What if we boosted
power to the transporter, and just bootstrapped ourselves into the
theta quadrant?"
     "With all due respect, young Wesley, that's the most 
idiotic--"
     "Perhaps not, Captain," said Data.  "The tricky part is how to
restore the trace of the Enterprise, mid-transport."
     
     Ramanujan was eating some sambhar and rice.  Fermat was drinking some
champagne.  Gauss was reading _Don Quixote_.  Wittgenstein was
whistling the theme to "M.A.S.H.", which seemed to particularly
unnerve LP, who was sweating profusely.  Holly was talking to an
imaginary Emmy Noether about the latter's use of the p-adic method
in her proof that every simple algebra over an ordinary algebraic
number field is cyclic.  Ludwig heard Holly talking, and he wanted
to add something, but he kept confusing p-adic with 10-adic. 
Marilyn traced a finger around and around the button.
     
     "Suggestions?" asked Picard.
     They all just stared at him.
     He turned and yelled into the cubicles, "Anyone?"
     "Run a bypass," said Gauss.
     "Yes!" said Geordi.  "With a small modification to the Abian
uncouplers we can increase the transporter efficiency so that any
losses will be within acceptable limits."
     "Acceptable losses?" said Picard.
     "Wesley, Sir," said Geordi.
     "Make it so."
     Geordi left the holodeck.  

     Ludwig was testing the button, seeing how far he could press
it before it clicked.  

     "Captain?" said Geordi.
     "Report." 
     "Everything is in place.  But we're gonna need to redirect
every ounce of power to the transporters.  Sir, we have to shut
down all non-essential systems."
     "Understood, Lieutenant.  Minimal life support and Holodeck
1."
     "But Captain.  We need *all* the power we've got--"
     "Computer," said Picard.  "Freeze program.  Modify those
buttons so that if anyone presses, all non-essential systems will
be shut off."
     "So you're betting that someone will crack?"  said Riker.
     "It's been a long day, Commander," said Picard.  "Draw your own 
inferences.  Computer, continue program."


          UN-altered REPRODUCTION via INSEMINATION of this
          IMPORTANT Information is a MORAL IMPERATIVE.

RICHH
--that's all, folks