The Infinity Particle

Chapter 4

"It's so overt, it's covert.

Sherlock Holmes

Jim sat on the floor in the attic methodically going through the boxes of stuff that had accumulated in the Kirk attic down through the years. In the back of his mind was an itch...Jim had learned through years of Command experience not to disregard that itch. "This is all wrong," he muttered to himself. "Ma wouldn't be climbing up here to store her files every day." He closed the box he was rummaging in, stood and brushed off his black pants.

He stretched his cramped muscles, climbed down the attic ladder and closed it. "Gavin, Jonathon, Spock, Nyota," he called. "Let's go in the kitchen and take a break while we brainstorm for a few minutes." He opened the refrigeration unit and peered in. As usual there were tall pitchers of juice, tea, and water in there. He pulled out the three pitchers and retrieved glasses from the cupboard. "Help yourselves," he told them, as they came trooping in.

"What's going on, Jim? Did you find something?" Gavin poured some juice in a glass and gulped it down thirstily.

"Not a thing and I can't help thinking we're going about this all wrong."

"What do you mean?" Uhura took a sip of her iced tea.

"Think about it...every day that Ma works on an assignment, she finishes her work for the day and stores her data chip. That's every single day that she works. I was sitting on the floor in the attic thinking about this and I realized that it had to be someplace easily accessible to her. She wouldn't go up and down the attic stairs every day and she also wouldn't hide it where getting to it every morning would be difficult. So I thought about her daily routine. What does she do every morning?" He looked expectantly at them.

"She makes breakfast for Peter and herself," Jonathon volunteered quickly.

"Peter goes out to feed the animals and the chickens every morning immediately after breakfast, so your mother would be able to retrieve the data chip at that time unnoticed, or if it is a school day she would most probably wait until the school shuttle picked up Peter," Spock added, then looked at all of them waiting for them to think it through

"The kitchen!" The other three said excitedly and in unison.

"Exactly," Jim grinned triumphantly. "I think the data chip is somewhere here in the kitchen."

"But where?" Uhura asked. "Where would Winona put the chip?"

"Indeed, Jim. There are many places in this kitchen to hide an extremely small data chip." Spock said.

Five pairs of eyes exchanged glances, and then looked around the large homey kitchen filled with several generations of "stuff." Winona was a very orderly person, so everything had a place and her kitchen was neatly arranged, but there were, as Spock said, many places where a tiny chip could be hidden.

The kitchen had both lower and above the counter real wooden cabinets original to the house. They were painted a soft creamy yellow and filled with cookware, appliances, glasses and dishes. There were pull out wooden drawers full of table settings, kitchen knives, baking sheets, measuring cups and spoons, as well as all the kitchen and table linens. There was a row of filled canisters, on the counter top, a spice rack on the wall, and, in the corner, there was a narrow door which led to a separate food pantry filled with canned goods, snack food, soft drinks, sacks of flour, sugar and more. On the far wall was the stove, the refrigeration unit, and under the sink, a recycling unit and a small replicator which was seldom used. Situated above the refrigeration unit was a small shelf which held Winona's treasured real paper cookbooks. Winona loved to cook and bake and the evidence was in the cookbooks she'd collected through the years

"Take a seat everyone while I think this through," Jim told them. Everyone obediently grabbed a chair and then stared silently at Jim while he thought. Finally, Jim smiled and stood. He went to the cookbook shelf, took it off the refrigeration unit and carried it to the table. There were 9 hardback cookbooks on the small shelf, all quite old, but in very good condition and obviously well taken care of. Most had been expensive gifts given to Winona by close friends and family, and she treasured each one of them. Every book had its own transparent Mylar cover to protect it from dust and stains. Jim handled each of them very gently as he removed them one by one and stacked them in the table. He opened each book carefully, examining it closely. When he came to the fourth book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," he opened the back cover and found a very old, yellowed library card pocket still adhering tightly to the inside back cover. Jim carefully inserted gentle fingers into the pocket and felt something. "Bingo," he said softly and pulled out the tiny data chip.

"Well I'll be damned," Jonathon said.

Gavin grinned. "I might have known Winona would hide it in something that had to do with cooking, and in a place no one else would think of looking." He looked admiringly at Jim. "The first thing we're going to do is make a copy of the research for Mr. Spock and then this chip needs to be kept in a secure place."

"What about making the copy on the ship, on your personal computer, Jim, and then storing the original in your Captain's vault? You can't get more secure than that," Uhura said.

"Good idea, Nyota. I'll have Scotty beam me up right now. It won't take me long. Gavin, do you want to go with me?" Jim asked him.

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Gavin said. "Chain of evidence or whatever you want to call it. I think I should keep the chip under scrutiny at all times. I also need to let my CO know we found it and get further orders. I think I'll comm him from the ship though, it's a more secure transmission."

"That's true. Okay, let's go." Jim flipped open his communicator. "The rest of you, we'll be back in a few minutes, so make yourselves at home. Keep an eye on the back pasture just in case. All of you have your phasers?"

"Don't worry, Jim. We're well armed, and I can get my officers here fast if need be," Jonathon assured him.

"I'll pack Winona's things while we wait, if that's all right."

"Of course, Nyota. There's a small suitcase in her closet that should do for now. When Gavin and I get back, we'll go to Mama's to pick up Peter. We might as well enjoy a good late lunch while we're there. Peter will be happy to see everyone and it'll distract him until our hospital visit. Jonathon, will you comm Father Joe and update him on Ma and Peter? I don't want him to worry."

Jonathon nodded. "I'll also comm Mr. Thompson to update him."

"And I will check on the animals while you are gone and make sure they have feed and water," Spock said.

"Thanks everyone. Jonathon, tell Mr. Thompson I'll put up the security shield when we leave. One less thing for him to take care of. Scotty," he said into his communicator, "tell De Salle two to beam up."

"Aye, Captain."

The two men dissolved in the silvery whine of the transporter.

The rest of the team scattered to their designated tasks. In Winona's room, Uhura collected a pretty night gown a warm robe, slippers, two pair of slacks with pretty blouses, shoes and Winona's makeup and toiletries. She added a comb and brush, her makeup, and her toothbrush. Everything fit nicely in the small suitcase and she carried it to the kitchen.

Spock had returned from the barn. "All is well with the horse and donkey. I have fed them and the chickens. I will collect Peter's chess set and some books for him to have on hand to read. I assume he has his personal padd with him."

Uhura nodded. "I'm sure he does. Mr. Spock, There should be a duffle or backpack in his closet to put his things in."

Jonathon and Uhura sat in the kitchen waiting and Spock soon joined them.

"Father Joe was very relieved to hear Winona is improving and Mr. Thompson will be here in the morning to feed the animals. I also ordered my deputy to have the farmhouse patrolled for the rest of today, tonight and tomorrow, just in case that shuttle comes back. The security shield and the patrols should be a good deterrent."

"Jim will be relieved to hear that, Jonathon," Uhura told him.

"Indeed he will, Chief Romaine," Spock agreed. "The Captain seems quite concerned about another possible break-in."

The transporter effect announced the return of Jim and Gavin. Jim held out a small SF diplomatic pouch to Spock. These pouches were designed to carry classified or secret documents, and were therefore practically indestructible as well passcode secured. "Your data chip copy is in here, Spock. It's keyed to your SF serial number, but you can change the passcode if you want to. The original chip is in my vault."

"My CO and Admiral Corrigan agree that one data chip out in the open is enough," Gavin told them. "Also Mr. Spock, your review of the data will be done only by yourself in a secured lab. You alone are allowed to review the DNA results and, Dr. McCoy, should you need confirmation on anything you find, as per Admirals Nogura's and Corrigan's orders."

"Understood, Commander." Spock secured the pouch over his shoulder and under his arm. "I believe I will change the passcode, Captain, my serial number would be too easy to guess. If you will excuse me, I will do it at this time." He moved away from the group to the living room to do so and quickly returned. "I have sent the new passcode to your secure comm on the ship, Captain. What about you, Commander Bradford? Do you wish to have it as well?"

"I don't have any need of it, Mr. Spock, and I feel that the fewer people who have it the better."

"Shall we go, then? I'm anxious to see Peter," Jim said. "I commed Marie from the ship so they're expecting us for a late lunch."

"The animals are fine, Jim. I fed them and gave them fresh water."

"Thanks, Spock," as Jim turned to address Spock, the sudden whine of a shuttle engine startled them all. The shuttle entered the atmosphere straight out of warp and barreled toward the farmhouse at top impulse speed. From the small side windows of the shuttle, Jim saw the silver flash of hand phasers when the sunlight hit them. The occupants of the shuttle began firing at the group as they all stood close to the back kitchen door.

"Back, back, get back in the house!" Jim shouted. He and the others pulled out their phasers and began firing back at the shuttle. Jim pushed and pulled everyone he could reach back into the kitchen. Uhura had exited the house first and, encumbered by Winona's suitcase, had been unable to get to her phaser to fire back. As she turned to retreat, a phaser shot hit her and she crumbled.

"Uhura!" Jim caught her before she hit the ground. He half carried, half dragged her into the kitchen as Spock, Jonathon and Gavin gave him cover returning rapid fire. The shuttle flew directly to the house, the two men still firing their hand phasers at the open kitchen door. The shuttle lifted, then did a turn maneuver just as they all got safely inside the kitchen. Jonathon closed the heavy wooden door and flipped open his comm. "Romaine to headquarters."

"Headquarters here."

"Send all available patrol shuttles to the Kirk farmhouse, we're under attack!"

"Right away, Chief!"

Spock and Gavin were at the kitchen window looking out trying to see where the shuttle was flying.

Jim carried Uhura to the sofa, set her down gently, and flipped open his comm. "Kirk to McCoy. Bones come in! Bones!"

"McCoy here. What's up Jim?"

"Bones, Uhura just took a phaser shot to her arm," he told him, looking down at her charred sleeve. Uhura was trying valiantly to control herself, but a phaser burn was one of the most painful of injuries. A moan she couldn't contain escaped through her gritted teeth.

Leonard asked no questions. "Jim, does Winona have a good first aid kit?"

"Yeah, Bones, we've always had a top of the line one."

"Good, you should have everything you need then. Okay, first give her something for pain right away. I don't want her to go into shock. Then cut away the sleeve very carefully. It's best to touch the burned area as little as possible."

"Okay I'll be right back with the kit. Gavin," he yelled as he ran to the bathroom for the first aid kit, "what's going on?"

"Nothing, Jim," Gavin yelled back. "We can hear the shuttle, but can't see it."

Jim grabbed the kit and hurried back to Uhura. He looked at her anxiously. She looked ashen and there was sweat on her forehead. "I've got you, Nyota. I'm going to give you pain medication first." He found the red topped hypo that was universal for pain and swiftly pressed it to her neck. Her face relaxed almost immediately as the analgesic did its job. Jim picked up his comm. "Bones I've given her the pain hypo."

"Alright, Jimmy. Now you have to cut away the sleeve. Is the wound pretty high up?"

"Yeah, Bones, I can see it's at the top of her arm, close to her shoulder."

"Okay," said Bones' calm voice. "Cut away the whole sleeve. Be very careful. Some of the material may have melted unto the wound. If so, you'll have to clean it very thoroughly and gently. Go on now, Jim, do that part, I'm right here to help you through it."

Using his mother's first aid scissors, Jim cut away the long red sleeve of Uhura's uniform top. He winced in sympathy when he saw the angry bloodied wound at the top of her arm.

"Is it very bad, Jim?" Uhura whispered.

Jim smiled reassuringly. "Not too bad, it could've been a lot worse," he said.

"The sleeve is off, Bones," he said into the open comm.

"Do you see any melted red fabric in it?"

"No, it looks pretty clean to me."

"Good, that's good. Alright, there should be a spray hypo there with a green top. You're going to spray it directly on the wound. That should keep it clean and sterile until you can bring her here, or have Geoffrey treat her on the ship. How does she look, Jim?"

"I'm all right, Jim," Nyota told him.

"Her color looks much better, Bones. But I'd like for Geoffrey to see her right away. We're going to pick up Peter, so I'd prefer if he didn't see that Nyota is injured."

"I agree. Let me comm Geoff and have him meet Nyota in the transporter room. He'll take care of her right away."

"You're going back to the ship, Nyota. You can beam back as soon as your wound is regenerated. But first comm Spock or me to check where we are. Okay?"

She nodded, resigned to the inevitable. "Alright, Jim. Just be sure you take Winona's suitcase."

"I will, don't worry." He signed off with Bones and commed Scotty briefly explaining what had happened. He watched as Nyota disappeared and breathed a small sigh of relief. Thank goodness the phaser wound had been relatively minor. For the first time since Uhura had been hit, he let his anger surface. How dare these people attack them at his mother's home! What the hell were they trying to do, blatantly and overtly shooting at them like they did? Jim stalked back to the kitchen to see that Spock and Gavin were still standing at the open window and Jonathon was guarding the back door. Gavin turned when he heard Jim's footsteps.

"It's obvious whoever these people are, they've upped their game plan to get that research file. They're willing to take more risks now, and it doesn't seem to matter to them who's here in the house. They want that data chip no matter what."

"Is Lieutenant Uhura all right, Captain?" Spock asked, never shifting his eyes from the window.

"She'll be fine, Spock. Thankfully the phaser shot missed anything vital. It hit her in the upper arm. I sent her back to the ship for further treatment. Dr. M'Benga will take care of her and she'll be back with us soon. What's going on with the shuttle?"

"The shuttle keeps circling the house, but there's been no more phaser fire. I imagine if we open the door there will be," Gavin reported. "I don't know what they think they can accomplish by what they're doing. They're getting much more aggressive about acquiring the data chip. I bet they must have found a possible buyer already."

Jonathon craned his neck looking out the window. "My Officers should be here momentarily. Let's hope they'll be able to apprehend them."

Sure enough they could hear the combined engine noises of several police shuttles approaching and could hear the burst of phaser fire from the police shuttles. Suddenly there was silence.

Jonathon's comm beeped. "Chief, this is Lt. Powers. We opened fire, but the shuttle went into warp and we couldn't follow."

"Copy that, Powers. We're coming out of the house. All shuttles keep your eyes on the horizon in case they pop back in from warp."

"Copy that, Chief. All shuttles stay sharp!" They heard Powers order the other deputies.

Jim grabbed Winona's suitcase, Spock picked up Peter's duffle then checked his grasp on the diplomatic pouch and the four men, phasers still drawn, walked out the back door.

"Powers, we're walking to the back pasture. Cover us. Captain Kirk has enabled the security force field for the house, but I want regular patrols at random times on the farm house."

"Yes, Chief."

Jim turned a worried face to Jonathon. "Mr. Thompson will be coming morning and evening to the barn. It's not safe for him."

"I'll take care of it, Jim. I'll tell him that because of this second attempt to break in to the house, one of my police shuttles will pick him up and stay with him while he feeds the animals. The shuttle will wait for him and then take him home. We won't let him come here alone."

Jim huffed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jonathon. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him, Ma wouldn't either. I hate that her home is under siege, it's always been such a safe, warm place for all of us."

"It will be again, Captain. We will, as we always do, get to the bottom of this and your family home will once more be as it was."

"I hope so, Spock. Jonathon, keep me posted on your investigation of that shuttle. Not too many rentals have warp capability. They must be paying a lot of credits for renting it."

"I will. We'll keep in close touch. Give Winona my best, okay?"

They parted ways at their respective shuttles and Gavin piloted their shuttle straight to Mama Salvatore's restaurant.

Not waiting for the other two, Jim hopped out of their shuttle and hurried through the restaurant door. The first thing he saw was Marie's three children and Peter at the back of the restaurant filling the salt and pepper shakers. Jim feasted his eyes on the little boy and swallowed hard.

"Peter," he called out.

The little face turned at the sound of that beloved voice, and his face lit up like the sun.

"Uncle Jim!" He ran into Jim's waiting arms, and a small sob escaped the child.

"I'm here, Squirt, I'm right here," Jim picked him up and hugged the small warm body close. "Everything's going to be all right."