IV.

"Oh, that's just wonderful!"

Data tried to direct his thoughts to useless subjects, thinking perhaps that it was the very flow of his own thoughts that was leading B-4 to access his memories, but the exercise was clearly pointless. While he thought about painting and the poetry of John Dunne, B-4 still had no trouble accessing everything Data knew about Deep Space Nine and Cardassian Nor type space-stations. It was not a complete catch-all, however, for which Data could at least be grateful. It was not as if B-4 could perform a word search on Data's memory, and then consume everything that resulted. Memory, even android memory, did not quite work that way. If it did, B-4 would no doubt already be aware of a few things that Data desperately hoped he did not discover. If he did, Lore and Captain Picard would have no hope of stopping them.

They materialized in a section of corridor somewhere in the upper decks of one of the station's docking pylons. There was no one in either direction, and B-4 made a straight path for the nearest maintenance tunnel hatch. Once inside, he began making a swift descent down a narrow ladder well. Data knew his brother's objective was to locate the station's disruption field generator, but how he planned to do that was a mystery to him. He lacked the ability to know what B-4 was planning or what memories he had managed to access. It was only through his actions that he was able to guess what would come next.

Bee, you must not do this. Please. He continued to make pleas while knowing they were useless. B-4 was not there; he was not listening. He could only watch in a kind of drawn back view as B-4 reached the bottom of the ladder well and turned toward the nearest hatch. He opened it and emerged into another empty corridor. The collision of the runabout would have put the facility on red alert, which explained why the corridors were currently empty.

Suddenly, there were voices up ahead. B-4 made a sharp right down another corridor and continued away from the approaching footsteps. He was heading for a small junction room that should house controls for the pylon airlocks, but would also have a computer access point. All of this information was dated, but unlikely to be any different now. Luck did not appear on Data's side.

B-4 entered the junction room and was immediately met with a startled crewman. The man turned and stretched toward the wall, his hand brushing the alarm just before B-4 grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him back.

No, Bee!

The man slammed into the wall beside the door as B-4 yanked him back. His head hit the wall with a dull thud and he fell unconscious. Data looked in horror for as long as he could, but B-4 did not spare another glance for the motionless man. He diverted his full attention to the computer terminal and began the complex operation of breaking through the basic levels of the station's security. B-4 would not have the benefit of Lore's access code here, but his actions gave Data pause to be relieved. Clearly B-4 had not discovered what Data dreaded he would, otherwise he would not be currently wasting time hacking into the station security system. It could take quite some time, and then hours beyond that to locate the generator. Every minute he remained aboard the station was another minute Lore had to stop him, and then there was the problem of transportation now that the runabout had been destroyed—

B-4 froze in his actions and cocked his head in a twitching, emotionless manner. It lasted for only a second before he cleared the computer of everything he had been doing and brought up the basic login screen. B-4 began to enter a very long, very complex access code that Data easily recognized.

Data's non-corporeal heart sank. He had waited too long and his worst fears had been realized. Now that only one option remained, he hoped he was not too late.

(*)

"He's in docking pylon two, deck six!" Kira announced as she came down from the upper platform, "What are you doing in here?"

Lore gave her a choice scowl and exited the turbo lift, "Spare me your regulated outrage. If you're sending security teams, don't. You're wasting your time and probably putting them in danger. Tell me where the generator is."

"No." Kira said. She turned away from him in a clear show of dismissal, "Leave the bridge, or I'll have you removed."

"Really? How?" He challenged. "And how do you know he's on deck six?"

"Kira to security! Send a team up to the bridge—."

"Foster to Commander Kira." A rushed voice flooded over the comm. "Commander, I just found crewman Roland in one of the junction rooms on deck six."

Lore froze. He didn't even breathe. He was waiting to hear the dreaded words.

Kira cursed under her breath, "What's his condition?"

"Unconscious, Commander, and a severe concussion but I think he'll be okay."

Lore sighed with relief, but it wasn't total. A severe concussion was awfully close to the line. Too close for it to have been an intentional stopping point. I was right. They have no limits.

He rushed toward Kira and leaned across the console separating them, "He's just the first, I'm telling you! Tell me where the generator is!"

"He's on deck six, nowhere near the generator!" Kira countered, "He doesn't know where it is, and he isn't going to find it. You want to help us? Go with the security team to docking pylon two and search for him."

"Search?" Lore sneered, "You mean you can't locate him?"

Kira's jaw clenched and she looked to one of her bridge officers. The man shook his head in some silent communication. "No." She finally admitted, "I can't figure out how he's doing it, but he stopped registering on the station sensors just a few minutes after he transported."

How would he have done it? That was the question on Lore's mind. He would have hacked into the station's computer and disabled the personnel tracker, but that would have taken much longer, even for Data, and not enough time had passed. He also might have sabotaged a primary sensor bundle but, once again, that would have taken longer and Data was nowhere near sensor control!

"He won't use the transporter again." Lore thought aloud, "I'm going to main security. I can watch the surveillance feeds simultaneously and see if he—."

"Commander!" One of the officers at the back of the bridge actually stood from his seat, his eyes fixed on the console in disbelief. "I just got a breach alarm on the outer force-field around the generator."

"What? That's impossible!" Kira took the steps two at a time as she joined the man and looked over his station. Her ivory skin took on a reddish color.

The urge to yell 'I told you so' was nowhere in Lore's mind, which truly said something for the dire nature of the situation. Even he was at a loss. This was impossible, even for Data. How could he have located the generator already?

Kira was still starring off, but her mind was racing, and Lore could see it.

"What?" He demanded, "You know something."

"Bring up the access logs for that terminal on deck six!" Kira ordered. She moved to another console and began looking over the results. Her red complexion went to something like green.

Lore flew up the steps and pressed beside her. He saw a series of login entries, the last of which looked much different from the others. The code was exceptionally long, more than two hundred characters, and it was not associated with a name. What was worse, the code was marked as allowing alpha one clearance

"I don't believe this!" Kira smacked the console, "We should have been warned!" Her accusing eyes were fixed directly on Lore.

"Don't look at me like that." He sneered, "I don't know what this is."

"What this is?" She said, her big almond eyes narrowing, "What this is is a fleet wide alpha one access code!"

And what the hell does that mean? Before he could ask the question, Kira was moving past him and tapping her commbadge, "Commander Kira to Enterprise."

"Picard here, Commander." Came Picard's tense voice.

"Captain, would you like to explain how your former second officer has a Starfleet Intelligence access code?"

There was a momentary pause during which Lore could imagine Picard's face turning to stone. He, however, started laughing bitterly.

"Starfleet intelligence?" Lore spat, "Oh, that's just wonderful!"

"Data participated in several covert missions during the Dominion war." Picard replied. He voice had become icy and dejected, for no doubt he had already realized his lapse, "If he was given an alpha one clearance, it would have been classified. That's why I didn't know."

"What does he have access to?" Lore demanded as he came to Kira's side again. She was thinking and not listening to him. He pressed her, "What's his access?"

"Everything." She finally admitted, "That code has a full override of Starfleet systems. It…it was intended for counter-espionage. He could go right into the restricted files and locate the generator."

"Picard is a Captain. He can override it—."

"No." Kira shook her head, "He can't. This station is still classified a potential Dominion target. Intelligence codes have priority in our systems."

"This is ridiculous!" Lore could feel all his hopes crashing again. Data and B-4 had found a way, just as he had dreaded they would. "Picard! Data was officially declared dead for months! How can this code still be valid?"

"Intelligence codes don't expire." Kira said, "They don't have to. They're known only to the agent. Why do you think it didn't have a name attached to it?"

"I don't care!" Lore cried suddenly, "We're wasting time now. Tell me where the generator is. Now!"

Kira hesitated only a moment. There was no point anymore, not if Data was disabling the generator as they spoke. "Section three of the main promenade, second deck."

"The promenade?" Lore said, incredulous.

"It's housed in a room that looks like a vacant shop. Believe me, no one would ever look there. I'm sending a security team as well. Go."

Lore rushed into the lift and directed it toward the promenade deck. As he paced back and forth in the tiny space he ran over his possible options. He had to subdue B-4 without damaging him. A phaser on maximum stun would be enough, unless B-4 had conjured some defense or—and this was what truly worried Lore—he was armed too. As soon as the lift reached the promenade deck he rushed out and climbed the nearest flight of steps leading to the upper balcony deck. A security team, headed up by Worf, was already coming in the other direction.

"There." Worf said, indicated a dark, shuttered space on the other side of the gallery. It truly did have the look of an unused store-front, and there were even upturned chairs visible through the front display glass. Lore motioned for a weapon and Worf, reluctantly, handing him a sidearm. Lore altered the stun setting and headed toward the doors, which were secured with a elementary magnetic lock. Lore grabbed the top of it and tore it away from the door with a loud snap.

"Subtle." One of the guards muttered.

"There's no point in being quiet." Lore retorted, "He can hear your heartbeat from this distance." He pulled the door open and walked into the dark space. There was a back room with another secured door, but Lore doubted getting in there would be as easy. He could hear the very soft hum of an active force field.

Worf tapped his combadge, "Worf to Commander Kira. Is this space accessible from the deck below?"

"There aren't any access points, if that's what you mean, but our breach alarm did indicate the between deck force-field had been disabled."

Lore made a tisking sound, "Very clever, Bee. Why go through the door when you can just break through the wall?"

He reached the narrow door at the back of the room and once again removed the locking mechanism with a swipe of his arm. It was clear that the locks were just for show, or for petty criminals who had no idea what they were getting into. The real security was behind the door. Lore drew a deep breath and forced the door open.

B-4 looked up instantly. He was kneeling next to a broken access panel on a massive black device that nearly filled the room. The generator hummed and buzzed as it continued its work. B-4 continue his as if Lore's presence were nothing.

"Bee! Step back!" Lore ordered as he rushed forward. As he had suspected, he crashed into a force field mere feet from the generator. B-4 went back to his work, not sparing him another glance.

Lore moved to the side to get a better look at B-4. He could not see any weapons, but he was being mostly blocked by the generator. He looked at Worf, who nodded.

"Commander." Worf said, "Can you disable the remaining force field?"

"Yes. Are you ready?"

Lore stepped back and grasped the phaser in his hand. He had the most ridiculous thought pop into his head; had he been human he would have been sweating profusely at that moment. He nodded to Worf.

The blur of activity that followed was such that Worf would barely be able to give a report when it was all over. B-4 lifted a phaser and fired two rapid blasts into the open access panel of the generator. The device sputtered and produced an earsplitting ring before a section of it blew outward toward the wall. The security team fell back as shrapnel and a concussive blast knocked them off their feet. Worf managed to take cover behind an upturned table, but the explosion left his ears ringing.

Lore rushed through the haze of the aftermath and fired twice, but B-4 managed to dodge both blasts before he disappeared behind the generator. Lore followed with determination. In the back of his mind he was cursing himself, for his easier option to disabling B-4 would have been the emergency switch in his brother's lower back, but he had removed that embarrassing liability months ago in an effort to protect his brother from anyone who might wish to disable him. It was a bitter irony now. He came around the generator and raised his weapon at…nothing. He faced a dead-end where the generator butted up against the bulked and B-4 was nowhere to be seen.

He lowered his eyes to the deck and saw the empty space under the generator housing just as a white hand reached out and swiped his feet from under him. Lore fell backwards as B-4 emerged from the space and grabbed his wrist. They were matched strength for strength, but B-4 had the advantage of leverage. He pressed his boot against the bend of Lore's elbow and kicked down viciously, pulling the phaser from Lore's grasp.

He's going to kill me. Lore twisted around and scrambled to his feet just as a blast barely missed him and struck the side of the struggling generator. Another blast followed, striking Lore in the foot and sending him crashing forward as the servos in his leg became nonresponsive. He twisted around just in time to see B-4 raise the weapon again and point it directly at Lore. For some reason, which Lore could not quite understand, he very much doubted the phaser was still set to stun.

"Data!" Worf belted just as he raised his phaser rifle and fired. B-4 was able to dodge just in time to make it a glancing blow, but it was enough to make him lose his grip on the phaser and throw him back against the generator.

B-4 lifted his head, and the emotionless tone of his voice sent chills through Lore's heart, "Computer, targeted force field with a three second sweep. Engage."

Suddenly, the force field that they had just deactivated reappeared and began a rapid sweep toward the front of the room. Worf leapt back just as the other guards stumbled to their feet, desperate to keep ahead of the sparking wall of energy coming at them. Lore rose on his still functioning leg and stumbled forward, but he could not move fast enough. The field struck him from behind, sending a crippling bolt of energy through his body. His thoughts became rattled and fragmented. He no longer knew where he was, what was happening, or why he could not move his limbs. Somewhere in the back of his mind, however, a thought did form.

Don't do this to me, Bee. Please.

Worf fell through the door to the front room just as the force field reached the wall and died. The generator sputtered and appeared to cause some kind of energy discharge that disrupted power in the entire section. The emergency lights put a red glow to everything. Worf rose to his feet once more and aimed his rifle, but he was not fast enough. A blast struck him in the shoulder and sent him down on one knee. He lifted the rifle and fired on full stun, but struck nothing. In the dim room, he saw nothing. B-4 was gone.

He struggled to his feet and tapped his badge, "Commander! Check the surveillance feed for the deck below. B-4 has escaped, I believe through the same way he entered."

"Understood! What's your situation?"

Worf struggled to keep his footing as pain shot through his entire body. His head was still ringing, but he managed to make his way toward Lore's still form. What he saw startled even him. Lore lay on his side with his eyes wide open, but he did not appear to be looking at anything. His head and shoulders twitched repeatedly, and a kind of black vein scarring was etched across his white face.

"Lore! Can you hear me?"

Lore heard nothing.

"Worf to Enterprise! Captain, Lore has been severely injured and B-4 has escaped."

(*)

The path to the docking ring was clear except for a few civilians who were not where they should have been. At the sight of B-4's purposeful stride, they fled in the opposite direction. B-4 stopped at an airlock and entered a shortened version of Data's SI clearance code. The airlock opened with no trouble.

Data could not blame B-4. He knew that, and yet he could not help the anger that permeated his thoughts. He had no idea if Lore was dead, but it was a distinct possibility. B-4 had gone out of his way to increase that force field's output well beyond its typical design, and for just such a purpose. Lore had been the primary threat, after all.

I did not want to do this, Bee. I am sorry.

Nothing happened right away, and nothing Data did stopped B-4 from entered the airlock and commandeering the Bajoran shuttle that was docked there. What he was doing would take much longer, and he could only reproach himself for not having made the decision sooner. All might be lost in any case because of his reluctance. One by one, Data began to shut down the pathways in his neural net. It would take some time, but eventually there would be a near total loss of memory cohesion. It was the only option left.

I am sorry, Bee.

B-4 did not hear him and did not respond as he brought the little vessel's engines online. Data had no idea what would happen after he completely his task, but he could at least be certain that it was better than the alternative.