91

"With any luck, all we'll find out is that Kendra is honouring the peace treaty between Bajor and…" Deirdre froze in mid-sentence. Literally froze up, stiff as a board. Macen lurched forward in his office chair and activated the security feed from the bridge. He noted all of his officers were also immobile. All except Hannah Grace that was.

"Computer initiate contingency Zulu Charlie Foxtrot seven zed five zed eight. Lock on to these co-ordinates and initiate site-to-site transport as designated in the Baker eleven protocol." Macen fired off these instructions with the rapidity born of practice. The transporter beam caught him and whisked him away to the bowels of the ship.

Grace cursed as her board went dead. The ship was now at a dead stop and she was locked out of her controls. She heard a chime from the Tactical console and she moved over there. It was difficult to manoeuvre around Daggit's lunging form but she forced herself to manage.

It's a little late for guilt to stumble you. Grace chided herself. She accessed internal security displays and learned an internal, site-to-site transport had occurred. Unfortunately, Daggit's board was effectively shut down as well. The system was on automatic and while you could see what the computer was doing, you couldn't alter it. Worst of all, the ship was now transmitting an automated distress signal.

Grace bit down on a particularly vivid metaphor. A sudden fluctuation in the power grid caused her to examine Parva's Engineering station and discovered the mains were off the line. A sudden and crushing realisation hit Grace. Someone had taken the warp core off-line since she'd supposedly immobilised the entire crew.

She tried to release the computer controls through a voice override but wasn't surprised when the attempt failed. Grace's Attuner could transform thought into reality but it was restricted to realities known by Grace. She hadn't a clue as to how the computer had been deactivated so she couldn't resolve the problem. She had obviously overlooked one or more of the crew. Her only option now was to track down the mysterious interloper and force him or her to release the computer codes. Grace could reactivate the warp engines herself.

Grace pulled the tricorder from her belt and tied it into the internal security feeds. Judging by the log, the "intruder" had exited Main Engineering and headed for the turbolift. Once there, they'd exited on Deck 2. Sickbay had been accessed and the doors hadn't reopened since. Grace's lips spread in a victorious smile.

"Gotcha sucker." Grace headed for the turbolift and was taken aback by the sight of her best friend frozen in place. T'Kir looked ready to protest Riker's orders and declarations. Grace would never know. Her soon to be former friend would have a far different reaction after being revived and reoriented to the changed circumstance.

Grace entered the lift and wondered how she'd feel when she was reunited with her people. They'd surely recall her from her mission. She'd spent six years with most of these senior officers, how would that sundering affect her? She had to admit to herself, if no one else, that the prospect frightened her. She'd made a family here, a dysfunctional family at best, but a family nonetheless.

The `lift doors opened and Deck 2 beckoned. Grace hesitantly stepped out. Who was out here? Did she really want to know?

Her sense of duty drove her feet on. Her sense of dread rose as she approached the Sickbay doors. She'd betrayed so many people, so many friends. How would Macen react when he was released? It was his presence the arriving Kelvans had specifically requested.

Macen's enduring acceptance of Grace filled the Kelvans with hope. The examples of James Kirk and Brin Macen were their banners as to what people in the Alpha Quadrant would be like. Grace hoped she hadn't poisoned that banner through this action. Her orders had stated, quite clearly, deliver Macen and the crew now, not after completing a mission bringing the Maquis to justice.

Grace stopped in front of the Sickbay doors and stepped into range of the motion sensor. The doors slid aside and Grace cautiously entered. The EMH was on and looking at her speculatively.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"We have an intruder. He or she is in Sickbay. You have to help me find them!" Grace pleaded.

The EMH cocked her head to one side, "He said you'd say that."

"Who?" Grace tensed.

"Him." the EMH pointed to Grace's right. A shadow moved and all Grace saw was a fist flying into her face. She lost her balance and staggered back out into the corridor. Grace collided with the bulkhead and sank to her knees.

Grace had half a second to recognise her assailant before Macen stepped forward and kicked Grace squarely in the ribs. All the air in Grace's lungs exited in an explosive "huff" as her diaphragm took the hit. Grace tried to rise but was struck down by Macen's right fist. Her vision starred as her brain sloshed about in her skull.

Desperately, Grace pulled her Attuner out her pocket and wielded it like a remote control, aiming it at Macen. She depressed the activation stud but other than a flash of some indicator lights, nothing happened. Macen kicked the Attuner out of her hand and it skidded down the corridor.

Grace fumbled for her phaser but Macen beat her to the draw, "Do it and I'll kill you where you lay."

Grace released her grip on the phaser and wiped the blood profusely streaming from her nose, "Can I visit the EMH?"

"No." Macen's voice was colder than she'd ever heard it before, "You will unstrap that gunbelt, liberate the crew, and then you'll go to the brig."

"Captain," Grace pleaded, wiping her nose again, "I was summoned by the Commander of the Kelvan Scouts. They requested an immediate meeting with you. You're to be an example of an Alpha Quadrant dweller."

"If you hadn't noticed, we're busy." Macen's voice was glacial, "Now unhook that gunbelt, drop it, and kick it away."

Grace sniffled and unbuckled her holster/utility belt. She kicked it away and tried once more to reason with Macen, "It wasn't personal. You just wouldn't have come…"

"It was personal!" Macen yelled, "All the other things you've done have been on the periphery but this, this was done to me."

"It wasn't like that!" Grace blubbered and then whimpered as Macen placed the barrel of his phaser to her head and pressed it up against the bulkhead.

"It was like this." Macen was utterly devoid of emotion now, "The only thing keeping me from pulling this trigger is the loyal service you showed for six years. You pulled that trigger. You took aim at my crew, at me and you pulled the damned trigger."

"I'm the only one that can liberate everyone." Grace said a tad smugly.

"Think about it." Macen said dryly, "I'm running around free. Why didn't your Attuner affect me?"

"I don't know." Grace wiped her nose, fear returning to her eyes.

"Your Attuner only affects things you know about." Macen continued in the same emotionless inflection that had dominated his speech since their fight. Hah! Grace thought bitterly, Since I took a beating.

"I'm an El-Aurian." Macen reminded her, "That means I'm more than a long-lived human. I exist between realities. I'm largely anchored in this realm for now, but I also reside elsewhere. I'm beyond your conception of a lifeform. The closest creatures to us are the Q. Figure them out."

Macen shrugged diffidently, "I'm willing to lay odds that I can make your Attuner work."

Grace shook her head, "It requires a degree of focus…"

"I can be very focused when I need to be." Macen said simply, "I'll offer you a trade. I'll spare your life if you free the crew."

"You can't just kill me!"

"I'm not Starfleet. I could toss you out an airlock and no one would say much about it. Not after this fiasco."

Grace slumped in defeat, "Can I retrieve my Attuner?"

"Touch that gunbelt and you will die." the certainty in his voice convinced her not to try it.

Grace picked up the Attuner and returned to her place against the bulkhead, "I'm ready."

"Remember, we're close enough I can sense even your emotions. I'll be ready for any tricks."

"No tricks." Grace muttered than depressed the activation stud. Macen snatched the Attuner out of her hand and placed it in his pocket. He waved towards the Sickbay doors with his phaser.

"Inside."

The doors hissed open and Grace stumbled through the threshold, shoved by Macen. Inside, Kort was bellowing, "What's that godsforsaken EMH doing on and what's wrong with all the chronometers?"

"Here's the source of your ills." Macen declared, waving his phaser at a defeated Grace.

Kort took one look at her and ushered her to a biobed. Macen, meanwhile, called Radil at the Security office.

"Jenrya, gather up a couple of your officers and report to Sickbay."

"Gotcha." Radil replied, "What happens then?"

"You take Hannah Grace into custody and escort her to the brig."

"Right. I've just got two questions: has she been stripped of that damn Attuner of hers?"

"Yup."

"And, are you still in your 'kill or be killed' mode?"

"Yes. What's it matter?"

"Just trying to figure out how many pieces she's in."

"Kort's tending to her now."

"Not much of an improvement then." Radil said dryly.

"Just get here double time." Macen ordered.

"We're on our way."

Macen's comm badge began chirping and he tapped it to life, "Macen here."

"Dracas." The Chief said in surly tone, "Can you explain why we lost twenty-six minutes of our lives and why someone tore the holy hell out of my matter/antimatter flow regulator?"

"Grace was responsible for the former," Macen answered, "and I did the latter. Sorry, but I had to find a way of slowing her down while she was trying to Shanghai the ship."

"Knew we should've never trusted her after the Section 31 thing."

Macen pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, "That's behind us, Chief. Recriminations are pretty useless at this point."

"`Specially when they're aimed at you, eh?"

"Grace was my responsibility. I misjudged her." Macen admitted, "Now we need to move forward."

"That'll take an hour or so." Dracas reported, "You frinxed us good."

The Security detail arrived just in time for Kort to finish ministering to Grace's wounds. She sported several livid bruises and a split lip but her nose was no longer bleeding. She was also breathing easier. Macen approached Kort as Radil and the detail marched Grace off, wrists in binders and head hung low.

"So, how bad was it?" Macen asked.

"I healed a broken nose, several loose teeth, two broken ribs and a bruised diaphragm." Kort reported, "I left the dermal bruising to give her something to think about."

"Whatever happened to the Klingon credo of wearing your scars?"

Kort snorted, "I've been corrupted by you weak-kneed Federation types."

"And here we were just getting used to your gruff bedside manner." Macen grinned for the first time since Grace immobilised the crew.

"That won't change so you'd better be used to it." the Klingon physician paused then assumed a philosophical air, "You know, I can empathise with that poor girl."

Macen's grin vanished, "Poor girl?"

"She's of two worlds." Kort explained, "I can relate to that. I haven't been in the Empire in over ten years yet I am still a loyal Klingon citizen. I have found new allegiances here but in my heart I shall always be Klingon. Grace is the same way. In her heart of hearts, she is a patriotic Kelvan. It's why she gravitated towards you and T'Kir. You're both children of divided cultures. T'Kir's bred of both the Vulcans and Romulans. You're an orphan of the Delta Quadrant who found a home here in the Alpha Quadrant. You're still a Delta at heart rather than an Alpha. This what makes you the thinker and leader you are."

"Perhaps," Macen relented, "but she could have found a better way of fulfilling her duty to her people. A request to divert would have been nice, rather than an attempted kidnapping."

"Still," Kort mused, "it was a hell of a beating you gave her."

Macen released a heavy sigh, "I was ready to kill her. Only my doubts as to whether or not I could successfully use her Attuner stayed my hand."

"It showed." Kort said softly, "As do the fruits of your workouts with Rab Daggit. When we clashed at our first meeting, you were nowhere near as deadly or powerful."

"We become what we need to be." Macen replied, "Our lifestyle doesn't exactly engender safe living conditions."

"Neither does it yield danger at every turn." Kort said sagely, "It's just a thought."

"When did you become so wise?" Macen asked incredulously.

"Sobriety helps." Kort admitted, then shrugged, "Plus I'm the ship's Chief Medical Officer as well as the Medical Specialist for the Investigative team, it is all part of the job description."

Macen clapped Kort on the shoulder, "I like the new you. Maybe we can talk again later."

"My doors are open." Kort assured him.

On the bridge, the situation was swiftly devolving into pandemonium. Daggit had tackled an empty chair. Riker was waving his phaser about, searching for Grace. Deirdre emerged alone from the Ready Room and Ryst went orbital. She pulled her weapon free and demanded that Riker drop his phaser. Daggit was next.

"Where is he?" Ryst demanded of Deirdre, "Where's Macen."

T'Kir, who'd perused the status of the computer, tried to calm Ryst, "There's been an attempt to take over the ship. That probably accounts for the span of time we can't recall. We seem t'have been immobilised somehow." Grace's absence combined with the computer lockdown and the unexplained phenomenon of the paralysis all pointed towards a conclusion T'Kir didn't want to reach.

"It's a trick!" Ryst shouted, "Macen's planning on betraying the Maquis! If you want to live, bring him to me now!"

"Oh, shut up." T'Kir said impatiently and Ryst collapsed as though someone had turned off an internal switch.

"Good work." Riker said as he stooped to retrieve his phaser, "How long will she be out?"

"About five hours." T'Kir revealed, "I could make it longer."

Riker chuckled, "I think that's long enough." He tapped his comm badge, "Riker to Security."

"Deputy Collins here." a young sounding female voice replied.

"Where's Chief Radil?"

"On an apprehension and detention in Sickbay. That's all I know, sir."

"How many more do you have on your watch?"

"Two, sir, excluding myself."

"Well, dispatch them to the bridge. We have a pick up headed for the brig."

"Will two officers be sufficient?"

"I'd hope so. The detainee is unconscious."

"Oh." Collins sounded disappointed. Riker supposed it was only fair. Other than the Investigative team, the rest of the crew didn't see much action. "The two officers are on their way. Can I help you with anything else?"

"No thank you." Riker replied, "I'd just have to say that Radil chose the right deputy."

"Thank you, sir." you could hear the pride in her voice as she closed the circuit.

The Security officers had finished disarming Ryst and were lifting her off the deck when the turbolift disgorged Macen, "Exciting times?"

T'Kir shook her head and tightly hugged him, "Glad to see you're in one piece. I take it the computer lock out worked like predicted?"

"It was perfect." Macen grinned, "Another brilliant piece of work."

T'Kir nodded but did not smile, "Was it Hannah?"

Macen sombrely nodded, "We apparently have a date with the Kelvan High Command and she was afraid we'd decline the invitation."

"Would we?"

"We would have postponed until our current mission was concluded."

"So, in essence, she was right." T'Kir's eyebrow arched.

Macen sighed, "Now's not the time to debate this. Take it up with me in our quarters tonight."

"You've a date. Can I see her?"

"She's in the brig." he jerked his head towards the turbolift.

"Thanks." T'Kir said and kissed him on the cheek.

"You may change your mind when you see her." Macen warned.

T'Kir frowned but refrained from comment. As she neared the `lift, Parva called out for her to hold the lift.

"Where are you going?" Macen asked.

"Chief Dracas has requested my presence down in Engineering. Apparently someone decided to destroy the matter/antimatter flow regulator." she said challengingly.

"Everybody's a critic." Macen muttered as the two women stepped into the lift.

Deirdre cleared her throat and Macen turned towards her, "Let me take care of a few things in my office and then I'll call you in, okay?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

Deirdre shrugged, "Then it's okay."

Once inside the seclusion of his Ready Room, Macen called upon the computer, "Computer, release code Beta Alpha Delta zed zero zed zero zed seven."

"Computer parameters have been restored to normal." the computer announced.

Macen sat down behind his desk and tapped the comm badge on his belt, "Macen to Armstrong, you can come in now." He triggered the door to open and Deirdre entered.

"You mind explaining to me just what the hell just happened?" she demanded.

"It's rather complicated." Macen said.

"Try me." Deirdre commanded.

Macen shrugged, "Here's the simple version: the young woman you met as our Chief Flight Operations Officer isn't human despite appearances to the contrary."

"Rather like you." Deirdre dryly remarked.

"Something like that." Macen conceded, "Only in this case, her people are from another galaxy. They can't exist in this galaxy without assuming a native form. The first galactic natives they encountered were some human settlers out on the rim."

"So they became human." Deirdre made the next logical conclusion.

"For the most part." Macen supplied, "These events occurred under James Kirk's watch. That group of extragalactic settlers sent a signal back home and colonised a small world out on the rim of the galaxy. That world just happens to be in the Alpha Quadrant."

"Enough with the history." Deirdre insisted, "What's this have to do with the events of the last hour?"

"In the last hour, Grace received a signal from her people." Macen revealed, "The second wave of colonists arrived and they want to meet us."

"So this required paralysing us and stealing the ship?"

"Hannah knew that I'd refuse to abandon our current mission, so she took steps to circumvent the decision making process." Macen divulged.

"Yet you proved to be immune to her technology." Deirdre supplied, "Care to comment on that?"

"No." Macen's stance was firm.

"Somehow I thought you'd say that."

"You were correct."

"So now what?"

"We continue on to Kendra and complete our survey."

"Simple as that?"

"Pretty much."

"What if these people want to chat with you so badly they track you down?"

"Then we deal with them if that time comes."

Deirdre whistled, "Pretty interesting life you lead."

Macen shook his head, "You don't know the half of it. Now, if we could vacate these premises, I have some further crisis management to conduct."

"Not a problem."

Once out on the bridge, Macen acknowledged Shervarhia'annderi's presence at the helm, "Rhiann, lay in a course for Kendra. Engage at warp 8 as soon as Chief Dracas clears us for warp speed."

"Aye, sir." the Andorian pilot replied in a clear soprano.

Satisfied, Macen hit his comm badge, "Commander Forger, please report to the bridge."

A drowsy, "Yessir." came back over the line.

Riker grinned, "Nice to see someone wasn't affected by the recent disturbances."

"Tom, when she arrives I want you to convene a meeting with the shuttle pilots we have on staff. See if any of them are qualified to pilot a starship."

"They should all be."

"That's simulator time." Macen said, "I want to know if anyone has any real experience at the helm. Just in case."

"Just in case? We're down a helmswoman. What kind of 'just in case' could you be talking about unless you're planning on…you wouldn't?"

"All I can say for certain is that I'm about to have a huge fight with my wife." Macen said sadly but resolutely, "You, on the other hand, are going to start reviewing dossiers as soon as Shannon arrives to relieve you."

Macen moved towards the turbolift and Riker called out, "Good luck."

"Thanks." Macen replied and then muttered, "I'll need all I can get."