179
"I must say, I truly appreciate your increased spirit of co-operation." Arinea flashed a brilliant smile. Her chin rested upon her laced fingers and her eyes held Tom's in thrall, "It's refreshing to see after your months of oppositional behaviour."
"It's a lot easier to co-operate now that the more invasive procedures are over." Riker grinned in return. What surprised him was that they words rang true. Ever since he'd come to the personal attention of the Director of this facility and they'd begun to have daily contact, his attitude towards ongoing resistance had shifted somewhat.
If asked, Riker would have willingly confessed that he was beguiled by Arinea's charm and personality. She'd been fascinated by the tale of his life. Her only oddity seemed to be her utter fascination with Riker's association with Brin Macen. She'd delved deeply into his perspective and insights into the other man. At first it had merely been a curious tendency, now it was a trait that evoked jealousy.
Riker and Arinea were currently seated in the facility's commissary. Nearly a dozen Special Forces personnel were there as well. There were also representatives of the scientists in their white coveralls and the black garbed security forces that he'd initially encountered upon his arrival here. All the others gave Riker and the imminent Director a wide berth.
That was until Gideon Weisz approached and came to a very stiff "at ease" next to their table, "Director, we need to talk."
"So speak." Arinea smiled lazily at him.
Weisz remained unfazed, "In private, ma'am. It's important."
"Oh, very well." Arinea sighed and returned her focus to Riker, "I'm sorry our time today has to be shortened. I look forward to tomorrow's rendezvous."
"As do I." Riker confessed.
Arinea bestowed a brilliant, heart breaking smile upon him and summoned his escort. The two darkly clad Section 31 agents approached and silently stood by.
"Finish your meal, Tom. They'll wait all day if necessary." Arinea assured him with a squeeze of his arm. With that said, she exited the commissary in the company of Weisz. They navigated the labyrinthine corridors of the complex in silence until they reached her office. She keyed in her access and opened the door. Weisz followed in her wake as she entered and headed for her desk. She motioned for him to take one of the chairs laid out before the bureau.
Arinea stretched back in her chair, steepled her fingers, and wantonly played at her lower lip. When she spoke, all the warmth and honey that she had displayed in the commissary was absent, replaced by a cold precision, "How can I assist you, Commodore?"
"I merely have a few security concerns that I feel we should discuss before they pose a problem." Weisz answered.
"Oh, really?" Arinea arched an eyebrow, "And what exactly may these be?"
"Mr. Riker for one." Weisz confessed, "His increased mobility could prove problematic if he were to encounter our other 'guest'."
"Let me see if I have this straight," Arinea said incredulously, "when you first arrive, you object to my treatment of Mr. Riker as 'barbaric' and 'criminal'. Now that I'm giving him what you would consider humane treatment, you again have an objection."
"Well, of course I'm happy to see his conditions improve, but I never imagined you'd give him the run of the base." Weisz replied somewhat irritably.
"I've hardly given him 'the run of the base'." Arinea coldly clarified, "And if you believe for one moment that you influenced my decision to change tactics regarding Riker, think again. The standard interrogative methods were getting us nowhere. His time amongst the Cardassians hardened him to conventional influences. However, both his file and that of his 'twin' indicated that he was something of a womaniser. I chose to employ that tack. Furthermore, I opted to engage Riker myself since I knew my capabilities and had no idea of throwing one of my hapless researchers into a situation that may easily overwhelm them."
"You far more mercenary than I gave you credit for." Weisz admitted.
Arinea broke into a lopsided smile, the first genuine smile that had been seen from her in weeks. She nodded her head in acknowledgement, "Thank you, you're too kind."
"How are your negotiations with the President going?" Arinea asked suddenly.
"The usual delaying tactics." Weisz shrugged, "They're trying to buy time for one of the scattered starships to pick up our trail. They've assembled an attack squadron in the heart of the Federation to be deployed to wherever we're discovered to be."
"So no threats of imminent discovery?"
"The two closest starships are the Defiant and the T'Pol. My contacts indicate they are several sectors away from discovering us, even with Cardassian assistance." Weisz revealed.
"How good are your sources?"
"I'm obviously trusting them with my life, so I'd say they're pretty damned good."
Arinea nodded again, apparently satisfied, "That they survived the initial purge of the Special Forces ranks is an encouraging sign."
Weisz pursed his lips at this obvious reminder that Arinea had excellent sources of her own. Theirs was an alliance of convenience. Neither approved of the methods nor the motives of the other, all that mattered was that they both sought similar results. As long as this remained true, they would remain united.
The Outbound Ventures crew re-materialised on the surface of the secondary moon of Gwendyr VI. It was a rugged, barren terrain. The laboratory complex's entrance was built directly into the rock face of the slope of an extinct volcano. The facility itself was constructed within the lava tubes that riddled the mountain.
The first sound any of the team members heard was Daggit racking the slide action pump of his grenade launcher, chambering a round. They then broke up and sought cover. Boulders lay strewn about the landscape. Rock outcroppings also stretched forth from the mountain's slope. It was behind these natural barriers that the SID unit found shelter from the line of fire stemming from the base's entrance.
Macen was crouched behind a large rock. He held his phaser pistol in a two-handed grip, squarely aimed at the entrance. Across the landscape, the rest of the squad did likewise. The only exception was T'Kir.
T'Kir was crouched beside Macen. She held her phaser with her elbow bent, aimed at the sky. In her right hand, she held an active tricorder. She intently studied its various read-outs and displays. When she folded the device shut, she wore a buoyant smile.
"The door relies upon a simple electromagnetic spectrum sensor as its security alarm. The lock is a standard Cardassian cipher sequenced tumbler augmented with a Starfleet Security encrypter. Should be a piece of cake to spoof." she happily reported.
"They're relying upon their location as their primary defence." Macen observed, "That'll work to our advantage. They won't be expecting an uninvited rescue party. How soon can you begin jamming their sensors?"
"I'll fool their sensors into believing we're 'ghosts' in less then ten minutes." T'Kir replied confidently. In the end, it actually took twenty-two minutes. Next, Macen and T'Kir ran to the entrance door. Macen stood vigil over her while she utilised her second tricorder to insert a virus into the locking mechanism. This procedure did take less then ten minutes. The door cycled aside like a giant gear rolling out of the way.
Radil had come up behind Macen and T'Kir and took point as the door opened. Using the targeting sensors on her cannon, she utilised her Heads Up Display eyewear to survey the walkway stretching before them. A central catwalk proceeded straight ahead for a hundred metres then angled off to follow the catacomb tunnel they were entering. To either side of the walkway were "floor" to "ceiling" cylindrical vats intended to hold a vast quantity of some material. Macen pushed ahead to examine the labelling on one of the vats as the team spread out up and down the catwalk.
The label was written in both the Gamma Quadrant born script of the Dominion and Cardassian. Macen frowned, "Ketracel-white. Vats of the frinxing stuff. This bodes ill."
"How ill?" T'Kir asked, her ebullience fading.
"I don't know yet." Macen admitted, "By the time I do, it may be too late."
"Joy." T'Kir remarked sarcastically.
"Aren't you happy you came?" Macen managed to tease.
"Always." T'Kir replied smartly, but managed to actually mean it despite her sense of foreboding.
"Have you noticed the air?" Kort asked from his position across the way.
T'Kir sniffed as Macen shrugged, "It's fresher than it should be. Cardassian air scrubbers leave behind a tangy sourness. This smells like the work of Federation equipment. The only extra permeating scents are those of volcanic rock and soil."
Kort nodded, "Exactly."
"It's also the heat." Danan remarked from behind their position, "It's been lowered from Cardassian norms to human standards."
"Just another indication that they're here to stay." Macen commented, "C'mon, let's move out."
"Chief, how we doing down there?" Kirk asked via the intercom.
"The same as we were ten minutes ago when you asked." Dracas replied testily, "All of my equipment is fully functional."
Chastised, Kirk squeaked a, "Sorry." before closing the circuit. She rose from the command chair and took up position beside Grace, "Any sign that they've detected us?"
"Nope." Grace said as she re-checked her sensors, "Despite the fact that they're banging away with their active sensors, we're in their baffles, sheltered from their main sensor arrays. There is a chance they'd detect us if they fired up their impulse engines. Given our proximity to their estimated plasma exhaust, we'd absorb a great deal of heat from their impulse drivers. The heat plume we'd shed would be 'visible' even if every other aspect of the ship were cloaked."
"You have my permission to lob a couple of torpedoes up their engine baffles if they begin to prep their impulse engines." Kirk ordered.
Grace grinned, "Already programmed and auto-sequenced."
Kirk squeezed her shoulder, "I'd put you up for a commendation but its not like we're truly part of any fleet."
"Just tell the Captain." Grace requested, "That'll be enough."
"You've got it."
The extraction team had followed the twists and turns of the entrance tunnel until they reached the threshold of a large cavernous space. Macen went forward to see what the situation was. Hugging the rock "wall" and clinging to the shadows, he narrowly avoided discovery by a Special Forces trooper standing guard. The area itself possessed three hollowed out pockets that were converted into individual workspaces. These spaces were filled with equipment. It appeared scientific in nature. Unbeknownst to Macen, it was from this location that Tom Riker had transmitted his fateful SOS.
Macen slid back down the corridor to where the rest of the team anxiously waited. Macen motioned for Kort to come forward and pressed his fingers to his neck. Kort nodded in understanding and passed his phaser rifle to Danan. Radil moved forward with Kort. She stopped and took up position in a minor indentation in the tunnel's face. Kort crept into the rotunda between the labs.
Kort tread lightly, not daring to breath or make the slightest sound. His hand hovered over his phaser pistol as he stole ever closer to his target. His other hand withdrew a hypo from his vest pocket. He held it poised as he closed the distance between himself and the Special Forces soldier.
As though alerted by a sixth sense, the SF soldier turned suddenly and faced Kort. Kort rushed forward to meet him. Radil stepped out of her hiding spot but was unable to acquire a clear shot due to the proximity of the two combatants.
Kort quickly took hold of the sentry's pulse rifle with his free hand. The trooper swung the rifle butt upwards in an arc intended to connect with Kort's prominent jaw. Kort stepped back, evading the attack but he had to relinquish control of the rifle's barrel. The soldier attempted to aim at Kort's chest but the Klingon was already on the move.
Kort jumped forward, shoulder checking the Special Forces guard. The Bolian was thrown off balance and Kort made his move. He disarmed the trooper with a savage chop across the arms. Kort then drove his knee into the renegade Starfleet officer's stomach. Propping up the assailed sentry, Kort pressed the hypo to his neck.
The Bolian slumped in his arms and Kort waved his comrades forward. Radil paused, released a heated sigh and said, "That's my man."
Radil led the team into the rotunda. There were two other tunnels exiting the cavern. There were also the apparent lab facilities. Macen opted to deal with both at once.
"Daggit, Radil, pick a tunnel and guard it. Kort, stash the guard you incapacitated and then stand watch over the entrance tunnel. We know no one can beam through the kelbanite veins in the rock walls but they can easily beam down to the entrance and come up behind us." Macen ordered, "Lees, now's when you use your expertise to determine what this equipment is and what they've been using it for. T'Kir, you're with her. Unlock the computer systems so she can access the scientists' notes and models. I know there's some friction between you two right now but you're going to do your best to resolve your differences for the sake of the mission. Hate each other on your own time."
Thoroughly chastised, the pair separated and went to different lab modules. Macen went to Radil's position and took out his tricorder. He scanned down the corridor. After studying the results, he went to Daggit's holding and did the same.
"Well, that settles that." Macen frowned, "This route leads towards a higher concentration of lifesigns."
"Including our targets?" Daggit asked.
"There's no way to know." Macen shrugged.
"Then I'd suggest we go with the path of least resistance and do everything in our power to preserve the element of surprise."
"I agree." Macen nodded.
"I'm telling you, both our forces need to be hyper-vigilant." Arinea stressed, "Each day that passes brings Brin Macen closer to discovering us."
"I thought we'd just agreed that Starfleet posed no immediate threat to us." Weisz sighed.
"Starfleet doesn't." Arinea agreed, "Macen isn't Starfleet. Section 31 has extensive files on him. His list of accomplishments are quite impressive, and occasionally frustrating for my patrons."
Arinea squirmed slightly as she confessed, "I've had had more than a few dealings with the man myself. He can seem more a force of nature than a man. We need to be careful."
"I'll take it under advisement." Weisz replied dryly, "I've heard of this Macen as well. He was compelled to leave Starfleet. He is reckless and headstrong. He'd never manage to penetrate our security, even if he managed to uncover our location."
Arinea narrowed her crystalline eyes, "My personal experiences with the man paints a far different picture, as do Tom Riker's accounts."
She leaned back and took a sip of her spring wine, "However, I leave the matter to your discretion."
Weisz swirled his Saurian brandy, then inquired, "You've mentioned having some experience with this Macen. Could I ask what kind of experience you've had?"
Arinea's laughter was earthy and sensual, "I most certainly do not think so."
"Then answer me this: will it aid us in defeating him?"
Her smile was predatory, "Of that, you can be assured."
"Enough said." Weisz raised his glass in a toast.
"Brin, we may have found something." Danan called out.
Macen joined Danan and T'Kir in the lab module where they were working at a computer station. Multiple read-outs were active, displaying different tracks of research.
"First off," Danan began, "let me begin by giving you an overview of what we've found. First off is this equipment. Most of it is general variety sensor table style hardware. This particular bed behind us is special, it's a biomolecular scanner. Its this particular item that caught my attention."
"The computer records T'Kir tapped into were both revealing and invaluable." Danan explained, "They've been utilising the molecular scanner to perform multiple examinations of Tom's cellular structure, right down to the quantum level."
Danan's eyes locked in on Macen's, "Brin, I think they're trying to duplicate the incident that created two Rikers."
"But why?" Macen asked, slightly stunned.
Danan swallowed before answering, "The files are all attached to a weapons program designed to augment troop replenishments in a renewed conflict against the Jem'Hadar."
Macen's eyes hardened and blazed with artic fury, dispassionately he asked, "Did these tests harm Tom?"
"No." Danan was relieved to reply, "But they had reached the end of their experiments. The results were inconclusive. Tom was slated to become a permanent "guest" of the facility until such time as relocation was deemed necessary."
"Well," Macen said through clenched teeth, "that's not going to happen. Wrap up in here. We're moving out in five minutes." With that said he stepped back out into the rotunda.
Danan glanced over towards T'Kir, "He certainly took that well. He seems to have grown cold as ice rather than get all hot-headed."
T'Kir shook her head, "You've got it wrong. He's more dangerous when he's like this, not less. He's rational, but utterly, relentlessly merciless."
"God help us." Danan whispered.
T'Kir's sensitive ears picked up the invocation, "I think we'd like God on our side right now."
Radil returned to point. She led the way down the tunnel she'd guarded. Daggit followed her. Macen came next quickly followed by T'Kir. Danan held back a couple of metres. Kort held the rear.
The tunnel slowly curved to the right before emptying into another large cavern. A Cardassian style fusion reactor filled the space. T'Kir flipped open her tricorder and risked a scan. After a moment, she held up three fingers. Daggit nodded and passed his grenade launcher to T'Kir, who then moved it along to Danan.
Macen, T'Kir and Daggit emerged from the tunnel's entrance. Radil stood poised to rush in and assist. T'Kir pointed upwards to the second tier of the scaffolding and monitors banks surrounding the reactor. Daggit took hold of the outer lattice comprising the scaffolding and began to climb.
Macen and T'Kir split up and started down the rows of equipment and conduits that led to the reactor control booth where the other two engineers monitored the station's power source. The two engineers consisted of a Trill and a Bajoran. They were oblivious to their surroundings, focused entirely on their read-outs and their conversation.
Suddenly the Trill's head jerked, "Did you hear that?"
The Bajoran listened then shook his head, "No. I didn't hear anything."
"I could've sworn I heard…" she cocked her head to one side, "There! Didn't you hear that?"
"You've been in Section 31 too long." the Bajoran joked, "You're imagining threats coming from everywhere."
"I'm checking this out." she insisted, "Stay here if you want."
"Fine. I will."
The Trill descended down the two steps separating their platform from the ground and cautiously began down one of the pathways that led to the main walkway that bisected the cavern. She paused every metre or so to look and listen. She froze as she thought she heard rustling coming from her right. She slowly crept closer to where she thought the noise stemmed from. She hated the thought of running into a large Cardassian vole. They'd spent months after claiming the base chasing the seemingly unkillable vermin.
The engineer slipped a torch from her pocket and switched it on. She spun the corner around a cluster of conduits and shone the torch towards her intended victim. Only, there was nothing there. Unfortunately, a hand clamped itself over her mouth and an arm hooked around her head. Her mysterious assailant began applying pressure, cutting off blood to her brain. She blacked out as her brain screamed out for oxygen.
Macen released his grip and gently lowered the engineer to the floor. Although she bore allegiance to Section 31, by her co-worker's own admission, she did not own any part of what had happened to Tom Riker. She was only guilty of poor judgement and bad associations. There was no need to kill her, as Macen had been tempted to do.
Meanwhile, T'Kir strolled up to the control platform and walked up the two steps. She came to a halt behind the Bajoran.
"So, did you find your gremlins?" he laughed.
Silence was his only answer. He swivelled his chair around to face his unrepentantly hesitant partner. To his surprise, she wasn't standing there. Instead, a strangely garbed, heavily armed Vulcan stood watching him. Then she did the eeriest thing he'd ever seen: she smiled.
He opened his mouth to shout an alert to their third teammate but her hand snaked out faster than the eye could follow and took hold of the nerve cluster at the base of his neck. One deft squeeze and he was out. He started to slump forward in his chair but T'Kir caught him and resettled him. Now he looked as though he were slumped down trying to sleep.
The third engineering technician finished taking his readings and moved to the end of his catwalk. From there, he could see past the reactor housing down to the control booth. He saw his Bajoran co-worker slack in his chair and both Macen and T'Kir standing before him. He turned to run back to the first monitor bank in order to trigger the general alarm. What he encountered instead was a perfectly executed backspin kick from Daggit. The technician found himself knocked off his feet, hitting his head on the railing on the way down, driving him into unconsciousness.
Daggit stepped over the techs still form and gave Macen a thumb's up. Macen murmured instructions to T'Kir and she headed out for the central walkway. Upon arrival, she signalled Radil to get the team moving onward.
Radil traversed the whole of the cavern with a purposeful stride, her cannon squarely aimed at the mouth of the adjoining tunnel. Daggit rejoined the main group and retrieved his launcher from Danan's possession. Daggit assumed the rearguard position while Danan and Kort followed T'Kir back to the reactor area. Once there, Macen briefed them as to their particular assignments.
Kort was to sedate the three Section 31 support personnel so that they wouldn't recover within the hour and raise the alarm. Danan was to determine the reactor's vulnerabilities. T'Kir was to write a tapeworm program that could be remotely activated, initiating a cascading shutdown of the power core. This plan contingency took roughly thirty minutes to prepare.
On the move again, the team came to an interconnecting tunnel. T'Kir once again risked using active sensors within the compound. Thankfully, she got away with it one more time. The new outcropping tunnel led to a high concentration of lifesigns and EM signatures. The "original" tunnel stretched onwards for several kilometres before ending abruptly. The scans indicated a large cavern dominated by a massive mound of volcanic rock at its heart.
"Looks like we're changing direction." Macen said in consultation with Daggit.
"I concur." Daggit replied grimly, "We'd best get prepared for some organised resistance."
"Unfortunately." Macen said sourly as he nodded in agreement.
The next "room" they encountered appeared to oddly deserted. It was a locker/equipment room of some sort. The room was two tiered, with several sets of stairs leading up to the upper veranda. The upper deck encircled the lower area and stretched back an unknown distance.
Radil crossed the room and waited for her teammates to follow suit. They did so following the usual arrangement. Radil entered the tunnel and proceeded down it. She was nearing the tunnel's exit when a Special Forces trooper suddenly appeared in the tunnel's entrance. His eyes widened and his hand went for his phaser.
Radil released a pulse blast that caught him squarely in the chest. Alarms began to sound. Macen ordered her to push on to the tunnel entrance. She arrived only to have to pull her head back from a hail of pulsed phaser fire. She exchanged a few shots with the assembled Special Forces troops before withdrawing.
"It's too hot!" she informed Macen.
"Let's pull back and try again from the initial entrance." Macen decided, "You two, cover our withdrawal. Kort! You're now on point."
"Qa'pla!" Kort bellowed and moved "forward".
The team remained spread out as before. Radil began to lay down a barrage of suppressive fire intended to keep the Special Forces personnel from daring to enter the tunnel. Daggit brought the grenade launcher to his shoulder and fired. The weapon discharged with a THOOM.
A miniaturised photon torpedo fired from the launcher and headed down the tunnel towards the opposition. The pursuing troopers dove for the deck and the grenade passed overhead. It exited the tunnel and slammed against an equipment bank constructed in the adjoining cavern. The grenade's outer casing shattered, releasing the antimatter stored within its housing. The resultant explosion, although controlled, was still spectacular,
Daggit "pumped" another round into his launcher's chamber. The Special Forces personnel on the ground stayed there a moment longer, now knowing what they faced. Radil kept her weapon trained at the prone men and women, alert to any hint of movement.
Kort reached the equipment room and cautiously entered into with his rifle poised and ready. Danan followed him, covering the right side of the room while he covered the left. Macen and T'Kir entered and began to keep their pistols drawn on the upper veranda. Daggit exited, still focused on the tunnel. Radil moved out of the tunnel and slid to the side of the entrance, where she could still target any attempt to pursue the team.
A Special Forces trooper suddenly appeared from the left and fired at Kort. She was supported by two of her comrades. Kort opened fire in return. Danan shifted her aim and cut down one of the Special Forces soldiers. Kort nailed another, leaving the third. She reached for a stun grenade but was brought up short by suddenly finding the barrel of Kort's rifle pressed against her head.
"Yield." He growled.
Her hands spread out from her sides and her rifle clattered to the floor. Overhead, the sound of approaching feet could be heard. Kort chopped the base of the Special Forces woman's neck, knocking her unconscious. He added to the effect by shooting her while she was down. Kort may have been proud, but he didn't want to risk getting shot in the back because he failed to properly immobilise an enemy.
He started back towards the other tunnel entrance when he heard shouts. Kort signalled for Danan to seek cover and did so himself. Troops began to spill forth from the entranceway. Kort and Danan opened fire on them, stunning most of the first wave. Next, phaser fire began raining down from the veranda. Macen and T'Kir exuberantly returned fire but they were woefully outnumbered.
Daggit turned from supporting Radil and lobbed a shell across the room at the rearmost deck of the veranda. The three gunmen trying to set up a firing position there scattered. The grenade shattered the veranda and a section of it swung down, teetering over the entrance to the tunnel, effectively blocking it. Daggit racked another round into the chamber of his launcher and sought another target.
Kort swore as the separated veranda section fell before the tunnel's mouth. His intended route was cut off. A near miss from a hostile phaser blast redirected his focus. He swung his rifle upward and began firing at the Special Forces cadre surrounding them on the veranda. Danan followed his example. This took the brunt off of Macen and T'Kir.
Daggit fired another round at the upper deck. The round merely split the metal decking in half. No pieces detached this time. It did force all of the Special Forces troopers that had been employing that position to re-deploy.
The firefight continued unabated until a lone voice called out for a cessation of hostilities. Commodore Weisz had arrived and he ordered his people to cease-fire and stand down. Weisz surveyed the scene below him and shook his head. He found it painfully hard to believe that a half a dozen sentients had inflicted this much damage on his forces.
"Identify yourselves." Weisz commanded.
Macen lowered his pistol and stepped out into the open, "Commander Brin Macen, Starfleet Special Investigations Division, Commodore. I'm here to liberate your prisoner and to place you under arrest."
Weisz almost did a double take upon hearing the name of the opposition commander, "They said you'd retired, Commander."
"They say a lot of things, Commodore." Macen rebutted, "Most things are truths but some are not."
"Here is a truth then: I still have you outnumbered and outgunned." Weisz replied.
"Here is a truth for you, Commodore: I'm not leaving here without Tom Riker or the President's daughter. I could care less about you. You can be some starship captain's headache."
"Somehow I believe you." Weisz mused, "But that does you little good. Throw your weapons on the deck and surrender."
"You know I can't give that order." Macen replied firmly.
"Starfleet officers have been ordered to lay down arms before in the face of superior forces." Weisz reminded him, "I'll repeat myself one last time, place your weapons on the deck and surrender."
"I won't give that order." Macen vowed.
"Then you will die." Weisz promised in return, "Do not force my hand."
"You make your own decisions." Macen charged.
Weisz's eyes narrowed and he hesitated, but only for a fraction of a second, "Squads form up! Ready! Take aim…"