Chapter XI

The Enterprise manoeuvred slowly into place against one of Deep Space Nine's upper docking pylons. Mating gently with the docking clamps, in order to not disturb its badly ravaged hull further, it came to a final halt. Within moments, Geordi La Forge was in communication with the repair crews aboard DS9 and the massive task of repairing the battered hull of the starship began.

Sickbay wasn't busy at the moment, and Hedly had the room practically to herself as she lay quietly on the biobed, resting.

Beverly Crusher walked through from her office and watched the vital signs of her patient for a moment as Hedly slept. Then she realised that Hedly had opened her eyes and was looking at her. Her skin was still pale, but she had come out of shock and the phaser burn on her arm had healed quickly.

The security chief swallowed, forcing her voice into action for the first time in three hours. 'Will I be okay?'

Crusher smiled gently down at her. 'You won't be able to use your arm for a few days, Commander, but otherwise you're fine. I'll be keeping you in for observation for today, but you'll be okay to leave tomorrow.'

At that moment, the door of sickbay opened and Picard, Riker and Truper all filed in. As Truper went straight to Hedly's side, Crusher turned to face them, and her studied composure collapsed the moment she saw Picard. 'Jean-Luc!'

She rushed to him and embraced him, tears spilling from her eyes. Riker and Truper averted their gaze, whilst Picard awkwardly put his arms around her. 'Beverly,' he said, his voice gently chiding, but undertones in it told her how much he had missed her.

'Oh, I'm sorry,' she said, releasing him and taking a step back. 'I'm sorry, Captain,' she said again, trying to regain her composure.

Picard smiled at her gently. 'It's okay, Beverly. I'm all right.'

Crusher's voice became more professional, slightly chiding herself. 'I'll be the judge of that, captain. I want you to do a full check-up.'

'I feel –'

'You're malnourished, exhausted, emotionally drained and badly injured,' said Crusher. 'That's an order.'

'The symptoms?' asked Riker facetiously.

'The diagnosis,' said Crusher firmly.

Picard smiled, knowing he was beaten, and also acknowledging that what she had said was only part of it. But he had one last duty. 'Commander Hedly,' he said.

Hedly lifted her head weakly, and said, 'Aye, sir?'

Picard came to her bedside and looked down at her. 'Ghia, I wanted to thank you for what you did. You risked your life and went above and beyond the call of duty.'

Hedly smiled, slightly embarrassed. 'Sir, I would do the same again. It wasn't such a big deal.'

Picard raised an eyebrow. 'Be that as it may, Commander, I'm citing you and Commander Data for the highest order of gallantry in Starfleet. The paperwork will be done in the next day or so.'

Hedly smiled, but her expression was amazed by what Picard had said. 'Thank you, sir. How is Commander Data?'

'I think that he will be all right,' replied Picard. 'He's come through worse.'

'Geordi, I assure you, the transponder signal did not damage me.' Data was laid on a bio-bed in Engineering, with the top of his head removed. Wires trailed from his arm access port to another monitor, while Geordi waved a tricorder sensor above his head. 'I was most careful –'

'I'm sure, Data, however setting up a signal like that will cause some imbalance in your positronic matrix. I'll be the judge of whether it damaged you or not.' Geordi sighed, and set down the tricorder to look at his friend. 'You really shouldn't have done what you did.'

'It was our only choice, Geordi,' said Data. 'Only by creating a transponder signal within myself could I generate a carrier wave strong enough to punch through the bioelectrical field screening us from your sensors.'

'Yeah, well, that might be the case,' replied Geordi, 'but I've found something.'

'What?'

'The carrier wave created an imbalance in your emotion chip, Data. I'm going to have to remove it before it damages your matrix.'

'Remove my emotion chip?' Data swung himself carefully to a seated position and looked at Geordi. 'How long for?'

'I'm not sure,' replied Geordi frankly. 'It depends on how much damage there has been done to it.'

Data's face was stricken. 'How did it happen?'

'Because you set up the signal inside yourself, the positronic matrix had to use a redundant area of your brain to create the signal's resonance burst. Because you had your emotion chip deactivated, it did so inside it's structure. But the chip isn't designed to take that sort of pressure – no part of you is – and it's still carrying part of that resonance inside you.'

'What will happen if you don't?' Data's voice was no more than a whisper.

'Data, the resonance is slowly building. It's tiny at the moment, but eventually it'll disrupt your entire positronic net. That shock will kill you.'

Data nodded slowly. 'Very well,' he said quietly.

'I know how much having this chip means to you, Data,' said Geordi, his voice sorrowful. 'I know that you thought long and hard before you had it inserted into your positronic net. But I can't stand by and let it kill you.'

'I'm grateful that I have a friend like you to help me,' said Data, forcing a smile.

'We're all here for you, Data,' replied Geordi. 'The captain is back, we're one happy family again.'

Data nodded, but did not look as if he believed his friend. 'It depends on how well he lives with his memories.'

Geordi raised an eyebrow, surprised by Data's insight. Sometimes, even though he was relatively new to emotions and their impact, he could come up with the most amazing and insightful thoughts. It was almost like having a genius child. 'Come on, Data, let's get to work.'

Troi pressed the doorknocker of Picard's ready room. There was a pause, and then a voice said, 'Come in.'

Troi stepped through as the doors slid aside to find Picard sat at a small table in the corner of the room, finishing off a meal. 'Sorry, counsellor,' he said, 'but these are doctor's orders.' He took another bite.

Troi smiled. 'Don't worry,' she said, 'Beverly told me what she'd prescribed.'

'I was just amazed she didn't keep me in for observation,' remarked Picard. He indicated the couch. 'Please sit down.'

Troi did so. She watched Picard for a moment silently, until he smiled at her, and said, 'To what do I owe the pleasure?'

'I wanted to speak to you about what you've undergone in the last few days,' replied Troi.

'I do intend to make a full report to Starfleet,' said Picard. 'And to tell the rest of you. –'

'No, that's not what I meant, sir,' interrupted Troi. 'I don't want to know the mechanics, but what happened to you. There is something different about you, and I'm sure you don't need me to tell you what it is.'

Picard stared silently at her for a moment. 'Tea?' he said abruptly.

'Sorry?'

'Would you like a cup of tea?' said Picard, getting up and moving to the replicator.

Troi nodded. 'Earl Grey, please.'

Picard threw her a puzzled look before requesting the drinks. As the machine whirred quietly into life, he said, 'You don't often drink Earl Grey.'

Troi waited until he passed her the cup before replying. 'I like to share everything with those I see.'

Picard raised an eyebrow, but forbore to comment. Instead, he said, 'I assume you want to know how I recovered.' When Troi nodded silently, he smiled and said, 'You can wait, like the others.'

Troi's face clouded slightly. 'Sir –'

Picard held up a hand. 'I would prefer that we discussed how you all approached the issue of my insanity.'

Troi stared at Picard for a moment, knowing exactly what he had meant. 'Captain, we did what we felt was best –'

Picard interrupted her again. 'Please, Deanna, I'm not trying to place blame or fault anywhere. I don't know what you did to the nth degree,' he added, 'and I'm sure that whatever you did do was in what you thought were in my best interests. However, I would like to know what exactly you did.'

Troi sighed, and set down her cup on the table before her. 'Captain, when Lieutenant Thames was killed, you were completely destroyed emotionally. There was nothing any of us could do. We gave you over to the best psychiatric facilities in the Federation, and they could do nothing at all for you.'

Picard frowned. 'Then how did you heal me?'

Troi stared at Picard a moment. 'You… don't know?'

Picard shook his head. 'When my mind was restored inside the wormhole, I still had no recollection of how I was helped initially. I remember Rosanna dying on the mountain, and how I killed Admiral Nechayev, but nothing after that until I recovered enough to return to the Enterprise.'

'Why?' Troi realised suddenly what a golden opportunity this was for her. Picard was able to remember everything that had once driven him to the point of death, and could offer his own viewpoint on events that Trio had once believed she would ever discuss openly again.

'I don't know,' said Picard. 'All I can think is that my memories were so badly damaged by what had happened that I was not able to record them, even in the deepest recesses of my memory.'

'I've heard of that happening,' replied Troi thoughtfully. 'However, this is a unique case.'

'That's true.' Picard looked at his counsellor. 'Carry on.'

'When you were taken into care, we remained in orbit of the Tantalus facility as long as we could. Just a day before we were due to depart, Ambassador Spock arrived from Romulus.'

'Spock!' Picard exclaimed. 'How?'

Troi licked her lips nervously. This was a part of the story that only a few people knew. 'Ambassador Spock came to your wedding.'

'Spock wasn't invited,' replied Picard slowly. 'It would have been too dangerous for him to leave Romulus. I don't remember seeing him at the wedding.'

'He was there,' confirmed Troi. 'He spoke to me. Either way, he was the one who saved your life.'

'How?'

Troi hesitated. 'I was hoping that you might be able to tell me that, sir.'

'Don't you know?'

'No, he requested total privacy. It being Ambassador Spock, how could I refuse? I assumed, at the time, that it was a mind-meld of some variety.'

'At the time?' asked Picard, leaning forward inquisitively.

'Shortly after you came back aboard, Will came to see me. He showed me a report from Intelligence that he had been given by Admiral Drayton. It said that Spock never left Romulus.'

Picard stared at her, stunned. 'Not once? Then who the hell was in there with me?'

'I have no idea,' answered Troi honestly.

Picard leapt to his feet, face twisted in anger, as he began to pace the room, thoughts raging through his mind. Then he hesitated after doing this for a moment and spat out one word. 'Q!'

'Q?'

'It had to have been him. He's the only one who could have performed such a miracle of healing! He's been behind all of this from the first moment,' snarled Picard.

Troi had never seen him this furious before, but she also felt some of it beginning to make sense. Q would have been able to disguise himself as Spock without being detected if he so wanted. He would have been able to heal Picard's mind, if no-one else could. The only question was, 'Why?'

'There's an agenda going on that I'm not aware of,' Picard replied. 'First the Aralla, then Sisko, now Q getting involved, and it all revolves around me somehow.' He dropped down onto the seat again, anger still written into every tense line of his body, but he reined it in to focus a glare onto Troi. 'What happened then?'

'You recovered very quickly, incredibly quickly for someone who was in your situation,' replied Troi, trying for calm in the face of Picard's fury. 'There was no medical reason for your recovery. However, there was also no medical reason for your collapse into madness.'

Picard's anger began to fade as he looked back on the past. 'I said, didn't I, that I could sometimes hear her thoughts?' When Troi nodded, he continued, 'That's not normal for humans, Counsellor.'

'I still haven't been able to explain it,' replied Troi. 'All I know is that somehow the two of you were connected.'

Picard nodded. 'In the last few days, shortly after our wedding, we realised that the bond was much stronger than it had ever been. I could hear her voice in my mind all the time, understand what she said even when she didn't say it. Full telepathic communication.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' said Troi, shocked by the revelation. 'This is unique in human development –'

'We planned to,' replied Picard, almost embarrassed. 'As soon as we finished our honeymoon, we were going to tell you. But circumstances prevailed against us.' His eyes became clouded, looking back on the tragedy of his past. 'Do you realise, Counsellor, this is the first opportunity since my wedding that I have been able to talk about what happened?'

Troi nodded, her face saddened as well. But before she could say anything, Picard brought himself out of his reverie, tears shining unshed in his eyes. He looked back at Troi. 'What next?'

'We attempted to continue as normal.' Troi's voice was hushed; she could not put aside what had happened in the past as effectively as Picard. Once a memory was summoned, she could not dismiss it easily. But Picard's newly resilient mental state was allowing him the strength to do exactly that, even those memories that broke his heart. 'Admiral Drayton and I conspired to destroy all references to the past that might have jeopardised your mental state – unsuccessfully as it turned out.'

'Even to the extent of deleting Rosanna's career record?'

Troi nodded, ashamed, feeling tears sting her eyes. 'Everything to protect you.'

Picard observed pityingly for a moment. 'It wasn't worth it, Counsellor. Rosanna deserved better -'

'You wouldn't be sitting here now to make that judgement!' she suddenly exploded. 'She was dead! You were still alive! I needed to keep you here!'

Troi suddenly realised that she was shaking, sobbing, her breath coming in deep gasps for air as she dissolved into tears of bitter anger and grief. She barely felt Picard move beside her and put his arms around her in a warm embrace, holding her and letting her cry her fury away.

She calmed down slowly, her tears leeching the grief and fury of two years repressed away into the ether. Picard looked compassionately upon her. 'Are you okay?'

She nodded slowly, still clutching onto him for security, feeling safe with his body beside her. 'I'm sorry, Captain,' she said eventually. 'I've never lost control like that with anyone except Will before.'

'It's all right,' replied Picard soothingly. 'I'm sorry that I drove you that far. All I wanted to know was the truth.'

'The truth?' Troi laughed bitterly. 'It hurts so badly that I can't even think the truth any longer. What we did was what we deemed right at the time. Because we love you, Captain. We all do as your friends. We'd already lost Lieutenant Thames – we didn't want to lose you too.'

Picard nodded slowly, understanding Troi's anguish, finding himself in the unusual position of counselling the Counsellor. 'Deanna,' he said quietly, 'I am sorry for this. But part of me says that I maybe shouldn't be here. Maybe I should have been allowed an ending then.'

'I disagree,' said Troi. 'You said yourself there's a larger agenda a work behind all of this. If that's the case, and Q himself intervened in your situation, then that means somebody or something wants you alive. Look on this as an opportunity to find some answers, captain.'

Picard looked steadily into her eyes for a moment, before he nodded. 'Thank you, Counsellor. I promise, you will receive your answers soon.'

Ratek strode into the G'gerithau's transporter room. As he anticipated, Relesi was already there. She turned at his entrance, and threw him a formal salute. He quickly returned it, and said, 'Are we ready to go?'

Relesi nodded. 'We are prepared, Commander.'

Ratek and Relesi stepped onto the transporter pad. He glanced at the operator. 'Activate.'

In a shimmer of green energy, they were gone.

They rematerialised on the transporter pad in the Ops section of Deep Space Nine. Ratek felt Relesi tense up next to him. One of the Starfleet officers, tall, with a sharply angular face, turned to face him, smiling. 'Commander Ratek, I'm Fleet Captain Harris. Welcome to Deep Space Nine.'

Ratek inclined his head in greeting, and indicated Relesi. 'This is my first officer, Relesi.'

Captain Harris held out a hand as he walked towards them, showing them the turbolift. 'If you'd care to follow me,' he said.

They accompanied Harris into the turbolift. 'Briefing room,' he said, and the lift descended.

The briefing room of DS9 was only four decks down from Ops, and within a minute of beaming aboard, Ratek and Relesi found themselves confronted by ten other Starfleet officers, plus two Klingons.

The Romulans remained standing on their own as Harris called the meeting to order, and then took their seats, as did the others in the room. A moment later, a Bajoran woman joined the conference, and sat beside Harris.

Harris took a moment to observe the people in the room with him, and then began, 'I've asked you all to join me here to discuss the problem that afflicts the security of this region and the entire Alpha Quadrant. Namely this.' He pressed a key on the pad before him, and a 3-D holographic projection of the giant ship appeared above the table, rotating slowly.

Ratek examined it, suppressing the instinctive horror he felt whenever he saw that ship of death. 'Do we know anything more about it?' asked one of the officers.

'I'm afraid not, Captain Gastrovicz,' said Harris slowly. 'Although that is one reason I have invited Commander Ratek to join us. He believes the Romulan Empire may have more intelligence on this than ourselves.'

'It did come from their side of the Zone,' commented another Starfleet officer.

Ratek turned a cool glance onto the woman who had spoken. 'My superiors have given me full access to any records we possess about this ship.'

'Have you ever seen it before?'

'Until the attack on the Warbird T'Partel over Kiros, I personally had never seen any ship of this configuration.'

'Do you know of any Romulan encounter with a ship of this design?'

Ratek shook his head. 'None.'

A ripple of amusement swept through the Starfleet officers, and even Harris hid a smile. Ratek narrowed his eyes. 'I fail to find anything even remotely amusing about this encounter.'

Captain Gastrovicz leaned forward, his eyes meeting the Romulan's. All Ratek read there was scorn. 'Your own superiors are keeping you in the dark, Commander.'

'At a briefing that I held just over three weeks ago,' said Harris, 'I showed the officers here a video taken from one of your old Birds-of-Prey, Commander. It showed a Romulan attack on one of these giant ships. The footage was about a century old.'

'A Romulan fleet?' asked Relesi faintly.

Harris nodded. 'Records supplied to us indicate that one of these ships was destroyed inside the Neutral Zone.'

'Then this ship –'

'Might not be alone –'

'There were two ships, Captain Harris.'

The human and the Romulan confronting each other over the table turned to face another officer. Ratek noted that he had remained absolutely silent until now, not even joining in the laughter of earlier. This man leaned forward now, and addressed them all. 'There were two ships – one was destroyed by the Romulan fleet, this other hidden on Kiros.'

'And how do you know this, Captain?' asked Harris, his tone cool.

The captain smiled. 'You'd never believe me.'

'And you are?' asked Ratek.

'Jean-Luc Picard, USS Enterprise.'

Ratek's eyes widened as he realised he was confronting one of the legends of Starfleet. 'Forgive me, captain,' he said. 'I was under the impression that you were dead.'

'Rumours about me have been greatly exaggerated,' replied Picard. 'Well, most of them.'

'Tell us all you know,' said Harris.

Picard eyed Harris icily for a moment, and then nodded. 'What you are about to hear is classified at the highest level.'

Captain Nasone glanced at the Romulans. 'Should we be discussing this openly?' she asked.

Picard smiled thinly. 'I have permission from Admiral Drayton.' He leaned back. 'Two years ago, I was contacted by the entity known as Q. He showed me an alternate universe wherein the Alpha Quadrant was invaded by an armada of these ships.' His smile faded slightly and his face became clouded by memories. 'Believe me when I say that what we see here is not by any means the worst they have to offer.

'They're called the Aralla. They have a group consciousness, similar to that of the Borg. Their ships are massively different to our own, and also incredibly more advanced in some areas. They have one goal – to avenge themselves on the entirety of the human race.'

'Avenge?' asked Harris.

Picard nodded. 'They come from another dimension. The Borg discovered the way in to their reality many, many years ago. The Aralla were part of an alliance, one torn apart by the Borg. But the Aralla are invulnerable to assimilation. They fought back, destroyed the Borg invaders, and then began an insane rampage across their universe. Eventually, they fell upon Earth.

'But they were defeated – an event they had never prepared themselves for. Under the assault of humanity, they were reduced to a shadow of their former power. Where hundreds of thousands of these city destroyers once roamed, only a handful survived.'

All eyes were now on Picard as he told his apocalyptic tale, never doubting, even those who did not know him. 'They found a dimensional rift between our galaxies. Using technology I can't even begin to comprehend, they forced it open, and sent scouts through about one hundred years ago.

'At first, they came in force. They sent through this ship we have encountered here and another. Your footage shows that they were attacked by Romulan forces. One ship, I know, was destroyed. But we never realised what had happened to the other. I now believe that this ship escaped the destruction of it's sister ship, and hid itself on Kiros, waiting for the rest of the Aralla fleet to emerge from the other dimension.'

'Do you have any evidence to back this up?' asked Harris.

'It's the only theory that fits all the facts,' retorted Riker. 'I can verify that everything Captain Picard is telling you now matches to the same story he told the senior crew of the USS Enterprise two years ago, and also the one he dictated into his personal log file.'

Harris grunted slightly, and sat back. Picard took up his story again. 'Eventually, the Aralla broke through. But crucially, they did not break through into this reality. They were instead directed towards the alternate reality that I was taken into by Q. The ship we face today was not awoken by them. I suspect it was awoken by the investigation of Kiros by the Talkaris.'

'How do you know about the Talkaris?' demanded Ratek angrily.

'I have spoken with a member of it's crew,' replied Picard. 'She was captured by the Aralla, and imprisoned along with myself. We were freed by officers from the Enterprise.'

Relesi suddenly jolted upright in her seat. 'Who was that officer?'

'Her name was Serisa.'

Relesi stared at him in mute shock for a moment, before a delighted smile broke out on her face, and her tense body relaxed as she slumped in her seat, overjoyed by the news. Picard and the others watched, mystified, as Relesi turned and embraced Ratek for a moment, tears spilling from her eyes.

Finally, Ratek turned and said, a wide smile on his face, 'On behalf of the Empire, I thank you for this news, Captain Picard. We are in your debt.'

'Serisa is my sister,' added Relesi, struggling for composure. 'I would appreciate it if I might speak with her.'

Picard nodded. 'She is onboard the Enterprise,' he replied. 'I will take you to her myself.'

He turned his attention back to the others. 'If we do not stop this ship, it will try and make contact with any of the Aralla existing on the other side of the rift. I once thought they were extinct, but so many things have changed since then, that I know we cannot take any chances.'

'How?' asked Captain Solvek. 'All we have heard is supposition, and that coming from a man who has only recently returned to us from their captivity. Who knows -?'

'The Aralla made no attempt to brainwash me,' replied Picard calmly. 'They would not understand such a thing. They want me to suffer for what I have done to them. They want me dead. But they could not comprehend that I might be used by them.'

'Captain Picard has been thoroughly examined,' added Riker. 'Doctor Crusher has found no evidence to support a claim that he might have been brainwashed.'

'What's more,' added Colonel Kira, 'Dr Bashir here on DS9 has also examined those records. He supports Dr Crusher's conclusions.'

Harris turned a calculating gaze onto Picard, who returned it with interest. He knew that Picard had covered all of his bases. He nodded, surrendering the battle to Picard. 'I accept what Captain Picard has told us,' he said. 'It ties in with information I had been given by Admiral Drayton. What we need to discuss next is what to do about it.'

'How do we break through that shield?' asked Captain Hainby. 'So far, all the battles we have had have not been equal contests.'

'The route I took to bring down the Aralla shields before is not open to us,' replied Picard. 'We need another option.'

'I think we need to put together an action team to remedy this,' said Solvek. 'We have a little time.'

'While this ship bears down on Romulan space,' remarked Ratek acidly.

Harris gave him a dark look. 'At its present speed, it will not enter Romulan space for a week. We have time to work on a solution and catch up with it before it leaves Federation territory. That also means that the Enterprise will be able to join the assault.'

'Excellent,' said Picard, satisfied. 'The Enterprise will be ready by then, I can assure you.'

Harris gave no outward sign that he had heard Picard. 'I suggest that we look for a way to break through their shields first, and then reconvene to discuss a plan of action.'

He looked around the table, his expression brooking no objections. After a moment, he said, 'Dismissed.'

The Starfleet captains moved quickly out of the room, stopping only to give their best wishes to Picard and their congratulations on his escape.

Picard made no move to leave until the other officers filed out, and he, Riker, Kira, the two Romulans and the Klingons were left alone. Then, he smiled and leaned forward. 'I trust I have your support, Mr Worf?'

Worf, who had lurked quietly at the back of the discussion nodded and grinned a warrior's grin. 'Indeed, Captain. It is good to see you again, sir.'

'Thank you,' replied Picard, pleased to see another old friend again.

'Songs have been sung for your honour aboard the Kregh,' added the Klingon. 'Much bloodwine was drunk when we heard of your escape from captivity.'

'I can imagine,' replied Picard. He turned his attention to Ratek and Relesi. 'Please, if you'd like to follow me.'

'A moment if you please,' said Kira, standing. 'Commander Ratek, Subcommander Relesi, as representative of the Bajoran government, I invite you both to stay onboard DS9 while we work out the problems raised at this meeting, as guests of the Kai of Bajor.'

Picard jumped in. 'And also as guests of the United Federation of Planets.'

Ratek glanced at Relesi, who shook her head. He smiled slightly, and said, 'I would be delighted.' Relesi jumped slightly at this, but kept her mouth shut, although her eyes burned with anger. 'However, my first officer will be returning to the G'gerithau as soon as she has spoken to her sister.'

Picard inclined his head. 'Very well. If you would care to come with me….'

Serisa turned to face the door of her quarters as she heard the bleep of the knocker. 'Come,' she said.

Picard stepped through the door, followed by Ratek. But behind Ratek – 'Relesi!'

The two sisters embraced, Serisa's controlled façade breaking down with relief, as Relesi's control also evaporated.

Ratek drew Picard quietly aside. 'Captain, I want to express again my deepest gratitude to you for making this possible. I can promise you my full support for whatever action you choose to take.' Ratek glanced again at the two sisters, and smiled before lowering his voice further. 'Praetor Neral has given me orders to link my fleet to yours in the event that we were able to make contact with you.'

Picard frowned. 'With me?'

'I do not trust Captain Harris,' said Ratek. 'Neral assumed, without any knowledge of your capture, that you would be in command of this fleet.'

'He was right,' replied Picard. 'I would have been were it not for… mitigating circumstances.'

'Be that as it may,' said Ratek, 'you will now take command of this fleet. I pledge the support of my fleet to yours.'

Picard looked steadily at the Romulan, trying to gauge his character. 'Thank you,' he said finally. 'However, it may not be as simple as that. Whatever we might think of him, Captain Harris is still my immediate superior. He is still in command of the fleet.'

'Captain, Praetor Neral does not trust any other humans to command this fleet responsibly. He trusts you.'

Picard stared. 'Neral was the instigator of the unification scandal. I met him, Ambassador Spock trusted him, and he betrayed any chance of successfully unifying Romulus and Vulcan.'

Ratek waved that away. 'Neral was being used,' he said. 'Back then, everyone had to bow down and do exactly as ordered by the Tal Shiar. It's a little different now,' he added. 'Since their failed attack on the Dominion, the Tal Shiar has been reined in to a certain extent.'

'What about Chairman Koval appearing on the Continuing Committee?'

Ratek smiled. 'Neral has bypassed the committee in order to offer this olive branch. Captain, this is not the time to discuss politics.'

Picard paused. 'Perhaps not now,' he mused. 'Commander, I have a suggestion for you that might benefit both of our governments, and also our current situation. I'd like to speak with you onboard the Enterprise in an hour.'

Ratek eyed him for a moment. 'I will be there.'

They turned to find that the two sisters had released each other. Joy on her face, Relesi could only say, 'Thank you, Captain Picard. My family is in your debt.'

Picard tried hard not to look embarrassed. He had never seen Romulans be so open with their feelings. Despite their attachment to their passionate natures, Romulans were reserved and aloof in their dealings with other races, so as to seem superior. It was an intensely private thing for Romulans to release their emotions like this in front of an alien. 'I am glad to have been able to help reunite you. I'll leave you in private,' he finished.

'In one hour,' said Ratek. Picard nodded, and beat a retreat.

'Commander, we've analysed the shields of the alien ship.'

Riker made his way through the mass of engineers all working hard on repairing the Enterprise's battle damage and the large coils of wire and equipment until he and Geordi were able to talk again without the loud noise. 'And?'

'We've discovered what might be a small flaw in their shields. In our shields, we use a single bubble of energy projected by a series of emitters and on a rotating modulation,' said Data, who had been assisting the engineer. 'However, the Aralla use a series of emitters to project an overlapping armoured effect shield.'

'That, coupled with their gigantic power reserves, is what makes their shield almost impenetrable,' said Geordi. He continued, 'However, we can focus a small beam of antiprotons from the deflector dish onto a layer of their shields.'

'What effect would that have?' asked Riker.

'In effect, the antiprotons would be able to render the shield transparent to normally tuned phaser or disruptor fire,' replied Data. 'However, it would still repel photon torpedoes, due to their solid state.'

'Still, it's an opening,' said Riker. 'Ready a full briefing for Captain Picard and the fleet commanders for tomorrow afternoon.' Riker turned away, before he paused and said, 'Data, can I have a word?'

Geordi glanced at the android and shrugged. As the chief engineer turned away to another job, Data moved beside Riker, who glanced from side to side and then said, in hushed tones, 'I need you to be in the auxiliary deflector control room in thirty minutes. Can you be there?'

Data frowned, but nodded. 'Aye, sir.'

'Good.' With that, Riker made his way out of Engineering.

Deck 13 contained many of the Enterprise's auxiliary control rooms, such as deflector control and a secondary bridge. As such, it was usually clear of activity among the ship's crew, with only the occasional engineering technician making their way down to maintain routine systems.

That meant that Ratek felt unusually nervous as he made his way out of the turbolift and headed for the auxiliary deflector control room, as Picard had instructed him. He rested his hand loosely on his disruptor pistol as he walked, cautious as anyone might be, walking alone on an enemy vessel.

He had spoken with Praetor Neral about this conversation….

'Picard is alive?'

Ratek nodded. 'He and Colonel Kira of Deep Space Nine have invited me to stay aboard the station for the duration of the wait before we attack the enemy ship again.'

Neral rubbed his chin. 'The Continuing Committee has been kept apprised of your progress, Commander,' he said slowly, thoughtfully. 'It is only fair to warn you that Chairman Koval is screaming for you to launch a full attack on the enemy ship.'

'With all respect to Chairman Koval, he doesn't know what he's talking about,' replied Ratek.

Neral hid a smile. 'Be that as it may, your actions will have to be explained once you return to Romulus. For the moment, you're safe. I trust you to do the right thing.'

Ratek nodded, gratified. 'Thank you, sir.'

'Don't thank me yet, Commander,' said Neral sternly. 'You may stay aboard DS9, and also have this conversation with Captain Picard – it may be enlightening.'

Ratek remained silent, knowing that Neral had more to say. 'I have given your request some thought, Commander,' he continued. 'It is an unusual request from one in your position.'

'My situation is unusual,' replied Ratek.

'Indeed. However, I have decided to approve your request. Upon your return from this mission, you will be debriefed, and then discharged from the service.'

Ratek smiled gratefully. 'Thank you, Praetor.'

'Not at all,' said Neral. 'Admiral Jaled was most insistent on your retirement. He has given me assurances that you will be comfortably housed and provided for with your wife.'

Ratek froze. 'Sir -?'

Neral smiled, enjoying seeing his old mentor surprised for once. 'Even without the Tal Shiar, we still know what happens. Neral out.'

Ratek sat for a moment in stunned silence. Although he had known that Jaled had offered Relesi a position as an aide, he had not been aware that the Admiral had known of their relationship.

He turned as the door slid open and Relesi entered, joy still lighting up her beautiful face. Without a word, he turned and embraced her, almost weeping in his own joy, pressing his face into her long black hair.

'What's wrong?' said Relesi, stunned by his sudden emotion. The Ratek she knew was usually a composed and restrained man, and this outburst worried her.

He said nothing, merely held her for a long moment, before he kissed her gently. When he broke the kiss, he said, 'Everything is perfect.'

Ratek found himself smiling again at the memory of Relesi's face when he told her what had happened. Suddenly, he realised that he was wandering without paying attention to where he was going, and he stopped as he tried to recall Picard's instructions.

The Romulan glanced around, and saw his destination. Looking from side to side to make sure there was no-one around, he stepped through the double doors.

The room was dark when he entered, and the feeling of apprehension increased markedly as he yanked his disruptor from it's holster and said, 'Lights!'

'My apologies, Commander,' said Picard's voice from the gloom. The human stepped forward. 'We are trying to leave no trace of our presence here.'

Ratek trained the disruptor on Picard, who looked unperturbed. 'Why no lights?'

'Even the use of power for lighting might be recorded,' said Picard quietly. 'The ones we hunt have access to everything we know and do.'

Ratek stared at him for a long moment, before he finally holstered the disruptor. 'Very well.'

Picard smiled, and turned away slightly. 'We're all here.'

'Activating forcefield,' said another voice, and behind Ratek, a blue screen of energy flashed into being. 'Initiating security protocols.'

'Lights,' said Picard, and finally the lights came up. 'Now we can't be detected,' he added.

Ratek glanced at the other faces. All but one he recognised, Commander Riker of the Enterprise, the android Data, and Colonel Kira. The group was seated around a small desk area set in the centre of the room, and only two chairs were unoccupied. Picard indicated that the Romulan should be seated, and once Ratek sat, Picard took his place.

The captain looked around at the small group. 'As of this moment, none of you have a full picture of what has been taking place in the background of the events of the past month. All of us have had to try and piece together information from the few sources we have had. None of it has been easy. Only Admiral Drayton and I have the full story.'

Picard turned to look at Kira and Bashir. 'Colonel, Doctor, you have been on the front lines of this situation since the beginning. I'm sorry that you were kept in the dark – Captain Sisko was to have briefed you after the war was over, but his disappearance, and then the events which followed have made that impossible.' Picard smiled slightly. 'Consider what I say to be said by him.'

Kira and Bashir looked puzzled as to Picard's oblique reference. Ratek leaned forward. 'Captain, this is all very interesting. However, why am I here? What are we talking about?'

Picard nodded, understandingly. 'For Commander Ratek's benefit, I will go quickly through the story. Commander, since the first days of the Federation's inception, there has been an organisation in existence that Starfleet has always professed ignorance of. It has a provision within the Starfleet Charter, but exists with it's remit examined by no-one. It is called Section 31.'

Bashir, who knew most of the story, took up the tale. 'Section 31 was founded by section 31 of the Starfleet Charter in the days before the Federation officially came into being. It's existence and actions have, so far, been a secret until about a year ago.'

'What happened?' asked Ratek, interested in spite of himself.

'I was contacted by a man named Luther Sloan, who purported to be a Starfleet intelligence agent; in reality, an agent of Section 31. Using a holographic simulation, he attempted to force me into admitting I was a spy for the Dominion – I had been held aboard one of their penal asteroids for some time, and he attempted to use this against me. Once I broke through their program, however, he offered me a chance to work for Section 31.'

'No-one had heard of this group at this point,' added Kira. 'It was a new name to almost everyone.'

'Sloan,' continued Bashir, 'attempted to recruit me again over the next year.' He threw a glance at Picard, who shook his head slightly. 'He said that he was the Director of Section 31, and explained a little about the organisation. They assess and neutralise all potential threats to the Federation. The Dominion they counted as the greatest threat to the Federation at this time.'

'Even over the Borg?' asked Riker.

'The Borg would be considered too out of reach for any covert action, as well as being too invulnerable in certain areas. Their attacks on our space have been sporadic and random,' said Ratek slowly, almost musing. He smiled slightly, glancing at Picard, who along with his officers, had respect in their eyes. 'Our intelligence agencies say much the same thing.'

'Either way, it was the Dominion they chose to focus their efforts on,' said Bashir. 'Section 31 were responsible for the creation of the disease that nearly exterminated the Founders. That alone makes them responsible for a huge war crime. Who knows what else they have done?'

Ratek nodded slowly. 'Then why am I here? I am an enemy alien, Captain Picard. I have no particular quarrel with you or your government, but I would be duty-bound to report back all that I know.'

Picard nodded, glancing at the others. 'We are hoping that you will, Commander. Section 31 is out of control, and answers to no-one. Their actions mean that the Federation could easily be brought to trial for war crimes and attempted genocide by anyone who knows what we have told you. Our hope is to expose Section 31, arrest its leaders and destroy it forever.'

'Why do you need a Romulan, Captain?' Ratek's question was straight, and Picard knew he wanted a straight answer.

'You're outside the box, Commander. No-one here trusts you,' said Picard frankly. 'You don't trust us.'

Ratek nodded, calm. Picard continued, 'But I am prepared to break that wall down now. Build a bridge between our two peoples, based on what we are prepared to do for each other. We went to war together, to stop the Dominion. Let's take it one step further, and build something lasting here, now. If we destroy Section 31 together, Starfleet will share all data, information and technologies that they might possess. The technology for the genetic weapon they used might be banned, but it's very existence indicates what they might have hidden away.'

Picard held out his hand to the Romulan who eyed it for a moment. For that brief second, Picard saw traces of Serisa's paranoia rise up in the older man, before he reached out and shook Picard's hand. 'Very well. I will go along with your plan. Praetor Neral gave me orders to co-operate fully with yourselves.'

Picard raised an eyebrow but forbore to comment. 'Very well,' he said.

He turned to face the others. 'What I am planning will lead to the ultimate removal of Section 31 as an issue Starfleet has to deal with.'

'Do we have approval from Starfleet?' asked Data.

A flicker of amusement crossed Picard's face. 'Not strictly speaking,' he replied. 'This has, so far, been a private matter between myself, Captain Sisko, and Admiral Drayton.'

Riker raised an eyebrow. 'You mean that this is all we have?'

'Afraid so,' replied Kira. 'Section 31 has too many tentacles to spread this about too far.'

'I like a challenge.'

Harris stared blankly at the viewscreen, reading the short message displayed on it, when the bleeper of the door went off. 'Come in.'

Picard entered the room, not at all fazed by having to knock to enter his own ready room. 'You wished to see me, sir?'

Harris nodded, not taking his eyes from the viewer for a moment. 'I've just received word from Starfleet Command,' he said. 'I'm being recalled to Earth for reassignment.'

Picard raised an eyebrow quizzically. 'May I ask why?'

Harris looked up at Picard. 'Captain, you were originally earmarked for command of this mission. If it had not been you, then Ben Sisko would have taken it. But as you were both unavailable, it fell to me. Well,' he continued, not hiding his anger, 'now you're back, I have to surrender the Enterprise and the mission to you again.'

'Very well,' replied Picard, only a trace of sympathy crossing his face. 'When will you transfer command?'

'The USS Colt will be arriving at 2000 hours tomorrow to ferry me to Earth,' replied Harris, reining his temper in. 'I'll transfer command at 1930 hours on the bridge.'

Picard nodded. 'Understood.'

'One more thing,' added Harris. 'I'm aware that I've not established a solid rapport with the crew, but I want you to realise I had nothing more than the best interests of Starfleet at heart. Whatever they may tell you, that at least is true.'

Picard's formal demeanour broke for a moment. 'Captain, if I might speak freely for a moment, your actions while aboard this ship have not been geared to gain the trust of my officers. What's more, I feel you deliberately went out of your way to alienate Commander Riker.'

Harris's face clouded as he moved closer to Picard. 'I don't care what you think, Picard. You have this mission and this ship back. You're welcome to them. You can find me on Deep Space Nine.'

Turning on his heel, Harris stormed from the ready room, as Picard watched him go, surprised by the anger the other had shown.

Forgetting about it for a moment, Picard smiled as he luxuriated in the feel of his own office once again. He made his way to the seat behind his desk and sank down into it, closing his eyes and leaning back for a moment, in unguarded freedom.

For a moment, he rested, feeling the weight on his shoulders depart momentarily, before his eyes opened and he remembered he had one last task.

Sitting upright, he turned to face the small viewer on his desk, breathing deeply for a moment, preparing himself. 'Computer, activate security lock-out Drayton, 411-alpha.'

'Lockout active.'

'Disengage lockout, authorisation code Picard 8-5-gamma omicron.'

'Lockout disengaged.'

'Establish link to Starfleet archives. Retrieve all biographical data for Lieutenant Rosanna Thames, and display.'

Immediately the screen filled with data, scrolling down the screen. But Picard's attention was caught by the single image displayed next to the reams of words. Silently, he reached out and laid a finger on the picture, smiling gently. 'Hello, Rosanna,' he whispered.

And, for a brief second, he thought he heard her voice saying, 'My love….'

The door bleeped. Picard took his hand away from the screen and composed himself. When he felt sure of his voice, he said, 'Come.'

Troi and Riker entered the room. 'We just saw Captain Harris make a dramatic exit,' said Riker, not sounding displeased.

Picard smiled slightly at his first officer's cheek, not taking his eyes from the screen. Troi had made her way around the desk to see what Picard was so focussed on. What she saw worried her slightly. 'Captain…?'

Picard did not look at her, but the reassurance in his voice was palpable. 'I needed to do this, Deanna,' he said. 'I needed to see what was here.'

'How did you -?'

'Admiral Drayton gave me the authorisation to unlock Rosanna's records,' said Picard quietly.

'I thought he had deleted those records,' replied the counsellor, startled.

'He kept them because he felt that it was wrong to destroy her memory completely,' replied Picard. 'Once I died, it would have been the plan to release her details – in her memory, and for her family's sake. Her mother has not been seen in public since Rosanna was killed, you know.'

'You can't feel guilty for that, sir,' said Riker.

Picard looked at his friend for the first time. 'I can, and will, Number One,' he replied. 'If Rosanna had never met me, she would still be alive now. If Q had not brought the Aralla through the rift, we would never have been in this situation. There are lots of things in this world that I might be guilty of, but this I know truly to have been the only one that is unforgivable.'

Riker and Troi didn't reply, knowing there was nothing that they could say which might help. Picard switched off the viewer with a stab of his finger, and stood up slowly. 'I don't intend for it to get in the way of my duty, Will,' he added. 'But for the moment, I would appreciate the subject being left alone.'

It came out as an order, and Riker, so used to hearing his captain's "command" tone, didn't even think about it. 'Aye, sir.'