Will had stood next to Worf at tactical for the previous three hours trying to get the sensors to work, but nothing was making any improvements. Emelle was at the science station looking over the data before her.
She was finding it difficult to keep her eyes focused, and she jumped every time Worf slammed the console when their attempts kept failing. As she scrolled down, she came across information regarding a hull scan that was done when the Tom'ler first entered sensor range. There was a marked elevation in Beta and Gamma radiation on the hull. She closed her eyes as she desperately tried to recall if there were any planets under the Ku'Mak domain that had a nearby nebula with similar radiation levels, but she couldn't think of any. Just when she was about to move on, she remembered something. As the memories started to flood into her mind, she turned to Will. "Riker."
"What is it?" He turned to her from tactical.
"I have an idea."
Suddenly sparks started to shoot out of the console, and then went dead. "In the ready room." Emelle quickly rose from her chair and followed Will down the ramp. "Counsellor, Mr. Worf, would you join us?" When the doors closed behind them, Will turned to Emelle. "What do you have?"
"I think I know where they took him. Or at least where the ship was last." Will motioned for her to continue. "When looking over the data from the scans you took before they first fired, I found higher then normal levels of Beta and Gamma radiation on their hull. This specific signature can only be found in certain types of nebulas, and in select planet's upper atmosphere."
"Does the Ku'Mak have control over a planet with that signature?" Will asked.
"No." Emelle responded smiling. When Will rubbed a hand over his face in frustration, Emelle turned to Deanna. "Remember earlier when I was talking about the rebellion, and a group called the Sodier?" Deanna nodded. "Well, I remember leading a mission to attack a complex on the surface of a planet. The Volkerie's shield harmonics were unique, and could survive the specific levels of Beta and Gamma radiation and enter the atmosphere. That planet is called Iddor II, in the Blakner system, heading 154 mark 7." She lifted her hands to her hips with a satisfied grin on her face. "Monuments should be erected in my honour."
"Excellent work." Will replied before returning to Worf. "How much longer before we've got shields and warp engines?"
"Commander La Forge said that they had to replace both warp coils, and realign the plasma reducers. He estimated three and a half hours. As for the shields," Worf shook his head. "Within the hour, at least."
"You don't have that kind of time." Emelle said lowering her arms from her waist.
"How do you know that?" Will asked.
"Even if they are actually headed back to Iddor II, they won't keep him there long. They'll..." She paused for a moment. "They'll try to extract information from him, and if he doesn't comply, they'll move him to their home world, which will be heavily guarded."
"They'll torture him?" Deanna asked softly. Emelle nodded.
"So then what was your plan?" Will asked stepping towards her.
"Let me take the Volkerie. I know Geordi and Wesley were making huge strides to getting her engines and systems back online. If I take the ship to Iddor II, I can infiltrate the complex, locate the captain and rescue him before they have a chance to move him."
"That would be suicide." Worf replied.
"And you don't even know for certain if Captain Picard is there." Deanna pointed out.
"The Volkerie is equipped with a cloak. If the planet is being guarded from orbit, I can still manoeuvre my way through the atmosphere, and land. I've been through that complex before; I still have a basic understanding of its layout."
Will nodded, actually thinking that this plan had a chance. "What about when you get inside? How do you plan on avoiding being captured?"
Emelle smiled and turned to Deanna. "It would help if there was someone there who might be able to sense the people around us."
Deanna looked slightly confused. "Excuse me?"
"You're like a living life signs detector."
Deanna looked at Will and saw him thinking. "You think this will work?" Will shrugged slightly.
"It'll work." Emelle answered.
"Who else would you take with you?"
"Just us, and Mr. Worf." Emelle said turning to Worf.
Will looked to him and raised his eyebrows questionably. Worf straightened. "If it means the safe return of the Captain, I would like to participate."
Emelle clapped her hands together. "Great. Let me work on my ship, I know I can get it mission ready in enough time."
"You're asking me to send you into hostile territory, with only Mr. Worf and Counsellor Troi?" He looked to both of them. "No offense." He looked back to Emelle. "How far is Iddor II from here?"
"At Max warp, less than a day. But I would rather not push the engines full both there and back. It would be a good idea to plan a rendezvous site where you can meet us after the proper repairs are done to your ship." Emelle said shifting from one foot to an other. "As for why just Deanna and Mr. Worf, a smaller party is preferable."
Will looked once again from Worf to Deanna, his gaze lingering on her. "I won't order you two to do it."
Deanna nodded. "As crazy as it sounds...it might actually work."
Will closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'll have to contact Starfleet, apprise them on the situation." He turned to Emelle. "While I'm doing that, get your ship ready. Deanna, go with her and familiarize yourself with the controls. Mr. Worf, I need you to continue to work on shields and sensors. I'll let you know when I get an answer. Dismissed." As the three left the ready room, he turned and sat at the desk, and contacted Starfleet.
"Ok, Wes, give it an other go!" Emelle called as she slid out from under the ship. When the Volkerie shimmered and then disappeared, Emelle gave a whoop then got up. "Good job!"
Wesley de-activated the cloak and then moved to continue to work on the warp engines. When Emelle walked onto the ship, he stopped. "Can I ask why I was brought away from Engineering to help with this?"
"Well, we're planning on going after the Captain, and Riker told me you'd be the best one to help me fix my ship." Emelle replied with a sweet smile. "How do the warp engines look?"
Wesley looked down at the scanner in his hand. "Well, we managed to quickly repair the conduits, so they should be working. But I wouldn't recommend pushing them too hard."
"Yeah you're right." She said as she looked over the data. "How's it going over there counsellor?"
Deanna's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. "Slowly." She replied looking over the console in front of her. "What are these again?"
Emelle looked over Deanna's shoulder. "That's weapons, this controls all our sensors, and that's the cloaking controls."
"I thought this was the cloaking controls?" Deanna said pointing to something else.
"No. That's the projection system."
"What's that?" Wesley asked.
"It's a device that gives the illusion that two large warships de-cloaking on our flanks. Ship sensors can actually detect these ships charging weapons, they can ready life signs. It's really helpful sometimes."
"That sounds...pretty awesome." Wesley replied as he moved from the warp console. "How does it work exactly?" Emelle was cut off before she could reply.
"Commander Pinces and Counsellor Troi, report to the ready room." Emelle literally threw the scanner back at Wesley, and then ran out of the ship and out of the cargo bay, Deanna close behind.
"What do you mean they didn't approve it?" Deanna asked in disbelief.
Will moved from around the desk, a pissed off look on his face. "Admiral Jellico said that Starfleet didn't see the benefits outweighing the risks. Apparently, they don't want any more Starfleet officers, let alone two more senior officers of the flagship, to fall into enemy hands."
"Even if it means finding the captain." Worf stated in disgust.
"Look," Will said raising his hands in defence. "I pleaded with them to let you go, but we are under direct orders to finish repairs and continue to Federation space, where they will plan a rescue mission."
"It'll be too late by then!" Emelle said in frustration.
"There's nothing we can do commander." Will replied matching her volume. Emelle dropped her head, shaking it softly, and then turned to the door. "I'm sorry. It actually sounded like a good idea, but we can't go against our orders." Emelle stopped and turned, nodding sadly. After a moment, she brought her head up, and started to smile.
"So then don't." Emelle said smiling. Seeing the confused look on their faces, she continued. "Go with me on this. I'm not Starfleet, and as I recall Captain Picard gave me his word that when my ship was repaired, I could leave. So let's say, hypothetically speaking of course, we," she motioned her hands between her and Will. "come to a disagreement, and you force me to take my ship and leave." She motioned with her hands, starting to get a little excited. "And, still hypothetically speaking, I manage to kidnap, oh say, counsellor Troi who just so happened to catch me in my quick retreat. I'm still angry that you're making me leave, and lash out irrationally."
Realization dawned on Will and he began to smile. "Our weapons system is still down, we wouldn't be able to stop you. Keeping with the hypothetical situation, if you were to, oh, go to the Blakner system to hold her ransom."
Emelle shrugged her shoulders, her smile growing. "And if I planned on doing some...looking around, the counsellor wouldn't be disobeying orders if I was forcing her." Will smiled and shook his head in disbelief.
"What about me" Worf asked. "It would look highly unlikely that you'd be able to catch both of us by surprise and force us to go with you."
"He's right." Deanna replied.
"Maybe it's best if you stay here." Will said, and raised his hand when Worf started to argue. "I still need you here to fix the shields and sensors."
Deanna shook her head and stepped forward. "Just so I'm clear, you two are going to erupt into an argument, forcing her to leave as soon as possible. In the middle of your hasty exit, you manage to kid nap me, for money, and leave." Will and Emelle nodded. "When it will actually be you and me going to a planet with unknown number of hostiles, where they may not actually be keeping Captain Picard. We will then land, infiltrate an armed complex, find and rescue the Captain, and then meet the Enterprise at pre-arranged coordinates." Again Will and Emelle smiled. Deanna nodded once, and thought about it. "It sounds like a lot could go wrong."
"True." Emelle said, not even attempting to argue her point.
Will crossed his arms over his chest as he thought over the plan. "Where would you suggest the pre-arranged coordinate should be?"
"There's an uninhabited system just 11 light-years from here, 6 light-years from Iddor II known as RT-102.3.A4. By the time we get to Iddor II, find the captain, and get to the coordinates, you should have your systems fixed."
Deanna turned to Emelle. "This won't go over well in the investigation, you know."
"Maybe. If it works, then they should be thanking me, not punishing me further. And if it doesn't...well, then my investirgation will be the least of my concerns."
"Ok." Will straightened. "Prepare to leave in an hour. I'll have Worf escort you to your quarters, just to keep up the facade, and Deanna will meet you in the cargo bay for her abduction. I'll also have most of the crew in the cargo bay relocated so that there'll only be maybe two officers still working. Ready?" He looked at Emelle, who looked at him confused.
The crew remaining on the bridge were continuing their work, when suddenly, "I'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" Will's voice jolted them from their work, and they looked nervously at each other as their commanding officer's voice boomed through the door of the ready room. "Mr. Worf, escort her to her quarters! NOW!" When the doors slid open, the crew immediately turned their attention back to their tasks, and Worf walked out, Emelle struggling against his tight grip. When the pair disappeared into the turbo lift, the bridge crew looked at each other, wondering what the hell just happened.
When the doors to the ready room closed, and they were finally alone, Will turned to Deanna. He was about to say something when she raised her hand to his lips, silencing him. "I understand the risks. Captain Picard has saved my life on more occasions than I'd like to admit. I owe him." She moved her hand from his mouth to cup his cheek.
After a moment Will pulled her into a hug. "Are you sure?" He asked pulling back slightly.
Deanna nodded. "I may not be the most qualified to do this, but my empathic abilities are required for this to work. Apparently." She saw Will's face fall into a deeper frown, and she felt his doubt. Lifting her head, she kissed him softly. She let her lips linger, before pulling back, their faces still inches from each other.
"Please be careful." He whispered, raising a hand to her cheek.
"I will." She replied, kissing him again before leaving.
Will sighed. He wasn't sure he'd just made the right choice, and he feared he'd never see her again.
OK people! As of tomorrow, I will be gone for 4 weeks, and will be unable to upload any more chapters, but don't worry, I'll continue when I get back! Hope you all are enjoying your summer vacation!
Next Time:
"OK, I need you to turn off any non essential functions before I move us out from behind the moon. Our sensors won't work back here, and I want to minimize any chance of them picking us up on their sensors." She and Deanna each tapped on the consoles in front of them, and when completed, Deanna nodded to Emelle who shrugged. "Here we go." As they pulled away from behind the moon, they were immediately shocked at the sight of a large armada orbiting the planet.
Deanna's jaw dropped and she gaped at the scene before her."Oh...my god."
