Chapter XIV

Picard came around slowly. He blinked open his eyes, wincing slightly from the effect of the lights.

He heard a voice say, 'Wait a moment.' Something splashed into his eyes, and he blinked reflexively.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Beverly's face smiling at him. 'I assume I'm in Sickbay,' he said.

'You'd be right,' acknowledged Beverly.

Picard levered himself upright gingerly, helped, to his chagrin, by the doctor. He sat on the edge of the biobed, trying not to look as weak as he felt. For a moment, he tried to get his breath back, and then his mind came back to him. He shot a look at Crusher. 'How long?'

'Don't worry; you've only been out half an hour,' she replied. 'I wanted to keep you under for longer, but Will tells me that I can't. I nearly sedated him,' she added with a smile.

Picard nodded – he had an hour left to complete the task. 'I need to see Will and –' He broke off, suddenly remembering something else. 'Data! What's happened?'

Crusher paused. 'I'm not sure. He's recovered from whatever was wrong – Geordi says it happened just as you collapsed. It's better if they explain it.' Her eyes took on an inquisitive look. 'Did you do anything?'

Picard smiled and spread out his hands with a lightness he did not feel. 'What could I do?'

'Hmm,' was all Beverly said. She turned away to replace her hypospray and tricorder in the compartment next to the bed, and Picard allowed a shadow of concern to flit across his face.

'Beverly,' he said as she straightened, 'what happened to me?'

The doctor sighed. 'I haven't the slightest idea. Julian scanned you immediately after you collapsed, and found some hyperstimulation of the neocortex. I gave you a thorough brain scan when you came in here.' She glanced away. 'Jean-Luc, I want you to know that a lot of brain functions are still not understood, even now, but we're making terrific progress –'

Picard reached out, took her hand, and said gently, 'What is it?'

'Your brain was in a massive state of hyperstimulation,' she replied quietly. 'All of your higher brain functions were displaying activity off the scale, and there were parts of your mind frantically alive, parts that are usually dormant inside the human mind. You collapsed because your brain simply could not cope with what was happening to it. It had to shut down.' Beverly looked back at him, and Picard saw tears shining in her eyes. 'Jean-Luc, whatever it was, it was killing you.'

Picard let that wash over him for the moment. He smiled and patted her hand in a reassuring manner. 'Then we'll know what to look out for in future.'

'We don't know what caused it!' she shot back, anger coming because of her emotional distress. 'We don't even know what was happening!'

'It's all right,' said Picard, trying to sooth her fears. 'It won't happen again.'

'How can you say that? You don't even know what happened! We don't know what triggered it and we certainly don't know what it was doing!' Crusher turned away, trying to hide her anger and fear. 'I can't predict what is going to happen in the future – I don't even know what signs to look for.'

'Beverly, I'll come in and have a check-up every hour if you want,' said Picard. 'But I don't want you to tear yourself up over something you have no control over.'

'I know,' she said after a moment's pause. 'I just became a little worried, that's all.'

'More so than you usually would.'

Crusher nodded. 'It's just… everytime we face the Aralla, everytime we have to deal with this threat, it always affects you so personally. You faced them in the alternate universe without us, and then we faced Admiral Nechayev. Both of those involved personal grief to you of the deepest, worst kind. And now something else is happening to you. Maybe it was done to you when the Aralla held you; maybe it's spontaneous, although I've seen no evidence of that over the years.'

She sat beside him. 'Lieutenant Thames died in this sickbay. I don't want to have to bury you as well.'

Picard put on a reassuring smile. 'That won't happen.'

Crusher gave him a small smile. 'I'll hold you to that.'

Crusher accompanied Picard to Engineering. He still felt weak, but covered it with determination. He had to see Data.

The doors slid open, and he entered the noisy room, dominated by the towering warp core stretching from deck to ceiling. His attention turned immediately to a small group of people clustered in the diagnostic area of the department, a group which opened up as soon as he was spotted.

Three junior engineering technicians made way for him, and he joined Riker, Troi, La Forge, who all stood around Data, seated on a chair, the covering fascias protecting his neural circuitry removed, exposing the intricate silver positronic relays.

To Picard's amazement, Data's face lit up when he saw Picard. 'Captain, how are you?'

Picard raised an eyebrow, noting the amused reactions of the senior officers. 'Very well, thank you, Mr Data.' He turned to Riker. 'What's the situation?'

'Everything's in place,' replied the first officer. Picard nodded. The two men could say no more.

He looked at La Forge, who stood between Data and Troi, an expression almost of wonder on his face. 'An explanation would be appreciated.'

'I'm not sure I have one, sir,' replied La Forge. 'What happened should never have happened. His positronic net has completely reconfigured itself to replace the emotion chip. It's as if the gap in his circuitry that Dr Soong created specifically for the emotion chip was never there.'

Picard gaped at the engineer. 'How is that possible?'

'It's not,' replied Data. 'My positronic net is completely solid state – it can't change itself. Indeed the only race that we have encountered with the technology to do what you suggest has been the Borg.'

'It's not some remnant of whatever it was the Borg Queen did to you?' asked Riker.

Data smiled, amused, bemusing Picard. 'No, sir.'

'Data,' Picard said, marvelling, 'these feelings appear to be completely different to when you had your emotion chip.'

Data nodded. 'Since I installed the emotion chip, I have been aware of many of its limits over time. Although it simulated all of what I wished to experience, it couldn't be considered to be capable of creating such feelings. Even a genius like my father could not create such a device. Like Lore, I could only experience poor facsimiles of the real thing.' He smiled again. 'Although, I didn't know that until now.'

'Captain, there are new pathways and relays in here,' said Geordi. 'Some of it is utterly beyond our current technology.'

'Do you know where any of it came from?'

Both La Forge and Data shook her heads in tandem. Picard hid a smile. 'It was completely spontaneous,' replied La Forge. 'Totally unprompted.'

'When I collapsed in the Infirmary,' added Data, 'I felt that part of my mind was starting to change. As soon as it happened, I knew that I was suffering cascade failure.' His face became sad. 'Like Lal.'

The android paused for a moment, before he shook his head and continued, 'the next thing I remember was becoming active in Engineering. And I could feel.'

'You don't remember anything else?' asked Picard urgently.

Data shook his head. 'I'm afraid not.'

'You're absolutely certain?' pressed Picard, ignoring Beverly's cautioning grip on his shoulder.

'Absolutely,' replied Data resolutely. He looked concerned. 'All you all right, sir?'

Picard calmed himself. 'Of course, Mr Data,' he replied, not daring to look at Troi, who was giving him a measuring stare.

Data looked dubious, but did not ask further. Geordi caught Picard's attention. 'Sir, I'd like to run Data through some tests, and then he should be fit to return to duty.'

Picard nodded. 'Very well, Mr La Forge.'

He stepped aside to allow Geordi to get to work again and looked at Crusher. 'Beverly, I need to speak to Will alone.'

Crusher looked disapproving, but relented with a warning look. Picard drew Riker aside. 'Will, I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to carry this through. You know what to do if I can't carry on.'

Riker nodded. 'Don't worry, sir. You'll be there.'

Picard smiled at his friend and shook his head. 'You never listen when I'm right.'

'First officer's prerogative,' replied Riker with a grin.

'Do you have your departure orders, Captain?' asked Harris.

Captain Gastrovicz nodded, but he did not look happy. 'Yes, sir,' he replied. 'But I will say –'

'No, you won't,' replied Harris. 'You will proceed back to your former patrol station and await further orders. Understood?'

Gastrovicz nodded, deeply unhappy. 'Yes, sir.'

As the captain's face vanished from his screen, Harris leaned back in his chair. He had relayed Starfleet's orders to the taskforce now, and the only thing he could do was wait. Although a runabout had not been available, there was a transport heading for Earth that left in two days.

He had all but abandoned what was left of his plans – circumstance, bad luck, and poor judgement had robbed him of all that he might have gained by staying the course. Alienating Riker and the Enterprise crew had been his worst mistake – no-one could have realised the intense loyalty they felt for Picard.

What was worse, Picard's return had taken his last card, the command of the taskforce, away from him. Despite technically outranking Picard, everyone in the hierarchy knew that if Picard gave an order, there would be a hell of a backlash if that order were disobeyed. And Harris could not afford that.

No, the only course was to cut his losses and move on. There would always be a next time….

The ranch was silent in the night. The occasional sound of crickets chirping in the still air was the only thing to disturb the placid silence. Even the advance of 24th century human civilisation had not brought technology to this part of Texas.

Technology approached now. Two shuttles hummed quietly in the night sky, landing lights off, black and deadly against the stars. Onboard, four detachments of Starfleet Security's best officers, all armed to the teeth, ready for whatever they might find.

As they approached, their commander turned away from his position next to the pilot and faced his men. 'Prepare for deployment.' His words were carried across a secure frequency to the other shuttle. 'Remember, we're here for capture, not a kill.'

He trusted his men to do their job well. They were the best.

The shuttles dropped out of the sky silently, hidden phaser banks watching for any signs that they might come under attack. There was no movement in the flat open area surrounding the house.

The shuttles hovered about two metres from the ground, and black silent shapes dropped from open doors in the dark hulls. Taking quick stock of their surroundings, they swarmed forward quickly.

As the shuttles lifted away from the ground to take covering positions, the security teams surrounded the house with polished efficiency. The point team waited until the other groups were in position at various points around the house, and then advanced on the front door.

'We're in position,' reported the leader.

'Go', was the terse reply.

A phaser blast shattered the door from its frame, collapsing it in a shower of dust into the entrance hall. Simultaneously, windows around the house were smashed in and security poured in from all directions.

Hurrying through the house, senses alert for retaliation, the point team stormed towards the main living area, hunting for their target. They made their way from the hall to the largest room, one team splitting off to check the upstairs area.

The leader stopped as he entered the main room, holding up his arm to stop his men from storming past him. 'All teams, this is alpha. We have found the target.' He stepped forward and gazed sadly down at a chair facing the large window.

Looking out at the stars, Joe Kelner had killed himself with a single phaser blast to the temple. His body was slumped in the chair, phaser on the floor beneath a hand cast over the chair arm.

The leader removed his mask, revealing Admiral Ballas' face. His old friend had been an unwitting victim of Section 31. He had known the charges he would face, and had chosen to face death rather than the judgement of his peers.

Suddenly something caught his attention. A small table in the corner housed the computer terminal for the house, and a light was flashing on the small screen. He signalled for the officers to begin searching the house, and stepped past Kelner's body to the computer. He activated the terminal and text began to scroll across the screen.

Ballas smiled. He'd found what they were looking for.

Picard turned as the communications terminal on his desk bleeped. Keying it on, he reacted with surprise to the sight of Admiral Drayton's face. 'Admiral!'

'I won't beat about the bush,' said Drayton. 'We have the information that you were looking for.'

'And?'

Drayton looked grim. 'You were right all along.'

Picard paused, no feeling of triumph in him. 'I always hoped that I was wrong, Admiral.'

'From the moment we were aware of the problem, I always hoped that this day would come,' replied Drayton. 'I had only one hope, and that was for the innate integrity and honesty of our best officers to shine through. Knowing the answer is better than still being in the dark. Now we can act.'

'I assume I have full authority to proceed?' asked Picard.

Drayton nodded. 'Let's end this now.'

Captain Harris was jolted awake suddenly by the screech of his communicator. He had retired to his quarters early, having finally been able to get a runabout for a journey to Earth for 0500 hours the next morning.

Glancing quickly at the chronometer, he noted the time: 0015 and frowned. 'Harris here.'

'Captain, the Enterprise has just gone into warp!' said a distorted voice on the other end, and Harris instantly recognised the gravity of the situation. Bringing his slightly blurred vision into focus on the window which showed the stars streaking by.

'Understood,' replied Harris quickly, leaping to his feet. 'I'm coming to the bridge.'

Having hurriedly dressed, Harris strode from his quarters and headed for the turbolift. It took him a few moments to realise that something was wrong.

Apart from himself, the corridor was completely empty.

He paused for a moment before moving on, this time a little slower, more cautiously. It was quickly apparent that the Enterprise; or, at least the corridor he was in, was deserted.

Harris reached the turbolift a few moments later, a little unnerved, but still calm as befitted a Starfleet officer. He called the lift, and breathed a small sigh of relief when it appeared.

The lift deposited him on the bridge of the Enterprise, and as Harris stepped out, he saw with no surprise, that the bridge also was deserted.

He pondered his options for a moment, and then made his way swiftly to the helm console, intending to bring the Enterprise out of warp. He reached the helm and was just about to program the console when he realised what he had missed.

He turned to find Picard sat in the captain's chair, watching him with interest. 'By all means, carry on.'

Harris stared at the other man for a moment. 'What is the meaning of all this?'

'All what?'

'Don't play games with me, Picard,' said Harris dangerously. 'The ship is empty –'

'Oh, I wouldn't say that,' interrupted Picard, waving casually at the forward turbolift doors.

They hissed open, revealing Riker, Hedly and four security guards, all carrying weapons. Harris didn't need to look to see that more security guards had poured from the aft turbolifts.

Harris turned back to Picard who had stood and moved forward, Riker joining him. 'Am I to assume that I am under arrest?'

'Indeed,' replied Picard. 'For attempted genocide, murder, and treason.'

Harris nodded, suddenly very calm and controlled. To Riker, it almost looked as if he was back in control of the situation. 'These are serious charges to bring against a Starfleet officer, Captain Picard. On what grounds?'

'That you are the Director of Section 31,' said Picard. 'That you personally authorised the creation of a genetic plague which would have exterminated the entire changeling race. That you have ordered the killings of hundreds of innocent people from races across the galaxy to prevent your secrets being discovered, or to further your aims.'

Harris' expression didn't change. 'Oh, I think you missed the best part of that, Picard. You missed the part about the hundreds of wars we stopped at the last moment, the number of conspiracies we ended. The secret battles we fought because Starfleet was too slow and weak to react to these threats. None of my people have been lauded in the history books like you and your crew, Picard, but we have served Starfleet and the Federation better. We will not be stopped by you, and not by anyone else.'

His voice grew stronger and more forceful as he spoke and even Picard found himself impressed by the conviction in Harris' voice. 'We are not here to decide the moral rectitude of your organisation,' replied Picard. 'Whatever the mitigating facts, the blood on your hands is not so easily washed away as you seem to think.'

Harris smiled at Picard's reply. 'You know, Captain, I was disappointed when I first met you. I would have thought that someone who had seen the things you've seen would have removed some of the moralising gibberish from your mind. It's only now, after I've seen what you've become, after the death of your wife, that I truly respect you. You would be better advised hunting the Aralla rather than chasing shadows.'

Picard's face became a mask of cold stone as Harris' voice insinuated its way into his mind. Reacting without thinking, he launched a straight armed punch into Harris' chin, knocking the younger man clean to the floor.

As Picard towered over Harris' body, shaking with suppressed rage, the captain of the Enterprise looked full into his foe's eyes. 'You will never sully the memory of Lieutenant Thames like that again.'

Harris stared, almost dumbstruck, up at Picard, before he reached up to his mouth and felt the blood trickling down. He nodded. 'I never thought you had that in you, Jean-Luc.'

Abruptly Captain Harris smiled and his body was encased in glittering energy. For a moment, it seemed as if he might not succeed but his body gradually faded away. Riker swore and hit his communicator. 'Riker to Data!'

'I'm on it, sir,' replied the android's voice calmly, although Picard noted a hint of stress in his voice. 'He's not broken through the barrier but he managed to reroute the beam to transport him somewhere else within the simulation.'

'He's still in the holodeck?' asked Picard, his demeanour becoming calm again.

'Yes, sir. But I have no idea where.'

'Deactivate the simulation –' began Riker.

'No, Will,' interjected Picard. 'If we end the program, he might be able to get out of the suppression field and use his suicide implant. We need him alive.'

Riker nodded his understanding and hefted his phaser rifle. He looked at Hedly. 'Let's head out.'

'Seal off the holodeck,' ordered Picard. 'We need to hunt him down in here.'

'Aye, sir,' replied Data.

Riker stepped cautiously out of the turbolift into deck 8, rifle at the ready. He knew that Hedly and her squad had taken another lift and would be appearing on the other side of the deck.

Sure enough, his commbadge bleeped and Hedly's voice came over. 'We're in position.'

'Understood,' replied Riker. 'Begin search pattern.'

The security teams had been through this procedure many times before on the decks above, working their way down through the holographic Enterprise and Riker didn't need to issue any orders to them. The team immediately split up and Riker sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. He tapped his communicator. 'Riker to Picard.'

'Picard here.'

'Captain, we're going to need some more people down here. He's going to give us the slip before long and I haven't got enough officers to keep up.'

'Understood. I'm on my way with reinforcements,' replied Picard.

Riker nodded to himself, contemplating his next move when he caught a glimpse of movement. Without even thinking, he threw himself to the deck as a phaser blast ripped a hole in the bulkhead above his head.

Belatedly, still recovering himself, he realised that the movement had been the snout of a phaser rifle, and although he couldn't hear any sound of running feet, he knew that it had been Harris.

Getting to his feet, he started off in pursuit, not noticing in his haste, that his commbadge had become detached from his uniform.

Hurtling around the corner, he spotted a shadow flitting across the corridor. Not even thinking about levelling his rifle at an illusory target, Riker picked up his pace, rounding another bend in the corridor, and coming upon a groaning body in the middle of the corridor.

He stopped, surprised, and cautiously advanced. A moment later, he realised that it was not Harris.

Lieutenant Curtis sported a black burn mark on his lower arm, and the agony in his eyes when he looked up at Riker was evident. The first officer knelt beside the security officer and said, 'What happened?'

'Commander Hedly ordered her team to split up in order to search quicker. I ran into Captain Harris down here, sir. He caught me by surprise and managed to snatch my rifle. He shot me and then ran on. I didn't see which way.'

Riker helped Curtis sit up. 'Can you help me track him?'

Curtis nodded, forcing his face to become calmer. 'Aye, sir.'

Riker smiled. 'Good man. Come on.'

The two men got to their feet, and Riker handed Curtis his phaser rifle, drawing a hand phaser from his belt.

As Curtis cradled the weapon in his arm, Riker started off down the corridor again, slowly.

Picard stepped out of the turbolift almost directly into Hedly's path. As the doors closed behind him, he stopped her in her tracks and without preamble said, 'Situation?'

'We've lost track of Commander Riker and Lieutenant Curtis,' replied Hedly immediately. 'I can't get in touch with either of them and I've had reports of phaser fire in corridor twelve.'

'We detected the same thing,' replied Picard, as behind him the turbolift became active again as the doors slid open. 'So I decided to bring some reinforcements along.'

He stepped aside as Worf strode through the double doors, followed by a small knot of Klingon warriors. Hedly smiled in relieved surprise. 'Thank you, sir.'

'Have them link up with your squads,' ordered Picard.

Hedly grabbed one of her lieutenants and gave her swift instructions. As the Klingons headed away, Hedly turned to face Worf and Picard. 'Thank you for all of the help, Ambassador.'

'I could not let such an opportunity pass me by,' replied Worf. 'Section 31 has caused a great deal of problems for anyone who was involved with Deep Space Nine during the war. It will be a chance to exact revenge on them.'

Hedly looked at Picard. 'Actually, sir, I was afraid that you had brought the Romulans into this as well.'

Worf glanced at Picard with mild amusement, who looked slightly chagrined. 'Actually, Commander, that was the other thing….'

At that moment, ten green beams of energy materialised a little way down the corridor, resolving quickly into the figures of a squad of Romulan troops. The shortest of the Romulans turned to face Picard and, saluting smartly, said, 'Subcommander Relesi reporting for duty, Captain Picard.'

Picard nodded formally, as Hedly tried not to look aghast behind him. 'Commander Hedly will give you your deployment orders, Subcommander.'

Relesi looked at Hedly, who returned the calculating gaze with an appraising stare. Picard noted how quickly his security chief had regained her composure. 'That will be satisfactory,' said Relesi after a moment. She added, not looking away from Hedly, 'I look forward to working with you, Commander.'

'Carry on,' said Picard, hiding a smile.

He and Worf watched as the column of Romulans marched away down the corridor, following Relesi and Hedly. 'I hope your Klingons can keep themselves out of trouble, Ambassador.'

'I have impressed on them the importance of this task, Captain,' replied Worf, 'and the fact that the Romulans were prepared to fight by our side during the war has helped my people set aside their hatred.'

Picard opened his mouth to reply when his communicator bleeped. 'Picard here.'

'Captain,' said Data's voice urgently, 'We've detected more phaser fire on deck ten!'

'On our way,' replied Picard. 'Have Commander Hedly meet us there!'

Riker had an awareness in his mind of the location of the search teams on deck eight, and he was making sure that, for the moment, he steered clear of them in order to be able to exploit the same gaps that Harris would be trying to exploit. Harris, as a long service starship captain, and also erstwhile commander of the Enterprise, would be fully aware of the search plans and drills of the security forces now hunting him.

Riker paused at an intersection, keeping his senses alert for sounds. When none came, he peered cautiously around both corners quickly, relaxing slightly when he couldn't see anything. He signalled for Curtis to follow.

There was a quiet clatter from further down the corridor to Riker's right. He tensed, listening for more, but none came. Pausing for another moment, he decided to make his move. He motioned to Curtis to stay put and cover him, before dashing quickly to the opposite bulkhead and sidling quickly along until he reached the bend.

He could now see what had caused the clatter – a Jeffries tube hatch had been opened up and the door had been laid against the bulkhead to the side of the crawlspace. He signalled for Curtis to join him, and as the lieutenant followed him, Riker moved cautiously around the bend.

He knew instantly that he had made a mistake, as rather than a shot coming from the corridor ahead as he had expected, the phaser beam lanced out of the Jeffries tube, striking the bulkhead to Riker's left. He leapt back, cringing inwardly at the thought of how close the phaser beam had come.

Another blast ripped past him, but now Riker was into the cover of the bend in the corridor, and he could safely ignore the firing. He cursed his lack of foresight, and glanced at Curtis. 'He's down that corridor,' Riker said mock-seriously.

Curtis smiled, saying nothing. Riker turned his attention to the corridor again, thinking about his next move.

A voice echoed down the corridor. 'Commander, it's no good. We could carry on chasing each other like this for the rest of the year and we'd never win.'

Riker grinned mirthlessly at the sound of Harris' voice. 'Then why don't you give yourself up, Captain? You know that there's no way off this holodeck.'

'I don't think so, Will,' replied Harris. 'Do you really think I would allow myself to be herded in such an amateurish manner?'

Riker frowned as Harris continued, 'Yes, you may have your security detail chasing me, and you may have me trapped on this rather neat little simulation, but I'm not ever as helpless as I may sometimes appear.'

'Seems pretty helpless to me,' replied Riker.

Harris' voice became amused. 'Maybe, but as I said, it's a very good simulation. Too good, possibly. At the moment, Captain Picard and your security teams; including, I note, a team of Romulans and a team of Klingons, are hunting me on deck ten.'

Riker froze, getting Harris' meaning immediately. Harris continued, 'That's where they think I am, of course, because they're tracking my phaser fire. Whereas I am actually here, on deck eight, orchestrating my escape. And you, Commander, are going to help me.'

'Nice thought, Ian,' retorted Riker sardonically, tiring of the verbal game. 'Throw down your weapon and come out. You're still trapped.'

'That's a nice thought, Commander,' replied Harris mockingly, 'However, I have a better one. Why don't you put the rifle down, and Ensign Curtis won't shoot you.'

Riker suddenly felt the cold metal of a phaser rifle brush against the back of his neck and realised that he had been betrayed. 'Sir, I'd appreciate it if you didn't move.'

Riker stayed still as Curtis slid the phaser from his holster. As the security officer stepped back slightly, Riker turned to face him, an expression of cold fury on his face. 'How long?'

Curtis shrugged, looking unperturbed. 'About five years, sir.'

'We fought the Borg together,' said Riker tightly. 'I gave you your first promotion.'

'Don't think I'm not grateful,' replied Curtis, 'but if it's loyalty to Starfleet or loyalty to a higher calling, I know which I've chosen.'

Riker turned away in time to see Harris step out from around the corner. 'He has the sort of loyalty to allow me to fire a phaser beam into his arm from close range so you would believe him, Will,' added the fleet captain. 'As you see, we're always one step ahead.'

Riker stared angrily at Harris. 'I suppose you're going to kill me?'

Harris laughed. 'No, of course not. We will use you to get what we want.' He shrugged. 'Then we'll kill you.'

The amusement faded from his face. 'Now be a good officer and follow me. I have something rather interesting planned for your search teams.'

Picard stared at the phaser on the deck before him for one livid moment, realising how easily he had been duped. He turned to face Hedly, rage on his face for a moment, before it was wiped out by composed ice. 'Have we still not regained contact with Commander Riker?'

Hedly shook her head, still looking in dismay at the discarded weapon. 'No, sir. I think he must have lost his communicator.'

'Your officer is probably dead,' said Relesi, standing off to one side. Her voice was soft, but without passion. 'We need to rethink our strategy.'

'Flood the holodeck with anesthezine gas,' said Worf. 'With luck, he will not be able to react in time.'

Picard shook his head. 'Dr Bashir has told me that any form of chemical administered automatically activates his suicide implant. We're preventing him from triggering it manually, but we can't stop it functioning fully until it can be removed. And we need to take him alive.'

'Now hear this!' A voice echoed through the holodeck. 'Now hear this!'

The mocking tone in the voice made everyone look up in surprise. Picard's eyes narrowed. 'Harris.'

'Captain Picard,' said the director of Section 31, 'I'm giving you this message so that you know what's happening in your sad little chase. As I was explaining to Commander Riker, my captive audience here, your simulation of the Enterprise is a little too good. Are you aware just how many unguarded computer terminals there are on this ship?'

Picard froze in horror. Before he could react, Harris continued, in that infuriatingly mocking tone, 'Section 31 is not supine before your crusading army of light, captain. I still have loyal followers, even here. Your cult of personality is no match for the loyalty engendered by true servants of the Federation.'

Riker stared, aghast, at Harris as the renegade stood before the warp core of the illusory Enterprise. 'Even the proud Enterprise has a back door into its central computer, Captain. And a holodeck computer is just as real when the simulation is active.'

Harris turned to Riker and his face and voice became cold as the grave. 'As is the danger.'

Harris stabbed his finger hard onto a control.

Picard stared in horror as the lights faded through the entire corridor, to be replaced by the dull red glow of the emergency lighting. He hit his badge. 'Picard to Data!'

'Captain!' shouted the android's voice. 'We've lost power throughout the ship! Geordi estimates thirty seconds until the warp core breaches!'

Picard could barely react to the litany of disaster. In desperation, he shouted, 'All right, Captain, I get the message! Stop this!'

There was no reply.

'Harris!'

Throughout the Enterprise, alert sirens blared screamed out the ship's distress, as the crew was suddenly engulfed by the emergency lights. On the bridge, Troi recoiled as the whiplash of the crew's terror ran through her mind.

In the holographic engineering, Riker gazed at the darkly silhouetted features of Captain Harris, his visage becoming skull-like in the half-dark, even as they listened to Picard's anguished shout come over the speakers. As the first officer watched, Harris smiled chillingly, a death's head smile.

In that moment, Riker knew that for all their dark deeds, even the Aralla could not be as completely evil as the man before him. It took true fanaticism to become as dark hearted as Ian Harris.

And above all the sudden disorienting terror, there was only the voice of the computer, counting down in a hauntingly calm voice, 'Twenty-five seconds until warp core breach. Warning….'