The Infinity Particle

Chapter 21

"The life given us, by nature is short;

but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal."

Cicero

Jim parked his shuttle in the apartment complex garage. He had dropped Gavin off at home and he was anxious to get to his bed. It had been a long and weary day. The night shift security officers were on duty at his front door and saluted him as he walked up.

"Good evening, gentlemen. All quiet here?"

"Welcome back, Captain. Yes, Sir. It's been very quiet," one of the officers told him. "Your mother came out a while ago to bring us each a piece of cake that she'd baked and some hot coffee. It was much appreciated and the cake was delicious, Sir." The young Lieutenants both had a blissful look on their faces.

"Hope there's some left for me," Jim laughed. "My mother loves to bake."

"And she's mighty good at it, Sir. You're very lucky."

"I am indeed, good night, Lieutenants, and stay alert out here."

"Aye, Captain," they chorused.

Jim keyed in his code and entered the living area. His mother and T'Lane were both in the living room sitting on the sofa reading on their padds. "Jim, sweetheart. I'm so glad you're home." Winona got up hurriedly to kiss him. "Violet commed to tell me you'd be back this evening, so I thought I'd wait up and T'Lane was kind enough to keep me company."

Jim glanced at T'Lane and a swift silent communication was exchanged between them. Was everything alright with my mother today?

Everything has been well with your mother. "Since you are here now, Cap...Jim, I will retire to my bed. Goodnight, Winona, Jim."

"Goodnight T'Lane. Thank you for keeping me company."

"Goodnight, T'Lane. Ma, I heard you baked a cake today, any chance that there might be a slice left over for your son?"

"Jim Kirk! As if I wouldn't save a piece for you. Come in the kitchen and I'll cut a piece for you," and, she added mischievously, "we won't tell Leonard. You can take the rest of the cake to your briefing tomorrow. Do you want coffee, sweetheart? We have decaf."

"Yes, thanks Ma, and for sure Bones will be none the wiser," Jim grinned. "And how did you know about my briefing tomorrow morning?"

"Violet told me that Gavin had to be up early tomorrow morning. I put two and two together and got a briefing."

"You're a very smart woman, Dr. Kirk."

"I know," Winona replied, dimpling. "How do you think I kept up with all you brilliant Kirk men?"

Jim snorted. "Speaking of Kirk men, how was Peter today?"

"A bit restless since we kept him in all day. I wasn't sure what you wanted to do about Security today, so we stayed in."

"That was the best thing to do, Ma." Jim stretched his spine and rotated his shoulders.

"You look tired, son," she handed him the cake and coffee. She sat down at the beautiful green glass dining table and tapped it gently waiting patiently for her son to tell her about his day.

"I am, Ma. I had a migraine this morning, but Bones took care of it right away. He thinks the extreme cold on Andor triggered it. Hadn't had one in a long time. Also it was a difficult interrogation." He began to tell his mother everything that had transpired on Andor, the decision he'd made to keep her phaser injury from the Andorian Magistrate, and the information Thoris had given them about Baghdassarian's house.

Winona listened carefully. "I'm glad you didn't tell them about my injury, Jim. I do believe it was an accident that I hit my head, and I don't think my injury is worth taking someone's life with the death penalty." Jim knew his mother would feel like that. She was the soul of compassion and kindness, killing anyone, even if it was the law of the land of another culture was completely abhorrent to her.

"So do you think you'll apprehend Baghdassarian tomorrow or the next day?" Winona asked breaking the comfortable silence.

"I do, Ma. He's still here on Earth in California, close to Santa Rosa, in the woods, so the sooner we can grab him the better or he might bolt." Jim sat back in the chair thinking about tomorrow. "Ma, if you think it will be good for Peter, and you want to go out somewhere tomorrow with him and T'Lane, I can have Security take you wherever you want to go. They'll have to accompany you, in any case, wherever you want to go."

"I think that's a good idea, Jim. Peter isn't used to being confined indoors so much. I think a trip to Balboa Park would be fun for him. He can run around as much as he likes and I'll take a picnic for everyone. What do you think? Would the park be a good place to take him?"

"Sounds good to me. It's peaceful, green, and has a nice play area too. Let me tell the Lieutenants. I think it would be best if you leave at mid-morning. A lot less people are out at that time since it's a work day. Also, I'll want security out of uniform; they'll be much less conspicuous that way. I came from the ship in one of our smaller shuttles, so you can use the rental."

"That's a good idea, son. Less alarming for everyone if the shuttle is unmarked and security is out of uniform. Peter will be happy and I don't think T'Lane has ever been to Balboa Park." She grinned. "Tell those two young Security men that lunch is on me. Poor things they've been eating ration bars except for the cake today." She yawned. "I'm off to bed now, dear, and I'd like for you to go straight to bed after you speak with the Lieutenant. You have that early briefing and you look very tired. I'll be up in the morning to make your breakfast."

"Ma!" Jim protested. "You don't have to do that."

"I want to, darling, it's not often I get to spoil you a little," she told him simply. She kissed him on top of his sandy head. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Ma. Love you." He watched her fondly as she left the room. A hot home cooked breakfast would be very welcome in the morning.

Jim rinsed his plate and mug and went out into the living room. The lights in the room were dimmed, and he stopped to take a deep breath and look around, realizing once more how smart he'd been to buy this apartment. The farm was home in the way that a house where you grow up in is home, but his ship and this apartment were home to him now.

As always when he'd been away from his apartment for a long time, he would take a moment to appreciate and savor his home. With the urgency of this mission, he hadn't really had an opportunity to do so until this moment. Since he'd brought Peter and T'Lane here, he hadn't had a single minute to relax, to just sit and enjoy the beautiful view of the Bridge and Bay from the big picture window. His eyes took in the comfortable furniture that he'd acquired; the big upholstered sofa and the two large arm chairs that had once belonged to his grandmother Davis, the two large landscapes of the farm and surrounding woods that his great grandmother had painted, their muted grays, greens, and browns softened by age hanging on either side of the fireplace, and the warm earth tone throw rugs from the farm that his mother had sent him.

Jim shook off his introspection, recognizing it for what it was, a way to relax his body and mind before he went to bed. He looked at the time before he went to the front door to speak to the security detail about their duties tomorrow. They'd be going off duty soon and return at 0900 tomorrow. The two of them listened carefully to Jim's instruction. "My mother will be using the rental shuttle and it seats six, so you'll fit fine in it. Also, I want you in civilian attire so you won't attract attention. My mother would like to leave at mid-morning, because the park will be less crowded at that time. And," he grinned, "she said to tell you that lunch is on her. She's going to prepare a picnic lunch for everyone."

The two Lieutenants grinned in response. "That's very kind of your mother, Captain," one of the Lieutenants said. "She's good people. Her cake was amazing. We'll take good care of them tomorrow at the park, don't worry, Captain."

"I know you will. Well, I'm off to my bed, good night, officers."

Jim took a quick sonic, set his alarm, quickly reviewed his notes for the briefing, and promptly went to sleep.

He woke, as he usually did, just before his comm alarm went off. After a quick shower, he dressed and went into the kitchen. His mother was already fixing breakfast. "'Morning, Ma," he said grabbing a mug for coffee.

"Good morning, dear. Sit down, your breakfast is ready." She heaped his warmed plate with scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, fresh fruit and buttered toast.

"Thanks, Ma." Jim looked keenly at his mother, eating quickly. "Everything's delicious. Did you sleep well? No headache?"

"I feel just fine, Jim, no more headaches and I'm looking forward to being out in the sunshine today. Peter and T'Lane will be too when I tell them." She glanced at the clock. "They should getting up soon."

"Your Daytime Security detail has been briefed. They'll be here at 0900 in plain clothes. Have fun and be careful." He put the last forkful in his mouth, wiped his lips, stood up and kissed his mother goodbye. She handed him a large container with the cake in it. "Tell everyone I said to be careful tomorrow morning...and to enjoy the cake."

"I will."

Last night he had sent a comm to Jonathon that the briefing would be at the Fleet house and had also sent him the main SF transporter coordinates along with his clearance. Gavin had offered to pick him up there and bring him to the house. The rest of the team, now including Giotto, Chekov, and Sulu, would arrive from the ship with Spock and Bones. Scotty and Uhura would work from the ship, Uhura monitoring their comms and Scotty manning the ship's scanners once the team was in place close to Baghdassarian's in the woods close to the house.

Yesterday afternoon, Bones had made it quite clear to Jim that he wanted to be included in the mission. As Gavin had predicted, Jim had told him no. There had been a very heated discussion about it. After all, Leonard had argued, he was the one who had been kidnapped and he had a vested interest in bringing Baghdassarian to justice. Besides that, he told Jim, what if someone was injured? He was the right person to help and he'd be in a perfect place to be the first responder. Spock, listening to the discussion, had cautiously agreed that it was logical to include a medical professional. Leonard nodded at him solemnly, biting his lip to keep from smiling, ignoring Jim's glare at the Vulcan and hiding his gratification at Spock's agreement. He assured Jim that he would take a fully packed medical field kit, and that his phaser would be fully charged. Jim had thrown his hands up in frustration, muttering about recalcitrant, stubborn doctors, and finally acquiesced, but only after getting Bones to promise that he would hang back behind Jim. He had stopped short of making it an order for Bones to stay behind on the ship, knowing that it would absolutely infuriate Bones, but he made sure the doctor knew he was not happy about his going.

He parked his shuttle in front of the Fleet house and saw that Security was back on duty and patrolling. Gavin's shuttle was already there and so was the Enterprise shuttle; the rest of his crew had arrived. The security patrol saluted him as he approached the door. "They're all inside, Captain."

Jim, carrying, his mother's cake, opened the door. Everyone was seated in the living area. "Good morning, everyone."

"Mornin', Jim. Whatcha' got there in that box?"

"Ma sent some cake for everyone, we can have it with coffee when we finish the briefing," he informed them to their appreciative murmurs. "Jonathon, good to have you here," he added.

"Good to be here, Jim. Thanks for including me."

"Everyone's here, so let's get started." Jim put the cake box down, and pulled his padd from his jacket pocket. He and Gavin had made extensive notes yesterday, and he felt the two of them had covered all contingencies.

He flipped open his comm. "Kirk to Enterprise."

"Enterprise here," Uhura's voice came in loud and clear.

"Are you and Scotty in place to participate in this briefing, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Captain. Mr. Scott and I are in your briefing room. Mr. De Salle has the con."

"Very well. Scotty, after we finish here, I want you to check the ship's scanners with a fine tooth comb, we're going to implement bio monitor checks. We'll be using the bio monitors for the mission tomorrow, and after this briefing, Bones will implant them, and we'll do a sensor check. Uhura, I want you to target the coordinates I gave you and try to pick up any chatter from the area. If you have to hack into any of the comms that are active in Baghdassarian's compound, do it. I know we don't usually do things like that, but we've got to remember that the outcome of this mission is so important that Admiral Nogura gave Gavin and I limited discretionary powers for its duration."

"Aye, Captain."

He turned back to the waiting team. "First order of business. Should we go in the middle of the night, or very early, at dawn?" He looked around and his gaze landed on his First Officer. "Mr. Spock, your opinion?"

"Sir." Spock steepled his fingers, thinking. "Since we do not know at what time Baghdassarian retires and he is, as Lt. Connolly has reported to us, a workaholic, he may be accustomed to retire very late. Therefore I believe ingress at dawn would be be more likely to take him and his guards by surprise."

"I agree with Spock, Jim. SIS has found that dawn is the time when diurnal beings are the least alert. It's usually when we conduct our raids and arrests."

"Anyone with a different opinion?" Jim asked. There was silence. "Very well, we'll go in at dawn tomorrow. Gavin has acquired a comprehensive holographic map of the area through the SIS scanners." He nodded to Gavin. "He's sending it to you now. Scotty, Uhura, you're getting it also," he said into his comm.

"We have them, Captain," Uhura said.

They all bent their heads to look closely at the detailed map. The large house was plainly visible. There was only a small area of cleared land around it, and there was a small shuttle parking area directly behind the house. When the house had been photographed yesterday evening, two shuttles had been parked there. The house and the shuttle pad were surrounded by thick dense woods with no visible pathways anywhere.

"Captain," Scotty's voice said. "Yae see the shadows on both sides, front and back of the house?"

"Yes, I see them, Scotty. Security, I'm sure."

"Aye, Sir. Don't know how many, but at least four I'm thinking. I'll get me sensors on them right away."

"It will definitely help to know how many armed guards Baghdassarian has." Jim peered closely at the map again and he made an instant decision. "Spock, inform the armory we'll need full body armor for 8 for our mission. I have no doubt the house guards are well armed and we'll take no chances. I don't want any of you to be hurt or felled by phaser fire. Tell them I want the body armor ready early this evening. I think we'll also need night goggles, we can't chance flashlights. There's only going to be a quarter moon, and that's not enough light at near dawn. Let Angelo know we'll need black shirts and black head masks. I want us to be invisible. There will be very little moonlight, and if we're all in black, chances are we can get pretty close to the house undetected by the guards. Have everything beamed in to this location by 1600 hours this evening, Scotty. Mr. Spock and Bones will be here to receive the equipment. We're going to depart for Santa Rosa from here. We'll take two shuttles, four to a shuttle plus all our gear."

"Keptin?"

"Yes, Mr. Chekov."

"I am wondering, Sir, if there might be motion sensors in the woods surrounding the house?"

"Good point, Chekov. Did you get that Scotty?"

"Aye, I did. I'll check on that. There doesn't appear to be a fence around the property perimeter, so there might be motion sensors placed there too. If I find any, t'would be easy to disable them remotely if need be. What about a house Security shield, Captain? Do you think Baghdassarian has one installed?"

"I don't know, he certainly wasn't prepared for my mother's at the farm, but I would say yes, just check on that too, Scotty and report back to me this afternoon."

"Aye, Captain. I won't disable anything until you tell me you're ready to enter the woods. I will need to bypass the alarm company's notification system so they're not notified."

Jim consulted his padd. "We'll meet here at 0300 and go by shuttles to the outer woods perimeter. Uhura, we'll do a comm check at that time."

"Yes, Sir."

"After the comm check, we'll walk toward the house in two separate groups. I'll take point for the first group, Chekov, Sulu, and Bones are with me. Gavin will take point of the second group, with Spock, Jonathon, and Giotto with him. One group will approach from the front, the other from the rear. We'll try to gain entrance from one side or the other. Once we're inside, we'll apprehend Baghdassarian, hopefully take him by surprise. We'll have to disable the outside guards first. Bones, can you prepare some fast acting sedatives we can use on the guards? I don't want them to be injured; they're only employees after all. They're probably just guys that need to earn a living that Baghdassarian hired from a security firm. There are 8 of us, so we'll split up in twos to subdue each guard, that's including Bones with his trusty hypos.

Leonard nodded. "I'll be able to do that, Jim. I have something in my arsenal that should keep them out for a couple of hours. That enough time?" He looked at Jim, his blue eyes shining under the lights as if to say See I told you I'd be useful.

Jim returned the look. Okay, you were right, Bones.

He turned his attention back to the group. "Any questions, comments or concerns?"

"I have one," Jonathon said. Everyone turned to look at him. "Where am I going to sleep?"

Everyone laughed and Jim grinned. "Don't worry about it, Jonathon. You can crash on my sofa in the study; it's a fold out and very comfortable. Ma would never forgive me if I put you up in a hotel. She'll be very happy to see you. Did you bring your kit?"

"Yes, it's still in Gavin's shuttle."

Jim checked his notes one last time. He'd covered everything. "I think we're finished here. We'll all meet here at 0300 tomorrow morning. We'll be in Santa Rosa in 25 minutes and at the perimeter of the woods five minutes after that. So by 0345 we should be walking through those woods. Sunrise tomorrow is at 0711. Plenty of time to surprise and apprehend Baghdassarian." Jim stood. "Scotty, Uhura," he said into his comm. "I'm sorry you'll be missing Ma's cake, but I'll save you each a piece."

"I would appreciate it, Captain."

"Thank ye, Captain. Your mother's a bonny cook. The lass and I look forward to eating a bit of it."

"No problem, Scotty. Kirk out."

"Bones, go ahead and implant the bio monitors and we'll do that signal check." Jim grinned at the group. "After that, we'll eat us some cake, people!"