Chapter 49

IMS Contagion

Data materialized, and quickly took in his surroundings. Intruder alert...unauthorized transport. Intruder alert...He was alone for now, but the ship's alarms were already announcing his presence. He took out his tricorder, and matched the information it was sending him about the layout of this section of the Terran ship. This was indeed the detention area. However, it was roughly ten times the size of the prisoner detention area on the Enterprise, suggesting this ship regularly held prisoners. He began walking swiftly toward the main detention area, realizing that out of necessity he might need to deactivate all 100 of the cell doors. This would serve the dual purpose of causing a significant distraction for the Terrans, which could work to his advantage.

While walking along, he pulled a small oblong explosive charge out of his bag. He could use these spatial charges to produce a concurrent detonation, connecting to each cell door. In less than a half a second he had calculated the measurements between each cell door throughout the facility and programmed it into the spatial charge. He managed to slip past one guard without being seen, and then jogged to the closest cell. The field barrier was up, but there was no one inside. He attached one of the charges against the outside door lock panel, and stepped a safe distance blast that resulted was loud but not particularly dangerous, and he noted from the tricorder that all of the cells were now unlocked.

It wasn't long before he heard footsteps running towards him. Three prisoners raced toward him, and they were moving toward him at a brisk pace, breathing erratically. When he was first spotted, his hand dropped to his phaser, but unexpectedly, the prisoners dropped to one knee, heads bowed. Another wave of prisoners came flooding toward him, this time, with some guards following behind, firing disruptors. Seeing Data, they all stopped and skidded to a stop and copied the others by kneeling down. One guard slowly raised his head to get a glimpse of Data, but didn't say a word, just dropping his head back down. Though he found this intriguing, Data continued walking through the crowd of kneeling Terrans, occasionally checking his tricorder. Another rush of footsteps came toward him, and he could now detect from his tricorder that Captain Picard's communicator was among the group and heading toward him. Suddenly, the communicator signal veered off the tricorder screen, perhaps entering a junction of some kind in an adjacent corridor. Believing the captain to be near, Data picked up the pace, as prisoners continued to stream toward him. Unexpectedly, Captain Picard appeared, racing toward him so fast that he slid a few paces past Data before halting. Data noted that the captain was not wearing his communicator.

"Data, you-"

Data wordlessly grasped Jean-Luc's arm, before reaching up to hit his communicator, but his elbow locked stiffly in place.

"Data!" Picard shouted. Still holding the captain's arm, Data looked down at his own torso, which was glowing with a bluish burst of electromagnetic energy. "Sir...I have been shot." He attempted to take a step forward, but his joints locked up, and he fell forward onto the deck, still glowing blue.

Suddenly there was a shout behind them. Picard saw beyond the crowd of now confused escaped prisoners, Reginald Barclay standing down the corridor with the Admiral's guards. He was holding an energy wand, the weapon he had just used to stun the android. "Th-that's not the real Emperor, you idiots! Stun them!"

Jean-Luc grabbed Data, and began to drag him out of the way just as the disruptor fire rained down on them. The first stun beam hit him in the legs, and he collapsed on top of Data's solid frame. Luckily for him, the wave of electromagnetic energy that had surrounded Data had now faded, and did not harm him, but when he slapped at Data's communicator, he found it unresponsive.

"Grab the android's belongings, Natasha," came a chillingly familiar voice. Identical to his own voice, but yet not...

He tried to twist around at the torso, since his legs were numb and immovable. A shadow very like his own loomed over him, and he reasonably expected the worst. He managed to block the first blow, a hard punch intended for his face, but the second strike, powered by a metallic object, hit him in the temple. Blackness descended over him, only to lift a moment later, and then he was looking to the side into his own eyes.

His Terran counterpart was squatting down next to him, holding a large disruptor loosely in his hand. "So...we meet again and for the first time," said his mirror version. His lips parted in a sinister smile. "You don't look so good, Captain. I can imagine your fury at being bested by someone who looks so much like Jack. Believe me, I can. But, I'm afraid you and Data are going to stay here for a bit longer. Grab Data's communicator, Natasha."

Yar had been staring wide-eyed at the Lesser Captain Picard, but she moved quickly to Data's side, not forgetting who she was taking orders from.

"Tasha," Jean-Luc whispered, trying to think through the fog in his brain. Seeing his dead crew member resurrected made his situation even more unfathomable.

"Sir," she said, looking down at her captain's Lesser counterpart. "He looks just like you," she insisted sounding amazed.

"But he's not me, Natasha, and I will have you remember that!" the Terran Picard shouted.

"Testy," Jean-Luc murmured groggily.

Terran Picard slapped him in the face, which was more insulting than painful. The cruel eyes leaned in closer to Jean-Luc. "You're out of your element, captain. And within minutes, I am going to be in yours."

"What are you talking about?"

Terran Picard stood up. "I'm going to take control of your ship and crew, Picard. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"No!" Jean-Luc lashed out, grabbing for the ankles of his mirror image. The Terran Picard kicked him away and then fired the disruptor once more at close range, knocking Jean-Luc unconscious instantly.

Picard nodded at Yar. "Let's go."


Enterprise Shuttle Craft Adriatic 11A

"A bunch of small energy barriers, and some spatial charges, Captain. Could be useful going into enemy territory." Yar had finished rummaging around in Data's bag, and tossed it on the seat next to her, as the captain powered up the shuttle engines.

"I leave it to you Yar to program us some portable temporary shielding we can use to get to Picard's quarters. I don't intend on making friends where we're going, and I can guarantee they will be firing on us."

"Aye sir," she said beginning to go to work.

"And use that tricorder, to upload any of the Enterprise schematics you can get ahold of."

"Yes, sir. Are the shields still down, Captain?"

"Appears so...in any case we're about to confirm whether that is true," he said, before firing the phasers through the shuttle bay doors. A parting gift, Beverly. He laughed raucously, as they exited out of a ragged hole in the hull. "Not as powerful as disruptors, but they'll do!"

"Put on Data's communicator," he said, adjusting the coordinates for the Enterprise which now lay beautifully in front of them in space.

Yar looked with confusion at the object in her palm. "Where should I put it sir?"

He pointed at his belt buckle, where he had already attached the Lesser Picard's communicator. "Good a place as any," he said.

Yar nodded and placed the badge on the front of her belt as well.

"One thousand meters and closing." He adjusted the trajectory again, lining it up with what appeared to be the main shuttle bay. "From the outside it almost looks like my ship," he muttered. He found the communications relay and punched it. "Picard to Riker," he said in as boring a voice as he could muster. His Lesser counterpart was boring, wasn't he? What characteristics defined them? He guessed that he would discover that in time.

"Riker here...Captain it's so good to hear your voice. We're reading Data with you as well, is that correct?"

"He's here," said Picard, glancing at Yar with a smirk. "But he was...damaged by the Terrans and I had to deactivate him."

"Yes, sir. Understood. Please proceed to the main shuttle bay for docking."


Enterprise bridge

"It sounds like Jean-Luc," said Philippa Louvois.

"But is it?" Deanna asked carefully. There was something odd in the tone of the captain's voice, of that she was certain.

Riker stroked his beard thoughtfully, staring at the view screen. "There are two lifeforms on board that shuttle, and neither one is Data. Whether Data's deactivated or not, his signature would still show up on our sensors."

"Jack Crusher's imposter, Commander," Worf said. "Perhaps the captain is being held captive on the shuttle."

"I don't sense that he's in distress-or even hiding his distress. He seems quite...confident," said Troi.

Riker glanced at her meaningfully. "Whatever is happening, we're not going to find out from up here. Captain Louvois you have the bridge. Troi, Worf, you're with me."


Yar put one of the bags over her shoulder and threw the other to the captain. They both pulled their disruptors, which the captain had ordered should be set for heavy stun. Her legs felt weak with a kind of giddiness she hadn't felt in sometime. The excitement of a new adventure surrounded her and permeated the air of the cramped shuttle.

"Try it out," Picard said, nodding to the disc Yar was holding. She pressed a button on the side of the barrier disc she had modified and programmed with the tricorder, and was enveloped in a bubble of energy. Picard fired his disruptor directly into the field at an angle which caused the beam to glance harmlessly off the field and burst out through the hull of the shuttle. Of course, the alarm began to sound, but since they were now inside the shuttle bay, there was no reason to fear decompression. No doubt the Starfleet crew surrounded the shuttle. Picard grinned. "Nicely done, you should have been an engineer."

"I always could pull something off in a pinch, sir."

He activated his own personal barrier, then deactivated it. "Ready?"

She nodded quickly and he hit the hatch control, and the door hydraulics lifted slowly. Before he had even jumped down from the shuttle, a large frame blocked the doorway. The look on Worf's face probably matched his own, and then he coolly fired the disruptor. The Lesser crew screamed and shouted, rushing to the Klingon's aid.

Yar jumped down beside them, and it was clear immediately that they were outnumbered. Picard activated his personal barrier and looked down at Worf, who was sprawled on the deck, the front of his uniform had been charred. "Sorry... please accept my heartfelt apology!" Picard said from the safety of his personal force field. "Old habits die hard with me when it comes to Klingons..."

"Don't move!" Will Riker was there. Same beard, less smugness. Picard nodded at Yar who had been well-briefed and didn't need verbal guidance. She strolled to a wall panel, and attempted to plug in the tricorder, but the security teams opened fire, sending her spinning into the wall. But the barrier held. She tossed two more discs at her feet and energy barriers sprung up between her and the guards. When the guards fired again, the phaser fire bounced dangerously away and back at them. More shouts of anger and frustration. Temporarily protected, Yar briefly dropped her own shield and plugged the tricorder into the wall port. In seconds she was finished, and as Captain had instructed, she continued walking past the guards toward the nearest turbo lift.

"Hold your fire," Riker shouted at his security crews.

Picard followed Yar, pausing for the first time to notice the medical personnel who were attending to Worf's still-smoldering injury. Not pausing in her task, Beverly Crusher looked up at the intruder with a mix of fear and anger. Somewhat taken in by her defiant gaze, he gave her a knowing wink, before passing by without a word.


The prisoners were being escorted roughly back to their cells, every last one of them...well with the exception of one man. Admiral Crusher stopped outside his cell. The force field barrier was down, he was free to go, and yet he sat against the back wall of the cell.

She watched him with a silent, yet hateful expression, no doubt wondering why he was injured but not dead. Eventually M spread his arms wide and said, "I can explain everything."


Hey, thanks for keeping up with these chapters. And I really appreciate your reviews and comments. -PP