22

The Hunt for…

Jonathan and Genevieve join Saren, Riker and Worf at Science Station One. A viewscreen depicts a wire grid representation of the first planet and the Breen battleship entering orbit.

"Captain, the Breen completed their scans around the Supergiant and have entered orbit around the first planet of the system," in Vulcan monotone and points to one of the strobing points. "The Breen are now launching probes into orbit."

Jonathan watches as points of light disperse over the planets northern pole and begin to form into concentric circles at latitudes around the planet.

"Damn," he mutters.

"Once the Breen have completed their scans of the first planet, I hypothesis they will enter orbit around the second planet and begin deploying probes into orbit. At that point, the Breen battleship will ascertain the Enterprise's position in less than seven hours," states Spock.

"I'll give the Breen this, there are damn determined to find us," remarks Genevieve.

"Could we call for help," desperately asks Riker. "Contact the Gallant?"

"No," a stoic Kirk shakes his head and then turns to her. "The Breen commander is… is very good and is trying to forcing our hand. If we break radio silence, the Breen commander will triangulate the source of the transmission in a matter of seconds, zero in on our position and destroy the Enterprise before the Gallant could ever reach us. Even as we speak, I am certain the Breen commander has ordered the ship into a low active state, and is lying in wait, tracking all subspace transmissions, scanning relentlessly, waiting for us to make a mistake."

"Sir, I would like to propose a course of action," Picard speaks up. "In light of this new development, the Breen may have inadvertently created an opportunity for the Enterprise to escape,"

"Go on,"

Genevieve politely regards Saren as they swap positions.

"We are here, at the South Pole," says Picard as she points at the viewscreen. "If the Breen are to repeat their scanning process they would start here at the North Pole."

Picard zooms in on an illustration of a Delta Flyer, the Fibonacci.

"A small team would navigate the Fibonacci to the Northern Pole. We would enter the planet's atmosphere at our current latitude and make our way to the Northern pole. Several large mountain ranges on the planet that would allow the Delta Flyer to fly undetected to a point above the Breen's position during their scans of the planet. At this point, Fibonacci would enter into high orbit," says Picard. "The Breen would detect our presence, assume it is Enterprise and divert course to intercept. This would allow Enterprise to slip away without detection into deep space."

"The Breen would engage the Fibonacci almost immediately," exclaims Worf. "With the Enterprise's shields up the crew would not be able to transport back abord the ship."

"The planet is uninhabitable offering no refuge as escape," cuts in Riker.

"That is all true," answers Picard. "However, the Fibonacci could escape by using the planet's natural characteristics to escape."

"No – this is a suicide mission," barks Kirk. "The Delta Flyer wouldn't stand a chance against a Breen battlecruiser. I am not order anyone to die to create a diversion for the Enterprise to escape."

"And that is why, sir, I volunteer," states Picard.

"What?" blurts Riker.

Looking right into Jonathans eyes, "I volunteer."

Jonathan boils in anger but before he can make an issue a melodic chirp interrupts him.

"Engineering to Bridge, Captain comin."

"Kirk here! Go ahead Chief," Kirk replies but not breaking eyes with Picard.

"We've got a problem."

"Do you want to be a little more specific, chief."

"Not really, sir, it's a long specific problem so I think you better get down here, with help."

Jonathan rubs his head in stress and then replies. "On my way chief, Kirk out."

"Saren, keep me informed. Notify me the moment the Breen enter orbit around the second planet."

"Understood."

Still seething, Jonathan barks at Genevieve. "Genevieve…"

The others stop in unison and look dismay. Jonathan dips his head in disgust. Yelling at her was uncalled for. Calling her by her first name in front of the others was plain disrespectful. Whatever she suggested was out of her duty as a first officer.

Jonathan pauses for a moment, lets out a deep sigh and meets her eyes. "Commander," in a conciliatory tone. "You have the con."

"Aye sir," she replies calmly.

"Spock, Riker, Munro," lists Kirk. "With me."

Alexandria, Marina, Saren follow Jonathan to Turbo Lift 2 and descend together to engineering.

=/\=

Jonathan and the others exit Turbo Lift 2.

"Captain," yells out Engineer Gates.

"Yes Chief,"

"Over here,"

Jonathan makes his way to the engineer who is huddled with the group of his technical team.

"We have a problem, sir,"

"We have a lot of problems, Chief," replies Kirk.

"Not broken replicators sir, a real problem," barks Chief.

Kirk raises an eyebrow almost as well as the most proficient Vulcan.

"I am all ears,"

"The old energize, its breaking down at the molecular level. We've had to erect a force field to prevent radioactive contamination inside of engineering. However, the energizer is destabilizing exponentially and it will eventually explode."

"Can we transport the energizer of the ship?" asks Kirk.

"Captain," exclaims Gates. "I am an engineer, not an idiot. Off course, I considered transporting the energizer off the ship. The energizer is too unstable and will explode during dematerialization,"

Jonathan turns to Saren, who is already scanning with her tricorder.

"Captain, it is imperative that we divert power from non-essential areas and increase power to the force field," suggests Spock. "The energizer is emitting particles that could be detected by the Breen battleship,"

Jonathan nods in agreement. Saren takes over a console and adjusts the force fields settings at a nearby console.

"What about the energizer?" asks the Chief.

Munro cuts in, "we could manually move the energizer to Shuttle Bay 1 and eject it out into space.

This time Saren raises an eyebrow.

"That, that would work!" Gates nods in agreement.

"Captain, Lieutenant, Chief," acknowledging the three officers. "The energizer is larger than doorways within the Enterprise."

"Right," sighs Gates. "To make way for the energizer we would need to strip out every doorway to create a pathway large enough to transport the energizer between here and Shuttle Bay 1. Might even have to tunnel through some quarters,"

Jonathan blows out a breath.

"Would phasers cut through the bulkheads," asks Kirk.

Gates frowns. "We could, Captain,…"

"What about the mining plasma cutter stowed in Storage Bay 2?" suggests Riker.

Gates snaps his fingers to the excellent suggestion. "That would be perfect."

"Captain, I approximate it will take two hours fifty minutes to implement such action," Interrupts Spock.

"Captain, the energizer will destabilize in less than three hours," exclaims Gates.

Jonathan right hand beings to tremor as he tries to raise it to his communicator pin, but he quickly balls it into a fist to camouflage the shaking. A moment passes and the shaking stops.

"Captain?" asks Riker with some apprehension.

"I'm fine," replies Kirk with firm resolve.

Jonathan keys his insignia. "Attention! Crew of the USS Enterprise, I am ordering every member of the ship, including myself to assist Chief Engineer Gates in anyway required to transport the unstable energizer from Engineering to Shuttle Bay 1. You will receive your specific assignments from your duty officer, Kirk out."

"Saren, Riker, Munro, stay here and assist the Chief."

Munro and Riker subtly nod in acknowledgement and join the Chief Gates. Saren remains and hovers over Jonathan.

"Yes," says Kirk, with a hint of irritation.

"Captain, there is one further issue that we must consider."

Even on his last nerves, Jonathan remains steadfast and calmly asks, "That is?"

"If the energizer is ejected into space the Breen will immediately detect the radioactive particulars and triangulate our position," says Saren in a monotone voice. "Furthermore, Chief engineer Gates will not have sufficient time to install the new energizer required to power the warp engines."

Jonathan processes for a moment the situation and then lowers his head realizing what the Vulcan is saying without saying it; Saren says it anyway.

"Captain, you must implement the first officer's plan, for if the Enterprise is to escape, a sacrifice must be made."

Jonathan realizes that the shaking that was only in his hand has now spread to his entire body.

"Captain?" calls out Saren.

Jonathan shuts down the tremors by balling up his hands with crushing force.

"Sir?"

"I'm fine," he replies and then turns to Saren. "And, I understand."