Chapter III
In transporter room two, the away team assembled for a last briefing. Riker paced before the small group.
'We shall only reconnoitre the city for a distance of two kilometres. At the first sign of trouble, we shall beam up to the ship.' The team assembled on the pad. Riker nodded to Reg Barclay, the transporter duty officer.
'Energise.' The glittering energy enveloped them and they vanished.
They rematerialised on the planet's surface, in what had been the city's centre. There was smoke and rubble as far as they could see. There was a tall wall to their left. Data got out his tricorder, while Hedly and Riker levelled their phasers. Sela drew her disruptor.
'Commander, I am picking up four life-forms in that direction,' Data said, pointing towards a large building that was tottering unsteadily. Its walls were pockmarked and blackened by flame and debris. The away team moved towards it cautiously. All around them was the silence of death.
Data reached the building quickly and entered through what had once been a door. He looked at burned out debris, fallen rocks, and a horrific sight of a hundred charred and burnt corpses. As Riker and Sela glanced in, the sight they saw provoked them to gasp.
Behind them, Data said, matter-of-factly, 'Obviously, they tried to hide in here. The wall of flame first expelled the oxygen from their lungs, collapsing them. Then they were roasted to death by the fire. A particularly horrific death.'
Riker nodded, still shocked. 'Thank you for sharing that with us, Commander.' The android had the good grace to look embarrassed.
Suddenly, a stone flew through the air, striking Data on the chest. He looked up in surprise. A man stood up, dressed in tattered and blackened rags, and started to run. Sela raised her disruptor, but a blast from Riker's phaser caught him, and blasted him to the ground. The away team ran over to him, but before they reached him, a hail of stones and rubble filled the air, and forced them away. A few more people rushed out of cover, and started to throw stones at them, but the away team just backed off, and stunned them all.
Riker stood over one of the unconscious bodies, and said, 'We've got to get these people to sickbay.'
The last of the patients appeared in sickbay, stretched out in contortions of unconsciousness, and the medical staff got to work. Picard stood at the back of the room. Beverly pulled off her gloves for a moment and walked over to speak to Picard.
'Captain, they're all suffering from a mild form of hysteria. With the sort of attack they experienced, I can't blame them. They're all under sedation, but I think that I can bring them out of the hysteria.'
'Good work, doctor.'
'I haven't tried yet. Congratulate me when I succeed.'
'Understood,' said Picard, smiling slightly, and he turned and left sickbay.
The Enterprise hung like a jewel in the night sky, as the search parties finished their search for survivors for the night. Data's group worked under the Enterprise's artificial star.
Suddenly, Data looked up. Several small lights were streaking across the sky to the west. They were getting closer. He tapped his badge.
'Enterprise, this is Commander Data. Is there something happening to the west of my position?' There was silence, and then the voice of Lieutenant Hedly came over the comm system.
'Get out of there! Enemy ships bearing on your position! Ten seconds until they reach you!' Data looked up at the lights, and then called to the rest of his group.
'Ready for beam-up?' At the nods from his fellows, he tapped his badge, and opened his mouth -
And a large explosion to his right knocked him over. Laser blasts were spat at the search party as the attack planes sped over them, firing indiscriminately. Data rolled behind a piece of rock, and fired back. He struck the underside of one of the ship, but the blast just splashed against the shields of the ship. It zoomed past, creating a sonic boom.
'Enterprise, landing party one under attack!'
On the Enterprise, they could provide no help. They were under heavy attack from twenty of the small fighters. A massive blast had marked the beginning of the assault. The ship shook under the continued hail of laser fire as the shields barely repelled it. The panels behind Riker shuddered with the strain.
'Lock phasers!' shouted Riker as the ships split up. The blasts missed wildly. The Enterprise shuddered. Ensign Bridges fought to control her console, but the strain overloaded the circuits. It exploded in her face.
'Shields at sixty percent! Auxiliary power is already diverted!' called Hedly. Riker cursed.
Picard appeared on the bridge. 'Situation!' he shouted, as he fought to stay upright against the Enterprise's shaking.
'Shields at sixty percent! Data stranded with three men on planet's surface! Under severe attack! They just appeared out of nowhere!' The terse report hammered home the gravity of the situation. Picard nodded. Another blast shook the bridge. A spark suddenly escalated into a large explosion. A person was blasted backwards, and crashed into the tactical console, just missing Hedly, who shielded herself from the blast.
'Set course to Romulus! Warp- ' Picard was interrupted by Hedly. Her voice was full of triumph.
'Two Warbirds decloaking off the port bow!' Picard whirled.
'Thank god! On screen!' The Enterprise shuddered again. The viewer displayed the two massive Warbirds, which flanked the Enterprise and fired on the swarm of fighters. A single explosion marked where one of the small ships was hit and destroyed, and the rest swarmed together, and retreated. Picard turned to Riker.
'Tell the transporter room to beam up all of the away teams.'
'Fire again!' shouted Data. A blast of energy struck one of the attack ships. It shook, and sped on. A laser blast exploded near one of the other men in the group, and he was killed instantly. Another beam of energy blew up the ground near Data, sending him flying, but his artificial body resisted the shockwave. He stood to get a clearer aim, and the transporter beam enveloped him and the surviving members of the group.
He rematerialised on the transporter, his phaser pointed into the sky. He just stopped himself from firing. Riker helped one of the injured men off the pad and helped him to sickbay. Before he left the room, he turned to Data. 'Get to the bridge.'
Data arrived on the bridge a few minutes later, from the forward turbolift, to a scene of relative calm. On the screen, two Warbirds flanked the Enterprise, the bodies were being moved, and the Captain was helping keep the ship under power at the helm. He saw Data, and signalled for him to take over. This Data did, and Picard stood. He looked at the body of Ensign Bridges, crumpled against the bulkhead.
'Hedly, open a channel to the Warbird leader.' Picard's order was tinged with sadness at the death of a promising young ensign.
A Romulan face appeared on the viewer. Picard reacted in surprise. 'Commander Tomalak!'
The Romulan nodded and all of his usual smugness was wiped from his face. 'Captain Picard, I have been ordered to take you to Romulus. There is a fleet massing there.'
Sela walked onto the bridge. She looked shaken up. 'Commander Tomalak, have you been sent by the Praetor?'
Tomalak nodded with muted respect. 'I have been ordered to return the Enterprise to Romulus, operative Sela.'
Data suddenly frowned. 'Captain....' Picard came over quickly.
'What is it, Data?' Data whispered into his ear, and Picard's face grew concerned. He straightened.
'Commander Tomalak, there is one of the heavy ships approaching our position. I think that we should get away from this location.' Tomalak appeared to panic.
'Quickly!' The screen went blank. The Warbirds turned, and the Enterprise followed. They roared into warp.
Romulus was a bustling hive of activity at the quietest times, and by now, everyone had heard about the heavy cruisers. There was unsuppressible panic.
Praetor Naxus looked from the window of his office. Sela and Picard stood before him. He looked old and weary.
'Our scanners show that the heavy cruisers will arrive in three days, Praetor.' said Picard. 'I would recommend that a full-scale evacuation of Romulus is put in order.'
Naxus turned. 'A full evacuation? Impossible! There is already mass panic; we don't have the ships, and the Federation is too blind to send help. There will be no evacuation. We will defend our territory as Romulans.'
Picard resisted an urge to shout at Naxus. 'Praetor, these destroyers will destroy Romulus. The fleet may stop them, but I severely doubt it. An evacuation is the only safe, viable option.' Naxus shook his head, anger on his face. Sela stepped forward.
'My Lord Praetor, I agree with Captain Picard. A full evacuation of Romulus is the only safe option.'
'You too, Sela?' shouted Naxus in fury. 'I thought I could trust a valued member of the Tal Shiar to not lose her nerve, but this is too much! You are dismissed from the Tal Shiar immediately. Return to your cowardly Starfleet friends on the Enterprise, and run away! If you still value your service to the Empire, I will give you a position of power on one of our Warbirds, and you will have the chance to give your life for the Empire.'
Sela glared at him in outright fury. 'I will return to the Enterprise, Praetor. You are a fool for not listening to this man.' She stalked from the room.
'Praetor....' said Picard quietly. Naxus whirled on him.
'Get out!' The pure animal fury expelled Picard. Naxus collapsed into a chair, his head in his hands.
As Picard strode from the room, tense anger written into his every step, Sela caught up with him. 'Captain Picard?'
He stopped and turned sharply. 'Yes?'
'Did Praetor Naxus -?
'What do you think?' answered Picard angrily. He turned as if to walk away, and then faced Sela again. 'The Praetor does not have absolute power, does he?'
Sela shook her head. 'His decisions can be overridden by a majority in the Senate.'
Picard smiled. 'Well then, all we need to do is –'
But Sela was still shaking her head. 'There is no Senate to override him, now,' she said. 'That was one of the reasons for his erratic judgement, I think.'
'What do you mean?'
'I have just learnt that shortly before we got back from Korella II, news came in that most of the Senators have been killed.'
Picard stared, aghast. 'Who by?' As he asked it, he realised it was a stupid question.
Sela shrugged. 'The invaders. Proconsul Neral and Senator Vreenak were on Korella II on a diplomatic tour when the colony was destroyed. Pardek is in hospital on Remus after being caught in an attack on Modena Minor. He's not expected to survive. Losiris, Moren and Legek were all intercepted by attack planes on their way back to Romulus. There's no-one left.'
Picard bowed his head sadly for a moment. 'Then I suppose it's up to us.' He turned and walked away, leaving Sela, surprised and confused by his mysterious comment, trailing in his wake.