Chapter V
Riker had tried over and over again to get in touch with the Enterprise since the discovery that they could not communicate with their ship. He glanced at Picard, who had, with Lieutenant Thames, met them a short distance from the Hawking's landing site. 'Sir, I think it's safe to assume –'
'Never assume anything, Number One,' said Picard pointedly, and shifted his rifle to a more comfortable position. 'Yes, I know,' he added, and Riker, guessing, glanced back at Thames. He saw her disguising a smile quickly and suppressed an annoyed sigh.
'Sir, did the Aralla parasites that you encountered try anything like this?'
'Like what?' asked Deanna.
'Take over a starship, I mean,' said Riker.
'We don't know that it's taken over the Enterprise,' said Deanna.
'Don't we?' retorted Riker, his annoyance having elevated another notch. Picard glanced at Thames, unnoticed by either of the others. 'We've lost contact with Data, Beverly and the Enterprise. The Feynman attacked us. For all we know, she's taken out the other shuttles.'
'And how did she incapacitate the crew of the Enterprise?' asked Deanna, mildly. Before he could answer her, she said, still in the same gentle tone, 'Will, it's not a good idea to consider the worst case scenario all the time.'
'Sir, we've found the shuttle!' This call from Hedly, who was at point atop a small hill, made Picard smile. 'She's in one piece as well!'
'I thought that was what you meant,' replied Picard, as he leapt up the hill to join her. Troi glanced at Riker, and nodded. Obviously, his shared time with Thames had done him physical as well as mental good. The morose captain of three days ago would not have done that.
Before them, in the rocky plain upon which they had landed the shuttle, lay the sleek shape of the shuttlecraft Hawking. Picard motioned to a group of guards. 'Go and investigate the shuttle, Commander,' he ordered Hedly. She nodded and, accompanied by the detachment, she hurried to the craft. Picard gestured to the others and called them into a small conference.
'We're going to have to decide what to do,' he began. 'If the Enterprise has been captured, we're going to have to get it back. That's not going to be easy. That creature-' It was easier to refer to Nechayev as a parasite now - 'has already displayed a good grasp of our technological systems. If it has somehow infiltrated the Enterprise crew, we may have to kill them all to get it back. Whatever happens, we're going to have to perform what amounts to a boarding action on our own ship. And we may have to prepare ourselves for some fairly heavy casualties. I want to make sure that everyone understands what we could be in for.'
There was a quiet chorus of assent from all those with him. Picard nodded, his face solemn. 'Myself, Commander Riker, Commander Hedly and ten security guards will head to the Enterprise on the Hawking. The rest of you we will drop off at the Justman, and you will follow us as soon as possible. Weapons on kill, but don't shoot on sight. Try and find out what's happened first before starting a firefight.'
'Sir,' said Riker, 'she may have flooded the ship with anesthezine gas, or something similar.'
'Good point, Number One. If that is the case, don't try and revive anyone until we eliminate the parasite. I think it would be best for all concerned if they kept out of the way. One further thing; if you see Admiral Nechayev, shoot for the head. It may be bloody –' He glanced at Riker, remembering the unpleasant way that Dexter Remmick had died. '- but it's the quickest way. Believe me, Admiral Nechayev is already dead.'
Everybody had heard about what Riker and his team had found. The first officer's stomach still cringed at the memory. He had seen worse things in his time, but it was the constant thought of what could make a creature do that to itself that plagued his mind. None of them doubted any longer that Nechayev had been totally possessed by the Aralla.
Picard glanced at them all, as if to make sure that they understood, and then turned to look towards the Hawking, and to Hedly, who signalled from the aft entrance. 'The shuttle appears to be undamaged and unsabotaged, sir,' she called.
Picard nodded and turned to face his subordinates. 'Let's go.'
The Hawking shot up towards the Enterprise. Onboard were Riker, who was piloting the shuttle, Hedly, Picard and ten security guards. Behind them was the Justman, piloted by Thames and also containing Troi, La Forge and the other security guards. Having discovered that the Enterprise had raised her shields, they had been reconciled to boarding her the old-fashioned way.
Picard sat at the front of the shuttle, watching as the graceful shape of the Enterprise hove into view over the planet's horizon. Even at a critical moment like this, Picard was still transfixed by the beauty of his latest command; her swept-back warp nacelles, sleek exterior and the impression of suppressed power and urgency.
As they came up aft of the immense ship, they prepared to penetrate the shields. 'Ready phasers,' ordered Picard.
La Forge's plan had been to fire surgical strikes at the overlap of the shields. One of those was very close to the shuttlebay entrance. If they overloaded this weak point with sufficient phaser fire, the shields would collapse in that area for a period of, perhaps, three seconds, before the computer automatically compensated, plenty of time for a skilled pilot to get them through. From there, it would be an easy process to beam onboard and open the shuttlebay to allow the shuttle to dock. However, if the Enterprise had been infested, they would be flying straight into a barrage of phaser fire.
The Hawking closed to phaser range, and matched the speed of the Enterprise. Still, the giant ship remained silent. A salvo of phaser fire struck the shields and another followed. There was still no response from the sleeping leviathan.
Aboard the Hawking, Picard was tense, suddenly realising how deadly his ship could be, especially in this exposed position. 'Their shields are at seventy-two percent. No auxiliary power diverted as yet,' said Hedly.
To aft, the Justman also settled into position and opened fire. Phaser energy washed across the shields, lighting up the dark hull of the Enterprise. Riker shook his head, surprised at his own readings. 'Sir, there's no power reading at all from the bridge. The warp core appears to be on stand-by. It's as if someone –'
'Wants us to get aboard,' finished Picard, his voice grim. He inhaled deeply. 'Nevertheless, it's our best chance to attack. Keep firing.'
'Shields at fifty-four percent and falling.'
Nechayev watched the shuttles on the main viewscreen on the bridge, slouched in the command chair. She was smiling, a smile which made a tiger look gentle. Around her sprawled the figures of the bridge crew, all unconscious due to the anesthezine gas that she had vented throughout the ship with the aid of Data and Crusher. Data was sat against a wall, deactivated, and Crusher was in sickbay, probably having been knocked out while she was repairing the broken arm that Nechayev had inflicted upon her.
The parasite was not affected by the gas. It had rid itself of Nechayev's primitive lungs hours before, somewhere in Picard's ready room. It now did not need air to breathe, as it secreted a liquid into Nechayev's body which allowed it to survive. It was only days away from full maturation.
It watched as the shield strength dropped rapidly under the sustained barrage, knowing that it needed Picard onboard to complete its vengeance. He had destroyed the Aralla, and he would suffer their wrath.
'Shields are about to fail!' warned Riker. 'Hold on, everybody!'
As the shields failed in a last flicker of life, the shuttle punched through the overlap and shot forward. Slipping through the gap, barely scraping past the recharging shields, and settling above the Enterprise's saucer section.
Everybody breathed a sigh of relief as Riker said, 'Sorry about that. I thought we had more clearance.'
Picard glanced at him quizzically, eyebrow raised, but remained silent.
In the vast, cavernous area that was the main shuttlebay, four columns of blue energy shimmered into place, and Picard, Riker, Hedly and a security guard materialised. Immediately, they all became alert and, phasers aimed, spread quickly out amongst the dark shuttles, searching for trouble.
A few minutes later, Picard and Riker reached one of the tractor beam control stations, in order to bring aboard the two shuttles still waiting outside the Enterprise. Riker powered up the docking tractor beam, while Picard opened the doors and activated the forcefield.
As the doors slid open slowly, a blue beam of energy shot out from the emitters on the frame of the hangar bay doors. It ensnared the Hawking, and slowly reeled the tiny shuttle in.
As it did so, Riker began to drop the shields around the hangar bay entrance, allowing the Justman to approach. As the Hawking entered the shuttlebay, the Justman slid through the gap in the shields and followed its flight path. The two shuttles settled to the deck with barely a sound. From the slowly opening doors spilled the rest of the away team, phasers ready and expressions grim.
Hedly emerged from behind one of the smaller shuttles. 'The bay's deserted, sir,' she said quietly. 'There's no-one here at all.'
Picard nodded once, keeping the conversation to a minimum. He then turned to the console that gave access to the computer's functions, and quietly said, 'Computer, transfer all computer functions to shuttlebay 1. Authorisation Picard, 4-7-alpha-tango.'
'First officer verification also required,' replied the computer.
'Computer, authorisation Riker 7-9-gamma-epsilon,' said Riker.
The computer paused for a moment, and then said, 'Transfer complete.'
Instantly, the entire ship juddered, forcing them all to grab something to remain steady. La Forge spoke, voice quiet. 'Captain, that was the Enterprise going to warp.'
A moment later, the screens that displayed computer readouts around the shuttlebay all flashed red, and brought up the words, "Computer functions locked out."
La Forge came around the side of the console and cursed violently. 'Sir, the computer's just locked out all of the command functions. It's using the same fractal encryption code that Data used against the Borg. It was set to lock out the computer the moment anyone tried to re-route the controls to the shuttlebay. The only person who can break it is Data.'
Picard looked straight at him. 'Is it possible Data has been coerced into helping the Aralla?'
'Possible, sir, although I can't think of anything that would make him do that,' said La Forge, his face unhappy.
'Neither can I, but the Aralla are extremely powerful,' said Picard, his face worried also. 'As of now, I believe we must anticipate that Mr. Data is working with the enemy, either unwillingly or otherwise. Admiral Nechayev has somehow coerced him into locking the computer controls out of our grasp. She has also sent the ship into warp. Do we have any idea of the heading, Mr. La Forge?'
'A planet in the Neutral Zone, sir. It's –'
'Emeralle II,' finished Picard, the entire situation suddenly becoming clear. 'She's trying to get back to the rest of the Aralla fleet; that which was trapped in the other universe; or maybe even the Aralla fleet we confronted before it was destroyed. We've got to stop her before she brings them through.'
The others didn't even acknowledge him. They all knew what was at stake.
'Sir,' said La Forge, 'You do realise that with the computer locked out, the highest we can set our weapons to is maximum stun. That is, unless Admiral Nechayev changed the phaser recognition settings before she shut us out.'
'Good point, Geordi,' said Picard. He tested his phaser. Geordi was correct. 'Our objective is to stun and capture her and then regain control of the Enterprise.'
'Understood, sir,' said Riker, his tone indicating his shift into battle mode. 'We need to search the ship quickly. Five teams, one senior staff member and two security guards. Commander Hedly, organise the teams.'
'Aye, sir,' she said, and began giving orders to her security personnel.
'What is our ETA at Emeralle II?' Picard's question was aimed at Geordi.
'Before they locked the computer out, we were travelling at maximum warp. Given that, we have something like three hours before we enter the Emeralle system.'
'We've got three hours,' said Picard to himself.
'Sir,' said Hedly, 'I've got the security teams ready.'
'Understood.' He pointed to one pair of guards, Horner and Cavell. 'You're with me,' he said. 'We're going to the bridge. Number One, go to sickbay. See if you can find Doctor Crusher.'
'Aye, sir.' Riker motioned to a pair of guards and left the bay.
'Counsellor. Take your guards to check the crew quarters on Deck 8.'
'Yes, sir,' Troi replied, looking not like the Counsellor she was for a moment, but a battle-seasoned warrior.
'Commander La Forge, go to Engineering. See if you can shut down the warp core. If the ship makes it to Emeralle II, I want you to destroy the ship.'
La Forge went pale for a moment, and then nodded. He left the bay at a jog, followed by his two guards.
'Commander Hedly, take your men and check out the senior crew quarters. If you can't find her, go to check each of the transporter rooms.'
'Aye, sir,' said Hedly, with eyes like flint.
'Lieutenant Thames.' Thames nodded, her beautiful face grim. Picard paused for a second. 'Go to check the other shuttlebays and the Captain's Yacht. She may not use the transporter to beam down.'
'Aye, sir.'
Picard turned to his guards. 'Let's go.'
When Picard reached the bridge, he gasped in shock at the bodies scattered across the deck. He motioned for the two guards to quickly check the bodies, and he himself rushed to Data's unmoving body, propped against the port bulkhead. 'Cavell! Over here!'
The young guard rushed to his captain's side, senses alert. 'Yes, sir?'
Picard pointed to Data. 'Aim your rifle directly at Mr. Data's head. On my order, you will fire on full disrupt. Understood?'
'Sir –'
'I gave you an order, Ensign!' said Picard, not angry, but rushed. His face softened abruptly. 'If he has been taken over by the parasite, we need to eliminate the problem now.'
Cavell nodded once, firmly. 'Aye, sir.' He pointed the rifle full into Data's expressionless face.
'Remember, fire only on my order,' Picard reminded.
'Yes, sir,' answered Cavell again, obviously nervous.
Picard waited until he knew that Cavell was ready, and then reached around to Data's back and pressed his "on" switch. As the android jerked to life, Picard stepped quickly away and drew his phaser. Data blinked twice, as if bringing himself around from a long sleep, and looked up at Cavell's nervous face and then squinted at the phaser mere inches from his face. He glanced up at Picard. 'Captain?'
'Data, are you fully functional?' asked Picard quickly.
There was a pause and then Data answered, 'Yes, sir. All systems functioning normally.' He looked at the phaser again. 'Can I ask why I am being threatened by Ensign Cavell?'
'Can you remember what happened to you, Data?' asked Picard. 'How did you get onboard the Enterprise?'
Data's face became sickened. 'Admiral Nechayev boarded the shuttle while we were sheltering from the storm. She murdered the entire security squad, sir, and threatened to kill Doctor Crusher as well unless I complied.'
'You let her do all this?' asked Picard, amazed.
'She set her phaser rifle to wide beam and killed them all without warning, sir. I doubt any of them realised they had been shot.'
'And then?'
'She threatened Doctor Crusher's life. When I refused to co-operate, Nechayev broke her arm and threatened her again. I had no choice.'
Picard took on a thoughtful expression. 'I see. How did you incapacitate the crew?'
'Using a remote link between the shuttle's computer and that of the Enterprise, I released anesthezine gas throughout the ship. We then beamed onboard. Doctor Crusher tried to get away to sickbay, but I believe that the creature followed her and either killed her or otherwise neutralised her.' As he said this, Data's face grew concerned. 'Sir, I didn't do any of this voluntarily! I –'
'Don't worry, Data. You may have given us the time we need to capture her.' Picard stepped back, and signalled to Cavell to help Horner. Data got to his feet gratefully, and looked at Picard, his eyes apologetic and ashamed.
'Data, how far progressed is the transformation?' asked Picard.
'Further than Commander Remmick had been changed, sir,' replied the android. 'She has been removing parts of her interior anatomy in a rather gruesome manner, and deposited them all around the ship, including your ready room, sir.' Data avoided Picard's face, and the captain almost laughed at the fact that Data was more ashamed about a bloody mess in his ready room than the fact that he had been forced to incapacitate his entire crew.
'Not only that, but she appears to have gained enormously in strength and technical aptitude. I have not managed to communicate with any vestige of Admiral Nechayev, sir.'
'We're fairly certain that she's dead, Data,' replied Picard matter-of-factly. 'I think that the parasite has caused a death of personality to occur. It's been rejecting her anatomy in favour of its own for quite a while now. No human could survive that.'
Horner and Cavell had finished checking the crew, and Picard turned to get their report. 'Sir, we checked for the parasites. They're all clean.'
Picard let out a sigh of relief. 'Any casualties?'
'No, sir,' replied Horner. 'They were all knocked unconscious. No signs of injury, so it's probable that they didn't make any conscious contact with Admiral Nechayev.'
Picard nodded once, and directed his gaze at his ready room. All four of them turned to look at the door before them, suddenly realising that they had been ignoring an extremely good hiding place for what could have been a dangerously long time. Picard slowly raised his rifle. 'I think –'
His commbadge bleeped, interrupting him. 'Picard here,' he said, before realising that the bleep had come over his commbadge, and not the ship's intercom net. He sighed, tapped his badge, and repeated, 'Picard here.'
'Sir,' said Riker's voice, 'we're in sickbay at the moment. We've found Doctor Crusher.'
Picard did not find the expected of jolt of fear that would once have been his response over Beverly's welfare. Instead, there was merely the concern a shipmate would feel for a colleague. He scowled momentarily, and said brusquely, 'Condition?'
'She's alive, sir.' There was no mistaking the relief in Riker's voice. 'It look's like she's got a broken arm, though.'
'Try and revive her and get her arm fixed, Commander,' ordered Picard. 'We'll need her if we're to take down the creature.'
'Understood. Riker out.'
The badge bleeped again. 'La Forge to Picard.'
'Picard here.'
'Sir, I've rigged the warp core. It'll blow if we come out of warp speed.'
Picard paused, a horrified thought suddenly occurring. 'Please tell me that you can reverse the sabotage.'
'Of course, sir,' said Geordi, his voice slightly chiding.
Picard breathed a silent sigh, wondering why he had ever doubted his Chief Engineer. 'Carry on with your search, Commander.'
'Aye, sir.'
Picard waited a moment for the badge to bleep, but when it didn't, he motioned to Cavell and Horner to take up position on either side of his ready room door. Passing Data his phaser, he levelled his rifle at the door, and counted to three under his breath. Then he slammed the door release.
As the door slid open, Horner and Cavell sprayed the room with phaser fire. Set to stun, the weapons caused no damage to the silent room of ornaments. Picard stepped in behind them, ready for trouble, but none came. He checked quickly, and then retreated.
He stood for a moment, irresolute, as he decided his next move. 'What's our ETA at Emeralle II, Data?'
'Fifty-two minutes, sir,' the android replied immediately. 'Do you wish me to unlock the computer?'
'No,' said Picard. 'At the moment, we're on level terms. And I don't want her to be able to kill again.'
'Understood.' Data paused, but he could not stop himself. 'What's our next move, sir?'
Picard knew that the android had seen the expression of indecision on his captain's face, and so he treated Data to a brief glare, and resumed his derailed train of thought.
'Riker to Picard!' Riker's voice was pressured and overlaid by static.
'Picard here.'
'Sir, we're under attack! Deck seven, section four!' announced the first officer, his voice nearly distorted by another burst of what both Data and Picard recognised to be localised phaser interference.
Picard glanced at Data. 'On our way.'
Riker ducked the phaser blast which blew sparks from the bulkhead immediately behind him. A return burst from one of the security guards flashed down the corridor, but evidence of its lack of effect was presented when another beam exploded against the bulkhead.
They had been pinned down as they had approached sickbay. A bend in the corridor provided ample cover for an attacker, and they had approached cautiously. Suddenly, phaser beams had begun lancing towards them from just around the bend, and they had been forced to take cover in the doors and side corridors.
Riker crawled across to Lieutenant Burnell's side. The young woman had taken a grazing phaser beam on the arm, and she lay on the deck in agony. However, Riker had been impressed with the way that she had tried to get her rifle into her other hand to join the firefight. It had taken a direct order to stop her doing so. He gave her a quick smile, eliciting a pained but determined response from her, and then examined her arm.
As another phaser blast burned the air above them, Riker said, 'How has she managed to set the phaser to kill?'
Burnell shook her head. 'Unknown, sir,' she replied, her voice strained. 'It's supposed to be technically impossible if the ship's computer is locked out.'
Riker nodded slowly as he inspected the ugly wound. 'She's gained a lot of technical expertise in the last few days, Lieutenant.'
'Yes, sir,' agreed Burnell. She looked at Riker, a trace of fear in her eyes. 'How's the wound, sir?'
Riker paused. The injury was not immediately fatal, but she would die if they couldn't get her to sickbay soon. 'You'll be fine, Lieutenant,' he said eventually, but Burnell had seen the concern in his eyes.
She smiled, and said, 'Are you okay, sir?'
Riker nodded once and then mock-glared at her. 'Why do you security people have to be so selfless? It really pisses me off!'
Another beam hit the bulkhead and blasted out a section of wiring. Riker winced reflectively, and then smiled as Data leant around the corner of a bulkhead behind them and sent a beam of energy back down the corridor. The android immediately dropped to the floor and crawled up behind Riker, followed by Picard, Cavell and Horner.
'Nice to see you, Number One,' remarked Picard. Riker nodded back, a smile gracing his face quickly. He motioned to Ensign Callaghan, who was the other guard of his team, to pull back and cover Burnell.
'Burnell's hit badly,' said Riker tersely and quietly. 'She could die.'
Picard nodded. 'How's she been able to reset the phasers?' The question was addressed to Data, who was staring at the phaser beams sizzling through the air above them.
'One moment, please, sir,' said Data unexpectedly. Picard glanced at Riker, who shrugged helplessly. Abruptly, the android got to his feet and took two steps forward.
Picard nearly leapt to his feet to pull the android back, but restrained himself and instead hissed, 'Data! What are you doing?'
The android remained silent, and took another two steps - this time one forward and one to the left. The phaser fire missed him. A large step followed, to the right. Again the phaser fire missed.
As the eccentric path continued, Riker turned to Picard, amazement on his face. 'How's she missing him?'
Picard had worry etched onto his strong features. 'It might not be unintentional,' he replied slowly. 'She may be controlling Data somehow, and this might be an act. Remember, we have only Data's word for what happened.'
Riker's face became worried. 'What do we do?'
At that moment, Data reached the bend of the corridor, and knelt down. He raised his phaser, somehow avoiding being hit from the phaser beams that were emanating from just around the bend. He fired.
The beam struck the far wall of the bend, and elicited a small shower of sparks from a small black node on the wall, which was the first time Riker or anyone else had noticed it. Riker suddenly realised that the beams had been coming from this object. Difficult to see under normal circumstances, the phaser blasts had hidden it from view until Data had uncovered it. A moment later, the phaser beams stopped coming, and Data stood again, holstering his phaser. 'We should be clear now, sir,' he called.
Picard rose warily to his feet, surprise showing on his face. He directed a questioning glance at Data, who answered the unspoken question by saying, 'We took aboard a cargo of automatic phaser sentries at Deep Space Nine, did we not?'
Riker nodded as he stood up. 'He's right, sir. That's one of them.'
'How did you know?' queried Picard. 'It was small and hidden by the phaser fire.'
'The sentries cannot fire truly random bursts, but use patterns so complicated that, to the human eye, they appear to be random. This was firing a pattern known as Forbic eight-two. I recognised the pattern, and simply placed myself where I knew the beams would not hit me,' answered Data. 'That, incidentally, is how she got around the problem of using kill settings when the computer is locked out. Those sentries are not linked to the Enterprise's main computer in any way, so they can be set to levels higher than stun.'
Riker turned to Picard. 'We'd better warn the other teams, sir, in case they encounter any other booby traps.'
Picard nodded, still looking at Data. 'Inform them that if they do encounter them, they should not engage one, but should back off and wait for Mr. Data to join them.'
'Aye, sir,' said Riker. He moved off a short distance and tapped his commbadge. 'Riker to all teams.'
Picard looked at the lump of fused metal on the wall in disgust. 'She's kept us pinned here for a reason,' he said angrily.
'All teams report that they have made no encounter with either Nechayev or any sentries.'
'Where the hell is she?'
'Sir, I believe that she is merely evading capture until she can leave the ship,' said Data. 'Our ETA at Emeralle II is now only forty three minutes and twelve seconds.' Riker glanced at him. Without batting an eyelid, Data added, 'Approximately.'
Picard ignored all of this byplay, and stared back down the corridor. 'Number One, Data go to the bridge. Unlock the computer and bring us out of warp. We'll have to flush her out. I'll have Hedly and Thames meet you there.'
Data nodded solemnly. He and Riker set off down the corridor. Picard tapped his commbadge. 'Picard to La Forge.'
'La Forge here, Captain.'
'Geordi, are you still in engineering?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Good. Reverse the sabotage on the warp core. Data's going to bring us out of warp.'
There was no mistaking the relief in Geordi's voice. 'Aye, sir. La Forge out.'
'Picard to Hedly.'
'Hedly here.'
'Commander, take your team and proceed immediately to the bridge, and meet Commander Riker and Commander Data.'
'Aye, sir.' The link cut, and Picard was just about to call Thames when he suddenly heard her voice, I'm on my way, Jean-Luc.
Picard smiled.
Thames heard Picard's smile in the back of her mind. She found herself smiling as well, eliciting a glance from her friend and colleague, Lieutenant Sturgess. 'Is everything all right, Rosanna?' Sturgess asked.
'Everything's fine,' answered Thames. 'Just great. Captain Picard wants us on the bridge.'
Sturgess looked at her for a brief moment, but then remembered Deanna Troi's quick explanation of the mind-link that had developed between Picard and Thames. 'Understood. She nodded to her partner, Ensign Latiss, and the trio began to hurry down the corridor.
Horner, Cavell and Picard, however, had gone to Engineering. Picard passed his rifle to Cavell, who, with Horner and the guards who had accompanied Geordi, took up position at the access points to Engineering. Picard stepped over to Geordi's side. 'Data's going to unlock the computer on the bridge and bring us out of warp. Hopefully, it'll bring Nechayev out of hiding. She needs to get to Emeralle II.'
'Where do you think she'll go?' asked Geordi.
'Three possibilities, as far as I can see. The bridge, here, or the main shuttlebay; I've had Counsellor Troi lock out the others. Her team is there now. There are three teams on the bridge, and two here. I think you can see my order of probability.'
Geordi smiled at the captain's light remark, and then the computers flashed abruptly into life. A moment after that, the warp core abruptly slowed down and settled into a slow, steady thrumming pattern. Geordi glanced at Picard. 'We're at impulse power.'
Picard nodded, and hefted his rifle. 'Now we wait.'
It had felt it too; the almost imperceptible shudder that had run through the ship's structure when it had come out of warp speed. It knew instinctively that it was not close enough. Not yet. However, it also knew the way that Picard thought. Knew it from the way the Aralla had known that the defenders would retreat in the way that they had done in the other timeline.
It waited for a brief moment, and then made its decision. It was the greatest risk, but the course it followed made risk a necessity. It would survive.
Satisfied with its decision, it turned around, and crawled back through the Jeffries tube. Gazing out through the vents, it smiled at what it saw.
Picard had foreseen every possible course of action it could have taken, but failed to recognise the level of technical ingenuity that the parasite had reached.
It kicked out the vent, which clattered to the deck, and jumped out to land on the deck silently. Before it stood the impressive structure of transporter room three. It strode to the console and checked the position of the Enterprise. As it had thought, they were out of warp, but just close enough to Emeralle II to make the plan a possibility. And, in her consideration, a possibility meant that it was a successful plan.
Noticing the unconscious body of the transporter chief, it set its phaser to kill, and casually disintegrated him. It could not have the human waking up and interfering. The crew would soon begin to start recovering.
Setting the weapon on the floor, it set to work.
'Picard to Riker. Any sign of her yet?'
'No, sir. We need to report, sir, that we misjudged how close we were to Emeralle II.'
'How do you mean?'
Riker glanced at Data, sat at the Ops console. 'Sir, it appears that if we had continued at warp speed, we would have arrived at Emeralle II in five minutes, ten seconds,' said the android.
There was silence at the other end of the line. Then Picard said, 'Turn us around and head back to the Federation at maximum warp.'
'Aye, sir,' said Riker.
'Picard out.' Riker turned to Data, who had glanced at him worriedly.
'Sir, I'm reading an unusual power surge.'
'Where?' asked Riker.
'It's running through three different conduit junctions. It'll take me a moment to pinpoint.'
'Do it then,' said Riker.
Data turned back to his console.
In Engineering, things were getting tense. Picard was pacing annoyedly around the huge room, and Geordi was making a valiant attempt to keep him calm. 'Sir, I don't think that we ought to get concerned yet. We've only just set up –'
'She's outthinking me!' snarled Picard in a tone of voice that Geordi had never heard before. 'And I'm stuck down here, doing nothing!' He slammed a fist into a bulkhead.
'Sir, we can't just go running around the ship looking for her. She could be anywhere,' said Geordi, his voice calming.
'I know that she has a back-up plan. And I can't think what it is,' said Picard, his voice still angry, but more controlled than the feral snarl he had emitted moments earlier. 'She must have planned for coming out of warp too far away from Emeralle II.' He paused, and turned to give the warp core a penetrating stare.
'So what am I missing here?'
'To transporter room three?' said Riker, stunned. 'Are we close enough to the planet?'
'It would be risky, but possible. With the amount of power being routed through there, she could conceivably do it.'
'Riker to Picard!'
'Picard here,' said the captain calmly.
'Sir, we've found a power source,' said Riker excitedly. 'It seems to be directed at transporter room three.'
'Are we within transporter range?'
'Barely, sir,' replied Riker. 'Shall I send a security team down to –'
'No! I'm going myself. Picard out!'
'Sir, are you sure that's wise?' asked Geordi. 'We've seen what she's capable of doing.'
'She won't do it to me,' said Picard confidently.
'How do you know?'
Picard grabbed a rifle and slammed it to maximum. 'Because I'll do it to her first.' So saying, he left Engineering at a run.
Geordi's voice came through on the bridge. 'Commander, Captain Picard's gone after Admiral Nechayev!'
Riker grabbed his phaser rifle from his chair, and motioned to two of the security guards. 'Data,' he called over his shoulder as he hurried to the turbolift, 'look after the bridge.'
'Aye, sir,' answered Data, but Riker and the security guards had already gone. Thames glanced at Data worriedly.
And then she felt something in the back of her mind.
Riker's mind was filled with concern about Picard. He seemed to have become obsessed with finding and eliminating Admiral Nechayev. The first officer could not understand his captain's anger and drive. It was as if Nechayev had done something grievously wrong to him in the past.
Of course, there was the story Picard had told of Nechayev's betrayal of them in the alternate universe, but Riker still had the jury out on Picard's story. He seemed to have greatly changed in the last few days, but that could be directly attributable to his new-found love.
This was turning out to be a damned strange mission.
Picard strode down the corridor, anger and determination making a strange mixture on his face. Phaser rifle ready, he reached transporter room three, and simply strode through the doors. As he did so, he lowered the rifle, and fired a raking blast on full power straight into –
The far wall of the room, blowing out a control panel.
Picard halted, having expected Admiral Nechayev to be stood there, waiting for him. Instead, there was only the empty transporter room, filled the with the hum of overstressed power conduits. And a black stain on the deck. Picard knelt down, and scanned it with his tricorder.
At that moment, Riker and his security team burst in. Levelling their phasers at the empty room, they gazed in blank astonishment as they realised that Nechayev was long gone. Picard stood again, and passed the tricorder to Riker, his face a mask of outraged determination. 'She's gone from here. She powered up the transporter and set it onto a recursive power loop.' He went around the console and shut the transporter down. 'That was the transporter chief.'
Riker's expression changed to that of disgust. 'She killed him?' Picard nodded.
'He might have woken up.'
Riker shook his head. 'Sir, what are we dealing with here?'
'The Aralla. The deadliest group of killers any universe has ever seen. They are taught to regard all other races as vermin. Killing is not a problem for them. And we appear to be dealing with a particularly maladjusted specimen here. Frankly, we're lucky that we're only dealing with the one Aralla rather than a group.' He looked up at Riker and smiled slightly. 'Relatively speaking.'
'Where could she be?' asked one of the guards.
Troi was brushed by the phaser blast that flashed across the shuttlebay and slammed into the shuttlecraft Ranger, behind her. As she forced herself to move out of the firing line, purple spots flickered before her eyes, and she knew that she was fighting to stay conscious. She struggled to hide herself behind a cluster of barrels.
Another blast roared through the bay, and a choked scream told her that someone else had not been so lucky as she had been.
None of them could tell where the beams were being fired from. Nechayev had obviously chosen a good hiding place. She was intent on eliminating the security presence, and then she would steal a shuttle.
Troi knew that she was losing her battle. However, she had one last thing to do. She forced herself to tap her commbadge. The noise of its activation seemed to be covered by the sound of another phaser blast. 'Troi to Picard,' she gasped out.
And the hiding place was suddenly cast aside as Nechayev found her. Troi found herself staring at the once graceful Starfleet Admiral in shocked dismay. 'Picard here,' said the commbadge.
Nechayev pointed the weapon at Troi. And the phaser roared its death song.
Nechayev stood poised for a further second after the phaser blast. Then, somehow, she turned and saw her attacker.
Rifle pointed.
Beautiful face grim.
Rosanna Thames watched the cadaver that was once Admiral Nechayev fall before her, unconscious.
Thames rushed to Troi's side. 'Counsellor?'
Troi struggled to her feet and stared thankfully at her saviour. Then, because her body could not take it any longer, she collapsed in a heap.