Chapter 11; the main course, part 2

            "I have a bad feeling about this."  LeBeau muttered as they drug the last of the fallen guards into a storage shed, locking them in for good measure.

            "We're in trouble."  Shanar echoed he statement as he and the others returned to what they had been doing before the little excursion.  He had been harboring a little worry of his own but when LeBeau used her trouble phrase he really had o choice but to admit that they were not in good shape.  No that phrase was a sure sign that they were in deep hasperat. 

            "Any clue why?"  Tom did not even think to question their assessment of the situation.  When any two officers said they were in trouble Tom knew to trust the sentiment.

            "Nothing concrete, Tom.  But this was too easy, don't you agree?  I have fought my share of these characters in my time and never have I come out of three to one odds with not even a broken nail.  They even only stunned our guard, that's just not the norm for these clowns.  Let me crack this thing the rest of the way and let's go home, before we get in real trouble.  I just hope they get here before it happens."

            "Captain Riker, report to the bridge."  Deanna was calm, even given the fact that her ship was under a very thorough scrutiny.  In the last ten minutes they had found they found they had more company than they needed at the moment.  They were now tracking three incoming, and instead of patrol configuration, they were on an intercept course.  That was enough to set her on edge but they hadn't heard from the team yet either.  She actually hadn't expected to but it would have eased her mind to hear any news.  "Status."

            "We are still tracking the three incoming, Commander.  No word on the away team yet. ETA on the incoming, seven minutes."

            Stepping onto the bridge Will went straight to his chair.  He knew that they were getting ready to have trouble, even without asking.  "You are relieved Commander."

            With a very professional nod Deanna took her normal post.  "Currently, we are tracking three Galor class ships on intercept, ETA less than seven minutes."

            "You think this is what Q was expecting?"

            "Probably.  We know that they are using banned technology.  Even the Romulans have left this stuff alone.  We don't have any real treaties with them other than the DMZ and the aid agreements from the war.  They are not a member world.  If they were there would not be a need for what we are doing.  Handle this wrong and it could even escalate into a war.  At the very least if we don't manage very well it will be very hard on the Federation."

            "Let's find out what they want.  Hail them."  Will knew that he was going to have to talk his was through this one. 

            "They are responding, Gul Enarlk."

            "On screen."  He straightened.  "This is Captain William Riker of the USS Titan.  How may we help you?"

            "You are in Cardassian space.  You will withdraw now."

            As opposed to motioning to cut the audio he thought at Deanna.  How deep are we in his territory?

            From here, less than a million kilometers.   I picked this spot to wait because we are still with sensor range, but close enough to neutral ground that we can feign innocent if we are caught.

            He went back to the Gul.  "I am sorry about that.  We are training crew, you know how that goes, I will make sure that it doesn't happen again.  We will cross back to the DMZ."

            "You will head to Federation space, not just the DMZ.  You are not welcome here."

            Time to play poker.  I have to bluff this one to give time to get Tina and the others back.  "We don't want to risk an incident, we will withdraw.  Riker out."

            You are thinking of leaving here are you?"  Thompson blurted before realizing that she had.

            "Actually Katie I am going to do exactly what he wants."  She looked stricken.  "Lesman, how long can we hold warp 9 away from here and still double back to reach the team at the window for beam out?"

            "You're going to bluff them into thinking that we are too chicken to do anything."  Deanna pegged her husband.

            "Exactly.  Carlotta, warp 9 please.  Engage."

            "Aye sir, one big circle coming up.  Any sights you want me to pass while on the family outing?"

            "A simple aye sir would suffice."  The devilish grin that showed Will was teasing surfaced.  "But if you find a pretty nebula, be sure to point it out."  The Lieutenant had signed on just before Julie was born.  Will had been a little reticent to take her based on her checkered past.  It was one of the few times he had been wrong.  Not only was she a capable officer, she had a slight bit of telepathy and empathy herself.  The fleet had reminded him several times that he had more than his share of officers with high psi ratings and there were rumors of being called the mind reading act of the fleet, but Will didn't care.  His was not the strangest crew in the fleet, Shelby and Calhoun beat him hands down.  He put up with the remarks because he had come to truly value the gifts that his officers had.  Truth be told he was one of the few humans that took all of this completely in stride and embraced what many still saw as an invasion of privacy.  Thus Carlotta Lessman found a home here she might not have anywhere else.  She had a very sunny disposition and her quick wit brought a nice atmosphere to the bridge.

            "Sir, I have plotted a course that will take us out for an hour and ten minutes.  Returning on another trajectory we can be back to the planet with a ten minute window.  Oh, I couldn't find a nebula but I did find a system with a binary star and two gas giants that seem very pretty to look at, shall I make the adjustment to make sure we get the best view possible?"

            With a smile Will gave the order.  "Make it so."

            "That's it, we're in.  All I need to do is download it all and we can hightail it to the rendezvous point.  She looked at some of the information.  "Alyssa, look at this.  What do you make of it, and is it as bad as it seems?"

            The Doctor looked over her shoulder.  What she saw was appalling.  From the research that she had seen they were dealing with the aftermath of the Genesis material they were using.  This she had expected.  What was troubling her now was that they mutations hadn't stabilized and the whole ecosystem was still changing.  The mutations were still occurring at what she figures was ten times the rate they should have for this point after detonation.  Even the retrovirus that was supposed to go inert after the test had mutated.  If she had to make an expert opinion on its status at the moment she would have to say that the virus was most likely capable of infecting humans at this point, although what it would cause, she had no idea.  Or how long until onset.  "It's that bad.  We might even have the virus that started this, I am going to have to check.  This data says that it has mutated.  It was supposed to be Cardassian specific, but I doubt that it is now."  She had started to scan them when she felt the familiar sensation of a transporter beam.

            It was hot and dark.  Every member of the away team knew where they were, without having to be told, a Cardassian brig.  Tom knew because of his time at Lazon II.  Justina had the pleasure of spending time in one of these facilities during the war, and Shanar had spent time on Terok Nor while the Cardassians still held her.  Of all of them only Alyssa had not been in the company of Cardassian jailers before.  But she was very familiar with the aftermath.   Fortunately at the moment they were the only ones in the room.  A forcefield kept them in, it's quiet hum the only reminder of its presence.  "It could be worse," Tina broke the silence, "at least we are together."  Tom Riker could barely be seen glowering at the Commander's remark.  She did not mention that they might have also run a DNA scan on them.

            "We have a problem sir." Heath reported from her station.  She was still a little bleary eyed from being called in from being off duty.  The sensor readings though were doing wonders for waking her.

            "Talk to me Karen."  Will turned to face the woman.

            "Two of those ships are still following us.  Actually they are gaining.  I'm clocking them doing warp 9.4.  At that pace they will catch us in about ten minutes."  She glanced at the reading again.  "And they are hailing us."

            "On screen."

            "Thieves.  We demand what you stole from our colony.  You have one minute to comply or we will consider this an act of war and act accordingly."  The screen went blank.

            "He's bluffing."  Both Deanna and Carlotta said at the same time.

            Yet again, Will found him self glad that he put up with the snide remarks.  Having multiple empaths was something Will took merciless advantage of.  Deanna was one of the best at reading people that he had ever worked with, but once in a while she could be fooled.  Having Carlotta sitting at the helm, looking like she was just the pilot gave him plenty of advantage.  When the two of them agreed on something, it was nearly 100% a certainty that something was accurate.  "Well, you two called it.  What should the next move be?  Do we fake not knowing, or do we call him?  Or should we try to run back to our territory?"

            "I say call it.  But," Deanna frowned, "there is something he has up his sleeve.  He has an ace in the hole and he is waiting to play it.  But I doubt he knows that we know."
            It clicked.  "The away team.  Julie's nightmare.  I bet he has them.  His bluff was too direct.  He has to know that we don't have any significant information here and that we were waiting on a team to return.  He just wants to use this to start a fight, so he can say it wasn't his fault."

            "Her nightmare was that detailed?"  Deanna looked horrified.

            "No, she actually only had a vague sense of something being wrong.  The rest of it comes from knowing how these guys fight and what Q has been baiting us with."

            "What now then, if you are sure that he at least knows about them?"

            "Watch the poker champ."  He set his jaw.  "Hail the sheep, it's fleecing time."

            "Well do we have a deal?"  The Gul sneered.

            "Actually you do. We have something that I know you want.  But to get it I want something from you."

            "There are to be no deals.  Turn over the research now and wipe the database or I open fire."

            "Give it your best shot.  Deal with my terms or I guarantee that the whole quadrant knows that you are using Genesis material."

            "You are bluffing.  You won't do anything of the sort.  If you really have proof that says Genesis it is classified.  You can't send it."

            "Try me."  The screen went blank, and not from Will's end.  "Well that answers that.  I'll bet a week's pay that he's got the away team stashed, and my bet's on the third ship.  The question is why are they playing this game?"

            "I guess we wait for the next hand."  Deanna tried to look calm as she folded her hands in her lap.

            "Captain, I am shocked.  Bluffing the Cardassians like that, it's not a nice thing to do.  Just your style and what I expected from you, but not nice."  Q had taken over Tina's chair.  "So, what's next?"

            "You tell me Q.  I am getting sick and tired of you popping in here, leaving a crumb and leaving.  Either do something useful or get off my ship!"  At the moment Will wished Worf were with them.  Between the two of them he could have a wonderful workout with Q as the punching bag and Worf as the sparring partner.

            "Captain, you are so fun to irritate.  No, at the moment I am just an observer of what is going on.  You are the one who wants to keep your precious Starfleet going, not I.  And you have your long lost brother back, doesn't that count for something?"  Q pretended to look at Tina's chair.  " I noticed that your pet officer isn't here.  What, couldn't stand the attitude anymore?"

            "She's saving the Federation for me.  It's her turn for that duty, I am saving the ship today.  We swap next month.  Now why are you here?"  Will voice was steadily rising in volume.

            "I'll tell you in a minute, I want to see this."  Q leaned into the chair and watched the screen.

            "They are hailing us."

             "Captain Riker, I apologize.  Perhaps we should discuss this matter further."

            He's plotting something.  Try to get us back to the colony and closer to that other ship that he has stashed.  Make up something if you have to, just get us there.  Deanna thought to her husband.

            "I would be happy to discuss matters with you.  Why don't we return to your colony and we will collect what we left and give you all the data.  Then we will leave and you won't even have to report to your government.  No one has to know."  He didn't quite know why but it seemed to be the right thing to say.

            "Done.  Don't try anything.  Out."

            Will slumped.  "Now all we have to do is get the team, the information, and back home, without getting killed on the way out."

            "Don't forget Julie."  With the same smug look that he always wore, Q vanished.

            "What's that supposed to mean?"  Lesman muttered.

            Without comment, Will rose from his command chair.  He wasn't sure why but all he wanted to do at the moment was pace.  He figured that it would help.  He had called their bluff and now all he could do was wait and see they had in the hole.

            Tom had been listening.  Whoever was in charge of them had been smart enough to take their communicators and tricorder when they were beamed in.  The also had the sense to disable the translators on the guards.  What they hadn't figured was that one of the prisoners knew Cardassian.  There was no doubt in Tom's mind that they knew they weren't Cardassian, the bioscans on the beam up would have told them that much.  After his time in prison and the time he had been smuggling for the Maquis, Tom had a fairly strong command of the Cardassian language.  For the team this was good news.  He had been listening to everything that the guards had said since they had beamed in.  The downside to this was that he was fairly certain that whoever was monitoring them actually had the ability to listen to them, he knew that trying to speak to the others about what he had been learning would be difficult.

            They had another ace that they Cardassians did not know about, Tina.  While he knew that she could not speak to him, she could read his surface thoughts.  He would be able to think about what he was hearing.  She would then be able to try to figure out if they could relay it to the other two in the cell.  The news he had wasn't very detailed but it would ease everyone's mind to know.  First he now knew that they were being held for leverage against Captain Riker; second they were being currently kept in quarantine for exposure to the virus on the colony.  The third was the one he held most dear, they had no clue who they were holding.  Apparently they did not run a DNA check on them.  All of this added to the best news of all.  While not being treated very well, he was almost positive that they would not be interrogated.  He framed an idea that he thought would get this to his commanding officer.

            "Tina," his voice broke what had been a very pregnant silence, "I was just thinking."  He emphasized the last word.  He saw LeBeau nod her head.  He at least had her attention.  "Deanna reminded me the other day how much we can learn when in silence."  Again he emphasized the last word.  He tried to make his statements sound like banter meant to ease being uncomfortable.  "I was thinking about listening to the silence and how much you can clear from you mind.  All the clutter that just collects there, waiting to be removed."

            A look of dawning came on the Commander's face.  "I remember that.  It had never occurred to must just how much the mind lets float around until I was forced into just sitting around like this."

            ""Just thought I would mention the positive things about being here.  What are your opinions on the subject?"  He looked at the others in hopes that they would pick up on the need to cover them at the moment.  He saw a very slight gesture from the First Officer and watched as the others started a very innocuous conversation.

            "Listening has always been my strong suit."  She leaned back against the wall of the cell, focusing on the man across from her.

            Tom tried to form the clearest ideas that he could, thinking about each idea separately.  He was rewarded by a relieved smile on the Commander's face, barely visible in the dim light.