Chapter 12; Just Desserts
"Stop it." Deanna looked at her husband. After taking a few minutes to leave to freshen up a bit she had returned to see him still pacing the room like a tiger in a cage. She had managed to put up with this for twenty minutes, as well as his stewing. The whole show had passed tolerable nineteen minutes ago; that was why she went to the ready room for a couple of minutes. "We'll get them back, and we will get what we came for," she pause in thought, "without a diplomatic incident."
"How can you be so confident about that?"
"Well let me tick it off to you. But first you are going to sit down. You are driving everyone on the bridge batty." She smiled as he obeyed her command with the efficiency of an Academy Cadet. "First, for you and in some ways me, it would be too neat and clean not to have to ever worry about Tom again." She noticed his mental bristle and sullen agreement. "Second Tina is with them. You know she has the luck of a God, I doubt this is so monumental that it has a chance of running out today. The third, and most important is Q. He wouldn't be here if we were going to fail." Again she thought before continuing. "Unless it was to be a very spectacular failure. Which at this point if we go it will be with a whimper and not a bang."
I love you Imzadi. "Correct one all points. So, any ideas as to what the imp is supposed to do. I don't think there is much time left in this little game."
"Not one. But if we even say anything to her it would change the whole thing. So yet again we wait… patiently Imzadi."
"Captain, they are hailing us again."
"On screen."
"Captain Riker," a new face peered at him. This time however Will seem to see a vague resemblance to someone that he knew could not be there. "I am Gul Lemec. I apologize for the rude treatment that you received earlier."
Will had to fight to keep a straight face. He had a very intimate recollection of why the face seemed familiar now. Gul Lemec had to be a relative of the Gul Lemec he had apprehended on Betazed several years ago. Neither the name nor the face would ever wipe itself from his memory. Great just what I need, another piece of my past to haunt me. What's next, Sela? "I was wondering if we could be of mutual service to each other?"
"I like you Captain. Definitely as straight forward as my uncle informed me, before he died."
They only was that he could have had contact with his uncle was if he had been part of the prisoner exchanges after the war. Will wondered what would have been worth letting that man go. He mentally reminded himself that one very rotten apple did not necessarily ruin the barrel. "At least my reputation precedes me." This is not going to be good. He managed to remain civil. "If you will let us retrieve our equipment and be on our way. You get your research and we get our equipment and we'll go our separate ways." He knew that he was rambling but at the moment it seemed that this was the only way to respond. He hoped that the action would come across has him being a nervous person that was trying not to get in trouble with his superiors. He could only hope that the man's uncle had not told him of exactly how he had been captured. It would ruin the hand that he was bluffing. The Gul had at least an ace high with the away team. All Will had were a pair of deuces. "This way neither of us has to report to our superiors."
"I am afraid that will not be possible. Captain Riker I am placing you under arrest."
"On what charge?"
"On the charge of treason and crimes against the Cardassian people. The atrocities that you committed during the war must be answered for. Destroying a space stain carries a penalty of death, regardless of it happening during a war. I like you so I will give you five minutes to put your affairs in order before I take custody. As an added bonus of my generosity, I will not demand your ship or your crew. They are free to leave after I have you in my brig. I will even return your away team if you don't try any stunts." The channel cut.
"You don't have any ideas about giving in to them, do you sir?" Katie burst before she realized what was coming out of her mouth.
"Actually Katie I do." Will did not wait for his wife to say anything before continuing. He knew that he would get an earful as soon as he quit saying anything. "First, did you get a lock on our away team?" He knew her well enough now that he knew that she would have started looking for them as soon as had been possible.
"Yes, I found them, on Gul Lamec's ship."
"Good." Now to face Deanna. "Commander," he used the title to ensure that she stayed focused, "right now what would you say that our odds of him actually holding to what he says?"
"Without us taking an initiative, somewhere between nil and no existent."
"Katie, right now are they blocking sensors, and can you get a lock on out people?"
No, they aren't and yes, I can get a lock. They apparently don't have their communicators, but they are the only non-Cardassians on that ship. But unless they drop their shields I can't get them."
Will gazed into his wife's ebony eyes. "When Tom gets back have Alyssa get him out of Cardassian mode before she does anything else. Even if she can only get his face and neck back before he gets up here, do it. I want him on the bridge and talking to Gul Lemec before he has a chance to start barking at us having or team back under our own power. If we are lucky, they will slam up their shields as soon as they recognize the transporter signature and they won't get me before they raise their shields again. And make sure that Julie is up here as well. I have a feeling that it is show time for her too."
"As acting first officer I object wholeheartedly to this scheme of yours. You cannot put yourself at risk like this." And I voice an even stronger objection as your wife. Don't do this Will.
"Objection noted. Call it Captain's prerogative." Don't worry, this will all work out. I have faith in this. Call it one of Tina's hunches. Besides, I you lose me, you still have spare. The two embraced tightly, and she felt her give in to him, while lightening her mood from his remark.
"Just get Tom up here as soon as you get him. I am betting that they didn't do a DNA scan on them, why else would they have come after us; Tom and I register as the same person. With that holding I am willing to bet that they will be really confused to see me standing here after they beam me into their brig."
"And you want Jules up here to make it more plausible. Make him think that you are standing here and that he arrested the wrong man."
"Got it."
"Are you sure you want her to do this?"
"Q said that she was important to this. Right now I can't see that she has done anything that would qualify in that department. I am hedging a bet, it will make all the difference in the end."
"Very good Captain." Q piped in. "You finally figured it out. Now can you still save your beloved Starfleet?"
"I think so. Now time is wasting."
"Not necessarily, but as you wish. But first let me thank you." Q smiled as he saw the entire bridge crew's expression. "Yet again humanity and you surprise me. I thought that you would not figure it out. As for the rest of your species, I would think that this little puzzle would be too hard to figure out. You make it look pitifully easy. Can you figure out why I wanted to watch you do this?"
"Besides being insanely bored?" Deanna quipped.
"Yes Counselor, besides that."
"Simple Q." Deanna did not give Will as chance to speak, and she noticed out of the corner of her vision that he seemed rather amused. "You figured that the idea of Tom being here and knowing that he had impersonated Will for covert purposes, by the order of Starfleet, would be more that we wanted to know. You also figured that his enjoyment at doing so would rub us raw. But guess what Q? We've all grown up. If you had been paying attention to us during that damnable war you would have seen us learn how to temper expediency with mercy. Every one of us has learned the value of sometimes having to work outside of the box. You would have seen a cynicism develop that had not been their before. Humanity has grown yet again. We have also learned that sometimes a mistake sometimes takes generations to correct, but we do eventually fix the wrong that was made. And I personally have learned to remind myself more frequently how much of a chronic pain in the ass you are.
"I'm touched." He did not get a chance to say anything else, and his words were cut off by the Counselor. She wasn't done with him yet.
"This entire mission you have done nothing but watch and bait us. There has been no change of scenery, no trial, no goading. Frankly this has seemed rather puny for you."
She paused long enough for Q to get in a sentence or two. "So you've noticed. Call it the new me. Every once in while it is more fun to just watch. Oh it would be really boring to simply observe from the background but just once in a while I find the thrill in watching how people change their lines of thought just because they know that I am there. Which in that respect you did not let me down. But not in the way that I expected. Now I just want to see how this turns out."
Deanna was about to say something else but before she had finished opening her mouth Q was gone. "Damn that man."
"Sir you have two minutes."
"Signal that we are ready from this end." He looked at his wife. "I'll be back. I know that you won't let me be gone too long." Allowing a brief hug, he entered the lift.
"Damn it." Katie Thompson slapped her console.
"Please don't tell me that you didn't get the away team." Deanna looked rather annoyed.
"No sir, I got them. But not before they got the Captain."
"Get them up here. And get Alyssa to get the make-up off Commander Riker. We have a poker game to finish."
"They are on their way now.
The four members of the away team entered the bridge together. Shanar immediately went to the tactical station to assess what was going on. Tom and Tina both took their stations as well. It looked rather strange to see uniformed personnel simply leave their stations to what appeared to be Cardassians.
"Where's the Captain?" Tina looked none too pleased to not see Will.
"They have him. He used himself to get the four of you back. Now it is our turn to rescue him." She turned to Katie. "Go get Julie and bring her up here. You have however long it takes Alyssa to return Tom to his original form." She raised an eyebrow at the Doctor.
"I can do it within five minutes if I push it. But in time I will only be able to get his face, neck and upper body. It would take about fifteen to restore him completely."
"Just get him looking like himself enough to have his face back. You have five minutes Lieutenant." She saw Katie nod and enter the lift. Now she turned to LeBeau. "Do you want Command?"
"No, I think you have a plan. I was not here to hear it, so you run the show. I have another job." She held up a chip. "They took our equipment but they did not search us. This managed to stay in my pocket. It is a copy of they data that I downloaded. I haven't sifted through all of it but I think that the only reason that the Captain's face was even known is because some of the final sequences did come from someone in Taldoran's employ. I think he was just selling the information or he was hoping that they would do something this stupid and be even easier to take over. My money's on the latter. If we are real lucky there's a name in here. If not, we still have enough for them to be in big trouble."
"Get on it. Get it ready to be sent off. If this goes sour, make sure that it gets out. Do what ever it takes but make sure that someone in the Federation gets it if we can't deliver it ourselves."
"You got it."
"Tom, I am going to ask you to do something. I want you to be Will. I want them to think that they have captured a double, an not the genuine article."
As she finished Julie and Alyssa entered the bridge. The bleary eyed child looked up. "Tom!" She ran and hugged the man who currently had a human face and a Cardassian neck. "I was worried." Knowing that the Doctor was working on him she retreated. She saw a Cardassian looking woman in Tina's chair. A small mental touch she was assured that it really was Tina. She made a beeline for her Aunt. "Daddy's gone isn't he?" She stared at both her mother and LeBeau. Both women allowed themselves a smile at the girl. She had Deanna's accusatory stare down pat."
"Yes honey he is. Now I have to talk to some very not nice people to try to get him back."
"No you don't mommy."
This is it. Let's just hope she is right, whatever it is. "I have to Little One."
"Let Tom do it. Since Tom looks so much like Daddy that we can't even tell them apart, I think the bad people won't know that it isn't. They will think that Daddy is still here. I know Daddy can talk to them and get anyone back. Tom can too. If they see Tom Daddy will be safe. And we will get him home."
"Go on."
"I don't know how but I know it will work. Tell Tom to talk to them like Daddy would and every thing will be ok." She might be right. Will's idea dovetailed on Julie's in that Tom was supposed to be him. But that went only so far as to play on the identity question. Julie's idea was more of a negotiation tactic. From the empathic feedback of her daughter she would swear that the girl was thinking more of a counseling session that could only be done by Tom. That is when it hit her. Lemec, not the Gul on the ship, but the man's uncle. When Betazed was won back from the Dominion, Gul Lemec had been the commander of Terok Nor. Will had actually been the one to arrest him on the planet, while she was had been aiding her mother in overwhelming the Jem'Hadar. This could not be completely about Genesis. This was personal. "Tom, are you ready to do it. But I need to fill you in on the background you will be dealing with. The Gul on the ship is the nephew of a man that Will apprehended during the war. I think what Julie is trying to tell me is that this is a vendetta and not just about the discovery of these experiments."
"I have a bad feeling about this." Tina's shot her head up at the remark. "Commander, for me to do what you are asking, I have to impersonate a superior officer."
"If this works, Nechayev will cover for you."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then we both go up in flames. This isn't a request, it's an order Commander."
"Aye sir." His tone was sullen, but the twinkle in his eye reminded Deanna how she learned to catch Will during a bluff, without using her empathy. Tim was enjoying this. Although Deanna was sure that he was very serious about making sure that he did his duty, she also knew him well enough to know that he liked the danger that was involved. It was only another minute for Alyssa to finish returning Tom to his natural state, at least from the waist up.
"Ok Captain," Deanna held a stern gaze, "you have the bridge. But if we get in trouble, she's mine again."
"Understood. Hail them."
"They are responding."
"On screen."
"Gul Lemec, allow me to introduce myself. I am Captain William Riker."
"What kind of subterfuge is this? We have Captain Riker in our brig. Now we on the other hand are missing four others from our ship. Kindly return them and I will not open fire on your vessel."
"Gul, I regret to inform you that we do not have anyone on this vessel that is not a member of this crew or part of a family that serves here. As for the person that you have in your brig, there has been a monumental mistake in identity. That is not Will Riker in your brig." Tom noticed that Julie shot her head up at the remark. "As you can see I am standing right here, now return my twin brother and we will simply end this."
"You are lying. You are not Riker."
"Surely you jest. Lemec, I know that you have a personal score to settle with me. Now how would you feel if the rest of the quadrant to know that you arrested an innocent man, not because you mistook his identity but because you were bent on fulfilling a personal vendetta against the man who lawfully captured your uncle in a military action. You cannot manage to hold the wrong man."
No one noticed that Julie managed to sneak closer to Tina during the conversation. She was feigning being scared, but in reality she wanted to see what she was doing and how she could help. She felt that Tom was faltering a little and he was going to need a rescue. She couldn't go to her mother, she was busy trying to help Tom and monitor the other man on the screen. Tina was Julie's only hope of getting information from without having to speak. Tom is not going to be able to hold out much longer. Aunt T we need to give him something more real to hold out. If we don't he will lose within a minute or two and we will be in trouble.
Tina had been on a lead, and now she worked even more feverishly than before. Finally the trail had an end. Lemec. The single name made her heart leap. They had stumbled right into the person they wanted. He was the informant that had smuggled the information out during the Genesis crisis, and he was the one who bought the information from Taldoran. And joy of joys, the time that the information was bought predated Will's capture by several years. The only reason that Will was even known on that colony was because Tom had been caught smuggling aid to the colony. With only a picture to use, Lemec obviously thought he had the man responsible for bringing down his uncle. Now to try to get this to Tom. Tina couldn't just shuffle it to his terminal. He was too busy to notice. She definitely couldn't just yell, and she had tried to speak with him telepathically but couldn't. Deanna was out; she had her hands full just prompting Tom when she could. That only left one option, Jules. Jules, I want you to try to reach Tom with telepathy. Don't try to tell him everything, I just want his to look at his terminal, I have what he needs to win. I think you can, I can't. You just have to yell. She wasn't sure that it would work but it was the only way shy of openly distracting Tom.
I'll try, T. Julie straightened, showing remarkable patience for a five year old. Like her mom had taught her, she took a deep breath and forced everything from her mind. TOM, LOOK AT YOUR TERMINAL.
Fortunately LeBeau had been listening for it. By the time that she heard Jules she had already sent the data to the terminal. Tom on the other hand had not been expecting it. He had heard little prompts from Deanna during his exchange with Lemec; this was not her. LeBeau had tried to reach him before and could not. That only left Julianna. He kept trying to keep the Gul's waning attention long enough to see what she wanted him to. As loud he could manage under the circumstance he tried to think at Julie. Thanks Pumpkin. He did not know why he called her that but it seemed only natural. He only could hope that she heard him. "Lemec I am getting tired of this dance. So let me spell out what is going to happen. One you will turn Commander Riker over to me. Second you are going turn you vessel around and leave this area. If this doesn't happen not only will you find out just what it is like to be on the receiving end of my ire, but I also suspect that your government will want to make an example of you and charge you with treason. We are in possession of documentation that proves that you stole Genesis technology both during the initial crisis and after. We also know who you bought it from and when. You are holding an innocent man for questioning that will lead to capital charges. I know the Federation frowns on keeping prisoners on trumped charges and subjecting them to the kind of interrogation that you have planned. After the war I also know that Cardassia openly frowns at the idea too. By selling the information that you have, you have committed treason, even by your government's standards. I am willing to allow you to leave here without informing anyone what we have learned. We know that the experiment was a failure. End it now and leave and we won't inform your people what we have learned." He hoped that Julie could hear this one last send, to give them time to try to get the Gul as well. Pumpkin, I need you to tell Tina to try to get this man when we get your Dad.
"You have a deal on the condition that you can finally prove that you really are Will Riker. Tell me what happened when you captured my uncle."
Tom was stuck; this wasn't part of the script. Now what? He was about to try a suitable generic response when he heard Julie in his mind again.
Tell him that you fought him in battle. I don't know what really happened but he needs to hear that his uncle was brave and that you are the better warrior.
"We fought each other in a prolonged battle. He nearly killed me before I managed to capture him. He was a superb soldier and an honor to your family." While the Gul was definitely sure he was defeated he seemed to have a change wash over him. It was as if on could see the vendetta urge wash away from him. He was not chasing a coward anymore but a warrior that he could respect. Tom regretted that he was about to give the man a reason to truly have a vendetta against him.
"Very well. Prepare to receive Commander Riker."
Less than thirty seconds passed. "We have both of them."
"Helm, get us out of here before they can react to us having their Gul. Warp 9.9 until we get to our side of the DMZ. I am not in the mood to have to tell Jellico I was in command during another firefight." Deanna gave the order and turned back to Tom. "Well played, for only having a pair of deuces."
It was several seconds later when the crew let out the sigh that they had been holding. Julie had eased back over to the command center, first her mother absently taking her and then insinuating herself into Tom's arms. "I heard you, and you heard me. That was great!"
"What is she talking about?"
Tina answered the question for the commander. "The last piece of the puzzle. Q had said that their interactions with each other would save the ship, and possibly the fleet, but that Tom was not the most important player in this game. When I found out who had fenced the information I had to get it to Tom. You were too busy trying to keep tabs on what was going on that you would not been able to relay that I needed him to see something. I can't reach him, I've tried. So I recruited the squirt."
Just as Tina finished what she was saying Will stepped of the lift. "Report."
Lesman beat them to the punch line, "Sir, we are currently heading back to the DMZ with our tail proudly tucked between our legs. ETA to Federation space 76 minutes and to DS9 in 11 hours.
"Care to explain what just happened, 'Captain'?" Will glanced at the man who was sitting in his chair.
"Of course." He did not make any attempt to remove himself from the Captain's chair. "Not only did we get you back, but we also got the real information broker, Lemec. And Commander LeBeau has managed to clear you of any possible trouble that you could be in from Nechayev. The only reason that you were even mentioned was they had a picture of me when they were trying to get me, they thought that I was you. What I probably overheard was what they going to do with you when they caught you."
"Now that is some of the best news that I have heard this week." He glared at Tom. "Get out of my chair."
"Aye…" Tom was distracted by something that he personally had never seen. A brilliant flash of light occurred, leaving what looked like a human standing there. He was wearing an up to date Fleet uniform and bore the rank of Captain. He never managed to get out of the chair before this happened.
"Well I see that you were right. You saved the ship by sacrificing yourself while your pet Cajun saved the Federation." He turned to Tina. "Tell me Commander, you figured out Julianna's key input would be a simple mental shout across the room. This ending was much less spectacular than I had hoped. I expected better of you."
Deanna had reached her breaking point. Q may be nearly omnipotent but he was still a jerk. She picked up where her earlier spiel had ended. "You still don't get it do you Q? Why do you only see melodrama in everything? The most spectacular events in the universe don't shout 'Look at Me'; they show their worth by how seamlessly they interact with what is around them. 'Saving the Federation' isn't always grandiose. Yes, I admit that sometimes it is a very grand adventure; I have personally been party to some of them. Sometimes it is downright gruesome; again I have been there and done that. Most of the time it is how we manage the day-to-day stuff. 'Saving the Federation' is not something that only occurs once in a while. It is our job. So it is not about grand plans, it is about how everyone works together for a goal. No schemes, no grandstanding, just everyone doing what the need to do to get it done. And just once in a while, we learn something we did not know before.
"Yes today, we saved the Federation, again. But guess what? I don't think that was the most important thing that happened. Several of us managed to do things that stretched our knowledge and our horizons, in one-way or another. And we did it without having to kill anyone."
"So much like your Mother." Q looked at the two Riker's who seemed to be taking a great amusement in all of this. "Does she ever let a person get a word in edgewise?"
Both of them answered at the same time. "No!"
Deanna did not know who she wanted to hit the most.
