Chapter 43

Spider in the Web


On board USS Hercules

October 27, 2377

11am

The runabout arrived in the shuttle bay and Riker impatiently waited for it to land. Two days before, some Cardassians on a military patrol came across the shuttle and managed to free Troi from her captors. The abductors had abandoned her on the shuttle, and the investigation of the shuttle's computer turned up nothing.

Troi stepped off the ramp and looked around. Riker walked up to her and Troi leapt into his arms. He kissed her passionately, not caring about showing affection for his wife. When they ended the kiss, he whispered to her, "Welcome home!"

"Thanks! It's been rough, but I'm generally ok. They treated me pretty well. I still don't know why they abducted me. Did they make any demands?"

Riker shrugged her shoulders and said, "Not really. Just some wild demands for Earth forces to leave Mars and such. For all we know, it might have been a prank."

Troi laughed, "Well, if it was, then they could have thought of a better one!" They made their way to sickbay, and Riker deliberately led her past a hidden Garrison Hollifield, who was around a corner.

Later that afternoon, Riker left his wife in sickbay and made his way to Hollifield's quarters. Hollifield let him in and Riker came to the point, "Is it her?"

"No, it's a Psi Corps agent. Angie Falkia, if I'm not mistaken. I searched the classified Psi Corps files I had, and she was the one that closely resembles Troi. My guess is that she had her features altered and some vocal implant inserted inside her to mimic her voice. Perhaps some EA black ops device that I haven't heard of. Perhaps some Federation tech that they stole. Who knows. So, how do you want to play this? Do you want to confront her now or play along to see where she takes this?"

Riker stroked his beard and said, "Let's see how this plays out. Besides, I think letting this play out will give us more time to find Troi."

"Ok. But when we do find the real Deanna, I'm going to have to scan her, because if I think who's behind this is doing what I think he might do, he might try to change her."

"You think this...Bester...would do something like that?"

"Will, this Bester drugged me up with enough crap to push me so far over the edge that I spooked the Vorlons. He put my life at risk to help the Corps produce telepaths, and he's killed so many for his precious Corps that he makes Adolf Hitler and Hiriam Tower look like nice guys. So if you don't think he wouldn't try to mess around with your wife's brain, think again. I hope it's not the case, but this has the feel of something that he'd do. He knows I'm a part of this, and he wants to do what he can to bring me down because of the Telepath War."

Riker nodded and sat down, putting his face in his hands. He took in a deep breath and blew it out, then said, "Can Lyta do anything for us?"

"No, she's busy with Picard and Anna Sheridan, helping the Borg and the technomages. As much as I hate to say this, Troi is expendable, and if it means losing her to beat the Ragendora..."

Riker nodded soberly, "Yeah, I know."

Hollifield walked over and patted Riker on the shoulder, saying, "We'll do whatever we can to find her, then make Bester pay for all of this. He's got a lot of bills that are past due, to say the least."

Riker's comm badge beeped, and he tapped it on his chest. "Sir, your wife is finished in sickbay and on her way back to your quarters. She asked you to join her there."

Riker said, "Thanks. I'll be there soon."

As Riker got up to leave, Hollifield quickly said, "Be careful when she makes love to you, because that's the best way for her to get into your mind."

Riker was caught up short. "You think I should?"

"I'll talk to Troi, the real Troi, about all of it when we find her. If you don't want to tell her, I can take out the memories from your mind..."

"No, I'll deal with it, but thanks for the offer. See you later, Garrison."

Hollifield nodded and said, "Good luck."

After Riker left, Hollifield turned to see his old friend Alwyn in the room. "You know, they can detect you."

Alwyn waved dismissively with his hand. "Bah! Let them! I do want my privacy. So you really think that Bester's behind this?"

"Yep. And I think the Ragendora are as well. Which is why I sent Dan Tanner to Betazoid."

"Why?"

"Because I think that's where they'll strike next."