Chapter 20

The Situation Gets Serious

Stardate 2366.092-093

Picard paced. He never paced. He was having a hard time not worrying. He had always been the type of leader who kept the welfare of his people at the top of his mind. Sometimes however, events conspired to put your people in great jeopardy despite the best efforts of the most capable commander. This was one of those times. A crisis was brewing. A crisis that could possibly engulf the entire Federation. It all depended on what decisions he made in the next few days. Even if he managed to avoid a major war with the Romulans, some of his people were not going to survive regardless of what he did. The thought saddened him more than he could ever let on. One of a leader's many jobs was to project confidence in a positive outcome when all the signs were pointing the other way. He looked at the young faces on the bridge as they went about their duties. Morale was always high on the Enterprise. He wished he could feel the confidence he actually tried to project, or give vent to his concerns. Maybe it was time for another session with Deanna. No time now though; maybe when this crisis was concluded. He noticed a few of his crewmen covertly glancing his way with concern. Oops. Time to stop worrying and get back to work. First priority: stop the pacing.

As if to remind him of this, Deanna sidled up to him and quietly asked,

"Is everything alright Captain?"

"Yes Deanna. Just trying to juggle a few things in my mind that's all."

The timer was ticking down. He had ordered a countdown clock to be shown on the main screen. Two days ago, he had sent Jordi and Data to the nebula on the two science vessels, and had sent Will and his team to the planet to retrieve the Tantalus Device.

The clock now read 29:37; less than thirty hours until the soonest they estimated the hostile Romulan fleet could be expected to arrive in system. He had positioned the Enterprise far away from the planet on the path the Romulans would have to take to get there if they came directly from Romulan space. He was far enough away that only a long-range shuttle could make it to the planet. His hope was that while the Romulans were busy with the Enterprise, it would significantly delay their landing any more people on the planet, giving Will more time to accomplish his mission. Or not. He sighed mentally. Too many ifs. There was nothing to stop the Romulans from approaching from a different direction; or multiple directions for that matter. If all went according to plan, however, (fat chance that!) he would rendezvous with Will's shuttle near the planet before the Romulans arrived. That was cutting it much too close for Jean-Luc's taste, but even with that timeline, Will would have to push his team pretty hard given how far he had to hike to retrieve the Tantalus Device.

Picard activated his communicator.

"Engineering."

"Yes Captain?"

"How are those sensor modifications coming along?"

"We just finished a test model Captain, but we need a bit more time to iron out the wrinkles before we can hook it up to the sensor array."

"Lieutenant, we need a way to detect cloaked ships yesterday! What is the delay?"

Deanna walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm to remind him to stay calm. He immediately regretted his tone.

"I'm sorry Captain. I've called in all of my engineers who were off duty to help. We haven't taken a break since we were given the assignment five hours ago. Jordi's design was sound, but we were having trouble putting together a working cloaking device in such a short amount of time to test the cloaking detection rig on."

Trust his people to remind him that he was not the only one working hard.

"I know you will do your best Lt. Keep me posted."

"Captain, a word?" Said Deanna.

"Captain to his ready room. Tasha, you've got the con."

"Tasha's got the con." She moved from her station to the Captain's chair.

In his ready room Deanna as usual managed to get to the root of what was bothering him.

"Jean-Luc, may I suggest you speak with Admiral Mifune?"

"The Admiral? What in the world for? I suspect he is at least partially responsible for the mess we are in now. I don't know if it would be a good idea to waste time confronting him about it when we are expecting company shortly."

"Yes, but there is no doubt that in his mind at least, he has the best interests of the Federation at heart. He may be able to offer some helpful advice. Right now, you have more problems to deal with than you have people to handle them. Maybe he can persuade Admiral Ruwon to help in some way. He trusts her completely you know, and I sensed from her that she has no love for the current Romulan leadership. In my professional opinion, her help could be invaluable in the next few days.

The Captain paused for a moment and quickly realized the wisdom of what his counselor was trying to tell him, but before he could contact the Admiral, his comm beeped.

"Mifune to Captain Picard."

"Go ahead Admiral."

"Captain, could you join me in my quarters? I've got some additional information I would like to share with you."

Ten minutes later Jean-Luc arrived at Admiral Mifune's quarters with counselor Troi in tow. At the Admiral's "come", he entered to find Admiral Ruwon there already.

"I hope you don't mind Admiral, I asked counselor Troi to accompany me."

Jean-Luc didn't bother to make up an excuse as to why Deanna was there. He wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on and the Betazoid's presence guaranteed there would be no more deceptions without him knowing about it.

"Not at all Jean –Luc. I can assure you that everything you are about to hear is the truth."

"Well, given what's happening I thought it prudent to hedge my bets," Picard said.

The Admiral looked about to take offence but Ruwon jumped in.

"Jean-Luc, did you know that Admiral Mifune considered you his best student? You look surprised but I can assure you it is true. He talks about you to the extent that I feel like I know you myself."

Picard didn't know what to expect when Admiral Ruwon started talking, but this was not it. He looked at his mentor in surprise who, for his part, was making a point of examining a spot on the far wall. She continued.

"I tell you this not to flatter you Jean-Luc, but to make you aware that Hiro truly agonized about how much to exactly to tell you with regard to our plans. He was concerned about your career, and felt that if you were aware of everything, you might be found complicit or scapegoated at any inquiry that your superiors may potentially hold if this operation is not successful. If you were kept in the dark, all the blame would fall on him and not you."

"What exactly are you planning that you think it will get us all court marshaled?"

"I am getting there, Jean-Luc."

She paused to consider her words.

"The five family histories always told us that something of significance resided on our planet of origin. We never knew exactly what it was. We had assumed it was some ancient text maybe. An artifact akin to the original copy of your bible, or something along those lines. For us, it was a spiritual quest. I hear you have people on your planet who search for the Holy Grail to this day. It is something like that for us. Throughout the known history of the four families on Romulus, we had been searching for our origin planet and the secrets it might hold to no avail. Over the years, we had managed to narrow down the area of space it might be located in, but that was about all. A few years ago, we found some information about this planet in our records. It was very promising, but you have to realize that Beta Virginis 3 was one of many prospects at the time we thought might be our original home. It took a while, but as you know, we managed to mount an expedition a few years ago. Since the planet is in Federation space, we did not want to de-cloak, and could not risk sending a shuttle down to the surface. We did manage a few passes over the principal ruins, and from later analysis, determined this planet was the best prospect amongst a long list of bad choices."

"Most of this you've told me already. I am not sure that it has to do with our current predicament."

The Admiral jumped in impatiently.

"I decided to give the tantalus device to Ruwon to help her overthrow the current Romulan leadership."

Everyone stopped talking for a second. Picard and Deanna were shocked.

"I don't know what to say to that. 'Are you joking' does not nearly seem to cover it." Jean-Luc said. "And it appears you have just admitted you lied to me when you said the Admiral here knew nothing of any technology on the planet." Admiral Mifune at least had the decency to be embarrassed.

"Perhaps Jean-Luc, if I am allowed to finish," she directed at the Admiral sternly. "I can alleviate some of your concerns."

Picard sincerely doubted that, but nodded for her to continue.

"Or at least increase your understanding of the situation we are all in here. "

"Situation?! Correct me if I am wrong, but it appears to me the second Romulan fleet would not be on its way if you had never come here."

"I know what it looks like Jean-Luc, and you are correct to imply that Hiro and I precipitated the current crisis. But, you need to be clear on what has been happening within our high council. They had only recently found out about our initial mission into Federation space. Our findings interested them, but were not enough for them to want to risk a full-scale incursion here. They knew about our beliefs with regards to our race's origins, but as we are considered a cult back home, this was not given credence."

"So, if you had done nothing, we would not be where we are now," Jean-Luc repeated.

"No, that's where you're wrong Jean-Luc. If we had done nothing, General Ralaa, the head of the military council, would not be here in two days, yes, but he would be here within a few weeks or months at most nevertheless, and then with the full backing of the rest of the high council. If that had happened, there was nothing we would have been able to do to influence events. A Romulan presence here was inevitable given the circumstances; Hiro and I merely attempted to use that inevitable crisis in such a way as to skew the outcome in the Federation and the four families' favor."

"There is no way you could know that," Deanna said. "Starfleet did not know there was anything of significance on this planet until very recently, and then they only had a strong suspicion."

"Yes councilor, but both of you are underestimating the intelligence network we maintain in human space. If we had not told the General about the Admiral's findings and the subsequent mission here, he, and critically, the rest of the high council would have found out about it within a few weeks, two months at most. As it is now, our plan hinges on the fact that he has kept the rest of the council out of the loop. When we get back to Romulan space with the device, we will be able to use it to set our plans in motion without having the entire high council arrayed against us."

"Admiral Ruwon, my understanding is that only a few people knew about the Admiral's findings…"

Ruwon interrupted him. "I hear you and Beverly are planning on having a child Jean-Luc. Have you made a final decision on the matter?"

Picard was caught off guard and sputtered. "How could you possibly have known that?! We've told no one!"

"Well obviously, someone told somebody something. Like I said, good spy network. Our problem is not getting information, but how to process the massive amounts we get. You need to trust me on this. The rest of the High Council would have found out about this planet in two months tops, and then sent a force to either get the technology there for the Empire, or absent that, slagged the planet so as to prevent the Federation from acquiring it. That force would have made the one coming look small by comparison. The information Starfleet has found about the potential existence of galaxy changing technologies here would easily have been sufficient motivation."

"Keep in mind Jean-Luc, our original plan called for people loyal to me to be in charge of the fleet heading this way. With an overwhelming force, we would have landed on the planet, taken the device from your team there, and left the system. Plausible deniability for you and the Admiral, everybody's happy. Unfortunately, it did not work out that way. When the General was briefed on the mission, our spy told the council its purpose was to see if there was any tech here worth recovering. Bringing back the "rebel" ships was the excuse. They were not told about Hiro's suspicions that a tantalus device existed. Well, when he heard all this, General Ralaa decided the chance for personal glory was too great to pass up and took command of the fleet himself, replacing most of my people with his own."

"If you knew the magnitude of the problem Admiral Mifune, why didn't you go through the proper channels? Get approval from Starfleet headquarters?"

"As far as you're concerned Jean-Luc, that's exactly what I did. If I did not, hypothetically speaking of course, I would say there was not enough time. I would have known from speaking with Ruwon, that her contacts within the High Council were telling her that they were starting to look at the planet more closely, and it was just a matter of time before they knew what we knew. If I had gone through channels, the Admiralty would have dragged their feet and then months hence, might have approved a force to stop an incursion that had most likely happened already. And they would never have authorized our giving the device to Ruwon.

The Romulans could not risk Starfleet getting their hands on something that could alter the balance of power and so would inevitably have sent a mission here before we did. To avert a war that would have been the result of such an incursion, we played on General Ralaa's lust for power and precipitated what is a much smaller and manageable incursion, with the added bonus of potentially installing a much more friendly leadership with a civilization who has been plotting our demise ever since we encountered them a hundred years ago. If Ruwon did not have the tantalus device, she would have no opportunity to change the current leadership, her faction would be eliminated, the Federation would have missed its chance, and even if we stopped this particular Romulan incursion, they would have felt compelled to come at us again to prevent our developing whatever technology we found on the planet. Hypothetically speaking of course."

The Admiral let Picard think about that. Jean-Luc could find no fault in his argument. He could not help but be conflicted though between Admiral Mifune's very valid argument, and his default mindset about the proper way to do things within Starfleet.

"Admiral, I understand your reasoning, but I still cannot condone your actions here. You may be right in thinking that Starfleet is sometimes slow in making decisions, but that is not always the case. Even if it was, what makes us better than the Romulan Empire, is our willingness, even when it does not seem expedient at the time, to keep our leadership apprised of what we are doing, especially when the stakes are as high as they are in this particular case. You had reasons for getting the ball rolling on this project immediately, but that does not mean you should have kept it secret when you had the time to explain that reasoning."

"Don't get me wrong Captain. I have fully apprised Admiral Lucas of what I planned, so someone in Starfleet leadership does in fact know what I am doing."

"And he will verify this if I asked?" Jean-Luc said skeptically.

"Of course not Captain. He would deny emphatically he knew anything about it! If this operation goes south, he needed to know the details so Starfleet could more easily pick up the pieces, but he needed plausible deniability as well to do so.

"But you are, of course, correct Jean-Luc. Staying within the confines of the law is what makes us better than any number of repressive regimes throughout the galaxy, otherwise there would be anarchy. However, I have spent the last ten years dealing with our leadership, Admiral Brown even longer, and there were certain things I knew that they did not. I feared there was no way I could convince them in time of the urgency of the matter. Telling them before I had time to investigate the system to see if there was anything here to talk about was premature, and once we got here and actually found the device, which, I must emphasize, we were by no means sure would actually be here, we could not communicate with Starfleet because of the interference. Once we found it, I authorized a communications probe be dispatched to apprise Admiral Lucas of our situation. Given the latest developments of course, that probe may not get through. So, Jean-Luc, if you wish to report me to Starfleet when all of this is over, I understand, and I am perfectly willing to face the consequences of my actions. In the meantime, we have a crisis on our hands, and the more immediate problem is not how we need to inform Starfleet, but how are we going to deal with the Romulan fleet whose arrival is imminent.

"So now Jean-Luc, you know the whole story. When we are done here, I want you to do what you feel you have to. In the meantime, let's figure out a way for all of us to live long enough so you have the chance to bring me up on charges!"

"Admiral, it seems you have backed me into a corner. I will do what I must to ensure we are successful here, but rest assured that when we get back to Earth, my report will leave nothing out with regards to what happened in this system."

"And I would expect nothing less Jean-Luc," said the Admiral.

As the Admiral and Jean-Luc were talking, Ruwon had gotten a call from her ship. She signed off and said:

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid our time is up. I just got word that the General has just entered the outer reaches of the system. He sent one of his ships ahead to the planet. They may have landed their people already. I need to take my leave. I suggest you take whatever precautions you feel necessary."

As if on cue, Picard's comm alerted him.

"Bridge to Captain."

"Go ahead bridge."

"Communication from Commander Riker Captain. Patching it through."

Will's voice came through accompanied by a heavy dose of static.

"Captain, the good news is we've got the package, the bad is that our ride is not here and in about five minutes we will be overrun by a superior force of Romulans."

"Yes, we just got word they arrived in system. They must have sent a ship to the planet ahead of the main fleet.

"Hold one Will."

"Hiro. You said Admiral Ruwon's forces planned to take the device from my people? On the planet itself I assume?"

"Yes."

"Does that mean you have boots on the ground now Admiral?" He said to Ruwon. "I have just been informed that my commander has the device but is about to be attacked by a force loyal to General Ralaa."

"My son just left for the planet. He should arrive at your base camp shortly," said the Romulan Admiral.

Picard spoke into his communicator.

"Sorry Will, I was consulting with Admiral Mifune. Help is on the way. Unfortunately, we don't have an exact ETA, but some allies should be there within the hour. Do what you can to stall the Romulans as long as possible until help arrives. If they manage to take off, there's not much we will be able to do."

"Understood sir."

"We're heading out system to intercept the main fleet and will be out of contact for at least a day. Good luck Will. Picard out."

Back on the bridge Picard started pacing. Admiral Ruwon had left with her ships to do picket duty around areas of the planet with ruins.

27:35 on the clock

John Luc had done everything he could think of to prepare for the arrival of the Romulans. The ship was on yellow alert. He had briefed Ruwon on the tech fixes his people were working on and how he planned to let her know what they came up with. Jordi and Data were working on a way to communicate farther with subspace comms than the few thousand klicks that interference from the nebula currently allowed. His engineers were working around the clock to get the ships sensors up to speed. The technology needed to detect cloaked ships was so new, that it was proving difficult to get the Enterprise's systems to do what needed to be done; some of the subsystems just had to be reprogrammed or rebuilt from scratch. All of this took time, so all he could do was wait. That was the worse part. Sitting around with nothing to do but second-guess all of your decisions so far.

Counselor Troi quietly whispered in his ear.

"Jean-Luc, you're pacing again."

"Yes, so I am."

"Admiral, is there anything else you think we could be doing to prepare?" he asked Hiro who had joined him on the bridge.

"Sensors are at their highest sensitivity so if something shows up, you're maximizing your chance of seeing it?"

"Yes, and we are continuing to scan that nebula on all frequencies in case Jordi comes up with something."

"Your marines geared up and ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Your security people have plans in place in the event of a boarding?"

"Yes."

"You review the self destruct commands for the Enterprise? Romulans don't take prisoners you know," he asked quietly.

"I am well aware of that and yes, my command team and I have reviewed and rehearsed the procedures thoroughly."

"Well then, I guess there's nothing left to do but wait."

The sensor officer's console lit up.

"Captain, I'm getting an anomalous reading of some sort on the sensors. I'm not sure what it is."

"Another false positive?"

Normally, sensors were set at something less than maximum sensitivity to avoid the numerous false alarms they kept getting every time a small piece of debris came anywhere near the ship. Given that the nebula severely attenuated their efficacy, they had no choice but to live with the frequent alerts.

"It doesn't appear to be sir. I'm pretty sure it's artificial. It looks like it's modulated and I'm seeing the same basic pattern repeating."

Admiral Mifune and Picard said simultaneously.

"Modulated?!"

"Yes sir."

"That's got to be Jordi. Can you make anything of it?"

"Trying to sir. It just doesn't make sense! It's not a subspace signal. It's an electro-magnetic signal in the x-ray range."

"Picard to Engineering."

"Go ahead Captain."

"Lt., have you got a good communications engineer down there?"

"The best Captain. Lt. Baker. She can take our entire comm system apart and put it back together blindfolded if she had to."

"Any signals experience?"

"She cracks unbreakable codes in her spare time Captain."

"Really?"

"Yes sir. She's got the current record in the Hedy Lamarr code cracking contest."

"Ok. I've got something that's right up her alley. We've just picked up a signal. I think it's from Jordi. We have not been able to get anything out of it. I'm sending the telemetry down to you now. See what she can make of it. I don't have to tell you how important it is we establish comms with Jordi, Lt."

"I'll put her on it right away. It will be number 322 on our "vitally important, have to get to right away" list, but I'll make sure it's moved right to the top Captain."

Picard frowned to himself. He has never quite gotten used to the irreverence of engineering types. It must just be an unfortunate side effect of the technical mind.

"You do that Lt., and let me know as soon as you come up with something."

"You think it's from Jordi?", the admiral said.

"Or maybe Data. Unfortunately Admiral, all we know for sure is that it is artificial. It could be a signal from Romulan comms for all we know."

"Well let's hope it is from your people. Twenty-four and half hours on the clock; we know the Romulans are in system so they've got to be close."

He didn't have to say what both of them were thinking. If they did not find a way to coordinate the effort between their ships and Ruwon's fleet, they were going to have a much harder time dealing with the Romulans when they showed up.

24:45 on the clock

"Engineering to Captain Picard."

"This is the Captain, go ahead."

"Lt. J.B. sir. The message was from Jordi is a continuous loop saying the same thing."

"Good work Lt., what did it say?"

"Just a hail sir, waiting for us to respond; it was followed by pi so we would be positive the message was artificial."

"That's it?"

"Well, yes sir. I imagine he wants to make sure it's us responding and not the Romulans, and also that we've figured out how to understand the message in the first place. I've acknowledged it and we should get a response from him in the next 15 minutes."

"15 minutes?"

"Yes sir. The message was sent using an x-ray laser. The nebula is about 200 million kilometers away, so it's gonna take about eleven or so minutes for messages to go each way, not counting the time to compose a message in the first place of course."

"So, it's safe to assume Jordi could not get subspace communications up and working." Picard said.

"Yes sir. Before he left, we talked about it. Jordi was sure he would be able to figure out a work around if he had sufficient time. Given he only had a few hours, I'm sure he thought this would be the next best thing."

"It's better than nothing. Please send your procedures for making sense of his message up to the comm station here Lt."

"Already done Captain. The next time Jordi calls, you will get the hail on your comm terminal."

"Thank you, Lt., and can you make sure we are configured to send a message back…"

The Lt. responded slightly exasperated.

"Already done Captain. And yes, we have started trying to raise Admiral Ruwon and her fleet, no response so far. Now if there's not anything else, we're a bit busy down here."

Picard paused; he had been about to ask that very question.

"Thank you Lt., proceed. Picard out."

Admiral Mifune shared a knowing look with Picard.

"Engineers."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to them."

15 minutes later.

"Captain, incoming message from Jordi!"

"On screen ensign."

"It's an audio only message Captain."

Surprised, the Captain indicated for him to play it.

"Greetings Captain. Sorry for the audio only, but we're using an obsolete technology to get this message to you. The good news is the signal can be aimed quite precisely, which will minimize the chance of it being seen by anyone other than who it is aimed at. Since the nebula interferes with most electro-magnetic radiation sources a bit to the right and left of the visible spectrum, we can use our telescopes to keep the beam locked on you. If you go to warp however, the signal will have to be reacquired when you arrive at your destination. If you need to do that, I suggest you give us your destination coordinates before you move to minimize the re-acquisition time. We'll keep trying to get subspace comms up, but don't count on it anytime soon. Data took his ship further into the nebula to see what he can discover about the interference, and is due back within the hour. We'll get back with you with anything he's found then. Lastly, given the time lags, we cannot have a normal conversation, so I suggest we both just keep talking; if you think I need to know something or have a question, just send it and we will do the same. We will remain at this location on the edge of the nebula and can serve as a communication hub if need be. We can duck back into it if we see anything getting close. Speaking of which, if you've come up with anything on how to get the cloaking detection to work, please send it along; we're having a bit of a problem getting it up and running here. Jordi out."

"Picard to Engineering."

"Engineering, go ahead."

"Lt., we just heard from Jordi. He suggests that given the time required to get messages back and forth, that we forgo asking a question and waiting for a reply and just keep talking. He says he's having trouble getting his cloak detection working and wants to know what if any progress you've made. And no, don't tell me, just put together a message with all of the details about what you've got so far and send it up to the bridge stat, along with any other information you deem relevant, and any questions you have for him. We'll be working on a message as well. Fifteen minutes Lt, Picard out."

Picard thought he heard a curse just before communications were out and he couldn't help but smile. His people might gripe, but he was confident they could easily handle the current set of challenges.

22:45 on the clock

Picard had sent his message to Jordi and was again waiting. He had told Jordi that Ruwon was now an ally and the coordinates of where her ships were. The plan, now changed, was for Riker and company to get the device and hand it over to her people. Apparently, Commander Sanderson was to do the handing over. Whether he could persuade Will to go along with this course of action, he had no idea. Ruwon was sending people down to the various ruin sites to prevent the Romulans from learning about potential tech that might be hidden on the planet. Jordi and Data were going to remain hidden in the nebula and act as a stationary communication hub. Laser communications over very long distances required the communicating parties to stay as still as possible. If they moved, then a message sent to them may end up arriving at a location they had just left and they would never get it. The Enterprise would stay far from the planet to intercept the bad Romulans when they entered the system thereby buying time for Riker and his team to get the device. When Jean-Luc thought about it, he realized it was not much of a plan, even though it was the best they could hope for given what they had to work with. Now, if only they could get the cloak detector to work before…

"Captain, I'm getting a strange reading…"

Suddenly, a single Romulan warbird appeared in front of the Enterprise.

"Red alert, shields up!

"Lt., are you detecting any other ships?"

"No captain. Readings are a bit off from what I'm used to, but they're within the normal range."

"We're being hailed Captain."

"On screen comm."

The screen resolved into an imperious looking Romulan. He saw Picard and smiled.

"Ahhh, the famous Captain Picard! A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I am General D'Nal Ralaa, of the Romulan high council."

"General Ralaa, your presence here is in violation of the agreement between your empire and the Federation. This violation will be reported thru the proper channels. In the mean time, if you do not leave immediately, we will assume your intentions are hostile and open fire."

"I appreciate your concern Captain; however, we are here on important business. A rebel group has invaded Federation space intent on instigating a war between our peoples. As we of the high council wish to maintain the peace that has been a benefit to both of our peoples all these many years, we felt that it was imperative we bring them to justice as soon as possible. As soon as we apprehend them, we will be on our way."

"General, we are seeing no Romulan presence in this system other than yours. If there were any other warbirds here, we would detect them."

This was technically true. Ruwon was currently orbiting the planet and was too far away for the Enterprise to detect her ships given the interference from the nebula.

"Be that as it may Captain, we will be conducting a thorough search of this system. I do not wish hostilities, but if you feel you must, then have at it.

The general turned slightly and gave a hand signal to one of his crew. Twelve other ships suddenly appeared all around the Enterprise.

He regarded Picard again deadpan.

"We, of course, would be forced to defend ourselves."

He gave another hand signal and communications were cut. Immediately all the Romulan ships cloaked again save for the General's.

"Well so much for our estimates," remarked the Captain.

"Ralaa must have really pushed his ships to get here sooner than we thought he would," commented Hiro.

"Comm, message Jordi and let him know we have company. At least thirteen Romulan warbirds.

"Picard to Engineering."

"Engineering, go ahead Captain."

"Have you been able to establish communication with Admiral Ruwon yet Lt.?"

"I think so Captain. Just waiting for her initial confirmation to come back."

"The Romulans just got here. As soon as you get that confirmation, let her know we will try to keep them out of her hair as long as possible, but she will probably be having company pretty soon. After that, set the bridge up to talk to her. We've already sent a message to Jordi."

"Aye Captain."

"Comm, put me on ship wide."

"You're on Captain."

"Crew of the Enterprise. Our dinner guests, as unwanted as they may be, have arrived. From what we have seen, they have at least thirteen warbirds surrounding us. I have to mention here that I feel a bit insulted. I mean, twenty or thirty ships and they might stand a chance, but thirteen?! They obviously don't know the Enterprise and her crew, and what we are capable of when backed into a corner."

Some of the bridge crew chuckled. As he had hoped, his statement had lightened the tension among his people.

"Now, we will be maintaining red alert for obvious reasons, but I want everyone to take a deep breath and relax. We've been in worse situations and come out smelling like a rose. With all of you behind me, I don't expect things to play out differently here. Picard out."

Hiro whispered to Picard.

"Very moving speech Jean-Luc. What's the plan?"

"Working on it Admiral. Just a few more details to nail down," he smiled.

"Engineering to bridge."

"Go ahead Lt."

"Comm is up with Admiral Ruwon.

She paused.

"Captain?"

"Yes Lt.?"

The Lt. spoke quietly and with obvious emotion.

"Thank you Captain. I give you my word, cloaking detection will be up in less than thirty minutes."

"Thank you, Lt., Picard out."

Hiro commented quietly.

"A humbled engineer. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Thank God for small miracles," Picard smiled.

"Captain, incoming from Jordi. He says he has established communications with Admiral Ruwon, and she has deployed her forces around the major ruins."

"Acknowledge receipt comm. Let him know we expect to be moving to his location within the hour as soon as cloak detection is operational. We want to try to draw the Romulan force away from the planet for as long as we can."

"Aye Captain."

"And send that last part to Admiral Ruwon as well."

"Aye Captain… Incoming from the Admiral Captain!"

"Put in on the speakers Comm and get that message off."

"Captain, the package has been delivered. There was a bit of trouble on the surface. Ralaa had sent one ship to the planet and they managed to get some soldiers to the main ruins before we could intercept them. Luckily, my Commander got his ship there and sent a shuttle down to the surface in time to neutralize that force. Your people suffered one fatality and a few injuries."

Both Hiro and Picard silently cursed the delay in communications. Who was killed?! Picard wished he could reach down the comm line and grab the info from Ruwon. She continued.

"I am sorry but I don't know who it was. The package appears to be in working order although we are being very careful about deploying it until we are absolutely certain about how to use it properly. If you can keep the main fleet off of us for another twenty-four hours, we should be ready. The good news is that its effectiveness does not appear to be constrained by the nebula in any way."

"Engineering to bridge."

"Wait one Lt.

"Comm, acknowledge receipt of Admiral Ruwon's message and let her know we will be heading to Jordi's coordinates in the nebula shortly. Any subsequent messages should be sent there.

Go ahead Lt."

"Cloak detection is operational Captain. Run the subroutine I sent to your sensor board to enable it. We've also rigged up a dozen missiles with chemical rockets and automatic targeting. Given the problems with sensors here, they should be undetectable by the Romulans until it's too late. Just make sure you target only vital systems, otherwise these babies will just make them mad. If you hit their propulsion systems closely enough, they won't be going anywhere for at least a day. Effective range is about 10,000 klicks.

"Sensors, show me those cloaked ships."

"Aye Captain. Coming up now."

"Merde!"

The screen showed the Enterprise surrounded by sixteen ships, not the thirteen they had seen earlier.

"I guess they weren't disrespecting you after all Jean-Luc," Hiro noted sardonically.

"Yes, but they don't yet know we can see them.

"Lt., you still there?"

"Yes Captain."

"We're going to need a few more of your missiles."

"On it Captain. Another baker's dozen is due out of the oven in twenty minutes."

"Record a message for Jordi detailing how you got cloak detection working and Lt., tell your people they may have just saved our bacon. Let me know when the additional missiles are nice and brown, we're going to use the first dozen in less than a minute. Picard out.

"OK bridge, game on. The odds are a bit longer than we expected but we've got plenty of cards left to play. Let's make sure we make all the right moves so we'll have plenty of stories for our grandchildren…

"Captain! Two of the warbirds are powering up!"

"Weapons?"

"No sir, propulsion. It looks like they are leaving."

"Damn! They must be headed toward the planet. We've got to head them off.

Picard to engineering."

"Go ahead Captain."

"Lt., we're leaving now. Send what information you can to Jordi in the next fifteen seconds or he won't get it."

"Will do Captain. Make sure you are clear of the Romulan ships before you fire the missiles. The targeted ships won't see them but the ones on the opposite side will see their exhaust and can warn the targeted ships they've got incoming."

"Got it Lt., Picard out.

"Comm, let Jordi and Ruwon know the Romulans are trying to send ships to the planet and that we will try to get them to follow us to the nebula and tie them up there. They've got sixteen ships total and I don't expect we can delay them for more than about a day or so before they send at least some ships to the planet. Tell them we are leaving right now.

"Weapons, target those two ships, three missiles each, the command ship, four missiles. Fire on my order.

"Comm, record and then send on my order the following message code two."

"But Captain, the Romulans cracked that code long ago…"

"That's an order Lt., code two.

"From Enterprise to Starfleet Command this sector. The Romulans have invaded Federation space with a force of thirteen warships. We are surrounded and escape is impossible. I am personally ordering a self-destruct order using the Corbomite device. Since this will result in the destruction of the Enterprise and all matter in a two-hundred-kilometer diameter, and establish a corresponding dead zone, all Federation ships should avoid this area for the next four solar years. Explosion will take place in one minute. Picard, commanding Enterprise, out.

"Navigation, we're going to stop those two ships first and then head to Jordi, so lay in coordinates to his position and execute on my order maximum impulse. We don't want to open up too big a lead on them. How long to Jordi's position at that speed?"

"It will take us about one hour Captain."

"OK, that's how long we need to hold them off. Once we're hidden in the nebula, we should have no problem avoiding them. All right, let's make this happen people. Remember, things are about to start moving pretty fast, so everyone hang on and keep on your toes. Comm, send that message and give me ship-wide.

"Go ahead Captain."

"Crew, secure ship for high G maneuvering."

"Captain, Romulan ships are powering up propulsion! They're all moving away at high speed!"

The forward screen showed all of the Romulan ships scrambling to exit the immediate area.

Hiro couldn't help but smile as he held on to his own chair.

"Did you read about that in my book?"

Picard smiled back at him as he ordered:

"Navigation, execute!"

Everyone on the bridge held on as the inertial dampers could not quite keep up.

"I did in fact. Surprised it actually worked a second time."

The Romulans scattered but quickly realized Picard had tricked them. A minute later they managed to regroup and turn in pursuit of the Enterprise.

"Weapons, fire!"

"Captain, we will intercept the two Romulan ships that ran toward the planet in twenty seconds."

"Let's hope the present we sent them will do some damage, but let's make sure. Weapons, target those two ships with our last two missiles and fire.

Engineering."

"Yes Captain?"

"How are those muffins coming Lt.? We've got some hungry Romulans up here."

"Last two missiles away Captain," said weapons.

"Six locked and loaded…. now! Another seven in thirty seconds."

"Remind me to thank you for getting those missiles out of the oven early engineering. Keep them coming."

"Captain, direct hits on the two ships headed to the planet. Looks like all they've got left is maneuvering. The flagship took two hits. They've slowed a bit but have not stopped."

"Good, that will make it that much easier for the last two missiles to put them out of action. Two down, fifteen to go. Weapons, target that flagship, all six missiles, fire when ready. I'm betting if we can stop her, the rest will slow momentarily. Should just give us enough time to reach the nebula."

"Weapons away Captain, fifteen seconds to the flagship. Direct hit on one of the other ships, she's powering down. Clean miss on the other. She'll be in weapons range in ten seconds."

"Best laid plans and all that," Hiro commented.

"Shields up! Lt., with the interference, what's the effective range of our normal weapons?"

"Assuming their shields are up, we can bang them up with phasers at 5000 klicks, destroy them at about a 1000. Photon torpedoes are a bit more powerful but not by much. If we surprise them, we should be able to survive their first barrage at close range."

"Let's hope you are correct Lt.

"Navigation, close pass intercept course, execute…now!

Weapons, phasers and photon torpedoes full spread when we hit 1000 klicks."

"Target ship is jinking Captain!"

"Compensating," said weapons. "Firing now."

"Direct hit Captain! Target Destroyed!" Sensors did not need to say this as a bright, multicolored explosion could be seen on the forward screen where the ship used to be.

"They didn't have time to react when you turned toward them at the last minute. Very good Jean-Luc. The other ships won't fall for that a second time though," the Admiral commented.

"Yes, well, let's hope they're mad enough at us so they won't send any more ships to the planet just yet. Navigation, resume course toward the nebula, maximum speed. What's our ETA?"

"That last course change slowed us down Captain. We'll get to the edge of the nebula in about fifty minutes."

"Three missiles just hit the flagship Captain. She's slowing. Looks like she'll be out of action for a while. Other ships are slowing… except for one. Looks like she'll manage an intercept right before we hit the nebula sir."

"Well, the odds have improved somewhat at least."

"Captain? Engineering. Six more missiles ready to go sir."

"They've probably realized by now we can detect their cloaked ships. Missiles will be less effective," said the Admiral.

"Yes sir. Unfortunately, the missiles are put together with spit and band-aids. They can't take but a limited amount of high G maneuvering without falling apart. Didn't have time to build in much sophistication. The Romulans still won't be able to see them coming, but they have limited mobility."

"Think you can rig them with proximity fuses or something? Maybe get them to go off when they get near the Romulans?"

"Sure Captain, but it won't do any damage unless it actually hits the ship."

"Don't need to stop them this time Lt., just slow them down and buy us a few seconds."

"I see where you are going with this Captain. We've been working on something I think we can modify to help. Give me a few minutes, and I'll get back with you."

"Sounds good Lt., keep me posted."

It had finally dawned on the Romulans that they were not as invisible as they had thought. The forward screens showed all of their ships jinking in random directions to simultaneously avoid any missiles, real or imagined, and continue to close with the Enterprise. Unfortunately for them, attempting to avoid the missiles necessarily impeded their progress, and all but one of the ships were steadily falling behind.

"Weapons, let's not worry about the other ships for now, just target the one closing on us.

"Aye Captain."

"Engineering to bridge."

"Go ahead Lt."

"Think we've managed to rig something together with this last batch that fits the bill Captain. We've loaded the warheads with some special surprises and we've included proximity detonators."

"Sounds good Lt. How much damage will they be able to inflict?"

The Lt. chuckled.

"None at all Captain, but I'm betting they'll scare the bejeesus out of the Romulans. We packed the missiles with stuff that will make a hell of a bang and blind any sensors in the EM spectrum. If the Romulans are looking at their screens when these puppies go off, they'll be seeing spots for days."

"Good work Lt., sounds like it's just what we need. Picard out.

Weapons, let me know when you're ready to fire. Range sensors?"

"Eight minutes to intercept Captain. Our missiles need to be off and running in not more than thirty seconds to be effective."

"Ready Captain," confirmed weapons.

"Fire!"

"Missiles away. We'll know if this works in thirty seconds Captain."

"Flashes coming from the Romulan ship! Too far away for us to see what it is yet sir."

"My bet is they're firing something at us," said the Admiral.

"Evasive maneuvering!"

"I'm not seeing anything yet sir.

"Captain, our missiles will detonate in ten seconds. I recommend we filter our screen so they don't blind us."

"Make it so sensors."

The forward screen visibly darkened and everyone held on as navigation executed a turn to starboard to avoid whatever it was that was coming their way.

"Detonation in 5-4-3-2-1."

The bridge crew saw seven near simultaneous, extremely bright explosions, followed by hundreds of streaks of light headed directly for the Romulan ship. The ship maneuvered crazily to avoid them, moving way off its intercept course and almost coming to a stop.

"They've stopped firing at us Captain… Multiple objects headed our way! Intercept in three seconds!"

"Maneuvering!" navigation shouted. "Some of them are going to hit Captain!"

"Shields! Brace for impact!"

The ship rocked from what felt like hundreds of heavy impacts.

"Damage report!"

"Multiple impacts in the central nacelle, decks 3-5 breached. Loss of atmosphere is being contained. A lot of people got banged up. No explosions. The shield took most of the impacts. It looks like they threw some rocks at us Captain."

"Rail guns." The Admiral knew exactly what they were.

"What?"

"Electromagnets used to accelerate hunks of metal Captain. At a high enough speed, they can cause a lot of damage. That's what I'm guessing they used in this case."

"Secure maneuvering.

"Bridge to sick bay."

"Sick bay. Go ahead Captain."

"Multiple injuries coming your way Beverly!"

"On it Captain. Sick bay out."

"Engineering reports damage but that we can make it to the nebula."

"Thank god for small favors!"

"Comm, see if we're close enough to raise Jordi."

"Engineering to Captain Picard."

"Go ahead Lt."

"Captain, we're in no immediate danger, but some of our systems got banged up pretty badly. We're going to need to shut down for at least a day to make repairs once we're hidden in the nebula."

"Can I assume this is absolutely necessary Lt.? Time is at a premium right now."

"I understand Captain. If we don't do this, propulsion could shut down suddenly just when we need it most."

"I see. Well, let's make sure we are not dead in the water one minute longer than we have to be Lt., Picard out."

"I've got Jordi sir."

"Go ahead."

"Happy to see you've made it here in one piece Captain."

"One piece may be a bit of an exaggeration. We took some damage and a few minor casualties, but we are here. I managed to get the Romulans pretty mad, so I expect I've only got a few minutes lead. We need to move further into the nebula before we can make repairs."

"No problem Captain." Jordi acknowledged. The clouds are pretty thick so we won't have to move too far to be completely hidden."

"Won't it blind us as well?"

"Not completely Captain. It will blind our sensors, but not our eyes. We will be able to see a few kilometers and use that to stay together. We will have to move quite slowly but it can be done. As we get closer to the center however, we will have to go back to laser communications to talk to one another."

"I imagine the closer we get, the more our energy will be drained, correct?"

"Not quite Captain. From what I've been able to ascertain, the object only affects pure energy. Our matter and anti-matter fuel for example, is quite stable. Once we create a reaction between them however, the resultant energy released is drained away at a higher and higher rate the further we move into the nebula. Think of it as an electromagnetic sink in the same way a black hole is a mass sink."

"Any idea what's causing all this?"

"Not yet Captain. Data took the Kepler to investigate. He's due back in about twelve hours. I expect we'll have some answers then."

"Could it be artificial?"

"Unknown Captain. If the myths about the technological abilities of the race that inhabited this planet are any indication, I would not put it past them to have built something that could cause all this."

"Alright, we'll just have to wait for Data's report. Right now, let's see if we can put some distance between the Romulans and us. Jordi, lead the way. Get us pretty well hidden, but take us in the direction of the side of the nebula closest to the planet. We'll have to eventually stick our noses out and I want to be able to communicate with Admiral Ruwon as soon as soon as we do."

"Aye Captain."