Chapter Seventeen

John had found that he could make the Eagle's on-board computer talk to the Enterprise's computer, using the same switch that had connected them to Moonbase Alpha. Evidently it was some kind of sophisticated universal communications system. He was able to ask for guidance to the Gargatha mountain range, and the Enterprise's computer obligingly transmitted data to the Eagle.

"So far so good," he said. "At least we know where we're going. We'll start over the hotel, and fly over the mountains."

"You're sure they're there?" said Tony. "I mean, it occurs to me that with these teleport devices they've got, they could've been taken anywhere on the planet."

"The Lanthenons don't have transporters. I suppose they could have imported some, but it seems unlikely. And the signal came from the mountains - I think they're down there, somewhere. Maybe not too far from the hotel, where they were captured last night."

"They were together, then? Oh, forget it. I don't want to know."

John considered whether to reply, and decided to be honest. "I think so, Tony. They were after Riker."

"Yes, well, they can have him."

John was wondering if it would be worth saying anything more - there didn't seem to be much that could be said - when the communicator signalled for his attention. He acknowledged, and Captain Picard's image snapped onto the screen.

"Commander Koenig. Return to the Enterprise immediately."

"Negative," said John calmly. "One of my people is in danger down on that planet, and I'm going to get her out."

"Mr Koenig, I thought I made it plain to you that this situation has to be handled in conjunction with the Lanthenon authorities. The King and Minister Ankara have insisted that a surface rescue mission at this stage could endanger the lives of both the hostages."

"You have to play by those rules, Captain. I don't. I don't belong to Starfleet. My authority over the Alphans comes directly from Earth and as far as I'm concerned it predates yours. Nobody's revoked it yet."

"If you don't turn your craft around, I will be forced to take measures to stop you."

"What's he going to do?" said Tony. "Shoot us up?"

"We're proceeding to the planet," said John. He switched off the communicator abruptly.

Tony grinned. "If he's worried we can always leave Riker behind for them to rescue."

The ship jolted violently, throwing John forward against his restraints. For half a second he wondered if the Enterprise really was firing on the Eagle, but he knew that a missile attack of any kind would probably have destroyed the small craft at first strike.

"What the hell's he doing?" Tony shouted, stabbing at the instruments.

"We've stopped dead. Maximum thrust." He yanked back on the thruster control, and the frame of the ship juddered.

"The hull's overheating," said Tony. "What's going on?"

The engines screamed. John kept the thruster pressed back at maximum. He caught a whiff of something burning, and then, without apparent reason, the Eagle responded and they catapulted forward.

"Temperature, velocity normal," said Tony, and held up his hands.

"He let us go," said John. "I wonder why?"

Helena watched the small, familiar shape of the Eagle fall out of the tractor beam and continue in its flight towards the planet. She had been summoned to the bridge, where she had been only once before on their preliminary tour of the ship, to answer for John and Tony's actions.

Data had warned that the tractor beam was on the point of breaking up the Eagle, and the Captain had ordered him to switch it off.

"You see," said Picard to Minister Ankara, turning away from the screen. "We have no power to stop them without destroying that fragile old craft."

"And you really have no authority over this man? I thought he was a Starfleet commander."

"I'm afraid you thought wrongly."

The minister rubbed her hands together and sighed. "I only hope he doesn't get everyone killed." She nodded her head in a perfunctory gesture and strode off the bridge.

"Dr Russell," said the Captain, "a word with you, in my ready room."

Helena followed him through a door at the side of the bridge, which led into a private office. Picard went behind his desk, but remained standing. "I could," he said, after a silence, "have removed your commander and his first officer from that ship by transporter. The Lanthenons seemed unaware of this possibility, and luckily Mr Data did not suggest it. I imagine he understood my motives."

"You want them to go down there."

"No, Doctor, I want to entrap the terrorists by means of a meeting with the King, as they suggested. But Minister Ankara is implacably opposed to that. Since they won't be expecting a straightforward rescue attempt by two people in a non-Starfleet vessel, Commander Koenig may have more chance of succeeding, in a foolhardy fashion, than a fully-equipped away team from the Enterprise. I must admit, if nothing is done quickly, I fear very greatly for Maya's life, in particular." He balanced the tips of his fingers on the desk and paused, as if thinking. "I would like to be kept informed."

Helena nodded.

The mountain range looked endless as John circled the Eagle above the hotel, at an altitude high enough to avoid visual detection from the ground. At this height he could see Lake Gargatha, the area's principle landmark, as little more than a ribbon of silver. There were patches of green and points of white.

The Eagle's instruments, which he had flicked onto diagnostic without thinking about it, were registering a breathable atmosphere, abundant water, a comfortable surface temperature, and a large quantity of an unidentified mineral which he supposed was the transporter-disrupting garradium.

"It looks good down there," he said.

"Pity we're not in the market for habitable planets any more," said Tony. "We've got to go lower."

"As soon as we get low enough to see ground detail, everyone for miles around will be able to hear us."

"Unless they're underground," said Tony. "Then how do we find them?"

John saw him look at the chronometer. Two and a half hours had now passed since the terrorist woman had made her threat to kill Maya at noon over Gargatha, and he had an anxiety like a pain in his diaphragm. He was beginnings to have doubts about the wisdom of this exercise, now that they were here without any real information or means of finding them. He wondered if he had been too eager to seize control and do what was familiar, rather than what was responsible. And Tony -

Unconnected and unintentionally, he remembered about Helena and the baby. It was remembering like rediscovering, with a shock and the complex of new emotions that he had thought through earlier. He had put the whole lot aside to think about this crisis instead, but it burst back on him now as he glanced at Tony, whose state of mind no longer worried him. He was like a man who had broken a fever, weak but back in control.

"Let's give it a go," said John, decisively.

He edged the joystick forward.

There were footsteps.

Maya jerked out of a semi-doze, and tensed herself. She had no chance to do anything, before one of her captors, the woman who seemed to be in charge, appeared at the turn of the corridor with a light. She paused there, holding the swinging lamp ahead of her, then moved forward.

"When are you going to let me go?" she said.

"That depends on how co-operative your people on the Enterprise are."

"My people have nothing to do with your cause."

"I'm afraid, at present, they're not being co-operative at all. I've brought you some food and water. Do you see this communicator?" She fingered a button-like device on the front of her jacket. "My friends are holding a gun to Commander Riker's head at this moment. They can hear everything that's going on here. I'm going to deactivate the forcefield long enough for you to pick up the food. If you try anything, Pedra and Sabahu will kill your lover. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Stand at the back of the room."

Maya obeyed, a new idea flashing through her mind. She concentrated minutely on the woman, imagining the texture of the flesh on her hand as it stretched forward to place the canister on the ground in front of the door.

"Elba?" said the nervous voice of the younger woman, crackling on the communicator. "Are you okay?"

"I'm all right, Pedra, I've just put the food down and I'm going to switch off the forcefield now." She had her own gun pointed directly at Maya.

"How do I know Commander Riker is still alive?" said Maya, coolly.

"Talk to her," said Elba into her badge.

"Maya?" said Will's voice. "Take your chance, just get out of there - "

"Be quiet," said the woman.

"All right," said Maya.

Elba backed halfway along the corridor, still aiming her gun, then raised her device to turn off the forcefield.

As she heard the buzz, Maya turned herself into the smallest, fastest fly she could manage. She knew she had only three seconds at the most before the other two realised something had happened, and she was gambling on their uncertainty and what she suspected was their inexperience - and that they wouldn't harm their hostage without good reason.

Elba whirled around, confused. "Pedra!" she shouted.

"What is it?"

Maya dropped out of the sky to land on her feet directly behind her. She hooked her arm round her throat to silence her, wrenched the gun out of her hand - her strength was much greater than the other woman's - and fired it at stun setting straight into her temple. For all she knew that was enough to cause brain damage, but she didn't have time to be careful.

Elba crumpled into her arms. Maya snatched the badge from her jacket and flowed into one more transformation.

"Elba!" cried Pedra's voice, with an edge of panic.

"All okay," she said, in Elba's voice. It sounded perfect, to her own ears at least. "She tried to escape, but I stunned her. Get a forcefield between you and Riker, I don't trust him either."

"Yes, my lady," said the voice of the man.

She dragged Elba's limp, heavy body into the storeroom where she had been held, covered her with the blanket and the other jacket to conceal her, and re-activated the forcefield.

The body of the Lanthenon was disconcertingly light. At first Maya had the feeling that she was going to lose her balance and stumble with every step, but she was an expert at adapting to alien physionomy and she quickly gained control as she half-ran along the passage. As she had already suspected, they appeared to be underground. It seemed to be a network of corridors, with smashed, abandoned rooms. There was nothing left here to indicate what the place had been used for, but it was obviously long derelict. She opened each door quickly, her nerves tense for the approach of the other two.

At the end of the second passage, one door opened into a room which the terrorists had clearly turned into their hide-out. It was lit with several glowballs, and there were blankets, bags, a few books and other provisions stacked neatly onto crates serving as tables. In one corner there was something which looked like a computer.

Maya put her head round the door and saw no-one outside. She closed it and examined the equipment, quickly judging it to be a portable communicator with some built-in processing power. When she activated the on-switch the screen presented her with a helpful menu, including the option to enter her own wavelength.

She was trying to work out how to call the Enterprise without knowing its communications code when she heard the voices of the man and the young girl. Quickly, she keyed in a distress signal on the wavelenth used by Alpha - it was all she could remember in the few moments she had - and turned off the screen. She managed to sit down on one of the blankets and pick up a canister of water before the door opened and Pedra looked in.

"Sabahu's gone up to the top again," she said. "He says he'll be about ten minutes."

Maya nodded.

"Are you all right?" said Pedra, coming in and closing the door. "I was worried."

"There was no need. I had my gun on her. She should be out for at least an hour. Did he give you any trouble?"

"No. Not at all. He really is concerned about the woman. It's strange, isn't it, that he can care so much, and yet treat her like that."

Maya looked at her.

Pedra sat down on one of the other blankets, pressed her hands together, and looked as if she was about to say something difficult. "Elba - what we talked about, I've been thinking."

"Oh?"

"If - this doesn't work. I mean, I don't want to be pessimistic, but Commander Riker seems convinced that the Federation won't give in, and you know it's unlikely that the traitors in the government will stop it now. Executing Trewhella might be the only way, and the only way to do that is what you said, a suicide mission. I suppose - you meant that you would do it. Did you mean that?"

"Yes."

"Elba, let me." Pedra suddenly knelt at her feet and looked at her, imploringly. "I don't matter, I haven't got any family pride left after what my father did, and I don't care for myself - all I care about is stopping this. You should carry on the fight, it's your birthright, your destiny. Everyone follows you because of that. Let me kill the alien and die."

Maya almost forgot her fear of discovery in horror and pity. She was furious that this girl was eager to murder the Princess's fiancé, but in the same emotion she was so sorry that someone so young should be determined to die herself. She wanted to tell her how life and love could grow up again, like spring shoots, even from a burnt-out ruin.

"It won't come to that," she said.

Pedra gasped and sank her face into her hands.

Maya knew she ought to take the chance to stun Pedra and reduce her opponents to one, but she had hesitated too long. From the corridor outside she heard the man, Sabahu, shouting.

"My lady! My lady!"

Pedra jumped to her feet with a start, and Maya stood up too, more slowly. Sabahu threw back the door and slammed it.

"There's a ship outside."

"A what, a spaceship?"

"It must be, it's alien, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. It's flying low over the mine."

"Did it see you?"

"I don't think so, I kept inside the building."

"Should we call the Enterprise and tell them we'll kill Riker unless they keep back?" said Pedra.

"No," said Maya. "There's no time. If they've found out where we are let's take Riker up to the surface and show them we mean business."

"What about the woman?"

"She doesn't matter. Anyway, she's heavily stunned."

The other two prepared to follow her without any further debate, in an attitude of scared subservience. Maya had the feeling that they considered it their duty to obey Elba without question. She was always surprised how easily other species accepted a physical impersonation and seemed to have almost no power to detect it. It was because they didn't think in those terms, even though they knew she was a metamorph and might have worked it out; no Psychon would have been fooled for long.

She let Sabahu, who seemed to be the lowest-ranking of the three and regard himself as Elba's protector, to lead the way to where Riker was being held. It was only around another corner.

He was lying down, his hands laced behind his head. As soon as they appeared, he stood up and looked at them warily.

Maya found herself locking eyes with him, and seeing blank anger there.

"Come on," she said.

"You're letting me go?"

"No - you're coming with us to show your friends we're serious."

"If Starfleet has found out where we are, you've no hope of getting out of this."

"Stop talking. Come on." She deactivated the forcefield, training the gun on him. "It's set to kill," she said. "Sabahu, go ahead. Pedra, walk abreast with me." She prodded the gun into his side, and they moved out into the corridor.

She had decided that, with Pedra and Sabahu outnumbering them in arms, it was safer to get out into the open before she broke her own cover. She could turn into something powerful and take out both of them, but there was always the chance that one of them would fire first. In the confined space of the underground passages, it was too dangerous. If the ship Sabahu had reported was still there, it could come to their assistance. If it had gone, they could still fight more easily in the open.

The corridor led to a low-ceilinged, open area stacked with smashed boxes. It smelled worse in here. Stairs upwards led past another empty room with an internal window, and a sign above it - the first one she had seen anywhere - which read 'GOODS INWARD OFFICE'. Filth and grime smothered everything; it was impossible to imagine that this place had ever been someone's workplace.

At the top of a clattering metal staircase, Maya saw daylight at last.

"Where's Maya?" said Riker, suddenly, stopping.

Maya pressed the gun more firmly into his ribs. "Keep walking."

"Why are we leaving here without her?"

"Be quiet?"

"Did you kill her?"

"Out!" said Maya, desperately. She was terrified that one of the others would questions this too, and go back to find Elba. She could see no way of letting Will know her identity without giving herself away; if she made a secret signal, his reaction might betray her.

Sabahu started to go up the last few stairs but Maya said, "No. Sabahu, get behind me. He goes out first. If there's anyone watching, I want them to see him."

"Yes, my lady."

"Okay. Move. Hands where I can see them."

Will held out his hands wide, and she nudged him forward into a deserted building filled with dusty shafts of sunlight.

"I can't hear the ship any more," said Sabahu.

She could see, through the building's empty doorway, a yard and some more structures. She indicated to Riker that he should step out into the open, and suddenly they were in bright sunlight. The heat and freshness were startling after being in the clammy underground complex for so long. For a few seconds, she was disorientated.

"My lady!" shouted Sabahu.

Pedra made a slight squeaking noise in her throat.

To Maya's amazement and relief, Tony and the Commander ran into the middle of the yard, breaking cover from another derelict building. When they saw that she was holding a gun against Riker they backed away slightly, but did not lower their own weapons.

"Where's Maya?" said Tony.

Maya tried to think quickly, desperately aware that everyone was standing with weapons pointed at everyone else. If she made a wrong move, anyone could get shot. She stared into Tony's eyes.

At the edge of her vision she saw Pedra looking confused, and she realised that she was not acting as Elba should.

"Lady Elbathura," said the Commander, "I'm Commander Koenig of Moonbase Alpha, Maya is my science officer and I want her released."

"If you've hurt her," said Tony, evenly, "I swear I'll kill you."

She had one moment of joy, and the next she doubled over in shock and pain as Will slammed his elbow into her diaphragm. He had sensed her distraction too, and taken the split-second advantage.

He tore the gun from her fingers and rammed its barrel to her forehead. "Drop your guns or I fire!" he shouted.

She struggled to pull down a breath, unable to speak and quite without the power to transform. She heard the clatter as Pedra and Sabahu threw down their weapons.

"Get them!" said Riker.

The Commander and Tony dived to retrieve them and turn them on the other two.

"Now, I second Mr Verdeschi's sentiment," Will said, shaking her viciously. "It's set to kill. Take us to Maya, or I'll get myself drummed out of Starfleet for you."

Maya caught her breath at last and cried out, "Tony!"

"You idiot!" shouted Tony, whirling round and throwing himself at Riker. "That's Maya! Get your hands off her!"

Riker let her go and she stumbled heavily backwards and fell onto the ground, while he, taken by surprise, toppled under Tony's attack. Riker's gun fired into the air.

Sabahu, whom Tony had been covering, broke towards them and the Commander fired at him. He crumpled down, just avoiding Tony and Will who had fallen together.

Pedra screamed.

Maya got back enough physical control to let go of the form she had locked herself into. Will, who had scrambled to a sitting position, stared at her with a dazed expression as if he still didn't understand. Tony let go of his grip on him with a scowl and held out his hand to help Maya up.

"Tony," she said, reaching for him.

He stiffened and thrust her away. "Oh, forget it."

Shocked, Maya took some steps back. Looking down at herself she realised that she was dirty and bruised and barefooted, and still dressed only in the ridiculous nightdress, which was torn and smeared with grime.

She was vaguely aware that the Commander had taken over Pedra, who had begun to weep hysterically, and that Tony was checking Sabahu. Riker was calling the Enterprise for an immediate beam-down of a security team to take the terrorists into custody.

"Maya," he said, coming over to her, "what did you do with the ringleader?"

"She's stunned, and trapped behind a forcefield - down there in the place where we were. I fired the stun straight into her head, it may have injured her ­- I don't know."

"You're wonderful," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing. "I didn't suspect a thing, I'm sorry."

Some Starfleet people, clean and efficient, had arrived, and Riker left to organise them. She clasped her arms round herself.

"Are you all right?" said the Commander, having handed over Pedra.

"I'm fine, Commander."

"I guess it was you who sent the signal that led us here."

She nodded.

"Well done. We landed the Eagle just out of sight, over there. Are you coming back with us?"

"Yes, Commander."

He hesitated, as if wondering whether to say something else, then patted her arm and said briskly, "Come on, then. There's nothing to stay here for."

John was happy to let Riker and the security team from the Enterprise take charge of the terrorists, and make his own departure without any more involvement. He had half-expected Maya to stay behind with Riker, who had said that he would be returning to the hotel to pick up the Enterprise's shuttle craft.

Tony, immobile in the co-pilot's seat, said nothing as the Eagle lifted from the planet's surface. John glanced at him and decided that conversation was not going to be light-hearted on the way back. As soon as they were clear of the atmosphere and the ship was locked on auto-pilot to the Enterprise, John unfastened his seat-belt and went through to the cargo section.

Maya lifted her head as the door slid back and John saw the eagerness die in her eyes as she realised it was him. She resumed her glassy, inscrutable expression.

He sat close beside her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm tired, that's all, Commander. I've done too many transformations and I haven't had much sleep." She pulled the jacket she had got from the Eagle's equipment locker tighter round herself, as it she were cold, and gave him a faint smile.

"Maya... I know you weren't at the meeting when I asked the Alphans if they wanted to stay together and start a colony - and, I don't know whether you've been thinking about it - I just wanted to say that you don't need to feel under any obligation."

"What do you mean, Commander?"

"Well... your being with us was an accident - and we were lucky to have you on Alpha - and I'm grateful for all the help you've given us - but I understand that when it comes down to it, we're not your own people, and I don't have a right to expect you to stay with us. I realise things are changing for you, and that you might want to make other plans. Don't feel bad about it."

She lowered her head, and John got the feeling that he was not saying it in the way that he should. He had thought that they had a confiding relationship, but it was obvious that she didn't want to talk to him now.

"I'm sorry, Commander," she said, lifting her eyes again. "I am tired."

"Sure." He pressed her shoulder. "Get some rest."

Tony remained motionless when John went back through to the cockpit, making no acknowledgement and showing no curiosity. John sighed, and settled himself in for a grim half hour.