The senior officers of the Enterprise all sat staring expectantly at their captain, waiting for him to start the meeting. Picard sat with a hand over his mouth, silent and consumed with deep thought. After a few moments, he moved his hand away and took in a deep breath. "What we are dealing with here…" he began slowly. "…is not only a hostage situation, but something of a terrorist action. Hundreds of people are already dead from this biological weapon. Others are soon to be inflicted, I'm sure. The one thing that puzzles me is how someone like Lore single handedly acquired a ship, the virus, and the new systems aboard said ship." He looked over the faces of his colleagues, reading their attentiveness with gratitude. "We need to deliver the message. That much is certain. If we don't do that, Lore could very well find out and injure or…" he paused, halting his gaze on Data. They shared a knowing stare for a moment before Picard unwillingly finished his statement. "…or he could even kill Heva. Now we won't be in transmission range of the nearest star base for at least another hour or so. Until then we need to come up with a course of action to rescue Heva. Any reports?" Geordi leaned forward to reply.
"Doing an overall scan of the freighter itself, I found that there is a cloaking device installed, which is probably why we didn't notice the freighter when Lore intruded on the Enterprise. We did attempt to beam Heva out during the time we were close to them but I'm sure that he keeps his shields up constantly to prevent any kind of transport. And of course I'm sure that by now he's confiscated her com badge, which would make it impossible to lock onto her signal anyway. " "We have also discovered a possible method that Lore may be using to submit the virus onto a planet." Data added. "The virus is most active in reproduction when in contact with heat. On the back of the vessel, Geordi and I have discovered an expulsion port similar to an exhaust pipe on 20th century automobiles. We theorize that Lore loads the virus into this port, cloaks himself to avoid detection, and enters the atmosphere of a planet just long enough to release it while still inside. In doing this, the virus would spread over hundreds of miles in a manner of seconds." Picard nodded. "Yes, but wouldn't the cloaking device become weak under the stress of entering the atmosphere?" "Yes, but he still wouldn't be able to be seen very well from the surface. In order to avoid detection from ships, he must have scanned the area to make sure that no one was around before he entered." Geordi replied.
"That will at least give us some sort of method to warn headquarters about." Riker said, looking directly at Picard. "But are we going to be able to get back to the freighter before something does happen to Heva? Star Fleet wouldn't make us stay too long or send us on a separate mission while she's being held would they?" Data felt deep gratitude toward Will for his concern. He was sure that everyone around him was just as worried as he was and he knew that they would take action one way or another, but it just wasn't happening fast enough in his eyes. "I'm sure that my superiors will understand that I want to take full responsibility of any rescue missions towards Commander Brookes. I don't see why they wouldn't allow that. Counselor," He turned to Deanna. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to know if you felt anything particular from Heva that could clue us in on her condition to quell our worries at least a little bit." Deanna looked mournfully at Data as though apologizing for what she was about to say. This made Data feel what he was sure a human would call sick. She then sighed and turned to address the captain.
"Although her physical state is intact, her emotional status is everywhere. She is frightened but unwilling to show it. She feels defiant towards Lore but something inside her is making her feel incredibly eager to obey his wishes. She feels threatened but in a peculiar way." "What do you mean?" Jean-Luc asked. "Well…she hasn't been directly threatened herself. I would say that Lore has made some sort of threat towards Data or us. She felt a specific worry for Data's well being when she was delivering Lore's message." Silence fell over the room. It was a somewhat morbid feeling that decided to settle over all of them once Deanna finished talking. Data's fists slowly curled into tight fists on the surface of the table. He began to tremble with rage and tried his best to keep his gaze downward. He didn't want his friends to see him this way anymore, he didn't want them to worry about him. It wasn't his life that was on the line here. Everyone else, particularly the Captain, was immersed in their own thoughts and plans to execute a rescue plan. But all of them remembered their past experiences with Lore, and none of them were completely sure that they would make it before he became violent and even deadly toward Heva if he hadn't already been so. Just as all of them were becoming ill from these ponderings, the foreboding air was broken by a call from the bridge.
"Captain." "Yes, ensign?" "We will be within transmission range in fifteen minutes." "Thank you, ensign." "Sir?" Data chimed in, timidly. Picard nodded at him, acknowledging that he was listening. "Sir, I wonder if when we go on the rescue mission…if I could lead the away team instead of Commander Riker." Will eyed him in an odd way while the rest of them merely stared blankly. "Data, I'm not so sure that it would be wise for you to even go on the away mission. I understand that you want to save Heva, but due to your past experiences with Lore I would rather have you here on the Enterprise. I am sure that Heva wouldn't want you going and getting hurt." "I can handle Lore, sir. I do trust Commander Riker to lead the team, but I would at least like to go to talk Lore down. Despite our dealings in the past, he will listen to me. In his eyes, I am his brother. I am someone that he would be willing to hear. I highly recommend that I go along if not lead." Picard considered this for a moment, taking in the possibility that Data could get hurt along with possibly losing Heva. The very notion that he could lose one or both friends and two of the best officers he'd ever had made his stomach churn.
He looked thoughtfully at Data's calm façade. His yellow eyes which had once, long ago, been devoid of feeling now overflowed with a heavy heart. He seemed more human every day to Jean-Luc, and he understood what it was like to lose someone he loved so much. Data's new emotions were an experience which he still hadn't quite learned to handle properly just yet, Picard wasn't sure that losing Heva was something he was ready for. This was different than deaths they'd dealt with in the past. It would crush him inside and out and he couldn't bear to see his friend that way. It was already unsettling enough to see someone he saw as such a strong man torn down in the smallest degree just by having her captured. Though he wasn't truly willing to allow Data to proceed with whatever plans they would come up with to save Heva, he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop him either way. He sighed and approached Data, looking down at him with knowing eyes. "I will let you go on whatever mission we carry out Data. But I want you to promise me that you will be careful. I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose either of you." Data looked back up at him and nodded.
"I promise, Captain." he replied softly. Picard smiled a sort of strained smile. He felt that no matter how confident he was in Data, there would never be a time in his career when he wouldn't be scared of losing any of the crew. A smile in a situation like this was merely to give them comfort. He had to try and be strong for them, strong as they were on their own. "Alright. I want all of us to get back to our duty. We will deliver the message to Star Fleet and take it from there. I will make absolutely sure that we are in charge of Heva's rescue. Even if they deny it I'm not so sure I'll give a damn." All of them stood and filed out of the room quickly. Each of them carrying a new, and yet light weight on their shoulders to battle with.