Chapter 15

Picard was released from Sickbay two days after his initial interview with Shazi and Michelle. Feeling more than a little stir-crazy left him short-tempered but Doctor Cruz was adamant about his observations to build the performance profile on Bacta therapy for Starfleet Medical and as Chief Medical Officer on the Titan, his word was essentially law. The third day after first speaking with the Jedi Master, found Picard in one of the conference rooms aboard the Titan to go over the preliminary results of former Chief-turned-Jedi Padawan Karú's investigation. It had been decided early on that Picard would stay aboard the Titan for the time being to prevent another attempt on his life.

Barely a handful of seconds passed after his arrival when Padawan Karú arrived with Master Dree-Jayks and Commander Kim, the Titan's First Officer. Greetings were exchanged all around as everyone took a seat around the conference table.

Harry said, "Admiral, the report from the Starfleet Forensic team that examined your office in the Consulate just came in this morning and the Captain asked me to present it to you as soon as you got out of Sickbay. They found something which helps explain how your attackers knew when and where to find you."

Picard's eyes widened perceptibly at this tidbit, "Do tell. My office, like all Ambassadors' Offices was supposed to be checked for spy devices every day. How did one get past the daily screening?"

Harry said, "The Forensic team found a sound activated listening device attached to the corner of your window. Since the screenings are performed by internal sensors from the Operations room in the Consulate, there is no organic presence in the room that would foul up the readings. The device in question was inactive and remains so until someone is in the room that is being spied upon and speaks. The acoustic energy of the speaker's voice turns the device from 'passive' to 'active'."

Picard took up the thread of evidence and said, "Since there is no power source emission or wireless power signals to intercept, it's like the listening device isn't even there. Elegant in its simplicity, wouldn't you say Commander?"

Harry nodded, "Yes sir, it is. It brings to mind something that I said to Captain Riker just as we got ready to use the hyperspace engines on the Titan the first time, prior to crossing through the Rift, 'What's old is new again.' The sound conduction is almost identical to the 'sound powered telephones' that the oceangoing surface navies back on Earth used to use throughout their ships as a means of secondary communication. Even if there was a total power failure on the ship, the sound powered telephone would operate on the energy of the user's voice."

Picard asked, "Was the Forensic team able to trace the signal when it was operating?"

Shaznia spoke then, "I can answer that, but before I do, please go over for me what you remember of the attack."

Picard nodded and spoke, "My driver Elib, had met me at the vehicle bay after I called for him. I was very pleased. My workload that day had been light and I was looking forward to seeing Will and Deanna that night over dinner. Elib told me the traffic patterns weren't that heavy at the moment and that our arrival time to the Residence would be sooner. He mentioned to me that his children had asked him to ask me about Starfleet Academy. I told him that if his children were willing to put forth the effort, when the time came, I would personally endorse their applications. We were moving along but my attention was on the PADD I had with me. I was going over some notes that I'd made when Elib said something about his sensor panel going out. A few seconds after he said that, I heard the canopy of the speeder being pierced and Elib fell over onto the passenger side. I tossed the PADD aside, checked Elib for a pulse and started to reach for the throttle control. As I reached for it, my uniform sleeve opened up and my arm felt like it was on fire. I couldn't use my left arm, or so it felt like so I reached with my right and another hole opened up over my right bicep. I managed to reach the throttle lever and ease it back when I felt three more impacts from behind. The next thing I remember after that was waking up in Sickbay a few minutes before you and Padawan Karú came in with Captain Riker."

Shaznia said, "I already spoke with Deanna and that follows pretty closely to what her Farsight vision indicated. Captain Riker was able to have ships' resources diverted to boost the Transporter signal to be able to get a lock on you and your speeder and bring both to the Titan. She was meditating in her quarters and saw you being attacked only moments before the actual attack occurred. Judging by her description of the blaster bolts that hit you and your own recollection, confirms the probable weapon used on you."

Picard said, "But I didn't see any blaster bolts when I was shot, just the aftermath."

Shaznia said, "That's because of the type of blaster bolt, more specifically, the type of blaster rifle that was used. The weapon in question is a specialist's weapon, usually reserved for use by snipers and very expensive to both purchase and maintain. It fires an invisible bolt. Due to the nature of the bolt, each power cell is only good for 10 shots or so. As you'll see when we get to the computer re-creation as compiled from the onboard data, your speeder was fired on from several directions in a line roughly parallel to your direction of travel. What this tells us right away is that whoever paid for this attack has access to some serious money to be able to furnish the same type of rifle to a group of attackers versus a single one."

Michelle took up the conversation at a look from Shaznia and started to manipulate the controls on her end of the table. The hologram pod above the table came to life and a computer simulation of the buildings came on. A triangle was used to represent the speeder. As the image moved, Michelle narrated, "Using the 'black box' data from the speeder, Engineer Rosim, Crewman Moro and I were able recreate the sequence of events. As well as telemetry, direction of travel, speed, weather conditions and latest automated traffic updates and the angle of the holes in the canopy left by the blaster bolts, this is what we came up with."

As the image played out, Michelle continued to narrate, "Your speeder was moving at a respectable 150 km/h and entered the express lane. Starfleet Security found a low power dampening field left in place that had been calibrated specifically for your vehicle. During the actual inspection of the wreckage, crewman Moro found the transponder that the field was keyed to. This was no random strike of opportunity Admiral, whoever planned it was aiming for you directly. If any other vehicles had passed through the field, their equipment might've flickered and the operators of those vehicles would probably have written it off as a maintenance issue. The bolts were fired on your vehicle from the buildings along your intended route two floors above the express lane. When Starfleet Security and the NRPOC raided each of those buildings, the respective floors were all empty except for the one room in each building that was used by each shooter. Evidence suggests that there were at least six shooters but no more than twelve. This accounts for the one shot that killed your driver, and the five shots that hit you. There were signs of use of a basic sleeping pad that can be bought from almost any merchant in any commerce sector where each shooter probably stayed the whole day just waiting for you to come by. There was no DNA evidence to speak of, no cast off epithelial or hair cells to be found which could indicate that either the site was cleaned up by a professional or the shooters don't have skin or hair cells to speak of. There was a cast-off power pack found which is how the specific weapon was identified. The pack was a dud, and was found in what is believed to be the seventh shooter's nest, but by the time your speeder got there, it was already in the process of being transported away. The shooter probably hoped to get off a kill shot but the pack shorted out and the weapon was unable to fire."

Picard said, "Elib's death was my fault entirely then."

Harry said, "No sir, that's not what anyone is saying . . ."

Picard's voice sound like the crack of a whip, "Save your breath Commander. It's my fault because I got complacent. I'd settled into my duties so well here that I forgot that Coruscant is not a Federation world where assassinations, though not entirely unknown, are so few and far between that a person has to reference a history file to find more than one in the same decade. I got sloppy and lazy. Instead of changing routes randomly every few days, I let myself get into a pattern using the same route every time. I'll be lucky if Starfleet Command will let me resign before they cashier me for making the kind of mistake that even a newly commissioned diplomat wouldn't make. Please continue your investigation and inform me if you need another interview. I'll be in my temporary quarters drafting my letter of resignation. Good day."

Before anyone else could speak, Picard left the table and walked out of the conference room doors.

Sometime later, Beverly entered the guest quarters that she and Picard had been assigned. She saw him at the desk absorbed in whatever it was that he was working on. Intentionally she stepped behind him and read out loud over his shoulder, "With deepest regrets I must tender my resignation as both Ambassador At Large to the New Republic and Starfleet Command . . ." Heaving a sigh she went to sit down on the edge of the desk so that she could look into her husband's eyes. "So . . . you're actually going to resign?"

Picard wouldn't meet his wife's gaze at first as he said, "Yes, I am. It's clear to me that I have lost my objectivity. I got Elib killed, almost killed myself and nearly left you a widow for the second time. Clearly, I've become a liability. Resignation is the only honorable course of action left me."

Beverly said, "Would you listen to yourself? Did you think of the plan to try and assassinate you? Did you buy the equipment? Procure the group of attackers? Pull the trigger? One of the many things I love about you Jean-Luc is your overwhelming concern for everyone who is, or ever has been, under your command. It's also one of the things I loath about you as well."

Picard suddenly met Beverly's eyes and started to splutter a rationale when Beverly continued, "Let me finish Jean-Luc. I love that quality, among many others, because it shows that you were truly destined to command. Whether it's a starship or a diplomatic mission, your compassion for others defines you. You could be an 'armchair' officer who stays away from the front lines, delegates his authority and either siphons the credit for himself or finds some way to shift the blame if it goes wrong, but you don't. You accept that your place may be in the front or in the rear, depending on the circumstances, delegate your authority as needed but never takes the credit and you do take the blame when it goes wrong, sometimes too much of the blame, just as a good leader should. Perhaps you did allow yourself to become comfortable but that only shows that you have finally found your place in the scheme of things. You do realize that this assignment it the longest you've every stayed in one place? Before you try the 'I commanded the Enterprise D for seven years' angle with me, remember, that was a starship; a noble ship to be sure, and a credit to the Enterprise lineage but it moved constantly from sector to sector, quadrant to quadrant, assignment to assignment. The view out of your ready room or cabin windows changed almost every day. But this assignment, as the Ambassador at Large which you've held for four years now, give or take a month, marks the longest you've ever been in one place. Over the years, I've heard you complain about how much time the Enterprise D and E respectively, spent in space dock for routine system upgrades, refits or repairs, rare though that last item was. Those things were usually taken care of in two to four weeks time, and you would complain to me over our morning breakfasts about how long it was taking. You've held this assignment for four years and I have yet to hear you even mumble about 'too much time'. That being said, yes, it is unfortunate that Elib died but there was no way you could know that might happen. Has the Consulate been bombarded with threats? Have there been any open protests about 'Starfleet go home' or anything, anything at all to make you believe even for one second, that there was a genuine threat to you specifically or to the Consulate in general?"

Picard had listened to everything his wife said and the irrefutable logic could not be denied. Almost grudgingly he said, "No to all of the above. I guess I'm still acclimated to having a specific adversary instead of this shadow group trying to kill me or at the very least discredit me and destroy all that I've worked for. How did you become so wise and how by all that is good, did I manage to be married to you?"

With a grin she answered, "I wouldn't go so far as to call it wisdom as much as having to make a rational argument with a son who is very nearly a 'super genius'. Wesley was already weaving verbal rings around me by the time he was 8 or 9 and the whole 'Do it because I'm your Mother' tactic had already started to lose its effectiveness. As to how you ended up married to me, only the Force knows and it's not telling. How about you delete that letter of resignation and we go for a walk through the Arboretum before we meet Will and Deanna for dinner like we planned to originally before all of this conspiracy dreck got started?"

Pushing away from the desk and standing up, Picard said, "Computer, delete Picard resignation file zero-zero-zero."

After the computer replied, "Working . . . complete; any further tasking?"

Picard said, "Not at this time, thank you." Kissing his wife soundly, he extended his arm towards her and said, "Make it so."