Picard stepped into the observation lounge and found the Admiral standing at one of the tall windows looking out over Epsilon Four. He stopped short considering what to do, because it seemed the older man didn't even take notice of his coming in. Finally, he walked up to him and looked out of the window too.

"You find me pathetic, don't you Picard?" he heard the tired voice of the old man, and he looked at the Admiral as he went on "The pathetic gullible old man who was taken for a ride by a criminal." he turned to the Captain with hatred on his face "And now you can say, you were RIGHT!"

Picard turned to him fully "Whoever was right or wrong became unimportant the moment our comrades were taken away to a fate we cannot even fathom. But I will not be your father confessor! I cannot give you absolution, Admiral, saying that Jones managed to fool everybody around him, including his wife and a whole colony of people, even if that's the truth. This is no excuse for your abusing your authority and failing to consider whatever argument you were presented against Jones throughout this mission."

"My whole life was only about Starfleet, Picard!" the Admiral retorted visibly desperate for Picard to see his point "Do you understand that? Ninety-two years, seventy-two of which I spent serving! I had no family! Barely any friends! All I ever wanted was the betterment of the Federation and to serve the Fleet! And what's the reward?! Retirement! They say I'd deserve some rest! And I was about to accept it: time flew by, I couldn't change that. But when I lay my hands on the classified internal communiqué about what the real opinion was about me, I knew I couldn't let them send me away as an invalid! Unfit for duty, they say! Old, frail, they say! Cannot give any added value to the Fleet with his service any longer, they say! Make room for others, more efficient, more capable... This, after seventy-two years of nothing but service, Picard..." he stepped to the Captain, and looked deep into his eyes "Don't you understand? All I wanted was to simply prove them wrong! One last time! To have a chance at going out with dignity! I had to grab the opportunity when it arose, Picard! Don't you understand what a huge asset Epsilon Four could have been? All our dilithium resource problems could have been solved forever! And maybe I would have been duly appreciated too... Was it wrong of me to want that? After seventy-two years..."

Picard frowned and shook his head "Reaching your goals by making compromises unacceptable by anyone having a marginal understanding of the spirit of our laws can never be right, Admiral! I refuse to believe that the ends would justify the means. The Federation and Starfleet were not founded on such principals. And if you want to serve the institutions I believe in as strongly as you say you do too, I'd suggest that you should revise your way of thinking! Even after seventy-two years."

That was the first moment Picard saw a sparkle of recognition in the eyes of the elder man - and a hint of guilt too. So there may be hope for you, Picard mused as he heard the door opening. They turned to the new-comers, and Beverly, Deanna, Will, Geordi and Juliana all filed in talking silently. Picard could see they were very upset. He took the seat at the head of the table, the Admiral sat on one side, Will on the other. The others sat at their usual seats and grew silent, looking at him expectantly.

"I know that all of you are distressed over the events that just had taken place on the planet. Most of us are personally affected, but I'd like to ask everybody to keep our clarity of thought and let us try to come up with a solution." he turned to Will "Number One, have you managed to make contact with the planet? In or outside the government."

Will shook his head entwining the fingers of his hands before him on the table "All communications are severed, Sir. They refuse to answer our hails."

"It is imperative to establish some form of communications with them given the fact that the whole colony is in grave danger. Let us send them a short, straightforward message about the tectonic disturbances, and of course our offer of help."

"Aye, Sir." Will nodded, and Picard turned to Juliana.

"Ms. Tainer, have you managed to finish your research about how we can stop the planet from tearing itself apart?"

Juliana let out a short breath - she seemed awfully tired and distressed "I am... still working on it, Captain. The Dreman planet that you managed to save years ago was essentially different from Epsilon Four, so all the calculations have to be redone taking into consideration all the unknown factors. And there are a lot of unknown factors regarding Epsilon Four."

Deanna looked at her struck by an idea "Doctor Tainer, yesterday, we asked Data to break into the computer system of Epsilon Four. There might be information there you could use. I can help you with it, if you wish." she offered, and Juliana nodded.

"Yes, that might be helpful, thank you."

"How long before the planet destroys itself?" Beverly asked on a strained voice.

"Given that the rate of the process is accelerating rapidly," Juliana shook her head locking her gaze with hers "not long. A dormant volcano awoke near the north pole after thousands of years. It's far from the colony, but the effects can be felt all over the planet. Also the quakes became now very frequent AND severe: it can be expected that at least three-five quakes would take place a day, with strengths up to 8.9 on the Richter-scale and growing worse with every passing hour. One such quake may destroy Ethel city itself." she looked around "Before the planet destroys itself, it will destroy the colony and its people. By the time the process reaches its catastrophic end, no organic living being will be alive."

"Doctor, we need those preparations finished." Picard stated, emphasising the obvious.

"What about our authorization to interfere?" Deanna asked "If we cannot communicate with the planet at all, on whose authority would we stop the catastrophe?"

"Mine." they heard the Admiral's low voice from next to Picard, and they all stared at him stunned "I've made serious errors during this mission, and... well, you all know about it now, anyways: my work at Starfleet is almost over. Let me do the right thing one last time."

Silence descended on them for a brief moment before Beverly spoke up "As much as I appreciate this gesture, it still remains only what it is! A gesture. And no gesture could undo it, if we never see our friends - family members - ever in our lives again!"

The Admiral nodded with a hard expression "I'm aware of the fact that I'm guilty in this matter, Doctor, but I don't have the power to reverse time and do something about it! Besides Ms. Jones and Mr. Data both had vital roles in the fact that the events turned out the way they did!"

Beverly raised her head sharply at this "You dare blame them?! YOU dragged Emma into this! She never wanted to go back to the planet! You literally blackmailed her! And for what?! Just to prove your abilities! That your judgement is still sound! Well, let me destroy all your illusions regarding that!" she shouted losing control of her emotions.

"Beverly!" the Captain uttered on a low but firm voice, and she stopped her tirade as they locked gazes "There's no point in this."

"The Captain is right." Deanna spoke up "We should rather try to find a solution to this situation."

"How?!" Geordi asked, and suddenly Beverly's agitation found an equal! "How are we possibly gonna be able to solve this situation?! Suppose we stop the tectonic catastrophe. Data and Emma are still captives of Jones! They'll be accused of treason! And from what we know, they'll be executed or made to work in a prison camp! We have no power to prevent that, no matter if the Admiral authorizes us to do anything about it!"

"Jones will not make Data work in a prison camp." they suddenly heard Juliana's silent voice. She spoke almost as if she didn't notice that they were listening to her as she went on "He didn't take my son only to take revenge over his wife. He said to me: You would be the perfect tool for my needs! But I'll need to do with your son for now."

They gaped realizing amidst the terrible things Jones uttered yesterday on the Bridge, they barely even noticed what he told Juliana - but it made more sense now...

"He wants to use him." Geordi said on a low voice.

"For what?" Deanna asked frowning.

Geordi leaned forward to lock gazes with Juliana "What would make YOU the perfect tool for his needs? You have the same abilities as Data, moreover, you have certain limitations so even YOU wouldn't suspect that you're an android and not a human."

"This is it!" Picard cut in, and they all looked at him "He needs Data as a tool for propaganda. YOU, Ms. Tainer, would be perfect, because you look EXACTLY like a human. But I'm sure he can shock his people with somebody as close to being a human as Data is."

"To make the people afraid?" Deanna asked following his logic.

The Captain nodded "I suppose so." he went on with his thread of thought steepling his fingers in front of his chest "Mr. Mils told us that Jones wants to solidify his power. That after the death of the former Premier, the people started to be afraid without one strong leader. We've seen evidence of that ourselves, when we talked to people down there. What if he wants to focus that fear? And use it to gain power through that? The way his predecessor did many times so successfully?"

Will started to talk trying to put together the picture "So he'd use Data to scare the hell out of his own people. When they're terrorised enough, he'll offer them safety by strengthening the dictatorship they're already suffering from, thus solidifying his own power. In the meantime, he can cause as much pain to his wife as he wishes. When he has enough fun, he'll get rid of both of them. And'll find a new toy to abuse." the others listened to him in shocked silence as he raised his gaze and looked into the eyes of his Captain "The next time, you bump into Q, Sir, make sure NOT to mention this incident to him. Or we'll all be damned in Q's hell for being a savage race. And with a very good reason this time."

The Captain glanced away with a fleeting half-smile at what he'd said, then looked back at his second officer with a patient expression "Will, this is NOT the conclusion to be drawn here. We're not born savage. We're defined by our surroundings! By our society. Do you think that a person like Jones would stand any chance on a world where people are provided for? Have there been any dictatorships on Earth since we have our replicators? People learn to share, to be more trusting, and selfless, if material needs are not the center of their attention. The people of Epsilon Four strive from day to day to survive another day, week or month. If you're tired, listless, hopeless AND deprived as they are, you will start to believe people who give you easy solutions. THIS is why propaganda works on Epsilon Four. THIS is why it's always worked ONLY when the time was right for it. They turned back time on their planet trusting that all of them were there for the same reason, because they were coming from a society where you CAN trust one another. But... they were not prepared for the possible negative outcomes. They were not prepared for somebody abusing their trust."

"But how could he use Data without knowing anything about cybernetics?" Deanna asked confused returning the conversation to the problem at hand from the fields of philosophy they detoured to "Would it be enough to point a finger on Data that he's an android and has to be feared only based on the color of his skin? Would people really believe that so easily?"

Geordi shook his head a little impatient "It's more than enough, if he finds out about his off-switch. For propaganda, what more do you need than a mechanical man turned off in front of your very eyes?" his eyes wandered around to rest instinctively on Riker "It can have an effect even on people who are aware of the fact that androids exist..." he turned his gaze away, and Riker felt it burned holes in his conscience. Geordi added bemused "Think about how somebody who's never known about androids would react to such a thing."

Deanna looked into Will's eyes and hoped he wouldn't react to what Geordi had said. It was plain that the engineer was upset for his friend. He simply found the wrong person to take it out on. Riker pursed his lips and glanced away almost sulkingly.

"The question is, what we can do to stop Jones." Picard stated.

Beverly raised her head at this "I gave Emma my combadge, when we said goodbye. If we want to find them, we just need to follow the signal of the badge." she sighed heavily "I promised her we'd go for them, so I'd like to volunteer to beam down and free her and Data."

"Beverly-"

"Jean-Luc! I know this is dangerous, especially given the seismic activity on the planet, and it's against all the rules and regulations. But I'm willing to face the consequences."

"I'm volunteering too!" Geordi declared before the Captain could reply anything.

"What about the rest of the planet?" Will asked suddenly, and they all turned to him "Even if we save our comrades, what would happen to the enslaved hundreds of thousands, who have no idea how they're being manipulated? What about Mils? We know he committed no crime, and led his Resistance movement in a peaceful way. Do we simply let him die? It's obvious he'll be executed, Jones bragged about it, when he captured us."

They then heard Juliana's soft sob, and Will gaped dumbstruck seeing her crying "I-I'm sorry..." he breathed slowly putting two and two together.

Deanna took the tortured old lady's hand and stroked it soothingly as she wiped her tears "It's not your fault, Commander." Juliana breathed "I'm sorry for acting so unprofessional."

The Captain leaned forward steepling his fingers "In this moment, virtually none of us can act completely professional, Doctor Tainer. But Will's questions are valid." he turned up his palms for a moment "We're in the exact same situation we were with Turkana Four: no one asked for our help or interference in the internal affairs of an oppressing regime. Remember, we followed the rules then and sent Ishara Yar back without imprisoning her for her deeds during the mission."

"I will take full responsibility, Picard." the Admiral spoke up, and they all looked at him "Do as you see fit to save as many as you can." he added on a low voice.

The Captain nodded grimly "In this case, Beverly, Geordi you may beam down to the planet. I need you to be extremely cautious, and have a lock on your badges at all times. Even at the slightest sign of danger, you're ordered to ask for an emergency beam out. Understood?" he asked, and they both nodded. He then turned to Deanna and Juliana "Ms. Tainer, please continue your research and notify me when you're ready to implement the solution." then to Will "Number One, we'll need to find a way to let these people know about the danger they're facing on that planet, and the fact that their clinging to twenty-first century technology would kill them."

"We can tap into the existing broadcasting network of the colony." Geordi pointed out. He stood and walked over to the console behind Picard. They watched as he hit the console buttons on an impressive speed as he talked "We could send a message through it, moreover, I can switch on all of their telecommunication devices and override whatever is on right now to surely deliver it to most of the population!" he added and then turned on the screen "This is what they currently have on, Sir."

The screen lit up and an announcer was in the middle of reading the news "...he was convicted for sedition, treason, and committing acts of violence and terrorism during a single session of a drumhead trial." the scene changed, and they could see Earl with his wrists bound together in front of him and surrounded by a dozen of soldiers on a podium in the middle of a large square filled with a huge crowd. "Given his notoriety, the execution drew a heightened attention. At least three-thousand people gathered on Republic Square to witness this historical moment: the end of the Resistance."

They all stood up gathering around the small screen with dread on their faces as they watched Earl being led up to what seemed to be a transporter of some kind.

"Oh, my god..." Beverly whispered recognizing what they saw "Emma talked about this! They execute people with a malfunctioning transporter to emphasise that technology is essentially bad!"

They watched in distress as one of the soldiers pressed a button, and Earl's body disintegrated into shining particles, and in a few moments was, completely gone. Deanna pulled Juliana close and stroked her back as the elder woman cried soundlessly into her.

The scene then focused on the balcony of an enormous building at the far end of the square. They all recognized the building to be the residence of the Premier. They gaped shocked as they slowly realized just who they saw standing next to Jones as the announcer went on "...this was the first public appearance of Premier Jones' wife in three years. During a press-conference held by the Premier after the execution, to a journalist enquiry, he declared that Mrs. Jones fully recovered from her long illness, and we will see her more often at his side from now on. The crowd greeted the once celebrated actress with overwhelming affection, and-"

"Screen off!" Picard commanded on a harsh voice. They looked at him taken aback, and he shook his head "Let's not traumatize ourselves with this any further, but concentrate on the tasks ahead!"

They were about to agree, when suddenly the blaring sirens of the red-alert flared up, and they heard the tense voice of Lieutenant Anderson coming through the comlink "Captain! The Romulan ship has returned!" No sooner did she utter the words, when they felt the ship shaking, and they knew they'd been hit.

"To battle stations!" Picard commanded, and they rushed out to the Bridge.


Data was standing tied by the wrists to a metal slab in what seemed to be some sort of a laboratory. It had an uncomfortable resemblance to how the Borg kept him captive, though his hands now were bound next to his sides, but the manacles holding him were at least as strong as the Borg shackles, and after a few attempts, he realized he wasn't able to free himself without damaging his wrists.

The room was in the basement of the residence of the Premier, so he was sure, he'd soon get a visit by Jones. It was plain he'd planned a special role for him - although it was also possible that he simply wanted to take revenge, and was ready to use all scientific knowledge he could have gathered in here in order to get that. The computer consoles certainly seemed cutting-edge technology, albeit seemingly not of human origin. Maybe Romulan, just as the instruments they'd found in the mines.

He turned his head to further examine the small room covered in semi-darkness around him. Four Romulan soldiers stood in the four corners - and Sela was standing opposite him ever since they arrived here. She seemed to study him, and he turned his gaze away from her eyes.

She walked up to him slowly to stand opposite him. He avoided her gaze and simply stared into nothing to his side. Sela squinted confused "Why are you not looking into my eyes, android?"

Data turned his head back and fixed his gaze on hers "I do not wish to make any interactions with you or your associates." he explained and turned his gaze away again.

"Why not? Soon you'll be taken to Romulus and taken apart to your very wires. Don't you wish to be in the company of someone you at least know in your last hours?"

He turned back with a slight frown "I thought Mr. Jones would want to make some sort of a use of me. I am held captive here and not on your ship, after all."

"He asked for two hours with you." she chuckled "I suppose he'd want revenge that you took his little concubine." she snorted "Honestly, I don't think he has any idea how to go about taking revenge on someone like you at all." she shrugged and looked into his eyes with a delighted smile "But why not give him, what he wants, if he pays with more dilithium, AND at the end, I'd lay my hands on you anyways."

Data frowned sensing a certain flaw in her patronizing carelessness. Sela never seemed to consider her plans to the smallest detail, but he would certainly not be the one to warn her about the fact that - as the vernacular went - this plan stank from a hundred lightyears.

"Is it true that you served with my mother?" she asked suddenly, she shrugged adding "I read it in her files."

"No. I served with the Tasha Yar from my universe. Your mother was taken captive by Romulans in an alternative universe compared to the one we served in together."

She chuckled then snorted "You're true to your overcomplicated nature even in the way you speak. And even when the end is near. I find it as annoying as the Vulcan's love of logic."

He glanced away musing on this "Tasha found it equally annoying."

She moved away pacing in the small cell "Was the Tasha Yar of your universe as single-minded as my mother?" she asked seemingly curiously. She smiled a little nostalgically "Don't be surprised. I don't have the chance to talk about her often. She was a traitor to the empire after all!"

"So you do not allow yourself to think of your birth-mother in any other terms. But only as a traitor." he concluded.

She turned to him sharply at this "How well you can stab, android!" she walked up to him and glared into his eyes "Without emotions, how could you learn so well what would hurt your opponent the most?" she hissed.

"Emotions are not completely unknown to me. And I did not mean to hurt your feelings. Merely stated a conclusion I drew from what you had told me." he explained on a colorless tone.

"She WAS a traitor! Betrayed everything I ever loved! Including my father! She deserved to die." she stated with blazing eyes.

He glanced away with a slightly troubled frown "Not in my universe." he whispered as she recalled the memory of Tasha's pointless death.

She walked up to him with a stunned frown "You do know emotions." she whispered and locked her gaze with his "You might even have them! You had them for my mother, didn't you?"

He shook his head "You are wrong."

"This is why you don't look at me? I remind you of her?" she asked with a small astonished smile spreading on her lips. She stepped in to stand close to him "What was she to you?"

He stood there with his usual deadpan expression feeling her breath on his lips and looked into her eyes unmoved by her sudden visible attraction "You do remind me of Tasha, yes. Your interest in our past makes me realize the possible reason behind your personal interest in me: I do understand the certain temptation offered by the challenge that the conquer of an unemotional man may pose. However, I am sure, the Romulan Star Empire did not invest so much resources into acquiring me to simply provide you with a concubine of your own."

She snorted with disgust "You sound like a Vulcan!" she spat stepping away from him.

Then the door opened, and Jones and Emma walked in through it.

Data's eyes glued on his lover, and he sensed his sub-processors running wild with the craving of touching her - or at least to lock gazes with her. She was wearing clean clothes: a black pair of satin-silk trousers and a matching blouse, with unusually high heals. Her hair was piled up in a loose bun, and a gentle make-up highlighted her exquisite features. He was suddenly reminded of her stunning looks, when he first saw her in full make-up and costume for Dreamland. It occurred to him that when he had emotions, he often felt pleasure only by looking at her. And now, without emotions, he experienced a numb sensation of never wanting to take his eyes off of her.

However, he had only a single second to marvel in her looks, because when she raised her head and locked gazes with him, he saw the most unsettling expression she ever wore: her eyes were hazy, her gaze haunted, and she seemed distraught, almost as if she didn't even recognize him. What might have happened in the short hour they'd been separated?!

He had no time to brood on it. Two seconds after Emma and Jones stepped into the room, several soldiers filed in after them.

"What the-" Sela began but couldn't finish.

Her own soldiers were slaughtered with four perfectly aimed shots to the head. Emma stood pressed to the wall, wide-eyed, petrified at the sight of the murders, while Data watched it across from her stunned, completely unprepared - even though he suspected that Jones was planning something!

"What are you doing?!" Sela demanded visibly crippled by the sudden turn of events.

Jones pulled out a disruptor from his pocket and pressed it to her skull "Getting rid of the competition!" he declared and pulled the trigger.

Sela's blood spurted from her skull, and she was dead before her body hit the floor. An ever growing pond of her blood formed around her head. Jones squatted to her and after a few moments of fumbling, he found the communication device she had with her.

He activated it, and started on a panic-stricken voice "Romulan ship! Romulan ship! We were attacked! We were attacked! Commander Sela is dead!"

There was some static noise, before the confused voice of a Romulan soldier came through "Who is this?!" he demanded.

"Premier Jones! Your commander was killed by Starfleet officers! They have a ship in orbit! We will take care of the ones on the planet, but Commander Sela wanted you to take out the Enterprise!" he explained gasping, putting up the façade of being in a serious fight.

Emma stood pressed to the wall watching in horror as the blood of the five dead Romulans slowly filled the tiled floor, reaching her shoes. She shut her eyes praying for this nightmare to finally end.

Her husband's voice grew distant and died away with the rest of the sounds in the lab. There was only darkness, and her own heart beat, nothing else for a while. Then she saw Earl's defiant face as he stepped up on the transporter that would beam him into oblivion. She thought she could hear his voice in her head. Loud and clear, as if he was talking to her right next to her on that balcony even though they were standing dozens of meters apart, separated by a crowd of people cheering viciously at his death! "Don't cry, Little bird!" she heard him saying "Wherever I go, my son will be waiting for me there!" she saw his sparkling gray eyes once so full of life and vigour "Never give up! Never give in!" she heard, and she became aware of her breathing quickening and becoming laboured as she watched her beloved friend simply disappear.

Somebody touched her on her arm, and she opened her eyes to find Edmond looking at her almost lovingly. "It's over, chérie, you can open your eyes now." She frowned confused and gazing around, found that the dead Romulans were gone. Their blood was gone. As if none of what she'd just witnessed had taken place. And in that moment, she sincerely questioned her own sanity.

Jones stepped over to Data and looked into his eyes smiling "Two birds with one stone. How do you like my efficiency, machine? You appreciate efficiency, don't you?" Data refused to answer. His gaze travelled from him to Emma, who stood there as if she completely lost her contact with reality. Jones turned to look at her too, then turned back to him smiling "Don't worry about her, she'll recover in a moment. She's a doctor after all. She's familiar with death and blood, maybe more so than we are."

Data looked into his eyes "If the Enterprise is destroyed, other Federation starships will take its place. They will want answers. And you will not be left alone until they get one."

"There will also be Romulan ships looking for Sela. Both them and the Federation will find themselves face to face with an age old enemy. Do you really think they would care about the colony as under-developed as Epsilon Four is? I will simply spread my arms saying, I know about nothing!" he chuckled "You see, android, the most important skill in chess is to be flexible!" he walked back to Emma and circling her, put his hands on her shoulders. "When I learned about your true nature, that changed everything! A whole new game started! My silly little wife here thought that she was my first and foremost priority throughout. The Admiral thought that dilithium was my first and foremost priority throughout. Both were wrong! Because when I learned just WHAT exactly you were, YOU became my first and foremost priority!"

Data stood in silence for a moment longer considering what he'd just heard "You want to use me as a tool of propaganda. To scare your people, saying that the Federation sent an almost complete imitation of humans to infiltrate the closed society. And to provide a quick and easy alleviation of their sudden fears, you will publicly destroy me. Since you needed the business with dilithium only to gain money by which you can strengthen your power, after capturing me, you did not need Sela's assistance any longer. This is why you killed her."

"Very good, machine!" Jones nodded appreciatively "You're very smart." he planted a kiss on Emma's cheek "Isn't he smart, chérie?" he chuckled seeing her empty gaze looking back at him, and he smiled at Data delighted "I may keep you for entertainment! These chimps that call themselves humans often bore me to death with their stupidity!"

Emma stood there listlessly letting her husband hold her. The only thought that remained in her head was that she needed to free Data. Somehow. And help him escape. Nothing else mattered anymore. But there were soldiers guarding the door, and they were three stories deep underneath the residence that was also heavily guarded. How? How should she do this?!

She felt herself pulling her body free from her husband's disgusting embrace and stepping up to Data, she gazed into his eyes. Oh, my sweet Deadpan! Even if every tiny bit of me purges here, I swear I'll protect you! I swear to you!

Data could see the all-consuming distress on her face, so he decided to argue with Jones to make her see that not all is lost. And also hoped to gain information from making Jones talk "You base the success of this plan on the single premise of the people getting scared of me, as I am. However, you are forgetting that I have my own free will! Once I am showed to anyone, I will start explaining what just took place here. How you are manipulating your own people. The bigger the publicity, the better. I will reach more people. Some will surely listen."

"No. You will do no such thing. You will be as obedient as a lapdog!" Jones stated on a hard voice.

"Why would I? You cannot touch me. You have nothing that would make me obey you, apart from Emma's life. And it is highly unlikely that you would blackmail me with her. She is far too important to you to simply give her up just to try to make me do as you say." Data concluded.

Emma turned to Jones and looked into his eyes with a strangely determined expression "Even if you did," she started on a soft voice "I'd sooner be dead or in prison than to take part in anything that would make you reach your goals." she declared.

In that moment, they stood there defiant and united. Seeing them together like that contorted Jones face into a furious, deadly expression. "There are more sophisticated methods than blackmail!" he growled with blazing eyes, and motioned to a guard with his hand, who opened the door and stepped out.

"You do not have the means to break into my system." Data told him on his usual silent voice "Even with twenty-fourth century technology, the Soong-type design is too complex for an average engineer to crack. Even the Borg failed to accomplish that."

Emma looked up at him, and this time, he saw a tiny sparkle of hope in her eyes. He gave her a small smile, and she was amazed at his optimism even in the darkest hour.

But the moment was gone, and they heard a male voice answer him "But I will succeed." Data felt a chilling sensation creeping up his spine as a fraction of a second before the man entered, his voice-recognition algorithms told him just who it was.

"Doctor Maddox..." he whispered as the cyberneticist stepped into the lab.

"Hello, Data." he greeted him on a grim voice as they locked gazes.

Emma stood next to her love feeling an overwhelming desperation flooding her very being. But the only thing she could do was slightly shaking her head in denial, barely believing her own two eyes.

Jones stepped up to her "Check-mate, ma chérie."


A/N: Feedback always welcome! :)