Imzadi_ Triangle Part 25

"He has no knowledge of their whereabouts. In fact, he has no recollection of, or knowledge of, what happened at all."

"You see?" Riker said.

But Mudak shook his head. "That proves nothing. The Troi woman had her mind tampered with; you said so yourself. They may have done a similar thing to him, in order to protect themselves, cover their tracks." He pointed the prod at Will. "I checked with Starfleet as soon as my contact pa.s.sed the report on to me. Will Riker is still on Earth. I have that directly from one of their admirals who gave Will Riker his latest a.s.signment. This is Tom Riker. He is my prisoner and he is coming with me now!" And over the startled gasps of the Peace Keepers, who were not remotely accustomed to even seeing the use of force, much less utilizing it themselves, Mudak lunged at Riker with the shock prod.

The prod came up a half foot shy of Riker's chest... because Wendy Roper had leaped onto Mudak's back, her fingers clawing at his face, and she was shouting, "Leave him alone!"

And Riker, who took the only opportunity open to him, turned and charged straight into the midst of the Peace Keepers. He slammed into them, knocking them aside as if they were weightless. It was not difficult; they were so stunned by the ferocity of his thoughts that they'd been momentarily paralyzed anyway.

Riker stumbled into the room, and the door hissed shut behind him. The open/close mechanism was to the right of the door, and Will quickly turned and ripped it out of the wall, decommissioning the door. He saw Lwaxana lying in a bed, motionless, staring upward at the ceiling with vacant eyes. "Lwaxana, it's me! It's Will! You have to come out of it!"

He ran to her, grabbed her by the shoulders. "Lwaxana!" he called her again, staring into her eyes, trying to pull her out of her stupor through sheer and unbridled determination. "Lwaxana, I have to help Deanna! I have to get to her! You may be the only one who can help! Come out of it, Lwaxana! Give me something to go on! Anything!"

Her eyes remained dark and opened, but there was nothing behind them.

"Lwaxana!"

In the corridor, an annoyed Mudak brought his shock prod up and touched Wendy's arm with it. Wendy shrieked, losing all sensation in the arm, and Mudak easily shoved her to the floor. Then he tried to get into the room, but the ma.s.sed bodies of the Peace Keepers were blocking his way as they tried to pry open the door.

Inside, Riker was talking at Lwaxana with greater and greater urgency. "Lwaxana, it's me! It's Will! You know I wouldn't have tried to hurt you! You know I wasn't involved in any of this! I've got to find Deanna! I may be the only one who can do it! If Worf s with her, she might have a chance, but if Worf s dead, she's helpless! I've got to find her! I've got to!" He heard pounding at the door, the high-pitched whine of instruments prying at it. "Lwaxana! I've come all this way to get her! To get her back! But I'm going to wind up in a Carda.s.sian prison camp unless you come around and help me!" His anger, his frustration began to build as there was still no sign of mental life in her eyes. "It can't end like this, Lwaxana! It can't! Not after everything we've been through! You owe it to her to help her! You owe it to me, to yourself! Lwaxana, I understand now! I finally understand! I have to help her! I have to! Because being stuck in a prison is nothing compared to not knowing where she is, knowing that she needs me, knowing that I'm not there for her! I have to be there for her! I have to, always! Always! Dammit, Lwaxana! Wearelmzadi, and I love her! Help me, dammit! Help me!"

And suddenly Lwaxana's eyes focused on Riker. Focused with something that he hadn't seen before, an intensity, a determination...

... and abruptly Lwaxana was in his head ...

... and Riker gasped as a flood of images overwhelmed him.

Not just images ... sensations, emotions, all pounding through him, filling him and overflowing ...

... and there was Deanna, and she was everywhere, and he could see her, and the scent of her, and the sound of her voice was in his ears ...

. .. and everything was amplified a thousand times, and there was the first brush of her lips against his ...

.. . and the first time that their souls had touched ...

... and the agony of their separation was so intense that it threatened to cleave him in two ...

.. . and the joy of their reunion was so incredible that he began to sob...

... and there was a ripping noise of his universe being torn to shreds and then just as quickly being restructured with Deanna as its center, and how could he possibly have difficulty knowing where she was, because she was everywhere, in every pore, in every centimeter of his skin, in every aspect of his soul she was there ...

The door to Lwaxana's room was suddenly torn open, and Mudak was the first one through. Riker didn't even see him and suddenly the shock prod slammed against the side of his head. The contact was so intense, so jolting, that Riker and Lwaxana both let out a scream. Lwaxana fell back onto her pillow, her eyes closing, her head lolling to one side.

Will was on the floor, trying to reorient himself, because everywhere there was Deanna, and he couldn't possibly be in any danger because she was there with him, one sensation tumbling over another, so that he made no effort at all to block the thrust of Mudak's boot as it slammed upward into his gut. Riker flipped completely over, lying on his back, gasping and, insanely, he was half-smiling as he whispered, "Deanna ..." That was when Mudak kicked him a final time in the head and sent Riker spiraling into unconsciousness.

"Is the Daughter of the Fifth House all right?" asked one of the Peace Keepers urgently.

The doctor was doing a light scan and shaking her head in dismay. "Apparently she came to briefly, but now she's unconscious again. She overstrained herself, trying to fight him off."

"She is your concern, not mine," Mudak said as he hauled the insensate Riker to his feet. "I have my package; I'll be leaving now."

"The h.e.l.l you will."

It had been Wendy Roper Berq who had spoken, and she was blocking his way. She was two heads shorter than he, but that didn't seem to matter to her. "I don't care what you say. That's Will Riker."

"You have no say in the matter, woman. Be glad I don't arrest you for interfering with the rightful recapturing of a Carda.s.sian criminal."

"Save the threats, bone face," Wendy shot back. "I've got friends at the Federation Emba.s.sy. I already contacted them while you were busy smashing in the door. They've contacted the port and issued instructions that your ship is not to budge from there until we get, for ourselves, firsthand confirmation from Starfleet that Will Riker is back on Earth. And if he's not, then G.o.d help you, you crinkle-headed creep, because you just a.s.saulted a Starfleet officer and I'm going to make it my personal mission to make sure that you're the one who's stuck in a prison camp until your idea of a good day is one where you can gum down your food without too much pain. Do we understand each other?"

Mudak stared at her impa.s.sively, and then said, "Former lover, I take it?"

"Drop dead."

He smiled humorlessly. "I a.s.sume that's a yes."

CHAPTER.

drp> imiral Jellico couldn't believe that he had just gotten yet another communique about the whereabouts of Commander William Riker. It seemed like just the other day that he'd been contacted by the Federation attache in charge of Carda.s.sian affairs. Jellico made it clear to him that he was not in the habit of discussing the whereabouts of Starfleet personnel with liaisons to the Carda.s.sians, but when informed that Tom Riker had escaped from Lazon II, he reconsidered.

On that basis, Jellico judged that the situation warranted his at least informing the Attache that Riker was Earthside. Of course, it wasn't as if Jellico trusted Will Riker either; naturally he had checked.

Yet now a message had come in from Betazed, from the emba.s.sy. Apparently Tom Riker had surfaced on Betazed, but he was insisting that he was, in fact, William Riker, and at least one person on Betazed believed him.

"Murphy," Jellico called to his aide in the front office, "put me through to Commander Riker's apartment, would you, please?"

"Yes, sir," came Murphy's voice from outside.

On Betazed, Gart Xerx walked into his office and was stunned to see Mudak sitting behind his desk, feet propped up. "What are you doing here?" hissed Gart.

"I thought we would have a chat, Gart," Mudak said, his dark eyes flashing with... amus.e.m.e.nt? Anger?

"We have nothing to chat about." Gart quickly tried to hustle Mudak away from his desk. "If someone should see you here..." He shuddered at the thought. "Go. Just go. Just..."

Mudak had risen from the chair, but now he lashed out with one powerful hand and grabbed Gart by the throat. He slammed him against the wall, and all the while his face remained impa.s.sive. One would have been hard-pressed to characterize him as someone who enjoyed his work. Gart pulled at Mudak's hand, trying to pry it loose, but Mudak wasn't releasing him. Instead he slowly started to push Gart up the wall, an inch at a time, Gart's feet dangling off the ground and air not getting through to his lungs.

"You have been very useful as an information peddler to Carda.s.sia, Gart. My people and I have appreciated that." He angled his head as if examining a small bug. "However ... it was our understanding that you were supposed to be working exclusively for us. You were not to deal with the Klingons... or the Romulans ... or the Jem'Hadar ... just us. An information peddler who can read minds and is unscrupulous enough to pa.s.s that information on is a valuable commodity. But part of that value is the exclusivity. If you learn of matters regarding other races and pa.s.s them on to us, that is useful. If, on the other hand, you learn things from us ... and relay them to other customers ... that is a bad thing. A very ... bad thing. Do we understand each other?"

Gart managed to get out, "Ess ... esss ..."

"Is that a yes, Gart?"

Gart wasn't able to respond. Instead he was too busy gritting his teeth, his jaw looking like it was beginning to merge with the upper part of his skull.

Mudak opened his hand and Gart slid to the floor. He lay there for a moment, gasping.

"I believe I know," Mudak said conversationally, "what is going through your mind, Gart. You are hedging your bets, preparing for the future. You have looked at the way of the galaxy, seen the forces that are ma.s.sing out there ... and come to realize, despite any high-flown protestations to the contrary, that Betazed is a target. And if that should happen, if Betazed should fall to conquerors, why... you believe that if you were cooperative before the conquest happened, then you would receive favored status after the conquest. To that end, it seemed reasonable to me that you might be dealing with other parties as well."

"You... you suspect me ... even though you have no proof?" Gart managed to get out, rubbing his throat in pain.

"I suspect you because you are pretentious and full of yourself, Gart, and you think that you are very, very clever. And you may indeed be clever. It might indeed be in your interest to deal with a mult.i.tude of 'exclusive' customers so that you have friends on all sides. But let me warn you of something, Gart," and Mudak knelt next to Gart, who was still seated on the floor, and tapped him at the base of his throat. "If this world is conquered, it doesn't matter who does it. It doesn't matter what happens to Carda.s.sia, or if the entire Carda.s.sian Empire falls. Through it all, one truth remains: If you double-deal, or betray anything that you learn from me or anyone else who has information that is useful and/or hurtful to Carda.s.sia, then I swear I will come back here, Gart. I will find a way, even if every other Carda.s.sian is dead. I will come back, I will find you... and I will kill you. Do we understand each other, Gart?"

Slowly Gart nodded.

Mudak rose and smiled thinly. "I'm pleased we had this chat then. I have arranged for the transfer of credits to your private account to cover your providing us with the information about Riker's whereabouts. As always, I know that we can count on your continued discretion ... can we not?"

Gart nodded once more as Mudak said, "A pleasure doing business with you, as always," and walked out the door, to head over to the emba.s.sy and await word from Starfleet as to the ident.i.ty of his captive.

Jellico continued to go through some routine duty-roster material until Murphy informed him, "Sir ... got Commander Riker for you."

Turning to the screen on his wall, Jellico said, "Put him through." He leaned back in his chair, interlacing his fingers, and waited. A moment later, Riker's image appeared on the screen. He looked as if he had just been roused from a deep slumber, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and Jellico remembered the time difference. At Riker's location, it was about one in the morning. "Commander," Jellico said briskly.

"Admiral. Didn't I just hear from you?"

"I'm afraid so, Commander. But I needed to verify your whereabouts."

"Admiral, with all respect, I wish I knew why you were so interested as to where I am at any given moment. Do you think I'm just going to run out of here at the first opportunity?"

"No, Commander. In point of fact, this has to do with Tom."

"I see."

"You'll probably be relieved to know that he's been apprehended on Betazed."

"I see," Riker said again.

"Or... perhaps you're not relieved," Jellico continued. "Perhaps you have a few ... regrets? He is, after all, you. Or do you feel that he got what's coming to him?"

Riker put up his hands and shook his head. "I really would prefer not to get into this with you, Admiral. Whatever your opinion on the matter is, is fine with me."

"Well. Good to see you're finally beginning to treat superior officers with the proper respect, Commander. Enjoy your a.s.signment shortly at the Academy. Jellico out." Riker blinked off the screen, and Jellico said to himself with growing confidence, "I didn't think he'd had the nerve to leave against orders. When all is said and done, Riker knows when to knuckle under. Murphy!" he called.

"Yes, sir."

"Send a message back to Betazed. Without providing information as to his whereabouts, a.s.sure them that Will Riker is with us. Tell them that we can verify Commander Hiker's whereabouts, and we can personally a.s.sure them that he is nowhere near Betazed." He nodded to himself. "There. That should put an end to that problem once and for all."

Roger Tang had just been in the process of closing up his tavern for the night when the small computer console tucked neatly under his bar said, "Incoming call on private channel Riker Alpha."

"Origin?"

"Starfleet Planetary Headquarters, office Admiral Jellico."

"Good timing," murmured Tang. "Ten minutes later, I would've been out of here. Computer... activate holosuite B, run program Riker One Kiss-Up, and patch through call."

"Acknowledged," the computer said in its flat voice.

Deciding he needed some amus.e.m.e.nt, Tang then strolled over to the holosuite and stepped just inside the door. Inside the suite was a perfectly serviceable re-creation of Riker's apartment, and seated at his desk-looking appropriately bleary-eyed, since Tang had thought to work in a real-time coordination component-was "Riker."

It had been a fairly simple program to build, really. A holographic representation of Riker, designed to handle straightforward queries from interested parties ... particularly Starfleet personnel. This Jellico, in particular, had been one that Riker had been especially keen about watching out for. So in addition to the straightforward program that pa.s.sed for Riker's presence, Tang and Will had created an additional tweak to it that Tang had code-named "Kiss-Up." The problem was that, because Riker was in a hurry, there hadn't been a great deal of time to put together a holoprogram that would be adept enough to handle everything thrown at it. So Tang had rigged the holo-Riker with simple, failsafe responses. If holo-Riker was handed a piece of information that he was previ-I M Z A D II.

ously unaware of, he would just respond with "I see," "I understand," "All right," and other neutral phrases. If the Admiral began posing questions to him that were beyond the holo-Riker's ability to articulate reasonable responses to, then holo-Riker was programmed with half a dozen replies that were exactly the type of thing that Jellico would want to hear, ranging from noninflammatory to deferring to the admiral's thoughts on the matter. These phrases included, "I really would prefer not to get into this with you, Admiral," "Admiral, I think you've really said it best," "Whatever your opinion on the matter is, is fine with me," and "Who am I to argue?"

Of course, the fakery wouldn't hold up under close inspection. If Jellico or anyone else took the transmissions and relayed them to the Starfleet Transmission a.n.a.lysis Section, they would be able to discern within a matter of minutes that they were talking to a hologram. Riker couldn't cover all the bases. But Tang had the sneaking suspicion that Jellico's own ego was their best defense. The admiral very likely simply wouldn't believe that Riker would take off against orders, and therefore would be satisfied with a cursory check as to Riker's whereabouts.

When the conversation was over and Jellico's image vanished from the screen, Tang called, "Computer, end program." The ersatz Riker and room interior disappeared, and Tang nodded with satisfaction. "Well, I just saved your b.u.t.t again, Commander. Your secret remains safe, and I'll tell you, when you get back to Earth ... you are going to owe me big time."

CHAPTER.

Wo forf could still see the water closing over his head. There was blackness everywhere, water filling up his lungs. He was thrusting out desperately in all directions, spinning in circles, darkness and cold everywhere.

Then he realized that he wasn't under water anymore. He was in the vacuum of s.p.a.ce, just as helpless and confused, trying to remember how he had gotten there and desperately trying to figure out which way lay safety. The cold was cutting through to the bone. He felt completely paralyzed, hopelessness and despair settling in on him.

That was when he started to hear the beeping. In a distant way, he realized that he'd been hearing it for some time, but he had no idea for how long. After a moment, he recognized the sound: It was the beeping from some sort of medical monitor.

He did not even realize his eyes had been closed, and yet now he opened them.

A Klingon was looking dow" at him. It was not anyone he knew, and he wondered how hi the world another Klingon had wound up in deep s.p.a.ce with him. This new Klingon was clean-shaven, which in and of itself wa something of an oddity. His hair was tied back on either side, and gray flecked his thick eyebrows.

Then, once piece at a time, Worf s awareness of his whereabouts began to st.i.tch itself together. He was no longer under water, that much was obvious. Nor, clearly, was he in s.p.a.ce. That still left him, however, with a lot of possibilities.

"Worf," said the Klingon. "The monitors indicate that you are conscious. Are you?"

"Yes," Worf said slowly. His voice sounded strange to him, as if he hadn't spoken in some time. He felt a strain in his vocal cords as well. "Yes ... I am ..."

"Good. In answer to the question that is probably next in your mind, I am Dr. Kwon, and you are in the personal medical facility of the leader of the High Council."

"Gowron?!" Worf tried to sit up, and it was at that point that he realized he had a medical scanner mounted across him, holding him in place.

"Yes, Gowron, at least for the moment," said Kwon. "Then again, such matters tend to change so quickly, it is hard to say for sure."

"Then I am on homeworld. How did I-"

"Get here? Gowron desired to see you, to speak to you about matters of some urgency. We were able to learn that you were on Betazed, and tracked you there ... only to arrive just as you apparently were on the losing end of an altercation with some Romulans."

"Romulans ..."

Then it all snapped back together for Worf. The fleeting images had been tumbling over themselves in his head, trying to sort themselves out, but now they came completely together for him once more. "Romulans! Yes! There was a battle, they-"