Indistinguishable From Magic Part 24

"Pretty much, yeah."

"What's his interest in going to 2162?"

"Who even says he actually has 2162 in mind?" Barclay pointed out. "I mean, this ship wouldn't be out of place any time between 2155 and 2220 or so."

La Forge shivered. "That's a good point. We don't really know for sure where he'd want to go back to, or why." He frowned, as that thought reminded him of a question he had meant to ask earlier. "How did you ever get mixed up with Bok anyway?"

Rasmussen sighed. "After my visit to the Enterprise Enterprise I was sent to a rehabilitation colony. It was all very civilized, much nicer than prison would have been in the twenty-second century, but one thing it shared with historical prisons is the opportunity to network." I was sent to a rehabilitation colony. It was all very civilized, much nicer than prison would have been in the twenty-second century, but one thing it shared with historical prisons is the opportunity to network."

"Network?"

"You see, every day while in prison-sorry, rehab-I'd meet someone who knew something interesting. Mostly, of course, it was just about everyday life in the late twenty-fourth century. Stuff the historians' files in the time pod didn't cover. It stopped me feeling too homesick, and helped me adjust."

"That's pretty much the point of rehab."

"Oh, I'm sure it is, and I'm just as sure that most of those people were sent my way for exactly that reason. And don't think I'm not grateful to Starfleet for putting me there, because I adjusted to this century a lot quicker than I would have on my own."

"Again, that's pretty much the point."

"Exactly. But there were other stories, and other conversations. Ones that maybe were less encouraged."

"Such as?"

"There would be the occasional smuggler, or whatever, who'd talk about the deals she'd done, or the jobs he'd performed for certain individuals or organizations. The Orion Syndicate, the Shadow Treasurers, the Nausicaan cartels, that kind of thing. Names would be mentioned."

"Contacts?"

"Contacts," Rasmussen confirmed. "So, when I was released, I already had a pretty good idea of how things worked, but also who to talk to about what I could do when I got out, both honestly and otherwise."

"A shame you didn't get such an idea of who to trust. It sounds to me like Bok's left you with a clear choice of you or him."

Rasmussen scowled. "You better believe it's not going to be me."

That was what Geordi was waiting for. "Then help us stop him. I know you don't like living in this century, but at least it is is living." living."

Rasmussen hesitated. "I'll . . . I'm not sure what to do, actually. Insurgency isn't really my field."

"What do you know about the ship's security systems? Intruder control?"

"There'll be the standard motion sensors and anaesthetic gas . . . But I don't know if the gas will have survived the time Intrepid Intrepid has been drifting. Unless you replaced it?" has been drifting. Unless you replaced it?"

"No, and it wouldn't do any good against the Breen anyway."

"There is a sonic disruption field available. That should knock out Ferengi, the Klingons, and the Breen. As well as humans, obviously."

La Forge nodded. "Okay, then, Rasmussen. If you can tell us how to activate the disruption field . . ."

"I can do better than that." Rasmussen drew a quick diagram of the appropriate controls on a padd and gave it to Geordi.

"All right. You get stimulants from a medical kit, ready to wake up the rest of our people, and Reg and I will trigger the field."

"Won't you need ear protection or something?"

"Trust me, we'll be immune," La Forge said, enjoying Rasmussen's mystification. "Now, go on ahead of us. We'll follow you out." He pushed Rasmussen gently toward the door, and out. As soon as the door closed again, Geordi used his stolen communicator to de-phase himself and Barclay. "Nice work, Reg," he said, when he recovered from the stomach-churning transition.

"Thanks, Commander."

"I didn't think Bok would be crazy enough to discuss his plans over a channel like that, but I'm glad he did."

"Actually, Commander, there's something I should tell you . . . The descrambler doesn't work."

"What?"

"My tricorder was still recording when Bok came aboard, and I kept it running. All I had to do was re-edit his words together, if you see what I mean." He gave a sly grin, which La Forge matched.

"That's beautiful, Reg!" Barclay managed a bashful but grateful expression. "Come on, let's get to intruder control."

Intrepid had made good time closing in to the Split Infinite after the probe test had proved successful. Bok stood in front of had made good time closing in to the Split Infinite after the probe test had proved successful. Bok stood in front of Intrepid Intrepid's main screen, watching the heavenly fires that swirled ahead.

His son would have found a good market for something like this, he reflected. Tourism, energy collection, or something else Bok couldn't even imagine. Someday, in his future but the galaxy's past, his son would come here and admire what he had done.

Let Picard kill a thousand Ferengi sons, who then wouldn't be compet.i.tion for his his son's pursuit of profit. son's pursuit of profit.

"Entering the Infinite's outer neutrino band now," Sloe announced, interrupting his reverie. As if in response to the words, the consoles and control boxes all around the bridge began to rattle and shake.

"Polarize the hull plating."

"Also, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid I'm picking up a distress signal from Harga's ship." Bok spun around angrily, eyes wide. "The ship has broken up, and Challenger Challenger is on its way." is on its way."

"Have Grak lay an ambush between our position and the Challenger Challenger's vector." He had promised himself he would do whatever it took to preserve his son's life, and if the destruction of Kren's ship, Harga's ship, and the Challenger Challenger was what it took, then it would be a well-spent investment. was what it took, then it would be a well-spent investment.

The Intrepid Intrepid was clattering and rattling so raucously that Barclay was certain it was going to fly apart at any second. The ship, as Scotty would no doubt say, just couldn't take the strain. He tried to lean against the wall and grab hold of a pillar to catch his breath and steady his nerves, but had forgotten that he couldn't. He stumbled, his shoulder and hand disappearing into a structural b.u.t.tress. Luckily they came out apparently unharmed. was clattering and rattling so raucously that Barclay was certain it was going to fly apart at any second. The ship, as Scotty would no doubt say, just couldn't take the strain. He tried to lean against the wall and grab hold of a pillar to catch his breath and steady his nerves, but had forgotten that he couldn't. He stumbled, his shoulder and hand disappearing into a structural b.u.t.tress. Luckily they came out apparently unharmed.

"We must be entering the Infinite," La Forge murmured. "We need to be quick."

Barclay nodded, turned the corner, and almost walked straight through a Ferengi, who was clearly as shocked at the encounter as Barclay was. The Ferengi yelped, and quick-drew a phaser. Reg had no time to dodge as the beam lanced clean through him.

He didn't even feel it.

The Ferengi obviously felt something, and it looked very much like mortal terror. He screamed, firing again and again, but the repeated shots pa.s.sed as harmlessly through Reg as the first had done, and burned into a bulkhead at the far end of the corridor.

Finally regaining control of his limbs, Reg darted sideways, through the corridor wall. Geordi came through a second later. "What happened?"

"A Ferengi saw me!"

"The phasing effect must be more limited further away from the transporter. The targeting scanners are pretty old . . ."

"Now you tell me!" An alarm began to blare throughout the ship, echoing through the corridors as Barclay and La Forge ran into intruder control. It was a cramped and dark room filled with monitors and security control panels.

"Let's just hope Rasmussen's diagram is accurate."

"What's happening?" Bok demanded. Even the silent Breen helmsman looked up.

"I saw a ghost," a Ferengi mercenary was saying. "It was the hew-mon, Barclay, and he went through the wall!"

"Ghost my lobes," Bok snarled, slapping the other Ferengi. "More likely a hologram."

"None are on board," Sloe pointed out. Comprehension dawned slowly on his face. "The cloak's temporal differential variance . . ."

"What?"

"He said . . . Dammit, he tricked me. That's no ghost, it's some phase trickery!"

"Find him and kill him!" Bok was almost purple with rage. "In fact kill all the Starfleet prisoners, right . . . now . . ." He winced, as something seemed to buzz around his head. "What is . . ." His vision was blurring, and he couldn't tell the difference between Sloe and the Breen helmsman.

The person standing nearest to him suddenly toppled to the floor, and Bok wasn't long in following him.

All over the ship, mercenaries and Starfleet prisoners alike staggered and fell. Ferengi, Klingon, Breen, human, and Bolian, they all went down within a few seconds of each other.

The only exceptions were La Forge, Barclay, and Rasmussen.

La Forge went to secure the bridge. Everyone there was out cold. Satisfied, La Forge triggered his anyon flare, and became solid once more, so that he could push the lifeless Breen out of the helm seat. He throttled back the ship, and began to pull up and away from the Infinite. He touched an intercom b.u.t.ton, calling down to engineering, "Reg, are you there?"

"I'm here, Commander."

"How are you doing?"

"It looks like everyone here is out cold."

"Good. Reg, I need you to find Rasmussen and wake up Balis and the others. We might have control of Intrepid Intrepid right now, but that marauder's still out there somewhere, and they're not going to want to let us hang on to Bok." right now, but that marauder's still out there somewhere, and they're not going to want to let us hang on to Bok."

"Aye, sir."

"Reg, this is not going to be the best day to be aboard a ship built before they invented shields. Our troubles are only just beginning."

18.

Challenger dropped out of warp just inside the Oort cloud. "Entering the Delta Five Gamma Zeta Alpha system, Captain," Qat'qa reported. dropped out of warp just inside the Oort cloud. "Entering the Delta Five Gamma Zeta Alpha system, Captain," Qat'qa reported.

"Is there any sign of the Intrepid?" Intrepid?" Scotty asked. Scotty asked.

At ops, Leah brought up the sensor displays on her board. "Scanning. No immediate indications, but, seeing as we know they have a cloak, they could already be here."

"Even if they're not cloaked, they could be well hidden by the energy emitted by the Infinite," Nog pointed out. "It's almost drowning out the sensors."

"Between plasma storms, elevated neutrino waves, gravimetric distortions, and plain old hard gamma, anything on one side of the system won't have a hope in h.e.l.l of detecting a ship on the other side," Hunt said.

"And that's without even taking into account the asteroid population that's threaded through the system," Leah added.

Scotty sighed. "Aye, which might be a good thing. Intrepid Intrepid'll be hard put to detect us through all that high energy soup."

"Might be pretty reasonable to a.s.sume that we've gotten here first?" Qat'qa asked.

"Never a.s.sume anything," Leah said with a faint smile.

Scotty agreed. "If there's one thing I've learned in my time in Starfleet, it's that the more certain you are of an a.s.sumption, the more likely it is that said a.s.sumption is wrong."

"Captain." Nog looked up from his console, his features taut and grim. "The decryption team I set to decoding the signal that was transmitted by the stealth probe has a result."

"And?"

"It's Romulan." A chill silence rolled across the bridge.

Scotty shook his head. "They have to get their noses into everything, don't they?"

Hunt came up the ramp and around the bridge rail to double-check the decryption on one of the science station consoles. "This Romulan signal . . . Does this mean that they're behind Rasmussen? Or behind Bok?"

"Rasmussen's a liar and a conman, but I canna see him being in league with the Romulans."

"Why not?" Qat'qa demanded. "It is their way; to lure the dishonorable into alliance with them."

"Because of the time he comes from. Remember that in Rasmussen's time, Earth has just emerged from a b.l.o.o.d.y nasty war with the Romulans. Coming from that society, he's unlikely to be well-disposed to them."

Hunt trotted down to the ops station, and leaned over Leah. "Program the sensors with the probe's cloaking and transmission frequencies. If there are any more of them, I want to know."

"Commander . . ." Nog said, "if this probe is Romulan, there might be Romulan vessels in the area as well."

"That's what worries me. If there's a warbird out there . . ."

"If there's a warbird out there," Scotty pointed out, "we've got big problems. Nog, do you think Bok is likely to have made some kind of deal with the Romulans?"

"It's not impossible. But if anyone has made a deal with the Romulans it would more likely be someone much higher in the Shadow Treasury."

"They're the ones who backed his plan, though, aren't they?" Hunt said. "Bankrolled it, at least."

"I suppose," Nog said slowly, "it's possible that they might have sent along some backup beyond the vessels we already know about, but I'd be inclined to doubt it. Our prisoners say Bok had three ships. Two Klingon-built vessels and his marauder."

"Might a Romulan ship have been included without Bok's knowledge?"

"Maybe, but I doubt the Shadow Treasury would have agreed to it. If they've got some sort of information exchange with the Romulans, then more likely the Romulans have sent a ship on their own."

Leah turned. "They could have done that just from eavesdropping."