Star Trek - Unification Part 16

"Freeze," said Sela, and the figure stopped in mid-sentence. She adopted a vaguely disappointed look when she said, "We would have preferred an interactive Spock who could have responded to questions, but this will have to suffice." She smiled contentedly. She reminded Picard of an animal who has feasted after a kill, belly full and needs a.s.suaged, at one with its world, sanguine and a.s.sured. Picard felt impelled to rattle this self-satisfied att.i.tude. "This will hardly convince anyone," he said tersely.

"I don't need to convince them," she explained. "Just confuse them long enough for us to reach Vulcan." She turned and gazed fondly at her creation, then said, "End program." The holo-Spock disappeared.

She smiled again-that annoying, lazy smile-and started tbr the door. "If you will excuse me," she said pleasantly, "it is time to send the ships on their journey." And she exited.

Immediately the three began to examine the room for escape potential. It didn't seem to offer any; it was an inner office and well sealed. "Suggestions?" asked Picard, almost automatically.

"Commander Data," mused Spock, "are they still unaware that we have access to their computers?"

"I believe so, sir," replied Data.

"Then perhaps you and I can find a way to create a diversion." Spock and Data moved toward the computer console, and for the first time in many hours, Picard began to hold a measure of hope.

The crew on the bridge of the Enterprise had been sitting in tense silence for an hour. Since arriving at Galorndon Core, they had each taken a few hours off to nap, but otherwise they had kept their posts.

They weren't even sure what they were waiting for. Riker felt like a coiled spring, his neck beginning to ache from the pressures of internal stress. "Maintain position," the captain's message-if that's what it was-had said. But why? "Will advise soon," it had continued, but that had been ten hours ago. How long were they to wait? And for what?

Riker had managed to take an hour and have coffee with Gretchen Naylor, briefing her on the latest developments and offering to let her wait on the bridge with them. To his surprise, she declined the offer, a.s.suring him that she knew the situation was in good hands. There was a relaxed quality to her that he hadn't noticed before, and it flattered her. They arranged to have dinner once this present crisis had resolved itself.

Now, sitting in silence on the bridge, listening to the faint electronic hum and crackle that was the normal background noise of the instruments, his nerves were taut. More than anything, Riker hated to wait.

Worf's voice, when he spoke, startled them all. "Commander, sensors are picking up three vessels crossing the Neutral Zone." He paused, and then added, "Vulcan ships."

Troi whirled on him. "Vulcan?" she said, astonished. Riker was already on his way to the aft science station, where Geordi stood.

"What's their heading, Mister Worf?" Riker asked even before he reached Geordi.

"One-four-three, mark zero-one-two," replied Worf, and by the time Riker reached the science station, a grid on the monitor displayed the boundaries of the Neutral Zone, and Riker observed three small blips moving through it.

"That would put them on a course to Vulcan," said Geordi. He stared at the blips for a moment, keying commands on the console.

"Worf, signal them on subs.p.a.ce. Request their status. Geordi, see if you can tell if one of them is the ship we've been looking for." Riker saw Geordi and Worf both spring into action. He realized his neck was feeling better already.

Worf reported first. "They say they're escorting a peace envoy from Romulus to Vulcan, sir. They request that we monitor Federation subs.p.a.ce channels. Amba.s.sador Spock will be making an announcement shortly."

"Perhaps his reunification talks were successful," suggested Troi.

But it didn't feel right to Riker. A stolen Vulcan ship delivered near Galorndon Core... now Vulcan ships crossing the Neutral Zone from Romulus...

He turned to La Forge. "Geordi?"

"None of the transponder signatures match up to the missing ship, Commander. They might have been altered. I'll keep checking."

Riker pondered for a moment, then decided there was nothing to be lost by putting himself in position in case there was something rotten in Romulus.

"Set a course to intercept the Vulcan ships," he said, and saw Worf's head spin around.

"Sir," protested the Klingon, "the captain's orders were to maintain-"

"I know the captain's orders, Lieutenant. Engage."

The great ship whipped into warp speed, and Riker began to feel better. At least he was doing something.

When Sela had dispatched the ships across the Neutral Zone, she had purposely delayed returning to the office where Spock, Picard, and Data waited. She liked the idea of toying with them, giving them time to ponder their failure and her triumph, and to dwell uncomfortably on just what fate she planned for them. She knew they must be well aware of Romulan rituals of execution, and some time to consider their tolerance for those elegant customs might leave them in a less arrogant mood.

She was still undecided how to treat the android. He could feel neither pain nor emotion, so he did not fit comfortably into the rigorous plans she had for the other two. She wondered if he would be adaptable to Romulan use; he might make a worthwhile aide if his circuits could be reintegrated so that he lost his attachment to Starfleet and its doctrines. She would have to check with their robotic scientists about that. If so, she would keep Spock and Picard alive long enough to witness the subversion of their colleague.

So it was with a light heart that she entered her office to confront her prisoners once more. And discovered that the room was empty. Stunned, she and the guards quickly drew their disruptors and inspected the room. The prisoners were nowhere to be found. "Impossible," she breathed. "There's no way they could have gotten out of this room."

And then, more incredibly, a voice behind her barked, "That's far enough." She whirled to see Riker, Picard's first officer, with several of his security forces, all with phasers trained on them. "Hold it right there," snapped Riker. "Drop your weapons."

Instinctively, Sela acted, moving casually toward her desk, looking for cover. ~'Drop your weapons," repeated Riker.

But she dropped to her knees and, using her desk as cover, she fired a burst toward them; her guards immediately followed suit.

But Riker and his men still stood. "Drop your weapons," repeated Riker, and suddenly Sela understood. She rose, waved toward her men. "Cease fire," she ordered, and walked closer toward Riker. "Holo-grams," she said with irritation, angry that they had been deceived.

What happened next happened so quickly that Sela felt as if she were watching a high-speed video log. A hand emerged from the wall-how can that be? her mind wondered-and clasped one of her guards at the neck; he crumpled onto the floor. The rest of Spock then followed the hand through the wall and took the guard's disruptor.

At almost the same time, Picard burst through the wall, too, and took another guard down with a short, vicious punch.

By this time Sela had recovered from her shock and raised her disruptor to aim it at Picardmbut suddenly there was Speck, right on top of her, holding the disruptor he had confiscated from her guard.

"I'm afraid," he said with mock apology, "that I don't know too much about Romulan disruptor settings."

They eyed each other for a long moment as Sela considered the options: But no matter what way she came at it, she realized Speck could fire on her. She would either vaporize, if the setting were high, or die an agonizing death as her organs exploded if the setting were low. She dropped the disruptor.

Speck glanced at Picard and said something very strange; it sounded like "Cowboy diplomacy." Whatever it was, it meant something to the two, because Picard acknowledged the statement with a slight smile.

Then Picard called out, "Well done, Mr. Data- although I'm afraid you didn't get Commander Riker's hair quite right."

And suddenly the wall of her office disappeared- revealing the true wall, and the android at her computer console, having created a holegram of the wall behind which they had been hiding all along.

"I will be more observant in the future, sir," said Data.

How pleased with themselves they all were! How clever they believed themselves. Well, let them con-gratulate each other all they wanted; Sela's plan was still running smoothly.

"It doesn't matter what you do now," she informed them. "Spock's announcement will be made in minutes. Our forces will be on Vulcan before you can alert anyone."

And she was delighted to see the looks of consternation on their faces.

By Riker's calculation, they were within twenty minutes of intercepting the Vulcan trio of ships when they received the message from Dulisian Four. He had immediately contacted Doctor Beverly Crusher and she had come to the bridge. "Commander?" she queried.

"Doctor, we've just received a priority-one distress call from the colony on Dulisian Four-a ma.s.sive failure of the environmental support system. They're going to require evacuation and they already have injuries."

Riker knew that the Dulisian colony was comprised of over four hundred people. Without their environmental support system, the sealed colony could not sustain life. The Enterprise was within range of the Dulisian system and could easily evacuate and transport the colonists.

But that would mean changing course and letting the Vulcan ships proceed on their way without challenge.

What to do? He had no right to interfere with the Vulcan convoy, but he was mighty suspicious of it. A friendly hail, a query about intentions-these were accepted protocol in s.p.a.ce.

On the other hand, all he had regarding those ships was a hunch. An instinct. A gut feeling. And what was happening on Dulisian Four was real.

"Worf, are there other ships in the vicinity of the Dulisian system?"

The tactical lieutenant checked his readings, then announced, "One, sir. A Rutian archaeological ves-sel."

That would be a surveyor ship, much smaller and less well equipped than the Enterprise. Beverly echoed his thoughts, saying, "I'm sure it's not equipped to handle something of this scale, Will." And of course it couldn't.

Riker moved back to the aft station, where Geordi was monitoring the progress of the Vulcan ships. "La Forge, anything more on those ships?"

"I've checked every sensor display backward and forward," he replied. "If the Romulans altered them, they didn't leave any fingerprints. I can't tie any of them to the surplus yard."

"The Vulcan ships have entered Federation s.p.a.ce, sir," announced Worf. "Maintaining course and speed."

There was no choice. He had absolutely no hard evidence linking the Vulcan ships to the one he'd been trailing. He had no reason to believe that trio of ships was anything other than what it said it was-a peace envoy proceeding to Vulcan to open talks of reunification. And on Dulisian, people were going to start dying.

"Lay in a new course," he commanded, "for Dulisian Four."

The ensign at Conn complied, but before Riker could give the order to proceed, Worf's voice broke in. The Klingon's voice held a note of urgency. "Incoming message from Romulus-on all subs.p.a.ce channels." "On screen," Riker ordered.

And on the viewscreen there appeared the august presence of Amba.s.sador Spock. The bridge grew quiet as everyone listened intently to his message.

"This is Amba.s.sador Spock of Vulcan," he began. "By now, Federation sensors are tracking three Vul-can ships crossing the Neutral Zone."

The calm way in which he announced these measured words made Riker a.s.sume that he was going to announce the peace initiative. So it was with astonishment that he heard the Vulcan say, in his next sentence, "These ships carry a Romulan invasion force and must be stopped. I repeat, these ships-"

The image was suddenly scrambled and then it disappeared altogether. Riker was on his feet.

"Doctor, contact DullsJan Four and confirm that distress call. I have a feeling it may prove to be a false alarm." He saw from the comer of his eye that Beverly had already started for the turbolift.

"How long will it take to intercept those Vulcan ships, Mr. Worf?." asked Riker, returning to his command chair.

"Fourteen minutes, sir," Worf responded.

So that was it. It was all coming down to a confrontation fourteen minutes from now-the whole circuitous route they had followed, from Vulcan to Qualor Two to Galorndorn Core; the encounters with Klim Dokachin, with Amarie and Omag-it was all leading to this final challenge. Riker's heart was beating harder; his mind was racing, preparing options. He drummed his fingers on his leg, unconsciously. He couldn't wait.

Chapter Twenty.

SPOCK KNEW that his announcement had been terminated abruptly; he just hoped enough had gotten out to alert the people of Vulcan. He glanced at Data, who was still at the computer, working to ascertain if the transmission was successful. Picard still held the disruptor on Commander Sela.

Data turned to them. "Communication lines have been terminated at the transmitter," he declared. "But I am quite certain the message was sent prior to the interruption."

"Well done, Mr. Data," said Picard, still keeping an eye on Sela. Spock noted that he seemed to take some pleasure in having bested this clever young woman; they seemed to have some prior history, and he thought he would have to ask Picard about that someday.

"You'll never get out of this building," insisted Sela, two bright spots of color on her cheeks. She was maintaining a contemptuous att.i.tude in spite of the apparent disruption of her plans.

"I disagree, Commander," Data told her civi!ly. "After studying the design of this structure, I have determined that our best route of escape would be the underground exit to the east of this wing. I have disconnected certain security scanners to a.s.sist us."

Spock saw the color in her face darken again, and her eyes sweep toward the console that contained the security circuitry.

Data moved from the console and looked at Sela almost apologetically, and said, "I am afraid we cannot permit you to warn your guards."

And then he did something extraordinary. He performed the Vulcan pinch on her. Spock watched as Commander Sela crumpled to the floor, and he turned to Data in amazement. He had certainly tried to teach others that maneuver in the past, including his former captain, James Kirk. No one had ever quite mastered the technique, and Spock had not attempted to impart the knowledge to anyone in decades.

But the android had accomplished the task, and apparently only from watching Spock's own performance of the pinch on the Romulan guard. It was a brilliant a.s.similation of the procedure. Rarely had he seen anything quite so remarkable.

"Not bad," was all Spock said, and they began to figure out how they could get out of that office and into the east wing of the building.

As soon as the Vulcan ships-which they now knew were carrying an invasion force-were within hailing range, Riker ordered Worfto open a channel. Then he stepped toward the viewscreen.

"I am Commander William Riker of the Federation starship Enterprise. Identify yourself."

The viewscreen flickered and then the image of a smiling Romulan captain appeared. "Commander, I am Danut of Romulus. We are a peace envoy, on our way to Vulcan. Our mission is an historic one. We welcome your congratulations."

Amazing. Riker never ceased to be astonished the way some people can look you straight in the eye, smile at you, and lie. "I a.s.sume you're hoping we didn't hear Amba.s.sador Spock's message, sir. Unfortunately, we know you are an invasion force. You are occupying stolen Vulcan vessels, which we must retrieve. Please set a course for Starbase 314. We are prepared to tow you with a tractor beam if you do not comply."

The smile froze on Danut's face. "You are mistaken. Amba.s.sador Spock's message was an announcement of the impending reunification talks between Romulus and Vulcan. You have no legitimate grounds to interfere, Commander. I suggest you fall back."

"We will be within tractor range in three minutes. Change course now or suffer the consequences."

Danut's face flushed darkly, and his fury crackled over the viewscreen. "We are armed, Commander. We will not hesitate to fire in order to preserve this historic mission."

"You are no match for the Enterprise and you know it," snapped Riker. "Now change course, bearing two-one-seven, mark zero-zero-seven."

Suddenly Riker saw a Romulan aide hurry to Danut's side and whisper something to him. At about the same time, Worf announced, "Vulcan defense vessels are also responding."