by David
Worf stood behind Picard on the bridge
now, watching the image of the Centurion
floating in space.
"Captain, we have a message from the
Centurion."
"On-screen, Lieutenant."
The ship disappeared, and its place was taken
by a burly, aggressive-looking man wearing a
cloak over a gold-colored uniform, with
commander's rank on his collar.
"Captain Picard, I am Commander
Claudius Marcellus Caecus,
Centurion chief of security and acting
captain. I demand to know what has happened
to Captain Sejanus."
How typical of Sejanus,
Picard thought sadly, that his security chief
should be so high in the chain of command.
"Commander Caecus, I regret to inform you that
your captain has been placed into custody."
Caecus' eyes went wide. "On what
charges? And by whose authority?"
"He has broken countless Starfleet
regulations, not the least of which is the Prime
Directive," Picard said flatly. "We
will keep him on board the Enterprise until
such time as we can release him into Starfleet
custody at Starbase 16. Furthermore,
if I have anything to say about it, Commander, and I
shall"--he rose from his command chair, his powerful
voice ringing out across the bridge--"he will be
court-martialed!"
Caecus' image abruptly disappeared,
to be replaced by a starfield, with the
Centurion floating before them. As they
watched, the smaller ship's impulse engines
glowed, and she accelerated away from them.
"Should I follow them, sir?" Wesley
asked from the helm.
Picard shook his head. "No, Mr.
Crusher, not now. But track them."
Wesley tapped some controls, then shrugged.
"They've disappeared around Tena ra, sir. And the
satellites aren't tracking them."
"Very clever," Picard said, steepling his
fingers. "The Centurion doesn't register
on the satellites' sensors, so we have no
idea where they are or what they're doing. How
did they manage that, I wonder."
Almost simultaneously, Data and
Wesley turned around and said, "The subspace
transtator wavelengths can be--"
Picard held up his hand. "A technical
explanation can wait, gentlemen. What's
really important is how long they've been
doing that, and what they've been doing in the
meantime. Worf, have Captain Sejanus
brought to the bridge."
Several things then happened
simultaneously.
The Centurion appeared suddenly from behind the
Tenaran moon, her phasers glowing with contained
energy. Without pause or warning, she opened
fire.
The Enterprise was totally unprepared, but
Starfleet designers had made the
starship well. The low-level navigational
shields, which protected the great ship from space
debris, absorbed some of the energy. The
immensely fast ship's computer should have done the
rest. It calculated in a picosecond the
direction of fire, how much power would be needed
to counteract it, and how much would inevitably get
through. Normally that would have been sufficient
safeguard to prevent damage. However,
Appius Cornelius' men had done their work
well, and there had simply not been time enough for the
engineers under Geordi La Forge's command
to find all of the Magna Romans'
sabotage. Despite the automatic
signal from the Enterprise computer, very little
extra energy was fed to the shields at the
impact point.
The Centurion's shot had been aimed at
the juncture between the main saucer section and the
warp drive section, resulting in a minimum
of casualties, but totally disrupting power
throughout the entire ship for a little over five
seconds.
Which was all the time Sejanus, down in the
brig, needed.
The Centurion's captain had always been
quick to take advantage of fortunate
accidents. As quick as thought, his powerful legs
pushed hard against the wall and sent him flying out
into the corridor.
The lights and security force field came
on just as Sejanus cleared the doorway to his
cell. He felt a tingling in his feet and
looked down to see that the soles of his boots were
smoking. It had been a near thing.
He rolled to his feet. No guards had
been posted. Foolish.
He ran down the corridor, and as he
ran, he slapped the control plates on the
outside of the other cells holding prisoners from
the Centurion, releasing them. There was a
good-sized pack following him by the time he was
done.
Sejanus gathered them together. "Is this
everyone?" he asked.
One of the Magna Roman engineers spoke
up. "All of us except for Appius
Cornelius, sir. They took him to sick
bay."
"Most unfortunate," Sejanus
said brusquely. Appius was--had been--
one of his better operatives. A pity that he
had to be left behind, but Sejanus had never
wasted time on vain regret. "Follow me,"
he ordered.
Together they sprinted for the transporter room.
"Sir!" Data said sharply. "My
displays show transporters being activated!"
"Cut power to the transporter room, Mr.
Data!" Picard ordered immediately.
Data's fingers flew over his console--but
even as he worked, the android was shaking his head.
"It is too late, sir. A full load
was beamed over to the Centurion."
"Sejanus," Picard said. He cursed
himself for not posting guards outside the brig.
"I am detecting an energy buildup from the
Centurion, sir," Data added.
"Centurion firing photon torpedoes,
sir!" Worf said.
"Evasive action!" Picard cried,
bracing himself. The whole structure of the ship
shook slightly as the powerful engines kicked in
full force.
But the torpedoes had not been intended
to damage the Enterprise. They detonated
several hundred kilometers in front of the
great ship, momentarily filling the main viewer
with a brilliant burst of blue-white light.
When the explosion faded, the Centurion was
gone.
"Can you follow them, Mr. Crusher?"
Wesley shook his head. "They left at
maximum warp, sir. There's no way to tell
where they are now."
Picard nodded; he had expected no other
answer.
"Lieutenant Worf, prepare messages
for Starfleet Command and the Senate of Magna
Roma, informing them of the Centurion's
disappearance and Captain Sejanus' plans."
He stood. "Mr. Data, you have the conn."
Picard headed for the turbolift and his c
abin
--and some much-needed rest.
Epilogue
Several hours later, Worf went off
duty, having finished transmitting the last of
Captain Picard's messages to Starfleet
Command. Coded, of course--regulation
procedure in a situation where hostiles could be
monitoring communications.
When he returned to his quarters, he found
a message waiting for him from Jenny de
Luz.
He first thought of calling in Deanna
Troi. But Jenny was his subordinate, his
responsibility. He had recommended her
for the duty on Tenara that had led to her
involvement with Gaius Aldus in the first
place. "Computer," he said, "get me
Ensign Jenny de Luz."
"Ensign de Luz is on Holodeck
Three," the computer answered. "You are now in
contact."
"Jenny, this is Lieutenant Worf."
"I have something to ask you, Lieutenant."
Her voice was strong and purposeful, not at
all what he expected. "Could you meet me
here on the holodeck?"
Worf nodded. "I'm on my way."
When he reached Holodeck Three, there was
no sign of Jenny, and he realized she must be
waiting inside for him. He entered to find himself
in the middle of a simulation.
Before him was a flat plain stretching to a
distant horizon. The tip of the rising sun
showed over the horizon, growing slowly in the
overcast sky. To his left was a heavy forest,
and to his right was a hill, its top crowned by a
massive building. Ringing the hill was a
camp, with men strolling about or standing in clumps
talking. Every now and then, some of them would look
up at the building on the hilltop and then
resume their conversations. Jenny stood a short
distance in front of him, watching his reactions.
"Welcome to Meramar, Lieutenant," she
said. "I've spent the last couple of hours
getting the details right. What do you think of
it?"
"A harsh environment," Worf said.
"Very harsh. That's where I grew up."
Jenny pointed at the hilltop. "Castle de
Luz, which makes it sound a lot
grander than it really was. And that"--she pointed
at the encampment--"is the army of my father's
cousin, Domin Hame de Luz, which is laying
siege to the castle."
"Siege!" Worf exclaimed. "In this
day and age? With modern weapons, that's a
meaningless word."
Jenny shook her head. "Not if all the
parties agree to limit themselves to the weapons of the
first settlers brought here by the Preservers. This
siege happened when I was three years old.
It was finally settled by single combat between my father
and his cousin. My father won. I can still remember
his wounds. And the head of his cousin decorating the
great dining hall for a few days. Fortunately
it was winter."
"Barbaric."
Jenny grinned suddenly. "Remind you of
another world?"
Worf said stiffly, "Klingons were not
barbarians. They reacted to a grim
environment with a grim social code in order
to survive. And then in the end they outgrew even
that code and joined the Federation."
"Yes. Exactly the same thing happened
on Meramar. My ancestors evolved a
grim code too, to survive. They joined the
Federation, but the social code has scarcely
changed."
Worf felt off-balance. "Ensign, you're
not there anymore. This is a simulation.
Problems aren't settled here on the
Enterprise by means of single combat."
Jenny nodded soberly. "I know that, sir.
But I'm a product of this world. It's part of
me. I came here to try to understand something about
myself. The battle between my father and his cousin is
about to begin. Right now, my father is up there in his
castle, in the chapel, dedicating his weapons and
his soul to Servado and praying for victory.
It's an ancient ceremony. And this time
I'll be able to watch the whole thing with a lot more
understanding than when I was three years old."
A shout arose from the camp at the base of the
hill, and suddenly the camp came alive, men
running toward a central point. Jenny
smiled, her face transformed by eagerness. "Do
you hear that, Lieutenant? It's about to begin.
My father is about to come down the hillside and
settle the old feud."
"You said you had something to ask me, Ensign.
I have no interest in watching two men try
to kill each other." He turned to go.
"Computer," Jenny called out, "freeze
simulation."
The shouts from the camp stopped abruptly.
Worf turned back to Jenny. "Well?"
"First I have to correct you, Lieutenant,"
Jenny said, as if she were discussing a
completely neutral topic. "It's not two
men trying to kill each other it's two men
trying, and one succeeding." She took a deep
breath. "I want you to put me on special
assignment. I want to find Captain
Sejanus."
Worf shook his head slowly. Despite the
abrupt change of subject, he was not
surprised. "So you can kill him?"
"So I can bring him back to stand trial for the
murder of Gaius Aldus!" Jenny shouted.
Worf shook his head. "How will you bring
Sejanus to justice? He has disappeared--and
it is a very large galaxy, Ensign."
"I'll find him," Jenny said simply.
"I'll find him."
"Indeed," Worf said. "Then I wish you
luck. But why did you call me here?"
"I thought you might want to help."
"I do," Worf said. "But my duty is
here aboard this starship, Ensign. Not chasing
vengeance across the galaxy."
"I ..." Jenny said, and then she broke,
began sobbing.
There was nothing in t he manual about how to cover
this situation, so Worf acted instinctively.
He growled, and reluctantly allowed Jenny
to lean on him as she cried.
"I'm glad you could come," Will Riker said.
He reached out with his good arm, taking Gretna's
hand and helping her down off the transporter
platform.
"Will," she said, looking at him in shock.
"Your arm--"
"Is fine," he assured her. "It'll be
good as new in another day or two. Now, come
on--and I'll show you how Marcus tricked
you."
He led her down the corridor and into the
turbolift.
"Deck Four," he said. The car began
moving.
"So," he began, turning to Gretna and
smiling, "how do you like the Enterprise?"
"It seems wonderful. I'm very excited
to be here, especially if what you told me about
this ..." She faltered, looking for the word.
"Holodeck," Riker supplied.
"... holodeck is true."
"It may sound like a miracle, but I
assure you, it's quite real."
"I'm afraid I still don't understand how they
got the doubles to sound and behave just like real people."
"They're not doubles. The holodeck is run
by a sophisticated computer program, which they--
Marcus and Sejanus--simply told what
to do."
The turbolift doors opened, and Riker
led Gretna down the corridor to the
holodeck entrance.
"Now," Riker said, "what you'll first see
is a completely empty room--but whatever you
want to make real in there, you can. Anything is
possible in this room. Anything."
Riker touched the control panel, and the door
slid open--revealing Lieutenant Worf
holding Jenny de Luz in his arms.
Riker smothered a laugh.
"Excuse me, Ensign, Commander," Worf
said, detaching himself from Jenny. He strode
determinedly past them into the corridor beyond.
Jenny was just a few seconds behind him,
looking just as uncomfortable. "Commander, ma'am."
And she was gone as well, the holodeck
door sliding shut behind her.
"I think we interrupted something," Riker
said.
"I think so too. Will, what is this
place?"
"I don't know, but it's beautiful."
"It's like we're on another world,"
Gretna said, turning to take in the entire
holodeck illusion. "And you could make
images of people as well?"
Riker nodded.
"My father and Captain Picard?"
"I could," Riker said gently. "Would you like
me to?"
"No," she said quickly, then lowered her
gaze. "Will, I feel like such a
fool. I should have talked to you before about what
Marcus said, not been so quick to believe him."
He shook his head. "It doesn't matter
now."
"But it does," Gretna said. "Can you
forgive me?"
Riker smiled. "Well ... anything is
possible," he said, taking her in his arms.
"Especially in here."
There was still too much to understand.
Jean-Luc Picard, scholar, scientist,
diplomat, and sometime soldier, drummed his
fingers on the table-top in his quarters as he
tried to comprehend it all.
The M'dok had at last responded
to Federation overtures--Picard felt confident
their murderous raids would soon end. The
Magna Roman government was itself in the midst
of a massive shake-up, sparked by these latest
revelations about the Volcinii gens. And