by Dayton Ward
The tunnel ahead of them turned downward before again leveling out, and as they reached a curve, Barrows slowed. According to his tricorder, the large chamber they sought was only a few meters beyond this point. He was getting close.
“Alpha Four to Alpha One.”
Forcing his attention back to the matter at hand, Barrows activated his communicator. “Go for One.”
“We’re here,” said the voice of Loras Galir, another of his team’s agents. “My tricorder’s picking up indeterminate life signs, but there’s definitely someone in here. Looks like our guess was right. This is a great place to stake out an ambush.”
“Okay, just hang tight. Once we all get set, we’ll move in.”
“Roger that. I’m thinking our best . . .” Something whined across the connection, drowning out Loras’s voice, and it took Barrows a second to realize he had heard phaser fire. The sound was repeated as another voice, likely Loras’s companion, Haruka Tomashiro, shouted something Barrows could not understand.
“Alpha Four, what’s going on?” When no reply came, Barrows barked, “Alpha Five, come in! What’s your status?” He growled in frustration, realizing that his people now were under attack. To his communicator, he called out, “Alpha One to all teams. Hold your positions until further notice.”
He heard no other weapons fire as he approached the entrance to the cavern. Pausing while still cloaked in shadow, Barrows surveyed the scene, comparing what he was seeing with the schematic on his tricorder. Much of the chamber’s floor was littered with rock and other debris, and from his vantage point he was able to see three of the raised guard towers positioned along the far wall. Another tunnel entrance also was visible, and according to the schematic, it should be the direction from which Paquette and Fredil should be approaching, though he saw no one there.
Something beeped behind him, and he turned to look for the source, his gaze falling on something set into the wall near the ceiling. The item was small and dark, almost invisible in the dim lighting, and it most definitely looked out of place. As he studied it, a single, small indicator flashed red.
Move! His mind was screaming the warning even as Barrows turned and sprinted out of the tunnel.
Thirty-five
Jevalan, Doltiri System
The first explosive detonated mere seconds after the human emerged from the tunnel, running and diving for cover near a pile of excavated rock. Crusher felt the blast reverberating through the surrounding rock, and for a frantic moment she envisioned the underground cavern collapsing all around them. The explosion was brief, its echo already dying as dust and shards of rock belched from the tunnel opening. Despite what Tom had told her about the small size of the charges he had instructed Konya and Cruzen to place, the resulting blast was still sufficient to cast chunks of displaced rock out of the tunnel and into the cavern.
“I think that got their attention,” said Lieutenant Konya from where he crouched near an outcropping of rock that formed a natural parapet offering all of them concealment from anyone on the cavern’s main floor.
Tom Riker grunted. “Them and everyone else.” From where he knelt along another section of rock, he gestured toward the cavern, and Crusher shifted her own position next to Ilona Daret to peer over the barrier. Below her and her companions, she saw movement among the rocks, discarded equipment and other flotsam littering the chamber floor. The intruder who had emerged from the tunnel was scrambling for cover, brandishing a weapon.
“Where are the others?” Cruzen asked. “I only saw the one.” Counting the two Tom had just stunned and the pair the away team had dispatched earlier in the day, that still left at least four agents to deal with, counting the one who was already running around down below them.
Looking toward the other tunnels leading into the cavern, Crusher thought she detected movement at those entrances, as well. Tom’s decision to use his phaser to incapacitate the first two agents to reveal themselves had provided his desired result, flushing other members of the group into the open. The motion sensors Cruzen and Konya had attached to the small explosive devices planted at the tunnel mouths had alerted him to the intruders’ approach, and he had offered what he considered to be a thoughtful interval before arming and detonating the first device. Now the agent who had been closest to that explosion was reeling from the sudden surprise attack, but Crusher guessed it would not take him long to regain his composure.
“Fire in the hole,” Tom said, tapping a control on his old-style Starfleet communicator. He had programmed the unit to transmit burst signals to the various improvised explosives he had positioned throughout the cavern and the tunnels leading into it. The device he contacted was close to the intruder—about twenty meters to his right and hidden within a pile of excavated rock. Its charge was smaller even than the ones Tom had used in the tunnel, but the resulting detonation still was enough to propel rock and dirt in an expanding sphere. Some of it rained down on the intruder, causing him to drop to the ground while throwing up his arms to protect his head.
“Incoming!” Konya shouted, and everyone ducked as a pair of phaser beams lanced across the cavern, striking the rock wall above them. Crusher covered her head with her free arm, flinching as chunks and bits of stone rained down on them.
Shifting her position, Cruzen said, “I think they know where we are.” She rose up on one knee and rested her arm on the parapet, aiming her phaser at something on the cavern floor. Crusher peered over the edge to see two figures moving along the far wall as Cruzen opened fire, but her aim was off at this distance, and the shot went wide. Shards of rock erupted from where the weapon’s beam chewed into the ground, giving the two new intruders a chance to seek cover.
“Damn it!” Cruzen fired again toward the pile of rock behind which the new arrivals had sought cover, but her second shot also had no effect.
Another small explosion rumbled through the cavern, and Crusher looked up to see two more figures emerging from yet another tunnel. These two seemed to have been better prepared than their companions, as they were well clear of the blast and were moving across the cavern floor by the time the charge detonated. They fired toward the away team’s perch as they ran, the phaser beams hitting all around the outcropping and forcing Crusher and the others to drop to the ground.
“They’re talking to each other,” Konya said, rising up from his place of concealment to fire his phaser at one of the darting figures. Like Cruzen, the lieutenant was unable to hit his target, and Crusher looked up to see the intruder scampering to cover near one of the guard towers. Then she felt a hand on her arm before she was jerked back to the ground as another salvo of phaser fire slammed into the wall near their position.
Moving to a new vantage point, Tom once more brought up the outdated Starfleet communicator and pressed a control, only this time Crusher saw him tap the button multiple times. With each push came another explosion, each of the remaining charges detonating one after another in rapid succession until the echoes from the continuous blasts muddled into a single rolling cacophony.
“Get them!” he shouted, raising up and again aiming over the parapet. Crusher and the others followed suit, each tracking one of the intruders who now were running in all directions, shaken by the string of explosive charges placed at random points around the cavern. One of the humans, who had taken up position behind a dilapidated pull cart half filled with rock and dirt, stood up from his place of concealment and aimed his phaser at the away team, but he ducked once more out of sight when Konya and Cruzen fired at him.
Then Crusher was startled as first Cruzen’s and then Konya’s body jerked in reaction to being struck by phaser beams, not from the cavern floor but from somewhere behind her.
What . . . ?
“Hey!” Tom shouted, whirling toward the new threat but not moving fast enough before another phaser beam washed over him. His body went slack and he slumped against the parapet, and Crusher scrambled toward him.
“Don’t move!” a voice shouted,
but she ignored it, moving to Tom and placing her fingers along the side of his neck. She had time to feel his pulse, but before she even could breathe a sigh of relief, a furious cry startled her. Spinning around, she saw that Daret had lunged for the human standing at the mouth of the escape-route tunnel. The intruder obviously was caught off guard by the elder Cardassian’s unexpected aggressiveness, freezing just for the moment Daret needed to close the distance and swing at him. Despite his age, his physical strength still outmatched the human’s, and his single punch to the man’s chest was enough to force him to his knees. He dropped his phaser, coughing and grimacing as Daret pressed his attack, lashing out with his other hand and catching the side of the human’s head. The human, reeling from the assault, tried to roll away, and Daret followed, but then Crusher saw something metallic in the man’s hand.
“Ilona!”
Before Daret could react to the warning or the new threat, the knife sank to its hilt in his midsection, and the Cardassian gasped in surprise and pain, stumbling backward before falling to the ground. His hands grasped his abdomen, and Crusher could see dark blood already staining his tunic and skin.
“Stay where you are!” a new voice shouted, and Crusher looked up from Daret to see a second man standing at the mouth of the tunnel, his phaser leveled at her. His companion, still wincing from the fight Daret had given him, stepped forward and reached for her jacket, and Crusher felt his fingers close around her communicator badge as he yanked it free. Dropping it to the ground at his feet, he stomped it with his boot.
“Let me help him!” Crusher snapped, pointing to where Daret still lay on the ground, clutching his blood-soaked midsection. “Isn’t he the whole reason you’re here? Are you going to let him die now?”
“Go,” said the agent with the phaser still trained on her, gesturing with the weapon’s muzzle toward Daret. “Just don’t try anything stupid.” He held up a small package, which Crusher recognized as one of the motion sensors placed by Konya and Cruzen. “Nice try with this, by the way.” Dropping the sensor, he crushed it as he had the communicator.
Moving to Daret, Crusher pulled her tricorder from her jacket pocket, fumbling with the device as she set to work treating her friend, whose skin already seemed to have taken on an ominous pallor. She did her best to ignore her captors and the weapons they pointed at her, but her hands still shook as she activated the tricorder. On the ground, Daret looked up at her with eyes that looked glazed and heavy, and his breathing had grown rapid and shallow. Crusher did not need the tricorder to know he did not have much time.
Hold on, Ilona.
* * *
U.S.S. Enterprise
“Standard orbit, sir.”
Rising from his command chair at Glinn Ravel Dygan’s report, Picard stepped forward until he stood just behind the Cardassian officer and T’Ryssa Chen, though he kept his gaze focused on the image of the U.S.S. Tonawanda centered on the bridge’s main viewscreen. The Nebula-class vessel was oriented so that the upper portion of its saucer-shaped primary hull faced toward Jevalan, and from this distance the seams of individual hull plates were visible, as were external markings such as the starship’s registry number, NCC-71201. Picard suspected that the other ship’s captain likely was studying the Enterprise in much the same way, though so far she had not deigned to respond to his attempts at communication.
“Their shields are up and their weapons are on standby,” reported Lieutenant Šmrhová from her tactical station.
“Raise shields,” Picard ordered, not wanting to take such action while facing off against another Starfleet vessel, but Captain Verauk was leaving him little choice. “Are they still in contact with someone on the surface?”
“Not at the moment, sir,” Šmrhová said.
“Scan for the away team,” Worf said as he moved from his own seat to stand next to Picard.
It took the security chief several seconds to carry out the task, after which she reported, “I’ve got them. Three of our comm badges, located in a large cavern almost three hundred meters beneath the surface. There are several life signs—human, Bajoran, and Cardassian—emanating from that immediate vicinity. My readings are indistinct, owing to interference from the mineral ore in that area playing havoc with our sensors.”
“How many life signs?”
“Hard to say, sir. A dozen, at least.”
“Notify the transporter room to lock onto the away team,” Picard said.
“Sorry, sir, but we have the same problem as with the sensors. We won’t be able to get a transporter lock so long as they’re down there.”
“What about upping the power?” suggested Chen from where she sat at the flight controller’s station. “We may have to recalibrate to account for the interference and the power increase, but it should be possible. Even if we can’t get a lock on the away team, we should still be able to beam someone down.”
“Apprise Commander La Forge of the situation and have him begin making the necessary adjustments.” Turning to Worf, he added, “Number One, prepare a security team. If we can’t beam up our people, then you’ll retrieve them.”
“Aye, sir,” replied the Klingon without hesitation. He already was moving for the turbolift when Šmrhová once more called out.
“I’m now picking up new activity. They’re broadcasting a jamming field!”
“What?” Worf asked.
“Confirmed, sir,” said Chen. “They’re definitely emitting a powerful jamming signal. They really don’t want us talking to anybody.”
“Can we hail them?” Picard asked.
Šmrhová said, “No, sir. They’re blocking all frequencies.”
“How do we disable or defeat the jamming?” Picard knew that the options for such actions were few, but he was not about to accept this bizarre assault. “We need to make contact with the away team.” He drew a calming breath, forcing back the irritation he could feel beginning to assert itself.
“Maybe with the navigational deflector,” Chen said, turning in her seat to face Picard, “but engineering might need time to make the necessary adjustments.”
“Update engineering, but transporters are still top priority.” The captain let his gaze linger on the image of the Tonawanda for an additional moment before adding, “Arm quantum torpedoes and target their communications and sensor arrays. Stand by to fire at my command.” There was a noticeable pause between his issuing the order and Šmrhová’s acknowledgment; it was only an extra second, but there, nonetheless.
“Aye, sir. Torpedoes armed and ready.”
An alert indicator sounded from the tactical station, and he turned to see Šmrhová hunching over her console. “They just armed their weapons, Captain, but they’re not targeting us. Not yet, at least.”
The situation was threatening to get out of hand. Picard knew that from a firepower standpoint, and despite its formidable arsenal, the Tonawanda stood no real chance against the Enterprise, but a fight still could be costly, and it was not what he wanted, anyway. Beyond the risk to lives on both vessels, such a senseless engagement would serve only to keep him from helping Beverly and the others.
Behind him, Šmrhová called out, “Captain! I’ve lost the away team’s comm badges!” When Picard turned to look at her, she was shaking her head. “I had them, but then their signals started cutting out. All three of them are offline, sir.”
Enough of this!
“Lieutenant, reacquire your targeting of their communications array. In fact, do it twice. I want Captain Verauk to have no doubts about what I’m doing.”
At the ops station, Glinn Dygan said, “Captain, the Tonawanda is shifting its orbit.”
A low rumble escaped Worf’s lips. “They are aligning themselves to target us.”
“Arm all weapons,” Picard said without hesitation. “Stand by to route emergency power to the forward shield generators.” Were they really going to do this? What in the name of hell was Verauk thinking?
“La Forge to bridge,” said the v
oice of the Enterprise’s chief engineer, booming through the intercom system. “We’ve found a way to punch through the interference. You should be able to hail the Tonawanda.”
“Open a channel,” Picard ordered, watching the other ship on the viewscreen as it altered its flight path so that it now appeared to be facing the Enterprise head-on. When Šmrhová reported that the frequency was established, he said, “Tonawanda, this is Captain Picard. I don’t want to fight you, but I’ve lost contact with my away team on the surface. Let’s discuss this, calmly and rationally.” He looked over his shoulder at Šmrhová.
“No response, sir.”
“Damn it, Captain Verauk!” Picard snapped, stepping toward the viewscreen. “You need to think about what you’re doing. Does anything about your mission make the least bit of sense? Do your orders authorize you to fire on another Starfleet vessel and to put other Starfleet personnel at risk? Are you prepared to do that? My only concern here is for my people, and I won’t allow you to simply make off with them; not without an explanation.” When no response was forthcoming, he turned to the ops console. “Glinn Dygan, stand by for evasive.”
“They’re firing!” Šmrhová shouted, and on the screen Picard saw the first torpedo leave its launcher just below the primary hull. Alarms wailed across the bridge, and even before he could give the order, Dygan was altering the Enterprise’s course in an attempt to elude the incoming fire. Picard felt the deck shudder beneath his feet as the torpedo slammed into the ship’s deflector shields, and he reached back to place a hand on the ops console and steady himself, keeping his attention focused on the viewscreen as the Tonawanda adjusted its own course in response to the Enterprise’s maneuvers.
“Target their weapons!” he shouted above the alert sirens, gritting his teeth at the lunacy of it all. Starfleet vessels battling each other? Had it really come to this? “Fire!” He heard the steady, rhythmic pulse of power as four quantum torpedoes were launched, moving to converge on the Tonawanda. The weapons struck in rapid succession, energy flaring as they slammed into the other vessel’s shields.