Gulliver's Fugitives - Keith Sharee [20]
“Riker to La Forge.”
“La Forge here.”
“The two men from Rampart are going to try to beam down with the captain. Can you isolate the captain’s signal and hold him here?”
“Stand by … Should be just a sweet little piece of cake … Should be but isn’t … No, they couldn’t know how to do that! Only O’Brien would know that!”
“Assume they know everything O’Brien knows.”
“Then I can’t override, the way they’ve rigged it. Not without cutting the power completely.”
“Forget that. The fools might kill the captain. Based on what you’ve seen, do you know of any way we can neutralize the one-eye and storm the room?”
“Not yet. But I’ve just been looking at the transporter records of the one-eyes’ structure, and there’s one way we definitely can’t neutralize them. Phasers. The one-eyes can be set to explode when penetrated by direct phaser fire. Could take out a whole deck. My guess is their booby traps will be set as Ferris and Crichton leave the ship.”
“Worf, you heard all that,” said Riker. “Relay instructions to all hands—no phasers. Geordi, what about using the transporter to beam the one-eyes out into space?”
“The one-eyes already have that covered. They’re emitting the perfect interference frequencies.”
Riker’s eyes, like the rest of the bridge crew’s, were locked onto the viewscreen. He saw Crichton and Ferris push Picard onto the transporter platform, then step onto it after him. The one-eye hovered next to them obediently. It was going to beam down with them. That meant ten were going to remain on the ship.
Picard now seemed fully alert, recovered from the blow that had knocked him out, an adamant expression on his face that said, “This is but a momentary setback.”
“Commander,” said Geordi’s voice over the speakers, “their transporter sequence has started.”
“I’m letting them go, Geordi.”
Riker and his crew watched as Ferris tossed the captain’s communicator pin against the wall of the transporter room. Then the figures of Picard, Ferris, Crichton, and the one-eye glowed, faded, and dematerialized.
“Data, do you have a fix on the beamdown point?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Put it on screen.”
Aerial view of a sprawling complex: blocky concrete buildings, spindly broadcast towers, white radomes, vast hangars for aircraft.
“Sensor information indicates this is the security force headquarters, sir. The only secure complex in the area. Highest density of surveillance gear and weaponry.”
“This is probably where they’ll hold him,” said Riker. “Not a place we can beam right into.”
Data cycled the screen through differing wavelengths, differing views. In one, large lettering on the side of the building became visible: CephCom.
In another view, underground topography showed itself in enhanced color.
“There!” Riker strode closer to the screen. “What are those faint radiating lines?”
“Underground tunnels or cavities. Too irregular to be man-made. But they do intersect with the foundation of the building.”
“Any life signs down there?”
“Some, but not many. Too much interference to identify. No evidence of surveillance gear or weapons, though.”
“Widen the view.”
“Twenty kilometer radius. The same tunnels are visible.”
“Okay. Select a likely beamdown point ten to fifteen kilometers from the building. Check it out thoroughly. You and Troi will beam down with me. We’re going to find the captain and beam back up with him. Worf, what’s the status of our mechanical intruders?”
“Confined to decks six and three.”
“Any vital ship’s operations threatened?”
“No. And we should be able to contain them where they are.”
“Is there a secure transporter room I can use for beamdown?”
“Room Six, sir.”
“We’ll take it. Riker to La Forge.”
“La Forge here,” came the voice from Engineering.
“You’ll command the ship while Troi, Data, and I are on an away mission. You can execute an evasive maneuver and drop the shields long enough for us to beam down. Away team, let’s talk in the ready room.”
As she sat with Riker and Data in the ready room, Troi felt a pang of guilt and responsibility. The tragedy of