Maker - Michael Jan Friedman [29]
The garments were meant to protect them against radiation, extremes of heat and cold, and airlessness. However, they might not be of much use if Brakmaktin had set a trap for them.
Once the captain’s team was all accounted for, he cast a glance in either direction. The corridor was empty. But then, Refsland, the transporter operator, had made sure they wouldn’t appear in a location likely to present problems.
According to Refsland, a number of corridors and compartments were filled with “formations,” though he couldn’t say exactly what they were. Before Picard and his team were through, he intended to answer that question.
Among others.
“Mister Joseph,” he said, “take Lieutenants Pfeffer and Iulus, and check the engine room and the lower decks. Mister Pierzynski, you are with me.”
The Stargazer’s sensor scans had shown them where the ship’s lifts were. While the captain and Pierzynski set off in one direction, Joseph’s group went in the other.
Picard and Pierzynski found a lift station just where it was supposed to be. Getting inside, they punched in a destination and made their ascent to the ship’s bridge level.
When the lift doors opened, they emerged and looked around. The captain hadn’t known what he would find, but he certainly hadn’t expected this.
The corridor was filled with a forest of hourglass-shaped shafts connecting the deck below with the ceiling above, and everything—bulkheads included—was covered with a slick orange-and-blue veneer. If Picard hadn’t known better, he would have said he was surrounded by mineral deposits, the sort one might encounter in a subterranean chamber.
A quick tricorder scan showed him that it was true—they were mineral deposits. Formations, Refsland had called them. Now the captain understood what his transporter operator had been talking about.
Turning sideways, he slid between two of the shafts and made his way in the direction of the bridge. With a muttered curse, Pierzynski followed. In a matter of moments, they reached the set of doors they were looking for.
When Picard laid his hand on the bulkhead plate, the doors slid open—and released a puff of gray smoke. Exchanging glances with Pierzynski, the captain went inside.
He found plenty of support there for the notion that the ship had been through a battle. One of the control consoles had been thoroughly blackened, an exposed data conduit was still spewing sparks, and a break in an EPS line was causing the overheads to strobe insanely.
What Picard did not find was even a hint of captain and crew. That puzzled him. If they had perished in the battle, their bodies should have been sprawled there.
They had been removed, probably by Brakmaktin. But for what purpose? And was it before the battle or after?
And while he was on the subject, with whom had the cargo hauler clashed? If Brakmaktin wasn’t to be found there any longer, they would need to identify his means of escape.
“Mister Pierzynski,” he said, “download the sensor logs—internal as well as external.”
“Aye, sir,” said the security officer.
Picard looked around the bridge. Next to the center seat, he saw a dark stain on the carpet. Kneeling, he scanned it with his tricorder, which identified it as blood—the Vobilite variety, shed between two and three days earlier.
He wasn’t sure what to make of it. Had Brakmaktin caused the injury, or was that the work of whoever had left his claw marks on the hull? Had the Nuyyad even been on board at the time, or had he arrived later on?
“Captain?” said Pierzynski.
Picard turned to him—and saw by his expression that the security officer was less than pleased with the results of his effort. “Problem, Lieutenant?”
“I’m afraid so, sir. The sensor logs have been wiped. There’s not even a shred of data left in them.”
The captain looked at him. “You mean they were damaged?”
Pierzynski shook his head. “No, sir. Erased.”
“I see,” said Picard.
So Brakmaktin was covering his trail. That meant it would be difficult to take him by surprise.
“See if you can access anything at all,” said the captain. “Even if it is only