Maker - Michael Jan Friedman [63]
“All stop,” said Picard.
“All stop,” Idun confirmed.
After all, there was no telling how far Brakmaktin’s power could reach. No way to know at what distance he could detect the Stargazer and tear her apart.
But if they hung back too far, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish what they had come to accomplish. So they established a position and remained alert for signs of trouble.
As per the captain’s agreement with Alartos, the Ubarrak vessels stopped alongside the Stargazer. But they wouldn’t remain there forever. Even with what had happened to their sister squadron, they would move in at the first sign that Picard’s plan was going awry.
And quite clearly, they would perish. But that wouldn’t prevent them from doing their duty.
“Open a channel to Commander Alartos,” the captain told Paxton.
“Aye, sir,” said the com officer. And a few moments later: “I’ve got him.”
Picard asked for a visual. Abruptly, Alartos’s visage filled the viewscreen.
“Brakmaktin is down there,” the Ubarrak confirmed. “According to security reports, he appeared yesterday in the middle of a major city, killed indiscriminately, and dug a hole half a kilometer deep. We are transmitting the coordinates.”
“Thank you,” said Picard.
He needed the data for Gerda to run a pinpoint scan. Otherwise, finding two sets of alien life signs an indeterminate distance below the crust of a fair-sized planet would have been too monumental a task to consider.
The captain watched his navigator work for a minute or so. Then she turned to him and announced, “Two life signs, sir. One appears to be human. The other is…something else.”
Picard nodded. Brakmaktin…and Nikolas. The ensign had survived after all.
“It seems you’ve found him,” Alartos observed.
“So it does,” said Picard.
“We will be watching,” said the Ubarrak, and terminated the com link.
The captain turned to Wu and said, “You have the bridge, Commander.” Then he headed for the turbolift.
Now that they had tracked Brakmaktin to his lair, it was time to see what they could do about him.
Chapter Fifteen
PICARD STOOD IN Transporter Room 1, his arms folded across his chest, feeling more useless than he had ever felt in his life.
He turned to Refsland, the transporter operator on duty. “Should they not be here by now?”
Refsland checked the chronometer on his control panel. “They’re not due for another couple of minutes, sir.”
The captain frowned. He may have agreed to let the Magnians take the point against Brakmaktin, but he still didn’t like it. He was, after all, accustomed to fighting his own battles.
Just as he thought that, the doors slid open and a half-dozen Magnians walked into the room. They were all outfitted the same way—with black boots, black togs, and the black phaser rifles that Simenon had found so impressive.
And there were six more Magnians in Transporter Room 2, and six more in Transporter Room 3. Eighteen specially trained operatives in all. They looked formidable enough to him. But then, he wasn’t a being who had been radically transformed by the unimaginable energies comprising the barrier.
Picard looked up at the intercom grid hidden in the ceiling. “Idun?” he said.
“Aye, sir?” came the helm officer’s response.
“Take us in—and let me know when we are in transporter range.”
“Acknowledged,” said Idun.
Picard turned to Refsland. “On my mark, effect transport.”
“Aye, sir,” said the lieutenant.
Picard had already seen Refsland rig the transporter console so that the ship’s other platforms were slaved to his controls. That way, he could send all the Magnians down at the same time.
The wait was longer than Picard had expected. No doubt, Idun was exercising as much care as possible, not wanting to leave the ship open to unnecessary peril.
Finally, he heard her voice crack like a whip across the transporter room: “We’re in range, sir.”
The captain turned to Refsland. “Now, Lieutenant.”
The transporter operator manipulated his instruments. And on the platform, the Magnians began to grow insubstantial.
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