The Battle of Betazed - Charlotte Douglas [35]
In preparation for their assignment, the away team had donned their S.O.B.s, equipped themselves, and put on dark hooded coats that, Deanna assured them, were typical on the planet. With the exception of Deanna, the team wore dark cosmetic lenses that made even Data appear Betazoid at a glance, once Beverly had altered his skin’s pigment to something comparable to Deanna’s.
“We can’t transport directly into the city of Jarkana without risking detection by Jem’Hadar sensors,” Vaughn said.
Worf pointed to a map on his padd. “I suggest an insertion point here, a kilometer outside the city. You are less likely to attract attention, yet close enough to make your way into Jarkana easily on foot.”
Transporting directly into the prison facility would have decreased the risk for the away team, but the presence of Jem’Hadar security forces in the city had eliminated that option. From her previous stay in Jarkana, Deanna recalled little cover on the roads leading into the city and worried about exposure, but Vaughn explained that remaining in plain sight was another way to hide. The away team simply had to blend in with the native population to keep from being noticed.
Vaughn turned to Deanna. “When’s the most foot traffic on the main road?”
She considered what she remembered of the terrain and what she knew about the people. “When the farmers take their fresh produce into the city in the mornings. It’s only a short distance from the open market in the center of the city to Director Lanolan’s house, assuming he hasn’t moved in the last seventeen years.”
“Let’s hope he hasn’t,” Vaughn said, and checked the chrono on his padd. “That means we’re go for transport in less than thirty minutes.”
“The Defiant will remain cloaked,” Worf said, “until it is time to transport you onto the planet. We are out of the usual shipping lanes there, so we should remain undetected.”
Data frowned. “Have you ascertained if your modifications to the cloaking device will be effectual?”
Worf shook his head. “There is no way to know until the cloak is exposed to Dominion sensors. However, the current best-case scenario shows that remodulating the cloaking field will overtax the system in a fairly short time.”
“Overload?” Vaughn asked.
“That is one possibility,” Worf acknowledged. “The other is an automatic shutdown, which would merely require reinitializing the cloaking device after a cooldown period. But the end result would be the same: exposure.”
“Sounds like this may not be the breakthrough you were hoping for,” Beverly said.
“It is not,” Worf said, clearly trying to contain his frustration. “But we have no alternatives.” After a moment, he said, “As agreed, once you beam down, the Defiant will go quiet and remain out of contact for at least twelve hours. If you run into difficulties on Darona and Commander Data activates his subspace signal before the designated rendezvous, it may take some time for the Defiant to get within transporter range.”
“Understood,” Vaughn said.
A voice from the bridge sounded over Worf’s communicator, and the captain responded before turning to the away team. “The Defiant is approaching Darona. I am needed on the bridge. Report to the transporter bay. Die well.”
On the viewscreen, the class-M planet Darona spun with deceptive serenity as Worf strode onto the bridge and settled into the center seat.
“Half impulse power, Mr. Nog,” Worf ordered the Ferengi ensign at the conn before opening a comm channel to the transporter bay. “Away team, prepare for transport.”
“Ready, Captain,” Vaughn answered.
“On my mark, Ensign,” Worf told Nog. “Two … one … decloak and energize!”
In the common room of the resistance stronghold, Lwaxana Troi considered her two-year-old son with an objective eye. Every day he showed more signs of having inherited his mother’s indomitable disposition.
“Barin, please eat.” She lifted a spoonful of chopped sadi fruit to his tightly compressed lips.
“No!”
Pushing a strand of hair off her forehead, she stifled her frustration. No had become Barin’s favorite word, not an unusual development