The Devil's Heart - Carmen Carter [122]
While two guards wrestled Picard facedown onto the deck, Data raised the stone up into the air like the head of a vanquished enemy.
“The Gem is mine!”
Kierad@an’s clenched fist held the admiral at his side in check. Negotiation was still in everyone’s best interests. “You have only weakened your position, Enterprise. It takes time to learn how to use those powers.”
“I do not need any time at all,” said Data, “because I plan to destroy the Gem now.”
Alarmed by the man’s resoluteness, Kierad@an opened his fist and said, “Daramad@an, fire!”
The Enterprise bridge rocked and swayed as the Iconian weapons salvo collided against its defense shields. This sudden assault threw the crew off-balance. Cries and shouts rang out as they confronted the deadly consequences of their resistance. From his vantage point as a spectator, Kierad@an also saw Picard take clever advantage of this widespread distraction.
“Worf!” screamed the captain as he twisted out of his guard’s choke-hold. “Stop Data!”
With a mighty heave, the Klingon threw off the men holding him. One swipe of his muscular arm ripped a phaser from a guard’s belt. Roaring like a wounded animal, he took aim at the android and fired.
A narrow red beam lanced out across the bridge.
With reflexes faster than Kierad@an would have believed possible, Data spun around and blocked the force of the phaser blast with the Gem itself.
The stone absorbed the energy like a sponge. For a moment, the master thought it would survive the blast, but then the soft glow at its crystal center ignited.
The Gem and its new bearer disappeared in a fiery bloom of light.
“Don’t move!”
The security guard planted his knee in the small of Picard’s back and shoved the captain flat against the deck. The air was knocked out of his lungs by the impact, and a raw scrape on his cheek burned hotly as his face was ground into the short fibers of the carpet. Picard battled for breath against the crushing weight of the body pinning him down.
“The unDiWahn have severed the communication link …” Riker’s voice came from a direction behind and above where Picard lay, so the first officer must have taken over the tactical console. “… and the fleet appears to be retreating.”
Pinpoints of colored light were forming on the captain’s retinas when Riker finally said, “We did it!”
The guard released his hold.
With a soft groan of relief, Picard rolled over onto his back and sucked in a lungful of air. When the dancing spots had faded away, he made a weak attempt to sit up and discovered that his ribs were painfully bruised. Two security guards grabbed hold of his arms and pulled him up to a standing position.
“Sorry, sir,” said a third guard as she hastily brushed off the front of the captain’s tunic. “I guess we got a little carried away.”
Picard mustered a wan smile to allay their anxiety, but his first words were directed to the ship’s intercom. “Bridge to transporter room. Good job, Chief.”
“Thank you, Captain,” replied O’Brien. A flash of white light exploded in front of the helm for a second time. “I enjoy a spot of fancy work now and then.”
The entire crew erupted into laughter, shattering the tension that had gripped them all during the confrontation with the unDiWahn. Picard led a round of appreciative applause, but even after the clapping ended, high spirits persisted. Worf sauntered back to his tactical station, the security squads jostled their way off the bridge, and Riker vaulted over the aft deck railing to land with a heavy thud in front of the captain.
“Your bluff worked!” exulted Riker. “They really believe Worf destroyed Data and the Heart.”
Picard tugged at his rumpled tunic.
“Yes, Number One, it seems that—” “Captain,” cut in Worf. “The unDiWahn fleet has halted its retreat.
All vessels are holding position at five hundred thousand kilometers, just outside of phaser range.”
This statement hit Picard with greater force than any physical blow. Robbed of speech by bitter disappointment, the captain whirled around to stare at the viewscreen. The unDiWahn ships