The Eyes of the Beholders - A. C. Crispin [29]
“If it is some kind of mental invasion, does that mean that we’re facing Ferengi?” Riker thought a moment, then shook his head. “This just doesn’t have their stamp, sir.”
“I concur, Number One. The nature of this energy field suggests to me that we are dealing with a force or being that is unknown and alien to us.”
Slowly Picard rose and leaned over the table, resting his weight on his outspread hands. “I believe that the time has come for us to break free of this field. We should be close enough to the Marco Polo now to pick it up on our sensors.” He straightened and glanced over at Riker. “Number One, I’ll want Mister La Forge on the bridge to monitor the engineering station.”
“Understood, Captain.”
Picard turned his gaze to the rest of his bridge crew. “All hands to their stations.”
The conference room emptied rapidly.
Scant minutes later, Geordi La Forge looked up from his controls on the bridge and nodded. “Warp power at your disposal, sir. Ready when you are.”
Picard in turn nodded at his young conn officer. “Proceed on our new heading, Mister Crusher. Engage.”
All his attention on his controls, Wes activated the ship’s powerful engines. The Enterprise began to vibrate almost imperceptibly, while the navigational schematics showed that they were turning in relation to their previous course. “That’s it, Captain,” the young helmsman said, never taking his eyes off his instruments. “We’re breaking free—”
He broke off as the Enterprise abruptly shuddered beneath them, nearly as violently as it had when they had first encountered the alien energy field. “Captain!” Geordi said tensely. “The field is strengthening. The more power we put into breaking free, the stronger the force is holding us! If we keep this up much longer, we’ll overtax the warp engines, and then we’ll be in big trouble!”
Picard glanced over at Riker. “Cut power.” His voice was tight with anger, though Riker thought you’d have to know the captain as well as he did to realize just how angry Jean-Luc was.
Riker glanced at the instrument readings over Data’s shoulder. “That field didn’t just strengthen enough to hold us, sir,” he reported. “It moved with us, to keep us in its center.”
“Like a spider that doesn’t want to give up its prey,” Picard said grimly. “I don’t like this, Number One.”
“I don’t like it either, Captain.”
Data suddenly straightened in his seat. “Captain, I am picking up something dead ahead. I believe we have finally reached our destination, sir.”
Jean-Luc Picard’s eyes narrowed, and he whispered something very softly.
“I beg your pardon, Captain?” Data said. “I did not hear your order.”
“I said, ‘increase power to the shields, Mister Worf.’” The captain’s voice was tight with tension.
Will Riker was careful to keep his face under control, so as not to reveal that he knew the captain was lying. He’d heard his commanding officer the first time, and Picard had not said, “increase power to the shields.”
What he’d murmured was an expletive in his native tongue. Jean-Luc Picard had said, “Merde.”
Staring at the viewscreen, wondering what was going to happen now, Riker couldn’t have agreed more with the captain’s sentiment.
Chapter Five
“SHIELD POWER INCREASED, CAPTAIN,” the Klingon officer announced.
“At our present rate of speed, what is our ETA, Mister Data?”
“Our speed has increased until we are moving at nearly maximum impulse power, sir. We will encounter the source of this field in … twenty-two minutes, Captain.”
“Why didn’t you pick up our destination earlier on the sensors, Mister Data?” Picard was simply asking, not accusing.
“I do not know, sir,” the android replied, sounding puzzled. “It is possible that the alien energy field distorts the sensor readings.”
“What do your sensors tell us about our …”—the captain hesitated, then continued with grim irony—”our host, Mister