Slings And Arrows_ The Oppressor's Wrong Part 13

"He was already dead." Nomine's exterior broke. His own face returned, melting away to reveal black eyes and a thinner face. "I didn't kill Hahn, but I was told to put him there, near the bomb. And then the Enterprise came early and we were rushed to finish..."

"Who? Who was rushed?" Daniels leaned forward. "Cadet, who are you working for?"

Nomine sniffed, tears rolling down his cheeks. "He told me to do it again-and I did. I didn't want to. But I have to follow the chain of command."

The color drained from Daniels's face. "Do what, Nomine? What did they tell you to do?"

"...another bomb."

"Where?"

"Engineering." He smiled. "It was so easy."

Another bomb. Dear G.o.d...

Daniels didn't have a choice, he had to risk contacting the captain. He took a step forward and set the padd and chip on the bed. "Nomine, you have to tell me where the other bomb is. You're not the type of person that can kill so easily."

"I can't tell you that," Nomine said as he wiped at his eyes with his free hand. "And I can't let you leave this room."

Before Daniels could reach for his own phaser, Nomine fired.

CHAPTER 10.

Th' Unworthy Takes "You told me to do a little digging," Riker said as he sat down in the chair in front of Picard's desk. "And, as you can see, what I discovered from my father's old friends back home proves what t'Saiga and La Forge found."

Picard nodded as he reviewed the information sent to him from engineering. "This is astounding."

"It's treason," Riker said. "My guess is Hahn discovered what they were doing-about the bomb- "

"And they killed him for it," Picard said as he looked up from the padd. "Have they been able to identify the receiver of the communiques?"

"Office of Security," Riker said, his expression filled with disgust. "There's no ident.i.ty tag, but they're all coded with a Starfleet alpha priority." Riker's expression hardened. "Admiral Leyton."

"Will, we don't have any proof of Leyton's involvement in this- "

"Yes, we do." Riker sat forward, his hands on his knees. "I've been in contact with DS9. According to Worf, Captain Sisko asked them to check out the relay station on the other side of the wormhole a week ago."

"What for?"

"To find an explanation as to why the wormhole had been opening and closing."

"And?"

"Apparently they found a Lieutenant Ariaga there, who claimed he was ordered by Admiral Leyton to attach a subs.p.a.ce modulator to the relay station."

Picard looked up from the padd sharply. "Admiral Leyton?"

"As much as I hated to admit it," Riker said, "Daniels's suspicions proved to be right. Worf's taking the Defiant out to rendezvous with Sisko and Odo on Earth."

"Leyton's behind this?" Picard looked down at the padd. "And Hahn's death?"

"La Forge to Picard."

"Go ahead."

"Sir, Barclay and Porter just finished up another perimeter sensor sweep of the starbase and the surrounding area. And..." He paused. "Well, I've found something you're going to have to see for yourself."

Daniels finally understood Stevens's comment about avoiding a five-alarm headache. It did feel as if he had at least twice that number of alarms singing out in his head.

He put a hand to his temple and pressed it, hoping to turn at least one of them off.

Siobhan is going to laugh at me. I can just hear her voice telling me, "Had enough now?"

No one ever told him life on board a stars.h.i.+p was this much fun.

After blinking back the lethargic effects of phaser fire, Daniels sat up and looked around.

He was on the floor of what looked like a closet. A quick check told him his combadge was missing, as well as his phaser. The room was dimly lit by a small light above. He pushed himself up and slammed his head into the ceiling. Painfully.

The door abruptly opened and light blasted inside, momentarily blinding him.

He could make out a figure. Tall, dressed in a uniform. He was holding a phaser. "Out."

Daniels did as he was told, rubbing his eyes as he did. "Nomine, this isn't going to work," he said in a hoa.r.s.e voice. "You can't kill all those people. Starfleet will find out."

"I'm afraid Starfleet will learn nothing," said a voice that was distinctively not Nomine's.

Snowden.

Daniels kept his hands at his sides as he looked around. They were in a small s.h.i.+p of some kind, its configurations matching those of a type-6 shuttle. "This is the ghost we kept picking up on the sensors."

"Yes," Snowden said as he gestured for Daniels to move away. "Holographic technology at its finest."

It was then that Daniels saw the still form of Cadet Nomine. From the position of his body on the floor between the pilot's and copilot's seats, it looked as if he'd been in the pilot's seat when Snowden shot him. "So you're getting rid of all the loose ends?"

"He's not dead. Not yet, anyway. He failed in his mission." Snowden straightened up but kept his phaser steady. "Both missions."

Daniels looked back at Nomine. "He was going to run."

"Yes, with you on board. The only survivor-alive to tell the truth of what happened. Luckily he did plant the bomb. And having you here-though a minor inconvenience-could prove to be a boon. I still have enough unreplicated metamorphic matter to plant near the bomb so that any of your new protocols will detect it. And with you at the blast center..." He made a clucking noise. "It's all very tragic."

"So you're doing this to garner sympathy from Starfleet?" Daniels continued to note the s.h.i.+p's interior, locating vital stations. Ops, helm, tactical. "Why?"

"So that President Jaresh-Inyo and all of those with him will understand that fortifying Earth is the best thing to do." He narrowed his eyes at Daniels. "And it worked-at least the blackout did. Until Leyton sent me this halfwitted cadet to confuse things here. He's not a soldier, he's a scientist. An engineer. He didn't understand that some loss of life was necessary to achieve the greater objective."

"As in killing Admiral Hahn," Daniels said. "And now all on board the Enterprise."

"Not everyone will die. Most-some decks will decompress. But there will be enough left for them to investigate." He smiled. "Perhaps I'll rig it so you're suspected of planting both bombs."

"It won't happen, Snowden," Daniels said. "We know what you're doing."

"That's a threat?" He smiled. "You seem to forget, Mr. Daniels, I'm one of Leyton's key officers. I have his protection. And soon I'll have a s.h.i.+p of my own. Maybe even the new Enterprise."

"Ardra?" Picard stood between La Forge and Barclay, staring at the amphitheater projection. Travec stood to their right, his attention focused on them. "But our encounter with her was...five years ago? I thought her s.h.i.+p was confiscated and she was turned over to local authorities."

"She was," La Forge said. "This isn't her s.h.i.+p, but it is based on her technology. I recognized the holographic signature. It's nearly the same combination of force fields, holography, and transporter technology. Only this system's more sophisticated." He tapped a panel, and the image moved to close in on the strange star pattern in s.p.a.ce. "Barclay and Porter have been seeing the s.h.i.+p since we arrived, only it was sporadically appearing and reappearing." He shrugged. "Everyone thought it was residual images."

"Meaning their holography," Barclay said hesitantly, "was-was tied to the s.h.i.+elds. When whoever beamed on board and off, they had to lower their s.h.i.+elds."

La Forge added, "It's possible this is where Admiral Hahn was when he disappeared-whether voluntarily or involuntarily we can't say."

"I'm more likely to believe involuntarily." Picard crossed his arms over his chest and rubbed the fingers of his right hand against his lips as he tried to put the pieces together. "What if Hahn discovered this s.h.i.+p, just as you did?"

"Then I'm positive whoever's been hiding in it would have wanted him dead." La Forge shook his head. "I'd also rule out any Dominion involvement." He held his hands out to his sides. "Why would a shape-s.h.i.+fter need this kind of technology to change forms?"

Picard lowered his arms. "A shape-s.h.i.+fter wouldn't. But someone trying to imitate a shape-s.h.i.+fter would. It appears Lieutenant Daniels's suspicions were well founded." He turned to his right, looking around the holodeck. "Where is Mr. Daniels?"

"He said he had to get something from his quarters," Travec said. "But that was over an hour ago."

The captain tapped his combadge. "Picard to Daniels."

No answer.

"Computer, locate Lieutenant Daniels."

"Lieutenant Daniels is not on board."

Picard gave Riker a sharp glance. "Computer, locate Lieutenant Abidah and Captain Snowden."

"There is no record of a Lieutenant Abidah in Starfleet service. Captain Snowden is not on board the Enterprise."

"No record?" Porter said.

"No," Picard said. "Computer, give the last known location of Cadet Bael Nomine."

"Cadet Nomine was last located in guest quarters 712."

Travec stepped forward. "Those are Daniels's quarters."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Sage muttered.

"As do I," Picard said. "Geordi, can you get a lock on that s.h.i.+p? Possibly beam someone over?"

"Its s.h.i.+elds are up," La Forge said. "Pinpointing it can be- "

A klaxon sounded inside the holodeck. Picard looked up at the ceiling as Sage and Porter returned to the main console.

"We have a bigger problem," Sage said as he looked at the controls, his golden eyes widening. "It's a bomb."

"Where?" Picard said.

"Engineering." He turned and looked up at Picard. "It just appeared suddenly. Its components match the schematics of a Dominion bomb. Some of those chemicals when cooked together don't play well with plasma coolant." He glanced back at the screen. "The Enterprise will have a very nice veranda overlooking what'll be left of the starbase if it blows."

"Travec, t'Saiga, Porter, get down there and clear out engineering. Number One, start evacuating the s.h.i.+p to the station." He looked back at the amphitheater and the ghost image just visible in the stars. "Geordi, get me on that s.h.i.+p. I'll wager that's where I'll find Daniels, Nomine, and Snowden."

CHAPTER 11.

From Whose Bourn Daniels watched as Snowden operated a few of the s.h.i.+p's systems from the copilot's chair. "Ah-it appears the Enterprise is attempting to acquire a transporter lock on this s.h.i.+p." Snowden looked directly at Daniels. "That means their s.h.i.+elds are down. Time to go."

"Wait- " Daniels put up his hands, desperate to find a way to give the Enterprise more time. If they were trying to get a lock on this s.h.i.+p, it meant they'd discovered the s.h.i.+p and they suspected either himself or maybe Nomine or Snowden was on board. "None of this is necessary. You can't honestly believe Admiral Leyton wants the Enterprise destroyed."

But Snowden wasn't listening.

Daniels watched his movements, tracked his hands over the panels. "You're setting the self-destruct."

"You don't think I can allow this s.h.i.+p to be found, do you? No, it'll destroy itself in ten minutes, along with you and whoever is attempting to beam on board."

Daniels heard the hum of a transporter as Snowden s.h.i.+mmered away and was replaced by Picard, his phaser out and aimed at Daniels's chest.

Picard narrowed his eyes. "It is you, isn't it?"

Daniels nodded as he went to Nomine's body and placed his fingers on the man's neck. "He's alive. Stunned."

Picard knelt beside him. "I take it this is Bael Nomine?" He and Daniels locked gazes. "Mr. La Forge briefed me about the padd and the chip. He was also able to retrieve enough data in the communications logs to court-martial Leyton, Snowden, and the cadet here." He looked back at the console. "I take it he's set a self-destruct?"

Nodding, Daniels moved to the copilot's chair. "Snowden figured he'd get rid of what he saw as an incompetent liability." He checked the shuttle diagnostics.

Picard eased Nomine out of the way and took the pilot's chair on Daniels's left. "I take it you're going to change the security overrides?"

"Yes, sir, that is, if he hasn't changed them. Which is a distinct possibility."

He tapped the codes into the computer.

"It's no good."

The countdown grew closer to zero. Daniels stared at the console, thinking back to his training, back to what Sage always said about thinking outside the box. On a whim, Daniels used several old DPO codes he'd acquired after one of the trams leading in and out of the building malfunctioned, locking several pa.s.sengers inside.