Foreign Foes Part 42

We have nothing, Picard, Kadar said.

Not even the element of surprise. Our cloak is destroyed, your android will see us coming, and in a s.h.i.+p he believes is the enemys.

Us and we.

It was the closest Kadar could come to an apology ... and it meant a great deal. Picard nodded his acceptance.

We haveone thing in our favor, Picard said.

Where is Urosk?

Surprised, Riker looked from Kadar to Picard.

He and his men beamed up. Theyre also making repairs.

Get him on the comm.

Riker nodded, mumbled permission from the Klingon communications officer as he walked over to the console, and pecked at the controls.

On screen, he said.

Turning toward the main viewer, Picard cleared his throat.

Captain Urosk.

Urosk, on the bridge of his own vessel, appeared as the screen flickered to life.

Captain.

Picard stepped forward.

Im in need of your help Cutting Picard off, Urosk stood and stepped closer to his viewer. His now unmasked face filled the screen.

We are prepared to leave orbit at a course of your choosing. Give us your coordinates and we will beam you aboard.

A slight smile curling his lips, Picard nodded his thanks.

You have a plan, sir?

Riker asked.

Indeed I do, Number One, Picard said.

Though. I cant say youll enjoy it. And I know I wont.

The Hidran bridge was cool and dreadfully humid. Uncomfortable, but breathable. Urosks face, perhaps because the breathing mask was gone, was less harsh than it appeared on the planet, his expression was calmer.

Few words had been spoken between the two captains since Picard had beamed aboard. Perhaps Urosk felt somewhat responsibleData had been reading their version of shared Hidran/Klingon history when hed eaten the grain. They all a.s.sumed the same thingthe android was in some sort of a logic-loop. The conclusions hed been reading had become his own, all because of the grains impact on his organic components.

At least that was the hope. If not, then Datawas insane, or damaged, or had malfunctioned. In any case, he had to be stopped. Picard wanted to do that himself, with the help of these two vessels. Otherwise Data, Geordi, and everyone else on Battle Drive might die when the s.h.i.+p met the Klingon fleet.

Through the haze that was the Hidrans normal breathing environment, Picard squinted at the main viewer.

The Klingon vessel was a dot at the center of a bland starscape as it struggled to match the Hidrans pace.

Riker had stayed with the Klingons to repair as many systems as possible, as Picard and the Hidran took the lead, in hopes of masking the Klingon s.h.i.+p fromEnterprises sensors.

I need a current sensor scan, Picard said to Urosk.

The Hidran captain rose and gestured to a console near what appeared to be the helm. The control panel was higher off the deck than Picard was used to, but amazingly like a Klingon access board.

Pecking at the console, Picard brought up a display of the sector, then tapped the coded-frequency comm badge hed requested sent from the Saucer.

Picard to Riker.

Riker here.

Enterpriseis approaching warp four, Picard said, following the flash that represented the Battle Section with his finger.

We cant push this s.h.i.+p, Captain, Riker said.

Sh.e.l.l tear apart.

d.a.m.n, Picard huffed, pounding his fist on the console. What good was any of this? He twisted toward Urosk.

Whats your maximum?

Coolant leaks are causing overheating, Urosk said, his voice more fluid and smooth without the m.u.f.fling mask.

We can manage warp six. Slightly more if we are lucky.

Got that, Riker?

Picard asked.

Aye, sir. But if we speed ahead to slow them down, that ruins any chance of surprise. Right now surprise is all weve got going.

Tension filling every muscle, Picard stared at the blip that wasEnterprise.

Commander, stand by for further orders.

Picard closed the frequency and turned fully toward the Hidran Captain.

I need to risk your s.h.i.+p.

His head tilted a moment and Urosk glanced from Picards arm to his eyes. Maybe he regretted his earlier action, or maybe he understood something about commanding a mission.

When the Hidran captain finally spoke, it was for the bridge crew to hear as well as Picard.

I will belay any action I believe an indiscretion. Other than that ... I give you my s.h.i.+p.

Light was a turtle,Enterprise the hare.

Picard s.h.i.+fted his weight from one foot to the other on the lower deck of the Hidran bridge. The deck plates were humming, rattling in a way he knew they should not.

TheEnterprise battle drive was a dot on the forward viewera foreboding dot. A goal Picard needed to reach. Didnt want to, but that made it no less an imperative.

They could fire on her from here, but without much effect. Torpedoes could be maneuvered around, disrupters or phasers would lose their bite. He needed to be close to her. Close enough to ... fire on his own s.h.i.+p. To tear apart what he was sworn to protect. To rip at his own soul in the hopes no one else would have to.

Slowly theEnterprise grew on the screen. Too slowly. All this speed underneath himphysics warping, bolts pulling, energy gripping the s.h.i.+p to hold it all togetherand yet all too sluggish. And all for naught if she couldnt be reached.

Data refused to answer any hail.

Klingon s.h.i.+p firing, sir!

White-hot globes of power slapped into the Hidran s.h.i.+p.

Aft disrupters, fire, Urosk ordered.

Clean miss, sir.

Again, fire!

The s.h.i.+p buffeted as another volley crunched against her s.h.i.+elds.

s.h.i.+elds down sixty percent, sir.

Vent coolant from decks twelve and thirteen.

Send out a frantic SOS, Picard added, pivoting back to the main viewer.

Aft view.

Angry orange bolts came screaming from the darkness of s.p.a.ce. They almost enveloped the screen before exploding into flame, glaring Picards view.

Picard gripped the helmsmans chair.

Drop aft s.h.i.+elds now!

Shock from the salvos razed the uns.h.i.+elded hull.

Power down all weapons, Urosk ordered.

Resend distress call on all Starfleet frequencies.

Come on, Data ... a friend in need is a friend indeed. I know your morality is still there, even if misplaced.

The Hidran Picard remembered as Meliosh twisted from the helm.

Captain, he said to Urosk, Enterpriseis slowing. She reverses her course!

On screen, Urosk ordered.

Stand by.

Standing by, sir.

Picard tensed. His s.h.i.+p out there, ready to be scuttled at his own order. He stepped back down to the lower command deck.

Captain, he said, pointing at a tactical display of the quickly approachingEnterprise , Here, here, and theremain s.h.i.+eld generators.

Urosk shook his head.

Computer locks are not functioning.

Pulling in a deep breath, Picard turned back toward the main viewer.

GracefullyEnterprise strutted toward them, growing larger as they likewise sped toward her.

Speed?

Half impulse. He is requesting communications.

Range?

Three hundred thousand kilometersclosing.

Urosk glanced up to Picard.

You have command, Captain.

Chest tight, his right arm tensing itself into pain again, Picard stared at his s.h.i.+p, perhaps for the last time His s.h.i.+p.His .

Stand by, everyone, Picard said, and felt the tension of the Hidran whod been told to obey his commands. How far could he push them? He could not ask them to give their lives for his s.h.i.+p. Data could be stopped, with some loss to the Klingon fleet, but was that risk the Hidrans to take? Did they have a duty to sacrifice themselves because Data believed their rhetoric?

How could he ask for their lives merely because they had written their history with a jaundiced eye?

Captain Picard?

Urosk prodded.

Enterpriseis within range.

The Starfleet vessel is locking phasers on the Klingon s.h.i.+p.

Again the Hidran craft shook as torpedoes sped pa.s.sed her, glancing the s.h.i.+elds.

Enterpriseascended as it took an evasive course toward the Klingons.