by David
world. We will assist them in that effort when we
reach Tenara--and that is all."
"Seen from a certain perspective, the
M'dok attacks do make sense, sir,"
Data said. "Their attacks on Tenaran
industry should discourage the inhabitants there from
venturing out into space and carving even larger
chunks out of M'dok territory."
"Fear of losing more of what little they have left
--to the Tenarans or to the Federation,"
Counselor Troi added. "Perhaps this is their
way of posting a "Keep Out" sign."
"Why are the attacks coming now, though?"
Geordi asked. "Just as Tenara has joined the
Federation. Why not before, when we wouldn't have been
obligated to protect Tenara?"
Picard nodded. "A question I've asked
myself, Lieutenant. Unfortunately, our knowledge
of the M'dok's motives is very limited.
Mr. Data?"
"I have been researching, sir, but the task
is most difficult. The M'dok have not
permitted Federation envoys to their worlds in almost
fifty years."
"Understood. Keep on it."
The intercom sounded.
"Bridge to Captain Picard.
We're now within sensor range of Tenara."
"Thank you, Mr. Crusher. We're on
our way."
Led by their captain, the Enterprise
officers returned to the bridge.
On the viewscreen, Tenara was a
blue-green-and-white sphere sliding away beneath
the Enterprise, city lights glittering on the
nightside and winking out as daylight raced across
the planetary surface.
Captain Picard took his command chair.
"Any sign of the Centurion, Mr.
Crusher?"
"No, sir." The young ensign studied the
instrument panel in front of him. "But I am
picking up traces of debris in a low
orbit around Tenara."
"Thermal radiation indicates that it came from
the explosion of a starship by photon torpedo
approximately two hours ago," Data
added, pointing at the screen, where a
brilliant light had flared and then disappeared
in Tenara's upper atmosphere. "That was one
of the fragments."
"Then the Centurion ... is gone?"
Commander William Riker's question was more an
assertion than a request for information.
Data responded anyway, "That is a
distinct possibility, sir. I must point out,
however, that the quantity of the debris is
significantly larger than would be expected
from a ship the size of the Centurion. A ship
three or four times that size would, in fact,
seem to be indicated."
A cautious hope grew in Picard.
"Data, announce our arrival ... and,
Lieutenant Worf, raise the shields, if
you please."
"Already done, sir," the Klingon said.
Picard glanced at him with quiet
amusement.
"Starfleet regulations," Worf began,
"specifically state that when entering a
potential combat zone--"
"Yes, Lieutenant." Picard waved off
his security chief. Worf had recently
developed the annoying habit of quoting from the
manual quite regularly. Picard made a
note to speak to him about it later.
Data spoke quietly into the ship's
communication system. "This is the USS
Enterprise, code Open Flag. Does
anyone read? I repeat, this is the USS
Enterprise, code Open Flag, does
anyone read?"
There was a long silence.
Then the speakers crackled into life. "This
is Captain Sejanus of the USS
Centurion. Come in, Enterprise."
There were general sounds of relief on the
Enterprise bridge.
Picard pressed a button on his command
chair and said, "This is Captain Picard.
We're relieved to find you alive and
unharmed, Captain. When we received your
call, and found nothing but floating debris
..."
The starfield disappeared, to be replaced by the
proud and commanding man they had seen earlier. His
face carried a restrained smile. "Yes,
Captain. That was the ship that attacked us. Their
captain was a brave opponent, but a bit
... overconfident. Gaius Aldus"--he
gestured toward one of the bridge officers, a
stocky, competent-looking man currently
helping a subordinate at another console--
"informs me that the ship's outlines most
closely matched those of the M'dok
battleships in use before the treaty--although this
ship was substantially larger."
"Battleships!" exclaimed Picard.
"Indeed, Captain. As you know, whenever the
Federation raises the matter with them, the M'dok
insist that all they have are the police ships
allowed them under the treaty. Clearly they've
now built at least one battleship, a
vessel of military destruction, and have used it
to fire on a Federation vessel."
"Captain Sejanus." Worf spoke from
his station behind Picard. "You have achieved a great
victory. If it was a M'dok battleship,
you have defeated a ship which outgunned you by a
factor of at least three."
Sejanus' gaze shifted over Picard's
shoulder to the Klingon. He smiled again.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. The victory,
however, is not mine. It belongs to the Federation and
to my crew." He nodded in satisfaction at
the crew members busily working behind
him.
Picard spoke again. "I would like to meet with
you, Captain, to discuss how we can aid you here
--and how we can prevent another confrontation between
the Federation and the M'dok."
Sejanus' face darkened momentarily. "I
don't think a meeting between the two of us will
solve the M'dok problem, Captain
Picard. However"--the Centurion's
captain smiled again--"I would be honored if
you and your officers would join me and my crew for
d inner this evening."
"That is a most generous offer, Captain--
one I gladly accept." Picard shared a
smile with Riker and Troi.
"Excellent! Shall we say eighteen
hundred hours, then?"
"Eighteen hundred hours, Captain,"
Picard agreed. "We look forward to meeting
you."
"The anticipation is mutual, Captain.
And please--come to us by shuttlecraft. We
would like to receive you in the appropriate style."
Picard nodded and Sejanus' image
flickered out, replaced by a starfield.
"A most impressive man," Riker said.
"And a most impressive victory."
"Agreed, Number One," Picard said,
pursing his lips thoughtfully.
"If this banquet is to be a formal
occasion, sir, dress uniforms would be in
order."
"Hmmm?" Picard sat forward suddenly, his
train of thought broken by his first officer's
/>
query.
Riker smiled. "I was suggesting dress
uniforms for this banquet, sir."
"Of course, Number One. Quite right."
Picard leaned back in his chair and fell
silent once again.
Deanna Troi exchanged a concerned glance
with Riker and turned to her captain.
"Sir," she said quietly, "you seem
troubled."
"Hmmm?" Picard turned to look at his
ship's counselor. "Oh, no, Counselor,
it's just ..." He hesitated, trying to put his
feelings into words. "I don't feel a
victory celebration is in order at the
moment."
"I don't think that's what Sejanus
meant by suggesting a banquet," Riker said.
Troi shook her head. "On the contrary,
Will, I think there was a definite element of that
in his suggestion."
"That's natural enough, Deanna," Will
Riker said, his voice rising slightly.
"They've just defeated a ship which heavily
outgunned them. They're undoubtedly relieved
to be alive--"
"It's not relief I sense from them, W.
It's satisfaction."
"Of course they're satisfied,
Deanna," Riker said. "That's the whole
point."
"Counselor, Number One." The captain
stood suddenly, and looked down at the two
officers. "We'll be able to assess the mood
of the Centurion's crew, as well as find out
more about what happened with the M'dok ship, at
dinner."
"Yes, sir," Riker said.
"Of course, Captain." Troi nodded.
"Good," Picard said. "I'll want both
of you, as well as Lieutenant Worf,
Chief Engineer La Forge, and Mr. Data
to accompany me."
"Sir," Worf interrupted, "I believe
I should remain on board the Enterprise."
Picard cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yes, sir." The Klingon folded his hands
behind his back and stood at attention, then
spoke, as if reciting from memory ""In
a potential combat zone, the ranking security
officer--"'"
""--is advised to remain on duty whenever
possible,"" Data said, completing the sentence.
"Starfleet Regulation Zed Alpha-Nine.
I was going to bring it up myself, sir."
"Were you?" Picard glared at the android.
"Yes, sir." Data nodded.
Picard opened his mouth to speak, but thought
better of it and turned back to Worf. "Very
well, Lieutenant. I would, however, like
someone from security available to talk with
Centurion personnel."
"Of course, sir," Worf replied.
"Good. The rest of you, meet me in
shuttlebay six in one hour--in full
dress uniform." He nodded to Riker.
"The bridge is yours, Number One."
Captain Picard entered the shuttlebay
exactly fifty-eight minutes later, in
full dress uniform. Troi and Riker were
already there, as were Data and Geordi La
Forge, chatting amiably next to the
shuttlecraft.
Geordi looked distinctly uncomfortable in
his dress uniform. "I know the real reason
Worf didn't want to go to this dinner," he
said, fingering his collar. "He didn't want
to have to get into this monkey suit."
"Speaking of Worf," Riker said, scanning
the airlock, "I wonder where that security
officer is."
As if in answer, a young woman strode through
the airlock almost at a run and stopped
suddenly, directly in front of Picard and
Riker. "Ensign Jenny de Luz
reporting, sir." She stood at stiff
attention and fixed her gaze somewhere over
Picard's shoulder.
The captain and Riker exchanged an amused
look.
"At ease, Ensign," Picard said.
Jenny de Luz looked to the captain to be
no more than twenty-five years old. She was
tall and lean, with pale skin and bright red
hair, cut short in a shaggy style. Very
much like Tasha's, Picard realized.
Probably no coincidence.
Picard was about to object to Worf's
choice. There were plenty of other, more seasoned
security personnel the Klingon could have chosen
to attend the dinner in his place--and the inclusion of
so junior an officer might be taken as an
insult to Sejanus. Then he remembered that
Jenny was from Meramar, a Federation colony with
martial values similar to those of the Magna
Romans.
Not a by-the-book choice, Picard
realized, but a good one nonetheless.
He turned to Riker. "All right, Number
One. Let's get under way."
The six officers took seats in the
shuttlecraft, Geordi and Data in the
forward section. The chief engineer guided the
shuttlecraft forward through the yawning
shuttlebay door and into the brilliant
starfield beyond. Just visible at one corner was
an even more brilliant segment of the dayside of
Tenara. And precisely in the center of the scene
was a gleaming point of light, brighter than any
of the stars the Centurion, shining in the light of
Tenara's sun.
The shuttle lifted and moved forward and out
into space.
The Centurion grew slowly larger on the
shuttlecraft's viewscreen, until it
filled the entire scene. The Centurion's
shuttlebay doors silently scrolled open,
and the Enterprise shuttle drifted inside.
Behind it, the doors closed, their resounding bang
audible as the bay filled with air. When the bay
was fully pressurized, human figures
marched in.
Ensign Jenny de Luz looked
curiously at the scene outside the shuttle.
The officers of the Centurion were standing at
attention, lined up to provide a ceremonial
pathway for the visiting officers. No wonder
Sejanus had wanted them to come over
by shuttlecraft this kind of ceremony wouldn't
have been possible in any other part of the ship.
When visitors arrived on the Enterprise,
she knew, Captain Picard and his senior
staff waited to greet them in an informal
group, not lined up at attention.
And then Jenny became even more intrigued by the
fact that the Centurion officers were dressed
in armor that looked as though it had come from
ancient Rome, with short straight swords
at their sides. At the end of each of the two
lines, there were crewmembers wearing outfits
similar to those of the officers, though these men held
two-meter spears and large rectangular
shields. She could tell from the set of their
faces and shoulders that they were enlisted security
personnel.
In the briefing she'd received from Lieutenant
Worf, she'd learned that most of the officers and
crew aboard the Centurion were from the planet
Magna Roma. She'd thought this unusual,
unt
il Worf had pointed up examples of the
Intrepid and the Slisha, starships that had
been manned entirely by Vulcans and
Tellarites, respectively, races that
preferred their own company to that of others. She
had also discovered that upon re-commissioning
this starship, the Federation had permitted the
Magna Romans to rename this ship, once the
Constitution-class cruiser the Farragut, in
keeping with their own native traditions.
After the briefing, she'd made a quick study
of the library files on Magna Roma, and was
amazed at the astounding similarity between Magna
Roma's history and that of Earth. Except
on Magna Roma, the Roman Empire
never fell. There were scientific theories,
she knew, that said such incredible parallels were
to be expected, but to actually see evidence of
this ...
It made her wonder if she was looking at
a reception detail or a troupe of
historical actors.
Deanna Troi gave her an amused
glance, and Jenny realized that the counselor must
have sensed the emotion, if not the thought.
Though perhaps she can read my mind. I've
always been so open, no emotional control at
all. Like when Tasha died ... Jenny forced
the thought and the memory away, and rose from her
seat.
Standing at the front of the small ship,
Captain Picard gave his officers a
resigned smile of puzzled amusement and
nodded to Geordi.
At the captain's command, the door rose
slowly, revealing the full glory of the scene
before them. What looked like a time-warped Roman
legion was there in full array, with two
especially impressive soldiers standing next
to the shuttle.
Both wore ceremonial gold armor,
apparently made to fit the contours of their
bodies. One stood firm and held a long
staff, on top of which was a golden eagle
resting on a crossbar reading SPQR. The
other stepped forward, his hand on his sword
hilt; all the other assembled personnel
remained stock-still.
His helmet covered only the top, back,
and sides of his head, revealing him to be an
eagle-faced man with a powerful presence, his
eyes as steely as a Romulan's as he
scanned the Enterprise officers. Captain
Sejanus, Jenny realized.
To the young security officer he looked
remarkably like Captain Jean-Luc
Picard.
"Captain Picard," Sejanus said in a
resonant and powerful voice. "And your staff
officers Lieutenant La Forge,
Lieutenant Commander Data, Commander Riker,
