by Dayton Ward
When they were once more sealed inside their environment suits and making their way back down to the ground via the utility elevator, La Forge turned to Faeyahr. “I’d like to take a look around the main processing area, if that’s all right with you. What do you say?” He forced himself not to glance at Taurik as he made the request, fearful that the engineers’ Dokaalan guide might notice the action and get suspicious.
Suspicious of what? La Forge asked himself. He had no reason not to trust Faeyahr, after all. So far as he could tell, the Dokaalan had been entirely forthcoming about all aspects of the processing plants and his people in general. However, the very reason he could have been assigned as their escort might be to insure that the Starfleet engineers did not stumble across anything incriminating if indeed a scheme of some sort was under way. If that was the case, then who could they trust?
No one, La Forge decided. At least, not yet.
Until he was certain of what, if anything, was behind the strange readings Taurik had discovered, it seemed that the best course of action would be to avoid raising the suspicions of anyone, Faeyahr included.
Frowning, the Dokaalan replied, “I am not sure why that would be necessary, Commander. The machinery in use here is virtually identical to that at the plant we visited earlier today. I doubt you will learn anything new about it or any of its components.”
It was a valid point, La Forge knew. Considering that all of the complexes across the planet were working toward the same goal, it seemed apparent that there would be little room for deviation from one location to the next. They had spent a great deal of the morning touring the various sections of the first plant, learning about its cycle of operation, performance record, safety and security systems, and so on. With all of that accomplished, there seemed very little need to repeat the process again at this location. Taurik’s tricorder scans of the facility would provide more than enough insight to the entire process and would make for an interesting review once the engineers got back to the Enterprise.
Think fast, Geordi.
As it happened, Taurik bailed him out.
“We completed our tour of the facility so quickly that there was insufficient time to inspect everything with the detail we would have preferred,” the Vulcan said, holding up his tricorder for emphasis. “If I were able to record scans of areas at this location that are comparable to those we reviewed this morning, I will have a complete record of a processing plant’s cycle of operation.”
La Forge had no idea just how lightly Taurik might be treading the line between truth and falsehood, but his explanation certainly sounded convincing. The chief engineer added, “Besides, since these guys operate their control center differently than the other plant, what with employing more people instead of relying on automation and all, they might have a few other differences in some of the other areas, too.” He shrugged, trying to play up the role of intrigued fellow engineer as well as that of interested tourist. “And, the more information we have, the better our chances of being able to offer assistance in helping you speed things up.”
Faeyahr considered the engineers’ words for a moment before nodding. “When you put it that way, it is a sound suggestion.” La Forge waited until the Dokaalan’s attention was diverted before casting a relieved expression in Taurik’s direction.
The elevator slowed to a stop and the trio emerged onto the plant’s ground floor. Passing through another airlock, after which they could once again remove their suit helmets, they proceeded down another narrow corridor that in short order opened into the plant’s massive, amphitheater-sized central area.
Just as La Forge had expected, the interior layout of this facility matched that of the first plant in most of the major details. The storage tanks and power generators used to drive the continuous cycle of transforming Ijuuka’s inhospitable atmosphere occupied the bulk of the complex floor, situated in five rows of six units. Each of the individual generators was connected to a power distribution grid that in turn directed the energy created here to the suite of eight atmospheric processors occupying the facility’s middle levels.
As the engineers and their guide moved farther into the facility, La Forge that saw in addition to the constant machinations contributing to the plant’s normal processing operations, a good deal of maintenance was taking place. One Dokaalan was occupied with welding two pieces of metal railing together, for what, the Enterprise chief engineer could not tell. Others were involved with the repair of a storage tank, using a type of handheld, air-powered tool to replace the rivets holding the container’s outer skin to its frame.
“The trouble with this type of work is that it is very labor-intensive,” Faeyahr explained as they walked, “not only with the day-to-day tasks but also in the maintenance and repair aspects. I suppose it is yet another price to pay for our eventual success.”
“That’s pretty much how it is with anything worth doing,” La Forge replied, smiling despite the unease he felt over what Taurik had shown him. “Of course, I’m sure you and your people learned that a long time ago.”
“Agreed.” The Dokaalan reached out and placed a blue hand on the engineer’s shoulder. “We see many things in much the same way, my friend. The more time we spend together, the greater my belief that your arrival here is a gift from Dokaa. She has finally seen fit to deliver us from our trials and offer us salvation, but we must be willing to accept it from the hand of a stranger.”
“Would she mind if you took the help from a friend?” La Forge asked. It had been easy to see past the idea of simply aiding the Dokaalan for the engineering exercise it presented and embracing the idea of doing whatever he and the rest of the Enterprise crew could do to offer these people a better life. After all they had been through and despite the success they had wrought through sheer audacity and their unyielding will to survive, the Dokaalan deserved a break.
And they were not the only ones who would benefit.
A seemingly unending string of crises, from the second Borg invasion to the long-lasting and still to be fully determined effects of the Genesis Wave, to say nothing of the Dominion War, had all conspired to take their toll on the Federation in recent years. Rebuilding or replacing all that had been lost, if indeed that was possible, would take years. Along the way, La Forge hoped that people would take a moment now and then to remember what had made everything they had fought for worthwhile in the first place.
And part of that rebuilding, he mused, means making a new friend once in a while.
The biggest question to be answered at the moment, however, was whether they had stumbled into the middle of a societal quarrel caused by the massive terraforming project. Any assistance the Enterprise and the Federation could provide might eventually do more harm than good if the grand plan to create a new home for the Dokaalan was already sowing strife among the people. By all accounts, the idea of abandoning the mining outposts, which despite their obvious limitations had been the only home many of these people had ever known, was obviously not sitting well with some segments of the populace.
His attention was drawn to Taurik as the lieutenant, tricorder in hand, approached them from around the side of a gargantuan support column. “Commander La Forge, there is something here I think you should see.” He pointed to a collection of storage tanks, towering above them on the plant floor. “I am detecting a secondary power source operating in that vicinity. It is small and isolated, not connected to the facility’s main power supply.”
Despite the Vulcan’s typically stoic demeanor, La Forge still recognized the hint of concern in his voice. “I don’t suppose you’re going to explain it as a portable power source for some of the workers’ tools or something like that.”
Taurik shook his head. “While it appears that the energy readings are emanating from a portable source, the readings themselves are inconsistent with anything the Dokaalan have at their disposal.”
Frowning at that and not liking the possibilities the junior engineer’s report was
conjuring in his own imagination, La Forge said, “Let’s take a look.” He paused a moment, looking around the floor of the plant to see if they were being observed. No one seemed to be taking an overt interest in them, but that did not ease his apprehension. “But try to act casual about it.”
He ignored Taurik’s puzzled expression as the trio made their way without hurry toward the storage tanks. Doing his best to play the part of intrigued visitor, La Forge made a point to ask questions about the plant and its operations to Faeyahr for the benefit of the Dokaalan workers they passed. All the while he let his eyes play over the surface of the machinery, allowing his ocular implants to search for anything out of the ordinary that might provide a clue for Taurik’s power readings.
Then he saw it.
“What is that?” he asked as his eyes found the small, oblong device hidden away within a mass of pipes jutting from the side of one tank. “Whatever it is, it looks like it’s hooked into the flow system directing the different chemicals up to the atmospheric processors.”
Leaning closer for his own look, Faeyahr shook his head. “I have never seen anything like that before.”
“That is because it is not Dokaalan in origin,” Taurik, keeping his voice low. He looked around him before adding, “Commander La Forge, my readings show that this is an improvised device, constructed from components likely salvaged from a variety of sources. Its outer casing is composed of cast rodinium. So far as we have been able to determine, that element is not indigenous to this region of space.”
“Rodinium?” La Forge repeated. He knew that the substance, one of the hardest known to Federation science, was used by many races, most notably the Cardassians, in the building of their space vessels. Early Federation deep space outposts, specifically those erected on and beneath the surface of asteroids, were constructed with exterior hull sections crafted from the robust material. Ordinarily, it would make perfect sense for the Dokaalan to employ the substance in the creation of their own facilities. The only problem with that idea, if La Forge’s quick calculations were correct, was that the nearest source of the mineral was dozens of years away in a Dokaalan spacecraft traveling barely above the warp-speed threshold.
So, where had it come from?
“An alien power source?” he said, remembering not to speak too loudly. “But whose? And what the hell is it doing here?”
Taurik held up his tricorder. “According to my scans, the device is designed to introduce subtle variations into the chemical composition of the storage tank’s contents. The alterations are very minimal, nearly invisible except to an intensive scan. It is unlikely that any of the testing equipment available to the Dokaalan engineers would detect these deviations.”
“Sort of like the software modifications you detected earlier,” La Forge said. “Are they related?”
“It is possible,” Taurik replied. “The device does contain a form of transceiver assembly that would allow it to receive instructions from a remote source.”
Faeyahr stepped closer, his expression a mix of confusion and disbelief. “Are you saying that someone else like you has been doing something to our work here without our knowing about it?”
Shaking his head, La Forge replied, “We’re not sure, Faeyahr, but it’s beginning to look that way.” To Taurik he said, “But if someone else were here, we should have been able to pick up some sign of them before now.” The Enterprise had detected no sign of other spacecraft anywhere in the system, even before the ambient radiation from the asteroid field had begun to interfere with the ship’s sensors.
“Could they have arrived after you,” Faeyahr offered, “and kept their presence a secret?”
“Unlikely,” Taurik said. “If my readings are correct, then like the software modifications I found earlier, the changes being introduced into this storage container are designed to do so over a lengthy period. If the incidents are related, then what we have found is a scheme that has been in operation for quite some time.”
This situation was becoming more unpleasant with each passing second, La Forge decided. “I think the tour’s over,” he said. “We need to report this to Captain Picard.” Unfortunately, that would take time. With the Enterprise still orbiting the Dokaalan central habitat among the asteroids, communications would be hopelessly scrambled by the field’s background radiation. That meant flying back to the ship, which of course entailed getting back to the airlock and retrieving their suit helmets before making the walk across the open space to the landing field where their shuttlecraft waited.
Piece of cake, right?
Wrong, he decided, as they approached the service corridor leading to the airlock and found two large Dokaalan workers waiting for them.
Unlike everyone else working in the complex, these two were dressed in what La Forge took to be uniforms, single-piece green garments that contrasted sharply with their pale blue skin. They wore no insignia to offer clues as to rank or position, but the highly polished black belt and boots, to say nothing of the cylindrical object in a holster at each Dokaalan’s waist, told the chief engineer that these were a variety of law-enforcement official.
“Commander La Forge?” one of them asked. “Forgive the intrusion, but the minister of security has asked us to find you. There is a situation that he feels requires your attention.”
“What is the meaning of this?” Faeyahr asked, displaying irritation rather than concern toward the two new arrivals. “Is something wrong?”
Obviously annoyed at the direct question, the other Dokaalan replied, “Minister Nidan will explain everything when we arrive. He has asked us to escort you to the secondary control center.” He held up an open hand to indicate back the way the trio had come.
For the first time since arriving in this system, La Forge wished for a working phaser. “We’d love to stay and chat, but my captain’s expecting us back on our ship. Has this been cleared through him?”
“He is being notified as we speak,” the first Dokaalan said.
The sales pitch might have worked if his companion had not chosen that particular moment to place his hand on the holster attached to his belt. He realized his mistake, too, but not before catching La Forge looking at him. The chief engineer’s eyes locked with the Dokaalan’s and in that instant, both men knew the ruse was over.
“Commander!”
La Forge heard Taurik’s warning the heartbeat before the Dokaalan’s hand cleared his holster with whatever weapon it contained. He caught a blur of motion as the Vulcan rushed forward, his right hand reaching to squeeze the juncture between the Dokaalan’s neck and shoulder. The security officer’s eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, falling like a broken doll to the floor.
To his credit, the man’s companion did not freeze in reaction to Taurik’s sudden preemptive strike. Instead he moved to his right and reached for his own holster, managing to clear the weapon and bring it up. La Forge saw light reflecting off metal before there was a flash of energy and something screamed past his shoulder. Then Taurik had closed the distance between himself and the Dokaalan, rendering him unconscious alongside his friend.
“What manner of weapon is this?” Faeyahr asked as he jumped forward, grabbing the security officers’ fallen armaments. “Security officers carry stun batons, but they are a contact weapon. I have never seen anything like this before.”
“Probably the same people who planted that power source on the storage tank,” La Forge said as he took one of the weapons from Faeyahr, frowning as he got a closer look at it. Bulkier than a standard Starfleet-issue phaser, it was composed of a squat cylindrical body connected to a stubby handgrip. It had two power settings, clearly marked in Federation Standard: “Stun” and “Kill.”
“I’ll be damned.” He held it up for Taurik to see. “This looks like a first-generation phase pistol.”
Taurik nodded as he took the other weapon from their Dokaalan companion. “You would be correct, Commander. This model has not been in use by Starfleet perso
nnel for approximately two hundred years, though they are occasionally available from various illegitimate sources.”
“Yeah, but it’s an easy bet that the Dokaalan don’t do a lot of business with the Orion Syndicate or their black market,” La Forge replied. “And besides, these are the first ones we’ve seen since we’ve been here. I’m guessing there’s not a lot of them, and their owners probably want to keep them low-profile.” It was yet more evidence that someone more advanced technologically than the Dokaalan was operating clandestinely here, but who? What would be the gain?
“Do not move!” another voice abruptly shouted from somewhere behind them before the whine of another phase pistol resonated in the corridor. It struck the wall near La Forge, and the engineer instinctively moved away from it as he backpedaled for the airlock.
“Commander,” Taurik said as he took one of the confiscated weapons from Faeyahr. “They are bringing reinforcements. We must leave now.” La Forge looked up to see more Dokaalan in green uniforms running down the long corridor in their direction.
“We have to warn the captain,” he said as he pushed Faeyahr through the airlock door, then waited for Taurik to go in before following after them and sealing the hatch shut.
“None of them are wearing suits,” Faeyahr said as he reached for his helmet and put it on, “but more security moderators may be waiting for us outside.”
“I do not see any alternative,” Taurik countered as he pulled the lever to open the airlock’s outer door. To the trio’s joint relief, the area outside the facility appeared to be deserted, for now at least.
How long is that going to last? La Forge wondered as they ran for the landing area.
Chapter Twenty-nine
WILL RIKER ENTERED the engineering section to find the entire staff gathered, more or less, near Data’s diagnostic alcove. He watched for a moment as the officer in charge, Lieutenant Diix, attempted to assert his authority by giving instructions to the various engineers in the room.
