Star Trek: The Next Generation - 119 - Armageddon's Arrow (31 page)

“You were ready to do that to the Golvonek, weren’t you?” asked Šmrhová.

“Oh, right,” Chen said. “That’s another new development. These guys are working for the Golvonek. Or they were, or will be.” She sighed. “
Whatever
.”

“Spies?” Cruzen asked. “Traitors?”

“We are not traitors,” Bnira replied. “We are sympathizers. There were many of us who wanted to end the war and achieve peace for everyone, not betray our own people.”

Šmrhová’s expression illustrated her skepticism. “This whole time, you’ve been . . . what, exactly? Waiting for the right moment to tell us all of this?”

“We have been prisoners since the moment of our revival,” Jodis said. “We did not know whom to trust, and therefore could not take the chance of the ship falling into the wrong hands. That is still a concern, but we have taken steps to prevent or at least minimize that possibility.”

Chen said, “I don’t think the people down on your planet are buying your story. It might have something to do with you pointing that big giant gun at them.” She waved in the direction of the particle cannon. “It’s just a guess, though.”

“Fool,” Jodis said. “Do you honestly believe we plan to murder our entire world? Do you think us so evil?”

From where she knelt next to Konya, holding a tricorder she had taken from the medical kit, Crusher said, “Based on the events of the past hour or so, you’re not showing us much to make us think any differently.”

“It was necessary to maintain an illusion,” Jodis said, pointing to the monitors on the central tower. “As we speak, leaders from around my planet are attempting to make contact, begging me not to fire.” He walked toward the console, tapping one of the displays with a finger. “Do you see this? It is programmed to monitor communications to and from Henlona, and it is already receiving transmissions from one of the Raqilan ships. Fleet Legate Mynlara is aboard that ship, pleading with our leadership to make a new overture toward peace with the Golvonek. In time, both governments will be desperate to talk with one another.”

“Okay, then you’ve made your point,” Chen said. “So, dial back the aggression, and give them the time to work it out for themselves.”

Jodis shook his head. “Not yet. We must remain here, ready to carry out the threat, until our leaders take action.”

Cruzen asked, “What’s to stop them from doing just enough to appease you so that you’ll stand down? Then they arrest you, seize the ship, and pick up where they left off by turning it on the Golvonek. You have to know someone’s thinking about that down there, right?”

“There will be no seizing this vessel,” Bnira replied. “We have taken steps to prevent that. No one will be able to use the ship for their own agenda.”

“Why don’t I like the way that sounds?” Chen asked.

A new alert tone sounded from the console, and Jodis turned to study it, his features clouding with renewed irritation. “Your captain. Again.”

“What’s he done now?” asked Crusher.

“He has maneuvered your ship into position ahead of us,” Jodis replied. “I admire his bravery and principles.”

Chen considered this new development. What did the captain hope to gain by using the
Enterprise
as a shield against the
Arrow
? One strike from the ship’s particle cannon at full strength likely would be more than enough to destroy the starship. “He doesn’t know you’re basically trying to bluff your own people as well as the Golvonek. If you don’t tell him what’s going on, he’s liable to fire everything he has at you.”

“I cannot contact him,” Jodis said. “Our communications would almost certainly be intercepted by the Raqilan military, and our ruse would be exposed.”

“Look, I really don’t care about any of this,” Crusher said, closing her tricorder and pointing to Konya. “We need to get Rennan back to our ship, now, and to do that we need to get him to the landing bay.”

“No problem, Doctor,” said Lieutenant Jarata Beyn. The muscular Bajoran handed his phaser rifle to Ensign Chapman and stepped toward Crusher, Konya, and Harstad. “I can carry him.”

“Carefully,” Crusher warned. “He’s in pretty bad shape.”

Jarata smiled. “Worry not, Doctor. I’ll treat him as though he was my baby nephew.”

“There are still elements of the Golvonek security detachment scattered across the ship,” Jodis said. “They will attempt to stop you.”

“That’s what we’re for,” replied Šmrhová.

Another alert tone pinged from the central tower, more ominous than any of the other indicators Chen had heard from the
Arrow
’s various shipboard systems.

“What is that?” she asked. She could tell from the way Jodis was frantically tapping at the console that something unexpected—or worse—was happening.

“The computer has enabled a new protocol, one with which I am unfamiliar.”

Stepping toward the tower, Chen eyed the workstation. “You’re kidding, right? What kind of protocol are we talking about?”

“I do not know.” Jodis did not look away from the monitors, his fingers sweeping across the console with a practiced speed and dexterity.

Chen pointed to one monitor. “There. What’s that?” Following her guidance, Jodis highlighted a portion of computer-generated text. She leaned closer, and frowned. “Is that a security program of some sort?”

“It appears so.”

Moving to stand on Jodis’s opposite side, Bnira studied the monitors. “Jodis, that is a contingency protocol, but I don’t recognize it.”

“That is because it is not a standard component of the ship’s computer,” Jodis said. After entering more commands to the console, he gestured to another monitor. “This procedure was executed from a clandestine partition installed in the central computer core. It was not intended for us, but rather for the computer itself.” He looked to Chen. “Another of the automated processes overseeing ship functions.”

“And what does it do?” Chen asked.

Bnira replied, “Its mandate is to carry out our mission as though the crew was dead, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to function.”

“You can’t be serious,” Crusher said. Chen glanced in her direction and saw the doctor standing with Cruzen, Harstad, and Jarata, the latter cradling the wounded Konya in his oversized arms.

“I am afraid so,” Jodis answered, his gaze still fixed on the instruments. “I am attempting to circumvent the process, but it was designed to defeat such measures.”

“What are you saying?” Cruzen asked. “Tell me you’re not saying what I think you’re saying. You’re saying the computer’s going to fire the cannon at the planet anyway?”

In response to the lieutenant’s query, another status monitor flared to life, illuminated by rapidly changing Raqilanscript in what Chen recognized was a numeric sequence.

“That’s what he’s saying.” Chen pointed to the monitor. “And that’s a countdown.”

31

Seated at one of the computer terminals in the
Enterprise
’s engineering section, Taurik waited for the starship’s systems to complete their connections. Despite the obvious differences in technology between the ship’s main computer and that of the
Arrow
, interaction on a limited level was possible thanks to the interface process created by Lieutenant Dina Elfiki. That protocol already had served Doctor Crusher and her medical team during their efforts to revive Jodis and his crew from hibernation, and Taurik now hoped it would aid him in being able to convince the
Arrow
’s computer not to undertake a horrific action.

“You should be tied in now, Taurik,”
said the voice of Lieutenant T’Ryssa Chen over the intercom system. The communications jamming effect had been neutralized aboard the
Arrow
, and Taurik found himself pleased to hear his friend’s voice.

“The connection is complete,” Taurik said after a moment.

“There we go,” added Commander La Forge, who stood behind him and watched as Taurik worked. When Chen’s call for aid had come over the communications channel, the chief engineer had wasted no time putting his assistant to work. Despite his own formidable skills, La Forge was deferring to Taurik’s superior computer expertise while standing ready to help.

Studying the new strings of data that had coalesced on the workstation’s monitor, Taurik said, “This encryption scheme is inconsistent with the rest of the software installed to the
Arrow
’s main computer. I recognize none of the embedded keys or signatures.”

“Yeah
,
”
Chen replied,
“tell me about it. Whatever this is, it’s a completely different animal, and whoever installed it knew what they were doing. I’ve been through the central core three or four times by now, and I never even saw the partition where this thing was hiding
.
”

“Understandable, as it likely was designed to avoid detection.” Taurik scrolled through columns of Raqilan computer text, seeing nothing that appeared to be of any use in circumventing the security measures encoded to this new algorithm. “It is a remarkable example of programming.”

“You can admire it later,”
Chen replied.
“Any ideas on how to beat it?”

Taurik said, “Not yet. This may take some time.”

“
I don’t think it’s going to wait around
.
”

Leaning closer to the workstation, La Forge said, “You’re saying that even Jodis doesn’t have a way to get around this thing?”

“Jodis didn’t even know about it until it was triggered, and it’s wired into everything. He thinks someone in their resistance cell had it implanted as a failsafe in case he and his crew changed their minds at the moment of truth, or something. It’s like a whole other master control protocol designed to replace the main operating system in the event of . . . whatever pisses it off, I guess
.
”

“That may be the key.” Seeing segments of the programming code that looked promising, Taurik highlighted and isolated those sections from the rest of the stream. “However, I am hampered somewhat, as part of the system’s defense mechanism is to guard against remote intrusion. I am encountering numerous obstacles the deeper I penetrate into the software.”

Chen’s grunt of irritation filtered through the intercom.
“I was wondering about that. I don’t think I can stop that, so just do the best you can. If you see something, you can always guide me as I go after it directly from here.”

“Very well,” Taurik replied. His primary concern was not that he and Chen, working with Jodis and Bnira, would not be able to defeat the computer protocols, but that they would fail to do so in time to prevent the
Arrow
’s particle cannon from destroying the Raqilan homeworld. He wondered if the people down on the planet knew or had been told of the current predicament. Logic suggested that notifying the populace of its own imminent extinction might lead to mass panic and a breakdown of civilization, government, and social services, but perhaps their culture and customs called for a gathering of family and other close friends when a death was at hand.

None of that is of any consequence just now
, Taurik reminded himself.

“Engineering to bridge,” said La Forge. “Captain, we’re having trouble circumventing the
Arrow
’s computer lockouts. I don’t know if we can get this done in time.”

“
Keep working, Commander,”
replied Captain Picard over the speaker.
“If you’re unable to defeat the security, I’ll have to take more direct action
.
”

“Such action may not be prudent, sir,” Taurik said. “According to my analysis, part of this measure’s protection scheme is direct access to shipboard scanners and defenses. It has registered the
Enterprise
’s presence within weapons range.”

“We know. Worf is tracking its energy output, and I suspect it will react the instant we attempt to lock our weapons, but we’re about to be left with no choice. The Raqilan fleet has taken up position around the ship, as well
.
”

“Jodis and Bnira have been able to counter its attempts to engage,”
Chen said,
“but I don’t know how much longer they can keep that up
.
”

From the corner of his eye, Taurik saw La Forge lean toward the console again. “There,” he said, pointing to one portion of the computer scrawl. “What’s that right there?”

Seeing what the commander had spotted, Taurik nodded in approval. “Yes, that may be it. Lieutenant Chen, I believe we have an access point to the encrypted subroutines.”

“I’m all ears,”
Chen replied. Then, because it was her, she added,
“That’s right, I said it
.
”

“Part of the scheme’s design is dependent upon it being able to infiltrate the rest of the computer network through ordinary processes, including low-level protocols which, while not critical, are still required throughout the rest of the system to facilitate operation.”

“Right. It’s supposed to blend in
.
”

“Precisely. Because of this feature, it should be possible to infiltrate the protected routines using a similar method, only in reverse. This will not work if we attempt it through any of the major processes such as weapons or navigation or life support, but we may be able to exploit something far more mundane and perhaps overlooked.”

La Forge said, “Like trying to get into a house through a crack in the foundation.”

Pausing to ponder the comparison, Taurik replied, “An inexact analogy, but sufficient for our purposes.” After another moment spend studying the computer data, he added, “This will still take time, perhaps more time than we have.”

“Then we’re out of options,”
Picard said.
“Lieutenant Chen, warn the others
.
”

*   *   *

New alarms wailed throughout the engineering deck, and T’Ryssa Chen felt the ship shuddering around her. Even here, with nearly half the ship’s length between where she stood and the
Arrow
’s forward edge, the effects of the
Enterprise
’s renewed attack on the weapon ship could be felt.

“Multiple strikes forward,” reported Bnira, standing next to Jodis at the central tower’s other remaining and still functional workstation. “There is massive damage to the particle cannon and surrounding hull sections.”

“Can it still fire?” Chen asked.

His eyes studying the cascading streams of data scrolling across multiple monitors, Jodis shook his head. “No, but it is still drawing energy from the power plant.” He pointed to one of the displays. “The encrypted protocols are executing some other measure.”

“What’s left?” Chen studied the data, looking for some clue. When she saw it, she reached out to tap one of the display screens. “Right there. Look. It’s targeting something on the planet’s surface.”

Bnira replied, “That is the largest city on our world, at least in this time. That region accounts for nearly twelve percent of the entire population.”

“Okay, but what does it matter if the particle cannon is out of commission?” asked Lieutenant Cruzen. After dispatching the rest of the away team as well as Šmrhová and her rescue team back to the
Arrow
’s landing bay, she had remained, unwilling to leave Chen alone with the Raqilan as she worked to assist Jodis and Bnira.

Chen saw another reading on the monitor devoted to the ship’s navigation, and then everything made total, horrific sense. “Oh, damn.”

“The protocol is attempting to enter a course toward the planet’s surface,” Jodis said, “with the intention of using the ship as a projectile.”

Chen called out, “Taurik, are you seeing this?”

“Affirmative
,”
replied the Vulcan.
“Captain Picard reports the other Raqilan ships are moving to intercept
.
”

“They will not be able to stop us,” Jodis said.

“This is Captain Picard. Lieutenant Chen, I want all of our people off that ship right now. Jodis, if you can’t alter your course, then we’ll have no choice but to fire
.
”

Jodis replied, “Captain, their ships will be unable to inflict enough damage to prevent the ship from following this trajectory. We have to stop it here.”

From the monitors, Chen saw the navigation system already laying in the new coordinates, and she heard the renewed thrum of the
Arrow
’s engines as it pushed the weapon ship forward. Studying the monitors with the computer text, she said, “Taurik, your idea of infiltrating the secured protocols; can we use that to interfere with the navigation system?”

“Perhaps, but the ship will still be little more than an armed explosive with an active trigger. Unless or until we can completely override those processes, the ship is an imminent threat, and that is without considering the possibility that the secured routines do not contain measures to defeat our efforts
.
”

“Always the optimist.” Looking to Jodis, Chen said, “We need to find a place to dispose of this thing that’s away from, well, everything.”

Jodis nodded, and for the first time since the current crisis began, he smiled. “There is just such a suitable location.”

“
Assuming our infiltration is successful
,
”
Taurik said,
“we will need to monitor the process and be ready to make adjustments. That will require manual oversight and action.”

Jodis said, “Understood. I will remain here to assist with the procedure.” Turning from the console, he said to Bnira, “Retrieve Foctine Vedapir, and tell him to send a shipwide broadcast to his people to evacuate immediately.” To Chen, he said, “You should go, as well.”

“But I can help,” Chen protested.

Over the still-open communications frequency, Captain Picard’s voice was unyielding.
“Lieutenant, get to the landing bay for return to the
Enterprise.
”

“Captain, it will take three of us to cover everything,” Chen said. “Navigation, propulsion, and just keeping the damned computer off our asses while we work. We can get where it needs to be, lock in its final course, and then get the hell out of here.”

There was a pause, and she knew the captain was weighing whatever paltry options might be left to him. When he responded, his tone was softer. “
Very well, Lieutenant, but stay only as long as absolutely necessary.
”

“Request permission to remain with Chen, sir,” said Cruzen. “She may need my help.”

Picard replied,
“Permission granted, Lieutenant. The away team
is preparing to depart the
Arrow
aboard the shuttlecraft, but the portable transporter pad is still in the landing bay, and we’re locked on to its signal. The
Enterprise
will remain in transporter range for as long as necessary
.
”

“It’s nice to be loved, sir,” Chen said. “We’ll continue to feed updates as appropriate.”

“Keep this channel open
.
”

Turning to Jodis, Cruzen asked, “Okay, now what?”