The howl of klaxons and the flashing of red lights engulfed the bridge as Bane Mather surveyed the officers busying themselves around him. Letina Iyal was notably silent in her seat at his right hand side but he did not doubt that his first officer would rise to the occasion should the need arise.
“Ms Wildman,” requested the captain from his chair. “Where on the ship is the power loss most severe?”
“The port sides of the star-drive section, sir,” replied the efficient Operations Manager.
Bane instinctively responded, “Helm! Hard to starboard! Full impulse!”
Tessa Shanthi entered commands into her console and altered the speed and trajectory of the Saturn-class starship. The bridge crew observed the main viewer as the ship swerved harshly to the right and Yolande-IV disappeared from the screen.
“Captain, the power loss is subsiding,” noted Wildman, as she studied her console.
“Ra-Barra’veth,” called Bane Mather, examining the controls in the arm of his char. “I want you to use the multi-spectral sensors and find the source of the dampening field is.”
“Aye, sir,” replied the Efrosian science officer as he set to work on his console.
Bane Mather stroked his strong chin, pondering his next move. He was expecting someone or something to make their presence known but was also more than prepared to flush them out.
“I have modulated the multi-spectral sensors to penetrate the dampening field,” the science officer informed Bane. “There appear to be two small unmanned spacecraft, merely twice the size of sensor probes which are jointly producing a dampening field.”
“Transmit the co-ordinates to Tactical,” commanded Bane Mather, ready to flush out his hidden opponent. “Mr Darzon, lock phasers on those co-ordinates and fire at will.”
The view screen showed two thick beams of scorching orange light lashing through space and two separate explosions.
“Direct hits,” reported the Tarlac tactical officer. “The objects have been destroyed and the dampening field has been eliminated.”
Naomi Wildman’s console seemed to come to life as readouts, suppressed by the dampening field, flickered before her. She immediately set about scanning for an alien vessel but her captain appeared to be one step ahead of the sensor readings.
Bane rose from his chair and demanded, “Now Mr Darzon, hailing frequencies open!”
Darzon tapped his controls and nodded to his commanding officer.
“This is Captain Bane Mather of the Federation starship Destiny,” declared the self-assured Bajoran officer confidently. “Unidentified vessel, any further attempts to immobilize this ship will be treated as an act of aggression and will warrant a hostile response.”
There was a heavy silence on the bridge as Naomi Wildman ran her fingers across the Ops console, determined to locate the unseen opponent. She scrutinized her sensor readings for neutrino emissions, indicating the possibility of a cloaked ship, with little success. The resourceful young officer picked up on a faint ionic distortion and homed in on the irregularity. Upon further inspection she concluded that the sensors were in fact detecting an ion trail. She adjusted her scans to examine the ion trail and finally found exactly what she was looking for.
“Captain,” called Wildman eagerly, “I am detecting a starship emerging from low orbit of the second moon of Yolande-IV.”
“Helm, intercept course!” ordered Bane, standing over Wildman’s shoulders.
“The ship appears to be similar in size to the Destiny,” noted Wildman, studying her readouts. “The warp signature is not familiar but is powerful and I am picking up on charged pulse phaser cannons.”
Darzon interrupted from the tactical station, “Sir, we are receiving a response from the alien vessel.”
“On screen,” said Bane Mather staring at the mammoth viewer.
The view screen flickered and the imposing image of a striking red-skinned humanoid with fierce eyes resembling molten rock. There was no one hair on the head of the alien staring back at the bridge but his dark uniform sported feathers and animal skins.
“I am Brigadier Ghorzar of the Zytron Regency,” glared the intimidating figure.
Bane folded his arms and responded, “Brigadier, you have violated Federation space and we suspect that you have -”
“Surrender Admiral Bruce Maddox!” interrupted the alien, Ghorzar.
Letina Iyal rose from her seat, reverting to her dedicated role as first officer of the Destiny. She stood by the captain’s side in a deliberate gesture of support.
“Bruce Maddox died on Yolande-IV along with everyone else on Outpost Arcadia,” pronounced Bane, meeting the alien commander with a determined stare of his own. “Of course you are already aware of that…you wiped out all life on that outpost!”
“The Zytron Regency is concerned only with punishing Bruce Maddox. However, anyone found to be harbouring him will be eliminated unless he is surrendered.”
“Is that what happened on Yolande-IV? You couldn’t find Maddox so you threatened them with extermination?”
“My soldiers raided your facility on the planet’s surface but were repelled and so we conducted a Baryon Sweep of the outpost on the understanding that it would cease if Bruce Maddox was surrendered.”
Finally, thought Letina Iyal, the pieces of this morbid, macabre jigsaw started fitting together. The Baryon Sweep, eliminating Type-F Baryon particles and all organic life was used as a grotesque, terrifying weapon against the inhabitants of Outpost Arcadia.
“We agreed to supply Admiral Maddox with materials for his research on the understanding that he served as an informant…yet he proved to be unreliable, his transmissions were often erroneous or falsified. He had to be punished!”
“You cannot punish two hundred men, women and children for the actions of a lone individual!” yelled Bane Mather, incensed at the callousness of the brigadier.
Ghorzar’s eyes and nostrils flared as he spat, “We will do as we must to fulfil our mission. Now surrender Bruce Maddox or your vessel will fall victim to the same fate!”
“Bruce Maddox died on Yolande-IV, damn it!” affirmed Captain Bane.
“So we thought…but why is the pathetic old man transmitting messages to my warship as we speak? Why is he attempting to bribe us with more false promises? Why is begging for safe transport to Zytron Prime?”
Bane glanced to Naomi Wildman who entered commands into her console.
“It is true, sir,” asserted the Operations Manager. “There is an unauthorized transmission from…”
“Let me guess,” interjected Bane. “Cybernetics?”
The young officer nodded, “Yes, sir.”
The ominous brigadier interrupted with a snarl, “I will give you thirty minutes to surrender Maddox…or I will destroy your vessel.”
Ghorzar disappeared from the main view screen, replaced with the sight of his warship. Menacing pulse phaser cannons protruded from the dome shaped hull of the vessel and appeared to be trained directly on the USS Destiny.
“Captain,” called Ra-Barra’veth from the science station. “I have judged that the Zytron warship matches the Destiny in terms of firepower and manoeuvrability. The result of a battle between the two starships is far from clear.”
Bane Mather acknowledged the science officer and mulled over the situation briefly.
“Commander Iyal,” he called over his shoulder as he strode towards the turbo lift, “you have the bridge. I’m going to have a word with Admiral Maddox.”
The doors slipped shut behind Bane, leaving Letina Iyal perplexed but willing to place her confidence entirely behind her new captain.
* * *
Standing in the turbo lift as the carriage descended, Bane grew angry at the deception and the atrocity he was finally beginning to understand.
“Bane to Owai,” called the captain, touching his comm-badge but failing to note any response.
“Bane to Nagata!”
Still no response.
“Bane to Lenor!”
A pause.
“Captain, this is Dr Lenor,” came the breathless reply of the Cardassian woman. “I need security at the Cybernetics Lab immediately!”
The carriage came to a halt and the doors hissed open. Bane spotted two burly security officers marching down the corridor before him, armed with Type-III phaser rifles. He followed his men, picking up to an agile jog. When he and the guards arrived at the entrance to the Cybernetics Lab, Dr Lenor was doubled over, appearing dishevelled, a small gash evident above her brow.
“Captain!” she called fretfully. “It is Daystrom-3!”
Bane Mather helped the Cardassian doctor to her feet, supporting her with one hand and reassuring her with the other. The two security officers entered the Cybernetics Lab, with their rifles ready. Bane and Lenor followed.
Marcus Owai lay incapacitated across the floor, Lieutenant Ray Nagata was stood rigidly in a corner of the room. The android, Daystrom-3, held Owai’s phaser at the engineer with one hand whilst he tapped the touchpad on the wall-mounted computer terminal with the other.
“What have you done?” demanded Bane Mather, glaring at the android.
The metallic face glared at him, “Stay back! All of you! When I shot Lieutenant Owai the phaser was set to stun, however I can assure you all that it is now set to kill!”
“Daystrom-3,” pleaded Dr Lenor, “don’t you realize what you are doing?”
“He isn’t Daystrom-3, doctor!” spat Bane Mather, looking at the android with utter contempt. “Allow me to introduce Professor Bruce Maddox.”
Lenor was shocked, as was Nagata as he stood nervously in the corner.
“I wouldn’t waste your time trying to contact your Zytron friends…they’ve already killed you once and they won’t buy your bribery and broken promises a second time,” remarked the Bajoran brusquely.
The android focused increasingly on Bane Mather, aware of the two security guards training their rifles on him and his hostage in the corner yet engrossed in the words of the Bajoran captain.
“When Dr Lenor investigated your quarters she found biographies and papers by all the great cyberneticists,” explained Bane Mather, his eyes locked on the artificial life form. “Everyone from Richard Daystrom to Noonien Soong…to Ira Graves.”
The Cardassian doctor gasped, realization dawning on her.
“You transferred your consciousness into an artificial life form!” exclaimed Dr Lenor.
“It was an extreme length to go to, Maddox,” asserted the Bajoran captain. “More than just the perfect disguise but a way to save yourself from a Baryon Sweep which was slowly destroying every last particle of organic matter on that outpost.”
“You have found me out,” conceded Maddox, the robotic head dipping in shame.
“I also know about your arrangement with the Zytron Regency,” prompted Bane.
“After the Ira Graves Incident, thirty years ago, the Daystrom Institute has demonstrated a stubborn reluctance to support certain avenues of research,” explicated the humiliated Maddox. “I used contacts within the Zytron Regency to find the materials I needed…in exchange for information.”
“In exchange for Federation secrets!” insisted the captain. “You are a traitor, Maddox, and even now you are trying to weasel your way onto that Zytron warship!”
The shocked and disturbed Lenor interjected, “After they tried to hunt you down and after what they have done to all those people, you are still trying to curry favour with those…murderers?”
“It is an act of total desperation, doctor,” grimaced Bane as he stepped forward, nearer to the armed android. “Ghorzar will not be fooled again. He is too vengeful and he is threatening to fire upon the Destiny unless I release you into his custody.”
Maddox lowered his arm and handed the phaser to Bane Mather.
As Lenor watched she was certain that if Maddox existed as a human being rather than imprisoned as an automaton, he would be visibly distraught, perhaps shedding tears of guilt and despair.
The Chief Medical Officer kneeled at the side of the fallen Lieutenant Owai and scanned him with a medical tricorder as the two security guards moved to take the android into custody.
“I would understand if you surrendered me to Ghorzar, captain,” stated the ashamed Bruce Maddox.
“I have no intention of doing so,” replied Bane Mather, with a relieved sigh. “However, I do want you to send another message to the Zytron warship explaining the situation.”
“Do you think that Brigadier Ghorzar will be so understanding?” asked Maddox.
Bane smirked, “I don’t think so…that’s why I need my Chief Engineer back.”
Ray Nagata wiped perspiration from his forehead as he looked at his captain.
“Mr Nagata,” asked the captain with a glint in his eye. “How would you like to blow up an android?”
