Not sure what the Prez can do about it--short of war. The Klingons want him for crimes he committed against them...they got him in neutral territory...and I don't think they're going to cotton too well to Bacco playing the judicial sovereignty game--unless she's trying to pick a fight?
Chapter Forty-Three USS Enterprise En route to Narendra III Stardate 57099.4 Lieutenant Battaglia frowned at the readouts on his console and ran another diagnostic on the aft sensor array, one that wouldn’t interfere with its operation. The results came back negative, there was nothing wrong with the array, but he was worried nonetheless and looked up. With a nod, he called Lieutenant Commander Kadohata over from her wanderings around the bridge. It was the gamma shift but he was pulling double duty, covering for the man who’d forgotten his wife’s anniversary and was trying to make up for it. ‘Is there a problem, Lieutenant?’ ‘I’m not sure, sir. I’ve run several diagnostics on the aft sensor array but there is still some kind of echo showing up intermittently.’ Kadohata sighed and tapped her combadge. ‘Commander Worf, please report to the bridge.’ ‘What is it?’ ‘I’ve seen those readouts before. We have a cloaked ship following close behind us, an old Romulan ship.’ ‘Or a ship with an old Romulan cloak?’ Battaglia suggested. ‘Quite possibly. See if you can run any scans without them detecting you.’ The turbolift doors opened and Worf stepped out, looking fully awake for the middle of the night. ‘What’s the problem, Commander?’ ‘We may have a cloaked vessel behind us, either an old Romulan ship or a ship with an old Romulan cloak.’ Worf narrowed his eyes and made a decision. ‘Red alert, all hands to battle stations. Captain Picard to the bridge please.’ ‘Sir?’ ‘Commander Kadohata, get me the prefix code for the USS Centurion, Constitution-class, and do it now,’ Worf ordered as he stepped down to the command platform. ‘Mister Battaglia, prepare to fire aft phasers on my command and follow it with a spread of quantum torpedoes.’ ‘Belay that,’ Picard said as he strode onto the bridge. ‘I want to try and talk some sense into him. President Bacco called me herself to ask if I might try to take him into custody since I was unable to keep Doctor Granger in our hands.’ ‘Aye sir,’ Worf replied through gritted teeth. ‘Mister Battaglia, open a channel and put the aft view on screen.’ ‘Channel open, Captain.’ ‘Captain Sejanus, this is Captain Picard. Decloak your vessel and slow to impulse speed.’ After a moment, Battaglia spoke up. ‘No response, sir.’ ‘Lucius, what are you doing for your people by skulking around in the shadows?’ ‘Vessel decloaking, it’s a Federation starship!’ Battaglia said in surprise. ‘Incoming fire.’ ‘I guess we have our answer,’ Worf replied. ‘Mister Battaglia, disable that ship,’ Picard ordered. ‘Do not destroy it!’ ‘Aye sir, firing phasers at nacelles and weapons.’ The Enterprise’s phasers were rather more powerful than the Centurion’s shields, and Battaglia’s first barrage disabled the shields and damaged both nacelles. As both ships slowed to impulse, the second barrage missed the phaser ports of the older ship, allowing it to manoeuvre into a good position. ‘He’s targeting the bridge!’ Battaglia called out as the shields took the brunt of the attack. ‘Someone’s upgraded his phasers. Those are Klingon disruptors.’ Sparks flew from consoles as the Centurion fired again. ‘Shields down to sixty percent.’ ‘Mister Worf,’ Picard said quietly, ‘the prefix code.’ ‘Operations has them, sir. ’ ‘Kadohata, send the prefix code.’ ‘Aye sir, sending now.’ ‘Battaglia, disable their phasers.’ ‘Aye sir.’ He wasn’t fast enough. The Klingon disruptors, tore through the weakened shields over the bridge and hit the armour-plated outer bulkhead, which disintegrated. A second shot close on the heels of the first ripped a hole in the inner bulkhead, taking out the viewscreen and sending Ensign McGowan into space before the forcefields snapped into place. Picard stood, staring at the Centurion through the forcefield. ‘Mister Worf, take Commander Madden over there with a full security team, heavily-armed, and have Sejanus arrested. Attempted genocide of the Romulans and Klingons, theft of Federation property and numerous violations of the Prime Directive.’ ‘Aye sir,’ Worf replied as he walked toward the turbolift. As he entered it, Battaglia heard him mutter, ‘she will be avenged.’ ‘Damage report?’ ‘Shields have regenerated, severe damage to the hull over the bridge, several injuries but none serious,’ Battaglia replied. ‘And one fatality.’ ‘Thank you, Lieutenant,’ the Captain replied. ‘Kadohata, you have the bridge.’ ‘Aye sir.’ Battaglia watched Picard stalk into the ready room and turned to Kadohata as she moved toward the command platform. ‘He’s not taking this well, is he?’ ‘Not a chance,’ she replied. ‘I really wouldn’t want to be Sejanus when Worf takes him into custody.’ Battaglia smirked and returned to his console, trying not to look at the gaping hole in the hull where his friend was drifting. His console suddenly bleeped frantically at him and he stabbed out a tractor beam to grab hold of the fleeing starship. ‘Commander!’ ‘I see it,’ she replied and instructed the Ensign at the helm in what to do to prevent the tractor beam from damaging either ship while she used the prefix code link to disable the vessel. ‘Kadohata to Worf.’ ‘Worf here.’ ‘We’ve stopped the Centurion from fleeing. They’re caught in a tractor beam.’ ‘Excellent, please disable the self-destruct system.’ Kadohata shared a look with Battaglia. ‘Sir, I just did.’ There was silence for a moment. ‘We have Sejanus. Prepare for the emergency transport of everyone aboard. Cargo bay three should be secure.’ ‘Aye sir,’ Battaglia chimed in. ‘Standing by.’ ‘As soon as everyone is aboard, go to warp one. Energise.’ Battaglia beamed the entire crew of the Centurion into cargo bay three, and Worf’s group to the brig. ‘Two minutes to warp core breach,’ Kadohata said. ‘Ensign Faur, warp one, now!’ The Enterprise jumped to warp and Picard came onto the bridge. ‘What’s going on?’ Kadohata filled him in. He turned to Battaglia. ‘How many did we get?’ ‘One hundred and fifty four, sir,’ the tactical officer replied. ‘I’ll be in the brig, Kadohata, you have the conn.’ ‘Aye sir.’ Battaglia couldn’t help but wish he was able to rescue McGowan’s body before the Centurion had exploded. Now there was nothing to give back to her parents. He knew that Captain Picard would inform them of her death if he hadn’t done so already, but he wanted to offer more personal condolences. McGowan had been his friend and he knew with certainty that if Sara Nave had not transferred in, then the two of them might well have been a couple. At least he took comfort in the fact that the man responsible for her death, and countless others, was now in the brig.
I've been enjoying this story for awhile and I have to admit you seemed to wrap up this particular "battle" very quickly. I would have thought Captain Sejanus would have changed his prefix codes by now. It all just seemed too easy. That being said, I'll check back soon for the next chapter.
Sejanus got in a few licks...I wouldn't want to leave him in a room alone with Worf for very long--then again, if I needed to get some info out of him... ETA: I'm kind of curious...did you choose Sejanus as something of a homage to Patrick Stewart's portrayal of that character in "I Claudius"?
Actually, I had recently finished reading The Captain's Honor by David and Daniel Dvorkin and wondered what might have happened to the self-styled Emperor-Captain of the Magna-Roman starship Centurion. He wanted to claim the emperor-ship of Magna Roma and you'll see just how mad he's become in the next chapter.
Chapter Forty-Four USS Enterprise En route to Narendra III Stardate 57099.5 Picard entered the brig to find Captain Lucius Aurelius Sejanus behind a forcefield with Worf holding him up against the bulkhead. Commander Madden and the rest of the away team stood by the controls. He assumed that a significant part of the ship’s security and medical personnel would be in cargo bay three assisting the Centurion’s crew. Sejanus was struggling in the Klingon’s grip but Worf was not allowing him the freedom to do anything more. ‘Release him, Commander.’ Worf did as he was asked and Sejanus promptly dropped to the deck with an unceremonious thump. He stood up, rearranging his robes. ‘You’ll pay for that, Klingon.’ Madden snorted in derision. ‘Captain, I presume you have been informed of the charges,’ Picard said. ‘I have,’ Sejanus replied. ‘But I do not recognise your authority. The Centurion was a sovereign Magna Roman vessel.’ ‘Operated under Federation and Starfleet statutes and regulations. Your homeworld signed as such.’ ‘Magna Roma is run by a puppet government,’ Sejanus snarled and stepped forward. Worf held up a warning hand. ‘Madden, shut down the forcefield and let Mister Worf out of there. I don’t want the accused injured before his trial,’ Picard ordered. The security chief dropped the field and Worf stepped out, the field going up back up as soon as he was over the threshold. ‘What will happen to my crew?’ ‘The library database was downloaded from the Centurion before it’s destruction. Once it has been analysed, your crew will be interviewed and formal charges will be brought against those deemed responsible for any actions.’ ‘I suppose Granger gave us up? Snivelling worm.’ Picard said nothing. ‘Doctor Granger will be tried in a Klingon Court for the attack on Narendra III, and you will be tried in a court-martial, although it is possible the Klingons will want to extradite you.’ ‘You can’t do that!’ ‘Why, Lucius. What did the Romulans and Klingons ever do to you?’ ‘I’m not saying anything without my JAG lawyer present.’ ‘You’ll have to wait until we reach the nearest starbase.’ ‘Where are we going now?’ ‘Narendra III, to assist the Klingons in curing their people. Doctor Crusher and her people have developed a cure to the Bloodfire plague.’ ‘That’s not possible, he assured me that no cure existed.’ ‘You should have studied biology better. Granger designed the plague using Augment DNA, the cure was found the same way.’ ‘Damnation!’ ‘Quite so,’ Picard replied and turned to Madden. ‘Increase security around the brig and on this deck. I don’t want him escaping.’ ‘Aye sir, immediately.’ ‘Mister Worf, what exactly happened over there?’ ‘They planned to commit mass suicide and were able to override the prefix code only enough to continue the self destruct sequence.’ ‘I see, and there was nothing you could do to prevent it?’ ‘Not in the time available,’ Madden added. The captain nodded. ‘Very well, I’d like your reports on my desk by the end of shift.’ ‘Aye sir,’ Worf responded. Madden just nodded. ‘Captain, call on subspace for you, from Admiral Janeway,’ Kadohata called over the comm. ‘Put it through to my quarters.’ ‘Aye sir, Kadohata out.’ ‘Mister Worf, I don’t think we’ll be heading to Narendra III by the time my conversation with Admiral Janeway is over. Prepare to change course for Earth.’ ‘Yes sir.’ By the time Picard reached his quarters and entered his authorisation code, just three minutes had passed. It was too long for the admiral. ‘How long were you going to keep me waiting?’ ‘I apologise for the delay, Admiral.’ Janeway deflated. ‘Your actions are causing quite a stir, Jean-Luc.’ ‘Let me guess, the Klingons now want Sejanus as well and the President is telling them they should be happy with Granger.’ ‘You did that deliberately, letting them have Granger,’ she said with a smirk and then waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. ‘Regardless, you are to report to headquarters as soon as possible. Sejanus will be tried aboard Starbase 1 by Admirals Jellico, Louvois and Nechayev.’ Picard was a little surprised at that. ‘The three highest-ranking Admirals in Starfleet to court-martial a Captain, including the Commander-in-Chief?’ ‘Admiral Nechayev made it clear that no one is above the law and I hope that by the time you reach Earth, you’ll have enough evidence to place this man into maximum security confinement along with any members of his crew who participated in the atrocities.’ ‘Admiral, I am neither judge nor jury, and I will not condemn this man for his misguided actions. I would like him to be assessed by Medical Mental Health before his court-martial.’ Janeway sighed. ‘I’ll pass along your recommendation. What do you suggest President Bacco tell Chancellor Martok?’ ‘The Chancellor is an honourable man. Ask him what he would do were the situation reversed. I doubt very much he would allow his citizen to be extradited, the man would most likely be executed on the spot.’ ‘That’s what I thought you would say. I would like to see you in my office as soon as you have passed Captain Sejanus into the custody of Starbase 1 security.’ ‘Of course, Admiral.’ ‘Good job on this one, Jean-Luc; Janeway out.’ As the Federation logo reappeared on the screen, Picard tapped his combadge. ‘Mister Worf, set a course for Earth, warp seven.’ ‘Aye sir,’ Worf replied. Picard leaned back in his chair and stared out of the windows at the warped starscape. He was aware that both the Romulans and Klingons wanted Sejanus and while the Klingons were more likely to use diplomacy in order to do so at this point in time, the Romulans were not going to be so easily cowed. Command clearly wanted to make an example of Sejanus, but the Klingons and Romulans needed to be appeased as well. He needed to come up with a compromise before they reached Earth if he was going to keep the peace. The Klingons wanted Sejanus and the Romulans wanted Granger. It was time to make a deal with the devil.
Chapter Forty-Five Chancellor’s Residence Qo’noS Stardate 57101.2 Martok slid out of bed and crossed to the private chamber where he took state calls while at home. His bed had stayed empty since his wife’s death four years ago and as a result he was not pleasant to deal with in the morning, though a handful of people were tolerated. ‘Screen on,’ he ordered. ‘Chancellor, I have an urgent call for you from the Starfleet vessel Enterprise.’ ‘Put it through.’ ‘As you wish, sir.’ Martok looked around the sparsely furnished room and decided to have it decorated at some point while the Klingon trefoil appeared on the screen before Commander Worf’s face took its place. ‘Chancellor.’ ‘Worf, can I ask why you have woken me in the early hours of the morning. I enjoy speaking to you, but this had better be important.’ ‘It is,’ a new voice added and the screen adjusted to include the newcomer. ‘Captain Picard, it has been some time since we spoke last.’ ‘I have a proposition for you.’ ‘I’m listening.’ ‘You want Captain Sejanus to pay for orchestrating the attack on Narendra III and the Romulans want Granger for his scientific expertise.’ ‘This I know, Captain. Please get to the point.’ ‘The Federation will not allow Sejanus to be extradited.’ Martok’s features contorted into a fury and he blinked with his one eye. ‘Why do you tell me this?’ ‘If you can have a ship rendezvous with me before I reach Earth, I might be able to transfer Captain Sejanus to your custody while you replace him with Granger in ours.’ ‘I might accept that request, except that I do not wish to give the Romulans anything which they could use against us.’ ‘I will deal with that when the time arises.’ ‘Very well, I will send a ship to greet you.’ ‘Thank you, Chancellor. You will not be disappointed.’ ‘I should think not; Martok out.’ *** IRW Llaihr En route to Narendra III Stardate 57101.3 ‘Director, I’m picking up a subspace communication directed at us.’ ‘No one knows we’re here,’ Sela replied, curious and angry at the same time. ‘What does the message say?’ ‘“If you want Granger, follow the Enterprise closely,”’ the centurion answered and looked up. ‘Who sent the message?’ ‘There is no identifier, Director.’ ‘Get Rekar up here and have him identify the origin of that message. Find out where the Enterprise is and intercept. I want to be within one million kilometres.’ ‘It could be a trap, sir.’ ‘Yes it could, but it may also be our best hope of getting Granger into our custody. Follow my orders.’ ‘The Enterprise is now heading toward Earth. We can intercept them in five hours, Director.’ ‘Increase speed to maximum warp, I want to reach the Enterprise before the Klingons do.’ ‘The Klingons?’ ‘They have Granger. Picard must have offered them something more for them to willingly give him up,’ Sela said, as much to herself as to the centurion. She knew that Picard would not have changed course away from Narendra III without good reason, and wondered if his superiors had called him home over the New Sydney debacle. Something good would come of this mission, of that she was sure. *** USS Enterprise En route to Earth Stardate 57101.4 Picard stood looking out at the stars and Worf stood by the desk in the ready room. ‘Do you think Commander Sela will come?’ ‘Yes, I do, Commander. The only question is whether she’ll agree to our request.’ Worf considered the problem. ‘We may have to resort to subterfuge.’ Picard turned to face the Klingon. ‘Such as?’ ‘The same ruse that the Romulans used on us with Ambassador T’Pel, the Tal Shiar agent Subcommander Selok,’ Worf replied. ‘A transporter accident? Don’t you think they’ll see through that?’ ‘Not if we are convincing enough.’ ‘Which ship is Martok sending?’ ‘The Gorkon, Captain Klag’s ship,’ Worf replied. ‘And he knows what he has to do?’ ‘Yes sir, to the letter.’ ‘Bring me a plan for the transporter malfunction. I want it in an hour.’ ‘Aye sir.’ ‘Dismissed.’ Worf left the ready room and Picard strode over to the replicator, ordering his usual Earl Grey tea. Once he was seated at his desk with the china cup and saucer to one side, he brought up the mission in which he had been thoroughly fooled and almost engaged in a shooting war with Admiral Mendak. He was looking over Sela’s intelligence file when the chime to his door was pressed. ‘Enter.’ Worf and La Forge entered the room, the former holding a padd. ‘You have a plan?’ Picard asked. Worf handed over the padd. ‘We do, using a similar scenario to the Romulans.’ Picard examined the plan and noted several interesting amendments to the original ruse. ‘I take it that the samples you plan to take from Doctor Granger will be planted as evidence of his demise.’ La Forge nodded. ‘Yes sir. The Romulans will have enough evidence to suggest the truth, but not an abundance to suggest a ruse.’ ‘Commander Sela will still suspect something.’ ‘Which is why we’ll invite her on board so her own personnel can conduct an investigation.’ ‘And you’ll be ready in case she accepts the offer?’ Worf nodded. ‘Lieutenant Battaglia has a shielded location for Doctor Granger to reside in until the situation has been resolved.’ ‘Very well, put your plan into effect. The Gorkon should rendezvous with us in a little under three hours.’ ‘We’ll be ready,’ La Forge replied. ‘Dismissed, gentlemen.’ La Forge left but Worf stayed. ‘Captain?’ ‘Yes, Commander?’ ‘You seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time in your ready room, is there a problem with your quarters?’ Picard looked up and tried to discern whether Worf was speaking plainly or not. ‘My quarters are fine, as are its occupants; dismissed.’ Once he had left, Picard mused over the question and tapped his combadge. ‘Picard to Crusher.’ ‘Crusher here.’ ‘What are doing this evening?’ ‘I was planning on a trip to the holodeck, something I haven’t been able to do in a while.’ ‘Mind if I join you?’
Get rid of that horrid Sovereing Class. Find a way to give the crew a refit Galaxy class (like the one in AGT). Bring Data back to life somehow, or if need be, turn B4 into Data. If you can do that, I may just start to read
Ah...very clever...Sela's going to hit the ceiling! Also, a nice little bit of subtlety between Picard and Worf when Picard says regarding his quarters that its occupants are doing fine...very slick.
Hey folks, just to let you know that my laptop has just given up the ghost and so my writing schedule has been totally derailed. As soon as I get permanent access to a computer again I'll get back to it.
Well that's a bummer I've had a laptop at the computer store waiting on a part from Sony for almost 2 weeks. What a croc!
Laptop is still busted, but I have access to a computer, so here's the next part. -------------------------- Chapter Forty-Six USS Enterprise En route to Earth Stardate 57101.7 Commander Worf stared at the viewscreen as if wanting something to appear and he actually did. Picard had approved the plan that he and La Forge had come up with and they had done all they could to implement it. All they needed were the other players, and the high-stakes game could begin. ‘Sir, I’m picking up a Klingon vessel approaching,’ Battaglia said from the tactical station. ‘We’re being hailed.’ ‘Call the Captain, and acknowledge the hail.’ Picard emerged from the turbolift a moment later, as Captain Klag’s grizzled visage appeared on the screen. ‘Greetings, Captain Picard and Worf, son of Mogh.’ ‘Qapla’, Captain Klag, son of M’Raq,’ Picard replied in kind. ‘To what do I owe this pleasure?’ ‘You will hand over Captain Sejanus immediately. He is to be tried by a Klingon court.’ ‘I’m sorry, Captain. I have been ordered to take Captain Sejanus to Earth for a court-martial under war crimes statutes. You are welcome to attend.’ ‘That is unacceptable. Allow me to take him, or I will destroy your vessel.’ ‘Captain, we are allies. Such an attack would constitute an act of aggression,’ Worf said. ‘You will regret your decision,’ Klag replied and cut the channel. ‘Red alert, raise shields and charge phasers,’ Worf ordered. ‘Aye sir,’ Battaglia replied. ‘They’re firing.’ The first volley tumbled across the Enterprise’s shields but did no major damage. Battaglia returned fire, aiming for the Gorkon’s weapons but his shots went wide as the Gorkon adjusted course for a strafing run. Photon torpedoes and disruptor bolts peppered the Enterprise’s dorsal hull and the shield envelope flickered. Battaglia fired from every angle with the phasers and a volley of photon torpedoes but didn’t make a dent in the Klingons’ shields. Ensign Faur pivoted the ship to try and reconstitute the shields but the Klingons didn’t let up. ‘Tell Madden to watch out, we just lost the dorsal shields,’ Battaglia yelled as he continued to fire. Worf jumped up but Picard shook his head and the Klingon returned to his seat, looking anxious. ‘Sejanus?’ ‘Gone, Captain; he was beamed right off the ship. Madden didn’t have a chance.’ ‘What about the scattering field?’ Worf asked. ‘The forcefields and scattering field went down when we lost our shields,’ the tactical officer replied. ‘Get me a secured channel to Admiral Janeway. I need to speak with her immediately.’ ‘Captain, Romulan warbird decloaking. It’s the Llaihr. The Gorkon has gone to warp.’ ‘So predictable,’ Worf muttered. ‘Hail them.’ ‘You seem to be losing prisoners today, Captain,’ Sela taunted. Picard refused to rise to the bait. ‘And what are you doing here, so far from Romulan space?’ ‘I wanted to make sure that there was no funny business going on, Captain. You see, I was following that little exchange, and I know that your vessel is somewhat superior to the Gorkon. I wondered why you held back and I realised that you set this up for my benefit. What do you have for me, Captain?’ ‘I will give you Doctor Granger,’ Picard answered her and held back a smile at the stunned expression on her face. ‘What will your superiors say when they learn that you have lost not one, but two, prisoners?’ the Romulan asked with a barely-disguised sneer. ‘Do you want him or not?’ Worf asked. ‘We’ll take him,’ Sela replied. ‘I will have two uhlans beam aboard your ship. You will escort them to the brig where they will pick up the prisoner and return to the transporter room. My people will transport the prisoner. There will be no mistakes.’ ‘Agreed,’ Picard countered. ‘Commander Worf will escort you.’ ‘Acknowledged; Sela out.’ ‘This isn’t going according to plan,’ Picard stated as he turned to look at his first officer. ‘You won’t like my suggestion, sir, but it will sort the problem out.’ ‘You’ll rig the console so that the Romulans are killed and it will look like her own officer did it.’ ‘Yes sir.’ ‘You’re right, I don’t like it. Get down to transporter room one and make sure that everything goes according to plan.’ ‘Aye sir.’ ‘Captain, Admiral Janeway is hailing you,’ Battaglia said as Worf headed for the turbolift. ‘Tell her the Romulans have come looking for a prisoner.’ ‘Aye sir,’ the tactical officer replied with a smirk. By the time Worf reached the transporter room, the two uhlans had beamed aboard with a Sublieutenant. ‘This way,’ Worf gestured and led the uhlans to the brig, where Doctor Granger was waiting, dressed in the standard white jumpsuit of his people. ‘You can’t do this to me. I am a Federation citizen,’ he complained. ‘You’ve been extradited to Romulus for attempted genocide,’ Worf replied and Madden lowered the forcefield. The uhlans walked in and clamped electronic cuffs around Granger’s wrists, then frogmarched him back to the transporter room. Worf watched with a dispassionate air. ‘I trust he was no trouble?’ the Sublieutenant asked. ‘No sir,’ the older uhlan replied. ‘Step up to the transporter pad,’ he ordered the uhlans. As the Romulan officer began the dematerialisation sequence, amber lights began to flash on the console, signalling a malfunction. He tried to halt the sequence but was unfamiliar with the system and didn’t have time to call Worf before things went wrong. The two Romulan guards and their prisoner dematerialised as sparks spat from the transporter pads themselves. ‘The buffers, call them back!’ Worf moved to the console and tried to retrieve them but it was too late. ‘Commander, was the exchange successful?’ Picard asked. Worf sighed and glanced at the Romulan officer, who stood against the console looking white. ‘No sir, something went wrong with the pattern buffers. Request Commander La Forge has a look at the problem.’ ‘He’s on his way.’ ‘Captain, we should inform Director Sela.’ ‘She’s hailing now, Commander; stand by.’ Worf looked at the controls, and then glanced at the Romulan. ‘Did you initiate the Heisenberg Compensator before aligning the annular confinement beam?’ The Sublieutenant looked aghast at Worf. ‘Did I what?’