Part 24 (1/2)
”Listen to me! If you stay here, you'll die with the rest of us!”
”Tell me what you're talking about!” demanded Picard. ”There is always hope, Kerajem. If I believe in anything, I believe in that.”
Kerajem turned away. ”We developed a project. It was a defense project. We called it Plan Blue Ultimate. It's a weapons system. We performed the final tests on it shortly before you showed up.”
”Shortly before-?”
”The tests were-successful and we put Blue Ultimate into effect, hoping we would never have to activate it.” Kerajem walked over to his desk. ”We hoped against hope that it wouldn't come to this, but we have just about run out of time. The madness must stop now, and it falls to me to make sure that it does.” He opened a drawer. There was a black box inside. Kerajem opened it and pressed a b.u.t.ton and threw a switch.
”What did you do, Kerajem?” Picard asked.
”I've just made sure.”
”Wait a minute,” Picard said. ”We came here because we detected three brief warp-field signatures-oh, no.” The captain went utterly pale. ”You can't possibly mean what I think you mean.”
”I see you finally understand,” Kerajem said, shaking his head. ”Forgive me, my friend, but it wasn't until this morning that I realized our Blue Ultimate technology and what you call warp drive must be one and the same thing. At least know that I wasn't lying to you about our not possessing warp technology when you asked me about it. I didn't realize we'd invented it.”
Picard paled. ”And you've also discovered that activating a warp field within the Cochrane radius of a main-sequence star will explode that star into a nova.”
”Yes. Yes, we have. Three of our warp-field generators are orbiting the sun at a certain critical distance. I've activated one of those generators with this radio relay. The Krann will be gone-and so will we. You'd better leave now, Captain.”
Picard slapped his communicator. ”Transporter Room Two, this is Picard. Put me on the bridge right now.”
As his friend disappeared into thin air, Kerajem felt no regret. He would have left just as quickly, given the chance.
Heads turned as Picard materialized on the bridge. ”Mr. La Forge,” he called, ”I want our best speed to the local star.”
”Aye, sir,” came Geordi's somewhat puzzled voice. ”You'll get our best.”
”Ensign Ro, lay in a course. Lock it in. Maximum warp. Engage. Picard to Dr. Crusher.”
”Yes, Captain?”
”When can I have my first officer back?”
It was just then that the turbolift doors slid open and out walked Riker and Troi. ”Reporting for duty, Captain,” Riker said as the counselor took her seat.
”Never mind, Doctor,” the captain said. ”Thank you. Listen, all of you. I've just talked to the First Among Equals. Some forty seconds ago, he sent a radio signal to activate a warp-field generator that is...o...b..ting the local star well within the Cochrane radius.”
”The Lethanta are blowing up their own sun?” Troi gasped. ”Why?”
”To take the Krann with them,” Picard said. ”No Krann s.h.i.+p could hope to outrace a nova wave front. Everyone in this star system would die-except for us. We could escape.”
”What would you like us to do, Captain?” Worf asked for them all.
”There is a light-speed radio wave heading for one of three primitive warp-field generators...o...b..ting closely around the local star. We are presently outracing that radio wave. I intend to find the targeted generator and destroy it before it can be activated.” There was iron in his voice now. ”I intend to prevent this nova from occurring.”
Data spoke up. ”Of course, Captain, if we do not locate the correct generator in time, we will ourselves be caught in the formation of the nova.”
”Better find it quickly, then,” said Picard. The captain seated himself in his chair and, outwardly, appeared calm. Counselor Troi, sitting next to him, knew better. In the years she had known the captain, she had never detected such agitation within him.
Chapter Nineteen.
THE RADIO WAVE would take just under eight minutes to reach the warp-field generator from Nem Ma'ak Bratuna. It had been sent six minutes ago. Every sensor aboard the Enterprise was strained to the limit and beyond in an attempt to find the generator before the radio wave could activate it.
It was worse than finding a needle in a haystack. They were trying to find the barest speck of matter against the biggest sea of electromagnetic radiation in that part of s.p.a.ce.
Troi was beginning to read something new in Captain Picard, something she had never before felt from him.
Despair.
”Captain,” Data suddenly said, ”I am picking up what I believe to be the radio wave sent by Kerajem to activate the generator.”
”Are you sure, Data?” Picard asked. Troi blinked with the suddenness of his change of mood.
”Reasonably so, sir. It has every indication of having been generated artificially, and it is heading in the proper general direction.” He paused. ”I have extrapolated the path the wave will take to its target. May I suggest, sir, that we concentrate our efforts to locate the generator along that path?”
”Make it so. Mr. Worf, I want photon torpedoes ready to go on my order. We will not have much time.”
”Aye, sir.”
”Captain!” Harkey cried. ”I have a blip at three twenty-two mark seventeen! Range forty-three thousand kilometers.”
”Let's see it.” The image on the screen swam for a second. There was some interference in the image because of the proximity of the Enterprise to the local star, but-wasn't that it? Could that be it?
”Torpedoes ready, Captain,” Worf reported. ”I am having difficulty locking onto the target. We are quite close to the local star.”
”Do what you can, Lieutenant. Time to generator reception of destruct code, Mr. Data?”
”Twenty seconds to zero, sir.”
”Mr. Worf,” Picard said tightly, ”target that d.a.m.ned thing and fire!”
”No lock, Captain,” Worf said. ”Firing in manual mode. Torpedoes away.”
Picard and everyone else watched the screen as the flight of four glowing red torpedoes coursed quickly away from the s.h.i.+p. The captain could almost feel Worf's concentration as a physical force as the Klingon worked quickly and efficiently behind him.
”Ten seconds to zero,” said Data.
”Second volley ready, Captain,” Worf reported.
”One way or the other, Mr. Worf, a second volley will not be necessary.”
”Five seconds, sir,” Data said.