Part 3 (1/2)

”Full about, Mr. Data! Stand by to fire again.

” As the Enterprise came about again, they saw the other s.h.i.+p turning to meet them. It had been struck, but it was difficult to tell the extent of the damage. Apparently, it still had maneuvering power.

”He's putting the Wyoming between us,” said Gruzinov. ”And she can't maneuver out of the way.”

”Stand by phasers, Mr. Worf,” Picard said. ”Open hailing frequency.”

”Phasers standing by, Captain. Hailing frequency open.”

”This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Stars.h.i.+p Enterprise. Identify yourself!”

A bizarre image suddenly appeared on the viewscreen. It was the bridge of an old, Const.i.tution-cla.s.s stars.h.i.+p, unchanged from the way Picard remembered it. However, the man seated in the captain's chair and the crew members visible around him looked decidedly out of place on the bridge of a Const.i.tution-cla.s.s stars.h.i.+p. They were a mixed crew, including K'tralli and human freebooters, with an Orion at the weapons console and a Capellan seated at the navigator's station. But as strange as this outlandishly garbed a.s.sortment was, it was the man sitting in the captain's chair who immediately commanded attention.

He was neither human nor K'tralli, but some of both, with long, thick, and straight black hair hanging down well below his shoulders. He had a sharp-featured face with high cheekbones, a straight and narrow nose, a cruel-looking mouth, gracefully arched eyebrows, and a piercing, pale gray right eye. His left eye was covered by a black leather patch. He was dressed in a soft, sleeveless, black leather tunic, tight red breeches and over-the-knee black boots. He had a gold ring in his left ear and his bare, muscular arms were colorfully tattooed.

The combination of human and K'tralli ancestry gave him the aspect of a predatory elf, thought Riker. But it was immediately obvious that he was no Romulan, nor were the other members of his bridge crew. Behind him, Riker heard the turbolift door open and he turned to see Lieutenant Dorn come onto the bridge. She took one look at the viewscreen and froze, fascinated.

”This is Captain Blaze, of the Stars.h.i.+p Glory. I regret to say I cannot see you, Captain. Your phasers have rendered my visual receiving scanners inoperative and caused some damage to my engineering section. My compliments to your weapons officer. His marksmans.h.i.+p is excellent.”

Picard shook his head in astonishment at the freebooter's casual insolence and devil-may-care manner. ”Captain Blaze?” he said. ”Don't you mean DeBlazio?”

Blaze smiled. ”So you know who I am? Well, it seems you have the advantage of me, Captain.” He gave a slight, mocking bow. ”Diego DeBlazio, at your service. But my friends simply call me Blaze. I fear you have arrived at a most inconvenient time. However, the stimulation of this encounter has more than made up for the loss of a fat prize.”

”You will surrender your vessel immediately, Captain, and stand by to be boarded,” said Picard.

Blaze grinned broadly, then chuckled. ”You have a sense of humor, Captain. I like that in a man.”

”If you do not surrender your s.h.i.+p at once, I shall be forced to open fire,” said Picard.

”And do you plan to shoot through this helpless merchant vessel?” asked Blaze. ”That would rather defeat your purpose, would it not? Of course, I could make things easier for you by blowing the Wyoming to pieces. Then we could trade broadsides at our leisure, so to speak.”

Picard compressed his lips into a tight grimace. ”Any further hostile action toward the Wyoming will result in the immediate destruction of your vessel,” he said.

”Well, we can't have that, can we?” Blaze replied. ”I've grown rather attached to this s.h.i.+p. She has served me very well. And it would be a shame to end things so soon when we are only beginning to become acquainted.”

Picard glanced at Riker and saw that he was getting a slight facial tic in his cheek. He had seen that mannerism before, and it was a clear signal that Riker was absolutely furious.

”I will ask you one last time, Captain,” said Picard. ”Are you prepared to surrender your s.h.i.+p?”

”No, Captain, I am not,” Blaze replied. ”Why don't you come and take it, if you can?”

The image suddenly disappeared as Blaze cut off communications, replaced by the sight of the Glory, positioned just behind the crippled Wyoming.

”Stand by phasers, Mr. Worf,” Picard said, tensely. ”Mr. Data, prepare to-”

Suddenly, the Glory disappeared from sight.

”He's cloaked!” Gruzinov said.

”I'll be a son of a-” Riker caught himself and stopped.

”Stand by to come about!” said Picard.

”He can't fire when he's cloaked,” Gruzinov said.

”But he may try to get around behind us,” said Picard. ”Stand by, Mr. Data.”

”Ready, sir.”

”Come about full!”

The Enterprise came about, but there was no sign of the Glory. They all waited, tensely.

”Scan for drive particle emissions, Mr. Data,” said Picard.

”Scanning, sir,” said Data. He shook his head. ”I'm picking up rapidly decaying traces of drive particle emissions, Captain. He's gone, sir.”

”Maintain s.h.i.+elds,” said Picard. ”It could be a ploy.”

Moments pa.s.sed, and nothing happened.

”He's given us the slip,” said Riker. ”We may have damaged him more than he let on.”

”We did score at least one direct hit, Captain,” Worf added.

”Well, at least the Wyoming's safe,” Gruzinov said, exhaling heavily as he relaxed.

”So that was Captain Blaze,” said Picard. He shook his head. ”Well, you've got to give him one thing-the rogue does have a certain style.”

Riker frowned. ”I'd rather give him the business end of a photon torpedo,” he said.

”My apologies, Captain,” Worf said, tensely. ”I allowed myself to be taken by surprise.”

”No more than I, Mr. Worf,” Picard said. ”It was I who gave the order to lower the s.h.i.+elds. I never imagined a mere freebooter would attack when he was so heavily outgunned. I allowed myself to be surprised by a common criminal.”

”And a coward, at that,” said Riker.

”He may be a criminal, Commander, but he is no coward,” Worf said.

”Do I actually detect a note of admiration, Mr. Worf?” Riker asked, with surprise.

”Not admiration, sir, but respect, even if it is grudgingly bestowed,” the Klingon replied. ”It took a warrior's courage to attack a clearly superior foe.”

”It was almost as if he were playing some sort of game with us,” said Troi. ”And he seemed to be enjoying it.”

”It was no game, Counselor,” Picard replied. ”He was testing us. This is the first time a Galaxy-cla.s.s stars.h.i.+p has visited this sector. He wanted to see what we could do. I had foolishly a.s.sumed he fled at our arrival, but it seems I underestimated Captain Blaze.” He touched the communicator on his breast. ”Picard to Engineering.”