Part 11 (1/2)
Picard exchanged glances with Gruzinov. ”Of course, a Judas goat. They intend for us to take Blaze's s.h.i.+p,” he said, as comprehension dawned.
”But ... how?”
”We could have taken the Glory the first time, but for Blaze's cleverness in using the Wyoming as a s.h.i.+eld,” said Picard. ”And when he attacked, he took us completely by surprise, with our s.h.i.+elds down. Yet despite his reported skill, he nevertheless failed to deliver a crippling blow.”
”A saboteur?” Gruzinov said, following Picard's train of thought.
”A Romulan agent, infiltrated among Blaze's crew,” Picard said. ”Placed there for the sole purpose of making certain that something aboard the Glory failed at the key moment, enabling us to capture it.”
They were interrupted by a call from Data, in the transporter room.
”Picard here. Go ahead, Mr. Data.”
”Sir, Lieutenant Worf's landing party is back aboard the s.h.i.+p,” said Data. ”However, I am unable to locate Commander Riker's party.”
”You mean they are no longer in the Zone?” Picard asked, with a frown. ”Have you tried widening your sweep?”
”Sir, I have conducted repeated sensor sweeps of the entire city,” Data replied. ”They are no longer in K'trin. I have also conducted a series of wide-range scans, in addition to sending an ultra-high-frequency signal to their communicators in an attempt to track it. The signal has not been received, sir. It would appear that they are no longer on the planet.”
Riker came to slowly, still feeling the aftereffects of the drug. He was lying on a bunk. He opened his eyes and blinked several times, trying to focus his vision. He heard a groan and sat up, a bit too quickly. The room started to spin. He propped himself up with one arm and closed his eyes, then opened them again. The room stopped spinning, but he still felt a bit groggy.
He heard a groan; then La Forge said, ”G.o.d, my head hurts.”
”Where the h.e.l.l are we?” asked Lieutenant Dorn. She sat up in her bunk, slowly swung her legs down to the floor, and moaned, putting her head in her hands.
Good question, Riker thought. He looked around. ”We're aboard a s.h.i.+p,” he said.
Dorn glanced around, disoriented. ”Are we in a brig?”
La Forge looked around at their surroundings, taking in the design and layout-the bulkheads, the lights, the vents, the forcefield that held them prisoner-and then his gaze settled on Riker. ”Oh, no. Don't tell me... .”
”Yeah,” said Riker, grimly.
”Don't tell him what?” asked Dorn.
The outer doors to the brig opened and Katana entered, followed by the two men who had surprised them at the Flying Dutchman. And there was a third man with them, tall, lean, and exotic-looking, outlandishly dressed, with long black hair, sharp features, and a patch over one eye. ”Allow me to welcome you aboard the Glory,” he said. ”My name is Captain Blaze. I apologize for your discomfort, and for relieving you of your weapons and communicators, but I wanted to make sure you did not attempt anything foolish.”
”Captain Blaze?” said Riker. ”I've heard of you. You're the freebooter who's been raiding all the s.h.i.+pping in this sector?”
Blaze smiled. ”I see my reputation precedes me. But you see, your reputation precedes you, as well.”
Riker tensed. ”Is that right?”
”You are Bill Stryker, formerly executive officer of the merchant vessel, Phoenix,” Blaze said. ”I've had you and your friends checked out, Stryker.”
Riker felt relieved. For one bad moment, he thought their cover had been blown. ”By her?” he said, glancing at Katana.
”And the Merchant s.p.a.cefleet Union,” Blaze replied. ”It was a simple matter to call them and request access to their database for crew applicants. In a busy port, it's such a routine request, they didn't even ask me who I was. Your files showed some rather interesting activity. Black-marketeering, insurance fraud, conspiracy... .” Blaze shook his head. ”It seems you three have been busy.”
”What do you want from us?” asked Riker.
”You said you were looking for a s.h.i.+p,” said Blaze. ”Well, it so happens I have one. And it also happens that I am in need of qualified personnel, especially a competent s.h.i.+p's engineer. My last one was killed in action recently. I am also in need of someone with medical training, and I could use a good s.h.i.+p's gunner. Would you be interested in applying for those positions?”
”You mean we have a choice?” said Riker.
”Well, no, not really,” said Blaze. ”I am in no position to accept a refusal, I'm afraid. I was merely trying to be polite. However, I suspect you would much rather accept voluntarily and become a part of an extremely profitable venture than suffer the unpleasant consequences of refusing.”
”The words 'extremely profitable' have a nice ring to them,” said Riker. ”Much nicer than 'unpleasant consequences.' I guess we accept.”
”Splendid,” Blaze said. ”Katana, release our new crewmates, if you would be so kind.”
The cybrid cancelled the forcefield, and as they warily came out of the cell, she smiled at Riker and said, ”Welcome aboard. I told you we'd work something out.”
”Yes, you did,” said Riker, ”but this wasn't quite what I expected. Are you part of this crew?”
”First mate,” she replied. ”That's executive officer to you, Stryker. I outrank you.”
”Do I call you 'sir'?” asked Riker, dryly.
”We do not stand on such formality aboard this s.h.i.+p,” said Blaze. ”You may address me as 'Captain'; and your fellow crew members you may call by name, as you get to know them. We do not use standard military rankings aboard this s.h.i.+p. Katana is first mate, my navigator is second mate, and so forth for the rest of my senior officers. We like to keep things simple.”
”What about our property?” asked Riker.
”Ah, yes, that very handsome knife of yours,” said Blaze, with a smile. ”I must have it replicated. It is an excellent design. It will be kept in storage, along with your other weapons. Your communicators have been confiscated and destroyed. You will have no need of them, and as I understand the Merchant s.p.a.cefleet has offered a sizable reward for my capture, I wouldn't want any of my crew to be unduly tempted. All weapons are kept secured in the arms lockers and issued only when necessary. Only I and my trusted senior personnel carry weapons aboard this s.h.i.+p. And they do not have stun settings.”
”I see,” said Riker, noting the Romulan disruptor Blaze wore on his hip. He followed Blaze along with the others as he turned and left the brig. ”What about the 'extremely profitable' part?”
”Ah, that interests you, does it?” Blaze said, as they walked down the corridor. ”You appear to be a man after my own heart. You will not receive any regular wages in the manner to which you have been accustomed. However, we do have a very generous profit-sharing plan, which I believe you will find much more advantageous. Each member of the crew receives equal shares of any profit realized in any of our ventures. You may spend it as you wish, when we make port, or else establish an account and save for your eventual retirement. You may even invest in a diversified portfolio, if you like.”
”Right, and you control all that, of course,” said Riker.
”Absolutely not,” said Blaze. ”I would be happy to advise you, if you so desire, or you may take advantage of the financial database we have on board and make your own decisions. Transfers of funds and a.s.sets are all done electronically, through financial inst.i.tutions here in the K'tralli sector or in the Ferengi system, all of which conduct transactions by subs.p.a.ce communications without asking any questions. We believe in free enterprise aboard the Glory.”
”Well, I'm all for enterprise,” said Riker, with a smile. ”However, was it really necessary to shanghai us? If you had made us a straight offer-”
”If I had made you a straight offer, you might have been in a position to refuse,” Blaze replied. ”And the nature of my business is not such that I can go around recruiting openly, as I'm sure you'll understand. Also, it is not every day that one encounters people with your particular qualifications, combined with such a decided bent toward larceny.”
”You said your last chief engineer was killed,” said La Forge. ”What happened?”
”We had a minor disagreement with a Federation stars.h.i.+p,” Blaze replied. ”You might say it ended in a sort of stalemate. I fully intend to have a rematch with the captain of that s.h.i.+p.”
”You took on a Federation stars.h.i.+p?” Riker said, feigning astonishment.
”Yes, the Enterprise, captained by Jean-Luc Picard,” said Blaze. ”A flamboyant name for a rather unflamboyant individual. But he knows his business, I'll say that for him. I shall not underestimate Captain Picard again.”
”Underestimate him?” Riker said. ”The Enterprise is a Galaxy-cla.s.s stars.h.i.+p. You're lucky you didn't get blown right out of the sky.”
”Luck had little to do with it, Stryker,” Blaze said. ”If anything, luck was on the side of Captain Picard. I caught him with his s.h.i.+elds down, completely unprepared. I should have disabled his s.h.i.+p with my first shot.”
”Is that why you have a sudden vacancy for a gunner?” Riker asked.