Part 5 (1/2)

”Just coming off watch, Mr. Data?” Picard said.

Wesley suddenly knew what was coming. Why not? he thought. Why not invite the whole d.a.m.n bridge crew?

”Yes, sir,” said Data.

”If you have nothing special planned, perhaps you would care to join Ensign Crusher and me on the holodeck. We're going to run the Kobayas.h.i.+ Maru scenario.” Picard actually sounded as if he was looking forward to observing Wesley's performance. But maybe he wasn't just interested in Wesley. Maybe the captain was reliving his time at the Academy.

”Indeed I would, sir. I would like very much to see Ensign Crusher's new aliens in action.”

”New aliens?” asked the captain.

Wesley said, ”Yes, sir. Boogeymen. Lieutenant Shubunkin, Data, and Lieutenant Commander La Forge helped me work them out.”

”Using the Borders scale, no doubt.”

”Yes, sir,” Data said.

Wesley shook his head. Had everybody heard of the Borders scale but him?

Picard looked around, realized they weren't moving, and said, ”Deck eleven.”

Wesley brought up the bridge of the Enterprise on the holodeck, asked for the Kobayas.h.i.+ Maru training scenario with the Boogeyman modifications. Wesley was a little nervous about taking the center seat with the captain there, but Picard insisted. ”No point in doing this at all if I act as captain,” he said. He took the conn while Data sat at Ops. On the main screen a normal-looking star field came toward them at warp speed.

Wesley tried to get comfortable in the command chair. He didn't know what the Kobayas.h.i.+ Maru was, but it didn't seem so bad so far.

Picard leaned toward Data and said, ”You know, in the old days, Starfleet actually had to build mock stars.h.i.+p bridges in order to run their training scenarios.”

”Interesting,” said Data. With sudden seriousness, he said, ”Transmission coming in.”

”On audio,” Wesley said.

Picard smiled at him and turned to his control board.

A broken signal came in. Most of it was garbled or obscured by static. ”Mayday, Mayday,” it said. ”This is the freighter, Kobayas.h.i.+ Maru. All systems failing. Help desperately needed. Any s.h.i.+p within hailing distance, please help.”

”Location of Kobayas.h.i.+ Maru?” Wesley said.

Data scanned his board and said, ”One two three seven mark four. The Romulan Neutral Zone.”

”Oops,” said Wesley, a little too loudly. Picard glanced at him appraisingly. ”Uh,” said Wesley, ”tactical.”

The freighter's distress message continued to come in while Wesley studied the display now on the main screen. Enterprise was the blue flas.h.i.+ng light on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone. Just the other side of the open fence that represented the Neutral Zone, the Kobayas.h.i.+ Maru was represented by an amber pulse. No Romulan vessels were on the screen, but they wouldn't show up if they were cloaked.

”Data?” Wesley said.

”It could be a trick to lure us into the Neutral Zone. If no distressed freighter exists, the Federation would look very bad.”

Wesley bit a knuckle and said, ”And what if the Mayday is genuine? Mr. Picard, lay in a course for the freighter.”

”Captain,” Picard said, ”the Romulans will interpret our incursion into the Neutral Zone as a hostile act.”

”I am aware of that, Mr. Picard. Lay in the course.”

”Aye, sir.”

On the tactical display, the proposed course of the Enterprise was an elegant black curve from its present position to that of the Kobayas.h.i.+ Maru.

Wesley was feeling a little more comfortable with command. Everybody was cooperating. The power he felt seemed to be rising from the center seat itself. ”Execute course,” he said.

”Aye.”

On the tactical display, the blue pulse of Enterprise crossed through the open mesh of the Neutral Zone limit. A few seconds later the amber light went out and the distress signal stopped in mid-word. Wesley knew he'd been had.

”Captain,” said Data. ”Boogeyman war spiders uncloaking now.”

”On visual.”

The tactical display was replaced by two large black s.h.i.+ps. Each had a central b.u.t.ton-obviously living and control quarters-from which descended three legs. At the end of each leg was a small warp engine. The war spiders were bearing down on the Enterprise at a high rate of speed.

Wesley cried, ”Mr. Data, red alert. Get us out of here, Mr. Picard.”

The red alert Klaxon began.

”Impossible, Captain. View aft.” Behind the Enterprise were two more war spiders. The s.h.i.+p shuddered.

”View forward,” Data said, and the picture changed just in time for them to see a photon torpedo, or something like it, fired from one of the war spiders.

”Damage report.”

”Primary s.h.i.+eld breached,” Data said. ”Hull damage in sections seventeen through twenty-four and thirty-six through forty. Casualties heavy.”

Sweating now, Wesley looked at the back of Picard's neck. What would he do in these circ.u.mstances? Would Picard have allowed himself to get into a situation like this? ”Recommendations,” he said. This was supposed to be a training mission, of course. It wasn't real. Let him be trained.

”At this point, Captain-” Picard said.

He was interrupted by the hiss of an alien transporter beam. Wesley watched with morbid fascination as two beings took form on the bridge. They were the most frightening things he'd ever seen. Each of the Boogeymen was short, no taller than a human eight-year-old, and each wore a long inverted-bowl-shaped coat that fell from a tight collar, making them look almost as wide as they were tall. Their heads were round and covered with wild black hair and beards. They had stubby horns and wide snaggly teeth.

One of the Boogeymen slid forward on hidden feet, brandis.h.i.+ng something that looked like a lump of wood but was probably a weapon. ”Surrender,” the Boogeyman said in a hideous, rasping parody of a human voice. ”Or all will die.”

”Freeze program,” Wesley said.

The Boogeymen froze. The telltale at the bottom of the main viewscreen stopped halfway across. The incoming damage control reports and the red alert Klaxon halted.

Data and Picard turned to look at Wesley with inquisitive expressions.

Wesley said, ”What did I do wrong?”