Part 30 (1/2)
CHAPTER.
iloting the scout s.h.i.+p, Worf had been somewhat concerned as he watched Riker seated next to him. After their initial discussion, Riker had lapsed into not only silence, but a state of semi-sleep. This was somewhat frustrating to Worf, because he couldn't help but feel that Riker had been less than candid about his motivations for going to Betazed. But it might very well be that now was simply not the best time to discuss it anyway.
Riker had remained that way for hours. In a bleakly amused manner, Worf wondered just how long he would keep the s.h.i.+p going while waiting for Riker to make a further p.r.o.nouncement as to Deanna's whereabouts. After all, at present heading and speed, they'd hit the edge of the galaxy in another fourteen years. He hoped that Riker might choose to speak up sometime before then.
The entire thing still made Worf uneasy. It had been his intent to conduct a thorough search ... go to possible suppliers, individuals to whom Sela might have turned for supplies... endeavor to scan the area for warp signatures that could be traced, either from Lazon or Betazed. But this ... this operating on the strength of a psychic connection that he I M Z A D I I!.
couldn't even begin to understand ... it bothered him tremendously.
Not only that, but he also had to admit to himself that he felt a certain degree of jealousy. Not enough that Riker and Troi shared their early relations.h.i.+p with one another, but now they had some sort of intense mental relations.h.i.+p that had been magnified by Lwaxana? Here, after Deanna had told him how he should not feel in compet.i.tion with Riker, he now had to deal with the concept that Riker was closer with Deanna than ever. And he hadn't even worked for it! Lwaxana had just... just inserted it into his head. It hardly seemed fair.
Part of Worf s conscience told him that he shouldn't be concerned about such things. He should just be thankful that they might indeed have some means of tracking Deanna and Alexander that was quick and direct.
Nonetheless, he couldn't help it. And he could feel resentment of Riker building within him.
And then Riker abruptly sat up, his eyes wide. ”Just ahead,” he said. ”Bring us out of warp, Mr. Worf.”
”Taking us out of warp,” Worf confirmed. In response to his powering down of the s.h.i.+p, s.p.a.ce around them settled back to normal.
”Where are we?”
Worf looked at him in surprise. ”You are the one leading us, Commander. I would have thought you knew to where.”
”I'm linked to her, Worf, not to a starchart. Now where are we?”
”We are,” he checked quickly, ”in the Lintar system. Four planets, none habitable ... although ... Lintar Four does have a moon that has minimal...”
”That's it. I can feel it, just ahead.”
He could feel it.
He could feel it.
Worf had a sudden, unreasonable urge to slam Riker's head against the front console while shouting. ”Could you feel that?!” It was not worthy of him, he knew that. But he felt that way nonetheless, a surge of jealousy such as he had not thought possible. To a certain degree, it almost impressed him. It proved that he must really love Deanna.
Either that... or he felt threatened and angry that his property was being trespa.s.sed upon.
Moving at impulse, the scout s.h.i.+p approached the moon of Lintar IV. Will Riker was way forward on his seat, leaning on the control console, as if trying to push himself right through the front of the scout. Worf ran a quick sensor scan of the moon. ”Sensors not providing us with any life readings thus far.”
”They could be s.h.i.+elded. Would take a while longer to locate them.”
”True. You are certain they are down there, though.”
”Positive.”
Worf pursed his lips thoughtfully. ”I have a plan for how to locate them.”
”Let's hear it.”
”You guide the vessel to the planet's surface. There are two environment suits in storage in the rear of the vessel. We put the environment suits on, bring hand scanners for backup, and survey the surface of the moon. Once we have located the entrance into their lair, we sneak in, find Sela, capture her, use her in a hostage exchange to retrieve Alexander and Deanna, return to the scout s.h.i.+p, and leave the area after alerting Starfleet to their presence.”
And suddenly the sensor array lit up. Directly in front of them, s.p.a.ce seemed to s.h.i.+mmer, and then a Romulan warbird materialized directly in front of them, packing approximately twenty times the fire power possessed by the scout s.h.i.+p.
”Or we could surrender,” suggested Will.
”That,” admitted Worf, ”would probably work also.”
Tom Riker woke up and touched the other side of the bed, expecting to find the sleeping Sela. Instead it was empty, the sheet cold. She hadn't been there for a while. It was her absence that truly caused Tom to fully awaken as he sat up and rubbed his eyes in the darkness. Then the door slid open and he saw Sela standing there, fully dressed. Her arms were folded and she was regarding him with open curiosity. ”Will,” she said. ”There's been an interesting development.”
”Really,” said Tom. He sat up, the covers still around him. ”Have we finally determined what use we're going to put Deanna and Alexander to?”
”Actually, yes. Yes, I think we have. Get dressed and meet me at the interrogation room on level three.”
”All right.” There was something in her tone that he was less than enthused about, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was.
He dressed quickly and headed down to where Sela had instructed him to go. As he did so, he pa.s.sed a.s.sorted Romulans and noticed that they seemed to be glancing at him oddly. He wondered what their problem was.
He entered the interrogation room. The room was actually divided into two sections. The area where Tom was entering was used for fairly straightforward, one-on-one questioning. Adjoining was a room, visible through a plexi s.h.i.+eld, where questioning of a more intense nature, oftentimes requiring a.s.sorted medical equipment, was set up.
There were several Romulans there, including Kressn, to whom Tom had learned to take an intense dislike. For one thing, Tom had absolutely no idea how Kressn had managed to pull that little disappearing act of his, and Sela hadn't been forthcoming in telling him. Perhaps Kressn had some sort of personal cloaking device, but if that was the case, why didn't they all have them? Tom was certain that it was important, and he disliked missing that key piece of information.
Sela was there. And ...
Tom came to a halt as he stood face-to-face with Will Riker. Next to Will was Worf, nodding grimly to himself.
”Isn't this cozy,” Sela asked. ”Most, most intriguing.” She did a slow circle of the room. ”We did a DNA scan on our new arrival here and matched him against yours, Will. He's an exact duplicate. Care to explain?”
”I would have thought he would have been more than happy to do it,” said Tom.
”Oh, I'm sure he would. But we haven't asked him anything yet and he, being a good Starfleet officer, hasn't volunteered anything. So I'm asking you, Will: Who is this?”
Tom didn't hesitate.
”His name is Tom Riker,” said Tom. ”At least, that's what he calls himself.” As he spoke, he watched Will's face, but Will kept his expression carefully neutral. Obviously Will, still uncertain about the situation, was allowing Tom to take the lead, at least for the moment. And Worf, good junior officer that he was, was looking to Will as to how to handle things.
In quick, broad strokes, Tom outlined the bizarre set of circ.u.mstances that had led to the creation of a second Riker. He only made one minor subst.i.tution and one omission: He claimed that the other was Tom when, in fact, the other was Will. And he stated that Tom Riker had been given the rank of lieutenant and a.s.signed to the Gandhi... both of which were true enough. He did not make any mention, of course, of Tom-i.e., himself-having joined the Maquis. The concept of two Rikers going wrong might be too much to try and convince her of.
Gone wrong.
Odd ... he had never thought of himself in those terms before. He had always been able to rationalize up one side and down the other why he had taken the actions that he had. But now, seeing the unrelenting and openly contemptuous gaze of Will Riker upon him, he felt...
.. . lost.
”Incredible,” Sela said at last. She glanced at Kressn and Tom couldn't help but notice that Kressn, ever so slightly, nodded. ”And he is Tom... and you are Will. Correct?”
”When you get right down to it, to be perfectly truthful... we're both Will Riker. One just calls himself something different for reference.”