"Very well, stand by. Picard out." He turned to H'druhn. "If you require any more proof, General, I am about to provide it for you. Come with me, please. Counselor, would you please escort our guests?"

They made their way quickly from the transporter room down the corridor to the turbolift.

"There has to be another explanation for all this," H'druhn said, as the turbolift took them to the bridge. "I cannot believe that K'tralli soldiers would attack their own men! Or that J'drahn could be behind it!"

"Believe it, General," said Z'gral. "J'drahn controls the army now. I have seen the sort of men he has been promoting to positions of command in our regiments, and when I dared to criticize him and his policies, he had me confined to house arrest at my own estate under the pretense that I was ill and incapacitated. And to insure that none of the men who guarded me would suffer from divided loyalties, he had them all replaced with Romulan centurions."

"No," H'druhn said, "there must be some mistake, Z'gral. J'drahn would never betray me, much less his own people. Someone else is behind all this, someone who is trying to discredit my son."

"General, we have proof of J'drahn's involvement with the Romulans," Z'gral insisted.

H'druhn shook his head, unable to accept it. "No, I cannot believe that. Not my own son ..."

As they came onto the bridge, Data got up from the captain's chair and took his own post at the navigation console. Counselor Troi a.s.sumed her place at the captain's side. Picard immediately contacted Gruzinov.

"Picard to landing party. Report."

"Gruzinov here. We're still holding. They have attempted another a.s.sault and been repelled. They tried having their transports fly over the palace and fire on the upper floors, but we shot one of them down and the other one pulled back out of range. I've a.s.sumed responsibility for ordering lethal settings on the phasers. The attackers are keeping their distance for the moment. However, they may be expecting reinforcements. The palace guard have taken heavy casualties. They're confused, but I've a.s.sumed command, and for the present we seem to have the situation under control."

"I want them to think the general is still inside the palace," said Picard. "Hold on for as long as you can, but if your position looks untenable, let me know at once."

"Affirmative," Gruzinov said.

"Picard out."

The turbolift doors opened and Lieutenant Worf came back onto the bridge and took his post.

"Mr. Worf, get me Overlord J'drahn," Picard said.

"Aye, Captain."

Picard turned to Z'gral and H'druhn. "General, if you would be so kind as to stand over there, please? I would prefer your son not to see you when we make contact."

The old general still looked shocked by what had happened, but he complied without comment. Z'gral stood beside him. Moments later, Worf reported that he had gotten through.

"Onscreen, Mr. Worf," Picard said.

J'drahn appeared on the screen, his expression tense. "Captain Picard," he said. "I am truly astonished at your arrogance. I am aware of the force you have dispatched to my father's palace in an attempt to hold him hostage and I demand its immediate withdrawal! I further demand that you immediately surrender yourself to K'tralli custody to await trial on charges of-"

"Trial?" said Picard, interrupting him. "It is you who should be standing trial. And I intend to see to it. The palace guard will testify that it was they who were attacked by your men, in an attempt to storm the palace and a.s.sa.s.sinate General H'druhn."

"The palace guard will testify to nothing," J'drahn replied, contemptuously. "In a short while, they, along with your Starfleet personnel, will all be dead. And my officers will testify that they were killed defending the palace from an attack by your people, Picard. It will be my contention that you attempted to seize my father and hold him hostage in order to engineer a coup designed to topple my government. And there will be no witnesses left alive to contradict me."

"You seem to have forgotten one thing," Picard said. "Your father knows the truth. Or do you intend to have him killed, as well?"

"It will be reported that my father died heroically, commanding the palace guard in defense against your cowardly attack," J'drahn said. "And with his death, the people will rally behind me. You cannot win, Picard. But I am willing to give you one last chance to withdraw your people and depart K'tralli s.p.a.ce."

"And leave the K'tralli Empire to the Romulans?" Picard said.

"Our alliance with the Romulans will make us stronger than we ever could have been under our treaty with the Federation," said J'drahn. "And there is nothing you can do about it, Picard. But you can still leave and save yourself, before it is too late. Think about your own fate, and leave the destiny of the K'tralli Empire to me."

"I would sooner see you dead," H'druhn said coldly, stepping up to stand beside Picard.

J'drahn started with shock and the color drained out of his face. "Father!"

"That you can still call me 'Father' without choking on the word astonishes me," H'druhn said, bitterly. "They told me of your treachery, but I did not want to believe it, not even when I heard it from Z'gral. Yet now you stand condemned out of your own mouth, a craven traitor to me and to our people. I curse the day that you were born, and I will die before I see you betray everything I ever fought for!"

"Then you will die," J'drahn said flatly, and cut off the transmission.

H'druhn seemed to collapse into himself. "My own son ..." he said, with despair, and his legs buckled. Z'gral caught him.

"Counselor, please escort the general to sickbay," Picard said. "Colonel Z'gral, if you would be so kind as to accompany him ..."

"Certainly, Captain."

As they left the bridge, Picard contacted Gruzinov. "Picard to landing party... ."

"Gruzinov here."

"Stand by to beam up. We'll be bringing the palace guard up along with you," said Picard.

"Have them be prepared."

"Standing by," Gruzinov said.

"Mr. Worf, have the transporter rooms start beaming up the landing party and the palace guard."

"Captain, Romulan Warbird uncloaking!" Worf said, suddenly.

"Cancel that last order! Shields up! Red alert!"

Chapter Nine.

"CAPTAIN, WE ARE BEING HAILED," said Worf.

"Onscreen, Mr. Worf."

A moment later, the face of Tribune Kronak appeared on the main viewscreen. "Captain Picard. I am advised that you have an armed force on the planet surface, currently engaging elements of the K'tralli military. I must insist that they be withdrawn at once."

"So that you may attack the moment we lower our shields?" Picard said. "I think not, Tribune."

"I stand to gain nothing by firing on your ship, Picard," said Kronak. "I have already won the battle."

"Indeed?" Picard replied. "And just how have you accomplished that?"

"You have accomplished it for me," Kronak replied, with a smile. "You have both Colonel Z'gral and General H'druhn aboard your vessel, do you not? J'drahn may have failed to eliminate his father, but that is really of little consequence now. You have effectively removed the two men who posed the greatest threat to J'drahn's position. If they are aboard your ship, then they can do no damage on N'trahn. All that remains is for you to withdraw your landing party and depart. I will communicate with J'drahn and have him break off his a.s.sault on the palace so that you may remove your people safely."

"You expect me to trust you?" said Picard.

"That is entirely up to you," Kronak replied. "The attacking forces at the palace are about to receive reinforcements, and it is doubtful that your people will be able to hold them off for long. It really makes no difference to me, one way or the other, but it would be a pity if they were to die for nothing. Take them back aboard your ship, Picard, and then you will be free to leave unmolested."

"And what if I refuse?"

"That would be most unfortunate for you," said Kronak. "Observe your scanners."

"Captain, a second Warbird is uncloaking!" Worf said.

"Onscreen, Mr. Worf."

The image on the viewscreen changed, switching to exterior scanners. As they watched, a third Warbird uncloaked.

"They have us boxed in!" said Worf.

Picard compressed his lips into a tight grimace.

"As you can see, Captain," Kronak's voice came on, over the image on the screen, "I have received reinforcements, as well." The image on the screen changed as Worf switched back to visual on the communication. Kronak smiled. "And whether you trust me enough to lower your shields or not is really immaterial. You must realize that even with your shields up, you would never withstand the combined firepower of three D'deridex-cla.s.s Warbirds. I will give you some time to consider my offer. Meanwhile, I will have J'drahn break off his attack. It would be a shame if your people were killed while you were trying to make up your mind."

The screen went blank.

Picard exhaled heavily. "d.a.m.n that smug, arrogant ..." His voice trailed off. He clenched his fists in frustration. "Inform the transporter rooms to prepare to beam up the landing party, Mr. Worf, and stand by to lower shields."

"Captain!" Worf said. "Sir, with all due respect-"

"I gave you an order, Mr. Worf!"

"Aye-aye, sir."

Picard took a deep breath. "He wants us to get them back on board. That way, he can be sure to eliminate us all. General H'druhn, Colonel Z'gral, Captain Gruzinov ... he gets us all in one fell swoop. And then he can be sure there will be no one to contradict whatever J'drahn claims afterward. He has us both outgunned and outflanked. But we will not make it easy for him."

"Transporter rooms standing by, Captain," Worf said.

"Maintain red alert, Mr. Worf, and stand by phasers and photon torpedoes," Picard said. "Mr. Data, stand by for evasive maneuvers on my order."

"Aye-aye, sir," Data said.

"Have the transporter rooms report the moment the landing party is safely back aboard the ship," Picard said, "and then restore shields immediately and stand by for engagement. The moment he sees our shields go back up, he's going to open fire."

"Aye-aye, sir," Worf said, pa.s.sing the order along to the transporter rooms. He glanced up. "Ready, Captain."

Picard tensed. "Lower shields and energize," he said.

"Shields down," said Worf, grimly.

"Come on, come on," Picard said, under his breath.

"Landing party safely aboard, sir. Shields up!" said Worf. A second later, he added, "Warbirds powering up to fire!"

"Evasive maneuvers, Mr. Data!"

"Aye, sir."

"Warbirds firing!" said Worf.

The Enterprise rocked as the fire from one of the Warbirds struck its shields.

"Shields holding!" Worf said.

"Fire photon torpedoes, full spread!"

"Torpedoes away," said Worf. "Warbirds taking evasive action."

The Enterprise rocked again as the fire from another Warbird struck the shields.

"Damage to aft port shield!" said Worf, as Data maneuvered the Enterprise in an attempt to avoid the fire coming from all three Warbirds. "Shield at fifty percent!"

"Fire phasers!"

The Enterprise rocked once again as it was struck by more enemy fire. The turbolift doors opened and Gruzinov came rushing onto the bridge. He staggered as the ship was struck by disruptor fire and only managed to keep from falling by grabbing onto an equipment console.

"Damage to forward shields!" Worf said. "Aft port shield has failed!"

"The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are shooting us to pieces!" said Gruzinov.

"Take communications!" said Picard. "I want damage-control reports!"

"Right."

With Gruzinov's help, Worf was now free to concentrate solely on the weapons. The Enterprise rocked again as fire from one of the Warbirds scored a hit.

"Fire at will, Mr. Worf!"

"Aft starboard shield at fifty percent!" Gruzinov said. "Damage to port shield!"

Worf fired the phasers once again. "Direct hit!" he said, triumphantly.

The Warbird they struck had sustained serious damage, but it was still capable of firing. Picard knew that it was only a matter of time. They could not hope to outmaneuver all three of them.

"Full about, Mr. Data!"

Kronak was on their flank, but there was another Warbird at their exposed rear, where one of their shields had failed completely and the other was only at fifty percent. One more hit there and it could finish them.

Suddenly, one of the Warbirds was struck by three photon torpedoes, one after another, in rapid succession. The first took out its shields, the second and third scored direct hits, and the Warbird exploded into a ma.s.sive sheet of flame.