"The Enterprise has arrived here in answer to my request for a.s.sistance in dealing with the problem of the freebooters, Your Excellency," said Gruzinov.

"Ah," said J'drahn, noncommittally.

"We realize that you have already a.s.sured Captain Gruzinov of your full support in dealing with this problem," Picard said, "but as a matter of diplomatic courtesy, I wanted to be certain that we had your official approval to proceed."

"Yes, yes, of course, by all means," J'drahn replied, nodding emphatically. "These freebooters have proved to be an annoying embarra.s.sment to my government, and a potential impediment to our continuing good relations with the Federation. We have done all that we could to deal with this irritating problem, but our resources are limited and, as you can see, the recent transfer of authority from my esteemed father to myself has brought about numerous administrative problems. In the last few years, my father's advanced age had made it difficult for him to keep up with all the pressing matters of state that had to be addressed, and as a result, we need to make up a great deal of lost ground."

"I understand completely," said Picard. "And we shall do everything in our power to avoid adding to your burden. Our only intention is to help."

"I appreciate that, Captain Picard," J'drahn replied. "I was concerned that the Federation might not understand our current situation. Needless to say, you have my personal a.s.surances of my government's complete support in your efforts, as I have already told Captain Gruzinov. We will do whatever we can to a.s.sist you in this matter."

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency," said Picard.

"Will you be remaining on N'trahn?"

"I am afraid not, Your Excellency," said Picard. "We must be getting back to our ship."

"I see. And what are your plans?"

"We shall be conducting routine patrols of the sector and staying in communication with all incoming vessels," said Picard. "And in the event that any of the freebooters are sighted, we shall respond immediately."

J'drahn nodded. "Excellent. I am sure this will do a great deal to alleviate the complaints we have been receiving from the merchant fleet. I wish you the best of luck in your efforts, Captain. As I said, you have my complete support."

"We are very grateful, Your Excellency," said Picard. "And now we have really taken up enough of your valuable time. With your permission, we will be returning to our ship."

"It has been a pleasure to meet you, Captain," said J'drahn. "And please keep me advised of your progress."

They took their leave of Overlord J'drahn and were escorted back out to the palace courtyard. From there, they beamed back up to the Enterprise. They had refrained from discussing their meeting with the overlord in the presence of the palace guard, but as soon as they stepped off the transporter pads, Troi turned to Picard and said, "Overlord J'drahn was not pleased at our arrival, Captain. I distinctly sensed his unease."

"You think he was hiding something?" asked Picard.

"I'll bet on it," said Gruzinov.

Troi shook her head. "I cannot say for certain," she replied. "He was extremely guarded. However, that could simply be his discomfort at the fact that his government has made no progress in dealing with the problem of the freebooters."

"a.s.suming that he's even tried," Gruzinov said.

"Well, what counts is that we have received his official sanction to conduct patrols," Picard replied. "We have gone through the proper channels, and now he cannot claim that we have acted without his authority."

"I think you can count on acting without his help, as well," Gruzinov said. "Anytime I've needed anything from him, all I've heard about are his pressing 'administrative problems.' It has been his blanket excuse for doing nothing."

They headed down the corridor toward the turbolift.

"Well, so long as he continues to do nothing, then at least he cannot get in the way," Picard said. "In any case, I would much prefer to deal with this problem in my own manner."

"Are you satisfied with Lieutenant Dorn as a liason?" asked Gruzinov.

"Actually, I haven't had the chance to speak with her," Picard replied. "Counselor Troi was in charge of seeing to it that she was settled in."

"She seems most efficient, Captain," Troi said, speaking to Gruzinov. "No sooner had I brought her to her quarters than she requested to be briefed concerning the ship's routine. She strikes me as a very serious and highly professional young woman."

"Yes, she is rather humorless, isn't she?" Gruzinov said.

"Captain, I did not mean to imply-"

"It's perfectly all right, Counselor," said Gruzinov, with a smile. "Lieutenant Dorn is known around the starbase as 'the robot.' They call her that behind her back, of course. I am not supposed to know about this, but I have my sources."

"Well, since you have brought it up, sir," Troi said, "I must confess that I feel a strong sense of defensiveness about her."

"I had reached more or less the same conclusion," said Gruzinov, "though it took me a great deal longer. I envy you your Betazoid abilities, Counselor. They would certainly make my job a great deal easier. But I'm curious. To what would you attribute this defensiveness of hers? Speaking purely off the record, of course."

"I have not spent a great deal of time with her," Troi replied, cautiously, "but my intuition tells me that she is concerned about being taken seriously. She is an very beautiful young woman, and both her age and her beauty, combined with her position of responsibility at the starbase, are probably contributing factors."

Gruzinov nodded. "Yes, I can see that. She is young, even for a first lieutenant, and she is a very attractive woman, which is not really an advantage for a chief of security. She was appointed to that position based purely on her record, which is quite impressive. She graduated from the Academy at the top of her cla.s.s. When I first met her, I must admit I had my reservations. I was not convinced she would be up to the job. But she has proved herself extremely capable. She survived a very difficult and dangerous a.s.signment on Artemis VI, bringing some murderers to justice. The mission resulted in the deaths of most of the landing party." He sighed. "Unfortunately, though she has been a valuable a.s.set to my command, she has not really been able to develop much of a social life. She seems to have a certain awkwardness in that regard."

"You're saying she's all business, and her manner tends to put people off?" asked Riker.

"For a chief of security, that is not necessarily a problem," said Gruzinov. "At least insofar as her performance of her duties is concerned. However, she strikes me as a rather lonely person. I suppose, to some degree, I feel a little sorry for her. She does not seem to have any friends. Only acquaintances. Perhaps a change of environment aboard the Enterprise would do her good."

"We'll try to make her comfortable, sir," said Riker.

They stepped out onto the bridge.

"Prepare to leave orbit, Mr. Data," said Picard. He turned to Gruzinov. "Would you care to do the honors, Captain?" He gestured toward his chair.

Gruzinov glanced at Picard with surprise and then smiled. "Why, thank you, Jean-Luc. It would be an honor." He sat down in the command chair, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I must admit, it is a nice feeling," he said, with a smile. "Set course for Starbase 37, Mr. Data."

"Aye-aye, sir."

The ship left orbit and headed back on a course for Artemis VI.

"Captain," said Worf, looking up from his console, "I am picking up a distress signal."

Gruzinov glanced up at Picard.

"Put it up on the screen, Mr. Worf," said Picard.

The image that appeared on the viewscreen was that of a human Federation ship captain, dressed in a dark blue merchant-marine uniform and looking extremely agitated. "... ships in the vicinity! I repeat, we are under attack! Our position is-"

"Enter those coordinates, Mr. Data," said Picard, quickly.

Data punched in the coordinates as the merchant captain gave them.

"We've been hit!" the captain said. "Repeat, we are under attack and we've been hit! Mayday! Mayday! Any vessels in the area, please respond!"

Gruzinov immediately vacated the command chair.

"Mr. Worf, respond to that distress call and tell them we are on our way," Picard said, taking his place. "Mr. Data, warp factor six. Engage!"

"Yes, sir."

"Yellow alert," Picard said.

The alert signal sounded throughout the ship as the Enterprise accelerated.

"Estimated time to arrival, Mr. Data," said Picard.

"At this speed, I compute that we will shall reach the stated coordinates in nine point six minutes, Captain," Data replied.

"That's not good enough," Picard said. "Go to warp eight."

"Yes, sir. Estimated time to arrival is now three point seven minutes."

"Warp nine," said Picard, tensely.

"Yes, sir."

"Shields up, Mr. Worf," said Picard. "Go to red alert."

As the alert signal sounded, people throughout the ship hurried to their stations with well-drilled precision.

"Sir, the merchant ship should be in visual range momentarily," Data said.

"Onscreen, Mr. Data."

They watched the main viewscreen tensely. Seconds later, they could see the ship that issued the distress call.

"Prepare to slow to impulse power," said Picard.

"Yes, sir," Data said.

As they approached, they could see that the merchant ship was drifting, but there was no sign of the vessel that had attacked it.

"Slow to impulse power, Mr. Data. Maintain shields," said Picard. "Stand by phasers, Mr. Worf."

As the ship slowed to impulse power, they could see that the merchant vessel had sustained serious damage to one of its engine nacelles. The ship was crippled and drifting.

"Open hailing frequency, Mr. Worf," Picard said.

"Hailing frequency open, sir," said Worf.

"Attention, merchant vessel," said Picard. "This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard, of the Federation starship Enterprise. Identify yourself."

"Man, am I glad to see you!" the captain said, as he appeared onscreen.

"Identify yourself, Captain, and report!" said Picard.

"Sorry, sir. Captain Winslow Bryant, of the Federation merchant ship Wyoming. We've been attacked by a freebooter, sir. Two direct hits. We've sustained extensive damage to our right engine nacelle. Our left engine is gone. We're plumb disabled, sir."

"What are your casualties, Captain Bryant?" asked Picard.

"None, sir, believe it or not," Bryant replied. "And thank G.o.d for that. They just came flat out of nowhere and hit us like a ton of bricks, then disappeared. I guess they picked up your response to our distress call and skedaddled. If it wasn't for you, we would've had it."

"Stand by, Captain," said Picard. "We'll take you in tow." He signaled Worf to cut off communications. "Cancel red alert, Mr. Worf," he said. "Maintain yellow alert and cancel shields. Prepare to activate the tractor beam."

"Aye-aye, sir," Worf said. "Shields down, tractor beam standing by."

Suddenly, the Enterprise was rocked by a blast that knocked Gruzinov right off his feet and threw Picard back against his command chair.

"What the devil?" said Picard. "Shields up! Red alert!"

The alert signal sounded throughout the ship as Worf quickly put the shields back up, just in time as another blast struck them.

"Those were phasers!" Riker said, with astonishment.

"Damage report, Mr. Worf!" Picard commanded.

"Shields holding, Captain," Worf replied, listening to the reports as they came in. "Damage to Decks 12 and 13 from the first blast. Phasers standing by!"

"Where the devil is he?" asked Picard.

"Sensors are picking up a ship to the rear starboard, Captain, closing fast," said Data.

"Aft phaser banks, fire!" said Picard.

Worf fired the aft phasers. "Clean miss, Captain. Enemy vessel taking evasive action, but still closing."

"Full about, Mr. Data!"

As the Enterprise turned to meet the threat, Picard issued orders rapidly.

"Ready forward phasers, Mr. Worf! Onscreen!" As they looked up toward the main viewscreen, they saw an old Const.i.tution-cla.s.s starship closing in fast and firing as it came.

"It's Blaze!" Gruzinov said.

The Enterprise was struck by two blasts in rapid succession.

"Shields holding, Captain," Worf said. "Phasers locked on target."

"Fire!" said Picard.

Gruzinov held on to the back of the command chair tensely as he watched the viewscreen. The Enterprise fired its forward phaser banks. At the last possible instant, the oncoming ship veered off, disappearing off the screen.

"d.a.m.n, he's fast!" said Riker. "Faster than that old hulk has any right to be."

"Report, Mr. Worf!"

"Direct hit, Captain," Worf said.