"Let's hope some life support on the cargo ship is working. What about the warbird? What systems have they up and running?"

Data shook his head. "Scans are not precise at these low power levels."

Picard turned in thought, glancing at an engineering station that was dark, of necessity, to conserve power. "In any case, it's not the Romulans' doing. And whatever is happening isn't limited to this vessel. a.s.suming the Romulans aren't deceiving us by pretending to have similar power troubles ..."

La Forge nodded. "Lucky for us if they're not."

The captain pressed out a breath into a sigh. "Being stranded in the Neutral Zone doesn't feel particularly lucky, Mr. La Forge. Even with the recent tone of accord." He tapped a command into the console before them, then had to type in an access pa.s.sword to bypa.s.s the power restrictions in effect. "If this problem is localized to this region of s.p.a.ce... We began losing power here," Picard said, pointing at an area of the graphic he'd requested from the computer. "Let's a.s.sume whatever is causing this doesn't have an effect outside a certain perimeter. Let's also a.s.sume that if we go back the way we came our ability to generate power will return as well."

"Those are a lot of a.s.sumptions, sir," Data said.

"I'm open to a better suggestion, Mr. Data."

The android looked to La Forge, then back to the captain. "I have none, sir. But maneuvering with only chemical thrusters-"

"Yes," Picard said gravely, turning off the monitor before him. "Retracing an impulse-speed journey with only thrusters would take days."

"Sixty-two point three two days, sir," Data said.

Only two decimal places. Data was weak.

The captain looked up again at the looming, silent engine core. Picard was used to having the power of a hundred suns at his fingertips. The laws of physics said he still did. At least the laws he knew said that. There was a mystery here, and he wanted to solve it for more reasons then just freeing his ship from the flypaper they'd been glued to. "Well, gentlemen," he said matter-of-factly, "I suggest we find a non-engine alternative to propulsion."

"Nonengine propulsion, sir?" La Forge asked. "There isn't a solar sail big enough to move the Enterprise at the speed we'll need to-"

"No, Commander. I have another idea. If the Romulans will help."

La Forge's eyes grew wide, then became a disbelieving squint. "I don't like this plan already."

"Of course, Captain." J'emery chuckled humorlessly. "I'm certain the only solution to our situation is for me to allow your engineers access to my ship's most critical systems. Will your doctor need to perform an operation on me as well? What about my crew?" Suddenly the Romulan commander's false smile was gone. "Should I have every third man commit suicide so as to save room in your brig?"

Picard sighed inwardly and glanced back to Deanna Troi, ship's counselor, empath, and confidant.

"He's taking this better than you thought," she offered, then looked to Riker for agreement.

"Much."

The captain grunted a nod and turned back to the forward viewscreen and J'emery's angry visage.

"You know as well as I do that this isn't a trap set by either of us. Our respective governments have been working together for months. The trade embargo between our governments has been lifted. We have no quarrel with you. And if our goal was to destroy your vessel, and we'd laid this snare, you would've been killed by now. I'll a.s.sume the reverse is true as well. Our subs.p.a.ce communications are down, so we'll also a.s.sume neither of us is waiting on fleet support. However, we've launched a communications buoy and confirmed to Starfleet our position and situation. Doing that also verified that approximately four light minutes from our respective positions this ... dampening field, whatever it is, weakens enough for normal power systems to come on-line. We can sit here and argue, or we can both help one another end this situation peacefully." The captain walked slowly back to his command chair, lowering himself down with just the slightest adjustments to his uniform tunic. "I realize our personal trust factor isn't especially high, no matter what our governments may have agreed to. I'm willing to shuttle aboard your ship myself, bring the parts necessary, and help with the required modifications." He nodded. "More rea.s.surance than that, I cannot offer."

Gravity restored, SubCommander Folan was able to easily step to her commander's side. "You accepted the Enterprise's proposition more rapidly than I expected."

J'emery smiled. "Yes, I did. But Picard is too gullible to see that. We have enough power for disrupters?"

Folan nodded, her superior's treachery now clear. "Yes, Commander. Two short bursts."

"Excellent. One for Picard's shuttle, another for Enterprise herself. And they are without shields...." His eyes a bit gleeful, J'emery pounded his fist lightly on the arm of his command chair. "With Picard gone, and the Enterprise further disabled, the Praetor will have a nice prize when we return home."

"If I may, Commander," Folan said. "This is directly against current Senate policy with regard to Federation vessels. As well, I believe the Enterprise is truly offering a means of escape for us both. I've gone over their data-"

"Science is your strength, Folan, but tactics are not. You are as gullible as Picard."

Folan pursed her lips and stifled a retort that would not serve her well. She had long tired of hearing she was just a science officer and not a Romulan military officer in full. There were other ways to serve the Empire and the Romulan people, she thought. That such ways were deemed unimportant was foolhardy and... well, it annoyed her. "How else might we restore our powerless systems?"

"Even without communications from us, we will be missed. In a day, at the most, a ship will be searching for us," J'emery said, dismissing her concern with a wave of his hand.

"I fear life support will not last that long, Commander. Especially if we divert battery power to the weapons array."

J'emery turned directly toward her as he rose from his seat. "You have your orders, Folan. When Picard is halfway here, destroy his shuttle. Then target the Enterprise and disable their remaining systems."

A shuttle, dragging with thrusters only-without shields, without weapons, without much of anything but life support and a crawling speed. There were tests like this at the Academy, Picard thought, boring little exercises about running in minimal power under adverse circ.u.mstances. This was why. What they didn't train him for was the frustration of being a starship captain who was used to riding a stallion, and now had to suffer on the back of a mule.

All this for one cargo vessel that had strayed off course... perhaps. There was no firm data on the cargo hauler. It was out of sensor range, out of visual range ... Picard only hoped the ship was undamaged and recoverable.

He thumbed a panel. "Picard to Enterprise."

"Shapiro here, sir."

"Patch me into the Romulan vessel, Ensign." "Aye, sir." Fernery's stern features appeared on Picard's small viewscreen. "Captain?" The Romulan's tone had a bitter edge, and his expression was that of someone who'd tasted wine gone to vinegar.

"Since we'll need all available power for your tractor beams, I'd rather dock manually. Is that acceptable to you?"

The Romulan smiled an odd little smile. "That will be acceptable, Captain Picard. Very."

The screen went blank.

"Lock disrupters on target," J'emery ordered.

The weapons officer shook his head. "Target lock unavailable, Commander. Sensors hampered, unknown cause."

J'emery frowned. "Manual target," he spat. "And don't miss."

Folan had never been fond of J'emery, but he was being especially mush-headed today, she thought. She didn't trust Picard fully, but she knew the science of what he proposed, and the science was sound.

Of course, there was no scientific explanation for all that had happened to their respective ships. At least not yet.

She ran the power-consumption projections again.

There might be enough power for life support, but all that depended on when another ship would arrive. As it was, they had another forty-three minutes of life support. If they crowded the crew into a common area and shut down all other systems, maybe that would give them two days. Maybe. And that was only if they didn't use any of their weapons. Command or not, J'emery's was a fool's decision.

Really, Picard's plan was the only foreseeable way. Each ship would be able to tractor the other, using one another as a ma.s.s with which to propel the opposite ship out of the ... "power desert," for lack of a better term. The Enterprise would pull the Makluan past itself, flinging the Romulan warbird out of the desert, and the Makluan would do the same for Enterprise, propelling the Federation ship out in the opposite direction. Without the power of the other ship, no one ship would be able to escape alone.

Her commander was blind to it, though. And so what could she do but sit and watch? In moments Picard would be dead and their chance would be lost. He brought with him the power coupling that would allow battery power to be transferred to the tractor beams. All battery power... meaning that if this didn't work, there'd be nothing left for life support, let alone weapons.

Yes, it was all a risk. But... the science worked. The plan would work. It had to.

Folan's eyes lingered on the weapon's control console. She could bleed away the power from here, make it become lost in the system. With all that's happened, it would be a mystery. No one would be blamed.

Her fingers brushed the panel.

It would be so easy.

She glanced at J'emery, and then at the weapons officer across the bridge.

Mutiny. Treason. She could be put to death for this, slowly.

Or... she could not do it, and likely asphyxiate with her crew. Loyal, but dead.

Those were her choices now: ardent but extinct, or disloyal and perhaps ... well, perhaps still dead.

She chose.

"Fire," J'emery ordered.

"Yes, Commander. We-Sir, I don't have power." The weapons officer was incredulous, of course. Not only had Folan put her own life at risk, but his as well. If J'emery blamed the weapons officer... Commander J'emery said nothing. Yet, if focused, his glare alone could have destroyed Picard's shuttle.

"Welcome the captain aboard when he docks, and see that he's treated with respect," the commander growled to Folan. "I want him guarded at all times," he added, then turned to the weapons officer. "You're reduced a step in rank and confined to your quarters. Dismissed." He turned to Folan. "SubCommander!"

Nervously, she stepped forward. Did he know?

"Why?" he demanded. "I want to know why. And you're going to find out. How did this happen to the power? And when we know who to blame, I will deal with them personally."

"Yes, Commander."

"Find out, quickly," he barked.

Folan nodded, then breathed a sigh of relief as she left the bridge. She'd gotten away with a crime most high, and had perhaps slipped her neck out of a very confining noose. For now, she thought, and suppressed a shudder. Only for now.

It hadn't taken as long as Picard expected. Romulan technology was different, but not too different in the area of tractor beams and power conduits. Within thirty minutes he was on the Romulan bridge, meeting J'emery face to face. Folan, the science officer and the person who'd supervised Picard's work and aided him at times as well, had been distant, if civil. She'd complimented his plan, although he was sure to explain that, while it was his idea, the details of implementation belonged to his chief engineer. She'd nodded rather coldly at the time, but seemed to appreciate his humility. But now, on the bridge, she seemed even more detached.

"We're ready when you are," Riker said, his image shaky and static-peppered on the Romulan main view screen.

Picard looked to Folan, who nodded. J'emery seemed curious, anxious. He expected a trick of some kind, no doubt.

"We are ready, Commander," Folan told J'emery.

"Fine. Initiate at will."

There was a brief countdown and then a crackling noise as the Romulan vessel shook around them.

"We are moving," Folan said, apparently a bit surprised. "Enterprise is drawing us toward them, and they toward us."

Slowly at first, but gaining speed as they went, the warbird and Enterprise moved toward each other, pulling one another closer and closer until they veered apart, pushing off and away.

But the tractor beams drained the last bit of power. The Romulan viewscreen went dark first. Then the control consoles. Then the lights.

The din of Romulan crew voices was too fast for the universal translator to handle. Picard turned in the dark on an unfamiliar bridge and thought he b.u.mped into a guardrail, or perhaps a guard.

Then the lights returned, as did the hum of the control circuits and panels.

The captain had b.u.mped into Folan, who was hunched over her now-active console.

"It has worked," she said, more animated than Picard had heard her until then. "We are clear of the dead zone and power is returning to normal output levels. Batteries are recharging. Enterprise is clear as well. Sensors are online."

Picard's lips curled up just a touch. "Thank you for your help. We couldn't have done this without your keen knowledge."

"You have no idea," Folan said, straightening, her eyes striking out toward him, lingering a moment, then looking quickly down.

Picard furrowed his brows. There was something in her tone, in that look... something that sold the idea that Picard was in her debt, and not the other way around.

"Thank you, Captain," J'emery said. "But we still have the matter of this treaty violation, since the new treaties have not been registered yet in our official records-"

He motioned for his guards.

"I'm sure," Picard said, "that will be handled in the upper echelons of the diplomatic services, Commander." He tapped his comm badge. "Picard to Enterprise. Beam me out."

A familiar hum filled the air.

"Wait, Captain-" J'emery demanded.

Too late. Picard dematerialized in a wash of sparkle and light.

"He plotted that! Deceitful, manipulative Terrans!"

Folan bent over her console again. "They've also beamed out their shuttle." Inwardly, she smiled. Pi card did trust, but neither was he a fool. Had the situation been reversed, she might have done the same.

J'emery was furious. There was little to substantiate holding Picard or Enterprise, but he'd have done it anyway, just to see if he could learn anything new about the Federation ship or her crew.

Folan could see in her commander's eyes that he wanted to fire on Enterprise. She considered counseling him against it. Or for it. Whatever might put her in his good graces. Of course, she was but his science officer and not a military advisor, so no recommendation would go without punishment.

She stayed silent, as did J'emery, fuming.

Picard materialized on his own bridge. "Status report, Number One."

"Power is back on all levels, sir, as if someone flipped a switch. Batteries are recharging."

"Excellent."

"We aim to please." Riker smiled and vacated the command chair.

"Can we get a sensor lock on the cargo ship?" The captain lowered himself into his command chair. "We need to find a way to haul-"

"Captain," Chamberlain said, "I can barely read the cargo vessel, sir, but..." He paused.

"Lieutenant? " Eyes darting up, Picard watched the viewer as the drifting form of the cargo hauler appeared on the screen.

"No life-signs, sir. No power."