"Commander! We are being hailed by Gul Ocett," Worf informed Riker.

"On screen," Riker ordered.

Gul Ocett was livid. "Is this a declaration of war by the Federation?"

"You fired on us," Riker pointed out. "We did not return fire."

"Your behavior has been aggressive," Ocett snapped. "I will complain to Central Command"

"Could you take back your operatives, first?" Riker asked mildly. "Oh, and we're returning them minus their subs.p.a.ce transmission devices."

'Transmission devices ... ?"

"Jos Mengred and Pakat are currently in our brig, having sent a transmission which sparked our... aggressive maneuvers."

Data thought Ocett's reaction was fascinating. Her anger and concern were mixed in equal parts, as she clearly wondered what Mengred had been doing without her knowledge.

"So if you could lower your shields," Riker told her. "We'll beam them back to you."

Ocett hesitated. "I would be foolish to lower my shields after your display."

Riker actually laughed, and the tension on the bridge eased somewhat. "If you're worried, we'll shuttle them back to you."

His offer sounded like a taunt. Gul Ocett grew angrier. "You will comply with our original agreement!"

Once again the screen went abruptly dark.

Riker slyly commented, "She isn't big on goodbyes, is she?"

The rest of the bridge crew laughed, while Data wished he could partic.i.p.ate in their merriment.

"That was a close one," Riker admitted. . "Aye, sir," Data said. "Less than 60,000 kilometers."

Everyone on the bridge laughed again. Data was pleased he had made a joke, even if he hadn't intended to. He smiled at everyone. All he wanted was to join in.

Chapter Ten.

Jos mengred was waiting in the brig, with Pakat glumly sitting beside him, when a strange feeling pa.s.sed through him. He shuddered, flexing his tingling hands.

Suspiciously he glanced at the guard, but she was seated at the control/display panel apparently monitoring security activity. Mengred shivered again. This time his entire body shook.

Pakat was looking at him strangely. Mengred ignored his aide, blinking rapidly to try to clear his vision. His neck ridges kept trembling, and though he clenched his fists, silently ordering himself to maintain control, there was nothing he could do to stop the tremors.

He kept wondering what sort of biological weapon could be carried on a subs.p.a.ce carrier wave. It would require a wide range in order to affect the many different humanoids in the Federation. Could it affect Carda.s.sians, as well?

Certainly if Central Command was developing a biological weapon that could affect Carda.s.sians, then the Obsidian Order would have discovered its existence wouldn't they?

Pakat eased away slightly. "What is it, sir?"

Mengred realized his legs were visibly shaking. He tried to still them with his hands, but he could not control them. "I don't understand...."

Pakat's eyes were wide, and he got up, backing away toward the forcefield.

"What is happening?" Mengred raised his hands, which no longer seemed to be his own.

The security guard was alerted and she stood up behind the console, one finger ready to call for backup. "What are you doing in there?"

Pakat whirled, blurting out, "Get me out of here!"

Mengred tried to stand, but his knees would not support him. He felt as if he was floating, looking down on his failing body. He stumbled and fell to the floor.

He could hear the commotion as he raised his head. The security guard was too well-trained to leave her post, even though Pakat was clamoring to be let out.

Mengred managed to pull himself back up on the bench, bracing himself against the wall, unable to sit up straight. He was hearing each heartbeat suddenly amplified. It sounded like blood was gushing through his ears with each beat.

After far too long, more red-uniformed guards entered the brig, holding phaser rifles ready.

Worf appeared next to the forcefield. "Do you have a problem?"

"Let me out of here," Pakat demanded. "Something is wrong with him."

Mengred raised his head, breathing heavily as he tried to focus on Worf. Obviously, something had gone seriously wrong with him. He didn't know what else to say so he remained silent.

"You first," Worf ordered Pakat, pointing to the adjourning bay. "Step out and go in there."

There was a precise procedure for lowering the forcefield. Mengred wished he could take advantage of it somehow, just because they seemed to expect it. But he could hardly hold himself up at the moment.

The next thing he knew, the doctor had arrived. Mengred glanced at her warily as she pulled out her tricorder. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Worf stiffened. "Dr. Crusher is the senior medical officer on board the Enterprise."

Dr. Crusher smiled down at him as she ran the medical scanner through the air in front of him. "I know enough about Carda.s.sian physiology to say you've gotten a radiation dose of 300 rads. Congratulations."

"Radiation poisoning ..." he said softly. "Is it life-threatening"

"You'll feel terrible for a few days, but you should recover completely." She injected him with something, and he clapped his hand over the spot on his neck, gaping up at her. He usually checked anything that went into his body.

She began to pa.s.s a cellular regenerator over him.

He was outraged at the liberties she was taking, but reluctant to stop her. His own people would have done far less to ensure his health.

"You'll be returning to your own ship soon," Dr. Crusher added, packing away her gear. "Better have your own doctor examine you."

He shook his head, his mouth open.

"Or not...," she said doubtfully. "Anyway, getting your first treatment quickly makes all the difference. It's likely your hair won't fall out like Riker's. Then again...."

Mengred weakly touched his slicked-back hair, appalled by the idea. He wanted to ask if the radiation was caused by a Carda.s.sian weapon, but the very thought of being so open was absurd. He resolutely shut his mouth, knowing that he couldn't trust himself in this moment of supreme weakness. If only Pakat had not seen it happen... his authority over his aide was probably undermined beyond repair.

He shut his eyes, concentrating on getting his strength back. He could not allow Gul Ocett to see him this way. It would destroy everything he had worked for, all those months of building blocks of dissension and covert alliances among the crew. He could not afford to lose his power base at this time.

When the Carda.s.sian warship finally proceeded to the rendezvous point, the Enterprise cautiously followed along behind.

Data took advantage of the forty-three minutes remaining to complete local scans for tetryon neutrinos.

Tetryon traces could usually be found only through specific byproducts, such as the gamma radiation that was produced when the tetryons pa.s.sed through the plasma of the Badlands. Data conjectured that the original Enterprise had experienced this complex radiation both times, which had contributed to the delay in determining that they were dealing with the same phenomenon.

Data was uncertain as to the source of the tetryons. The subs.p.a.ce shockwave could have emanated from the Badlands, but his simulations indicated that the fast-scattering tetryons would only sustain a shockwave up to 5 million kilometers away from the source. In several instances that it had occurred, the afflicted vessel had been further than that from the plasma storms.

In fact, nothing they had discovered could explain such a phenomenon. Data was pleased to have such a challenging problem to work on.

"Time for our guests to go home," Commander Riker announced. "Data, you can transport them in shuttlecraft 9.1 don't want to risk sending the Hawking again. They may have broken the command codes."

Data shut down his computations, rerouting them to his quarters. It would take many hours of studying the sensor readings of the Badlands and the onboard scans and diagnostics to reach a theory. Meanwhile, he logged his science report, which designated the Badlands sector as biologically hazardous, with a recommendation for all Starfleet vessels to avoid the sector.

"Do you intend to warn the Carda.s.sians about the subs.p.a.ce tetryon wave?" Data inquired.

"I'll let Starfleet Command make that decision," Commander Riker replied.

Data nodded in acknowledgment, then left the bridge. He went directly to the shuttle bay, knowing Worf and a security team would escort the Carda.s.sians to the hangar.

Data prepared the shuttle for departure while he waited for the Carda.s.sians to arrive. Shuttlecraft 9 was technically a shuttlepod, a much smaller version of a shuttlecraft. He approved Riker's choice, preferring not to take the Hawking after the Carda.s.sians had been at liberty to examine her systems.

Worf arrived with Mengred and Pakat, surrounded by half a dozen guards. Data had seen Dr. Crusher's report as it pa.s.sed through his operations panel to Commander Riker. She had treated Jos Mengred and reported that he would recover with no serious side effects. No new patients had arrived, and she believed the worst was over. The entire Enterprise crew had received at least one cellular regeneration treatment to counteract any exposure to the elusive tetryons. A total of two hundred and forty of the one thousand crew members had been placed on medical leave, and would be unable to resume duty for at least one to three days.

Data knew that as soon as he returned from delivering the Carda.s.sians, the Enterprise would have to depart the Badlands sector. They were ordered to pick up personnel for the Melona IV colonization project.

Jos Mengred climbed stiffly on board the shuttlepod, with help from two Starfleet security guards. His skin was chalky and distinctly yellow, whereas Pakat was a healthy flush green color. Mengred fell into the chair next to Data, breathing rapidly through his open mouth. Pakat huddled as far away as he could in the rear.

"So, it is over," Mengred said to Data.

Data was still not accustomed to the way Mengred looked at him so closely. "Preparing for departure," Data reported, closing the hatch.

The Enterprise cleared them, and Riker ordered, voice-only, "Make it fast, Data, we have a deadline to meet on Melona IV."

"Aye, sir," Data replied. "Shuttlecraft 9 out"

Data swung the little shuttlecraft up and out of the hanger. For a moment they drifted over the glossy white hull of the Enterprise, near the sparkling windows. Data noted the lack of tiny figures in the rear observation decks. Usually children gathered to watch shuttlecraft take off, but now too many of them were sick or had sick parents.

"I felt the phaser hits," Mengred said. "Gul Ocett fired on you. Who fired first?"

"The Enterprise did not fire on the warship." Data circled the ship and headed toward the Carda.s.sian warship.

"You didn't?" Mengred wondered, almost as if to himself. "Why not? I've been all over this ship. I've seen the power grids. You could have destroyed the warship."

"That is not our objective," Data informed him.

"She fired on you ... it was the perfect opportunity. Why didn't Commander Riker return fire?"

"I do not question my superior officers," Data said evenly. "However, I suspect Commander Riker did not want to start a war."

The warship was growing larger on the screen. Data maneuvered around the rear, sinking toward the open hanger.

"You're curious about Carda.s.sians, aren't you?" Mengred asked. He gestured toward the ship. "Would you like to stay on a while? Observe us?"

"That is not part of my duties." Data was indeed curious, but he was glad he wouldn't be ordered to observe the Carda.s.sians.

"It could be arranged." Mengred's voice lowered, as if to keep Pakat from hearing him. "You could work for me."

"I must complete my current a.s.signment on board the Enterprise," Data said diplomatically.

Mengred's eyes narrowed, and he hissed, "I could make you stay."

Data met his eyes, realizing that the Carda.s.sian meant it. "The Enterprise would not allow that."

Mengred considered him. "They would fight to get you back? You say they backed down before."

Data deliberately did not reply until he had landed the shuttlepod on the deck and put the systems on hold.

Then he turned to Mengred, telling him, "The Enterprise would not allow you to keep me prisoner." He opened the door and gestured politely. "And I suspect that Gul Ocett also does not wish to start a war to procure you an aide."

Pakat heard as he left through the door, trying to get away from Mengred. Mengred hesitated, then slowly stood up. "Your talents are being wasted there."

"Perhaps it is not I who should consider leaving, Jos Mengred. Perhaps it is yourself."

Mengred gave Data a startled look, but refrained from answering.

Data waited until Mengred reluctantly stepped outside, then he closed the hatch. The Carda.s.sian dispatch officer cleared him, and he lifted from the deck. It wasn't until the forcefield dropped and he was back out hi s.p.a.ce that he was certain Mengred wasn't about to try to keep him on board the warship.

Data could see the swirling plasma storms of the Badlands beyond the Enterprise. He decided to retain the image for one of his next paintings. The white ship looked exceptionally sleek against the blurry red and gold plasma clouds.

With his report, Data had already ensured the Badlands sector would be treated with the utmost respect and caution in the future. But for the remainder of the few minutes it took for him to return to the Enterprise, Data continued to scan the Badlands, trying to gather every bit of information he could.

He was certain that a.n.a.lysis of the data would fill many of his future leisure hours as he wrestled with the puzzle of the tetryon shock wave. The Badlands was a fascinating phenomenon, worthy of a great deal more scientific study.