Episode III: Pursuit

Chapter 2: Ambush

Summary: The Doctor's on board, and he's not what they thought he was. Now the Enterprise crew will need his help to survive the ambush.

A/N: Here we go! Another chapter, and the next one is already half-written. Enjoy! More notes at the end.

As an apparently human figure left the impossible blue box that materialized, uninvited and in spite of their shields, in the Enterprise bridge, Spock could only stare at them. In his mind, dozens of half-formed thoughts continued to fight for his attention, but he was temporarily too mystified to decide which one should take precedence.

"Fascinating," he finally said. The man before them, the same one they've first met over a year ago, the same one that had so impressed him with his extraordinary logical reasoning even under stress and strong emotions, was apparently not Human at all. Or maybe he was an augmented Human, but one modified by an unknown alien intelligence, unlike the other augments they've met.

That wouldn't be without precedent. The Enterprise has met someone like this before. But this was not an orphan boy gifted with extraordinary powers. The Doctor was a mature individual who'd been careful to disguise his uniqueness from them. And he's also someone known and trusted by Starfleet Intelligence, enough that SI went to great lengths to preserve the secret of his existence.

They've also met Human-like aliens before, though for some of these the humanoid appearance was just an illusion. He could recall the Metrons and the Organians. And Trelane. However, in contrast to the highly advanced technological capabilities these beings had manifested, the Doctor's technology seemed to be, at least in principle, explainable. Unless, he cautioned, the possible alien didn't want the full spectrum of his capabilities to be known.

Spock spent a moment cataloguing what he could infer about the Doctor's technology. His box did materialize across the Enterprise's shields, after all. After dissipating a plasma warhead under warp. The Doctor's technology might be explainable in principle, but it was certainly more advanced than the Federation's. He'd have to reflect on that later.

Of course, Spock thought, refocusing on the Doctor, there were also a number of aliens physically indistinguishable from Humans on the outside, and this could be another case. It was rather odd how many lifeforms, with varying degrees of similarity to Earth Humans, there was in the galaxy. There was an ongoing debate in academic circles that this seemed to indicate the interference of advanced aliens in the evolution of the diverse so-called humanoid species in the galaxy, and also in the transposition of small populations to other planets elsewhere in the galaxy. This had apparently happened multiple times, given the number of pre-warp Human-descended civilizations scattered around, some of which the Enterprise themselves have found.

Anyway, the Vulcan interrupted himself, the present situation took priority. He could now interpret the odd instructions contained in the Doctor's SI ID record in this new light. In particular, the reservation shown there, that he, as the supervising officer in charge, needed to ensure that the Doctor's actions wouldn't come into conflict with the Federation's interests. That made sense. If this being was an alien from a more advanced technological civilisation, or even if he was a modified Human acting in their stead, that civilisation would have their own goals and motivation that wouldn't always coincide with the Federation's.

Spock suspected the Doctor had been working with the Federation for at least some time already, since he seemed very knowledgeable about Starfleet technology, as well as Human culture and habits, enough to pass for one of them for a while. Earlier, he'd been concerned that the unusual reservation could reflect the Doctor's possible untrustworthiness as an SI part-time collaborator. Now, however, he realised it indicated the opposite. If there ever had been one such conflict that wasn't resolved amicably, there would have been a more specific warning. So he concluded it was safe enough, and warranted, to fully trust the Doctor in the current situation.

Spock had just arrived at this conclusion when the apparent alien turned to Kirk and said, "Hello, Captain Kirk. I believe you could use some help."

The Vulcan examined his captain. His posture was either relaxed or tired, or perhaps both. There was a slight grin in his face, and a glimmer of hope in his eyes, understandable, since they'd expected to be killed a few moments earlier, and the threat was still very real. Spock knew his own reaasoning on the Doctor's trustworthiness in the situation was completely logical and justified. Yet, he felt strangely relieved that the Captain seemed to agree with him on that, even if his conclusion was based mostly on intuition. He knew that whenever his logic and the Captain's intuition disagreed, it was far from certain that logic would show the best solution. They'd need to talk, but that could wait.

Spock looked back at the Doctor, and could see the being relax somewhat. The alien probably noticed the same as Spock in the captain's face and posture. Odd. When he'd left the blue box, he seemed tense, as if he wasn't sure of the reception waiting for him. It's possible the Doctor hadn't been informed that they weren't trying to lock him up any more. Or perhaps he'd been afraid they'd be angry at him, after he'd managed to slip twice from their custody.

All these reflections passed in mere moments through Spock's mind, but he was sufficiently absorbed and distracted that he started when the Captain stood.

"Stand down, Ms Yatto, Officers. This man is a friend, and you're to treat him accordingly," the captain said. Turning to their visitor, he continued, "Welcome to the Enterprise, Doctor. I'm really happy to accept your help! I assume it was you that stopped that fireball that was about to destroy my ship, am I right?"

The Doctor grinned and nodded, approaching the command chair, hands in his pockets. "Of course! I couldn't let them destroy you!"

"Do you have other blue boxes ready to intercept the next one?" Kirk said, sitting back in his command chair.

The Doctor frowned. "Sorry, it's just this one. I'd have to leave you to try, but I doubt I'd manage to do it again. It was hard enough doing it once, and I had time to prepare for it. No, I'll have to help you from here."

"Mr Robespierre, where's that ship now?" Spock could see the fine lines in Kirk's forehead, betraying his concern. Of course, they weren't safe yet.

"No sign of it, Captain. We should have an echo, but there's nothing. It's probably moving too slowly to be detected."

"Don't count on that, Captain," the Doctor warned, standing by the railing closest to the helm's station. "They've adjusted their thrusters, tuning them so they'd be masked by the local subspace background."

"In that case, Doctor, can you adjust our sensors to detect them, like you did before?"

"Of course, but-"

"How long do you need?" Kirk asked, as Spock stood to let the Doctor take over his station.

"Just a few minutes will be enough," the Doctor replied, throwing switches with one hand while buzzing the console with his multitool, "but it will give you only approximate direction and distance."

"If we can see them coming that may be enough," the captain relaxed slightly. "What are these Romulans doing out here? And how did you know to help us?"

"Well, in brief, these are Wamarraki-"

"What?" Kirk exclaimed. Spock was surprised too.

"And that's a long story best told later, but I heard they were coming to destroy the Enterprise, so I'm here to help you."

Kirk frowned. "Is there any reason we can't simply warp away? I doubt they'd be fast enough to keep up pace with the Enterprise."

Spock recalled that, the first time they met these mercenaries, they had to consider the threat to the planet as well, but they were alone here. It would be better, of course, to stop them, but-

"I don't think that's a good idea, Captain," the Doctor said, interrupting Spock's musings. "They are Wamarraki. They always try to anticipate every contingency. There's probably-"

"Captain, another ship decloaking right behind us!" Robespierre called.

"What?!" But Kirk's surprise lasted less than a second. "Full impulse, hard to port, lock phasers and fire!" They were already moving as he spoke, the crew reacting quickly, but the other ship fired at them before they could move out of the way.

"Direct impact, multiple shots, shields holding at 86%!" Lieutenant Heke reported.

"What the hell was that?" Kirk asked.

"Not Romulan, sir. It resembles that bird of prey we met in Galinedoria, but it's larger and more powerful," Spock reported, standing beside M'Ress as she worked from her station. The ship had already disappeared under cloak, without leaving a trace.

"Doctor," Kirk snapped, "how many more are out there?"

"Just these two, Captain," the Doctor said, holding his multitool against one of the ports of the science station. "This one is the Eyknol, the other's the Tyroco." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I should have warned you immediately, but I assumed we'd have a little more time as they tried to analyse what happened to that plasma warhead." He clicked a few more controls and finally said, "Hah! Now you should be able to detect their presence. Not enough for accurate targeting, I'm sorry, but you'll be able to see them coming."

They could see something on the viewscreen now. An iridescent greenish cloud, overlaid on the normal star field, showing the likely current position of the ship that had just attacked them, a pinkish trail leading towards it. It had moved off a bit, and was now apparently circling around slowly. They were probably observing them, waiting to see how they'd react.

"Shall we fire, sir?" Robespierre asked.

"Not yet, we won't hit it and it's better to keep them thinking we can't see them," the captain said. Spock noticed his frown, he was thinking hard. "Keep moving, pattern Alpha Three. Any sign of the other, Romulan-like one?"

"There's a faint trace, still well beyond weapons range," M'Ress said. "But that's wrong, it shouldn't be this close unless it followed us under warp. We should have been able to detect its approach."

"Oh, I forgot that," the Doctor added sheepishly, "Their tuning also helps to mask their trail under warp."

"Great!" The captain grumbled. "Can you help us track that Romulan look-alike? Enough for us to target and destroy it even under cloak?"

"Well, yes," the Doctor replied, "I have recorded the set of cloak patterns they're using, it's just a matter of finding the current pattern-"

"Do it!" Kirk ordered.

"-but I'd have to reconfigure the scanner, and I can only do it for one of them at a time."

Spock saw the indecision in the captain's face. They would need to track both ships if they were to have a chance.

"Captain," Spock reminded him, "the targeting scanners."

"Of course, Spock, thanks!" Kirk exclaimed, relieved. "Doctor, can you use the targeting scanners for that?"

Spock showed the Doctor to the navigator's station, and Valin stood to let him seat. The Doctor quickly buzzed the controls before replying, "It can work, it's shorter-ranged and has a narrower field of vision, but as long as you know where to point it, it should work."

"Ship decloaking to port!" Robespierre exclaimed, pulling the Enterprise up. The attacker tried to compensate, but this time all their shots missed the Enterprise. However at that angle they couldn't fire back either, and the Wamarraki cloaked again and escaped. Spock noticed it's trail wasn't moving away as it had done after the first pass.

"How long until it's ready, Doctor?" Kirk asked, standing up from his chair and pointing Spock at it. Puzzled, Spock sat at the command chair, while Kirk took Robespierre's place at the helm.

"A few more minutes, ten at most," the Doctor replied, working the controls.

"That helps, thanks!" Kirk snapped, pulling the Enterprise into a sharp turn, just as their attacker came back for another pass. Spock looked on, worried, as the turn brought the Enterprise almost directly aligned with the enemy's weapons. But thanks to a last second adjustment, only one of the shots actually hit the shields.

"Minor hit," Heke reported from the engineering station, "shields holding."

"M'Ress, where's the other one?" Kirk barked, turning and firing the Enterprise's phasers straight ahead, but the Wamarraki was already cloaked and to their left.

"Still at the same rough position," was her answer, "they're not closing in." That was strange, Spock thought. What were they waiting for? The Enterprise could barely hold its own against one.

"Keep an eye on them and warn us if they move," Kirk said, sounding somewhat relieved. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Doctor, but once they suspect we can track them, your modifications will stop working, right?" He pushed the Enterprise into another sharp turn right and down, and the inertial compensators whined.

"Not quite," the Doctor replied from the console at his side, without stopping whatever he was doing. "They'd switch to a new cloak pattern. That should still leave enough of a trail for the main scanners, but you won't be able to target them if they choose-"

"Thanks Doctor! Spock, please use the computer to try to predict both ours and the attacker's trajectories, from just what normal scanners would see. Overlay that on the main screen."

Spock began to suspect what was the captain's intention, and quickly programmed the computer using the access panel on the command chair's arm. They'd have to survive the next few minutes, hoping that the Doctor's modifications would be ready before the Wamarraki suspected something, or that other ship decided to join the fray.

A/N: I'm back. Finally. I hope you're all safe and sound in these trying times.

It's not been easy to focus. One of the plot threads of this story has resonated uncomfortably close to reality. It really didn't help with my writing. But here it is, the next chapter!

For those who're following both this and Chaos, Order, Time: I'm experimenting with style there, it's more concise, terse even, than here. And it's working for me. So I may try to be a bit less verbose here too, in the next chapters, whenever character introspection isn't necessary.

This chapter is shorter than usual because, after not being able to focus on writing the combat part, I had another idea that required the scene breaking here. Now that this is ready, the writer's block finally seems to be letting up. So I hope the next chapter won't be as late as this one.

Thanks for your reviews, Mary Ann Nytowl, The Pygairian, Independent Dude, apicha. suppapat! And thanks for all of you who have favourited and are following this story!

Mary Ann Nytowl, I sent you a number of PMs, but FFNet isn't sending notifications, so I believe you haven't seen them. Thank you so much for your corrections! Please contact me back if you can.

Stay safe. Stay home if you can.