Involved With Conspiracies

"I've never seen the Captain that worried before – not even when we faced those Borg guys last year" Tess said as they stood in the turbolift to go to their quarters to change into their uniforms and report back to the Bridge for duty.

"Whatever was in that message he got, it must have been serious for him to dump the medical teams before we shot off with just the duty shift at their stations" Jae nodded as she spoke. "Maybe the attack on Starbase 12 was the start of a terrorist attack" she added.

"Who knows" Pamela told the other two, "But I've never seen Captain Picard that fearful" and the turbolift car slowed to a halt and the doors opened – allowing the trio to job to their quarters. Getting into her uniform within a minute, Jae ordered a tea from the replicator to settle her nerves before Pam and Tess emerged from their rooms and the trio returned to the Bridge. As they walked to the turbolift alcove, they spotted only one or two crewmembers doing the same as they were.

'Yellow Alert… Yellow Alert… this is a Yellow Alert'

"Computer, who ordered the Yellow Alert?" Pam asked as she pressed the call button to summon a turbolift car.

'The alert status was ordered by the Bridge' it replied in its cool and slightly female sounding voice.

"I thought we were still hours away from Dytallix B" Tess said.

"The Captain must be redlining the engines if we're there already" Pam replied. "Only time I heard him do that was on our first voyage to Farpoint Station"

#

"Ensign McKnight, take the Helm. You two, take the rear stations" Picard ordered as they emerged onto the Bridge several seconds later. The senior crew had arrived to take up their normal places on the Bridge of the flagship. "Time to the Dytallix B system?" the Captain asked.

"Three minutes" Data said instantly.

"Helm, slow to impulse only when we get to the first planet"

"Aye" Pam blinked but complied with the order anyway.

"Lieutenant Worf, I'm picking up power signatures from two Federation starships up ahead" Tess said.

"Confirmed" Jae said. "I have sent our ID, but they have not replied on any channel"

"Captain, sensors detecting at least two Federation starships ahead" Word dutifully reported it to Picard. "Automatic ID requests have gone unanswered and they have made no reply to either voice or text communications"

"Make no further transmissions of any sort" Picard replied sharply.

"Captain, can I ask why?" Riker looked at his commanding officer with the same confusion as the others had.

"No, Commander, you may not. Ensign McKnight, put us into orbit in formation with the other two vessels. Data, scan the surface of the planet – any lifesigns?"

"Three, sir"

"Sir, detecting another ship in range… Heavy Cruiser class" Worf announced.

"Federation?"

"Yes"

"My orders apply to that ship too" Picard spoke without looking at his officers. "Are we close enough to read their hull markings?"

"One moment" Worf said gruffly. "Visual sensors identify them as the Thomas Paine, Renegade and the Horatio – Captains Rixx, Scott and Keel respectively"

"Very good" Picard leant forward in his chair as if thinking of something important. "Data, relay the position of the lifesigns to the transporter room – have the transporter chief have a phaser ready from the locker"

"Captain, I request that you allow a security team to beam down there with you" Worf said.

"Denied"

"Captain, at least explain what is happening to us" Picard thought about it for a moment but turned down his First Officer's request.

"No" and, without another word, he left the Bridge.

"I wonder what is going on" said Riker as he watched the other three ships adjust their orbits slightly to allow the Enterprise to join them. After a few minutes, he asked "Worf, are those ships armed?"

"Weapons are not armed, Commander, but we are being scanned"

"Scan them right back"

"Aye, Sir" and the Klingon bent to his task at the console.

"Bridge, this is Engineering" LaForge called from deep inside the ship.

"Go ahead, Geordi"

"Somebody attempted to open the plasma vents and route the gas to Deck 12"

"Any idea who?" asked Riker.

"No – it was done using an engineering override. If I hadn't taken the safety systems and put them on manual for a test I'm running, the entire deck would have been breathing superheated plasma"

"Was it an internal source or external?" Riker asked.

"I would say it was attempted from somebody onboard, Commander, for this sort of thing you would have to enter the codes in person"

"Unless the prefix codes were used" Riker mused. "Geordi, have your teams go over the records for any indication. I don't want anything to happen with all of this going on"

"Aye… Engineering out"

"Ensign Jae, have any of the other ships with us attempted to use the prefix code?" Riker asked.

"One moment…" Jae called up communication records. "No, Sir, they've not done so. They have done nothing but scan us and keep in orbital formation"

"Well keep an eye on them" Riker ordered.

"Sir, signal; coming in from the Captain. He's beaming aboard shortly and we're to go to radio silence" Worf announced.

"Something must be wrong – status on the others?"

"They are also beaming up persons, but nothing else so far" he replied.

"Helm, be ready to get us out of here at maximum on any heading"

"Aye" Pam said. A moment later, Picard walked onto the Bridge with a face of puzzlement, curiosity and of wonder.

"Helm, using maps from the computer banks, plot a course from here directly to Earth at top speed. I want you to act upon that course in manual mode and do not enter it into the navigational computer. Worf, keep an ear open for any communications or distress calls – do not reply to any of them. Lock communications to my voice print only"

"Aye, Sir" Worf had never heard of such an order being given before.

"Helm, engage. Data, I have a task for you that is most ideal for a man of your talents. Number One, I will talk to you in a minute" and Data followed the Captain into the Ready Room.

"Something is wrong with the Captain" Troi said. She'd remained quiet throughout the entire time they had been diverted and in orbit. "Whatever happened on the planet has left him with a great sense of hurt, shock and terror"

"You'd never have noticed" Riker said.

"Sir, I'm picking up an unusual disturbance in Sector 63" Tess spoke up from the station next to Jae.

"Confirmed, Commander, it appears to be some sort of detonation – type unknown" Worf read what his displays where telling him.

"Captain, it could be one of the ships we encountered at Dytallix B" Pam suggested.

"Hmm…" Picard rubbed his chin in thought. "Maintain speed – adjust course to intercept"

"Adjusting course" Pam tapped the controls and the Enterprise changed her heading.

"Mr Worf, are you picking up any distress signals or any sort?" Picard asked.

"No Sir… No signals or power signatures of any sort in the area of last known activity"

"Time until intercept?"

"Eleven minutes"

"Picard to Engineering – Geordi, I need more speed"

"We're already running at ten percent over maximum output"

"Then run at fifteen percent, Commander" Picard snapped. "I want all the speed you can muster, Mister. Bridge out. Ensign McKnight, begin sensor scans of the area and plot all moving vessels – Federation, Allied or otherwise. Ensign Jae, work with Lieutenant Worf to scan for any debris"

"Yes, Sir"

"Aye, Sir"

"Begin by retuning the sensors to scan for fragments smaller than an average human" Worf left his tactical console for a few moments. "The ship, whatever it was, may have been almost completely destroyed"

"Aye. Sir…?"

"Yes?"

"Should I also scan for traces of explosives?" Jae asked quietly.

"Do it" Worf replied after a moment.

"Captain, we're now pushing the engines well past possible design limits" Pam said from the Helm – her voice holding a tremor like the one that came through the deck plates.

"Time to intercept?"

"Three minutes, but then we'll have to take the engines offline for an hour at the least"

"Very well… Maintain course and speed" Picard ordered.

"Sirs, I hold no other moving space vessels of any sort in this sector or system" Tess spoke up from where she had been working.

"Picking up debris dead ahead!" Jae shouted and pushed her information onto the main viewscreen and to Pam's message display.

"Drop out of warp… Slow to a stop"

"Leaving warp, Captain – engines set to stop"

"Captain, I'm picking up a lot of confusion from the crew, but also something from the debris" Troi darted to her feet and moved to stand in the middle of the command area.

"Is she normally like that?" Jae asked Tess.

"Most of the time… She's alright for an officer, but she creeps me out"

"Captain, I'm picking us something in the debris – an escape pod of some sort" Worf called out.

"Lifesign readings?" Picard rose from his chair.

"Two, but sensors are unable to determine species due to heavy amounts of radiation"

"Mr Worf, break radio silence and hail them on audio"

"Comm systems on the pod are destroyed"

"Can we transport them aboard?"

"Yes, Sir"

"Lock onto the entire pod and beam it to Cargo Bay 3 – beam the occupants to Sickbay. Councillor Troi, Worf… you will come with me – Number One the Bridge is yours" and the three left the Bridge. The rest of them looked at each other before Riker tapped his comm badge.

"Riker to Beta Shift – report to the Bridge. You three can forget about waiting – me and Data can hold the fort until they arrive" the first officer said. "Be aware that you're not to talk about this to anybody except the members of the senior staff"

"Yes, Sir"

"Aye"

"Aye, Sir" Jae finished the trio of replies before they left the Bridge and returned to their quarters.

#

"I'm scared" Pam said as she sat down with a glass of iced tea in her hand.

"If it was one of those ships we saw, what the hell could have happened for there to be only one escape pod?" Jae asked as she undid her uniform jacket and settled onto the couch.

"If there was a warp core breach, we'd still see signs of that" Tess said to her as the woman kicked her boots off and put on some soft slippers. "The radiation would be of a different sort"

"Is it possible for a ship to simply explode without detonating the warp core?" Pam asked Jae.

"Well you all took the same courses as I did" Jae replied, "But I did take some extra ones… It is slightly possible that the auto destruct was set off using the secondary system, but that method would have caused more radiation then what the scans showed"

"Could the torpedoes have detonated in the magazines?" asked Pam. "That would, after all, explain most of the radiation"

"But we'd still see huge chunks of debris" Jae argued.

"I ran the debris through the navigational sensor array and cross checked it with sensor data from the three ships we saw in orbit over that planet" Tess said, "In order for it to be correctly positioned for other ships to come and investigate later – as per standing orders"

"So?" Pam frowned.

"So we might be able to figure out it ourselves" Tess replied.

"Isn't this something to leave to the senior staff?" Jae asked. As she was one of the newer crewmembers on the Enterprise, she didn't want to get attention drawn to herself for the wrong reasons.

"It can't do any harm, I guess" said Pam.

"Computer, access the sensor logs from thirteen hundred twenty two"

'Done'

"Now, analyse the data and amount of debris… Is there enough to constitute a starship?"

'Analysing… Analysing… There is enough to constitute a starship'

"Speculate as to what sort of starship it could be"

'Unable to comply'

"Theorise as to what type of starship it may have been, running through all known starship designs, based on tonnage of debris and radiation patterns" Jae ordered as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

'Acknowledged… Scanning database now'

"We should have been more particular on what we said" mused Pam as she watched the display terminal running through different types of starships.

'Scan complete. The amount of debris, radiation patterns, spectral analysis and tonnage of debris amounts to a Federation starship'

"Are you able to determine what class?" Tess asked as her friends leaned in to gaze at the screen with intent.

'Ambassador Class'

"Computer, are you…" Jae swallowed heavily, "Are you able to determine which vessel?"

'The debris appears to have come from the USS Horatio – Captain Walker Keel commanding'

"Oh dear god…" Jae muttered. "Ensign Jae to Captain Picard"

"Picard here. Ensign, I'm in the middle of important business"

"Yes, Sir, but I think you should come to my quarters"

"Ensign?"

"Captain, its about what we found earlier… We might have uncovered some answers"

"I'm on my way – Picard, out" and, as soon as the comm channel closed, Jae got up and started rushing around their quarters and folding things up.

"Whats up, Tracee?" Tess asked.

"Captain is coming to our quarters… You want him to turn up to this pigsty?" she paused to raise a questioning eyebrow before the other two jumped up and started to make their quarters more presentable for their commanding officer.

#

"Captain, before we explain, we want you to be clear that we might be in violation of orders from yourself and Commander Riker about keeping this quiet" Tess said as the three Ensigns stood in a row at attention.

"If this is as serious as your call suggested, I will overlook this" Picard said. "Also, at ease before you strain yourself"

"Sir, we were talking amongst ourselves about the debris and we wondered about the ship that had been destroyed" Tess continued. "Once we got back to our quarters, we had the computer run tests on the debris regarding tonnage, radiation patterns and the like"

"And?" Picard folded his arms in an annoyed manner.

"Sir, We think it was the Horatio"

"What?" Picard whispered.

"Sir, the computer reported the Horatio was the only ship of the three we encountered at Dytallix B that matched an Ambassador class starship's specifications… Spectral analysis of its hull indicated the vessel in question" Jae took over.

"Mon Dieu…" Picard dropped his arms and shook his head in disbelief.

'Cause of starship destruction identified' the computer broke in.

"Identify the cause" Pam ordered.

'Engine implosion caused by a trilithium device on the starboard power relays'

"Can you identify who may have placed the device there?"

'No'

"Must have been a member of the crew. Walker said there was trouble with his crew" Picard said. "Computer, this is the Captain… The moment warp drive is restored, set a course to Starfleet Command and engage at maximum velocity. Ensigns, what you did violated orders, but in doing so you may have uncovered vital information. You are confined to quarters until your next duty shift" and he turned and left without another word.

"I wonder what Captain Keel told Captain Picard" Jae said as they relaxed out of their "at ease" stance and sat down. The punishment that Picard had given of them of confinement to quarters until their next shift was not that much of a punishment at all.

"I'd guess something that involves a conspiracy if his attitude was anything to go by" Pam said. "Perhaps we might be classed as a rogue ship and the rest of Starfleet sent after us" she added with a small grin.

"After this" Tess said, gesturing at the screen which still showed the results of the sensor scans and all the testing the computer had done, "I wouldn't discount it. The Captain sure did seem to be in a hurry to return to Earth"

"Maybe he wants to talk to Command in person about it" Jae said.

"Unless Command is part of the issue" Tess replied darkly.

#

"Have you been able to identify the woman?" asked Picard as he returned to Sickbay.

"Yes…" Doctor Crusher replied. "This is Commander Charlynn Schmiedt. She was on assignment to Starfleet Engineering after the Horatio had undergone repairs to their warp drive"

"Records show she was assigned to the ship for a single voyage to make sure all systems responded well" Worf added from his position near the large lifesign monitor.

"Has she awoken at all?" asked Picard.

"Not yet, but there is no reason for her not to wake up in time" Crusher said as she folded the medical tricorder together.

"Can you wake her?"

"For a few minutes, perhaps, but certainly not for anything too much longer – her head took a beating" and Crusher applied a hypospray to her neck and pressed the trigger gently.

"Mmm…" the brown haired woman moaned and shifted before her eyes opened. "Where… Where am I?" she asked.

"You're aboard the Enterprise" Picard answered. "I am Captain Picard – what can you tell us about the loss of the Horatio?" he asked gently.

"Captain Keel suspected that most of his senior officers had been controlled by some kind of mind control technique, and he suspected that a good number of Starfleet's command staff were going the same way" Schmiedt said. "He told me because I wasn't part of the ship's company. At the time the ship exploded, I was working with one of my team to modify the intermix settings on the port nacelle. I heard the explosion, grabbed my team member and pushed him into the escape pod in the compartment we were working in. The last thing I really know was quickly glancing at a screen which showed an implosion of the warp drive – something that should have been impossible without some sort of explosive"

"Did Keel say what he thought the mind control was?" asked Picard. "Telepathic? Brainwashing? Parasitic?"

"No, Sir… Just that it was affecting most of his command staff"

"Could it have spread to the other two ships we met with?"

"Perhaps… maybe… I don't know, Sir. What I do know is that there was several hundred officers and crew that died without just cause – I want whoever did this to pay" and, with that, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

"And pay they will" Picard muttered. "Worf, I want you to post an armed guard on all the doors to Sickbay – and one in here for good measure"

"Jean-Luc…"

"Sorry, Beverley, but there could be agents of a conspiracy onboard my ship that may try to take out the Commander here" Picard stared at his Chief Medical Officer with a determined look on his worn out face. "And that is something that will not happen on my ship"

"Aye, Sir" Crusher said without sounding very happy about it at all.

"Worf, have you been able to access the logs from the escape pod?" Picard looked at the Klingon.

"Commanders Data and LaForge are doing that now" he rumbled gently, "But it may take them some time to go through it all" he added.

"Very well… Return to the Bridge when the guard has been posted and inform Commander Riker of what has happened here. Have him send a subspace communication to Starfleet Command on the scrambled emergency channel and inform them of what has happened"

"That would give away our position to any enemies that may be listening" Worf replied. "We would not be able to rest"

"Worf, we're talking about a threat to the Federation – I don't think that any of us could rest easy in our beds or sit idly in space with that over our heads. Once the message is sent, have the Helm resume course to Earth at full impulse until the computer engages warp drive. And… And run battle drills"

"You expect to fight?" Crusher asked her friend and Captain.

"Beverley… I don't know what to expect. Walker would not have broken regulations like this without cause. Rixx is almost like a Vulcan in his thinking and logic…"

"What about Captain Scott?" asked Worf.

"I don't know much about her" Picard admitted, "Except she is a talented officer and Walker and Rixx would not have brought her in on this without trusting her implic… Mon Deiu! Bridge, this is the Captain"

"Riker here"

"Are the Renegade and Thomas Paine within sensor range still?"

"No, but we're picking up faint signs of debris and warp core detonation in the general vicinity of the Thomas Paine's last known course heading" Riker said.

"Break radio silence, contact the Renegade and find out if Captain Scott is in any trouble" Picard ordered.

"Captain, they are receiving the hail but are not replying"

"Very well. Mr Worf is on his way soon with some hand carried orders that need to be carried out off the record" Picard said and tapped his badge to close the channel.

#

"Computer, play musical selection Jae Alpha Three" Jae ordered and gave a long and suffering sigh as the soft music played through the speakers in her room. The Enterprise was in orbit over the headquarters of the Federation and, if rumour was correct, now had a high level Admiral onboard. Newsboards showed that the loss of the Horatio had been put down to an engine implosion due to the extreme negligence of her Captain – something that most of the Enterprise's officers and crew completely disagreed with on the basis only they were supposed to know of how the incident happened.

"Mozart?" Pam asked as she stuck her head around the doorframe.

"Williamson" Jae said without opening her eyes.

"Came to see if you were alright"

"Dunno… Seeing all that debris and thinking about all those deaths – brought back memories of Eagle"

"Oh" Pam replied. "I can imagine it would… Me and Tess thought about visiting Ten-Forward with a few of the others – wanna come?"

"I'd rather stay here"

"It doesn't do well to brood on things" Pam said to her knowingly.

"I'm not brooding… I just don't want to be sent to Troi. She might be a good officer, I don't know, but she just freaks me out completely in a professional manner" and her friend could understand that a lot.

"We'll be setting off in a few minutes" she murmured and slipped quietly away. Jae lay in her quarters for a while, listening to the soothing music, when a call came through from Riker – sounding disturbed and confused.

"Riker to Security. Guest quarters seventeen. Emergency" and Jae was awake, alert and on her feet within a second. Guest quarters seventeen was only deck above her own and it would take the on duty security team a few minutes to get there. Grabbing her comm badge, she raced out into the corridor and to the turbolift to go one deck higher.

#

"It's good thing you're here. He slipped and hit his head" an elderly human in the uniform of an Admiral stood over the motionless form of Commander Riker.

"This is Ensign Jae in guest quarters seventeen" she spoke tapping her comm badge, "We have a medical emergency"

"On our way" came Crusher's voice

"Your Doctor Crusher is most capable. I'm sure he'll be all right. Now if you'll excuse me, my time here is most limited" the Admiral moved for the door.

"Admiral. Don't you think we should wait until the Doctor gets here?" Jae asked. Instead of speaking, the Admiral rushed her and threw the startled woman against the wall. Jae shook her head in surprise as the Admiral came towards her with a murderous look in his eyes. She pushed herself off and headbutted him in the stomach – expecting him to crumple to the floor, but there was a merely a grunt and a slight stagger backwards. "Jae to Security – armed team to guest quarters 17" she commanded quickly. Cupping her hands together, the Ensign smashed them into the side of the Admiral's head hoping, in the back of her mind, that this was not some sort of emergency drill! The impact of the improvised impact seemed to have a small effect as the Admiral rubbed his head slightly before running forwards towards Jae and smashing the pair of them straight through the doors which came off their runners and sending them into the corridor beyond.

"Woah…" a crewman came to an abrupt halt as the tangle of limbs landed in front of him. The Admiral recovered quickly and grabbed Jae by her throat – lifting her off her feet and started to slowly squeeze the life out of her. With her last reserve of energy, Jae brought her knee into the crotch of her opponent which made him howl in pain and drop her – falling to the floor in a heap and gasping for air. After a few deep breaths, both fighters tried to take out the other – the Admiral swinging a fist in an upper cut. It would have knocked the battered Ensign out if she had not grabbed a Coil Scanner out of the hands of the startled crewman and swung it, with all of her might and remaining strength, at the side of the Admiral's head. There was a sickening crunch before the man dropped to the deck with a bruise already forming and blood oozing from the point of impact. A few crewmembers rushed forward to turn the Admiral over onto his back and stand guard until the security team arrived a minute later with Worf, Data and Doctor Crusher and her medical team following close behind.

"Report!" Worf said. He wasn't being unkind, but merely getting as much detail as was possible whilst it was fresh in her mind.

"I heard Commander Riker's call for help, though I don't know why I did so… I came up here from my quarters below this deck and went in to find the Commander lying on the floor motionless. The Admiral said he had slipped, but I questioned why he had called for security and not a medical team. When the Admiral tried to leave, something seemed wrong so I stopped him – that's when he attacked me. For an old man, he seemed completely freakish in his strength" Jae said as she felt one of the medical team treat her wounds.

"Was it nessesary to hit the Admiral with a heavy object?" Data asked calmly.

"Yes, Sir… You see, the Admiral just wouldn't stop hitting me and tried to kill me – you can ask anybody that saw us after we crashed through the doors"

"Doctor, is the Admiral seriously injured?" the android asked as he turned to watched Crusher scanning the prone man and injecting him with something.

"About from a nasty wound to the head, which is completely understandable in the circumstances, the only major injury are badly bruised testes" Crusher looked back to see Worf give an almost human like wince. "There is also a massive increase in strength which I wou–" she broke off as she looked down at her tricorder readings. Pushing the Admiral's head to one side, the officers all saw a small spike like protrusion out of the neck on the right – wiggling as they stared at it.

"Doctor, I suggest that you take the Admiral to Sickbay under heavy guard. Please try to find out what the intrusion is and if it can be removed safely" Data said. "Mr Worf, please see that a suitable commendation is written up and placed into the service record of Ensign Jae ready for when the Captain can sign off on it upon his return to the Enterprise. I must contact the Captain to inform him of what is going on. Data to Picard. Captain, this is Commander Data… Please respond" but there was no reply. "Data to the Bridge"

"Bridge – Ensign Allenby here"

"Ensign, scan Starfleet Command and attempt to locate the Captain"

"He's in the main office and conference block along with some other people. The computer identifies them as human, but its saying some odd things about them" Tess said after a moment.

"More of them like Quinn?" asked Crusher softly.

"Perhaps. Ensign, raise the Captain"

"I can't, Sir… There is some kind of issue with the communications system for ship to shore"

"Understood. Please send Data, out. Ensign" he said, turning to regard Jae who was rubbing her throat and wincing at the tenderness she felt, "Are you fit for duty?"

"Aye, Sir" Jae replied.

"Mr Worf, please give the Ensign a phaser. We will beam down to Starfleet Headquarters"

"Armed?" Worf raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"The Captain may be held as a hostage, there may be a communications jamming test or a number of other reasons. As we can not establish communications with the Captain, we must assume the worst has happened and act accordingly. Come along, Ensign"

"I will join you" Worf rumbled. "If my Captain is being held as a hostage, I would like to make them pay"

"Very well" Data said, "But my order is for phasers to be set to stun only" and they walked away.

"Are you truly well enough to beam down?" Worf asked quietly to Jae as they walked.

"I would have said otherwise, Sir" Jae said to him. "I will, of course, go to Sickbay for a check-up when we get back"

"Very well, Ensign, but tell me at once if you become unwell – I do not want to be worried about you"

"Just worry about the ones holding the Captain" Jae said as the trio entered the transporter and took positions on the pad.

"There must be Klingon blood in you somewhere" Worf grinned – showing his teeth off as he did so.

"Coming from Commander Worf, that is indeed high praise, Ensign. Transporter Chief, do you have the coordinates from the Bridge?" Data asked.

"Yes, Sir"

"Then energise" and, as the tingle of the transporter beams waved over the three, Jae hoped they would not be too late in rescuing the Captain.