Chapter Two

Captains log, supplemental. The Enterprise has just crossed the orbit of the outermost planet of the

star system we have designated as 30453 FAS. As we have drawn closer, we have determined that the extra

electromagnetic interference that we thought was somehow being emitted naturally by the star is actually

coming from the third planet of that system. Therefore, the interference cannot be natural. Someone must

be transmitting it on purpose, but whoand to what end? And who is responsible for generating the warp-field pulses we detected?

 

I intend to find out before we leave here.

 

We will drop out of warp just inside the orbit of Planet Five, a Jupiter-class gas giant that is very

nearly in opposition to Planet Three at this time. This will place us some six hundred fifty million

kilometers from Planet Three. Well then head in for a look about. I do not intend to attempt contact

with the natives of Planet Threeif anyat this time.

 

THEENTERPRISEDROPPED OUT OF WARPprecisely on schedule, and Data studied the readouts on his Ops panel.

 

Captain,

he reported,

short-range sensors have detected meta-cetacean lifeforms inhabiting the upper

atmosphere of Planet Five, as is typical for gas giants of this class. The planet possesses fifteen

major natural satellites and a class-two ring system. Diameter is approximately one hundred forty-five

thousand kilometers. Typical, sir.

 

Any signs of habitation on the satellites?

Picard asked.

Colonies or mining operations, perhaps?

 

No, sir. However

 

Yes?

 

I am reading an object at three hundred forty-four mark twenty-three, range eighteen thousand seven

hundred kilometers.

 

Mr. Worf?

Riker called.

 

It is an artificial construct of unknown configuration in orbit around the local star,

Worf said.

It

is not under power, but I am getting low-level internal power readings. There appear to be no lifeforms

aboard.

 

Picard glanced at Troi, who nodded.

 

Lets take a look at it, Mr. Worf,

the captain ordered.

On screen.

 

The majestic image of Planet Five on the main viewscreen swam for a moment and was then replaced by an

unremarkable starfield. In the center of the screen there was a very small something.

 

Increase magnification,

Riker directed, and the object grew.

 

Not a ship, I think,

Picard said softly.

 

It looks like it might be a surveillance satellite,

Riker said.

I think I see what might be sensor

arraysmany of them.

 

Picard nodded.

If that is indeed what they are, Number One, then this is a surveillance probe of almost

monstrous complexity. Those arrays appear formidable. Are there weapons aboard it, Mr. Worf?

 

None, sir. It is harmless.

 

Picard nodded.

Mr. Data, are there any other objects out there like this one?

 

The android briefly consulted his readouts and nodded.

Sir, I am reading a second object of similar

size and configuration at one hundred ninety-eight mark forty, range eighty-three thousand six hundred

kilometers. There is a third, bearing oh twenty-three mark twelve, range three hundred fifty-three

thousand one hundred kilometers. A fourth

 

Never mind, Mr. Data,

Picard interrupted.

Thank you.

 

Whatever these things are, they appear to be pretty closely set,

Riker observed.

 

Indeed they do, Number One,

Picard agreed.

Someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to post a line

of sentries. Clearly, those probes are on the lookout for someone, and I very much doubt that we are it.

Mr. Worf, long-range sensors ahead. I want to know everything there is to know about Planet Three before

we get there. Ensign, lay in a direct course for Planet Three, one-quarter impulse.

 

One-quarter impulse,

Ro repeated.

Aye, sir.

 

Engage. Arrival time at Planet Three, Mr. Data?

 

Standard orbit in two hours, twenty-one minutes, thirty-five seconds, sir.

 

Captain,

Worf reported,

we are being scanned. There is a radar signal coming from the probe.

 

Picard blinked.

Radar?

 

Radar, sir,

Data said, nodding.

It is an acronym that stands for radio detecting and ranging

 

Not now, Mr. Data,

Riker cautioned.

 

That cant be possible,

Picard continued, puzzled.

Radar is much too primitive to see us. They

couldnt bounce a radio wave off us, not with our shields up.

 

Riker frowned.

Perhaps theyre using radar as a carrier wave for something we cant detect. We may have

been spotted, Captain.

 

Sir,

Worf suddenly said.

The object has just transmitted a tightly beamed signal on space-normal

radio wavelengths. It appears to be a coded burst transmission.

 

Picard sighed.

To whom?

 

The transmission was beamed in the direction of the third planet, sir.

 

Of course. Can you decipher it?

 

Worf looked at his console.

Doubtful, sir. The transmission appears to have been enciphered and

compressed using several random number sequences. It could take us years to decompress and decipher the

message.

 

The signal must have been about us,

Riker said.

The burst occurred just after we dropped into normal

space near the probe.

 

Perhaps it was only a coincidence,

Troi said.

The probe may issue regular status reports on a set

schedule, and we just happened to be there for its latest. After all, were shielded. We should be

undetectable.

 

Riker shook his head.

Im afraid I dont believe in coincidences. Whoever put that probe here knows

weve arrivedor they will, once they receive that signal. Captain, may I suggest yellow alert?

 

Picard thought about it for half a second, and then nodded firmly.

Make it so.

 

The heavy, bombproof doors of a shaftcar rolled open slowly, and Kerajem and several of his assistants

stepped onto a narrow gangway that lay far below the surface of the capital city. They walked down the

passage a few meters to the VIP entry gate of the Shrine, their footsteps echoing oddly off the polished

metal walls. The soldiers on guard duty at the gate came to attention and saluted as the First and his

party passed through. Kerajems assistants followed the leader through the gate one by one, like

ducklings following their mother.

 

They all headed quickly to the War Room, which was located at the center of the Shrine. The Planetary

Defense Complex, as it was more formally known, was located in a series of caverns three hundred meters

below a nondescript building located across the city from Government House.

 

This was the second Shrine. The original had been built on the same spot more than a millennium before,

shortly after the caverns had been discovered by explorers. There had been an actual shrine here then.

The Shrine had served as the Holy See of a totalitarian theocracy that controlled the planet at that

time and for centuries thereafter. The many generations of monks who had lived, worked, and died at the

first Shrine had spent their entire lives praying to ward off the day when the enemy might find their

world and destroy it.

 

When the revolution came, the Shrine had been abandoned in the belief that it was no longer needed and

never had been, that the threat it was designed to counter had never been more than the fever dreams of

deranged prophets. The monks who had lived and worked here had been secularized and sent away, never to

return.

 

Not quite a generation ago, when the world had discovered the terrible truth about its impending doom,

there was suddenly a need for a planetary defense headquarters immune to any imaginable form of attack.

Strategy had demanded an invulnerable location, and tradition and convenience had suggested the Shrine.

 

The facility no longer looked anything like a monastery. All traces of that sort of thing were gone.

Years of effort and billions of work units had been expended to build a fully modern facility. The new

Shrine was staffed not by monks but by military personnel, skilled civilian technicians, and a gaggle of

bureaucrats.

 

The Shrine was now a fit fighting machine. It would do the job, if anything could.

 

Kerajems people would not run.

 

Not this time, and never again.

 

Defense Minister Hattajek was standing in the command well, talking quietly with several top officers.

All of them straightened a bit as Kerajem approached. The First nodded to them in greeting.

Status

report?

 

The chief of staff, General Blakendet, stepped forward.

Sir, Blue Ultimate is in force. Force Red

continues to decelerate, course unchanged.

He gestured at the wide display screen at the front of the

War Room.

As you can see, sir, there they are.

 

Well done, General,

Kerajem said quietly.

All we can do now, I suppose, is wait

 

Suddenly there was the low, insistent sound of an intrusion alarm. Heads turned to study the main

screen.

 

There was a glowing red disk there that had not been visible a moment before.

 

Now what in the name of darkness is that?

Kerajem wondered.

Malfunction, General?

 

Blakendet shot a look across the room to his watch officer, who shook his head vigorously:No . His face

told the rest of the story.

 

Blakendet turned to address Kerajem.

Sir, we have a confirmed intruder just inside the orbit of Maak

Unselbe.

He read the displays before him.

Speeddear gods! Excuse me, sir. Speed of the unknown is one

quarter that of light. The unknown is on a direct course for us. We have a visual from the probe now,

sir.

 

Lets see it.

 

Part of the War Room tactical display was replaced by a blurred photograph ofsomething.

It looks like

a flying dustpan,

Kerajem said.

I dont recognize it. Whatis that thing, General?

 

It appears as if Force Red might have come up with something new, Firstsomething we didnt expect,

 

the general replied.

Traffic, try to raise the unknown. See if it answers.

The old soldier paused as

he studied the most recent data from the early-warning probe.

Sir,

he told the First after a moment,

 

energy readings from the unknown are off the scale. Given the situation, we must assume hostile intent.

I recommend we go to alert condition one.

 

Kerajem felt all hope die within him as he gave the necessary orders.

 

Captain,

came Worfs strong voice.

I am showing indications of military movements on Planet Three.

There have been a large number of aircraft and ground-to-space rocket launches in the past minute. The

pseudostellar interference we have been reading has also increased greatly.

He paused.

It appears that

the interference is being generated on purpose in order to mask communications traffic.

 

They dont appreciate eavesdroppers,

Riker said.

 

Apparently not,

Picard said.

Can you penetrate the interference, Mr. Worf? If Planet Three is making

offensive moves against us, Id like to know whats going on down there.

 

Aye, sir.

 

Should we hail them, Captain?

Riker asked.

 

I wish I could, Number One, but I wont until I am certain they know we are here. The Prime Directive

is still in force. They could be in a panic for some other reason, although I admit that seems unlikely

to me.

 

Captain,

Data said,

if I might

 

Yes?

 

The military moves on Planet Three detected by Lieutenant Worf began within one minute of the time the

light-speed radio signal would have reached the planet from the probe we encountered near Planet Five.

 

Riker looked at Picard.

Datas right, sir. The timing fits. Its a clear indication that theyre

reacting to our presence.

 

I see,

Picard said.

Any success, Mr. Worf?

 

Some, Captain. As we draw closer to Planet Three, it is becoming easier to detect the coherent

broadcast signals behind the interference.

 

Picard nodded.

Very well. Number One, I want those broadcast signals thoroughly analyzed. If those

people are talking to each other, I want to know what theyre talking about.

He looked at the main

screen.

 

They continued to rush sunward, leaning into the dark and listening carefully.