The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Part 13 - Loyalties. By Ben Versteegt.
Summary: Near Alpha Centauri, precious crystals have been discovered which, once modified to function as a power source, could tip the balance of power in the Alpha Quadrant. The Cardassians and Romulans have already tried to steal it, but they failed. One Cardassian was captured and beamed to a Federation starship, the USS Aquinas. En-route to a starbase, however, the Aquinas was attacked by another Federation starship, under command of a Captain that will go to any length to capture the samples. Having lost the samples and a crewmember, Ensign Sandra Burke, to the unknown Federation ship, the Aquinas' crew ponders what to do. Romulans have picked up the scent of the samples, however, and beam aboard the Aquinas. Captain Ayer reluctantly decides to help the Romulans find the samples and Sandra. After beaming aboard, the Captain has doubts about helping the Romulans. In respond to this, the Romulan commander forces Ayer to co-operate, under the threat of killing his officers.
And now the continuation:
"Engines engaged, sir. Maximum warp," said the Romulan helmsman.
"What's the status of the Federation ship?" the Romulan commander demanded. Ayer said nothing and just looked at his console. The Romulan in charge decided that it might be best not to ask Ayer about this again. He would probably give wrong information anyway. Looking in the direction of his science officer, his gaze included the same order he had just verbally given.
"Long range sensors cannot give accurate information, commander," the Romulan science officer told his superior. "We can, however, tell that they are travelling at a speed of warp two point one. Looks like that's their maximum speed, sir."
"Excellent. How long until we reach them?"
"At this speed, we should overtake them within twenty minutes."
The commander nodded. "Perfect. Activate cloak."
The Bridge went a little darker as the cloaking device was activated. "Cloaking device functioning perfectly, sir. They won't see us coming," an officer reported.
"Have all hands report to their weapons stations. Within twenty minutes," the Romulan commander looked at Ayer. "and with Captain Ayer's help of course, we will disable the Starfleet vessel. The samples will be ours, and we can return to Romulan space after having successfully completed this mission."
Ayer said nothing. He was thinking about how he got into this mess. He hadn't really had a choice. It was either helping the Romulans in disabling the Prometheus class vessel that had attacked them, or doing nothing and allowing the Romulans to destroy that ship. He tried to convince himself that the choice he had made was the only right choice to make. He tried to convince himself that he had no choice. But he couldn't help wondering whether Zjavick had been right: had Ayer really made the choice he had made because it was the right thing to do? Or had he made that choice because he wanted to get even with the people who crippled the Aquinas?
He looked at Zaag and Watters, who were still facing the barrel of a disruptor rifle. This time, he knew, he had no choice. Either he helped the Romulans to disable the starship they were chasing, or Watters and Zaag would be shot. Captain Ayer didn't like this one bit. He guessed that after they had helped the Romulans get the samples, they would probably not be released to the Federation without being interrogated about Starfleet's secrets.
His train of thoughts was disrupted as the Romulan commander began to speak to him. "Captain Ayer," he began. "I couldn't help but notice that you had a Cardassian prisoner in your brig. Naturally we beamed him aboard as well. Now, I was wondering... why was this individual in your brig?"
"He wanted to steal the samples," Ayer answered curtly. "He was stopped. We put him in our brig. That's how he got there."
"Interesting," came the reply. "Let's pay him a visit, shall we?"
"Why?"
"Because, Captain Ayer, we have twenty minutes until we arrive, and I want to spend them well."
"By interrogating a Cardassian prisoner?"
The Romulan threw Ayer a condescending look. "Is there anything wrong with that, Captain?"
"Not al all," Ayer responded calmly, still unwilling to co-operate in any way. He clearly let that show. "It's just that I don't see why we should interrogate him now."
"Why do you not want to interrogate him?" asked the commander. "Is he hiding something you don't want us to know?"
"I don't know. I haven't interrogated him yet," said Ayer without so much as a smile. Watter and Zaag, however, did smile, and the Romulan commander grew increasingly angry.
"Now I know that the Cardassian is hiding something," he said. "Something very important, something... about the samples perhaps?"
"As I said, I don't know," Ayer answered with a straight face, albeit a little annoyed by the Romulan. "We haven't..."
The Romulan commander cut him off as he moved closer to Ayer. "Do not play games with me, Captain." With one hand, he pointed at Ayer, and he reached for his disruptor with his other hand. "You would do well to start talking, Captain. I could have destroyed you all, but I didn't. I could have left you on that derelict ship of yours to rot, but I brought you aboard. I could have vaporised your officers in front of your very eyes, just to show you the power I have over you, but I didn't. I have been very patient so far, Captain Ayer, but even my patience is wearing thin. So please, for your sake..." He pulled out his disruptor and aimed it at Ayer. "Start talking. Let's start with the Cardassian." He circled his enemy as he kept the weapon pointed at Ayer. "Who is he? What does he know? Whom does he work for?" He stopped walking around Ayer for a moment as an idea entered his mind, and he opened his eyes wide. "Does he work for your government perhaps? Tell me, Captain!" He took a step towards Ayer, his face only centimetres apart from Ayer's now. The space between them was still large enough for the Romulan to push the disruptor he was holding firmly against Ayer's yaw. "Have the Cardassians and the Federation formed an alliance?"
Ayer was surprised at this sudden outburst from the Romulan Commander, but didn't show it. He just kept staring in front of him, playing the stoic Captain. This was of course pretty difficult when he felt the point of a disruptor piercing into his skull. "You are completely paranoid," Ayer said in a voice which he tried to keep calm. "That Cardassian tried to steal Federation property and kill Starfleet officers. Why the hell would he do that if he was allied with the Federation?"
"Don't take me for a fool, Captain!" the Romulan shouted as he pressed the disruptor even harder against Ayers cheek. "That is the oldest trick in the book! That Cardassian stole those samples because you had ordered him to. That way you thought we wouldn't suspect that the Federation and the Cardassians have formed an alliance."
"That is ridiculous," Ayer replied. "That Cardassian probably wasn't even working for the Cardassian government."
"And how would you know that?" shouted the Romulan commander in a voice which was filled with his feeling of victory. "If what you say is true and the Federation and the Cardassians are no allies, then how would you know that this particular Cardassian does not work for his government?"
"Because I cannot believe that the Cardassian government would be willing to risk losing the help they need from the Federation, by stealing Federation property."
"Nice reply, Captain Ayer, very nice," said the Romulan commander as he released the pressure he exercised on Ayer's cheek, allowing the Captain to look him in the eyes again. "But it won't do you any good," he continued. "I already know the truth, and there is nothing you can say that will change my mind."
Ayer sighed. "Even if the 'truth' which you know turns out to be a lie, made up by a paranoid person who refuses to see the obvious?"
"When we have acquired the samples," the Romulan commander continued, ignoring Ayer's remark, "We will go back to Romulus where you will be interrogated and treated as a prisoner of war."
"What?" shouted Ayer. "You said you'd release us!"
A grin appeared on the Romulan's face. "That was before I realised that the Cardassians have allied themselves with the Federation, obviously with the intention of destroying the Romulans. After all, we have always been your largest threat."
"You are out of your mind!" Ayer yelled.
"Yes," was the simple answer. "The war has changed everyone, Captain, including me. So yes, you can say I am out of my mind. But make no mistake, Captain: so are you."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The war has had a deep impact of all of us," the Romulan commander explained, still aiming his weapon at Ayer. "This lead some people to take desperate measures, as I have mentioned to you before. For one person, these measures entail attacking a Federation starship. For the other, those measures mean going after the attacker, thus helping the enemy."
Ayer flinched visibly. He knew that the Romulan Commander was right. He was aiding the enemy by showing them how to unmask warp trails and by helping to disable the ship that attacked the Aquinas. In essence, he was not only betraying the Federation, but he was also helping the Romulans to get their hands on a very precious source of power. What little they knew about the crystals indicated that whoever had control over these crystals would be virtually unstoppable.
And Ayer was leading the Romulans right to that source of power, even though the crystals were still in Federation hands!
On the other hand, that Prometheus class vessel that now carried the samples had crippled the Aquinas. They couldn't be friendly folk. Ayer figured that handing over the crystals to those people would be just as bad as giving them to the Romulans. Besides, he still had Sandra to rescue -- he would never forgive himself if anything had happened to her. And maybe, just maybe, he and his crew would figure out a way to escape, but that required him to keep co-operating with the Romulans.
"Commander!" a young Romulan officer shouted, bringing Ayer out of his train of thoughts.
Stepping back from Ayer, the Romulan commander holstered his disruptor and went to sit in his chair. "What is it?"
"We have the vessel in visual range," said the young officer. "We'll be within weapons range in a few minutes."
"On screen. Maximum magnification," the Romulan commander ordered. A moment later, the Prometheus class ship was displayed on the viewscreen. Ayer and the others could easily see that the ship had sustained damage; it would be an easy target for the state of the art Romulan Warbird.
"There she is," the Romulan in charge said as he rose from his chair. "And she doesn't even know we're here." He let this sink in for a moment and then turned to Ayer. "I want to know the weaknesses of that ship, Captain."
Ayer swallowed and looked at the viewscreen. "I'm inputting the data into your computer now," he said with a soft voice. In his mind, he could already picture himself sitting at his court martial and explaining what had happened to a bunch of admirals. A tear formed in his eye. He was doing this for the Federation, but at the same time he was working for the enemy. Yet he couldn't ignore his niece either. "For Sandra..." he muttered.
