The Soldiers of Fear (8 page)

"I SIMPLY DO NOT understand, sir," Data said. "Did I miss some subtle message in your contact with the Furies?"

His head jerked as it turned, looking at the bridge crew. Lieutenant Worf still stared at the screen. Riker brought his head up, an expression of grim determination on his face. Ensign Iket had stopped pounding on the turbolift door and was holding one hand as if it hurt.

Picard nodded. His fear was still there, but the control he had placed over it grew with each passing moment. "Perhaps, Data, but what you missed was not subtle. It affected the crew's emotions deeply."

"What was it, sir?"

"If we knew that, Mr. Data, we would be able to fight it."

"But you seem unaffected, sir."

Picard smiled. Sometimes Data's innocence on matters emotional was just what Picard needed. Still, he could feel the fear trapped within him, under his control, but only barely. "It affected me, Mr. Data, and I fear" He paused on the word, checked it, and made sure it was accurate. It was. "I fear that this first attack might be a mild one. For a moment, I felt like Ensign Eckley; and in that extreme terror, no human can think clearly."

Picard looked at Data.

Data was watching him carefully, ignoring the emotional chaos around them.

Picard went on. "There may come a time in our dealings with the Furies when you and you alone will be able to think rationally. I will be counting on you to make the correct decisions. Am I making myself clear, Mr. Data?"

"Yes, sir," Data said in his most solemn voice.

Picard nodded. Having Data aboard and unaffected by this inexplicable fear took some of the tension out of Picard's back. Data was a good officer. If the survival of the Enterprise and her crew landed on his shoulders, he would make the right choice.

Data's presence, and the guarantee of levelheadedness, also made the next few decisions easier.

"Open a shipwide channel, Mr. Worf."

Worf did not break his gaze from the screen. Data watched him, head tilting in puzzlement.

"Mr. Worf," Picard said in his most commanding voice.

Worf snapped to attention. His gaze, when he turned it on Picard, was fierce. But Picard knew that fierceness was a Klingon cover for embarrassment.

"Sir?"

"Open a shipwide channel."

"Yes, sir," Worf said.

Picard glanced at the bridge. Riker was watching him now, and several other members of the bridge crew were taking deep breaths. Ensign Eckley was unconscious, though, and Ensign Iket had sunken to the floor, hand swelling to twice its normal size.

"Channel open, sir."

Picard nodded. He cleared his mind, pushed the fear even farther down, and met Data's gaze. It was essential that Picard sound calm and collected for this announcement. Since Data was the only calm member of the bridge crew, Picard would use him as an anchor.

"To the crew of the Enterprise, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard. We have made contact with the Furies, and in that contact, they have somehow tapped emotions buried deep within us. As we suspected, they hope to prey upon our fears."

He took a deep breath, keeping his gaze on Data's calm face, and went on. "Many of you are in the grip of that fear now. You must master it and you can master it. Remember that what you are feeling is not coming from within you, but from without. Your fear is artificial. Use that knowledge to subdue the terrors."

Data nodded, understanding what Picard was saying. That calmed Picard even more as he went on. "Return to your stations. I shall be contacting the Furies again, and this time, they shall see that we are made of much sterner stuff."

Picard signed off. Riker was staring at him. Data stood, and opened his mouth as if to speak. But Worf spoke first.

"With all due respect, sir, it was your contact with the Furies that precipitated the attack. Do you believe that another contact is wise considering we do not even know the nature or the power of their weapon?"

"It is the Klingon way to face one's fear, is it not, Mr. Worf?"

"Klingons believe, sir, that one must respect one's fears. Occasionally a fear is justified."

"I agree. Fear is the most protective of all of our emotions. But it cannot govern our lives or our deeds. It is the strongest Klingons, those who can go beyond their fears, who become great leaders."

Picard had to choose his words carefully here, given the Klingon history with the Furies. Worf probably hadn't yet realized that he was in danger of repeating it.

"It is my belief, Mr. Worf," Picard continued, "that you are one of your people's great leaders. I have seen you face events that would have destroyed lesser Klingons."

Worf 's lips thinned. He clearly understood Picard's implications. "Thank you, sir."

Picard nodded. He turned away from Worf, hoping that his own strength would hold for this next, most crucial action. "Hail the Furies' ship, Mr. Worf."

"Aye, sir."

Riker had stood too. He stayed just out of range of the viewscreen, but he appeared stronger. Perhaps Picard's conversation with Worf had helped Riker as well.

"They have acknowledged our hail, sir," Worf said.

Picard straightened his shoulders. He had survived torture by the Cardassians. He could survive anything.

"On screen," Picard said.

The devil the Fury captain appeared on the screen again.

Picard shuddered, but he kept himself steady. He had to concentrate for the good of the ship. "When we spoke earlier, you said you were familiar with our Federation. That means you know our mission is a peaceful one. We do not believe in war."

"Our records show that you fight it well enough." The creature's voice swept through Picard.

"Of course we do," Picard said. He held himself rigidly, not wanting any sign of fear to show. "We must defend ourselves. But we believe war is a failure of communication."

"War is more than that," the creature said. "War is glory. It is the only way to achieve heaven."

"Heaven" was the term the first Fury's captain had used for this area of space when he spoke to Kirk.

Tiny shivers were running up and down Picard's back. He forced himself to ignore them. "I was sent to negotiate with you. If you want to settle in this area, we will help you."

The creature tilted its head. Its eyes changed color as it moved, and a bit of smoke or mist curled around its horns. "Negotiate? You believe you can negotiate with us?"

The question was a stall. Even through his fear, Picard could sense that. Kirk had tried to negotiate with them. And he had failed in the end.

"Negotiate," Picard repeated. "Our diplomats will meet with yours, we will establish a truce, and then we will see if we can work out some sort of amenable coexistence."

The creature threw its head back and laughed. Maggots flew from its mouth, and fell against its chin, held there by thin strands of green saliva. "Diplomats? We have no diplomats, Picard. We do not believe in them."

The shivers were growing stronger. Picard swallowed them back. He made himself stare at the screen, even though the maggots disgusted him almost as much as the creature terrified him. "Our leaders will speak with yours. If you tell us your purpose in coming to this sector, we will see what we can do to help"

"You, the Unclean, offering to help us?" The creature's laughter died, and Picard took an involuntary step backward as the Fury captain's eyes seemed to glow red. "Just as you helped our last ship that arrived here? We ruled heaven once and we are returning to rule it again. Then you will do as we want. No negotiating. No diplomats. It is easier our way."

Picard didn't let his mind dwell on what the creature had said. He didn't dare. "In this quadrant," Picard said, "we work together. We are willing to work with you if you let us."

"Be assured you will work with us." The creature raised its hand, revealing long curling fingernails with razor-sharp tips. "Like little puppets on a string. We shall control your every movement. Your every feeling."

The fear increased so that Picard had to grit his teeth to prevent them from chattering.

The creature leaned forward, as if they were the only two beings in the universe. Its red eyes seemed to glow across the distance, cutting at Picard's insides. "And Picard, we will enjoy your every scream."

The screen went dark. Picard staggered backward, stopping just before he reached his chair. He felt as if someone had taken his insides, squeezed them, and then stretched them. His muscles ached, and he longed to close his eyes and never open them again.

Instead, he slumped into his chair. Sweat soaked the back of his shirt. The bridge crew had not dissolved into anxiety. They still controlled themselves. He wondered if that last blast of terror had been directed at him alone.

"Sir?" Riker said, concern evident in his voice.

Picard took a few measured, deep breaths. "Number One, they know how to tap our deepest fears."

"I know, sir," Riker said.

"But it is artificial." Picard was speaking as much for himself as for his first officer, fighting to wrap that band of control around his thoughts again.

He took a deep, measured breath and let it out slowly. "According to my reading of Kirk's logs, the original Enterprise had no problem with this level of fear. That crew's fears came only from the ways the creatures looked."

Picard glanced around the bridge. "Yet everyone on our ship seems to have fallen prey to these overpowering emotions. Most of have not seen the imagery on the screen."

"A weapon," Worf said. "It is a weapon."

Picard nodded. "I agree. They are using some sort of device now. It is" Picard took a breath as a wave of shuddering ran through him. Riker's eyes grew wide. Picard bit his lower lip and forced the shuddering to stop.

"It is," he began again, "only logical. We defeated them before. They would come back stronger, using the knowledge they gained about us the first time to fight us now."

Riker nodded. "Just as we are doing against them."

Picard nodded. "Number One, with this in mind, I want you to go to engineering. Several of La Forge's people were overwhelmed by the first wave. I am certain he needs assistance. Provide him with some, and make certain that the entire staff is working on a way to shield us from the Furies' power, whatever this is. Do it as quickly as you can, Number One."

"Aye, sir." Riker actually looked relieved to have something to do. He pushed himself out of his chair as though anxious to be away from Picard, and hurried to the turbolift. As he passed Ensign Iket, Riker paused, spoke softly, and then continued on his way. Even in the middle of his own fear, Riker had comfort to spare for others.

Picard was lucky that Riker had turned down his own command. At moments like this, Picard needed someone solid to rely on. Fortunately, he also had Data.

"Mr. Data," Picard said, "observations."

Data pushed away from the console. "The Fury is justifiably certain of its own power. Ancient history from many different societies shows that they were able to enslave peoples in this sector for thousands of years. Earth, Vulcan, and Klingon cultures all show records of their influence or domination."

Picard nodded. "Go on."

Data looked puzzled for a moment before he continued. "It seemed to me, however, that the captain of the Fury vessel did not anticipate your response to its message. Your offer to negotiate confused it, and your mention of diplomats made it pause for a moment."

"In consideration?" Picard asked. He had been so involved in controlling his emotions that he wasn't able to read the emotions in the Fury captain.

"No, sir. If I had to speculate, I would say that it was not familiar with the term. I do not believe that the Furies have negotiated in their recent history. I doubt they even understood what Captain Kirk was trying to do their first time here. The records show that Kirk delayed the battle and was able to talk to them only because they were looking for proof that this area was their home area. Once they found that proof, they attacked."

Picard steepled his fingers and tapped them against his chin. "Speculate more for me, Mr. Data. If they aren't here to negotiate, why did they arrive with only five ships?"

"There could be several explanations, Captain. If your hypothesis is correct and they have developed a device to incapacitate us with fear, five ships might be all they think they need. It would seem, though, based on historic precedent and standard military tactics, that these five ships are an advance point. Scout ships, for lack of a better way of putting it."

Picard felt himself shudder, but he hoped it didn't show.

Data went on. "With that in mind, I looked at strategy. Those five ships appear to be guarding the Furies' entry point. We think the point is a kind of wormhole, but nearly eighty years of observation have shown us that it is not available to our ships, the way the wormhole near Bajor is. However, this wormhole seems to open at the whim of the Furies. Either they have knowledge of when it will open or the wormhole is artificially created."

Data's analysis was calming Picard. It was good to hear someone speaking rationally.

"What do you believe?"

"The evidence points to an artificial creation," Data said. "If the Furies had to time their arrival in the Alpha Quadrant with the opening of the wormhole, they would have sent in their entire invasion force. If these five ships are indeed an advance team, then the hole is artificially created, and we will see other ships arrive through the wormhole shortly."

Picard swallowed. More Furies. It made sense. But it didn't give them much time.

"Sir," Data said. "While you were speaking with the Fury, I took the liberty of running several tests. I hoped to find a source for the emotional distress the Furies' visage seems to cause the crew."

Relief flooded through Picard. "Good thinking."

"Unfortunately, I was unable to find any obvious cause of the distress. The communication seemed like a straightforward intership exchange. The Fury ships were not using any weaponry that our systems can detect."

But that didn't mean the weapons weren't there. For decades, the Federation could not detect a cloaked Romulan warbird even if the bird were within hailing distance.