[Star Trek TNG] - Double Helix Omnibus by Peter David

Author:Peter David
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 1999-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

LIEUTENANT RIKER MATERIALIZED not on a transporter pad as he expected, but directly inside an old-fashioned brig, with bars across the door. He charged forward and smashed into the bars, rattling them but not doing any real damage. The outer door whooshed open, and a wild-eyed Klingon woman entered, wielding a Ferengi phaser rifle.

At least she looked Klingon, although closer inspection led him to wonder, because her forehead ridges were not very pronounced. But the contemptuous scowl on her face sure made her look Klingon. “Back away!” she said with a snarl.

“Or what?” he demanded. “You’ll hijack my shuttlecraft? You’ve already done that. But maybe you want to torture me—see if I know anything.”

“The captain will be here in a moment,” she replied. “Just shut up until then.”

“What vessel is this? Are you Maquis…or something else?”

“This is the Spartacus,” said an authoritative male voice.

Riker turned to see a commanding figure in a tan jacket enter the brig. He stared, because it appeared as if the dark-haired man had a maze tattooed on his forehead. Whatever outfit this was, it sure wasn’t Starfleet.

“I’m Captain Chakotay,” said the man, meeting Riker’s hostile gaze. “And, yes, we are Maquis. Despite that, we mean you no harm.”

“People keep telling me that,” muttered Riker, “but somehow I don’t believe it. You cracked open my co-pilot’s skull, and you attacked us without provocation.”

“Your co-pilot is receiving medical attention right now.” Chakotay gave Riker a grudging smile. “And it sounds like you defended yourself fairly well. I’m glad we backed up our infiltration team, but we can’t afford to leave anything to chance.”

Riker shook his head in disbelief. “All this to hijack an unarmed shuttlecraft? If that’s the scope of your ambition, it’s a wonder Starfleet pays any attention to you at all.”

“Shut up!” snapped the Klingon woman, threatening him with the phaser rifle.

“Stow it, B’Elanna,” ordered the Maquis captain. “He’s got a right to be angry. Don’t worry, Lieutenant, it’s not you or your shuttlecraft we want. It’s your cargo.”

“What cargo?”

“Aren’t you carrying medical supplies?”

“We were, but we’re empty on our return trip.”

Chakotay scowled in anger and stepped over to a comm panel beside the door. He slammed it with a clenched fist. “Chakotay to bridge. Do we have a report yet on what they found on the shuttle?”

“Yes, Captain,” answered a calm male voice. “We found only personnel—our own and the shuttlecraft’s co-pilot.”

“You’re sure of that?”

“Yes, sir. No supplies were found on the shuttlecraft, other than standard-issue medkits. The wounded parties have been transferred to the Singha for medical attention.”

From the captain’s clenched jaw, Riker assumed this was very bad news. “All that trouble for nothing,” he grumbled. “Chakotay out.”

“Not for nothing,” said the woman called B’Elanna. She glared at Riker. “We still have him and the shuttlecraft. And he’s a doctor.”

Riker shook his head. “No, I’m not—I’m just a medical courier who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I don’t get this—if your people needed medical attention, why don’t you just join the refugees? You could turn yourselves in.

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