For the longest time in sickbay it seemed that it was just that way, that there was nothing she could do. To the untrained eye it seemed a cascade of desperation, Tiffany racing away from Hugh and to him again, back and forth, occasionally disappearing into an interior room, just long enough to make you nervous at having been left there alone with him... It went on and on. There was nothing to do but keep your place.
"You don't know anything about their neuroanatomy," Crusher was lecturing Tiffany on a final pass back to Hugh. "I'm not certain what you're hoping to accomplish. You don't even know what's been done to him. There isn't time to figure it out."
"I don't have to understand it all," Tiffany answered, taking scans of Hugh. "I just have to recognize a few universal truths."
Tiffany showed the scanner to Crusher. "What does this show you?"
"I don't know what the specifications should be. It shows me nothing."
"Wrong. It doesn't matter what the specs are. Watch it, over real time."
And they did. And La Forge got there first.
"The readings are dispersing," he observed. "Ever greater deviations from the mean. I might not know anything about their neuroanatomy, but I know system dysregulation when I see it."
Leaving him with the scanner, Tiffany turned to Hugh. "And I know shock when I see it," she said.
It was there. When Tiffany leaned in to Hugh, he reacted, generally, vaguely, to the movement nearing him, but didn't focus. When she spoke to him he didn't react at all. Crusher focused back around to where Tiffany had gone, hurriedly, again. She waited impatiently for Tiffany to return.
"What are you going to give him," Crusher said when Tiffany finally came back. "That's for humans."
Tiffany set the hypo down suddenly. "You're right. What have we got for Klingons."
And she prepared another, and seemed more satisfied with it.
"You don't know that he can handle the stress," Crusher said.
"I know he can handle being hooked into all that machinery, and that's got to be stressful." And when she leaned down to give it she said it more to Hugh than to Crusher, "he can take it."
When Hugh grabbed her wrist, Tiffany sat still in the grip of it. The pain of it seized the muscles in her fingers. It was all she could do not to want to drop the hypo, just to take the pressure off.
"Don't do anything," Tiffany said back off behind her, just in case anything were happening. "He'll just take it as a threat. He can't think." And she leaned in closer, leaned this way and that until he caught the movement, and it caught his attention. "I won't hurt you."
When Hugh let her go, the relief of a situation finally turning right was short-lived. Any relief that might have been gained by seeing him respond to the hypo, seeing him begin to focus around the room, drained off with the way he focused on Picard. It drained off when you noticed the rage on his face. Tiffany stood up and backed away, instinctively, the way you would from having walked mindlessly up on a dog with a big bloody bone.
"You brought them here," was all Hugh said to Picard.
"We did not bring them here to--" Picard tried to continue. "I made the decision not to use that program."
"Perhaps you regret your decision."
"I do not regret it."
"Liar!"
Hugh lunged for Picard's throat, and La Forge had one hell of a time of keeping him from it. Crusher was out of the room, calling for the nurse. Tiffany looked around, not finding quite the right thing to do.
"We should have killed you when we had the chance," Hugh spit at Picard.
But any response Picard might have tried to make was drowned out by Worf's demanding "Captain to the bridge. Mana and Taposs have been transported away," he reported. "Another warbird uncloaking--"
"I'm on my way." Picard had no choice but to go, of course. But knowing that didn't make turning away from this easier.
"Do you think we're fools," Hugh said as Picard went. "Do you think we're brainless children, you can just do as you please--"
La Forge tried to calm him. "We want to try and keep this under control--"
"You want to destroy us!"
The ship was hit, obviously. The com voice from Engineering was essentially redundant, summoning La Forge, who was already looking for a way out of this and off to his duty. "We need you down here," they begged over the com. It was enough to put La Forge off his guard. He looked to the com panel, looked at Hugh. At the moment of greatest indecision, in his looking back to the com panel, Hugh threw out at him a good solid hook that sent him straight to the floor.
The com called La Forge. Crusher stood there in the doorway, the hypo she was holding seeming all of a sudden grossly inadequate the way Hugh was staring her down. The way that in one good movement he disarmed La Forge and fired at her, she never had time to react. Two nurses went down after her, and when Hugh turned to the exit, Tiffany was frozen there. Hugh looked at her, phaser pointed.
The com called La Forge.
Hugh hurried out of sickbay past Tiffany.
At the turbolift opening onto the bridge you didn't turn right away, but at the sound of phaser fire you sure as hell did. I spun just in time to see Worf go down, to see two others get the same, and Picard starting to rush Hugh. To hear Troi yell, "Captain! Don't!" you knew this couldn't be good.
"He'll do whatever he feels he has to," Troi said without moving. To Picard's look at her and then past to where the two had rushed the turbolift, she said simply that "they're dead."
The two warbirds sat on the screen and didn't move, and we didn't pay a damn bit of attention to them.
"Worf?" Picard asked.
Riker moved slowly around it was as if for every step he was waiting for approval from Hugh, who shifted just enough to keep him in sight, but that was all. Approval enough. Riker squatted, to see. "He's alive. He could use some attention."
Hugh, keeping the phaser pointed at Picard, moved over to access a com panel. Picard kept a close eye on him, making no move to stop him. Then came the report from Data.
"Energy surges from the Borg ship, Captain, erratic, directing--"
Data could only shake his head. "I cannot discern."
Picard stepped up some, tentatively, to Hugh. "What are you telling them to do?"
But Hugh ignored him.
"Captain," I said.
Everyone turned to the screen, where the Borg scout was laboring to come about and in the process caught the Tammuz off guard. They never even tried to defend themselves. They may very well never have seen what hit them. Two good shots, and the warbird burst into a shower of sparks, and was gone. The scout labored around to the second warbird, but it was already veering away. They weren't even going to try to fight. I couldn't believe it. The scout was struggling, visibly.
"Power fluctuations from the Borg ship," Data reported.
"Stabilizing again. The warbird is entering warp. She is gone."
I sat perfectly still. Behind me, Hugh was losing his temper. He slammed a fist onto the com panel.
Picard stepped up a little more. "What are you going to do now?"
The phaser came back up, but it was a relatively undirected threat. Most of the immediate purpose behind his actions seemed to have gone.
"I can't let you control my ship," Picard said. "You know that. You'll be forced to kill me, right here, sooner or later."
At getting no response from Hugh, Picard took another step toward him and tried again.
"I know you're confused about all of this. I know you might think you know what you want. But sometimes you have to compromise. Put the weapon down, Hugh."
Order of business: When the captain is giving a speech designed to save the ship from a violent raging enemy, never interrupt. "Captain," I interrupted, "incoming message from the Integrity."
And Nechayev's voice flashed with interference across the bridge, making you blink. "--have detected weapons fire--sending the Integrity to assist--"
Picard nearly lunged for the companel to try and answer Nechayev. "No! Under no circumstances approach--" But his voice was lost in phaser fire and bursting circuitry as Hugh shot it straight to hell.
"We cannot afford to compromise," Hugh said.
It wasn't that he said that, so much, as the way he straightened up, the way any tone that might ever have been in his voice was gone, even the anger, the rage. At least when someone was mad at you you knew what to do. It was what he said next that sent the chill up your spine.
"Your weapons are inadequate to defend yourselves against us. You will offer no resistance, or I will order my ship to destroy this one."
Riker inched up to Picard. "We may have just lost that tactical advantage."
Picard shot him a glance, a you may be right glance. But he made no move until we heard the com, heard Nechayev's "--didn't quite read--energy surges--Enterprise respond!"
"Mr. Data?" Picard asked.
"We cannot respond."
"--Enterprise respond!" And the air went quiet. "Will rendez-vous with you--"
And that was it. The interference took the rest of it away.
We waited for the panel to sound and tell us that the Integrity was approaching and that there was nothing we could do. When it did sound, it made your stomach sink into your feet.
"Sir," Data reported, "the Integrity is nearing. She is being caught in a field being generated by the Borg ship."
"Stop this now," Picard said to Hugh.
"Or what? You will be good to us again and kill us for certain?"
"We'll be at war again, Hugh, is that what you want?"
"I have what I want. The rest is up to you."
"The Integrity has stopped transmitting," Data informed us. "She will be in transporter range of the Enterprise in seconds."
Hugh let the phaser drop from his hand to the floor, and he simply turned away. Picard stepped up to grab him by the arm, to force him to face what he was doing. "Look at me and tell me you'll let this happen!"
"I owe you nothing!" Hugh wrenched himself free.
Before Picard could decide what to do, Hugh transported away.
On the screen it was apparent what was happening as Data reported it. The Integrity was assuming a heading for Romulan space, readying for warp. Although certain that I'd heard it correctly, the order to fire on the Integrity, I hesitated over the panel.
"Fire!" came Picard's voice right behind me.
I fired. Or tried. The Integrity was coming around as if she's expected us to attack, and she gave us three good whacks before veering off and disappearing into warp.
"Weapons offline," I had no choice but to report. "Unable to return fire."
"Report," Picard said to Data.
"Minor damage to shields, weapons down, communications down, warp drive offline."
Riker stepped down. "They knew right where to hit us."
"Picard to La Forge. How long before we have warp engines?"
At getting no reply, Picard started to look nervous. "La Forge," he said without power, not really expecting to get a reply, and already knowing why.
"Tiffany here, Captain. La Forge will be fine, but he's in no condition to do anything right now."
"Captain," Data said, "the vent is sufficiently remitted that I might be able to discern a heading for the Integrity."
"Do it," Picard said. "Lay in a course. Get us underway as soon as Engineering reports ready."
Picard headed for the turbolift.
Data acknowledged. I sat for a moment, again, then turned to find that, to my horror, Picard had paused long enough to notice that I was just sitting.
"Something on your mind, Ensign?"
"Sir, even if we can track them, the Integrity is equipped with a cloak."
"The Captain is aware of the configuration of the Integrity." As if Riker had to remind me.
"Well, how are we supposed to track a cloaked ship?"
"I don't know, Ensign," Picard said. "How are we supposed to track a cloaked ship?"
All I could do was turn back around in my chair and try to figure it out.
La Forge sat on the table and barely looked up from being examined by Crusher as Picard and Troi entered sickbay. La Forge was rubbing his head. Crusher looked a little stunned herself, but was tending the casualties. Tiffany, unharmed, hoped that no one would notice. And no one did. Picard went straight to La Forge.
"I'm sorry, Captain," La Forge said. "I never saw it coming."
"None of us did."
Crusher handed Picard a PADD, saying simply, "two dead here, four in the corridor. Two on the bridge."
Picard took the PADD but didn't look at it. He looked as if he'd shot them himself, the way he moved away, rubbing his eyes.
"He didn't believe what he said," Trio said. "About not owing you anything."
"Then why did he say it?"
"He's only one individual. It's entirely likely that his influence, although undeniable, can only go so far. Inadvertently, the Romulans have done the one thing that had to be done before these Borg could save themselves. They've provided them with a purpose."
"And the strongest purpose of all," La Forge said, "their original purpose."
"Survival," Picard said. "The purpose of protecting themselves. By regaining the information the Romulans stole from them."
"And it's an overwhelming drive," Troi said. "And it's in all of them, together. If Hugh behaves in a manner too inconsistent with that drive, they might consider it an interference with their purpose. That would be unacceptable to them."
La Forge shrugged. "He might lose his position. Instead of going against their purpose and listening to him, they might decide that the most efficient solution to the problem is to simply get rid of him."
"When you said he hadn't many decisions left," Troi said to Picard.
"I'd say that now he has none."
On to Chapter 8.