Picard smiled. He had forgotten the ease Troi had brought to his ship, and to his command. A Betazoid counselor who could sense his emotional state tended to keep him focused and aware of the present. And he rarely had to explain himself to her. With the Titan in tow and Riker still in Doctor Crusher’s sickbay, Picard was pleased that Troi had chosen to take up guest quarters on the Enterprise for the journey back to Earth. Especially since the Enterprise’s new counselor, T’Lana, was on leave to attend a negotiation workshop on Babel.
“Under the circumstances,” Picard said, “not really. We’re needed here. Exploration can wait for now.”
Troi’s smile was warm and kind and let him know that she saw right through him. “You’ve never believed that, Captain. But like all of us, you put duty first.”
Picard returned the smile. “I’ve missed you, Counselor.”
“I know.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Lieutenant Leybenzon, the ship’s security officer. The taciturn human had earned a field commission during the Dominion War, and his martial expertise had proven his worth many times over, both in war and in peace.
“Captain, we’re receiving a transmission from Jupiter Outpost Ninety-two.”
Picard was familiar with that security station. It was part of Sector 001’s deep-space tracking and communications network, built into and onto the ninety-second moon of Jupiter. That particular moon was a rock scarcely larger than the Enterprise.
Picard straightened his jacket. “Onscreen.”
At once, a man in unusual black clothing appeared on the viewscreen. To Picard, the outfit seemed more like a uniform than civilian garb, though he could see no insignia. In the background, among nested banks of operations consoles, uniformed Starfleet personnel rushed back and forth, or conferred in close conversation. The mood seemed tense, the activity almost erratic. But the man, whoever he was, whatever his function, clearly belonged at the station he occupied.
“Captain Picard,” the man said, “please drop from warp at Kuiper Five-seven-five. We have tugs waiting to bring the Enterprise and the Titan to Jupiter Station.”
Picard bristled at the thought of letting smaller craft guide his ship. Even more disturbing was that Kuiper 575 was an icy planetesimal, twice the size of Pluto and half again as distant from the sun. As far as he was aware, it was a Fleet deuterium refueling depot for freighters. The Enterprise had no business there, especially when the Titan needed urgent repairs at the Utopia shipyards.
“May I ask why? Our destination is Mars.”
“We’re operating under emergency conditions, Captain. You’ll receive further orders when you report to Kuiper Five-seven-five.”
The man in black moved to touch a control, no doubt to break the connection, Picard assumed. But Picard wasn’t finished with him.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know you and I’d prefer to get changes to my orders from Starfleet personnel. May I– “
The viewscreen flashed back to a visual sensor image of Earth’s sun, the brightest star in the galactic swath, still several light-years distant. Closer stars smeared past at warp on the edges of the screen.
Picard stared at the stars, puzzled and annoyed. Then, as if no time had passed since she had last served as counselor on his ship, he turned to Troi.
“Impressions?”
“Whoever he is,” the Betazoid said thoughtfully, “he’s not used to being questioned. And he was at a high level of alert. I have no doubt he feels he’s operating under emergency conditions, as he said.”
Picard made his decision, looked over at the tactical station. “Mister Leybenzon, open a channel to Starfleet Command.”
The chief of security efficiently called up the main com controls on his board, sent the automated sequence.
A moment later, the viewscreen flashed again.
It was the man in black. “Captain Picard, is there a problem?”
Picard stood. Something wasn’t right. “My communications request was sent to Starfleet Command.”
“That’s what you’ve reached. Starfleet’s Jupiter facilities are now provisional Fleet headquarters.”
“Since when?”
“Since Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco closed down two days ago. Now change course to Kuiper Five-seven-five.”
Picard’s mind raced. How could headquarters be relocated without the news spreading over the subspace net? “I’ve received no notification.”
“And you won’t until you’ve passed through engrammatic identity verification at Kuiper Five-seven-five. Now change course immediately, or I will declare you a hostile vessel.”
Picard looked to Troi, mouthed the words “Identity verification?”
“Whatever it is, he means it,” the counselor quietly replied.
Picard turned back to the screen, weighing the possibilities that might explain what he was facing. But whatever was going on, he refused to concede his command authority without good reason. The stakes were too high.
“Under the circumstances, I need to receive orders from a source I recognize,” Picard stated.
The man’s jaw clenched and Picard didn’t need a Betazoid to tell him he was witnessing a sudden burst of anger.
“Captain Picard-if that’s who you are-drop out of warp now, disable your weapons, and wait to be taken in tow. If you continue to approach this system, you will be fired upon, and you will be destroyed. Starfleet Command, out.”
Once more the stars returned to the viewscreen.
“Strong suspicion,” Troi said, clearly startled by the man’s hostility. “He truly doubts your identity. He’s frustrated. And disappointed.”
“Disappointed?” Picard asked.
Troi shook her head as if there was something about the man that was just out of her grasp. “I think, when you first spoke to him, it was almost as if he was hoping you could help him.”
“Help him with what?” Picard momentarily appreciated the irony that just a few minutes ago he had been thinking that his home system held no mysteries. But now…
“Mister Leybenzon,” Picard said, “do you detect any vessels heading to intercept us?”
“Negative, Captain.”
“Can you pick up any standard communications traffic from Command, San Francisco?”
“A lot of subspace static… unusual. If there are standard transmissions, under these conditions they’d be undetectable.”
Picard knew he needed more time to sort out what was happening. “Conn, change course to Kuiper Five- seven-five.”
Ensign Choyce replied with a brisk “Aye, sir,” and almost at once the starfield on the viewscreen began to shift as the ship’s heading changed.
Now Picard stepped behind his operations officer at her station. Lieutenant Commander Miranda Kadohata had been trained by Data on the EnterpriseD before transferring to other vessels, and Picard had welcomed her return to his ship. “Commander, have the science department heads prepare a report on that interference. But first ask Commander Worf to report to the bridge at once.”
Picard walked back to Troi. “I can only surmise that the current situation is somehow related to the warp- core failures.”
He could see that Troi sensed what underlay his conclusion.
“You’re beginning to think it’s not a natural phenomenon after all.”
“If headquarters has been relocated, perhaps it’s because they fear what happened at the Cochrane Institute could happen there. And as to doubting my identity… that’s reminiscent of the Dominion War, when anyone could be a Changeling.”
Troi smiled at Picard. “Not within range of a Betazoid, sir.”
Picard appreciated Troi’s assurance, but he was also aware of how someone else might see the situation.
