The St. Just was confirmed to be a trick by the Maquis to draw us to this planet. The planet, however, was quite interesting on its own. In addition to evidence of a dead civilization, the planet had unusual magnetic fields worthy of research. Another interesting fact was that this solar system had barely been scouted by Starfleet.

I turned from the science station 2 and stood beside Lt. Yar at the newly restored tactical station, "Captain, I recommend an away team to the planet's surface. I have scanned the planet and found some structural remains of a past civilization as well as highly unusual energies being eminated from the planet."

< After being dismissed from the Bridge Santiago went to Ten Forward.   After entering he went to the bar and ordered a Vodka. As he drank he brooded.>

Guinan noticed the chief science officer brooding.   She watched him for a minute and then spoke.   " You're B.J's commanding officer aren't you" It wasn't a question it was a statement. She looked at him with eyes of wisdom gained from years of listening. " I'm El Aurian, some people call us a race of listeners. I'm here to listen if you need to talk."

< I turned from the science station 2 and stood beside Lt. Yar at the newly restored tactical station, "Captain, I recommend an away team to the planet's surface. I have scanned the planet and found some structural remains of a past civilization as well as highly unusual energies being eminated from the planet.">

Santiago had recently returned to the Bridge after some time in Ten Forward.

"Captain my initial scans showd the only life to be in the protoorganism stages. I request permission to lead, or be a part of an away team to the surface?"

As the woman spoke he felt he did need to talk. "The Captain ordered me off the Bridge after I made a suggestion. It was to leave the Maqui prisoners to the Romulans, it seems reasonable after all the problems they caused for us. True, I would prefer Federation justice for them, but the Romulan version is just as acceptable in a case of clear guilt."

My curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to see the Maquis prisoners in the brig, so I just happened to find myself on that deck.
I entered the brig, noticing the Vulcan security officer on duty. The
Maquis sat, stood or laid in their cells mostly silent. The Starfleet
officers who were Maquis had been given gray prisoner's outfits to
replace their uniforms. Ensign Ro stared at me coldly as did many of the rebel group as I watched them from a distance. I could almost hear their thoughts. How could you not help us? How could you not want to fight the Cardassians with every fiber of your being? The truth was, I did want to fight them, but not at the expense of others.
Enough killing had taken place during the occupation. The Maquis had
lost so many people on this mission alone, and would only end up in a
prison. Losing their freedom would not help the "cause" at all.
"Hey Bajoran. Come here," one of the group called to me. She was extremely tall, quite muscular with long auburn hair pulled back behind her head into some sort of barrette. Her large blue eyes seemed to penetrate my brain as she spoke.
Despite my better judgment, I walked over to her.
"What is your name, Bajoran?" she asked.
I paused before answering, "Ensign Tymen Haim."
"Tymen Haim. Is your uncle, Tymen Berreck?" I know she could see my
surprise at her knowing my uncle's name.
"Yes. He is my father's older brother," I said, completely intimidated by the woman.
"He is a good man. He and my father were friends and were together in
the Korannis prison camp."
"Your father is Bajoran?" I asked as I searched her features for signs of her heritage.
"Yes, well, mostly. I'm quite a mutt." I didn't understand the word mutt, but I caught her meaning.
"My uncle died there...in Korranis," My heart began to ache as I thought of my uncle.
"As did my father, Haim. He wrote me letters which a Bajoran sympathizer forwarded to me. He spoke well of your uncle and your family." the woman stepped toward me and I felt a sudden kinship with her.
Suddenly, I felt something happen inside my mind. My will had been seized by someone. I fought, but the force inside my head was too strong. I stepped back from the forcefield, approached the Vulcan security officer, pulled a phaser from my uniform, and...

"Dr. Crusher, we have detected the possible ruins of a civilization on the planet, I hope the Captain will authorize an away team. My current theories are either a disease that has no limits as to what it can effect, or a Genisis device which operators at a slower rate than the first model, or it could be something else entirely. I really need to get down on that planet to know for certain."

ooc: Meet Carmen, the girl voice, general lover of science, annoyance to the science staff and rest of the ship, child genius since Wesley Crusher appears not to exist, and bane of Santiago's life. Anyone is free to use the NPC.

Nosheum collapsed. Taking the mind of the Bajoran was more than he could bare. He had only recently been discharged from sickbay, but I had no choice but to make him force Tymen Haim to shoot that Vulcan
security officer. My telepathic comrade also forced the Bajoran to disable the security fields. Nosheum's powerful mental abilities had helped us escape detection by the Enterprise's Betazoid counselor, and now to escape. He was invaluable.
I knelt beside him, "Rai, we need the security codes from the First
officers or the Captain's mind. Can you help me get those?"
Nosheum, weak and exhausted, nodded. He concentrated, his mind going out to crewman after crewman until he found the first officer's mind.
He tore the codes violently from Riker's mind and gave them to me. I punched them into the console, locking out all command functions and
securing our route to engineering.
"What of the Bajoran and the Vulcan?" Taryn asked as she attended the heavily stunned security officer.
"Bring them both with us. They may prove useful." I said. I walked into the corridor, checking for security forces and found none.
We then armed ourselves with the available phasers.
"Our goal is engineering people. If we can take engineering, we can take the ship."

There was no answer from K'Lara. She was my best security officer, there was no way she would have left her post. My plan was to dispatch her as security on the away team to the planet's surface, but I could not get through to her. I dispatched Ramirez instead. Leaving my backup security officer at the bridge tactical station, I walked through the corridors toward the brig.
I entered the brig and gasped. The security holds were empty and Lt.
K'Lara was missing. I tapped my comm badge to alert the bridge when my body was bombarded with energy from a phaser. I dropped to the deck unconscious.

Recovering from a heavy phaser stun took some time. I lay on the floor of the brig trying to regain control of my body parts and gather enough sense about my environment to move. Every second I laid on the floor, was seconds that the Maquis were running lose on the Enterprise. I eventually got the strength to roll over and tap my comm badge.
"Yar," it was hard to speak, "...to bridge. The prisoners have escaped. They are armed."

< "You're right. The saucer section could contact Starfleet as well,"
I thought for a moment, "Ready a spread of photon torpedoes. After we
separate, I want that ship AND the saucer section so badly damaged that they won't be able to contact anybody.">

"Yan, is firing on the Enterprise saucer really necessary? Families and children could be killed and that would make us no different than the Cardassians that control our planet. There must be another way to disable the saucer without killing innocent people."

Ro was right. My passion for the cause made me blind to right and wrong sometimes, "Ro, do you have any suggestions?"

Getting to my feet, I stumbled out the door of the brig. I'd like to
face that woman hand to hand I thought as I hurried down the corridor. I cursed as I reach for my phaser to find it had been taken.
Luckily the Enterprise had been outfitted for just this sort of situation, I took a phaser rifle and a hand unit from one of the hidden compartments built into the Enterprise's bulkheads and silently thanked the designers of our ship.
I then attempted to formulate a plan. Without reinforcements, I'd be
facing 11 or more people single handedly. The group was likely headed for engineering, so that was my destination. My goal was not to allow them to take the ship.
I didn't want to risk getting stuck in a turbolift, so I took a
jeffries tube. The environmental controls in the tubes were at minimum when not occupied by an engineer, so the journey would be hot and long. "17 more decks," I told myself as I continued descending toward engineering.

I smiled as I tapped the comm channel at the engineering station,
"Attention Enterprise crew, this ship has been commandeered by the Maquis. You are all now Maquis prisoners. Do as you are told, and no one will be injured. Do not attempt to escape the ship for we have complete control of your computer systems," I walked around the console savoring the feeling of power I had, "Now, I want everyone aboard to report to one of the following sections of the ship: 10 forward, shuttlebay 2, or cargo bay 1. Life support will continue only in those sections. You have 15 minutes to comply. My name is Yancey Phillips and this communication is terminated."

My away team beamed down just outside the remains I had detected on the surface of the planet. Ensign Lockhart knelt down scanning the soil while Lt. Ramirez walked the perimeter with his tricorder extended.

"This planet appears to have been once class M, sir. A class Lplanet does not have soil such as this," Ensign Lockhart commented. Sheheld the dirt in her hand and let it spill the fingers of her biosuit.

"What could have happened? Some type of biological warfare of some kind?" I asked.

"Hard to say. We need to run more tests on this soil," she stood and patted her hands together.

"Take samples, we can run a full analysis once we get back to the Enterprise."

Lt. Ramirez interrupted, "Lt. Worf, there are a vast cross section of underground tunnels beneath the ruins. I can't be sure, but I think there may be lifesigns down there."

"Captain, the computer lockout we have, had to have had level one clearance..... I would guess that the rebels somehow accessed either your or Commander Riker's codes. I suggest you try inputting either of them to try and override the Maquis lockout."

He took the covering off one of the other bulkheads and accessed the jeffries tube behind it.............. ten minutes later he arrived near the entrance to engineering and just out of site. Edging forward to the corner he peaked out for 1/2 a nanosecond. No one saw him but he saw them.... they were all there looking very overconfident. He did not even need to show himself for this one, he armed all ten of the phaser / stun grenades and lobbed them one by one into engineering at varying distances. He could use the gas grenades and rifles as a back up if necessary but he didn't think he would need to ... these new grenades were well tested.

The grenades did their job in seconds the rebels were all out of reckoning / unconscious .... though not with out complaint and a few cries and curses.

Data advanced into engineering ..... peace at last..... crossing to a computer monitor he was in time to see control of the ship restored .... Picard must have worked out who's coded had been used. Turning he greeting the security team as it arrived sweeping around the corner into engineering. 'Lieutenant, our prisoners can return to the brig where they belong."

"Data to Captain Picard....I see you figured out who's security codes were stolen sir. But the good news... the Maqui are sleeping like babies, minimal damage sustained. Security is returning them home to the brig...... all of the rebels are accounted for... so I'll be back up to the bridge Sir. "

She had appeared with the away team of Mr. Worf and soon began walking about examining. Soon she walked to a door, into it actually, she then found the handle. The door opened letting out a rush of air, that even through her environmental suit she could tell was stale with age. Old and most likely a private residence, she wondered if the residents where still about.
She entered a room to find a humanoid body laying on a bed, not decayed since her tricorder reported the microorganisms which cause decay didn't exist here. "No Microorganisms, that could be a clue." she muttered not caring the suits comm system was active. Showing no sign of her ten years she reached to turn the body onto its back. It rolled over gently and she saw the face. "MR. WORF!!!"

I heard the explosion of grenades as I approached engineering. What could be happening? I hurried my pace. I entered engineering to see the Maquai lying unconscious on the deck. Data stood over them triumphantly.

"Data, you did it!" I exclaimed as I moved into the main area of engineering. Noticing K'Lara and Tymen among the bodies, I knelt beside them. A security team burst onto the scene moments later.

"Get the Maquai back to the brig, and take Lt. K'Lara and Tymen to sickbay," I said to my team as I surveyed the group of unconscious bodies, "Data there were 11 Maquai, I count 10. Someone is missing."

At that instant, a phaser rifle fired very close to me. It's target, Data, was hit squarely in the chest.

I screamed Data’s name and turned to see who the assailant was. The wide eyed Betazoid watched Data twitch and fall to the deck like a heavy stone.

I drew my phaser and blasted him before he had recovered from the shock of firing on Data.

He stumbled backward his eyes staring at me with pain, but not anger. He looked sad and I felt sorry for him as he fell to the deck.

The female leader of the Maquis awakened in time to see me shoot the man. She ran to him crying, "Nosheum!" she screamed.

Two of my security officers grabbed her and drug her away from him. another of my officers checked his pulse, "He's dead," the security officer said.

My mouth opened and I stared down at the phaser in my hand. It was set to kill. I had instinctively reset the phaser after hearing the grenade detonate. My security officers looked at me some in disbelief and others in relief that the Maquai were finally subdued.

I shook off the trauma of killing the man and turned to Data. He was lying motionless on the floor, his eyes staring eerily to the right. "Data, you are damaged. How can I help?"

"MR. WORF!!!"
I spun on the girl's scream, "The child."
I and the other members of my team ran toward her. I could see the 10
year old standing in the doorway of one of the remaining structures staring at something.
Through rapid breaths I asked, "What is it, Carmen? What have you found?"
She pointed. Inside the structure was a bed. There was a body lying
on it. It was male, approximately 25 years of age, and humanoid. Moreover, it was perfectly preserved.
"How long has he been dead?" Ramirez asked in disgust as Julia Lockhart scanned the man.
Julia looked at Ramirez then at me as I held Carmen trying to comfort
the mortified child, "The energy fields of this planet make it extremely hard to get accurate readings, but if I had to guess, I'd say nearly 200 years."

< "Data, you are damaged. How can I help?">

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII haaauauuuvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnn daaaammmmmmmaaaguuuuuuu....." he never finished whatever he was trying to communicate to Tasha, he just ran out of power and shut down. Someone would have to repair him if at all possible.

< Julia looked at Ramirez then at me as I held Carmen trying to comfort the mortified child, "The energy fields of this planet make it extremely hard to get accurate readings, but if I had to guess, I'd say nearly 200 years. >

She trembled for a few moments and then appeared to calm. "Mr. Worf, you may release me now. Death is a normal and well understood process and I should not have been phased by it. However the means by which this specimen died is not understood and deserves study. I believe we should check the other dwellings to see if their are any more of these." She pointed at the body as if the thing which had so recently terrified her was a specimen in a lab, and now that she was over her momentary lapse, to her at least it was.
She began to talk, her ice like calm in stern contrast to the heat of terror which had so recently overtaken her. "It appears to have been a
technological civilization the dwellings are metallic in construction, it appears the roadways are designed not as pathes but as routes for vehicles.
A perfectly normal developing world, except that apparently everything down to microbes has been eradicated."
Possible only microbes, all higher life depends on microorganisms if they are wiped out then everything else will soon follow." Ramirez stated.

"Captain, I believe I can help fix Data. I've studied him for quite some time prior to signing aboard. Permission to go to engineering."
Geordi LaForge, my helmsman, asked as he turned in his chair.
"Permission granted, Lieutenant. Use any crew necessary," I replied
gesturing for him to hurry. He exited the bridge.

"Possible only microbes, all higher life depends on microorganisms if
they are wiped out then everything else will soon follow." Ramirez stated.
As Ramirez spoke, Carmen pulled away from my embrace. She seemed to be past her fear. The child was resilient, I'd give her that. She'd make a good Klingon, I thought.
I returned to scanning the area. There were definitely life signs, but from what or who? They were coming from underground more than likely in the tunnels that we had found.
"Worf to Santiago. We have made several discoveries in which I think
you'd be interested."

"Lt. Cunningham, you're in command of this away team until I return." "Yes, sir." The woman replied before returning to her work.
Santiago took a small vial of water and contacted the Enterprise.
"Santiago to Enterprise, I want to be transported to Mr. Worf's location."
"Right away sir." He felt himself dematerialize and reappear a few feet from Lt. Worf.
"Before you say anything the protoorganisms I detected appear to be
extraplanetary, I'd have to get them back to the ship to be positive. Now why did you contact me?"

The woman was sullen, defeated. She sat in the chair with the two buff security guards hoovering over her with their hands on their phasers. She didn't speak.
"Yancey, is there anything you'd like to say?" I asked her. She didn't act as if she heard me.
"Nosheum was like my brother. He had moderate brain damage from being
bludgeoned by a couple of Cardassian slugs. I had taken care of him for nearly 6 years." she spoke as if to herself.
"I understand that you are saddened by his death."
"Saddened," the woman spat, "Killing him was like killing a child, Counselor. He only shot the android to protect us. He didn't mean to damage that damned robot." tears came to her eyes.
"How do you feel about your part in bringing him here to the Enterprise?" I had definitely pressed a button with that question.
She looked at me with intense rage in her eyes, "Our cause is just. For years, the Cardassians have occupied Bajor committing unspeakable
attrocities against its people. My father died there as well as hundreds of thousands of others," the woman attempted to stand, but was subdued by the security officers. She glared over her shoulder at
her oppressors and continued her voice a hiss, "The Federation refused
to help that defenseless planet while all those people died for nothing. For nothing!" Yancey suddenly lunged at me but was again stopped by the burly security officer.
Internally, I steadied myself. Yancey's intense emotions were difficult to fend against despite my training. Her convictions went to the core of her soul. I did my best to look unaffected, "You and the others will be transferred later today to the Montgomery for transport to Starbase 14. You will each have a chance to say what you will." Standing, I said, "I wish you well, Yancey."
With that, Yancey half walked and was half dragged out of my office.
After she and the security guards exited, I sat down at my desk. My
hands began to tremble. Taking a breath, I centered myself and tried to regain control.

"...Now why did you contact me?" Santiago asked.
I filled him in on all we'd found. He didn't seem surprised.
"I can find no opening into the tunnels beneath the ruins. Perhaps we
should have the Enterprise beam us down there." Lockhart suggested. She closed her tricorder and reholstered it.
"We don't know what we are heading into. We need more security," Ramirez added.
I looked to Santiago for his decision.

The damage wasn't as serious as it seemed. Luckily, no vital systems
were housed in Data's chest, however, there was minor damage to his motor and speech pathways, but nothing I couldn't repair. His dermal
tissue would be the most difficult to replace.
I was surprised how well I knew my way around the android's anatomy.
Even the engineers who assisted me were impressed. I smiled as I connected the last of the wiring inside Data.
"He should come around soon," I said.

< "We don't know what we are heading into. We need more security,"
Ramirez added.>

"I agree, contact the ship and the other away teams as well. Mr. Worf, how many security personell do you suggest we need? When you contact the Enterprise see if you can acquire some type of probe to send down ahead of us."

I stepped into the turbolift and tapped my comm badge, "Lt. K'Lara, Ensign Stoddard, report to transporter room 2 for an away mission. I'll meet you there."

"Mr Worf, report," Beverly Crusher's voice said over my comm badge.
"Dr. Crusher, we are assembling a team to explore the underground
tunnels. Would you like to join us? We could use a medical opinion on this situation," I replied.

Mr. LaForge reported that he had repaired Data to the best of his ability. Geordi also said that Data should "awaken" at any point. I felt relief, not just because Data would recover, but also because the
Maquis had been beamed to the Montgomery. The ship was breaking orbit as I sat in my bridge seat watching.
Lt. Yar had reported that she and two other security officers were
joining Mr. Worf and my chief science officer for exploration of tunnels beneath the ruins. I worried for their safety, moreover, I wanted to be down there with them exploring. Sitting on the bridge, waiting, was not my strong suit.
Leaning back in the overly comfortable command chair, I sighed.

< I stepped into the turbolift and tapped my comm badge, "Lt. K'Lara, Ensign Stoddard, report to transporter room 2 for an away mission. I'll meet you there.">

The vulcan tapped her badge, =^= "Acknowledged." =^=

K'lara made her way down to transporter room two. Upon arriving and seeing Yar she tucks her hands behind her back and arches a brow. "Reporting for the assignment, sir."

"Good, we're all here. The away team has discovered tunnels beneath the planet's surface as well as some unusual life signs. We may be looking at possible hostile lifeforms, so be prepared," I handed them each a phaser, "We are beaming down ahead of the other away team members to ensure that there is nothing down there to worry about. Because we don't know how the people down there died, biosuits are necessary." I gestured to the two suits waiting for each of them.

I continued as K'Lara and Stoddard dressed, "We've beamed a probeinto the tunnels, but the information it has relayed is inconclusive, so we're going into this somewhat blind.

After a few moments, I asked, "Are we ready?" K'Lara, the stolid Vulcan, and Hershel Stoddard, one of the older members of my team, nodded. I returned the nod and we each took our positions on the transporter pad.

"Energize."

"Yes, Data I repaired you. You are quite the specimen to study...very
intricately detailed. I'm afraid I don't know EVERYTHING about your
anatomy, but I thought if I got you conscious, you could help me repair you completely. As for the ship and the Maquis, they were overcome and have been transferred to the Montgomery. All is well aboard the Enterprise, at least for now," I smiled knowing there would be much, much more to come.

We materialized into a dark, dank tunnel with several cross sections.
They seemed to stretch into infinity in either direction I looked.
I scanned the area. The life signs were very faint, which suggested
either the lifeform was near death or possibly some sort of animal. There didn't seem to be an immediate threat.
"Yar to Santiago. Your team is cleared to beam into the tunnels."

Santiago soon materializes in the tunnel close to the first away team, the other members appear as well.
"The security team will advance, followed by the rest of us. Lt. Yar, since you are the senior security officer I suggest you stay back within the group to command your troops."
He stopped for a moment and considered K'Lara, with her Vulcan hearing and eyesight she would be the best choice. "K'Lara, take the point."