Star Trek: The Ranger, Part 3: Showdown

Chapter 6

VI

Immediately after seeing the news story on Necheyav, Admiral Riker, contacted Jellico. He filled in the Admiral on what he had seen.

"You've never seen this guy before, Will? Ever?"

Will shook his head, "Never, Ed." He had rarely seen Jellico look even a little excited.

"You're thinking this might be Sloan?"

"I have no idea, Ed, but the fact is, not everyone gets that physically close to the C-in-C of Starfleet. You can see them conversing as well."

"What's your next move on this?"

"I need to get this enhanced at a secure location. I was thinking of taking it directly to Vulcan and have Mr. Tuvok look at it. I don't want to take the chance of doing it here on Earth. Just to be on the safe side."

Jellico nodded. "I will contact him. I do know that Janeway and Seven were going to be heading to Vulcan in the very near future, as they want to start their part of this operation. I also suggest that we have you rendezvous with Janeway and Seven, and hop aboard their ship, the Phantom to get there. This has to be very covert. We'll come up with a story for you to leave the planet. I guarantee you Necheyav is getting nervous about all this, and will want to know why you're leaving."

"Deanna and I haven't had a nice vacation in a while off-world", Will said with a wink. "I can't think of a better time for that."

Jellico snickered, shaking his head. "We'll start from that premise. I will contact Janeway, and advise her to be ready to leave the outpost to rendezvous with you, then head to Vulcan."

"Anything new on the fleet sailing toward Fenris?"

Jellico again shook his head. "No. They're taking their merry time getting there, which I'm sure is another psychological move on Necheyav's part, to make them sweat."

"Agreed. OK, let me know when you want Deanna and I to move. We're ready when you are."

Within three hours, Jellico had sent encoded messages to Tuvok and Janeway, advising them that the latter needed to move post-haste to pick up an unnamed passenger, then to head to Vulcan. No other information was offered.

The message from Jellico had surprised both Seven and Kathryn.

"All I can think of, Seven, is that something unexpected has just happened, and that information needs to get to Vulcan as soon as possible."

"We didn't even get a hint of what is going on and who we're meeting. I find that pretty damned strange, Kathryn."

"Maybe", the redhead responded evenly, "but these aren't normal times. Obviously, this information is too damned important to send via even a heavily encoded message. Something serious is taking place."

The next day, they received orders to be at the Earth colony New Sausilito in four days time, which means they'd have to leave no later than the next morning. The communication didn't mention who they would be meeting, but a location on the planet was selected. Jellico said they'd know who they were picking up when they saw them.

Three Days Later

In truth, Will and Deanna did have some friends on New Sausilito, whom they hadn't seen in a number of years. They had left within hours of his conversation with Jellico, quickly working out the details. He had even contacted his friends there, saying they would be staying there for a few days. If Necheyav was eavesdropping, it would look to be on the up-and-up.

They arrived there, a full two-and-a-half days before Janeway and Seven were to be there, and they did visit their friends for those two days. There was no indication that anyone was interested in their movements, despite the looming crisis with Fenris, and they truly enjoyed their time with their old friends. Had they had the luxury, they would have loved to spend more time in such good company.