Officer,
I question your decision
to accompany the away team.
- If the Captain were here...
- He's not.
No, but if he were, and he wanted
to lead an away team,
you would say the Captain's place...
Is on the bridge. Not this time.
- Ensign, take that area.
- Yes, sir.
Geordi?
It's hard to get accurate readings.
There's a lot of interference.
From what?
I'm not sure. It's very unlocalised.
It could be atmospheric.
What do you make of these?
Well, these ruins are pretty ancient,
but this indentation looks recent.
Could be the site of some battle.
This doesn't look like a blast point.
The shape is too perfect.
Commander, there's microcrystalline
damage everywhere.
The same pattern Dr Crusher
picked up on the floor of that bar.
Commander!
I found something.
Someone could have just dropped them.
Enterprise, we are under attack.
We are under attack...
We've lost contact
with the away team.
- Is there a malfunction?
- No, we're being jammed.
- What is the source?
- Somewhere on the surface.
Bridge to transporter room two.
Can you get a lock on them?
Negative.
There's too much interference.
If I can get to those trees, we
might be able to set up a crossfire.
Data to away team, please respond.
Data, we've been attacked.
One casualty,
and Cmdr Riker has been captured.
The mercenaries beamed away. They
must have a base or ship nearby.
Anything on the sensors?
We're picking up
a vessel leaving orbit.
- Why was it not detected earlier?
- They used the planet as a shield.
They're powering up their weapons.
Raise shields. Red alert.
Damage report.
Minor hit on the port deflector.
No damage.
They're running. They're at warp 8.7.
I think they're at maximum.
Go to warp nine and pursue.
Lock phasers on target.
Sir, we should be within
phaser range in 23 seconds.
Switching to long-range scanners.
The sensor image of that ship
is extremely weak. It's fading.
The ship doesn't register
on the long-range sensors.
I'm sorry, sir. We've lost them.
Increase the sensor field.
Patch in lateral sensor arrays.
It's no good, the signal's gone.
It just disappeared.
Take us back to Barradas III.
Notify the away team
to prepare for transport.
Starfleet Intelligence confirms
that a ship of this configuration
is linked to raids
on nearby planets.
While it was within visual range,
we took sensor readings
of the vessel.
It seems to be encased
in an energy-absorbing material.
We can see the ship,
but this energy sheath
renders it virtually undetectable
to our long-range sensors.
- There must be a way to track it.
- Data, it's a long shot,
but if I remodulate
the long-range sensor array,
it might be sensitive enough
to detect the ship.
Without analysing the energy sheath,
chances of a correct remodulation
are remote.
Sir, they have taken Cmdr Riker.
We cannot just sit here.
On the contrary, Lieutenant,
that is precisely what we must do.
There is no alternative.
We will return to the surface
and try to determine
why the mercenaries are here.
An investigation
might reveal their purpose.
Notify me when you have assembled
your search teams. Dismissed.
- What's the problem?
- I said not to push the engine.
It's on the verge of collapse.
We'll be lucky to maintain warp six.
- How long till it's fixed?
- I can try to realign the warp core.
It'll take 11 hours, but I'll have
to shut the engines down completely.
We're not stopping.
We can't sit helpless in space.
I want warp eight in five hours.
I don't want to hear your excuses.
What were you doing on Barradas III?
William T Riker,
Commander, SC, 231-427.
Really?
Well, I am Arctus Baran,
and I don't have a number.
Now, what were you doing
on Barradas III?
We were studying the ruins.
It was a scientific expedition.
Don't patronise me. Those ruins
have been studied for centuries.
- There's nothing new to learn.
- Then why were you there?
Don't bother. You can't remove it.
It's connected
to your