Chapter 9 - You Left Me No Choice

The atmosphere on the bridge was unbelievably tense; everyone was afraid to move, not just for their own safety but for Wesley's.

Picard saw the fear in Wesley's eyes and as Captain it was his duty to protect his crew, but when it came to Wesley the feeling of protectiveness was stronger. So right now, in this situation he was scared, but he made sure not to show it.

Picard also had to remain focused on the two unidentified ships attacking the Enterprise, which he quickly realised that Philips must have something to do with. He was furious at himself for not following his instincts that Philips was hiding something.

"Captain" Data said as he peered at his console, whilst still pointing the phaser at Philips; "I'm reading reports of complete energy shutdown on all decks."

"Bridge to Engineering." Riker said as he tapped his communicator and then the small console beside his command chair, his eyes still focused on Philips and his phaser. Philips seemed to be watching them, not objecting to them trying to figure out what was going on. In reality he was merely stalling for time. There was no response to Riker's communication though and Riker exchanged glances with the rest of the bridge crew. Picard turned back to Philips, knowing Philips must have done something to the ship's computer, and took a small step forward raising his hands so not to alarm Philips.

"Let's just calm down and talk about this. What is it that you want?" Picard said referring to his diplomacy techniques

Philips merely scoffed; "Really Picard? Using Starfleet diplomacy 101 on me." And Philips shook his head in disapproval; "If you think I'm just going to blurt everything out to you, then you're sadly mistaken."

"The ships" Wesley said instead, but his voice came out strained from Philips' tight grip around his throat cutting off most of his air. Wesley was trying to pull Philips arm away but it just caused him to hold on tighter. Especially when he opened his mouth.

"Wesley." Philips warned, squeezing tighter. But Wesley refused to listen

"The ships attacking us. Philips knew. He sent hidden communications and scheduled the computer to shut down when the Enterprise was attacked." Wesley blurted out, in small gasps of air, knowing he couldn't speak for long

Picard's eye widened slightly as he stared at Wesley and then turned to Philips and narrowed his eyes. The man was glaring down at Wesley though;

"You sent these ships to attack us. Why?" Picard demanded drawing Philips' attention away from Wesley

Philips sighed; "It wasn't meant to play out like this. No one was meant to get hurt."

"What was meant to happen?" Riker asked

"Wesley just wouldn't listen." Philips carried on ignoring Riker's question; "If he had just done what he was supposed to." Philips moaned waving the phaser aggressively.

Picard quickly shifted his gaze to Wesley who was looking directly at him, pleading for help

"He left me no choice." Philips finished looking at Picard

"Charlie I don't understand. Why are you doing this?" Wesley breathed, he only knew part of why. He still didn't understand what was so important about the equation, or anything about Denbar Prime.

"You'll understand soon Wesley. You'll understand why I am doing this and just how important you are." Philips said, and Wesley caught him glance at his wrist that he held the phaser in. Wesley furrowed his brow as he saw a black strap attached to his wrist with some kind of device attached to it. It was flashing repeatedly in a kind of pattern.

"Just let the boy go and we can talk about this. What do you want?" Picard demanded

Philips merely smiled; "You still don't get it Picard..." Philip paused

Suddenly the flashing on the device on Philips wrist got faster until it stopped completely, and Wesley realised what it was. His eyes widened and he started struggling against Philips;

"No. Captain-" He was cut off though as Philips interrupted him

"I already have what I want." Philips finished smiling, as he held Wesley tighter as he struggled, and pressed the hypospray against Wesley's neck, injecting him with it. And Wesley suddenly went slack as his eyes closed and he was knocked unconscious.

Picard and Riker rushed forward just as Philips and Wesley were enveloped in a strange green light, similar to that of a transporter beam.

Worf, who had recovered his phaser in the commotion fired at Philips, but by the time anyone reached him, Wesley and Philips had both disappeared.

Picard quickly turned to his bridge crew; "Data can you get Wesley back?" He demanded as he strode back to the middle of the bridge. Data returned to his seat as Worf returned back to tactical

"Transporters are down, and the ships have raised their shields." Data said gravely

"Captain both ships are moving away!" Worf yelled

"Pursuit course. Fire phasers" Picard yelled still facing the view screen as he watched the two ships get farther and farther away. When nothing happened he faced his bridge crew

"I gave you a direct order." He said glaring at them all

"Weapons are offline. So are engines." Worf said slightly hesitantly

"Captain." Data said causing him to look at him; "The two vessels have jumped to warp. They're gone."

The entire bridge went silent as Picard turned to look at the view screen which now showed just empty space….

Wesley was gone.

How were they going to get him back, when they had no idea where he was being taken, or why Philips had taken him?