“What prompted you to look at all? said Ra-Havreii.

“Candidly, sir, we didnt know what we were seeing, said Tareshini. “The computer kept informing us of a pattern being present, but it took us all this time to isolate it. And, of course, the pulse didnt help.

“And what is that pattern, Ensign? said Tuvok. He had left off his note taking and had fixed Tareshini with that penetrating stare for which his people were famous.

“Each of the quantum ripples contains signal information, said Tareshini. “This information corresponds to the same sort of signal bleed wed detect from broadcasts coming off a planetary civilization with class K technological development or better.

“But the quantum rippling is just an aftereffect, said Jaza. “Like waves in a pond after a stone drops in.

“Nonetheless, sir, said the Antarean ensign, clearly excited. “I found what has to be months, perhaps years, of broadcast signal bleed-informational communications, some sort of dramatic entertainment, sports contests-all compressed and recompressed so many times they initially came across as static.

“How is that possible? said Jaza.

“We dont know, sir, said Modan. “Our mtier is linguistics, code-breaking, not physics.

“This certainly adds weight to the theory that the pulse was created by sentients, said Riker. “If we can find these people, we might be able to convince them to stop whatever it is theyre doing thats causing this.

“At least until we make repairs and locate Charon , said Vale. “Id settle for that.

It was clear from the electric silence that descended upon the party that more than a few of those present agreed with the XO, though Troi cautioned against too much optimism. There were still a great many unknowns to account for, any one of which could pull the rug out from under them.

“After all, we have no idea as yet who these people are, she said. “Or how they may respond to an alien first contact.

“Well, said the captain. “Lets hope for the best and plan for the worst.

“In other words, said Vale, forcing her face into a plastic grin, “standard operating procedure.

“Well put, Number One, said Riker.

For a moment, the frictions that had been burning the life out of the room regressed to a simple simmer.

Captain Riker, grateful for the momentary sea change, sailed forward, tasking his people with providing him with as many options as they could in as short a time as possible.

The cryptolinguists information had to be catalogued and translated. The mystery civilization had to be found, understood, and contacted.

Titan was almost completely dead in space, and though she seemed to have ridden out the worst of the pulse effect, it was clear she wasnt going anywhere. There were hours of hard work ahead on that score, if not days.

Their duties set, the officers fairly scrambled to get to work, leaving Vale alone.

“That was enlightening, said a scratchy, high-pitched voice, apparently from nowhere. “And this was a much better plan than hiding me in a satchel.

“You heard all of it then, said Vale.

“With ears this size? said Huilan, climbing out from where hed concealed himself beneath the table. “Most definitely.

“And?

“And, said the little Stiach, scrambling up into what had been Trois chair. “I think youre right about them all. Vale knew it was only an illusion created by the natural structure of his face, but Huilans perpetual smile softened her mood somewhat.

“So, Im right that the command staff is on the verge of a complete meltdown, said Vale. “Great.

“But the pigment in your hair smells lovely, said Huilan. “Take comfort in that.

Hours crept along like weeks as the crew split their time between repairing as much of Titan as they could and ferreting out the location of the mystery aliens deemed responsible for their predicament.

The warp core gave the engineers fits, refusing to initialize despite their most creative efforts. Titan s sensor nets, ironically the most durable of the state-of-the-art systems, were back online, their operators trying furiously to penetrate the soup of exotic particles that held the ship in the subatomic equivalent of a tar pit.

As more of the mystery signals were tagged and deciphered, Troi spent increasing time shuttling between Tuvok and Jazas coordinated effort to pinpoint the broadcast source and Ensign Modans station in the linguistics lab.

If nothing else, Vale was grateful that their predicament had forced Troi squarely into her role as diplomatic officer, leaving Counselors Huilan and Pral glasch Haaj to manage the emotional well-being of the crew.

Ra-Havreii remained a problem, but no longer a serious one. Once Riker had spelled out in no uncertain terms precisely how little leeway the engineer had when it came to upgrading versus repairing, the chief engineer had beat a polite but clear retreat back to his quarters.

Under normal circumstances Vale would have forced him back onto the floor with the rest of his people. Yet, somehow, in spite of his self-imposed mini-exile, Ra-Havreii managed to stay on top of the repair schedule, disseminating the necessary orders and recommendations via the comms. Department heads-particularly chief engineers-were afforded a degree of latitude in how they ran things in their corners of a starship. The Efrosians tendency to ruffle feathers notwithstanding, Vale had to concede that he was getting the job done.

The impulse engines, while still unable to shift Titan more than a few thousand kilometers in any direction, managed to remain a point or two above the red zone.

Good enough , she thought, leaning back in her chair for a quick look around the bridge. Ensign Lavena, having wrestled first with her helm control console and then with the overloaded chipset meant to facilitate that control, seemed finally content with her lot. She and Ensign Revtem Prin Oorteshk, the beta shift navigator, were occupying themselves with increasingly esoteric theories as to how they might shift the ships position should drive capability never return.

Vale enjoyed Oorteshk whenever it was present. It gave off an agreeable odor of mint when it was pleased, which was, apparently, most of the time. It spoke by vibrating the reedy protuberances around its oral cavity, giving its words a breathy, almost childlike tone and lilt.

“Controlled plasma eruption from one of the nacelles, said Oorteshk. “Big enough blast, we spin out of this swamp too quick, I think.

“And spin and spin, said Lavena with a snort that created a flow of small bubbles behind her hydration suits faceplate. “No directional control. No friction to slow us down or stop us.

“Sure, we stop, said Oorteshk. “We explode second nacelle, force counterinertial reaction. Too easy.

“So your solution is to blow both the nacelles and leave us adrift in some other equally unmapped part of the Beta Quadrant?

“Contact other starships, wait for pickup, said Oorteshk. “Spend interim swimming with Lavena.

“Im not sure your epidermis could take the salt content in my pool, Oort, said Lavena.

“For Aili Lavena, many dangers could be risked.

Vale smiled. For a sexless being, Oorteshk was a hell of a flirt.

The captain was pretty well locked into a triangular tennis match, between working with Tuvok and Jaza on the sensor modifications, Ra-Havreii with power distribution, and Vales own seven billion crew-related tasks. His hands were full, and from what she could tell, he was happy to have them so. And with Troi equally engaged by the crisis, whatever was going on between them had been sidelined for the time being, as well it should be. But Vales concerns remained, and not just for the sake of the ship, but for these two people she considered her friends.

“The captains and Deannas solution to their problem seems correct, Huilan volunteered in their most recent clandestine turbolift chat.

“Theyre too busy to be working on it, said Vale. “Im not sure that actually solves anything.

“Their scents are less mingled, true. But both their rates of respiration are within the norm.

“So, theyre breathing okay.

“They seem to require distance from one another, Commander. Titan s current predicament provides that.

“How much distance can they get? said Vale. “This isnt that big a ship.

“Well have to watch and see what develops between them.

Excellent. More waiting for the other boot to kick.

“And Dr. Ra-Havreii, said Vale wondering just how long she could extend her current round of “spot checks before the captain began looking for her. “Whats the prognosis there?

For once Huilans perpetual smile seemed to fade a bit. His ears drooped ever so slightly and he let out a sigh that Vale thought was about two sizes too big for his body.

“Stiach have a game, he said. “Volition. We all play. We mix fast-breeding bacteria to see which will out-evolve the others. Many new forms are created and die in the span of a few minutes.

“Sounds interesting, said Vale, and thought, not to mention morally questionable . “Whats it got to do with Ra-Havreii?

“The winner of the game is the one with the most complex surviving bacteria, said Huilan. “Observing our chief engineer was like watching the championship match of Volition.

“If one more person tells me hes complex-

“Then let me say simply that I begin to see why Deanna kept his therapy for herself.

“I notice hes still dictating things from his quarters, Vale said.

“Which seems also to suit both his staff and the ship, said Huilan. “Obviously isolation is not a permanent solution, but for now, at least, his eccentricity seems to be serving the repair effort rather than hindering it.

“So, Vale said, resigning herself to Huilans hands-off approach. “We just tread water with Ra-Havreii.

“For now, yes.

“And we just trust that Will and Deanna can solve whatevers going on between them on their own?

“In my experience with primates, that way is often best.

“ Primates? said Vale, not sure if she and all the other humans on Titan werent being insulted.

“With mates of any sort, said Huilan.

Chapter Four

REPORT OF PRELIMARY ANALYSIS AND EXTRAPOLATION

prepared by COMMANDER DEANNA TROI

(CDO, U.S.S. TITAN )

SUBJECT:

PLANET ORISHA

(STARFLEET DESIGNATION: Elysia Incendae II)

CLASS: M (variant)

Captain, as requested, after collating 35% of the data culled from the alien signal bleed, we believe we have enough information to provide a foundation for any action you may decide to take vis vis First Contact. Be advised that this is only a preliminary assessment and that subsequent data retrieval may necessitate reformulation of any plan based upon these findings.

FINDINGS:

A) Planetary Characteristics

Elysia Incendae II is a Class-M planet with a variant oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere with a gravity of 5.1 on the Federation standard scale of measurement and orbiting Elysia Incendae (Class-G stellar body) at one hundred forty-two point six million kilometers.

Though it has no moons, it is likely that the two larger gas giants orbiting at the mid and outermost regions of the system serve to protect their smaller sibling from meteor strikes, allowing for life to thrive there over the last several billion years.

Elysia Incendae II is a lush world, composed of four contiguous landmasses and an H ₂ 0 ocean that covers three-fifths of the planets surface. The atmosphere is rich with ambient water, the landmasses are thick with vegetation and teeming with a multitude of different forms of animal and insect life, many of which are, at this juncture, outside Starfleets bestiary.

The dominant Orishan form is an insectoid species (see Xindi, Nasat, Lactran) who refer to themselves as the Children of Erykon.

B) Sociopolitical Development

Thus far we have been able to determine that the Orishan society is a modified theocracy, broken in three or more distinct castes and organized around worship of their deity, Erykon.

All Orishan communications, including entertainment and governmental transmissions, are oriented around the Orishans perception of the wishes of their deity.

We cannot be sure how much is simply local custom and how much is truth, but the snippets of Orishan history we have been able to retrieve thus far seem to indicate at least two and perhaps as many as six civilization-ending cataclysms over the last thousand years.

While we have no means as yet of determining the veracity of these beliefs, it is clear that the Orishans have organized much of their social and religious discourse around discussing and analyzing the significance of each of these events.

C) Technology

Current Orishan technology is approximately that of 23rd-century Earth or 15th-century Bajor, including etheric communications and multiple variant technologies used to manipulate energy fields, but where the cited Federation cultures always displayed a strong bent toward exploration and expansion, the Orishans are decidedly insular in their outlook.

There are indications that the Orishans may have been extremely violent in times past. Several discussions of ancient conflicts permeate the available data distillations, and for a society this stable and homogenous, there simply isnt the necessary spark to create large conflicts.

D) Physical Structure

At this point in our observations we have determined that the average Orishan (see holographic representation) stands roughly two meters tall and has six extremities-two legs and four upper arms, two on either side of its body. Like other insectoids, they seem possessed of a durable exoskeleton and sensory organs that include a set of antennae set on their heads above their four faceted eyes.

It is possible that this species has specialized representatives-hunters, workers, breeders, etc., each with variant characteristics-but at this time we have seen no evidence of this.

E) Addenda

They seem wholly uninterested in the universe at large or even in the local bodies and idiosyncrasies of their own system. All their attention seems focused on maintaining perfect piety in the eyes of their deity or, in this case, the Eye.

The Eye of Erykon is the dominant symbol of this culture, and while we are not yet sure of its full significance, it is clear that the Orishans believe the Eye to be a physical manifestation of some sort, capable of inflicting apocalyptic damage upon their civilization should some aspect be found wanting.

They have no artificial communication devices in orbit and seem to have organized themselves into hive-like cities of various sizes. There is no indication that they have developed any vehicle or technology capable of reaching much less traveling in space. They are simply not interested in anything outside their religious construct of the universe.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The Orishans, stated, are not truly xenophobic, only intensely insular. Their single driving ethos seems so far to be worship of Erykon and fear of this so-called Eye.

Under normal circumstances I would advise we bypass this planet or, at most, leave a clandestine observation team behind according to the “duck blind scenario, to get a better idea of how well they will handle a true First Contact situation.

Of course, these are not normal circumstances, so the expected recommendations do not apply. We will have to improvise something.

Filed on Stardate 58443.7 by Commander Deanna Troi, Diplomatic Officer, U.S.S. TITAN

DISTRIBUTION: Capt. W.T. Riker; Cmdr. C.J. Vale; Cmdr. Tuvok; Cmdr. S.Y.E. Ree, Cmdr. Jaza N.; Lt. Cmdr. R. Keru, Cmdr. X. Ra-Havreii, inclusive.

“Wait a minute, said Vale, looking up from the padd in disbelief. “Youre saying these people are in the process of developing warp technology, but they dont plan to use it for space travel?

“That seems to be the case, said Troi. “Theyre extremely insular, and while they are aware of the larger universe and the possibility of alien intelligence, they have no interest in exploration.

It was obvious that no one in the room was happy with this news, least of all Captain Riker. His eyes had taken on a hooded, steely quality, the one he generally reserved for facing down opponents in contests of resolve.

Troi didnt need her telepathy or her telempathy to know what he was thinking. Starfleets Prime Directive was in danger of dropping down on their plans with the force of an archaic firewall.

Will? she touched his mind tentatively, nervous after their long weeks on opposite sides of the chasm.

He blocked her, as had become his custom, keeping her probing mind out of even the shallows of his, just as completely as he had on every other recent occasion.

It was as if hed shut his mental door, boarded it up, and painted do not enter in large garish letters across its face.

Behind that door, as the briefing continued, Rikers mind flickered like lightning between the regulations, searching for any loophole or exception, anything that would allow them to save their lives without risking the Orishans natural development.

“Are we absolutely certain of these findings? he asked at length.

“Thus far the data seem to indicate a uniform cultural viewpoint, sir, said Tuvok. “They are not truly xenophobic so much as intensely pious and self-focused.

“Granted, weve only deciphered about a tenth of whats been culled from their transmissions, Captain, said Troi.

“Im still bothered by the fact that there was so much signal compression, said Jaza. “Theres some missing piece here that I dont understand.

“We can ask the Orishans about it, maybe, said Modan. “Once we contact them.

The rest of the news, including the revelations about the Orishans, was pretty bleak.

Science and engineering had done what they could to get Titan moving again, which, as it turned out, wasnt much.

Power held steady at just above forty percent, allowing the crew to resume a version of normalcy, but Titan was still becalmed, as Riker had put it.

The quantum distortion that surrounded them continued to prevent the shields from achieving full strength and the phasers from initializing. It also prevented any motion beyond the herky-jerky one hundred meter lurches that so distressed Ensign Lavena and currently kept Xin Ra-Havreii cloistered away in his quarters.

When hed reconvened his staff, Riker had hoped to be presented with more than just a few more scraps of cultural data. There was something about the Orishans that made him nervous, though he couldnt yet say why.

Cultural myopia wasnt unusual, even in known space. In fact, out-and-out xenophobia was common. The Organians, the Melkotians, even the Daledians had all taken the protection of their privacy to what seemed to many to be insane extremes. But these sorts of cultures, when they developed warp tech, either exploited it for limited space travel or, as with the Organians, had no use for it at all.

Beings from a culture that avoided the sky but wielded a technology with that much destructive potential had to be handled with extreme delicacy if they were handled at all.

“Why would one develop warp technology if not to move between worlds? asked Dr. Ree.

“Power, said Jaza. “A stable warp reactor generates a considerable amount of energy. A single rudimentary device could power an entire planetary culture for centuries.

“Wow, said Vale. “Why havent I ever heard of anyone using warp generators that way?

“Its too dangerous, said Jaza. “Creating a warp field inside a planets atmosphere and having it destabilize could have catastrophic effects, and perhaps not confined to the planet.

“Thats if things go wrong, said Ra-Havreii. “If they continue using their device without trouble, Titan will be trapped here indefinitely.

Indefinitely . It might as well mean infinitely. The same conditions that prevented Titan from regaining power, from sparking the warp core, from using nearly any of its energy-based systems were the same ones that prevented them from scanning the area for their missing sister ship or contacting it even if they should succeed in finding it.

“I have the beginnings of a notion about the warp core, Captain, said Ra-Havreii thoughtfully, after the silence stretched too far. “And another about, perhaps, using the shuttles to tow us free of the affected area.

“The problem with that idea, Jaza said, “is that the second the shuttles launch, theyll be subjected to the distortion effect. Theyll be just as becalmed as we are.

“Can we contact the Orishans by subspace? said Vale. “Just let them know theres somebody up here who needs them to hold off their experiments for a while?

“Not at the present time, Commander, said Tuvok. “The distortion effect, though somewhat weaker around the planet Orisha, is also in a more pronounced state of flux. While their signals seem capable of bleeding into open space, Titan lacks both the technology and the power to punch through the flux from the outside.

“Even if we are able to figure some way of contacting them, said Jaza. “It may not be as simple as just asking them to please stop.

“Are you concerned about the potential Prime Directive violation, Commander? asked Tuvok.

Jaza frowned. “Arent you?

“I admit this situation does present some unique permutations, said the Vulcan judiciously.

“Pardon me, said Ree, his great reptilian head cocked slightly to the side. “I dont believe I understand. How do these circumstances invoke the Prime Directive? Starfleet is prohibited from contacting civilizations before they have independently developed warp technology, yes?

“That is correct, Doctor, said Tuvok.

“But our current predicament is due to these Orishans having done precisely that.

“Not exactly, said Troi, eliciting a look of mild confusion from Vale. What the hell was she talking about? It was clear from her expression that she too was uncomfortable with the way the conversation had turned. “The Orishans have warp technology, or a version of it, but they do not engage in space travel, so we may not be permitted to-

“Wait, said Vale, switching from Troi to Riker. She knew her incredulity was plastered across her face like Hybarian wall art and she didnt care. “Are you saying, even though we know whats causing this and whos responsible, we arent going to ask them to stop?

No one spoke. No one moved. All their eyes were on the captain, waiting for the only response that actually mattered.

“Youre all dismissed, he said at last. “Chris, Counselor, you stay.

“You cant be serious, said Vale. “You cant honestly be considering not contacting the Orishans.

“I think shes right, Will, said Troi softly. It wasnt the most solid declaration of support one might hope for. Vale wasnt sure how happy she was to have the counselor on her side. The trouble between her and her husband couldnt possibly help his mood, which was darkening by the second. “I think we have to find some way to-

“John Gill, he said, cutting her off. By this time he had positioned himself by the plexi window wall and was gazing out into the black.

“Dont give me that, said Troi, moving closer. “Theres no similarity. She kept her distance though. Something about Rikers posture screamed back off .

“Leonard McCoy, he said, turning to face her.

“Will

“Benjamin Sisko, he said and rattled off several more names in quick succession. “James Kirk, Mark Jameson, Rudolph Ransom, Joshua Grant.

Vale recognized some of the names of course-Sisko and Kirk were immediately IDd-but the others gave her trouble. Troi obviously knew them all. With each one, she seemed to withdraw further into her original mask of emotional distance. He was striking at her with the names, obviously, but how?

Riker spat out more names-Tracey, Pike, April, Calhoun, BLiit. Still more captains? What did they have in common? What did any of them have to do with Titan s current distress?

“Jean-Luc Picard, said Troi, as if coming to the end of some lengthy and fantastically constructed legal argument. To Vale her demeanor was like that of an Izarian judge that had slammed her gavel down on the marble top of the bench.

Riker stiffened, almost as though hed been told to snap to attention.

“No, dammit, he said, slamming one big fist down on the conference table, making Vales padd dance. “No.

He left the two women standing there, silent in the wake of his anger. When Vale had deemed an appropriate amount of time had passed, she asked what the hell that had been about.

“All of those people have violated the Prime Directive, Christine, said Troi. Her voice was low, full of some powerful emotion. Anger? Disgust? It was too complex for Vale to decipher. “Almost all of their violations brought irreversible change, sometimes complete destruction to an entire culture. Will doesnt want to be added to the list.

“But, said Vale. “I thought-I mean, hes never been happy with the PD.

“Hes fine with the spirit of the directive, said Troi, clearly in agreement with her husband on this matter. “Its the letter he doesnt like. How can we judge the worthiness of a culture simply by the level of their technological development? There are many things that constitute civilization and maturity. Why is technology the Federations only arbiter?

Vale didnt have an answer. Warp tech was so potentially volatile-even more than shed first imagined, thanks to her attendance at the Jaza and Ra-Havreii Show-that it seemed to her the perfect yardstick by which to measure a new culture.

If a civilization could handle it without blowing itself up, it followed that they were mature enough to be invited into the larger universe, the one teeming with beings totally unlike themselves.

If they werent mature enough? Ka-boom; they wiped themselves out with escalating warfare or planetary environmental degradation, cleaning the slate and giving some other species its shot in the sun.

It had always seemed so cut and dried to her, a perfect expression of everything the Federation stood for. Now, with Titan in its current state, breaching the PD might be their only way to freedom.

Not so easy now, eh? said her mothers voice from the past. Not quite the grand adventure you thought .

“There are three hundred and fifty sentients on Titan , Deanna, said Vale quietly. “There are children here. Babies.

Another indecipherable expression, possibly some esoteric mixture of surprise and sorrow, flickered across Trois face and was gone.

“He knows that, Commander, she said. “He knows. The doors shushed open, Troi passed through, and Vale was alone with her thoughts.

Males. Cant live with them. Cant rip out their throats and eat them for supper .

Ensign Hriss had thought that so many times during her days at the Academy and her subsequent duty aboard the U.S.S. Voorhees . Tonight was no different.

Shed bristled when Keru had assigned her this duty. In the middle of a Red Alert, pandemonium and shattered tech all over and he sticks her down here in the guts looking after ships that cant fly and would have nowhere to go if they could. Was he expecting crazed crew members to steal one of these tubs and scramble off into the black? It would be a hell of a trick, considering the current state of affairs.

Nevertheless, “Its not all blood and sex, Hriss, Keru had told her. “Sometimes you get to sit.

So she sat in the shadows of the huge empty hangar, the minutes crawling over her fur like blood mites.

The hangars high vaulted ceiling, the many deck protrusions, the hulking shapes of the new heavy-duty shuttles all combined to remind her of the great cavern on Cait and the gatherings of the various prides that she had attended there in her youth.

Even then she had never been content to sit with the other cubs through the interminable boasting speeches of the elder males.

Females do all the work , she had thought to herself more than once. Why am I even listening to this nonsense?

Males. They had their uses, certainly, some of them quite pleasant, but, once they fell to chattering, it could be hours before anything meaningful got done. And it seemed so regardless of the species.

Aside from Mr. Tuvok, who managed to adopt an appropriately stoic demeanor, even the males who outranked her could all stand a good grab by the scruff and a shake. Even Keru. What was he thinking sticking her down here when he could have saddled that cold fish Pava with the job? Andorians were good at standing around waiting. It was practically their religion.

Humanoid. Felinoid. Reptiloid. It didnt matter. Wherever you went, a male was a male was a male.

Hriss was a hunter, and while the art certainly employed stillness and quiet from time to time, it was only the quick bloody action of the culmination that brought sparkle to her eyes.

She amused herself by varying the path she took on her circuit of the hangar deck. Instead of simply walking the length and breadth of the place in the same clockwork fashion, Hriss devised a complex patrol pattern that involved climbing the nearly frictionless walls up to the shadowy heights and leaping from shuttle roof to shuttle roof as silently as possible.

She had just landed atop the massive, larger-than-normal heavy-duty shuttle Ellington and was eyeing the Marsalis as the site of her next perch when Mr. Jaza entered the hangar. He was followed in short order by Chief Engineer Ra-Havreii, who was obviously well into a snit.

“Im telling you, said the Bajoran scientist sharply, turning on the engineer. “It cant work.

“It can, said Ra-Havreii. “When I was with the Skunk-works, we-

“I dont need to hear another dissertation about your great past, Commander, said Jaza, cutting him off. “Everyone has a past.

“True, said the Efrosian. “But mine mostly involves research and discovery rather than, say, blowing up random Cardassians to make some arcane political point.

Hriss had never worked with Bajorans before coming aboard Titan and really not much since. Thus far the best she could tell about them was that they didnt smell as much like prey as other humanoids, which was a blessing. It was so hard sometimes not to just tear one of the furless apes open and eat, especially after pulling a double shift without a meal break.

Mr. Jaza was broad across the chest and long of limb like a Caitian male, and the hue of his flesh matched some of their coats. He was obviously intelligent. Starfleet valued that over blood skills for reasons Hriss sometimes still didnt quite grasp. You couldnt rise high in the sciences without a laser-sharp mind.

Hsuuri worked with Jaza closely and claimed to actually admire the man. Hsuuri was an odd one. She also seemed to have “admiration for that skinny Cardassian creature, Dakal, having expressed clear appreciation about the changes in his scent whenever they were close. In fact, much to Hrisss distaste, she seemed to entertain the notion of exploring his obvious affection for her in depth.

Blech! Humans were one thing. Despite smelling like a good meal, some of them could be occasionally compelling. But Cardassians, with all those ridges and the constant odor of day-old preth ? Never. Shed sooner bed down with Dr. Ree. Luckily she had Rriarr to keep her warm. Caitian males might be boastful and lazy, but they had their pleasant qualities as well.

Hriss was gratified that, thus far, neither of the senior officers had marked her presence; even the engineers Efrosian ears werent good enough for that. Though protocol required her to make her presence known to them, something in their postures told her it might be best to let them think they were alone for the time being.

“Is that what the problem is? said Mr. Jaza, squaring off before the taller man. “That I was in the resistance?

The engineer snorted. “Lets just say, while you were tossing bombs and dodging plasma bolts, I was reshaping warp theory.

“Meaning?

“Meaning, said Ra-Havreii, “in matters of anything related to warp cores, warp propulsion, warp bubbles, warp theory, or warp technology, you would be wise to defer.

“ Titan cant sustain a stable warp field, Doctor, said Mr. Jaza. “No amount of deference is going to change that.

“And what was it you said earlier about minds opening and closing, Mr. Jaza?

Jazas eyes narrowed.

“Youre a specialist, the science officer said finally. “Specifically adapted to one set of tasks. He moved past Ra-Havreii, their shoulders brushing hard against each other briefly before he dropped into a crouch beside the Ellington . “But warp physics doesnt bypass quantum physics in every case. He gestured at the visible nacelle that ran the length of the shuttles hull. “As long as the shuttle is inside the hangar bay, protected by Titan s hull, it is possible we could form a stable warp field around it, he said. “But, the second it goes outside, the same randomization of quantum properties thats causing Titan s problems will take effect. Even if you account for momentum and inertia-

The science officer stopped speaking abruptly. His eyes were wide and his mouth frozen open in mid-sentence so that he reminded Hriss of a shetr calf shed once stunned and then eaten. The look on his face was so suddenly comical that she was forced to stifle a chuckle.

Mr. Jaza stood and, ignoring Ra-Havreii completely, began to walk slowly around the edge of the Ellington .

Above him, hidden by shadows on the roof of the Marsalis , Hriss was struck again by how similar Mr. Jaza was to one of the males from back home.

Hes stalking something , she thought. Hes definitely on the hunt .

As the science officer walked, Ra-Havreii continued to lecture him about the vagaries of warp fields and how, with just a little creativity, he was sure theyd be able to light up the heavy-duty shuttles and use them to tow Titan to safety.

“No. We wont, said Jaza, rounding the far corner of the Ellington , returning briefly to his original spot beside the engineer. “But it doesnt matter. Ive got a better idea.

“Please dont take offense, Mr. Jaza, said the Efrosian. “But I sincerely doubt that.

“Im sorry, said Vale, silently praying shed misheard or misunderstood. “You want us to what ?

Jaza repeated himself, outlining the hows and whys and the benefits and drawbacks of his notion and watched as his XO blanched at the thought.

“Thats insane, she said finally.

“Maybe, he said. “But it should work for something the size, mass, and particularly the shape of a shuttle.

In clear desperation Vale looked to Xin Ra-Havreii, hoping that, at the very least, the friction hed developed with Jaza might inspire him to throw a spanner into the works. No such luck. The engineer only stood by, stroking the edges of his mustache, humming that blasted tune, apparently lost in thought. Wonderful.

“Youll destroy the hangar, she said. “At least.

“I dont think so, said Jaza. “If we do this right, well just ding it up a bit. Were only talking about a microsecond or two. Barely enough time to perceive, much less do serious damage.

“I dont know, Najem. She was more than dubious. This was one of those insane schemes that would probably work but, if it didnt, could make their current situation astronomically worse. Not to mention killing several indispensable members of her crew.

“Itll work, Chris, said Jaza softly, noting her distress and placing a big gentle hand on her arm. The grip was firm, familiar, almost reassuring. “Just take it to the captain and let him decide.

“He wants to what ? said Will Riker from behind his desk at the far side of the ready room. Hed been cloistered away in there for the last couple of hours wrestling with his conscience, and it showed.

The captains eyes had taken on that stony distant quality that Vale had learned to recognize and dislike. His jaw was clenched, set in a way that somehow made his features, normally puckish and engaging, into something that seemed carved from granite. Captains needed this quality of dispassionate calculation if they hoped to make the tough decisions, but she hated to see it evidenced so strongly in Will.

She also noted, for the first time, the stark contrast between the offices of Counselor Troi and her husbands ready room. While Trois domain was rife with personal touches meant to put visitors at ease, Rikers was as impersonal as a room could be.

There was the desk with its computer access node. There was a standard-issue chair, high-backed, sitting behind the desk with her captain in it. There was one relief sculpture, also of standard issue, of the Federation insignia on the wall behind the chair.

That was it. It was as if Riker had set this place to remind himself that, once within it, he had no other role beyond that of ships captain.

“Jaza wants to use the Picard Maneuver to get a heavy-duty shuttle into beaming distance from Orisha, she said. There was something about Jazas plan that short-circuited the processes of a rational brain on the first couple of hearings. “Then the idea is to use maneuvering thrusters to land the shuttle there.

“And he wants to initiate while the shuttle is still in the hangar? said Riker. Vale nodded.

“We lock the place down, erect some energy dampers to block most of the damage to the equipment, open the hangar doors, and let er rip, she said. “By the time the distortion out there destroys the warp bubble, theyll be light-minutes away. After that they can use thrusters to make planetfall.

“Bumpy ride, said Riker, mulling.

“Itll definitely be that, she said.

“And its potentially a one-way trip if they cant make contact with the Orishans, he said. “If they dont, theyll be months away from Titan at sublight speeds.

“And theres still Ra-Havreiis hypothesis that the pulses could continue, she said. “Things could get much worse.

“Things could get much worse, he said to himself. “Well, thats always true, isnt it?

She could tell something was ticking over in his brain but, as his expression still hadnt returned to normal, she wasnt eager to hear the result.

“Jaza knows the risks, but he thinks theyre negligible compared to the alternative, she said.

“And Ra-Havreii?

“Hes unhappy about it, I think, she said. “But he signed off too.

“What do you think, Chris?

There it was: recommendation time. For an awful moment she had the sense of all the members of Titan s crew somehow looking in on her, listening intently, and judging how she answered.

Risk, maybe sacrifice, the lives of a few to save many . Was that always to be the equation?

“I think we dont have enough options to be picky, she said finally, pushing the faces and doubts away. Her own mind had followed his into that hard granite place. She hoped it didnt show. “I think we have to try it. Presuming youve made a decision about contacting the Orishans.

“Yes, he said, rising. “I have.

Once the order was given, things went fast. It was a relief for all concerned to finally be doing something to put an end to the disease rather than just temporarily patching a few symptoms.

The dampers went up all over the shuttlebay, their featureless ebony surfaces transforming it into a massive silver-black grid.

The Ellington was scoured from top to bottom by Ra-Havreiis engineers, who replaced any circuit or chip that showed the slightest defect or wear.

The mission specialists were vetted and chosen-Vale as field commander, Ranul Keru as her second, Xin Ra-Havreii, who, in his capacity as warp specialist extraordinaire, insisted on joining the team, and of course Jaza. The wild card was Ylira Modan, whose presence both Troi and Jaza deemed necessary but whose inexperience made Vale nervous. Modan was a bookworm and hadnt pulled more than the obligatory field time necessary to fulfill grade requirements. Weak link.

“Ill need her to help with any translation issues, Troi had told her. “The universal translator cant handle everything.

It was obvious early on that Troi assumed she was to be part of the team, which led to a minor dustup between her and the captain. He wanted her on Titan; something about her being needed more there than leading the away mission-something that, frankly, seemed a bit thin to Vale-but Troi would have none of it.

“Im the diplomatic officer, Will, Troi reminded Riker. “We have no clear idea what well find there or how receptive the Orishans will be to our arrival. There is no one else as qualified to navigate potential trouble than me, and you know it.

The captain wasnt happy about it and grew visibly less so when his XO sided with his wife.

“You said it yourself, said Vale. “We have to do this right. We may only get one shot.

She was right. They were right, and the captain, realizing it, conceded the point.

“Were ready, sir, said Olivia Bolaji, emerging from the Ellington still wearing the same aura of unhappiness that she had during the entire exercise. “But I still think its a mistake not to have an experienced pilot at the helm.

“I am an experienced pilot, said Jaza, coming down from the open hatchway behind her. “But, in this case, the computer will be doing the driving.

“Id just be happier if I was with you, sir, said Bolaji. “Instead of just dropping in navigation algorithms for the autopilot.

“Well be fine, said Jaza, grinning as if he knew something she didnt.

Ylira Modan strapped herself into one of the two remaining jump seats, then waited while Ranul Keru checked her work. Despite the slight tremor in her voice, her face was a mask of calm. In fact, Modan herself still resembled nothing so much as an animated metal sculpture. If not for the occasional blink and the blue-on-black uniform, like all Seleneans, Modan looked as if shed been hammered out of gold.

“Youre good to go, Ensign, said Keru, dropping down into his own seat and buckling in.

“Wonderful, said Modan, her slender fingers fidgeting with her equipment bag. “The next time I get an inspiration, will one of you remind me to tell my department head instead of the captain?

“Learn to love the chain of command, said Keru with a twinkle.

“I thought your people were pragmatists, Modan, said Jaza jauntily from the forward part of the cabin. It was his fourth time checking over the flight plan and computer commands. “That sounds an awful lot like worry.

“Different crches cultivate different traits, Najem, said Modan, her voice firm again. “The Ylira crche was bred for curiosity, analysis, and flexibility of thought. I guess that means I can worry.

“ Najem, huh? thought Vale. Didnt realize things had got that far with them . She had finished securing her own gear and safety harness and was accounting for the weapons and isolation suits with Keru.

While, in theory, this was a simple diplomatic mission, in her experience, going in with intel as spotty as what they currently had on the Orishans could lead to some potentially fatal misunderstandings.

In addition to the obligatory analysis and translation gear, shed packed the team a brace of phasers, doubled up on the holographic isolation suits “just in case and added a second quantum beacon on the off chance that the first might be somehow fatally compromised. Indeed, Keru himself was part of Vales own emergency kit; the big Trill was one of the best close-quarters fighters on the ship. She wasnt sure she actually expected trouble from the Orishans, but if they brought some, having Keru along to help shut it down was more comforting than all those phasers.

“Anyway, said Keru, checking off the final inventory item and looking up. He gave Modan a warm smile from behind his thick mustache. “A little worry is healthy. Lets the universe know you have respect for it.

“Just remember your job and follow orders, Ensign, said Vale. “Youll be fine.

“Well all be fine, said Jaza, dropping into the jump seat beside Modans. Despite the danger of what they were about to attempt and the larger consequences should any part of the attempt fail, the Bajoran scientist seemed almost happy. “I have no doubt about it.

“More wisdom from your Prophets, Mr. Jaza? said Ra-Havreii. Hed been mostly silent as they waited for the final systems check to conclude, only humming occasionally to himself some breezy Efrosian tune.

“Well, yes, as a matter of fact, said Jaza, clicking the final buckle into place and checking over his own field kit. Ra-Havreii snorted derisively. Jaza ignored him. “But, in this case, we dont have to look to the Prophets for guidance.

“What then? said Modan.

“Simple, said Jaza. “Dr. Ra-Havreii is here with us. He wouldnt have set foot inside this thing if he wasnt certain hed be coming back.

Everyone laughed at that, even the engineer, though it was anybodys guess whether or not any of the apparent relief of tension was authentic.

Troi would know , thought Vale absently as her gaze strayed from the members of her team to the view of the hangar beyond the forward canopy. The entire hangar was shrouded in light-absorbing black, the variously configured energy dampers that would, theoretically, keep the shuttles warp field from destroying the place.

Here and there engineers in EVA gear scurried back and forth, securing couplings and quadruple-checking relevant systems. They seemed so small in comparison to all that black. Even the massive hangar doors, normally open to space, were currently closed, the force field that usually protected the deck from the hard vacuum having been rendered as inoperable as the rest of Titan s energy shields.

As she took in the enormity of what they were about to attempt, it was difficult not to feel some nervousness about this whole thing. Jazas plan was like a clock with a million working parts, the failure of any one of which would spell catastrophe.

She just wished they could get on with it. The longer they sat, the more time frayed nerves would have to fail altogether. Keru and Jaza were rock steady, of course, but she was less confident about Modan and Ra-Havreii. Living and working among even Titan s diverse crew was one thing. The shared ethos of all present went a long way to smoothing otherwise rough edges and apparent inconsistencies. Putting their feet, unannounced, on alien dirt was another matter entirely. Still, between herself and the other veterans, there shouldnt be too much trouble from the rookies.

Just as Vale was wondering what the hell was keeping Troi, she appeared, followed closely by the captain. Both looked grim and said little beyond that conversation made necessary by their duties and positions.

Well. At least theyd get the breathing space that Dr. Huilan had claimed was necessary. Take purchase where you find it , as her mother used to say.

She could see they had been at it again, whatever it was, and it, whatever it was, had taken its toll on both of them. To the casual observer there was no trace of their secret conflict, but to Vale, the signs had become abundantly clear.

The tension in the captains jaw, the steely focus of his eyes, the counselors mask of placidity painting a false veneer over the emotions roiling beneath. Once again, as Troi took her place in the last empty jump seat, Vale felt a wave of melancholy wash over her, dredging up thoughts of battles shed had with her mother over everything from what to wear to her induction ceremony for the Izar peace office to her choice to leave the family business for a life in the black.

It wasnt as intense as the storm that had taken her in the counselors suite, but it was certainly noticeable. At least it was to Vale. The others seemed totally unaware of anything beyond their conversation about the mission and their chances of completing it.

“So. We know how this works, said Riker, his big frame forced to stoop in order to hang there in the open hatchway. He looked like a bear trying to squeeze into a foxhole. “The big doors open, the atmosphere vents, and then the countdown begins. Ten seconds later the shuttle will accelerate to warp two for just under three nanoseconds. About a minute after that youll be in striking distance of Orisha and, hopefully, close enough to beam through the distortion.

“Thats provided we make it out of the shuttlebay, said Modan, but only to herself.

“Yes, Ensign, said Ra-Havreii, having heard her. “Provided that. You see, a warp bubble-

“No speech here, folks, said Riker, cutting the engineer off before he could build up a head of steam. “You all know your jobs. You know whats at stake. Get it done and get back here as soon as you can. His personal good-bye to his wife was something in the eyes. There was always something crackling between them that way, and now, despite their obvious troubles, it bound them still. What was the Betazoid word they used to describe that connection? Imzadi?

As he backed out of the hatch, Rikers eyes conveyed to Vale her own silent communication. Bring them back, Chris . It might not have been the same sort of empathic contact he enjoyed with Troi, but Vale got the message.

Then he was gone, and there was nothing left but the sounds of the hatch sealing shut behind him and the evenly modulated tones of the computer beginning its launch prep.

“ Shuttlecraft Ellington ready for launch, said the artificial female voice. “ All personnel please clear the flight deck.

The EVA suits scrambled for the nearest exits, and soon the hangar was empty. For a few moments nothing stirred in the black and silver expanse, but then, almost imperceptibly at first, the enormous doors at the far end began to separate.

Vale was a little surprised to see the twinkles and black of normal space peeking in through the widening aperture. From all the trouble caused by these pulses and their aftereffect, shed expected something more dramatic.

“ Shuttlebay doors open, said the computer. “ Force shield protections offline. Atmosphere venting. Twenty-four seconds to shuttle launch. Twenty-two.

As if anyone needed to be told. The outgassing was like a raging torrent outside the Ellington , the noise and violence of the air flow eliciting a nervous hiss from Ylira Modan and a few words of comfort in her ear from Troi.

“This is the worst part, Ensign, she said in what Vale guessed was the voice she usually reserved for agitated patients. “In a few seconds itll all be over.

“Im not sure thats the best choice of words, Commander, said Modan, but she smiled. Keru and Jaza both managed chuckles before they were given another update, this time from the Ellington itself.

“ Initializing warp core, said the second voice, in tones identical to that of Titan s own. “ Safety protocols LII through QI, disabled. Modified flight control program initiating. Away team, secure for warp three in six seconds. Five seconds. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two seconds. One-

The final syllables were lost in the shattering of reality all around the little vessel. While the shuttle itself only shuddered a bit, for a portion of a moment that was nearly too brief to perceive, the shuttlebay around it and the field of stars outside fused into a single kaleidoscopic whole.

It was nothing like going to warp under normal circumstances. There was no streaming of stars, no sense of nondirectional acceleration. There was, for some of the team, only the momentary feeling of having neither weight nor mass, but it too was gone almost too quickly for their minds to process.

There was the fraction of a blinding flash, an instant of the warp drive whining under the strain of initialization and then, as abruptly as it had come, the moment was gone and so was the shuttlebay.

It took a second for Vale to realize the odd, high-pitched keening sound was coming from one of her teammates rather than the ships warning system.

When the Ellington slammed back into normal space, it did so almost as violently as Titan had when it entered the Elysia Incendae system. Though pretty much everything was secured, including the team, several items-a loose padd, an unaccounted-for bag of clothing, and what looked like a forgotten sonic screwdriver-bounced around the shuttle like ball bearings fired into a zero-g omnasium.

The keening came from Ylira Modan: some form of scream or other expression of distress, Vale surmised. She was the rookie here, and the surprise of reentry had shaken her spindly resolve. One of the flying objects had smacked into her golden metallic face.

Before Vale could do it herself, Jaza reached out a hand to Modan, quietly comforting her, reminding her that she and the rest of them were still alive, things were proceeding as they should.

“Take a breath, Modan, he said softly, watching as she pulled herself together. She glanced around at the rest of the team, all sitting stoic in the face of the jolt. Even Ra-Havreii seemed totally unflapped. “See? Were okay.

“ Warning, said the computer. “ Warp core offline. Artificial gravity and inertial dampers fatally compromised.

“We expected that, said Jaza, noting Modans renewed distress. It was odd seeing someone who looked like a gold statue bend and twist like ordinary flesh. He made a mental note to study up on Selenean physiology when they got back to Titan .

“ Artificial gravity and inertial dampers online, said the computer just as the team were feeling their stomachs again. “ Firing breaking thrusters.

As the gravity took hold, Modan relaxed by degrees until she was apparently her old self again. With the exception of Ra-Havreii, who continued to softly hum away, the team sat in silence for the few moments it took the deceleration sequences to play out.

When the computer announced that they would drift for a few minutes before repositioning for their approach to Orisha, Jaza was unbuckled and up almost instantly. It was as if he were a sprinter and had been waiting for the sound of the starter pistol.

“Jaza, said Vale. “What the hell?

“Come up and see, he said, disappearing from view as he slid down into the forward pilots cradle.

Shooting Keru a quizzical look and getting the expected shrug in response, Vale unbuckled quickly and joined Jaza, dropping down beside him in the navigators cradle. Unlike the smaller-type 1s, the Ellington was built for short-distance system hops. In a pinch it could function like a very small runabout. Vale had hoped for a more peaceful situation in which to shake the shuttles down, but she knew she could play only those cards shed been dealt.

She looked over at the brown-skinned Bajoran in the pilots seat, watching his hands tapping commands into the computer.

Hes taking readings , she thought. How optimistic can someone be? Weve got a thirty-seventy chance of pulling this off, at best, and hes got to know it .

Yet, despite the danger and the ongoing potential for complete ruin, Jaza was excited. You didnt have to know him well to see it. His eyes had that familiar wide intensity; just above the ridges of his nose his brow was furrowed ever so slightly; his mouth was just on the verge of a smile. More than excited, he was actually happy.

“I love this, he said quietly. When she raised an eyebrow, he pointed. “Take a look.

Ahead of them, beyond the plexi observation window, a smallish vermillion and white orb hung against the black: the planet Orisha.

“Weve been in space for centuries, you know, he said, looking out at it. It did seem to Vale like a large and beautiful gemstone now that she could see it up close. Pretty. “Bajorans made it all the way to Cardassia Prime in ships as small as sailboats.

“Amazing, she said, crediting the words as the product of local folklore. She didnt know much about Bajors history, but that seemed far-fetched.

“But I never got offworld until after the occupation was over, he said. “Now, every time I get the chance to see a new planet this way, hanging in the dark, glowing like one of the Orbs, I take it. Makes me feel closer to the Prophets somehow.

Behind them in the cabin the others had fallen into conversation related to what would be expected of them once the shuttle touched down. Troi and Keru switched off taking Modan through quick refreshers on emergency med protocols, diplomatic procedures during First Contacts and what not to do if being chased by a pack of angry twelve-meter-long crustaceans. Vale knew they were doing it mostly to keep the ensign calm and it seemed to be working.

Ra-Havreii, damn him, continued to hum that irritating tune.

It wasnt that the song itself was unpleasant-quite the contrary, in fact. The melody hovered somewhere between a human symphony and the musical language of primitives on Liuvani Prime. The engineers low tenor wasnt objectionable. It was just the relentlessness of the thing. Whenever he wasnt engaged in necessary conversation, within minutes Ra-Havreii was back to his tune, playing with it in his mouth the way a kitten might with a ball of string. It was maddening.

She was just about to tell him to belay the noise when Jaza said, “Ra-Havreii, I need you.

His tone snapped her gaze away from the slowly rotating planet far ahead and back to him. He wasnt smiling, and his brow was now deeply creased with concern. Deep vertical furrows were leading to the horizontal ones on his nose.

“What is it? she said. He muttered something, obviously believing hed responded aloud, but he was too concerned with the sensor controls to correct himself. “Jaza?

Ra-Havreii, no longer playing with his tune, suddenly occupied the space between the two flight cradles. He looked down at the HUDs, out through the forward plexi and then back at the readouts. He face was a mirror for Jazas.

“Any idea? said Jaza.

“None, said the engineer.

“But you can see it, said Jaza.

“See what? said Vale, squinting into the black. As far as she could tell, there was nothing there but the orb of the planet and the star-filled inky carpet behind.

“Only vaguely, said Ra-Havreii, pensive. “An afterimage? A reflection of some sort?

“I see it clearly, said Jaza. “Its neither.

“What is it? said Vale, still completely failing to notice anything unusual.

“Some kind of energy mass, Chris, said Jaza, his fingers tapping new commands into the sensors as he spoke. “Vaguely spherical, very large, aboutfifteen degrees behind the planet, moving in the same solar orbital path.

“Why cant I see it? she said.

Jaza shrugged and said, “IDIC. She understood. Humanoids all shared a great many surface characteristics, but despite the visual similarities, Trill were not human, who were not Bajoran, who were not Betazoid or Selenean or Efrosian. All were similar but not truly identical. Obviously, in this case, Bajoran and Efrosian vision encompassed a slightly wider spectrum than the others on board.

By now Troi, Modan, and Keru had moved in behind Ra-Havreii, all squinting to see for themselves and failing. Most of the ships sensors failed to see the thing as well, which was a little disconcerting.

Only those set to look for minute boryon distortions could detect anything at all, and that only barely. The mass was a very large ghost.

“I think we ought to fire a probe into it, said Jaza at last.

“Is that wise? said Modan. “Perhaps it is some sort of defensive device.

“You wouldnt say that if you could see it, Modan, said Jaza. “Its huge. Slightly bigger than Orisha, in fact. And its between us and the planet.

“Any chance we can sidestep it? said Keru.

Jaza shook his head. “Our course is preset and the sensors only evade what they can see. Were going to pass through it, whatever it is. Jaza looked to Vale as if to say, “Whats it going to be, Chris? For her part, Vale glanced back at Troi, whose features betrayed some tension but not overt concern, not yet. In any case, until some actual diplomacy got going, Vale was running this show.

“Launch a probe, she said at last. “If were going through, Id like a little warning about what to expect.

Jazas fingers danced for a few seconds. They all heard the noise of the torpedo launcher and then watched the tiny silver probe zip toward the unseen mass.

“Theres some distortion in the signal, said Jaza, muttering over the display as the sensor data came back. “But its not detecting anything un-

Before he could finish the sentence, several things happened at once, ensuring that it would never be completed. The probe crossed over the arbitrary point hed set as the strange formations event horizon and vanished from his screens.

A strange shimmering halo of energy, quite visible to all of them now, coalesced around the invisible thing, giving it definition of sorts for those who couldnt see it before. Static, loud and grating, ripped out at the team via the Ellington s comm system, followed immediately by a voice.

“ Interlopers! You have dared to approach the [ untranslatable ] Eye! You will be punished for your [ possible meaning: blasphemy ] ! This was followed by more of the harsh static-the UTs unsuccessful attempt to decipher a large portion of the alien language-and then a very ominous silence.

“Orishans, said Modan very softly after a moment.

“Im guessing, said Vale. So much for them not having space travel. If they survived this, they wouldnt have to worry about violating the Prime Directive. “Mr. Jaza, were aborting the preset flight program. We dont want to piss anyone off more than they are.

“Already on it, he said, his eyes steely as they tracked his hands dancing on the control panel.

“Keru, try and raise these people, said Vale, not even looking to see how quickly the big Trill had dropped into the communication station to do as ordered. “Id like to talk to them before-

“Before, said Ra-Havreii, “they blast us to cinders from their enormous spaceship.

“Spines of the Mother, said Modan in a tiny voice as she absorbed the sight.

There was a lot to take in. This time they all saw it very clearly; a massive cruiser of some sort, roughly twice Titan s size, was in the process of shimmering into view before them. Despite its odd coloring-heavy scarlet streaks along the lower struts against a silvery material that could have passed for something woven-it was as deadly-looking as anything Vale had ever seen.

Its appearance was very much like that of a gigantic mechanical animal of some sort-a scorpion maybe, with tails above and below-and, as they watched it bear down on the Ellington s position, it was clear the new vessel had none of Titan s problems maneuvering in this region. That did not bode well if they meant to get aggressive.

“From their formerly cloaked enormous spaceship, said the engineer. “How in the world were they able to pull that off?

“You can ask them about it later, Commander, said Vale, trying along with Keru to get some weapons up or partial shields at least. It was useless, of course. They had left from Titan essentially naked and defenseless, and so they remained.

She asked Troi if she was getting any kind of empathic hits off their new friends.

Troi shook her head. “No, Commander. I feel something from them, she said. “It may be anger and it may be something like curiosity, but there are other emotions there that dont correspond to anything I know. They feel we are not only alien but in some way sullying their space.

“ You are [ possible meaning: unclean ] ! said the harsh alien voice over more static. “ You will be [ possible meaning: purged ] !

“I dont like the sound of that, said Keru. “And I cant raise them.

“Looks like theyd rather talk than listen, said Jaza.

“Get us out of here, Najem, said Vale, tense. “Easy, if you can, but back us off now. Jaza grunted something and continued to work with the controls at a fiendish pace. She understood his difficulty. They had modified so much of the shuttles works to facilitate even simple motion in this area that theyd sacrificed a good portion of direct control. It had been one of the riskier aspects of this mission, but deemed acceptable when weighed against the alternative. Now the risk might kill them. The computer was not making the switch back to manual an easy thing.

“Almost, he said.

“ Titan can see them, said Troi suddenly. “I can feel the crews attention on this.

“Hell, said Vale, picturing the Red Alert status that had to be under way on their home vessel. “ I can feel their attention on this. Look at that monster.

“Theyre powering some sort of weapon, Commander, said Keru. “Readings are distorted, but-

“But?

Keru looked at her. “But this isnt something we want to be hit by.

She saw it then. The alien vessels upper “tail was bent close to its “head now, and in the space between, a blue-white ball of energy was building in intensity. There was no mistaking its intent.

“Interesting, said Ra-Havreii as Jaza worked his console. “That appears to be a warp field. Theyve weaponized it somehow. Clever.

“Clever like a knife in the throat, muttered Vale. She nudged Jaza, who nodded without looking up. Almost there. “Right. Everybody strap in. Whether they mean to or not, theyre giving us a chance to get out of here, and were taking it.

Jaza swore as the others flung themselves back into their seats. There was a staccato chorus of buckles rebuckling and what sounded like a prayer from Modan. The alien weapon glowed white and large outside their little shuttle.

“Jaza said Vale.

“Ten seconds, he said through his teeth.

“I dont think we have-

“Got it! he said, triumphant, and, just as the alien weapon erupted, “Firing starboard thrusters!

The Ellington lurched violently to port as the beam of coalesced warp energy ripped through its previous position.

“Yeah, thats not good, said Vale. “Not nearly fast enough. We have to get moving.

“Theyre charging the weapon again, said Keru from his post. “Whatever youre going to do, Mr. Jaza

“Ra-Havreii! said Jaza, his eyes fixed on the new ball of energy building on the alien vessel. “Assume I know nothing and tell me why we cant sustain a warp bubble here. Specifically.

“We can, in a ship this size, in theory, said the engineer. “But it would be unstable, porous. The safety protocols would de-initialize the drive to prevent our being shredded by the tidal-

“So we can use the drive, said Jaza, already out of the cradle and heading back to the rear of the shuttle.

“Only if you want to kill us, said Ra-Havreii.

“Nobodys dying, said Jaza, suddenly rising from his chair and heading aft.

“Jaza! said Vale, her own gaze zeroed on the alien weapon. “What are you doing?

He didnt answer. For a moment all Vale could hear was the rush of blood in her ears. They might dodge this thing once more, maybe twice if they were lucky but maneuvering thrusters just werent going to cut it against plasma weapons.

“Jaza! she called out to him. “What the hell are you up to?

“Chris, his voice rose up muffled from the aft engine compartment. “When that thing fires I want you to go to warp.

“But I thought we dont want to go to warp, said Modan. “Because of the dying.

“Commander Vale, I strongly recommend not listening to anything Mr. Jaza says from this point forward, said Ra-Havreii. “An unstable warp field will create catastrophic effects for us.

“Find another plan, Mr. Jaza, said Vale.

“No time, came the response. “Well make it, Chris. Trust me. Just be ready to activate the drive when I say.

Vales mind flashed to Troi, who hadnt participated much in their discussion. Indeed, she had been silent throughout the encounter, attempting instead to reach out to Will Riker on Titan and somehow convey their situation. With the comms down she was the best link between them and home. Her telepathy might be substandard under normal conditions, but in situations like this, stress, coupled with the bridge she shared with him, could sometimes overcome that limitation.

Will , she sent her thought to him. Will, are you there?

Deanna? Yes. She had made contact. It was tenuous, but it was there.

She tried to project- were under attack-help/escape . There was the barest hint of exchange, the thought equivalent of a garbled coded message, from which she could be sure he got nothing useful, not even the feeling of love she projected. She could feel him, of course. She could feel all of Titan s crew. But he couldnt feel her. Not now.

Almost worse was the fact that, in its current state, Titan was almost completely unable to defend itself or to run if it came to that. All they could do was watch as the Orishans, or whoever these people were, destroyed the Ellington .

“Chris, said Jazas voice. “Get ready!

The Orishan vessel clearly meant to fire another shot. The nimbus of destructive energy in what Vales mind had already begun to call its warp cannon continued to grow. It was odd. While a part of her watched the weapon power up with a certain amount of dread, another part was intrigued. The charge time between firings clearly showed that, aggressive as they were, these people had never been in anything like a real battle. On equal footing, the lag between volleys was a fatal abyss.

Good.

Titan , with its still-viable complement of torpedoes, might not be totally helpless against this thing that was now so obviously not a warship. The Ellington , on the other hand, was on borrowed time. Eventually the alien weapon, slow as it was, would find its target.

“The weapon is near maximum charge, Commander, said Keru. “Theyre definitely going for another shot.

“Jaza! she said, hoping the fear that had crept under her door didnt show too much in her voice. “Tell me something!

“Ive disabled the safeties, Chris, he yelled. “When they fire the weapon, punch it.

“I reiterate, said Ra-Havreii. “This is an extraordinarily bad plan. The shuttle will be torn to-

“I heard you the first time, snapped Vale. The great blue-white ball of writhing energy had grown to its original proportion. “Everybody, brace.

“Christine, said Troi, in a voice Vale had not heard before but recognized as possessing the same steel that had often characterized her mother. “Be sure.

She wasnt, not about any of it, but it was too late. The Orishan cannon fired and time slowed to a crawl. Adrenaline surged through her body, and it seemed that she was outside herself watching as the lethal tongue of space-distorting energy roared out at them, watching as her hands danced across the manual control console, activating the drive.

It came alive at precisely the instant the beam hit the shuttle, and whether it was the cause of the violent upheaval they suffered or the reason they survived it, she wasnt sure. The ship was rocked horribly, lurching in a new direction with every tick of the clock. Systems all over the Ellington went insane, sparking, spewing their guts into the main cabin. Alarms sounded. Some random bit of sudden debris narrowly missed Vales head as she was jerked out of its path by the ships distress. Modan screamed again but Vale forgave her. The others rode the tumult in grim silence, obviously as terrified as the young ensign and, just as obviously, having the experience or sufficient grit to keep their fear at bay.

Then, just as suddenly as it had washed over them, the storm of violent energies was gone. Despite its pummeling, the Ellington hung where it had in space, listing a bit, to be certain, but still very much intact.

Far ahead the Orishan vessel continued to loom but, for now, took no further aggressive action.

Werent expecting that, were you? thought Vale. Well, take as long as you like to chew it .

Ra-Havreii was the first to speak. “I cant believe that worked, he said. “We should all be dead.

Vale had the feeling that he was more right than anyone wanted to admit, but she wasnt about to look too deeply into the throat of this particular equine.

“Well done, Mr. Jaza, said Vale. There was no response. “Jaza, report. Still he said nothing, and she began to fear the worst. It suddenly occurred to her that there were no safety nets in the shuttles power room, no place to safely ride out the sort of pelting theyd just had. There was nothing down there but hard metal.

“Modan, said Vale, sliding instantly to damage assessment and control. They werent nearly out of the rough yet, and she would need him. “Get aft and see whats happened to Mr. Jaza.

“Aye, sir, said Modan after the briefest hesitation. She was unbuckled and sliding down the ladder in an instant. Good. She might not be dead weight after all. Keru was already back at his station, running diagnostics to see what, if anything, they still had to work with. The report was not the best. Emergency systems were all that was keeping them from the vacuum, and several of them had dipped to critical in the time it took him to check their status. At best they had been given a small reprieve. Still, the failure of their weapon seemed to have given the Orishans pause.

Lets see if we can extend that feeling , she thought, staring at the ominous, vaguely insectile ship.

“Counselor? said Vale, not taking her eye off the alien vessel. “Anything from the Orishans? Troi shook her head. “Dr. Ra-Havreii, can you tell me anything? Why are we still here?

The Efrosian seemed frozen in contemplation, his deep-set eyes far away, staring past Troi and Keru and Vale to the space that was visible through the forward viewport.

“Two warp fields, he said at last. “I should have thought of it. The dissonance between the weapons warp frequency and that of this ship acted as a shield.

“I thought it might work, said Jaza, returning to the cockpit with Modan following close behind. He looked a little the worse for wear-there was a field patch over his left temple where Modan had bandaged what was obviously a wicked gash-but otherwise he was all right.

“You thought it would work? said Vale in mock irritation.

“Yes, said Jaza, wincing as Modan helped him into the pilots cradle.

“If we survive this, Commander, said Vale. “Youre going on report.

“Of course, said Jaza with a smile.

“Commander, said Keru in a tone Vale was sure she didnt like. “Probe telemetry indicates a massive energy flux in the area of Mr. Jazas ghost field.

“Let me see that, said Ra-Havreii, nearly pouncing on the sensor controls. Jaza too made an effort to shift position for a look at the incoming data, but some hidden injury only allowed him to wince.

“This is bad, said Ra-Havreii. “There is something inside the field, Commander. Something with mass and gravity. The readings are garbled. Its as if theres something there and yet-

Again their conversation was shattered by the sound of alien static and that same grating, stilted speech of the Orishan representative.

“ You have been [ possible meaning: judged ] , the creature said. “ Now you will face the [ possible meaning: wrath ] of Erykons Eye.

“Now what? said Modan.

As if in response, the Orishan vessel broke off, shimmering back to invisibility even as it receded into the distance. Just as it vanished completely, “Uh-oh, said Keru. Before anyone could ask what he meant, the Ellington was rocked by a massive shockwave. Everything and everyone that wasnt strapped down was flung against the port bulkhead.

Only Counselor Troi, still seated, still trying desperately to make contact with Titan , remained more or less undisturbed.

“Everyone strap in! bellowed Vale, as if there was any need for the order. The others were already scrambling to the jump seats. “What the hell was-

Again the ship was battered by a massive jolt, even more violent than the first. This time everything was rocked forward, as if a giant fist had taken hold of the ship and was dragging it into a new position.

Will! Troi sent with as much force as she could put behind the thoughts. Somethings happening here. Were in trouble! Real troubl-

Outside the forward viewport, Jazas so-called ghost field was a ghost no longer. A massive spiraling, undulating chaos of light and motion the size of a planet was suddenly writhing there in the space ahead and, despite their efforts to break away, was pulling them inexorably in.

Worse, if worse was possible, the shimmering globe began to spit energy, great arching tongues of something unknown and deadly, kilometers wide and thousands long, in random directions. The Ellington was being pulled into that maelstrom, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Vale bellowed commands, and Keru and Jaza moved to obey-any evasive measure, any shielding trick, anything to keep them from being drawn in. Nothing worked. Soon all they could see outside was the sea of boiling energies sucking them down.

“Set for collision! yelled Vale over the noise of sparking machinery and computer warnings about energetic discharges.

Just as they were sucked down, the entire mass erupted at once, spewing its energies wide in a tsunami of force that had to be witnessed to be believed.

Waves of the weird multicolored energy leaped out in every direction, consuming or obscuring every scrap of normal space that had previously been visible.

Trois mind screamed out to her husband. Will! Get out of there! Get away! Now! She could feel him there, feel his distress as if it were her own as the great wave of energy swept toward Titan like an ocean of fire. They couldnt move. There was nowhere to run and no way to do it if there were. “ Will! Imzadi!

But it was useless. She could feel him, barely, but he couldnt feel her, neither her panic nor her love, except as ephemeral echoes of what they should be.

Then even that spindly connection was suddenly gone, ripped away along with the sight of the stars and blackness of normal space. The wave of wild energy ripped outward, swallowing the tiny shuttle utterly, obliterating its connection with the space around it. She was alone for the first time in years, perhaps ever, absolutely alone.

“No! she screamed.

“Deanna! yelled Vale, fighting alongside Jaza to get some sort of manual control of the shuttles motion. It was useless. “Are you hurt?!

“Its Titan , said Troi. “Its gone!

“Gone? said Modan, nakedly terrified. “What does she mean, its gone?

“I cant feel them anymore! said Troi in obvious distress. “I cant feel any of them!

Whatever empathic contact she had with her husband, whatever ebb and flow had normally passed between her and the three-hundred-plus members of Titan s crew was gone, severed as soon as they were caught in the field eruption. Vale had no idea what such a severing might mean, but she was sure it couldnt be good.

“ Planetary impact imminent, said the computer over the din. “ Implementing automatic safety protocols.

Planetary impact? thought Vale. What the hell? Orisha is hundreds of thousands of kilometers from here .

“Theres something in the field, Chris, said Jaza as if reading her mind. “I dont know how its possible, but its solid and its coming up fast.

Those that could watched in astonished horror as the effects of the energy wave gave way to the simple clouds of the upper atmosphere of some unknown world. There were landmasses down there, a vast sparkling ocean of something both white and blue, and the sort of vegetation one generally only saw in nightmares. This world was like an enormous jungle, stretching from horizon to horizon in all directions. Mountainous leafy plants of impossible proportions, huge towering spires of turquoise or red that stood in clusters surrounded by hills and other plants that they dwarfed the way Izarian cityscapes dominated her homeworld.

This was a wild planet, terra incognita , completely untouched by anything recognizable as civilization, and they were about to crash into its heart. The pressure of reentry, without the normal shielding to protect them, pressed relentlessly against them all. Vale knew she was a moment from a blackout.

She saw something then on her periphery that drew her eye. A great black mass had appeared in the swirling chaos of energies around the planet, with a shape that was chillingly familiar.

She watched in horror as the shape, very obviously that of Titan now, was buffeted and ultimately torn to bits by the rampaging waves of energy. It went screaming down toward the surface in great burning chunks.

“ Impact imminent, said the computer as her mind rebelled against the sight her eyes forced it to process. “ Implementing emergency protocol priority alpha.

The transporter nimbus enveloped the members of her team, spiriting them to the ground where, in theory, they would have a better chance of survival than with the shuttles impact.

Vale had no time to grieve for her friends or to ponder whether their chances would be better naked on this unknown and likely hostile planet, but as the transporter beam took her and she slipped into unconsciousness, her last thought was, “ At least I dont have to hear Ra-Havreiis damned humming anymore.

Chapter Five

T he memories of the previous days came back to him in a rush, and with them the sort of shattering despair that only a supreme act of will could force to recede.

Titan . Dead with all hands. The whole crew. The rest of the away team scattered, maybe dead as well, and him and Modan trapped in the middle of some massive local conflict.

Jaza had seen bad days in his time, horrendous ones, in fact, but nothing to compare with this. He had lost friends before, fighting the Cardassians, during his previous Starfleet assignment as science officer on the U.S.S. al-Arif , even a few on Titan , but he had never lost so many so quickly.

Modan had dragged him away from the scene of her killing of the alien soldier, concealing him under a canopy of the massive leaves that made up so much of the local flora. She was off somewhere, making sure the soldiers body would not be discovered by its fellows.

The change in her was remarkable and went far beyond the cosmetic. In shifting into what he could only guess was some sort of naturally evolved hunting or fighting mode, her body now sported, in addition to the new dermal plating, an assortment of spines running the length of her back from the base of her skull to the bottom of her spine. Her “quills she called them.

She had adopted an almost hunched posture that forced her face forward and down in the way he had noticed in many lower forms of predator on several worlds. She still looked like a golden sculpture, but now, instead of some sort of idealized version of a humanoid female, Modan looked like something out of one of the fables he used to read his children when he wanted to give them a healthy scare.

He couldnt let himself think of them now.

It was one thing to take these long missions of exploration away from home and family and something else to think that he might never see them again. No.

He froze the images his mind had tried to form and forced them back into the dark recesses. Plenty of time for that sort of grief later.

“ Theres something wrong with the sky, he thought, looking up at it. It wasnt the color-a kind of copper and gold-or the complete absence of clouds or that the shape of the sun was somehow refracted into an oval by this planets atmosphere. There was just something wrong with it as far as he was concerned, and something familiar too, though he couldnt exactly say what that something was.

“Can you move? asked Modan, suddenly beside him. It was odd hearing her mellifluous voice coming from that spiny animalistic face, but it helped reassure him that, despite appearances, she was still herself. “The battle is moving this way.

He still hurt all over, especially where his ribs were obviously broken, but he knew from experience what skirting the edge of a pitched firefight could do. He could move and told her so.

As she helped him to his feet, he realized the sounds of battle-familiar shouts, explosions, and weapons fire-had shifted toward what he had arbitrarily named east.

“Where are we going? he said. He had no clear idea how long hed been in his delirium, but from the thin appearance of new hair on his jaws and chin, he presumed at least a day had passed since the computer had beamed them here.

“The shuttle, she said.

“Its intact?

She nodded, one of her head quills stabbing lightly into his cheek. “Mostly. I fixed what I could. You can do the rest.

“Why didnt we go there straightaway? he said, marveling at her confidence in his abilities. He wasnt an engineer, after all.

“The way was blocked by the Orishan fighters, she said, helping him navigate what looked like a small forest of enormous lavender palm fronds that grew straight up from the soil. “Theyre all over this area, Najem.

“Orishans? he said, surprised. “What makes you think these are Orishans? The last he knew, they were crashing down on someplace entirely new that was a good half million kilometers from Orisha.

“Didnt you ever look at the visual signals we harvested? she said, slashing at the snakelike vines with the serrated edge of her forearm. Jaza realized he hadnt. He had been so busy getting the shuttle ready for the trip, he hadnt actually gone back to look at the visuals that Modan and the rest had sifted out of the signal chaff. “Well, these are them. I dont know where this war came from. This is supposed to be a rigidly stable society. They dont even have nation states.

As if to punctuate their confused state, a series of large explosions sounded somewhere behind them, close enough to shake the ground and the nearby foliage. They might not have nations , thought Jaza. But theyve certainly got the conflict part down .

For a moment he was again transported back to those awful bloody days on Bajor when he spent every waking moment figuring and implementing ways to kill as many Cardassians as he could as efficiently as possible. Those days were long gone, thank the Prophets, but the memories were sometimes as fresh and immediate as the thought of his mothers smile.

“Maybe this is a colony, he said, stumbling over a small but hidden cluster of stones. “We thought they didnt have space travel and we were wrong. What else could we have missed?

“It seems as though we missed a lot, said Modan, helping him stay upright. “But these are definitely Orishans. How they got here, wherever we are, I cant say.

“A broken colony of some kind, he mused aloud. “That would explain some of this. The Federation has had a few of them. Theyre often conflict engines.

She stopped abruptly, motioning for him to be quiet and still. He nodded, resting his weight against the base of a massive vine that was as thick as one of the smaller sequoias hed seen on his first visit to Earth four years ago, shortly after hed transitioned from the Bajoran Militia to Starfleet. Huge as the vines were, they were all still relatively close to the ground, never rising higher than ten or fifteen meters. One day he envisioned there would be towering versions of these things, stretching high into the sky.

Modan disappeared briefly into the brush, only to return looking as agitated as her golden armored skin would allow.

She motioned for him to stay absolutely mum and still, as if he had enough energy to do more than nod. As they huddled there in the crook of the great vine, something moved past them in the jungle beyond.

Though he couldnt see it directly for all the leaves and vines, he did catch a glimpse of what looked like one massive segmented eye and maybe a set of feathery scales running along the creatures side. It was enormous, whatever it was, and he was happy Modan had chosen to give it a wide berth. The jungle seemed to hold its breath as the thing went by; the sound of insects and the larger creatures that fed on them died to a whisper until the monster had passed.

After what felt like a collective exhalation, Modan said very softly, “Its a predator. I saw it kill one of the big avians yesterday. Im sorry, but we will have to go the long way around.

“Its okay, Modan, said Jaza. “I can make it.

She looked at him then; her large blue-green eyes seemed filled with sadness and, despite her changed appearance, served, as did her voice, to remind him that she was still the same young woman hed been flirting with for the last few days on Titan .

“No, she said sadly. “Its not okay and I am sorry for what youll have to see. Come.

So he followed her lead as they trudged in silence through the lush and occasionally hostile alien jungle. He asked her at one interval about her fierce metamorphosis, and she said that once the Seleneans had all looked as she did now but that, since joining the Federation, they had taken to breeding crche siblings to mirror as best they could the dominant races of the UFP. Rather than an effort to blend in with those societies-the golden metallic skin prevented this in any case-it was an attempt on behalf of the Pod Mothers to put their new neighbors at ease.

However, the Mothers did not want their children to be defenseless in the wider galaxy and so allowed the primary DNA, that which accounted for this more durable and lethal form, to remain. In cases of imminent physical attack, a Selenean would revert to her feral aspect until the danger had passed.

“Its not as if we keep our nature secret, Najem, she said as they fought their way through yet another hyper-dense thicket of ten-meter leaves and six-meter blades of ochre grass. “All this is in the Starfleet medical database.

“Good thing your minds dont go feral along with your bodies, he remarked, thinking how dire his current situation might be had that been the case. “I wouldnt want to have to fight you like this.

“The Mothers are wise, said Modan in the sort of reverent tone that Jaza had only heard in the voices of Bajoran vedeks when talking of the Prophets. “And, no, you wouldnt want to fight me.

“Which is your natural form? he asked her, wondering if he could manage to shove this vision far enough away to remain attracted to her. The banter was only a cover in any case, something to keep his mind off the fates of his friends both on the away team and Titan . Plenty of time for the worst news later.

“Both forms are mine, she said. “I am as I am.

She had pulled farther ahead of him while ascending another of the steep little hills and now disappeared completely behind a particularly thick clump of the giant fronds dominating the summit.

“Modan, wait, he said, wincing at the strain on his battered skeleton. “Let me catch up.

She said something that was eaten by the noise of animals chattering in the brush all around. The smell was different here somehow; the normal all-pervasive musk of decaying organic matter and flowers in heat had given way to something unpleasantly acrid and metallic.

Smoke.

Something had burned here recently and might still be burning. With all the explosions from the incendiaries being employed by the Orishans in their battle, it stood to reason that there would be many burnt or burning areas to navigate.

This sort of destruction was also, unhappily, familiar to him. As he climbed the last few meters, the smell of soot and metal triggered yet another memory from his days fighting on Bajor.

He was running through the streets of Ilvia, desperately pushing his way between bodies in the flood of his people going in the opposite direction. The bomb hed set had gone off hours too early. A problem with the timer? A faulty circuit? He never found out but, just at that moment, didnt much care. The cause wasnt a priority.

His father was in there, tending to patients in a makeshift clinic only a hundred meters from the ordnance storage facility that had been his target.

He had hinted, obliquely of course, that it might be best, for that day at least, not to see patients or to see them elsewhere, but his father either didnt or wouldnt understand the soft warning.

“Someone in this family has to do the Prophets will, Najem, Jaza Chakrys had told him.

It was a familiar refrain and produced a familiar effect. The two of them had spent the next few minutes screaming at each other. What have the Prophets ever done for us, Father? If you have to ask, then youve strayed too far from your path, Najem. I dont stray from my path, Father, I reject it- But by then his father had had enough and had left him there alone, seething in the dusty street.

Had the bomb gone off as programmed, his father and the patients would all have been long gone, back to their homes and hovels, far away from the town center. But it hadnt and they hadnt and he had to find his father.

“Jaza Chakrys, he called out to anyone in the stampede of people. “Has anyone seen Jaza Chakrys?

It was no use. The plume of ugly smoke spewing up behind them from the ordnance depot coupled with the noise of the Cardassian civil alert system- Culprits and their families will be found and punished! -had transformed these people into a herd of fleeing beasts.

Hed fought his way through them, almost literally in a few instances, until he managed to break through only a few meters from the empty shrine that his father used as his hospital.

He remembered being thrilled that the temples front faade, a long stone wall with a large stone ring with a sculpture of an Orb at the crown, was only scorched a bit, its windows only shattered by the force of the nearby explosion.

Hed burst in, kicking the remains of the destroyed front door away and screaming for his father to show himself if he was present. Jaza Chakrys was not there. No one was. Aside from Najem, the shrine was empty. Under its new covering of shattered wood and glass there was hardly a sign that anyone had been there at all. He had allowed himself to think that maybe his father had actually listened to him for once.

It was then that he had heard that strange sound, like wind chimes in chorus, and his head had begun to ache.

“Najem, said Modan, gently shifting him from the place where hed fallen unconscious. “Are you all right? Can you continue?

“Fine for now, he said. “Sorry about that.

“No, she said softly, an incongruous gentleness from something that looked so fierce. “Im sorry. For you.

She helped him rise again and this time let him lean on her as they made their way back to the top of the hill. She shoved the leaves away or cut them with her talons as they pushed through and then, as they emerged in the open again, he saw the reason for her sadness.

“Caves of fire, he said, incredulous.

There before them, lying in a billion smoldering pieces at the end of the deep gash its impact had cut in the terrain, was a starship. Or what was left of one anyway.

Though nearly none of the bits were intact enough to identify, the ones that were told the story. There was one of the nacelles, sticking up out of the dirt, still glowing faintly. There was the long sloping arc of a saucer disk, oddly pristine among the charred and burning wreck, the remains of the saucer section. The wreckage was spread over kilometers, the groove it had dug even longer.

There were bodies in there as well. Hundreds of broken sentients peppered the destroyed machines carcass, each bent or shredded or contorted horribly and all of them burnt to charcoal by what had obviously been a hideous explosion. It wasnt hard to ferret the source of the conflagration. The ships warp core, still dangerously intact despite its scorched and battered state, continued to belch plasma and to radiate so much energy that he could feel the warmth from where he stood tens of meters away.

“Thats not good, he said after a time.

“No, she said. “Im worried about it too. If it blows

He nodded. These words, the simple clinical assessment, were the best he had right now.

Titan . This was Titan .

He had lost friends before, fighting the Cardassians, on away missions for Starfleet, even a few since joining this most recent crew. But he had never lost so many so quickly and never ever in this horrible way.

Bralik. Ree. Melora. Dakal. All of them. Dead. Dead. Dead. And, of course, he had survived it. His blessing from the Prophets had protected him again, though, just now, it felt a little bit more like a curse.

He fell silent again as the enormity of it all went through him.

Modan let him stare at the scene for another full minute before urging him on.

They came upon the shuttle as the sun dipped low behind them and, had he not known exactly what to look for, he would have missed it, which was the point.

The providence that had protected him and Modan thus far had also left the Ellington s stealth field projector mercifully intact. It too had smacked into the surface of this unknown world but had found a better resting place than Titan .

The slight ripple in the air, like a breeze drifting along an invisible curtain between what looked like a closely clustered stand of the viney trees and a massive crystal formation, was the only sign that the shuttle was present at all.

It wasnt a cloak really, as it only bent visible light around the ship and couldnt block even cursory sensor scans, but for missions like this one was meant to be, where secret observation of the new culture was part of the brief, the stealth field was ideal.

As long as it lasted, they would be safe from premature discovery here.

“Come on, she said, helping him over the natural ditch that ran between them and it.

Modan had done a good job getting the primary systems back online, though her success was due less to her engineering skills than to the fact that the bulk of the damage was cosmetic. The shuttles guts had exploded all over the interior, making it look well past ready for the scrap heap, but very little of it had sustained any truly catastrophic damage.

The systems that had been most compromised were those that had shorted during the first hit from the Orishan warp cannon.

By simply swapping a few isolinear chips from less important components to those they needed, and reattaching or sealing a few wires here and there, he was able to get the Ellington back up to nearly eighty percent of full functionality. The remaining problem, now that the ship was actually running, was to get it flying again.

Not being an engineer, it would take him hours, perhaps days, to figure out precisely what was wrong with the propulsion system and then determine if that thing could be fixed.

As she lowered him into the rehabilitation bed and he felt the beams of healing energy course through his body, he told her how to use the computer to fix their location so that they would have some idea at least of where they were.

“I will, Najem, she said as the sedation beams sent him into the dark. “And maybe I can find a spare uniform now that some of this junk as been cleared away.

“Uniform, he asked as he drifted off. “What?

“Mine got shredded when I transformed, she said, moving out of his field of vision. He could hear her rummaging. “Why did you think I didnt shift back? Im naked.

His dreams were dark flitty things, full of ugly portents, which he was pleased not to retain once he came back to himself. The pain in his abdomen was little more than an ache by then. His skull no longer throbbed, and she had cleaned the blood off his face. He felt like himself.

“Modan?

“Here, Najem, she said, and she was. Clad in the white and gray undermesh of an EVA suit, she looked like the old Ylira Modan, and he was glad. “You look much better now.

“I feel better, he said and even his voice had more strength in it than before.

He tried to sit up, but the rush of blood to his brain made him dizzy.

“Wait, she said soothingly. “Try again in a moment.

“Thats a good plan, I think, he said and relaxed again. He might be healed, but it was wise to let his body realize it before he forced it to do too much.

He tried again more slowly, and was rewarded with a smile from his golden companion. It was hard to picture her the other way now, and he was glad of that as well.

“All right, he said, swiveling his legs off the recovery table and facing her. “Did you fix our location?

“Im sorry, she said. “I must have done something wrong.

He got up under his own steam this time and made his way to the science station, still lit up from Modans recent use. She hadnt made any mistakes. The sensors were online and had fixed points for the local sun, using it as a central reference from which to generate star maps and, from them, generate a location mark relative to the Federation. Travel through the strange vortex could have deposited them anywhere.

“What in the-? he said, checking and rechecking the sensor data.

“Yes, she said. “According to this, the stars are in the wrong places. It must be a malfunction, yes?

“No, he said as the realization of what had happened washed over him. “No, its not a malfunction.

“But this says we are on Orisha, Najem, she said. “This cant be Orisha. There are no cities, no high-level technology. These warriors are killing each other with crude projectile weapons and fuel bombs.

“Its not a malfunction, Modan.

“And the stars? Her confusion was quickly devolving into the fear shed displayed during their bumpy flight. How odd to see her so fierce in combat and yet cowed by these more abstract concepts. “It has all the stars in the wrong positions. Fractionally so, but still.

“Theyre not in the wrong positions, he said. “I think-I think we are.

His fingers tapped in a few frantic commands and requests, asking the computer to verify his deepening apprehension.

“ Verification, said the computer. “ Analysis is confirmed.

He sat there for a moment, letting the words sink in. He hadnt really needed the computer to verify the charts and extrapolations. Just looking at the data had told him all he needed to know.

He sat there, feeling his limbs, still weak despite their healing, sensing Modans increasing agitation. He wondered if her Pod Mothers had designed her this way or if it was something unaccounted for. Then a thought came to him that made him smile first and then laugh.

“Najem, she said, visibly shaken by his outburst. “Are you well?

“Fine, Modan, he said when the last fit was done. “Im just laughing at the joke the Prophets have played on me. On us, I suppose.

“The Prophets? she said. “The beings your people revere as gods? What have they to do with this?

“They made me a promise a long time ago, he said, swiveling to face her. “And this is how they keep it.

“Najem, I dont understand you.

“This is Orisha, Modan, he said. “This is the planet Orisha. That energy mass we discovered was obviously some kind of temporal aperture.

“We have traveled through time? she said slowly, feeling the weight of it and its truth as well.

“Looks that way, yes.

“No, she said, aghast. “Oh, no.

“Yes, he said. “We should have died. We should have smacked into this place and burned like Titan , like our friends, but because of the promise the Prophets made to me, were here, alive, a thousand years in the past.

“And this makes you laugh?

“Of course, he said. “Because, no matter what else happens, we absolutely have to get off this planet, as soon as we can, and we have absolutely no way to do it.

Her golden head tilted slightly to one side as she tried to determine if he was not still a little delirious from his injuries.

Chapter Six

ORISHA, STARDATE 58449.1

I t took Vale almost twenty minutes to disentangle herself from the vines, much of which time was also spent making sure she didnt free herself too soon. Sudden release would have sent her plummeting twenty meters to the jungle floor.

Seen from above, the place had looked lush, bubbling with ambient moisture that rose off the violet flora in thick rolling clouds, but also somewhat peaceful. Now, in the thick of it, her body nearly immobilized by the spiderweb of sticky grasping vines, she was forced to revise that opinion. Everything moved here. Everything was not only alive but actively so. The vines, some as thick as a human arm, twined themselves in their multitudes around larger growths that, to her surprise, were themselves nothing more than enormous stalks. The thinner tangles that held her seemed to resist her exertions to get free, inspiring a few moments of panic. But with effort and patience, she managed to loose herself from their grip.

Pulling herself onto the lip of one of the thicker vines, she took a look around. The jungle stretched in all directions without a sign of a break anywhere. She could see stalks in the distance that rose up to a canopy higher than the tallest buildings on Izar.

There were scores of insects, birds, reptiles, and at least one creature that looked like a hodgepodge of several mammals crossed with a cactus. It stopped a few meters away to stare at her out of bulbous milky-white eyes.

“Vale to Troi, she said, tapping her combadge. No answer. She tried again with Keru and then with the rest of the team with the same result. Either her badge was damaged or something was interfering with the signal.

Or she was alone.

She knew the longer she stayed at this height, the worse her chances for avoiding a deadly fall. But going down also meant losing any hope of keeping her bearings; little daylight penetrated to the ground, and she knew, without instrumentation of some kind, that it would be brutally hard to navigate a way out of this on foot, much less to find the others. They should have all materialized in the same vicinity. Emergency transports were meant to put the entire team and their supplies on the surface of a target world without damage. Clearly something had gone wrong.

“ I cant feel them! I cant feel any of them! The memory of the panic in Trois voice went through her again like an icy knife. She shoved the feeling away and considered her prospects.

The drop to the jungle floor was not sheer. In fact, were she simply to let herself fall, she could be assured of having every bone in her body shattered and her flesh torn by the innumerable serrated brambles, vines and leaves she would hit as she fell.

The way across the top of the canopy was far more treacherous. She might make a go of leaping and swinging from stalk to stalk, but eventually a vine would snap in her hands or her feet would slip on a mossy bough and down she would fall.

Every scenario eventually put her on the ground, and in mostly unpleasant ways. So, after deciding which way was east and fixing it in her mind, down she went. Better to get there on her own terms.

It was dark on the forest floor, the entire area suffused with that same gloomy twilight that seemed to permeate places like Ferenginar and Berengaria VII. It was cooler on the bottom as well. She lost her jacket fending off the attack of some large multilegged lizard and now felt its absence acutely.

Mites and other unknown creatures flitted and skittered in the hidden reaches, and there was a sort of deep moaning sound-animal or artificial, she didnt know-that rumbled through the area periodically. For all of that, Vale was alone.

East , she reminded herself. There was no reason to go that way specifically. She just felt better walking-all right, trudging-through lichen and forest muck toward the light, even if the source was hidden behind the seemingly endless stretch of purple jungle.

It didnt make sense. Once her body got used to navigating the wild but fairly predictable contours of the jungle floor, her mind was free to drift without impeding her progress.

Somehow, she knew, this was Orisha. There had been a range of mountains in one of the visual signals theyd managed to decipher that was identical to the one shed seen from the canopy.

The strange energy mass hadnt contained a new world but had served as some kind of shunt, bridging the hundreds of millions of kilometers to the planet in an instant. But what explained such a phenomenon? Was it natural or artificial? How had it formed?

In a way that was good news. They had made it to shore more quickly than they had anticipated, but what they found there did not match the data theyd collected.

Orisha was, at least in part, an industrial society. She had watched the snippets of visual data Troi and Modan had culled from the bizarrely warped signal bleeds. Granted there was no real pattern to any of it; they had been watching three to five seconds snipped from moments isolated from what could have been hundreds of years of signal bleed. It was a sure bet that theyd missed a lot; certainly they had missed all the subtleties that must be present in a society this large.

There were still things they had thought they knew for certain, and yet, now that she was here, none of them had been borne out.

Where were the cities? She had seen something that resembled one in one of the snippets. It had been a gathering, Troi supposed a religious gathering, of a few thousand Orishans in some sort of open arena, with a night sky and something like skyscrapers clearly visible in the background. Granted the Orishan architecture-a strange admixture of familiar constructions, the same woven metal shed seen on the watchdog vessel, and massive blue crystals carved into useful shapes-was foreign to her, but some commonalities always arose no matter how alien the species.

So, where were the cities? Where were the roads connecting the cities? Where were the signs that the Orishans had mined, farmed, or otherwise domesticated the natural resources of their world?

Nowhere, apparently. This was as close to a pristine ecosystem as she had ever seen, and that couldnt be if the Orishans had developed any version of high technology.

Invisible cities. Warp energy for something other than space travel. Space travel for something other than expansion or exploration. Weapons powerful enough to wreak havoc on alien vessels, but which had clearly been designed without an inkling that the enemy might wish to protect itself or fire back.

It was a puzzle all right, something Vale didnt like normally. She was a fan of solutions, but in this context the puzzle kept her mind off the eventual concerns of her belly and the very strange thing shed seen just before shed blacked out.

“ I cant feel any of them! Troi had said, meaning the emotions of Titan s crew. They all just vanished from her perceptions, switched off like three hundred fifty lights. There was only one thing that could have caused that, as far as Vale was concerned. One thing and one thing only. In view of the large black shape shed seen being torn to bits in the energy storm, she had a very solid suspicion that her feeling was correct.

Something was tracking her.

Shed been trudging for about four hours by her reckoning without sight or word of the others when she noticed her shadow.

There wasnt anything she could put her fingers on exactly, beyond the gradual absence of animal noise in the surrounding jungle, but years as a peace officer had taught her to trust her instincts when her hackles rose even the slightest bit. Right now they were at full attention.

Something was watching her and moving with her, a few meters beyond the densely clustered vines and leaves. Of course there would be predators in a place like this. Of course some of them would be big enough to give her trouble, especially considering the new scents her simian-descended body had introduced to this place and the amount of noise she made as she went. She could only hope she was too alien to be recognized as prey.

Heartbeat slow , she told herself, remembering her survival training. Pace regular, body relaxed and calm .

In a normal jungle, even one that was exceedingly lush, there would be bamboo shoots or tree branches or even stones she might use as weapons, but this was Orisha. The vines and leaves were either too spindly or too thick or too supple to allow her to make anything more dangerous than a length of rope, and the crystal formations, while certainly durable enough to cause damage, were also too solid to break or even damage with her bare hands.

She was just thinking about maybe trying for some higher ground at least when the thing attacked. It was so fast she barely had time to react. It whipped out at her from her left side, barely disturbing the flora. In the glimpse she caught of it as she spun out of its path she saw something long and thick like a constricting snake but with thousands of tiny legs running in two rows along its belly.

She hit the ground hard as it passed and looked up to find it had disappeared into the thick foliage the way a shark disappears into an ocean.

There was a tear in her undershirt but not in her flesh, thankfully.

The thing ripped out at her again, just as she was getting to her feet, this time giving her no time to dodge.

She managed to get her hands up as it smacked into her, catching its head between them even as it bore her to the ground.

It was a monster, all right, its skin a shifty scaly texture that modulated its color to match the plants around it.

Its face, if you could call it a face, was a nightmare, little more than a gaping hole filled with multiple rows of tiny fishhook teeth. Its breath stank like a hundred corpses left too long under a hot sun, sweet and musky and full of blood.

As it lunged at her, its throat let out an ugly gurgling sound as if it, rather than she, were being constricted to death.

She could feel its million legs clawing at her as its serpentine body tried to wrap itself around hers.

“No! she said through her teeth, forcing the hideous maw away from her face. “Imnotyourdinner!

Of course it ignored her. If there was a brain in there at all, it was just complex enough to tell the thing to eat and eat often.

She tried to shift her weight, to get some leverage against it, but its lower coils already held her legs fast. The tiny legs had encircled her torso by then and were in the process of squeezing off her air. She had minutes, maybe seconds, to think of something, but with that slaughterhouse of a mouth bearing down on her, she had no attention to spare.

Her lungs burned as they struggled against the increasing pressure. Her heart raced. This thing was going to kill her, right here in the sopping decay of the alien jungle, and then it would eat her or drink her blood or whatever it did to survive.

The giant maw forced her hands back and back again until it was in kissing distance of her face. She felt the crushing tightness around her stomach and chest forcing her breath out in short ragged gasps.

She told herself to fight, but her arms were numb and there was music and her mother scolding her about something and why did her head hurt so much?

Then there was a sound she recognized, a humming noise that brought with it a flash of incandescent light. Suddenly the monster was gone.

Standing nearby, with a phaser in his hand, was a big man in a mud-spattered Starfleet uniform. His thick mustache did nothing to hide the look of profound relief on his face.

“Keru! she rasped at him as she struggled to stand again. “Took you long enough.

“Sorry, Commander, he said, moving to help her. “Ill try to be quicker next time.

Kerus report was better than expected, considering. He and the others, Troi and Ra-Havreii, had materialized close to each other along with many of the survival supplies they would need.

While Troi and Ra-Havreii tried to get their malfunctioning equipment working, Keru had concerned himself with searching the jungle for Vale, Jaza, and Modan. There was no sign of the latter two as yet.

“Somethings interfering with the combadges, said Keru as he let Vale walk on her own the final few meters to their camp. “Dr. Ra-Havreii is working on the problem. I located as much of our gear as I could. Some of it is still missing. I was actually looking for it when I found you.

“Lucky me, she said.

“Me too, he said, managing a grin.

Vale was glad of Keru in that moment. He was a rock, as unshakable as they came, and without his support, she wasnt sure she would be able to continue, in light of their larger dilemma.

“We cant be sure what happened, Christine, said Troi once Vale had gotten some field rations in her and injected herself with a broad-spectrum inoculant.

The counselor looked surprisingly unfazed by the current circumstances, which somehow irritated Vale. She was alert, relatively free of mud and other detritus and working, as best she could, to assist the engineer with his repair of the communications pack.

Ra-Havreii, by contrast, seemed little more than a robot, working away in silence on whatever task was set him and looking none of his companions in the face or speaking. His body was there, but as was increasingly the case with him, the Efrosians mind was far, far away. This time Vale didnt begrudge him that. She wished she could escape too.

“Im sure, Deanna, she said. “I know what I saw.

“And I know what I felt, said the other woman. “But the Enterprise-

“Were not on the Enterprise anymore, Counselor, said Vale, suddenly angry and wanting to hit something, many times, as hard as she could. “ Our ship is dead. Everyone on it is dead. I saw it happen. I dont know how it got so close so fast, but I know what I saw. So, please, shut up about the Enterprise and let me try to figure out how were getting out of this mess.

“I know what youre feeling, Chris, said Deanna evenly. “I feel some of it too. But my own experience tells me to wait until we have real solid proof of whatever happened to Titan . You may not like to hear it now, but Will and I have been in this place before and survived. Im not declaring him dead or any of them dead, until I see it.

“Youre in denial, said Vale.

“Youre not qualified to make that assessment, Commander, said Troi. Then she went back to work with Ra-Havreii without another word.

They had limited resources and fewer options, so Vales eventual plan was about as basic as they came: Find the shuttle. Find Jaza and Modan, alive if possible. To that end, armed with phasers and the four now working combadges, they had set off in opposite directions, each describing a circular search pattern that would eventually bring them back to the camp, hopefully with the shuttles location and with their two missing companions in tow.

Troi was left to work with Ra-Havreii, and it was all uphill. He wouldnt speak, or, if he did, it was only to ask for some tool or to correct her clumsy attempts to follow his repair instructions. Beyond that, the engineer had folded up inside himself and, she knew, was currently building a very solid door to lock himself behind.

She understood it. His response, while somewhat unhealthy, was neither unnatural nor unexpected. He had helped to design Titan , after all, as he had all the Luna -class vessels.

Hed already presided over the destruction of one such ship and now had suffered through a second. Troi would have been surprised, considering his mental state even before their current troubles, if he wasnt somewhat withdrawn now. The problem was, if they were to survive, he would need to process this and get through it sooner rather than later. Much sooner.

She could feel his emotions boiling inside him like an infinite sea of lava beneath his apparent calm. It was too much energy to bottle, and if he couldnt let some out now, the eventual blow would be as catastrophic to him as what had happened to the Luna .

“Xin, she began again. “This was not your fault. You know that.

“Yes, of course, Counselor, he said eventually and obviously lying. “This was just an unfortunate result of dangerous explorations.

“Yes, Xin, she said. “We dont even know that Titan was destroyed.

“Commander Vale seems fairly certain, he said.

“Chris is under a lot of pressure, said Troi. “It helps her to think the worst has already happened.

“A prudent response, he said, reaching for the isolinear filaments.

“Not really, she said. “Only a natural one. Pessimism is a waste of intellect.

He worked away in silence, apparently puzzled at the tricorders stubborn resistance to his ministrations. None of the energy-manipulating devices had worked properly at first. Something about the transport or the nature of this planet had scrambled them. Watching him work on the thing, methodically resetting commands or repairing damaged filaments, gave Troi a deeper understanding of how his mind worked.

He was an entirely compartmental being, having simple but solid walls drawn between his emotions and his intellect in a way that reminded her of Vulcans but that was infinitely more complex. Vulcans shoved all their emotions behind the same wall, denying them access to the surface of their being. Ra-Havreii didnt have a single wall but a maze. He certainly felt things and showed it, but only what and when he wished. She wondered if all Efrosians were this way or if it was a particular quirk of the engineers.

“One of my colleagues on the Luna project felt that way, he said eventually, frowning over the exposed guts of the tricorders in his lap. “Dr. Tourangeau felt that our work was in the nature of a competition, with us setting ourselves against the limitations imposed by nature and finding ways around them. Sometimes you get the sehlat , he would say. Sometimes it gets you.

“Its a good way to see life, Xin, she said.

“I pushed myself to follow his example, said the engineer. “I completely redesigned the drive systems of the Luna class, you know. I changed the mixture rates, streamlined the force-field networks. It was like making art rather than building machinery.

“Im afraid I dont know much about engineering, she said, smiling. “But I know your work is considered to be cutting edge.

“Yes, he said. “We were always seeking that edge. Living on it as long as we could.

“They say thats where the best discoveries are found.

“Mmh, he said. “It is also the place where Dr. Tourangeau and several hundred others were caught in the matter inversion event that was born of my artwork.

Seeing the questioning look on her face, he explained the horrible consequence of matter inversion and how its single positive attribute was a quick death for those caught in the center of the effect.

The maiming and mutilation of bodies unlucky enough to be at the periphery, like those of his friend Tourangeau and so many others, was something he never let himself forget anymore.

“I promised I would never lose another ship, he said at last. “And I would never kill another person or harm another friend. And yet here we all are.

She could feel him folded inside himself, like layer upon layer of steel. His pain was deeper and, strangely, more rational than she had ever thought, and in the face of it, she wondered if any amount of quiet conversation could ever lessen his burden.

“I am sorry, Xin, was all she could muster. She knew it wasnt enough, that perhaps nothing could be. Worse, his certainty that he had somehow failed to prevent the death of another ship and her crew sent a sliver of ice through her own soul.

Seeing that she wouldnt press him further, Ra-Havreii closed the tricorders access panel and switched it on. The green lights lit and the familiar chime sounded, signaling that he had got it working correctly again. To look at him, one would think he had just performed this miracle in the comfort of some workshop on Titan or at Starfleet Headquarters.

He smiled at her, a surprisingly warm smile, stood and moved off to test the tricorders basic functions.

Keru burst out of the jungle as if a horde of Borg drones were on his heels.

“Were going, he said, and immediately set to packing up the campsite.

He wasnt panicked exactly. Troi could tell the big Trill had more control of himself than to allow panic, but he was nervous and in a hurry.

“Whats happened, Ranul? she asked, moving to help him gather up their meager store of equipment and supplies.

“The commander stepped on something, he said, closing up the first pack and tossing it to her. He looked around, noticed the engineer was not present, and asked about it.

“He got a tricorder working again, she said, finishing the second pack. “Hes still testing it.

Keru swore. Seeing that Troi had the packing in hand, he dived into the area of the jungle where she indicated Ra-Havreii had gone. He and Vale had the only working combadges as yet, and she could hear his voice relaying the situation to her for a few moments before the sound was eaten by the jungle. Almost immediately she heard, from the opposite side of the little clearing, the muffled sound of phaser fire.

She finished the fourth pack and was about to round up the stray bits of equipment when Vale appeared. She was winded and sweating, and she held her phaser very much at the ready.

“No sign of the others, she said, catching her breath. She cast a glance around the small campsite and frowned.

“Keru and Xin arent back yet, said Troi. She tossed the younger woman her finished pack, watching as she quickly slid her arms through the loops. “Whats happening?

“Stepped into a nest of some very angry bugs, she said, gathering up the other hand weapons and handing one to Troi. “I think the phaser scared the first few hundred, but the others are massing behind them.

Troi nodded, slipping on her own pack and gathering up the other two.

“Vale to Keru. Were leaving in one, said Vale. “I dont care what Ra-Havreiis into. Stun him if you have to, but get back here now.

“Already on it, said Keru, emerging from the sea of vines with a very unhappy Ra-Havreii in tow.

“Glad you could join us, Doctor, said Vale, grabbing one of the packs away from Troi and throwing it at the Efrosian. “The counselor tells me youve got that thing working again?

“Yes, Commander, he said.

“Think you can find the shuttle?

“I was just telling Keru that I could when he- The engineer was interrupted by a sound like a thousand turbines spinning in unison.

“Bugs? said Troi. Vale nodded.

“Lets go, people, she said, as if anyone present needed to be told.

The swarm stayed with them for two kilometers, right up to the moment they found a wide creek of clear running water and, despite Ra-Havreiis protest, plunged in.

Their scents sufficiently masked, the team watched from under the water as the horde of alien insects swept over them. It took only seconds for the swarm to pass-an army of things like crimson locusts the size of small dogs screaming through the brush with blood in mind.

“Good enough, said Vale as the others joined her on the surface of the water, each filling their burning lungs with air. She looked at the engineer expectantly.

“Yes, he said, bringing the tricorder up. “I have a fix on the warp core. Shall we?

It was odd following Ra-Havreii anywhere. He kept up a good pace, but he didnt bother to tell them when he turned left or right or took a sudden detour through what appeared to be a solid bank of tightly interwoven vines.

“Have you wondered why there are no signs of technology? said Troi. “Even the tricorder hasnt found anything.

“As long as it finds the shuttle, said Keru.

“Fixed position another kilometer ahead, said Ra-Havreii. “The pulse is steady and strong.

“Heh, said Keru, huffing a bit through his mustache. “You sound like a doctor.

“I am a doctor, said Ra-Havreii. “A steady, regular pulse means the shuttle is more or less intact. Actually these readings show-

Troi sensed a sudden spike in his emotions, a sort of surge that was equal parts confusion and elation. “Xin?

Without responding, the engineer took off at a dead run, plunging into the dense foliage ahead as if it wasnt full of things that could easily kill him.

“Dammit, said Keru and went off after him as if fired from the same cannon.

“I thought he was under control, snapped Vale, following.

Troi didnt respond. She couldnt. She had caught the tiniest flash of what had appeared in Ra-Havreiis mind. It was an image that both thrilled her and chilled her to her marrow. She knew why he had bolted, and she felt the same. She actually passed Vale, scrambling after the lanky engineer and his burly pursuer over the treacherous vermillion terrain.

Vale would have liked to grumble, but she had the others to keep safe. She held the rear position and kept her phaser ready. Whatever it was that had sparked the engineer had set him running toward it, so it was safe to assume something positive lay at the end of their little sprint.

The tiniest vines, rough spiny things with occasional barbs, clutched and scratched at her exposed flesh as she passed between. She kept sight of Troi, only a few steps ahead as she too tore through the jungle, and was impressed by how easily the counselor was able to adapt to their circumstances. It might be irritating to have her reference her longer time in the field and noteworthy adventures, but if the benefit of all that experience resulted in someone who could take all this in stride, Vale accepted it as a welcome blessing.

There was a rise ahead, composed of what looked like the exposed sinews of some impossibly giant animal stacked on each other several meters high. Troi scrambled to the summit and disappeared between the massive cluster of leaves that grew there.

Good climber too , thought Vale. She never missed her footing once-

Suddenly her mind, her whole being, was flooded with, well, grief was too small a word to describe it. For an instant she felt, all at once, the loss of every friend, the perpetual absence of her father, the pain of every misspoken word or ugly unreasonable thought shed ever had. It lasted only a second, maybe two, but it hit her hard enough to make her gasp and fall to her knees.

Titan .

It wasnt the shuttle that Ra-Havreii had found after all but the great starship that had been their home for more than half a year. It was no ones home now. Even the local wildlife kept well clear of this hideous place.

Titan , what was left of her, lay in hundreds, perhaps thousands of broken twisted bits at the end of a trench that was easily three kilometers long. The pieces were charred black, melted and twisted by the heat of planetfall. What she had seen had been true. Titan was dead.

Despite her harsh words, she had been swayed by Trois unshaken faith that even this horrible turn could have been avoided or corrected. The scene before them had shattered Trois resolve into jagged shreds, and each of those had sliced through Vale.

Dead. All of them. Dead.

Troi said nothing, only stood gazing down at it with tears streaming down her face. She had bottled the excess emotion that had hit Vale just before, but you didnt need to be hit with an empathic broadcast to know she must be dying inside.

“Deanna, she said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Im sorry.

Troi nodded, a tiny thing, almost imperceptible, but she still had no words. This moment was completely outside anything she had ever experienced or conceived. Even in her darkest moments there had always been a last-minute reprieve or some miraculous rescue to put things right.

What could ever do that here?

Keru was like stone. This was, Vale guessed, the face hed shown when news of the death of his beloved Sean Hawk had reached him. She hoped never in her life to see this face again.

Ra-Havreii drifted past her and, before Vale could protest, scrambled down the hill of vines, apparently to get an even closer view of the carnage.

“Keru, she said, her voice sounding hollow and strange. “Better get after him.

“Right, said the big man after a moment. “Right. On it, Commander. And then he was off after the engineer.

The two women stood there silently, hating the sight before them and unable to turn away.

“We were arguing, said Troi at last. “Will and me.

“Deanna

“We wanted a baby, but there were complications, she went on, almost as if Vale wasnt present at all. It was as though the words themselves had to come out, had to be spoken, regardless of how they fell. “There were DNA incompatibilities. Dr. Ree was treating us both. It was invasive, lengthy.

“It sounds like a barrel of fun, said Vale. “Im sorry. I didnt know.

“It was fine, said Troi. “We wanted the baby more than anything, but the more procedures we underwent, the more Will and I fought.

Troi went on, the words flooding out of her, telling of their battles behind closed doors, about Wills desire to keep Deanna and the baby they were working so hard to create safe.

He began shifting her duty schedule, recommending she hand off more and more work to her staff. She would have none of it, of course, and so they fought.

Was this how he meant to treat her once their child was born, like a delicate, breakable thing? There was no safety to be had in any kind of life and no guarantees about any of it.

On some very basic level she knew that he understood and even agreed, but, perhaps due to the nature of Titan s first few missions, some other part of him could not keep the fear of harm coming to her at bay. His mind began to fill with scenarios in which she or their child or both would be somehow killed or stranded or otherwise harmed by the simple facts of life on a deep-exploration ship.

Never mind that there were already children on Titan and certainly more to come. Never mind that there had been families on Enterprise , going about the business of living, happily, if not always easily. His feelings werent rational. This was some animal thing, a vestigial aspect of his primate ancestry maybe, and its grip on him only continued to grow.

So, they fought and fought and dug that awful chasm between themselves that nothing had ever managed to create before.

Their last words together had been cold, businesslike. He didnt want her on this team and she didnt want to hear another word about her not going.

She had planned to patch things up on their return from Orisha. She had planned to concede, to accept anything rather than have this rift between them. She had planned many things, not the least of which was their baby. All of it was dust now, charcoal black dust, flaking off Titan s bones.

“ Keru to Vale, his voice cut a welcome hole in her reverie. “ Dr. Ra-Havreii has something down here you need to see.

“What now? she said.

“ I dont know what hes talking about, but he seems pretty happy, said Keru, obviously perplexed. “ Its something to do with the warp core.

“On our way, said Vale.

It was worse being there. The blackened remains of Titan , hideous enough from a distance, were like a giants charnel pit from within. Vale was grateful that the descent that had burned Titan had also cauterized the flesh of the crew. There was no stink of death here, at least, only the towering ebony monument to their loss and the absolute, relentless stillness.

While the jungle teemed with plant and animal life of nearly every description, this area was as tranquil as the graveyard it was.

The two women moved within the black maze of Titan s remains in absolute silence, neither daring to break the quiet or disturb each others thoughts.

This lasted all of two minutes before the sound of phaser fire cut through the peace.

Troi and Vale broke into a dead run, bringing their own weapons up almost in unison. Far ahead of them, tens of meters away, they could see shapes, Kerus and several others scuffling. Kerus phaser fired again, slicing a bright narrow slash in the air.

Whatever they were smashed him to the ground and ran off into the place where the jungle crept closest to the crash site.

They had almost reached Keru, already back on his feet, before they realized the large black pillar towering over him was Titan s warp core and that it was somehow still glowing with power.

“Orishans! said Keru as he dashed into the jungle after the unseen attackers. “They took Ra-Havreii!

His phaser had time to fire once more before Troi and Vale plunged in after him.

Chapter Seven

ORISHA, NO STARDATE

J aza had a plan, but Modan didnt like it. They needed to get the shuttles flight capability back and get off the planet sooner rather than later. The longer they stayed on Orisha, the more damage they might do to its natural timeline. They could only hope that Modan had not killed the Orishan soldier who had attacked Jaza or, if she had, that he would have died anyway as a result of the conflict raging around them.

The plan was simple enough in itself. Titan s unstable warp core had to be neutralized. The shuttles flux regulator had been burned out by the energy discharge, but at least two of its counterparts in Titan s warp core were still active and could be adapted.

The problem was that, though he had the necessary expertise to neutralize the core, the rad levels around the crash site were too high for him to get close. Modans Selenean physiology would allow her to survive the effects long enough to get the job done, but she was not an engineer.

“Its okay, he told her. “Ill talk you through it, and then we will take this shuttle somewhere else where there are no sentients to corrupt with our presence.

“This will work? she said again, still dubious about the role he had set for her.

“It will, he assured her. The isolation suit, one of two left when the others had vanished (along with a good portion of their emergency supplies) was set in rest mode, but it was working. She would be essentially imperceptible in the visible spectrum and well into the infra and the ultra as well.

“Im not sure I have the skill set to do my part, she said. “Im just a code breaker, Najem.

“Modan, he said, a strange intensity in his voice that she had not heard before now. “The Prophets have put us together here for just this purpose.

“The Prophets.

“Yes, he said.

“The beings who exist in Bajors stable wormhole.

“Yes, Modan, he said. “Yes.

“I dont understand, she said. “You believe your Prophets are controlling your actions, your life?

“I believe, he said, “that the Prophets guide my steps and shape my fate. Or, in this case, ours.

“Thats perverse, said Modan. “Selene doesnt have deities. We know the universe is a mechanism.

“Its that, Jaza acknowledged with a smile. “That simply isnt all it is.

“We are rational beings, Najem, she said. “You are a scientist. You cannot seriously believe what you say.

“I can, he said. “I do.

“I cannot process how this can be.

He smiled. It was the first real smile hed managed during this ordeal, and she was strangely glad of it.

“I was like you, he said. “I was worse. But a mind that rejects new data, even if the data contradicts what the mind thinks it knows, is not functioning at peak.