by Various
As he took a sip from the steaming cup, Riker watched Captain Oliv appear on the screen. He was clearly agitated, which was natural.
"Captain Riker, what will you do about this? "
"I just arrived on the bridge. What happened, Captain?"
"One of our ships exploded!"
Riker turned to Data, who walked his way and elaborated. "Sensors show there was a failure of the magnetic seals around their warp core. The overload was instantaneous."
"Was this a natural accident?"
"Insufficient detail is known, sir. We are still studying the results."
"Send the sensor logs to Geordi for a look. Captain," Riker said, addressing the viewscreen, "we'll get to the bottom of this. You have my sympathies for your loss."
"Sympathies do nothing to bring them back. What you can provide me with is justice."
"Just as soon as we figure out if anyone was behind it. Enterprise out." As the screen returned to the image of space, he addressed the second officer. "Data, I'll want to address the fleet in a moment. Given what we know, any speculation on someone behind this?"
The android resumed his seat and shook his head. "I have too little to go on to offer a valid opinion."
"Damn. I knew it had been too quiet."
***
What amazed Picard the most was the utter silence as they got closer to the City, to the point where it was almost as silent as it had been on the planet where he'd met with the Sentries. Chanik was right that animals avoided the place. His earlier estimates were off; it had to be easily closer to a kilometer in width, with the tallest buildings at least that in height. The metal constructs seemed dull in the sun, mostly copper and greens. In terms of architectural style, he was still too far away to tell if it matched what he had seen of the Iconians.
At least one building had crumbled, either from age or attack. The City itself was ringed with smaller buildings that grew in size the closer to the center they were. He did notice that all the structures were rounded, the style seeming to prefer curves to edges. Birds swooped between the buildings, their long tails whipping back and forth. But on land, he spotted nothing.
"We're making good tune, Chanik," Picard said happily. He was looking forward to once more exploring and learning. Pleasant as the countryside was, it did little for his spirit.
They continued to walk, speaking very little as if respectful for the silence surrounding the dead City. After a time, they heard sounds. Picard immediately recognized them as voices, angry ones at that. He looked down at Chanik, who shrugged.
"The nearest village has to be at least a day's walk to the east," he said. "Just the remains of very old buildings here."
Picard thought about it, unsure of what they would find. Very old could mean old to the villagers or old to a youth or could be Iconian remains.
When he heard the baby's cry, he decided it was time for action. Breaking into a sprint, the captain soon left Chanik behind, his every step carrying him farther than he was used to. In less than a minute, he spotted a cluster of people, forming a loose circle. Outside the circle was the infant, crying pitifully, naked and unattended.
It turned out that very old was accurate, since the crumbling structures were made from fabricated materials, leading the captain to suspect they were Iconian in nature. He counted four such structures and heaps of rubble that might have meant there had been more at one time. Perhaps related to the City or some independent dwellings. He would speculate on that later.
The general vicinity was devoid of overgrowth, leading Picard to believe the nearby villagers used the area. Paths were clearly marked, heading toward the forest behind him and, ahead, toward the City. The purpose eluded him.
Picard slowed and tried to make out what was being shouted. He couldn't tell but suspected the baby might have something to do with it.
As he approached, people noticed him coming, and once again he was treated differently because of his unusual appearance. Gradually, the circle broke open and the captain could see a woman, her rough-spun clothes in tatters, lying on the ground. Standing over her, yelling epithets without stop, was an older man. He had a gray beard, wore some sort of skull cap, and had his fists raised in anger.
A murmur replaced the shouting as one after another, people began speculating as to the arrival of the strange man. Picard looked among them and saw that each was holding something hard and metallic, fairly uniform among them. This was not spontaneous, he realized, but deliberate. He could feel anger growing in his heart.
"What is going on?" Picard managed to keep his voice neutral, recognizing the need to respect local laws and customs.
"You're not from around here," a man said, a little fear in his voice.
"No, I come from a far land. But why is this baby being ignored?" Its cries were the only sound now.
"The baby is a sin," shouted the graybeard. "What should have been mine is not!" He was holding the largest item of the group, oval in shape at one end, and spiky at the other.
"And you know this how?" Picard figured that by asking questions and talking he could get them to calm down, maybe see reason. If he had to let their brand of justice be carried out, he would.
"I can count! I was not home the eight turns ago when this would have started."
Picard looked down at the woman, who was quietly sniffling into her one intact sleeve. She seemed absolutely distraught, emotionally caught up in the moment, and seemed oblivious of the conversation going around her.
"And you will do what?"
The man looked at Picard as if he, too, were a newborn. "I brought her here for the testing. She will live or I die. If she survives, then her innocence is clear and she can bring the baby home."
"And if she dies?"
"She deserved it."
Picard disliked this notion of justice and felt he needed to act. But his respect for the Prime Directive made him proceed cautiously.
"Has she spoken for herself?"
"Haven't asked!" He adjusted his grip on the item, making certain the pointed end was aimed at the woman. The others similarly played with their items, all of which looked like smaller versions of the weapon. Picard couldn't begin to imagine what they were holding, but knew it was totally alien to them and dated hundreds of thousands of years before. The woman looked up and whimpered once. No one else said a word.
Picard reacted with instinct, not thought, and rushed the man, knocking into him. The weapon's weight in his hands forced him to tumble backward to the ground. Now it was Picard who loomed over the man.
"Where's the justice in using something so sharp? You want the truth? Ask her! If she betrayed you, then let justice be done. But if she has been honest, your 'test' would surely take her away from you and the child. You're letting anger cloud your judgment."
He then turned to the rest, who just watched in silence. Picard also spotted Chanik finally coming into view. It just dawned on him how much ground he must have covered but was thankful for the advantage.
"And you," he said in a cold tone. "You would let this man exercise faulty judgment? First and foremost, this woman should have a say in defending her honor. Second, if your custom is for the stoning to happen, then she needs a fair chance to survive. What he was using would have killed and there's no justice in that!"
With that, Picard walked over to the infant, whose cries had grown intermittent. He scooped it up and instantly the baby grew silent. Gently, he checked for bruises, saw none, and walked back to the woman. She was sitting up now, and gingerly, he handed over the child. "Tell the truth" was all he said to her.
"What are you?" one of the women asked. "Just a traveler and I am on my way," Picard said. He shot a glance at Chanik, giving him a warning look that said speak nothing of godhood. The boy nodded once, clearly struggling with himself not to speak. Picard predated the boy's enthusiasm but had had enough alter about deities for the day.
People spoke up, asking questions of the stranger in their midst, but Pica
rd ignored it all. He did not want to get further involved in their lives, disgusted as he was with their notions of justice.
"She might have deserved something," Chanik opined as they moved away.
"Yes, a fair hearing. Chanik, the accused must have a chance to speak in their defense. The accusation itself is not enough to prove guilt or innocence."
"Really?"
"People can make accusations to cause trouble, put others in danger. Where I come from, we have a very complicated set of laws so the innocent are protected and the guilty are found out with facts, not guesses."
"Wow, that's very involved. How do you keep all those things straight?"
"Protecting our laws is a trade given much importance in my land."
"All those laws and rules and things could make my head hurt," Chanik said.
"Or give you a reason to live," Picard said. "Still, you're too young to worry about a trade. Besides, first must complete this adventure."
The City was close now and all he wanted to do was arrive and begin his hunt.
La Forge strode from the turbolift directly to the ready room, where Riker waited. The acting captain was studying reports with a small stack of PADDs littering Picard's desk. The engineer knew Riker was normally a most effective first officer, but the current situation kept him from being at his best.
"Welcome back," Riker said with a tired grin.
"Wish I had better news, but I think the Mercury's scrap."
Riker looked up at that, placing the PADD on the tallest stack. "Captain Brisbayne must be pretty mad."
"Stoic is the word you're looking for," La Forge said, as he took a seat He saw that everything else in the room was its normal neat perfection. "Brisbayne cursed the fates a lot but is now prepping the crew and their gear. We'll have to make room for them."
"Captain Troi can only take so many, and we can handle the rest. I'll have the quartermaster work on details." Riker looked directly at La Forge, hardness replacing exhaustion in his expression. "Did you study the sensor readings?"
"Data's right about the magnetic seals failing," La Forge began. "But it seems they all went at once, not in any sort of cascade as would be normal. The details are scant, but it's the best I can determine."
"So it was sabotage."
"Yup."
"Can we guess as to who?"
La Forge settled back a moment, deciding whether or not to voice his concerns. He decided better get it said now than later. "It can't be the Petraw, we have them locked down. I think we need to look at the Carreon."
Riker nodded, silently agreeing with the assessment. "Landik Mel Rosa fought well, even lost a ship. I'm surprised he'd do anything right now."
"But we don't know him, and don't really know the people." 'True. Okay, let's say it's the Carreon. How could they accomplish this?"
"I would think someone beamed aboard their ship and set up an explosive," La Forge said.
"Check the logs and look for any trace of transporter activity near those ships," Riker ordered. "Let's get our facts in order before talking to Mel Rosa or Oliv."
La Forge nodded, stood and left the room, thanking the powers that be that he was not the one left in charge of the fleet.
"How do we enter the City? Are there defenses of some sort?"
Now it was Picard's turn to ask a lot of questions of his companion. Chanik tried to answer at almost as rapid a clip. The captain had learned already that the City had no electronic defenses - at least none he could detect. If anything, the place was laid open for all to enter. Nature, though, saw to it the City was well guarded. Weeds, plants, even the occasional tree had taken root from the outskirts of the City, choking the streets. Thick ivy-like vines practically enveloped the smaller buildings circling the city so the closer Picard and Chanik got, the less city-like the place looked.
"Do people live nearby?"
"Just the village where those people came from," 'Chanik replied, sucking on the water skin. "Might be others on the other side of the City, but I've never been." Picard looked at the vegetation and then at the sun in the sky. He estimated they had four hours of good daylight left, although that might be severely diminished once they entered the City itself. With his superior strength, the captain thought, he might be able to scale some of the ivy-covered buildings, but the youth certainly would be left behind.
"Have you a way in that you've used before?" "Of course," Chanik replied. "Follow me." The youth led the captain to the left of the trail and entered a wild, untamed section filled with tall bushes. They had walked in silence for fifteen minutes or so when Chanik raised a hand to signal they slow down. He started looking around one structure that seemed gift-wrapped with the green and gold ivy. Rejecting it, the boy moved farther to his left, passing one structure after another. Finally, he ran toward the next one, which seemed indistinguishable to Picard from the preceding ones.
"This is it! I cut my way through here the last time I came to the City." Sure enough, Picard could see some of the thick ivy cut away, revealing hand- and footholds that allowed one to reach a second-story window. The window itself was cleared of growth and whatever used to seal it was missing.
The two slowly climbed up, with the captain noting the strength of the ivy, how it was as tough as some rope he was familiar with. He was also pleased with how easily Chanik kept up - he might have been young, but he seemed surefooted and experienced.
Within minutes, the two made it through the window opening and stood in a small room. The door had been ripped from its housing, exposing some of the wall. It seemed made of a plastic material while the door was something heavier. The contents of the room were shattered, splintered plastic, metal, and other materials, so the captain could not begin to guess what purpose it served. Wires hung from openings in the ceiling and Picard could only imagine whether this was the result of an attack or curious natives centuries after the Iconians left. Withdrawing his tricorder, Picard took readings and pictures, deciding he could study them at another time.
"What is that? You keep pulling it out."
"I call this a tricorder and it lets me take recordings or pictures, among other things. It's a very powerful and useful tool to help me explore."
Chanik was clearly befuddled by the response but merely shrugged and walked to the doorway leading to the rest of the building.
Picard followed, trying to imagine how he would ever find the device in a city this size.
Chapter 5
"You know, Will, something like this was bound to happen."
"What, lose a ship to sabotage?" Riker stared at the image of Deanna Troi while seated at the ready room desk, an unfinished plate of pasta to the side, the stack of PADDs just a little larger. It had been an hour since the explosion and he was no closer to understanding who caused the destruction of a starship. He had security check on Doral, the Petraw leader, but he remained in his quarters, on board, silent.
"There are dozens of ships, with many layers of enmity between some of these races. With the Gorn gone, it didn't lessen the danger any."
"Thanks a lot. What am I supposed to tell Captain Oliv? What if one of Desan's people did it?"
"Don't make rash accusations. With all the sensors working in this area, someone else may have picked up something."
Riker's eyes snapped wide. "I'm too tired to do this job," he muttered.
"What have you thought of, imzadi?"
"Hold on, I'll patch you in," Riker said, tapping a control on the desktop. "Riker to Taleen."
"Go ahead, Commander."
"Can you check your translocator logs, going back an hour or so?" the commander asked.
"For the entire region?" Taleen's brown eyes narrowed and she frowned. "You suspect the Deltan ship was sabotaged, don't you?"
"I'm afraid I do."
"I'll check and be back to you in a few minutes."
Picard and Chanik walked carefully, stepping around vines, roots that broke through streets, and the remains of a civilizatio
n that once ruled the world. They had poked their way into various buildings, walked up staircases, crossed bridges that linked buildings, and were generally frustrated by their slow pace.
Now they were well into the City, so the buildings were taller, obliterating the sunlight. Night was falling even more quickly here. With what light remained, Picard recognized he would have to stop the hunt and prepare a campground for them. He sent Chanik to find enough wood for a fire while he prepared some lean-tos for shelter. Their dinner would be some of the cured meat from the farmer and Picard would indulge in some of the wine but would sip carefully. Even though there was no hint of animal life, that didn't mean predators did not exist in the ruins.
