“We can introduce a plant hybrid into your ecology and let its natural effects work much like the liscom. It will provide you with a normal life cycle, but it will continue to depress your brain chemistry, returning you to a peaceful state.”
“Not enlightened, drugged,” Jus Renks Jus said, more to himself than to others. Looking at the captain, he spoke up. “You want to drug my people.”
“And our people, too,” Cholan added. Picard saw that the solution needed to be introduced quickly. The Council was only going to fragment further if this persisted.
“Everyone will be like they were a week ago,” Morrow interjected. “The difference is, you know there’s a problem to be fixed. And by living your normal life cycle, you have the time to determine for yourselves how best to chart your planet’s future.”
“I wish you never tried to fix the problem in the first place,” Cholan muttered. “We were fine.”
“No,” Seer said from across the room. “We were dying. That’s not how I define ‘fine.’ ”
“How do you introduce this new cure?”
“We have shuttles standing by, Wasdin,” Crusher said. “An entire timetable has been worked out that will seed every continent and major island. A mist of the synthesized concentrate will also be introduced into the major population centers. Our expectations are that it will help calm people down, or at least slow down the current problem’s spread.”
“Your people spent a year testing five of us, and it was a disaster. Now you want to introduce a cure based on what? Simulations?”
“Your concern is a valid one, Wasdin,” Picard answered. “Had we the time, we would have tried this in stages. Trust me: aggressively introducing something like this into a planetary environment is not how we normally do things. My senior staff and I discussed this at length. Ultimately, as I have told first Chkarad and then Jus Renks Jus, a leader must act. Right or wrong, something has to be done. I do not say these things just to inspire, but they are words we need to live by. As the Federation’s representative assigned to deal with the problem, this is what I have decided is the best course of action for your planet.”
“Do we even get a say?” Renks asked.
“Several of you on the Council are exhibiting signs of the current problem. As a result, you are either in a drugged state or an extremely agitated state that robs you of clear thought processes. Therefore, I am informing you of our actions. Once the planet has been stabilized, you and your scientists can take the time to study and plan. Right now, I feel your world is out of time.”
“I thought you said you never ran a planet before,” Renks challenged.
Picard looked at him, a tight expression on his face. “I never have. And trust me, this is not running a planet. I’m just trying to stave off its death.”
“Seems pretty dictatorial to me,” a woman challenged.
“Actually,” Morrow said, standing beside Picard for a show of support, “by asking for our help, you have triggered a mechanism clearly laid out in the Articles of the Federation. A problem that threatens life must be dealt with if a solution presents itself. There’s little choice, I’m afraid. I’m fairly certain the Federation Council will back the captain’s actions.”
“Have you signaled the shuttlecraft yet?” Seer asked. Picard was happy to have the conversation back on a productive track, and he appreciated Morrow’s official backing.
“No, I wanted to inform you all of this and explain myself. I want you to understand that the violence and problems will not end immediately. Just as the current problem spread like a virus, so too will this cure. Your emergency services people will have to continue to do their jobs.”
“And Captain Picard’s people will continue to provide assistance,” Morrow interjected. “The Federation is not abandoning one of its member worlds. This has been an extremely difficult mission, and I concur with the captain: your world needs immediate help.”
There was a pause, as everyone in the conference room considered what had been said and what was about to happen. No one spoke, although the captain watched exchanges of expressions. Body language told him more than enough; his plan would proceed without more than token objections from these people.
“What do you need from our people next?” Seer asked, earning him a reproving stare from Renks.
Picard thought about that for only a moment before responding. “You need to keep your people focused on providing aid and comfort. You need to do damage control. My people can handle the riskier concerns.”
“We still have cities without water or power,” Renks complained.
“My people have provided vital services only to watch them be sabotaged again,” Picard said, fighting his temper. “They will continue their efforts, you can be assured.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Renks and Cholan both said, which prompted some chuckles from around the table.
“I’d like to suggest that in the name of our common goal,” Morrow said as the laughs died down, “you work together. Not apart. I gather nothing positive happened because of your division.”
“Thankfully, the people never found out,” Seer added.
“I agree,” Picard said. “I’m going back aboard the Enterprise to monitor the progress of the plan. I can be back in moments if required.”
“I’ll be staying, though,” Morrow said, looking at the captain. Picard saw the confidence on his face and then cast a glance toward Crusher, awaiting confirmation. She nodded in agreement, so it was settled.
“Excellent,” Renks said. “Cholan, can you please ask An Revell An to have everything reconfigured once more?”
“Of course, Speaker,” Cholan replied, although to Picard’s practiced eye, the Bader councillor seemed none too thrilled with being given orders. This was the room that needed Crusher’s handiwork sooner than most, but he wouldn’t insult them by walking in carrying a hypo. Besides, Data had already arranged the flight paths, and the capital was going to be the first city to receive the treatment.
Picard nodded to the group and withdrew from the room, nodding in appreciation to Carmona on the way out. Once in the courtyard, he signaled the ship.
“Mr. Data, you may dispatch the shuttles.”
“Aye, sir.”
Troi and Vale were tired of the wild-goose chase. The security chief was ready to hunt down and shoot the goose, any goose, just so they could stop running around the planet. Instead, they continued to check out each report that implied the Riker men were involved. Sure enough, unidentified people had been stopping fights, repairing damage, and just recently, rescuing children at a school fire.
But they remained hours behind the duo. The two women were tired, and Troi had to admit she was pretty hungry, too.
The two were catching their breath at the site of the school fire. The building had collapsed in on itself, and emergency workers were hosing down the remains. The crowds had dispersed earlier, but some people lingered, talking about a man in odd, heavy clothing who rushed in and saved three children. Troi heard a woman mention that the bodies of four people had been found nearby, with incriminating equipment by them.
“The commander never would have done this,” Vale said as she stood over one of the bodies. The man’s neck had been snapped, the head lying at an unnatural angle.
“This was a brutal fight, not at all disciplined,” she observed. Troi would take the security chief at her word since the details were too subtle for her.
“Could Kyle Riker have done this?”
“Interesting question, Deanna. I know the man’s a trained specialist, and I gather he trained the commander as a kid. Could be. If Commander Riker saved the kids, his dad could have been here.”
“I only met Kyle once, and he certainly seemed fit enough for the task.”
“That was more than ten years ago, you said,” Vale added.
“True. If you’re right, this was something I never would have expected from him.”
“If it was Kyle Riker, he has t
o answer for this.” And the words hung between them. The notion of Kyle committing a crime like this, so brutal, so cold, made her shiver.
“You’re right, of course,” Troi finally said. “Where would they have gone from here?”
Vale pulled out her tricorder and began entering information. She paused, waiting for a result, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her left ear.
“They’re on an erratic but definite course back toward the capital.”
“Erratic?”
“They keep stopping to do things, like help with the fire.”
“It seems that Kyle Riker may be in control of their situation. He may be the one to have them stop and get involved. I would say he is exhibiting signs of a profound guilt.”
“What’s he guilty of?” Vale asked. “Other than this?”
“It’s all vague, but I have the notion that he feels responsible for what has happened here.”
“But he’s tactical, not medical. How could he be responsible?”
“A very good question, but I’m without a very good answer,” Troi admitted.
“Right now, he’s got some more immediate questions to answer for if you ask me,” the other woman said. “All right then, they’re headed for the capital. Maybe we can predict their next stop based on flight paths and reports on the local security net.”
Troi nodded and was about to respond when her communicator signaled.
“Data to Counselor Troi.”
“Troi here, Data.”
“Counselor, we have verified that the Enterprise is receiving a signal we believe may be from the commander.”
“Explain, please.”
“While performing a routine diagnostic, communications reported we were receiving a recurring position signal that seems aimed directly at the ship. Delta Sigma IV’s communications arrays do not use any Starfleet frequency.”
“But this signal does.”
“Correct. It took some time to identify it, and we have determined it matches a signal unique to personal communicators used by the populace. However, it is merely a positioning signal, and we cannot communicate directly.”
“Where is it coming from?”
“It is moving, currently on a direct line toward the capital.”
“Ah ha!” Vale exclaimed.
“What was that?”
“That, Mr. Data, was Lieutenant Vale feeling vindicated.”
“I see,” Data replied.
“Thank you for the information, Data. We’ll need to be beamed directly to their position as soon as they stop.”
“The transporter room is already standing by.”
“Good, Troi out.”
Vale was grinning and Troi had to appreciate the moment. They were both feeling that things were drawing to a conclusion. Standing amid the dead bodies, though, Troi wasn’t feeling particularly sanguine about how this would play itself out. In fact, she was beginning to fear for Kyle Riker’s, and by extension Will’s, safety.
Crusher stood in the courtyard at the Council’s makeshift headquarters. She had Nurse Weinstein beam down a device filled with the concentrated form of the synthesized compound that was used for the new plant life. Using her tricorder, she verified that everything was intact and the dosages were properly preset.
Before Picard returned to the Enterprise, she had suggested that she supervise the release of the compound near the councillors and stand by just in case. He approved the plan and then twinkled out of existence. Minutes later, the device arrived.
Wasdin entered the courtyard and looked at the squat metal object, noting its winking red and yellow lights.
“Our salvation is in something so…ugly.”
“Form over function,” Crusher said, making a final check.
“I don’t like the notion of being doped up.”
“I don’t like it either,” Crusher admitted. “I was opposed to this, but I can see the captain’s point. You need the time to address your future. I’m just providing you with that time.”
“But can my people make a decision when we’re not in our right minds?”
“Actually, you’re finally going to be in the enlightened, peaceful minds you’ve always considered natural to you. Now you understand why you cooperate. You can build from there.” She didn’t necessarily believe every word, but she needed to convince Wasdin that the starship crew was united behind the captain. She owed him that much loyalty.
They stood in silence for a moment and then the two doctors exchanged looks. It was time.
Crusher set a timer for thirty seconds and then stepped away from the device.
“It’ll emit the spray in five-second bursts until it’s empty. Based on the current weather, it should drift along the wind currents and spread,” Crusher explained.
“Will it be like a virus, spreading upon contact?”
“Eventually,” Beverly agreed. “These concentrated doses will actually be absorbed through the pores and immediately enter the bloodstream. The pass-along rate will happen once the new plant forms take root. We’re sort of kick-starting the process to bring some order back to the people.”
“So senseless,” Wasdin said.
“And we’re ending it…now,” the starship doctor said. A pink haze surrounded the device and then dissipated. With her tricorder, Crusher recorded it and nodded in approval. Moments later, another pink mist appeared, this time at a different angle. And then another.
Wasdin took in a lungful of misted air. “When will I feel something?”
“When you stop feeling like you want to hit me, you’ll know.”
“I certainly hope so, because I really don’t like that feeling.”
“Me either.”
Chapter Nine
“WHOEVER KNEW REBUILDING a power plant would take so damn long?” Vincent Porter grumbled. The engineer had been coaxed down to help supervise the reconstruction of the power plant on Tregor. The work was slow because outdated systems had to be replaced and damaged work controls had to be reconstructed from the ground up.
Taurik and Anh Hoang had both been present from the beginning of the repair work, but it was more than the two could handle efficiently. Taurik recognized the need for assistance, and Porter was the logical choice. The dark-skinned man had been at work for an hour straight, rewiring power conduits while Taurik concentrated on the actual generator and Hoang worked on the consoles. She liked working with the circuits, making neat connections, watching indicator lights wink back to life. Too bad all work couldn’t be so simple, she thought.
Clemons and Studdard, the two large, beefy security guards, had recently arrived and remained on guard. Weathers continued to patrol the perimeter, complaining good-naturedly that the sights left something to be desired. The people had stayed away, which meant the work could continue unimpeded.
Studdard, as squad leader, periodically had to check in with Jim Peart back on the Enterprise and get updates. Hoang was resetting one panel back in its housing as she heard him do the routine check. There was a longer than usual exchange that she couldn’t make out, but the man’s voice, on the high side to begin with, seemed to rise. She tensed, anticipating more problems.
“There’s a cure in the air! The shuttles have completed two orbits of the planet, seeding something sickbay discovered.”
“Excellent,” Taurik said. “How long before it is effective on the populace?”
“Peart says it’ll take a little time for it to spread, like the first problem. But they’re seeding it everywhere, so it should be faster.”
“Wahoo!” exclaimed Clemons, exchanging some complicated hand gesture with Studdard. Hoang smiled but continued to work, not even bothering to look up and share the moment. After all, the city was without power and sooner or later people would come to vent their frustration. It would be too much to hope that the cure would take effect soon enough to prevent that. Help always seemed too far away when she really needed it.
She continued to make her neat connections,
concentrating on each conduit, each optical line, and tried to force images of Starfleet rescue craft coming to her devastated apartment too late to save her family. So intent was she on the work at hand that she failed to notice that things had grown eerily silent.
“Studdard?” she asked in a soft voice. He should be nearby and should reply immediately. Instead, she received no response.
“Clemons?” Still nothing.
“Taurik?”
“Here.”
“Where are they?”
“Lieutenant Weathers heard something, and they went to check,” he said without coming out. He continued to work in his area, and she tried to get back to the circuits, but she was finding it difficult to concentrate. Minutes ticked by slowly, and she finally realized that she had slowed down further with each passing moment, which was not helping the situation. When neither security officer returned, Hoang grew anxious.
“Should we go look for them?”
“I think we should do our work and let them handle matters on their own,” he replied.
“Here, here!” added Porter. He had finished work for the moment and was approaching her with a canteen. Sweat dripped from his grinning face. It was obvious that he had finished a complicated portion of the assignment. He took a long drink, then handed her the canteen. “Haven’t handled anything like that in a lo-o-o-ong time,” he commented. “Nice to get your hands dirty every now and then. Not that I’d like to do this every day, but it’s certainly a nice change from getting ready.”
“Ready?”
“Haven’t you heard? The big brass is doing an inspection tour and you know we’re gonna be on the list sooner or later.”
“Of course. We haven’t been under the microscope enough as it is.” She worried all over again about the cracked injector and the work it required.
“Guess not,” Porter said with a laugh. “Well, none of us have failed an inspection yet, so I doubt it’ll be an issue.”
“Even with the extra attention?”
Before he could reply, there was a roar of sound, the crack of wood snapping, and then a phaser firing. Porter whirled to face the entrance some twenty meters away while Hoang capped the water and let it drop. Both grabbed their phasers, and Porter called for Taurik while Hoang carefully sealed a connection before disengaging herself from a console.
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