"In Commander Valak's absence, Lord Kazanak has a.s.sumed command of the Syrinx," Korak continued, ignoring Riker's dig.

"Lord Kazanak?"

"He is the designer of the Syrinx," Korak replied, "but what is more significant, he is the son of a member of the Romulan High Council. He has informed me that if Commander Valak fails to return, I will be in command of the Syrinx and of the human prisoners. In that event I will claim the Enterprise as a prize of war."

"I wasn't aware that we were officially at war with the Romulan Empire," Riker said dryly.

"With more warbirds like the Syrinx, we soon shall be," Korak said, "and your starships will not stand a chance against us. The Federation will be utterly destroyed."

"It seems to me I've heard that kind of talk before," said Riker. "Notice we're still here."

"Yes, and notice your current predicament," Korak countered. "Commander Valak wanted to return to Romulus with the crew of the Enterprise as his prisoners, but Lord Kazanak does not much care what happens to you, one way or the other."

"I see," said Riker. "So if anything happens to Valak, you get to decide what to do about us."

"Precisely." Korak smiled maliciously. "I shall leave my intentions to your imagination while you remain here to brood on the fate of your crew. But I can promise you one thing, William Riker. We shall have our rematch. I intend to let you live at least long enough for that."

Riker's gaze bored into Korak's back like a laser as the Romulan turned and left his quarters. The muscles in his jaw bunched as he gritted his teeth. The door slid shut with a soft hiss, and Riker realized that he was gripping the edge of his desk so hard that his knuckles were cracking. He let go of the desk with an effort and retrieved the altered frequency communicator he had tucked beneath him a split second before Korak entered the room.

"Geordi?"

"I'm still here," the chief engineer replied. "What happened?"

"Our buddy Korak just paid me a call," Riker said tensely. He exhaled heavily. "That was close. He almost caught me talking to you."

"What did he want?"

Quickly Riker recapped the conversation. "It looks as if we've got our work cut out for us," he said when he had finished.

"And not a lot of time to do it in," La Forge replied.

"The trouble is, there's nothing I can do locked up and under guard in here," said Riker. "I humiliated Korak in front of his men, and he's confined me to my quarters so my presence won't cause him continued embarra.s.sment. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d wants me to sit here and squirm over what he plans to do to us if he gets the chance. Have you been able to make any progress?"

"I've spoken with four of my crewmen in engineering so far," La Forge said, "but it's not easy with those Romulans watching practically every move I make." The frustration was evident in his voice.

"Well, counting us, that makes six so far," said Riker. "If we could get around a dozen, we might have a shot at it. A long shot, maybe, but at least a shot."

"I'm doing the best I can under the circ.u.mstances," said La Forge. "That Atalan keeps us on pretty tight rein."

"I know you're doing your best, Geordi," Riker replied. "But we haven't got much time left. If we're going to make our move, we've got to do it soon. Korak's got himself a bad case of ambition."

"That sounds like the least of our worries," Geordi replied. "We're going to have to s.p.a.ce walk to the Independence without anyone noticing, find some phasers, come back, and charge them somehow, then seize control of the Enterprise while the Romulans are still holding part of our crew hostage on the warbird. And then we've got to figure out how to get the captain and the others back. Talk about long shots! There's about a million ways this whole thing could go wrong."

"It went wrong when we let the Romulans take us by surprise and seize our ship," said Riker. "That's about as wrong as it gets. Now we've got to make it right, and we don't have a lot of options."

"I hear that," said La Forge with an air of resignation. "Can you give me one more day?"

"I don't know if we've got one more day," Riker replied.

"Then I guess I go back to crawling through the ventilation ducts and the Jefferies tubes again," said La Forge wearily. "That's the only way I'll be able to get to any of the others tonight."

"Do what you can, Geordi," Riker said.

"Yes, sir."

"And Geordi? Don't get caught... . Riker out."

Data stood watch in the garden atrium while the others slept. They had removed their suits, for there seemed to be no risk in breathing the ark's air, and the tanks had run out after three hours, anyway. Troi and Dr. Crusher had stretched out on the benches, and Ro slept on the ground. It was not completely dark. In the center of the atrium several of the curiously shaped sculptures were glowing softly. Others were casting long, strange shadows in the ethereal light.

There had been a moment of consternation when the sculptures began to glow, but they soon realized that they were designed for illumination as well as for aesthetic reasons, and Data had suggested that they were probably controlled by motion sensors concealed somewhere nearby, perhaps built into the sculptures themselves. They did not flood the atrium with light, but instead gave off a gentle illumination. "Night-lights," Dr. Crusher had called them.

Data occupied his time with a.n.a.lyzing everything that they had seen and experienced so far, searching for a way out of the building they were trapped in. They had found a way in, so it seemed logical that there should also be a way out. They had found no other doors anywhere and no means of access to any of the upper levels. There had to be doorways and lifts or stairways-some way of gaining access to the upper levels of the building-but they seemed to be concealed. Data could not see how concealment would serve any useful purpose. The ark had clearly been designed as a multigenerational starship, its primary purpose to house its crew-or rather its inhabitants-and to convey them to their destination. The builders of the ark had taken pains to create a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment for those who came here, so why would they have constructed doorways that were difficult to find?

The obvious answer was that for those who had inhabited this ark, the doorways were not difficult to find, any more than the doors aboard the Enterprise were difficult for the members of its crew to find.

At first Data had thought, as had the others, that the archway through which they had entered had sealed itself automatically, either as part of some periodic program, the purpose of which was not readily apparent, or because their entrance had triggered some sort of sensor. Now, however, with the inexplicable disappearance of Kalad, another answer had suggested itself: someone or something had sealed them in on purpose.

Without accurate tricorder readings, they could not disallow the possibility that they were not alone aboard the ark. And then there was the fact that Deanna Troi felt that they were being watched. Data was not capable of intuition, but he knew Counselor Troi relied on it and was usually accurate. He a.s.sessed the possibilities. Kalad had either found a way out of the building or had stumbled through another portal and been sealed in behind it. He might have triggered some sort of automated defense mechanism, but if that was so, they should have done the same thing earlier when they were all wandering around inside the building. If there was someone aboard the ark with them, then perhaps the Romulan had been captured or even killed. Without more information, it was difficult to tell which possibility was more likely.

There were other problems as well. They were unable to communicate with anyone. And they were all unarmed, because Valak had not trusted them with active phasers. Data stood guard while the others slept, but he was not sure that he could actually protect them. Kalad had carried a disruptor, and it apparently had not done him any good. At a time like this, thought Data, a human would be worried, perhaps even frightened. He was incapable of such emotions, though he understood them, more or less. The others did not seem frightened, but Data knew that humans often concealed their fear. They did, however, seem very worried. Even as tired as they were, it had been difficult for them to get to sleep. They had talked among themselves for a long time before they finally drifted off one by one. I am now responsbile for their welfare, Data thought. For their safety. How best can I ensure it?

He moved slowly around the atrium, pacing softly back and forth so as not to disturb the others. He had observed that Captain Picard often paced while he thought. He seemed to find it helpful. Knowing that the others were asleep and could not see him, Data imitated Captain Picard's pacing, walking back and forth with a purposeful, measured tread, his head down, his hands clasped behind his back. Perhaps this pacing helped Captain Picard think better, but it did not seem to be doing much for him. He continued to walk steadily back and forth, his footsteps making soft sounds on the smooth surface of the atrium. And then he heard another footstep just after his own. He stopped suddenly and turned around.

Everything was quiet. He peered intently into the shadows, but he could see nothing. All he heard was the sound of Dr. Crusher breathing evenly as she slept. He took a tentative step. And then another. And another. And then he raised his foot, but did not put it down.

But there was the unmistakable sound of a footstep.

"Is someone there?" he said.

There was no answer. But then, there was no reason to believe the occupants of the ark could understand English. Ro stirred. Data moved closer to the others. Now he heard several footsteps.

"Ro," he said.

"What?" she said, coming awake. "What is it?"

"I think we are about to have visitors."

She was on her feet in an instant, instinctively reaching for her phaser. As she recalled that Valak had given them inactive weapons, she swore. "Deanna! Beverly! Wake up!"

The other two women came awake quickly, long accustomed by service in Starfleet to come alert immediately to deal with any emergency that might arise.

"What is it?" Dr. Crusher asked.

"Data says somebody's coming."

Even as she spoke, a hooded, black-robed figure stepped out of the shadows at the far end of the atrium. There were sounds of movement, and several more robed figures stepped out on either side of him.

"I think it would be prudent to indicate that we are not hostile," said Data.

He slowly raised his hands. The others did likewise.

The hooded figures came closer. And then one of them spoke in English. "Who are you?"

"We are from the Federation starship Enterprise," said Dr. Crusher. "We mean you no harm."

Troi's eyes grew wide. "They are human!" she said, picking up on that fact with her Betazoid sensitivity.

The man who spoke pulled back his hood. "Yes, we are human. We are the crew of the Federation starship Independence."

The man approached them, followed by the others, who also pulled back their hoods. Some of them looked to be in their fifties and sixties, while others seemed much older, including the man who had spoken. And some were only in their teens and twenties.

"The Independence was reported destroyed over thirty years ago," said Ro. "We found it here, in orbit, a dead hulk."

"Indeed," the old man said. "And we have been here ever since."

"You certainly appear old enough," said Troi, "but some of these other people are scarcely twenty years old."

"Our children-and grandchildren," the old man said. "They have grown up here. They have never known any other existence. I am Commander Morgan Llewellyn, first officer of the Independence and leader of this colony."

The stunned Enterprise crew members introduced themselves, then Llewellyn indicated the man on his right, who was also very old. "This is Lieutenant Commander Giorgi Vishinski, our ship's doctor. Lieutenant Charmayne Jamal, our weapons and chief security officer." He gestured toward an African-American woman. "Lieutenant Commander Sven Nordqvist, our chief engineer." A white-haired man smiled a greeting. "And Lieutenant Kiri Nakamura, our science officer." A slight Asian woman gave them a curt nod.

"That is all that remains of our bridge crew," said Llewellyn. "Captain Wiley and Lieutenant Commander Glener attempted to escape in a shuttle with two other crewmen, Chief Connors and Ensign Morris. We have no idea what became of them."

"Apparently the shuttlecraft was discovered drifting in s.p.a.ce, with everyone aboard it dead," said Troi. "But that was over three decades ago and there is no official doc.u.mentation of the incident. The record was either lost or cla.s.sified along with all other information concerning Hermeticus Two."

"Hermeticus Two?" Llewellyn said with a puzzled frown.

"That is the official designation given to this planet," Data explained. "That is, it was a.s.sumed to be a planet, though quite obviously it is not. We have a great many questions to ask you, Commander."

Llewellyn frowned. "What are you, a robot?"

"The correct term is 'android,' sir," Data replied.

"Amazing," said Llewellyn. "The Federation seems to have made great strides."

"You should know that there is a Romulan warbird here in addition to our own ship," said Troi. "The situation is very complicated and dangerous. The Romulans are in control of both vessels."

"We know," Llewellyn said simply. "Is the Federation currently at war with the Romulan Empire?"

"Strictly speaking, no, sir," Data replied. "However, Romulans feel that our uneasy truce has been violated by the presence of your vessel in the Neutral Zone."

"The Romulans have seized the Enterprise," said Dr. Crusher, "and they are holding members of our crew hostage aboard their warbird. Their mission was to investigate Hermeticus Two. They seem to believe there is a secret Federation base here."

Llewellyn nodded. "I understand. It sounds as if, with regard to the Romulans at least, nothing much has changed. It would seem that we have much to discuss. However, I think you may prefer to do that in more comfortable surroundings."

"Commander," Data said, "there was a Romulan officer with us who has apparently disap-"

"Yes, I know," said Llewellyn, interrupting him. "Do not trouble yourself about him. All your questions will be answered, I a.s.sure you. Now if you will come with me, please ..."

He led them toward the back wall of the atrium. As he approached it, the wall began to flow, as if it had turned to liquid, and in an instant an archway appeared where there had been a solid wall.

"That's amazing," said Dr. Crusher. "How did you do that?"

Llewellyn smiled. "I recall my own astonishment when I discovered this for the first time," he said. "That was a very long time ago. Now I take it for granted. You will find much here to astonish you, Dr. Crusher. The level of technology is far superior to our own."

"But ... how did you open the wall?" asked Troi.

"I willed it open, Counselor," said Llewellyn.

"You mean ... it is controlled by thought?"

"In a manner of speaking," Llewellyn replied as they walked through the archway and into another corridor. "I do not pretend to know exactly how it works. Most people can learn how to use computers, for example, but knowing how to use one and having the knowledge to write sophisticated programs are two rather different things. The builders of this incredible vessel achieved a level of engineering that is beyond our understanding. To follow the computer a.n.a.logy, they somehow learned how to program at the molecular level."

"Nanotechnology," said Data.

"Exactly," said Llewellyn. "They developed a means of structuring matter so that it was capable of rea.s.sembling itself on the molecular level. In our time, nanotechnology was only in the realm of theory. Have we since pa.s.sed beyond that point?"

"Science has made considerable progress in protein engineering and microcircuitry," Data said, "but true nanotechnology is still in the theoretical realm."

"Well, the builders of this ship have taken it far beyond the theoretical realm," Llewellyn said, "as you have just seen. In fact, in my day you would have been in the theoretical realm, Mr. Data, yet now here I am, conversing with an android as calmly as you please. You see, I have learned something in the years I've spent here, or perhaps I should say I have remembered it. In childhood we all believe that anything is possible, although probability is another matter. That archway we just pa.s.sed through, for example-nanotechnology controlled by thought, but a rather specific kind of thought. It is not enough merely to think that you want the door to open. You have to know how to think it."

"You mean as in a specific command?" asked Dr. Crusher.

"Partly," replied Llewellyn, "but it is also a matter of how you direct your mental energy. This begins to enter the realm of parapsychology. You are familiar with the concept of telekinesis?"

"Moving objects by thought energy?" said Troi.

"Just so. We have discovered that the machinery of this vessel works on roughly similar principles. I did not actually open the wall with my mind, although in a sense I did. The procedure involves what I call telepathic sensors. The trick is to train your mind to generate a particular type of mental energy-the same type of faculty, I suppose, unconsciously developed by psychics and clairvoyants and people who possess other paranormal abilities."

"How did you learn to do this?" Troi asked.

"All in good time, Counselor Troi. All in good time. I cannot condense thirty years' worth of experience and study into a simple explanation."

"You appear to be in excellent health-incredible health, considering that some of you must be over a hundred years old," Ro said. "Your colony seems to have thrived, and your offspring have developed normally. How did you survive here all these years? And why did you abandon the Independence?"

"Excellent questions," said Llewellyn. "And you will receive your answers, I promise you. We are as eager to ask you questions as you are to find out about us. However, as I have already explained, it will take time, and for the moment we need to concern ourselves with more immediate problems. This way ..."

He turned toward another archway, through which they saw a mazelike corridor stretching out into the distance, but when he walked through it, he disappeared completely.

The crew members of the Enterprise, except for Data, stared open-mouthed. There had been no transporterlike shimmering image, no discharge of energy of any sort. It was like the old story of stepping through the looking gla.s.s, except that there was no gla.s.s or mirrored surface, merely an open archway much like those they had seen while wandering through the building.

"There's no cause for alarm," said Dr. Vishinski. "This is merely a form of transporter. It is considerably more sophisticated than the ones you are accustomed to, but its function is the essentially the same. Please step through."

Data was the first to step through the archway, and like Llewellyn, he disappeared from sight. Troi and Dr. Crusher exchanged glances; then they, too, stepped through. Ro hesitated.

"Please," said Vishinski. "It is safe, I a.s.sure you."

She thought to herself, How do I know I can accept your a.s.surances? How do I even know you are who you claim to be? However, the others had already gone through, and there was nothing to do but follow. She still had her suspicions about these people, whom the others had apparently accepted at face value, but now was not the time to reveal them. She and her colleagues were unarmed and outnumbered, and they were in a completely alien environment, most of which was still a mystery to them. The answers, whatever they were, lay on the other side of that curious portal.