The communicator crackled with static.

Valak cursed and led the way into the alley. Picard felt someone shove him from behind, and then he was running with the rest of them. The dark alley extended for several hundred yards, then opened out onto another street that ran parallel to the one they had come from. There was no sign of Zorak and his party.

"Zorak!" Valak shouted, his voice echoing off the buildings all around them. "Zorak!"

There was no reply. The soft glow of the sculpted streetlights illuminated the immediate area, but there was no light farther down the street to indicate where Zorak and the others might have gone. They had simply disappeared, just like the others.

"That brings the total missing to what, about thirty?" said Picard.

Valak spun around and grabbed him by the front of his tunic, pushing him back and slamming him against a wall. "d.a.m.n you, Picard-"

Picard quickly brought up his hands and broke the Romulan's grip, then shoved him away hard. "Take your hands off me!"

Valak stumbled and fell, and the others immediately trained their weapons on Picard. He tensed, waiting for them to fire.

"No!" said Valak. He got to his feet, his eyes narrowed with fury. "If anyone kills him, it will be me!"

"And here I thought you wanted to take me back to Romulus with you and show me off," Picard said sarcastically, though inwardly he sighed with relief.

"Do not overestimate your value to me, Picard," said Valak, a hard edge to his voice. "I could easily do without you. You have sorely tested my patience, and you are beginning to grate on my nerves."

"Only because you are allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment," said Picard. "You are not thinking, Valak; you are merely reacting. I thought you were a better officer than that."

"I do not need you to point out my responsibilities!"

"For better or for worse, Valak, we are in this together," said Picard. "My people are missing too. And unless we can put aside our differences, we shall all fall victim to whatever fate befell them."

Valak stared at him for a long moment, then took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. He nodded. "Very well, then. I shall listen. Speak."

"Brute force will not get us out of here," said Picard. "Your warriors were all armed with disruptors, and yet they vanished. Whatever they saw was obviously a lure intended to draw them into some sort of trap. The same thing occurred with all the others."

"Divide and conquer," Valak said.

"Precisely," said Picard. "We have been watched all along, and those who are watching us could have chosen to attack us at any time."

"But they have not, which means they must lack the strength to do so," Valak said.

"Perhaps," Picard said. "This ark was obviously designed to accommodate a crew numbering in the tens of thousands. Yet it appears to be almost deserted. If we are dealing with the original occupants of this vessel, then it would seem their original number has been significantly reduced somehow."

"If we are faced with the original occupants of this vessel," Valak said. "For all we know, we could be dealing with the survivors of the Independence."

"Thirty years have pa.s.sed since the Independence was reported missing," said Picard. "Even if there were survivors, which seems doubtful, they would all be in their sixties and seventies."

"Humans reproduce, do they not?" Valak said wryly.

"If they found a way to survive here, then that is indeed a possibility," Picard said, "though I consider it remote. If they're human, I undoubtedly have less to fear from them than from you. Still, why would the crew of the Independence have chosen to disable their own vessel and remain here? Surely you realize by now that there cannot be a secret Federation base here. If there were, why would they leave the Independence in orbit to advertise its presence? Perhaps it was left there as a warning."

"A warning against what?"

"Against whatever prompted the Federation to impose a quarantine on Hermeticus Two," said Picard. "The logical a.s.sumption in this case is the presence of a life-form too dangerous for us to have contact with, or the existence of a disease for which there was no cure. Either possibility could explain what happened to the original crew of this ark."

"But someone is still alive here," Valak said.

"True," Picard said. "If the crew members were struck with a deadly disease, perhaps some of them survived and developed an immunity. But if so, they are probably carriers of that disease. And if, on its journey to this sector, the ark encountered some life-form that destroyed all of its occupants, then that life-form could still be here."

"This is nothing but idle speculation," Valak said. "It still fails to address the problem."

"Before a problem can be solved, it is first necessary to know precisely what it is," Picard said. "We still know very little about what we are faced with here. What we do know is that whoever or whatever is aboard this ark possesses enough intelligence to utilize the technology that holds the Independence in orbit and interferes with our communications. They also possess enough intelligence to communicate with your ship and make your crew believe the message came from you. Zorak and his away team were beamed down on what they thought were your orders. What is to prevent another message being sent and more of your people ordered down in your name?"

Valak's face looked grim. He was starting to listen at last. "Lord Kazanak is eager to discover something here that will give the Romulan Empire an edge in competing with the Federation. If he believes I have made significant discoveries here, he will be only too glad to beam down more away teams to investigate. Yet I fail to see how that would work against us. It would only serve to reinforce our strength. Besides, it is not the Romulan way to avoid our enemies rather than confront them."

"Be that as it may," Picard replied, "your people will still have no idea what they are getting into unless someone warns them as soon as they arrive."

"Then I shall station warriors at the arrival coordinates to brief any more teams that may arrive," said Valak.

"But what guarantee do you have that they will not disappear as well, or that anyone else who beams down will arrive at the same coordinates?" said Picard. "Whoever sent that message in your name could easily have given them new coordinates. They could have away teams transported down anywhere inside this ark, effectively splitting up your forces even as they arrive."

Valak exhaled heavily and nodded. "I must admit there is sense in what you say," he replied. "So what are we to do?"

The other Romulans looked on with amazement as their commander asked advice from a Starfleet officer. It was absolutely unprecedented. They had no idea what to make of it. But at the same time, they were profoundly unsettled. Since they had arrived, some thirty of their fellow warriors had disappeared without a trace. And Valak had been unable to do anything about it. They all knew they could be next, and the man they had looked to for leadership no longer seemed sure of himself whereas Picard remained calm and in control. And that, coupled with his frequent subtle use of the word "we" in referring to them all together, was having its effect. They were all in this together, and even though Picard was human, the things he was saying made sense.

"We must a.s.sess the situation calmly and logically," Picard said. "Some of your warriors have disappeared. However, up to this point, we have not actually been attacked or fired upon. What does that suggest to you?"

"Either they possess weapons that function silently or else no energy weapons are being used against us," Valak replied.

Picard nodded. "If they possessed such weapons, they could easily have used them on us by now. So either their weapons are of a different order or they are not using any weapons as we understand them. We have also seen no bodies. If your warriors were killed, then their bodies have all been taken away. But why? On the other hand, perhaps they may still be alive."

"No Romulan warrior would ever allow himself to be captured and taken prisoner," Valak said.

"Spare me the bombastic rhetoric," Picard said. "Given the proper circ.u.mstances, anyone can be captured and taken prisoner, as you yourself have demonstrated by seizing my ship."

"Very well, for the sake of argument, I shall concede the point," Valak said. "But why would they want to take us alive?"

"Perhaps they are a nonaggressive species," said Picard. "That is something you seem not to have considered. Remember, it is we who are presenting a threat to them. We have invaded their home, and we have come with weapons of war. They may only be seeking to defend themselves."

"And I suppose if we all lay down our weapons and surrender, they will come out and welcome us with open arms?" Valak said scornfully. "Is that your advice, Picard? I expected more from you."

"I did not say we should surrender," said Picard, "but there is always the possibility of negotiation."

"I did not come here to negotiate with anyone, Picard," said Valak. "Whoever we are facing-the survivors of the Independence or the original occupants of this vessel-I intend to find them. And when I do, this matter will be settled once and for all."

"You may not have long to wait," Picard said. "Observe."

He indicated the lights on the opposite side of the ark. They were spreading out. And they were moving closer.

Chapter Ten.

WHEN RO STEPPED through the archway, she felt a very brief tingling sensation, then found herself in another part of the ark. Troi, Data, and Crusher stood in front of her with Llewellyn, and seconds later Vishinski, Jamal, Nordqvist and Nakamura followed, materializing as they came through the archway behind her.

"You see?" said Vishinski with a smile. "There was nothing to worry about."

Ro noticed that only the elders, the members of the Independence bridge crew, had come through. The others, the younger ones, had apparently remained behind. She glanced at her surroundings. They stood in a wide, brightly illuminated corridor, similar to the one they had just left, only a short distance away from them there was an arched opening to the outside.

"Please come this way," Llewellyn said, walking toward the opening.

They followed him, and as they approached the opening, they could see that they were on one of the upper levels of the building. It was not a balcony. They were simply looking out through an opening in the building wall. Visibility was limited by the darkness outside, but in the distance, they could see the glow of lights on the far side of the ark.

"We are now on the opposite side of the ark," Llewellyn explained. He pointed toward the lights in the distance. They seemed to be moving. "Those are your Romulan friends," Llewellyn said.

Data c.o.c.ked his head to one side. "I beg your pardon, Commander, but the Romulans are not our friends."

Llewellyn smiled. "I was speaking ironically, Mr. Data."

"Ah," the android said. "I see. The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning for humorous or rhetorical effect."

"Quite so," Llewellyn said.

"What are those lights over there?" asked Troi, pointing to where trails of lights below them seemed to be moving slowly to either side of where they stood, spreading out and heading away from them. Due to the illusion created by the curved inner surface of the ark, they seemed to be moving across the sky, like fireflies.

"Merely a sort of diversion, nothing more," Llewellyn replied, enigmatically. "It will be dawn soon-at least we like to think of it as dawn, even though one does not literally see the sunrise. This way ..."

He turned and led the way back down the corridor. Ro glanced over her shoulder as they went back the way they had come. "Look," she said, quickly nudging Troi. Behind them the wall seemed to ripple and flow, and a moment later the arched opening disappeared and was replaced by a solid wall. "That's how we got sealed in," she said.

"We have prepared quarters for you," Llewellyn said, stopping before a completely blank section of the wall. "I hope you will find them adequate." An instant later, the wall flowed and rippled and formed an arched opening wide enough to admit one person at a time. He gestured them inside, and when they hesitated, he smiled again and said, "Very well. I shall precede you." He went in first and they followed him. The other elders came in after them.

It was a large room, easily four or five times the size of their private quarters aboard the Enterprise and as luxurious as that of a five-star hotel. The floor was sleek and smooth, and the room contained a large horseshoe-shaped sofa upholstered in black leather, with a heavy carved-mahogany coffee table set inside the curve, matching recliner chairs and end tables with ceramic-based lamps on them, an elegant dining set, and even a small bar. The large arched window in the far wall was similar to the one they had just seen in the corridor. Troi and Crusher stepped close to it and looked out.

"The window has no gla.s.s," Vishinski said from behind them, "but you will find there is no need for it. The temperature in the ark is kept uniform at around seventy degrees; there is no wind or precipitation, nor are there any annoying insects."

"You will find a food replicator in the wall behind the bar," Llewellyn added. "It functions like the ones aboard Federation starships-at least, the ones found on the ships of thirty years ago. I believe you will find the cuisine uniformly excellent. There are separate bedrooms down that small corridor, with doors that function in the normal fashion, as I am sure you will be relieved to know."

"Speaking of the doors, Commander," Data said, "I have noticed that the walls in all the buildings we have seen are uniformly smooth and blank. There are no outward indications of where any doors should be. Given the a.s.sumption that with nanotechnology, you are capable of creating a doorway or an opening in any of the walls, how do you locate the precise area?"

"That was a bit confusing for us as well, at least in the beginning," said Llewellyn. "To put it in simple terms, how does a blind man find his way around his own home? At first, it would be a matter of rote memorization, learning to take so many steps in one direction, turn to the left or right, take so many steps in that direction, and so forth. After a while, it becomes automatic and he does it without thinking."

"That would suggest that the builders of this ark possessed an absolutely unerring sense of direction," Data said.

"I suppose one could use the a.n.a.logy of a homing pigeon," said Nordqvist. "No matter where it is released, the bird always finds its way back to its own roost. Needless to say, we did not possess that advantage in the beginning, but we discovered that once we learned how to interact with the thought sensors that control the walls, we could mark the doorways by them. We also played with creating individual patterns on the walls where the doors should be."

"We amused ourselves with making different patterns," said Nakamura with a smile. "We were unable to make the walls change color, but we could create patterns in relief, spelling out our names and creating pleasing visual designs, and to that extent we were limited only by our imaginations. Our own quarters in this building still have those identifying designs, though we no longer really need them. My quarters on the level below this one, for example, are marked by a dragon in relief."

"If you wish to rest," said Llewellyn, "we can leave and come back later, after you have had some sleep."

"Sleep?" said Crusher. "I don't think I could sleep a wink! I have about a thousand questions to ask you, and I hardly know where to begin!"

Llewellyn smiled. "Perfectly understandable," he said. "Please, sit down. "Ski, why don't you get some refreshments for our guests?"

"Be happy to," said Vishinski, heading for the replicator behind the bar. "What would you folks like?"

"I'm too keyed up to eat right now," said Dr. Crusher, "but I'd love a cup of coffee."

"Plain? With cream? Or would you prefer cappuccino? We also have espresso, Irish, Viennese ..."

"Just plain black coffee, thanks."

"Coming right up... . Counselor?"

"I would love a cup of tea," said Troi.

"Ceylon, Chinese, jasmine, orange pekoe, herbal ... sky's the limit."

"Some jasmine tea would be very nice, thank you."

"Mr. Data?"

"I do not require solid or liquid nourishment, thank you," said the android.

"Of course. What about you, Ensign?"

"I could use a stiff drink," said Ro, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

"How about Bajoran brandy?"

She glanced at him with surprise. "That would be wonderful."

"Coming right up."

They all took their seats on the sofa. Llewellyn and Nordqvist sat in two of the large chairs. Vishinski brought their drinks, and they were all excellent. Ro took a tentative sip of her brandy and found it to be of a vintage superior to any she had ever had before.

"Why don't we begin at the beginning?" Llewellyn said. "About thirty years ago, we were on routine patrol when our long-range scanners picked up some unusual power signals emanating from this sector. We discovered that they were coming from the Neutral Zone. We decided to investigate. It was a calculated risk, but we thought the Romulans might be up to something. In any case, there wasn't supposed to be anything out here. We entered the zone on yellow alert and discovered what we first thought was a small planet that didn't appear on any of our charts. Long-range scanners showed no ships in the vicinity, so we came in closer and established orbit. At that point we began to experience some interference with our scanners. We were unable to get consistent accurate readings, so we dispatched several probes to the surface and discovered, much to our surprise, that the planet was hollow.

"The power readings we picked up clearly suggested that this was an artifical world-not a planet at all, but an interstellar ark created for multigenerational voyages. Needless to say, this was a tremendously exciting discovery. We attempted to make hailing contact with anyone who might be aboard, but after repeated attempts, we received no answer. Our probes indicated that there was a breathable atmosphere aboard the ark, but we were unable to pick up any life-form readings, and so the next step was to send down an away team."

"Excuse me, Commander," Ro said, "I do not mean to be rude, but much of this we have already surmised. You seem to have very little concern about the current Romulan threat. If there are already Romulan landing parties aboard this ark, then-"

"There is no need for concern, Ensign, I a.s.sure you," said Llewellyn. "The situation is well in hand."

"Commander," Ro insisted, "I am not sure you understand the gravity of the situation. The Romulans have an advanced warbird in orbit above the ark, larger and much more powerful than any you may ever have encountered. They have also seized the Enterprise, a Federation starship much advanced over the Independence. That makes for enough firepower to reduce this entire ark to slag."

"I appreciate your concern, Ensign," said Llewellyn, "but once again let me a.s.sure you that the Romulans do not pose any real threat. In fact, a number of them have already been captured and are safely in detention at this moment. Their warbird and your own starship will be seen to presently."

"What do you mean?" Troi asked with a frown.