"None, Commander."

"Are there any personal possessions in the crew's quarters?" asked Picard.

"You are not here to ask questions, human," came the angry response.

"Answer him," said Valak.

There was a brief, surprised hesitation. Then the Romulan replied irately, "What do I know of such things? We Romulans do not clutter up our ships with frivolities. How would I distinguish human personal possessions from ship's stores?"

"Look for non-uniform garments in the closets," said Picard, ignoring the warrior's condescending att.i.tude. "Likenesses of family members, personal mementos, items of personal hygiene in the medicine cabinets-"

"I have no time for such-"

"Do as he says," Valak said curtly.

After some time had pa.s.sed, the Romulan came back on. "Personal items appear to have been removed from the quarters," he said.

"All of them?" asked Picard. "Or does it appear as if the crew departed in a hurry after packing only a few things?"

"Almost completely, although some items have been left behind," the Romulan replied grudgingly.

"So they had time to prepare to leave the ship," Picard said.

"Which means there was another Federation vessel here," Valak said accusingly.

"Or perhaps an alien ship," Picard said. "You said yourself a good commander considers all and any possibilities, Valak. And there is yet one other. The crew might have gone down to the planet surface."

"But the planet surface will not support human life," said Valak, "and our sensors have detected no constructed shelters."

"Something is holding this ship in orbit," insisted Picard, "and your sensors have not detected that, either."

"Nor have yours," Valak replied, a touch defensively.

"Precisely," said Data. "I would suggest that if there is nothing on the planet surface, then there must be something beneath the surface."

"Of course!" said Valak. He spoke into his communicator. "Valak to Syrinx."

"Talar here, Commander."

"Launch a deep scanner probe to the planet surface," Valak ordered, "and report on what it finds."

"Acknowledged," Talar replied.

"Kylor to Commander Valak." It was the voice of a member of the away team elsewhere on the ship.

"Report, Kylor."

"Commander, we have reached the main engineering section," Kylor said. "Everything here has been shut down. There is no power to any of the systems, and the shutdown appears to have been a purposeful act. There is no one anywhere on board this ship. There are no bodies and no signs of violence. The ship could have been evacuated due to some sort of malfunction, but that cannot be determined at this point. Some supplies were removed from ship's stores and from the sickbay. The crew unquestionably evacuated this ship in an organized and orderly manner."

"But how long ago?" Picard wondered aloud. "None of this makes any sense, Valak. Human or Romulan, no one simply powers down a ship and jettisons all the antimatter storage pods so that the ship cannot be powered up again. Unless perhaps ..."

"Unless what?" asked Valak.

"Unless it was done precisely to prevent the crew from ever going home again."

"Why would they have done that?" Valak asked.

"Perhaps there is something down there on the surface of Hermeticus, or beneath it, that would be too threatening if it were ever to be brought back," Picard said. "I remind you that this world was quarantined."

"And yet, according to your own story, if it is to be believed, some of the crew did try to go back," Valak pointed out. "Or at least they tried to escape."

"They must have known that they would not survive," Picard said. "A ship's shuttle has a very limited range, as you well know, and this far out, the odds against encountering another ship would have been astronomical."

"So what was the point of leaving?" asked Valak.

"In their desperation, they might have made a suicidal attempt to escape," Picard said. "Perhaps they felt that certain death aboard the shuttlecraft was preferable to what would happen to them if they remained behind."

"Then why did not the others do likewise?"

"I can only guess," said Picard. "Perhaps they had no choice. If they were exposed to some sort of a disease, some kind of organism that infected them or took them over, then the ones who attempted to flee in the shuttlecraft might have been the only ones who had escaped infection. Or perhaps it was not an attempt to escape but a desperate attempt to warn others to stay away."

"As you said, all this is merely conjecture," Valak replied. "In the absence of any evidence, it is all meaningless theorizing."

"Hermeticus Two was placed under quarantine some thirty years ago," Picard said. "That is not meaningless. And that quarantine has remained in effect for all this time, despite advances that have rendered quarantines unnecessary except in extraordinary circ.u.mstances. That, too, is not meaningless. And the location of this planet was cla.s.sified top secret and has remained so for close to a century. That is the most meaningful thing of all."

"To me, the most meaningful thing of all is that you seem to be very anxious to keep us from discovering whatever is down there," Valak said.

"If you insist on believing that I am attempting to deceive you," said Picard, "there is nothing I can do to convince you otherwise."

"Talar to Commander Valak."

"Valak here. Report, Talar."

"Commander, we have launched a deep scanner probe to the planet surface, and we are receiving its transmissions, but the readings are confusing."

"What do you mean, confusing? How?"

"They are intermittent. We are not picking up any life-form readings, but we are picking up traces of enormous power emanating from beneath the planet surface. Commander ... Hermeticus Two is hollow."

"Hollow?" Valak said. "You mean caverns? Excavations?"

"Neither, Commander," the Romulan science officer replied. "Given our readings, there is only one possible conclusion. Hermeticus Two is not a planet... . It is a ship."

Chapter Six.

"A SHIP!" said Valak with disbelief.

"Undoubtedly, Commander," the Romulan science officer replied. "The surface of the planet is but a shielded outer crust const.i.tuting the hull of the ship. What pa.s.ses for the atmosphere is merely an agglomeration of gases held by a gravity field generated from beneath the planet surface. Our a.n.a.lysis indicates that these gases serve two purposes: they help to disguise the ship as a planet, and they absorb waste matter expelled from the interior along with ionized particles that interfere with accurate sensor readings."

"An interstellar ark," Data said.

"What?" said Valak.

"The idea was first proposed by Earth scientists in the late twentieth century," Data replied. "It was originally called an island or an O'Neill colony, after the physicist, Gerard O'Neill, who first proposed it. It was an artificial world constructed in s.p.a.ce, with the habitat itself built on the interior, on the curving inner surface."

"The idea that led to your starbases," said Valak.

"Precisely," said Data. "But O'Neill's model was cylindrical. Later Dandridge Cole proposed carving out an asteroid for the purposes of interstellar travel. Cole proposed utilizing giant solar mirrors constructed in s.p.a.ce out of lightweight silvered plastics. These mirrors would then bore holes down to the center of an asteroid with a high iron content, and these cavities would then be filled with tanks of water. Spin would be imparted to the asteroid by means of hydrogen-fueled propulsion devices, and as it spun in the light bath of the solar mirrors, the asteroid would heat up and start to soften. Gravitational and cohesive forces would gradually pull it into a spherical shape, and if the whole operation was timed correctly, the water tanks at the core would explode just as the central axis of the asteroid reached its melting point. The result would be a balloonlike expansion of the asteroid, with an outer crust, or hull, and a hollow interior, ready for construction once the interior was properly sealed. The idea was further refined-"

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Data," said Picard, knowing that, given half a chance, the android would discourse upon the entire history of the concept, from O'Neill's initial formulation to the present. "I am familiar with the concept. However, Cole's idea was for a relatively small asteroid, no more than ten miles in diameter, and it was eventually discarded as more practical methods of construction in s.p.a.ce were developed. This ... this is on a planetary scale!"

"Then that is where the crew of this ship went," said Valak.

"That would seem to be the logical explanation,"Picard replied. "But with your knowledge of Starfleet and human technology, surely you must realize that this is not a Federation construct."

Valak frowned. "Thus far, we have no evidence to prove that it is not. However, there is only one way that we shall ever know for certain, and that is to a.s.semble an away team to beam down to the interior of Hermeticus Two."

"Valak, this discovery puts an entirely different slant on the situation," said Picard. "We know that this ark has been here for at least three decades. That in itself suggests two possibilities: either it is vacant, its crew long dead or departed, and it was merely captured by the gravitational fields in this system, or else the race that built and crewed it has reached its destination and is still present."

"There is a third possibility," said Valak. "The crew of the Independence discovered this ark and found it vacant, and the Federation took advantage of the opportunity to establish a ready-made base here."

"A moment's thought will tell you that is not possible," Picard said. "The establishment of a base would have required a steady stream of supplies, and traffic in this sector would have increased the odds of the base being discovered."

"Your argument, as you humans say, does not hold water," said Valak, "An interstellar ark, equipped for long-duration multigenerational voyages, would have been designed to be entirely self-sufficient and would require no periodic resupply."

"Perhaps," Picard was forced to admit, "but why advertise the presence of a secret base by leaving the Independence in orbit above it? That would defeat the whole purpose, would it not?"

Valak nodded. "Your point is well taken. However, there are many unanswered questions here, and I intend to have them answered. All members of the away team report back to the bridge immediately. Talar, prepare to beam back the away team. We are going to find out what lies beneath the surface of Hermeticus Two."

"Enter," said Lord Kazanak.

The doors slid open and Valak came in. "You asked to see me, my lord?"

"Yes. I was monitoring your transmissions from the Federation ship. Do you really believe there may be Federation presence on-or perhaps I should say in-Hermeticus Two?"

"At this point, I am not certain what to believe," Valak replied. "However, I am inclined to think that Picard is telling me the truth."

"You trust a human?" Lord Kazanak said with surprise.

"It is not a matter of trust," Valak replied. "Picard's reasoning is sound. To our knowledge, the Federation has never had a craft such as this ark. And if they had a hidden base here, they would have been foolish to give away their presence by leaving the Independence in orbit above it, as Picard pointed out."

Lord Kazanak nodded. "Then there must be some other explanation for all this. The deep scanner probe has detected no life-form readings within this ark?"

"The readings are inconclusive," Valak said. "The power emanations from within Hermeticus Two and the charged particles in its atmosphere are causing interference. There may also be some sort of shield down there preventing accurate readings."

"If Picard is to be believed," Kazanak said, "then the Independence has been here for a very long time. If its crew went down to the interior of the ark, there still could be survivors?"

"Survivors or perhaps descendants," Valak said. "Yes, I suppose it is possible."

"What do you think of Picard's claim about the Federation quarantine?"

"Whether or not that is true remains to be determined," Valak said. "However, I have no doubt Picard believes it to be true."

"Indeed? You seem to have unusual faith in Captain Picard," Lord Kazanak said.

"Faith?" said Valak, raising his eyebrows. "I have faith that he will seize the slightest opportunity to act against me. That is why I do not intend to give him one."

"And yet, you seem almost to ... like him," said Lord Kazanak, with a look of distaste.

"I understand him," Valak said, "and I respect him."

"Respect?" said Lord Kazanak. "For a human?"

"For an enemy," said Valak. "A highly capable enemy."

"If he is so capable, why was he defeated so easily?" Lord Kazanak said contemptuously. "Why did so capable an enemy surrender?"

"Jean-Luc Picard would never surrender," Valak replied.

Lord Kazanak frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I never asked him to surrender formally. It is, perhaps, a fine distinction, but had I demanded it, he would have fought us, to the last man," said Valak. "With all due respect, my lord, there is much about the humans that you do not understand. Particularly humans like Picard. So long as he continues to believe that he may have a chance to turn the situation to his favor, or negotiate his way clear of it without violence, he will refrain from desperate action. Had I forced his hand, I would have had to kill him, and he is of more value to me-and to the high council-alive."

"Perhaps," Lord Kazanak replied. "Still, you seem to have a fascination for these humans that escapes me. I look forward to the war that will subjugate them and put them in their proper place once and for all. It is to that end that I have designed and built this ship. Once it has proved itself, it will be but the first in a mighty invasion fleet. However, the expense of constructing this one ship was so great that the council has insisted upon its being proved. There are those members of the council who doubt the worthiness of my design, and suspect its approval to be solely the result of my father's influence. I intend to prove them wrong, Valak, wrong beyond any shadow of a doubt. This mission must be a success! And if there is anything to be discovered in that ark that will give us any added advantage, then so much the better. If we can bring back such a discovery, and report the destruction of the Enterprise, then none shall doubt me."

"Indeed, my lord," said Valak. "If there is any such discovery to be made, I shall do my utmost to bring it to you."

"Do that, Valak, and your future is a.s.sured," Lord Kazanak said. "But if there is any truth to Picard's claims about the quarantine ..."

"I have already thought of a way to test that," Valak said.

"Absolutely not!" Picard said. "I will never agree to such a thing!"

"I did not ask you to agree or disagree," said Valak. "You have no choice in the matter."

"My people are your prisoners," Picard said. "You cannot use prisoners as guinea pigs!"

"In point of fact, Captain, I can do anything I wish," said Valak. "No formal treaties or articles of war exist between our people. We have merely agreed upon a truce, with the Neutral Zone as a buffer between Romulan and Federation s.p.a.ce. I have found a Federation starship here, in clear violation of that truce, so if I wish, I can declare the truce null and void."

"The truce that created the Neutral Zone has been in effect for over a century!" Picard said. "I seriously doubt that your superiors have given you the authority to declare it null and void at your discretion, especially when you have not ascertained the facts of the situation."

"The fact of the situation is that the Federation ship is here," said Valak. "In any event, this debate is pointless. To minimize the risks to my crew, the first away team will be composed of crew members of the Enterprise. My chief of security, Kalad, will accompany them, dressed in a Starfleet uniform so that he may pa.s.s as Vulcan, in case the team encounters Federation personnel on the ark."