Part 5 (1/2)

”Your first officer and Mr. Undrun have beamed back in less than pristine condition.”

”Are they all right?”

”They will be.”

Picard was already halfway to the door. ”On my way.”

He hurried into sickbay to find Will Riker sitting on the edge of a bed. His face and uniform were smudged with soot and dust, but at least he was upright.

Undrun wasn't. He was on the next bed, unconscious. ”What's wrong with them, Doctor?”

”Smoke inhalation. Undrun is in worse shape. He's under sedation.”

Just then, Riker coughed. Pulaski pressed a small inhaler to his mouth, and he tried to squirm away.

”Breathe, was she ordered in a tone suggesting she would not take no for an answer. Riker meekly complied, then set the inhaler aside and gave Captain Picard a compressed version of their eventful visit to Thiopa. Picard's face betrayed his distress.

”You don't look pleased, sir,” Riker concluded.

”I didn't send you down there to have buildings blown up around you.”

”Captain, I'm not thrilled about your going down there,” Riker said. ”Well, you're certainly in no condition to go in my place.”

”Sure I am,” said Riker, slipping off the bed.

”No, you're not,” Pulaski said, shoving him back. 54 ”But I agree with him, Captain. It doesn't sound as if Thiopa's the safest place to have dinner.”

”No, perhaps not. But they invited me and I've accepted. In addition to the diplomatic importance of the feast, I need more information about what is happening down there. Meeting Stross and Ootherai could add key pieces to this puzzle.”

”I still don't like it,” Riker insisted.

”Objection noted, Number One. I'll be careful.”

CAPTAIN Pica, Counselor Troi, and Commander Data beamed down to a broad plaza surrounded by the cl.u.s.ter of buildings that made up Thiopa's government center. The half-dozen buildings appeared to have been built at roughly the same time. All were constructed of gleaming white stone, gla.s.s, and steel and designed with sweeping curves and hard angles. Their austerity stood in jarring contrast to the older, less dramatic structures on streets outside the plaza.

”Interesting architecture,” Picard observed.

The sun was setting, casting long shadows. Picard's nose twitched as he inhaled a careful sample of the thick air. ”I see what Riker meant about the air quality. Let's go inside.” The Enterprise trio headed for the building that was illuminated by the most colorful floodlights, the only one in the square that was drawing people in. The 56 Thiopan groups and couples didn't look like victims of famine, Picard noted. They were all exceptionally well dressed and seemed far from emaciated. Inside the gla.s.s-front lobby, chandeliers of abstract crystalline shapes hung from arches towering up to an asymmetrically sloped ceiling. At the center of the lobby, a crowd milled around a showcase containing a scale model of a city with the current government center at its heart. But the old brick and dark-block buildings presently surrounding the real plaza were not part of the model. They had all been replaced by high-rise structures that complemented the government compound.

Data circled the model like a curious child.

”Most interesting, Captain.” ”And extremely ambitious,” said Picard, brows arched, ”considering all the problems this society is supposedly facing.”

”Captain Picard!” Policy Minister Ootherai was making his way toward them through the lobby, dropping a word here and there to well-heeled Thiopans as he pa.s.sed. He finally reached the stars.h.i.+p officers.

”These are members of my senior staff,”

Picard said, ”Counselor Deanna Troi and Lieutenant Commander Data.”

”A pleasure to meet you and to welcome you to Thiopan soil. I see you're admiring the model for our new capital complex.”

Picard smiled thinly. ”Most impressive.

When is it to be built?” ”We're planning to start demolis.h.i.+ng the old quarter of the city when the weather turns cooler, in about two months. We don't really have a winter anymore, it seems, so we're looking forward to rapid progress on Stross Plaza.”

”Named after your leader?” said Troi.

”Yes, an appropriate monument to the sovereign protector, which he'll get to see and enjoy while he's still alive. Posthumous honors leave much to be desired, I've always believed.

Let honors be for the living-and certainly Ruer Stross deserves to be honored on a grand scale. He's quite anxious to meet you. Come this way-and then I'll escort you to your seats in the feast hall.”

”Stop fussing!” Protector Stross slapped Supo's hands away from the collar the little valet was struggling to straighten. Supo flew back several steps and Stross wrenched the collar straight himself.

He looked in the mirrored wall of the anteroom and nodded. ”There. It's fine. Everything's fine.”

Supo hung his heavy-nosed head. ”No, it's not fine, but-was ”But it will have to do,” Stross said with finality. He faced his mirrored image again. All his medals were straight, collar upright, braid in place, billowy sleeves unrolled, glittering sash tied evenly about his belly. He had recovered from the earlier shock of learning that some of his citizens were actually aiding the Sojourners-an hour or two in his private workshop, building, had done the trick-and felt prepared to face his audience tonight .

. . even the visitors from the Federation.

As if on cue, the anteroom door swung open and Ootherai entered with the stars.h.i.+p officers. He announced each one by name.

Captain Picard then extended his hand in respectful 58 greeting. ”It's an honor to meet you, sir.

I thank you for receiving us.” ”The honor is mine, Captain. You're the ones bringing the relief supplies. We thank you and the Federation. There are lots of lives at stake, sir.”

”The Federation believes in helping those in need.”

”Well, we'll do our best to repay this good-neighbor generosity. Supo, go out there and see if you can find Dr. Keat.” The valet ducked his head and scurried out a side door. ”I want you to meet her. She's one of our success stories-one of our best hopes for the future. We sent her off-planet to study when she was a little girl-and now she's come back to rescue our science program just when it's blown up in our faces.”

”Uh, Lord Stross,” Ootherai said tightly, ”is this the time for-was ”Quiet, Ootherai. These people came to help us. I want them to know they're not pitching treasure down a sewer pit.”

Data c.o.c.ked his head. ”Sewer pit, sir? A refuse disposal site-was ”Just an expression.

You're a literal fellow, aren't you, Mr.

Data?” Stross chuckled. ”What I mean is, we want you to know we're working hard to help solve our own problems, Captain. Fact is, we've got a big announcement to make tonight-oh, here she is now.” Supo had returned with a willowy young woman dressed in a high-necked gown that was somehow demure and alluring all at once. Her skin was almost bronze-colored, much darker than that of the other Thiopans they'd seen. Huge pale eyes, golden hair and whiskers, and the dusky complexion combined to lend her an exotic look that Picard found striking. His smile warmed and he clasped her hand.

”Dr. Kael Keat,” said Stross, ”meet Captain JeanLuc Picard, Counselor Deanna Troi, and Lieutenant Commander Data of the Federation stars.h.i.+p Enterprise. his ”Dr. Keat, your reputation precedes you,”

Picard said.

”Though only by a minute or two,” Stross laughed.

”Your sovereign protector thinks very highly of you. He credits you with having saved Thiopa's scientific community from catastrophe.”

Dr. Keat's lashless eyelids flickered.

”Lord Stross is p.r.o.ne to exaggeration at times. But we are doing some exciting work-which only builds on what was done before I took over as head of Thiopa's Science Council. Our aim is to find a way to survive and to adapt to the effects of the natural disasters we're suffering through now.”

”Sounds like admirable work, Dr. Keat.”