Picard felt the world meander back into his brain. The thick, soupy unconsciousness that enveloped his mind slowly gave way to lucid thought and feeling. And he had a headache. Oh man did his head throb. Once he remembered where he was and what had happened, he turned to look for Commander Data and Ensign Tait. They were both tied up with metal restraints in a small, dirty room. It smelled like dusty farmyard animals. Broken light seeped in through holes in the walls.

"Captain, you're conscious again," Data said.

"Something resembling consciousness," Picard said. He grimaced. Speaking hurt his head, but he had no time to lose. "Are you and Taitt OK?"

"I believe both Taitt and I are intact, but we took a heavy blast from their weapons. I was offline for six hours. You've been out for a further three hours."

"Nine hours!" Picard said. He didn't like the sound of panic the surfed along the edges of his voice. "We've missed the dinner party, that's for sure. But the peace treaty will go on without us."

"I overheard them speaking while you were still unconscious," Data said. "They are going to use us as hostages in a negotiation with the Federation. But they haven't had any reply, even with us as collateral."

"That's right."

The voice came from behind Picard. His hands were bound behind the backrest of a chair, and he couldn't turn around, but he recognised the voice to be that of Carni Jula. She walked into the middle of the room. Taitt was now coming into consciousness.

"If we don't hear back from your Federation in the next hour, we're going to have to make good on our promise and shoot you all, one by one. Don't worry, we'll send the Federation a video transmission. They won't miss a thing."

"Surely it is clear to you now that The Federation is not receiving your transmissions," Data said.

"Maybe. But our communications satellites tell us they should have received it just fine. Perhaps your leaders are less altruistic than you think? Or perhaps they simply care more about their cold war with the Cardassians."

"Please," Picard began, his voice imploring, but Carni Jula interrupted him.

"Captain, I've heard the speech before - the one where you say 'take me but spare my crew'. I'm sorry, I know this isn't your fight exactly. But you represent a great power, and we need them to take us seriously. Your execution will be in one hour unless we hear back."

With that Carni Jula abruptly left the room. Tait, having now realised the full horror of their situation, turned pale. Picard felt how she looked. He hoped he didn't show it on the outside.

To Picard's surprise, Data snapped off his restraints and walked towards him. Of course! They hadn't realised that Data was an Android. His head felt lighter, and he flexed his arms.

"Data, why haven't you escaped and alerted the Enterprise?" Picard said. He heard his own voice, sharp and intense.

"Because they took our tricorders, and I count exactly twenty-four heavily armed guards surrounding this building. I am not that fast or that strong. I have analysed the situation, and I am afraid I see no way out. But once you awoke, it was my hope that some of your human creativity may think of something that I have not. Although that is extremely unlikely."

Picard felt his metal restraints snap away. Next Data freed Tait, who had composed herself. "OK, Captain, what's our plan?" she said, her voice steady and true.

But before he had a chance to reply a huge, thunderous explosion shook the building. Dust flew up in the air like a magicians smoke bomb. The three looked at each other. "Data, the only thing better than human creativity is dumb luck. I don't know what that was, but this is our opportunity."

Data tore three rough strips of fabric from the inside of the building's wall. Picard and Taitt used them to cover their heads and mouth. Data did the same, so he didn't arouse suspicion. Shouting and screams of horror floated in from the outside. There was a thunderous crash. Picard looked out the door. The guards had either dispersed or were distracted. There was a lot of dust, so he couldn't see very far. But Data would remember the way back to the shuttle.

"Now," he said in a loud whisper, and all three of them ran out of the building and into the hot, dusty light.

They reached a crossroads. Picard looked at Data.

"This way," Data said. Dust plumed around them, and the heat seared their skin. Picard heard fresh, agonizing screams coming from his left. The shuttle was off to his right. He was about to run for the shuttle, but he felt a tug on his arm.

"Captain," Taitt said. "Can you see that?"

Hidden behind shimmering dust and airborne sand was a building that had collapsed in on itself. Sounds of crying and pain filled the air. Picard felt his chest thicken with dust. He turned to Data for his analysis.

"Judging by the wreckage, and the sound of the explosion, I'd say some unlucky soul triggered a Eutanian landmine. Probably one laid down by the Eutanian Army during a battle here some time ago."

"Captain, the little girl from before is trapped underneath that building," Taitt said. Some of the dust cleared. Picard could see that the young, disfigured girl was amongst three people trapped in a pocket of air underneath the rubble of the building. It must have been some explosion. "We must help her."

Picard looked at Data, and then at Taitt.

"I'm obliged to say that this may be our only chance to escape our execution," Data said. And then, after a moment he added, "Now that you've safely ignored my advice, let's go make sure that little girl has a chance to grow up."

Picard smiled and nodded at Data. Taitt started to run towards the trapped people. Picard followed, and Data soon overtook them both. Many people were trying to free the three trapped people from the wreckage, but the debris was too heavy for them to lift.

There was no time for pleasantries as Data shoved the people out of the way. With considerable effort, he lifted the main heavy metal object that had trapped the people, including the little girl. The three trapped Eutanians crawled out, right past Data, as more metal came crashing down with a terrible thud. Data fell underneath the weight of falling metal beams. Picard heard a sickening crunch.

"Data!" Picard yelled.

Taitt tended to the injured people and looked up to find Data. The dust settled and silence fell. Finally, after several excruciating moments, Data burst out from the metal canopy. The trapped people were OK. Data looked a little worse for wear, but he was OK. And the little girl would live. Picard took a moment to breath...

"It's the Federation prisoners!"

Who said that? Picard spun around to see the tough looking woman he'd met earlier raise a rifle at Data. With the gun raised at him, Data turned in an instance. He disarmed the woman and snapped the rifle in half over his knee. It looked as easy as snapping a twig.

"We are not your enemies!" Picard yelled at the woman, who stood with her mouth agape at Data's strength. "And my Android here could take out your entire army in the blink of an eye."

Data folded his arms across his chest and nodded with defiance. Picard was lying, of course. But he needed these people scared long enough to talk some sense into them.

"Everybody lay down your arms. We don't have a chance against a killer 'droid," Carni Jula said, and she approached them. Picard chose not to refute her notion of a killer 'droid, although he doubted Data took it as a compliment. "We don't take the lives of those who save lives, anyway. It's not our way."

"You seemed pretty OK with the idea of taking lives a few moments ago," Taitt said to her.

"We're desperate," Carni Jula said. "We're one invasion away from total defeat. Genocide. How many would you kill in a war to avoid genocide?"

"Zero," Taitt said and folded her arms. It seemed to Picard that this nervous, stammering Ensign had found a new sense of confidence, having had her life threatened. Or was it the disfigured little girl that had somehow brought out this different side of Ensign Taitt?

"It's easy to be morally sound when you cruise around the galaxy in a Starship," Carni Jula said. "It's harder when you're on the ground, with death sleeping under your bed each night."

"We can help," Picard said. "But by my calculations, we are nearly out of time. The treaty will be signed in less than an hour. Take us to where you sent that distress transmission."

"Help these injured people," Carni Jula said to those standing by, and then turned back to the Captain. "This is our last chance. Please don't make a fool of me."

Picard, Tait, Data and Carni Jula walked for a few minutes until they reached the first building they had encountered, the source of the original transmission. There was a primitive distress beacon inside, running on some kind of fossil fuel power grid.

"Data, can you modify this to contact the Enterprise?"

"I believe I can," Data said and began to work.

Several minutes later, the voice of First Officer Riker came through the device's speaker. It was rough and scratchy. Picard felt a sense of relief flood over him and he heard the familiar voice.

"Captain, where the hell are you?" Riker asked. "It took every ounce of my charm to avoid a complete diplomatic meltdown at the dinner last night since you were a no-show. And then... Are you guys OK?"

"I'm on Ostross, with Commander Data and Ensign Taitt. You must give the Federation an urgent message, and verify that is received. And cancel the treaty signing."

"Captain, I…" Riker said, but then after a moment, the tone of his voice changed. "Give me the message Captain. This postman won't fail to get it delivered."

Picard gave Riker a brief, to the point message, and then assured him they'd be OK. Picard knew he could rely on Riker to get the job done.

"How do we know you'll keep your word?" Carni Jula asked.

"Because, although I didn't exactly pack for a vacation, I'm not leaving," Picard said. "Data and Ensign Taitt will fly our shuttle back to the Enterprise, and return with food, water, and medical supplies. I will stay here with you, and we will use the Enterprise to communicate directly with Starfleet."

"Captain, thank you. But if Eutania Prime and Eutania Alto form an official alliance, even without joining the Federation, you may as well dig our graves for us now."

"Not with the Federation on your side. I'm not saying it'll be easy. But fight with us, not against us. And I promise we can help find justice. If you're willing to do so without bloodshed."

Picard sent Data and Taitt back to The Enterprise. He longed to head back to that ship, his book, a cup of earl grey. But he stayed. On that hot, dry, dusty planet he helped them rebuild. Many of the Enterprise's crew volunteered to travel down to the planet's surface and work. They helped fortify their buildings, repair broken machinery, find and remove landmines, and tended to their sick and injured.

Several days later, Picard said goodbye to Ostross. Carni Jula joined him on board the Enterprise. The Federation held an emergency meeting with the new aligned Eutania Prime and Eutania Alto. The war of diplomacy had now just begun.

#

Sitting down in his quarters with a navigational report to read, Data heard his door buzzer chime.

"Come in," Data said. Ensign Taitt walked through the door. Beside her was the little girl they had met on Ostross.

"Sir," Taitt said with a smile. "This is Tura Mila. She's been here on the Enterprise charming Doctor Crusher and her staff, and is now about to head home. And she wanted to say goodbye to the person that saved her life."

Data smiled.