Chapter Nine

Riker had gone straight from the holodeck to take the bridge for a four-hour stretch, a duty that was likely to be uneventful. He was glad that he was unlikely to have to do anything , because what had happened on the holodeck was filling his whole self. His Starfleet training and experience kept him functioning as an alert and efficient officer, but just below the surface he was totally preoccupied.

He had only himself to blame for the rejection. By pretending not to know about his rival, he had enjoyed an unclouded week with her, but he had not been playing an honest game. He ought to have got her to admit to it the day after the party, by the simple mechanism of asking her, while he still had time to change her mind.

On the other hand, she had not been honest with him. He was unconvinced by her coyness, when she had talked to him freely about things that he would have considered far more private. She hadn't wanted him to know.

One thing he had no doubt about; she had responded. She hadn't received his embrace passively, she had moved with him before pulling away so awkwardly.

As he remembered holding her, the sensations came back him and his body responded again. There was no pleasure in the longing any more, but he couldn't help thinking about the softness of her mouth - which she had opened to him - and the full silkiness of her hair between his fingers. He shifted uneasily in the command chair, painfully aware that he shouldn't be sitting here in command of the Federation's flagship while in the grip of near-adolescent sexual fantasies. But he was less in control of his imagination now that he had ever been before. It was beginning to worry him.

And it was maddening to know that it was only dutiful loyalty to the uninteresting Tony that had made her throw up the barriers once more. He had got to the stage where she didn't seem to mind him touching her in an impersonal way, but after the repulse she had rolled up like a hedgehog again. No eye contact, no smiles, voice polite and precise. He was back where he had started, and he had run out of time.

Unless... she had got over it by this evening, and they had a good time at the concert he had arranged. There was still a chance, if her immediate reaction of embarrassment had mellowed and he got her to relax.

"Commander," said Ensign Petra, who was at the helm. "I'm getting some readings which may indicate that we're approaching an inhabited asteroid."

"You think it could be Moonbase Alpha? I thought we weren't due to arrive at its estimated position until 0300 hours tonight."

"No, sir. We had no precise information about Moonbase Alpha's position, only that it was somewhere near Lifeboat 898."

The Enterprise had reached the sector where Lifeboat 898 was situated two hours ago, and had slowed to impulse speed to scan it quadrant by quadrant. The computer had estimated that this process was likely to pinpoint the location of the moon within fifteen hours, which was why they had been working on a time of 0300 hours. If he had thought about it more carefully - and he ought to be thinking about things more carefully than he was, at present - he would have realised that they could find the base fifteen hours either side of that approximation.

He had not told Maya this earlier. He hadn't wanted her to have it on her mind.

"Do we have visual, ensign?"

"No, sir. These are frequencies on long-range scanners only. It would take us an estimated - " She paused and keyed in the figures on the terminal - "twenty-eight minutes to get within transporter range at full impulse."

"Understood. Head towards that source unless it starts to look unlikely. Mr Aziz, send out a general hail on all frequencies. If it is Moonbase Alpha they probably won't have the equipment to pick it up at this range, but we want to give them some warning of our approach if possible."

"Aye, sir."

He lifted his hand to call Maya, but lowered it again. If it was a false alarm, it would only agitate her. Captain Picard was his second thought, which was another disturbing sign. He informed the Captain of the possible approach, and was asked to report to the observation room.

Worf and Deanna were already there.

"I understand there's a possibility we may be approaching Moonbase Alpha ahead of schedule," the Captain said as soon as he entered. "That's good, because I was about to call you anyway to discuss the situation on Lanthenon. I have just had another subspace conversation, this time with His Majesty King Bahu himself. The Royal House is very keen indeed that we should arrive as soon as possible, and I have to say that I don't think His Majesty fully appreciated the necessity of prioritising what he understands to be a routine evacuation over his daughter's wedding. He went so far as to suggest that we should have sent out another ship to rescue the Alphans."

"These people obviously have a great sense of their own importance," said Riker.

"Perhaps all cultures do, Number One," said the Captain. "The Lanthenons have been isolated, because of their remoteness. This wedding has great significance for them, it's a bold step to unite their future monarch with a member of another race. As I've said, the Federation regards this occasion as vital to the planet's integration."

"I can understand what the Lanthenon King feels," said Worf. "This stranded base has great meaning for humans, because the people there have come from your past. But the ceremony on Lanthenon is happening now, and will shape their future. That is more important."

"It's all pretty important for the people on Alpha," said Riker. "And for Maya."

"Indeed," said the Captain. "Despite His Majesty's insinuations, I have made my position clear to him. We will proceed with the evacuation of Moonbase Alpha. But in the interests of diplomatic relations, we will have to make the evacuation rapid and head straight for Lanthenon thereafter. Study of the base, possible recovery of the moon itself - they are talking about that - re-integration of the Alphans, will all have to be put on hold until we complete the Lanthenon mission. So the sooner we find Moonbase Alpha, the happier all parties will be."

Except me, thought Riker. He felt Deanna looking at him, and avoided her eyes.

His commbadge sounded. "Aziz to Commander Riker."

"Go ahead, Mr Aziz."

"We're getting further readings that seem to indicate the asteroid is inhabited, and of a mass compatible with Earth's former moon."

"Any contact yet?"

"No, sir. But we wouldn't expect that with the technology they've got."

"Keep trying. What's our ETA?"

"Nineteen minutes forty-eight seconds, sir, at full impulse."

Captain Picard tapped his communicator, and stood up. "All senior officers report to the bridge. Number One, perhaps you should inform Maya."

"Recommend we wait until we're certain that asteroid is Moonbase Alpha. I don't want her to be disappointed."

"As you think best."

They made their way to the bridge.

John stared at the trace on the screen. The tiny light danced up and down rhythmically. "You got me out of bed for that?"

"It's a signal," said Tony emphatically. "It has to be some kind of calling code. It could be from the Enterprise."

"How far away is its source?"

"We can't tell, Commander," said Annie Fraser, the young engineer who was on night watch at the communications station.

Helena was leaning back against a console, clutching her dressing gown around her body with one arm, rubbing her thumb and fingers together on her other hand. She lifted her head as he looked at her, and her eyes told him to go carefully.

He rubbed the back of his neck and, reflexively, glanced across at where Maya would have been. She would be the first on hand with an accurate theory and a sensible recommendation of action, in her calm decisive way.

"What's Eagle One's position relative to that signal?" he asked.

"In the opposite quadrant," said Tony.

"So there's no point in telling Alan to change course towards it. Turn up the audio, Annie, let's hear it."

A pulsating tone filled the silence of Command Centre. The few personnel who were on night watch had abandoned their prescribed tasks and were gathered around the communications terminal. Then the tone stopped, and they heard a ghostly whisper.

"Amplify that," said Tony.

Annie turned some controls and blasted out static, drowning the voice they had heard.

"Can't you do better than that?" Tony snapped.

Annie bit her lip, and said quietly, "I'll try routing it to our main receiver dish, the one that's used for astronomy."

John went to stand behind her and put an encouraging hand on her shoulder, not wanting to remonstrate with Tony in front of the junior personnel.

When Annie completed the transfer, a human voice sounded out clearly. "Starship Enterprise calling Moonbase Alpha. Starship Enterprise calling Moonbase Alpha."

"I don't believe it," said Tony, seeming stunned. "Can we reply?"

"I'll try." She opened a channel and began to hail in the direction of the signal.

"Visual," said John. "Anything on visual?"

The screen showed empty space, the same distant stars they had been travelling towards for weeks, on all sides.

"We are receiving you, Moonbase Alpha," said the voice, faint but precise. "ETA to transporter range, six minutes fifteen seconds."

"But there's nothing out there!" said Tony.

John looked at Helena again. Her expression was still taunt, her face case into shadows by the dim night-time lighting in Command Centre. Her eyes widened. "Look," she said.

On the screen, one of the stars had resolved into a bright dot which was growing as they watched. Within seconds it had expanded to the small but distinguishable form of a space vessel.

"What kind of speed is that thing going at?" said Tony.

John felt Helena at his side, and he took her hand. Her nails pressed into his palm as the ship approached, until it hung in space like a jewel, shining in the starlight. Its fluid lines swept back from a forward saucer section, and the glitter of tiny portholes have some perspective on the vessel's massive size.

"It's beautiful," said Helena, almost under her breath.

"God, that's some ship," said one of the night watch, an Eagle technician.

"Annie," said John.

She snapped out of a transfixed daze and opened a channel. "Moonbase Alpha to ship. Please identify yourself."

The view of the ship above the moon was replaced by a clear image of its interior. He could see the sweep of an impressive control room, with several uniformed officers at their stations. A man whom he recognised as Captain Picard stepped down from what looked like the command chair and came near the screen.

"Commander Koenig," he said, with a faint smile. "On behalf of Earth, and the United Federation of planets, I would like to welcome you all to the twenty-fourth century."

Maya had been studying in the Enterprise's education centre when Riker called to tell her that they had arrived at Moonbase Alpha. Not that they had sighted it, or were due to approach it; that they had arrived. She realised that she was able to detect the slight lack of motion now that she had been made aware of it, but she hadn't noticed the cessation of the engines because she had been too distracted. Words and figures rolled up on the screen, without getting past her eyes. She had started one section of the tutorial programme three times over, and each time her mind had slipped away from it.

When she got the message, calm and curt over the communicator, it affected her like a physical shock. She jumped up immediately to obey the order to meet Will in shuttle bay four, but then she sat down again to control her feelings. Her first reaction had been distress, quite unaccountably. She had felt a deep anxious pang that seemed to come from her diaphragm. What was she afraid of?

She knew, but she was reluctant to form it into an articulated thought. She didn't want to go back to the place where she had been happy, and settled, when she knew that their life there was about to be broken up. Irrational though it was, she had always felt threatened when the officers of the Enterprise talked casually about the 'evacuation' of Moonbase Alpha.

The others would be happy. She tried to concentrate on that. How she felt was unimportant.

Captain Picard himself was waiting in the shuttle bay, with Riker, Deanna and Dr Crusher. Maya had gained some feel for Starfleet protocol and she realised that they were extending respect by sending a delegation of high-ranking officers to greet the Alphans, but were being careful to choose only humans or near-humans. She knew also that it was an extraordinary measure for the Captain to leave the ship. Inevitably, the contingent included one security guard to ensure his personal safety.

"Have you spoken to Commander Koenig?" she asked Riker.

"Yes, he preferred that we went down in the shuttle, rather than beam down. I explained that you couldn't use a transporter anyway."

"They're very anxious to see you," said the Captain with a smile. "I doubt we'd get a friendly welcome without you."

"Captain," said Maya hesitantly, "I must ask you to understand that we've encountered several hostile races, and so I would imagine that the Commander's reaction would be cautious."

The Captain nodded. "I do understand that, Maya. I'm relying on you to establish his trust as quickly as possible."

"Yes, sir."

Maya sat forward as soon as the shuttle cleared the docking bay, and saw the familiar pale disk of the moon. The small craft glided easily towards the base, so smoothly that she could feel only a brief acceleration and deceleration. She thought of the laborious roar and rattle of the Eagles.

"The moon," said Captain Picard. "This is a moment of history, Number One. A small moment, perhaps, but one that will be remembered."

"It certainly is," said Riker.

Maya avoided looking at him. For the first time, she wished that he was not there.

The shuttle touched down like a feather on the Eagle landing pad, and the universal docking ring seemed to engage without a problem.

"Cleared to enter, sir," said the pilot, over the Captain's communicator.

The Captain indicated that she should go first, and Maya stepped across the docking ring with the extraordinary feeling that she was entering a strange place rather than coming home. Her unease vanished when she saw the Commander, Tony and Helena, who all ran forward to meet her. She hugged Helena briefly and then threw her arms round Tony, overwhelmed by the realisation that she had missed him painfully. He pressed her head against his cheek and murmured her name, and she looked into his eyes and touched her nose against his.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"I thought you said I'd see you in a couple of days."

"Well, I got side-tracked."

He was going to kiss her, but she was conscious that this behaviour was not appropriate in the presence of the Starfleet officers. She broke away and made some rather incoherent introductions.

"I'm pleased to return your science officer to you as promised," Captain Picard said, as he shook hands.

"We're certainly glad to have her back," said the Commander.

"Are your crew standing by to evacuate?"

"Ah - not exactly. It's five past four in the morning here."

"I would appreciate it if you would prepare them immediately." The Captain spoke with casual authority, as one used to and certain of being obeyed.

Maya saw the Commander's expression darken, and he exchanged a glance with Tony. She remembered the Captain's orders to her and she said, "It's all right, Commander."

"Captain," said the Commander. "Do you mind if I speak to my people alone for just a moment?"

The Captain raised one eyebrow and indicated with a movement of his hand that he had no objection. Maya felt embarrassed and slightly angry as she followed the Alphans into the travel tube, leaving two security men behind. "Commander," she said as soon as the door was closed, "there's nothing to be suspicious of, this is all real. You must have seen the Enterprise on the viewscreen in Command Centre."

"The ship definitely comes from Earth?"

"It belongs to Starfleet, it represents the United Federation of Planets. Earth is a founding member. When you go up there you'll see that there are lots of people from other species serving on the ship too. I've been with them for ten days, I know."

The Commander was still frowning. She looked round in exasperation at their pale, taunt faces.

"You don't believe me, do you," she said. "You think they've influenced me somehow."

Tony looked down. He had crossed his arms against his body. Helena also avoided her eyes, with a slight motion of her head. Only the Commander kept his gaze steady on her, and reached out to take her arms. "Maya," he said, gently, "we would never doubt you. But you know the kind of tricks that hostile aliens have tried to play on us in the past."

"The last time a big ship showed up promising to take us back to Earth it was full of Creatures from the Pit," said Tony. "And they looked and behaved like people we knew."

"Is that what you think?" Maya said, suddenly on the edge of panic. "You don't think I'm me? Tony - Tony, you know it's me." She went to him and touched him.

His eyes were dark and reserved, and he kept his arms crossed.

"Ask me something!" she cried, shrinking back at his coldness. "Ask me - what you gave me for my birthday last month."

"If you were constructed out of my mind, like Guido was," Tony said, "you'd know anyway."

She stood for a moment in silence, hurt and fighting down the emotion. She had to control it before she could speak again. She had not been prepared for this tension, and she felt at a far remove from the people that she had considered her closest friends. Although she recognised that their concern was justified from their past experiences, she still felt that they mistrusted her loyalty. After all, she wasn't really one of them. She was an alien.

She tried to keep her voice calm. "If you want to talk about it without me, I'll go back through and leave you alone."

"Oh, come on, Maya," said Tony. "Don't start getting paranoid."

"I'm paranoid?" she cried.

"Easy," said Helena, leaving her neutral position beside the Commander and clasping her shoulder. "Of course you're really Maya."

"Just go up to the Enterprise," Maya said. "Once you're there you'll realise what I'm telling you is true."

There was a pause. Helena remained firmly at her side. Tony had uncrossed his arms but was leaning against the wall, his expression moody.

"All right," said the Commander, after looking between them. "I'll go."

Maya felt Helena tense, and glancing sideways she saw that her face had taken on a stony look. Whatever she said, Helena didn't trust her.

"No, I'll go," said Tony, standing up straight.

"It's my job, Tony," said the Commander. "I need someone with authority down here, to start preparing the people to leave, if that's what's going to happen. I'll return to the Enterprise with Captain Picard and Maya, and you and Helena wake everyone up and tell them what's going on."

Maya wanted to say that she would rather remain behind as well to help with this, and to pack her own belongings, but she realised in the next moment that the Commander wanted to keep her with him until he was satisfied about her story. It was the standard Alphan practice of risking as few lives as possible, and she understood that; but it still pained her.

She was mortified, too, that they were now going to have to ask the delegation to get back into the shuttle and go. It made the Alphans seem discourteous. Nobody said anything else, and the Commander led them back through to the docking bat where the Starfleet officers were waiting patiently.

"All right, Captain," said the Commander. "I'll go back with you to your ship. Just me - and Maya. If everything is what you say it is, we can discuss bringing along the rest of our people."

"Very well," said the Captain. "Can my officers remain here, to tour the base and help you with your preparations?"

To Maya's relief, the Commander consented to this after a moment's thought. Within minutes, the shuttle was on its way back to the Enterprise.

The shuttle was creamy white inside and looked as though it had been designed as much for comfort as functionality. The seats were padded and had restraining bands that seemed to fasten without a visible buckle. John watched what Maya and Captain Picard did with the belts when they saw down opposite him, and copied them. The material melded under his hands. Then the shuttle took off with a whisper of motion, like the faint lift of an elevator. Through the viewport he saw the great elegant bulk of the Enterprise loom rapidly. The craft seemed to skim nimbly along a gleaming wall of metal, then plunged into an aperture and stopped with a gentle nudge. He heard a thudding noise as the space doors rolled shut behind them, and heard a hiss as air was let into the docking port. The journey had taken about three minutes; an Eagle, he estimated, would have made it half an hour from start to finish. There was no doubt that this was space technology beyond anything he had seen before, and yet it did not feel alien.

"Welcome to the Enterprise," said Captain Picard, disengaging his belt.

Maya did the same. John found he could not make the belt come apart, and struggled for a few seconds until Maya leaned over him and did something which made the two parts separate.

"Thanks," he said, grinning at her.

She gave him a tight half-smile in return.

He was aware that they had distressed her by appearing to doubt her, and that was one reason why he had asked her to come back to the ship with him; he wanted to have one of his own people as back up, and it made sense to choose Maya, who was familiar with the situation. He also wanted to demonstrate to her that he trusted her. It had never seriously troubled him that she might be some kind of trick or manifestation, only that perhaps she had been influenced adversely. And he found himself unexpectedly relieved to see her. Not only would Tony be happy now, but he had missed her more than he'd realised; her beauty and vivacity, as much as her qualities as a science officer. These weren't adulterous feelings, he thought without concern, just an acknowledgement of nature.

He pressed her elbow briefly as they stepped out of the shuttle, and she returned a warmer look.

The docking bay was sizeable. Several people were waiting for them, standing in formal groups. John was becoming less uneasy by the moment. Most of the people in the docking bay looked human, but they were approached immediately by a creature of humanoid but undoubtedly alien appearance. He wore the same uniform as the rest, though with the added decoration of a jointed golden sash across his body.

"May I introduce Lieutenant Worf, of the Klingon Empire," said the Captain. "Mr Worf, this is Commander John Koenig from Moonbase Alpha."

"I am honoured to meet you, Commander," the alien said, in a deep resonate voice.

As John shook one of the alien's rough, oversized hands, he became convinced in his mind that this time everything was all right.

"Commander Koenig has come here to reassure himself that the Enterprise is capable of undertaking the evacuation of Moonbase Alpha before he commits his people to our care," said the Captain, leaving the shuttle bay and taking them into a wide, brightly-lit corridor. "Mr Koenig, you've already seen one of our shuttles. We can transport your people on these if necessary, but it would take some time. Normally, for travel between the Enterprise and a nearby planet we use transporters, the device that caused your science officer to come to us in the first place. I would be pleased to show you the transporter bays. We can beam up your entire crew within minutes if necessary."

John realised that the Captain was presenting the tour as a display of the Enterprise's facilities, and not as a demonstration of his integrity. It was a subtle diplomatic charade which he played along with, because Maya had been right. His doubts had been dispelled as soon as he had seen the interior of the ship. There were only practical considerations now.

Captain Picard showed him the several transporter rooms, which could pluck all the Alphans and their belongings up into this bright new world, and the decks of guest quarters, where there was ample room to accommodate them in comfort far beyond what they were accustomed to on Alpha. He was shown the food replicators in operation, and assured that even for deep space voyages the resources of the Enterprise wee close to limitless. Finally, they were to a conference room with an impressive wall of space windows. The moon hung outside, large and luminous.

The Captain had dismissed the alien lieutenant, so it was a private meeting. Maya sat at his side, her fingers interlocked on the table, her face grave.

"Now you've seen the Enterprise, perhaps you've been able to form a judgement of us," said the Captain, presenting him with a cup of tea.

"Yes, I have," said John, sipping the tea appreciatively. It burst onto his senses like a sudden memory, and he realised how long it was since he had tasted anything real. "Everything seems satisfactory. I'm sorry if we seemed suspicious, but we had to be sure."

"Understandable. I must take you into my confidence now and discuss something which is relatively sensitive. Maya already knows something about this, that our next mission is to officiate at a state wedding on a planet called Lanthenon, which is approximately twenty hours journey from this position. Over the past few days it has become increasingly apparent that our presence there is required more urgently than was originally thought, and I'm under pressure from various quarters to get there as soon as possible. Contact with and evacuation of Moonbase Alpha was our top priority, but I would appreciate it if you could prepare your crew to leave as soon as possible."

"How soon is that?"

"No more than two hours?"

"Just one moment, Captain. We've lived on Moonbase Alpha for the past six years. We won't be ready to abandon it in two hours."

"I understand your concern, Mr Koenig, and under different circumstances we would want to spend several days here, while our people studied the base and your people got accustomed to the change in their situation. We will return to complete a study of Alpha, as soon as we finish our business on Lanthenon. The base is a remarkable living museum, you can be assured that the Federation will want to keep it intact. None of it will be lost."

"How long until you return from this planet?"

"About five standard days. I can offer you a choice. After all, you are free agents and you can decide whether or not you wish to accept our help. We can evacuate the base quickly now, and you can all come with us to Lanthenon, or you can stay on Alpha and wait for our return."

John thought rapidly. He glanced at Maya, whose expression was faintly anxious. His first instinct was to play it safe and take the second option, but he felt that the Alphans would be better off removing to the Enterprise as soon as possible. Alpha only seemed to be a safe haven because they had been there so long. It was really a dangerous, defenceless drifting asteroid. He had to make the decision, not procrastinate.

"I'll issue the order for Operation Exodus."

"Excellent," said the Captain. "I'd recommend that you leave a skeleton crew behind to keep the base operational until we return. We can provide you with subspace equipment, so that Alpha will remain in communication with us."

"I'm sure I'll find volunteers."

"Our ship's counsellor has already arranged for a team of liaison officers to meet your crew and help them settle in. Perhaps Maya would like to remain on the Enterprise to assist with this."

Maya glanced at him for approval, and he nodded. He was mildly disconcerted that Picard had seen fit to suggest an order to one of his people, and perhaps more so that Maya seemed to accept it so readily. He let it pass in his mind.

He radioed down to Alpha using his own comlock, glad to find that there was no problem with communication. Tony's face appeared on the little screen.

"Okay up here," said John. "I'm coming down, I'll tell you more when I get there. How are things going?"

"Fine, we've shown them a bit of the base. They seem to be behaving themselves."

"Have you alerted the crew?"

"Yes, everyone's awake and standing by to see what's going to happen."

"Get people together in the theatre. I'll be with you shortly."

They used the transporter to return to Alpha, leaving Maya behind. There was a brief sensation of brightness that burned his eyes like a flash of direct sunlight, and the surroundings of the transporter room dissolved. He had a moment of disorientation and enough time to feel a stab of panic before he staggered, felt a colder air, and realised that he was in Command Centre. Abruptly Helena was there, catching him. The suddenness of her presence was shocking.

"John!" she said. "Are you all right?"

The dizziness passed. He held onto her arms until he was sure, and he took stock of his surroundings. Helena was there, with the red-haired doctor from the Enterprise, and Tony.

"Where's Maya?" said Tony.

"Still on the ship, she's going to help with the evacuation on that end."

"We're going, then?"

"Yes. Is everyone ready?"

"Well, they should be in the theatre by now."

"How about the officers from the Enterprise?"

"I left the other two in Anderson Lounge while we got our people together."

"Get them. Captain Picard - doctor - if you'd like to come with me."

With Captain Picard gone, Riker found himself in the uncomfortable position of having to lead the delegation. It was uncomfortable because he felt as if something was clawing out the insides of his stomach, and he had nonetheless to be interested in Moonbase Alpha and pleasant to its personnel. Which, of course, included the man whom Maya had embraced so happily, without any appearance of her usual reticence.

The two Alphan officers - his rival and the doctor - took them for a tour around the base. It was extraordinary, like walking into one of those movies set at the dawn of the space age; except that there was a peculiar intangible tang in the air that characterised a past time. Even though Moonbase Alpha was physically in the twenty-fourth century, it felt and tasted like it was still in the beginning of the twenty-first.

The complex was extensive. Different parts of the installation were connected by tunnels, along which ran motorised transporter capsules called travel tubes. They were shown the medical centre, the large hydroponics unit, some of the research laboratories which had been the focus of the base's original mission, and the adequate but confined living quarters.

"We have recreational facilities, too," said Dr Russell as they walked down a corridor in one of the residential blocks.

"They must have been important for the psychological well-being of your crew," said Deanna.

"Yes - that's been the hardest thing of all."

"I'm sure it has," said Beverly.

Riker was interested in Dr Russell, whom Maya had given him to understand was probably the most powerful person on the base after the Commander himself. She was smaller than he had imagined, with a soft voice and a gentle manner, and she didn't seem on first impression to be the authoritative figure Maya had described.

"The way you've managed to maintain this base is extremely impressive," Riker said, meaning it sincerely. Everything he had seen was meticulously clean and in full working order.

"We don't sit around doing nothing all day," said the security chief shortly.

Diplomacy obviously not a compulsory subject for space training in the twentieth century, Riker thought as Dr Russell smoothed over his reaction with an observation that finding raw materials for repairs was often a difficulty. He was unimpressed by Verdeschi, who was young and abrupt and seemed to have nothing in his favour but moderate good looks.

When they were left alone together in a recreation lounge after the Alphan officers and Beverly went to prepare the personnel for evacuation, guarded discreetly and provided with vile chemical coffee, Deanna said quietly, "Did you know about - "

"She told me this afternoon."

"I'm sorry."

"I wish I could say it doesn't matter."

Deanna put a hand on his knee, looking at him with steady understanding. He was comforted, as he always was by her, and he touched her cheek.

The door opened, and Verdeschi looked in. "Okay," he said. "The Commander's reported back. It looks like we're going."

All the Alphans were assembled in the theatre by the time John arrived there, and the atmosphere became intense as he entered with the Captain and the others. Helena and the Enterprise doctor took seats in the front row, and John invited the Captain onto the stage with him. It was important, he thought, to make a face to face address to the people of Alpha, though it would have been quicker to speaker over the tannoy.

"People of Alpha," he began, formally, "we've been looking for a way off this rock and back to Earth for a long time now. Many of you probably feel by now, as I know I do, that our life here has taken on a validity of its own, and that we've all discovered strengths in ourselves in surviving what we've come through that we might never have found if the moon had never blasted out of the orbit, and we'd all carried on being physicists and botanists and astronauts. We've focused on the hope of settling on one of the planets we've passed by, but as you know none of those worked out. Well, now Earth has come to find us after all. I'd like to introduce Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise. Earth now belongs to a United Federation of Planets, and it has the technology to build ships like the Enterprise, with faster than light capabilities. I guess you've all seen the ship on the viewscreen or in the observation lounge. I've just been there myself and I'm satisfied that everything's as it appears to be. There's nothing left to say except - get ready to leave."

There was a buzzing in the audience.

"How long will it take you to get us back to Earth?" asked someone.

"We're a long way out," said Captain Picard. "It's a voyage of about four months from this point."

"What can we take with us?" asked someone else.

"Anything you like. And, as I've already explained to your Commander, the Federation wants to preserve Moonbase Alpha intact."

"We need to do this quickly," John added, over a rising tide of voices, which subsided slightly as he spoke. "The Enterprise has another mission and will be coming back here in five days. Anyone who wants to stay until then, can. I'm looking for volunteers to keep the base operational during that time. See me in Command Centre in half an hour."

He decided to go to his own quarters briefly to pack his personal belongings, so he could then concentrate on overseeing the operation. Helena followed him, and as soon as the door was closed she said, "You could have discussed this with me."

Momentarily taken aback, he said, "There's nothing to discuss. I've been to the Enterprise, there's no question that they're from Earth and they're friendly."

"But for us just to abandon - all this - everything we've lived with for years - just like that?"

"We've always been poised to do that."

"When we decided to, not when someone told us to."

"It is my decision. Well, it's our decision. You can stay for a few days more if you want, but I'd rather you came with me."

"Oh, I'll come, I'm not about to let you go off in a spaceship without me, but - this is our home. I know it's not rational, but that's how I feel." She sat on the bed, bending her hand against its spring.

He joined her there. "None of this will make any difference to us, if that's what you're thinking about."

She looked full at him for a moment. "Yes it will," she said. "It has to."

"Not as far as I'm concerned." He cupped her face and kissed her seriously. This malaise would pass.

"I didn't mention this before," she said, "but the day after you told everyone about the Enterprise, Carol Earnshaw came to see me - she was very upset."

"Why? I would have thought she, of all people, would have been pleased at the prospect of getting off Alpha."

"No, she felt just the opposite. She said she'd known that, on Alpha, she would be supported, and her child would have a close community to grow up in, and that it would at least be near its father and would know him. She was terrified of what was going to happen if a spaceship from Earth rescued us, and we all went our separate ways. She would be completely alone."

John considered. "That never occurred to me. What did you say to her?"

"What could I say? We don't know now what our future is going to be."

"Helena, trust me. From what I saw of that ship, we're all going to have a better life."

"Well," she said, standing up, "one thing's for sure, we can't put the genie back into the bottle. Let's get organised."

Within the space of an hour, the Alphans were ready. Several people had come to him and said that they wanted to stay until the Enterprise returned, to finish experiments or to help keep the base running. Alan Carter returned from his Eagle flight and was briefed quickly.

"I'll stay behind to command the base," he said.

"Thanks, Alan, I was hoping you'd say that."

"Well, you could hardly ask Tony to do it, not if Maya's going with you. One thing I'd say, though. Take a couple of Eagles with you. I don't care how big and flash this ship is - you want to have your own transport, just in case you want to get out in a hurry."

John nodded, taking this advice seriously. He put the request to Captain Picard straight, without giving a reason, and was surprised when he replied that there would be no problem, without asking for one. He sent Eagles Four and Ten up to the Enterprise immediately, while the rest of the Alphans assembled in Command Centre to be transported.

In groups of six, one after the other, the people of Moonbase Alpha shimmered and disappeared.