Chapter 2

Wesley was sound asleep in bed in his quarters. His things are scattered across the floor - not the neat and tidy room one would expect from a Starfleet Cadet. Then the door chimed. He groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore it. The door chimed again so he finally sats up in irritation.

"Come in." he said annoyed.

The doors opened and Picard came in and was surprised to see Wesley still in bed.

"Oh. I'm sorry to disturb you, Mister Crusher. I assumed you would be up at this hour. I could come back later."

Wesley dragged himself out of bed and put on a robe. Then made a feeble effort to perk up for the Captain.

"No... no, sir. I... must have overslept. Come in."

Picard came in as Wesley got to the replicator.

"Coffee, black." he said then remembered something. "Oh. Uh, can I get something for you, sir?"

"No, that's quite all right. This was my first chance to welcome you back."

Wesley took a sip from the steaming mug.

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

There was an awkward beat, usual warm and familiar dynamic between them was noticeably absent.

Wesley never quite met Picard's gaze... he's withdrawn and evasive. He really doesn't want to be here and he doesn't particularly want to talk to the Captain - he just wants to be left alone. Picard feels progressively more uncomfortable.

"So... how's Boothby?"

Wesley shrugged.

"Fine, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I haven't seen him in a while. To be honest, sir... Boothby was starting to get on my nerves a little bit. He always seemed to have an opinion about everything." he said then tried to backtrack. "I mean, I know he's a very... insightful... intelligent man..."

Picard's had about enough of this... he can see that something's going on with Wesley and that continued conversation will only make it worse.

"But you'd had enough of his insights."

"That's not quite what I meant, sir."

Picard decided not to pursue this any longer.

"Well, as I said, welcome back, Mister Crusher. I hope you enjoy your vacation. That's really all I came here to say." he said and left.

Wesley feels instantly bad... he didn't mean to rude... and now it's too late. He sits down in frustration.

In the main engineering Geordi was working at the pool table as Wesley came wearing civilian clothes.

"Wes - there you are. You've got to take a look at this." Geordi said and moved over to the warp core chamber then opened a panel on the bulkhead. "Remember how we always talked about improving the quantum efficiency by creating a new plasma-dyne relay? Well, feast your eyes on this."

Wesley looked inside the panel a pulsing conduit inside. He was unimpressed, his attitude condescending almost arrogant. He was angry and frustrated about something and was taking it out on Geordi.

"You've only got one micro-fusion inter-relay in here... the converter interface will never hold up." he said dismissive.

"Hey, I ran the diagnostics myself. This little baby will withstand over five hundred Cochrane's of warp field stress."

"I don't think so. You better put a secondary phase inverter in there." Wesley said and poked around in panel. "In fact, this entire sub processor matrix needs an overhaul."

Geordi shut the panel.

"Well, I guess we can't have all the fancy new equipment they give you kids at the Academy. We have to make do with what we've got." he said getting irritated.

Wesley reacted irritated, as if talking to a slow pupil who just doesn't get it.

"Read the latest paper by Doctor Vass binder... he has some brilliant new theories on warp propulsion inter-relays." he indicated console. "A lot of this stuff is almost obsolete."

Wesley's tone and attitude were obviously out of character that Geordi gave him a surprised look.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Do you want my help or not?" he asked hard.

"I was doing this for you... I thought you'd be interested in this." Geordi said bristling.

"Well, I'm not."

'Actually I am. I just need to calm down.' he thought while he left and saw Geordi's angry expression...

"Captain's Log: Supplemental. The Enterprise has arrived at Dorvan Five and I have spoken to the Leader of the Tribal Council. He has agreed to meet with us this afternoon to discuss the situation."

In the meeting room a large room, which in contrast to the rest of the village is almost completely 24th century in design and in building materials. There is a large, broad table with chairs, but no other furniture. Seated on one side of the table are five leaders of the Indian Tribal Council - each of them wearing distinctive accoutrements which indicate their respective tribes, but all in essentially modern dress. On the other side of the table are seated Picard and Troi. The atmosphere is cordial, but a little stiff. There are several PADDS on the table.

Picard was speaking to Anthwere - the Leader of the Tribal Council.

"Anthwara... I am afraid there is very little I can do. The decision regarding this planet was made at the highest levels of the Federation." he said.

"A decision that was made over our explicit objections." Wakasa said.

"I must point out that when you first came to this world, you were warned that it was the subject of a dispute between the Federation and the Cartesians. You were asked not to settle here." Picard said.

"Do you know how long we have searched for a home? Almost two hundred years. Then we found this world... Can you blame us for not wanting to give it up?" Wakasa said with an edge.

"I understand and respect the long journey of your people. But I believe we can help you find a new home."

Troi picked up the PADD in front of her and Picard.

"As you can see, there are three other planets in this sector that have environmental conditions similar to those here on Dorvan Five. They are all uninhabited... and could be colonized immediately." she said.

"And if those worlds don't meet with your approval, then we'll find you other choices." Picard said.

The Tribal leaders looked over their PADDS for a moment, then put them aside. Anthwara got up... moved about for a moment... this wasn't an easy conversation for him either.

"You don't understand... the choice of this world was not limited to... "environmental conditions." There were other... more intangible concerns as well." he said. "My people have always had an... intimate bond with nature. We think of ourselves as being a part of it... and it being a part of us. One of the reasons our ancestors left Earth two hundred years ago was because that bond had been severed."

"They began to control the weather." Wakasa said with contempt.

"We believe - very strongly - that nature should not be "fixed" or controlled. Droughts and floods... tornadoes and hurricanes... these are natural events. By putting man above nature... an imbalance was created. We could no longer live in harmony with our environment."

"I can assure you that we will not impose a weather control system or anything else on your people. Whatever world you choose to colonize will be completely yours to do with as you please." Picard said.

"Captain, once the bond between us and Earth had been broken, we had to find a planet where we could establish a new bond... a planet that would welcome us. When I came here twenty years ago, I was welcomed by the mountains... the rivers... the sky."

"He's laughing at you, Anthwara. He thinks you're talking about old superstition and nonsense." Wakasa said to Anthwara.

"That's not true. I have a great deal of respect for your beliefs and the meaning they hold for your people." Picard said.

"Then you should respect the fact that this planet holds a deeply spiritual significance for us. It took us two centuries to find a place where the mountains gave us permission to use their stone for our houses... where the rivers let us drink from their waters... and where the wind sang to us at night." Anthwara. "We don't want to spend another two hundred years searching for what we already have."

Picard sat back for a moment... this was going nowhere fast. Troi sensed that further discussion will not help.

"Captain, may I suggest that we adjourn for now... allow us all time to think about what's been said." Troi said.

Picard looked to Anthwara, who nodded.

"Agreed. We will reconvene tomorrow." he said.

"In the meantime, I would like to invite you all to the Enterprise this evening as our guests." Picard said.

"Thank you, Captain. We look forward to it." Anthwara said smiling.

Then the meeting broke up.