A door somewhere in the dark creaked. Jean-Luc wasn't sure how long they had been held captive, he had lost all track of time. All he knew was they had been here a lot longer than three hours. Commander Riker can handle things he assured himself Geordi and Data will be back on the Enterprise by now, and they'll find us, soon. They have to... I have to get Beverly back to sickbay... His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened further and the room was filled with light. He shielded his eyes from the luminescence, and it took him a few minutes to realize it was just a dim lantern. He tensed. "Nam-tor dhou vous gut?" asked a girl's voice. It took him a few moments to realize that she was the only one who had come. He relaxed a bit. "Nam-tor dhou vous gut?" she repeated. It took him a few minutes more to understand what she was saying, and even then he wasn't quite sure, except for the tone. She wasn't speaking any one language, nobody here did. it was as if all of the languages originally spoken by the people who settled this colony, had blended into some sort of interlanguage, that Federation Standard English was no part of. He caught the French word, vous. He wondered, If she could possibly speak straight French? It was worth a try. "Parle vous francais?" he asked. "Oui" she replied, smiling. They continued their conversation in French. "Are you two all right?" she asked. "For the most part." he replied, not quite honestly. "I've brought you a blanket, and Mother will try to get you some food soon. I'm sorry it isn't the best, but it's all we could sneak down here without my father noticing. It's a bit ragged around the edges, but it's clean, and it will keep you warm. I'm sorry he was so hard on you. Mother tries to do what she can to help, but he's quite strict in punishing trespassers. " She explained, handing the blanket to him. He draped it over Beverly's shoulders. "Trespassers?" he asked, as she set her tray down. "Yes, our colony is secluded for a reason. We have vowed to give up technology" she spoke the word as if it were a deadly enemy, that could come and attack her if she even mentioned it, and she had been taught to fear it all her life, "Unlike the rest of the worlds. The Talaydhrian government gave us this land, and my father keeps the borders well guarded. Anything outside is theirs, anything inside we have the right to control as we please." "I see." Picard replied, becoming more than a bit nervous. "Do you know of any way we could get out of here? I don't want to cause a disturbance, but we need to get back to the sh... to where we came from." "Is your wife all right?" she asked. "My wife..." he began, and almost corrected her, but something stopped him. He looked at Beverly, with his arms still around her. They fit together so comfortably.... it wasn't that difficult of an assumption for the girl to make. And from what he'd seen, or rather heard from those boys, they were rather Puritan in their beliefs. It might be better for her to go on assuming. "She hit her head." he replied truthfully. The girl winced. "She was still conscious after she landed," he tried to reassure her. "She only has a concussion, but it would be best if I could get her back to the ship all the same." "I'm very sorry, but I can't help you. Mother and I have done what we can." she replied, sadly, but with a touch of fear and anger as she started to back away. "I understand," Picard replied, quickly, "I didn't mean to imply that you should do more. I thank you for doing what you have." "I... I have to go, Father might notice if I'm gone too long." she stumbled, almost frantically. "Wait! can you please leave us some light?" he asked, hopefully. "Oui, Monsieur." she replied, and lit a small, twisted knot of straw, and placed it into a tiny alcove made from a fallen brick in the wall. It gave off little light, at least compared to the lantern, but it burned slowly and steadily, and would be enough to counter the pitch-blackness of their prison. "Merci" he replied, and with that she left, taking the lantern light with her *****