Riker slapped his combadge as he heard the hail from the Enterprise. "Riker here," he said.
"Number One," Picard's voice answered back. "Chief O'Brien informs me all the transporter rooms are now ready to begin synchronous transport. When will you be ready to begin evacuating?"
Riker exchanged a brief glance with Troi before answering, "Captain, we've had some complications…"
Just then, Data, still fully clad in his heavy caftan, entered the room. This time the policewoman simply pushed him in, and did not enter before the door shut.
"Commander…" he began, "I have learned much."
"Excuse me, Captain," Riker said. "Commander Data has something to say."
The android adjusted his report to include Picard. "Sir," he said. "The government of Angel One that we knew was deposed by a military coup about a year ago. Mistress Beata was assassinated by her guards and replaced group that is conservative to the point of repression."
Riker's head dipped briefly at the news of Beata's death, but he piped in. "Data, do we know what happened to the Odin group?"
Data shook his head. "The scientists had no knowledge of them. They were placed in such a remote location, it may be they have had no contact with outsiders in four years."
"Data, do we know where that was?"
"Yes, sir… on a part of the southern continent."
The away team could almost hear Picard's head nodding as he followed Riker's line of thinking. "Number One, why don't you beam over to the southern continent and check in on Ramsey and the others."
"Agreed, sir."
Riker and Troi dematerialized a few minutes later onto a barren and windswept landscape. Sand hurled at them, chafing their skin.
"Are we sure we're in the right place?" Troi shouted, her voice being swept away by the howling wind.
Riker shouted back. "Worf said sensors showed a small community within ten meters of the beam-down location."
"But in which direction?" Troi asked. She had to fight to keep her eyes open against the wind, and when she did, sand flew in. The pair could barely see two meters in front of them, let alone ten.
"It should be dead ahead," Riker said, staggering to take a step forward. He grabbed Troi's arm. "Stay connected."
They kept staggering into the wind. It seemed like hours passed, but they had no way to judge the time. "We must be lost," Riker said, finally "We'll have to beam up and wait until the weather clears.
But Troi was looking over his shoulder. "No, wait… I see something." A dark shape loomed only a couple of meters ahead. She grabbed the commander's arm, and kept him moving.
Finally, they reached the shape - a sturdy tent of some kind. They followed the edge of it until they came to flap that looked like a doorway on the leeward side. They stumbled through, and fell to the ground, which was covered with all kinds of mats and pillows.
They were aware that their arrival caused several children to shriek, parents scooping them away. But they were too tired to care.
Finally, Riker saw boots in his line of vision. He looked up and saw Ramsey, the leader of the Odin group.
He was not covered in a caftan. He was dressed in the same brown leather jacket and pants the Enterprise crew had seen him in before.
He had grown a beard (but then, Riker thought, so had he) and his light brown hair had a tinge of gray in it, now, but otherwise he looked the same. Data had been right, they were so remote, the planet's changes had passed them by.
A light of recognition gleamed in Ramsey's eyes. "You!" he exclaimed.
Riker and Troi sat up, coughing, and looked at their surroundings. The tent was a good-sized one, measuring probably around 20 square meters. It muffled the wind surprisingly well. But it was also crammed with people. They recognized the four Odin survivors and their wives. Ramsey's wife, Ariel, was sitting on the opposite wall, also dressed in brown leather with her dark hair simply pulled back. She was nursing a child under her jacket. She glared at the away team as she held her baby.
There were children everywhere around the tent, of various ages and sizes. Riker estimated there to be around 10 of them. The oldest ones appeared to be around ten, and one of the Angel One women had the full belly of someone not far away from delivery.
"Are you crazy?" Ramsey finally said. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to wander out in the dessert during a sandstorm?"
"We had to find you," Riker said, brushing sand out of his beard. "And we don't have a lot of time."
"Did Beata decide she wanted to execute us, after all?' Ariel said sarcastically. "The last time the crew of the Enterprise found our group that's almost what happened."
Riker said, "I'm sorry, Mistress, obviously you haven't heard. Mistress Beata is dead."
"Dead?" Ariel exclaimed. She handed her baby to the woman sitting next to her and came to stand by her husband.
Troi said, "There have been a lot of changes since your group was exiled, Mistress Ariel…"
"Tell me," the Mistress demanded.
After the explanations were over, the group sat around the edges of the tent, heads bowed in thought. Ramsey finally spoke. "So, you say there's no chance for these people when the asteroid hits."
Riker shook his head, "None. If we don't evacuate the planet, everyone on Angel One will die."
"How long before the planet can sustain life again?" Ramsey said.
The commander's eyebrows lifted, "Well, if the government would accept Starfleet's help, our terraformers and scientists could have it inhabitable in a couple of months… but they don't even want to acknowledge that there is an asteroid at this point."
"Fools," Ariel spat. "I remember Aliana when she was with the security force. She always was short-sighted and close-minded."
"Do I take it your group will evacuate to the Enterprise?" Riker asked.
"Of course, Commander," Ramsey said. "We are independent, but not stupid."
"No," Ariel looked at her husband.
"What?" his head whirled. "Ariel… the children…"
"You go. Take the children to the ship. My people need me."
"Ariel…" Ramsey protested.
She didn't pay him any attention. "Commander, from what I understand, I may be the only one of the old Mistresses alive."
Riker nodded, "That may very well be the case."
"Then the people might listen to me. Aliana never would… but if I appealed to the common woman… we might be able to save at least some of our civilization."
She looked into Ramsey's eyes. A light dawned there, and the edges of his mouth turned up in a rusty smile.
"You're right," he said. "That's the way to do it."
Riker wasn't so sure about the plan. "Now, wait a minute, Mistress… As Starfleet officers, you know we can't assist you in rebelling against your government."
Ariel scoffed. "It isn't my government, Commander. And I find it hard to believe Starfleet would look to kindly on a ship that lost the entire population of a planet, minus four small families… Now, please, beam the rest of them to your ship. I will go back with you to the capital.
Riker nodded grudgingly, and tapped his communicator. "Riker to Enterprise… 18 to transport."
Chief O'Brien's voice answered back. "Only 18, sir? We're running out of time. By my estimates, we need to start transporting at full capacity within the next eight hours in order to get everyone up safely before the asteroid hits."
"I know, O'Brien," Riker said. "If all goes as planned, we'll be able to start before then."
"Yes sir," the transporter chief answered, "18 coming up." Ramsey and the others soon dematerialized. Only Riker, Troi and Ariel remained in the tent.
"Now, O'Brien," Riker said. "Take us back to Data and Ro."
"Yes sir."
The tent disappeared, and when the trio rematerialized, they were in the guest chambers again.
"Now, Mistress Ariel," Riker asked. "What is your plan?"
A fire glinted in her eyes. "Now, Commander, I talk to the people." She stormed towards the door.
"Commander?" Ro looked at him quizzically.
"Ensign," he responded. "Accompany Mistress Ariel. If she gets into any danger, I want both of you beamed back on the Enterprise, understand?"
"Yes sir," she half-smiled, and whirled around to follow Ariel.
"Commander," Data said, "May I point out that by bringing Mistress Ariel here, your actions might be interpreted as a violation of the Prime Directive?"
"I know, Data." Riker said. "Let's hope no one interprets it that way."
The android nodded, "Yes sir. Perhaps then, it would be best if Counselor Troi would accompany me to the science labs… We can discuss more of the asteroid situation with the scientists." He raised a brow.
Riker broke out into a grin. "That does sound like a good plan, Mister Data. Just remember, we have less than eight hours."
"Understood, sir."
"Mr. Machine, are you suggesting we evacuate without Mistress Aliana's consent?" Calindra asked in amazement.
Data nodded from under the hood of his caftan. "The Enterprise will beam aboard anyone who wishes to leave."
"But Aliana…"
"Mistress," Data said slowly. "If the planet is not evacuated soon, everyone on Angel One will die… including Mistress Aliana. We have located an exiled member of the old government, who has requested the Federation's help in this matter."
"…Ariel," Dalia realized. She threw a glance at the other scientists. "Well, Mr. Machine. I, for one, would rather take my chances with her, than listen to Aliana and die. Count me in."
Calindra seemed frozen at first, but then, she too smiled. "Devon will be so happy… my husband…" she said for Data's benefit. "We were married just before all this started. We never got to take a honeymoon… males traveling for pleasure was something Aliana forbid right away."
"Do all of you wish to go?" Data asked.
The scientists all nodded.
"Then go get your families… Quickly… There is not much time… And meet me in the guest quarters in an hour. Tell others. Bring as many as you can."
Riker was surprised with how smoothly the evacuation seemed to be going. They had met little resistance so far. Even a couple of policewomen had decided to throw their lot in with Ariel and the others and were beamed aboard.
There were only a few hundred more people to transport to the ship, and Aliana had not even tried to stop them.
There was no way she couldn't have known what was going on… the population of her planet was disappearing… but she had made no move to stop them.
Why not?
She hadn't struck Riker as someone to give up that easily… even if she knew she was wrong.
"Will," Troi came up to him. "Have you seen Ro and Ariel recently?"
"No, not since they left here. They're still out looking for people to evacuate."
Troi shivered. "No one has seen them since they brought this group in… " She nodded to the fifty or so men and women gathered in the corner of the room. "That was three hours ago. I sense panic from them… I thought it was just the situation, but as the room is clearing out and my senses are becoming more focused… I'm beginning to think they're in some kind of danger... Will, Aliana must have them."
Riker sighed. Just great.
It had been going too well.