"That's the Assembly." Kes pointed to a tall, multi-storied, multi-roofed building beside the canal they were crossing. "The Elders meet there to discuss the running of the city. And that's the Central Archive, over there. It's only a few more blocks to the clinic."

As she led them through the city, she pointed out major landmarks and explained, piecemeal, some of her people's history. Sometimes Daggin or one of the young farmers who had tagged along chimed in. Kirk recognized the way she spoke from some of the first contact missions he'd been on: she knew they didn't understand her culture, but was so ignorant of their own she didn't know what needed explaining and what didn't. She spent several minutes earnestly describing a technological concept Kirk was perfectly familiar with, then blithely passed over a bizarre religious precept without comment. First contacts were not so common Kirk could feel blasé about them, and he knew he'd screwed this one up from start to finish. If only they had time to do things right...

Sulu looked like he was thinking the same thing, and even Sh'athylnik gazed longingly at the graceful buildings and broad side-streets they passed without pause. Cetran, as usual, seemed politely interested but unruffled, but Khan...

The augment's eyes were wide and intent as he gazed steadily around the city, as though memorizing every line, every face. He looked fascinated, amazed, and Kirk realized with a start that he must have never been on another planet before. Surely Marcus would never have allowed to him to leave Earth. His open curiosity was so natural, so human, that Kirk was again struck by the uncomfortable feeling that they had more in common than not.

Khan caught Kirk staring, and his expression became closed and unreadable. Kirk looked away.

The central clinic was up a level from where they had entered, on an enormous balcony overlooking the city. Inside, the lights were just a little too bright for human eyes and the air was full of an unfamiliar smell that was nonetheless identifiable as the scent of a hospital. Ocampa in white and gray robes moved around purposefully; others in more varied clothes seemed to be patients, though no one appeared seriously ill or injured.

Bones would love to talk to these people, Kirk thought, looking around. Compare notes.

Kes stopped them in what was probably some kind of waiting room. "Wait here," she said. "We'll see what we can find out."

Kirk nodded, and she and Daggin vanished down a hallway. He glanced around the room and tried not to look as uncomfortable as he felt. The doctors and nurses watched the away team curiously, but no one approached them. Kirk felt more alien than he had almost anywhere else—even in places where the people looked a lot less human than the Ocampa did. Still, there was no hostility in the stares they received. Kirk found it difficult to believe pre-Contact humans would be so calm when faced with a group of aliens in their midst. Maybe it was being cut off from the outside world for so long: the Ocampa had never learned to fear strangers.

"These people are helpless," Khan said.

"What?"

Khan looked briefly surprised that he had spoken aloud; then his face returned to its usual haughty coldness. "They have no defensive or offensive capabilities," he said, but he kept his voice too low for the Ocampa to overhear. Kirk had to lean closer to hear him. "When the Magog come, they will be utterly destroyed."

"What makes you so sure the Magog will make it down here?"

Khan gave him a dry, pitying look. Kirk clenched his jaw and turned away. There were still too many unknowns for Kirk to admit that Khan was right—but not enough unknowns to muster a convincing argument against him. He imagined the beautiful city in smoking ruins, the peaceful Ocampa rounded up by Black Claw and his Magog cannibals. The image sickened him.

"And here I thought you were admiring the scenery," Kirk said bitterly. "I should have known you were planning an invasion."

"You assume I cannot do both at once."

Kirk shot him a look, wondering if that was humor in the other man's voice, but Khan's face was as unreadable as ever.

"In any case," Khan continued, "I was planning a defense, not an attack—or trying to. I am forced to admit this city is nearly indefensible." When Kirk continued to look skeptical, he said, "This is the… first alien city I have ever seen, Captain. It would be a shame to see it destroyed."

"You saw the city on the surface," Kirk said, but he knew he was splitting hairs.

Khan's lip curled. "The Magog are nothing more than scavengers, jackals waiting to pick at the lion's leavings. The Ocampa must have once been a great people—but I think Kes is right. They have lost much through their dependence on the Caretaker."

A sudden hush fell over the room. Kirk looked around, trying to figure out what had changed, but everyone looked as confused and worried as he felt.

"The pulses have stopped," Trance said. Her voice was loud and frightened in the silence.

Kirk pulled out his communicator. "Spock, what's going on the with the array?"

"It's no longer sending out pulses, Captain, and appears to be realigning its position."

Whatever the Caretaker was doing, it was in its final stages. Which meant their window finding Kati and Chekov and returning to the array before it did… whatever if was doing… was rapidly vanishing. "Keep me posted. Kirk out."

Around the reception room, patients were calling out for reassurance; the doctors and nurses had their heads together, whispering. Sh'athylnik's antennae twitched. "We need to get out of here," she said.

As if she had summoned them, Kes and Daggin reappeared at a run. "Your friends haven't been seen at the clinic for hours," Kes said, panting.

"But they were here?" Kirk demanded. "Both of them, alive?"

"A male and female, just like you described," Kes said. "They had the same sickness as the other aliens the Caretaker sends, but otherwise they were fine."

"We can search the city," Daggin offered. "Ask if anyone's seen them."

Kes's friends nodded in agreement. "Good," Kirk said, but inside he was wondering how long that would take. Their Ocampa escort, a dozen strong, hurried away to begin the search, blending smoothly with the rest of the populace. Chekov and Kati could never be so inconspicuous; someone would have seen them, remembered them. Still, Kirk felt a terrible sense of urgency, and couldn't shake the feeling that they didn't have time to wander aimlessly around the city until they picked up the trail.

Where would they have gone?

"If they were trying to get to the surface," he asked, "how would they do it?"

Kes shrugged. "Probably the same way I did: through one of the ancient tunnels."

But would Chekov and Kati know that? Kirk shook his head, frustrated. They needed to work this problem from both ends. "Mr. Sulu, you and Trance go with Kes and start checking them out. Commander, you and Harrison are with me. We need to talk to every doctor and nurse in this hospital, see what they can tell us about Chekov and Kati."

A muffled explosion sounded somewhere overhead. The entire building shook. Kirk staggered, almost fell. A small child, not so lucky, lost his footing and careened into Khan's legs. Someone screamed on the street outside. Kirk snapped open his communicator, but it chirped with an incoming message before he could speak.

"Enterprise to Kirk."

"Go ahead, Mr. Spock."

"Captain, the array is firing some kind of weapon at the surface. It appears to be trying to seal the energy conduits."

Khan set the child back on his feet and pushed him back toward his mother with a light hand between his shoulder blades. Sh'athylnik, frustrated, said, ""That doesn't make any sense. Why would the Caretaker seal the conduits if they're the only source of the Ocampa's energy?"

"He would seal them if he no longer intended to use them, to protect the Ocampa from their enemies," Khan said.

"He's dying."

They were all clustered around Kirk's open communicator. At her words, they all turned to look at Cetran. Her gold eyes were stricken. "What do you mean?" Kirk demanded.

Khan answered for her. "First the Caretaker increased the energy supply to provide the Ocampa with a five-year surplus. Then he seals the conduits. Clearly he does not intend to continue his role as caretaker."

"How do you know how much energy he's sent the Ocampa?" Sh'athylnik countered. "And regardless, that doesn't necessarily mean he's dying He could be leaving."

"I must agree with Mr. Harrison, Commander," Spock said through the communicator. "It seems unlikely the Caretaker would simply leave after a millennium of providing for these people. His reference to a debt that can never be repaid would seem to refer to a debt to the Ocampa. Additionally, he made frequent references to running out of time. I believe he knew his death was immanent."

"If he dies," Sulu wondered aloud, "How the hell are we supposed to get home?"

Good question, Kirk thought. But at the sight of Kes and Daggin's frightened faces, he felt a pang of guilt. It was selfish, or at least tactless, to worry about returning to familiar space in front of people who were facing the potential destruction of their entire civilization.

"Come on," he said reluctantly. "We need to get moving."