THREE
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion an empire's glory:
Picard breakfasted in his ready room.
"Captain's log, stardate…. It is difficult to be precise. We have discovered that the Magrans, the people who gave us such timely assistance are extinct in our own time. If there is any way the Enterprise can assist them to survive, I have resolved to render that assistance. I believe this will cause friction with Worf, I will have to find a way around that."
While he ate, the screen on his desk showed scenes broadcast from the Magran homeworld. They had a number of entertainment channels and Picard had found a program that focussed on buildings as art. There were machine made structures tens of miles tall. When the door signalled, he called "Come."
Treyn appeared in the middle of the room.
"Good morning, captain, I hope you slept well," Trayne said, obviously not expecting an answer to the social nicety. Trayne himself did not look as if he had slept. His eyes were red and the bags under them heavy and black.
"Very well, thank you," Picard said, waving the man to a seat. "Magran manners are certainly different from the Klingons."
"I absorbed the records of human customs," Treyn said
"I wish I could absorb information as easily. According to this program, Magran's take turns designing buildings and cities? It appears you have turned architecture into an art form."
"It's a phase we all seem to go through," Trayn replied. Suddenly they were in a large room, divided by chest high partitions. The children played in an area in the middle distance. Picard guessed it would take him several minutes to walk the across this one room. "We built on a large scale, because we expected to live forever."
Picard walked to a window wall and looked down and up. The outer structure looked to be made of a form of ruby glass. Ribs of glass reflected the light of Magra. All around this tower were others of different shapes and colours, some tens of miles high.
"It's elegant and beautiful," he concluded.
"Thank you, although it's a bit of a failure, only a couple of hundred thousand Magrans have chosen to occupy it."
The floor was black and splashed like liquid as he stepped, although Picard noted that his shoes did not appear wet.
"Hologram flooring?" he asked.
"My current partner is an artist, her work is all about texture."
Picard noted a series of large objects placed around the room. Some were four metres high and of different textures and colours. They all moved. Picard concluded they were a mix of reality and hologram, to the point where you could not tell one from the other.
"These would be her work?"
"Yes. This must all seem a little grandiose to you?"
"More than a little," Picard admitted. "But understandable that you would use this level of technological achievement to enhance your living space."
"Look on my works ye might, and despair," Trayn said as he joined Picard by the window, to look out over his city.
"You've memorised Shelley too?"
"I know the feeling he was trying to convey," Treyn answered. They were back in Picard's ready room, he sat and reached for his tea.
"If I were truly mighty, there would be a way I could help you," he answered as he refilled his glass with Earl Grey tea.
"There is a way you can help us."
"Oh? So what can I do for you?" Picard asked and sipped tea.
"We ask you to take our children to your time."
Picard spluttered tea. "How many children are there?"
"Eight hundred thousand, seven hundred and three," Treyn answered, unblinking.
"I'm sorry, but the Enterprise cannot carry that many people." Picard breathed through his mouth, afraid of where this conversation was going. The Magrans could transport through shields, leaving the Enterprise no defences against them.
"Enterprise won't have to. We are developing what you call a transporter buffer, large enough to contain our children's patterns for years," Treyn said. "The mathematics are causing problems, but Kolth believes it will be ready by tomorrow morning. It will not affect your ship or crew in any way. When you release it in your time, the container will make it's own way at warp two."
"To where?"
"We hope to leave a coded signal for the children to follow- if any of us survive," Treyne said bitterly.
Picard sipped tea, it gave him a moment to consider his response. "I should discuss this with my senior officers, he decided.
They left it at that and Picard made his way to the bridge. He paused at the doors of the turbolift to look around. The Bridge looked as it always had. He was hard pressed to see any evidence of battle damage.
Worf was Officer of the Day, but worked at Tactical rather than occupy the command chair.
"You are relieved, Mr Worf," Picard said.
"I stand relieved," Worf gave the expected reply without looking up from his console.
"Report please, Mr Worf?" Picard reminded him gently.
"Tactical is a mess, sir, there are new systems and repaired systems and Magran made parts; everything is mis-aligned and uncalibrated," Worf said. "I do not believe we can hit a planet in our current condition."
"And the rest of the ship?"
"Most of the crew have returned. Most ship systems are showing nominal and La Forge estimates we will be ready to leave in another three hours," Worf reported. "Although we would be defenceless if we did."
"Call senior officers to the Observation Lounge," Picard said. "We've been asked a favour by the Magrans."
Worf placed his palm on the Tactical station and leaned his wait on them. Picard braced his shoulders for the angry outburst.
"Sir, we cannot aid those… those creatures," Worf growled. "Better leave them to their fate."
"Lieutenant," Picard reminded him of their work relationship. "That smacks of ingratitude."
Worf spluttered but dropped his head and summoned the senior staff.
Picard walked through to the Observation Lounge, took his customary seat and waited. He was in two minds about the advisability of rescuing the Magran children. Could we somehow alter our own future?
He watched his senior staff arrive and take seats. Worf sat with his arms crossed and canines bared. Everyone but Data looked tired. Normally, Picard enjoyed this room, with its floor to ceiling windows giving a view of the stars, but now the view of Magra only served to remind him of the problem.
"Beverly, you look tired. Didn't the Magrans ease your workload?" Picard asked.
"I've been working with Data and the Magrans to adapt their medical technology for our use. The problem is, we don't have the computing power to use transporter and replicator technology the way they do."
"Pity," Picard said. He looked La Forge over. Even though a visor hid his eyes, the young Chief Engineer looked as if he had not slept. Picard realised he had not spoken to Geordi face to face for almost four days.
"We have been asked a favour by the Magrans-" Picard began and Worf snorted. "And I would like your opinions."
He then explained the situation in detail.
"We should do it," Counsellor Troi said. "Why heal us and repair Enterprise, if they wished us harm?"
"Good point, counsellor," Picard acknowledged.
"And I'm picking up real concern over their children," Counsellor Troi said. Tears brimmed in her large dark eyes. Not for the first time, Picard wondered what it must be like to be an empath and feel other people's emotions.
Riker took her hand and squeezed it.
"We cannot trust the Magrans," Worf declared. "That device could be a security threat."
"Chief O'Brien and I could run scans on the device before we leave," La Forge suggested. "He would love a look at a buffer that can hold a billion patterns at once."
"They should be left to their fate," Worf said, staring at the smoked glass of the table top.
"Why?" Picard asked.
"Because they have broken with our traditions, tossed away everything that is Klingon," Worf said.
You didn't need to be an empath to read Klingon anger.
"They believe they have improved on what it means to be Klingon," Riker pointed out.
"Did you believe the Borg when they claimed to improve people?" Worf asked.
"Good point, Mr Worf," Picard said calmly. "But we are talking about the lives of children here."
"Would you say that about Borg children?" Worf challenged. "Or would you try to cure them of being Borg?"
"I would try to save them from the Borg," Picard admitted. "But the Borg strip away everything that makes us who we are. It seems to me the Magrans have augmented their physical forms, but kept their individuality."
"They have twisted everything that is Klingon! Thrown away our traditions, our way of life and death."
"They seem as fierce and single minded as any Klingons I've met" Riker said. "Only now they're obsessed by research and technology. No wonder they are more advanced than the Vulcans."
"Science is a pursuit for women," Worf said.
"Would it help to consider the Magrans as a different species?" Data asked. "I have noticed that you do not have problems with other technologically advanced species."
"Other species do not claim to have evolved from Klingons," Worf pointed out.
"Perhaps you should stand down from duty, Mr Worf, at least until we are back in our own time," Picard said. "The Magrans helped us when this ship and her crew were in dire need; it's only fair to help them if we can."
Worf looked stunned for a moment; stared into space. Picard gave him time to come to a fair conclusion.
"I will continue in my post and follow your orders, captain," he said. "I am your Security Chief and I would be failing in my duty if I did not examine this device for myself."
"Very well," Picard said. "Then I believe, we should carry the device back to our own time, provided it is not a danger to this ship or her crew. The second problem I wish to discuss is: do we return to Federation space before returning to our own time- which would guarantee we don't meet our attackers again- or do we return to our own time in this star system, which would guarantee we meet our attackers."
"We've only just put the Enterprise back together, we shouldn't risk meeting those ships again," La Forge said.
"But returning to Federation space twenty years early, would mean passing those dead worlds we scanned during the battle. By doing so, there is a small chance that we may be responsible for the extinction of those civilisations," Data pointed out. "Even if we do not interact with them directly, someone may scan the Enterprise and develop new technology."
"But that would mean we already travelled across their territory, because those worlds were dead when we passed them in the future. So in order not to change our past" La Forge pointed out, his face twisting in concentration. "We must return through their territories before jumping forward to our own time?"
"Perhaps," Data said. "But we have no certain knowledge that would render it a probability that we brought about the destruction of those civilisations, it is merely a possibility."
"What if we return thirty minutes before we left?" Worf asked. "Then there would be two Enterprises and we are fresh for battle."
"Then we would remember seeing ourselves arrive," Data pointed out. "And what if our arrival delays the captain's decision to time warp; we risk changing our recent past."
"Hang on," Riker said. "If we return half an hour before we left- then we may not leave? I'm confused."
"Commander Riker would be a living Schroedinger's Cat experiment: alive and dead at the same time. I wonder if-"Data said.
"Let's not risk changing our own recent past," Picard held up a hand. "We have been lucky our dead and injured were returned to us that may not happen if we change something."
"I agree," Riker grinned suddenly. "I don't like the idea of not knowing if I'm alive or dead."
"Very well," Worf nodded. "But what if we return to our time five minutes before we left, but on the other side of one of those blank spots we scanned?"
"Always looking for the tactical advantage, Mr Worf, but how does that benefit us?" Picard asked.
"We attack one blind spot and bring down their cloaking technology. Our scans would show us who they are and how they generate the vast energies needed to replicate a fleet of ships. The rest of the fleet willstill be focussed on our older selves, so nothing of our past will be changed."
"We do not have the ability to calculate a return coarse with that level of precision," Data said.
"But those replicator ships are a danger to the Federation. They are only a week at warp 8 away from our border," Worf pressed his argument.
"We don't have the technical ability, but the Magrans might," Picard pointed out. Worf squared his shoulders ready for another argument, and then slumped in defeat.
"It would benefit the Federation to know how these ships work and what their intentions are," he admitted.
"But how do we escape with that knowledge?" Riker asked. "We have no idea how large the cloaked ship's area of influence is, or how to get back to Federation space in one piece."
Picard drummed his fingers on the glass table top: "We need more information. We must find a way to predict how far the influence of our attackers stretches. Is there some way to interrupt their ability to replicate ships? Data and Geordi, contact the Magrans and see if their analysts can give us these answers. We will reconvene at the same time tomorrow to decide our course home."
Picard sat alone in his Ready Room. He had spent most of the past half hour staring at the desk top, allowing his thoughts to wander around the various problems they faced.
"Captain's log supplemental:" he recorded. "I am on the point of alienating Worf. He is too important a part of this crew for that to happen. But I cannot in all conscience turn away the Magrans. I must find a way to keep Worf and give the assistance my conscience believes is the Magran's due."
He returned to staring at the table top.