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Counsellor Troi had paid a visit to sickbay, where Dr Crusher was currently tending to Ensign Rayve, who had injured his knee in the holodeck. Meanwhile, Nurse Gallente was giving a civilian boy his annual check-up. "He's after more than a history lesson, I can tell you that." Troi remarked to Crusher, regarding their guest.
"What is it? What're you getting from him?" Crusher asked her.
"I don't know." Troi sighed. "But it's like he's trying to confuse us... misdirect us somehow."
Rasmussen came sauntering in at that moment. "There you are." he said cheerfully. "Well, that certainly was exciting, wasn't it?"
"Professor, is everything alright? Are you well?" Dr Crusher asked him.
"Couldn't be better, thank you." Rasmussen replied. "I just thought we might chat about your questionnaire." He turned to Rayve. "Buck up, crewman, you're a credit to that uniform."
Troi rolled her eyes at Rasmussen. "I've got some things to take care of." she muttered, and tried to make an exit.
"No, please, Counsellor. I would very much appreciate your remaining." Rasmussen said to her, then turned back to Dr Crusher. "Doctor, in response to my 6th question, you spoke of a neural stimulator. May I see one?"
"I don't see why not." Crusher shrugged as she finished tending to Rayve. "Give me a minute." And she headed off to the medical stores.
Troi began to walk away but Rasmussen went after her. "You don't like me very much, do you?" he asked.
"I don't dislike you, Professor." Troi waved him off as they passed Gallante and the boy.
"Keep your eyes wide, soldier. You'll be telling your grandchildren how you were there at Penthara IV." Rasmussen said to the boy, then turned back to Troi. "But you don't trust me. You should, ya know."
"Should I?" Troi asked coolly.
"'Picard's empath won't trust you.' That' what they all said."
"Picard's empath?" Troi glared.
"We're not unalike, you and I." Rasmussen continued. "You possess a sense that is foreign to the others. My knowledge of the future is similar. Ya know, some of my best friends are empaths... they trust me."
"Why should you care whether I trust you or not?" Troi asked.
"We're birds of a feather... colleagues."
"You're right... I don't trust you." Troi said as Dr Crusher returned.
"I knew you'd say that." Rasmussen said with a syrupy grin.
"I'm sure you did." Troi retorted, returning the smile.
"Well, it's nice to see you two are finally getting along." Dr Crusher remarked as she handed Rasmussen a neural stimulator.
"I really have to be going." Troi said, and made her exit.
Dr Crusher turned to Ramussen with a warm smile. He returned the smile but seemed a bit shy. An awkward beat ensured until Nurse Gallante came over and handed Crusher a PADD. "Why don't you try a berylite scan?" Crusher said to her. "I'd be interested to see where his micro-levels are." Gallante left and Crusher turned back to Rasmussen. "So... what else can I show you?"
"You're a very curious woman." Rasmussen commented, causing Crusher to raise a brow at him. Rasmussen realised what she was thinking. "No, no, I don't mean curious like that. I mean you're curious... curious about things. About berylite levels... about the future."
"Curiosity is why most of us are out here, Professor." Crusher shrugged as they walked towards her office.
"I understand, but you're different. More... vibrant. More..." Rasmussen fished for words.
"More vibrant. That's nice, I like that." Crusher said flatly as they entered the vestibule outside her office.
"Ya know, whenever I... travel back, I meet very interesting people... men and women. But I've never anyone who gave me thoughts about not going home." Rasmussen said in a leering way.
Crusher was now growing weary of the attention. "You're not supposed to be influencing the past, remember? And I'm beginning to feel a little... influenced." she said as she managed to sidle past Rasmussen. "Anyway, I could be your great, great, great, great, grandmother." She gave him a curt smile and went into her office while Rasmussen left sickbay.
~8~
On the bridge, the senior crew were discussing Rasmussen. "What kind of questions did he have for you, Number One?" Picard asked Riker.
"All he wanted to know about was previous starships." Riker replied. "What I thought was innovative about the last Enterprise, the one before that. He said he wanted to see if we had a 'grasp of the fundamentals.'"
"His queries to me primarily focussed on Dr Soong's..." Data began, but was cut off by an alarm.
"Captain, I'm detecting a massive earthquake on the surface." Ensign Locke called from Science II, where she'd been monitoring the conditions on Penthara IV. Riker went over to join her as another alarm sounded. "No, two earthquakes." Locke corrected.
"Location?" Picard asked.
Data checked his console. "Both epicentres are beneath the two southernmost drill sites, Captain." he reported.
"Is La Forge down there?" Picard asked.
"Yes, sir." Worf replied.
"Find him." Picard ordered.
More alarms sounded from Science II. "We've also got some volcanic activity." Riker observed. "Pretty severe."
"Magnify." Picard ordered, and the viewscreen showed a close-up view of Penthara IV, where the crew could see huge volcanic plumes rising through the dense dust clouds.
"La Forge here, Captain. Moseley and I are on our way back to his lab." La Forge's voice said over the comm.
"Are you alright?" Picard asked him.
"We're okay, but those were pretty big, sir." La Forge replied. "If this was Earth, I'd say around an eight or an eight five on the Richter Scale. We're starting to see some volcanic plumes, Captain."
"Two more eruptions, sir." Locke reported as more alarms sounded.
"It is likely that we overestimated the geologic stability around the CO2 pockets, Captain." Data said.
"We're in the lab, sir." La Forge said, and Picard motioned for Worf to put him on the viewscreen.
The screen showed Dr Moseley's lab, where everyone was busy dealing with the emergency. "We're fairly well quake-proof down here, Picard. It's the volcanic dust I'm worried about." Moseley said as another jolt hit the lab.
"What about the dust?" Picard asked.
"The ash the volcanoes are throwing into the atmosphere is gonna compound the existing problem." La Forge explained. "In a matter of days, there'll be no sunlight getting through those clouds."
"And no amount of CO2 is going to help us then." Moseley added.
"Captain, take a look at this." Riker called, and Picard joined him and Locke at Science II. "These are the coordinates of the eruptions," Riker said, pointing to one of two maps on the monitor, "and these are the phaser drilling sites." He pointed to the other map then pressed a button and the two maps overlapped. The eruption points and the drilling sites were exactly the same.
"The mantle is collapsing where the pressure was released." Picard realised.
"Captain, Dr Moseley and I have a couple of ideas, but they're gonna take some time to sort out." La Forge said.
"Sort them out, Geordi." Picard said grimly.
"Aye, sir." La Forge acknowledged, and the view of the lab was replaced by the shrouded planet with volcanic plumes now visible and lighting could be seen at the cloud tops.
"We came here to help these people." Riker said grimly.
"And look what we've done." Picard sighed. All they'd done was make things worse.
~8~
The doors to La Forge's quarters opened and Rasmussen peered out to see if the coast was clear. Seeing that he was alone, he stepped out of the quarters and strolled casually along the corridor. As he rounded a corner, he passed two crew members and cheerfully nodded at them. He continued on his way until he reached Data's quarters and pressed the chime. The doors opened and Rasmussen entered the room to be greeted by a bizarre cacophony of sounds that almost overpowered him. "What in God's name is that?!" he shouted over the noise.
"Music, Professor." Data answered from where he was working at his desk.
"Music?"
"Yes, sir. Mozart's Jupiter symphony in C major, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto number three, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, second movement, molto vivace and La Donna e Mobile from Verdi's Rigoletto."
"D'ya think you could thin it out a little?" Rasmussen asked.
"Computer, eliminate Programme One." Data ordered, and one of the four compositions was silenced.
Rasmussen shook his head.
"Computer, eliminate Programme Two."
Another programme stopped. Rasmussen shook his head again.
"Computer, eliminate Programme Three."
Only one track was left playing now. Rasmussen gestured with his hand for Data to turn the volume down.
"Computer, half volume." Data ordered, and the music's volume lowered to a much better level.
"How the hell can you listen to four pieces of music at the same time?" Rasmussen asked now that he could hear himself think.
"Actually, I am capable of distinguishing over one hundred and fifty simultaneous compositions," Data replied, "but in order to analyse the aesthetics, I try to keep it to ten or less."
"Only four today?" Rasmussen asked sarcastically.
"I am assisting Commander. La Forge in the analysis of an extremely complex calculation. It demands a great deal of my concentration." Data replied, oblivious to the sarcasm.
"Well, I came to thank you for answering my questions, though I probably should have asked you to limit yourself to fifty thousand words." Rasmussen said.
"You did ask me to be thorough." Data reasoned.
"I realise it's hard to believe, Data, but very few records of Dr Soong's work survived to the 26th century, so it would be invaluable to myself and other historians, if you could provide us with some schematics." Rasmussen said.
"Certainly, as soon as my work here is completed." Data replied.
"Just as long as it's before 0900 hours tomorrow." Rasmussen replied. "That's when I'll be... heading back."
"Bridge to Commander Data." Worf's voice said over the intercom.
"Yes, Worf?" Data acknowledged.
"Commander La Forge is hailing you from the surface, sir." Worf reported.
"Patch it through, please." Data requested.
La Forge appeared on Data's monitor. "Have you rerun the phase reversal figures, Data?" he asked.
"There were no errors, Geordi." Data replied. "The variance must be no more than .06 terawatts."
"Well, I don't see any other choice." La Forge said. "We'll continue to run the numbers down here but I doubt we'll come up with anything different. You better inform the captain of the good news and the bad news. La Forge out."
While the two Starfleet officers had been talking, Rasmussen had helped himself to a tricorder, slipping it covertly into his pocket. "Which d'ya s'pose he's gonna want to hear first?" he asked Data when the transmission ceased.
~8~
"The good news." Picard requested when Data came to see him in the ready room to inform him of the plan.
"The motion of the dust has created a great deal of electrostatic energy in the upper atmosphere." Data replied. "With a modified phaser blast, we could create a shock front that would encircle the planet and ionise the particles."
"That would be like striking a spark in a gas-filled room." Picard frowned.
"With one exception, sir. The particles would be converted into a high-energy plasma which our shields could absorb and redirect harmlessly into space." Data explained.
"Turn the Enterprise into a lightning rod?" Picard queried.
"Precisely, sir." Data confirmed.
"And the bad news?"
"If our phaser blast is off by as little as .06 terawatts, it would cause a cascading exothermal inversion."
"Meaning?"
"We would completely burn off the planet's atmosphere." Data replied.
Picard processed this information. Twenty million lives hung in the balance and he faced a difficult choice to make.
~8~
"Captain's log, supplemental. While Dr Moseley takes La Forge's plan to the leaders of the colony, I find myself weighing the potential consequences of a more philosophical issue."
Picard stared out of the ready room viewport deep in thought. The door chimed. "Come." Picard called.
The door opened and Rasmussen entered the room.
"I imagine you know why I've asked you here." Picard said to him.
"Yeah, I have a fairly good idea." Rasmussen replied.
"I'm faced with a dilemma. There's a planet beneath us that is slowly turning to ice. If we don't do something about it, I'm told that in a matter of weeks thousands, maybe tens of thousands, will die."
"That would be a shame." Rasmussen said indifferently.
Picard fixed him with a hard look. "Yes, it would." he said flatly. "It would be quite a shame."
"So what's your dilemma?" Rasmussen asked.
"Commander La Forge has a possible solution. The margins of error are extremely critical, but if successful, there'll be no more threat." Picard replied.
"And if it's not successful?"
"Every living thing will perish."
"So... do nothing and thousands will die. Do something and millions could die. Tough choice." Rasmussen remarked.
"Not if you were to help me." Picard said hypothetically.
"You're not suggesting I tell you the outcome of your efforts?" Rasmussen raised a brow.
"Oh no, I'm not. Everything that Starfleet stands for, everything that I have ever believed in, tells me I cannot ask you that." Picard said. "But at the same time, there are twenty million lives down there, and you know what happened to them. What will happen to them."
"So, it seems you have another dilemma." Rasmussen remarked. "One that questions your convictions."
"Well, I've never been afraid of re-evaluating my convictions, Professor, and now, I have twenty million reasons to do so." Picard said.
"And why did you ask to see me?" Rasmussen questioned.
"Because your presence gives me potential access to a kind of information that I've never had available to me before, and if I am to re-examine my beliefs, then I must take advantage of every possible asset." Picard replied. "It would be irresponsible of me not to ask you here."
"However you come to terms with your beliefs, Captain, I must tell you I'm quite comfortable with mine." Rasmussen shrugged.
"How can you be?" Picard asked him. "How can you be 'comfortable' watching people die?"
"Let me put it to you this way." Rasmussen answered patronisingly. "If I were to tell you that none of those people died, you'd easily conclude that you tried your 'solution' and it succeeded. So, you'd confidently try again. No harm in that. But what if I were to tell you they all died? What then? Obviously, you'd decide not to make the same mistake twice. Now, what if one of those people grew up..."
"I know, Professor," Picard interrupted, "'What if one of those lives I save down there is a child who grows up to be the next Adolf Hitler or Khan Singh?' Every first year philosophy student have been asked that question ever since the earliest wormholes were discovered. But this is not a class in temporal logic. It's not theoretical, it's not hypothetical, it's real. Surely you see that?"
"I see it all too well." Rasmussen replied. "But you must see that if I were to influence you, everything in this sector, in this quadrant of the galaxy could change. History, my history, would unfold in a way other than it already has. Now what possible incentive could anyone offer me to allow that to happen?"
"I have two choices." Picard said. "Either way, one version of history will wend it's way forward; the history you know or another one. Now who is to say which is better? What I do know is here, today, one way, millions of lives could be saved. Now isn't that incentive enough?" he asked reasonably.
"Everyone dies, Captain. It's just a question of when." Rasmussen said nonchalantly. "All of those people down there died years before I was born. All of you up here as well. So you see, I can't get quite as worked up as you over the fate of some colonists who, for me, have been dead a long time."
"Of course, you know of the Prime Directive, which tells us that we have no right to interfere with the natural evolution of alien worlds." Picard pressed. "Now I have sworn to uphold it, but... nevertheless I have disregarded that directive on more than one occasion... because I thought it was the right thing to do. Now, if you are holding on to some 'temporal' equivalent of that directive, then isn't it possible that you have an occasion here to make an exception, to help me to choose... because it's the right thing to do?"
"We're not just talking about a choice. It sounds to me like you're trying to manipulate the future." Rasmussen commented.
"Every choice we make allows us to manipulate the future." Picard countered. "Do I ask Adrienne or Suzanne to the spring dance? Do I take my holiday on Corsica or on Risa? A person's life, their future, hinges on each of a thousand choices. Living is making choices! Now you ask me to believe that if I make a choice other than the one found in your history books, then your past will be irrevocably altered. Well, you know, Professor, perhaps I don't give a damn about your past, because your past is my future and as far as I'm concerned, it hasn't been written yet." he finished impressively.
Just then, Riker's voice came over the comm, "Captain, the electrostatic conditions are about as good as they're going to get. If we're going to try this, now's the time."
Picard turned to Rasmussen and for a moment, the professor's guard dropped. "Please don't ask me, Captain." he said, his voice now sounded remorseful instead of cocky. "I can't help you. I'm sorry."
Picard gave him a long stare then turned and left the room. Rasmussen sneakily pocketed a handful of isolinear chips and followed him out onto the bridge where everyone was waiting for Picard to make his decision. "How long will it take to programme the phasers, Number One?" he asked his first officer.
"We've just got to tie in Geordi's atmospheric sensors." Riker replied, seeing that Picard meant business.
"So you've made your choice after all... and without my help." Rasmussen remarked, his cockiness back.
"Oh, on the contrary, Professor, you were quite helpful." Picard replied.
"How's that?"
"By refusing to assist me, you left me with the same choice I had to begin with; to try or not to try... to run the risk or to play it safe." Picard told him. "But your arguments have reminded me how precious the right to choose is. And because I've never been one to play it safe... I choose to try." He turned to his second officer. "Mr Data, programme the firing sequence.
"Aye, sir." Data acknowledged, and got to work, ready to carry out their million to one shot at saving Penthara IV.
Author's notes: And here's the next chapter, a lot longer than the previous two as I decided to merge acts three and four together, since act four is basically just Picard and Rasmussen talking in the ready room. That's actually my favourite scene in the episode. Patrick Stewart and Matt Frewer did a bang-up job of portraying the philosophical argument in that scene. Some more of Rasmussen's light-fingeredness crops up here. We get a lot of that in the retail industry and it gives us considerable trouble. Guess some things never change! A change I've made is that an OC ensign get's Worf's lines about the volcanic eruptions. I made that change as I felt that it should've been a science division officer's job to monitor the state of the planet, not tactical. The ensign's name is a nod to DarksideofParis, one of the fanfiction writers who inspired me to start doing my own, so I couldn't resist a little nod. So, hope you like this chapter and join us for the finale next time.