Matsubara found that she could not sleep. Maybe because it was not really nighttime. Afterall, she had just gotten up, and the meal she had eaten felt more like lunch than supper. Then again, it was hard to tell what time it should be for her body, and as a result, she felt a little restless. She was here, in the Doran crater, and at the time when she first got here, it seemed like it was within her grasp to get the Dorans to activate the outbound function. It seemed so logical and so practical, which perhaps made it difficult for the Dorans to grasp. Part of her mind thought she should use stealth, and somehow get herself into whatever control centre they had and do the changes herself. Then again, she was not exactly trained for that kind of mission. She had no idea where to go or what to do when she got there.
She had wandered away from the other humans, because she was worried about them and how they were reacting to her. They were expecting her to lead, and to do something, and if not lead, then to accept the blame for their problems. However, she was not used to leading. Her last display of leadership got her and Kayaha trapped here and turned into agricultural slaves.
Matsubara had a fleeting thought that perhaps the Dorans all went to sleep at night, and it was possible to sneak back into the residential structure and make her way to the transit station. Afterall, she still had the forcefield belt on, so exactly how were they going to stop her? If she could disarm one of them... and then she had to perish such thoughts. How could she disarm an alien? The forcefield belt could make her brave, or perhaps foolish too. The situation might make her think she could-or had to-do things that were different than what she usually did. Such thoughts were foolish. Nevertheless, she did look around. The structure had been built by the Dorans, or by someone well after the original structures were built, but the sensor-blocking fields still worked. She could not scan around the next corner or into the next room. What she did find was that the exits outside were all locked and secured from the outside. It was as if the Dorans were leaving the humans alone but confined to the structure. She could move around within it at will. As she did, she saw signs of previous occupation, of rooms that were once occupied but which now were not. She saw graffiti in alien languages and scripts, and strange symbols and what might have been idealized representations of faces and other things. As she wandered along the main corridor, testing each door to the outside that she could find, she realized that this area where the slaves were kept was quite large. How many slaves did the Dorans need to grow their food? What happens if there were no more slaves left? What were the chances of other societies stumbling on the buried structures and getting transported here? On Norg, the Odonans had mined and hit the structure, and on Charamand, the Federation had done the same thing. What were the odds of that happening elsewhere? Maybe that was a point that she should bring up with the Dorans. At some time, they will run out of slaves, and they will have to do the work themselves. Would it not be more practical to do their own work on a different planet, one that might be more supportive of life?
Then Matsubara came across a most interesting piece of graffiti. It was a sketch map of the galaxy, resembling a lot what she saw in this dark sky. The galaxy was not perfectly symmetrical, so it was easy to recognize which of the main arms was which, and which of the secondary spirals was which. It was easy to place the approximate location of the Federation. Since somebody had sketched out this image-and upon closer examination, it looked like it had been done over a couple of times-the other captured races had indicated their homes. She saw almost thirty different alien scripts pointing to thirty different locations. What was interesting about these locations was that they were all grouped around the wormhole terminuses. All the planets were within a thousand to fifteen hundred light years of the terminal points. Matsubara briefly thought about adding the location of her homeworld to the map, but she could not find anything to draw with.
"Who are you?"
Matsubara turned around, startled at the sound of the voice and the words, which were translated by the implant into English. She saw an alien woman. The alien was humanoid, about average height, but with a thin build and rather sunken features. She had bushy grayish-black hair that was bunched up into a crude bun on the top of her head, but what was curious was that thick, somewhat stiff hairlike growths came of her skull at various points and curved around their heads like halos. The growths seemed to converge in and around the bun of hair. The effect was, in Matsubara's mind, a little bizarre. Her first thought was on how these people must sleep. She also wondered how the transplant could handle the woman's native language, which the Federation had never encountered. Perhaps the alien was speaking the Doran tongue well enough for the implant to pick it up. On the other hand, how could the alien understand her?
"I'm Damiko Matsubara," the science officer asked.
She seemed to understand. "But what race?"
"Humans, from Earth."
"I have heard of neither." The alien glanced at the map, and said, "Which of those are you?"
"We're not on there." Nevertheless, Matsubara pointed out the approximate location of the homeworld. "We'd be from this location approximately. What about you?"
"I'm Ibane Thorbolth."
"Your race?"
The name that Thorbolth said was not translated, so Matsubara assumed it was the name that they used to refer to themselves. "Sikarians."
"I'm not familiar with that."
"Maybe not. We're from... here." She pointed to a location on the opposite side of the galaxy from the point that Matsubara had used. In other words, the Sikarians were from the Delta Quadrant. That would explain why she had never heard of them. Thorbolth continued, "We heard rumours about a new race that had appeared here, and were waiting to encounter you."
"Oh," Matsubara remarked. She was aware that history and fiction often told the similar story about how one group of slaves would attempt to become dominant over another, and abuse the newcomers in ways that they saw the slavemasters abuse them.
Thorbolth continued, "I guess for the Dorans, that's just in time, since we're on our last legs."
Judging by the appearance of the woman, who looked worn and gaunt, and she likely was suffering from any number of nutritional deficiencies as well, Matsubara surmised she must have been here for some time. She still asked, "How long have your people been on this planet?"
"A year and a half."
The figure shocked the science officer. It did not seem right. She had seen the Odonans, and they had survived for sixty-one years. "How'd you end up here?"
"I was part of a colony detail, a group of a hundred workers and support personnel. We had arrived at this planet, which looked like it was once occupied, but was abandoned now. I was part of the team that was sinking test bores for a geothermal tap when we hit... something. We tried to bore through it, but all attempts failed. Suddenly, on one last attempt... this happened. We ended up in some large room."
"All of you?"
"Everybody there."
"And your people never found you?" Matsubara asked.
"Perhaps they sent a ship. What they saw was our abandoned site, and our abandoned ship. They might've seen the test bores, and realized that something happened. Maybe they did not want to duplicate what we had done. I don't know. All I know is that we came over here with just emergency rations on us, but we managed to get the replicators to duplicate that. We had food, basic, uninspired food, but at least it was nutritionally complete." To Matsubara, that was very useful information. She knew that Turokuot and the others had found no way for the replicators to produce anything beyond what they were programmed to. She wanted to ask Thorbolth more about that, but the Sikarian woman continued, "Then the Dorans came."
"They attacked?"
"They grabbed twenty of us, and took us here, to become their farming slaves, because they're too lazy and too arrogant to do it themselves."
"What about the rest of your people?"
"They grabbed the rest of us later, in one big raid. I'd imagine the same thing happened to you. The Dorans staged a small raid, and took a small number to see if they could work with you, and see how your people would work. Being successful here is almost a curse, because they'll send a major attack team in the next raid, and they'll grab hundreds. How many?"
Matsubara briefly reiterated the story about how she and the Adamsburg people got here, and how many there were. Thorbolth was startled to hear of such numbers, and realized that the Dorans could have many slaves to do their grunt work for them. "That's not good."
"Why?"
"Many will suffer. They likely can't absorb that many at once, so they'll keep coming for more, as the rest of us die here. We will die here, too. Afterall, we don't have our food, with our nutrients. That Doran gruel we're fed might provide the basics, but as the body breaks down, we don't have the essential proteins and nutrients and the rest. Half of my people have already died, and most of us are too weak and too sick to put in a decent day's work. We've been planning an uprising, thinking that now we've got nothing to lose."
"I just think of one thing," Matsubara started.
"What?" asked the Sikarian woman.
"I want to get to the control centre, and get the Dorans to activate the outbound function of this alien transport system."
"They'd never do it. If they did, we could get out of here, and get to any structure. Any place in the galaxy is better than this place."
"Have you ever seen the control centre?"
Thorbolth gave Matsubara a rather strange look. "My world for the past year and a half has been this foul structure and those useless fields out there, fields so depleted-the Dorans are morons in every sense of the word-that it's difficult to get anything to grow. They'd never let anybody near the control centre. Afterall, they say they can't activate the outbound function, but I'd be able to do it in minutes if given the chance, and I'd bet you could too. But, I don't even know where it is, and the Dorans have all the weapons."
The Sikarian had to leave suddenly, perhaps because of some strange sounds coming a nearby room, something that had significance for her but which she did not stay around to explain. Matsubara returned to the section of the compound given over to the humans. Remembering what Thorbolth had said about the second Doran raid, she could almost understand why so many other rooms that were empty were accessible to them. They were planning to fill them with more of the people back at the structure where they had appeared. She wondered if there was any possible way to prevent that from happening.
She finally made her way back to the room-a cubicle really-that she had assigned to herself. Although each had two of the cots, she was not sharing this room with any others. About the only thing that could be said was that the bed was more comfortable than the ledge she had slept on the previous night, as this one had a blanket, a worn blanket but a blanket nevertheless. Still, she could not sleep. There was no chance that she could close her eyes and at least pretend she was back in her quarters on the Athena. She thought about the space, about environmental controls that could be set perfectly, and how no smell would come from behind the washroom door. She thought about the comfortable bed, the endless choices in food, the company of the crew and especially the presence of the captain-and deepest personal friend. She thought about him, and how the chance was definitely there that she would never see him again. She was in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and he was back home in the Milky Way, and if the outbound function was not turned on, she would never see him again. She would never experience the things she had grown familiar with, and even comfortable with. Was this going to be her end?
Somehow, Matsubara did get some sleep. A banging sound woke up her with a startle, and then before she could fully prepare for it, a Doran with a large club banged on the door hard enough that it popped open. "Get out of the bed, you lazy one. There's work to be done!" She could hear yelling and banging on the flimsy doors all around her, and somewhat groggily, the other people complied. Matsubara went into the common area, where she saw the other humans, and Kayaha as well. Those who had been captured in the earlier raid already looked defeated. Some of them glared at Matsubara, and Stanislava and Warner as well. The three were Starfleet officers, and they were supposed to stop this. They were supposed to do something to get them out of this situation, and so far, they had failed. It was as if, Matsubara thought, they had learned much the same things that Thorbolth had told her.
The one carrying the largest club was probably the lead Doran. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and likely quite muscular and strong. He also had this vicious, angry expression about him, as if he simmered at the idea that life had thrown him in as the person who had to deal with he slaves. He singled out the three Starfleet officers, and started, "You three are dressed in similar styles, and the outfits imply that you're part of some sort of military service." Matsubara quickly realized that this was not the time to point out what Starfleet really was. "You're also equipped with devices that allow us to communicate with you. Your common people do not have this." Naturally, Matsubara knew, universal translator implants were not common issue with civilians. "Therefore, you'll be needed to lead these other workers, and to pass our instructions to them. You'll also be needed for special assignments. You likely worked on a starship. Is that true?"
Matsubara admitted that it was, "Yes."
"Is any of you an engineer?"
"No."
"You?" the man said, waving the club within ten centimetres of Stanislava's head.
"I'm an archaeologist."
"I have no idea what that is." Next, he gestured at Warner, and said, "You?"
"A security officer."
"A warrior, then. You'll be a natural leader." The club was next waved in the direction of Matsubara, and she wondered if she could turn on the forcefield belt fast enough to avoid getting slugged, if it came to that. "And you?"
"The science officer."
"That's the closest thing. You'll have a special mission, then. As for the other two, you'll lead your work brigades out into the fields. Each of you will be given an escort, and it will be your job to translate the escorts orders so that the rest of you can follow them. The consequences of not following orders is very severe." As if to demonstrate, the man viciously waved the club around, and given its size and his agility with it, Matsubara had no doubt that being hit by that club could result in serious injury. She also got the feeling that the man really wanted to demonstrate just what would happen if somebody did not follow orders or resisted, but he held back. He probably knew how important it was to make sure that all available hands were out in the fields, working. Nobody could be wasted on ego and self-importance. "Lets proceed."
More armed Dorans showed up, and the humans, without any kind of breakfast, or even a chance for a glass of water, were divided into two groups, and herded out into the fields for the day's labour. Matsubara was just left standing there, in the presence of the angry larger Doran. She could sense a certain amount of anger from the other humans, the civilians from Adamsburg who had gone about peacefully living on a planet, and now they were here and nothing more than disposable slaves. Matsubara was Starfleet, and she could do nothing about it.
Moments later, another Doran appeared. He was younger, and smaller than the others, and in fact looked to be of normal human proportions. His skin was a deeper shade of blue, a sign of youth among these people, Matsubara thought, and his hair was bushy and long, but more disciplined. He was dressed for the cool conditions outside, but the rough jacket did not fully hide the sheath of his dagger, and he gripped one of the directed-energy weapons tightly in his three-fingered hands. "You will come with me," he said, sounding as if he was meant to be in authority.
"Where?" Matsubara asked, with some nervousness.
"One of the extraction pumps in the crater wall has failed. We need the water that it produces, so it must be fixed."
"I'm not an engineer."
"Perhaps not, but you likely know more about these things than we do." Matsubara did not dispute that statement.
* * *
Things were going about as well as expected. The replicators were going full-out providing food and other needs for the hundreds of people who were here, while Psakolaps had to check out a lot of people who were suffering various ailments. He did, however, find time to properly treat Guerrero's cracked ribs. Other civilians were pressed into duty hauling out organic material from the cavern floor to feed the replicators. The only problem, Thorpe felt, was that the facilities in the lander were too much in demand and he could not use it to find Matsubara and the others. The lander had only two small shuttlepods, but they had no weapons and no on-board transporters, so they were not suitable for anything that Thorpe had in mind. He did not want to trust the transit system that Guerrero and Turokuot had talked about, and the station of which he had visited. To approach the Doran location in that meant he had to use too many people to simply hold and secure the station and the approaches to it. It would be much better to use the lander, since it gave him total control and many more options if a rescue mission was needed. The intimidation factor of the lander alone likely would help in whatever mission Thorpe needed.
He had spent some time touring the facility with Turokuot and Guerrero, and listened to their explanations on how the technology worked, the power source and the rest. He listened, but found it difficult to pay attention. He was preoccupied with finding Matsubara. He had come this far, and now found it difficult to remain here, waiting for the chance to go and find her. All the time, he was worried that she was in danger, and might even be suffering already, while he was simply standing here.
Bayanhong, with Takoo trailing him, approached Thorpe, as he stood with the other officers at the control centre built in front of the now-closed main hatch. "Captain," the executive officer started, "Commander Takoo wants to head to the Odonan location. We've been briefed on how to operate the transit vehicles."
"Do you think it's safe?"
"Apparently, Damiko and some of the others made the trip twice."
"Very well, but take precautions. I want a security detail to accompany you, with Sal Hakamura along. The Odonan doctor-what's his name-should go along too."
"Okay, sir. Six should be enough. I'll go, with Zhi Len, the doctor, and three security officers, including Sal. That seems... excessive."
"Better excessive than to realize it was not enough."
"Of course." Bayanhong hesitated before leaving. Takoo departed, to find the Bluestar chief medical officer, Eldene Ngoo, while Bayanhong was going to find Hakamura. However, she had noticed something about the captain. Others had said that he was more distant than normal, as if something was on his mind. She noticed that now as well. It was as if he was uninterested in the things going on here and was just trying to occupy time. "Is there a problem, sir?" she started, not really knowing why she was getting into this. She had a pretty good idea of what the problem was.
"Not really."
"You seem... distant."
"I'm just doing what a captain has to do, and that is to think ahead to the next stage of the mission. What we were told, about how the outbound function of this technology is inactive, disturbs me. We have to somehow convince the Dorans to activate this outbound function. It's up to me to think about it."
"You know that if any of us have ideas, we'll give them to you."
"I know," Thorpe started. "However, your attention is focused on the immediate tasks that you have, and my mind is focused on this."
"You're thinking about Damiko, aren't you?"
"You could say that. I think the hardest part is not knowing where she is, and what state she is in. If she's safe, and able to deal with the situation, then that's okay, but given what I've heard, I'm not convinced that she is. Each minute we're here is one more risky minute for her, and the others too." The final four words sounded like an afterthought.
"But you have to balance that with what needs to be done for the people here," Bayanhong continued. "As soon as the immediate needs are met, the engineers are going to remove the replicators and set them up in here. Richard and the others are working on adapting the power leads from the alien power source for the replicators. Once that's done, we can do with the lander what we need to be done."
"And that'll take hours. When she went... on this mission, I wonder if she knew what she was getting into."
"I think she's the type that can deal with the things that come along."
"Are you sure?" Thorpe asked.
"You don't think so?"
"This is all new for her. She's never put herself into these kinds of situations before."
"Then you don't know what she's capable of then." Bayanhong nodded her head in the general direction of the exit, and the sky above. Thorpe knew clearly that she was gesturing towards the spiral visible in the sky, symbolic just how far from home they were. "Afterall, this is new for all of us."
"Agreed."
"I should get ready for this mission..."
* * *
The Doran escorting Matsubara led her to one of the wheeled ground vehicles, devices that she had not seen at the structure that was the human base on this planet. Then again, they had explored just a tiny fraction of that place, while the Dorans had been here for a long time. The vehicle was small, with a cab up front, and an open box in the back for hauling cargo. The controls were simple. The driver grabbed one joystick in the left hand, and that controlled acceleration and braking, while a joystick in the right hand controlled steering. The display consisted of various diode-like lights and alien text, none of which Matsubara could read, and which she was sure that the Doran could not read as well. The man spent several minutes removing the power couplings that recharged the batteries, and then he made sure the proper bin of tools was in the cargo box.
"Lets go," the man said, a little gruff. "We don't have all that long to do this."
"I see," Matsubara answered. The Doran unlocked the doors, and gestured for Matsubara to sit on the right side of the cab. He took the left, and started up the vehicle. It operated silently, as was normal for electrically-powered vehicles, but the ride was rough. This planet had no roads, just deeply-grooved paths that were filled with potholes and other depressions. Matsubara could almost be thankful that she had not been able to eat much.
About a kilometre into the journey, Matsubara was getting a little uneasy at the quiet. She looked at the man, and thought about her forcefield belt. Both the dagger and the directed-energy weapon were on the opposite side of him from her. She briefly wondered if it was possible to use the forcefield belt to overpower the man, to seize the weapons and then force him out of the vehicle. A person properly trained in various military skills and equipped with the forcefield belt probably could do it, but Matsubara was not that person. She tried to think what she could do if she had in fact overpowered the man. She could force him out of the vehicle and then drive back, using stealth and a careful approach to get into the control centre. Once there, she could do whatever it took to take control, and get the Dorans to activate the outbound function and then let them all go. Matsubara just had to laugh at herself, realizing that there was not a single hope in all of hell of that plan working.
The man noticed the laugh, and said, "What are you doing?"
"Oh," she started, "just thinking of the way the fates are working right now. Do you realize that there is just you and me? If I had any military training at all, I could overpower you and take control of this vehicle."
"I have this," the man said, holding up the rifle.
"I should warn you. You can't harm me with that weapon."
"You have... protective devices?"
"Yes."
"But your clothes... are too soft, too close to your body for any kind of body armour."
"There are other means," Matsubara started. Just when she started to see a look of concern in the man, she added, "But don't worry, I'm not going to do anything. Afterall, it would be pointless. Overpowering you and taking this vehicle, and your rifle, would not get me any closer to my goal."
"What's that?"
"To get your people to turn on the outbound function, and then free all of us so that we can go home."
"That's not going to happen."
"Well, not at least by me alone."
"Yes."
A minute later, Matsubara asked, "I was wondering... do you have a name?"
"Teklensho," the man finally said, as if he had to spend some time wondering if it was a good idea to tell this woman anything.
"Were you born here?"
"I was, as was my parents, and my grandparents, and many generations before me. This is my planet, my home."
"But you need the assistance of people you capture to grow the food, and do that kind of work."
Teklensho paused for a moment, as he gathered his thoughts. As he did, he drove the vehicle around a bend in the rough road. The bottom of the crater was rather flat, and they would not really be rising in elevation until they reached the rim, but in the centre was the tall spire that tended to form in large craters. This one, Matsubara noticed, was unusually narrow, and came to a peak about three kilometres above the surface. The alien structure that she was familiar with formed one part of the complex of structures around the base of the spire, but the remainder of the buildings had distinctively different architectural styles, and many of them were in a poor state of repair. Matsubara would not be surprised if the Dorans got their building materials by salvaging from those more dilapidated structures. However, she noticed something else. She saw points of light, which she felt were unmistakably windows, and other more likely non-natural surfaces on the spire.
Matsubara did not wait for the man to complete his sentence before she said, "The control centre is in the spire, isn't it?"
"What?"
"The control centre that runs this planet, that controls all the structures, that allows the various locations to transport in and out, it's there, isn't it?"
"Even if it was," Teklensho answered, "it's well-guarded, and impossible to penetrate. The original builders put in a lot of defenses. They had to, since it is also the power source for the planet."
"What kind?"
"I'm not fully sure of this. Science and engineering is not my specialty, but I heard something about a subspace shunt into the star itself, drawing power from the same sources that powers the sun. I'm not exactly sure what it is all about, of course."
Matsubara had an idea. The technology of subspace shunts into stars was not exactly a new thing. The theory behind it was pretty straightforward, but nobody had really solved the tremendous engineering problems involved. On the other hand, other power sources were available. She also was thinking that if that power source could somehow be disrupted, it would shut down all the systems, both here and on the various planets in the galaxy. That would almost be the last failsafe the builders could have built into this planet, to prevent hostile forces from seizing it and using that as a method to invade the galaxy.
Teklensho finally asked, "Would you know about that technology?"
"I'm familiar with the theory behind it, but not with the engineering needed to make it work."
"Anyway," the man said, as he continued to look forward, his eyes on the road, while he talked, "as you were asking earlier, we really don't need the assistance of the slaves to grow the food. However, the ruling elite prefers to use them simply because it gives them more power, and more stature, and we tolerate it since the land here is hard to work. The land is not fertile, and water is always a problem. I have heard of stories that the plants here grow only to one third or one half of the size that they did in our ancestral homeworld."
"Then why not use the gateways or whatever and go to a real planet, with decent soils and growing conditions? The planet that we got transported from was a nice world, with great potential."
"I understand that. Some of the people understand that, but the leadership does not. They enjoy the current situation. They rule this planet. They do not have to do the hard work themselves, or directly relate to the aliens. Many of us, though, live in fear. We do not know, but the possibility exists that again, we might be attacked."
"It has happened before?"
"Yes, many generations ago. What was likely a military garrison came across. Somehow, they figured out how to operate the gateway from the other side, and they came across in a rescue mission. Many died in that battle, but we fought bravely, and we held the control centre, the central spire. In the end, our superior knowledge of the system and our control over it allowed us to be victorious, but many died, and from the stories, many hard years followed."
"And each time a new group of people get trapped and come over here, that risk is there again?"
"Yes," Teklensho started.
"So ultimately, getting to another planet, where you'd be largely free of that risk, would be desirable?"
"Yes, I believe so. Others do too."
Matsubara had many other questions on her mind, and was somewhat surprised that Teklensho was free with the answers. Maybe it really did not matter to the Dorans what she knew, because in their mind, she was a slave who would never leave this crater alive. Maybe the man simply was not very well trained, and even might have been a little scared of her. She was, afterall, an unknown alien with unknown abilities. The uniform suggested she belonged to some organization, perhaps a military one, and might have had training beyond what the others of her kind had, and he might not believe her if she implied otherwise. She changed the topic slightly, asking, "Why are you here? Why are the Dorans here? Did your people come here accidentally, like the rest of us?"
"No," the man admitted. "We-my ancestors-were exiled here."
"Why?"
Teklensho paused for a moment, once more thinking this through, and making Matsubara wonder if he was going to tell his story. Finally, he started, "We were exiled here, because we were on the wrong side of the war. According to the stories that are told to us when we are children, and so I don't know if they are true or have been exaggerated through the years and the tellings, we were a warrior class that was basically selectively bred to be soldiers. The warlord who controlled us operated over many systems, and used the warrior class to enforce his rule. Then a change happened. The warlord gave way to a different system. We were no longer needed. The war ended, but we were still there. The new people, the new rulers, feared us. Many voted to destroy us, calling us artificial and even an abomination. However, simply massacring us was against their beliefs, such as they were. They exiled us instead. They took us to this planet, this barren world that once had life but now had hardly any. They... somehow made the device work and sent us here. Then they destroyed the structure at their end."
"So you can't go back?"
"No. We were threatened that if we returned to the galaxy, we would be hunted down and destroyed. This was to be our home now."
"How long ago was this?"
"Thousands of years ago."
"And in thousands of years, your numbers are still so small that you hardly fill this crater?"
"We have never existed in large numbers. You can see why many do not wish to risk relocating to a more suitable planet. Many others feel that after all of this time, that threat over us would be gone."
"Especially since if you relocate to another side of the galaxy, they could never find you."
"There's no way to read the maps and determine where in the galaxy each location is."
"Actually, there is. I've seen the map. I can read it. If you can point out where you came from, I can point out locations on the other side of the galaxy that you could go to." Matsubara looked at the man, and saw something in his face, a sense of hope, a sense of optimism? She was not sure, but her comment that she could read the map struck him in some way. Maybe this was the approach that she needed, so she pushed on, "Now, in a thousand years, a civilization is not likely to exist unchanged. Maybe they have forgotten, and maybe they have not, but they can't travel normally through the whole galaxy-I'm sure my people would've heard of them if they could-and you said they destroyed the structure on their side. They could never find you."
"I understand now. There are many that might believe, and many that might not. Afterall, we have no record of a race coming through some time later to see what happened to those who came before. Sometimes, this gives the leadership the feeling that they can act without consequence. Maybe they do give up. Maybe they do move on."
"It's worth pursuing," Matsubara said.
"I don't know. There are many that are satisfied with their existence here. If we have to work too much on our own, that might not be something that the leaders, the elite, want. They have it too easy now, and are unlikely to change."
That, Matsubara knew, could be the problem. If only there was a way to combine the threat with the promise, but Teklensho had said it himself. Nobody had ever come through some time after the people who had first made the transit from that location. Matsubara suspected that if those that had exiled Teklensho's people here had destroyed the structure at their end, that would explain why there had never been a follow-up visit. On the other hand, the leadership might not want to believe or accept that outcome because it would make justifying their position more difficult. "So it would be very difficult to convince the leadership to move to a better world."
Teklensho gave the Doran equivalent of a laugh, and it seemed very dry. "This is their world. They cannot imagine a better world."
"But if you came under attack?"
"How?"
"Speaking theoretically here, say another race found the way to bring a ship through. Could you resist a warship?"
"I do not know. I guess... at the back of our plans, we can always escape if something bad happens, but many do not believe anything bad can happen because nothing bad has happened."
Matsubara said nothing. She could not argue with that logic. To the Dorans, this was their world. A better world might be possible through one of the gateway structures, but the Dorans did not want to take the chance, and until now, had no need to take the chance. In all of their time here, the people that they have enslaved and let die-as the Sikarians and to some degree the Odonans had told her-did not manage to revolt, and nobody came looking for them. Matsubara wondered if it was possible for the Athena, or perhaps a shuttlecraft or the lander, or even the Odonan ship, to come through. They had sent the probe, and though she was pretty sure that they had not intentionally sent it, they must have realized what happened to it and how they had done it. She had this idea that if the Athena sent the probe through, and found that it was impossible to break into the structure and work it from that end, they could very well send another ship. She thought about Captain Thorpe. Would he do it? Would he take the chance? Matsubara had the feeling that he would, and she knew why. She was here. He was going to come for her. She was pretty sure of that. Unless he knew that the outbound function was suppressed, he could just come, or send somebody. What would he bring? Matsubara found it very unlikely he would risk the entire ship. Maybe, if he was anticipating having to evacuate the Adamsburg people, he might bring the lander. A shuttlecraft or even the Styx was too small. Now, Matsubara had to assume that he in fact did make the trip to the Small Magellanic Cloud. He would not find her at the structure, and would go looking for her. She wondered if he would trust the transit system, or would he come in the ship. She surmised the latter. It gave him greater control, and greater flexibility. If the probe had come through, then a ship certainly could.
"You are silent," Teklensho finally said.
"I was thinking... and I've come to realize that perhaps for the first time, you might actually face a ship taking aggressive action against you."
"Your people?"
"Yes. After we arrived, a small probe craft arrived. Undoubtedly, the crew of my ship back home in the galaxy would've realized what happened and how it was caused. They could duplicate that using a manned vessel, and given how big the cavern was..." Matsubara realized that the Odonan who was familiar with the events at Norg likely knew how large the cavern was. "It would not be impossible to imagine that they're sending a ship."
"The ship could never return."
"But they probably would not know that."
"I see. Is this possible?"
Matsubara, staring ahead, could almost see the captain in her mind's eye. "Yes, I'd say its possible. We will not leave our people behind here. Even if we can't return home, we will come for those who have been captured. I've heard that the Sikarians are old and worn out from the work, and you can't penetrate the defenses that the Odonans have."
"The Odonans, like the man that accompanied you here?"
"Yes."
"There are more? There is a settlement of them?"
"Yes," Matsubara remarked.
"We have not... managed to acquire workers from there?"
"No. Your attempt was defeated. They have defenses that you can't get through."
"So," the Doran man continued, "if your people send a ship through, and even though that ship and all of those people cannot get return to your home, that ship could be used to rescue your people here. We would be... isolated."
"Almost sounds like a chance to make that escape to another planet."
"Maybe, but still, to convince the leadership of that would be very difficult. If the ship comes... I do not know. I do not know how we can prepare for that."
The remainder of the drive was in silence, as Matsubara debated with herself whether her long-time companion was in fact reckless enough to bring a ship across. Under the cold light of reality, she thought it was impossible for him to do that, but she also knew that the cold light of reality did not always shine where love existed. Teklensho, for his part, had to wonder if the implied threat from this woman was real. New people, who had just arrived, and who had just been captured, were always risky. It was impossible to tell what kind of technology or abilities they brought along. Each one was a risk, but each one was necessary.
The ground vehicle approached the edge of the crater, and started to climb the increasingly steep walls that formed the rim. About a third of the way up, almost three kilometres above the ground level, Teklensho brought the vehicle to a stop. Only up close did this band of rock no longer hide the location of the water extraction installation. The outside was not much actually, just some simple, small structures that looked like rock formations. Matsubara found it strange that the builders of this place would go through the effort to hide this facility.
Teklensho stopped the vehicle. Matsubara got out, and looked at the view stretched out before her. She could see the central spire, and the tiny points of light and organized metal that represented the alien complex. She could even see all the way to the opposite side of the crater, although a thin haze did obscure the distant wall. She was also pretty sure she could see a slight sense of curvature in the distant wall. When she looked up, she could see the sun in the sky, but the stars shone brightly too, almost as if she was standing outside at night-or if she was on the surface of a world without an atmosphere. That was when she noticed that something was not right. They were three kilometres above the floor of the crater. The air had to be thinner up here, but she had not noticed it. When she pulled out her tricorder and scanned, she found that the air pressure here was almost the same as it was at the bottom of the crater. The difference was negligible.
"Is there a problem?" the Doran asked.
"I'd have to say that this atmosphere is being artificially contained and supported."
"Why?"
Matsubara explained, "Because air pressure on a real planet decreases with height. Three kilometres above the floor, it should be less. However, it isn't."
"The atmosphere doesn't work that way. I've been to the top of the rim walls, and the air up there is the same."
That seemed impossible to Matsubara, except, she realized, the atmosphere was contained by some kind of field or effect. It would explain why the sky remained nearly black, since there simply was not enough atmosphere to fully scatter the rays of the sun, except towards the horizon. This was a very curious world, she thought.
Teklensho led her into the water extraction unit. What she saw was a long tunnel, the roof barely high enough for her to walk behind the man, who had to stoop over slightly. The tunnel was a little slick and inside, it was noticeably humid. The lights located at intermittent locations provided barely sufficient illumination. Along one side were access hatches, and occasionally, pieces of machinery, or at least their covers, extended into the space. Teklensho had absolutely no idea what was inside the machinery or even how it did what it did. All he knew was that it was supposed to supply water to the pipes and the irrigation system, and now it did not. He just had one question on his mind. Every few seconds after she scanned with her tricorder, he asked, "Can you fix it?"
It was only on the fifth time he asked the question that she provided her first answer. "I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out how this works."
"It extracts water from the rock and sends it into the irrigation pipes."
"Not exactly," the science officer started. "It appears that the impact that created the crater was intense enough to seal off the rock and make it impenetrable to water. This tunnel, and the two others alongside it, were bored through this rock to tap into the underground aquifer, a source of water underground. It's almost like a horizontal well. The machine uses a kind of screw to sift through the rock, drawing out the water." Matsubara approached the end of the tunnel, where she noticed that water had leaked into the structure. The puddles were quite deep, and the sound of her walking through them echoed strangely in the tunnel. "Unfortunately, I have no idea how old this structure is, although it is clearly later than the buildings I've seen. Maybe a later group added it." Consulting the tricorder once more, Matsubara explained, "What I see here is that corrosion has had an effect on degrading the effectiveness of this drilling, sifting and pumping machine. The water no longer flows, and much of it seeps out through cracks in the system. The sheer weight of the crater wall above this location is causing a very subtle cracking of the structure here. Finally, the connection plates, which connect the machinery with the power source, have degraded so much that there is no contact between them anymore."
Teklensho had just one simple question, and he asked it for the sixth time. "Can you fix it?"
Matsubara had to answer honestly, although she knew it carried a risk. "No."
"No!"
"Remember, I'm a science officer, not an engineer. The problem here is that the crater wall is deforming this structure, and causing cracks. The internal components can't be repaired, but need to be replaced, and you need a team of engineers for that, along with some heavy lifting ability and some replicator technology, to accomplish that. I can't provide any of that. What's surprising to me is that the original structures have, for the most part, shown no similar signs of deterioration, because there are maintenance machines that keep things running. I don't see that here."
"I do not believe that the original builders built this," Teklensho remarked.
"I've gotten the same thing idea."
"Can you do anything?"
Matsubara looked over the visible parts of the structure and did some more scans. She said, "I can look, but I don't know how much I can do..."
