Here There Be Dragons Part 2

Worf settled back in his chair, his face twisted in what pa.s.sed for a knowing grin. The table didn't quite sigh with relief. "A convenient excuse," he stated.

"The truth," Nayfack countered.

Picard held up his hand to prevent further argument. "What you say," he told Nayfack, "does have a certain grain of truth to it. However, I'm sure that you will appreciate that we are not willing to take your statement entirely on faith at the moment."

Nayfack sighed rather theatrically. "I'm afraid you'll have to do just that, Captain Picard. I a.s.sure you that once you hear my reasons-"

"Surely," Riker interrupted, "you have a supervisor that you report in to from time to time? All we need is a name, and we can check with Starfleet and est-"

"No!" Nayfack's poise slipped for a moment. He turned to Picard, urgently. "Captain, you haven't tried to report any of this to Starfleet yet, have you?"

The whole matter was making less and less sense to Picard as it continued. "No," he replied cautiously. "I wanted to have something solid to report first."

Nayfack sighed with relief. "Thank the seven Dark Lords of Polimedes," he breathed. "Captain, I urge you to hear me out before you even consider filing any kind of report about this incident. I a.s.sure you that when I finish you will do as I say."

Picard raised his eyebrow. When he spoke, his voice was deceptively mild. "I will hear you out, Mr. Nayfack-but on this ship, I give the orders."

"Of course," agreed Nayfack quickly. "I didn't mean to challenge your authority on this ship, Captain Picard. But you must understand that I am very concerned about completing my mission."

"I may well sympathize with your mission," Picard agreed, "once we have been enlightened. If you please ... ?"

The long-haired man considered for a moment, then nodded. "Normally I'm attached to the Federation Bureau of Conservation," he explained, "a.s.signed to investigate illegal hunting and any other factors that might endanger the well-being of indigenous species across Federation s.p.a.ce. About a year or so ago we received confidential information that there was a group of criminals that had begun to offer-ah-sportsmen who didn't possess well-developed moral scruples the chance to go after some really big game. Our informant suggested that this game was extremely large indeed and not native to any known Federation world. I was given the a.s.signment of tracking down the truth of the matter.

"I managed to make friends with one of the wealthy hunters we were certain had to be involved. After a few meetings our suspicions were confirmed very forcibly. The man took me to his trophy room in the heart of his mountain fortress. It was filled with animals that he had killed and placed into stasis fields for the purpose of display.

"I can't tell you how appalling that room was, Captain. He had specimens of at least thirty critically endangered species that he had murdered. There was an Earth mountain gorilla, a Vulcan nightclaw, a family grouping of Aldebaran sand eels ... Well"-Nayfack shrugged-"I'm sure you get the idea."

Data inclined his head slightly. "As you say, each of those is on the prohibited list of animals. There are fewer than five hundred of each surviving anywhere in the known galaxy."

"Exactly." Nayfack concentrated on Picard once more. "I had to pretend enthusiasm for his skills, and I admired his trophies. Then he showed me the one that we had been tipped off about. It was in a separate room-it needed to be. The creature was some eighty meters long and thirty high. The thing it most closely resembled was a dragon from Earth folklore."

Riker leaned forward. "A dragon?"

Nayfack shrugged. "Something like that. It was obviously of some kind of reptilian stock. A sort of super-dinosaur, I guess you'd say. It was built something like a triceratops, with four ma.s.sive legs, a long tail, and a thick hide in a kind of camouflage green and brown mottle. But it had a long, fanged snout, bony crests to the head, and spinal ridges running to about halfway down its long tail. The thing had claws that could tear duraluminum apart. If he'd told me it could breathe fire, I wouldn't have been too surprised.

"Well, I'd convinced him I was a rich sportsman, too, in search of fresh game. He asked me if that creature interested me. When I a.s.sured him it did, he put me in contact with the ring. For several million credits I was offered the chance to kill one of the creatures for my own trophy room." He grinned. "Naturally, the department had to furnish the fee for me, but we figured it would be worth it if we could discover where the monster came from and then round up the gang. I expected to be taken somewhere off the beaten track, but I was not prepared for that." He gestured at the nebula visible in the briefing room window. "Captain, at the heart of that cloud there is a planet where these dragons dwell."

"According to all known theories," Geordi interrupted, "there can't even be a planet inside there, let alone an inhabited world. The tachyon streams would rip every living cell apart."

"Believe me, such a world does exist," Nayfack insisted. "I was just as astonished as you would be, but I was taken inside the cloud, and we made planetfall several weeks ago. As the organizers prom ised, I was given the chance to shoot one of the dragons. Naturally, I turned out to be somewhat ... inept with my phaser cannon and missed my opportunity. We were leaving the cloud when the Enterprise was sighted.

"The gang that runs this whole business isn't really very smart, Captain. They-"

"Not very smart?" Geordi laughed and shook his head. "Man, if they could build a field generator that enabled them to penetrate the tachyon clouds out there, then they have to be absolute genius material."

"They built nothing," Nayfack informed him. "They stole what they were using. I'd say that the entire gang probably has the collective IQ of a wombat. They're secretive and well-established, but they are really not very bright. They fell into this deal, and knowing that their income depends on keeping the location of their hunting grounds a secret, the captains of the two yachts that bring the sportsmen in to the dragons' world were under strict orders to destroy their craft rather than be captured. The instant that the Enterprise was sighted, the captain of the vessel I was on gave the computer the self-destruct command and then attacked you, knowing his battle was hopeless. It was clearly a foolish course of action and gives you some idea of how idiotic this gang is. Anyway, I managed to make a break for their escape pods-"

"Killing two of the crew on the way," Riker said.

"I had no option, Commander. If I stayed on the ship, what I knew would die with me. I killed the men when they tried to kill me to prevent my escape. I then ejected and the ship self-destructed."

Picard leaned back in his chair, studying Nayfack thoughtfully. "Your story is very interesting," he agreed cautiously. "But if what you say is true, then surely you will wish to contact Federation security as soon as possible and have the gang rounded up."

"No!" Nayfack almost jumped to his feet in frustration. "They monitor all transmissions. They were smart enough to slip an agent into the Federation's Earth communications post. If they know they've been discovered, they'll simply cease operations for a while. Then they'll begin again when we leave them alone. We couldn't patrol the entire cloud indefinitely. No, we must strike, and strike fast. The yacht makes the run to Earth in three weeks. When it does not arrive, the gang will know that something has gone wrong. Before then we must capture the members of the gang on the planet at the heart of the cloud."

"Not wishing to stress the obvious," Geordi told him, "but there is no way that the Enterprise can get into the cloud. The forces would rip us apart."

"Of course they would," the agent replied. "If you simply forced your way in. But you don't have to do that. There's a small tunnel through the tachyon storms and into the heart of the cloud."

"I find that difficult to accept," Data broke in. "There is simply no chance of such a tunnel occurring naturally. And no race in the galaxy possesses the technology to confine beta tachyons or to exclude them from such a tunnel."

That didn't seem to faze Nayfack at all. "I'm sure you're right," he agreed. "But the tunnel is there. You'd never detect it, of course, but I have the coordinates memorized. I can take you through it. There's a device inside the cloud that creates the tunnel. If the gang is alerted to our presence here, they will simply turn the device off. Without the generated tunnel, we couldn't go in after them. They could then open a fresh tunnel when they feel secure, and in any direction to either escape or begin operations again."

Geordi spun in his seat to face Picard. "If what he claims is true, Captain, then this I gotta see! A tachyon confinement field is theoretically impossible."

With a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, Riker said: "But you've performed your own share of the theoretically impossible."

"Not this!" Geordi a.s.sured him. "I wouldn't even have the vaguest idea how to go about it."

Picard held up a hand. "This is all very interesting," he said slowly. "But I really don't think we can oblige you, Mr. Nayfack."

The long-haired man looked stunned. "But ... Captain," he protested. "Don't you care about what these villains are doing?"

"Of course I care," Picard countered. "I dislike the selfishness of any man who feels that the whole of creation has been placed here merely for him to exploit. And I commend your zeal in seeking their arrest and punishment. But you must understand that our mission here is scientific, and not one of law enforcement. I sympathize with your concerns, but my responsibility in the matter is limited to reporting it to Starfleet and delivering you safely to Starbase Three Two Nine when we proceed to our next a.s.signment."

"Captain!" Nayfack was practically on his knees, begging. "You must reconsider! You have to help me capture these ... murderers!"

Picard shook his head slightly. "Believe me, I wish I could. But I cannot risk this vessel and its crew in an attempt to penetrate this cloud simply to round up a few crooks. That is not the function of this ship."

"Captain," said Ro, "if I may offer a comment?"

"By all means, Ensign," Picard agreed. "Your views are always interesting."

"This technology that the gang appears to have somehow come by is clearly of a very advanced order. If our Chief Engineer says it's beyond his understanding"-she nodded at Geordi-"then it is surely vital that we investigate it. What if these criminals were to decide to sell the technology, fearing that they couldn't use it any longer? Imagine what would happen if the Carda.s.sians or the Ferengi were to get their hands on the field generator."

"She has a valid point," agreed Riker. "It's bound to occur to them as a way to make money sooner or later. They could practically hold a bidding war for such technology."

"If the Romulans were to get their hands on such technology," Worf stated, "then the Galaxy might well errupt into another war. If their ships were equipped with such devices, they could hide in any nebulae, and the Federation would be unable to follow."

"Possibly even inside a star," agreed Geordi.

It was obvious that Picard was reconsidering his decision. Nayfack slammed his fist down on the table. "Perhaps I can convince you, Captain." He glowered at Picard through his long hair. "There are a few things I haven't yet told you about the planet."

"I doubt that it will influence my decision at all," the Captain replied. "But I am willing to hear you out. I should also be interested in hearing just where this gang of poachers laid their hands on such novel technology."

"The two matters are linked," Nayfack said. " First-the planet in that cloud where the dragons dwell is inhabited. By humans."

"Humans!" Riker exploded. He stared at his captain, who was obviously as startled as he was by this outrageous claim. "That's impossible. There have been no human settlements out this far, for one thing. And no human could have penetrated those tachyon fields."

"I agree," said Nayfack calmly. He was clearly happy to have regained the attention of everyone in the room. "I did not say that they had made it here themselves. Tell me, ladies and gentlemen, have you ever heard of the Preservers?"

Chapter Five.

"THE PRESERVERS!" Picard stared around the table. Riker, Geordi, Beverly, Deanna, and Ro looked as astonished as he felt. Worf merely glowered, as ever. Data had inclined his head slightly, the closest he ever came to showing surprise. "Of course we have," the captain added gruffly. "Everyone in Starfleet knows about them. They're one of the biggest mysteries of the galaxy."

"How would you like to solve that mystery, Captain?" Nayfack gave a sly grin. "This is your opportunity."

Picard didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned to his android second officer. "Mr. Data, perhaps you'd be kind enough to bring us all up to date on what is known about the Preservers?"

"Everything, Captain?"

Picard shook his head. Knowing Data, that could take hours. He was extremely thorough. "Just the essentials, if you please."

"As you wish, Captain," the android agreed. "The Preservers first came to Starfleet's attention in 2302. Very little is known of the race, save that it apparently set itself the goal of seeding uninhabited worlds with small groups of people from threatened societies. Their motivations for this remain unknown. The first Preserver planet is now known by the designation Miramanee and was located by NCC 1701-the original Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk."

"Kirk," murmured Riker. "I'd forgotten that part." Data waited to be certain that the interruption was over, and then continued. "The Preservers had selected a group of Native American Indians to be seeded on the world, where they had then developed unhindered. As a large meteor was due to strike the world, the Enterprise attempted to a.s.sist the natives. The Preservers had, however, planned for such an occurrence, and their own mechanisms dealt with the intruder. Since this initial contact with a seeded world, two more have been discovered, but we still know very little about the Preservers themselves."

"Thank you, Mr. Data." Picard turned to study Nayfack again. "So you claim that the world in the heart of this cl.u.s.ter cloud is another seeded world?"

"Exactly." Nayfack shrugged. "I gather it was originally a small cl.u.s.ter of villages taken from thirteenth-century Germany. They were in a plague zone, and the Preservers must have taken them knowing the natives would not be missed. They were settled here and have stagnated ever since."

"Stagnated?" asked Riker. "Do you have any idea why?"

"Yeah. The Preservers must have thought they were being smart, I suppose. They took a small group of people who firmly believed in things like dragons and plopped them down here where there were dragons, of a sort. But the dragons are very dangerous-if you don't have a phaser cannon to skewer them with. The original half-dozen small villages had to put up defensive walls, and the people mostly stay inside them. There's not much cross-contact, so no real progress."

There was a moment of silence, then Deanna asked: "And how did this group of hunters you were looking for stumble across this world?"

"Right," agreed Geordi. "They can't have just poked around in the tachyon clouds on the chance that there was something here."

"They didn't," Nayfack replied. "They had a map. You see, this hunting business was just a sideline until it started to really pay off for them. The people involved here were originally just a small gang of six or seven people. They were archaeological raiders-going into dead worlds, skimming whatever artifacts happened to be there, then selling them on the black market to collectors. Minor stuff, really, and hardly important enough for Starfleet to have bothered with them. Then the raiders. .h.i.t the jackpot. On one of the worlds they plundered, there were a few Preserver ruins. It must have been one of their worlds that failed to make a go of it. And in the ruins there was a map of their other seeded planets."

"What?" Riker leaned across the table. "A map? Of how many worlds?"

"I don't know," Nayfack said, irritated. "I wasn't allowed to see the thing. They were happy to take my money, but they weren't prepared to trust me."

"I can't imagine why not," Ro muttered.

"All I know," the agent continued, "is that the head man of this ring on the planet here has a map showing the location of all the other Preserver worlds in the galaxy. This one was the only one that he apparently felt they could really exploit. The leader of the gang is a trained archaeologist, and he managed to decipher the Preserver language on the map. It took him six years, but it finally paid off for them." Nayfack smiled, slowly and slyly, knowing he had them hooked. "Now, Captain, do you agree that we must go in?"

Picard thought for a moment. "Well, Mr. Nayfack, I must admit that the picture has changed considerably with this new information. If there is a Preserver world at the heart of the cloud, then we do have to become involved. This gang is breaking the Prime Directive rather seriously."

"Not to mention that if there is a Preserver map, then we must recover it," added Riker. "To be able to trace their path ... ! Who knows, maybe even to meet them one day ..."

Picard stood up. Tugging his uniform into order, he looked down at Nayfack. "If you would be good enough to allow me to confer with my officers, I promise you a decision on the matter within thirty minutes, Mr. Nayfack. And until then, I will maintain subs.p.a.ce silence, as you requested."

The agent climbed lazily to his feet. "Good enough, Captain," he agreed.

Picard turned to the security guard at the door. "Why don't you show Mr. Nayfack where Ten-Forward is?" he suggested. "I'll contact you there when we've reached a decision."

"Aye, sir." The guard gestured with his head for Nayfack to precede him.

In the doorway Nayfack paused. "I'm sure you'll make the right decision, Captain."

"I wish I had your confidence," Picard replied. "But I shall certainly make the best decision that I can."

"That's all I ask." The door hissed shut behind him and the guard.

Picard returned to his place and studied his team. "Comments?" he invited.

"I do not trust the man." That was, naturally, Worf. As both a Klingon and the Security Officer, Worf's suspicions were part of his nature.

"Nor do I," agreed Ro. Again, this was no surprise: the Bajoran was a good officer, but she tended to distrust everyone. Given her background, it wasn't unexpected.

Riker grinned slightly. He'd expected the comments, too. "I don't see why we should trust him," he agreed. "He's got a very glib story."

"Perhaps too glib?" asked Picard.

Riker's grin broadened. "He let us have snippets of information as it suited him," he pointed out.

Picard raised an eyebrow. "If he is what he claims, then secrecy will naturally be a part of his nature." He turned to Deanna. "Counselor?"

As a half-Betazed, Deanna Troi possessed acute and trained powers of empathy. Picard trusted her judgments implicitly.

She looked worried. "He is being devious," she agreed. "But that is in the nature of the job he claims to have. There were times when I sensed he was lying, but most of the time he was telling at least partial truths. Some of what he told us is definitely accurate, at least as far as he knows it. The other parts are a jumble of things, ranging from exaggeration to outright lies."

"Can you be any more specific?" asked Riker. "What parts were completely true?"

"I can't be certain." Deanna looked frustrated. "He's trying to manipulate us, Captain. That much is certain. But his att.i.tude colors everything I read from him. If I were a full Betazed, perhaps I could sense more. As it is, his deviousness clouds his every response. He is using the truth to achieve his purposes. But I can tell you that he certainly does want us to go after the gang."

"All of which could be explained if he is what he claims," Picard summed up. "He wouldn't tell us more than he thinks we need to know." He snorted. "People in the security field rarely trust others with all they know. Mr. La Forge, what about his claims that there is a planet at the center of this nebula?"

Geordi laughed. "Captain, ordinarily I'd say the man had bloodbats in his belfry. There's no possible theory that could even begin to deal with the kind of energies you'd need to drive a tunnel through a tachyon emission field."

"But?" prompted Picard.

"If the Preservers are involved," Geordi said, "then we may as well throw the science book out the nearest airlock. We know that they can do what seems to be impossible to our sciences. If anyone could punch a hole in that cloud, they get my vote as most likely."

"If I may suggest, Captain," Data offered, "there is a simple way to make a decision."

"Is there really?" asked Picard. "Well, I'd be more than happy to hear it."

"Mr. Nayfack was on a ship that came out of the cloud," the android explained. "That strongly suggests that some form of tunnel must exist. The vessel was an Earth ship, which could not possibly have created the tunnel. In which case, we must postulate the tunnel's creation by another race. The Preservers may well possess such technology, so that part of his tale is indeed plausible."