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Path: moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!public!btr.btr.com!mcmelmon From: mcmelmon@btr.btr.com Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: Belly of the Whale - part 1 Message-ID: <6193@public.BTR.COM> Date: 6 Apr 92 03:32:27 GMT Sender: mcmelmon@public.BTR.COM Distribution: na Organization: BTR Public Access UNIX, MtnView CA. Contact: Customer Service cs@BTR.COM Lines: 642 I have finished eliminating all direct cross-references to Dune from an earlier story posted here last summer. I have also removed Wesley, which should improve the odds of this tale being received favorably (I, however, happen to think the Wesley character to be one of the most innovative additions to the crew - if poorly handled). Essentially, I believe the story conforms to 'canon,' even though conforming to the canon given the rarely inspirational literary excellence of Trek in general is hardly something to take too seriously... Belly of the Whale Teaser [Space. A field of stars. Shattered by an explosion. A ship screams past. A second explosion. Photon torpedoes. Another ship. A Federation cruiser. Old design, brilliantly colored, like the new. The re-commissioned USS NADIA. Two phaser bolts lance out from the Nadia. She passes from view. Aboard the Nadia. Captain ERIN KILLPATRICK, commanding. He leans forward. An older man, Killpatrick is new to space. A ground soldier. Rough and proud.] Killpatrick: Ready, Commander? Nadia's transporter chamber. A five-person team on the platform. Forward one speaks. A woman. As we get closer to her, we see traces of Klingon blood. Ruddy complexion, slight forehead ridge. We get even closer. She has the ears of a Vulcan. Commander HAIFA BEN GESSERAT, special forces. Product of an unlikely union, she bears herself with the pride and strength of her father, and the cool analytic detachment of her mother. Commander Haifa: An unnecessary question, Captain. [Return to bridge.] Killpatrick: Of course. Wish I could go with you, Number One. Been too long since I've had a good fight. [Navigation officer moves hands rapidly over instruments.] Navigator: Pirate dropping out of warp. Planetary system: Rakis. Still in Klingon space. Didn't make it to the Neutral Zone. We've got her, Captain. Killpatrick: Never lost her, son. When you're down hard, try something new, eh? Probably hopes to loose us on the rocks. Navigator: I've been in asteroid fields before, Captain. Killpatrick: Know you have, my boy. Tactical!. Heavy bore phasers, stand by. You're almost up, Number One. Make me proud. [Space. We watch the Nadia drop out of warp. The world Rakis 4 visible. Arid and barren. A belt of small meteorites surrounds it. Nadia bridge. Pirate plainly visible on main screen. Without warning, it vanishes. Killpatrick leaps up. An instant later, a gargantuan vessel fills the Nadia's viewer. Bulbous and covered with faint, bioluminescent lights. Like a creature of the deepest sea. The remnants of an explosion fade - the pirate's fate: collision. The Nadia's appears certain to be the same.] Killpatrick [lunging forward]: Damn! The Nadia banks. Her shields flare brilliant blue as they crush against the giant's hull. ACT I Scene I [Enterprise bridge.] Worf: Receiving a priority distress from the Federation Starship USS Nadia, Captain. Condition, critical. Riker: The Nadia? Data: A re-commissioned starship of the Constellation Class. Commanded by Captain Erin Killpatrick, formerly a brigadier in Starfleet's marine forces. Riker: Thank you, Data. Picard: Her position? Worf: Rakis star system. On the edge Klingon space. Picard: Damn the timing! Riker: Captain? Data: I sincerely doubt, Captain, the Nadia planned any inconvenience. Picard: No, Data. I'm sure she did not. Are we the only Federation vessel within response range? Worf: Captain, standard procedure when receiving a priority critical distress is for any ship... Picard: I am well familiar with standard procedure, Mr. Worf. Are we the only Federation vessel within response range? Worf: We are the closest, Captain. Data: Change course for Rakis, Captain? Picard: Negative. Remain on course for Vulcan. Riker: Captain, I must remind you... Picard: I appreciate your concern, Number One. Remain on course. Come with me, Worf. [Picard stands. Riker and Data exchange glances. Picard leaves with Worf through the door to his quarters.] Scene II [Picard's quarters. He speaks with a young-looking Vulcan female. Both sit on their knees. The young woman holds herself with serene confidence. She is ATTENDANT to the HIGHEST - a principal spiritual leader of Vulcan.] Attendant: The Highest recognizes your dilemma, Captain. Picard: We can separate the saucer section of this vessel. In it, the Highest could continue on to Vulcan. Attendant: And you could continue on to aid your comrades? Picard: Yes. Attendant: The Highest has never stepped beyond the shell that is Vulcan's atmosphere. Her absence is a burden to our people. It should not be prolonged. Picard: It is true that detached, the saucer does not move with the ship's full speed... Attendant: The Highest does not wish you to detach the saucer. She wishes, instead, to accompany you to aid your fellow Federation vessel. Picard: The possibility of conflict cannot be overlooked. The potential loss... Attendant: ...to Vulcan would be great. But not devastating. The Highest has melded with others of her order. Her wisdom will persist, even should her body not. It is her wish to observe. Picard: Very well, then... Attendant: And Captain... Picard: Yes? Attendant: One cannot observe hidden away. [Picard looks up. We see an ancient Vulcan woman. Their eyes meet. She gives no indication of having made new contact. It is as if their eyes have always been locked. The Highest represents the pinnacle of Vulcan spirit. Her presence aboard the Enterprise is known only to Picard and Worf. Ancient beyond the knowing of humanity, she is said to have lived during the great wars that raged through Vulcan's history. The Highest is being carried from Earth back to Vulcan, after delivering a protest to the leaders of Starfleet. Too many of her people have been 'drafted' into Federation service. She does not approve. By extension, she views the Enterprise - vessel and crew - with suspicion. And curiosity.] ACT II Scene I [Enterprise bridge. Picard enters. Riker stands, visibly disturbed by the lack of a response.] Riker: Captain... Picard: Change course, Number One. Rakis system, maximum warp. Make it so. [The Highest appears behind Picard. She wears her ceremonial dress. A metallic kimono. Riker stands in shock for a moment.] Riker: At once, Captain. Picard: Commander Data, estimate our arrival time. Data: At maximum warp, we will arrive in the Rakis system approximately eleven hours from now. Picard: Let's hope that will be soon enough. Attendant: Android. Data: Yes, I am an android. Attendant: You made an inexact estimate. Data: That is correct. Attendant: Precision was possible. Data: I choose to estimate. Attendant: Why? Data: Precision was not required. Attendant: The Highest disagrees. Why choose inaccuracy over accuracy, where accuracy is possible? Data: I have found humans respond with distaste to unnecessary accuracy. Attendant: The Highest recognizes the truth in what you say. Yet, are not Federation lives at risk? Is not this risk increased by the passage of time? Is not accuracy, therefore, of grave import? Data: The nearer we come to the vessel in distress, the more important accuracy shall become. Attendant: The Highest finds this fascinating. Data: How so? Attendant: Despite being a creature of pure logic, you have formulated an illogical response. Yet you arrived at the need to do this logically. Therein lies the Highest's fear. Data: Fear? Attendant: Of what may happen to Vulcan. Through the application of logic, not unlike that you yourself have demonstrated, Vulcans shall begin to act illogically. Riker: And that is why she opposes Vulcan's participation in Starfleet? Attendant: Yes. Worf: The Federation has suffered a great loss. It needs all available resources to stave off aggression from without. Attendant: But what of aggression from within? Worf: I do not understand [We watch the Highest move across the bridge. She stops before Worf. Passive for a moment, she lashes out with her hand. Blindingly quick. Worf flies backward. From behind Worf's shoulder, we look up at the ancient Vulcan.] Attendant: The Highest apologizes for any pain. She has come to understand, not unlike the android, races other than Vulcan. Some require illustration. Vulcans must never return to the ways of violence they once knew. Never. Our world would not long survive. Your Federation would not long survive. It must not happen. Scene II [Enterprise briefing room. Data speaks, but we cannot hear him yet.] Picard [voice-over]: Captain's log, supplemental. Proceeding to the Rakis system at maximum warp. Recent communication with the Nadia has answered some of our questions, but spawned many, many more. Data: ...I do not believe the Behemoth - as I shall call the vessel with which the Nadia collided - is a Romulan ship. Worf: The Nadia was in pursuit of a pirate vessel prior to the collision. Pirates who receive aid from the Romulan Empire. Data: That is correct. Worf: The Behemoth is cloaked by a very sophisticated technology... Data: That is also correct. Yet this cloaking device, unlike those aboard Romulan craft, projects a sphere, the diameter of which equals, roughly, three times the vessel's overall length... Picard: More telling is the Nadia's continued existence. Surely, were Romulans involved, the Nadia would have long since been destroyed. Data: True, Captain. The Nadia has been allowed to observe the Behemoth in peace. Such behavior would be highly atypical, exhibited by a Romulan. Worf: No behavior is atypical, exhibited by a Romulan. Data: I do not... Riker: It could be the first stage of a trap. The Nadia is helpless. No threat. Why not lure some other Federation ships in as well? Picard: And even if the vessel is neither Romulan nor currently hostile, that does not preclude it from becoming hostile. We shall continue to approach with care. Riker: And what about our guest, Captain? Picard: What about her, Number One? Riker: Don't you think it a little distracting having her on the bridge? All the time? Picard: Frankly, Number One, having her aboard at all is distracting. However, she is here, and she has requested being present on the bridge. Riker: Yes, but at all times? Picard: I shouldn't have to remind you, Number One, how delicately Starfleet would like us to tread with the Highest. Her word carries tremendous weight on Vulcan. She has not openly opposed that world's participation in the Federation, but she may. She said as much to Starfleet Command. We can't afford that. Not now. Perhaps not ever. Troi: And perhaps as she gains more of an understanding about us, her resistance to Vulcan's continued participation will soften. Picard: That is my hope. Scene III [Ruble-strewn corridor intersection aboard the Nadia. Red emergency lights provide illumination. Commander Haifa pulls at the rubble, moving what is obviously extra- ordinary weight. Other crew members - Klingon and human - also pull at the rubble. Captain Killpatrick arrives.] Killpatrick: How does it look here? Haifa: Bad. [Haifa has exposed a heavy door. Some manner of bulkhead. She looks at a display panel.] Haifa: Our ship ends here. Beyond, space. Killpatrick: Thank god we were at full alert. Collision like this under normal conditions... I hate to think how bad it would have been. [Killpatrick pats the bulkhead.] Killpatrick: Even so. Full alert didn't do them much good on the other side, did it? Haifa: I estimate no survivors in the directly impacted areas of the ship. Killpatrick: Crew down thirty percent. All forward phasers, inoperable. Main torpedo tubes, misaligned and inoperable. Aft phasers, sixty percent operable... and that's assuming we get Engineering back on line. Had to shut everything down. Just in case. Don't want any stray anti- matter bouncing around back there, do we? Haifa: That would not be wise. Killpatrick: A fat pigeon with two broken wings in a shooting gallery. That's what we are. Oh yeah. We're also blind. Haifa: It could be worse. Killpatrick: Yeah? [Haifa looks pointedly at the bulkhead.] Killpatrick: Yeah. Path: moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!mips!public!btr.btr.com!mcmelmon From: mcmelmon@btr.btr.com Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: Belly of the Whale - part 2 Message-ID: <6227@public.BTR.COM> Date: 9 Apr 92 16:47:30 GMT Sender: mcmelmon@public.BTR.COM Distribution: na Organization: BTR Public Access UNIX, MtnView CA. Contact: Customer Service cs@BTR.COM Lines: 386 ACT III Scene I [Enterprise bridge. Officers seated. The Highest stands slightly behind and to the right of Worf.] Picard: Status report. Data: We shall arrive in the Rakis system in one hour and fifty six minutes, Captain. That will be eleven hours and forty eight minutes after first receiving the distress call. Worf: Sensors reading negative. No new information from the Nadia. Riker: All stations reporting ready, Captain. Yellow alert in effect. Two Klingon warships en route for support. Starfleet urges caution. They think it unlikely Romulans are responsible, but likely they will get interested at activity so near the Neutral Zone. Picard: I agree. When can we expect the Klingon ships? Data: Three hours and thirty seven minutes after our arrival in the Rakis system, Captain. Assuming no Romulan craft have already violated the Neutral Zone, any ships would arrive well after we have been reinforced. Worf: A dangerous assumption. Picard: What will the Nadia's immediate needs be? Data: I have reconstructed the collision and modeled it's effects. By my calculations, the Nadia has suffered numerous hull ruptures, is without primary power, and has no means of defense... Troi: It sounds horrible... Picard: Collisions usually are, Counselor. Go on, Data. Data: The warp engines will need immediate attention, or we risk unregulated interactions within the anti-matter cores. Structural integrity is such that there should be no further risk to life-support systems, assuming internal bulkheads function properly. The ship will not be warp-capable until a thorough reinforcement of it's superstructure has been affected. Picard: Medical needs? Data: A mixed blessing, Captain. Picard: How so? Data: Given the Nadia crew was at battle stations, fatality will be the primary category of casualty. Other injuries should be relatively minor. Broken bones. Whiplash. And shock. Troi: Most injuries are relatively minor, compared with fatality. Data: Yes, but some require varying degrees of medical attention. I do not believe the Nadia will overly stress our medical capacity. Picard: A mixed blessing, indeed. Even so, Worf, prepare as many medical away teams as possible given time and resources. You'll be first in. Worf: Captain, I feel I should remain on the Enterprise, in the even of an attack. Picard: In the event of an attack, you are best qualified to coordinate our response. Worf: Of course, Captain. I shall ready the away teams at once. [Worf exits.] Attendant: 'In the event of attack?' You still consider the Romulans a significant danger? Picard: We have not ruled out the possibility. Scene II [Nadia bridge. Killpatrick, Haifa, and a science officer huddle around a monitor. Wireframe image of the Behemoth dances on the screen.] Science Officer: Our probes have made three complete passes over the vessel's surface. A transmission of new data was sent to the Enterprise about forty minutes ago. They're better equipped to analyze it. Especially in our current condition. Killpatrick: When are they due? Haifa: Within minutes. Continuous communication was established at the time of our last transmission. Killpatrick: What's that? Good news? This beast makes me nervous as hell... Science Officer: New passes beneath the 'beast' show it has a slit down it's belly. Running about four-fifth's the total length. Killpatrick: A slit? Science Officer: A big one, too. About five times our width. Some kind of hangar door is my guess. Open a crack. Killpatrick: 'A crack?' Science Officer: All things relative, Captain. It's a big ship, this 'beast.' Killpatrick: Have you sent something inside? Haifa: Is that wise, Captain? Any additional disturbances... Killpatrick: And we're history? Granted, Number One. But if two starships smashing into the thing haven't caused a disturbance, I doubt some thimble of a probe will. Science Officer: Actually, I have already programmed one of the probes to peek inside. We'll have to wait for it to come back out, though. Killpatrick: Why is that? Did we loose communication? That's not good... Science Officer: Communication is impossible through the hull. I believe it impenetrable to radiations of any sort... Killpatrick: So even if we had scanners, we'd couldn't look around? Science Officer: Nor could we beam in an away team. That is my hypothesis. When the Enterprise arrives, we'll know. Her scanners are obviously more potent than those of a probe. Killpatrick: When. When... Scene III [Space. Enterprise streams past. We move to her bridge. Riker seated at control console along with Data. Worf not present.] Picard [voice-over]: Captain's log, supplemental. In minutes, we shall rendez-vous with the Nadia. All stations, combat alert. First Officer Riker and Tactical Officer Worf remain concerned this may be the precursor to a Romulan ambush. Klingon heavy cruisers T'Kiar and R'Shal reporting expected arrival in three and a half hours. Riker: Sensors continue to indicate no activity. Data: Fascinating. Even knowing precisely the Behemoth's location, our most rigorous scans detect no sign of it. Not even slight gravitational anomalies, or otherwise inexplicable neutrino radiations. Picard: Do you think such technology beyond the Romulans? Data: I do, Captain. Especially given the sheer size of this vessel. Riker: The Romulans have surprised us before. Attendant: It is wise, Commander, not to underestimate the prowess of one's foes. Equally dangerous, however, is over- estimating them. It leads to paralysis. Not unlike a small creature terrified into immobility by a fearsome predator. Riker: I don't think the analogy entirely appropriate... Picard: She has a point, Number One. If we see Romulans hiding behind every rock, we won't know which are real, and which the product of our own imagining. Data: We have reached the Rakis system, Captain. Picard: Worf, report. [Worf stands on transporter platform, well armed. A similarly well-armed medical team arrayed behind him.] Worf : Ready, Captain. [Return to bridge] Riker: If Romulans do attack, the Nadia may be their first target. Picard: I am well aware of that, Number One. Troi: Why should they waste time and firepower on a vessel which poses no military threat? Riker: Spite. Attendant: That would be illogical and militarily unwise. The Romulans are neither. The Nadia represents a source of valuable intelligence, both as a ship and as a crew. A source which could offer little real resistance. They will concentrate instead on this vessel. Picard: Sound reasoning. Even so, it is a possibility we cannot ignore. Data: Coming out of warp, Captain. [The Rakis system crystallizes on main screen. The Nadia plainly visible. Much of her saucer's left side has been shorn off or crumpled. The twin engine prongs are skewed from center. She rotates slowly, as if hanging by a thread.] Riker: Amazing. Troi: Horrible... Picard: Away teams, energize. Data, prepare a plan of evacuation. Path: moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!mips!public!btr.btr.com!mcmelmon From: mcmelmon@btr.btr.com Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: Belly of the Whale - part 3 Message-ID: <6238@public.BTR.COM> Date: 10 Apr 92 23:16:44 GMT Sender: mcmelmon@public.BTR.COM Distribution: na Organization: BTR Public Access UNIX, MtnView CA. Contact: Customer Service cs@BTR.COM Lines: 265 Act IV Scene I [Enterprise bridge. Full alert persists.] Data: Evacuation complete, Captain. Picard: And when the Klingon ships arrive, we shall begin rescuing the dead. A far less pleasant task. Attendant: From what can the dead be rescued? Picard: An empty grave. Attendant: The Highest understands. I do not. The failing is mine. Riker: Don't be too hard on yourself, kid. Attendant: I am forty-three years, two-hundred and seven days of age. I do not believe this qualifies me as a child. Data: The expression's intent is to provide warmth. It is not to be taken literally. Picard: Now I have truly heard everything. Data: Actually, Captain, such a claim is profoundly exaggerated... Riker: Data, I think the Captain finds mirth in an android explaining a human expression to a Vulcan priestess. Data: I do not see why the Captain should find mirth in that. Attendant: Again, the Highest understands what I do not. Data: I am afraid I share your confusion... Riker: Transporter room reports Captain Erin Killpatrick and First Officer Haifa ben Gesserat of the Nadia are now aboard. Last off his ship. A true captain. Picard: Erin Killpatrick has been called many things. I wonder, what would the old brigadier think of that one? Scene II [Enterprise transporter room. Three figures materialize on the platform: Worf, Killpatrick, and Haifa. They move quickly out of the room and into the corridor. The trio disappear into a lift.] Killpatrick: You're at alert. Trouble out there? Worf: We do not know. Haifa: But you suspect? Worf: We suspect Romulans. Killpatrick: It's good to suspect Romulans. Never met one I wouldn't love to suspect. Hmmn. Never met one, I suppose... Worf: They make formidable foes. A good test of a warrior's mettle. Killpatrick: Ah, Klingon spirit. Can always use more of that in this star-jockey brigade. Haifa: What do you suspect the Romulans of? Worf: Preparing an ambush. Haifa: The source of this suspicion? Worf: We are near the Neutral Zone. Your ship was in pursuit of a pirate craft from a group they are known to support. The giant vessel hides within a cloaking sphere of great sophistication. Haifa: The pirate's collision with that vessel proved more catastrophic than our own. Worf: Romulans care little for pawns. Scene III [As we become aware of the Enterprise conference room, Data has been briefing those present on what the Nadia's probes have returned.] Data: For the most part, the Behemoth is hollow. Some manner of superstructure riddles the interior. Haifa:What function does it serve? Data: I believe it's function to be the restraint of smaller vessels. Riker: Some kind of hangar bay? Data: Precisely. Haifa: With what capacity? Data: I have not calculated an exact estimate. Killpatrick: Then guess, man! Data: Actually, I am not a 'man.' I am an android. And a 'guess,' should not be treated as a statement of actual fact... Picard: By definition, Data. How many ships? Data: Thirteen thousand, seven-hundred and eighty four. Killpatrick: That's quite a guess. Data: Thank you, Captain Killpatrick. Worf: What size ships? Data: The superstructure can accommodate vessels varying widely in size. I computed my 'guess' using the Enterprise as a base. Haifa: Romulans would have no need of such capacity. Killpatrick: Or we'd be speaking another language. Data: Why is that, Captain Killpatrick? Picard: We'd be Romulan. Worf: More likely, we would be dead. Picard: In any event, if not the Romulans, who? And where did they go? Data: I do not have enough information to answer those questions, Captain. We shall need to collect more. Picard: And to do that, we'll need more than probes. Data: Probes are capable of receiving only a limited information stream. Haifa: You suggest moving the Enterprise inside? Data: That would be the optimal solution. The Enterprise is designed first and foremost as an exploration vessel. Picard: Can we navigate the superstructure safely? Data: Safely. But not quickly, Captain. It appears to have been designed with the express purpose of being un-navigable. It does not follow a grid. The reason escapes me. Haifa: A means of defense. Data: I do not understand. Haifa: Such a structure would impede attacking craft attempting access to the carrier's main compartments. Picard: Which is exactly what we are trying to do. Worf: Such construction would also impede the release of carried vessels. Haifa: A standard carrier tactic is to release cargo far from an actual engagement. The impedance would not pose a liability unless other capital ships failed to protect the carrier from rapid assault. Worf: I am impressed, Commander Haifa. Haifa: I am flattered, Lieutenant Worf. Killpatrick: Well, then! Now that that's settled, what are we waiting for? Picard: The T'Kiar and R'Shal. Killpatrick: The who? Riker: Klingon cavalry. Path: moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!mips!public!btr.btr.com!mcmelmon From: mcmelmon@btr.btr.com Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: Belly of the Whale - final Message-ID: <6298@public.BTR.COM> Date: 15 Apr 92 16:46:49 GMT Sender: mcmelmon@public.BTR.COM Distribution: na Organization: BTR Public Access UNIX, MtnView CA. Contact: Customer Service cs@BTR.COM Lines: 475 Scene IV [Blackness cut by a narrow band of light. Rising through the band, the Enterprise. Flood-lamps flare along the rim of her saucer, their glare reflecting off pale skeletons of steel. Enterprise bridge.] Worf: We have lost direct contact with the T'Kiar and R'Shal. As expected, Captain. Establishing contact via probe links. [The Highest strides towards the main viewing screen. She stops before it, cutting an imposing profile.] Attendant: The Highest senses a mind. Picard: A mind? Singular? Attendant: Singular. A primitive mind. Barely sentient. Troi: It's true, Captain. I can feel it as well. Primitive, yet vast. Data: I do not understand. How can a mind be 'vast?' and yet 'primitive?' Troi: I don't understand, either. It feels as if I am surrounded by thoughts - or more rather, feelings - but all emanate from the same entity. Data: I do not think that would be possible. Attendant: Quite possible, android. This ship is alive. Killpatrick: You mean, we're in the belly of a whale!? Attendant: Your metaphor pleases the Highest. Troi: The full spectrum of emotional activity one would expect in a truly animate creature is not present. Picard: An artificial life-form? Troi: Very possible. Data: We are nearing the fore section of the craft. As their initial programming did not anticipate the super- structure, the probes did not penetrate this far. Picard: Meaning we may yet bump into something. Data: A possibility. We are detecting a massive structure ahead, Captain. A wall. We should clear enough of the super- structure that our lamps will illuminate it's complex surface soon. Riker: Complex? Data: According to sensors, reliefs and embossings mark the surface. On a very large scale. From an averaged base, projections and valleys occur to plus and minus seven meters... [Picard rises from his chair. He steps towards the screen, until he stands by the Highest's side. Light from the Enterprise begins to illuminate the wall. We see shapes. Humanoid shapes taking part in a colossal dance, not unlike those which grace the ceilings of palaces and churches of Renaissance Italy. From space, we see the Enterprise stopped before the wall. Her flood lamps stream across it as far as we can see. Throughout this range, the wall is flat, and the figures continue to dance.] ACT V Scene I [Enterprise bridge.] Picard [voice-over]: Captain's log, supplemental. In the belly of the whale. We have found what we believe to be a portal. Remarkable in that we can find no others. The hull of the vessel blocks both our scanners and transporter. Access to the Behemoth proper thus apparently limited to a single, small entrance. Not much larger than a shuttle craft. Commander Data has left the Enterprise in an attempt to open this door. Worf: The R'Shal reports Vulcan industrial vessel Ch'iar and Federation battleship Yamato arriving, Captain. Picard: Excellent. Request the R'Shal join us. Have the Ch'iar begin salvage operations on the Nadia. Riker: Don't like the idea of being alone in here any longer than necessary either, Captain? Picard: No, Number One. I do not. Worf: Data hailing us from Shuttle 4. Picard: Visual. Data: I have been unable to find any mechanism for opening this portal, Captain. In fact, I can find no automatic systems at all. Riker: Have you tried "Open Sesame?" Data: No, Commander Riker. I am not familiar with that device. Attendant: There are no automatic systems. There is no computer. Only the ship. Riker: A starship without a computer? Attendant: Correct. This vessel is alive. It must be treated as such. Picard: Then perhaps "Open Sesame" is the right idea, Number One. Data: Forgive me, Captain. Could you explain what "Open Sesame" is? Picard: Not now, Data. Riker: You're suggesting we ask to be let in? Picard: Right, Number One. Killpatrick: But ask who? We've been hailing for hours. Haven't gotten a peep back yet. Picard: We've been asking the wrong way. Data: Ah, 'Open Sesame...' Taken from the myth of 'Ali Baba and the Thousand Thieves.' The magic words which, when spoken, would open the cave used by... Riker: Data... Haifa: I believe I understand. Picard: Prepare for a guest, Data. Scene II [Haifa floats by the great wall. Data floats near her. Her gloved hand brushes against the surface. For a moment, she is still. She takes a hold of the glove with her other hand and begins to remove it.] Data: That is not wise, Commander. We are still in deep space. The elbow pressure point will protect the rest of your body, but you could loose your forearm to the extreme cold. Haifa: I must touch the ship. Picard: Transporter Room. Lock on Commander Haifa. Energize on my command. Dr. Crusher, prepare for a case of severe frostbite. [Haifa removes her glove. Air puffs from the forearm section of her suite. Frost crystallizes along her fingers. We can see the bulge of veins. She touches the wall of the ship gingerly. Haifa: Open. [Light flares along the periphery of the small circular portal. It moves back several meters, then slides to the left, revealing a dock slightly larger than the shuttle craft. Killpatrick: That's my girl! Picard: Energize. Scene III [Enterprise sick bay. Haifa lays on a platform. Dr. Crusher finishes examining her arm with a monitoring device.] Beverly: That was very brave. And very foolish. It'll be awhile before you have full use of your fingers again. Haifa: I understand. [The Highest and her attendant enter. Dr. Crusher does not recognize her. The Highest touches Haifa's head tenderly. Several moments pass.] Attendant: You were not happy on Vulcan. Haifa: There is no happiness on Vulcan. Attendant: You did not consider it home. Did you feel ill treated? Haifa: I was treated as a Vulcan. Attendant: And this did not please you? Haifa: I am not a Vulcan. Scene IV Picard, the Highest, and her Attendant move quickly down a corridor aboard the Enterprise. Picard [voice-over]: Captain's log, supplemental. The inner door of the docking chamber does not possess enough of the outer hull's unidentifiable materials to block our transporter. This provides us a window of opportunity into the main ship. Captain Killpatrick has already lead an away team, comprised primarily of his own crew. Their training in infiltration and commando activities made them ideal for the first-in scenario. They report no signs of life. [Enterprise transporter room. Riker, Worf, and Data ready themselves on the platform. Picard enters. Behind him, the Highest and her Attendant.] Riker: Is it wise...? Picard: The Highest insisted. Riker: Even so... Picard [interrupting]: Argument is useless, Number One Riker: Energize. The team materializes within a cavernous chamber, not unlike the lobby of a hotel, on a truly enormous scale. On three walls of the square, rising up almost beyond sight, are tier after tier of balconies. Everything covered in baroque carvings. A graceful, arching double-door marks the fourth wall - several stories tall itself. Above that, a hanging banner emblazoned with a coat-of-arms. Killpatrick walks over to the new arrivals.] Killpatrick: Pretty spectacular, eh Picard? This room here, about a hundred meters square. Must be eighty stories up that way. Rooms spread out and out and out. It'll take weeks to go through the whole thing. I've pulled my men back to form a perimeter. If something wanders over, we'll be ready. Picard: Have you opened those? Killpatrick: No. Haifa thought the Highest would be coming. Thought she'd like to open them. Riker: And if there's something on the other side? Attendant? Then we shall know soon enough. Where is Commander Haifa? Killpatrick: Checking the perimeter. Always a soldier, that girl... Attendant: Please tell her we are grateful. [The Highest walks across the chamber. She places her hand on the smooth, metallic surface. The doors shimmer slightly as they sweep back silently.] Attendant: Truly a fascinating vessel. It shall take far longer than weeks, Captain Killpatrick, to investigate it's complexities. [The group passes between the doors. They enter another cavernous chamber, though smaller than the first. Darker as well. And littered with towering mound after towering mound of glittering, broken swords. A path leads through the useless weapons. It ends before a glossy black disk, raised slightly from the floor. Picard: What is it, Data? Data: It would appear to be some manner of projector, Captain. Holographic. [The Highest's kneels, placing her hand upon the surface. A brilliant image chases away the darkness. An incredibly tall, fiercely beautiful woman with billowing silver hair. She begins to speak, but at first her words are foreign and cannot be understood. A look of concentration washes over the Highest's face. The words become clearer.] Data: Fascinating, Captain. The Highest is interacting with this vessel to translate the words as they are spoken. Woman: ...Lady Niam, Empress on Avelos. But this is all that remains of my empire. Empty chambers and broken swords. But even that is more than all the others. Their kingdoms, ash. Their people, dead. Forty millennia of star-spanning civilization. Ended. These, the fruits of my strength, now stand as mute testimony to our weakness. [As Lady Niam speaks, other images flash by. A whirling galaxy. A planet. Massive ships like the Behemoth disgorging swarms of smaller craft. Titanic struggle. Then nothing. Just the Empress. Her head bowed. Lady Niam: Our failing... But perhaps all shall not be ash. Here, in the holds of ships within this ship, the life of those worlds - in vanity - I called mine. Primitive life. 'Foolish,' my generals screamed at me. Foolish to waste so valuable a carrier - the greatest in space - on animals. 'Mere' animals. But it is they who were foolish. They who could not see. Why could they not see? From the lowly come the high. Perhaps it shall not be as it was, the second time around? [The image vanishes. An uncomfortable blackness returns. The Highest stands.] Attendant: There is no more. Nothing. Data: The galaxy shown in the holograph matches what we call Andromeda. Apparently, this vessel has crossed the intergalactic void, to escape the calamity of warfare. Riker: What does it all mean? Worf: From the lowly come the high? Second time around? And ships within this ship? Where did they go? Riker: Escape with nothing but animals? Why wouldn't the Empress escape herself? With her people. A carrier of this size could hold perhaps hundreds of thousands. Attendant: You do not see. They did escape. Riker: In the ships this vessel carried? She said only animals... Picard: Perhaps they are us? Riker: Captain? Picard: Noah's ark, Number One. 'The second time around.' A second chance. The Empress understood the process of nature. From animals come successively higher forms of life. Data:'From the lowly come the high.' It could be, Captain. And it would help to explain the similarities of alien life throughout the range of our travels. Though it would place this ship's age in the hundreds of millions of years. Riker: Which I find rather difficult to accept. Picard: There may be other explanations, Number One. Granted. But imagine. A common thread, woven through all of our histories. Imagine. [We rise into the darkness, looking down at the team, surrounded by the broken swords. Light falls on them from the open door, itself shaped like a dagger.