Encounter At Farpoint Part 15

"If you had earned that uniform, you'd know that the unknown is what brings us out here!" Picard snapped.

Q sniffed and turned away haughtily. "Wasted effort," he tossed off, "considering the level of your intelligence."

Picard sensed the alien backing off. He was not threatening or harrying now, not the bully boy. Q was reduced to throwing verbal barbs. In Picard's experience, that usually translated into a weakened position. "Let's test that," he said pleasantly. He turned to Zorn. "Starting with the tunnels you have under Farpoint, Groppler."

"Identical to the ones on that s.p.a.ce vessel over there," Riker put in. "Why was it punis.h.i.+ng you, Zorn? Perhaps in return for pain you caused some other life form?"

Picard pressed in on the Bandi administrator. Zorn flinched away from him, refusing to meet Picard's eyes. "We did nothing wrong!" he finally snapped. "The creature drifted down outside our city. It was weak ... starving ... it had been injured in s.p.a.ce. We are not heartless. We tried to help it..."

"Thank you," Picard interrupted. "That was the missing part. Lieutenant Yar, rig main phaser banks to deliver an energy beam."

"Aye, sir." Tasha was puzzled as to Picard's intention; but her long slim fingers automatically went to the Weapons and Tactical Station console, calling for the powering up of the energy beam.

Picard looked back at Zorn. "You say you tried to help it. That wouldn't have made this creature so angry it's bent on wiping out every Bandi it can sense."

Zorn wriggled uncomfortably. The Bandi had needed the creature so much. It had done all they asked of it, even if it had needed some ... coercion. "The creature requires energy to live, and we had it in abundance. It can read thought images. It could create anything we could think of... but we had to ration its energy to control it..."

Riker sighed. "It had to be conceivable that somewhere in the galaxy there could exist creatures able to convert energy into matter."

"And into specific patterns of matter, much as our transporters-and our holodecks-do," Data added.

Tasha had been watching the main viewscreen as she focused and refined the energy beam Picard ordered. Now she snapped, "On the viewer, Captain."

The vessel had begun to soften its edges further, melting into an amorphous lovely shape shot with soft, pulsing colors. "Zorn, you captured something like that, didn't you? And used it."

"It wanted to do it," Zorn protested. "To repay our kindness."

"You imprisoned it," Troi said harshly. "For your own ends."

"No, we just asked it to build something ... large."

"It created Farpoint Station for you," Riker said. Then he corrected himself. "No ... like that s.h.i.+p out there, it is Farpoint Station."

On the viewscreen, they could see the vessel creature flowing into a new shape. It extended feathery tendrils as it began to sink downward, toward the planet and the station below.

"Warn my people, please!" Zorn begged in panic. "They are in danger. Tell them to leave Farpoint Station immediately!"

Q thrust his way into the debate again. "He's lied to you, Captain. Shouldn't you let his people die?"

"Is that what you, in your advanced civilization, would recommend?" Picard inquired acidly. He didn't wait for a reply, but turned to Data at Ops. "Transmit this message to the Bandi. 'Leave Farpoint Station at once, for your own safety.' Continue transmission whether you get a response or not."

"Aye, sir." The android immediately began tabbing in the commands that would send the continuous message.

Troi had taken her seat at the left of the captain's chair and was staring at the viewscreen where the vessel creature still sank ominously toward the planet. "It was a pair of creatures I sensed. One down there in grief and pain and hunger, the other up here, filled with anger and hate..."

"And firing not on the new s.p.a.ce station, but on the Bandi and their city."

Picard looked at Troi for confirmation of his next statement. "Attacking those who captured its ...

its mate?"

She swiftly examined the feelings and sensitivities she had received and shook her head. "Not quite the right word, sir." She slid a glance at Riker. "Perhaps the Betazoid word 'imzadi' comes closer."

The first officer blushed.

"Energy beam ready, sir," Tasha said.

"Lock it on Farpoint Station, Lieutenant Yar."

Q had begun to get annoyed at being ignored. Had these humans forgotten the bargain Picard had made?

No one was doing what he wanted. They seemed to have decided he wasn't important. "I see now this was too simple a puzzle. But generosity has always been my weakness."

Picard continued to ignore Q. He nodded to Tasha. "Let it have whatever it can absorb. Energize."

Tasha tabbed a quick command into her console and glanced up at the main viewscreen. The huge screen's point of view s.h.i.+fted as Data operated his panel to follow the track of the thick, pale blue energy beam downward toward Farpoint Station. It struck the middle of the big station and seemed to be absorbed directly into it. Tasha watched her panel intently, caught a signal that brought her alert.

"Now getting feedback on the beam, sir."

"Discontinue it," Picard said. "Groppler Zorn, there'll soon be no Farpoint Station if I'm right about this."

"A lucky guess!" Q shot in, The others continued to ignore him. Zorn, who had no idea of who the alien was, took the others' lead and appealed directly to Picard. "Please believe me, Captain, we did not mean to harm the creature.

It was starving for energy ..."

"A need which you perverted for your own purposes."

"But we did feed it!" Zorn wailed, as if that small generosity absolved the crime. They had cared for the creature; if it had died, they would have been bereft. Of course, they might have cared more for the loss of the material possessions they would have lost than they would have for the death of the creature; but they would have mourned the loss.

"You fed it only enough to keep it alive, to force it to shape itself into the form you needed-"

"Sir," Data interjected. He nodded toward the viewscreen as Picard looked around.

Farpoint Station was s.h.i.+mmering, coalescing, growing soft around the edges. Slowly, it flowed into the shape of a gossamer creature, feathery light as it gracefully rose from its captivity. The vessel creature, larger, but equally beautiful, descended toward its mate.

"Sir," Troi breathed, "it's wonderful! A feeling of joy. And grat.i.tude."

The bridge crew, Zorn and Q watched the screen as the two aliens closed, reaching toward each other with glowing, writhing extensions of delicate matter/ energy. The tendrils touched and twined sinuously, and then both creatures began to move upward, past the Enterprise in orbit.

"Great joy and grat.i.tude," Troi said quietly. "From both of them."

Q sniffed disdainfully as the gracefully moving aliens pushed further away from the planet, heading for the depths of s.p.a.ce. "So dull, once you know the answers."

Picard whirled on him angrily. "Do you use other life forms for recreation?"

"If so, you've not provided the best."

"Leave us! We've pa.s.sed your little test. We've danced to your tune, and we no longer enjoy the melody."

Q smiled appeasingly, holding out his hands in a gentling gesture. "Temper, temper, mon capitaine. .

It hadn't worked very well before. It didn't work now. "Get off my s.h.i.+p!" Picard's roared.

At least Q had a sense of timing. He bowed toward Picard mockingly and chuckled. "I do so only because it suits me to leave. But I will not promise never to appear again." The blistering white flash of light' carried him away, leaving the bridge complement alone with Zorn.

"Now, about Farpoint Station," Picard began.

The Bandi administrator seemed lost and forlorn, his face haggard with despair. He gestured toward the main viewscreen, which Data had brought to focus on what had been Farpoint Station. The Bandi city remained, damaged by the creature's attack. Beside it, the yellow desert winds of the planet stirred dust in the empty s.p.a.ce where the station had once been. "There is no Farpoint Station, Captain. You will have to report to Starfleet that the Bandi have nothing to offer them."

Picard studied the screen for a moment, then he turned to Zorn thoughtfully. "You still have an ideal location for a station."

"Location, yes. Nothing more. We had hoped Farpoint would be our link to the outside worlds ... a way for our people to flourish again. I see now. We chose ... an incorrect way to accomplish it. To our detriment."

"Starfleet is still interested in Farpoint. With work and cooperation from you and with Federation a.s.sistance, this could still be a valuable staging planet for us. Are the Bandi willing to try?"

Zorn looked up, hope starting to erase the worry lines on his face. Truly, all they'd ever wanted was the opportunity to live on, to extend their racial heritage, and to grow by touching other cultures.

"I think," he said slowly, "we would be very willing."

"Good," Picard said, smiling. "In that case, we have a great deal to discuss."

"I will be honored," Zorn said. He bowed humbly toward Picard, but the captain waved it away and gestured the administrator toward his command chair to confer with him.

Riker noticed Data running a program at Science Station 1 and moved up the ramp toward him. Data glanced around as the first officer joined him. "I was just taking a final reading on the creatures.

I find it interesting that their conversion of energy into matter is so total that our instruments were unable to detect them as life forms when they were in that state."

"Very interesting, Commander-"

"Just Data, sir."

Riker smiled and went on. "Data. I wanted you to know I found your performance of duty absolutely faultless."

"My programming is of exceptionally high quality, sir," the android replied serenely.

"Yes. What I really mean is-I didn't find it as difficult as I thought to work with you."

"I could say the same, sir."

Riker persisted. "I'm trying to apologize if I said anything that offended you before."

Picard's mellow voice broke in quietly. "Well, Number One ..."

"He must approve of you, sir," Data said softly. "Or he would not call you Number One."

Riker looked at Data and found the steady yellow eyes were oddly sincere. wonder how he manages that? Riker thought. But the captain had summoned him, and he moved quickly down into the command well. "Yes, sir."p> wonder how he manages that? Riker thought. But the captain had summoned him, and he moved quickly down into the command well. "Yes, sir."p> Picard had risen from his command chair to escort Zorn into his ready room. "It certainly has been an unusual welcome aboard. But there's still a lot to do before we can leave orbit." He noticed the bemused expression on Riker's face as the tall man slid into the first officer's chair. "Some problem, Commander?"

"Just hoping this isn't the usual way our missions will go, sir."

Picard screwed up his face in mock consideration and finally shook his head. "Oh, no, Number One. I'm sure most of them will be much more interesting."