The storm broke during the night, and the sun rose bright and radiant on the fourth day, lighting up stray clouds with red and purple, bringing light and warmth to the silent, empty buildings. Steam rose from the river, from the building rooftops, from the mud, from the trees surrounding the town----antediluvian jungle.
I was the first to leave the shuttle, and stood alone beside it, my face and lungs exposed to the air of this world. I had decided to abandon the breathing apparatus---people had lived here long enough to build a settlement; it probably wasn't anything in the air that killed them, and if it was----I'd accept whatever came. For some reason, I felt comfortably reckless.
Without the breather, the smells were intense. Exotic and strange and exhilarating. More than ever, I know I was on an alien planet, my mind trying to identify so many odors that didn't match anything I'd ever experienced.
The air was nearly silent. But as the sun climbed, sounds of life finally emerged from the woods---animals presumably, though the clicks and chitters and rustlings and mewling cries sounded distinctly alien, as they should. This was an alien planet. Alien to human beings, alien surely to those human beings who had landed here just days ago.
Then there was another sound, a low and quiet yowling. Not from the woods, though; this time the sound came from one of the newest buildings. I turned and stared in the direction of a long, weather-beaten structure, at the open doorway and shattered windows.
A large cat stepped through the doorway and emerged into the sunlight, staring back at me. The cat was larger than anything I'd ever seen on the ship. The low yowling became almost a growl, and its tail, fat and puffed, twitched stiffly.
I squatted and reached out a hand.
The cat hissed, then ran off toward the trees.
I was filled with a wonderful sense of peace and contentment, and wished than none of the others would leave the shuttle.
But they did, and the exploration of the settlement resumed. The ground was still muddy, and moving about was tiresome and sloppy. I lost interest before noon. Buildings filled with rotting furniture, broken doors and windows, warped and mildewed floors and walls, unrecognizable masses and shafts of rustling metal. I doubted anyone would discover anything useful, anything to tell us what had happened.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5N1iiquA1
Leaving the others to explore, I went down to the river at midday. The remains of a crude dock extended three or four meters into the water, although it was clear that at one time the dock had been much longer. When I took a few steps onto it, the wood was so decayed I sank slightly into it, and the entire structure creaked and swayed, threatening to collapse beneath me. I backed off and sat on a section set into the bank and watched the muddy water flow past.
The water was hypnotic, so that I lost all sense of time, and even a sense of place. This was only the second time in my life that I had seen a real river---it felt so different from the small, artificial streams that flowed in the nature rooms aboard the ship. Vast and uncontrolled and somehow----alive.
I heard a noise and looked up. Father O'Heron stood just a few feet away, watching me.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"The settlement doesn't interest me," I told her. "Digging trough the mud and the rot of the past----" I shook my head. "Not when it's so unlikely that any answers will be found."
She didn't reply at first, and it seemed she was bothered by my answer, or made thoughtful by it, I wasn't sure which.
"Then why did you come with us? On this landfall?"
"To be the captain's representative," I said. "He needs eyes and ears down here."
She smiled slyly, and I wondered what she was thinking. But whatever it was, she kept it to herself. "I meant personally. If you hadn't wanted to come, you could've found a way to stay on the Enterprise."
"I'm not sure that's true. But yes, I wanted to come. I wanted to see this place. I wanted to stand on solid ground. I wanted to experience real weather, not the simulated rains and winds of the nature rooms. See a real sun and a real moon."
"We all should be allowed to make landfall," she said, gazing across the river and into the dense undergrowth on the other side. "Everyone on board should be given the opportunity, for at least a few days." It was something Sulu might've said, and I wondered if she knew of the plans for mutiny. "It's not right." Her face was set, and I thought she might actually be angry.
"Why did you come with the team?" I asked.
"For the Church. So there would be someone to comfort the living, someone to bury the dead."
"And your personal reasons?" I asked.
She turned back to me. "There is no difference," she said. "My life and my faith and my Church are all the same."
I could see that she believed that about herself, but I wasn't sure that I did. I wondered if her church was the same as the bishop's. I doubted it.
"I'll have to be getting back now," she said. "If I'm needed I have to be there. I just wanted to see that you were all right."
"I'm fine."
"So you are," she said. She turned and walked back toward the settlement, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the swirling of the water beneath my feet.
The orbiting probe surveys were completed that day. Photos and imaging scans were transmitted both to the Enterprise and to us on land. The science team spent hours in consultation with the captain, the bishop, and another science team up on the ship, trying to determine what, if anything, needed further exploration.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36VDeYVAu7
There was only one obvious site, another large group of buildings, although no electromagnetic emissions whatsoever could be detected from it, and there were no signs of life. It would be several hours to the southeast by flyer.
After that there was much disagreement. Lots of discussion, lots of uncertainty. I retreated to the rear of the shuttle's main cabin, not wanting to get involved. Eventually, though, their uncertainty was overcome, and it was decided that two other sites warranted further exploration. Then it was time to select a two-person team to make the trip. I wondered if anyone would volunteer. This was an alien and unknown world, and any venture would only add to the risks we all currently faced.
"I need to be with the exploration party," Father O'Heron said. "In case there are survivors that need help and comfort." She paused. "Or more dead to be buried."
I waited for the objections, but none were forthcoming. There was silence, people in the shuttle looking around at each other. The bishop's voice came through the linkup.
"I approve," he said.
His approval shocked me, until it occurred to me that the bishop might actually want Father O'Heron put in harm's way. Just as Jean-Luc saw the bishop as a threat to his captaincy, the bishop might see Father O'Heron as a threat to his own position. The fact that Father O'Heron had never demonstrated the slightest ambition might only make her more dangerous in his eyes.
I came forward and said, "I'll accompany Father O'Heron."
Everyone was shocked, I think."
I had two reasons for wanting to go with her. First, I preferred to be with her rather than any of the others; and second, I suspected the bishop's motives, and felt protective of her. If he was willing to put her at risk, I was willing to risk myself to provide what protection I could. Absurd, maybe, but that was what I felt.
"Shouldn't one of the science team go instead of Pavel?" It was Deanna Troi raising the objection.
But none of the science team wanted to leave. They wanted to stay together; they believed from what they'd seen of the charts and photographs that there was likely nothing of much interest at the other sites; and they had gained renewed excitement there in the settlement with the afternoon discovery of an extensive laboratory which was fairly intact.
"If something is found," said John Stryer, "the flyer can be sent back and one or more of us can go out to the site and investigate further. We don't need to go now."
There were no other objections, and no other volunteers. William Riker, though not the coward Dave Bailey was, would never take added risks, and I'm sure Deanna Troi felt she had to stay with the shuttle in case something needed to be done for the mutiny. And so, by default, I was approved.
Father O'Heron and I would go. We would leave at first light the next day, after the harvesters arrived.658Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLWBxFiRBO
