***The Hills of Time***
***by George Pollock, Jr.***

***Chapter 11***
***First Impressions***

   ...
   ...
   I ...
   ...
   ...
   ... am ...
   ...
   ...
   ... am ... 
   ... who ...?
   ...
   ... 
   Who ...?
   ...
   ...
   Wait ...
   ...
   ...
   ...
   I feel ...
   ...
   ... feel ...
   ...
   ...
   ... back ... there ...
   ...
   ... back ... then ...
   ...
   ...
   Paa ...
   Paa ...
   Paa ... teeee ...
   Paa ... teee ...
   Paa -tee ...
   Pa-tee ...
   Patee ...
   ...
   ...
   Patty ...
   ...
   ...
   ...
   ...
   ...
   And ...
   ... 
   I ...
   ...
   ... died ...
   ...
   ...
   Heaven ...
   ... 
   ...
   ... so ... warm ...
   ...
   ...
   Floating ...
   ...
   So warm ...
   ...
   ...
   ... and ... full ...
   ... of  light ...
   ...
   ...
   Thank ... you ...
   ...
   ...
   ... Mother ...
   ...
   ...
   Thank you ...
   ...
   ...
   Wait ...
   ...
   ...
   ...
   She's ...
   ...
   ... here ...
   ...
   ...
   ... before me ...
   ...
   ...
   I see Her ...
   ...
   ...
   Oh ...
   ...
   ... she's ...
   ... 
   ... beautiful ...
   ...
   ...
   Tall ...
   ...
   Pink face ...
   ...
   Black body ...
   ... with gray ...
   ... 
   Blue robe ...
   ...
   Red ...
   ... hair ...
   ...
   A brooch ...
   ...
   ... of glorious ...
   ... glorious ...
   ... gold ...
   ...
   ... 
   She knows ...
   ...
   ...
   ... I know ...
   ... She's here ...
   ...
   ...
   She's ... looking ...
   ...
   ... at ...
   ... 
   ... me ...
   ...
   ...
   ...
   She's ...
   ...
   ... smiling ... at ...
   ... 
   ... me ...
   ...
   Nodding ...
   ...
   ... 
   The Mother ...
   ...
   ... loves ...
   ...
   ... me ...
   ...
   ...
   No ...
   ... 
   Too much ...
   ...
   ...
   Too much ...
   ...
   ...
   Can't ...
   ...
   Can't ...
   ...
   ...
   Unhhh ...
   ...
   ...
   ...

*******

   Dr. Crusher brushed some stray red hair away from her pink face.
   She took her right hand from the pocket of her blue lab coat that covered 
her black-and-gray uniform. She tapped her gold-colored com badge. 
   "Sickbay to captain," she said.
   "Picard here. Go ahead, Doctor."
   "Captain, our latest guest is responding well to exposure-recovery 
treatment. She opened her eyes in the liqui-thaw tank for a moment. I think 
she saw me over the air mask. I smiled and nodded at her. Tried to signal 
that everything was all right."
   "Any reaction?"
   "No, not really. She closed her eyes again. The readings seem to suggest 
she ... well ... fainted ... But her vital signs are strong, otherwise. They 
all  have physiologies that are almost identical to human norms. Just a 
little different ..."
   "So what's your prognosis for this one, Doctor?"
   Crusher smiled.
   "Gonna be OK. Gonna make it ..."

*******

   Aw ...
   SHIT!!
   Not again!
   Damn, Lufy thought ...
   She was looking up at ...
   A ceiling ...
   I'm not dead.
   I think ...
   Damn ...
   Been revived ...
   Just like ... after Alpha 12 ...
   But ... who ...?
   Damn them, whoever ...
   I'll be weak for hours ...
   Won't be able to walk ...
   Helpless ...
   I hate that ...
   Damn ...
   And I can feel ...
   ... my hair's all wet ...
   Crap.
   I hate that, too ... 
   And where the hell am I ...?
   She guessed she was lying on her back.
   Well, couldn't see the ceiling if I were lying on my stomach, she thought 
...
   Ha!
   Rabby'd like that joke ...
   RABBY!!
   Mother in heaven!!
   Where was Rabby?
   Where were the others?
   Where am I?!!
   Then she heard the voices.
   Off to the right.
   "... seems to have been improvised ..."
   Slowly, she turned her head. It took a lot of concentration.
   Two Solnoids.
   At least, they looked like Solnoids ...
   One was tall, with a blue coat and red hair. The other was smaller, with 
black hair but also with a blue coat. They were huddled next to a ... well, a 
table of some sort. They were talking to each other.
   Another Solnoid was lying on the table. Lufy could see only her head.
   Her eyes were closed. She had wet, matted red hair.
   Lufy squinted.
   The prone Solnoid wore earrings.
   Striped earrings ...
   Red, yellow and blue earrings ...
   The Attacker's eyes widened.
   Holy Mother ...
   Rabby ...
   RABBY!!
   She strained to speak, but nothing came out. And even as she tried, the 
tall stranger spoke again.
   "... we'll have to cut it off ..."
   What?
   Cut?!
   Cut what off?! 
   Who are you people?! What are you doing?!
   What are doing to her?!
   LEAVE HER ALONE!!
   Damn you!!
   Butchers ...
   Murderers ...
   I'll kill you ...
   You hurt her ...
   I'll kill you both!!
   Damn you to hell ...
   Lufy moved. Slowly. Her body seemed to respond about five seconds after 
she wanted it to.
   But she was moving.
   Only then, as a passing thought, did she notice that she was naked, 
covered with a sheet of some sort.
   Her legs swung out over the edge of whatever she had been lying on. 
Another table of some sort. Her arms stupidly started to prop her torso erect.
   And her anger gave her voice.
   "Nnnnooooo ..."
   The two strangers started and spun around in shock. For an instant, they 
stood speechless, looking at her.
   Lufy pushed herself off the table, and the sheet fell to the floor. 
"Ssssstttooooppp!" she bellowed like a wild animal.
    Then her muscles disappeared.
    And the floor flew up and hit her in the face. Hard.
    It was cool. And from Lufy's vantage, dark. Painfully, she could feel her 
muscles turning to mush from the effort of trying to stand.
   This keeps happening to me, she thought. 
   Just like after Alpha 12 ...
   Gotta stop doing this ...
   Something grabbed her. She was rolled onto her back and helped up by the 
smaller, dark-haired stranger. A Solnoid with almond-shaped eyes.
   That's different, Lufy thought out of nowhere ...
   "Come on, now," the stranger said softly. "You're not strong enough to 
walk yet. Let's get you back on the bed ..."
   The Attacker saw the taller stranger watching near the other table. 
"Doonnn' ... hhuurrrrttt ..." was all that Lufy could manage as she was laid 
back down.
   "We won't," the smaller stranger said. "Everything's going to be OK ..."
   Lufy felt her weakness starting to wash over her again. Rest. She needed 
rest.
   But Rabby ...
   But ...
   ... rest ...
   Her eyes closed, and darkness kissed her mind.
   The smaller stranger picked up a compact device that started a tiny 
rhythmic whine. She studied its readout. "No apparent injuries from the fall, 
Doctor," she said. "Muscle electrochemistry is all screwed up but returning 
to what it was before. Neural readings erratic but not within danger levels."
   "Give her a sedative, Alyssa," the redhaired stranger said. "Standard 
dose."
   "Yes, Doctor." The nurse regarded the silent blonde with the shock of 
green hair who lay on the diagnostic bed. "This one's a fighter, all right."
   The doctor nodded and turned back toward the young woman she had been 
attending. The one with the pretty earrings. She examined the woman's left 
arm, then picked up a tubular metallic device from among several on a nearby 
tray.
   "Phasic bone cutter should do it," she said to herself.
   And she went to work.
   A few snips later, the bizarre metal-and-wire contraption that the young 
redhead had been wearing was in Beverly Crusher's hands. She looked down at 
the motionless, closed-eyed woman.
   "You won't need this anymore," she said quietly. "Your fracture's been 
healed a long time ..."

*******

   It felt ...
   ... good ...
   Filling her ...
   So sweet ...
   So sweet ...
   Never seemed so sweet, she thought ...
   It left.
   Oh, no, she thought ...
   ... More ...
   ... please ...
   Oh, please ...
   ... come back ...
   It did.
   Yes ...
   She felt it ...
   ... travel deep again ...
   ... far within her ...
   Filling her ...
   ... filling her ...
   Oh, the sweetness ...
   ... the cool liquid hardness ...
   ... of air ...
   ... filling her lungs ...
   Slowly, Eluza opened her eyes.
   She was lying on her back. Naked. Covered with a sheet.
   And a Solnoid was looking down at her.
   Smiling.
   An older Solnoid. With long red hair.
   A lot like Rabby, Eluza thought. But older. What Rabby would look like as 
an elderwoman of Marsus, maybe 20 years after she knew her. Forty-something. 
   Old.
   She never expected to see Rabby as an elderwoman. Not that Rabby would die 
before that; Rabs was a survivor. And not that Rabby wasn't up to the 
responsibilities. Eluza never doubted that Rabby would one day sit on the 
council.
   It was herself who would be gone before that.
   Dead. Killed in the war.
   Always thought I'd die in the damned war ...
   And why aren't I dead? she thought. I'm breathing. You don't breathe when 
you're dead ...
   The older Solnoid spoke:
   "Hello."
   She spoke Solnoid. It sounded like Solnoid. 
   But there were no other survivors of the race, Lufy said. 
   Was Lufy wrong? 
   Who was this, anyway?
   And where am I? How did I get here? Where are my friends?! What happened 
to my ship?! How long have I been out?!
   WHAT'S GOING ON?!
   What came out was:
   "Hello ..."
   The older ... woman ... nodded. "You're on a starship," she said softly. 
"I'm a doctor. You're going to be all right ..."
   Starship? What's a "starship"? We didn't have anything called a 
"starship"!  Are we still in space? On a planet? Is this "starship" something 
new? 
   Are you Solnoid? 
   Is this a Paranoid trick?! Where are my friends?!
   WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!
   What came out was:
   "Oh ..."
   After the storm cleared in her mind, Eluza finally got an idea out. "Are 
you ... Solnoid ...?"
   The redheaded woman shook her head slightly. "I don't think so ... My name 
is Beverly Crusher. I'm from the planet Earth."
   The last word wandered around in Eluza's mind for a moment -- and realized 
that it was lost. "Never heard of it ...," she said.
   "Well, it's a long way from here ...," the woman said.
   Eluza's purple eyes narrowed slightly with a question. "How is it ... I 
can ... understand you ...?"
   "I injected a universal translator behind your right ear while you were 
unconscious. I'm sorry for the liberty, but it's the only way I have of 
communicating with a lot of my patients. It should be painless."
   The Solnoid cast her eyes down and nodded. "It is. I understand ..." She 
looked back up. "Beverly ... of ... 'Earth,' was it ...?"
   "Yes ..."
   "My name ..." She swallowed lightly to compose herself. "... my name is 
Captain Eluza Ortiz ... of the ... Solnoid Navy escort carrier Star Leaf. I 
had ... several crewmates on my ship. Do you know what ... happened ... to 
them?"
   "We found ... some ... in their quarters. They're recovering, as you are."
   Eluza closed her eyes. "Thank the Mother ...," she whispered. "Thank the 
Mother ..." She sighed heavily and looked at the doctor again. "Beverly of 
Earth?"
   "Yes, Captain Ortiz?"
   "Whom do I thank ... for rescuing me and my crew?"
   At that moment -- at the very limit of Eluza's peripheral vision -- 
something moved.
   It moved closer.
   And it wasn't something.
   It was someone.
   Eluza looked toward the someone.
   A different someone. Tall. More muscular. Seemingly a little older than 
Beverly of Earth.
   With an almost-nonexistent bustline.
   And an angular, harder face.
   But with eyes full of life. Full of decision. Full of confidence.
   And no hair on the head ...
   Weird ...
   Like a Solnoid. But different.
   Wait a minute ...
   Wait ...
   What did Rabby's report call it ...?
   Damn, it was so long ago ...
   The word ... the word ...
   A Solnoid -- but different ...
   A ...
   ... mmm ...
   ... male ...
   The male leaned over and smiled. "You can thank the Federation starship 
Enterprise. I'm the captain, Jean-Luc Picard."
   For an instant, Eluza was confused.
   A male? The captain?
   Rabby said they were such strange creatures ...
   Were they capable of such responsibility ...?
   But there was ... something ... about this one, she thought ...
   Something I like ...
   Something I feel ...
   Something ... I trust ...
   And Eluza did something she couldn't explain at that moment. It was pure 
feeling.
   She smiled back.
   "Thank you, Captain ... Picard ..."

*******

   HE'S GOT GOLD-COLORED EYES, TOO! 
   Strictly coincidence ...
   AND GOLD-COLORED SKIN ... NOW, THAT'S KINDA FUNKY ...
   I'm trying to pay attention here ...
   OH, DON'T PULL THAT CRAP ON ME! YOU'VE GOT YOUR MOTHER'S MIND! YOU KNOW 
WHAT SHE KNEW -- THE ANCIENT SOLNOID SECRETS. THE ONES THAT FEW KNEW -- AND 
NO ONE DARED SPEAK. 
   What secrets could those be?
   THE SECRETS ABOUT 'MALES' ...
   HONEY ... I KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT WHEN YOU SAW HIM ...
   Oh, do you?
   YEP. BABE, I AM WHAT YOU THOUGHT WHEN YOU SAW HIM ...
   Oh ... 
   Shit ...
   "Lieutenant?"
   Catty started. She glanced around to see the male android looking 
quizzically at her. He was holding a scanning device. A "tricorder," he had 
called it.
   "Yes, Commander Data?" she asked.
   "Interesting ...," he said, almost to himself. "For a moment, there were 
increased pulses in your positronic net. And your skin conductivity increased 
noticeably."
   "I can't imagine why ...," the female android dead-panned.
   "Also," Data continued, "I perceived an increase in the red end of the 
tone on your face. Are you warm?"
   "No," she said matter-of-factly.
   Something that had stuck with him from earlier came to the fore: "Are you 
sure you're all right ...?"
   "Yes, Commander ...."
   He closed the tricorder. "In that case, I can find nothing out of the 
ordinary with you, based on the parameters you provided. You came through the 
comprehensive scan undamaged. I see no reason why you shouldn't function 
normally, as you know it."
   "Thank you, Commander. May I ask what technology we just used? It felt 
like a layer of energy that ran down from my head to my feet."
   "It is an advanced form of what was once called 'computer-assisted 
tomography.' It provides a cross section of the device -- in this case, you 
-- and an analysis of the materials. The technology was pioneered for medical 
purposes and called by its initials -- a 'CAT' scan."
   She smiled slightly. "And now it was a 'Catty' scan ..."
   He looked puzzled. " 'Catty scan' ...?" After a moment, his face 
registered understanding. "Oh, I see. A pun. A play on the words 'CAT' and 
'Catty.' It was a joke. Amusing." 
   Then he started entering his findings into a computer.
   After regarding him in silence for a moment, she sighed. "Well ... to some 
people, it would be ..."
   Dejectedly, she looked around the vast, open room with its huge towering, 
glowing blue column in the center. All around, what appeared to be Solnoids 
and "males" busied themselves at various tasks.
   "You said this is your ship's engine room?" Catty asked.
   Data looked up from the engineering computer. "Yes. The large device in 
the center is our propulsion unit. It is called a 'warp core.' "
   Catty squinted at it. "Controlled matter/anti-matter reaction creating a 
spatial warp."
   Data was impressed. "That is correct. Did someone already tell you?"
   "No. I can see the reaction through the ports."
   "You can ... see ... the reaction ...?"
   "Yes." She looked at Data, then tilted her head slightly. "Can't you?"
   Data studied the core. "Not ... exactly ..."
   "Maybe you should adjust your optical frequencies." She shrugged, almost 
playfully. "Just a thought ..."
   "Interesting. The scans and your parameters didn't indicate that ability."
   Catty smiled. "I have ... many secrets ... Commander ..."
   Data considered that. "I would be interested in learning them, if you 
should choose to share them."
   "Maybe ... later. May I ask: Are we done here?"
   "Yes. I was asked to examine you with the materials scanner in engineering 
to check your structural integrity. I hope the process wasn't inconvenient."
   She shook her head. "No. And now that you bring up inconvenience ... I 
want to ... apologize ... for the trouble I caused with my positronic pulse. 
I didn't know the emergency net-maintenance signal would interfere with 
another positronic system. I'm ... very sorry, Commander ..."
   Data shrugged. "Ironically, the signal that incapacitated me also 
functioned as a distress signal for you. When we found you, the signal 
stopped, and I wasn't incapacitated anymore." He paused. "It is what humans 
call a 'win-win' situation. That is, the results are mutually beneficial."
   "I hope ... they will be. I have a lot of questions, now that I'm revived."
   "I'll be glad to assist you in any way, Lieutenant."
   I'M TELLIN' YA, BABE, HE LIKES YOU ...
   "Shut up ...," she growled softly.
   Data was taken aback. "I ... apologize, Lieutenant. I did not mean to 
offend you ..."
   Catty sighed. "I wasn't talking to you ..."

*******

   Eluza looked down at her crisp new Solnoid Navy uniform, then up at 
Picard. "Thank you, Captain ..."
   Picard smiled from across the desk in the sickbay office. He reached out 
with something in his hand. "We found this attached to your old uniform."
   She leaned forward in her chair and took the item.
   Red, white and black. Striped horizontally in rough thirds.
   A Solnoid datatag.
   She checked the serial number on the back. 
   Hers. 
   She studied the enameled badge. "Thank you ... again ..." she whispered. 
   Picard thought he saw the very start of misty eyes on the young woman's 
face. But he wasn't sure. After another moment of looking at the badge, Eluza 
pinned it on her red, white and black uniform above her left breast. She 
stroked the datatag tenderly, then scanned the rest of her outfit -- the gray 
slacks and the white calf boots. "How did you know our design?" she asked.
   Picard leaned back in his chair. "We scanned your android's uniform during 
our examination of her. And we obtained clothing measurements for you -- and 
your, um, organic comrades -- from our medical scans."
    "Catty ...," Eluza said quietly. "I'd like to talk to her as soon as 
possible, please." 
    He nodded. "That might be fairly soon. She's with our Mr. Data right now. 
She was able to ... well, thaw herself out, along with her clothes. We had to 
cut your clothes off and those of your friends to revive you. I hope ... that 
isn't offensive to you, but Doctor Crusher assures me the medical emergency 
required it."
   Eluza recalled Lufy's one nude appearance on the bridge of the old Star 
Leaf. And her own desperate race to the bridge once in her underwear. She 
shrugged. "I understand. It doesn't offend me." Then she was sincere: "Why 
would it be a problem?"
   Strangely, Picard looked as if he were searching for a good reply -- and 
not finding one.
   For the first time since her introduction, the Solnoid sitting next to 
Eluza spoke. "In our society," she said, "nudity is usually reserved for 
private situations among those who know each other well and are comfortable 
with each other's physical intimacy."
   "Actually," Eluza noted, "that's pretty much the way we feel about nudity, 
too." She studied the other woman: flowing dark hair, deep brown eyes, a 
generous bust -- and a warm smile. Eluza had noticed the smile first when she 
entered the room.
   What did the captain call her? Diane ...? Dion ...?
   No, wait -- Deanna ...
   Deanna Troi ...
   And she was a ... "counselor."  Something to do with understanding 
people's emotional health.
   Well, that explained the clinical answer she gave ...
   The counselor tried to clarify. "Um ... the dynamics are ... different ... 
in our society when nudity involves the ... different genders."
   Eluza was confused.  " 'Genders'?"
   Troi shot a glance at Picard, then looked back at Eluza. "Yes. Male and 
female."
   The Solnoid squinted slightly. " 'Fee-male' ...? What is a 'fee-male'?"
   "Well, in our society, I would be considered a 'female.' So would you, 
Captain Ortiz."
   Eluza gestured toward Picard.  "And the captain? A ... 'male'?"
   Picard looked surprised that anyone would ask. Troi smiled. "Oh, yes ..."
   "So what difference does that make about nudity ...?"
   Troi seemed almost ... flustered, Eluza thought. Now she seemed to be the 
one looking for an answer, but Picard interrupted gently. "I think," he said, 
"that that is a discussion for later. Right now, Captain Ortiz, I have a few 
questions of you, if you don't mind."
   Eluza nodded. "Not at all, Captain. I have a few of my own for you."
   "Very well," he replied. "To start with, can you tell us what happened to 
your ship?"
   "Well," Eluza began, "my people are called Solnoids from the planet 
Marsus. It was destroyed by our enemy, the Paranoids, in the war we had been 
fighting. We destroyed their homeworld in response." 
   She paused. "Seems so cold-blooded now, to say it so plainly ..."
   A moment later, she continued: "After doomsday weapons were used in the 
final battle at Sigma Narse, my crippled ship and crew froze up. Then I woke 
up here."
   "I'm not familiar with the names," Picard said, "but it's unlikely we'd 
agree on place names."
   "What's the last thing you remember?" Troi asked.
   The Solnoid looked at her sadly. "Freezing to death ..." Then she thought. 
"I guess not 'to death,' but it felt like it ... Actually, the very last 
thing I remember is Catty ... injecting me with something." She turned to 
Picard. "That's a big reason that I want to talk to her ..."
   He nodded. "I see. As best you can describe it, where was ...  Marsus?"
   "Quadrant one, sector zero-zero-one."
   "Hmm ... My homeworld is in what we call sector zero-zero-one."
   Eluza looked confused. "My homeworld was in what we called sector 
zero-zero-one."
   "Well ... I think it's reasonable that we'd each consider our respective 
homes the zero point. We might have to cross-reference our star charts. Are 
they still available in your ship?"
   "Umm ... doubt it. Our main computer, OX-11, lost its higher functions 
when we were crippled. I'm sorry, Captain."
   "So am I. Were there any ... men ... with you?"
   " 'Men'?"
   "Males, like myself."
   Eluza shook her head. "No. You're only the second male I've ever heard of, 
Captain -- and the first one I've met."
   Troi was curious. "How do the Solnoids ... reproduce, then ...?"
   Eluza spoke almost reverently. "The Seeds of Life ..." Then she thought. 
"I guess they were killed ... along with the rest of Marsus ..."
   "What were they?" the other woman asked.
   "The Seeds of Life are ... were ... the sacred flesh from which all  
Solnoids come ... came ...  When a new Solnoid was needed, the Seeds of Life 
were copied and sent to a birthing center. In an incubator, the copy would 
grow into a Solnoid. Like me. I am technically Eluza Ortiz 2106."
   Picard looked askance at her. " '2106'?"
   Eluza thought her meaning had been clear. "Yes. There have been 2,105 
other Eluza Ortizes ..."
   "A clone," Troi whispered.
   "A what?" Eluza asked.
   Now Picard was curious. "How long ... has this been going on in your 
society, Captain ...?"
   The Solnoid shrugged. "Always ..."
   He nodded. "I see ... Well, to continue, Captain ... my people are at war, 
as well ..."
   "I'm sorry to hear that, Captain," Eluza said.
   "Frankly, so am I. This ship is on its way to a parley with our enemies. I 
must ask you: Have you ever heard of the Dominion?"
   Eluza thought. "No ..."
   The Jem' Hadar?"
   "No."
   "The Cardassians?"
   "No."
   "The ... Founders ...?"
   Eluza shook her head. "I'm sorry again, Captain. I haven't heard of any of 
them. Honestly. I have no idea how long we've been out of touch."
   "Yes ...," Picard sighed. "Shame we can't get your star charts. They would 
go a long way toward answering that question."
   "Speaking of questions," Eluza said, "may I ask mine of you now?"
   He nodded. "Certainly, Captain."
   "The doctor -- Beverly -- is from a planet she calls 'Earth.' Is this ship 
from that planet?"
   "More or less. We represent the United Federation of Planets, an 
association of allied worlds. Earth is a member. Our crew reflects the 
diverse races of the Federation."
   "Where is this 'Federation'?"
   Picard thought how to phrase it. "From our current position, it's a ... 
quarter-rotation of the galaxy away."
   Eluza's eyes widened. "Quarter ... rotation ... of the galaxy ...?"
   He nodded. "We are in what we call the Gamma Quadrant of the galaxy. Earth 
is in the Alpha Quadrant."
   The Solnoid thought. "A quarter-turn ... Captain, even at top light speed, 
it would take years ..."
   "We've found a regularly occurring spatial wormhole between the quadrants. 
It's a short cut, as it were."
   "Must be convenient."
   He sighed. "It is. But it's also convenient for our enemies in the Gamma 
Quadrant to use against us. A 'two-edged sword,' as we would say."
   " 'Sword'?"
   "A big ... um, knife ..."
   "Oh. ... So we're not in your home quadrant?"
   "That's correct."
   "Is there any way I can see your home system? Maybe ... I can get a 
bearing, if it looks even vaguely familiar."
   "I don't see why not," he replied. He tapped at the desktop computer 
terminal. A few beeps later, he spun it around. A schematic of a planetary 
system was on the screen. "This is my home system. We call the star 'Sol.' My 
homeworld, Earth, is the third from the star."
   Eluza leaned forward to view the diagram.
   A typical yellow star.
   Nine planets.
   Among them, a gas giant with a huge ring structure.
   And a brown dwarf with a giant red spot in its yellow and white stripes.
   Then, moving in, a band of spatial debris, followed by the fourth planet 
-- a strangely red world.
   Then the third planet. She studied it intently: Blue oceans. 
Green-and-brown continents. White clouds.
   With a large satellite. Gray-white. Pockmarked with craters and stained 
with ancient lava flows.
   Nine planets in the star system.
   Nine ...
   Ninth ...
   The Ninth ...
   ... Star ... System ...
   A green-and-blue world with life. 
   Life that was talking to her right now ...
   A living world with a dead one as its eternal partner ...
   Later, Troi would say the feeling she got from the Solnoid felt like a 
angry slap in the face:
   Sudden. Shocking. Stabbing.
   Fear.
   Terror.
   Confusion.
   Mistrust.
   Suspicion ...
   Eluza backed away slowly into her chair. She spoke quietly, distinctly, 
but with an unmistakable edge. "Is this ... some kind ... of joke ...?"
   Picard looked quickly at Troi, then back at Eluza. "No, Captain, I assure 
you it's not ..."
   Eluza glared at him and slowly turned to survey the other woman. She 
looked back at the male. Her voice came through lips clenched in barely 
contained anger.
   "Who ... are ... you people ... really ...?"      
   Any answer that the shocked Picard might have attempted was lost to the 
rapping.
   Troi and Eluza turned around quickly at the knocking on the door jamb. 
Picard looked toward the office entrance.
   Crusher was there, with Data standing next to her. The doctor lowered her 
hand. "I'm sorry for interrupting," she said, "but Commander Data is through 
with the android."
   "Her name,"  Eluza said sharply, "is Lieutenant Catty Shoumen -- not 'the 
android' ..."
   Crusher felt the burn of the slightly caustic reply. "Yes ... I'm sorry 
... She's back in sickbay now. Also, Captain Ortiz, the rest of your comrades 
have awakened. I thought you might want to see them now."
   "Very much so," the Solnoid said pointedly. She turned to Picard. "If 
that's all right with you, Captain ..."
   He nodded. "Yes. In fact ... I would appreciate the chance to speak to 
these officers alone now," he said calmly. "Thank you for your time, Captain 
Ortiz."
   She gave a curt nod and got up, assessing the others skeptically as she 
left. When she got near Crusher and Data at the entrance, she turned back 
toward Picard. "Captain," she said with diplomatic politeness, "you said your 
people are at war."
    "That's right," he said.
    "Should  I tell my comrades that we're prisoners of war?"
    The others' faces suggested it was an unexpected concept. They all looked 
toward Picard. After a silent moment, he replied sincerely, "You may tell 
them, Captain, that you -- and they -- are our guests ..."
   Eluza regarded him coolly for an instant, nodded curtly again and left.

*******

   Crusher watched the Solnoid depart. After Eluza was out of earshot, her  
feelings spoke: "Ouch! What happened to her?"
   Picard gestured Crusher and Data into the office and tapped a desk 
control. The door slid shut behind them. "Your guess is as good as mine, 
Doctor," he said, "but our guesses aren't as good as Counselor Troi's 
impressions." He glanced at the Betazoid woman. "Counselor?"
   Troi sighed. "First off, when you asked whether she knew about our 
enemies, I didn't sense any evasion, Captain. I think she's being truthful 
when she says she doesn't know anything about the Dominion."
   "That's a relief," Crusher said.
   "But she might be very well-disciplined, mentally, so she can lie 
effectively," Data suggested.
   "I don't think so, Commander," Troi said. "There's a great deal of 
emotional flux under that dark-pink hair of hers. She didn't show it, but 
there's a lot of confusion in there. She doesn't know what to make of us or 
where she and her friends fit in here. 'Rudderless' is how I'd describe it."
   "Disorientation after their apparent experience would be understandable." 
Picard ventured.
   Troi shook her head. "It's more than disorientation. I sensed that she 
feels she's lost almost everything that made her what she was. Like she 
doesn't know who -- or what -- she or her friends are anymore."
   The captain nodded thoughtfully. "What about ... her reaction when I 
showed her the Sol system?"
   Troi sighed. "You've got me there," she said tiredly. "I sensed a huge 
surge of ... well, I can only call it 'recognition.' She seemed to be 
immensely surprised to be looking at something ... familiar ..."
   Data looked puzzled. "Familiar with the Sol system?"
   "Yes. And after that was a rush -- terrifying, really -- of mistrust and 
suspicion. Fear. I sensed she no longer felt as secure around us as she was 
before. Like we weren't being truthful with her."
   Picard shook his head. "Hmm ... Any sense of why that was?"
   "No, Captain. I'm sorry."
   "Well, I appreciate your input, as always, Counselor." He looked at 
Crusher and Data. "What are the conditions of the others?"
   Data spoke first. "The android ..." He stopped and recalled Eluza's 
response to the phrase. "Lieutenant Shoumen is fully functional. She is a 
positronic-driven artificial lifeform, much like myself. Basic metallic frame 
-- with some as-yet-unidentified alloys -- and some organic components."
   "As for the rest of them," Crusher said, "genetically, they're so close to 
Terran humans that the difference isn't worth mentioning. Physically, they're 
in fine shape, considering how we found them. Their physical ages range from 
the early to mid-20s. Captain Ortiz seems to be the oldest. The blonde with 
with green hair -- um, Lufy, I think -- has a prosthetic humerus and ribs -- 
and synthetic muscles on her right side. Oh, and I took blood samples from 
all of them, so they're not changelings."
   "Glad to hear that," Troi said.
   Picard pointed toward the sickbay beyond the office windows. "Captain 
Ortiz described how her people ..."
   "Solnoids ...," Troi specified.
   Picard nodded. "... how Solnoids are reproduced. It sounded much like a 
layman's description of cloning."
   Crusher tilted her head in surprise. "Well, that's interesting ... 
Physiologically, they're identical to human females, Captain. And in that 
regard, they're all, um, fully functional. Their possibly being clones would 
make one observation I made quite interesting ..."
   "What it that, Doctor?" he asked.
   "You know the smallish, darkhaired woman? As she revived, I think she said 
her name was Patty."
   "What about her?"
   "I would have to do more checks and talk to her more extensively ... but 
there's internal physical evidence that she -- among all of them -- was ... 
pregnant ... at one time ..."
   "Pregnant?"
   "There's no sign of vaginal or Caesarean delivery," Crusher said, "but 
there are signs that she carried at least one offspring."
   Data pondered the concept. "A pregnant ... clone, Doctor?"
   "If the original organism were capable of natural reproduction, Mr. Data, 
I don't see why an undamaged clone couldn't reproduce naturally," the captain 
offered. "Am I right, Doctor?"
   Crusher shrugged. "Don't see why not."
   Picard drew a long breath. "All right. Now there's a final delicate matter 
that I'd like to bring up: How do we tell them about the ... three others ... 
we found in their ship?"
   Silence.
   "The dead ones ...," he noted. 
   Crusher sighed. "Until now, the survivors have been too weak from the 
revival process to comprehend anything but their own reawakenings. But 
Captain Ortiz is fully cognizant now. When she gets back to her comrades, the 
questions will start ..."
   "That might not be the case, Doctor," Data suggested.
   "How so, Data?" a surprised Troi asked.
   "During my return to sickbay with Lieutenant Shoumen, she seemed ... 
concerned ... about something. I inquired as to the nature of her concern. 
She said she wasn't looking forward to telling her comrades what happened on 
their ship -- the Star Leaf, they call it -- after they froze. When I asked 
whether she would share that information with me, she looked at me and asked, 
'How would you tell your shipmates that you didn't act fast enough to keep 
three comrades from killing themselves? That they choose death without 
fighting for life?' "
   More silence. "I see ...," Picard said quietly. "What did you say, Data?"
   "I said, 'I respect my comrades. I would tell the truth.' She seemed to 
take a certain comfort from that."
   "Well done, Commander," the captain said. "I hope she will tell her 
comrades the truth ... " 
   He sighed thoughtfully. "All right, then: After all this ... can anyone in 
this room give me a plausible explanation of  ... how ... after a war that no 
Terran has ever heard about ... four practically Terran women -- and three 
more who are dead -- and an android ... wound up in a frozen spaceship in a 
debris field ... in the Gamma Quadrant?"
   Troi looked up at Crusher. Crusher looked back at her. They both looked at 
Picard.
   And shook their heads in silence.
   Picard saw Data obviously striving for an answer. After a moment, the 
android's quizzical expression relaxed. The commander faced his captain and 
spoke.
   "I do not know, sir."

TO BE CONTINUED