In the morning, Commander Cecilia Yilaan emerged from the resting place the crew had been given. She was adorned in the native clothing, but still wore her communicator. She saw Thomas and another man strolling down a path a block away and called out to him. "Thomas!" she called out loudly, waving one hand. "Good morning!"
He stopped with his companion and said quietly to him, "Do you think they can help?"
The companion responded, "I think so. With their technology they have to be able to."
"But will they?" Thomas said back. "Go on; I'll talk with her and let you and the others know."
The companion nodded and left him. Thomas smiled and waved back at Yilaan, while beginning to walk towards her. "Good morning Commander! You look well this morning; did you sleep okay?" he said, once he was within normal speaking distance.
"Yes, thank you," she responded. "If you don't mind, I'd like to join you for breakfast; I have a couple of questions of my own I'd like to ask."
"I thought you might," Thomas said, a friendly tone in his voice. "Come," he said, gesturing at the eating place, "I was just about to sit down."
The two walked over to the eating place and sat down to breakfast. "Thomas," Yilaan said, breaking off a piece of bread at the table, "when you first met us and the doctor commented about your technology, you said something about all being explained in good time. Is this a good time?"
Thomas grew a little stern. "I suppose it is, Commander," he replied.
"Call me Cecilia," Yilaan said, trying to be friendly and to make Thomas a little more comfortable.
"Cecilia it is then," he replied. "Cecilia, I'm going to let you in on our dirty little secret. We didn't actually land on this planet four hundred years ago, we crashed and burned to death."
Cecilia looked more than a little surprised at that. "I don't understand," she said.
"We were a deep space colony ship as I told you yesterday. We were on our way to a planet a little farther along than this one. As we approached here, however, we were probed with some sort of scan which crippled our engines, by an alien ship of unknown design. It literally left us on a collision course with the planet," Thomas said, pausing to consume some food.
"What happened?" Yilaan asked.
Thomas finished chewing and continued. "We crashed into the planet. Well, more to the point, bits and pieces of us crashed into the planet. We mostly burned up in the atmosphere."
"But how...?" Yilaan started to ask.
"...am I sitting here talking to you? The aliens felt bad for us, Commander. Bad enough that they apparently caught everyone aboard our ship in some sort of energy field. We're all dead Commander, but we're all alive again thanks to their technology."
"Now I see why you're averse to technology," she responded.
"There's more; we don't age, we don't reproduce. The people you're looking at have been here for over 400 years, and not aged a day. We are SO tired. Tired of living. Our time has long passed, yet we cannot die. Some have tried starvation, some have even tried suicide, nothing works. So long as we're here in this God forsaken place, we will live forever. Some people wish for eternal life; we have discovered that it is important to be careful what you wish for. You just might get it." He continued to eat while both pondered what he just said.
"So why do you think that we'll be here any longer?" Yilaan asked. "As soon as these storms clear, we can all beam up to the Bristol." Thomas looked confused at the term 'beam' so she clarified, "We have a matter/energy device that allows transportation of living beings great distances in a few seconds."
He shook his head at her, "A materializer you mean. Those won't work. The final gift from the aliens; they felt we needed to be protected in their absence, so they found out who our enemies are; I think they probed our minds or something. There is a beam on the planet that emanates out at orbiting ships, killing all they thought were our enemies. It's very selective apparently, killing only certain life forms. They gave us the storms to stop your materializers from working, and to prevent ships from landing, to guard against surface invasion. So you see....it is a paradise. One that we will never leave. However......"
"Yes?" Yilaan said with some irritation that he would leave her in suspense.
"The power source for everything is ten kilometers that way," Thomas said, gesturing. "There is a force field that protects it. If you could use that fancy technology of yours to breach it, and destroy the power source, you could leave and we could have peace."
"You mean you could die," Yilaan said dryly.
Thomas smiled, "We're already dead Cecilia, we just haven't been put to rest."
"We have a law, which we hold most dear," Yilaan said after a momentary pause. "It is called the Prime Directive. No interference with living, growing cultures."
"We are neither living nor growing," Thomas responded quickly, trying to steer Yilaan away from a 'no' answer. "Doesn't your law allow you to help those who ask for it?"
"Well yes, but to help you to die...." Yilaan let her voice trail off.
"That is a moral decision which isn't yours to make. We've lived too long; all we want now is to rest. All you need to do is find it in your heart to end our suffering. However," Thomas paused smiling, "don't decide now. Talk amongst your people and explain our situation. Let me know what you've decided this evening at dinner." He stood up and clasped her hand before leaving for other business, leaving her to sit with much to think about.
A few minutes past and the other Bristol officers came in to the eating area to get something for breakfast. "Good morning Commander," said the doctor cheerily, who received a grunt for a reply from Yilaan. "What's the matter Commander?" the doctor asked.
"Get some food and sit down please, all of you. We have something to discuss," Yilaan ordered.
They did as they were told, and, after a short discussion, Yilaan brought them up to speed on what Thomas had said.
"Sounds simple enough," Reiv said after Yilaan was finished. "Our phasers can cut through the protective fields, I'm sure, and we can shut this thing down and get the hell out of here."
"But that kills everyone here!" Giovanni protested.
"Everyone but us Doctor," Reiv said. "You heard Commander Yilaan; they want to die. We want to leave. I see no reason not to help them and ourselves at the same time."
"That is THE most cold-blooded inhuman thing I've ever heard! Reiv, I am in the business of saving lives, not taking them!" Giovanni shouted at him.
Reiv maintained his calm demeanor, though his tension was clear. "It was pretty inhuman of me wasn't it? You're right Doctor. However, I am Bajoran, not Human. We love life, and we respect life. Right now, my people are busy taking life. In case you've forgotten there's a war going on right now Doctor; a war that the Federation is so 'kindly' staying out of. We are fighting to regain control of our planet from the iron thumb of a Cardassian occupation force so vile that it kills without reason or mercy! I have seen Bajoran resistance fighters so horribly wounded, begging for death," Reiv continued, his voice beginning to rise to a shout, "and I helped them Doctor! I helped them to die. Now, we must do the same for these people," he finished more quietly. "These people are in just as much pain, perhaps more in some ways, and we have to help them."
The doctor stared at him in silence while Yilaan asked, "What do you think Katrina?"
"Both have made good arguments and have good points," Lt. Ivanovna answered. "I, however, am forced to side with Reiv. The Federation has provided medical assistance at the request of non-aligned worlds; this is just a different type of assistance. They have a right to self-determination, and a right to ask us for whatever they want. We have the right to accept their plea for assistance."
"Or reject it!" Dr. Giovanni shot back. "Commander, this isn't an errand of mercy we're talking about here!"
Cecilia Yilaan looked thoughtful for a moment. "Isn't it?" she asked the doctor. Yilaan got up from the table and left the room. The remaining officers sat in silence and picked at their food.
That night it seemed like most of the settlement was at the eating area as Yilaan and the others walked in to partake of dinner. Four seats near the head of one of the tables had been saved for the officers. Thomas stood as they entered and called to them, "Friends! Come, please sit by me!" The Bristol officers did so and people gathered around as Thomas continued to speak. "Tell me Cecilia, is this to be a celebration tonight?"
"Are you asking if I've decided whether or not we will help you?" Yilaan asked. Thomas nodded, so she continued. "Our Prime Directive allows for assistance of non-aligned worlds, assuming they ask for it. You have formally asked me for aid and I am completely in my rights to grant it."
Thomas smiled as the doctor began to object. "Commander!" she started to say angrily, thinking the commander had decided to carry out the plan to assist the planet's inhabitants in killing themselves.
The commander raised her hand to silence the doctor and continued, "However, I cannot bring myself to kill you in cold blood, no matter what your wishes or what you've asked for." This time it was the doctor's turn to smile and Thomas' to grow sullen. "I also cannot order any of my people to help you."
"So you've decided not to help us?" Thomas said, attempting to control his anger.
"Correct. However, I will not order any of my people not to help you," she answered, turning to look at her crew. "If any of you feel like responding to the request made by the inhabitants of this planet to the Federation, you may do so."
The doctor looked shocked at the direction Yilaan's discourse had taken. Reiv smiled at Yilaan and stood up, "I will help you Thomas."
Thomas' mood turned from one of anger and melancholy to one of elation. "Thank you, kind sir. Hundreds thank you!"
A cheer went up in the hall as the doctor attempted to shout over it, "Reiv, no!" Yilaan sat and stared straight ahead, shaking her head slowly from side to side, as the elated onlookers praised Reiv's name.
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