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“It would be my great pleasure,” said Thul.

As the Thallonian left the podium for the time being, Picard returned to his seat as well. He saw that his first officer was impressed.

“Quite a performance,” Ben Zoma whispered.

“For the governor too,” the captain noted.

His first officer quirked a smile. “Actually, sir, it was the governor I was talking about.”

Picard chuckled a little. Then he leaned back in his chair and watched the First Minister try to move the meeting forward. Even with order restored, it wasn’t an easy task.

Find something, Jack, the captain urged silently. Find something before we run out of tricks.

Sitting cross-legged at the navigational controls of his new space vessel, Jack Crusher wished the Benniari were just a little bigger and a little more humanoid-shaped.

Not that he was complaining. It had been generous of the First Minister to lend them a ship in which to travel to Debennius VI. It would be a whole lot less noticeable than one of the Stargazer’s shuttles, and would therefore raise fewer questions.

However, because the Benniari were small and… well, differently shaped than either humans or Vulcans… some emergency retrofitting had been necessary. Actually, quite a bit of emergency retrofitting. For instance, while the Benniar ship-a compact vehicle by any standard-granted them enough room to stand up, the seats had needed to be completely removed for Tuvok and Crusher to access the controls.

The second officer had to laugh. “I feel a little silly,” he confessed to the Vulcan.

Tuvok didn’t even favor him with a glance. “We were able to make this ship serve our needs. There is nothing silly about that.”

It seemed to Crusher that his companion spoke with a touch more severity than was required-a little extra dollop of dignity, as if he too were somewhat unsettled by the position he was forced to assume.

Methinks the Vulcan doth protest too much, the commander reflected. But in the end, of course, Tuvok was right. They had been able to make the ship work for them, and that was all that really mattered.

“We are now entering orbit around Debennius Six,” said the ensign.

“The Last Stop to Nowhere,” mused Crusher.

Tuvok frowned as he worked at his controls. “That is the sobriquet by which it is known, yes.”

“And this is where we’ll find Bin Nedrach,” said the commander.

“That is indeed our hope,” the Vulcan rejoined.

Fortunately for them, Nedrach hadn’t bothered to cover his departure from Melacron V. With no criminal record to set him apart from the other passengers, he apparently hadn’t believed it necessary to obtain a pseudonym or a set of falsified documents.

But then, Nedrach hadn’t taken the estimable Ensign Tuvok into account. It helps to have someone with a ridiculously long memory on your side, Crusher told himself.

Because of the nature of this planet’s “society”-or lack thereof-there was no one to contact for permission to land. The commander was reminded of Earth’s late nineteenth century, the “wild, lawless West,” where a gun was all a man needed to get where he wanted to go.

The ease with which they found a place to land and hide their small craft, all within a few kilometers of a main city, was actually rather unsettling.

“Any disreputable type can sneak onto this planet,” Crusher said.

“But then,” Tuvok told him as they concealed their ship with loose foliage, “so can a team of Starfleet officers.”

The commander looked at him. “In other words, I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

The Vulcan appeared perplexed-and maybe a little annoyed as well. “The reference escapes me,” he said.

“What it means,” Crusher explained, “is that you shouldn’t question good luck. You should just run with it”

Tuvok sighed a little. “I see.”

“Don’t you have any colorful Vulcan expressions?” asked the human.

The ensign glanced at him. “No,” he said flatly. And he dragged a few last branches full of leaves up against their vessel.

Crusher brushed off his hands. “Looks like we’re done.”

“Indeed,” said Tuvok. He gestured. “The city is that way.” And he began to walk toward