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Satisfied that she had made an impression, Seven continued. “We admit we were trespassing, but only because we did not understand the nature of your relationship with the Emergency Council. If you were affiliated with the organization that asked us to come to Monorha, then we were entirely within our rights to be cautious, seeing as your device knocked our vessel from the sky. Since we now understand you are not, the next logical step would be to determine your status and ascertain how you fit into the larger picture. Can you help us? Can we help you? Most importantly, what precisely is the device you have constructed?” Satisfied with her recitation, Seven shifted her weight and propped her back against the damp wall.

In response, the leader shifted his weight, resting the butt of the large weapon against his hip. The hum from the rifle’s power unit echoed ominously.

“She’s trying to trick you,” the small, shrill one said. “If we kill them, we can take their devices and maybe even find their spacecraft!”

The leader turned to his small companion and said, “Quiet, Pad. Nobody’s killing anyone. Besides, I strongly suspect that if she wanted to, she could kill you without trying very hard.” Touching Torres’s shoulder, the leader asked, “Is she always this way?”

Torres, though clearly surprised by the question, was not too surprised to answer: “Pretty much all the time.”

He shook his head, then beckoned at them to rise. “Well, come on. We need to talk and there’s no reason we should all be uncomfortable. It’s damp and cold down here.”

Torres said bluntly, “I can’t see you.”

“And I cannot walk,” Seven added.

The leader sighed. “Well, that’s what you get for playing with machines you don’t understand.”

“We understood it perfectly,” Seven replied. “You arranged for it to explode if someone tampered with it.”

The leader turned and stared at the one named Pad. “I told you not to set that. We’re all under too much stress as it is. What if someone had gotten caught by the explosives?”

“Someone did get caught by the explosives,” Torres protested.

“Someone who was supposed to be there.”

“You don’t listen to anything I say,” Pad said. “They’re going to come for us now! The Emergency Council can’t ignore us any longer, especially after the test! We have to be ready for them!”

“Your companion is correct,” Seven said. “The effect of your device was felt all over the planet. You must explain to us what you are attempting to do.”

“Why?” the leader asked. “Why should we tell you anything?”

“Because we can help,” Seven said.

“You came to help the Emergency Council,” Pad said accusingly. “You said that.”

“We came to help all Monorhans,” Torres said.

“But now we need to help ourselves, too,” Seven added. “We will help you because we need you to help us.”

The leader slipped the power pack off his back and set the rifle against the wall. Leaning forward, he pulled Torres to her feet. “That,” he said, “is a very convincing argument.”

“The first thing you must understand,” Morsa began in a reasonable tone, “is that until a short time ago the rih-hara-tan of the thirteen cities were the ruling authority of my world.” He had not been willing to answer the most obvious question—what had Ziv meant by his comment?—but was more than happy to discuss the origin of the energy pulse responsible for their current predicament. Chakotay settled back into his seat, calmed by the Monorhan’s resonating bass voice. “When it became obvious that the Blue Eye would be our collective death, the thirteen rih-hara-tan appointed a council to study the problem and make recommendations. There was a problem with this course, however.”

“Scientists are not an esteemed class on your world,” Neelix inserted, speaking for the first time in many minutes.

Morsa stretched his neck toward the Talaxian, then tilted his head. “Correct. May I ask how you came to that conclusion?”

“Of course,” Neelix said. “The rih-hara-tan’s authority clearly has its roots in the worship of the Blessed All-Knowing Light. Your world is scientifically advanced