Survivors - Jean Lorrah [99]
“Why did you come here?” asked Tasha. “We sent a distress signal, but what was the Enterprise doing in this vicinity?”
Riker laughed. “When we got your earlier message, repeating on a non-Starfleet frequency, we didn’t know what to think.”
“Wesley thought it was code, but he couldn’t break it,” said Picard. “Worf thought it was sent by someone else to make us think you were safe when you were really in trouble, and Deanna … she just had a bad feeling about it.” He shrugged. “I was outnumbered. Since it turned out that you really were in trouble, I was right to rely on the suspicions of my bridge crew.”
“What are you going to do now, Captain?” asked Tasha.
“Data,” said Picard, “I want you to look at the reports of all recorded activity in this sector for … how long has Nalavia been in power?”
“Five Trevan years, sir.”
“Very well-for that time plus several years before. Look for anything odd.”
” … odd, sir?”
Picard sighed. “Data, I don’t know exactly what to tell you to look for. An unexpected pattern-or else something that doesn’t fit an expected one. It’s a hunch. You’re the only one who can help me play it.”
Confused again over human feelings, Data nonetheless settled himself at the computer terminal in his quarters and began the search. It took an hour.
When Data called the Captain to report, Picard said, “Meet me in my ready room.”
Riker was there again, and in moments Tasha joined them. She had said nothing directly to Data since they had beamed up from Treva, and she said nothing now. She was back in uniform, self-possessed, but still pale.
“Report, Mr. Data,” Picard instructed when they were all assembled.
“What I have found in this sector over the past ten years is a steadily increasing number of references to Orions.”
Tasha’s eyes widened. “Orions? Why Orions?”
“I do not know,” Data replied. “I found large banking transactions involving conversion of Orion currency; Orion trading vessels docking at ports in nearby systems; Orion communications and data management technology spreading across a number of worlds in this sector. There is your unexpected pattern, Captain. As to exceptions to the expected pattern, despite widespread Orion activity, I did not find any mention of slave trading.”
“Interesting,” said Picard. “The one thing that would have brought the Federation in. Anything else?”
“Yes, sir. In the center of all this Orion activity lies Treva-with not so much as the purchase of a flyer or a weapon from the Orions.”
Riker frowned. “From what you’ve told us, Nalavia doesn’t seem the type to care who she deals with. If everyone else in this sector is trading with the Orions, why isn’t she?”
Suddenly Tasha said, “Captain! Do you remember how you chose the away team for this mission? A woman and an android?”
A slight smile tugged at Picard’s mouth. “So you figured that out, did you?”
Riker, attempting to conceal annoyance, asked, “Figured what out?”
Data replied, “The Captain sent an away team who are immune to Nalavia’s sensuality.”
Riker responded with his congratulatory smile. “Of course. Very appropriate, Captain.”
Picard began, “But what has Nalavia’s sensuality to do with-?” Then the proverbial “light dawned.” “Tasha-you think Nalavia is actually an Orion?”
Data frowned, accessing the information he had drawn from the Trevan President’s computer. “Nalavia’s records indicate that she was born on Treva … on a farm in a remote area almost at the limit of their developed territory. Nine years ago she was elected to the Legislative Council, where she soon became a popular leader, and eventually was elected President.”
“Those early records,” said Picard. “Could they be faked?”
Data considered. “There is no way to tell from the information in my memory banks. However, I can access the palace computer via the ship’s computer, as I put a frequency code and recognition signal into its programming so I could transfer its data without having to remain physically in the computer room. There was