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“Asphyxiation is not an honorable death,” Worf said. “Better to choose your own time.”

As Worf and Data headed off in different directions in the passenger compartment, La Forge took out his tricorder to trace the distress call. It was coming from a compartment beneath the passengers. With a glance around, he noticed a gangway leading below.

“Commander, I’m going below to check on the beacon.”

Riker gave him a wave. “Keep in touch.”

La Forge nodded and headed down the stairs. He used a palm beacon; at near absolute zero there was little thermal variation for his VISOR to pick up. As he stepped onto the deck at the bottom, he turned slowly back and forth, waving the tricorder. The signal beacon was up ahead. He tramped forward, the low pressure keeping sounds to a minimum as his boots met the deckplates.

This compartment was full of machinery, and La Forge wished he had the time to stop and investigate every piece, but he had to keep the larger rescue mission in mind. With that thought, he reached a smaller compartment that had to be the location of the signal beacon. Shining his light through the open hatch, he illuminated a sole Narsosian body.

He drew back a bit, startled. Why was this Narsosian down here alone? Stepping into the compartment, he knelt beside the body, which appeared female. Her mummified features, softened by the reddish down on her skin, still seemed to show a determined expression. She sat right beside the signal beacon. She must have been making sure it was still functioning. Or she wanted to be here if someone found them—whether dead or alive, she’s the first Narsosian to meet an alien.

La Forge suddenly had no doubt he was right, that he’d had an insight into this person’s last thoughts. It was difficult to believe those thoughts had occurred six hundred years before. With a sad sigh, he scanned the signal beacon. It was powered by a radio-isotope thermoelectric generator, still running at 23 percent capacity. It had served its purpose, if belatedly, so after identifying a power switch he tapped it off.

Standing, he took a last look at the Narsosian and then headed back to the gangway. Reaching the passenger level, he spotted the rest of the away team huddled around a computer terminal. Data was tapping away at the keys and occasionally referring to his tricorder.

“I have found only text journals, no audio or video recordings,” Data said. “Using universal translator data from their recorded distress call, I have been able to infer the correlation between their spoken and written language. I am going to upload the data into my internal processors, and then I will be able to read the journals directly.” Only a second passed, and Data blinked. “Transfer complete.”

“Sometimes I wish I could learn that fast,” La Forge said.

“Not me,” said Riker. “I like the challenge of the process. That’s half the fun.”

Data looked back and forth at La Forge and Riker. “I do not have ‘fun,’ but I agree that the organic learning process is usually preferable. Under the circumstances, however, the approach I chose seemed the expedient one.”

Riker grinned, then returned to a subdued expression. “Right, as usual, Data. Please, continue.”

With a nod, Data went back to studying the monitor of the Narsosian computer. La Forge leaned in and saw that the text was scrolling by in a blur that only an android or a Scalosian could follow.

“Interesting,” Data said. “The Narsosians, for various political and cultural reasons, never developed a space program before they needed to evacuate the planet. But they did have a high-speed transit system of suborbital scramjets. Then, early in the evacuation, they used carbon nanotube technology to build orbital elevators connected to space stations circling Narsosia.”

“Wait a minute,” said La Forge. “With this level of technology, they should’ve been able to stop the pollution causing the greenhouse effect and maybe even reverse it.”

Data looked up from the monitor. “You are correct. If they had heeded the early