The darkness was tangible, as if all light had been extinguished. Picard had the feeling of walking forward but could not see where he was going. He held up his hand in front of his face but saw nothing. In the stillness, he suddenly heard movement and instinctively knew it was not human. He heard the sound of heavy striding footsteps; rhythmical, predictable, mechancal. The sounds drew closer, a dreaded danger approaching. Fear, sent a cold chill down his spine. He felt a sickening sense of familiarity as a relentless army appeared from the gloom. Suddenly, beams of green laser light split the black of terrible night. Then came the voices that spoke in complete unity.

"Locutus of Borg, resistance is futile."

"No." Picard found himself crying loudly as he sat up in bed. His heart was pounding in his chest, his body slick with sweat. "No," he repeated.

Throwing back the covers, he raised the light level in his quarters. He sat on the side of the bed and rested his head in his hands, a little dismayed.

It had been many years since he had dreamt about the Borg. The living nightmare that he had endured had left a lot of physical and mental scars. Thanks to work of Doctor Beverly Crusher and Counsellor Deana Troi, all of them were eventually healed. Even after that, he still had the occasional nightmare which caused a lot of what he had repressed about his experience, to resurface.

But that was a very long time ago. Why was he having those dreams again?

His com panel beeped.

"Yes, what is it?"

It was Lumi, her voice full of concern. "Jean Luc, what's wrong?"

He knew that denying it was a futile exercise.

"Oh," he said. "Just a nightmare."

"About the Borg."

"You can tell that?"

"I can," she confirmed. "Well, are you going to invite me in?"

"Where are you?"

The door chimed. "Right outside."

When he opened the door, a very different looking Lumi walked in. Gone was the functional one piece coverall that she had been wearing, replaced with an intricately decorated robe that seemed to flow around her body with a life of its own. Her auburn hair hung in loose tresses that cascaded over her shoulders. Like all Betazoids, she exuded an aura of sensuality. Smiling warmly, she crossed to the replicator alcove.

"Tarkalean Tea." Retrieving the cup, she came to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I suppose you know what I'm thinking," said Picard, a little guardedly.

"I could if required but it's not only rude, I promised that I wouldn't," she said, taking a sip of tea. "When was the last time you dreamt about the Borg, Jean Luc?"

The question caught him by surprise, so he didn't answer straight away. Fetching himself an Earl Grey, he came and sat in the chair opposite.

"As you no doubt know, I haven't had these nightmares for many years," he said. "In fact this only started happening since I came on this trip."

Lumi looked thoughtful. "When exactly?Was it the first night on board the ship?"

"Yes, thats right," said Picard. "I remember feeling upset about it ruining what had been a very good day."

"Something has been different since then."

Picard met her eye. She returned his look impassively, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. Ever since his academy days, he had always been wary around telepathy. Intentional or not, anyone he encountered with this ability, always seemed to have something to say about his personality or character traits.

"Is this where you tell me about all my character flaws?"

This seemed to offend her.

"Jean Luc, I would not presume to be so intrusive," said Lumi. "However, there is something different since you boarded ship."

"Oh? What would that be?"

"The object you were given at Boconn," said Lumi.

Picard laughed gently. "I don't see how an ancient script cylinder could affect my dream life. It's archaeologically interesting, and that's all."

Lumi studied him, which knowing what she was capable of, unnerved him.

"If that's all it is, then why was the messenger so agitated?"

Picard nodded, that particular part of the encounter had bothered him too.

"I admit that it was strange behaviour but I still don't see the relevance."

"Jean Luc, the incident with the Borg from all those years ago, still lives inside you, just like any other memory. And, just like other memory, different things can trigger them."

Picard found this uncomfortable. "So what's your point?"

Lumi wore a sympathetic expression but not patronising. "The Triathian artefact has made you more anxious than you are consciously aware."

Picard nodded. "Ok, so what do I do about it?"

Lumi studied him again, this time it was as if she was looking deep into his very soul. For an essentially private man when it came to his feelings, Picard found Lumi's scrutiny made him feel exposed and vulnerable. However, he trusted her.

"I can show you how to place yourself into dreamless sleep, which will help for a while. But it is dangerous for you to remain in that place for long. Humans need to dream or they become psychotic."

"So what happens long term?"

"We need a deeper understanding of the ancient text," she said. "Hopefully, the ruins give up more secrets, maybe Glav's Rosetta Stone."

Picard smiled. "I hope you're right."

Lumi leant forward and placed her hand on his forehead; closing her eyes.

"I'm placing the knowledge for dreamless sleep into your mind. It will seem that you have known how to do it since birth. I must remove this knowledge at the end of the mission."

As she spoke, a clear understanding of what he needed to do, flowed into his mind.

"Thank you, Lumi," said Picard.

She smiled again. "Sleep well, Jean Luc."

Once Lumi had left, Picard found it easy to fall back to sleep and rest without any more nightmares; it was bliss.

Several hours later, he awoke refreshed and feeling much better than he had done in years. After eating a breakfast of croissants and coffee, he dressed and made his way to the bridge. As he entered the turbo lift, the ship dropped out of warp.

Unsurprisingly, Glav was at his console and probably had been for most of the rest cycle. Like all Castorians, Glav slept for an hour every twenty five hours. Watching the tall alien work, Picard pondered whether Castorians dream.

"Jean Luc," said Glav, excitedly. "Lumi must be rubbing off on you. I was, this second, about to call."

"What's happening?"

Glav pointed at the viewscreen. Picard turned to see a blue-grey planet, encircled by three intersecting rings that glittered in the radiance of the local star.

"We're here, my friend," said Glav. "I'm just lining us up for docking with habitat."

At that moment, Sebi, Lumi and Molly appeared.

"Wow," said Molly, seemingly awestruck by the image on the screen. "It's beautiful."

The bridge became a hive of activity as Lumi took over as pilot and aligned them for docking.

After a few minutes, the ship passed over the outer planetary ring. Picard was fascinated by the constant dynamic electrical charge that made the rings appear a combination of ocean waves and rainbows.

"That's extraordinary," he commented, reading the data on his own monitor.

"What's that, Jean Luc?" Molly's voice was bright and obviously excited.

"The electrical patterns aren't random," he said. "In fact their regularity creates a bit of a quandary."

Sebi looked up at him. "Why?"

"Well, supposedly, this is a lifeless world that hasn't seen civilisation for many thousands of years," said Picard.

"That's right," said Glav.

"The organisation of these electrical impulses are obviously being generated by some form of intelligence."

Glav came to stand at his side, placing a hand on Picards shoulder.

"Nared Waserican," he said.

"The Retian physicist?"

"Yes, about twenty years ago, Nared spent several months studying the Othallian rings, convinced that he'd discovered a new life form," said Glav.

Picard suddenly felt a little foolish. "Of course," he said. "Nared discovered the rings synchronous resinence creates something akin to a planetary heartbeat. I've read that, oh, for goodness sake." He shook his head, disgusted with himself. "My friend, I must be going senile."

Everyone laughed.

Once through the rings, a small reflective object began to grow on the viewscreen. It was silhouetted against the planets radiance. As the orbital habitat came into view. Picard was surprised at its size. It was much larger that he'd thought it would be and looked well maintained.

It's appearance reminded him of a small mushroom with a long cylindrical stem. In reality, it was a much smaller version of a planetary space dock with the capacity for three small ships and living quarters for ten or less depending on species.

Picard noted that there was another ship docked.

"Glav, I thought that we were the only ones here," he said.

"We are," replied Glav. "That's the station ferry in case anything goes wrong with Proxima."

Lumi spun round in her chair. "It won't be needed Jean Luc. This ship is in perfect working order."

Glav's smile slipped a little. "As I said, just a precaution."

"In that case," said Picard. "Lumi, take us into to dock, one quarter impulse."

"One quarter, aye," said Lumi, sniggering and shot him a playful look. "Sorry."

Proxima changed course slightly to take into account the station's rotation. Lumi slowed them to space normal and then completed the manoeuvre using thrusters. There was barely a sound when the ship eventually docked.

"Thank you Lumi," said Glav. "Well everyone, let's get everything unpacked. I've scheduled the first excursion for five hours time. So there will be just enough time to settle in and rest for a while."

"Ship at station keeping, power off," said Lumi.

The next two hours were taken up with transporting equipment into the relevant areas of the station, then assigning rooms and finally, eating a meal together. With three hours before dawn over the Triath site, everyone went to get some sleep.

Picard woke to his alarm which he dutifully wacked into silence. After a very small breakfast, Picard made his way to the stations tiny transporter room.

Obviously, full of enthusiasm, everyone arrived at the same time. To Picard, the atmosphere in the transporter room felt electric. It reminded of his academy days, the five of them were like starfleet graduates waiting to get into a party.

"Very well," said Glav, picking up his pack. "All our specialist equipment has already been transported down to the planet surface, so you just need your personal survival packs. This is an M class world, so we don't need environmental suits. However, the gravity is slightly greater than what most of us are used to." He looked at Sebi, who was from a world with a gravitational pull half that of Earth. "Make sure your power assist exo-skeleton is on level three."

"Already programmed in," confirmed Sebi.

"Good," said Glav. "Dawn has just broken at the site, so we need to get going. The transporter is automatic, by the way and programmed to monitor your life functions. If there is any sign of difficulty or distress, you will be beamed up immediately. Are there any questions?"

No one spoke.

Picard joined the others on the transporter pad.

"Computer," said Glav. "Energise."