Star Trek - TNG - 03 by The Children of Hamlin

Author:The Children of Hamlin [Hamlin, The Children of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-08-07T13:49:28.453000+00:00

None of the Farmers had been hurt when the Enterprise was jerked into motion by the Choraii ship. Enticed by second-hand reports of beguiling farmland, the entire community had packed inside the holodeck for a first-hand look at the simulated wonder. Most of the colonists were still exploring the meadows when they were thrown down onto the springy grass by the sudden lurch of the ground beneath their feet. A few of the more intrepid explorers had reached the cluster of wooden buildings, but the barn floors were lined with a thick layer of dry hay which padded their fall. Of them all, Tomas was the most unfortunate. He was rapped soundly on the back of his head by a swinging Dutch door and briefly lost consciousness. �Tomas, my son, my poor boy,� Dolora clucked, bending over the bulky form stretched out on the floor. She looked anxiously to the woman who was checking his pulse. A loose circle of Farmers were gathered around them, peering down at Tomas and waiting for Charla�s pronouncement. �I can�t even find a bump,� Charla laughed. The man�s eyes fluttered open and fixed on his mother�s face. He groaned. �Oh, don�t move!� cried Dolora when he sat up. She pulled at his arm, trying to keep him from rising, but Tomas struggled to his feet. �You�ll only make it worse, son.� �Please, Mother,� he said through tightly pressed lips. He tried to avert his gaze from the other Farmers, but the audience was ringed all around him. �I�m not a child.� �No, fortunately. You�re a grown man with a thick skull,� said Patrisha. Tomas ignored the jibe, but he brushed the straw off his clothes with great vigor and jammed a loose end of his shirt back under his belt. One by one the men and women drifted away. When Tomas looked up again, he caught sight of Dnnys and Wesley at once. �Earthquakes, what a lovely detail,� he cooed, mimicking his sister�s earlier praise, �Who thought of that?� �It�s not in the program,� protested Wesley, then lamely added, �but maybe there was a glitch somewhere.� He suspected the true cause of the motion but shouldered the blame rather than draw attention to another of the starship�s combat maneuvers. A programming error would be less likely to draw the wrath of the Farmers. �And what other surprises do you have in store for us, Ensign Crusher?� Tomas was starting to draw the attention of the bewildered colonists. �Barn fires? Tornadoes? Perhaps a flood of biblical proportions?� �Tomas!� cried his mother. �You go too far.� Her son flushed. �I�m very sorry, Mother. It must have been the blow to my head.� He edged his way out of the barn as he apologized. Taking advantage of the diversion, Wesley and Dnnys scampered up a tall ladder to the hayloft. From that dizzying height the concerns of the adults below seemed just as puzzling, but far less important. �So what was that all about?� asked Wesley. �What

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