Picard sat in the habitats ops room facing the team. After beaming up, he and Molly had shared with them what happened and about Glav's disappearance. The news had shocked everyone.

Sebi spoke first. "Jean Luc, you say that his arm was caught inside the wall?"

Picard nodded. "Yes, inside the black circle."

"And when he got free, his cells were in flux?"

"It started with his arm," said Molly. "But then his whole body seemed to change. His cells became unrecognisable, in fact the tricorder couldn't read them." She turned to Picard and he could see tears running down her cheeks. "Jean Luc, do you think he's still alive?"

Picard had been asking himself the same question. "Honestly, I don't know what to think but with no information either way, I say yes his is."

"What about the voices?" Lumi was sat with a hand against the side of her head. "Jean Luc, you say you could hear them?"

Picard shot Molly a look then nodded. He took out his tricorder and handed it to Sebi. "I recorded some of it."

Placing the device on the console, Sebi touched a few command icons. "I've linked the tricorders output to the habitat computer."

"Computer," said Picard. "Play back audio recording from the tricorder." There was a brief pause and then the sound of hell itself, seemed to fill room. The four of them stood in stunned silence, as screams and cries of pain and torment, assaulted their senses. There were so many voices that none were individually discernable. They combined into a blood chilling cachophonous roar.

"Computer, lower the volume to fifty percent." The noise became bearable. "Analysis, how many voices can we here?"

"The total of individual vocalisations is , two hundred and fifty thousand."

"But that's barely the population of a city," said Molly. "What about the rest of the planet?"

"Dont forget that everywhere on Othallia is lifeless, apart from the city," said Picard.

"But it doesn't explain what happened to the rest of a civilisation that was spread across so many planets," said Lumi.

Molly shared a look with Picard. "Computer, is it possible to isolate one of the voices?"

There was silence for a second.

"The voices are in several languages. None of which are in the Starfleet database."

"Then just pick one and isolate it," said Picard.

Seconds later, the volume and amount of the voices speaking diminished until there was only one. The voice was high pitched, which made it sound like a human female but after years of interspecies diplomacy, Picard knew better than to assume anything. The most blood chilling thing about the recording was that it was clearly someone in distress.

Picard turned to face Lumi. "Is that what you can hear?"

Lumi nodded but for once she didn't look in pain. Her expression was one of curiosity. She stared at the console, as the voice continued to speak.

"Are you alright?" Molly looked worriedly at her.

Lumi looked up from the console. "I know this language," she proclaimed. "I've heard it before."

She instantly began calling up files onto her screen. Picard and the others gathered in behind her.

Picard leant in. "Where Lumi?"

"It was a few years ago," she said, still working. "I was part of an archaeological trip to a planet in the neighbouring system. Myself and Adil Mab decrypted an old language and had the computer run through suggested vocalisations. I'm positive that one of those renderings sounded like this." The files appeared on the monitor. "Computer, analyse vocalisations and compare with files."

"Comparing. Allowing for variations, there are two distinct languages detected"

"Does either language match the tricorder recording?"

"Affirmative. The tricorder recording matches with Deradin, the proposed language of a mythical people known as the Skrahl."

Picard's heart skipped a beat. "The Skrahl? Now I've heard everything. It's impossible."

"Impossible, Jean Luc?" Lumi met his eye. "Then how come I can hear it?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "Lumi, I don't doubt that what we're hearing is real, but the existence of the Skrahl has never been proven. The only writings about them are Triathian. Most archeologists believe them to be some kind of religious ideal that was followed by Triathians."

Sebi grunted in agreement. "According to my limited historical records, that's true. Even if the Skrahl did exist, it doesn't explain how all mention of them ceased at the same time the Triathian civilisation came to an end."

"Computer," said Picard. "Using the tricorder data, translate the speech we are hearing."

The strange language suddenly became understandable. The voice definitely sounded feminine.

"No sun, no light. Help me, Niata. I'm caught in the Separation."

"The Separation?" Lumi stared at them wide- eyed. "Jean Luc, that was mentioned on your language cylinder."

"The Separation," said Picard. "The cylinder warned that it must remain in place. Whatever that means."

"Everyone," said Molly, cutting their conversation off. "Whoever is speaking down there, they are clearly alive but trapped. That means that Glav is in there too. We have to find a way to free him."

Picard put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll try."

Lumi stood up and walked over to the window. Othallia's blue crescent sat in the bottom half of the view. She became motionless, staring down at the planet surface, as if trying to see right through the atmosphere, through the crust and into its very core.

Picard joined her at the window. "Lumi, are you alright."

"I'm fine, Jean Luc," she replied. "And yes, I think I might be on to something."

Before anyone could ask, she picked up her tricorder. "I was just thinking about what happened to me near the entrance. The wall that blocked the doorway disappeared."

Picards eyebrows went up. "The same blackness. What were you doing, exactly, at that moment?"

Lumi frowned, her eyes defocusing for a moment. "I was running a molecular scan on the door stone to determine the age difference with the main structure."

Sebi passed her a tricorder. "Can you remember what you were scanning for when the doorway opened?"

"Yes, I was checking for radioactive signatures, and the switched to environmental absorption."

Picard clapped his hands together. "That's it," he exclaimed.

All eyes turned to him and Molly asked the question."What is, Jean Luc?"

"Environmental absorption levels?" They all nodded. "When the tricorder scans for radiation, it runs through several standard sweeps automatically. To check for absorption, you have to initiate that yourself. Lumi, give me your tricorder."

Lumi passed it to him. "Oh, I see," she said, obviously knowing his thoughts. "For some reason, this particular scan triggered the doorway event."

Picard smiled and shook his head. "I don't know why I bother."

Molly was suddenly animated. "Does this mean we can open the doorway and rescue Glav?"

Picard saw the expressions of uncertainty on the faces of the others. He put his hand on Molly's shoulder.

"It's worth a try."