May 22nd 1897—Earth Old Time

"Madam Guinan, I am most sorry to see you go."

Guinan couldn't help but smile at the knowing shine in the aged man's eyes. He was one of several attendees at her final tea party, a party that was already beginning to wind its way down. "Mr. Clemens, I am honored by your presence. I will miss you."

Clemens took her hand and kissed it. He eyed the last few attendees and asked, "Would you do the honor of accompanying me outside for a few minutes?"

"I would."

He led the way through a pair of double doors and out into a back garden. The sun was fiercely bright and Clemens covered his eyes and absently walked along the sidewalk, Guinan at his side. "So are you going back to your space-ship?" He pronounced the final world oddly. After four years it still did not roll off his tongue properly.

"Mr. Clemens, you know I'm not supposed to talk about that."

He fished though his pockets until he found a cigar. It was a fitting final mental picture of him. His white suit and hat stood against the lush summer greens. "And you know, Madam Guinan, that I am a time traveler." He took a few puffs before going on. "Because of Mr. Data and his companions, I have walked on another planet. I have met life from other earths. You have kept that secret for me these last four years; you can trust me to do the same."

His charm truly broke through in that. "Yes." She said vaguely, "I'm going to see my father."

Clemens nodded, "He is a lucky man to have a daughter like you. Will you also be meeting with Captain Picard?"

"I will, but not for a long time."

"I know you have a great fondness for him, and that you admire him." He looked her straight in the eyes and amended silently that there was more to it than that. "When are you leaving?"

"I will be gone in about two hours."

Clemens sighed. "Would you dare keep an old man's company while you wait?"

Guinan considered that for a moment. She considered politely saying no but a flash of insight brought a picture of Clemens, those same painfully white clothes, waiting outside the house. It was the nature of the beast; he was not content to leave until the end. This would not set well with her most recent ex-husband, Coli, who was making a special trip from El Auria just to see her. "I would love that."

"Who was that human with you?" asked Coli Graw as he carried her things off the transporter pad and followed her down the corridor to her quarters. The thin, pale El Aurian towered over Guinan.

"A friend." She answered breezily.

"And he knows you are not one of his own kind?" there was more than a hint of accusation in his voice, "You know protocol. You do not reveal your identity during xenopologicical scouts."

The accusation didn't faze her serenity. "That wasn't my fault. I made a report to you all four years ago over this." The door to her quarters parted and they went in. Her seldom used, but ironically more permanent home never felt right after a mission. This time was no different. The walls were a dull grey spotted with artifacts and photographs from various assignments. The furniture was functional but what highlighted it were the larger articles. A D'Nochte hand weaved quilt draped over her couch. In the corner was her prized ornate bow with arrows; a gift a Subare had left her. All reminders of places she could be instead of here.

Graw grunted. "Yes, the time travelers. That does not explain why you allowed him to witness your beam out."

"He was going to stand in the bushes and watch though a window if I didn't." She darted into her adjacent office and immediately took note on the pile of pads on the desk, cluttering the set of Velo ceramics that had already taken up residence. "Are all these from you?"

"Yes." Graw set the luggage down. "You could have had local authorities escort him off the premises."

"Who's going to believe what he saw if he told, hm?" She re-recalled tone of his words. "Coli, what's wrong? This isn't about Mr. Clemens. And what are these for?"

"Your father has been insisting that you retire from this; take a job that offers you less exposure: a scholar. I agree with him. Nadia and Ramil agree as well, and Rina wants to see you more often."

So Coli had been talking to their kids and her sister while was gone. Guinan sighed. "A scholar doing what? This is what I live for. You don't learn about emerging cultures from theory. You walk it. You breathe it. You get into their twisted nuances. You become one with the people."

"You become injured from other's carelessness."

He was referring to the point where she, Mr. Data, Picard, LaForge, Troi, and Crusher were held at gunpoint by Mr. Clemens. During that time, two Viridian time travelers emerged after an Ophidian cane. Mr. Data has successfully fended off the travelers, but the resulting explosion before the time gate opened resulted in her sustaining two cracked rips and a hemorrhaging diaphragm. If Captain Picard had not stayed behind, she could have died. In return, she had gotten a glimpse into her own future and met the most admirable man she had ever known. "That's a risk I'm willing to take." At his hurt expression she added softly, "I'm sorry we annulled over this but I have to be true to myself."

Graw straightened. "Very well, Commander Mikal, Director Stiles expects your debriefing at 0900 tomorrow and the doctor expects you to report for a physical afterwards."

Guinan gave a small sad smile at his sudden formality. "Thank you, Sub-commander Graw."

As he exited the room Guinan went back to her bags. Tucked away in her first one she pulled out a small book. Stored immediately behind it, her thesis pad called her attention and she took that as well. The rest would have to wait. As she sat down and shoved the piled pads to the side, she settled and reread the title of her book:

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

She smiled as she graced the author's pseudonym on the cover and opened the front of the book to the inscription.

My dearest Madam Guinan,

Please accept this as a token of friendship and as thanks for helping an old man see new ways. May your adventures be plentiful.

Sincerely,

Samuel Clemens

September 9, 1893

Re-reading it would have to wait. Stiles would require her final report in the morning. She put the book next to her Velo porcelains and activated her thesis pad and began to write.

Humans are currently in the mid-industrious phase of their development…

Within the first few words on the orders on the pad, Guinan knew two things were going to happen: she wasn't going to enjoy her new assignment, and that her father was minutes away from contacting her.

There were certain advantages to the wispy glimpses she received from time to time. She had almost seen the explosion that had taken Mr. Data's head in the mineshaft four years ago before the Varidians arrived. Involuntarily she shuddered at the idea of his head still buried down there. Scientists have long ago confirmed a genetic disposition to anticipate certain events. Her father, Thio, always knew which child was going to contact him next. Sometimes up to hours in advance. "It's a sport; I like to beat them to the call by a minute or two," he joked. It had become more special to him when he realized decades ago she could play the game perhaps better he could.

True to his sport, Guinan had just finished reading the last paragraph of her new orders when her comm chimed. She didn't even verify the called when she opened the visual. "You knew you could get away with this."

"I did not," Thio admitted. His slightly aged dark features on the view screen brightened into a smile. "But I'm glad it worked."

"How did you clear this with the Archeological Division? I thought we were going to Bajor next, not to some government training lab."

"I told them your abilities would be invaluable to their research. They want to test where you're at. They want to train you. I'll be there too."

"But I'm not ready to go home."

Thio's face fell at that comment. "Nadia and I have been worried about you. We heard that you had been injured."

"That was extraordinary circumstances. Nothing like that has happened before."

"But that doesn't mean it won't happen again. Situations can change very fast-too fast for one Precog, even a gifted one to handle all by herself. And you went alone this time."

"You could say the exact same thing if I was working at home." Guinan sighed. "Where's mother?"

"She's been invited to lecture at the university again."

"Oh, her turn again?" That was a family inside joke. Her father had spent the better part of a century as a captain charting solar systems: her mother, a practicing exo-botanist. At any given time one was always guest lecturing.

Thio nodded. "She can't wait to see you come home either." Seeing he was getting somewhere he continued. "You haven't been home in 38 years. Think of it as a follow up expedition. The project is only supposed to last three years."

Resigned, Guinan sighed again. "It's just not the same."

At her frown to that Thio added, "The locals don't bite."