Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recognize in this work of fiction and mean no infringement by writing it, it is solely for my amusement and others who may read it, no monetary gain is expected or intended.
Author's Note: THis is set in the Seventh Season on Star Trek Next Generation shortly after The Lower Decks episode, 5 years after the episode Measure of a Man
"Commander Riker, we are receiving an emergency signal from a Yridian freighter," Worf reported.
"Lavelle, have you got a fix on it?" Riker barked at the young Junior Lt.
Sam looked at his board a moment. "Yes, sir, the freighter is at it's midway point on a run between Starbase 173 and Deep Space Nine," Lavelle answered.
"Worf," Ricker said, as he swiveled around in the Captain's chair to look at him. "Any details in that emergency signal?"
"No sir, and it is no longer broadcasting."
"That's not good," Riker stated the obvious. "Any sign of other ships in the vicinity, maybe a Maquis raider?"
"No sir, but the ship is not far from the Badlands and sensors can not penetrate into that area," Worf reported.
"Lavelle, how long would it take us to intercept the freighter?" Riker asked.
"15 minutes at warp 9, sir." Lavelle responded quickly as he had anticipated the question.
"Make it so," Ricker said. "Riker to sickbay, prepare medics for an away team in response to an emergency signal from a Yridian freighter en route from Starbase 173 to Deep Space Nine, be ready to depart from main transporter room in 10 minutes."
"Sickbay acknowledged Commander," the voice of Dr Selar reported.
"Worf, send a security officer down to the transporter room and have engineering send one of their people too, never know what might need fixing."
"Bridge to Captain Picard." Riker said to actuate the communication system.
Lavelle had been wondering when Riker would get around to telling the old man they were changing course.
Jean-Luc Picard rolled over in bed and came instantly awake, an ability years as a captain in Starfleet had given him. He called out to activate communications with the Bridge, "Picard to Bridge, what's going on commander?"
"We've received an emergency distress call from a Yridian freighter en route from Starbase 173 to Deep Space Nine, the emergency hail was brief and has stopped transmitting. I've set an intercept course and have an away team prepped, just thought you would like to be aware of our alteration in course, sir."
"Yes Number One, good job, any sign of Maquis action in the sector?" Picard asked as he began stripping off his night clothes.
"We haven't noticed any, but they could be hiding in the Badlands, sensors are useless in there," Riker answered.
"Alright, I'll be right up, what's our ETA with the freighter?" Picard asked.
"Mr. Lavelle?" Riker deferred the question to the young officer.
"Eleven minutes, sir."
As Picard quickly changed into his uniform he thought about the Starbase and Deep Space Nine.
Starbase 173 was where Data had had his trial concerning his rights as a sentient being. The trial that was overseen by Picard's former lover, JAG for the 23rd sector, Phillipa Louvois. Deep Space Nine was the former Cardassian starbase that was being run by Starfleet now to help the Bajorans explore the wormhole that connected the Alpha quadrant to the Delta quadrant. Benjamin Sisko had been ferried out there by the Enterprise to take over as the base commander not so long ago and Chief O'Brien had transferred over from the Enterprise to serve as the Starbase's Chief of Operations.
Jean-Luc remembered Phillipa saying in a recent communication that she'd be based at DS9 temporarily while dealing with some of the negotiations with the Cardassians and the Federation colonists involved in the border disputes. Maybe this rescue mission would provide him an excuse to see her.
When Picard got to the bridge they had gotten closer to the freighter, so sensors were giving better readings plus Data was now on the bridge to man them.
"Data, anything new on sensors now that we are closer?" Picard asked as he relieved Riker and sat down in the captain's chair. Riker hovered near Picard's shoulder as he prepared to head off for the main transporter room to lead the away team.
"Yes sir, it is obvious that there was another ship in the vicinity and it's warp trail heads off into the badlands, from the looks of sensor readings there was a battle here," Data reported.
"That's odd, the freighter should not have had any significant weaponry," Worf noted.
"Life signs?" Riker asked.
"Yes, but with the ionization caused by the battle and proximity to the badlands, it's difficult to be precise on numbers and species beyond humanoid."
"Sir, we are closing rapidly, would you like to order deceleration?" Lavelle queried.
"Make it so. Put the freighter off our starboard nacelle at optimal transporter range, if the freighter's drifting, put our engines at station keeping," Picard replied with a bit of a smile at the young officer's way of politely interrupting to request appropriate orders for the situation.
"Well Will, I think you best get down there and see what's happened to the freighter and her crew."
"Yes sir. Worf, Data you're with me," Riker said, and headed for the turbolift.
In the main transporter room Riker, Worf and Data found Dr Selar and Nurse Alyssa Ogawa, Lt Taurik from Engineering, and Lt Lopez from Security, waiting. A seven person away team was a bit larger than usual, but with the lack of exact information they weren't sure what they would find.
"Brossmer, can you beam us in there without materializing us inside a wall or on top of an injured person?" Riker asked the transporter chief. He knew she was competent, but he missed O'Brien.
'I think so, but I can't guarantee you'll have a clear path from where I put you down to the injured people, from what I can tell it's a mess over there, looks like they had internal and external explosions," Brossmer replied.
"I suggest all but medical personnel have phasers drawn and set on stun sir, as a precaution," Worf suggested.
"You heard him, Phasers drawn, set on stun," Riker ordered, thinking Worf was perhaps over cautious, but better safe than sorry.
Jeanette looked at the gauge on the oxygen cylinder of her environmental suit and sighed, she'd really screwed up this time. She was lucky that she was still able to breathe, given how damaged the suit was. She had just wanted to see her Mom, but "Uncle Mori", the base commander was totally unreasonable about the whole thing, so she stowed away on the freighter. That had been a piece of cake as the saying goes. Jeanette was really good at hacking into the computers that locked the doors on starbases and the ships that docked at the bases. She had finagled the base computer into creating an alteration in the cargo manifest that loaded food, water and a personal sanitation unit into a specially marked container on the freighter, and then later she let herself into the container while the crew wasn't looking. She even had the freighter's internal scanners programmed to overlook her biosign.
Jeanette came out of her storage container whenever the crew wasn't around and she checked out the shipment, just for something to do. What a mixed lot the cargo was; she deemed it a bunch of junk, as far as she was concerned, until she found the weapons. Some of the weapons were supposed to be mounted on star ships and other stuff was for planetside installation. She'd just found the weapons and was trying to decide how best to go about informing the authorities, when the attack happened.
"Commander Riker," Dr. Selar said her voice uncharacteristically raised above its normal volume, "There is a human life sign in the cargo bay–"
"And there are a number of Yridian readings on the bridge," Worf countered.
"Yes, but there is an atmosphere on the bridge, the cargo bay has been decompressed" Dr. Selar countered.
Riker turned to Selar, "Is the human life sign stable?"
"Yes, but I cannot say how long it will continue to be so, we must seal the breach of the cargo bay, re-pressurize it and gain entry," Selar answered.
"Data, Ensign Tauriq can you fill Dr. Selar's prescription?" Riker asked and noticed with satisfaction that neither the android nor the young Vulcan seemed confused by his bit of humor, but instead simply nodded and set to work. The two officers set about rewiring several sections of plasma conduits running behind the walls next to the cargo bay.
Riker decided that he and Lt. Lopez and Nurse Ogawa would continue through the ship and help the other life signs they had found on their tricorders, he had faith in the officers working at the cargo bay.
Jeanette heard the hiss of power as the force field went up across the area where the damaged cargo doors dangled, and then she heard the bay begin pressurizing. She was relieved that she even could hear, as she wasn't sure that she hadn't done irreparable damage to her ear drums, but she quickly found herself regretting the re-pressurization as the pain it brought on, as the gases that filled the bay began to touch the plasma burns that covered much of her body, was bring her near the point of passing out. She hoped she could hold on long enough that her rescuers would find her conscious, so she could warn them about what the Yridians had been up to.
As Lt. Lopez headed toward the bridge of the ship, something didn't seem right to him. His academy roommate used to tease him about his "spidey" senses, and maybe that was what made him crouch and lean just as a phaser beam lanced out at him. Whatever it was, it gave him a chance to return fire.
"What the –" Riker's query was shut off quickly, as he sized up the situation.
It had only taken Lopez's one shot to down the shooter, Riker quickly called the Enterprise and had more security sent down.
"Great, I thought this was just going to be a regular rescue mission, but we still have intruders aboard," Ogawa said pretending to be annoyed, when in truth she was scared.
"I'm pretty sure this is not an intruder, he's a Yridian and he looks like he's wearing a freighter crewman's uniform," Riker observed, as he stood over the unconscious man.
Scared or not Ogawa did her job, taking out her Medical tricorder and scanning the man to see if he had injuries beyond a phaser stun.
"Then why would he shoot at us?" Lopez asked.
"Well, someone managed to blow a hole in their own cargo bay from the inside, then someone sent an emergency transmission and another someone shut it off, and now a crew member is shooting at the rescue mission. Just a guess, but I'd say their running contraband, probably weapons," Riker replied to Lopez, and then turned to the nurse.
"Ogawa, is this guy hurt beyond, the phaser stun?"
"Yes, he's got abrasions and hematomas, a hairline fracture of a rib. Basically the kind of injuries you'd expect if someone got banged around during an attack on their ship," she replied.
"Maybe the guy wasn't thinking clearly and thought we were the attackers coming back to finish them off?" Lopez suggested, playing devil's advocate.
"In Starfleet uniforms?" Riker asked incredulously.
Lopez shrugged and wisely gave the argument up.
The additional security and medical team arrived and they continued on to the bridge proper.
Data and Tauriq had needed to bypass so many circuits to create the force field and get the power to life support so they could re-pressurize the bay, that they found themselves with a dilemma, they had no power left to open the door.
"Commander Data, I believe there is a simple solution, we have 1 android, 2 Vulcans and a Klingon. Surely our combined strength can open the door manually," Worf suggested.
"Let us try, the life sign is getting erratic, I believe the individual is in extreme pain now that the bay is pressurized," Dr. Selar said.
The four officers lined up at the door and began pushing and pulling to make the doors slide apart, little by little they opened until Dr Selar said, "Enough!" She turned her tall slender body sideways and slipped through the door. Tariq followed, once inside he found a manual override and was able to release the door and open it entirely. Worf and Data were then free to walk in and stare in amazement at the makeshift weapons bay that had been created in the cargo area of the ship.
Dr. Selar was following her medical tricorder to a storage container and the one faint life sign. She opened the container further so she could see in better and saw a young female human approximately 1.6 meters tall, weighing 50 kilograms with short wavy medium brown hair. The girl was wearing the remnants of an environmental suit and it was obvious she had been taken the brunt of plasma backwash from one or more shots from the weapons in the bay.
"Enterprise, emergency medical transport, two directly to sickbay," Selar said, as she fell to her knees in front of her young patient.
Transporter Chief Brossmer was kept busy after Dr. Selar's request for emergency medical transport because immediately after that Riker began making requests for the combined medical/security teams to be transported to the brig.
"Report Commander Riker," Jean-Luc Picard said crisply, far more crisply than William Riker felt at this point in his day, considering he had had the night shift before the away mission began.
"Yes, sir it appears that the Yridians were running weapons from Starbase 173 to Deep Space 9, when they were attacked at their point of no return by a Maquis raider. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on your point of view, a young female human stowaway foiled the Maquis attack by turning the smuggled guns against them," Riker paused and smiled. "Kid set a phaser canon up on the cargo bay floor, donned an environmental suit and then blew the cargo doors off so she could aim at the Maquis ship."
"Where is this little spitfire, now? I think I'd like to meet her," Picard said smiling.
"In Sickbay having her plasma burns treated," Riker reported.
"And the Yridians?"
"In the brig, sir, I've medical tend their wounds there, as theirs were all minor bumps and bruises," Riker reported.
"Well done Number One, now go get some rest, you look dead on your feet."
"Aye, sir. I am," Will admitted and turned and almost sprinted to the turbolift doors.
"Ensign Felton, prepare to tow the freighter, and set course to Deep Space Nine, Warp 6," Picard instructed the relief Conn officer.
"Aye sir, tractor beams rigged for towing, course laid in for Deep Space Nine, Warp 6"
"Engage, Lt. Lavelle notify Deep Space Nine of the situation and give them an ETA for our arrival," Picard gave orders to Lavelle who had moved over in Worf's absence to cover his position.
"Aye sir, preparing message for DS9," Lavelle answered calmly, or at least Sam hoped he sounded calm.
"Mr. Data, you have the bridge. I'll be in Sickbay if you need me. I'm going to go meet the brave stowaway who sets up a plasma cannon in a cargo bay," Picard said with a hint of a smirk and headed off to Sickbay.
When Jean-Luc arrived in Sickbay he could see that Dr. Crusher and Dr. Selar had just finished a surgical procedure and Nurse Ogawa had been assisting them. Crusher was removing her surgical garb as she was giving instructions to her subordinates, when she turned enough to catch sight of Captain Picard.
"Jean-Luc, can I do something for you?" she asked as she continued to remove the surgical gown and restore her normal sickbay attire.
"I was just wondering how your patient was doing," he replied.
"Not bad for a brave little fool, I think we were lucky and got to her fast enough and with two skilled surgeons working together, I feel pretty confident in saying she will have little permanent scaring from the plasma burns, none if we can get compatible skin donors for a couple of sections, and she should have minimum damage to her lungs that should heal in a few weeks with aggressive respiratory therapy. I'll be looking into our genetic database to see if we have a compatible donor on board, other wise we will have to broaden the search."
"Do we know who she is?" Jean-Luc asked thinking he should notify her family of her condition.
"Not yet, but when I put her DNA in the genetic database to start the donor match," Dr. Crusher inserted a data chip in her medical computer and touched a few control pads, "we should be able to set the search to see if we can identify her. If she's a federation citizen she should come up, especially if she's listed as missing," it was the mother in Beverly Crusher who added the last part.
The computer chimed, and Beverly looked over at the display.
Identity
Jeanette Lucille Louvois
Born 32864.68 San Francisco, CA Earth
Mother Phillipa Louvois
Father Not Named
A DNA map came up showing the girl's phenotype, Beverly's educated eye could see how rare it was and later a chime of the computer and additional lines of information confirmed that.
Only known compatible tissue match in this sector
Jean-Luc Picard
Beverly stood staring at the screen and thinking of what the probably implications were. Jean-Luc grew concerned with her silence.
"Beverly is there a problem?" he asked, his concern evident in his voice.
"Um, no as I thought, she's in the data base. She is Judge Advocate General Phillipa Louvois' daughter Jeanette Lucille Louvois," Beverly watched Jean Luc's reaction very carefully.
"I see. I wasn't aware Phillipa had a daughter," he said in a slow and measured voice.
"How old is the girl?" he asked, to anyone beside Beverly Crusher, he might appear calm, but with her long acquaintance with Jean-Luc she knew it was a façade, he was barely holding himself together.
"Her birthdate is listed as 32864.7, that would make her about 14 and half," Beverly answered. "There's one more thing Jean-Luc, you are the only compatible tissue match in this sectors.
That information really sunk in, there were billions of humans in the sector, and he was the only tissue match? So a woman who used to be his lover has a daughter he knows nothing about, the girl's name is a feminine version of his own, she's the right age to have been conceive the last time he and his lover were ever intimate, and they are genetically compatible.
He looked at Beverly Crusher very solemnly, "I'd like to speak to my daughter," he turned and started toward the part of sickbay where the injured girl lay.
"Wait, Jean-Luc," she reached out and grabbed him by the arm, "first of all, she's unconscious after the preliminary surgery we did and needs to be for a while longer. Second, you can't just barge in there and say hello I'm the father you never knew. She's under enough stress after the physical trauma she's gone through, you don't need to lay this on her too."
Jean-Luc nodded. "Of course you're right, it's just…" He couldn't find the right words so he stopped for a moment. He looked into her eyes very earnestly, "if our places were reversed would you want to be patient?"
"No, but I would hope I had a good friend who would hold me back so I would do what was right for my child."
Author's Note: This idea has been plaguing me for years, so here it is, or at least here's the start of it, if people like it enough to reviwe it I might right another chapter.