Hi! Thank you for reading chapter 2 of Picard's "Second Life."
Although I meant for the first chapter to be a stand-alone one-shot, I was surprised by a subtle suggestion to continue the story. Here is my best shot, and I kind of "cheated" with an emergency beam-out to save Picard's life last second. I intend for this chapter to be the last, but I guess you never know!
Some background info:
The first chapter took place mostly in the episode 6x15 Tapestry, with a lot of elements from 6x13 regarding Relay Station 47.
This second chapter takes place in episode 7x12 The Pegasus, with a character from 6x19 Lessons, and a brief mention of the incident in 5x24 The Next Phase.
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter written May 2012
Commander Riker sat in the brig and watched as his captain lowered the forcefield.
Admiral Erik Pressman had been transferred to another Starfleet ship and would face a Board of Inquiry into his experimentation with the interphasic cloaking device.
After walking out of the brig, the Enterprise's top two officers continued talking.
"I remember about a year ago, when you had the brief malfunction with your artificial heart, you saw a version of yourself after having made a different decision from your youth that you later regretted," said Riker.
"I did, and I didn't like that version. My youth may have been littered with mistakes, but they are all little bits of what made me the person I am today," said Picard, recalling the dream he had during his near death experience. Or perhaps it was a visit from Q. He never did figure out exactly what it was.
"I kind of wonder what would have happened if twelve years ago, a young Ensign Will Riker did not assist Captain Pressman but instead tried to stop the experiment," said Riker.
"For all you know," said Picard, "you may have ended up like a lot of your shipmates who perished."
Riker thought about it silently. He knew that was the likely outcome.
"Even if you had survived, you may have come out of the experience as a different person. Who knows? Mistakes are a part of who we are. It's how we learn," said Picard.
That night, as Jean-Luc Picard went to sleep, William Riker was on his mind. Picard was very forgiving of Riker. After all, many young ensigns would probably have done exactly what Riker did. In fact, many experienced lieutenants or even captains may have felt pressure to defend a superior officer.
Picard woke up, but something didn't feel right. He didn't immediately recognize the quarters he was in. He eventually recognized them as quarters belonging to a junior officer on the U.S.S. Enterprise. They were slightly smaller than senior officer's quarters. The living space and the sleeping space were a large combined area, instead of separate rooms. He watched as a man woke up from his bed, and was a little surprised that he was watching himself. He looked down at his own body. It was there, but at the same time, he knew it wasn't. It was as if he was a ghost.
As scene unfolded, he watched "Picard" put on his uniform and prepare breakfast for himself. The warm beverage was a hot earl grey tea. The uniform was blue. This Picard was a lieutenant in the sciences division or medical division. He wondered whether this was supposed to be the same person he experienced life through during his near death experience.
Science Lieutenant Picard ate his breakfast and then reported to work.
"Hey Johnny," said Lt. Sarah Lipinski, Picard's office-mate. "Commander Riker was here earlier to see if you were in."
"Commander Riker?" asked Picard.
Lipinski nodded. Picard hadn't seen Riker in about a month. Picard had been recently promoted to full lieutenant, after the incident at Relay Station 47. It was very fortuitous that Picard had thought ahead and placed the station's lone shuttlecraft, the Nemo, away from the station. In an emergency, he would beam over to the shuttle and then warp to Starbase 212. That was exactly what he did as the I.K.S. Qu'vat fired upon the lightly armored relay station. Another split second later, and Picard would have been killed in the destruction of the station. Riker was impressed by Lieutenant Picard's creativity, and he was happy that Picard's promotion board, of which Riker was the lead member, finally rewarded the assistant astrophysics officer.
"I told him you'd be in soon. He's waiting for you in briefing room B," said Lipinski, bringing Lieutenant Picard back from his thoughts of the recent past.
"Thank you, Sarah," said Picard.
Picard walked down a few corridors and made it to the meeting hub. There were three briefing rooms there, and room B was the largest one. Picard wondered what might be going on. He rang the door chime.
"Come," said Riker.
Picard walked into the room, and tugged down on the bottom of his blue shirt to flatten it out.
"Commander, sir," said Picard. He looked around, but Riker was the only person in the room. "You wanted to see me?"
"Jean-Luc," said Riker. "Please have a seat."
"Thank you, sir," said Picard.
"It dawned on me, your office is in the geo-sciences section."
"Yes sir," said Picard.
"But you're not a geologist," commented Riker. "You're an astrophysics officer. Why isn't your office in the stellar sciences section?"
"Oh," said Picard. "When I first arrived on the Enterprise, there was a shortage of office space in the stellar science section, but a free spot in geo-sciences. So that's where I went. Been there ever since."
"Have no offices in stellar sciences opened up since then?" asked Riker.
"I'm sure they have. But I've never been fussed about moving. Besides, I like my office-mate, Dr. Lipinski. And the chief of the geo-sciences division, Lieutenant Fulton, never minded me being in one of the offices in his section. He's a paleontologist. I used to be interested in archeology when I was at the Academy, and Fulton and I get along well."
"I saw that in your personnel file; that archeology was one of your strong classes and you've even published a paper on excavation techniques."
"When I was much younger, yes," said Picard.
Riker keyed a few things on his PADD and read the screen.
"We'll be reaching Starbase 218 in about a day," said Riker. "The new head of stellar sciences will be joining us when we make the personnel transfer at Starbase 218. We're exchanging a good deal of officers."
Picard nodded. He knew about the personnel changes. He had been hoping to be considered for the stellar sciences section chief position, but Riker just told him what he needed to know. The new head of stellar sciences would be arriving from Starbase 218. Picard wouldn't be getting the slot. But it had only been a few weeks since his promotion to full lieutenant. It was probably a little too much to ask for.
"I understand Lt. Fulton will be moving on to head a planetary post," said Riker
"Yes. He had been looking forward to a planetside assignment for quite some time now. I think he will enjoy his new post."
Riker continued to play with his PADD a little bit.
"Would you be interested in heading geosciences?" asked Riker.
Picard was a little surprised. He had given little thought to who would be replacing Lieutenant Fulton. But he never expected it to be him.
"Commander, sir," said Picard, a little hesitantly. "Like you said before, I'm not a geologist."
"I know, I know," said Riker. "But it appears you do have some background knowledge in geology. Not to mention you've spent the past few years sitting near colleagues who are knowledgeable in the area. You must've at least accidentally learned some of the nuances. And lastly, the section chief duties don't always require someone extremely knowledgeable in the exact area. Lieutenant Fulton was a paleontologist, yet he managed a team consisting of oceanographers, geologists, and atmospheric scientists. A lot of the requirements for this position are more leadership based and I think you have what it takes. Your colleagues seem to think so. I've asked them who they think would make a good section chief for geosciences. While you weren't always at the top of the list, you were consistently a first or second choice. You averaged as the preferred person, at least out of the people already onboard the Enterprise."
"Really?" asked Picard. He was a little surprised. He himself didn't get asked about the geosciences section chief preferences. But then again, he wasn't in the geosciences section, and the stellar sciences section head was already chosen.
Riker nodded.
"What about Dr. Lipinski?" asked Picard. "She has a little bit more seniority on this ship than I do."
"She was under consideration, but it seems like she doesn't really have the desire to be in a leadership position. Some of the others in the department sensed that, and she herself wrote it in the message she sent me when I asked everyone in geosciences who I should consider for their new chief. Some people are like that. They're content to do their work and be experts in their field, and not have to deal with the intricacies of managing other people. In fact, it seemed that prior to a few months ago, you yourself were like that."
Picard thought about it for a while, but he eventually accepted the position.
"I think you'll find that you're quite capable," said Riker.
"Thank you, sir."
"Do you need any help moving, sir?" asked Lipinski.
"No," said Picard, smiling. "And you can cut it out with the 'sirs.' I'm just the same as before."
Lipinski smiled.
Picard wasn't going to move into Fulton's office until the Enterprise arrived at Starbase 218 anyway. There would be another going away party planned. A much bigger one this time. And there would probably be multiple parties. Lipinski joked that after the going away parties, there would, of course, be the welcome aboard parties for the new members of the crew. And maybe there could even be congratulatory parties for the people who got promoted. The next week would be a blur of cakes, ice cream, and continuous sugar highs.
The U.S.S. Enterprise did not have an official science officer. The science department was divided into four major sections: stellar sciences, biosciences, geosciences, and social sciences. Ironically enough, most of the chemists and the physicists aboard the Enterprise worked in the Engineering department, as their function was to engineer new materials, or create modifications to the engines systems, the power systems, or the weapons systems. These chemists and physicists wore the beige uniforms of the engineering department as opposed to the blue uniforms of the science department.
The four section heads reported directly to Commander Riker. Sometimes, they reported to the Enterprise's Operations Officer, Lieutenant Commander Data. On extremely rare occasions, they might report to the Captain. But only if the fate of the universe literally hung on the balance.
Once a month, the four section heads met to discuss the goings-on within their sections. Two weeks after leaving Starbase 218, a science department section chiefs meeting took place. They had the meeting in Briefing Room B.
The chiefs of the biosciences and social sciences sections had remained the same. They were both full lieutenants, like Picard. The new stellar sciences chief wound up being the highest ranking person out of the four of them. Lieutenant Commander Neela Daren.
The three lieutenants welcomed Daren to the Enterprise.
The section chiefs then discussed the ongoing projects within their sections. Daren had a quite an ambitious project planned for stellar sciences.
"Lieutenant Picard," said Daren. "May I ask why the three senior members of your section seem to have different projects going on simultaneously when they could be working together on one major project?"
"Right now, there isn't one major project they are interested in pursuing."
"Don't you think it's your job as the section chief to design a major project that would utilize all of their talents together?"
"I think it would be better for now to let them pursue their own research topics. They've been working on their own projects for a few months now. There's no need to shift them onto a new project."
"To be blunt, it is my opinion that you were given your posting out of sympathy," said Daren. "The Captain and Commander Riker felt bad about sending you over to Relay Station 47 and thought bumping you to section chief would make up for it. You have very little leadership experience. You had one stint at a small archeological dig many years ago as the second-in-command while you were an ensign just a few years out of the Academy. Then decades of hard work, but no leadership roles until just a couple of months ago when you became the officer-in-charge of the relay station. For a brief time, you had one subordinate. I am not sure you warranted the section chief position."
"Well, I guess it's a good thing for me that you don't get to decide such things, ma'am," said Picard.
Daren stared at him for a few seconds, but then changed the subject. She felt a little bad for being somewhat harsh. She could see that the life sciences chief, a microbiologist, was tempted to defend his colleague Picard.
For the next topic of the meeting, the four of them discussed staffing levels and whether there might be a need or preference to transfer any of the junior scientists from one project to another. It was decided to keep everyone in their current posting.
The last topic of the meeting was discussing the resource requirements of the various sections. Stellar sciences would be requesting a lot of the ship's power systems to be diverted for their major project. But they would only do so during the overnight shift, so as not to inconvenience the rest of the ship's crew. There was a joint study by Dr. Lipinski in oceanography and Dr. Rodgers, the marine biologist in the biosciences section, to use the holodeck for a simulation in about a week.
The four of them then adjourned the meeting.
The next day, Commander Daren visited Lieutenant Picard in his new office, the one that used to belong to Lieutenant Fulton and was right next to Picard's old office.
Picard had been reviewing a report by his section's junior geologist, an expert on volcanoes. Perhaps his team did in fact have interests that were too disparate. But he still considered it to be the better choice to allow the officers in his section to carry on with their preferred research unless a major team-wide research project came up. No need in artificially making up major projects just to get the team together.
"Lieutenant Picard," said Daren, "may I have a word in private."
"Please, come in," said Picard.
Daren walked into Picard's small office and the doors closed behind her.
"Lieutenant," said Daren, "I wanted to apologize for perhaps being too harsh yesterday at the section chiefs meeting. While I am not sure of your management skills, I know you are a knowledgeable scientist and a good officer. If the captain and the first officer have faith in you, I should as well."
"Thank you, commander," said Picard. "I must admit that there were times when I also wondered whether I should be in this post. Truth be told, though, I was previously thinking that that I should be the stellar sciences chief. No offense, of course. It's just that I used to be an astrophysics officer. "
Daren nodded. "Yes, I saw that on your personnel file."
"I think your project is quite interesting. If you ever need a second pair of eyes on any of your data or theories, please feel free to let me have a look."
Daren was a little surprised. She didn't think that Picard would be willing to help her after she had just criticized his posting as geosciences chief.
"Thank you, lieutenant," she said. "Perhaps I will take you up on your offer sometime."
A few days later, Picard joined some members of the crew for a classical music concert in Ten Forward. He wasn't a big fan of classical music, but he knew he had to get out once in a while. Although he was quite outgoing as a youth, for some reason, Picard had grown a little more cloistered as he grew older. Dr. Lipinski was a fan of Commander Data's violin performances, and so Picard thought he would join her this evening.
As the concert started, Picard was surprised to see that Commander Daren was one of the musicians. She played the piano.
Picard enjoyed the concert. It wasn't great, and he still wouldn't be a big fan of classical music. But he found it somewhat enjoyable. Perhaps he would attend another in the future. Probably in the distant future. After the concert, Picard stayed with Lipinski for a drink or two, but then retired to his quarters. Lipinski and two of her other friends hung out for the rest of the reception.
The next day, Commander Daren stopped by Picard's office.
"Hey, I thought I caught a glimpse of you at the concert yesterday night," said Daren.
Picard nodded. "I was there with Sarah."
"I didn't see you afterwards."
Picard nodded again. "Mingling isn't one of my strong suits."
While Picard was a friendly person, he seemed he was a little more interested in reading scientific journals than he was with socializing. By nature, he was an introvert. However, he was someone that social scientists might label as a "well-adjusted introvert." Someone who understood that socializing was important, and could do it well. It just took him energy to do so.
"You should stay out next time," said Daren.
"Maybe next time," said Picard. He gave a smile, but he knew that next time would be a long time away.
Daren scanned Picard's office and noticed a flute-like instrument on the desk behind him.
"Is that a flute?" asked Daren.
Picard nodded. "Yes. It's a replica of one from an archeological site I worked on many years ago."
Next to the flute were a couple of other artifacts. A few coins, mostly silver. A small sculpture of some sort.
"Do you play the flute?"
"Not really," said Picard. "I can do a few simple songs."
"Well, I'll see you around, lieutenant," said Daren.
"Oh, I noticed your group was taking up the computer library resources a couple of nights ago," said Picard.
"That was very late night, what were you doing up?"
"Just reviewing a few of the progress reports on the various projects here. How is it going with your stellar cartography project?"
"I think we're making progress."
"That's good to hear."
Daren left Picard's office and walked through the other sections of the Enterprise's science division before reaching her own office on the opposite side of the deck.
Several months passed and Picard developed a friendship with Commander Daren. Surprisingly, they got along well. Strangely enough, the two even became sort of best friends. Lipinski had been intrigued, especially after she heard about the rough first encounter between the two of them. But she eventually got used to the idea and was glad that her close colleague did things other than work or academic pursuits during his spare time.
Lieutenant Picard was requested to arrive at the Enterprise's Observation Lounge. It was a strange request. He had never been there. Ever.
When Picard entered, he saw that Commander Riker was seated along with an admiral that he did not recognize. Riker introduced the admiral.
"Rear Admiral Erik Pressman, this is Lieutenant Jean-Luc Picard. Lieutenant Picard, Admiral Pressman is currently the associate director at Starfleet Intelligence, the third highest ranking officer there."
The two men shook hands, and Picard was invited to take a seat.
"Lieutenant Picard," said Pressman. "We are about to discuss a highly classified project and you are not to discuss this with any of your superiors. This includes Captain Halloway."
"I understand," said Picard.
Pressman slid a PADD over to Picard. It contained a strategic report written over a decade ago.
"Do you recognize this report?" asked Pressman.
Picard scrolled through it. He did.
"Yes. This was a report I co-authored with three other scientists about fifteen years ago." Picard had been a junior scientist on a small team that was tasked to envision what types of starship technology could be in play in the coming decades.
"You may be surprised to know, the report was noticed by Starfleet Security when it was authored."
"Really?" asked a surprised Picard.
"Yes. Engineers worked on a prototype device and we installed it on the U.S.S. Pegasus twelve years ago."
"A phase inversion cloak?" asked Picard. "It was highly theoretical."
"Yes," said Pressman. "Although we previously thought the experiment resulted in the loss of the Pegasus, debris from the ship was recently discovered in the Devolin system. The Enterprise is heading there right now."
"But…" said a hesitant Picard. "The device wasn't meant to be installed on a Starfleet vessel. The report was a war games hypothetical as to the advance technology that the Klingons might develop. They never did. Frankly, the four of us were tasked to come up with relatively outlandish scenarios."
Admiral Pressman asked Picard to turn to another report that was on the PADD, this one was from Starfleet Intelligence. Picard read through the intelligence report. It turned out that the Klingons did indeed experiment with combining a molecular phase inverter with a cloaking device. The Klingons eventually abandoned their research into this area after several accidents. A third report on the PADD actually came from the U.S.S. Enterprise, regarding an event two years prior. The after-engagement report detailed how the Enterprise came to the aid of a Romulan science vessel which had tried to develop an interphase generator. The science vessel was damaged and sent out a distress call. While Enterprise officers assisted with repairs, Lieutenant Commander La Forge and Ensign Ro Laren were contaminated with chronitons and out of phase when they were beamed back to the Enterprise. Thought to have perished at first, Lieutenant Commander Data eventually figured out the situation and helped the two out of phase officers return to normal phase.
"Our enemies are certainly pursuing the technology," said Pressman.
"And you'd like to level the playing field?" asked an intrigued Picard.
"Yes. When we beam over to the Pegasus, I would like you and Riker to join me. If we can get our hands on the prototype device, perhaps we can figure out what went wrong twelve years ago."
Picard could see that Riker wasn't completely comfortable with the idea. He thought perhaps it was because Riker didn't completely trust the lieutenant with such a vital task.
"Wouldn't the device violate some sort of Starfleet regulation?" asked Picard. He wasn't completely sure, but he thought there was something in there about not experimenting with cloaking devices.
"We're covered on that front," said Pressman. "Once again, this project is highly classified and compartmentalized. You cannot speak of this to anyone. We are authorized from the highest levels of Starfleet Command to pursue this experiment."
Picard wasn't thrilled, but he could see that Admiral Pressman was quite enthusiastic about the potential innovation. Picard agreed to help Pressman if his assistance was required.
That night, Picard had dinner with Daren.
"I heard you were called in to meet with Rear Admiral Pressman earlier in the day," she said.
Picard nodded. "Yes, that's true."
"What about?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to talk about it."
"Oh," said Daren.
Daren could tell that Picard was distracted. He was picking a little bit at his food with his fork. He didn't have much of an appetite.
"Is it something dangerous?" asked Daren.
"I'm not entirely sure," said Picard, honestly. "It could be. Perhaps not for me personally, but maybe for others."
Daren put her hand on Picard's.
"Jean-Luc. If you don't feel comfortable doing something, then maybe you shouldn't do it."
Picard said he would think about it overnight. He thanked Daren for the dinner, and walked back to his quarters. He thought about his situation. He understood what Pressman was trying to achieve. It wasn't just paranoia in the ranks of the admiralty. The Federation had enemies, and innovative weaponry or equipment was important. Even if not as a counter to the Romulans, then maybe other enemies like the Borg or some other unforeseen force. At the same time, he knew that the officials in the Federation government signed a treaty in which they agreed that Starfleet wouldn't pursue cloaking technology. They should follow that treaty in good faith.
He was a little distracted and almost missed passing by his former officemate.
"Hey Johnny," said Lipinski.
"Oh, hi Sarah," he said.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"Not bad. Not bad," said Picard.
Picard's combadge chirped.
"Lieutenant Picard to the bridge."
Picard tapped his combadge. "Acknowledged."
"Ooh," said Lipinski. "Fancy. To the bridge," she teased.
Picard waved it off and headed to the nearest turbolift. He had never been called to the bridge before.
"That's the Pegasus all right," remarked Pressman.
La Forge had detected a subspace resonance signature coming from within asteroid gamma 601 that turned out to be the Pegasus. The asteroid was large and contained deep chasms that were large enough for a starship to enter. Commander Data surmised that the asteroids gravitational field caught the Pegasus and pulled her inside.
Captain Halloway noticed that Picard just arrived on the bridge.
"Sir," said Picard. He wasn't sure the captain even knew his name.
"Captain," said Pressman. "Lieutenant Picard will be acting as my aide during this mission. As he is the head of geosciences and the Pegasus appears to be have crashed inside an asteroid, I think his knowledge will come in handy."
Halloway nodded. After all, an asteroid is a giant rock formation floating in space. Although Picard's original background specialty was archeology, by now, he had amassed a thorough understanding of geology.
Before the senior officers of the Enterprise could investigate further, a Romulan warbird was detected heading their way. It would take the Enterprise a much longer time to determine the precise location of the Pegasus.
Commander Riker suggests that the asteroid be destroyed, but Admiral Pressman rejects that suggestion, as he does not want to destroy the Pegasus.
"Perhaps we could flood the asteroid with verterons," suggested Lieutenant Picard. "Would that obstruct the Romulan sensors?"
"It would," replied Data. "But the Romulans would be able to see through that, since verterons would not normally be present."
La Forge suggests that they use ionizing radiation instead. It would have the same effect to interfere with sensors but it wouldn't look suspicious since there was plenty of ionizing radiation already present in the nearby area. Halloway approves and the Enterprise is able to mask the Pegasus before the Romulan warbird arrives.
While Picard was a little taken aback by how quickly Data had found fault with his verteron suggestion, Picard knew that the android meant no harm. Anyway, the solution was eventually found, and Picard felt like he contributed.
Picard returned to his quarters after his brief time on the bridge. The Enterprise was going to fake a random search through the asteroid field while the Romulans moved further from sensor range. The Enterprise would return to gamma 601 at a later time.
Picard wanted to take a brief nap before the action started up again.
Picard had only been able to sleep for about three hours when he woke up and found that he couldn't return to sleep. He got dressed and decided to head to his office. The Enterprise had taken some preliminary readings of the Pegasus before she masked the asteroid with radiation and sped away. Picard wanted to review some of those readings.
He was surprised when he bumped into Commander Riker in the corridors.
"Commander, sir," said Picard.
"Lieutenant," said Riker, who nodded to acknowledge Picard.
It appeared that Riker had just exited from one of the Enterprise's holodecks. Picard then decided that he wanted to have a word in private with Riker.
"Sir, do you think I can have a word with you?" asked Picard.
"Sure," said Riker. The two of them walked to the science department's meeting hub and found Briefing Room B unoccupied.
"What's on your mind?" asked Riker.
"Sir, I have been thinking about your advice to me almost a year ago, when you advised that I should be more of a risk-taker; to stand out from the crowd. I believe that helping Admiral Pressman with this experiment may allow me to do just that and perhaps even further my career. At the same time, I'm not sure how appropriate it is for Starfleet to be pursuing this type of technology. I understand that the Federation has enemies, and that those enemies are also pursuing this type of technology. These types of opportunities don't come by very often, and I am afraid I might be reverting back to my old self where I played it safe my whole career. How do you think I should approach this?"
"I understand your reservations," said Riker. "Truth be told, I have been thinking about our situation as well. The only thing I can suggest to you, lieutenant, is for you to follow what you think is the right course of action. No doubt there are arguments on both sides of this."
"But you think this is an important innovative technology, right?" asked Picard.
"When I was much younger, yes. Now, well, I'm not so sure."
"I see," said Picard. Part of him knew Riker might say that, seeing as how Riker suggested that the Enterprise destroy the entire asteroid several hours ago.
Riker could see that the lieutenant would rather be ordered to take a specific course of action, and not have to deal with making this decision himself.
"Jean-Luc. You mentioned that one day, you would like to command. While I can't promise you a command lies in your future, you are part way there. One of the things you have to get used to is making decisions for yourself. Yes, there are those who outrank you and you should obey their orders and seek their guidance. But one character trait of a command officer is their independent thinking. You need to evaluate this situation for yourself and decide on your own."
"I understand," said Picard.
After a few seconds of silence, Riker asked Picard a personal question.
"I've been meaning to ask you," said Riker. "About a year ago, when you decided to be more assertive and even seek a path to a command post one day, what made you change so suddenly and drastically? You've become a significantly different person."
"This may sound silly, but I think I was spurred by a dream," said Picard.
"A dream?" asked Riker.
"Well, maybe more like a fever induced hallucination," said Picard. "A day or so before I approached you and Counselor Troi in Ten Forward to ask for an honest assessment of my abilities and my future career, I and an ensign in the life sciences section were exposed to a virus by accident. We fell into a severe fever and were both sent to sickbay."
"And you had some kind of hallucination?"
Picard nodded. "Yes. I believed I had died. And in my afterlife, I met with an angel of some sort. At first, he seemed a little rough around the edges. He was quite rude to me, saying he was disappointed that I never met my full potential. Then he showed me an alternate life in which the outcome of one incident in my youth made me a much different person over the years. I had been confronted with a taste of death, and realized that I wouldn't live forever. That I couldn't wait for things to happen. I had to make them happen."
"And in this different timeline, you were a commander?"
"Strangely enough, I was the captain of the Enterprise," said Lieutenant Picard.
Riker's face showed that he was intrigued.
"It appears that as a young officer, the other version of me led an away team to rescue an ambassador. Then, as the helm officer of the U.S.S. Stargazer, I stepped in as a temporary captain when both the captain and the first officer were incapacitated. I commanded the Stargazer for many years before I became the captain of the Enterprise. My career had been entirely different. All because I was took more initiative and was more assertive."
"I see. That's an interesting dream," said Riker.
"It felt very real. When I awoke from the fever, I knew I had been given a glimpse of the person I could be if I only had more ambition. So here I am. I do not realistically believe I will somehow rise to command the Enterprise. But even as a chief of one of the science sections, I think I've become a more valuable and contributing member of the Enterprise's officer ranks."
"I like to stress to all the junior officers that every member of the Enterprise's crew plays an important role on the team. But you're right, some roles are more important than others. I'm glad you decided to take more initiative. It's never too late."
"I agree," said Picard.
The two of them went their separate ways and pondered what they should do about the interphase cloaking experiments.
Picard struggled with his dilemma. He didn't necessarily want to derail Admiral Pressman's experiment. He just didn't feel comfortable being involved. He requested a meeting with Admiral Pressman to discuss his reservations.
"Lieutenant, please have a seat," said Pressman. They met in the Enterprise's observation lounge.
"Admiral, sir," said Picard as he took a seat across from the admiral.
"What's on your mind?" asked Pressman.
"I was wondering if I might be excused from this particular mission," said Picard.
"And why would you want that?" asked Pressman.
"I'm just not sure this is something I'd like to participate in," said Picard.
"You know, lieutenant, I've been reading up on your personnel file," said Pressman. "You held great promise at the beginning of your career. Somewhere, you decided to just drift. It looked like you changed that recently. I thought you'd appreciate this new opportunity to shine."
"I do appreciate the chance very much, sir," said Picard. "It's just I don't think it's right for me."
"I see," said Pressman.
"Of course, I will not breach the secrecy of the Pegasus mission to any of my other superiors. I understand the nature of the mission and will not compromise it," said Picard.
"I thank you for that," said Pressman. Though, he knew that Picard was more likely acting out of fear than anything else. There were orders too keep it quiet. Before Picard could stand from his chair, Pressman thought he'd try one more tack to convince Picard to assist him in the mission.
"Lieutenant, there was one more topic I wanted to discuss about your personnel file," said the admiral.
Picard acquiesced. "Sure, sir."
"I saw that your 'contact in case of emergency' person was recently updated. It looks like prior to the Relay Station 47 incident, it was your family on Earth. A few months ago, you changed it to a Lieutenant Commander Neela Daren. Girlfriend?" asked Pressman.
"No," said Picard. Pressman could see that Picard was a little embarrassed. Picard's cheeks had turned a little bit red and his body language changed a little bit. "She's a colleague of mine on the Enterprise. I figured it might be better to have an emergency contact onboard in case there was a situation which required a fast response. A medical decision, perhaps. Someone on Earth might be hard to get a hold of."
"I see," said Pressman. "I do apologize for the personal nature of the question. I was just wondering because, well, it dawned on me that she outranks you."
Picard wasn't completely sure what the admiral was getting at.
"Her career trajectory has progressed faster and higher than yours," continued Pressman. "While that may not be an issue for her, I was thinking perhaps you'd like an opportunity to catch up. Perhaps your relationship would improve if you both were closer to equals."
Picard remained silent. Pressman was definitely trying to put on the pressure.
"Who knows?" said Pressman. "If we manage to figure out this interphase cloak, you might even be put in for Lieutenant Commander. Maybe become first officer of a science ship like the Pegasus. Big moments like this can make a commander. Give it some thought."
Pressman could see that Picard was now considering his options.
"Or…" continued Pressman. "I can see that your first passion was archeology. You've kept up on it lately and even collaborated on a scientific article about field surveys in one of the ancient ruins of Betazed. Perhaps you can command a small planetary survey vessel. You just never know the doors that can be opened for you. And a movement up the ranks is never a bad thing in terms of gaining more attention from someone you are romantically interested in."
Pressman saw that Picard was now hooked. Reluctant as Picard may be to participate in the Pegasus mission, he wasn't going to be fully satisfied with a ceiling on his career. Picard agreed to help Pressman.
"Wonderful. I knew you'd come around," said Pressman, smiling.
Three people beamed down into the Pegasus' engineering section. Pressman, Riker, and Picard. Captain Halloway had initially proposed a larger away team, but Pressman countered that request and said that the three of them would be sufficient.
Pressman and Riker seemed to know exactly where the device would be, while Picard followed the two of them. As they walked toward the device, Riker examined some of the rock formations that appeared to have been embedded into the walls. Picard knew that such a thing couldn't naturally occur. Riker opined that the interphase cloak had been activated when Pressman and a handful of his officers were forced to abandon the ship after a mutiny by the senior officers. The Pegasus must have been phase shifted as it was passing through the asteroid, but then for whatever reason, the device turned off and the Pegasus phased into the middle of the asteroid.
Riker seemed to have been affected by the thought of the officers and crewmen who may have phased partially into the asteroid. He also wondered what a terrifying experience it must've been for them.
Pressman brushed it off, partially blaming the mutineers themselves for the predicament.
"Come on, help me with the device," said Pressman.
Picard watched as Riker and Pressman disconnected the device from the main console. It was cylindrical in shape and about waist high, much smaller than Picard would have imagined.
Pressman then tapped him combadge.
"Pressman to Enterprise, three people and one piece of equipment to beam over directly to cargo bay 4."
The three officers and the device shimmered as they were beamed off the Pegasus.
Commander Riker returned to the bridge as Admiral Pressman and Lieutenant Picard worked in Cargo Bay 4 and started running diagnostics on the device's systems.
"Perhaps it would speed things up if we brought in some of the Enterprise's engineers," suggested Picard.
"No, lieutenant," said Pressman, a little on the adamant side. "This experiment must stay under wraps until we figure out how to successfully operate the device."
Pressman then shared that although Starfleet Intelligence and some members of Starfleet Command authorized the experiment, not everyone in Command HQ had been briefed. In addition, the device was intended to be used only by Starfleet's Special Operations Directorate, for SEAL incursion vessels. It was probably also going to be used on small scout vessels sailed by intelligence agents. It was not technology that Starfleet Intelligence wanted the fleet at large to be aware of. This included even Starfleet flagships.
The two of them didn't get much time to evaluate the device. After about a minute and a half, the Enterprise shook a little bit and Admiral Pressman was called to the bridge. Pressman asked Picard to join him.
As the two of them reached the bridge, they found out that as the Enterprise was preparing to leave the asteroid, the Romulan warbird had "accidentally" sealed the Enterprise inside.
"We can use the phasers to cut through the rock," suggested Lieutenant Worf.
"That is inadvisable," commented Commander Data. "We might accidentally collapse the entire passage and crush the Enterprise."
When no other alternative was suggested, Commander Riker then explained that the device they beamed back from the Pegasus was an interphasic cloaking device. If it could be activated, it might help the Enterprise escape their current predicament.
Captain Halloway realizes why the mission was so secretive. He mentions to the admiral that the experimental cloak was in violation of the Treaty of Algeron. Pressman orders Halloway and the rest of the bridge officers to keep the experiment a secret.
"The safety of this ship and her crew are my top priority," said Halloway to Pressman. He then turned to Riker. "Do you think the device can be adapted to the Enterprise?"
"I am confident that it can be. However, there appears to have been an accident onboard the Pegasus, and we should be careful. I think Lieutenant Picard might be able to assist."
Halloway was a little bit curious about Picard involvement in this, but he decided he would inquire about that later. Right now, he had to figure out the device so that the Enterprise could escape from the asteroid.
"It might also help if we could get Commanders Data and La Forge to take a look and see if they could contribute any insight," said Picard.
Halloway agreed. "We'll have the device moved to main engineering," he said.
"Please, make that so, sir," said Picard.
Riker and Pressman would stay on the bridge as Data and Picard walked toward the turbolift. Halloway walked over to the captain's chair and took a seat. As Picard walked past Riker, Riker asked "please make that so?"
"Was that not polite enough," asked Picard.
Riker shook his head. "It's just that I've never heard that before. Sounds like there is some type of grammar problem with that." Riker smiled, and then let the two officers take the turbolift to main engineering.
After about an hour, the device was safely connected to the Enterprise. Everything seemed to be in working order. The only thing to be careful with was monitoring the cooler levels to make sure the plasma relay system wouldn't get overheated and possibly blow out. Commander Riker theorizes that what he and Pressman saw twelve years earlier was probably a plasma explosion. Because the Pegasus went into a cloak after the plasma explosion, Pressman and Riker had thought that the ship was destroyed.
Riker stood on the bridge, a little bit nervous. He hoped that the device wouldn't suddenly fail and leave the Enterprise embedded inside solid rock like the Pegasus.
"Engineering to bridge," came Data's voice. "We are ready."
"Good. Engage the cloak," said Halloway.
Once the device was brought online, the Enterprise is successfully cloaked. Slowly, the large starship moved through the rocky obstruction and eventually cleared the asteroid and made it into open space safely.
"Helm, get us the hell out of here," said Halloway. "Engage."
The Enterprise warped away from the asteroid field.
"How will Starfleet explain our disappearance to the Romulans?" wondered Riker.
"Who cares?" said Halloway. "Let those jerks babysit an empty asteroid for days."
After having gone through such a serious ordeal, Riker was glad that his captain was able to joke in this situation. Karma can be cruel, and it served the Romulans right for "accidentally" sealing the Enterprise inside the asteroid.
However, the scene soon turned serious as Halloway turned to Pressman.
"Rear Admiral Pressman, it is my unfortunate duty to confine you to quarters and charge you with breaching the Treaty of Algeron. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you do say may be used against you. You have the right to an attorney, and the Starfleet JAG Corps will provide you with an adequate defense. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"
"You're joking, right captain?" said a puzzled Pressman.
"I regret to say that I am not."
Lieutenant Worf escorted the admiral to his quarters.
"William," said Halloway. "I need both you and Lieutenant Picard to report to the brig."
Riker had been expecting that he would have to be confined as well.
"Captain," said Riker. "I want it on the record that Picard was following orders. Face to face orders from both me and Admiral Pressman, and written orders from Admiral Raner, the head of Starfleet Security."
"I fully understand," said Halloway. "I myself was under orders from Admiral Blackwell. But the two of you had a duty to the safety of this ship and to report a violation of a Treaty. I am sure JAG will eventually clear you both, but this is protocol, William."
Riker nodded and headed toward the turbolift.
Counselor Troi and Lieutenant Commander Daren walked to the brig together. They were soon joined by Captain Halloway.
"You know, if women ran things, these types of shenanigans would never happen," said Daren to Troi.
Troi agreed. "If only we lived in a more enlightened universe."
Halloway ordered the two guards on brig duty to lower the forcefields to the two holding cells. Troi and Daren hugged Riker and Picard, respectively.
"You'll forgive me if I don't hug you," said the captain.
The four other officers walked out of the holding cells and into the main area of the brig to join the captain.
"Starfleet Command has decided to expunge both of your records of this particular incident. You are both free to go," said Halloway. "This incident never happened. You are not to talk of it ever again."
"I was wondering," said Riker. "How will Starfleet explain to the Romulans about the how the Enterprise escaped the asteroid?"
"The official cover story is this: Starfleet Tactical Ops was testing a new remotely piloted drone. While it is very small in size, about the size of a shuttlecraft, it is capable of sending out false sensor signals to make it appear as if it were a much larger starship. In that way, hostile starships would not dare approach the drone, especially if they were to be deployed in squadrons of 5 or more. The drone "pretended" to be the Enterprise while investigating the asteroid. It remains trapped somewhere in the asteroid gamma 601."
"Clever," said Picard. He knew exactly where Starfleet Tactical got that idea. One of his friends from the Academy, Cortin Zweller, had shared such an idea with Picard a couple of months ago. Picard wondered whether such drones actually existed or were in the planning phases of being created. Picard later learned that because the Tal Shiar had already discovered the drone program, Starfleet didn't mind using it as a cover for the interphase cloak incident. They wanted to keep the cloak incident under wraps so that the Treaty of Algeron would not be endangered.
"Will Special Ops or Intel actually get to use the interphase cloak?" asked Riker.
"I'm sure they'd love to. I've reported the incident to the Chief of Fleet Operations. It seems he may have been one of the few at Starfleet Command who was not aware of the experiment. He was not amused. He will most likely order the experiments suspended," said Halloway. The Chief of Fleet Operations was the highest ranking uniformed Starfleet officer.
Two days later, it was "Science Day" on the Enterprise. It was for the children. At first, there was almost a Captain Halloway Day. But he artfully declined and transformed it into Science Day, to get the kids interested in becoming scientists. The main exhibits were displayed in Holodeck One.
Each of the section chiefs gave a brief presentation at the beginning, and then the children spread out to the exhibits that they were most interested in. Picard was happy to do the Science Day festivities with Lipinski, but he knew the kids weren't really interested in geosciences as much as the stellar sciences and the biosciences. It seemed like today, stellar science was the most popular. The majority of the children went over to the stellar sciences exhibits. Picard could see they were excited and all proudly wore the pin the said "shoot for the stars!" It made sense. After all, this was a starship and exploring the stars was what the kids knew of. The kids who were more oriented to the space defense aspects of Starfleet's mission probably wouldn't be attending a science fair.
The biosciences exhibits also had a handful of children. To his surprise, two children walked over to Picard's exhibits.
"And what are your names?" asked Picard.
"I am Marissa," said a girl, aged ten. "This is my friend Calvin."
"I'm Jean-Luc," said Picard. He bent down slightly to shake both of their hands.
The two children were excited about dinosaurs and knew that scientists often had to carefully dig through layers and layers of rock to find fossils. Later, Marissa also asked questions about precious gemstones and how they were formed. While Picard and Lipinski weren't experts in either of those topics, they knew a great deal. Picard's archeology background helped him explain the various steps to excavating to find dinosaur fossils. Both fields were also considered to involved similar combinations of geology and biology. Lipinski's oceanography studies often involved collaborations with marine biologists, so she was knowledgeable about marine life and even about prehistoric undersea creatures.
The final discussion was about geological factors helping to explain how some species became extinct, or evolved to fit their environments. That had more of a biology twist to it, but Picard wanted the children to know that even if they chose to specialize in one type of science, all of the sciences overlapped in some way. At the end of the "roaming around" period, Marissa and Calvin rejoined their classmates to hear a departing speech from Captain Halloway, who would encourage the children to pursue their interest in the sciences.
Vastly outnumbered by the children wearing the "shoot for the stars" pin and the children who wore a pin with a drawing of a DNA strand, Picard smiled when he saw Marissa and Calvin proudly displaying on their chests small pins that said "geology rocks!"
After the science fair, Picard and Daren had dinner together.
"The science fair was a success!" said Daren. Although she was only the chief of the stellar sciences section, as the highest ranking science division officer onboard the Enterprise, she was sometimes seen as representing the entire division. The division's success was her success. The only thing she failed at was getting the social sciences section to create a catchy slogan or logo for a kids pin.
"Science Day was fun," said Picard. "I look forward to next year's Science Day."
"Wait a minute," said Daren. "You mean to tell me that you are no longer looking to move up the ranks as fast as possible to command your own starship? For all you know, by this time next year, you will captain a ship. And just think, if there are children onboard, there will be a Captain Picard Day! You would be a role model, of course."
Picard laughed.
"I don't think I would want a Captain Picard Day," he said. "The truth is, I think I will be content to live out life as a middle management section chief. Commanding the flagship of the Federation is an honor for sure, but comes with responsibilities I couldn't imagine. What if Pressman was right? What if we need that cloak? I'm not sure those types of decisions are something I'd be eager to make."
"Middle management," teased Daren. "Didn't Vice Admiral Dougherty contact you recently about promoting you to Lieutenant Commander and heading up a dig somewhere?"
Picard was surprised she knew about that. Not even Pressman knew about that.
"Didn't get a lot of details," said Picard. "It was a project to find some type of particle that would suspend the aging process, or significantly slow it down. Sounded intriguing. The admiral said it probably wouldn't be up and running for another year, maybe longer. In the meantime, I will be happy to be the geosciences chief here on the Enterprise."
Captain Jean-Luc Picard gently awoke from his dream. He found his alternate self to be an interesting individual. Though, he wouldn't trade his real life for anything. He loved being the captain of the Enterprise, and although there was great responsibility on his shoulders, he relished making decisions for the betterment of the Federation.
The captain strode over to his desk and turned on his computer console. After changing out of his sleepwear and putting on his red uniform, he decided to call up an old friend and see how she was doing.
"Computer," said Picard. "Please give me the last posting for Lieutenant Commander Neela Daren."