Captain Picard was stood in the main shuttle bay of the starship Enterprise. He wasn't nervous, for he had no need to be. At least, he wasn't particularly nervous about going to the moon to attend the peace conference; he knew that shuttlecrafts were perfectly safe. They were even safer than transporting down. However, he was nervous about actually going to the conference itself. He had never really done anything quite like it. The closest he had gotten, so he believed, was when he had to try and convince the Q Continuum why one of their troublesome people should be allowed to have his powers back. That had happened only a year ago, but still, Picard wasn't entirely sure whether or not he really was doing the right thing. Commander Riker's words of warning may have, at first, seemed to him to just be down to nerves. But, now, Picard was starting to see the wisdom in what his first officer had said.
Lieutenant commander Data frowned at the uncertain expression of his captain. "Sir?" He enquired carefully.
Picard blinked and then registered the android's voice. "Oh… yes, commander? What is it?"
Data's head twitched a little, an involuntary spasm, and then he replied, "Are you ready to board the shuttlecraft?"
"Yes… yes," Picard said quietly and a bit preoccupied.
Riker raised an eyebrow at the captain's odd tone of voice, "Captain? Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Number One. Just a little nervous, that's all."
Riker nodded, feeling reassured. He knew that Deanna would be able to sense if Picard was really having second thoughts and he knew that she would probably tell him if that were the case. Thankfully though, it wasn't.
Picard stepped into the shuttlecraft and bade his officers that were present farewell. Once in the craft, he walked the short distance to the control seat and then sat down and prepared to ready the vehicle for take-off.
Riker gave the order for everyone to leave the shuttle bay, and they all did. They didn't want to be sucked out into the unforgiving vacuum of space when the cargo bay doors opened. Once he was sure that everyone had left the shuttle bay, including himself, Riker gave the order for the captain to begin departure procedures.
As he looked out at the black nothingness which was space, lieutenant commander Data thought quietly and deeply to himself. He was a curious person, by nature, but he was also quite a reserved and conscientious person too. For a split second, he found his thoughts to be about his brother. It had been over three and a half years since he and his brother, Lore, had met for the first time. Data had, without even a moment's thought, ejected Lore into the vacuum of space. He always wondered, whenever he happened to look out of the windows, which was quite often, what had really happened to his brother. All of those thoughts were processed in under 0.87 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity for the android. Geordi noticed Data's strange expression. "You all right, Data?"
The android looked up, to see Geordi's uncertain face. "Yes, Geordi, I am fine."
"Now," Picard said tentatively through the microphone in the shuttlecraft, "I'm not sure how long this is going to take. My best guess is that it shouldn't be more than a few hours."
Riker noted the captain's voice, "Understood, sir. Enterprise out."
Inside the shuttlecraft, Picard found it to be rather lonely. He had never really found himself to be particularly partial to the company of another, yet he felt a little odd. He had always, for the past four years, when he had been serving on board Starfleet's flagship, the USS Enterprise, been surrounded by the crew and civilians of the ship; the total of which was more or less one and a half thousand people of many different and unique alien species.
He wandered around the shuttlecraft, looking at various things. There was nothing that was even of the slightest bit of interest to him, nonetheless, he was just trying to pass the time. The shuttlecraft could not go very fast by twenty fourth century standards. It had a top speed of only warp two. The destination, which was the small, rocky moon Charon, was more than fifty light years away. It would, therefore, take little less than a week to get there.
Picard smacked his lips and sighed. He was thirsty. In fact, he had been thirsty for quite some time, but, because of all of his worries and apprehension about attending this peace conference, he had actually managed to forget to drink. He decided that now was the correct time for him to satisfy his dehydrated mouth. He switched on the food replicator and said, "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot."
Less than what seemed to be only a few miniscule seconds, fragrant earl grey tea, served in a spotless snowy tea cup, complete with saucer, appeared on top of the dispenser tray. Picard bent over and took the warm beverage into his hands, savouring every drop. Of course, he knew that he could always have more, as the replicators had a basically inexhaustible supply, but he felt as though this particular cup was special and he wanted to make sure it lasted.
"Computer," he began to talk loudly as he held his tea steadily in one hand, "How long until we reach Charon?"
The shuttlecraft's computer systems buzzed and chirped for a short while, before the bland, emotionless and rather non-descript female voice of the computer answered him, "Four days, six hours, seven minutes and forty three point—"
Picard cut the computer's exact answer off short, "Thank you." He leant back in his chair and sighed loudly. It was certainly going to be a long journey. He wished that he had brought an away team with him. He didn't much favour the idea of having to spend the best part of a week cooped up inside a not so state of the art shuttlecraft with no one to talk to. Even lieutenant commander Data's odd company would have been welcomed by the captain at this point. He was actually starting to wonder if he should have sent Data off on this mission in the first place. But, then again, the Thanatosians and Hypnites would realise sooner or later that the peculiar, yet highly intelligent android was not the Enterprise's captain.
His eyes were just about to close, so he could eventually take part in a long awaited sleep when something caught his attention. The shuttlecraft shook rather too violently for his liking and he jumped out of his seat. Picard looked out of one of the many windows of the shuttlecraft and gazed both in despair and wonder. The twin planets, Hypnos and Thanatos, were very beautiful worlds, or they would have been if it weren't for all the toxic clouds of gases and poisons which were actually visible from space. Picard wasn't even in orbit, or even that close to the two planetary bodies, yet he was still able to see the devastating effect that this conflict was having on these two peoples. The gas clouds were mouldy yellow in colour. They were quite obviously polluting not only the air but also people's minds. Picard sighed at the sight he saw. It really was quite pitiful indeed.
All of a sudden, a bright light became visible on his arm. To Picard's surprise and slight worry, the light began to show all over his body. He looked into the window and saw the faint outline of his reflection. He saw that even his face was glowing in a strange sort of bluish emerald tinge. Slowly, his surroundings; the shuttlecraft interior, the planets in the distance; became blurred and almost incomprehensible. He closed his eyes for just one fraction of a seemingly everlasting second and when he opened them again, all he could see was nothing. It was completely and utterly pitch black. The air was cold and he couldn't help but cough. His eyes began to sting and he instinctively rubbed them furiously, which almost staunched the pain.
