Chapter 4

Mid-Year 2355

He hesitated again before leaning forward to press the key pad. Then he sat back inside his personal communications area and stared straight ahead and clutched his hands tensely in his lap waiting it seemed for an eternity for the call to be accepted. Meanwhile, the internal communications console beeped to his right, and he quickly threw his hand to the side. Dammit! His one attempt in months to attend to his personal life had already been interrupted. Slapping the control pad, his first officer's image appeared on the screen.

She twitched her left antenna toward him deferentially. "I am sorry to interrupt you, Captain, but you said that you wanted to be kept informed of our progress."

He nodded curtly. "Go ahead."

Both of her antennae twitched this time. "The propulsion tests are finished and we can disembark whenever you are ready, sir." Commander Zev said. Her Andorian politeness was a thin veneer covering a very fierce personality. She was completely loyal to him, the consummate professional, and that was why he could never be annoyed with her for long.

He smiled tightly. "Thank you, Zev. I shall join you on the bridge in fifteen minutes," he said quickly, before cutting the connection.

Turning forward again, he saw that the connection light was now blinking green on the forward screen.

"I was so surprised to see it was you calling that I almost didn't answer," Beverly Crusher said, just after her image appeared on his view screen. She paused, looking at him. "Hello, Jean-Luc." He sucked in a quick breath, and tried not to gape at her. He hadn't seen her in person since Jack's funeral well over a year ago. She looked as beautiful as he had remembered. But the sadness he had seen in her face that day was now replaced by something else; a defiance, perhaps a coldness that had not been there before. In his mind he quickly began to retreat. Why was it again that he had decided to call her?

"Hello," he said gaining the courage quickly. "Beverly, I am truly sorry…of course you had written to me some time ago."

"Yes. And you never responded." Her expression was bemused but she kept whatever wounds she had hidden from him.

"I'm sorry. It was inconsiderate of me…thoughtless really." It was a lie that it had been thoughtless, when in fact it had taken a great deal of thought, too much really, not to write back to her.

She raised her eyebrows and shook her head slightly. "Don't be sorry, Jean-Luc. I suppose I am the one who should be sorry. I thought we could continue some kind of friendship after Jack died. Maybe I expected too much. Now I know I was mistaken."

The hardness of her tone struck him deeply, but he knew he deserved that and more really. "I—I just wanted to let you know that the Stargazer is going to be embarking on a deep space mission."

"I know, Jean-Luc. I saw the news reports a few weeks ago," she said. "You do realize I'm still in Starfleet don't you?"

"Yes of course," he said softly. He smiled nervously, but her expression remained detached as she waited expectantly for him to continue. A part of him wished she would simply crack a smile, or joke with him, but it was as if she had no intention of allowing him to see that part of herself anymore. Perhaps he had lost the right to see those things. He fell silent and just watched her for a few moments. She wasn't letting him get anywhere. He hadn't anticipated that this would be so difficult.

Maybe it was because he either waited too long to speak, or something else occurred to her, that she decided to continue to press her point. "I saw some of the crew of the Stargazer at headquarters a few weeks ago," she said. "They said you had insisted they get some shore leave before the mission—that you had practically ordered them to take a vacation. But I didn't see you there, Jean-Luc."

He cleared his throat. "There were repairs to be made—"

"Oh, of course there were. I'm not sure what makes me angrier; that you didn't show up, or that I actually wanted for you to be there." For the first time her voice broke slightly and emotion shone behind her eyes.

They stared at each other in silence for a few more moments. His mechanical heart seemed to skip a beat. She had wanted to see him? "Beverly…I didn't call you to fight with you," he said quietly.

"Then why did you call me, Jean-Luc?"

I do believe I am in love with you, he thought. Instead he said, "I wanted to ask you if it would be alright for me to visit you and Wesley once I return. I realize my actions have made that question a foolish one, but something is compelling me to still ask," he continued.

She stared at him with a stunned expression. "When will you be done with the deep space mission?" she said after a moment.

"We expect to return within three months," he said. "So…there is plenty of time for you to decide between now and then."

She still seemed surprised by his request, and absently reached up to swipe a strand of hair away from her face. "Why do you want to visit us?" The anger in her voice was gone and had been replaced by genuine curiosity and also something he could not pinpoint.

He stared at her, challenged by a very simple question. But he couldn't answer it; not all of it. "Beverly, you were not wrong to expect we could continue a friendship—I want to…be your friend," he said. "If you don't want me to come to your home, I understand…we can meet somewhere else, perhaps for lunch."

She bit her bottom lip and looked away from the screen. "I don't know," she said distantly. "I have to think about it, Jean-Luc," she said turning back to the screen. She forced a small smile. "Why don't you call me again when you return, and we can talk about it then? Alright?"

He tried to keep a smile on his face, but it faded gradually as she spoke. He had needed an answer from her, or some kind of sign—and until that moment he hadn't realized just how much. His insides felt as though they were flopping around. He was confused. Hadn't she said she had been disappointed that he hadn't come to Earth for shore leave recently? And now she couldn't even decide if she wanted to see him, leaving him to feel empty inside. "Alright," he agreed.

"Goodbye Jean-Luc," she said, reaching out to turn off the console. Her eyes met his one last time through the screen. "Please be safe?"

He nodded. "Of course."


Picard awoke again and to find that only one of his strange looking captors remained in the dank, dark room. He was still strapped tightly to the makeshift table and his hands and feet had fallen asleep. He painfully tried to move them in order to regain feeling. He was weaker than before, but all that did was increase his sense of urgency.

He turned his head to watch the alien who sat in front of some kind of view screen which appeared to be some kind of security monitor. He recalled having seen members of his crew on that screen, including his first officer Zev. If she was alright, then he knew they had a chance of escape. But she'd been hurt.

"I implore you again," he said hoarsely. "Not to harm my crew."

The creature turned around. "I am a Malkatan, and you are a prisoner. I make the rules not you," he growled and then turned back to watch the screen. "Besides…she got what was coming to her."

"What do you mean?" Picard demanded.

"She broke the neck of the head of base security," said the Malkatan.

"She's an Andorian," Picard said. "That is how she reacts when mis-treated."

The guard said nothing. But Picard's hopes began to rise. He now knew the name of the race of creatures that had captured him—the Malkatans- he knew that at least some of his crew was still alive and capable of fighting back, and he knew he was trapped on some "base" of some kind. Information was power—in theory.

"How long have I been here?" Picard asked.

The guard paused. Should he tell the prisoner anything more? He didn't have to tell him anything. But Malkatans enjoyed the game of power, and the guard knew that this feeble creature was going to be put to death soon. The Ferengi trader had demanded it. So why not make him aware of some of the details? Could make his job a little more interesting. "Two days," said the guard. "Since you were trapped in the Net."

"Net?"

The guard turned around and bared his sharp yellow teeth. "Yes…the Singularity Net… don't you remember?"

Picard closed his eyes and it all came back in a rush….


2355 The Maxia Zeta Sector Stardate 40217.3

"We are approaching the outer moon of Maxia Zeta IV, Captain," the helmsman announced.

"No stopping. Let's get this damn survey finished and get out of this sector," said Captain Picard, standing in the center of the bridge. "Brings back bad memories," he murmured to himself. The Maxia Zeta Sector was notable to him only for the location of Star Base 32, where he'd brought Jack's body after he was killed a little over a year ago.

Thinking of Jack made him think of Beverly, which in turn made him feel all kinds of things that he knew he shouldn't; except for the guilt. The guilt was acceptable. But lately he wondered whether holding onto so much guilt was healthy. In less than two weeks the Stargazer would return to Earth, and he was anxious but excited to contact her again. He'd had months after their last conversation to think about the future, and for the most part he felt very positive.

"Holding steady on course, Captain," Commander Zev said.

"Prepare to run the sensor sweep," ordered Picard.

"Initializing," said the science officer. Almost immediately, a rapid beeping sound invaded the bridge.

"Report," demanded Picard.

"Intercepting ship approaching from behind the moon, Captain," Vigo shouted.

"Everyone calm down," snapped Picard. Were they not trained to handle a simple surprise? But why hadn't the sensors read the ship earlier?

"Have we seen this kind of ship before?" he said returning to sit in the captain's chair. A brown horse-shoe shaped ship moved toward them on an intercept course.

"No match for it in the records sir," said Vigo.

"Hail them," Picard said calmly. "No need to jump to any conclusions," he said. He hoped the strange ship would take the same advice.

Suddenly the incoming ship increased speed and veered toward them aggressively. "Captain the ship is firing!" shouted Vigo.

"Evasive Maneuvers!" It happened instantly. On the view screen the enemy ship disappeared and in its place was an expanse of completely black space. No light was visible.

"Warning…" the computer interrupted. "Gravitational containment fields have been compromised…warning…."

"Captain we are being pulled in!"

"Into where? Full reverse," shouted Picard. A moment later, the ship groaned, the lights went out and the instruments on the bridge stopped working. The shouts of the crew were the only sound, and then Picard and the others were thrown to the deck, unable to move from the overwhelming gravitational disruption. And then everything went black.


Hawaii 2367

"I'm sorry sirs, but visibility isn't too good, and I don't think I can get a clear landing area past this point," the pilot said, tilting his head back to address them. "But the Captain's house is not too far from here. Unfortunately, it's all uphill," he added.

Deanna Troi's eyes widened slightly as she gazed out the view port. Gods…more hills, she thought with trepidation. As they descended rapidly, there was some turbulence and her stomach dropped.

"That's fine, Lieutenant," Riker said. "Just set us down over there in that clearing and we'll take the rest of the way on foot."

Beverly Crusher took the data pad from inside her coat and looked at it. "I'm so sorry I gave up on you, Jean-Luc," she whispered. "Can you still hear me? I promise that I will find out what happened to you."