This chapter is a little longer than the other ones but I think you don't mind. Also, Q is represented a little different than in the series. Nevertheless have fun reading.

Chapter 4

I figured the light on my phone was just enough for ten minutes tops, so I moved quickly. I reached the crack in the wall in record time and squeezed through it. Before I inspected the rest of the cave I drank as much water from the wall as I could, since I left the rest of the water in the bottle to Beverly in case she woke up.

When I was full I started climbing up the rocks. The way was slippery and pretty smooth which was really hard to find halt, but I somehow managed it to get to the top safely without getting my phone wet. At the top was a small platform where I sat down to rest for a few minutes. Half of my clothes were completely wet and I wringed them out as much as I could. The way leading away wasn't much more than a tunnel and I had to crawl. After twenty metres the tunnel started to rise and another twenty metres farther there were the first signs of light. To save the battery for the way back I turned off the light.

After a few minutes I got used to the darkness and I could make out the shapes of the stones in the tunnel. I also noticed that the light was irregular and flickering. The sound of the water drowned as I walked farther down the tunnel and I could hear something like voices; at least it reminded me of voices.

Suddenly the light was so bright I had to close my eyes. I felt like a deer in the headlights of a car.

"Who are you?" This was clearly the voice of a man. "Can you turn off the light? I can't see!" He dimmed the light and turned it away from my face so I could lower my arms.

"I'm Mary. Are you looking for Beverly?" I still couldn't see the man; my eyes only showed me stars and lighting bolts. "Yes, indeed we are looking for Dr. Crusher. I am Lt. Comdr. Data, officer aboard the star ship Enterprise, and this is Cmdr. Riker."

"Where is she?" This was a new voice about two metres away from the first one. My eyes adjusted to the light eventually and I noticed two men standing in front of me. The one who spoke first had very light skin; lighter than a normal man. The other one reached for something on his belt, but I couldn't see what it was and he also didn't draw it. I turned around and pointed to the tunnel where I came from.

"It's not far, but there is a waterfall in the way." The man named Data pointed his light into the tunnel and pressed a button on his chest. "Lt. Comdr. Data to Enterprise, Comdr. Riker and I found a human woman in a cave under the planet's surface. She has information about Dr. Crusher and we are following her, but the communicator connection will fail soon. Permission to proceed." A different voice from no specific origin answered.

"Enterprise to Lt. Comdr. Data, permission's granted. Is this woman any threat to you or Dr. Crusher?" "She is not armed and does not have any non-human abilities. Data out." I was so confused I had to just watch the two men until I realized they wanted me to guide them to Beverly.

"This way!" I said and went down the tunnel again to the top of the waterfall. Data got a weird device from his pocket which he planted in the stone wall above the water. It was obviously a kind of rope. He secured it to his uniform and carefully put some tension on it.

"It would be the best if you come with me to show me the way." He said and wrapped his arms around my waist. His arms somehow felt stronger than a normal human, but in this situation I was way too flashed to ask anything. We somehow didn't get wet on the way down, but the floor was still wet and the water soaked through my shoes. Ignoring my wet feet I showed Data the crack in the wall which led to the big room.

"Beverly's in the room behind that crack. It's not far away now." He attempted to squeeze through the crack, but he was too big.

"It appears the dimensions of my body are too big and I think Cmdr. Riker is, too. Are you able fit through that passage?" I nodded, but I had no idea what he had in mind. "Can you bring Dr. Crusher?" My jaw dropped. I couldn't possibly do that.

"I can't. I'm not strong enough. She's unconscious." Data handed me another weird device. It had little arms and looked a bit like a spider with nets between the arms. "What is this? I've never seen something like this."

"It is very easy to use. At first you have to place the hoover above the doctor and then you have to press these buttons to activate the net. The body of the doctor should be light enough for you to lift her." I was confident that I could do it and therefore I squeezed through the crack again. On the other side I turned on the light and made my way to Beverly. She was still unconscious and the bleeding was stronger than before. I checked her vital signs and I was very relieved to see that her heart was still beating and she was still breathing. The device Data gave me was indeed easy to use and it took me less than five minutes to get Beverly in a hoovering position. After that I gathered all my belongings in the backpack and moved back to the crack in the wall.

"I need your help with Beverly." I said when I could see the first glimpses of Data through the crack and handed him the remote control of the device. He pushed some buttons and the net around the body of the doctor changed its shape so it could be adapted to the shape of the crack.

After Beverly I squeezed through the crack and pulled my backpack behind me. On the other side Data was already pulling himself up together with Beverly. He came down again to get me and together with him we moved up the waterfall. Cmdr. Riker was already waiting for us and he pressed the button on his shirt.

"Riker to Enterprise, four to beam directly to sickbay." No one answered. "We have to get to the surface. The communicators aren't working down here." He turned around and led the way through the tunnel to the point where we met and further down to something that looked like a staircase. I followed the two men to the surface.

The landscape that stretched out in front of me was simply breath taking. We were standing on top of a mountain above an endless forest that stretched to the horizon.

"Wow! This is amazing! Where are we?" Data laid Beverly on the ground and checked her with something like I found in spot where I found her.

"You don't know that?" Riker asked. "We are on Delta Tauris A. This is the northern continent. We are evaluating the planet for colonisation. Can I ask you a question?" I nodded and finally sat down on the ground. "Our scans didn't show any form of intelligent life on the planet. How come you are here? I have never seen you on the Enterprise."

"Well, I'm not from this century. I was on the train on my way home when I met this strange man…" My words were cut off by a bright light and the sudden appearance of said man.

"Q, what are you doing here?" Riker said and pointed something at the new man that looked dangerous.

"Oh Riker, do you really think anything you do does any harm to me?" Another flash appeared in Riker's hand and his weapon disappeared. "I see your doctor is with you again and all with the help of this young lady." He walked over to me and I got pulled to my feet.

"Will you finally get me back to my own time now that Beverly is safe?" To my great horror he just shook his head and loosened the grip around my arm.

"Sweetheart, I can't. That would change your timeline and we all don't want that. Now, commander, you can call the Enterprise." Riker still glared at Q but tapped the button on his shirt.

"Enterprise, five to beam up; directly to sickbay." What happened after that was simply amazing and so scary at the same time, I would have screamed if my muscles weren't blocked for some reason. Just a second later I found myself in a very strange looking room with several beds at the walls and one in the middle. It reminded my somehow of an emergency room, but a very inefficient one. As soon as we materialized in the room a group of people in the same clothes as Beverly rushed into the room and got the doctor onto the bed in the middle. One of them was holding an instrument like I found next Beverly in the cave.

"Prepare for surgery. The doctor has a deep head wound and inner bleeding in the chest. And what is that?" I was turning bright red when they noticed my crappy work.

"I did that. I thought it might help." The man in the blue uniform turned around, now more concerned about the well-being of the doctor. It was obvious that he wasn't happy, either. I suddenly felt the hand of Riker on my shoulder and only now I noticed that he was more than two heads taller than me.

"Let's step outside." I had no other choice than follow him. Q followed us as well, but Data stayed behind. The doors behaved like the automatic doors in a shopping centre, but way quicker.

"What is all this?" Riker asked to the both of us. Q strolled a few steps back and forth before he answered. "Well, that was me of course. I saw your doctor was injured and I helped apparently. This young lady seemed to be fit. It was fun to watch." He tried to lay his hands on my shoulders, but I dived away.

"How dare you! How dare you getting me in this mess just for the sake of your entertainment? Why me? Why not someone who actually could help her, not just bungle around Beverly; someone from this century with medical knowledge?" I was pretty close to completely losing my temper and beating the hell out of him.

"Sweetheart, you did a great job and I wouldn't be half as exciting as it was, if I got someone with sufficient medical knowledge." With a silent puff and a bright light he disappeared. I couldn't believe it. My only hope to get home was gone and I finally lost my temper. Turning all my fear and hopelessness into anger I hauled off and punched the wall with all the strength my muscles could master. The screen I hit shattered and the cracks reached on for metres. Riker grabbed my upper arms and held tight before I could destroy anything else.

"Stop it or I have to call security!" My anger was fading slowly and the first tears formed in my eyes. Soon my muscles relaxed and I started crying. My heart felt heavy and cold and my vision blurred and darkened. All I could feel now was that Riker let go of my arms and wrapped his around my chest. "We will find a way, trust me." I laid my head against his chest and cried into the fabric of his uniform. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing and I could see that he felt a little awkward. After I calmed down a little he pressed this button on his shirt. "Comdr. Riker to Counsellor Troi, please come to sickbay."

He gently guided me to the door to sickbay. "Let's get back in there and see how Dr. Crusher's doing." I quickly swept away the tears before we entered sickbay again.

The crowd around Dr. Crusher was calmer now, but they were still concerned. One of the nurses noticed me and Riker coming in and she stepped over to us again holding one of those weird instruments.

"What is your name? Let me take care of your hand. What did you do?" She asked and pointed to one of the beds at the wall. "Mary", I answered and climbed on it pulling my legs to my chest. Instead of me Riker answered the rest of her question.

"She smashed a panel outside." The nurse removed a small object from the instrument and moved it up and down my hand. Her face was surprised first and then turned pretty shocked. "What is this?" she muttered to herself and got another weird looking instrument. It looked a bit like a pen and when she let it hoover over the wounds in my hand the cuts closed and what remained wasn't even a scar. However, the face of the nurse didn't relax and she got the first instrument with the removable small part again.

"Please lay back; I have to examine you further. You have tenosynovitis in your hand but there are some other things that are concerning me." She moved the instrument up and down my body stopping at my head and my upper body. "You have a flu virus in your system and your lungs are coated with toxics. I can give you something for the virus, but your lungs and your hand have to be regenerated by themselves. All I can do is help a little." She pressed the other instrument against my neck and pushed a button. A sharp pain stitched through my skin and I squinted one of my eyes. She reached for another one of the strange instruments. "This is for your lungs and it helps your hand. I have to give it to you twice a day and in a few weeks your lungs will be as good as new." Again she pressed it against my neck, but this time the pain was much less, because I knew what to expect. "You can sit up now." I pushed myself up and crossed my legs.

"How's Beverly? Will she be alright?" The nurse smiled and nodded. "Yes, she will be alright. Her wounds can be treated easily and she will be awake shortly."

I hope you enjoyed it. Please make sure to leave a review.