Picard sat in his ready room, Will and Deanna sitting in the chairs facing his desk. "How is this possible?" Will and Deanna looked at each other before shaking their heads. "I want every piece of information on this time period on Earth. You both have 24 hours to either confirm or falsify the Commander's story."
Will rubbed a hand against his face. "From everything I've heard about the nuclear war in World War III, I've never heard an account like this. Hell, I've never heard of people with immunity to the Warshock virus."
"From what I've read of Earth's history," Deanna interjected. "the physicians from several different countries collaborated, until they found a cure in 2040."
"So there's a chance she's lying?" Picard asked Deanna.
But she shook her head. "I can tell she's with holding information, but I sensed no deception from her."
Picard rubbed a hand over the top of his desk. "Where is she now?"
"We escorted her back to sickbay. Dr. Crusher wanted to run genetic tests, and try and find a connection between the cure to the Warshock virus and the protein in the Commander's system. She's to remain there until further notice."
"Under guard?"
"Of course sir." Picard exhaled and leant back. "Never a dull moment, isn't it?"
"Indeed, Number One." Picard turned to Deanna. "As soon as you and Commander Riker are finished reviewing the records, I would like you to talk to her. Try and see if you can figure out what exactly she's hiding."
With a quick nod, the two left the ready room, leaving Picard to his own thoughts. Slowly, he rose and walked to the replicator. "Tea, earl grey, hot." When it appeared, he picked it up and moved to look out the window. "Never a dull moment." He said quietly to himself as he drank the tea.
In sickbay, Emelle sat on the bio-bed, desperately trying to keep her face calm, devoid of the emotions she felt churning inside her, as Beverly and Nurse Ogawa waved scans over her entire body. Her jacket was lying next to her on the bed, and as she sat there, people buzzing around her, she flashed back to the time she was in the medical facility on Earth. When Beverly's scan came up over her face, she looked at the young woman, and when she saw the sadness in her eyes, she stopped. "I'm sorry." She said softly.
Emelle looked at her confused. "For what?"
Beverly sighed as she placed the tricorder down next to Emelle on the bed. "For everything I suppose." She looked back up to Emelle's face. "We're almost done with our scans, and then I have a few questions for you if that's alright?"
Emelle shrugged. "It's not like I can go anywhere."
Beverly looked over her shoulder at the two security guards on either side of the door. "You can wait outside." The guards looked at each other, not sure whether they should move. With a curt smile, Beverly walked over and pressed the control, opening the door. "I'll be fine." Hesitantly, they moved past her and stood guard outside sickbay. Nurse Ogawa handed Beverly a PADD before turning to tend to an other patient. "Would you like to talk in my office?"
With a quick nod, Emelle grabbed her jacket, throwing it on, and followed Beverly into her office. "What is it you'd like to know?" She asked as she sat.
"Well," Beverly reviewed the PADD in her hands. "first off I should tell you that in my entire career in medicine, I've never come across any record of the type of medical research done on people with an immunity to the Warshock virus that you told us about."
Emelle closed her eyes. "And second?"
"Second, on record, all accounts say that the first cure issued out of one of Earth's old nations, the United States, I believe, worked. And the global distribution of the drug was a stepping stone to resolving the petty issues between nations." She regarded the woman before her before continuing. "However, my scans show high levels of a protein in your system that is almost identical to the drug."
"Almost?"
"Yes, there was a 2% variance in the coding of the two." She paused. "Why do you think this can't be found in our records?"
Emelle scoffed. "It wasn't exactly a shining moment in our cultures' history."
Beverly chuckled. "Where exactly was the research done?"
"In a military complex known as Area 21, in the United States."
"Is that where you're from, the United States."
Emelle chuckled. "Ah, no. I'm from Canada, the east coast. One of the others in our group was from Western Canada."
"Did all of you share the abnormality to the same degree?" Beverly waved her hand slightly as she continued. "I ask because you have a large amount of the protein in your system, and there appears to be no difference in activity between the gene creating the protein, and the genes that have been active your whole life. Was it the same with the others?"
Emelle shook her head. "The doctors told us that those of us with the abnormality, who died, weren't creating enough of the protein because their genes were not fully active. There were four of us with the high level of the protein in our system."
Beverly lowered her voice, trying to reach out to the woman as not only as doctor to patient, but woman to woman. "You said in the meeting you all got to know each other rather well. Were the other three good friends of yours?"
"Not before. But after we were brought together," she smiled. "we became the closest thing to family to each other." She paused, a nostalgic look crossing her face. "The three others were Helen, Daniel, and Robyn. Daniel and Robyn were Helen's kids. Her husband, Mark, was one of the two in our group who died."
"What happened to the other four who survived?"
"They were there. But after Mark died, I helped Helen with the kids as much as I could. That's how we became so close."
"How did the children respond to when they went to...when you were launched?"
"Oh, we couldn't tell them the truth." Emelle exclaimed, slouching in her chair. "How do you tell a four year old boy that truth? Thankfully, Robyn was only 18 months and wouldn't have understood either way."
"If I may ask," Beverly said leaning her arms on the desk. "How did they...I mean did they give you a sedative first?"
Emelle nodded. "We were moved to the capsule where they gave us an injection putting us to sleep. I remember Daniel crying when they jabbed him with a needle." She shook her head.
"Ensign Faller to Dr. Crusher."
Beverly closed her eyes briefly at the interruption before tapping her badge. "Crusher here, what is it ensign?"
"Sorry ma'am but there's an emergency in med- lab 3. One of the incubation machines has malfunctioned."
"I'm on my way." When she stood, Emelle also rose running the palms of her hands over her pant legs. "I have to be going, but if you need anything, Nurse Ogawa will help you." Grabbing a small kit, Beverly quickly moved out of sickbay. Emelle watched as the doctor left, and the two guards returned to stand inside. Exhaling heavily in frustration, she moved out of Beverly's office flopped herself onto the bio-bed with a huff.
Deanna and Will sat in his office, reading the various amount of information before them. It had been several hours, and they still didn't find anything remotely helpful. Throwing his PADD down on the table caused Deanna to jump lightly. "My eyes are starting to glaze over."
"I wouldn't recommend any more coffee." Deanna smirked looked at the collection of empty mugs on the table. "You may never go to sleep."
"I don't know Deanna." Will stood and stretched his legs as he walked.
"You don't know what?"
"How will this end? I mean, will we return her to Earth like we did with the last group we came across, just leave her with whatever descendants of her family is left?"
Deanna leaned back in her chair. "What else can we do?" Will shrugged but Deanna knew better. "You have an alternative in mind, please share."
"You know me too well." He said smiling as he moved and dropped himself on the coach. "What if we let her stay? Here."
"On the Enterprise?" Deanna furrowed her brow.
"She knows this quadrant well, she's obviously a capable soldier, has a commendable rank." He sighed. "And I have to admit I like the idea of chartering a new sector with someone who's familiar with it; the different species, cultures, laws. I like it a lot better then going through blind."
Deanna thought for a moment. "That actually does not sound like a bad idea. Have you considered mentioning it to the captain?"
"I might. In the end it's not up to him. I can put my recommendation in when we meet with the council, but that's all I can do."
"When do we meet with the council?"
Will shook his head. "They will pick a time and place after reviewing the captain's report. We'll know soon enough." He sighed and then looked at Deanna. "Are you ok?" He asked when he noticed the saddened look on her face.
"She was able to close her mind to me in the meeting." Will raised his eyebrows in surprise. "But when she was telling us about Earth and her life before, it opened slightly, and I got a glimpse at her emotions." She shook her head. "There are memories that are plaguing her. Dark...horrific things that she finds terrifying." Will moved from the coach and knelt in front of where Deanna sat. "I know I said I could tell she was with holding information, but after feeling that darkness inside her mind...I'm not sure I want to know." She ducked her head.
Will reached up to tip her chin, and then moved his hand to cup her cheek. He went to say something but stopped himself. "I don't know what to tell you." He said after a moment. "I wish I could say something to make it easier..."
Deanna smiled and reached up to grasp the hand on her cheek. "You being here is enough."
"Ok ensign." Beverly called lying underneath the incubation machine. "Give that a try." She crossed her fingers, and when Faller flipped the switch, and the machine came to life with a hum, Beverly gave a victory laugh. "Well done ensign. Now help me up." As the younger woman helped Beverly to her feat, she wiped the dust from her uniform.
"Picard to Dr. Crusher." Beverly sighed.
"Crusher here."
"Beverly, would you join me in my ready room?"
"I'll be there shortly." Ensign Faller handed her her lab coat with a sympathetic smile. "Let me know if anything changes, won't you Amanda?"
"Yes ma'am." She walked through the corridors to the turbo lift, and once inside she took a moment to rest against the wall. From what she figured, it was at least 2300, and she was in dire need of some rest. As the lift stopped, she pushed herself off the wall and into the bridge.
"Doctor." Data acknowledged her. "Is there something I can assist you with?" He asked standing.
"No thank you Data. Captain Picard asked to see me."
"Very well." He said returning to his seat.
When the door chimed, Picard tapped off his view screen. "Come in." He smiled when Beverly walked in. "Crisis averted I hope." See her questioning look as she sat on the coach he continued. "The incubation machine. When Nurse Ogawa brought me your report, she told me you were unavoidably detained."
Beverly laughed as Jean Luc sat next to her. "Yes. Crisis averted. And I don't mind saying that after several hours of trying to fix that piece of junk, I'm ready for a long shower."
Jean Luc chuckled. "You could have asked for Commander La Forge's assistance."
"Geordi is busy with the repairs to the Volkerie." She watched him as the conversation turned to their guest. "What do you make of everything?"
He huffed. "I asked Mr. Worf to assign quarters for our guest, temporarily, and I have Commander Riker and Counsellor Troi going over the records of that time period, trying to find any information that could either prove or disprove the Commander's account of history."
"That's not what I asked Jean Luc." She said with a soft smile. "How do you feel?" When he didn't immediately respond, she lowered her voice. "I was there when you saw the Cardassian lying on the table in sickbay. I saw your face as you looked at him."
Picard grunted in reply. "We're not dealing with Cardassians anymore Beverly."
"But that doesn't mean you have to rebury what you felt!" She was concerned for him, and when he tried to shrug off the topic, she grew frustrated. "When you returned from our mission on Celtris 3, I knew you were struggling with what happened to you, and I thought it would be best to give you space." she reached out and grasped his hands. "I don't expect you to bare your soul, telling me every detail." She looked at his now darkened eyes. "But I am here for you, whatever you do want to talk about." She lifted a hand and brought it to his cheek. She watched as he took in what she said, and smiled when he took the hand from his cheek and placed a kiss on its wrist.
"Oh, where would I be without you Beverly?"
She chuckled. "It would be a dull life for sure."
Jean Luc smiled, but their moment was interrupted by the chime of his door. "Come in."
Will stopped when he saw the two on the coach, causing Deanna to bump into him. "I'm sorry, are we interrupting anything."
"No." They both answered at the same time.
"What did you find Number One?"
Will smiled and held up a PADD. "It's what we didn't find."
Picard scowled slightly when Will handed him the PADD. "She's been deleted from the records." Deanna explained.
"Deleted?" Beverly asked.
"It would appear," Will continued. "that every mention of the name Emily Holmes has been erased from records. There are accounts of her parents having two daughters, and their life-stories can be found in detail, but whenever there's mention of the youngest daughter...there are gaps in history."
"There is also record of an enormous amount of money being funded into medical research that can't be explained. According to records from other nations at the same time, they were using a fraction of the amount this nation was using."
"Not to mention two space capsules missing but no records of their use."
Picard looked from his first officer to counsellor. "Are you suggesting that she may be telling the truth?"
Will nodded. "It's a very real possibility." He watched as Picard absorbed the data and sat behind his desk. "How do you want to continue sir?"
Picard paused before responding. "I need to contact Starfleet so they can arrange the investigation. As for our guest," He looked at the three in the room. "I suggest we make her comfortable."
"I will speak to her in the morning sir."
"Thank you counsellor." Deanna nodded. "Dismissed."
They all moved to leave, but Beverly stopped and turned from the door. "Jean Luc," She waited for him to look up from the report he was reading before continuing. "Have you considered what the council may decide to do with her?"
Sighing he nodded. "I assume they will return her to Earth, maybe offer her a position of some sort to help her start her life." He watched as Beverly's face remained motionless. "You disagree."
"No. You're probably right; they'll make sure she gets a comfortable life on Earth." Jean Luc folded his hands, waiting for her to finish. But she didn't, and just shook her head and turned to leave.
"Beverly," she turned when the door opened. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight Jean Luc."
