Beverly was laughing because the look on his face was…he was uncomfortable, but he was genuine in his misery. He was so conflicted with this possessive streak, but it was so good to feel him being honest with her. And she liked it. She liked the attention, she liked his want, and she wanted him back.
The comm interrupted their amusement. "Wilson to Crusher. Please report to Sickbay."
She sobered. "I'll be there shortly. Crusher out." Picard watched her, then sighed with a resigned expression as he started enfolding his emotions back into himself, into a tidy bundle. She reached across the table and touched his hand in reassurance.
"Wilson was a very long time ago," and she sent him hazy memories. They weren't even that clear to her. Thirty years could do that. "Even before Jack. And yes, something is odd about him now."
He nodded, watching her carefully. "I wish I didn't have to let you out of my sight. But York asked me to meet her on the bridge. Perhaps we could enjoy another meal together later?"
She raised an eyebrow as an unspoken question radiated from him. "And?"
"I would like to view the holo with you." Oh. Memories of the shuttle and the other universe came streaming back. The brief moments with that young man, and the woman who met her eyes with a shy but steady smile. And the other Jean-Luc, the one who looked at her with such longing.
"Me too," she replied. And she was gratified by the hopeful contentment that emanated from him.
She walked into Sickbay where Wilson was standing, waiting for her. "You're late," he stated with a sour look on his face. "The team is in the lab already." He gestured towards the hallway leading to the research labs. As she started down the long corridor, she heard him call out to her. "I'll be right there, Beverly."
The doors to the first lab were open, and she stepped in, looking around. Where was the team? The work table in the middle of the room was gleaming smooth, with three long, tall vials just sitting there, full of some dull, cloudy liquid. Who would have left samples on a work table without a secure container? All that protected them was a very basic stasis field, shimmering slightly in the air. The vials looked incredibly out of place; a research lab had a place for everything; medical researchers didn't just leave out chemicals and solutions without securing them.
She tapped the display panel on the corner of the table and schematics popped up in front of her. Oh my. The three vials weren't vaccines. They were synthesized viral solutions, based upon Trim and humanoid physiology. There was no sign of any vaccine sample in this lab.
Behind her, she heard the doors to the lab close, then a tone sounded abruptly, causing her to whirl around in surprise. Wilson was on the other side of the clear doors, staring at her, hand dropping from the door panel. He had locked her in. Her stomach dropped, and behind her, four rapid warning chimes sounded. Then the hum of the stasis field ended.
She watched him as he stepped back from the clear doors, still staring at her, no expression on his face at all. Then the ship rocked, and the lights dimmed as she felt the Renegade abruptly drop out of warp. She stumbled from the gravitational shift as she heard one, then two vials slide off the table, hitting the floor and splattering her with cool liquid.
"How is Doctor Crusher doing?" York watched Picard carefully as he sat across from her in the ready room. And she was quite surprised to see a bit of a smile emerge on the reserved man's face.
"She is recovering well. I am…" He trailed off, looking out the window. After a moment he brought his gaze back to York. "I am thankful." He sipped his tea, and York swore that she saw a mist over his eyes.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that-"
Both looked up in alarm as the room's lights dimmed. With a horrific jolt, the ship dropped out of warp, the starfield outside the portal window resolving from streaks to stationary flecks. The two went out to the bridge as the red alert siren began to wail.
As she entered the bridge, York saw the viewscreen full of a looming array of a fleet of Trium ships, aligned in battle formation. "They're firing," called out the comm officer. The ship rocked as she claimed the main chair, gesturing for Picard to take the open chair to her left.
"Hail them."
"No response,"
"They are trying to incapacitate us," Picard murmured to York.
"Obviously," she dryly replied, staring at the viewscreen. "But why? Why incapacitate when they could simply destroy us. What do they want?"
A voice from the security station: "Captain, we're being boarded - decks seven through twenty-eight-"
"Stop them. Computer, show me an overlay of the intruders. Where are they going?" The front display switched over to a schematic of the ship, and red dots were indeed on many decks, all moving towards...where?
York sucked in a breath. "Sickbay," she murmured, watching out of the corner of her eye as Picard's hands gripped the armrests. The Trium were trying to invade Sickbay. They must know about the vaccine. Or Doctor Crusher. "Contact Sickbay and tell them to send the vaccine information out via every available channel, even if their research isn't complete. Send security to intercept. Keep the research team working, and safe. If the Trium make it to Sickbay, they'll have what they need to destroy the Federation, and I won't let that happen."
Beverly watched as Wilson jogged away from the doors, down the corridor, around the corner and out of sight. She was furious, using her anger to push away her profound alarm. He had deliberately infected her. If he had wanted her dead, he would have started the decontamination cycle in the contained lab, destroying all evidence of life. But instead he had infected her and locked her in. He was going to come back for her, and use her as his "living sample."
A quiet calm settled over her, her thoughts clearing. She wasn't afraid of death, but she simply couldn't let the rest of the ship become infected, as well. And the ship was sitting dead in space. Wilson's actions and the incapacitated ship had to be related somehow.
If the ship wasn't moving, the Federation wasn't going to receive a vaccine (a vaccine that may not even exist - it certainly wasn't in this lab) She could irradiate the virus by vaporizing the entire lab - and kill herself in the process - or try to get off the ship and warn the Federation.
With a resolve that came from knowing that she was probably going to die soon, she pulled up the bridge feed to find out why the Renegade was dead in space – and by whom.