Chapter 28
2355 Maxia
After Zev watched Captain Picard fall to the deck unconscious, the sight of that brought her back to reality and her blinding joy at seeing Beverly ebbed. She gripped the phaser at her side and stared at the newcomers. The two Ferengi clearly did not want to be there, but Beverly and the strange bearded man looked genuinely concerned for the Captain's welfare. Certainly, Zev told herself, the real Beverly Crusher was good friends with Captain Picard, who had been best friends with former Second Officer Jack Crusher of course.
Still, they wore odd uniforms, and remarkably Beverly looked a few years older than when she had last seen the young doctor and her son just months ago on Earth before shipping out. But as Zev knew well from personal experience, stress could prematurely age a person. And Beverly Crusher had undergone a great deal of stress in her life, much of it within the previous year. Zev's heart wanted to believe that this was the same Beverly she had known for years, but her mind was jumbled by fatigue and suspicion. As she regarded Beverly she noticed something else not well hidden beneath the woman's coat. No...it was highly unlikely, and yet...was Beverly pregnant?
In silent response to Zev's questioning stare, Beverly pulled her jacket over herself and stepped hesitantly toward Zev.
"Zev," Beverly ventured quietly, seeing the uncertainty on the Andorian's normally confident features. "Zev it's me, Beverly." She could see that Zev had been tortured, just as Jean-Luc had been, and one of her antennae had even been cut off. She could not imagine the pain and humiliation her friends had endured, and yet they were still here, still functioning.
Only vaguely at that point did she wonder where the rest of the Stargazer bridge crew was. But since she had just seen Jean-Luc collapse, everything else was secondary in her mind.
"Beverly," Zev said slowly, still sounding very confused.
Beverly said, "I have to get to him," and attempted to walk around Zev slowly.
Zev raised her phaser. She didn't point it directly at Beverly, but she obviously had no intention of dropping it either. "I'm sorry…but I can't let you approach any closer to the Captain until you tell me who you really are. Beverly Crusher is stationed on Earth. There is no reason she would be out here. And your uniforms are not standard issue."
Beverly looked at Riker who looked ambivalent about saying anything, and then she turned back at Zev. "Is he alright?" she asked nodding toward Picard, who lay face down on the floor. "I can see that he's bleeding," she said keeping her voice calm. "You have to let me help him."
Zev kept the phaser trained on Beverly. "His neck wound is not as bad as it looks," she said. "I believe that he…he was overcome with emotion at seeing you, and that is why he collapsed."
"We don't want to hurt you," Riker said, still holding his phaser behind Brom and Kad. "We're just glad to see that you're alive." He looked around the empty bridge. "Where's everyone else?"
"Tell me who you are first," Zev demanded, glancing at Beverly again. "The Captain swore he saw you down on the Malkatan base. But we didn't believe him. Now you're back…if it's really you. No more lies," Zev said quietly.
Beverly nodded. "Okay. No more lies."
"We're from the future," Beverly began, and did her best to give a summary of what they had been through, why she had arrived on the Malkatan base, and why they were now back.
Zev finally holstered her phaser after glancing accusingly at Bok and Kad. Then she turned back to Beverly. "You saved us. We never would have escaped the Malkatan base without you," she said.
Beverly nodded and moved toward Jean-Luc who was starting to stir. Riker did the same, but stopped, remembering he was attached to Kad. Undoing one side of the handcuffs he put the other end on the railing in front of tactical.
"Your father eats scree larva!" Kad hissed at him.
Riker shrugged. "I wouldn't doubt it…but then he and I aren't that close."
He moved around Brom, who was starting to look very tired of having been held hostage. On the floor, Bok was slowly waking up and shaking his large cranium back and forth.
Commander Zev waved Riker over to her. "Step away from those Ferengi. We don't have time for them right now," she said before firing three stun beams quickly at all three, knocking them out instantly.
She does not mess around. Riker turned to Zev with raised eyebrows and held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Will Riker." She shook his hand quickly and they moved to crouch down at Beverly's side.
"You're right, he just fainted," she said, still gripping his wrist, and not wanting to let go. "His pulse is strong." She ran her fingers over his neck which was bruised and had been slashed with a sharp weapon. "Who did this to him?" She looked up at Zev.
Zev looked away. "Vigo lost his mind down on that planet. When the Captain refused to destroy the Ferengi ship you were on he attacked without warning. I incapacitated him but not before he nearly strangled and cut the Captain."
Riker stared down at Picard, whose eyes were beginning to flutter. His hair was a sandy brown shade and short, but…it was there. Riker sat back on his haunches still looking at the Captain. He looked a little more dangerous than the Picard he was familiar with. He glanced at Beverly and wondered for the first time how she had decided to deal with the pregnancy issue. It was now hard to conceal.
Picard suddenly sat up and glanced around him. "Where's Bok?" he demanded, seeing Zev first.
"Still down for the count," Riker said with a grin. His smile faded as Picard looked at him sharply. Suddenly he looked so familiar again.
"Do I know you?"
Riker paused. "No…not yet at least," was all he could think of to say.
But Picard was now staring at Beverly. She held out her hand trying to steady him as he stood to his feet, and backed away from her slowly. He ran a hand over his eyes, and seemed to be testing if the newcomers would still be there when he removed his hand. "I've seen so many things recently. And…I am losing my concept of what is real and what is not," he admitted.
"Captain, Beverly and Riker are from the future. They're here to correct the timeline that the Ferengi helped to damage—"
"No!" he shouted. "I want to hear it from her," he pointed at Beverly and his lips were trembling. "I deserve it." He suddenly tugged at his tattered uniform and cleared his throat in an attempt to compose himself. "I want to talk with Beverly alone."
