Chapter 28

Commander Zatha sat quietly in her personal office on board the Ishran. Recently she had learned some interesting facts about a desolate mining planet within Vulcan territory. From these facts and her observations of the behavior of her superiors, she had developed her own theory for why she and the other fleet commanders had been ordered to this system; and more importantly, why her superiors in the Andorian military seemed intent on advancing on the planet Vulcan at any cost. Now the question was, now that she had this little bit of information what was she to do with it?

She looked up as her communications panel beeped. "Commander Zatha, we are being hailed by Starfleet. It is the Enterprise, sir."

"I will take the message in here," she said. Her view screen popped on and a grey haired and decidedly overweight human male appeared on the screen. Her eyes narrowed imperceptibly. She had not expected this. Perhaps Picard had been killed after all. How disappointing.

"Commander Zatha," said the human. "I am Admiral Imhoff, of the USS Enterprise. We have something I think you might be interested in."

"Oh?" Zatha said with a small smile. "I will be the judge of that, Admiral," she said and she watched as his eyes bulged slightly. Clearly he already disliked her as much as she disliked him.

"Well, in order to see it, you'll have to beam over here, Commander."

Zatha's smile widened and she leaned forward for effect. "Oh, how delightful. I can assure you that if this is a trap Admiral, one of us will end up dead; and it will not be me. I will beam over shortly." Before he could respond, she cut the channel.

Commander Zatha sat back in her chair after the view screen blinked off. How curious that someone from the Enterprise other than Captain Picard was contacting her. She hoped that he was not dead. If he was no longer in command of his ship, it was highly likely that the poison had either incapacitated him or killed him. He might not have much time left, in fact. She placed her palm on one of her desk drawers and it popped open silently. She reached in and pulled out a vial of bright blue liquid and examined it in her palm. Such a small amount, yet so potent. Placing it inside her tunic, she got up and headed for the transporter room.

A few minutes later, Commander Zatha stood alongside Admiral Imhoff, Commander Riker, Commander Data and Dr. Crusher in one of the Enterprise cargo bays. Zatha glanced around surreptitiously trying to avoid the appearance that she was gawking at their beautiful ship. It made the Ishran look terribly sad in comparison. She turned as the deplorable human admiral was speaking again.

"And so you see, Commander Zatha, Ra'Val is perfectly incapacitated."

"He looks very alive to me," observed Zatha. "Why did you not kill him?"

"An agent from Vulcan who has been traveling with the Enterprise incapacitated him along with our Mr. Data, here," said Commander Riker. "They only just escaped with their lives, so killing him was not a possibility at the time."

Zatha took a look at the gold-hued android standing next to Riker. She noted that he did look remarkably alive. And a Vulcan responsible for taking down Ra'Val? Interesting. "I understand that he was difficult to kill at the time, Mr. Riker, but now that you have him floating here in some kind of suspended animation…why have you not killed him?"

Riker paused. "With all due respect, Commander, that's not how we do things around here."

"Perhaps you would like to administer your own brand of justice," suggested Imhoff turning to look at Zatha slyly.

"And what do you know of Andorian justice, Admiral," Zatha said, walking around the floating prison and looking up at Ra'Val, who was still curled in a fetal position.

"I know it involves severed heads and very few questions asked," shot back Imhoff.

Zatha slowed her pacing and looked directly at Imhoff. "Not an inaccurate description," she admitted.

"We'll offer you Ra'Val in exchange for your retreat from Vulcan," said Imhoff.

Riker turned to stare at the Admiral in disbelief. This had not been part of the plan. Imhoff deftly ignored him. "You have what you want now and can leave," snapped Imhoff.

"What makes you think that the Andorian government is interested in leaving Vulcan under any circumstances?"

Imhoff laughed harshly. "You can't be serious! A few days ago your people were calling for the blood of little children. Now we are willing to hand you the actual culprit and you are turning us down?"

For the first time, Zatha seemed to hesitate and her antennae rotated inward slowly. "Not turning you down…yet, Admiral, but I will bring your offer to my superiors. I will promise you that you will have an answer within one earth day. However, as I am told they say on Earth, 'don't hold your breath'."

Imhoff glared at Zatha in silence. Riker could just feel the contained rage rolling off of the man. As far as Riker was concerned, it served Imhoff right, for jumping the gun and offering to hand Ra'Val over. It was clear Zatha cared very little that Ra'Val had been captured. Besides, Riker doubted Imhoff had the permission from the Vulcan High Council to hand him over.

Zatha came to stand in front of Imhoff again. Her antennae now seemed to point directly at his forehead. "Now, Admiral, I am most interested in seeing whether my personal shuttle is in one piece or not. It's a family heirloom, and I would very much like it back. My children, if I ever have any, and if they are deserving enough, would be lucky to inherit it."

"It's completely intact, Commander," snapped Imhoff. "However, its appearance here was the direct result of you illegally holding Captain Picard prisoner aboard your ship. Perhaps, once you have discussed my offer with your superiors, you may have it back."

Surprisingly Zatha seemed unfazed. But she also appeared to be somewhat pleased at the mention of Picard's name. "Is Captain Picard alive then?" she asked.

Crusher straightened next to Data. "Yes, no thanks to you," she said coldly. Zatha's antennae swiveled perceptively in her direction.

"On the contrary, Doctor…"

"Crusher," snapped Beverly, glaring at the woman.

"A worthy name," said Zatha. "On the contrary Doctor Crusher, I would say Picard owes me his life."

"Oh, is that so?" Crusher turned to face her, arms folded. "So when he ended up in my sick bay, unconscious, stabbed and poisoned, I have you to thank? He was nearly dead when he reached us."

Zatha laughed. "Think about it, Doctor. No one escapes my ship unless I want them to. Unfortunately my soldiers didn't seem to see it my way, and they tried to stop him. One of them had a knife dipped in an illegal poison, and unfortunately your Captain was not quite swift enough."

Riker put a hand on Crusher's shoulder and whispered something in her ear. She pressed her lips together, and nodded, stepping back.

Zatha smiled. She admired this woman's spirit; subdued but intense. If this was Picard's mate, he was fortunate. Reaching into her uniform she pulled out the vial of blue liquid and held it up to the light. "How is Captain Picard?"

Crusher frowned. "He's fine, doing much better. What is that?"

"It's the antidote," said Zatha mildly. "And if I am correct, your Captain is very much in need of this."

Crusher's face grew pale. "I synthesized something to fight the poison, and it worked quite well," she said slowly as though trying to convince herself.

"No doubt you did the best you could," said Zatha. "But an Andorian poison requires an Andorian antidote." She held out the antidote to Crusher, who took it carefully, palming it in her hand.

Crusher glanced at Riker worriedly. "I haven't seen him in almost 24 hours," she said. "Will…."

Riker nodded to Data. "Go with her."

Zatha said, "I would like to accompany them as well. Assuming that Picard is coherent I have matters to discuss with him."

"Picard is no longer Captain of this ship," snapped Imhoff, as Zatha walked away with Crusher and Data. Only Data glanced back momentarily, but then resumed his pace beside Crusher. Imhoff shook his head and looked at Riker. "Let's go," he said and they exited the bay.

Inside the blue-tinged bubble of energy, there was a crackling, and the field seemed to weaken ever so slightly before returning to its full strength. Ra'Val had opened his eyes.

Walker Keel was scheduled to head back to the Horatio within the hour, but something didn't sit well with him about his last conversation with Jean-Luc. He didn't like the way things had been left between them. Certainly they had shouted at each other before, and it was really Jean-Luc's style to tell people to go away if he didn't like what they had to say. And if they wouldn't leave, he would. Walker on the other hand was given to spontaneous outbursts, and sometimes he couldn't even predict when they would come. He was fire and Picard ice, he supposed, and that was part of the reason they had stayed friends for so long—through it all, really. There was a time, covering about the year or two between Jack's death and the court martial following the loss of the Stargazer that Picard's perfect exterior began to show cracks and fissures for the first time since Walker had known him.

Walker had been so personally distraught about Jack's death that he'd almost gotten back together permanently with Marlene, whom he'd recently separated from just before Jack's death. He cried on Marlene's ample shoulder for about two months, before ultimately, leaving her again, since her drinking problems only seemed to increase after Jack died. Marlene had loved Jack in her own crazy way too. Everyone had loved Jack.

Walker went away for a bit and then came back to stay with Beverly and Wesley for a few months. During that period, their friendship had only deepened. The old betrayals and disappointments didn't matter to either of them anymore.

During this period Picard buried himself in his work on the Stargazer, to the point that Walker had very infrequent contact with him. The Stargazer became involved in deep space missions, which Walker learned through his own channels, had been specifically requested by Picard. He knew that Beverly had written Jean-Luc letters that he hadn't answered, which had been very hurtful to Beverly. It was something Walker had personally witnessed, and it broke his heart.

As much as Picard drifted off after Jack's death, he became even more distant a year later when he lost his ship. He never discussed the full story with Walker, and seemed intent on keeping it locked away with his other misery. He seemed to revel in punishing himself for these horrible things which had been out of his control. Following the court martial, Picard had become even more withdrawn. It was no wonder that Jean-Luc was acting somewhat strange around this whole Imhoff issue. Maybe seeing Imhoff again brought back some feelings he hadn't fully dealt with before.

Walker hesitated outside of Picard's quarters. Get ready for another fight, he told himself as he pushed the chime. There was no answer, so he pushed it again, but there was still no answer. "Computer, where is Captain Picard?"

"Captain Picard is in his quarters," said the computer.

"Is he sleeping?"

"Captain Picard is not conscious," said the computer.

"Is he in bed?"

"No," said the computer.

"Emergency override, voice print Keel Alpha 2," he said quickly. The door slid open and Walker ran in.

His friend was draped headfirst over a chair, clearly unconscious. He pulled him down to the floor, cradling his head. Some kind of liquid had come out of his mouth and had dried into blue crystals. His breath was shallow. He gave the rest of him a quick check, and saw that his right thigh had swollen to twice its normal size. It was where he'd been poisoned. He looked around quickly for something to cut the pants with, but Picard's room was as austere as he was.

Walker ran to the replicator and asked for a cutting tool. When he returned to Picard, the man's head was moving back and forth and he was trying to speak. Walker used the tool to make a cut and freed the leg, which was a disgusting purple color. "Must have happened so fast," he breathed.

He looked up as he saw Beverly, Data sprint into the room, followed by a tall Andorian walking quickly. The Andorian was not armed, and seemed to be with them, so he decided not to jump to any conclusions. "Just found him here," said Walker. "If he was this sick last night, I didn't notice it," he said, feeling guilty.

Beverly knelt down beside Picard without a word and ran the tricorder over him. "I have to get him to sick bay," she said.

Zatha's antennae flattened close to her skull. "He's too far gone. You have to administer the antidote now, Doctor."

"Will a hypo do it?"

Zatha nodded.

"Let's move him off of the floor at least," said Crusher. Data nodded and knelt down easily picking up the Captain and brought him to his bed in the other room.

The first thing he heard was voices. Was he dreaming again? He heard Beverly, but oh no, not another dream like before. No, there were other voices. Why were people constantly visiting him in his quarters. Didn't the captain deserve some privacy? Didn't they understand, he was horrible company, and yet the visitors just kept streaming in. He tried to concentrate. What had happened last? Young Wesley Crusher had been in to speak to him and then he'd left…only blackness after that. He really had to stop talking with that boy. Each interaction seemed to end worse for him than the last. He tried to concentrate again, as he heard Beverly's voice again.

"Like hell. I am not leaving you alone with him," she said with quiet anger. "He was poisoned on board your ship."

"And I brought you the antidote didn't I? Do you think I want to save him just to try and kill him?" asked a voice, somewhat familiar but not in an entirely pleasant way.

"That thought had crossed all our minds," said Walker drily.

"Although you have redeemed some of your earlier actions, your motivations are still suspect, Commander Zatha," offered Data.

Zatha stared at the android and her antennae twitched in irritation. She turned back to Crusher. "What I have to tell Picard is highly classified," insisted Zatha.

Crusher folded her hands over her chest and pursed her lips. "We can't trust—"

Zatha stood to her full height, which was considerable. "Why so much resistance, Crusher? Are you his doctor or his wife?"

"His doctor," Crusher snapped.

Picard's eyes fluttered open. "Zatha? What are you doing here?"

"Saving your life, Picard. But you wouldn't know it, based on the reaction of your crew."

"What-what happened?"

"The poison entered its final stages, Captain," said Zatha. "I brought an antidote, which your doctor administered, and now you will finally be able to recover." Crusher continued to glare silently at the wall.

Picard turned over halfway in his bed. "Beverly?"

"I'm right here, Jean-Luc," she said, and gave Zatha a not so sweet smile. "Commander Zatha is right. The poison entered a dormant stage we were unaware of until she came aboard with the antidote. You're going to be okay," she said, touching his shoulder lightly.

"Thank you," he said to her, his voice cracking. He looked around for a glass of water. Crusher saw what he was looking for, and handed it to him. He sipped it carefully and then balanced it on his chest. He smiled up at her, glad to be alive. She smiled back at him, and there was something soft in her eyes that hadn't been there before.

"Jean-Luc," she said, with an overly serious tone, obviously directed at the Andorian captain. "Commander Zatha has come all this way, and she says she has something very important to tell you. Apparently it is so important that we have to leave her alone with you to tell you this news. Walker, Data and I will stand outside the door, and if we hear anything odd…."

Picard coughed, and oddly felt a laugh coming on. So as not to offend her, he kept a serious face. "Thank you, Beverly, I appreciate your protection, but I think it will be alright. Please do wait outside the door, though." She nodded and squeezed his hand, before leaving with Data and Walker.