Chapter 12
Vicki Ann dreamt of the attack that night. At first, she remained silent, but eventually the
pain became too mich for her, so she cried out.
Beverly heard Vicki Ann and ran over to awake Riker, but he was already up and
comforting her. She was asleep and had obviously been dreaming.
Riker shook Vicki Ann gently and said, "Wake up, Vicki Ann." She did. Her face was wet
with tears. He pushed some hair away from her face and whispered, "Sshh. It's all right.
You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you."
She awoke and sat up, screaming. She saw Riker and scrutinized him as if she wasn't sure
it was him. She touched his face and when felt nothing but skin on his cheek, she heaved
a sigh of relief. Crying, she hugged him. "My eyes are starting to deceive me. I thought
you were him."
"Don't worry. He's still in the brig and I seriously doubt if anyone on this ship will let him
out soon."
Vicki Ann pulled away and smiled slightly. "Thanks for staying with me."
Riker shrugged. "It's no trouble. Besides, if I didn't, Deanna would tell me to."
Vicki Ann laughed. "If mother didn't tell you first."
Riker nodded. "True." Riker was glad the she was able to laugh. It probably wouldn't last
very long, but at if she was able to forget what had happened to her for one moment,
that was enough for him.
Tom paced in the brig. He didn't belong here. He had been possessed by a sadistic, alien
entity and been forced to take part in Q's twisted idea of revenge. Rather than kill Vicki
Ann, Q would make sure she was emotionally tortured for life. Tom bet that he would end
up in a Cardassian prison again. Starfleet would work out a deal for him to complete his
sentence plus the time ordered by Starfleet. The Cardassian prison would agree to keep
him longer than the original time as a favor to Starfleet for returning their fugitive.
Although, he bet that being in a Cardassian prison again would be no worse than being in
the brig or in the Starbase prison he would be going to very soon. Everyone hated him.
Everyone. The armed guards assigned to watch him looked at him with contempt and
disgust. He could say one thing for Victorianna, she had lots of friends. The captain had
come to tell him personally about the admiral ordering Picard to take Tom directly to the
nearest Starbase. Picard had also told Tom what he thought of him and that he would do
everything in his power to make sure that Tom paid for what he had done to Picard's
helmsman.
Tom was surprised that Will hadn't come to see him yet, or Deanna. He figured that they
both wanted to kill him, but neither had come. Too bad, he thought to himself. He rather
liked toying with them. The doors of the room opened and Tom had to eat his words, or
thoughts, rather. His duplicate entered. Or rather the original, if you talked to Will. He
would tell you that Tom was his duplicate. No matter though, he was here.
Commander Riker walked up to the forcefield and turned to the guard. "Let me in."
The guard released the forcefield for a moment while Riker stepped in. As soon as Riker
was in the brig, the guard reactivated the forcefield.
"Enjoying your imprisonment?" Riker asked.
"I've never had more fun in my life," Tom replied. He stood up. "So, tell me why you're
here. I know you're not here for small talk."
Riker replied, "No, I'm not. I just wondered if you felt any remorse for what you did."
"Why should I? It wasn't under my control."
"Maybe it wasn't, but you could have fought him. But you didn't and I'll bet I know why.
You enjoyed it. You saw it as revenge against me and Deanna and you enjoyed that."
He had given Tom the perfect setup. "And what if I did?"
Riker gave Tom a look of absolute hate. "You sick bastard."
Tom laughed. "I'm sick? Whose the one who slept with his Imzadi's sister? Deanna wasn't
enough for you, so you went after her sister. Who's the sick bastard now?"
"What do you know about it?"
"I only know what she told me."
"She told you?"
"She didn't realize what she was saying until it was too late. I got her angry and she
rambled. She told me about how you said you loved her, but had let her believe that you
didn't so that you could be with Deanna. Following in my deceptive footsteps, are we?"
"You have no idea what you're talking about. You know absolutely nothing about me and
you know even less about her!"
"I don't know about that. I seem to know her pretty well, both socially and physically. She
told me just about her whole life story. And as for the physical aspect, I know that she
has birthmark on her left shoulder and-."
Riker punched Tom.
Tom flew back, but managed to keep himself from falling. He swung at Riker, but Riker
blocked.
Riker grabbed Tom by the front of his shirt. "You're lucky I don't kill you. I'd really like to
and so would just about everyone on this ship. Although, if you talk to Deanna or Vicki
Ann's friends death is too good for you. Beverly would have you drawn and quartered. I
would kill you, but I really don't feel like another court-marshal. Although, I think it would
save everyone a lot of hassle if I did." Riker brought his hands up to Tom's throat.
Tom looked at Will and for a moment, he thought that will really was going to kill him. Tom
didn't care, though, death would be better than going to prison.
Riker pulled his hands away. "I may regret this someday, but Deanna's right. Death is too
good for you. I'll tell you one thing, though. I will not rest until you pay for what you did."
"Mad that I moved in on your territory?"
"Get this straight. Things are over between me and Vicki Ann. I'm back together with
Deanna, but Vicki Ann and I are friends. Best friends. And you mess with her, you mess
with me. Anyone who hurts her has to answer to me. Is that clear?"
"Crystal."
"I'll give you a warning, too. Maybe it will keep you up at night. Vicki Ann has very
powerful friends. An entire race of omnipotent beings fought to keep her alive and a few of
those beings are close to her. Very close. And they will do anything to protect her and I'm
sure they won't be happy when they find out what you did. As a matter of fact, I would
pray that they don't, because I think that Q would be happy to use you in one of his
experiments."
"Q, the ex-lover. I've met him."
"Well, then you know that he cares for her. And I know for a fact that he will punish
anyone who hurts her. So if I were you, I would pray for death to come while you're at the
Cardassian prison camp you'll most likely be sent to."
"I would rather put up with that torture, if it will keep you up at night, knowing that I'm
out there and could return at any moment."
Riker shook his head. "You're not worth it. I once thought you were, but not anymore.
Except for your physical appearance, you no longer resemble the William T. Riker I know at
all." He walked away, stepping through the doorway as the guard took the hint and
released the forcefield for him. Riker turned toward Tom again. "You're not worth
anything."
Beverly and Vicki Ann sat in Beverly's office, having a cup of tea. Vicki Ann had allowed
Riker to leave when Beverly had agreed to stay with Vicki Ann. "The admiral has changed
the trial to Deep Space Nine, since most of the senior staff there has been called to
testify. I'm sure it will be nice to see Julian again."
"Beverly, how am I going to tell Julian?"
"I'm sure he already knows Vicki Ann."
"But what if he blames me?"
Beverly went over to Vicki Ann and put her arm around Vicki Ann. "Vicki Ann, he won't
blame you. It wasn't your fault. And besides, Julian loves you Vicki Ann . He knows that
you wouldn't do something like that to him."
"I should have been able to fight him off. I'm supposed to be strong."
"Not when an omnipotent being is controlling him. And you are strong. And that means
that you will get through this. And your friends and especially Julian, are going to help
you."
Doctor Julian Bashir was sitting at his desk, going over the results of the crew physicals.
He heard someone enter, so he looked up and saw Ezri Dax. He smiled at her and said, "To
what do I owe this pleasure?"
She smiled back, but her smile slowly faded. "The captain would like to see us in his
office."
"About what?"
"I'm not sure, but he sounded serious. We'd better go."
Julian put down his PADD and stood up. "Alright. Let's get this over with."
The two of them walked in silence, both trying come up with a reason for this meeting
with the captain. The entered and saw Sisko sitting at his desk, reading a report on his
desktop viewer. He looked up at the two of them and smiled slightly. "Sit down."
Julian and Ezri obeyed.
Sisko sighed and looked down at his desk for a moment. "Sometimes as a captain, you find
yourself having to people that you respect and care about that something has happened
that cannot be undone. That difficult times are ahead. Times that will test their strength
and the love of their family and friends."
Julian couldn't help but think to himself, Oh my God, someone's dead.
Sisko continued, "In a few days, the Enterprise will be arriving with the fugitive Thomas
Riker. In two weeks, Admiral Blackwell with be arriving and will conduct the trial of Thomas
Riker for the kidnaping of Deanna Troi and Alexander Roshenko, the attempted
assassination of Gowron, and most recently, the kidnapping and sexual assault of
Victorianna Troi."
That was all Julian heard. Sisko continued to talk, something about the senior officers
being called to testify and that was why the trial was being held here, but Julian didn't
hear and more. All he could think about was Vicki Ann. What she must be going through
and what in the world could he do to help her. He felt someone touch his shoulder. Julian
turned.
It was Ezri. She was looking at him with a look of concern on her face and asking him
something. "What?" Julian muttered.
Ezri glanced at Sisko and then back to Julian. "I asked if you were all right."
Julian shook his head as if he were trying to shake himself out of a trance. "I'm fine. Just a
little shocked, that's all." He turned to Sisko. "How did it happen?"
"Apparently, Q's alternate enlisted the help of Tom to abduct and torture Vicki Ann for
defeating him. Once he had them captured, he left them alone and allowed the two of
them to argue. Tom grew very bitter and angry with Vicki Ann, because she took his
duplicate's side and because she hated Tom for everything he had done and failed, in his
opinion to see what William Riker had done wrong and what Tom had done right.
"Q's alternate saw potential for torture in this and amplified Tom's anger at Vicki Ann,
William Riker, and Deanna Troi and had Tom direct all of it at Vicki Ann. Q, stopped by his
alternate, was unable to teleport himself or Vicki Ann out of there, brought in Dr. Crusher
to help Vicki Ann. Q's brother, known to us as Q2, enlisted the help of the rest of the
Continuum to get Vicki Ann, Q and Crusher out, while the Enterprise, closed the fissure,
preventing Q's alternate from abducting Vicki Ann again," Sisko explained.
Julian nodded.
Lieutenant Anderson released the forcefield for the brig. Ensign Alvarez and Lieutenant
Sparks restrained Thomas Riker while Anderson started to place the restraints on him. Tom
flung his arms up and knocked his captors in the face. Anderson tried to get him, but Tom
punched him. Tom ran out of the brig and grabbed a phaser. After incapacitating the three
guards, he took their comm badges and deactivated them. Then he reactivated the
forcefield. Tom ran down the corridor. He checked to see if his path was clear and then he
entered the turbolift. "Computer, non-stop to Deck 8."
A few moments later, he walked off the turbolift and checked his path. He walked down
the hall a few meters until he arrived at a door marked 'Commander William T. Riker-First
Officer.' He entered. Once he got in, he locked the door and headed for the bathroom. As
he ran the razor across his face, he laughed to himself and said, "This is going to be
interesting."
After Tom finished in the bathroom, he changed into a uniform. He quickly searched the
room until he found a phaser. Then, he headed for sickbay.
Commander Riker sat in sickbay, talking to Vicki Ann. He was trying to cheer her up, but
was having no luck. He glanced up when the door opened and gasped when he saw who
had entered. Riker's first instinct was to tap his comm badge. "Riker to security-."
He was interrupted by the intruder. "Don't even think about it, William. Or is it Thomas?"
"You are Thomas," Commander Riker replied.
"Are you sure about that?"
Riker looked at Vicki Ann, who looked terrified. She looked from him to Tom and back again.
Tom smiled at her. "Hello, Vicki Ann. Having a little chat with your best friend's duplicate?"
Vicki Ann shook her head slowly. "No. This is Will. You are Tom."
"Are you sure about that?"
She nodded.
"What if I told you that he was Tom and that he had broken out of the brig, shaved his
beard and was posing as me to get closer to you?"
Vicki Ann glanced at the two of them again.
"Vicki Ann, I'm Will," Riker said.
"No, I am," Tom replied.
"Listen to me, Vicki Ann. I am Will. He is just playing mind games with you," Riker told her.
Vicki Ann looked as if she wasn't sure if she believed him. She stood up and began to back
away from him.
"Vicki Ann, we have to get him back to the brig. I can't do it by myself. I need your help,"
Tom said.
Vicki Ann glanced around. She grabbed a medical instrument off the table beside her. She
pointed it a Riker. "Get away from me."
Riker glanced at the sharp edge on the edge of the instrument and then said to Vicki Ann,
"Vicki Ann, put that down. It's me, Will."
"I don't believe you," she replied.
"Stop him, Vicki Ann. Don't let him hurt you again!" Tom screamed at her.
Images of the attack flashed in Vicki Ann's head. She stepped toward Riker. She held up
the medical instrument and moved it toward him. "I told you no, but you wouldn't listen."
Beverly emerged from her office. "What is going on?" She saw Vicki Ann. "What are you
doing?"
Nurse Ogawa snuck up behind Tom and nailed him with a hypospray. Tom passed out.
Vicki Ann stepped toward Riker and raised her arm. "I won't let you hurt me again." She
was about to stab Riker in the chest with the instrument when a voice called, "Vicki Ann!"
She turned and saw Julian beside her. She looked from Julian to Riker to the instrument in
her hand. She dropped the instrument and the tears started to fall faster. "I'm so sorry."
She looked at Will. "I'm sorry, Will. I-."
Riker put his hand on her shoulder and said, "It's all right, Vicki Ann."
Vicki Ann looked at Julian. "I'm sorry, Julian. I thought he was Tom. I'm sorry. I-." She fell
to the floor and began to cry.
Julian knelt down beside her and put his arms around her. "Don't worry. It's all right."
Vicki Ann dreamt of the attack that night. At first, she remained silent, but eventually the
pain became too mich for her, so she cried out.
Beverly heard Vicki Ann and ran over to awake Riker, but he was already up and
comforting her. She was asleep and had obviously been dreaming.
Riker shook Vicki Ann gently and said, "Wake up, Vicki Ann." She did. Her face was wet
with tears. He pushed some hair away from her face and whispered, "Sshh. It's all right.
You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you."
She awoke and sat up, screaming. She saw Riker and scrutinized him as if she wasn't sure
it was him. She touched his face and when felt nothing but skin on his cheek, she heaved
a sigh of relief. Crying, she hugged him. "My eyes are starting to deceive me. I thought
you were him."
"Don't worry. He's still in the brig and I seriously doubt if anyone on this ship will let him
out soon."
Vicki Ann pulled away and smiled slightly. "Thanks for staying with me."
Riker shrugged. "It's no trouble. Besides, if I didn't, Deanna would tell me to."
Vicki Ann laughed. "If mother didn't tell you first."
Riker nodded. "True." Riker was glad the she was able to laugh. It probably wouldn't last
very long, but at if she was able to forget what had happened to her for one moment,
that was enough for him.
Tom paced in the brig. He didn't belong here. He had been possessed by a sadistic, alien
entity and been forced to take part in Q's twisted idea of revenge. Rather than kill Vicki
Ann, Q would make sure she was emotionally tortured for life. Tom bet that he would end
up in a Cardassian prison again. Starfleet would work out a deal for him to complete his
sentence plus the time ordered by Starfleet. The Cardassian prison would agree to keep
him longer than the original time as a favor to Starfleet for returning their fugitive.
Although, he bet that being in a Cardassian prison again would be no worse than being in
the brig or in the Starbase prison he would be going to very soon. Everyone hated him.
Everyone. The armed guards assigned to watch him looked at him with contempt and
disgust. He could say one thing for Victorianna, she had lots of friends. The captain had
come to tell him personally about the admiral ordering Picard to take Tom directly to the
nearest Starbase. Picard had also told Tom what he thought of him and that he would do
everything in his power to make sure that Tom paid for what he had done to Picard's
helmsman.
Tom was surprised that Will hadn't come to see him yet, or Deanna. He figured that they
both wanted to kill him, but neither had come. Too bad, he thought to himself. He rather
liked toying with them. The doors of the room opened and Tom had to eat his words, or
thoughts, rather. His duplicate entered. Or rather the original, if you talked to Will. He
would tell you that Tom was his duplicate. No matter though, he was here.
Commander Riker walked up to the forcefield and turned to the guard. "Let me in."
The guard released the forcefield for a moment while Riker stepped in. As soon as Riker
was in the brig, the guard reactivated the forcefield.
"Enjoying your imprisonment?" Riker asked.
"I've never had more fun in my life," Tom replied. He stood up. "So, tell me why you're
here. I know you're not here for small talk."
Riker replied, "No, I'm not. I just wondered if you felt any remorse for what you did."
"Why should I? It wasn't under my control."
"Maybe it wasn't, but you could have fought him. But you didn't and I'll bet I know why.
You enjoyed it. You saw it as revenge against me and Deanna and you enjoyed that."
He had given Tom the perfect setup. "And what if I did?"
Riker gave Tom a look of absolute hate. "You sick bastard."
Tom laughed. "I'm sick? Whose the one who slept with his Imzadi's sister? Deanna wasn't
enough for you, so you went after her sister. Who's the sick bastard now?"
"What do you know about it?"
"I only know what she told me."
"She told you?"
"She didn't realize what she was saying until it was too late. I got her angry and she
rambled. She told me about how you said you loved her, but had let her believe that you
didn't so that you could be with Deanna. Following in my deceptive footsteps, are we?"
"You have no idea what you're talking about. You know absolutely nothing about me and
you know even less about her!"
"I don't know about that. I seem to know her pretty well, both socially and physically. She
told me just about her whole life story. And as for the physical aspect, I know that she
has birthmark on her left shoulder and-."
Riker punched Tom.
Tom flew back, but managed to keep himself from falling. He swung at Riker, but Riker
blocked.
Riker grabbed Tom by the front of his shirt. "You're lucky I don't kill you. I'd really like to
and so would just about everyone on this ship. Although, if you talk to Deanna or Vicki
Ann's friends death is too good for you. Beverly would have you drawn and quartered. I
would kill you, but I really don't feel like another court-marshal. Although, I think it would
save everyone a lot of hassle if I did." Riker brought his hands up to Tom's throat.
Tom looked at Will and for a moment, he thought that will really was going to kill him. Tom
didn't care, though, death would be better than going to prison.
Riker pulled his hands away. "I may regret this someday, but Deanna's right. Death is too
good for you. I'll tell you one thing, though. I will not rest until you pay for what you did."
"Mad that I moved in on your territory?"
"Get this straight. Things are over between me and Vicki Ann. I'm back together with
Deanna, but Vicki Ann and I are friends. Best friends. And you mess with her, you mess
with me. Anyone who hurts her has to answer to me. Is that clear?"
"Crystal."
"I'll give you a warning, too. Maybe it will keep you up at night. Vicki Ann has very
powerful friends. An entire race of omnipotent beings fought to keep her alive and a few of
those beings are close to her. Very close. And they will do anything to protect her and I'm
sure they won't be happy when they find out what you did. As a matter of fact, I would
pray that they don't, because I think that Q would be happy to use you in one of his
experiments."
"Q, the ex-lover. I've met him."
"Well, then you know that he cares for her. And I know for a fact that he will punish
anyone who hurts her. So if I were you, I would pray for death to come while you're at the
Cardassian prison camp you'll most likely be sent to."
"I would rather put up with that torture, if it will keep you up at night, knowing that I'm
out there and could return at any moment."
Riker shook his head. "You're not worth it. I once thought you were, but not anymore.
Except for your physical appearance, you no longer resemble the William T. Riker I know at
all." He walked away, stepping through the doorway as the guard took the hint and
released the forcefield for him. Riker turned toward Tom again. "You're not worth
anything."
Beverly and Vicki Ann sat in Beverly's office, having a cup of tea. Vicki Ann had allowed
Riker to leave when Beverly had agreed to stay with Vicki Ann. "The admiral has changed
the trial to Deep Space Nine, since most of the senior staff there has been called to
testify. I'm sure it will be nice to see Julian again."
"Beverly, how am I going to tell Julian?"
"I'm sure he already knows Vicki Ann."
"But what if he blames me?"
Beverly went over to Vicki Ann and put her arm around Vicki Ann. "Vicki Ann, he won't
blame you. It wasn't your fault. And besides, Julian loves you Vicki Ann . He knows that
you wouldn't do something like that to him."
"I should have been able to fight him off. I'm supposed to be strong."
"Not when an omnipotent being is controlling him. And you are strong. And that means
that you will get through this. And your friends and especially Julian, are going to help
you."
Doctor Julian Bashir was sitting at his desk, going over the results of the crew physicals.
He heard someone enter, so he looked up and saw Ezri Dax. He smiled at her and said, "To
what do I owe this pleasure?"
She smiled back, but her smile slowly faded. "The captain would like to see us in his
office."
"About what?"
"I'm not sure, but he sounded serious. We'd better go."
Julian put down his PADD and stood up. "Alright. Let's get this over with."
The two of them walked in silence, both trying come up with a reason for this meeting
with the captain. The entered and saw Sisko sitting at his desk, reading a report on his
desktop viewer. He looked up at the two of them and smiled slightly. "Sit down."
Julian and Ezri obeyed.
Sisko sighed and looked down at his desk for a moment. "Sometimes as a captain, you find
yourself having to people that you respect and care about that something has happened
that cannot be undone. That difficult times are ahead. Times that will test their strength
and the love of their family and friends."
Julian couldn't help but think to himself, Oh my God, someone's dead.
Sisko continued, "In a few days, the Enterprise will be arriving with the fugitive Thomas
Riker. In two weeks, Admiral Blackwell with be arriving and will conduct the trial of Thomas
Riker for the kidnaping of Deanna Troi and Alexander Roshenko, the attempted
assassination of Gowron, and most recently, the kidnapping and sexual assault of
Victorianna Troi."
That was all Julian heard. Sisko continued to talk, something about the senior officers
being called to testify and that was why the trial was being held here, but Julian didn't
hear and more. All he could think about was Vicki Ann. What she must be going through
and what in the world could he do to help her. He felt someone touch his shoulder. Julian
turned.
It was Ezri. She was looking at him with a look of concern on her face and asking him
something. "What?" Julian muttered.
Ezri glanced at Sisko and then back to Julian. "I asked if you were all right."
Julian shook his head as if he were trying to shake himself out of a trance. "I'm fine. Just a
little shocked, that's all." He turned to Sisko. "How did it happen?"
"Apparently, Q's alternate enlisted the help of Tom to abduct and torture Vicki Ann for
defeating him. Once he had them captured, he left them alone and allowed the two of
them to argue. Tom grew very bitter and angry with Vicki Ann, because she took his
duplicate's side and because she hated Tom for everything he had done and failed, in his
opinion to see what William Riker had done wrong and what Tom had done right.
"Q's alternate saw potential for torture in this and amplified Tom's anger at Vicki Ann,
William Riker, and Deanna Troi and had Tom direct all of it at Vicki Ann. Q, stopped by his
alternate, was unable to teleport himself or Vicki Ann out of there, brought in Dr. Crusher
to help Vicki Ann. Q's brother, known to us as Q2, enlisted the help of the rest of the
Continuum to get Vicki Ann, Q and Crusher out, while the Enterprise, closed the fissure,
preventing Q's alternate from abducting Vicki Ann again," Sisko explained.
Julian nodded.
Lieutenant Anderson released the forcefield for the brig. Ensign Alvarez and Lieutenant
Sparks restrained Thomas Riker while Anderson started to place the restraints on him. Tom
flung his arms up and knocked his captors in the face. Anderson tried to get him, but Tom
punched him. Tom ran out of the brig and grabbed a phaser. After incapacitating the three
guards, he took their comm badges and deactivated them. Then he reactivated the
forcefield. Tom ran down the corridor. He checked to see if his path was clear and then he
entered the turbolift. "Computer, non-stop to Deck 8."
A few moments later, he walked off the turbolift and checked his path. He walked down
the hall a few meters until he arrived at a door marked 'Commander William T. Riker-First
Officer.' He entered. Once he got in, he locked the door and headed for the bathroom. As
he ran the razor across his face, he laughed to himself and said, "This is going to be
interesting."
After Tom finished in the bathroom, he changed into a uniform. He quickly searched the
room until he found a phaser. Then, he headed for sickbay.
Commander Riker sat in sickbay, talking to Vicki Ann. He was trying to cheer her up, but
was having no luck. He glanced up when the door opened and gasped when he saw who
had entered. Riker's first instinct was to tap his comm badge. "Riker to security-."
He was interrupted by the intruder. "Don't even think about it, William. Or is it Thomas?"
"You are Thomas," Commander Riker replied.
"Are you sure about that?"
Riker looked at Vicki Ann, who looked terrified. She looked from him to Tom and back again.
Tom smiled at her. "Hello, Vicki Ann. Having a little chat with your best friend's duplicate?"
Vicki Ann shook her head slowly. "No. This is Will. You are Tom."
"Are you sure about that?"
She nodded.
"What if I told you that he was Tom and that he had broken out of the brig, shaved his
beard and was posing as me to get closer to you?"
Vicki Ann glanced at the two of them again.
"Vicki Ann, I'm Will," Riker said.
"No, I am," Tom replied.
"Listen to me, Vicki Ann. I am Will. He is just playing mind games with you," Riker told her.
Vicki Ann looked as if she wasn't sure if she believed him. She stood up and began to back
away from him.
"Vicki Ann, we have to get him back to the brig. I can't do it by myself. I need your help,"
Tom said.
Vicki Ann glanced around. She grabbed a medical instrument off the table beside her. She
pointed it a Riker. "Get away from me."
Riker glanced at the sharp edge on the edge of the instrument and then said to Vicki Ann,
"Vicki Ann, put that down. It's me, Will."
"I don't believe you," she replied.
"Stop him, Vicki Ann. Don't let him hurt you again!" Tom screamed at her.
Images of the attack flashed in Vicki Ann's head. She stepped toward Riker. She held up
the medical instrument and moved it toward him. "I told you no, but you wouldn't listen."
Beverly emerged from her office. "What is going on?" She saw Vicki Ann. "What are you
doing?"
Nurse Ogawa snuck up behind Tom and nailed him with a hypospray. Tom passed out.
Vicki Ann stepped toward Riker and raised her arm. "I won't let you hurt me again." She
was about to stab Riker in the chest with the instrument when a voice called, "Vicki Ann!"
She turned and saw Julian beside her. She looked from Julian to Riker to the instrument in
her hand. She dropped the instrument and the tears started to fall faster. "I'm so sorry."
She looked at Will. "I'm sorry, Will. I-."
Riker put his hand on her shoulder and said, "It's all right, Vicki Ann."
Vicki Ann looked at Julian. "I'm sorry, Julian. I thought he was Tom. I'm sorry. I-." She fell
to the floor and began to cry.
Julian knelt down beside her and put his arms around her. "Don't worry. It's all right."