Chapter III
'Ladies and gentlemen,' said Troi, 'we're in trouble.' She glanced around the poker table. 'Captain Picard and Lieutenant Thames are, I'm afraid, going to have to be our priority.'
'Why, Deanna?' asked Riker. 'Why should we play matchmaker for our captain?'
'We all want to see the best for him, don't we?' asked Troi. At the nods of agreement, she continued, 'I've spoken with both of them now, and I've come to the conclusion that they're the best thing that could possibly happen to each other.'
Geordi frowned, confused. 'I'm sorry. I don't see what you're getting at. If they're the "best thing" for each other, why do we have to interfere? Can't they sort it out themselves?'
Deanna shook her head. 'No, for one good reason. They both have an almost religious respect for each other.'
'What?' asked Data bluntly.
'They both think that trying to resolve this problem by admitting their love for one another is going to be the worst thing they could possibly do. They both want to see the other person as happy as possible, but they've both come to the conclusion that the best thing that either of them could do is for them to stay out of each other's way. They feel that to admit it would be to spoil the other's happiness.'
'Hence Jean-Luc's decision to retire,' said Beverly, shaking her head wonderingly. 'What a tangled web they've both woven.'
Deanna nodded. 'It's obvious to everyone but themselves that the best thing they could do in these circumstances is to get together. And, because they love and care for each other so much, they've decided, as though they actually discussed it, to keep out of each other's way.'
Data frowned. 'Is it the Imzadi thing again, Counsellor?'
'In a way, yes,' replied Troi, 'although this sort of semi-telepathic communication is very rare even in Betazoids. The chances of it happening to a human couple are – well, nearly impossible.'
'He always had a knack for beating the odds,' sighed Beverly.
'Indeed,' said Data, his mind probably trying to work out the odds that Troi had mentioned.
Riker glanced around the table. 'Well, I'm convinced,' he said. 'I think that if we could get them together successfully, it might ease our little crisis over the chain of command somewhat. After what you said, Deanna, I'm fairly certain that the captain is retiring because he doesn't want to disrupt Thames' career any longer.'
Deanna glanced at him, sure he was keeping something back. Instead, she said, 'I agree. If we make them see that they need to be together, he might reverse his decision altogether.'
And, as one, uncaring of the material advantages they would all gain if Picard retired, they all pledged to bring Thames and Picard together.
'Sir, we've got a priority message coming from Starfleet Command,' said Hedly to Picard. 'It's Admiral Kelner.'
'On main viewer,' said Picard. He glanced up as the main screen lit up.
A moment later, a gasp of horror ran through the bridge personnel at Kelner's appearance. The Admiral was bloodied and bruised, and smoke rising in the background told an unpleasant story. Picard stood, mind whirling. 'Admiral, what's happened?'
'Someone's bombed the Academy, Jean-Luc,' said Kelner, his voice thick with anger. 'Took out the entire East wing, killed about a hundred students and several lecturers. There may be more, but we're concentrating on trying to clear the rubble at the moment.'
Bridges pressed her hand to her mouth, while Data bowed his head. Picard glanced back at Riker and Troi, whose expressions mirrored his own. He turned back. 'Any ideas who?'
'Not as yet. We're trying to trace people's movements around the time of the explosion, but it's proving difficult. A large part of the computer system's been knocked out. The attacker knew just where to hit us.'
'Is there any possibility of Dominion involvement?' asked Riker.
'We're not discounting it,' replied Kelner. 'At the moment, we're informing victim's families and putting the Fleet onto yellow alert status. If it was a Dominion attack, then we're at war, Jean-Luc.'
'Understood,' said Picard, something niggling in the back of his mind. 'Keep me posted.'
'Will do. Starfleet out.'
Picard turned to Data. 'Commander, run a full check on all ship's systems. It's possible that this might be a prelude to some form of sabotage onboard a starship if the Dominion do decide to attack. I want to be as prepared as possible.'
'Aye, sir.'
Picard turned to Hedly. 'Issue type-two phasers to all personnel. Double security.'
She nodded. 'Aye, sir.'
'Go to yellow alert and begin running battle drills, Commander.' Picard said to Riker, who nodded affirmatively. 'After you've organised that, I would like to speak with you in my ready room.'
'Understood, sir,' said Riker as Picard turned and entered his ready room.
A few minutes later, Riker found Picard looking out at the stars again. He was beginning to worry his first officer. He had never seen Picard this pensive. 'You wanted to see me, sir?'
'It's Admiral Nechayev,' said Picard without preamble. 'This isn't the Dominion at all. It's her!'
'With respect, Captain, we can't be sure –'
'She took a shuttle from the USS Spirit three hours before the bomb exploded. She was last seen on heading 441 mark 352.'
'Sounds like Risa, sir,' said Riker doubtfully.
'Or, if she bypasses Risa, the Neutral Zone.'
'Why the Neutral Zone? Do you think she might have been brainwashed by the Romulans?'
'Oh, she's been brainwashed, all right, Number One. In the same way as Dexter Remmick.'
Riker looked at him in dismay. 'You can't be serious, sir!'
Picard stared at him, face terrible with anger. 'We found out that the Aralla were the adult form of the parasites that infiltrated Starfleet Command ten years ago, Will. I'm convinced that when Admiral Nechayev betrayed us at the battle for Earth, she had been taken over by the enemy. If that is so, as I've already explained once, she has a lot to answer for.'
'Sir, isn't that taking assumption a little too far?'
Picard turned and glared at him for a long moment, and then his face softened. 'You may be right,' he said. 'However, I am not prepared to take any chances. If she is going to Risa, then Starfleet will stop her there. Continue scanning along the Neutral Zone, but make sure that our course "somehow" gets us to the Neutral Zone border at the same spot that a direct course from Risa would get a shuttle travelling at maximum warp there.'
Riker smiled. 'Understood, sir.' He got up and left.
'Admiral Nechayev a traitor?' said Admiral Kelner disbelievingly. 'No, Jean-Luc, I can't believe it.'
'I believe that it is eminently possible.' Picard's tone was neutral, but under the façade, he was seething with anger.
'Why?' asked Kelner. 'She's served Starfleet faithfully all of her life. Why would she suddenly turn traitor?'
'I'm not entirely convinced she's acting under her own volition, Admiral,' said Picard. 'I believe that she may have been co-opted by an exterior force. I have reason to believe that the conspiracy that nearly took over Starfleet Command ten years ago has returned.'
Kelner was silent. He had been a starship captain at the time, and he had only been vaguely aware of the conspiracy. 'Very well, Captain,' he said finally. 'If you are correct, you may apprehend Admiral Nechayev if she approaches the Neutral Zone. However, you are not to leave your patrol station without prior authorisation from me. Understood?'
'Yes, sir,' replied Picard, knowing he had won a major battle. 'Enterprise out.'
The Enterprise cruised along the Neutral Zone, perhaps with more urgency than before, towards a section of the border that curved outwards slightly from the normal line. It was the closest part of the Neutral Zone to any of the normal trading routes between planets and also on a direct line between Risa and Emeralle II.
Thursday afternoon, 1430 hours. Picard watched the screen silently, as he had done so for three whole hours the day before and since the day shift had begun today. Besides him, Riker, far less intent, kept a close eye on reports from Risa. So far, none had mentioned Admiral Nechayev.
A feeling of outrage and horror at the Academy bombing had replaced the shock and concern felt at Picard's announcement. Picard had been carefully nurturing this emotion so that when the time came, and they confronted Nechayev, his crew would not respond to any calls she might try to make to their loyalty, but would instead aid him in destroying the traitor.
Picard hid a vicious smile. His revenge was nearly complete.
'Troi to Picard.'
'Picard here. What can I do for you, Counsellor?'
'Have you seen the time, sir?' she asked, voice mischievous.
Picard glanced at the chronometer above the main screen. 1455 hours. 'I'll be right down, Counsellor.' He turned to Riker. 'You have the bridge, Number One.'
Deanna Troi glanced up as the doors to her quarters slid open and smiled as Picard walked in, looking slightly apprehensive. 'I'm sorry I lost track of time, Counsellor, -' he began.
'It's okay, Captain,' she cut him off gently. 'It's not exactly something you're used to, coming to see me on a professional basis.'
Picard frowned as he sat down. 'I don't think it's ever happened in all the time we've known each other.'
'No, sir,' Deanna answered. 'However, you've never been so in love that it's disrupted your thinking processes before.'
Picard replied before he could stop himself. 'No, you're right –' He broke off, looking embarrassed.
Deanna shook her head in disappointment. 'Captain, you've got to get used to this. Your feelings at the moment are blocking your ability to think clearly.'
Picard suddenly, unexpectedly, seemed to shrink into himself. 'I know,' he whispered. 'I can't get over this feeling that if I do anything, she'll suffer from it. I think it might be in all our best interests if I just kept my head down and retired like I said I would. My feelings for her are not those that a commanding officer should have about any member of his crew.'
'I don't understand,' admitted Troi, convinced she was finally getting to the heart of the problem. 'Why should your feelings about Lieutenant Thames be any different than if you were the same rank?'
'It's a betrayal of the trust a junior officer has in their superiors,' said Picard, still withdrawn.
'Bull,' murmured Troi. 'You have the same emotions as any of us –'
'But Thames is different,' murmured Picard. 'I can't allow myself to feel for her. It would be… awkward.'
'You're her commanding officer,' prompted Troi gently.
'Yes….'
'You can't be involved….'
'No….'
'You love her too deeply to ever hurt her….'
'Yes….'
'You're afraid of what might happen….'
'Oh, yes….'
'She might not love you….'
'Yes….' This simple admission opened the floodgates.
Picard broke down.
Data glanced over at Lieutenant Thames, who was working at the science console next to him. 'Lieutenant,' he said quietly. She didn't appear to hear him, her gaze focussed on a distant point in space. 'Lieutenant?'
She glanced around and abruptly realised what had just happened. Mortified, she blushed slightly. 'Sorry, sir. I was a little bit too engrossed.'
Data regarded her for a moment. 'Would you step into the briefing room for a moment, please?' he asked politely.
Thames couldn't stop an expression of distress crossing her face. Then she became all business. 'Yes, sir,' she replied and walked into the briefing room. Data stood and glanced at Riker and Hedly, who had observed the entire exchange. Riker nodded once and returned it.
In the time it took Data to cross the bridge and enter the briefing room, he had had time to review the entire Subspace Journals 2340 – 2372 and make cross-correlation's between the time it took the Bajoran wormhole to open and close and the increase in the amount of neutrino's released during the last four years since its discovery.
However, he had not done so, and had instead preoccupied his mind with why he had been chosen to speak with Lieutenant Thames, instead of Doctor Crusher or Counsellor Troi.
He walked in to find Thames staring out at the stars, in a pose which reminded him very much of the way Captain Picard looked out of his ready room porthole. She turned when she heard him enter, and Data was surprised to see a tear on her cheek. 'Is there a problem, Lieutenant?' he inquired.
She seemed to be staring off into the distance. 'He's upset,' she said quietly, 'He's very distressed about something.' She suddenly seemed to regain her focus and stared at Data. 'I'm sorry for my conduct on the bridge, sir,' she said. 'It won't happen again.'
Data resisted an urge to smile. 'That is not why I called you here, Lieutenant,' he replied, and her face lost some of its tension. 'I wished to speak to you about your move to Ops.'
'Yes, sir.'
'I need someone who is going to be clear-headed enough to take over my duties when I become first officer. Captain Picard obviously believes that you are capable, but I need to be convinced.'
'Yes, sir,' she said again.
'So, if you are clear-headed, Lieutenant,' said Data, sensing a way through, 'why have you got a tear on your cheek?'
Thames blinked at the apparent non sequitur and then hurriedly wiped the tear away. 'Sorry, sir,' she apologised, glancing down, embarrassed.
'Is there a specific reason for your sadness?' probed Data, entering what Deanna had jokingly called his "emotionless android mode".
'Not as such, sir, no,' replied Thames, attempting evasion.
'Then why should a capable, clear-headed officer like yourself suddenly begin weeping?' asked Data.
'It is difficult to explain,' she began.
'Try me.'
'Sir, I don't know if I can,' she said. 'It's not something I think I should be discussing with a member of the senior staff.'
'Does it have anything to do with the captain?'
Thames froze, suddenly aware that the emphasis of the conversation had spun away from work. 'I couldn't say, sir.'
'If I gave you a direct order, would it help?'
Thames suddenly crumpled slightly. 'I don't know!'
She got up from her seat and rushed from the room. Data sighed in frustration. He stood and left the room.
As he walked onto the bridge, he found the crew all staring at him, Riker with a raised eyebrow. Sorrowfully, Data shook his head.
Picard had run out of tears eventually, and his words kept on flowing in their place. Deanna would have been embarrassed if she hadn't quite known what was coming. Even so, she had not guessed how deeply the feelings of love and desire had buried themselves in his psyche. It was as though Thames was a part of him now; and she had the awful feeling that when she did counselling with Thames, the same would prove to be true.
'I can't figure it out,' he said. 'One minute, I was fully in control, and the next, I've got someone else's thoughts in my head.
Deanna glanced sharply at him. 'You mean you can hear her thoughts?'
'Sometimes, I know what's she's thinking. I can always tell exactly where she is at any time, and it's just so confusing!'
Deanna nodded slowly, trying to take it all in. She had seen Betazoid Imzadi who were bonded telepathically, but never before had she even heard of that sort of attachment in a human. Even hers and Riker's attachment was only that she could sometimes speak to him telepathically. But neither Thames nor Picard were telepaths.
'Captain, I've a feeling that you need to speak to Lieutenant Thames about this. You've got to resolve your situation somehow.'
'I don't know if I can speak to her,' said Picard.
'It may be the last chance you get before you retire, sir,' she said quietly. 'I will be speaking to Lieutenant Thames in a few minutes, and I will try and work something out then. Until then, I suggest you take some time off to think about what you've said. Will can handle the mission.'
Picard closed his eyes. 'As you suggest, Counsellor.'
But Picard was to have no time to reconcile his emotions. 'Bridge to captain,' said Riker's voice suddenly.
Picard breathed deeply and tapped his commbadge. 'Picard here.'
'Sir, we've picked up a small type-three shuttle heading towards the Neutral Zone.'
Picard glanced at Deanna. 'Adjust course to intercept. I'll be right there.' He turned to face Troi. 'I'm sorry, Counsellor, but this will have to wait until we sort this problem out.'
Troi nodded, but as Picard stood and left, her sense of him changed abruptly. She could sense something much darker emerging from his tortured indecision of moments before. She shivered.
Picard emerged from the aft turbolift and immediately said, 'Report.'
'It's the shuttlecraft Keats, sir. Attached to the USS Spirit,' answered Riker.
'Course and speed?'
'Heading 441 mark 367, sir. Warp five,' said Data.
'Maximum warp for a type-three shuttle,' mused Picard. 'And on a direct course for Emeralle II. Time till intercept?'
He glanced at helm and got a quick reply from Ensign Truper. 'Five minutes, ten seconds, sir.'
'Commander Hedly, ready phasers. I want you to knock out her shields.'
'Aye, sir,' replied Hedly.
'Security team to the transporter room. Prepare for boarding action,' called Picard.
Riker glanced at him. 'What's the plan, sir?'
'We're going to bring her out of warp by disabling her drive and then beam aboard and capture her,' Picard said briefly.
'And if she gives us any trouble?'
The dark look that appeared on Picard's face forced Riker to turn his attention to the screen.
'Coming into range, sir,' warned Ensign Truper.
'On main viewer.' The screen shimmered, and displayed the starfield before them. A small dot shot across the screen, curving away as its sensors detected the huge shape of the Enterprise. 'Pursuit course. Ready phasers.'
'Phasers ready.' Picard was so intent on the screen, he did not seem to hear Hedly's reply.
'Fire!'
The beams of energy shot out towards the tiny shuttle, but somehow, as if its pilot were precognitive, it veered away sharply, and the phaser blasts missed.
'Missed, sir!' said Hedly in frustration.
'Fire again!' ordered Picard.
This time, twin beams of energy were fired in a bracketing salvo. The shuttlecraft dodged again, but this time, the beams grazed the shields and sent it tumbling wildly.
'Her shields are down to thirty percent, sir,' called Hedly. Thames emerged onto the bridge at this moment, and Picard could not help but glance to check if she was all right. She gave him a brief smile which warmed him for a moment.
'Sir, I've got a course projection,' said Data. 'I think she's heading for Galorndon Core.'
Picard glanced at Riker, surprise on his face. 'Why could she be heading for Galorndon Core?'
Riker shook his head. 'Maybe she's after something that the Romulans left there?'
'Fire –' Picard was cut off by a shudder which ran through the Enterprise.
'Direct hit from a photon torpedo, sir,' said Hedly, her voice surprised. 'She must have fired it cold – our sensors never registered it. Shields down to ninety-five percent.'
'Sir, I've lost her,' said Data unbelievingly. 'She vanished when the torpedo impact blinded our sensors for a moment.'
'What?' said Picard, surprised by his officer's lack of care.
'Sir, when the torpedo hit our forward screens, our sensors were blinded for a second or two. A good pilot could have got the shuttle out of sensor range and maybe lost it against any stellar emissions.'
Thames spoke up from one of the bridge science consoles. 'Captain, I've got an idea. If we reset the sensors to scan for warp field coil emissions, they should show up against normal background stellar emissions.'
Picard glanced at Data, who nodded. 'I am surprised I didn't think of that, sir.' He turned and implemented the change. 'Reading a warp signature at bearing 457 mark 447. Direct course for Galorndon Core.'
'Pursuit course, warp six. Engage.' Picard turned to Thames. 'Well done, Lieutenant.' She smiled dazzlingly.
Riker glanced at Hedly, who smiled a small smile.
Galorndon Core was a bleak, rocky planet in the middle of nowhere. The Enterprise crew had twice faced down Romulan opposition near this planet in the past.
The Keats broke out of warp and made straight for the planet. A second later, the mammoth shape of the Enterprise pursued it into the system.
Data had relinquished his console to Thames on Picard's request. Troi, who had come to the bridge just in time to hear that, knew it was so he could keep an eye on her. 'She's heading straight for Galorndon Core, sir,' said Thames.
'Ready quantum torpedoes.' Troi glanced at Riker, who nodded once. Picard had clearly given up his stated objective of taking her alive. A single direct torpedo hit would vaporise the shuttle.
'Sir, she's initiating a warp core breach,' said Thames suddenly, voice full of disbelief.
'Time to detonation?'
'Five seconds, sir.'
Picard stood and stared at the screen. Abruptly, a flash of light in the grey atmosphere of the planet marked where the shuttle had been destroyed. 'Lieutenant, scan the surface for lifeforms. She may have been able to beam out.'
'Scanning, sir.'
Picard turned to Riker. 'Prepare an away team, Number One.' At Riker's nod, however, Thames whirled in her seat and she and Picard simultaneously said, 'There's an ionising field in the upper stratosphere!'
For a moment, thought Deanna afterwards, the bridge had looked like a frozen tableau. Picard and Thames staring at each other in shock; Riker watching his captain, open-mouthed. The rest of the bridge crew had stood stock-still in amazement. Abruptly the moment was broken, as Picard regrouped and said to Thames, 'Explain.'
Thames complied, her face going red. 'Sir, when the warp core breach occurred, the Keats was in the atmosphere of Galorndon Core. The explosion and radiation burst caused an ionisation field. It's impossible to beam through.'
Picard couldn't help it. He glanced at Data, who nodded and said, 'Confirmed, sir. It won't clear for another five hours.'
Picard glared at the screen. 'Meanwhile, she does whatever she's there to do. Shuttles?' This question was directed back at Thames, who had already turned.
As the word "shuttles" finished, immediately on the end of it came Thames' answer. 'A shuttlecraft would make it through the atmosphere with shields up, sir.' She turned and looked at him. Picard's lips quirked in an involuntary smile. Thames grinned back briefly.
And Deanna sat watching this interplay with a pleased smile on her face.
'Sir, I'm detecting a human lifesign upon the surface of Galorndon Core,' said Data. Picard immediately made his mind up.
'Commander,' he said, 'assemble three shuttles of security personnel to be ready for launch in one hour. Flight crews to consist of yourself, Commander Hedly and Commander La Forge in number one, Mr. Data and Dr. Crusher in number two and myself, Lieutenant Thames and Counsellor Troi in number three.' Riker, to his credit, didn't react to Picard's decision to go on the mission. He simply nodded and carried out his duty.
Picard turned calmly to Troi and said, 'Counsellor, will you join me in my ready room?'
As he headed to his room, Troi stood gracefully and directed a glance at Thames. 'Yes, I thought you'd say that,' she murmured to herself.
Picard turned as Deanna entered his ready room, a terrified expression on his face. 'What the hell's happening to me?' His voice was a strangled whisper, otherwise it would have been a shout that would have resounded across the entire Alpha Quadrant, vacuum be damned.
Troi shook her head. 'You're developing an attachment that's deeper than anything I've ever seen, Captain. Can you hear her thoughts all the time?'
'Just when she's upset or surprised or feeling a strong emotion.' Picard considered this sentence for a moment and then added, 'Apart from obsessive love.'
Troi nearly smiled. 'Why am I with you and Lieutenant Thames, Captain?'
'I need you there if anything goes wrong,' said Picard bluntly. 'If either myself or Thames are hurt, I don't know if the other will be able to continue.'
'Why not leave her aboard the Enterprise?' Or better still, both of you stay on the ship?
'It hurts,' said Picard in a moment of disarming honesty. Seeing the worried look on her face, he shook his head and added, 'I mean emotionally. I keep losing focus if I'm not near her. I think we work best if we're together. And I need to be down there, Counsellor. Admiral Nechayev has a lot to answer for. Especially to me.'
Troi stared at him for a moment, suddenly recognising the emotions she could sense. Bitter betrayal and anger were strong, but beneath them was something that she could not ever remember sensing in Picard – cold, calculating, almost evil hatred.
It was not something she associated with him normally. But now, she read it in every movement of his body. It glinted in his eye every time he spoke of Nechayev now.
Troi had not realised how much the alternate reality had affected his thinking. Now she realised that Picard was a different person from the one she had known before. Where the other Picard had been fair but firm, the new one was hard and inflexible.
His character had changed considerably in the last few days. It was possible that the others had not noticed. Certainly Picard himself would not have done so.
Troi did not know later how she managed to keep the shocked look from her face as she realised all of this. She only knew that she was dealing with a different man to the one she had known before. The new Picard was obsessive and cruel in ways that the old one had never demonstrated.
And, she also knew, if she could not retrieve the old one from somewhere, she would have to support his retirement on the grounds that he was no longer fit to command.
I hate my job.
Twenty minutes before the mission began, Troi called the senior staff together for a last minute conference – regarding the Thames/Picard situation, as it was becoming known. 'It's getting serious,' she said frankly.
Riker nodded in agreement. 'We all saw what happened on the bridge.'
'Is it just love or is something worse?' asked Data. Deanna glanced at Data askance. Only the android could construe love as being bad.
'I checked Lieutenant Thames' record, and I found that she has a very high ESP rating,' said Troi. She decided to not mention Picard's change of personality.
Hedly frowned. 'Is that what could be causing this?'
'I believe so, yes,' answered Deanna. 'I'm not saying that she's taking over his mind or vice versa, but that a strong bond has been formed because of their emotional attachment to each other. It's the true meaning of Imzadi,' she added ruefully.
'What can we do?' asked La Forge.
'Try harder to get them together. If the captain retires without her, they could both be in for serious emotional stress.'
'Any likelihood that it could affect his command and decision-making abilities?' asked Riker.
Deanna shrugged. 'I don't know yet, Will. It's possible, but at the moment, I'm worried about their emotional health than anything.'
Riker nodded and they broke up. There wasn't really anything else that they could say.
Yes, they were coming, she thought. She could sense their primitive thoughts from miles distant. They were angry, but distracted as well. There was a weakness there, she thought.
She settled herself more comfortably among the featureless rocks, cradling the rifle she carried. She had chosen a host well, she realised. Some bodies would have given out by now, but this one kept going. Maybe it had always been driven hard by its former personality.
She could feel the pull of the rift, somewhere in space. She would find it; return and conquer. It was her way. The way of the Aralla.
And then, abruptly, she began to retch.