Destiny - Chapter 2

*Note: I know my timeline doesn't exactly corralate with the real one, sorry, I needed it this way.

Emptying the contents onto the bed, she began to carefully examine each one. The photos all seemed to be of people she didn't even recognize. One was of a bald man, a red headed woman and another man with strangely pale skin. Another was of a black man and the pale man and young boy who looked strangely similar to a man several years older then her. Picking up yet another picture, Amaya nearly fainted when she saw the couple grinning happily at the camera. It was the couple from her dream.

~*~*~*~

Suddenly a vision gripped Amaya's mind, causing her to go stark still as her eyes rolled back into her head....

~*~*~*~

Eighteen years ago...

Inside Will Riker's quarters, Will and Deanna sat opposite each other enjoying a quiet dinner. It had been nearly four months since their renewed relationship and things couldn't have been more perfect. They had each other, and everyone could feel Will's next offer for captaincy on the near horizon. Little did they know that things would soon become drastically different. However, for now, they existed within their own reality.

All senior officers report to the observation lounge.

Deanna looked up from her dinner to gaze over at Will. "Duty calls." she sighed, raising from her seat in unison with Riker.

Extending his elbow to her, Will grinned at her, "Care for an escort, m'lady?" Gracifully, she accepted, hooking her arm with his as they made their way to the observation lounge together. When they reached the doors to the lounge, Will and Deanna quietly seperated, moving into professional mode. Entering, they both took their respectful positions at the table.

Picard sat quietly for several moments in apparent deep thought before he spoke, but when he did, those four words choked the air from the room, "The War has begun." The war he was referring to was something that had been building for the last two years and had finally broken out completely. The Federation against the Romulans and the Cardassians, who had recently come into an unexpected treaty. "It became offical just moments ago." the Captain continued, "we are to report to Starbase 32, where we will be meeting with an federation official, to be officially briefed. Our ETA is eight hours...Dismissed."

~*~

Starbase 32....

A raspy voice drifted from the shadows, an evil glint giving it a sharp edge. "Soon....the Federation will fall...starting with their precious flag ship."

~*~

The moment the Enterprise entered the system that held the starbase hell broke loose. Two Cardassian and Romulan war ships were waiting for them. They had taken over the base and killed everyone. Now the five ships were in a deadly stand off. The enemy ships not answering any of their hails.

"They're powering up their weapons." Informed Worf; a growl being held tightly in his throat.

"Battle stations!" Picard yelled as the crew scambled for places. "Sheilds up, target their weapons."

"Targeted."

"Fire."

"Unable to fire, weapons have been taken offline, and our sheilds are being drained from an unknown source." Worf spat.

"Invasive manuvers. Get us out of here." Picard was not one to run, but with no weapons and their sheilds down, they'd just be running anyway.

~*~

Safely away, Will and Deanna stood facing each other in his quarters. A small duffel was swung over his shoulder as Riker stared down into the fathomless depths of his imzadi's eyes. "I promise I'll return Dee." he told her with a confident smile, "it's really a simple mission, search and rescue." However, the look on her face was less then agreeable so he added, "Come on, if it was that dangerous, would they really have asked the Captain to lead the team?"

Deanna looked down at the ground for a moment, considering his arguement. Raising her head back to meet his gaze, she sighed resined, "I suppose you're right. I'm just being paranoid." she responded with a tender half smile and a small shrug of her slim shoulders. Grinning, Will leaned down and placed a long kiss upon her lips.

Straightening his uniform and adjusting the duffle Riker shot another smile at Troi. "I'll be back before you know it. We have a wedding to plan." he said with a nod towards the shimmering ring that adorned her finger. And with that, he was gone.

~*~

The visions seemed to then suddenly speed up again, only bits and pieced legible to Amaya's mind.

~*~

"You're pregnant Dee. A baby girl." Beverly spouted, embracing her best friend.

~*~

"It is my sad duty to report that Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William T. Riker, and their team have died. The reckage was discovered two light years from the rondevue point yesterday. Their were no survivors and all escape pods were accounted for. It seems that they did accomplish their mission, but were distroyed by a Cardassian ship on their return path. My condolances go out to all of the Enterprise and her crew. -End Transmission-"

~*~

Dust and sand filled Riker's nose and mouth as he slowly regained consiousness. Metal cuffs had been secured tightly to his wrists and ankles, biting unmercifully into his flesh. The first thing he visually noticed was two armor clad boots about a meter from were he lay. Lifting his gaze, he saw that they were attached to a very large Cardassian with one of their own phaser rifles. Cranning his neck as far as it would go, he spotted Captain Picard and the other three members of their team, all shackled in the same manner, however they all seemed to still be unconcious, or dead. William Riker prayed to whatever god would listen to him that the Enterprise would come soon, for he knew what this place was; it was a Cardassian Prison Camp.

Reaching out with his mind, he tried to call out to Deanna only to be stopped short by a blinding pain that threatened to split open his skull. Some sort of neuroblock had been administered into him. He realized that moment that if he couldn't reach out to her, the effect was the same for her. Deanna would have no way to know that he was even still alive. Days went by, weeks, months, and years, and slowly he lost hope. The other three members of their team were killed within the first year, leaving only himself and Picard. No one came for them.

~*~

Amaya gasped for oxygen as she came to, still tasting the decrepid sand in her mouth, tears running unchecked down her cheeks. "They left him there ..... to die. They ... abandoned my..... father." she wept. "I have to find him, to save him."