Chapter 2: small talk

"Am I on the Enterprise?"  Tom Riker barely managed to look up into his own eyes before the effort began to tire him.  He knew that he must look like hell but at least at the moment he was alive.  That was definitely a better situation than he thought he should be.  Now all he needed to do was try not to yell while the pain subsided.  The first thing that he saw upon regaining consciousness was Deanna.  Standing just behind her was Will, standing very protectively, without trying to be very obvious about it.

Deanna was the total professional.  She assumed what could only be the psychologist pose and gently spoke to him.  "No, you're not.  This is the Titan.  Will is the Captain.  Can you tell us how you got out here and why you were pulling that stunt in the shuttle?"

"Believe it or not I was trying to get back into Federation space.  Now that the Cardassians have decided to leave most of the colonists alone I am finding myself out of a job.  I decided to take advantage of the Federation offer for amnesty."

Even though it sounded legit, Deanna thought that it did not sound quite right.  She knew Tom's mind nearly as well as her husband's.  It was second nature for her to read what his emotional state was, even if he was trying to block her.  She knew that he wasn't exactly lying, but she also had a sneaking suspicion there was a lot more to this than him having holed up somewhere for fifteen years and deciding that he wanted to come home.  From his first question on waking up she knew that he could not have kept up on any current Federation events.  Considering that she and Will had been serving on the Titan for just over seven years now he had to be WAY out of the loop.  Either that or he just plain did not bother to keep track.  Something was nagging at the back of Deanna's mind and at the moment she could not fathom what it was.

"If there is anything that you can think of that might help us figure out why the Cardassians had been trying to keep us from getting to you, or how you managed to end up as damaged as you were let us know."  Will Riker was trying to sound like a professional but it came out more curtly than he expected.  Deanna had seemed very confident in their ability to handle this situation, but he was not as certain.  Tom Riker had almost gotten Deanna killed and even then he was sure that he was still in love with her.  Truth be told he would have to still be.  He too was Imzadi to her.  The whole thing had always stuck in his craw.  Will was however very relieved to see that Tom understood that it was a dismissal as he turned his attention back to Alyssa. 

"I will, Captain."  For the moment he allowed himself to finish being examined.  The Doctor touched his neck with a hypospray, and the next thing that he saw was the blackness that he succumbed to as he fell asleep.

As the Doctor returned to the outer offices the three senior officers were conversing among themselves.  The only part of the conversation that was overheard by the Doctor was Tina's comment to Will; 'I have a bad feeling about this.'  Alyssa's heart leapt when she heard it.  Whenever Tina used that expression life on the Titan became very complicated. When you added Tom Riker, weird entered the picture. The two of them would be enough for the Titan to be in a lot of trouble. When Q entered the mix, Alyssa was not sure that they would even survive the rest of the day.

"He's lying."  Deanna made the comment, even though it was probably obvious.

"Are you sure?"  Tina did not give the Counselor a chance to answer.  She answered it herself.  "What am I saying, of course you are.  You just told me that he and the Captain were one and the same at one point.  You probably know him as well as you do Will.  He probably couldn't lie to you."

"Actually, he could if he tried.  Before the Captain was exposed to that virus on Dentarus six years ago, he could manage to keep secrets, and even lie to me on a few occasions.  It wouldn't work for long and we would end up fighting like cats and dogs in the end, but he could do it, at least for a while.  Now that he has been trained in the proper shielding and has some true telepathy of his own, he can lie if he wants to, and effectively.  Tom Riker does not know those techniques, he might be able to keep something from me, but at the moment I don't think he can.  I think that he is not technically lying right now, he really is trying to get home, but he has an agenda that he won't tell."  She paused in an afterthought, "or maybe can't."

"I personally will opt for the second one.  This assignment has stunk from the word go.  First off the command did not come through normal channels it came straight from Jellico.  Someone had to know who was supposed to be out here.  Besides I don't think that Q would be involved with us if it were a case of individual agendas.  He just doesn't go for such mundane things."  As if to solidify the idea he was paged.

"Bridge to Captain."  This was from Lt. Heath, the chief science officer.

"Riker here."  He could tell from the tone of her voice that he was not going to like what she had to say.

"Sir, there is an eyes only communiqué for you from command."  After six plus years on the Titan, Karen Heath had learned that something like this, while not always life threatening meant that there was going to be one hell of a storm.  Knowing that once again she would have to face a situation that could be very hazardous, she still harbored no regrets about joining this crew.  She had even gone so far as to go to go to the Academy for the two terms that she needed to finish the commission.  At the moment, while she did not have much else to do, she pondered what would happen when the Captain read the message.

"On my way.  I will take it in my ready room.  Riker out."  Before leaving the two lovely ladies at his side he spoke with them.  "I know he had been granted amnesty, but I would still feel safer if you detailed someone to keep an eye on him."  Privately he added to his wife I also think that it would be a good idea if Julie were kept away from him, at least for now.  I want to know what he is up to before he gets a chance to run amuck on my ship.  And as for her, I don't know how she would be able to tell us apart.

I think I have an answer for that.  While she could speak to him telepathically, I doubt that he could hear her or return speech.  The only reason that you can is that virus that left you telepathic.  He might be able to learn, but last I remember he could barely speak to me.  He has no ties to Julie.  If you weren't her parent, and had not gotten yourself genetically manipulated you would not be able to speak to her either.  She'll know.  Out loud she told him, " We will take care of it."

As Will expected, the message was the opening gambit in an elaborate chess game.  First the message was from Adm. Necheyev.  While not an Admiral that Riker disliked, the woman was known for having her hands in several covert pies at any given time.  The only true strike that Will held against her was assigning Jellico as the Captain of the Enterprise when she commandeered Picard, sending Will on the path of no return with the temporary Captain.  Since the meeting all those years ago, the Captain of the Titan had learned to expect the intelligence sector (known or just speculated) to be involved almost every time he heard her name mentioned.

The second thing that gave away the Fleet playing games with him was the message itself.  Never once was Tom's name mentioned.   It merely stated that all but one of his refugees were to be taken to Starbase 12 as planned, while the remaining one was to be taken to DS9.  Since there was not any name mentioned, Will could only assume that it should be obvious to him who the other passenger was.  That only left Tom Riker.  Not only was he to go to DS9, he was not even to report to the station commander.  Instead, he was to report to the Starfleet liaison, Commander Elias Vaughn.

Vaughn was another enigma.  The man was well over 100, and still a very active man.  As few as 10 years ago the man could mop the floor with Will, and hold his own against Worf if he had wanted to.  He had known Deanna and her mother since before Deanna's birth and had served with her father before his death.  On top of that he was another person that Will knew had been involved in the intelligence community.  Given what he had seen, it was a foregone conclusion that they were in for an interesting mission.  Add Q to the pot and it was no longer interesting, but most likely dangerous.  Will was not given the opportunity to continue his thought as the ever-familiar light that was Q's calling card heralded his arrival.

"Q!  Damn it!  Can't I do anything without you sticking your nose in it right now?"

"Captain, I am offended.  I would think that you would want me to offer my assistance."  Q affected an enigmatic smile.  "You only have two pieces of the puzzle.  I would think that you are one of the few people that I know that would be champing at the bit to try to find out all of what is going on.  I know you would enjoy having all the answers ahead of time.  Who knows, foreknowledge might even save you not only your precious ship, but even so far as your precious Starfleet."

"Q, in all these years haven't you learned that if you want to see how we are going to do something that it is best to leave your clues without making it seem like an offer we should not refuse.  If I wanted the answers on a silver platter I would have become a Q when you gave me the chance.  Right now, I know you are curious as to what I think is going on and how I am going to handle the situation.  For the time being just leave me the hell alone.  I could care less if you wanted to stay and watch.  If you genuinely want to help at the moment, stay out of my way and let me figure this out on my own."

"I can say that I am touched, Captain.  You seem to actually care about my feelings, as well as keeping me entertained.  For that I'll give you a clue that might get that little hamster wheel in your head going.  Tom Riker is the key to solving this, but he is not the most important character."  With that Q again left the Captain to his thoughts.