Part 6

          While Mac waited for his crew to be assembled he looked at the data packet that had just been sent to him from his wife.  They had just managed to get into the system when she had called.  Apparently a lot had changed since they had last been there.  Currently the system was riddled with so many pockets that he doubted that anyone could navigate them without serious damage to the ship.  From what she had sent they had sustained plenty themselves.  Luckily Tom was apparently an expert pilot and had managed to keep them out of the worst of it.  From the sensor logs she included most of the area was not capable of being flown through anymore.  Fortunately he had an ace up his sleeve.  It was one that continuously made him smile.  He did not have to rely on any mortal person to try to make impossible calculations; he had Morgan.  He would have been just as happy to have McHenry to do it, but he was no longer available.  It had been years since he had lost both Morgan's mortal body and Mark McHenry.  Morgan was still there in spirit, but Mark had become one of the Beings that nearly killed all of them, guarding a place where the remaining of his kind were held prisoner.

          "Morgan, I need you to take the conn for this trip.  This is going to take some of the most fancy flying imaginable to get to the Trident.  I want you and Robin on the controls."

          "Of course Captain.  Shall I take over now?"           

          "Yes.  Since this part is routine, I think can manage that and be at the senior staff meeting.  I want your input on whatever we are facing."
          "Sir, do you think Captain Shelby is right and we really are dealing with the same creature you did before?"

          "I do at that.  I just never thought that we would see the thing again.  It's been more than ten years now and I hadn't heard a thing about it in that whole time.  Now all of a sudden it is here again.  I know we haven't been out of this sector more than a total of six or eight months the whole time, why now?"

          "Was that a rhetorical question?"

          "Take it any way you want."

          "My guess would be that something changed recently.  I don't know what, if I did you would know too.  But I know I trust your instincts on danger more than my sensor relays sometimes."

          "Thank you for the compliment.  Now would you make sure that everyone necessary is on their way to the conference lounge?"

          "Already on it sir.  Everyone but Robin is heading that way.  She's waiting for her replacement."

          "Good.  Take the conn."

*****

          "Tom, go get some rest.  We aren't going anywhere for a while."  Shelby took her chair as she spoke.

          "Aye sir.  I think I might not even get the uniform off before I fall over."

          "I figured as much.  I sent a message to the Titan.  We still have about a five or six minute lag, so it might be a bit for a response.  I did ask about Commander Troi too.  I will call you if there is anything wrong."

          "Thanks, Elizabeth."  Tom was so tired that he did not even realize that he had used her first name.  Maybe Shelby would not be the reason that he would look back on this assignment as trouble.  If a fair portion of the missions that he would have to deal with were like this one he see that as a reason for trouble.

          "Good night Tom."  Shelby watched the weary man leave the bridge.

          I might just be watching a man who has truly just found himself.  From what his files had said he had been a wanderer and lost track of who he was when he left Starfleet.  Now I am looking at a man who is worn out with worry for other people and yet loving the situation that he is in.  I just hope he stays on this path.  If Kat ever leaves I might just want him back.  The thought followed her back to the present.  "Meyran, do you have anything new for me?"

          "I wish I didn't in this case Captain.  But from the newest sensor readings that I am just now getting I think we only have about four days until the oldest of the anomalies breach a dimensional barrier.  I still have no idea where to yet.  Everything that I have is turning up a big goose egg from the databases."

          "Keep on it.  How long until the Excal gets here?"

          "About four and a half hours, if they don't drop from warp before they get to the system.  Considering who will probably be flying I am going to bet they don't even drop below warp 9 before they get here."

          "You do have a point.  I wouldn't want to be in Mac's shoes with that ship, but if I could get something like Morgan to pilot I would definitely consider putting up with it."

          Even the newest officers knew that her husband commanded the only sentient ship in existence.  How most of them found out Eppy never figured out, but she guessed that it was a phenomenon that had saved her in the past.  They she figured it, if rumors and gossip could power a starship they would have enough excess power to sell to anyone in the quadrant that needed it.  The downside to it was that enough of the rumors lacked truth that she would find herself second-guessing too much if she wholly relied on them.  Kat Mueller entered the bridge just in time to keep her from letting her mind wander much farther.

          "Anything new?"

          "No XO.  I just sent Tom to bed, and I think I am going to my own quarters as well.  Keep me posted and if we get a response from the Titan let me know."

          "Done sir.  Sweet dreams."

          Where am I?  Smoke filled the ruins of wherever he was.  From outward appearances Tom Riker was standing on a very abandoned plane.  He should have been freezing to death where he stood but for some reason he wasn't.  Snow cascaded around him like a waterfall.  It was thick and heavy and had all the makings of the blizzards he remembered growing up in Alaska.  There was only one structure in his field of vision.  A stone structure that vaguely reminded him of pictures he had seen of Stonehenge on Earth.  The freestanding gateway loomed over him, daring him to look closer.  Two words coalesced as he moved to where he could see the stones clearly, 'Giant lied."  He could not fathom what that could mean but he still continued to examine the megalithic structure with the practiced eye of a Starfleet officer.  As he watched the object the interior of the frame began to glow.  At first it was a swirling mass, but it eventually resolved itself to one vision.  He could see deep space in front of him.  Father away from the frame he could make out what appeared to be flames burning in the vacuum.  Curiosity nearly got the better of him as he leaned closer.  Belatedly he realized that entering this thing would most likely end with his demise in empty space.

          He backed away as he watched the spectacle in front of him.  Within moments the scene began to change.  Now the flames became more regular and he thought that he could make out a vague birdlike shape to the embers.  Fascinated he watched the spectacle.  A single human looking woman appeared in space.  She seemed terrified, but not suffering from the lack of oxygen, or the cold of near vacuum.  Then three others appeared as well.  These three he knew, all too well.  Will Riker, Deanna Troi, and Tina LeBeau appeared, looking more confident than the other woman.  The other one must be Lt. Lesman, the ops officer.  The thought gave Tom pause.  He knew she was part Betazoid, but never realized that she had any telepathy.  He watched as she seemed to try to talk to the bird creature in front of her.  Suddenly the bird cried out and he found himself trying to block the sound by covering his ears.  HE watched in terror as the four people standing there collapsed.  Without any conscious thought Tom leapt through the gateway, screaming.  It never occurred to him that it was Tina's name that came from his lips.