Chapter Five
The bridge of the Enterprise dropped into silence. There, demanding the surrender of the flagship of the United Federation of Planets, was a girl who could be no more than seventeen years of age. Picard blinked.
Next to her sat a boy, obviously younger, perhaps fifteen, with tousled brown hair and icy blue eyes narrowed in the resentful expression adolescents often used when dealing with adults.
These were children! Demanding the surrender of the Enterprise to them? Insanity! Yet they obviously had the capability to do exactly as they promised: destroy them. Picard decided to treat them as adult creatures who had made this threat, simply for the sake of diplomacy, because if Picard, infamous for his poor relations with youngsters, had thought of them as insolent children, he might just explode and seal the fate of the Enterprise, its passengers and crew.
"Identify yourself," Picard demanded, just short of roaring, and with no less or more severity than he would use with an adults.
"Fair enough. I am Captain Kaelha of the starcruiser Neverland," the girl replied. "This is my First Officer, Commander Briyen." Kaelha was quite obviously impatient. Nonetheless, regulations had to be observed. "Now. Identify yourselves."
"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship, the U.S.S. Enterprise."
"Impressive," the girl grinned sarcastically. "Who's he?" she nodded her head in the general direction of Will Riker, who was standing next to Picard. If one were looking for this particular characteristic, one would notice that Riker stood more than a head taller than his diminutive captain, but somehow, Picard was by no means dwarfed by his tall First Officer.
"Commander William T. Riker," Picard answered evenly, but with less patience, "my First Officer." There. Now they were even. Now they could get down to business.
"What a coincidence!" the girl was still being obnoxiously facetious. "It appears we use the same system of rank and command. Who are all these other people?" she asked when Deanna Troi rushed from the turbolift onto the bridge.
"They are my crew. Captain Kaelha, we came here in response to a distress signal, originating from your exact coordinates. It is my intent to discover the reason f--"
"Identify every member of your crew present on the bridge, or we will open fire on you and take your ship full of ignorant, aging Humans by force."
"Shields," Picard said, still staring at the girl, with no physical indications that he was talking to the Klingon behind him.
"On full," Worf answered, then continued in lower tones, "Sir, their weapons system is consistent with our findings of the other systems of their ship." Meaning: Captain, they could easily blow us to smithereens, like they said, with or without our shields.
"Noted," Picard hissed through clenched teeth. "Very well," he played up to the girl in the most patronizing manner he could muster, which was pretty damn patronizing, especially to a child. "Behind me is my Chief of Security, Lieutenant Worf." Picard sounded like he was reading "Clifford The Big Red Dog" and showing the pictures.
"A Klingon!" the girl seemed pleased. "I'm very impressed with your ability to forgive your old enemies, Jean-Luc!"
"You may call me captain," Picard bit off each word angrily. He had never been treated with such obvious disrespect.
Commander Briyen snorted in laughter and muttered to Kaelha, "Not for long, Captain Hook!" Kaelha smothered her laughter with her hands.
"This is ridiculous," Riker clenched his fists.
"Captain Kaelha!" Picard shouted, feeling like a school teacher attempting to regain the attention of a misbehaving student. "Would you care to return to our discussion?"
"What-ever," she sneered at him.
Picard's eyebrows shot up.
"Sorry," Kaelha giggled. "Continue," she waved him on, expecting the identity of the rest of his bridge crew to be forthcoming.
That's it. She had tested Picard's patience, and he'd just run out of it. "Captain Kaelha, I do not see how this will further negotiations. I have grown tired of your childishness and weary of this charade," and it came out sha-RAHD. "You have made quite a claim and I will not allow it."
Suddenly the entire ship was rocked with a phaser blast like none that had ever hit them before. Worf clamped huge fists around the aft railing to keep from falling. Riker grabbed the back of Wesley's chair, legs spread wide. Wesley's chair almost came loose in his grasp, rotating counter-clockwise, wrenching Wes away from his death grip on the console and sending the lanky ensign sprawling onto the floor between Conn and Ops. Picard was flung backward, landing unceremoniously in the Center Seat, and Deanna Troi was thrown to the floor. Data clung effortlessly to his Ops station console.
One thing was certain: another shot like that would leave nothing of the ship but particles scattered in the vacuum of space.
When the ship had steadied, Picard sprang back up into a ramrod position. Deanna and Wesley slowly picked themselves up and crept into their chairs. Riker spun Wesley's chair back around into the forward position from which he had pulled it for support, with no forthcoming apology for dumping the ensign onto the floor. Wesley gave Riker a sharp glance that went unnoticed. The commander had more pressing matters at hand.
"Report!" Picard bellowed.
"Shields down to 12 percent!" Worf was stunned. Then he swallowed, "Hull integrity 100 percent." Thank God.
"It is not for you to decide what will further negotiations or even if we will negotiate with you at all!" the girl raged, her cheeks flushing. "You will identify every single member of your bridge crew, present or not, or we will destroy you!"
Riker had an idea. "Q?" he intoned to Picard.
"What?" the girl screeched. Picard looked at Riker, who shrugged.
"Just a thought," Riker turned back to the viewscreen with a severe, silent self-reproach. Picard had probably already ruled out the possibility that it might be Q. Q would never demand the Enterprise. An omnipotent being such as Q wouldn't have any need for such a slow and clumsy mode of transportation, unless he thought it might irk Picard. He liked toying with the Humans' psyches, not their technology.
"All right," Picard was at his most resonant. "The woman you just knocked over is Ship's Counselor Deanna Troi," he gestured to her as she sat in her chair, rubbing her shoulder where she had hit the ground.
"Who's operating the ship?" the girl demanded.
"Lieutenant Commander Data, Operations Manager--"
"A robot," she interrupted. "Interesting."
Picard paused, daunted, then continued, "--and Ensign Wesley Crusher, Flight Controller."
"Did you say W--" Kaelha caught herself. "A child?" she asked instead. Captain Kaelha rose from her seat for the first time during the altercation. "You have a child driving the Enterprise? Oh, that's rich, considering how completely inept Human children are."
A faint, muffled snicker emanated from the aft section of the bridge where Billy Nolan stood at Aft Engineering, covering his mouth with his hand.
Wesley lifted his head carefully. He had been digging his fingers into the neck muscles tightened by his fall, but he had to see just how old was the girl who had called him a child - certainly younger than he was. To his complete surprise, Picard leapt to Wes's defense.
"Ensign Crusher is neither a child nor inept. He is one of our most valued and brilliant crew members, and is therefore quite capable of driving whatever he wishes," Picard spat. Then he instantly regretted divulging Wesley's worth to an obviously hostile party. He had been so aggravated by the jibes and scoffs hurled at each and every member of his crew that he had finally exploded. When was a captain old enough, wise enough and experienced enough that he made no such mistakes? Picard had thought he had reached that age.
"A child!" Kaelha was still laughing.
"You apparently have a child younger than our Helmsman as First Officer of your own ship, Captain Kaelha. I don't see why you find this so unbelievable," Riker narrowed his eyes. If Wesley were not busy fearing for his life and the lives of everyone aboard the Enterprise, he would have been flattered to hear all the defense he was getting from the two highest ranking officers on the flagship of the Federation.
"Stand up," Kaelha jutted her chin at Wesley.
Wesley's jaw dropped.
"I beg your pardon?" Picard couldn't believe his ears.
"I said make him stand up, Jean-Luc."
"What in the world for?" Picard ignored the disrespectful nomenclature, too involved in her bizarre request.
"So I can see what he looks like! Is that benign enough, Captain?"
"This is not a fashion show!" Riker spat.
Wesley was gripping the seat of the Conn chair, as if afraid he would be taken from it by force.
Kaelha directed her next angry phrase at Wesley, "Do it or I will fire again and you and young Mr. Crusher will personally be responsible for the death of the Enterprise!"
Wesley ventured a fraction of a second to glance at Picard. Picard nodded almost imperceptibly at him and he vaulted out of his seat, standing at a rigid attention, wide, frightened eyes on the viewscreen.
"How old are you?" she asked him.
Wesley looked at Picard and again received almost imperceptible permission. He turned back to the screen and hesitated a little. "I... I'm uh... I-I'm eighteen, sir. Ma'am."
"And as intelligent as they all claim, I see," her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Wesley opened his mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. "Sit down before you hurt yourself."
Something inside Wes snapped. "You did that just fine on your own," he snarled, rubbing the back of his neck, giving in to the bickering like teenagers before he'd realized what he was doing.
Picard clenched his jaw so tightly he could hear ringing in his ears. Wesley went cold. All the color drained from his face as he awaited a photon torpedo that would kill 1013 people who used to live on the Enterprise. He did not expect the reaction he got.
Kaelha raised her eyebrows in mild horror. "I hurt you? Physically hurt you? That wasn't my intent. How are you hurt?"
Wesley was so shocked by her reaction that he couldn't answer. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. No one else on the bridge seemed to be able to find words for her, either.
"When I fired on your ship? What happened, did you fall?"
"Uh... y-yeah. Yeah, I did..."
"I apologize for injuring Wesley Crusher, Captain Picard."
Incredible! It was like an entirely different person! In the back of his mind, Wes thought, Maybe I could pratfall down a Jefferies tube and solve this whole altercation here and now.
"In order to make up for this transgression, I will agree to negotiate. But I will negotiate with Wesley and only with Wesley. Are we agreed?"
"You want to negotiate with a non-commissioned ensign who's never even been trained to be a delegate?" Riker was about to try to pinch himself awake from a really weird dream.
"Yes. We meet at your discretion, but aboard my ship. Kaelha out." And she was gone. The seemingly innocent face was replaced with the image of the threatening starcruiser.
The entire crew required a few seconds to allow the bizarre occurrences of the past five minutes to sink in.
Wesley's mind spun. He sank slowly into his Conn chair. Negotiate with him? Why? Why on earth would anyone select an underage ensign with no Starfleet Academy education and not even any delegation training or experience as their ideal negotiator? It didn't make any sense. He was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed with the situation. He'd never negotiated before! He couldn't negotiate! He didn't know how to negotiate!
Yeah, okay, Crusher, calm down. Captain Picard will handle this, he thought, which felt like a cop-out. What kind of Starfleet officer would he ever make if he kept deferring all the truly difficult situations to the captain?
While everyone else on the bridge was still staring at the ship on the screen in utter disbelief, Picard was already in motion. He touched his insignia.
"Picard to Doctor Crusher. Report."
"Falls, captain," came Wesley's mother's voice. "Bumps and scrapes, minor, no casualties, no major injuries."
"Full report at your earliest convenience, Doctor."
"Aye, captain." She didn't ask any questions. She would work now and ask Wesley what happened later.
"Picard to Lieutenant LaForge. Report to the bridge and take the Aft Engineering Station."
"Aye, sir." Geordi's voice.
"Ensign Nolan, take the helm. Number One, you have the bridge. Ensign Crusher, in my ready room." He issued all those orders without looking at any of them, but just turned to walk towards his ready room. Wesley leapt up and trotted after the captain, the fear of his anticipated reprimand like ice cubes in his chest.
Billy Nolan, who had been minding his own business at Aft Engineering, turned with fiercely concealed dread and strode down the aft ramp towards the Conn station. He wasn't even supposed to be on the bridge, let alone steer the ship! Steering the Enterprise make him nervous as all get-out. That's one thing Billy Nolan would gladly relinquish to Wes Crusher.
* * *
The proud, streamline image of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701D hovered on the Neverland's viewscreen amid a field of millions of stars.
The young woman who had just severed the commlink with the Enterprise said, "Captain, perhaps if I hail them again we can draw their fire and--"
"You'll do no such thing, lieutenant. Maintain radio silence until I tell you differently."
"Aye, sir." But the officer was definitely confused at this. She had thought the whole point of calling the Enterprise to them was to start a fight, and now they were willing to negotiate? What for? What could the Enterprise give them that they really and truly needed, besides a really good fight?
Kaelha stood and strode over to Briyen, the whirling, fast-paced motion of her thoughts spilling over into the actions of her body. "Get me everything you can find about Ensign Wesley Crusher. I seem to remember something about a prodigy of engineering aboard the Enterprise. If this is him, our plans have changed."
Briyen nodded and dashed off the bridge.
"Marn," Kaelha crossed back to a serene looking girl, "I want you researching alternate uses of warp fields. Everything is significant, understood?"
"Yes, sir," Marn rose and walked to a science station.
"Captain?" the navigator swiveled around in his chair. "Would you tell us what's going on?"
Kaelha stared at the boy. "Time, ensign. This Wesley Crusher may be able to defeat time. If he can, we are finally free."
* * *
The alien had not worried much at this point in Time that the hostiles would understand the intricacies of his work. Not even the boy understood yet. No damage could be done to the fabric of the universe. At this point in Time he had been more concerned about the damage that could be done to his prospective student.
* * *
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Responses to Reviews/Comments:
AnimeFreak13: Wow, less than one day on FanFiction.net and I already have a review! I'm glad you like the story so far, and the subject matter as well. Which original character are you speaking of, Karen Nolan? I used a friend's first name and a radio traffic DJ's last name. This is my first internet posting of a story ever, so I'm definitely not the author you've read before. ;) Thanks for the review, and I'll keep posting this story, I promise! It's already finished, I just have to upload and edit, so it should only take a few days to put up.
The bridge of the Enterprise dropped into silence. There, demanding the surrender of the flagship of the United Federation of Planets, was a girl who could be no more than seventeen years of age. Picard blinked.
Next to her sat a boy, obviously younger, perhaps fifteen, with tousled brown hair and icy blue eyes narrowed in the resentful expression adolescents often used when dealing with adults.
These were children! Demanding the surrender of the Enterprise to them? Insanity! Yet they obviously had the capability to do exactly as they promised: destroy them. Picard decided to treat them as adult creatures who had made this threat, simply for the sake of diplomacy, because if Picard, infamous for his poor relations with youngsters, had thought of them as insolent children, he might just explode and seal the fate of the Enterprise, its passengers and crew.
"Identify yourself," Picard demanded, just short of roaring, and with no less or more severity than he would use with an adults.
"Fair enough. I am Captain Kaelha of the starcruiser Neverland," the girl replied. "This is my First Officer, Commander Briyen." Kaelha was quite obviously impatient. Nonetheless, regulations had to be observed. "Now. Identify yourselves."
"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship, the U.S.S. Enterprise."
"Impressive," the girl grinned sarcastically. "Who's he?" she nodded her head in the general direction of Will Riker, who was standing next to Picard. If one were looking for this particular characteristic, one would notice that Riker stood more than a head taller than his diminutive captain, but somehow, Picard was by no means dwarfed by his tall First Officer.
"Commander William T. Riker," Picard answered evenly, but with less patience, "my First Officer." There. Now they were even. Now they could get down to business.
"What a coincidence!" the girl was still being obnoxiously facetious. "It appears we use the same system of rank and command. Who are all these other people?" she asked when Deanna Troi rushed from the turbolift onto the bridge.
"They are my crew. Captain Kaelha, we came here in response to a distress signal, originating from your exact coordinates. It is my intent to discover the reason f--"
"Identify every member of your crew present on the bridge, or we will open fire on you and take your ship full of ignorant, aging Humans by force."
"Shields," Picard said, still staring at the girl, with no physical indications that he was talking to the Klingon behind him.
"On full," Worf answered, then continued in lower tones, "Sir, their weapons system is consistent with our findings of the other systems of their ship." Meaning: Captain, they could easily blow us to smithereens, like they said, with or without our shields.
"Noted," Picard hissed through clenched teeth. "Very well," he played up to the girl in the most patronizing manner he could muster, which was pretty damn patronizing, especially to a child. "Behind me is my Chief of Security, Lieutenant Worf." Picard sounded like he was reading "Clifford The Big Red Dog" and showing the pictures.
"A Klingon!" the girl seemed pleased. "I'm very impressed with your ability to forgive your old enemies, Jean-Luc!"
"You may call me captain," Picard bit off each word angrily. He had never been treated with such obvious disrespect.
Commander Briyen snorted in laughter and muttered to Kaelha, "Not for long, Captain Hook!" Kaelha smothered her laughter with her hands.
"This is ridiculous," Riker clenched his fists.
"Captain Kaelha!" Picard shouted, feeling like a school teacher attempting to regain the attention of a misbehaving student. "Would you care to return to our discussion?"
"What-ever," she sneered at him.
Picard's eyebrows shot up.
"Sorry," Kaelha giggled. "Continue," she waved him on, expecting the identity of the rest of his bridge crew to be forthcoming.
That's it. She had tested Picard's patience, and he'd just run out of it. "Captain Kaelha, I do not see how this will further negotiations. I have grown tired of your childishness and weary of this charade," and it came out sha-RAHD. "You have made quite a claim and I will not allow it."
Suddenly the entire ship was rocked with a phaser blast like none that had ever hit them before. Worf clamped huge fists around the aft railing to keep from falling. Riker grabbed the back of Wesley's chair, legs spread wide. Wesley's chair almost came loose in his grasp, rotating counter-clockwise, wrenching Wes away from his death grip on the console and sending the lanky ensign sprawling onto the floor between Conn and Ops. Picard was flung backward, landing unceremoniously in the Center Seat, and Deanna Troi was thrown to the floor. Data clung effortlessly to his Ops station console.
One thing was certain: another shot like that would leave nothing of the ship but particles scattered in the vacuum of space.
When the ship had steadied, Picard sprang back up into a ramrod position. Deanna and Wesley slowly picked themselves up and crept into their chairs. Riker spun Wesley's chair back around into the forward position from which he had pulled it for support, with no forthcoming apology for dumping the ensign onto the floor. Wesley gave Riker a sharp glance that went unnoticed. The commander had more pressing matters at hand.
"Report!" Picard bellowed.
"Shields down to 12 percent!" Worf was stunned. Then he swallowed, "Hull integrity 100 percent." Thank God.
"It is not for you to decide what will further negotiations or even if we will negotiate with you at all!" the girl raged, her cheeks flushing. "You will identify every single member of your bridge crew, present or not, or we will destroy you!"
Riker had an idea. "Q?" he intoned to Picard.
"What?" the girl screeched. Picard looked at Riker, who shrugged.
"Just a thought," Riker turned back to the viewscreen with a severe, silent self-reproach. Picard had probably already ruled out the possibility that it might be Q. Q would never demand the Enterprise. An omnipotent being such as Q wouldn't have any need for such a slow and clumsy mode of transportation, unless he thought it might irk Picard. He liked toying with the Humans' psyches, not their technology.
"All right," Picard was at his most resonant. "The woman you just knocked over is Ship's Counselor Deanna Troi," he gestured to her as she sat in her chair, rubbing her shoulder where she had hit the ground.
"Who's operating the ship?" the girl demanded.
"Lieutenant Commander Data, Operations Manager--"
"A robot," she interrupted. "Interesting."
Picard paused, daunted, then continued, "--and Ensign Wesley Crusher, Flight Controller."
"Did you say W--" Kaelha caught herself. "A child?" she asked instead. Captain Kaelha rose from her seat for the first time during the altercation. "You have a child driving the Enterprise? Oh, that's rich, considering how completely inept Human children are."
A faint, muffled snicker emanated from the aft section of the bridge where Billy Nolan stood at Aft Engineering, covering his mouth with his hand.
Wesley lifted his head carefully. He had been digging his fingers into the neck muscles tightened by his fall, but he had to see just how old was the girl who had called him a child - certainly younger than he was. To his complete surprise, Picard leapt to Wes's defense.
"Ensign Crusher is neither a child nor inept. He is one of our most valued and brilliant crew members, and is therefore quite capable of driving whatever he wishes," Picard spat. Then he instantly regretted divulging Wesley's worth to an obviously hostile party. He had been so aggravated by the jibes and scoffs hurled at each and every member of his crew that he had finally exploded. When was a captain old enough, wise enough and experienced enough that he made no such mistakes? Picard had thought he had reached that age.
"A child!" Kaelha was still laughing.
"You apparently have a child younger than our Helmsman as First Officer of your own ship, Captain Kaelha. I don't see why you find this so unbelievable," Riker narrowed his eyes. If Wesley were not busy fearing for his life and the lives of everyone aboard the Enterprise, he would have been flattered to hear all the defense he was getting from the two highest ranking officers on the flagship of the Federation.
"Stand up," Kaelha jutted her chin at Wesley.
Wesley's jaw dropped.
"I beg your pardon?" Picard couldn't believe his ears.
"I said make him stand up, Jean-Luc."
"What in the world for?" Picard ignored the disrespectful nomenclature, too involved in her bizarre request.
"So I can see what he looks like! Is that benign enough, Captain?"
"This is not a fashion show!" Riker spat.
Wesley was gripping the seat of the Conn chair, as if afraid he would be taken from it by force.
Kaelha directed her next angry phrase at Wesley, "Do it or I will fire again and you and young Mr. Crusher will personally be responsible for the death of the Enterprise!"
Wesley ventured a fraction of a second to glance at Picard. Picard nodded almost imperceptibly at him and he vaulted out of his seat, standing at a rigid attention, wide, frightened eyes on the viewscreen.
"How old are you?" she asked him.
Wesley looked at Picard and again received almost imperceptible permission. He turned back to the screen and hesitated a little. "I... I'm uh... I-I'm eighteen, sir. Ma'am."
"And as intelligent as they all claim, I see," her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Wesley opened his mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. "Sit down before you hurt yourself."
Something inside Wes snapped. "You did that just fine on your own," he snarled, rubbing the back of his neck, giving in to the bickering like teenagers before he'd realized what he was doing.
Picard clenched his jaw so tightly he could hear ringing in his ears. Wesley went cold. All the color drained from his face as he awaited a photon torpedo that would kill 1013 people who used to live on the Enterprise. He did not expect the reaction he got.
Kaelha raised her eyebrows in mild horror. "I hurt you? Physically hurt you? That wasn't my intent. How are you hurt?"
Wesley was so shocked by her reaction that he couldn't answer. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. No one else on the bridge seemed to be able to find words for her, either.
"When I fired on your ship? What happened, did you fall?"
"Uh... y-yeah. Yeah, I did..."
"I apologize for injuring Wesley Crusher, Captain Picard."
Incredible! It was like an entirely different person! In the back of his mind, Wes thought, Maybe I could pratfall down a Jefferies tube and solve this whole altercation here and now.
"In order to make up for this transgression, I will agree to negotiate. But I will negotiate with Wesley and only with Wesley. Are we agreed?"
"You want to negotiate with a non-commissioned ensign who's never even been trained to be a delegate?" Riker was about to try to pinch himself awake from a really weird dream.
"Yes. We meet at your discretion, but aboard my ship. Kaelha out." And she was gone. The seemingly innocent face was replaced with the image of the threatening starcruiser.
The entire crew required a few seconds to allow the bizarre occurrences of the past five minutes to sink in.
Wesley's mind spun. He sank slowly into his Conn chair. Negotiate with him? Why? Why on earth would anyone select an underage ensign with no Starfleet Academy education and not even any delegation training or experience as their ideal negotiator? It didn't make any sense. He was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed with the situation. He'd never negotiated before! He couldn't negotiate! He didn't know how to negotiate!
Yeah, okay, Crusher, calm down. Captain Picard will handle this, he thought, which felt like a cop-out. What kind of Starfleet officer would he ever make if he kept deferring all the truly difficult situations to the captain?
While everyone else on the bridge was still staring at the ship on the screen in utter disbelief, Picard was already in motion. He touched his insignia.
"Picard to Doctor Crusher. Report."
"Falls, captain," came Wesley's mother's voice. "Bumps and scrapes, minor, no casualties, no major injuries."
"Full report at your earliest convenience, Doctor."
"Aye, captain." She didn't ask any questions. She would work now and ask Wesley what happened later.
"Picard to Lieutenant LaForge. Report to the bridge and take the Aft Engineering Station."
"Aye, sir." Geordi's voice.
"Ensign Nolan, take the helm. Number One, you have the bridge. Ensign Crusher, in my ready room." He issued all those orders without looking at any of them, but just turned to walk towards his ready room. Wesley leapt up and trotted after the captain, the fear of his anticipated reprimand like ice cubes in his chest.
Billy Nolan, who had been minding his own business at Aft Engineering, turned with fiercely concealed dread and strode down the aft ramp towards the Conn station. He wasn't even supposed to be on the bridge, let alone steer the ship! Steering the Enterprise make him nervous as all get-out. That's one thing Billy Nolan would gladly relinquish to Wes Crusher.
* * *
The proud, streamline image of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701D hovered on the Neverland's viewscreen amid a field of millions of stars.
The young woman who had just severed the commlink with the Enterprise said, "Captain, perhaps if I hail them again we can draw their fire and--"
"You'll do no such thing, lieutenant. Maintain radio silence until I tell you differently."
"Aye, sir." But the officer was definitely confused at this. She had thought the whole point of calling the Enterprise to them was to start a fight, and now they were willing to negotiate? What for? What could the Enterprise give them that they really and truly needed, besides a really good fight?
Kaelha stood and strode over to Briyen, the whirling, fast-paced motion of her thoughts spilling over into the actions of her body. "Get me everything you can find about Ensign Wesley Crusher. I seem to remember something about a prodigy of engineering aboard the Enterprise. If this is him, our plans have changed."
Briyen nodded and dashed off the bridge.
"Marn," Kaelha crossed back to a serene looking girl, "I want you researching alternate uses of warp fields. Everything is significant, understood?"
"Yes, sir," Marn rose and walked to a science station.
"Captain?" the navigator swiveled around in his chair. "Would you tell us what's going on?"
Kaelha stared at the boy. "Time, ensign. This Wesley Crusher may be able to defeat time. If he can, we are finally free."
* * *
The alien had not worried much at this point in Time that the hostiles would understand the intricacies of his work. Not even the boy understood yet. No damage could be done to the fabric of the universe. At this point in Time he had been more concerned about the damage that could be done to his prospective student.
* * *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Responses to Reviews/Comments:
AnimeFreak13: Wow, less than one day on FanFiction.net and I already have a review! I'm glad you like the story so far, and the subject matter as well. Which original character are you speaking of, Karen Nolan? I used a friend's first name and a radio traffic DJ's last name. This is my first internet posting of a story ever, so I'm definitely not the author you've read before. ;) Thanks for the review, and I'll keep posting this story, I promise! It's already finished, I just have to upload and edit, so it should only take a few days to put up.