A/N: Mea culpa! Life got in the way, but here now is the rest of the
story. It goes to Chapter 27, which, I'm praying, I'll post by the end of
the afternoon! Wish me luck...
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Chapter 23
The door to Wesley Crusher's bedroom hissed open and Beverly Crusher stepped through. The creature was lying on Wes's bed, an arm draped across its eyes to block out all light.
"Wes?" she whispered.
It moved the arm over its eyes up to its forehead and squinted at the person who'd interrupted its sleep.
Oh no. The doctor again.
"Hi, Mom," it said weakly.
Beverly sat down on the edge of his bed. She was not wearing a labcoat, therefore, mercifully, she did not have a tricorder in her pocket.
"Are you okay?" she asked, touching its forehead and cheeks. It felt normal, no fever.
"Fine, Mom."
"You know, the captain believes that Robin isn't dead."
"I know, but he's wrong. I wish he were right. I saw her collapse."
"Wesley, for all you know, she could have fainted. A disrupter typically... doesn't leave a body." Beverly's eyes gleamed with hope. "Guinan felt the creature again."
The creature sat up. "She did? When?"
"When you beamed aboard. We're fairly certain that wasn't Robin at all. The only problem is, Wes, the creature's still here."
The creature felt a small wave of ice cold panic, then let it go. For a moment, it was afraid she knew it was the creature she was speaking to. "Where?"
"We don't know. It hasn't appeared to anyone yet."
You don't say, it thought wryly.
Beverly continued, "But the children could have lead you to believe that Robin was dead and sent you back here with the creature. That's why she didn't show up on my tricorder and that's why we couldn't transport her," Beverly thumped her open palm on Wesley's bed for emphasis.
"Then Robin's not dead?"
"I don't believe so, no." Beverly's tone lowered, "What happened over on the Neverland? Wes, it's imperative you tell me everything."
Great. "They didn't keep us together. I don't know what happened to her. With me, they took me to some quarters and locked me in there. I tried to escape and they stunned me with a phaser. I was out for hours, much longer than I should have been out. When I woke up, they made me and Robin try to rip a hole in time to change the past for some reason. They had a telepath who helped, created like a Vulcan Mind Melt sort of thing between us. But it didn't work. They stunned us both again and next thing I knew, they told me we were going back. ...and then they handed me Robin's body.
"But now, if it wasn't Robin's body, then she's still over there! I've got to get to the bridge!"
The creature jumped to its feet. Since they had figured its plan out, its next best plan would be to get itself onto the bridge of this ship, where it could do a little damage.
But the creature felt like the living dead. It was so tired and dizzy and disoriented, as if it had contracted what Humans got from time to time: the flu. It didn't understand why it wasn't allowed to just blow up the entire ship and be done with it!
Beverly followed it out to the frontroom. "Wes, I don't think you're in any condition to be involved in this--"
"I'm fine."
"Captain Picard can handle this."
"Not without me."
"Wesley!" Beverly snagged the creature by the back of the shirt. "Sit down!" she lead it back to the sofa. "You're not going anywhere until I come back with a tricorder and a hypo. Understood?"
"But--"
"Ensign Crusher, that is an order from the Chief Medical Officer! Now, am I understood?"
"Understood," the creature sighed.
Beverly nodded in satisfaction, then left. Not three seconds later the creature left, headed for the bridge.
* * *
"Captain?" the creature stood at the lower edge of the aft ramp, awaiting permission to take its post. "I can help now. I want to take my post."
Billy Nolan stood up and stepped away from the Conn a little too quickly. Picard stared at Crusher for a long moment.
"Has Doctor Crusher seen to you?"
"Yes, sir."
Another long pause. "All right, then. Mister Nolan, relinquish Conn to--" Picard noticed that Ensign Nolan was already up and at aft engineering. By the time Picard turned back around to face front, Wesley was in his chair at Conn and punching away at the console.
Youth.
Then Wesley paused in his routine checks and sighed.
"Mister Crusher? Are you quite all right?"
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."
Picard waited a moment, then nodded to himself. "I need that report from you now, ensign, but first... We're going to play a bit of Hide and Seek. We'll do a quick warp jump, not out of sensor range, just far enough for them to think we're evading them. Then we'll see what they do. If they begin to leave, we'll follow at a distance. If they stay, we'll wait for them to drop shields and we'll scan for Ensign Wallace's life signs. A ship that large, shields have to be a huge strain on their energy. Mister Data?"
"I have found a planet with enough electromagnetic instability to cloak our presence, captain. If we place the Enterprise near enough to or behind this planet, I do not believe the Neverland would be able to detect our presence."
"Mister Crusher, do you see the planet to which Mister Data refers?"
"Yes, sir." Feeling a little dizzy...
"Very well. Set a course, ensign."
The creature tabbed at the console, then sat still, waiting.
"Mister Crusher?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Is the course laid in?"
"Oh, um... yes, sir."
"When were you going to tell me about it?"
"Sorry, sir. Course laid in. Sir." The creature initiated the course.
"All stop, Mister Data," Picard said hastily. Then he turned back to the creature and blinked, almost disbelieving what was happening. "You may recall, Mister Crusher, that it is customary for me to give the command before you engage our engines."
Billy Nolan could be heard smothering a snicker from the aft engineering station of the bridge, and Worf fixed him with a paralyzing glare.
"I'm sorry, sir?" the creature hadn't seemed to have heard. It was so difficult to concentrate, everything was so confusing, and everyone sounded so far away and unreal.
"Mister Nolan, take the Conn from Mister Crusher," Picard ordered. The creature rose slowly and allowed Billy Nolan to take its place at the Helm.
"Now I know there's something wrong," Picard stood up. "That's the first time I've ever seen you willingly give up the Helm, Mister Crusher."
"I guess..." the creature stood on unsteady feet, "I'm not feeling... too well, sir..."
Its knees suddenly buckled and it fainted, landing on the floor between Conn and Ops.
Picard and Troi rushed to the creature's side.
* * *
Wesley awoke in tiny quarters aboard the Neverland. The only thing in the room was the bed he was lying on. The only light was from the starfield. At least he had a window.
He sat up and instantly gripped his forehead with his right hand. There was that incredible post-stun headache again. Squinting against the pain, he stood and walked to the window to search for a glimpse of the Enterprise. He saw nothing but stars and space. Could they really have fallen for the creature's sketchy (at best) imitation of himself? How long before they realized they were still missing? How long would they still be missing? And he couldn't help but wonder why the Neverland hadn't fired on the Enterprise yet. There must be something they still need from them.
"Computer."
Nothing. Well, it was worth the try. There were no panels anywhere. After almost three solid minutes with no ideas for escape, Wes decided to try to pry the doors open with his bare hands. Not that expected to succeed, but he had to try something. He reached his hands out to the door and a forcefield sparkled and zapped him.
"Ow!" he clutched his hands together, trying to nullify the electric- like shock, and staggered back from the door. This could quickly drive me crazy, he thought, I can't even try what I know won't work.
Well, they couldn't keep him in here forever. But until they came for him, there was nothing he could do.
He lay on the bed thinking. He wasn't exactly planning anything, but he couldn't stop his mind. He thought about his mother, about Captain Picard, the Academy, and Robin... He thought about Robin for a long time, and it inevitably led him back to the fact that she was imprisoned beyond his ability to help her, and that thought was depressing.
The doors slid open.
Wes leaped to his feet. It was Kaelha. The doors closed instantly behind her.
"How much longer are you going to keep me here?" he demanded.
"By 'here,' do you mean in this room or on this ship?"
"I'm currently accepting answers for both."
"You'll be here in this room until the morning, when we'll try your parlor trick again."
Wes's sigh was more of a growl. "I'm getting bored with this. It's pointless. Pointless and futile. I want out of this place, with Robin, now." Wes was almost at the point of violence, but his mind realized that he couldn't fight his way past her with the doors closed again. He'd just be stuck in a room with a hurt and angry hostile enemy.
"I don't think I've made myself clear. You don't get to leave. You don't get to see your friend. You don't get to play with the computer. You're stuck here."
"You don't think I'll succeed any more than I do."
"No, ensign, I do believe you'll succeed. I must believe that."
"So then you're only believing it because you want it to be true!" Wesley calmed himself. "Why did you bring me here, Kaelha?"
Kaelha sighed. She turned her back to him and slowly paced the room. "Look at me. I'm a fifty-four year old woman literally trapped in a sixteen year old body. I'll be this way forever. Forever, ensign. Can you imagine? There's nothing for me to look forward to anymore. There's nothing for me to work towards, nowhere to go, no goals that are achievable. I'm not happy anymore. I haven't been for a long while. None of us really are."
"Which part refers to why I'm here?" he wasn't falling for the pity routine again.
"All of it. We had no idea you'd be on the Enterprise. We only wanted them to--" she caught herself. Wes raised an eyebrow. Whatever information she didn't give could be important to him. He'd have to find it out sooner or later. Kaelha continued, "Anyway, you gave us new hope. We thought you had the power to change what had happened. To save us from this fate."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"You haven't yet. I haven't given up. I can't give up yet. Besides..." Kaelha lowered her eyes.
Wes waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, he prompted her. "Besides what?"
"I used to be like you. Young and starry-eyed, ready to go where no one had gone before, just for the sake of doing it. I had goals, dreams, and I was passionate about them. I had a long and promising future and I was anxious for it to begin. Of all these things that have died in me, I mourn hope the most."
"And?"
"I... I don't know. I guess it's just that... I thought that I could be like you again, like I used to be. I thought that would make me happy."
"Hmph," Wes folded his arms across his chest, waiting for a better reason.
"Generally, my race is fairly long-lived. In your measure of time, we'd live to be about 175 years old. Except now, we'll live forever with nothing to live for. We can marry, but we can't procreate -- the contaminants took that ability from us, too. And that's what it's all for, isn't it? A better world for our children? Eternal youth, huh. People are always looking for it, but believe me they're lucky they never get it. I... I know it sounds silly, but..." Kaelha smiled shyly, "but the biggest part of my dream was to have children, to create life and help it grow." She looked up at him. "Briyen. He's fifteen. He's about the age of a son I might have now, if I were able to."
"How old is Briyen?" Wes asked softly.
"Fifteen," Kaelha repeated without heat.
"No, I mean how old is he really?" Wes added it up quickly in his head. "Fifty-two?"
"He's really fifteen. He's a Human. He wasn't there when all this happened to us."
"But... he's your first officer," Wes continued.
Kaelha looked meaningfully at him. "For the same reason you would have been my first officer."
Wesley's eyebrows went up in surprise. "You kidnapped him?"
Kaelha laughed. "No. I saved him. He doesn't have a ship or a crew or a captain or a family or home. He was a prisoner on a Ferengi ship. He was more than happy to escape and be with someone who loved him."
"But you didn't love him. You don't love him, do you?"
Kaelha turned away again.
"You're just trying to put meaning back into your life."
"Is that so wrong?"
"Yes!"
"What's wrong with saving someone and giving them a home, a job, friends?"
"Has he ever been allowed to leave the ship?"
"He doesn't want to."
"Has he ever asked to leave the ship?"
Kaelha sighed and shook her head. "He was only twelve when we found him. He wanted to strike out on his own, but he never would have survived. He was just a child. But he realizes that now. He has nowhere else to go."
"That's ridiculous. He has thousands of options." Wesley's voice was getting louder and louder. He advanced on her a couple of steps and she was getting defensive. "If he thinks he has nowhere else to go, it's because you've scared him so badly that he thinks he has no choice. Did you ever ask him where he's been before here? Maybe he's survived on his own for years! Did you ever think that? Maybe he thinks his only choices are to be miserable here or even more miserable somewhere else!"
"Being here with me is not miserable!"
"I'm sure it wouldn't be if you would just allow people to be with you rather than forcing them to stay."
"I don't force people to do anything!"
Wes's eyes narrowed in disbelief and he held out his arms as if to ask, then what am I doing here?
"Well, except for you and Robin, but there's a good reason for that, and I've explained it countless times."
"You don't think Briyen feels forced to stay here?"
"No! Briyen thinks he's as much of a survivor as I am, but he forgets that I'm almost four times his age. He thinks that if I can do it, he can do it. But that's not true."
"You have people aboard who are fourteen, thirteen, twelve. They were that age when this tragedy happened to your planet. They survived! Why is Briyen any less?"
"Because without me, he's alone! He can't survive alone! For his own sake, I had to make him realize that."
"You mean you broke his spirit. You tormented him into submission."
Kaelha slapped him. Hard. His head snapped to the right and his cheek stung.
He turned his head back to glare at her. She could see her handprint on his face even in the dim lighting. She began to feel remorse for striking him, then brushed those feelings aside. He had pushed her too far.
But she couldn't help but know that she had pushed him way too far as well. There was fire in his eyes and he wasn't exhaling.
Wes spoke slowly, trying not to explode with rage. "In years on the Enterprise, I've encountered hundreds of races, races that kill because they're curious about death, races that toy with us for amusement, races that believe fighting is the only way to solve things, races that carry feuds for hundreds of years until they've forgotten the reason for it. Even races that torture and torment people just because they're different. But you-- you know better, and you torture people anyway. You are the most malicious, self-absorbed, uncaring creature I've ever met."
"Am I?" there was a dare in her voice. "Only a fool would be injured by your words," she said, almost as if she were trying to convince herself.
Wes clenched and released his fists, almost frightening himself with his desire to strike this girl. Seeing his fury, Kaelha took a step back, startled. She touched her comm badge. "Security."
Good, let her call them here, he thought. At least then I won't be alone with her anymore.
Kaelha ran her fingers into her hair and mussed it up. She untucked one corner of her uniform top and tore the seam at her shoulder. She even stretched out the neckline.
Wesley stood gaping at her, baffled. What is she doing? It looks like she's been attacked or something--
Oh my god, she's going to--
Two armed security officers rushed in went straight to Kaehla, whose demeanour had changed completely.
"H-he... He tried to... to...." she whimpered, breathless.
"WHAT!" Wesley gasped.
"I couldn't stop him... he's... he's too strong," Kaelha had a distinctly pitiful look on her face.
"I didn't touch her!" Wes struggled in vain to pull free from the guard trying to bind his hands behind his back.
"And I suppose she did this to herself," one guard mocked.
"She did!" he argued, aware of how ridiculous it sounded. If they even bothered to question the exact occurrences, no one was going to check the evidence against a prisoner to accuse their captain.
"Sure," the guard sounded bored, "and I've got a tribble in my pocket."
"It wouldn't shock me," Wes muttered as they shoved him into the corridor. He didn't even bother to struggle anymore. His hands were locked behind his back and he was being prodded forward at every other step. Well, at least in the brig I'll be a little closer to Robin.
* * *
"How long has he been like this?" Beverly ran to her son, who was lying on the floor of the bridge between Conn and Ops. She skidded to her knees beside him and opened a tricorder.
"Just a few minutes," Riker answered. Riker had turned the boy flat on his back so he could breathe properly, and done what he could to make sure he was all right until Doctor Crusher could get here. Which really wasn't much. This wasn't a normal faint. His pulse and heart rate were perfectly normal, as was his breathing. All these should be slower in an unconscious person. And he was neither pale nor flushed. This was more like a trance than a swoon.
She sighed and shook her head as she programmed her tricorder. "I told him to stay put until I could get back to him with some med equipment. He hasn't let me look at him yet."
Picard blinked. "He told me you had." Wesley Crusher had never lied to him before.
Beverly scanned him up and down as Picard and Riker took a step back to give her room. She looked puzzled and shook the tricorder, then flipped it closed for a moment.
"Wes?" she shook his shoulders. No response. She held her wrist against his forehead. Body temperature was normal. "Wes, can you hear me?" She pressed two fingers against his neck and gasped in fear.
She looked up at the captain. "I'm not getting a pulse." She checked at his wrist and his heart. No beating at all.
"Not even on the tricorder?" the captain asked.
"The tricorder shows nothing," she flipped it open and scanned him once more.
"No vital signs?" the captain was dreading pronouncing the boy dead.
"Nothing at all. Like he's not even here. It's the same as when we scanned Robin..." Beverly suddenly realized what was going on here. This was not her son.
"The creature," Riker muttered.
The form of Wesley Crusher flickered and faded from existence.
Picard was instantaneous action. "Mister Nolan, take us back to the Neverland. Mister Worf, begin hailing them as soon as we're in range. Call me when you get an answer." Picard strode into his ready room. He wasn't able to face Beverly just now. He had plans to make, problems to solve. He could deal with emotions later. By then, hopefully his two junior officers would be back, and there would be no need to deal with emotions.
Beverly finally stood, aware that Will Riker had not moved and was still staring at her. His eyes would follow her, making certain she was all right, until she was no longer visible. She hastened her exit, walking with as much purpose as she could muster, to more quickly relieve the need for Riker's continued attention. The turbolift doors hissed closed.
Riker turned and sat down, unable to take a deep breath just yet.
* * *
The security guards released Wes's hands and flung him onto the floor of the darkened cell. They raised the forcefield and left.
With the sound of his impact on the floor, something moved inside the cell. Apprehensive, Wes pulled himself slowly up to his knees. Robin had just jumped off the bed and dropped to her knees beside him.
"Wes!" she cried and flung her arms around his neck. For a moment, they just clung to each other. When they finally released each other, Wesley was still gripping both her hands. A little too tightly, but she didn't care.
"I was so afraid they were going to kill you-- What did they do to you?" his eyebrows drew up in concern as he inspected her quickly for damage.
"Well, nothing, really. Stunned me a couple of times when I tried to escape -- once in Engineering, and once in that room with you. But nothing more than that."
"Yeah, they're a little trigger-happy with the stun setting. Where have you been?"
"Here. As soon as they took me from the transporter room, I escaped. I found a Jefferies tube and Main Engineering. Boy, was I in the wrong place! But they caught up with me and put me in here. And the only time they brought me out was a few hours ago when they sent the creature back to the Enterprise as us. What about you, do you know anything? Where's our ship? Do they really think those things are us?"
"I don't know. I woke up in bare quarters. Couldn't even get the computer to bring up the lights. From the direction I was facing, I couldn't see the Enterprise out the window, but I was facing kind of forward and I would assume they were behind us."
"Quarters?" Robin gaped. "Windows? How come you're getting the ambassador treatment?"
He shrugged. "Maybe because they think I can alter their past and give them a better future."
"Can you?"
"No!" Wes said, a bit more loudly than he'd intended. "Come on, Robin, not you too!"
"I know, but I had to check. One can never be too sure of your limitations, Wes Crusher, if you have any at all," she joked.
"And I could be wrong, because I'm clueless about this stuff, but," Wes hesitated and grimaced. "I guess Kaelha sort of... likes me or something."
"Yeah? Well the line forms to the left, behind me," her smirk curled up one corner of her mouth.
Wes didn't smile back. For a long moment he studied all the feelings of which Robin's expression spoke: the anger and fear, concern and hope. Then he quickly hugged her, holding her tight. He whispered, "I got you into this, and I promise I'll get you out."
"Just tell me one thing," she whispered back. "Does this sort of thing happen to you all the time?"
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Responses to Reviews:
DB: Just when I thought you couldn't get any more effusively appreciative! Thanks, wow. er, I don't know how to respond to that!
Kristy Marie: Thanks again, hopefully it keeps up with the expectations!
DB: Sorry to have gotten you in trouble in the computer lab!
Kellyc: Merci!
Snowy1909: Thank you! You're rather eloquent yourself ;) Overall, I'm very glad I managed to hook a few people, despite the Wesleycentric plot, which, so far, has avoided alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die flames... *crosses fingers, pets visiting plot bunny*
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Chapter 23
The door to Wesley Crusher's bedroom hissed open and Beverly Crusher stepped through. The creature was lying on Wes's bed, an arm draped across its eyes to block out all light.
"Wes?" she whispered.
It moved the arm over its eyes up to its forehead and squinted at the person who'd interrupted its sleep.
Oh no. The doctor again.
"Hi, Mom," it said weakly.
Beverly sat down on the edge of his bed. She was not wearing a labcoat, therefore, mercifully, she did not have a tricorder in her pocket.
"Are you okay?" she asked, touching its forehead and cheeks. It felt normal, no fever.
"Fine, Mom."
"You know, the captain believes that Robin isn't dead."
"I know, but he's wrong. I wish he were right. I saw her collapse."
"Wesley, for all you know, she could have fainted. A disrupter typically... doesn't leave a body." Beverly's eyes gleamed with hope. "Guinan felt the creature again."
The creature sat up. "She did? When?"
"When you beamed aboard. We're fairly certain that wasn't Robin at all. The only problem is, Wes, the creature's still here."
The creature felt a small wave of ice cold panic, then let it go. For a moment, it was afraid she knew it was the creature she was speaking to. "Where?"
"We don't know. It hasn't appeared to anyone yet."
You don't say, it thought wryly.
Beverly continued, "But the children could have lead you to believe that Robin was dead and sent you back here with the creature. That's why she didn't show up on my tricorder and that's why we couldn't transport her," Beverly thumped her open palm on Wesley's bed for emphasis.
"Then Robin's not dead?"
"I don't believe so, no." Beverly's tone lowered, "What happened over on the Neverland? Wes, it's imperative you tell me everything."
Great. "They didn't keep us together. I don't know what happened to her. With me, they took me to some quarters and locked me in there. I tried to escape and they stunned me with a phaser. I was out for hours, much longer than I should have been out. When I woke up, they made me and Robin try to rip a hole in time to change the past for some reason. They had a telepath who helped, created like a Vulcan Mind Melt sort of thing between us. But it didn't work. They stunned us both again and next thing I knew, they told me we were going back. ...and then they handed me Robin's body.
"But now, if it wasn't Robin's body, then she's still over there! I've got to get to the bridge!"
The creature jumped to its feet. Since they had figured its plan out, its next best plan would be to get itself onto the bridge of this ship, where it could do a little damage.
But the creature felt like the living dead. It was so tired and dizzy and disoriented, as if it had contracted what Humans got from time to time: the flu. It didn't understand why it wasn't allowed to just blow up the entire ship and be done with it!
Beverly followed it out to the frontroom. "Wes, I don't think you're in any condition to be involved in this--"
"I'm fine."
"Captain Picard can handle this."
"Not without me."
"Wesley!" Beverly snagged the creature by the back of the shirt. "Sit down!" she lead it back to the sofa. "You're not going anywhere until I come back with a tricorder and a hypo. Understood?"
"But--"
"Ensign Crusher, that is an order from the Chief Medical Officer! Now, am I understood?"
"Understood," the creature sighed.
Beverly nodded in satisfaction, then left. Not three seconds later the creature left, headed for the bridge.
* * *
"Captain?" the creature stood at the lower edge of the aft ramp, awaiting permission to take its post. "I can help now. I want to take my post."
Billy Nolan stood up and stepped away from the Conn a little too quickly. Picard stared at Crusher for a long moment.
"Has Doctor Crusher seen to you?"
"Yes, sir."
Another long pause. "All right, then. Mister Nolan, relinquish Conn to--" Picard noticed that Ensign Nolan was already up and at aft engineering. By the time Picard turned back around to face front, Wesley was in his chair at Conn and punching away at the console.
Youth.
Then Wesley paused in his routine checks and sighed.
"Mister Crusher? Are you quite all right?"
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."
Picard waited a moment, then nodded to himself. "I need that report from you now, ensign, but first... We're going to play a bit of Hide and Seek. We'll do a quick warp jump, not out of sensor range, just far enough for them to think we're evading them. Then we'll see what they do. If they begin to leave, we'll follow at a distance. If they stay, we'll wait for them to drop shields and we'll scan for Ensign Wallace's life signs. A ship that large, shields have to be a huge strain on their energy. Mister Data?"
"I have found a planet with enough electromagnetic instability to cloak our presence, captain. If we place the Enterprise near enough to or behind this planet, I do not believe the Neverland would be able to detect our presence."
"Mister Crusher, do you see the planet to which Mister Data refers?"
"Yes, sir." Feeling a little dizzy...
"Very well. Set a course, ensign."
The creature tabbed at the console, then sat still, waiting.
"Mister Crusher?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Is the course laid in?"
"Oh, um... yes, sir."
"When were you going to tell me about it?"
"Sorry, sir. Course laid in. Sir." The creature initiated the course.
"All stop, Mister Data," Picard said hastily. Then he turned back to the creature and blinked, almost disbelieving what was happening. "You may recall, Mister Crusher, that it is customary for me to give the command before you engage our engines."
Billy Nolan could be heard smothering a snicker from the aft engineering station of the bridge, and Worf fixed him with a paralyzing glare.
"I'm sorry, sir?" the creature hadn't seemed to have heard. It was so difficult to concentrate, everything was so confusing, and everyone sounded so far away and unreal.
"Mister Nolan, take the Conn from Mister Crusher," Picard ordered. The creature rose slowly and allowed Billy Nolan to take its place at the Helm.
"Now I know there's something wrong," Picard stood up. "That's the first time I've ever seen you willingly give up the Helm, Mister Crusher."
"I guess..." the creature stood on unsteady feet, "I'm not feeling... too well, sir..."
Its knees suddenly buckled and it fainted, landing on the floor between Conn and Ops.
Picard and Troi rushed to the creature's side.
* * *
Wesley awoke in tiny quarters aboard the Neverland. The only thing in the room was the bed he was lying on. The only light was from the starfield. At least he had a window.
He sat up and instantly gripped his forehead with his right hand. There was that incredible post-stun headache again. Squinting against the pain, he stood and walked to the window to search for a glimpse of the Enterprise. He saw nothing but stars and space. Could they really have fallen for the creature's sketchy (at best) imitation of himself? How long before they realized they were still missing? How long would they still be missing? And he couldn't help but wonder why the Neverland hadn't fired on the Enterprise yet. There must be something they still need from them.
"Computer."
Nothing. Well, it was worth the try. There were no panels anywhere. After almost three solid minutes with no ideas for escape, Wes decided to try to pry the doors open with his bare hands. Not that expected to succeed, but he had to try something. He reached his hands out to the door and a forcefield sparkled and zapped him.
"Ow!" he clutched his hands together, trying to nullify the electric- like shock, and staggered back from the door. This could quickly drive me crazy, he thought, I can't even try what I know won't work.
Well, they couldn't keep him in here forever. But until they came for him, there was nothing he could do.
He lay on the bed thinking. He wasn't exactly planning anything, but he couldn't stop his mind. He thought about his mother, about Captain Picard, the Academy, and Robin... He thought about Robin for a long time, and it inevitably led him back to the fact that she was imprisoned beyond his ability to help her, and that thought was depressing.
The doors slid open.
Wes leaped to his feet. It was Kaelha. The doors closed instantly behind her.
"How much longer are you going to keep me here?" he demanded.
"By 'here,' do you mean in this room or on this ship?"
"I'm currently accepting answers for both."
"You'll be here in this room until the morning, when we'll try your parlor trick again."
Wes's sigh was more of a growl. "I'm getting bored with this. It's pointless. Pointless and futile. I want out of this place, with Robin, now." Wes was almost at the point of violence, but his mind realized that he couldn't fight his way past her with the doors closed again. He'd just be stuck in a room with a hurt and angry hostile enemy.
"I don't think I've made myself clear. You don't get to leave. You don't get to see your friend. You don't get to play with the computer. You're stuck here."
"You don't think I'll succeed any more than I do."
"No, ensign, I do believe you'll succeed. I must believe that."
"So then you're only believing it because you want it to be true!" Wesley calmed himself. "Why did you bring me here, Kaelha?"
Kaelha sighed. She turned her back to him and slowly paced the room. "Look at me. I'm a fifty-four year old woman literally trapped in a sixteen year old body. I'll be this way forever. Forever, ensign. Can you imagine? There's nothing for me to look forward to anymore. There's nothing for me to work towards, nowhere to go, no goals that are achievable. I'm not happy anymore. I haven't been for a long while. None of us really are."
"Which part refers to why I'm here?" he wasn't falling for the pity routine again.
"All of it. We had no idea you'd be on the Enterprise. We only wanted them to--" she caught herself. Wes raised an eyebrow. Whatever information she didn't give could be important to him. He'd have to find it out sooner or later. Kaelha continued, "Anyway, you gave us new hope. We thought you had the power to change what had happened. To save us from this fate."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"You haven't yet. I haven't given up. I can't give up yet. Besides..." Kaelha lowered her eyes.
Wes waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, he prompted her. "Besides what?"
"I used to be like you. Young and starry-eyed, ready to go where no one had gone before, just for the sake of doing it. I had goals, dreams, and I was passionate about them. I had a long and promising future and I was anxious for it to begin. Of all these things that have died in me, I mourn hope the most."
"And?"
"I... I don't know. I guess it's just that... I thought that I could be like you again, like I used to be. I thought that would make me happy."
"Hmph," Wes folded his arms across his chest, waiting for a better reason.
"Generally, my race is fairly long-lived. In your measure of time, we'd live to be about 175 years old. Except now, we'll live forever with nothing to live for. We can marry, but we can't procreate -- the contaminants took that ability from us, too. And that's what it's all for, isn't it? A better world for our children? Eternal youth, huh. People are always looking for it, but believe me they're lucky they never get it. I... I know it sounds silly, but..." Kaelha smiled shyly, "but the biggest part of my dream was to have children, to create life and help it grow." She looked up at him. "Briyen. He's fifteen. He's about the age of a son I might have now, if I were able to."
"How old is Briyen?" Wes asked softly.
"Fifteen," Kaelha repeated without heat.
"No, I mean how old is he really?" Wes added it up quickly in his head. "Fifty-two?"
"He's really fifteen. He's a Human. He wasn't there when all this happened to us."
"But... he's your first officer," Wes continued.
Kaelha looked meaningfully at him. "For the same reason you would have been my first officer."
Wesley's eyebrows went up in surprise. "You kidnapped him?"
Kaelha laughed. "No. I saved him. He doesn't have a ship or a crew or a captain or a family or home. He was a prisoner on a Ferengi ship. He was more than happy to escape and be with someone who loved him."
"But you didn't love him. You don't love him, do you?"
Kaelha turned away again.
"You're just trying to put meaning back into your life."
"Is that so wrong?"
"Yes!"
"What's wrong with saving someone and giving them a home, a job, friends?"
"Has he ever been allowed to leave the ship?"
"He doesn't want to."
"Has he ever asked to leave the ship?"
Kaelha sighed and shook her head. "He was only twelve when we found him. He wanted to strike out on his own, but he never would have survived. He was just a child. But he realizes that now. He has nowhere else to go."
"That's ridiculous. He has thousands of options." Wesley's voice was getting louder and louder. He advanced on her a couple of steps and she was getting defensive. "If he thinks he has nowhere else to go, it's because you've scared him so badly that he thinks he has no choice. Did you ever ask him where he's been before here? Maybe he's survived on his own for years! Did you ever think that? Maybe he thinks his only choices are to be miserable here or even more miserable somewhere else!"
"Being here with me is not miserable!"
"I'm sure it wouldn't be if you would just allow people to be with you rather than forcing them to stay."
"I don't force people to do anything!"
Wes's eyes narrowed in disbelief and he held out his arms as if to ask, then what am I doing here?
"Well, except for you and Robin, but there's a good reason for that, and I've explained it countless times."
"You don't think Briyen feels forced to stay here?"
"No! Briyen thinks he's as much of a survivor as I am, but he forgets that I'm almost four times his age. He thinks that if I can do it, he can do it. But that's not true."
"You have people aboard who are fourteen, thirteen, twelve. They were that age when this tragedy happened to your planet. They survived! Why is Briyen any less?"
"Because without me, he's alone! He can't survive alone! For his own sake, I had to make him realize that."
"You mean you broke his spirit. You tormented him into submission."
Kaelha slapped him. Hard. His head snapped to the right and his cheek stung.
He turned his head back to glare at her. She could see her handprint on his face even in the dim lighting. She began to feel remorse for striking him, then brushed those feelings aside. He had pushed her too far.
But she couldn't help but know that she had pushed him way too far as well. There was fire in his eyes and he wasn't exhaling.
Wes spoke slowly, trying not to explode with rage. "In years on the Enterprise, I've encountered hundreds of races, races that kill because they're curious about death, races that toy with us for amusement, races that believe fighting is the only way to solve things, races that carry feuds for hundreds of years until they've forgotten the reason for it. Even races that torture and torment people just because they're different. But you-- you know better, and you torture people anyway. You are the most malicious, self-absorbed, uncaring creature I've ever met."
"Am I?" there was a dare in her voice. "Only a fool would be injured by your words," she said, almost as if she were trying to convince herself.
Wes clenched and released his fists, almost frightening himself with his desire to strike this girl. Seeing his fury, Kaelha took a step back, startled. She touched her comm badge. "Security."
Good, let her call them here, he thought. At least then I won't be alone with her anymore.
Kaelha ran her fingers into her hair and mussed it up. She untucked one corner of her uniform top and tore the seam at her shoulder. She even stretched out the neckline.
Wesley stood gaping at her, baffled. What is she doing? It looks like she's been attacked or something--
Oh my god, she's going to--
Two armed security officers rushed in went straight to Kaehla, whose demeanour had changed completely.
"H-he... He tried to... to...." she whimpered, breathless.
"WHAT!" Wesley gasped.
"I couldn't stop him... he's... he's too strong," Kaelha had a distinctly pitiful look on her face.
"I didn't touch her!" Wes struggled in vain to pull free from the guard trying to bind his hands behind his back.
"And I suppose she did this to herself," one guard mocked.
"She did!" he argued, aware of how ridiculous it sounded. If they even bothered to question the exact occurrences, no one was going to check the evidence against a prisoner to accuse their captain.
"Sure," the guard sounded bored, "and I've got a tribble in my pocket."
"It wouldn't shock me," Wes muttered as they shoved him into the corridor. He didn't even bother to struggle anymore. His hands were locked behind his back and he was being prodded forward at every other step. Well, at least in the brig I'll be a little closer to Robin.
* * *
"How long has he been like this?" Beverly ran to her son, who was lying on the floor of the bridge between Conn and Ops. She skidded to her knees beside him and opened a tricorder.
"Just a few minutes," Riker answered. Riker had turned the boy flat on his back so he could breathe properly, and done what he could to make sure he was all right until Doctor Crusher could get here. Which really wasn't much. This wasn't a normal faint. His pulse and heart rate were perfectly normal, as was his breathing. All these should be slower in an unconscious person. And he was neither pale nor flushed. This was more like a trance than a swoon.
She sighed and shook her head as she programmed her tricorder. "I told him to stay put until I could get back to him with some med equipment. He hasn't let me look at him yet."
Picard blinked. "He told me you had." Wesley Crusher had never lied to him before.
Beverly scanned him up and down as Picard and Riker took a step back to give her room. She looked puzzled and shook the tricorder, then flipped it closed for a moment.
"Wes?" she shook his shoulders. No response. She held her wrist against his forehead. Body temperature was normal. "Wes, can you hear me?" She pressed two fingers against his neck and gasped in fear.
She looked up at the captain. "I'm not getting a pulse." She checked at his wrist and his heart. No beating at all.
"Not even on the tricorder?" the captain asked.
"The tricorder shows nothing," she flipped it open and scanned him once more.
"No vital signs?" the captain was dreading pronouncing the boy dead.
"Nothing at all. Like he's not even here. It's the same as when we scanned Robin..." Beverly suddenly realized what was going on here. This was not her son.
"The creature," Riker muttered.
The form of Wesley Crusher flickered and faded from existence.
Picard was instantaneous action. "Mister Nolan, take us back to the Neverland. Mister Worf, begin hailing them as soon as we're in range. Call me when you get an answer." Picard strode into his ready room. He wasn't able to face Beverly just now. He had plans to make, problems to solve. He could deal with emotions later. By then, hopefully his two junior officers would be back, and there would be no need to deal with emotions.
Beverly finally stood, aware that Will Riker had not moved and was still staring at her. His eyes would follow her, making certain she was all right, until she was no longer visible. She hastened her exit, walking with as much purpose as she could muster, to more quickly relieve the need for Riker's continued attention. The turbolift doors hissed closed.
Riker turned and sat down, unable to take a deep breath just yet.
* * *
The security guards released Wes's hands and flung him onto the floor of the darkened cell. They raised the forcefield and left.
With the sound of his impact on the floor, something moved inside the cell. Apprehensive, Wes pulled himself slowly up to his knees. Robin had just jumped off the bed and dropped to her knees beside him.
"Wes!" she cried and flung her arms around his neck. For a moment, they just clung to each other. When they finally released each other, Wesley was still gripping both her hands. A little too tightly, but she didn't care.
"I was so afraid they were going to kill you-- What did they do to you?" his eyebrows drew up in concern as he inspected her quickly for damage.
"Well, nothing, really. Stunned me a couple of times when I tried to escape -- once in Engineering, and once in that room with you. But nothing more than that."
"Yeah, they're a little trigger-happy with the stun setting. Where have you been?"
"Here. As soon as they took me from the transporter room, I escaped. I found a Jefferies tube and Main Engineering. Boy, was I in the wrong place! But they caught up with me and put me in here. And the only time they brought me out was a few hours ago when they sent the creature back to the Enterprise as us. What about you, do you know anything? Where's our ship? Do they really think those things are us?"
"I don't know. I woke up in bare quarters. Couldn't even get the computer to bring up the lights. From the direction I was facing, I couldn't see the Enterprise out the window, but I was facing kind of forward and I would assume they were behind us."
"Quarters?" Robin gaped. "Windows? How come you're getting the ambassador treatment?"
He shrugged. "Maybe because they think I can alter their past and give them a better future."
"Can you?"
"No!" Wes said, a bit more loudly than he'd intended. "Come on, Robin, not you too!"
"I know, but I had to check. One can never be too sure of your limitations, Wes Crusher, if you have any at all," she joked.
"And I could be wrong, because I'm clueless about this stuff, but," Wes hesitated and grimaced. "I guess Kaelha sort of... likes me or something."
"Yeah? Well the line forms to the left, behind me," her smirk curled up one corner of her mouth.
Wes didn't smile back. For a long moment he studied all the feelings of which Robin's expression spoke: the anger and fear, concern and hope. Then he quickly hugged her, holding her tight. He whispered, "I got you into this, and I promise I'll get you out."
"Just tell me one thing," she whispered back. "Does this sort of thing happen to you all the time?"
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Responses to Reviews:
DB: Just when I thought you couldn't get any more effusively appreciative! Thanks, wow. er, I don't know how to respond to that!
Kristy Marie: Thanks again, hopefully it keeps up with the expectations!
DB: Sorry to have gotten you in trouble in the computer lab!
Kellyc: Merci!
Snowy1909: Thank you! You're rather eloquent yourself ;) Overall, I'm very glad I managed to hook a few people, despite the Wesleycentric plot, which, so far, has avoided alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die flames... *crosses fingers, pets visiting plot bunny*