CHAPTER ONE

STARRING: Gil Bellows, Calista Flockhart, Jane Krakowski, Peter MacNichol and Courtney Thorne Smith

"Star-date 23.9701," Captain Jean-Luc Picard logged into his computer. "Following our mapping of Robinson's Planet, we have been sent to rendezvous with the USS Clairvoyant captained by Charlotte Tilton to pick up and delivery a shipment of Briori relics to DS-9 on our way. The archaeologist who discovered the items will be escorting them. I have also been informed
that the archaeologist seems to be an old friend of my First Officer."

Commander William Riker hastened his step toward the transporter room. He was in good spirits as he momentarily primped and stepped through the sliding doors. Brunette and pretty Lt. Donna Robinson noticed him while she stood ready to transport.

"Energize." Riker motioned. The transporter buffers lit and glowed as a figure appeared before him. Gradually, a transparent figure appeared trapped in the matter stream and become solid before them. A bit short with long brown hair, the archaeologist narrowed her eyes to Riker.

"The artifacts have been beamed directly to cargo bay five." Robinson reported.

"Is that..." The archaeologist mustered a grin. "Baby-face Riker under that beard?"

"Ally," Riker grinned as he greeted and hugged her. His arms went all the way around her thin frame as she kissed him. "No one's called me that in years."

"You look..." Ally bobbed her head. "Handsome."

"Well," Riker took her case as he led the way. "Last time I saw one Ally Collins at the academy, she had quit geo-physics to go into biology."

"No," Ally beamed charismatically. "I left geo-physics for officer's training and then got into biology. I struggled through geology for a while then fell in love with archaeology."

"And how about Brandon Cage?" Riker grinned. "Are you two seeing each other?"

"That's a long time ago." Ally turned the corner with him. "I returned to seeing Derek Thomas and we lost contact when I left for a archaeological site on Vulcan."

"He's back."

"What?"

"He transferred from the Griffin to the Enterprise a few months ago." Riker stopped outside her quarters. "I don't know if he knows you're on board, but once he does, he's going to want to see you. I'll guess I'll have to compete to see you."

"Thanks for the warning." Ally took her travel case back and entered her quarters. "But if he wants to see me, he'll have to make the first move."

"I'm sure..." Riker heard the ship's boatswain whistle.

"Commander Riker, please report to the Bridge." Picard's voice sounded from the intercom system of the ship.

"I've got to go...." He started to turn. "I'm off duty in two hours. Would you care to join me in one of the holo-suites? I've got this program..."

"I'd love to..." She appeared irresistibly enduring as she grinned at him. As he left, she turned to glance out the windows at the stars still in view before the ship started moving again. She gasped, started to turn to her replicator then changed her mind.

"Computer," She replied. "Whereabouts of Lt. Derek Thomas?"

CHAPTER TWO

Ally Collins woke in her quarters and slid out of bed. She was wearing a long diaphanous sheer sleeping gown as she slipped out of bed and glided over to her computer console. Still wiping the sleep from her eyes, she hovered over the replicator.

"Cold orange juice and hot cheese omelet." She told it as it appeared out of pre-set programs. Reaching in and pulling out her breakfast, she savored the taste of replicated food again. The Briori food dispensers were not up to creating the earth dishes she preferred. Their dishes were a bit more spicy and almost entirely from vegetable matter. She hadn't had protein in a long while as she noticed how thin she had become.

"Computer," Ally wandered around her quarters as she ate. "Allison Angelique Collins, messages."

"You have three messages." Rumor had it the computer voice was patterned after a former Enterprise nurse named Christine Chapel.

"Sources?" Ally asked out loud as she ate her breakfast.

"The Archaeological Institute of Martian Colony Five."

"Pass."

"Daniel Jamison Collins."

"My brother?" Ally cringed. "Erase."

"The North American Ancestry Institute of Greater Metropolitan Quebec."

"Audio, please." Ally had finished her omelet and was fishing through her travel case for her spare uniform.

"Ancestry Records for Allison Angelique Collins." The computer continued. "Surname file: Allison Angelique Collins, daughter of Theodore Aloysius Collins, son of Matthew David Collins, son of Barnabas Quentin Collins VI, son of Barnabas Quentin Collins V....."

"Skip to the Twenty-First Century." Ally found her uniform as she shed her gown and dressed as she listened to the mail.

"Barnabas Quentin Collins I," The computer stopped and resumed. "Son of William Barnabas Collins, son of Elaine Renee Collins, daughter of William Benjamin Collins, son of Barnabas Collins, son of...."

"Cease file." Ally only had her bra and underwear on while something didn't sound right from her genealogy. She looked down on the console as she pulled on her pants. "Why isn't there a father for William Barnabas Collins?"

"There is no record of a father for William Barnabas Collins." The computer admitted.

"Had a baby out of wedlock, grandma?" Ally whispered to herself as her eyes drifted up to an image of Elaine's mother on her monitor. "Computer, is this the same Allison Marie McBeal who ratified the McBeal-Tate-Durham Act of 2037?"

"Affirmative."

"Oh my god," Ally grinned to herself. "I do have someone famous in my family tree." The controversial act had changed the criminal law system of the time and nearly dissolved the bail system to keep major criminals from returning into society. Ally McBeal-Collins had even become a Presidential Advisor to President Lamar Alexander because of it and later part of the Supreme Court. Ally stared at her ancestor's name in awe as she pulled on her pants.

"Computer," She continued. "Do we have any visual records of Ally McBeal?"

"We have approximately 11,203 pictures on file plus eleven holo-files on her life."

"I want a video extrapolation of her life." Ally sat and pulled on her shoes. "Download it to the closest holo...." The door chirped. She paused and waited and then wandered over to open it. The opening slid wide as Derek Thomas stood beaming.

"Hi," He held a rose. "Always open the door like this?"

"What?" Ally realized she was still in just her bra. Her eyes rolled embarrassingly as she grabbed the top of her uniform and pulled it on.

"You look great."

"How'd you know I was on board." Ally asked.

"I've been keeping track of you." Derek grinned as handsomely as she remembered. "I've been following you from a far since you left me at Starfleet."

"You've been stalking me!" Ally was upset.

"No," Derek recanted his words. "I've been following your career. I never fell out of love with you. I've been wanting to find you, but duties kept me busy."

"Derek," Ally rolled her eyes. "I've changed. I don't want a guy in my life. I'm happy the way it is."

"You don't mean that." Derek helped her with her uniform as he kissed the back of her neck. "I miss you. A lot. You were my one true love."

"Derek," She stared into his brown eyes. She was falling under their spell all over again as he embraced her. She gasped as his lips met hers.

CHAPTER THREE

Seeing Derek after all this time brought back new feelings in Ally she had tried to forget. Trying to forget the past, she tried to live for the present and that was often burying herself in research both in her work and personal pursuits. Strolling the corridors of Enterprise, she stopped outside of the holo-decks.

"Computer," She announced. "Run McBeal-One."

"Time frame?"

"Uhhhh," Ally thought. "Doesn't matter, early career."

She heard the shifting of gears and machinery humming as the doors opened for her. The first sight she saw was the two names "Cage and Fish" applied to a piece of divider in front of her. She entered into this strange world without Twenty-Fourth Century luxuries and looked around as her entryway closed to shape into elevators. A slight grin came to her lips as she sighted the twenty or so people and wondered who was her much illustrious ancestor. Wandering through unnoticed, she listened to conversations going on of long forgotten court cases and intimate details of other lives.

"Elaine, if I told you before..." a short puckish figure with endearing brown eyes turned to a rapturous blonde in a short skirt. "Stop fixing me up with your close friends."

"John," Elaine grinned as Ally came in close. "You've seen her before. Nita? I thought you liked her."

"I do." John answered. "But her ex-boyfriend doesn't."

"John," Elaine cooed a bit. "What are you? A man or a mouse?"

"Squeak, squeak...." John answered as Ally grinned. Turning away, she felt one of the holo-characters move through her and another one pass in front of her. Invisible to their eyes, she felt like a disembodied spirit as the one named Elaine ecstatically jogged past her. Following her almost as ecstatically, she watched her enter an office with the name Ally McBeal on the door.

"Ally," Elaine spoke. "The files you wanted, your extra paper, I re-scheduled your doctor's appointment, picked up your mail, set your reservations for lunch and why Ally, why? I knew William first! He should have purposed to me!!"

"Elaine," Ally McBeal looked up. "Give it a rest!"

Ally Collins looked at her shock. They looked exactly alike! Same look, same build, same hair! Slightly dropping her jaw, she leaned across the desk and studied her a bit closer. She felt as if she was looking in a mirror as her ancestor bickered with her assistant.

"Ally, " Elaine continued. "You could have married any Tom, Dick or Larry. William is my prince charming; the last of the few really decent guys. You took him away from me."

"Elaine," McBeal turned. "Life's unfair. Get used to it."

Ally Collins watched as the vivacious blonde turned in a huff and stormed out. Sitting on her ancestor's desk, she turned to her distant relative and marveled over her.

"Hi grandma," She talked to the image oblivious to her presence. "I wish this was of any good, but your husband and his cousin get murdered by an unidentified intruder." She continued watching McBeal writing at her desk. "I can't believe we look so much alike, but then, the Collins genes have always had a particular strength." She quoted her ancestors. She heard another noise and looked up. It looked like Derek!!

"Ally," He spoke. "The data for the Roddenberry Case. I can sit second chair if you like. I've been through this before."

"Thanks, Billy, I could use that."

"Computer, freeze program." Ally Collins requested. She stood up to the person called Billy and walked around him. He looked just like her Derek! She stared at him in disbelief. "Computer, identify this figure."

"William Alan Thomas." The computer began. "Born August 7, 1970 in Washington D.C., he was a childhood friend and later law partner of Ally Marie McBeal. He died in...."

"Cease profile." Ally was more fascinated with him than her ancestor. "Any relation to Lieutenant Derek William Thomas?"

"Affirmative." The computer finally answered after a brief cursory search of records. Ally looked upon Derek's ancestor with stunned awe then back upon her ancestor.

"Were they ever intimate?" She wondered.

"I have no knowledge in that area." The computer responded.

"I bet they were." Ally looked at the still frozen images. "I wonder if after all these years some force is still trying to get us together." She looked at the frozen image of Ally McBeal. "What happened to split you two up?" Ally gazed into the mind of Ally McBeal.

CHAPTER FOUR

Lt. Derek Thomas stood in amazement at the image of himself on the holodeck. At first he was thinking it was a hoax, but feelings of surprise and stunned amazement took his breath and voice away. He had a hundred questions as Ally stood grinning at him not far from the image of her own ancestor.

"This is my ancestor?" Derek couldn't believe it.

"Uhhhhhh, no," Ally knew otherwise. "William Thomas's last surviving descendant died in 2215, but Thomas did have a younger brother and he was the father of your branch of the family."

"Our relatives knew each other?" Derek admitted out loud.

"Apparently." Ally confirmed it. "They lived in the same town, they attended the same schools and then separated sometime in their academy years."

"And they were romantically linked?"

"At one time," Ally turned from him. "Computer, run McBeal 3.5." The scenery changed around them and became the surroundings of a college campus exterior in the Twentieth Century as scenes from Ally McBeal-Collins' biography were staged and depicted from photos and records. The people of the campus phased in after the campus as Ally Collins and Lt. Thomas watched
their ancestors strolling hand and hand as if they were in love.

"Freeze program." Ally assumed the role of guide into the past as she walked closer to the images before them. "They attended the same law college, but he left her behind and went to another school."

"Like you did me." Derek stared longingly to her. "And she married someone else and he followed suit to get even."

"No," Collins turned to the holo-images. "You got it backwards. He married first to a Georgia Deanna Harridge and the three of them actually worked together at Cage and Fish for a while, but then something happened. Computer," Ally checked the timing on her tricorder. "Run, McBeal 5.7."

The surrounding images changed again back to the Cage and Fish lobby. Appearing empty and devoid of people, the holo-module entered the people in a few seconds behind. Elaine Vassal appeared again with her arm around a male friend.

"Ally," Elaine spoke. "Meet my pen-pal, William Collins." Collins shook several hands, but was noticeably smitten as he stared into Ally's eyes. She seemed to gasp as well at his appearance.

"Freeze program." Ally Collins instructed. "My ancestor, handsome looking guy, isn't he? He was writer and a parapsychologist back when people believed in such things. It was love at first sight."

"As it was when I first met you." Derek admitted. "Is this your way of saying that four hundred years later, something is trying to fix things by getting us together. That... things won't be right with the universe until a Thomas and a McBeal get married."

"I lied when I said I didn't want a guy in my life." Ally looked into Derek's big brown eyes. "I meant to say, I miss you too." Derek took the tricorder from Ally's hands as he took charge.

"Computer," He replied. "Run Thomas File 5-B." The setting changed into the scene at the hill over looking San Francisco Bay. Ally dropped her jaw as she recognized it. They used to walk the same spot while they were in Starfleet.

"For the date we missed..." He took her hand as she grinned ear to ear.

CHAPTER FIVE

"Enterprise," Security Officer Odo signaled its bridge from the command on Deep Space Nine. "You can dock on Docking Bay Five."

"Docking Bay Five." One of the ensigns on the helm maneuvered the ship.

"Affirmative. We are transporting the Briori relics over to you." "Affirmative."

Lt. Derek Thomas had dismissed Lt. Robinson from transporter duty so that he and Ally could have some privacy. As she left, he and Ally embraced and kissed each other deeply as their souls merged once more. She felt his hands on her waist as he gazed deeply into her eyes.

"Where are you going from here?" He asked her.

"Outpost Twelve." Ally admitted. "Professor Denham has found evidence of ruins closer to the dating of the Guardian of Forever. They could tell us who built it and why."

"You know," Derek grinned like a boy in her presence. "I have liberty in a month. I can try to join you there." The boatswain whistle sounded.

"Lieutenant Thomas," Commander La Forge's voice emanated from the ship. "Your presence is required in Engineering."

"I'm on my way." Derek claimed as Ally kissed him, took her case and stood on one of the transport modules.

"Now," She responded looking back. "Don't do anything stupid like marrying a blonde law student."

"Would I do that?" Derek grinned. "Energizing." He activated the controls as Ally turned transparent in the matter stream and found herself on DS-9. Derek already missed her as Robinson returned to her post and he hurried to Engineering. Geordi was just about to call him
again.

"Derek," La Forge turned to him. "While we're in port, we're going to take the anti-matter valves off system and run some diagnostics through the EPS circuits. I need you to disengage the flex capacitor so we can run some programs without it."

"I'm on it." Derek answered. "But I'll need help. Someone will have to be in the Jeffries tube as I reroute the circuits."

"Not a problem." Geordi gestured to a pretty blonde ensign. "This is Ensign Georgia Carrington from the Griffin. She just transferred here."

"Really," Derek's left eyebrow went up as he gazed upon her. "You don't mind crawling through several feet of Jeffries tubes, do you?"

"Not as long as you're there with me." Georgia grinned adorably as Derek returned the acknowledgement.

END