Ooops I forgot the disclaimer in the first chapter. Well, here's the disclaimer for the story: Obviously I do not own ST:TNG or any of the things or Characters in this story, except for the one that is original, which is Kathren. She is the only thing in this story I own.
Thanks for the reviews guys! Keep them coming! And I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
Chapter 3Two hours later the two ships still sat in space, staring each other down, it seemed. The bridge was silent and tense, as well as Ten-Forward. Several conversations had been started in am attempt to raise the spirits of the occupants of the lounge, but then had been dropped. Guinan had been hovering from table to table, asking if anyone wanted anything and doing her best to cheer up the unusually quiet teenagers, but nothing seemed to work. All seemed to feel that something wasn't right. The usually cheery hostess had eventually become quiet herself.
Something was wrong. Something was about to happen, something bad. She knew it. Everyone wanted this Romulan episode to be over with, but that wasn't about to happen. Normally Ten-Forward would be buzzing with the voices of dozens of people, but not today. Wesley sighed. If any of them were anything besides apprehensive, they were bored.
Suddenly Kathren gasped and jumped to her feet. Throughout the room, other gasps and surprised screams could be heard.
"What?" Wes asked, turning in his seat to look back at the rest of the room. At first he didn't see anything, but after a few seconds he yelped and scrambled out of his set. He backed toward Kathren, his mouth hanging open. "What's going on?!" he cried.
"Captain!" Worf, up on the bridge, said suddenly. "The Romulans are beaming people out of Ten-Forward!"
"Put our shields back up," the captain said immediately. "What were they doing down?"
"They are up sir!" Worf said. "They're beaming through our shields."
"But that's impossible," Picard protested. Jumping to his feet, the captain hurried up the ramp to stand next to the Klingon, looking closely at his board. When he had seen for himself that it was true, he looked down at Will. "Number one, Worf, get down there. Find out what's going on. If this console isn't malfunctioning, and they really have found a way to beam through our shields, than get everyone out of Ten-Forward. Keep them moving once they're out. Maybe that will confuse the Romulans long enough for us to get away."
Will nodded, and he and Worf headed immediately for the turbolift. Then Picard turned back to the command well, where Deanna Troi was the only officer left sitting. The ship's counselor looked particularly upset.
"Counselor?" he asked, concerned.
Deanna sighed and looked over at the captain as he sat down. "Kathren's down there. Beverly must have sent her, and I'm worried about her."
Picard nodded, "Wesley is there as well. For now we can only hope that neither of them have been taken already."
"Well," Kathren said, backing up along with Wes. "Either our shields are down, or the Romulans gave discovered a way to beam through them. I don't like either one."
"I know that! Stupid question! I mean, what are we supposed to do about it?!"
"There's probably nothing we 'can' do," Kathren gulped.
Wesley gulped as well, "Oh boy."
Just then the doors on the other side of the lounge slid open, and everyone else began to stream out. Meanwhile, the third small group of teenagers had been transported from the room, and Wesley and Kathren were becoming genuinely scared.
"Come on," Wesley said, grabbing her hand and hurrying toward the door. By now most of everyone had already gotten out, and they could see the chaos in the corridor beyond. It was then that they also noticed Riker, Worf, and Guinan in the doorway shooing people out as quickly as possible.
"Commander!" Wesley called.
Will looked up. "Come on Wes, hurry!" he called back. The two teenagers broke into a run, but they could already see that they would be the last ones out. Then suddenly, it happened. Two identical beams of green transporter energy surrounded them, and within seconds they were gone.
"Wesley! Kathren!" Riker yelped in alarm. Then they were gone, leaving Riker, Worf, and Guinan standing stunned in the doorway of Ten-Forward, and the rest of the teenagers and security officers who hadn't been taken still running panicked in the corridor.
On the bridge, Captain Picard and Counselor Troi waited anxiously. Finally, they heard Commander Riker's voice.
"Riker to bridge," came the commander's glum voice.
Without being told, they both knew the news wasn't good. "Bridge here," Picard replied. "What happened, Number One?"
"Well, we were able to get most of them out of Ten-Forward, and the Romulans stopped transporting, but ten or so were taken. We don't know the exact number or the names of most of them yet though. At least two or three of the were security officers."
"What about Kathren," she asked, worriedly. "She's still down there, isn't she?"
Riker sighed. "No. No she's not. Sorry, Deanna."
Deanna slumped. "It's all right Will, you tried."
"And captain?" Will said softly. "Wesley was taken as well."
Picard gulped silently. "Thank you for the report, Number One. Tell everyone down there to go back to wherever they were before this, then get back to the bridge. We've got to get them back."
"Yes sir. Riker out."
Once Will's voice no longer filled the bridge, Picard sat stunned. How had this happened? How had they been able to transport through the ship's shields? And how was he supposed to tell Beverly that Romulans had captured her son? Not to mention the other parents. He looked up as Riker and Worf exited the turbolift and crossed to their respective places.
"Captain," Worf said as soon as he reached his station. "The Warbird is gone!"
Picard turned in his seat. "What do you mean, it's gone?"
"It went into warp sir, it left. I believe I can track them, though. They have not gone far."
The captain sighed and turned back around. "Then make it so, Mr.Worf. Helm, take your course from Lieutenant Worf." He paused for a few seconds. "Engage."