Kate Andromeda, Anarra, Apocalypse90, PadFootCc: Thank you so much for your nice comments!

Chapter 3

Diane had a couldn't sleep. It was already four o'clock in the morning on the Enterprise, but in Mahdouw City on Daranos IV, where she used to live, it was late in the afternoon right now. Plus, the days were several hours longer there than here on this ship. Diane wondered if she could get used to a 24-hour-rhythm at all. She stared out of the window and watched the silvery starlight. Without a planet's atmosphere, the stars were not twinkling or blinking at all. If there would not have been the humming of the starships engines, Diane would have believed that time itself was standing still and she was frozen in an eternal moment.

Picard had told her about Bok and the battle of Maxia fifteen years ago, and how it came that he had to destroy the ship Bok's son was on. He had also promised to protect her as good as he could.

Diane wanted to trust him, but something in her refused to.

She was also scared of this whole new situation. After eking out a living each day, she felt like giving a part of her self-determination away and losing the dram of control she had over her own life.

On Daranos IV, she had always been among people, and being all alone in a room for so many hours made her feel unwell.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and decided to give sleep another try. She had barely dozed off, when she suddenly felt like someone was in the room with her.

Quickly she sat up. There was a ferengi standing in her bedroom.

In the first second she was so appalled that she couldn't move or talk.

"Good evening, my dear Miss Vigo," the ferengi said, "Allow me to introduce myself…my name is Bok. I guess the young lady heard of me already?"

Now Diane recovered her poise.

"Well…possibly…," she said dryly.

Covering her arm with her blanket, she slowly reached for her knife under her pillow.

Bok grinned.

"You don't need to be afraid…yet. I just wanted to pay you a small visit to meet you in person…" "…oh how obliging," Diane interrupted him. "but bear in mind that with one word

I can call a security team." She was still clutching her knife under the pillow.

"Sweetheart, if I wanted to kill you here and now, I could have already, couldn't I? I just want you to tell your self-absorbed father that he should not imagine his little daughter is safe here on the almighty Enterprise." Bok stated.

"So why don't you tell him yourself?" asked Diane.

Bok laughed. "Maybe bacause visiting a barely dressed girl im her bedroom is more pleasant than meeting a geezer in his pyjama."

He bowed. "I guess we'll see each other again soon" he said and suddenly dematerialized with a short flash.

Diane's heart was beating fast as she stared into the darkness at the place where he just vanished.

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"And you are really sure that this wasn't only a nightmare?" asked Troi.

Diane was sitting on her bed. She tried to conceal her shaking hands.

"I'm not stupid, okay? I know the difference between a dream and reality. And I have never seen this Bok before. I tell you he was here. And if he wasn't, it must have been a very good hologram."

Picard was standing next to Troi. Behind him Geordi and Data were scanning the whole room since about two hours now.

The captain said, "Is it possible that it was a telepathic connection or…" Diane interrupted him. "I'm not making this up, okay? It wasn't only in my head or something. He was here, in this room, standing in front of me. "

"Diane, no one says you're making this up," said Troi. "But you are under pressure and we understand that this whole situation scares you. We do our best to find out what happened. But you have to think about our point of view, too. "

Picard sat down next to her.

"Diane, usually every unauthorized transport sets off intruder alert. Of course it's not impossible to avoid that, but it's not easy. We're really checking everything, my best officers are working on that. But we have to consider every possible explanation."

Diane took a breath. "Don't treat me like a baby. If you think I'm crazy or something, just tell me and send me to sick bay or whatever. But stop pretending you're taking seriously what I say when you're not. I've been on starships for years, and I know that you can't beam in and out unnoticed."

"Captain," Data suddenly announced, "we have finished the scanning. On first sight, there are no anomalies or irreguliarities visible. No traces of a transport. But of course we will analyse the data specificly. And we will retune the sensors and sweep this room regulary, in case that Bok appears again "

"Thank you, commander." Picard answered.

LaForge and Data packed their equipment and left the quarters.

Diane stood up and walked to the window.

"Are you feeling all right or do you want to go to Dr. Crusher?" asked Picard.

"I'm fine," she answered.

"Maybe you should take some rest", suggested Troi.

"I'll stay with you if you don't want to be alone," added Picard since he remembered her remark about being alone.

"Captain, with your permission I like to leave now." said Troi.

Picard nodded. "Granted, Counselor"

Troi left the quarters.

Diane was still staring out of the window. She cuddled into her big sweater as if she was cold.

"Are you really allright? Maybe you want to have a cup of tea?" Picard asked.

Diane turned around and looked at him.

"I did not tell you the truth when you asked me what my mother told me about you", she said.

"I remember asking her where my father was when I was about five or six. She said he was a starfleet officer, deeply in love with his work. I became really angry because I thought he left us deliberately. But I never asked her again. I was convinced that you did not wanted to life with us back then."

A bit surprised about this sudden theme change, Picard replied:

"If Miranda had told me about you, I maybe would have been a part of your life back then…but I guess she had her reasons for the choice she made."

Diane sat down on her bed.

"I was wondering what those reasons might have been. But I have no idea. When I came here, I was sure that I would leave the ship a fast as possible and return to Daranos IV again, but now I'm not really sure if that would be the right decision. On the other hand, I feel like betraying my mother when I leave the place we used to live together. I mean…that town, as rotten as it may be, is like the last connection I have to her. And what if…if she didn't want me to live with you? I mean, maybe she didn't tell you about me because she didn't want you to be part of my life at all."

"Diane, for sure we can't pretend being a family since we hardly know each other. But we can't ignore the fact that we are father and daughter. I can't imagine Miranda would have wanted you to live on your own so early. She did not choose to leave you, did she?"

Diane nodded.

But Picard still felt there was some kind of mistrust between them. He didn't know what exactly it was, and he wondered if he would be able to bridge that divide.

Few hours later, a short message from the ferengi government arrived.

They informed Picard that Bok's ship was recently seen in the Xendi Kabu system.

Picard ordered immediately to set a course.

Shortly after, Data entered Picard's room.

"Captain, although the our scans in Miss Vigos quarters did not reveal any new informations, I have a hypothesis how Bok may have entered the Enterprise." He said.

"Continue, Mr. Data", Picard replied.

"According to experimental transport technologies of the Federation, it would be possible to use a subspace transporter to beam a person over a distance of several light years. In addition, this form of transport would not be necessarily noticed by the sensors. But the subspace transport technology is rather instable, that is why the Federation does not use it yet. So if Bok really uses a subspace transporter, it is at high risk, unless he found a way to improve the technology."

Picard cogitated.

"That would mean, if he can use a subspace transporter to beam himself on this ship, he could also transport Diane on his ship every second?"

"That's correct." Data answered.

Picard stood up.

"We must keep Diane under surveillance. And she has to wear an inteference transmitter for concealing her pattern"

He tapped his communicator and ordered a security team for Dianes protection, and head to her quarters.

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Meanwhile, Diane finally got some sleep. She laid curled up on the sofa, for she didn't feel very comfortable in the bedroom anymore. When she woke up in the late morning, she realized how tired she had been.

Slowly she got up and took a long hot shower. When she was finally combing her hair,

she suddenly felt a prickle under her skin. Then there was an abrupt tug in her body and for a second she felt like passing out.

When Picard entered her quarters, they were empty.

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Whoa, a cliffhanger. Hope you had some fun reading the new chapter. I appreciate reviews