Chapter 5

Somewhere in the Alpha Quadrant

Marco's ship was small enough that when the several kilometer-long armada of ships passed by, he probably went undetected. He had been tracking the army of ships for three days, traveling just a sector away. Made up of a large lead ship and about fifty mid-sized to small vessels in its wake. These ships bore no obvious markings. Then every five hours or so, one of the mid-sized ships would break off, enter the atmosphere of a nearby planet, and then disappear. Until this morning, Marco had maintained a safe distance. He'd stayed out of the way; until now.

"Computer, what is the heading of the vessels entering this sector?"

"623 mark 4."

"That's toward a planet about a parsec away," replied Marco to the hold of his empty ship. Instinctively he glanced to his right, finding the co-pilot's seat empty.

He'd been traveling with Seth for several years now and had begun to bond with the kid. They'd had some exciting adventures, but at times, he felt unsure of the role he was expected to play. Unfortunately for him he had missed most of Seth's life and had spent the majority of his own in a fog, inhabited by an alien virus. Seth had been adopted as a 10 year old by Jean-Luc Picard, after Picard and his crew had rescued Seth from the Borg. Adrena, the boy's mother had been killed when the Borg had invaded the colony that had been their home since escaping Marco and Caine so many years before.

Meanwhile, his own estranged father, Walker Keel, lay comatose in San Francisco at Starfleet Medical, a condition he had been in since shortly after returning from the Q planet. Keel had experienced complications from his wounds at the hands of Tasha Yar, and had fallen into an unexplained coma. Marco had known when he was younger, that Walker was close to Marco's family, and after Marco had entered Starfleet for a time Walker had looked out for him. As he had aged, and the virus had taken hold of his psyche more and more, he became aware of things that he wouldn't normally know with human insight. His biological connection to Walker was one of these things. But, having been inhabited by the virus, he'd had other priorities and didn't much care about Keel.

He had become the co-leader of the most notorious crime syndicate in the alpha quadrant, trafficking weapons, drugs, ships, and living beings throughout the galaxy. Marco had been the suave face of the organization, but Caine had been mostly everything else. Together they had done immense damage. At this point in his life, Marco knew he owed so much to so many people, that he was unsure of where to start making amends. Yet, he felt compelled to do so. There was something about these strange ships that were familiar to him; and not in a good way. He had wanted to explore this mystery, and having Seth along would have prevented that. As a young teen, he had wanted to make a difference. Now, twenty years later, maybe he had his chance.

Floating in space, he waited patiently for what he expected might happen. When it did, when a medium-sized ship broke from the rest and began to veer to the planet below, Marco kicked his ship into overdrive and followed it down through the cloudy atmosphere.

The terrain below was rocky and he kept the ship on his scanner while he stayed low and landed in some rocky foothills. It was desolate, with no activity. Half a kilometer away from the other ship, he watched as it touched down and about a dozen crew members piled out of the ship, carrying some equipment.

Most of them appeared humanoid and were breathing the air without issue. Still, he ran a check of the environment before hopping out of his ship and jogging over to crouch down behind some boulders for a better view.

He could see that the crew was busy transporting larger pieces of equipment out through anti-gravity carts. Two large robots began quickly constructing what appeared to be a mining area, plunging tubes into the hard ground seemingly with no effort.

He watched them work for about 30 minutes until they appeared to be done. He was about to leave when someone grabbed him from behind. The attacker was very strong and tossed him onto his back on the ground, placing a booted foot onto his chest without a word. He was unable to move. He found himself staring up into a being clothed entirely in a black suit, covered with some kind of armor. The face and neck were also covered in black, with no eyes or mouth visible. The person either could not see or the suit was advanced technology.

His assailant leaned down, a single weapon dangling from a gloved fist. "Did you see my ship?" The question sounded like a threat and emanated from the masked face. The voice was deliberately distorted; robotic sounding, but as impressive as the suit was, this was no robot.

With some effort, as his chest was being compressed by the boot, Marco shook his head and answered honestly. "Nope."

The black mask seemed to be studying his face with some interest. "Are you still working with Caine?" Again, the implied threat was obvious. Not only did this individual know Caine, but also knew him.

Marco tried to get up, but the boot pressed down with even more force. "No," Marco wheezed. "Caine's in prison for life."

To his surprise, the masked head was thrown back in a sudden fit of laughter, before the gloved fist descended, knocking Marco cold.

When Marco woke up, his head felt like it had been struck repeatedly, although he could only recall having been hit once. The sun was setting and the air was chilled to a point that it was no longer comfortable to be outside. Staggering to his feet, he began to head for his ship, when he realized he was not in the place he'd been when he lost consciousness.

Turning around, he saw the mining ship, still sitting with the cargo hold open. But there was no sign of the temporary mining operation. Instead, the crew lay dead, apparently shot where they stood; although some of them showed signs of having been through very recent and violent hand-to-hand combat. None had survived. He noted however that he had, and also wondered why he had been dragged here to witness this carnage. Clearly there was a reason. The mining equipment and the maintenance robots had been completely dismantled and cut into unusable pieces. These pieces were stacked neatly in an interesting manner. He took holos of the scene and then looked around warily. Deciding that he was the only one alive in the vicinity, and interested in exploring further, Marco walked up the ramp of the abandoned ship.

Earth, San Francisco

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you to Paris tomorrow?" Felix tugged at Beverly's hand as they stood in front of Starfleet Medical. "I can cancel my classes during your testimony and be back in time for my afternoon session."

She looked up at him with mixed feelings. "No...I appreciate it, but I think I need to go alone. Jack will be there, and well, you know..."

"I get along with Jack."

You get along with everyone. "Felix...Jack is extremely jealous of you. It's not worth the hassle, believe me."

He gave her a hug. "Okay...but obviously, you'll let me know if you need me, right? For anything."

She squeezed him back. "Of course. Go wow your students."

He laughed, and then pulled back to look as his hand-held communicator buzzed. His eyebrows shot up. "Alyssa wants to meet me for lunch."

She felt an initial feeling of jealousy, and it didn't pass as quickly as she would have liked. She forced a smile. "That's great."

He smiled back at her with a questioning look. "Okay." He scratched his head and attempted to change the subject. "Hey, did I mention what she's working on right now?"

Beverly crossed her arms. "No, I didn't realize you two were even talking again."

"Uh...a few weeks ago she told me she was running a medical study."

"Of...?"

"Well, you know those headaches you and I have been having? Apparently we're not the only ones. About three hundred other people have reported to various medical areas on Earth and to remote sickbays in the last two months. And they all have one thing in common."

Beverly's mind began to race, her interest piqued. "What?"

"Like us, they're all former members of the Enterprise crew."

Felix's revelation gave Beverly a lot to think about. Could her headaches have been linked to the mass viral infection? Felix hadn't been infected as far as they knew, but he was also experiencing headaches, although not as pronounced as hers. Less than half the crew had been noticeably inhabited by the virus, but perhaps it wasn't linked to the virus at all. What they had all experienced together was being on that planet for a few weeks. But why begin to feel these effects now? It was strange and unsettling.

The only good thing about these thoughts was that it distracted her from what she would be experiencing in Paris soon; or rather, what she would be required to re-live. Would Jack make her say things that he already knew? Would she be required to say things out loud that she had only screamed inside of her brain for the last 18 months after losing Jean-Luc? All she knew is that she wasn't healed from her experience with that virus any more than she was healed from her separation from Jean-Luc. Wesley refused to speak to her. She and Jack could not easily be around each other. In any case, they could not be alone together. At times, all of these open wounds became too much.

Realizing that she was standing alone in the middle of a windswept courtyard, made her realize she needed to do something. She wasn't sure what, but it needed to be something other than dwelling on the past. It struck her that she should go and visit Walker. She hadn't sat by his bedside in months. She turned and looked at the entrance to Starfleet Medical. Her eyes drifted upward to where she knew his room was situated. She closed her eyes and felt a landslide of guilt roll over her. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bear to see him in the same exact condition. Pale and quiet. The opposite of Walker Keel. And so she turned away and started walking as quickly as she could in the opposite direction. She walked on through the crowds, ignoring every sound but the wind in her ears until she did hear something else. Strange...someone was calling her name.

"Beverly!"

She snapped out of her fog and focused on the voice. That voice! Finally, her eyes caught on a whirlwind running at her through the crowd.

"Oh, my god-Seth? Seth!" She ran toward him and they collided into a hug. Shutting her eyes, she spun him around until they were both dizzy and laughing. Despite the fact that he was now nearly as tall as she was, he was still light. She pulled back to look at him. "I can't believe it's you," she whispered.

"Hi, Beverly," he said with the same shy smile. "I'm so glad to see you." He grabbed her into an unexpected hug again.

"But how-? Where's Marco?"

Seth gave a little shrug and looked back over his shoulder. "Guinan's taking care of me now," he said simply.

Suddenly, perhaps because Beverly hadn't noticed her approach, or perhaps just because she was who she was, Guinan was standing there. She gave Beverly a small nod "hello", but Beverly was suddenly so overcome with emotion, that she pulled Guinan into a hug. "I can't believe you're both here," she said, gasping for breath. "I'm so happy," she heard herself say for the first time in a long time.

"Doctor...I'm glad to see you are alright," Guinan said softly. "It's been too long."

Beverly wiped tears from her cheek and put her arm around Seth's shoulders proudly. "He's so tall and handsome, isn't he?" She laughed. "This is wonderful." She let Seth go to get a better look at him, and an image of Wesley flashed in her mind. Her face fell a bit as she struggled for words. "Wesley would be so happy to know that you're back on Earth and safe."

"Where is he?" Seth asked innocently.

"Wesley's on a deep space mission," she said quickly, repeating the same line she always told people when they asked about her son. It was a half-truth. She knew she owed Seth more honesty than that, but right then she couldn't muster it.

"Oh. Well, maybe I can talk to him on subspace...or something."

"Sure," she said a little too quickly. She clasped her hands together and tried to contain her nerves. She had last taken a hypospray several hours earlier, and the calming effect was beginning to wear off. "Um... where are you two staying?"

"Paris," Guinan and Seth said at the same time.

Beverly froze. "What?"

"Some jerk brought us here in a runabout," Seth said. "Talbot...he left for a while and says he'll bring us to France later tonight."

Beverly looked searchingly at Guinan who seemed to be choosing her words carefully.

"I've been ordered to testify...judging by your expression, I'd say you have similar orders," Guinan said finally. Beverly pressed her lips together and looked away, but she felt Guinan take her hand. "Doctor...I'm sorry."

Beverly nodded. "It's fine," she said flatly. "There's no way I am traveling with Talbot, but maybe we can share a cab together to Paris?"

"Yeah," Seth nodded exuberantly.

Guinan smiled in agreement, but then her large hat turned away abruptly, and it was clear she was distracted. She turned back to both of them. "If you'll excuse me for a moment." They watched her glide away, easily slipping her way through the crowd.

It had been a mere shadow out of the corner of her eye. But it had been enough for her to know. Once Guinan was away from Beverly and Seth, she picked up the pace, finally breaking away from the throngs of people. The limp had been different. Clearly he'd gotten into some trouble, which was probably why he couldn't escape her slow but relentless walk. The tall but hunched figure slunk into an alleyway, and Guinan followed. She felt no fear, although maybe she should have.

When he turned around to face her, the pain, both physical and mental, was evident in his face. Someone had done a job on him, which explained the limp. The sneer he had always reserved for her seemed less arrogant now, and more frightened. Yes. He was scared out of his mind.

"Q! Where is he? Where is Picard?"

Hey, thanks for reading and reviewing. Hope you are enjoying so far. -PP