Chapter 17

USS Excelsior

"Crew, this is Captain Crusher. Welcome aboard the newest flagship of Starfleet, the USS Excelsior. Every one of you has been selected for your unique skills to make this more than a starship. At twice the size of a Galaxy-class starship, and with a top speed of warp 9.95, the Excelsior is unique. But more importantly, the Excelsior was built with community and family in mind. As long as we stick together, we will be more than a crew. We'll be a family. Finally, I would like to say a few words about a dear friend, and a fine officer...the Legendary Captain Jean-Luc Picard. As most of you are probably aware, Captain Picard's death was reported yesterday by the Federation's news service. Captain Picard's death is a tragedy that we may never actually heal from. But in order to honor his legacy, we need to find a way out of the current crisis facing this galaxy. With your help, I intend the Excelsior to be at the forefront of our latest challenge...a fight for survival of not just the Federation, but this entire galaxy. Our home. Thank you for joining me. Crusher out."

Jack Crusher slumped back in his chair. Putting on a smile and a brave front was something he was used to doing. But increasingly, it wasn't easy. Ever since Admiral Nechayev had left his ready-room, he had been plagued with doubt and mounting guilt, and only he knew why. The mention of Gilda Stern's name gave him chills. How could have been so stupid? Stern had come to him eighteen months earlier, asking for basically a one-way ticket out of town. She had demanded a runabout for her personal use, claiming that if he arranged for one, she would leave Picard and the rest of humanity alone forever. She had already resigned from Starfleet Intel, after it was revealed that she was not Human, but Q. A much publicized altercation between Stern and Picard had left a scientific lab destroyed, and the secrets to Project Quantum lost forever. Speculation swirled around Picard and Stern, who by all accounts were less than friendly. But rumors circulated about a plot by the Q Continuum to subjegate humanity once and for all, and many perpetuated the idea that Picard, who it was believed longed to sever his ties to humanity, and Stern who was widely regarded as a Q spy, had conspired to do just that.

Then one day they had both disappeared.

But of all people, Jack knew it wasn't so simple. Jean-Luc had all but discarded his family months before he actually disappeared. Later he learned from Beverly that Jean-Luc had shown up at her apartment the night before it was presumed he had disappeared. On a vindictive streak at the time, and hating everyone including herself, Beverly had described in humiliating detail for Jack exactly what had transpired between her and Picard that night.

He was so angry and in a fog back then. Despite his fury at Jean-Luc, he had never wished that his friend would disappear--at least not permanently. A year and a half later he was still angry, but things seemed a little clearer. Gilda Stern had lied to him. She had asked for a runabout and he had quickly secured one. Jack had closely followed her instructions about how to deregister and effectively erase the history of the spacecraft, at the same time erasing his tracks. She had promised to leave Picard alone, but now Jack was beginning to realize that all the while she and Jean-Luc had been secretly plotting their final escape from humanity.

USS Enterprise

As soon as Wesley's announcement stopped, T'Sara's communications monitor began beeping. She got up and walked over, inspecting a new message that had come through.

She turned back to Geordi and her entire aura seemed tenser.

"What's going on?" he asked out of concern.

"I have been ordered to report to Wesley Crusher this afternoon at 1600 hours to answer for my 'unauthorized subspace activities.'"

"So you contacted someone off-ship? What's the big deal? This kid is out of control." Geordi sighed and leaned back, crossing his arms, and to T'Sara it appeared as though he was contemplating a difficult engineering problem.

"He is partially correct," admitted T'Sara. "I recently accessed files at Starfleet Command that were above my security clearance."

"You hacked the system?" Geordi was on his feet now. "That's not like you...and pretty damn reckless if you ask me."

"But I did not ask you, Geordi," she said simply.

"Right...and now you've risked your career," he said walking toward her with concern. "And for what?"

She gave him a half-smile. Something that was rare for a Vulcan to display, but he was beginning to see that his friend had changed in subtle yet significant ways. "I appreciate your concern, Geordi. I consider you my friend, which is why I have not informed you of this earlier."

"That doesn't make sense at all. You're supposed to tell your friends before you do something crazy, so they can at least try to talk you out of doing it!"

She nodded. "Perhaps you are right." She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her hand.

"Wait, T'Sara," he insisted softly. "Tell me what's going on with you. I want to help you."

After a moment she pulled her hand free and seemed somewhat resigned. "When we were on the Q homeworld Tasha came to me and gave me a holo that Caine had left for her to find as part of..."

"A sick trap?" he finished for her.

"Yes. The person in the holovid appeared to resemble Tasha and was wearing prison clothing. Tasha believed that the holo was her sister Ishara. Tasha implied that if something happened to her, she wanted me to find Ishara."

And something did happen to Tasha. "But that was almost four years ago," he said and then immediately regretted it.

Still he was surprised by the momentary but genuine stunned expression on her face. It was clear she hadn't spoken a word of this to anyone else. Tasha's death had affected T'Sara deeply, and he feared she had not come even close to moving on. "Look, I didn't mean it that way. But please don't tell me you have been hacking into top-secret files for four years."

"Of course not," she said, sounding somewhat offended. "After Tasha's death and we returned to our lives I thoroughly examined and tested the holo image."

"And?"

"And I determined that it was, for lack of a better word, fake. Caine apparently created it to continue his psychological torment of Tasha." She crossed her arms and looked down at her feet. "I put the holo away and attempted to move on with my life."

At that moment she looked so sad that Geordi wanted to envelop her in a hug. But he knew that it wouldn't have gone over well. At least not with the old T'Sara. But as he watched her he couldn't help but feel the torment she was going through. "Um...it's alright if you don't want to tell me all of this right now. I hope you know that I'm just looking out for you."

She looked at him directly now. "Of course." She swiftly gained back her poise although her gaze was now distant. "Approximately four months ago I was contacted by a man claiming to be Tasha Yar's father; Erik Yar."

"Whoa. Wait a minute, didn't Caine murder both of Yar's parents?"

T'Sara walked over and sat down on a chair. She was quiet for a few moments and he could tell that she was working to compose herself. Presently she looked up at him. "Do you remember when Tasha and Caine fought each other on the Q homeworld?"

Geordi sat down across from her slowly. "I remember it almost as if it was a dream. I was...you know-"

"You were infected," she said flatly.

"Well, yeah. My memory of that time is really spotty, to say the least."

"In contrast, my memory is quite clear," she said. "I remember that Tasha believed that she had killed Caine when she walked away from his body. Even though she had been injured in the fight, the expression on her face was completely free...for the first time since I had known her. It was just after that moment that Caine attacked her from behind, puncturing her carotid artery, and she died."

"T'Sara," he said softly. "You don't have to tell me all of this."

"Before Tasha died, I engaged in a mind-meld with her. All of her thoughts and dreams became intertwined with mine. In those few moments, her memories became mine, and because I did not know what else to do I opened my mind fully to hers in those last seconds of her life. I wanted her to know...my true feelings."

"Oh...I had no idea." Geordi felt tears come into his eyes and he suddenly grabbed her hand again. This time she did not pull away, and when she spoke again her voice was stronger.

"Tasha's memory of her parents' death is accurate. However, it is possible that her father was not actually killed. According to official Turkana records, Erik Yar was the mayor of the planet's most populous city. Records that have now been revealed indicate widespread corruption and organized crime on Turkana. Although Erik Yar was considered a reputable local politician, he was in fact under the control of pervasive criminal elements."

"You mean, Caine..."

"Yes. Yar owed Caine a series of debts which he simply could not overcome, and was under increasing scrutiny by Federation authorities. According to the man I have been in contact with, he and Caine conspired to fabricate his death and the death of his wife, but instead, Caine killed his wife and stole his children, Tasha and Ishara."

LaForge stared at his friend. "You don't actually believe this guy, do you? He's lying...got to be. And even if he's really Tasha's dad, that means he abandoned his kids to be raised by Caine. Now knowing what we know, it doesn't get much worse than that."

T'Sara nodded. "Nevertheless, I have been unable to ignore the information he has provided me."

LaForge felt for his friend, but he was increasingly skeptical. "About Ishara?"

"The official report says that she committed suicide while in prison two years ago."

Geordi sighed. "Oh...that's horrible. But... you don't believe the official report."

"Ishara was incarcerated in the same detention center that Caine was sentenced to several years ago. According to unpublished security reports, six months ago, that detention center disappeared. "

"What? A maximum-security prison just disappeared in space."

"Not only did it disappear, Geordi, the entire sector disappeared, just as we are now seeing happen throughout our galaxy."

"Except that happened six months ago, and no one said a damn word about it."

"That is correct."

"So there's a cover-up underway," Geordi said grimly. "The questions are: who is behind it, and why?"

Elsewhere

Samla sat in the hold of the small ship taking everything in. Although she had successfully identified the make of the ship as Romulan, the innards of the ship appeared to have been a hybridized technology.

"How many Romulans did you kill to obtain this ship?" she asked. She had asked the Assassin various questions like that. Despite her desire to remain safe, something about the Assassin's disinterest in almost every subject she could think of further sparked her curiosity about the strange being.

At times the Assassin would answer Samla's questions cryptically, which only added to the mystery. At other times the being would remain silent, continuing to pilot the ship.

For now, the Assassin remained quiet, expertly piloting the small craft without incident and seemingly ignoring her. Samla herself was an expert pilot, but she decided not to reveal that talent just yet.

"Or perhaps you simply bought this from a Ferengi and then fixed it up to your liking."

"I have no use for money," came the robotic voice.

"And do you have any use for food? I am hungry. I can't think and plot against Caine without a suitable meal." Whatever it is, it doesn't eat or sleep.

"Try the replicator," the Assassin said almost dismissively.

Samla walked to the small cargo area and found what she guessed was a food service device. It took her several minutes of messing with the controls to figure out how to use it. Whatever was eventually generated was edible, but she didn't care to think too much about the ingredients.

Once she had eaten something she felt better, but the disruptor wound on her arm burned. Realizing it might help to take better care of it, she began rummaging around for medical supplies. Coming up with nothing, she turned around in frustration to yell at the pilot again, only to find the Assassin standing there watching her.

"If you need something, ask for it. Not all of the cargo on this ship is safe for handling."

Samla's eyes rested on a pile of lethal-looking tubes each the size of her arm. "Are those the explosives you use to blow up Caine's mining equipment? I've never seen those before."

"I made them myself." There was no pride in the statement. Just facts.

Samla shrugged. "Everyone needs a hobby."

The faceless Assassin continued to watch her silently. "At the next habitable planet, you're getting off this ship. You're of no use to me."

Suddenly, Samla stopped rummaging and walked toward the still figure. "I have more to offer than you might guess." She reached out and ran her fingers lightly down the side of the black helmet.

"If you think I can be manipulated by Orion female charms, think again."

Samla frowned in mock disappointment. "Don't flatter yourself, I have little interest in robots. Or are you some kind of android? Anyway, I told you that I have valuable information-"

A gloved hand was suddenly around her throat and she could hardly breathe. She swung ineffectually at the Assassin, who simply retained the steely grip. "Now is your chance to prove your worth, Orion. And you only get one."

"Let-let me go," Samla managed to choke out, but the grip remained solid.