Sitting in Admiral Nechayev's office, Picard felt very small and weak. He didn't like the concept of having superiors in general, but Nechayev was the worst. She always made him feel like a little schoolboy who hadn't done his homework.
"Why did you let Deckard take his gun with him when he went to talk to the android?", Nechayev asked in an inquisitory tone.
"Deckard appeared to be a trustworthy man. I was very wrong on that..."
"Indeed! If it were not for the outstanding achievements you've made in your previous service, I'd have you removed from the Enterprise and given you command over the most evil-smelling trash freighter we can find, Picard!"
Picard nodded. He knew he deserved the speech the Admiral was giving to him. She continued:
"As things are, I think I'll let you get away with it, for the moment. Just never, never make such a mistake again, Captain", she over-pronounced the word 'Captain' as if to underline the fact that there was a lot he could lose, "or I'll have you regret the moment your careless command-style came to my attention for the rest of your miserable career. However, I don't have the time to talk to you all day, I still have three meetings to attend today and want to personally interrogate prisoner Deckard, so that I know what awaits us tomorrow at the first session of his trial. Here are your orders: You'll beam back to your ship ASAP then set a course for Vulcan, where you'll receive your new science officer, Commander Sallik. Afterwards, you may return to Earth, by then we'll have decided whether your incompetent behaviour should have further consequences. Besides, I think your crew might want to spectate in the last stages of Deckard's trial. After all, Data was their comrade. Have you understood, Picard?"
"Yes, Admiral, sir."
"Dismissed."
Tail between his legs like a punished dog, Picard trotted out of Nechayev's office. She smiled, grabbed a big green apple from the bowl on her desk and bit into it. She loved ordering Captains around very much. It was exactly for these moments why she stood up every morning.
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The prison cell looked almost the same as the one he had spent the last week in, the biggest difference being that this guard was wearing another uniform. At least the air was good. When they told him that they were going to bring him to Earth, Deckard anticipated the badly polluted post-nuclear place he was used to. This place really was Earth, alright, but very changed, now it looked and smelled rather like a garden world. So his situation could have been worse, he realised.
The door opened with the hissing sound he was already used to and a middle-aged woman entered. She was at least ten years older than him but with her blonde hair, delicate figure and lips to die for, Deckard couldn't help finding her very attractive.
"I'm Admiral Nechayev. I'll interrogate you now", she stated. It reminded him of the brunette woman who tried to interrogate him aboard the Enterprise: The Admiral was exactly the opposite of Troi in appearance and behaviour. The way the guard had shivered when she entered and her demanding, in-control voice gave her the air of being a real authority.
"Do all of your prisoners get the pleasure of being visited by such a beautiful woman or what did I do to earn this privilege?", Deckard asked.
"Your charms won't help you with me, Mr. Deckard", the Admiral replied coldly, "So... I've read the reports on you. Do you still believe that a conspiracy of androids is going on and you're the victim?"
"They were so nice to give me a shuttle-ride down to the planet, so I could have a good look at everything. I don't believe in time-travel and such things, but I do accept that this here is Earth. And your organization doesn't seem to be all governed by androids so, well, I'll have to admit that my initial judgment was wrong. I don't know for sure what this world, universe, reality, whatever you'd call it is all about but it doesn't bother me. I am here, that's all what counts."
Nechayev smiled, she liked the way Deckard looked at things. Glancing over her shoulder, she said to the guard "Listen Lieutenant, I want you to lower the force field and let me into the cell. Then you restore the field and leave the room to wait on the corridor. I want to have a four-eyes conversation with the prisoner. I'll call you when I'm finished."
"Yes, Admiral", the security officer complied.
When the guard was gone, Nechayev sat down to the left of Deckard. "Let's talk about the crime you've commited", she demanded.
"I can't see any crime in what I've done. It was about as criminal as scrapping an old car", he said, making her laugh.
"I understand what you mean, but Data was a Starfleet officer and killing, or if you want so, 'destroying' an officer counts as a capital crime in our organization. Therefore, we can't just let you go, Mr. Deckard."
"You may call me Rick", he offered, smiling. "So there will be a trial and I'll get a prison sentence?"
"Yes, for sure", Nechayev replied, "there is crystal-clear evidence of what you've done. You can't talk yourself out of this situation."
"Even if I could, I would not try to. That's just not my style."
Laying her hand on Deckard's left leg, Nechayev whispered "I'm very pleased to hear that, Rick. I prefer men of action, and judging from your actions, I must say that you appeal to me very much."
The Admiral's lovely face now was only a little more than ten centimetres away from him, her eyes looking extremely seducive.
He kissed her.
After he had 'eaten' all of her lipstick, they had intense sexual intercourse for about an hour. It would have taken longer but Nechayev was a little afraid of the guard coming back to see what was going on, so she hurried a lot, making the experience even better.
When they were finished and dressed again, she kissed him another time, saying "See you tomorrow, Rick", then called in the guard and left without saying anything more.
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The next day, very early in the morning, four armed guards arrived at Deckard's cell.
"We're here to escort prisoner one-zero-nine to the courthouse. Here are the orders", their leader informed the prison guard, who after a brief look at the data pad nodded. "Very well, take him with you", he said.
When they had left the building and entered a path through a garden-like area, leading to another administratory-looking building some 300 metres away, the leader of the guards walked near to Deckard and started talking to him in a very silent voice.
"Listen, there are many people thinking of you as a hero. We will help you escape. There's nothing much for you to do, just don't panic when you'll soon be transported to another place. Everything's arranged."
Confused, Deckard answered, "If you're not joking, officer, then... well thank you!"
"You don't have to thank me, it's an honor for me being able to meet you in person, Mr. Deckard."
When they passed a part of the garden with exceptionally dense vegetation, the guard suddenly stopped and pressed his commbadge. "Now!"
A wave of blue light appeared around Deckard, making him feel very dizzy. Only a second passed, before he was able to properly interpret the sensation, he found himself in a grey room. Turning around he could see the windows and cockpit, he was in a space vehicle.
"Autopilot engaged", a computer voice stated. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Deckard. There is a recorded message for you. Displaying."
On the viewscreen appeared the face of Admiral Nechayev, smiling happyly.
"My loved Rick! When you see this, everything has worked out fine and you're already safe. Before you think something wrong: I don't help you because of our 'interrogation' we had yesterday, I had already decided to let you escape days before. You're the best lay I've ever had, though. See, there are many people within Starfleet thinking that it was a terrible disgrace to have a robot serving within our ranks. You've done us a big favor. While officially we'd have to put you into prison, there are still people around who know how to treat a true hero, in fact you'd be surprised at how many we are! Therefore we organized you this shuttle, it's the best we have, even equipped with a cloaking device so nobody will find you. It will bring you to a space station in the Orion area, a nice place for black market activity and a lot of other interesting things, then drop you there and self-destruct. We've collected a sum of money that will give you a good start and even supplyed you with a new identity. You can begin a whole new life as a freighter Captain, privateer, hired gun or whatever you wish. For a man with your talents, there are endless possibilities... Well, that's about all I wanted to tell you. In some weeks I might come visiting you, see how you're doing. Bye, have a nice journey, dear. Kisses."
"Well I'm beginning to like this reality!", Deckard said to himself.
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"Captain, we have an urgent call from Starfleet HQ!"
"On screen."
The much-dreaded face of Admiral Nechayev appeared. As always when he had to talk to her, Picard didn't feel too well.
"Oh, Admiral. What are the important news you want to tell us?"
"About half an hour ago, your Mr. Deckard was due to be transferred from the prison to his first official hearing," the Admiral said with her usual, cold voice. "He didn't arrive there. Somehow he managed to overcome his guards and escape, temporarely."
"What?", the Captain was infuriated, "are you telling me you let the man who killed my second officer escape?"
"He won't get far. I don't know how he managed to get away, yet, but I can assure you he won't get away. The area around the prison complex has been locked from all sides, there's no place he can hide. I'm personally overseeing the hunt and I'm positive it's only a matter of minutes until we have him again. Nevertheless, I thought you'd have the right being informed about this inexplicable... scandalaous event."
"Is there anything the Enterprise can do to help you deal with it?", Picard offered.
"We have all the resources to deal with the situation. I see your ship is at maximum warp more than twelve hours away from earth, but if you wish to return and try to help us in the search, you're allowed to do so. After all, this is a personal affair for your crew. Of course it is most likely that the problem will be solved before you arrive... I'm going to end this call now, we're questioning the guards who were supposed to escort Deckard at the moment and I have to coordinate the search efforts. I'll call you again when we have him, I think it'll only be a matter of a few more minutes. Nechayev out."
Picard and Riker looked at each other, the Captain angry, his XO surprised.
"Helm, full stop. Turn around and set course for the Sol system, maximum warp. Hurry up!", Riker ordered. "I don't get it, how could that happen?", he asked Picard.
"I don't know, Will. But we're going to find out. That Deckard individual is a crude and primitive man, but he also has the quality to surprise, being smarter than one would think. Maybe that's how he overwhelmed his guards... We will see."
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With assistance from the U.S.S. Enterprise, Earth was completely locked down and every square-centimetre of it's surface scanned repeatedly. Every ship attempting to leave the planet was searched thoroughly, but no sign of Deckard could be found. The conspirative officers involved in his escape kept calm about it, their plan had worked perfectly. Nothing about the true backgrounds of the culprit's disappearence was ever learned.
In the meantime, Rick Deckard was already far away, advancing on his way into a new life of wealth and opportunities.
The planet Nerewia II never again started emitting the unknown radiation. In the end, this phenomenon and the sudden appearance of Deckard there just made another entry in the long, long list of mysteries Federation science department was never able to solve out.