Chapter Twelve

"Nicole?" Commander Riker raised an eyebrow when he saw his daughter walk off of the turbolift near the ready room.

Nicole was relieved from duty, but after her conversation with Data, she knew it was best to nip this in the bud. She was ready to tell someone about Regen's stalking. The Captain was the best choice.

"Captain?" Nicole walked over to Captain Picard. "I need to talk to you. Privately." Nicole said.

"In my ready room. Number One, you have the bridge." Picard said.

"Something's wrong." Troi stated to Data and Commander Riker as Nicole and Picard walked into the ready room.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Picard said, leaning against his desk.

Nicole took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Sir, I am sure you are aware of what has been going on with me."

"Yes. You told Commander Riker that you can't tell what has been going on." Picard said.

"Yes sir. I can't or couldn't tell what has been going on, because I am frightened." Nicole paused. She tried to fight back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Frightened about what, Lieutenant?"

"I am being stalked, sir. It's not by anyone in the crew, but by someone I used to know. Counselor Troi knows him too, Captain." Nicole said, feeling better to finally be able to get this off her chest.

Picard folded his arms across his chest and motioned for Nicole to continue.

"His name is Regen. He is a Betazoid. Due to tradition I was supposed to marry him, but he became violent so the wedding was called off." Nicole said.

"And why would he be stalking you?" Picard asked.

"Because he was angry about my relationship with Commander Data, sir." Nicole said. "He wants me to break him. He also didn't like that I joined Starfleet. And when I told him I wouldn't do anything he wanted…." Nicole trailed off. She turned away from Picard and looked down at her boots.

Picard unfolded his arms. He took a couple of steps towards Nicole. "Lieutenant, did Regen threaten you?" Picard asked.

Nicole looked up at her captain. Her baby blues were glistening. She wanted to cry. Not trusting her voice, Nicole nodded her head.

Picard placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Nicole smiled softly.

Picard took his hand off her shoulder. He pulled on his tunic and then tapped his combadge. "Picard to Bridge. Number One, get the senior staff together. We meet in 10 minutes."

Nicole followed her captain into the conference room. Captain Picard stood at the head of the table. "Lieutenant Riker has the floor." He turned to Nicole. "Go ahead Lieutenant."

Nicole sighed. Addressing the senior staff is a fear that many have. Although Nicole knows everyone personally it is still scary to address them like this. She focused on one person. Well android. And that helped ease her anxiety.

"As I was telling the captain, someone I once knew has been stalking me." Nicole noticed her father tense. He was definitely unhappy about this. "His name is Regen. Due to betazoid tradition I was originally supposed to marry him, but it was canceled when his true colors showed." Nicole said.

"True colors?" Data asked.

Nicole smiled. Leave it to Data to make her feel a little more at ease. "It means to show one's true characteristics. Like how Regen turned out to be violent when he found out I wanted to join Starfleet."

Commander Riker clenched his fist. Nicole could definitely sense the anger coming off of him. And she was pretty sure all 15 telepaths could feel it too.

"That's why I had you come to Earth with me. You wouldn't tell me exactly what happened, but I knew you needed to get away from Betazed." Troi said.

Nicole nodded. "I'm sorry I kept it from you." Nicole looked at her father. "And you, sir." She said, sadly.

"We can talk about that later. For now I want options on how we can stop Regen." Captain Picard said, motioning for Nicole to sit down.

Nicole walked over to the open seat next to her husband.

"I can suppress her telepathic abilities. Her psilosynine levels are too low. She needs to rest." Doctor Crusher stated.

"It might help keep him from contacting me again." Nicole said.

"Can we enhance her telepathic abilities?" Captain Picard asked.

"Sir, I must go against this. Her levels are depleted. We can't risk it." Doctor Crusher pleaded.

"I must agree, Captain." Data said.

"Maybe there is something else we can do." Nicole piqued up.

Everyone looked at her. Nicole sighed as she folded her hands on the table. "I don't know how, but the last few times he contacted me, he appeared in my quarters. Then he would disappear. I also saw this thing coming out from his neck. It was similar to the thing that Captain Barnes had."

There were audible gasps.

"It was only a matter of time that those things would make an appearance again." Dr. Crusher said.

"Regen did receive his telepathic abilities at birth. He left Betazed for a short time but then came back. He seemed to have a handle on his telepathic abilities." Troi said.

"He would still need to be within a close proximity though." Nicole said.

"What about a cloaked ship? Something almost undetectable by our sensors." Commander Riker said.

"I haven't seen anything on sensors that would indicate a cloaked ship." Worf said.

Nicole looked at Geordi. "What about the theory we've been testing? Would it work?" Nicole asked.

"Theory?" Captain Picard asked, confused.

"In Engineering we've been testing a theory on boosting sensor efficiency." Geordi said.

"Mainly to help us with finding cloak ships more easily." Nicole said.

"It was more of a project that we've been working on." Geordi said.

Geordi explained how they can boost the sensors off of the deflector dish. Nicole agreed with the Chief Engineer.

"How long will it take?" Captain Picard asked.

"Maybe an hour or two." Geordi said.

"Make it so." Captain Picard said.

Nicole looked down at her hands. She wanted to help Geordi out, but she was relieved of duty. Just then she had to shut her eyes because…

"You will never be able to find me."

Regen's voice came through telepathically.

"Nicole?" Data asked, placing a hand on her arm.

Her hands were clenched together to the point her knuckles were white.

"Is he contacting you?" Troi asked, standing up and walking over to her daughter.

Nicole could only manage a nod.

"Concentrate Lieutenant." Captain Picard said.

"Regen, what is it you want?" Nicole said, telepathically.

"I told you what I want." Regen said.

"I told you that I don't want you. So please leave me alone." Nicole said, groaning a bit.

"Captain, I must advise against this." Dr. Crusher said, panicking.

"Never."

Regen's face appeared in Nicole's mind. He had an evil smile. Then everything went dark.