A/N: Thanks so much for the kind feedback! This started out as an episode tag, but stories sometimes take on a life of their own, and it turns out this one had more to say. This chapter is set during the events of "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part II".

#-#-#-#

The USS Gregor Mendel dropped out of warp in precise formation with more than fifty Federation starships, to face the largest armada Captain Beverly Crusher had seen since the days of the Dominion War. Eyes locked on the Romulan ships filling the space on the forward viewscreen, Beverly spoke calmly into the charged silence of the compact, brightly-lit bridge. "Status report."

"Holding our assigned position at the edge of the fleet, Captain," the young Vulcan ensign at conn, T'Ren, reported.

"Shields at maximum, weapons ready," her security chief and comms officer, Joseph Kolbe, advised from the tactical station aft. "The Zheng He is transmitting to the Romulan fleet on an open frequency."

"Let's hear it," Beverly ordered. The bridge crew stilled, listening tensely as the Federation flagship offered the Romulans a chance to end the standoff without conflict—before the Romulan commander abruptly rejected it and prepared to attack the settlement on the planet Ghulion below.

The Bajoran woman sitting to her right stirred restlessly. "So much for the quick, peaceful resolution."

Beverly glanced at her typically pessimistic first officer with mild reproach. "It's not over yet, Preda." Come on, Will, she added silently, hoping her friend had something else up his sleeve to prevent this turning into a bloody fight...

An alarm beeped from ops, pulling her attention to the forward station, where Lieutenant Edward Vu's fingers were flying over his console. "Captain, I'm reading an unknown energy transmission originating from the surface of Ghulion IV and a massive spatial distortion at bearing three four two mark twenty. Transferring to forward display now."

At the sight of the violent, swirling vortex of fire expanding on the screen before them, Beverly rose slowly and moved forward. "What," she murmured with equal parts fascination and dread, "is that?" And then with another word from tactical behind her, the primary image on the viewscreen shifted once more to be replaced, unexpectedly, by the face of the man she'd crossed half the sector to find.

He looked older than he had the last time she'd seen him—of course he did—but despite the underlying condition she knew he faced, Jean-Luc Picard's sharp, focused hazel eyes had lost none of their clarity or intensity. Sounding every bit the earnest, persuasive diplomat he had once been, he spoke over the open channel from the bridge of his small ship directly, urgently, to Soji Asha, imploring her to shut down the beacon of energy that had opened the frightening portal in space, because he believed in her, and her potential. Believed in the rights, and the future, of all sentient synthetics like her. "We're here—to save each other," he insisted.

Even as the fiery portal began to distort with bizarre, writhing tentacles emerging from somewhere beyond its origin, Beverly's gaze was fixed on Jean-Luc, held strangely fast by that rich, stentorian voice she'd once known so intimately and remembered so well. She didn't know what effect his words were having on Soji, but hoped the young woman was listening...

All at once the transmission cut off, leaving the vortex alone on the main viewer—but then it began to shrink before their eyes, and a moment later Vu announced, "Sir, the spatial distortion has disappeared. The Romulan fleet is breaking off."

He did it. Beverly let out the breath she'd been holding, sharing in the collective relief of the bridge crew. They'd all been prepared to the defend the planet and serve the fleet, but their small vessel had nowhere near the capabilities of the sleek, powerful flagship and its sister Inquiry-class ships, and they all knew it. But between Will and Jean-Luc, it looked like the crisis would be averted after all. A small smile crossed her lips. They always had made a good team, hadn't they?

But she still had her own role to play. Officially, her ship was tasked with the mission of assisting the Enterprise in opening diplomatic relations with the colony on Ghulion IV, as she and her crew were experienced in medical and scientific diplomacy in first contact situations. Unofficially—she'd barely slept in the past forty-eight hours in her renewed efforts to improve on the existing treatments, to find a cure, for the neurological syndrome caused by the particular parietal lobe defect she'd found in Jean-Luc all those years ago. It was an impossible task, but Beverly had overcome impossible before. With Bruce Maddox dead, she reached out to the one person she knew of with more experience on positronic circuitry than anyone else, who cared about Jean-Luc as much as any of them, Geordi La Forge. Working alternately with her own CMO here on the ship, and Geordi over subspace, she'd been able to make significant progress. She could only hope it would be enough.

And hope, she reminded herself, that Jean-Luc would agree to see her at all. She knew his dismissive feelings towards doctors in general. She had no idea how he would react to seeing her in particular.

Beverly shook herself mentally and patted Vu's shoulder. "Excellent news. Stand down to yellow alert. Ed, analyze the sensor readings to see if you can figure out anything further about the distortion—the fleet will want any input we can give. T'Ren, locate the ship the admiral was transmitting from and move us into standard orbit alongside, best speed." She pivoted to her left, folding her arms. "Kolbe, any word from the Zheng He yet?"

The burly lieutenant frowned at his console. "Standing by, per their general orders…" After a full minute of silence, he glanced up, spoke again: "Fleet Captain Riker is hailing us, Captain."

"Onscreen," she said with relief, turning back and squaring her shoulders.

Will Riker, back in uniform and looking quite comfortable in the center seat of the flagship, smiled warmly at her. "Beverly, welcome to Ghulion IV. Thanks for coming."

"We wouldn't miss it," she assured him. In other circumstances, she would have teased him about cleaning up nicely for a pizza chef, but they each had a bridge full of eyes upon them and a mission to complete. "I'm assuming you can't stay, though?"

"We have some Romulans—and a treasonous commodore—to chase out of Federation space," he acknowledged. "Most of the fleet will accompany us. The Enterprise will remain as planned to open diplomatic relations and maintain a presence, and the Gregor Mendel should provide whatever assistance they need."

"Understood."

"I trust you can take it from here with our friend?" he added obliquely.

Beverly could see her own concern reflected in his eyes, but nodded with as much confidence as she could project. Her efforts had to be enough; she found she couldn't contemplate the alternative. "Absolutely."

"As a personal favor, please keep me apprised on that matter. And Captain—good luck," he said simply. "We'll be in touch soon. Riker out."

As most of the fleet jumped into warp out of the system, Beverly returned to the center seat, waited until conn confirmed orbit, then took a deep breath. Here we go. "Lieutenant Kolbe, hail Admiral Picard."

"Yes, ma'am...No response." At her questioning look, Kolbe checked his readouts again. "There was a transport from the admiral's ship to the planet surface a few moments ago. No life signs remain on board."

Why so fast—why didn't they land? She was back on her feet immediately. What could have changed so quickly? They'd all seen him just ten minutes ago. Something's wrong. "Can you pinpoint the destination?"

"Affirmative."

Beverly nodded and grabbed the medkit she'd brought to the bridge before they arrived in system. "Good. Preda, you have the bridge. I'm going down."

"Captain—" In almost comical unison, the XO and security chief each took a half step forward, exchanging an alarmed glance. It was Preda Mir who continued. "With respect, Captain, you don't know the situation on the ground. Shouldn't we establish communications with the colony and coordinate with the Enterprise first, per the mission orders?"

Beverly dismissed it with a shake of her head, double-checking her kit. "There isn't time. There may be a medical emergency in progress—I can handle it." She looked up, meeting her first officer's stubborn stare fiercely, determined to win this old argument of theirs—then sighed and gave in. "All right, Kolbe, you're with me." He nodded, relieved, and Preda quickly took his station as he moved to Beverly's side. "Commander, beam us directly to the admiral's transport coordinates. And let Commander La Forge on the Enterprise know where we're going. Energize." She fingered the medkit as the transporter beam took hold.

And prayed that she wasn't too late.