Chapter 31

"Has the energy perimeter been set up around Counselor Troi?" Data asked as Worf approached from down the corridor.

"Yes, Commander…Doctor Crusher and Guinan were unable to make any meaningful contact with her. She appears to still be unconscious, yet she is emitting a black substance which we have confirmed has been seen on the decks above and below sick bay. We have instructed all personnel to avoid this substance if possible."

"And to avoid Counselor Troi…." added Data.

Worf fell into step beside him. "Yes, it would seem unwise to approach her, after having experienced similar circumstances with the Captain."

Data nodded. "We certainly have sufficient information to postulate that this is the same substance that has been visible in Captain Picard's eyes, and the same substance Doctor Crusher reported she saw leaving the artifact and entering Captain Picard's body."

"Whatever it is, it is a dangerous influence over our crew, and the energy field has so far been inadequate to stop it," said Worf. "An engineer reported being assaulted by his colleague after the substance passed through the man's foot and he went mad. We were able to restrain him, but he was extremely strong."

"These events are consistent with Captain Picard's open aggression and enhanced physical strength following his contact with the artifact," said Data. "However, Ensign Barnes had no visible known contact with the substance and yet he was also emotionally compromised, not unlike Captain Picard," said Data.

Data and Worf stopped abruptly as they reached their destination. As if on cue, a red transporter beam suddenly appeared in the middle of the corridor.

"Thank you for agreeing to beam on board, Ambassador," said Data. Worf straightened beside him. "Commander Korok may respond more favorably to you."

Ambassador K'Ehleyr gave him a small smile even before she finished beaming into existence. "No problem, Commander, always willing to help a friend in need." She winked at Lt. Worf, who did not appear to be amused.

How would Pritchard have ever met an El Aurian, much less married one? A thousand ways of looking at the situation ran through Guinan's mind, and still she came to no solid conclusion. It wasn't unusual for El-Aurians to travel to other worlds. Perhaps someone had traveled here to this time and place on Earth, fallen in love with Pritchard for a time and then moved on. It wasn't impossible…nothing against Pritchard of course, but why him?

So instead of dwelling on this mystery, she encouraged him to talk about other things as they trotted along. Eventually she knew they would increase speed to a gallop and there would be no more talking for most of the day until they made camp. "Where are we?" she asked him.

"After we crossed west of the Missouri River, we entered what used to be the Great Sioux Reservation."

"Used to be?" she asked.

"The government created the reservation to keep the Sioux, Cheyenne and other tribes in one place out here in the west of the Dakotas…to allow white settlements. But just about eight years ago a fella by the name of General Custer discovered gold in the Black Hills—where you're so itchin' to get to—and that was all she wrote. The whites flooded in, and the Indian tribes were forced onto even smaller reservations all through this region here," he said gesturing with his arm.

"And if they refused to go?"

"Well there were plenty of methods used…none of them completely effective and none of them friendly. Killing off all the buffalo was one…they haven't survived too well without the buffalo. The goal was to stop their main food source and make them dependent on the government for mealy corn and flour. No way to survive…."

He trailed off into silence and Guinan recalled the hundreds of hulking dead bodies she had encountered that first night after escaping the train. The very memory of it horrified her.

"As you can imagine," he continued, "The Indians didn't take that lying down, and it's been continuous conflict for years now. You see the Black Hills are sacred to many of the Indian tribes in this region. And when the government allowed the whites in to stomp all over the Black Hills looking for gold, it broke a treaty that was signed way back in '68. So the people didn't appreciate the government breaking yet another promise to leave the Indians and their land alone." He fell silent then and straightened in his saddle, suddenly attentive.

Guinan took a deep breath and took in an acrid smell, the smell of smoke—unmistakable on any planet.

"Whoa!" Pritchard stopped his horse just in front of her, holding up his hand for her to do the same. Ahead of them through some trees in a clearing, black smoke billowed up into the mid-day sky. Pritchard turned and looked at her, and concern played across his features. He jumped down and pulled out his rifle, walking toward the source of the smoke.

"Why are you bringing your gun?" Guinan called after him. "Looks like someone might need our help," she said, following his lead and dismounting from Peaches. For some reason she grabbed a blanket and some water before hurrying to catch up. She scrambled up a grassy hill and stopped just short of running into Pritchard. He had stopped and removed his hat, holding it solemnly over his heart. She moved around to stand next to him and followed his gaze. Before them lay what appeared to be the last of a small encampment. About a dozen bodies lay on the ground, many burnt, all dead.

Putting his hat back on his head, Pritchard walked further into the camp and then knelt down beside a body that was not as badly burned. He turned the dead man toward him enough so that he could see the cause of death; a bullet to the head. He rolled the man back over and then made a strange sign with his hand, before glancing back at Guinan. "Don't come down here," he warned in an angry voice.

He jogged back to Ulysses and grabbed a small shovel, and then marched past her again with it over his shoulder.

"What are you doing, Pritchard? What happened to these people?" He shook his head and once at the edge of the encampment looked around for a few moments before beginning to dig. Seeing what he was doing, she led the horses over to a tree nearby and hitched them loosely. Then she walked slowly through the camp, viewing the dead bodies all around, some of them children.

She picked up a small child, probably six years old, and carried the lifeless body in her arms over to Pritchard, who had quickly dug a three foot hole about three feet wide already. Clearly, he had done this before.

Without saying a word, she placed the child down carefully on the ground. Pritchard turned and made eyes contact with her before seeing the child. His face immediately went ashen and registered a look of horror and emotion she would not have thought possible coming from him. He turned away quickly resting his forehead on the handle of the shovel. "Didn't I tell you not to come down here?" he choked out, still averting his gaze. He pulled an old ratty handkerchief from his pocket and wiped angrily at his eyes, before exhaling loudly.

Guinan knelt down. "Who did this, Pritchard?" she repeated again, quietly.

He coughed and looked at her, and then started to dig again. "Raiders…settlers…the army…we'll probably never know." He sniffed in angrily. "Just happened, I'd say this morning."

"Who were these people?"

"Sioux," he said. He continued to dig steadily, and she could now see that he was digging a long trench. Wiping his brow he looked up at her. "This is gonna take a while," he said.

"I'll help you," she said.

"She's going to do what?" Riker's voice was extremely hoarse, and even sounded painful, but at least he was speaking. He sat up in his recovery bed, while Doctor Crusher fiddled with a small regeneration device fastened to the front of his throat.

"She's going into the Other's world…to find Captain Picard," Crusher repeated slowly.

He shook his head. "Hold still," she snapped, grabbing his chin firmly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just can't believe the things that have happened since I've been out of it."

"Well…neither can I," said Crusher. "But I have to trust that Guinan knows what she's doing."

"I'm not sure we have any better options," he agreed. "You need to clear me for duty as soon as possible, Doctor."

"Not so fast," she said letting go of his chin and stepping back. "Data has it under control, and you still need to rest and heal."

He rubbed his eyes. "But what about Deanna? I can't just sit here while she is being taken over by that thing."

Beverly sighed. "But we can't reach her—we can't even touch her, can we?"

"Can't we? We don't know anything about this thing, really Beverly."

Trust me; I know about it…I watched it take hold of Jean-Luc, didn't I? Watched it but didn't stop it, she thought. "Will, I know you care about Deanna more than anyone else on this ship, but there are a number of things beyond my control as well."

He closed his eyes. "Is that supposed to make me feel better, Beverly? At least you have your work to distract you."

As if that's enough, she thought. "Commander, you almost died," she reminded him. "We need you healthy, especially with Captain Picard missing. I'm not putting you back on duty for at least another day."

He sighed and lay back down slowly.

She turned her back to him as she put her medical equipment away. She could not think of Riker being injured without also thinking of how he was injured. By Jean-Luc. "Do you remember anything, Will?" She was almost scared to hear his answer, but she turned around to face him as he spoke.

"From getting injured? I remember Captain Picard turning to me after we got off of the transporter pad. He was so…enraged he was unrecognizable—his eyes were totally black. And then I guess he hit me, and after that I don't remember much."

Beverly stood very still. "Do you blame him?"

Riker brought his hand up to touch the front of his throat lightly. He swallowed and winced. "No," he said. "He was suffering under that damn curse…and now he's been taken from us because of it. How could I blame him?"

Beverly smiled faintly, and then turned her head at a strange cracking sound coming from the wall. She walked over, following the sound. "What the…" As she reached up to feel the wall, the cracking sound repeated and then a thin ragged fissure split quickly down the wall. "Ah!" she jumped back, and she saw Riker sit up in alarm and swing his legs over the side of the bed. A large piece of the wall split in front of her eyes and dropped to the deck, revealing a strange surface underneath. It was instantly recognizable to her as stone.

Guinan walked into her quarters. Deanna Troi was being used as some kind of conduit to transmit the desires of the Other, and to recruit his "army". She knew now that events were in motion that would not be stopped just because she intended to bring back the Old King, and even Jean-Luc Picard. Was he still alive, and if so would he willingly follow her? She could only hope until she arrived in the alternate world and discovered the truth.

She looked around her. There was nothing in that room that she needed to bring with her into the Other's world. Nothing except for a small dagger she removed from her cabinet and dropped into her boot. Seeing the small purple globe still floating in the middle of her living room, she closed her eyes and reached out to grab it.

Instantly she arrived on the staircase of a great castle. In the distance a blood red sun was beginning to set. All around her were remnants of Borg drones, cut down presumably by some version Picard and his loyal followers in this realm. And yet the world was now deadly silent and grey. She walked steadily up the steps toward where she hoped she would find the Old King, still alive. For now, she left her dagger in her boot.

Would she have to fight her old friend to capture the Old King and bring him safely back to the Enterprise? Feeling the urgency, she quickened her pace, taking several steps at a time, until she reached the top. Slinking inside an immense doorway, she was dismayed to look up and find a treacherous staircase that wound upward to dizzying heights. Putting one foot in front of the other, she began her ascent.

"Put the engineer down, Korok," K'Ehleyr ordered confidently.

Korok shifted his stance as Data, Worf and Ambassador K'Ehleyr approached. "Or what?"

"Or I tell K'mpec he was wrong to take the price off your head—that you are the slimy traitorous thupta he thought you were."

Korok looked confused. "Price…off my head?"

"It seemed he believed the Romulan Tomalak, who unexpectedly cleared your name just minutes ago."

"What?!" Saris stepped forward confronting the Ambassador.

"You actually sound surprised, Romulan," K'Ehleyr turning to her with a smirk. "You might be even more shocked to learn that the Romulan war bird has departed this system—as strongly requested by Chancellor K'mPec."

Saris opened her mouth and then clamped it shut, stepping backward. Abandonment by one's ship was unthinkable. She was instantly ashamed. Where was she to go? Her eyes narrowed. Tomalak had fled back to Romulus, no doubt fearful that she would expose his spying ways. Korok was the spy who had infiltrated the Klingon Chancellor's inner circle… she was sure of it. But Tomalak's actions indicated the Romulan Senate had not sanctioned Tomalak's use of a Klingon spy…and perhaps he wished to avoid the ramifications of such a transgression. With Saris abandoned on an enemy vessel, Tomalak would be safe. And she would continue to be expendable.

Korok actually tightened his grip around Geordi's chest. LaForge was now awake, but held himself very still. "What is this trickery?" Korok growled, but his expression seemed open to listen.

"There is no trickery, you idiot," shouted the Ambassador. "Now let him go, before one of us shoots you."

Korok swore in Klingon and suddenly shoved LaForge away from him. Data caught Geordi, who was very unsteady on his feet.

Worf stepped forward and raised his arm as though to strike Korok, when the deck suddenly shook underneath them.

"Look!" Wesley Crusher shouted, pointing down the corridor. Following his gaze, the others saw that down the hall, the usual smooth lighted walls, ceiling and deck had disappeared, giving way to grey stone walls and an immense wooden door. Glancing to the side, Wesley saw a vine slowly winding from ceiling to floor, and green moss now replaced a computer wall terminal that had been there just seconds before. What was happening?

Guinan was out of breath when she reached the top of the winding staircase. She knew better than to look down from where she had come. Instinctively she knew the Old King would be behind the doors at the end of the long hallway. But before she even started forward, her heart sank. A familiar shape lay on his side in a large pool of blood. Shouting she ran quickly to his side and knelt down. The eyes of her friend Jean-Luc Picard were cold and lifeless staring up into the darkness. Perhaps minutes, or an hour ago his eyes had been pleading for his own life, but she had been too late. She felt his pulse. Nothing. His skin was bluish from loss of blood, and all warmth had already exited his body. She fell to her knees and for just one of a few times in her long life, she began to cry.