Chapter 32

"Demetrius!" Guinan shouted. She had been pounding on the great wooden door for ten minutes now. She was growing tired, and was completely distraught from her failure to save her friend who was lying dead in the hallway behind her. She didn't want to return to the Enterprise with Picard's body. But she couldn't return without him. "Demetrius I know that you are in there!"

Finally came the sound of shuffling feet across a room.

"I have not answered to that name in almost one hundred years," answered a very tired sounding voice. "Now I am king."

"Not anymore you're not. Demetrius I am taking you home...to where you belong."

There was a long pause. "Teacher? Is that you?"

"Yes...it is me Guinan, your teacher. I've come to take you back to your world Demetrius. The world you used to love."

"But...but my parents..."

"Let's talk about your parents later. I have to get you home now. This world is killing you and everything left in it."

"But the master..."

"He has already forgotten about you. He was trying kill you, Demetrius. And he used my friend to do it." She slammed her fist into the door again. "He used him until he killed him!"

There was a loud creaking sound, as the door opened slowly inward. Guinan stood still, nearly holding her breath. Eventually a hunched figure became visible. An old man with long white hair and an unkempt beard peered out at her with frightened eyes. On his head was a delicate looking crown that seemed to move in the light. He had aged much faster than if he had lived in the original world all these years. But she recognized his sensitive brown eyes. She reached her hand out. "Come on," she said as gently as she could muster. "It's time to go."

"Teacher," he whispered, and tears came to his eyes. "I'm sorry…I was so wrong."

"You're not the only one at fault, Demetrius. I should have listened. And you were led astray."

"I'm sorry," he said again, tears now streaming down his wrinkled face. But he hesitantly gripped her hand. He smiled, showing her a mouth full of yellowed teeth. "Yes, I want to go home," he said. "To our world." His skin was so pale she could see his veins clearly, and he squinted in the dim light of the corridor as though he had been kept in darkness for ages. In a way, Guinan knew, he had been.

She nodded and led him out of the room into the corridor. Her heart sank when she saw Picard's body again lying still on the cold stone floor. She knelt down beside it again and bowed her head, considering what she should do; what she should say to the crew.

Demetrius knelt down beside her, staring at the lifeless figure on the floor of his castle. "Who is this man?" he asked.

Guinan turned Picard's body so that he was facing the ceiling. His body was becoming stiff now. She looked around for some piece of clothing she could use to wrap him in. There was nothing. "This is the man who would be king," she said quietly, then looked at Demetrius.

"Data, something is happening up here on deck twelve."

"Doctor Crusher, could you please be more specific? I am on my way to the bridge. However the turbo lifts are for some reason operating only at 48% efficiency," said Data.

"Data, I've got more than a slow turbo lift problem here. The walls in sick bay are turning to stone, and there is some kind of moss growing on my medical equipment! Is that specific enough for you, Data?"

"Yes, thank you, Doctor. It appears consistent with transformational phenomena underway throughout the Enterprise."

"What the hell is going on, Data?"

"Doctor I am presently on my way to the bridge. Please remain at your post until further notice. If I find out what the hell is going on, I will inform you. Data out."

"Commander Data, this is Ambassador K'Ehleyr."

"Yes, Ambassador? I had expected you and Commander Korok to have disembarked by now."

"So did we," she said not even trying to hide her annoyance. "We're in your main transporter room right now, and your Chief O'Brien is telling us the transporter has malfunctioned, and that the problem appears to be systemic-they're all down."

"I see," said Data. "Have you tried contacting Commander Targ? Perhaps he can beam you directly to the surface of Kronos."

"No use," she said. "We've tried that too. Targ says there's some kind of energy field surrounding the Enterprise. Looks like we'll need to borrow one of your shuttles, Commander."

"Of course," agreed Data. "I will arrange a transport for you shortly. Please proceed to shuttle bay two."

"Are you injured?" Worf asked Saris suspiciously as they walked on either side of LaForge, escorting him to sick bay. It bothered him to even have to ask her, as frankly he did not care. But security protocols needed to be followed.
She did not reply, and remained stone faced.

"I am security chief on board this vessel, and I am asking you a question," pressed Worf. "Why do you not respond?"

Saris merely glared up at him in response.

"Guys..." said LaForge limping along between them. "Please don't argue, it's really hurting my head."

"I am not arguing," Worf boomed. "She has refused to say a word."

"Well it's just your voice ringing in my head then. But it still hurts," LaForge insisted.

"She is the enemy and we do not even know why she is accompanying you to sick bay, Commander," Worf insisted.

"I have my reasons," said Saris. LaForge looked at her with a hopeful expression, but she did not look at him. He felt for her—abandoned by her own ship. Who knows what she was thinking?

Worf stopped abruptly. "What the-?" He rushed forward attempting to break up what appeared to be an impromptu melee in the middle of the corridor. Several of his own officers were fighting with a group of engineers. "Crewmen! Stop this at once," Worf admonished them.

One of the security officers spun and tried to punch him. Worf ducked and the man's momentum sent him flying over Worf's shoulder. He stood angrily over the man, and then noted with shock that the man's eyes and the eyes of the other crewmen contained the same inky black material he had seen in Picard's. The crewman jumped up and pushed past him, resuming his attack on his colleagues.

Worf grabbed Geordi by the arm. "This is useless. Let's get to sick bay," he said.