Chapter 14
"Please have a seat," Picard said to Mary as he ushered her on to the shuttle craft. She glanced around curiously before sitting down and then fumbled with the safety harness before he bent down to help her.
She put her bag down next to her feet and then smiled up at him in surprise, as she felt something rub against her shins. "Oh! I didn't know you had a cat on board this shuttle," she said with a little chuckle.
Picard stared down at Spot, scratching his head. "Neither did I…um, Worf?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"When did Data's cat rejoin us?"
"I do not know, Captain. But it is clear she did not wish to be left behind. Conveniently…just as my scratches have healed," he muttered and sat down in the navigator's seat.
The cat meowed at Picard. "Your timing is quite good, I will give you that," he said to Spot. The cat blinked up at him.
Picard moved to the pilot's seat and paused before powering up the thrusters. He turned around to address the old woman. "Mary, I hope that in time Mr. Worf and I will gain your trust. However, I am afraid that I can't promise that you will be any safer on board a Starship than you are here on Earth."
Mary smiled at Picard in a kindly way. "Don't you worry, young man, I already do trust you two boys," said Mary. She reached down into her pack and pulled out a large bag, and then sighed. "I just needed a break from those people. God, all they do is complain, non-stop! I figured you two boys would be better company. And don't get started about the danger, because I'm much safer with you two than I will be down here just waiting for those ugly Malkatans to return."
Picard raised an eyebrow. "I see...well, you know it has been quite some time since someone referred to me as a young man," he remarked.
She eyed him. "My guess is I've got at least forty years on you, son…."
Son? "Fair enough," he quietly replied. He watched as she began to pick white puffs of food from the bag she was holding, popping them in her mouth one at a time.
Picard pointed haltingly with his index finger. "Is that...?"
Mary stopped munching her snack momentarily and looked at him. "It's popcorn," she said with her mouth nearly full. She held the bag out to him. "Want some?"
"Um...perhaps later," said Picard. He watched as the cat jumped onto the seat and curled up in Mary's lap, purring. Picard slowly turned back to his station and shot Worf a look, but the Klingon merely shrugged. He was used to odd human behavior. It was the cat that worried him.
Picard sighed as he powered up the shuttle. "Let's not waste any more time."
The USS Aldrin
Riker pushed Obi off of him as gently as possible. The man was solid, and unconscious people were always heavy. "Sorry," he grunted, even though his first officer couldn't hear him, and then he sat up, pointing at Johanna Mayer. "Restrain her, I don't care if she is unconscious," he ordered the security officer who stood above Dr. Mayer's limp body.
The officer nodded and turned to grab restraints from his colleague.
"Where should we put her, sir?" he asked bending down.
Riker got to his feet and glared at the man. "She just fired a disruptor into a sickbay full of officers, Ensign..."
"The brig then sir?"
Riker nodded curtly. "The brig." He watched as the officers picked Dr. Mayer up. The stun setting must have been strong. "After she's been locked up, proceed with caution to locate CASU. I'd like to know why the hell my personal security robot wasn't here intervening while she was threatening to shoot me."
Riker rubbed the back of his skull. The arm he had injured down on the colony was aching again. He recalled that CASU had saved him down there. So where was the robot now? He glanced over at Crusher and Troi who were talking quietly. They seemed alright.
"I'm alright Deanna," Doctor Crusher was insisting, still seated on the floor, while Troi crouched beside her. "Just a little bump on the head," she added.
Riker looked down at Obi who was slowly coming to. The medical personnel surrounding him chattered to each other anxiously. Finally one of them turned to look up at Riker. "He's sustained a slight concussion and his arm was grazed by the disruptor fire."
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Yes sir."
Riker leaned down to look at his first officer. "It was set to kill…Obi saved my life."
Obi was murmuring something as he regained consciousness. "She didn't mean it sir…please let me talk to her." He tried to sit up, but Riker put a hand on his shoulder.
"Relax, Patrick…rest a few more minutes. Mayer is the least of my worries, right now."
"But she's destroyed the only neutralizer we have, sir," Wesley said, walking toward Riker.
Riker nodded. "I know." Damn her…she'd really complicated matters. Now it seemed they would need to travel into the past not only to save Picard, but to get the only other neutralizer—the one Picard had in his possession. Without it, the Malkatans would continue to destroy the Federation.
Crusher touched her tender scalp absently as she stared out after the security officers as they carried Doctor Mayer out of sick bay. "Did you say her last name is Mayer…?"
Riker turned to look at her. "Yes. Why, does that name mean something to you?"
Crusher frowned. "Vaguely…I don't know." She shook her head and then started to push herself to her feet, shrugging off Deanna's assistance.
"Slowly, Beverly," cautioned Troi. "In your condition, you need to be more careful—" Wesley moved to his mother's side nervously, grabbing her elbow to steady her.
"What condition is that?" Riker snapped staring at the two women and Wesley. They were behaving secretively, and he didn't appreciate it. He needed everyone clear and everything out in the open in order to plan their next move. What were they keeping from him?
Crusher straightened. "I'm fine," she told him pointedly, chin raised.
"That still doesn't answer my question, Doctor." Riker saw the determined look on her face and knew he had to change his tone quickly, if he was to have any chance of reasoning with her. The prospect that Picard could be killed in the past, never to return again was still unthinkable, even though he had recently struggled to do his best to come to terms with Picard disappearing from the present. Beverly had tried to save him in the past, but whatever she'd done hadn't been enough. He could imagine how troubled she must feel. And that she of course loved the Captain made it all that much harder to bear.
He walked toward her and softened his expression, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Beverly, I know you…and I know for a fact that you are already planning on returning to the past to help the Captain. But you're on my ship now. So if you're ill, I need to know about it—"
"I'm pregnant, Will," Beverly interrupted softly.
Riker let his hand drop from her shoulder limply. He looked into her eyes. "Wow…I have to say…I didn't expect that."
"Neither did I," she admitted, taking in his shocked expression. "But I'm pregnant. And aside from this bump on my head, I assure everyone that I am perfectly fine."
As she walked past him, Riker turned to look at Deanna with an alarmed expression. How? He thought, as he watched Wesley follow his mother out the door.
Deanna folded her arms over her chest and looked up at him with mixed amusement and irritation. Will…
When she traveled to the past….
Deanna nodded.
And that's when they did it?
Deanna sighed in exasperation. Did… it? Very classy, Will. I don't have any specific details if that is what you are looking for.
He shrugged. And the Captain has now re-appeared here in the present? On Earth? And he knows?
Yes, yes, and yes….
This whole thing is so crazy, he thought.
Finally, you've thought something I can agree with, she thought back at him.
Riker winked at her and then turned to look at Data and Geordi who were chattering away intensely about the neutralizer.
"The runabout's hull and starboard nacelle are compromised, Geordi…it is too dangerous to bring it aboard the Aldrin. It is also highly likely that the shuttle will explode within the hour."
"We need the information stored in the shuttle's replicator, Data," said LaForge.
"So you think there's a chance of making another neutralizer then?" Riker asked hopefully.
"It's possible," said LaForge. "I recommend that we upload all computer files from the runabout ASAP, before we lose it entirely.
Riker nodded. "Proceed."
