Chapter 16
"What do you mean you're coming with me?" Beverly dropped her med kit on the table and crossed her arms in front of her.
Riker gave Crusher a puzzled look. "I thought I was being clear enough...look, Beverly, we need to get that neutralizer, and the Captain Picard of the past has it in his possession."
"Will, you're talking about him as though he's somehow a different person. But he's the same man you've known."
"Except he's not going to have a clue who I am, is he?"
"True," she admitted.
"So…are we going to tell him?"
Her face went immediately pale and he realized…she was still wrestling with telling the Picard of 2355 that she was pregnant. But that wasn't exactly what he had meant.
"Tell him what?" She asked quietly as she twisted her hands in front of her. The front she had been keeping up had dropped. She looked vulnerable all of a sudden, and he felt for her.
"Tell him that we're from the future," Riker clarified.
She looked down at her feet, obviously disconcerted. "Um, yes. I think we have to…don't you?"
Riker nodded tensely. "If he's going to trust us, I don't see any other way. He has no idea who Bok is, much less the danger he and his crew are in. And, of course we need to convince him to give us the neutralizer back." Will sighed and shook his head. "I don't know…a lot could go wrong."
"I gave it to him," said Beverly, regaining some of her natural confidence. "I see no reason why he wouldn't simply give it back to me. But I'm telling you right now, in my mind this neutralizer thing is secondary."
"I'm with you," he agreed.
"As long as we both understand my reasons for returning," she said.
Ruler nodded. "You intend to save him from Bok. Well, so do I..."
"Good," she said, grabbing for her blue lab coat and putting it on.
Riker smiled at her still trying to make peace. He handed her a heavy tan coat with multiple pockets. "You'll need something more substantial than a lab coat. Here, this will protect you in case we're grazed by disruptor or phaser fire...just don't get hit head on."
"I'll try my best." She smiled tightly and then paused while pulling the coat on as her hand grazed her abdomen. It didn't make any sense-she was already starting to show. Everything was happening much too quickly.
A horrible thought crossed her mind for the first time. What if she entered the past and the baby disappeared? Was she making the right decision by going back to try and keep him safe? Was she risking their child? What if she just stayed in the present with him, and trusted that in the past he would be able to fend for himself? No...she decided that she couldn't do that either.
Riker watched Beverly as she put a hand over her eyes and bowed her head seeming to freeze with the weight of too many decisions. He moved closer. "You okay?"
After a moment she nodded and looked up at him, forcing a smile.
"Are you sure you're up to this?" he persisted gently. Uh oh…wrong question. The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees. Riker wisely moved out of Beverly's way as she snatched a small duffel bag nearby and threw her med kit and a phaser into it. She tossed the bag over her shoulder and walked toward the door quickly.
Before he could follow her, she turned around abruptly, and he was dismayed to see that the troubled look on her face had returned.
"I haven't decided whether I am going to tell him yet, Will," she admitted, looking incredibly guilty. "About the baby," she added.
"Right," he said quietly. "Well…why don't you just wait and see what makes sense when you see him?" He cleared his throat. "I won't get in your way, but I'll be there to support you. Okay?"
She smiled, looking just a little relieved. "Okay."
Earth 2367 Altered Timeline
"How are we going to get in?" Mary asked from behind him.
Picard felt a wave of vertigo sweep over him as he sat at the shuttle's flight controls. And then he heard Vigo's voice as clearly as if his old tactical officer was sitting next to him. "How are we going to get in?" Vigo asked. "There's no one to let us in."
Picard blinked as the metallic grey sheen of the Enterprise hull filled the view screen. "Worf is our communications array working?" he asked, trying to shake the ghostly voices from his brain. He had never heard Vigo speak those words, so why did he hear the man's voice speaking them? Why now?
"Yes, sir," said Worf. "Activating," he said.
"Establish a link with the Enterprise," he ordered.
"The link is up, sir," Worf confirmed.
"Nice work, Vigo," he said turning to his right with a smile.
Worf did a double-take. "Sir?"
"Enterprise, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard," Picard said, not missing a beat. "Requesting to dock in shuttle bay one. "
There was no immediate answer; then: "Request denied. Captain Jean-Luc Picard has been missing in action and presumed deceased since 2355," said the Enterprise computer. "Unidentified shuttle, please acknowledge the appropriate security code to continue docking procedures."
Picard's hands shook on the control panel, and sweat ran down his back. Dead…since 2355. He didn't belong here in this time. He blinked perspiration out of his eyes and looked over at Worf. "Mr. Worf…you—you try," he gritted his teeth to maintain his composure.
"Computer, requesting docking procedure, Security 1-001-Alpha-002," said Worf.
"Acknowledged," said the computer immediately.
Worf glanced at Picard, who was staring straight ahead. "Open the aft shuttle bay doors," ordered Worf. "Standard docking procedures."
"Acknowledged," repeated the Enterprise computer.
