Chapter 29

2367 Four Months Ago on Board the Enterprise…

After Geordi stopped trying to reason with the Captain to halt his plans to eject the warp core, the engineer left engineering to try and get help. Picard returned to what he had been doing; he knew what he was doing-he was trying to create a disruption in a powerful warp field that had shown itself to him outside the ship; the warp field that one no one else had seen. The one that threatened to ensnare his ship.

All he knew was that if he didn't act quickly, his ship would be trapped…or destroyed. He couldn't take the chance to find out which of these would be their fate. He resumed inputting the seven security levels needed to accomplish his task when he heard a popping sound behind him. He turned to find that he was not alone.

It was very tall, grey and slender with sinewy muscles and wore no apparent clothing. "Where is the key?" When it spoke, its voice was so deep he hardly registered the words that emanated from its wide toothless mouth.

Picard reached for a phaser, but the alien grabbed his wrist and threw him to the ground effortlessly. He rolled back up to try and strike at it, but it bent down and clutched at his clothing grabbing his collar in a vice grip. The alien lifted him up by his uniform collar and shook him as if trying to rid him of loose change.

Picard struggled in midair. "Who are you?"

"I am the Jailor," responded the booming voice. "Where is the key? You must use it now!"

The key, the key, the key….


2367 Four months later in Earth Orbit

Someone continued to tug at his shirt collar. "Jean Luc...Jean Luc, wake up!"

He tried to roll away. He was trying to figure out where the key was, and if this person didn't let him finish his dream, he would never figure it out.

"Jean Luc," the now familiar voice insisted. "Wake up! That awful man is demanding to speak with you again."

Had it been a dream, or a memory? Whatever it was, it was new to him. He shook his head, and sat up from where he had been dozing on the floor of the ready room, gently pushing Mary away from him.

That "awful man" she referred to was the same person she had recently nursed back to health, while accusing Picard of lacking compassion. Apparently she had decided Captain Jellico was possibly even more of a difficult personality than Picard was, and now was very much anti-Jellico.

He rubbed his eyes. Just before falling asleep he had finished arguing with Jellico and Worf. The consensus was that whatever the Malkatans had done on the Enterprise with Jellico, had most likely been done on the other eight ships in orbit with the commanding officers. Jellico had suggested he had been kept behind for his "unparalleled knowledge about the Enterprise" and to keep the Malkatans informed of the ship's general status. The implication was that the commanding officers of the other eight ships had met the same fate, and that perhaps if they were also disconnected from the energy of the miniature singularity device, all of the ships could be freed and brought back under their control.

The ready room door hissed open and Jellico stood their staring with his unflinching gaze. "I'm ready to disembark. I'll take Worf over to the USS Corsair with me, take care of any stray Malkatans, and then we will free Captain Martens…if she's still alive that is. Once we're in the clear Worf and I can beam back over and we'll take the Enterprise, as you suggest…to attack the Malkatans."

Picard didn't bother to get up from his seat on the floor, and merely nodded his head as he leaned back against the wall. Jellico still refused to refer to Picard by his rank, much less his name, and apparently did not believe that he was the real Jean-Luc Picard, who according to Jellico (and the Enterprise computer) had disappeared twelve years ago. But this didn't stop Jellico from listening to Picard or agreeing with his plans to attack the Malkatans' temporary base on Earth.

"Surely you aren't asking for my permission, Captain," Picard said with a slight smile.

"Of course not," Jellico snapped. "Let's not forget who's in command of this vessel."

Picard finally pushed himself to his feet. "Oh…I haven't forgotten," he answered with the same small smile. He and Mary watched as Jellico stepped back through the doors, leaving them alone.

Mary looked up at Picard. "Oh, I hate his guts," she said.

"Agreed," said Picard.

Approximately 45 minutes later…

"Captain Jellico to the bridge," came Jellico's voice through the communications link.

"Bridge here," Picard answered curtly.

"Captain Martens is alive and well, and the ship is now under our control. We should be able to repeat the same process on the other ships now."

"Excellent. Any Malkatans present?" Picard asked. He tapped at the tactical console. The energy field linking the Enterprise with the Corsair was now gone. He smiled to himself. The ship was now free. His smile faded when he remembered his conversation with Troi a few hours ago. But he shoved it away from his thoughts. He couldn't dwell on the negative right now. Beverly had traveled into the past to try and save him in the present. He could not fault her. He should have been grateful, and yet he was jealous of his past self and confused by the entire situation. He could not deny it any longer. His only hope was that she would be safe so that he would be able to reunite with her in twenty hours or so. He wondered silently if she would willingly leave the past Picard this time. Again he tried to stop the infuriating thoughts from fogging his mind.

"No Malkatans," Jellico confirmed, bringing Picard back to the present. "In fact, Worf and I are ready to beam back over. Captain Martens assures me that she can handle it from here."

Picard frowned. Of course Jellico was practically incapacitated for more than a day after he was released from the energy beam, and yet he expected poor Captain Martens to be up and running in just a few minutes. He glanced over at Mary who was rolling her eyes each time she heard Jellico's voice. It was dramatic, but mirrored his feelings very accurately.

"Did you hear me bridge? Beam us back over."

"Acknowledged," Picard said. "Initiating direct bridge to bridge transport." His hands moved over the controls again, and within seconds they heard the familiar hum of the transporter beam.

When Worf materialized alone in the center of the bridge, he glanced up at Picard who stood at tactical. "Orders, sir?"

"Take the helm," said Picard. "And get us out of transporter range as quickly as possible."

"Aye sir."

"Jellico to Enterprise! What the hell do you think you're doing, Picard?"

"Shields up…" Picard said almost casually, as he made it so with the controls. "I appreciate that you've finally done me the honor of using my name, Captain, but I am afraid I don't have time to argue every little point with you—"

"You're stealing my ship, Picard! This is a court martial, do you understand, you son of a bitch?"

"I can't very well steal what is already mine," Picard pointed out, as Worf moved the ship quickly away. Mary began applauding loudly, which he allowed although inappropriate. It was then that Picard noticed Spot had returned and was sitting in the command chair. He shrugged, figuring he might as well allow feline transgressions as well, given that it was such a special occasion.