Chapter 32
Geordi straightened his cramped lower back and stood up, surprised to see a visitor in this part of engineering. For the most part the crew of the Aldrin had left him, Data and Wesley alone to complete the repairs and modifications to CASU. Although absent and still locked away in the detention block, Dr. Mayer had been surprisingly cooperative and even helpful with CASU's restoration, passing information through Commander Obi. It seemed like that Mayer and Obi had some kind of tortured romance brewing, but for Geordi's part he really didn't care as long as they got this thing up and running.
He tossed his hyper spanner to the side, as a crouching Data and Wesley looked up. "Hi Counselor," Geordi greeted Deanna Troi as she strolled gracefully toward them. He wiped some grease off of his forehead and smiled. "To what do we owe this visit?"
She looked pale and anxious—never a good sign for her as that meant someone, somewhere was probably experiencing some kind of horrible mental anguish. Geordi was pretty sure that for the moment it wasn't him.
Deanna, despite her anxiety seemed quite composed. "Hello. Actually I was hoping to speak with Wesley."
Wesley Crusher came out of his crouching position to face her, smoothing out his engineering coveralls. "Hi, Counselor. What's going on?"
Troi squeezed her hands together and nodded. "Let's find somewhere quiet to sit, shall we?"
"There's a conference room over there," Geordi said, pointing across the engineering bay.
He watched as Troi and Wesley walked away, and then turned to Data. "What do you think is going on now?" he asked.
"Although there are many possible scenarios for what is currently happening, Geordi, I have learned that in this type of situation, it is more appropriate to tell you that 'I have no idea,'" said Data, handing Geordi back his hyper spanner.
"Right," said LaForge.
"Wesley, I can't help but tell that we are both thinking along similar lines," said Troi. "And it concerns me, because I believe we both may be correct.
Wesley sat down slowly across from her at the table. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Wesley several hours ago after your mother and Commander Riker left for 2355—again, I spoke with Captain Picard, who as you know is still on Earth. I know you have been thinking of him, so I thought I would let you know my concerns."
Wesley sat up straighter. "Does he know about Mom?"
Deanna smiled gently. "He does know that Beverly has traveled into the past again, and frankly he is quite upset about it."
"Well can we still reach him? Maybe if I tried to talk to him…." Wesley trailed off and then shrugged.
"I called him a few hours ago just to follow up, unfortunately he didn't answer. Wesley, I believe he is deliberately closing himself off."
"Why?"
"He's planning to try and do something extreme," said Troi. "I believe that he is convinced that he is going to disappear again—to die. And so, he is determined to make an impact before he does."
Wesley slumped in his chair. "The Traveler's been missing for days now. I need his help," he said sounding defeated.
"Why are you putting this all on yourself?" Deanna asked.
"Well…when this whole thing started—at least when the Traveler first came to visit me at the Academy after the Captain's disappearance, he said I would need to learn to trust my instincts. And each time I've encountered him since then he's been less and less helpful, telling me I have to figure this out. And then last night…well I had a dream I was playing chess with the Captain. And he told me to always trust myself. So I think I have to be the one to figure this out, but so far I haven't come close to doing that."
Deanna leaned forward and put her hand over his. Wesley blushed a little bit. He'd always had kind of a crush on Counselor Troi. Not that he was about to admit it to her—ever. She smiled at him again. "Wesley, it's not that I don't have faith in your ability to solve this problem, but it's quite complicated. I agree we need to work together, but—"
"Counselor," Wesley said quickly. "Is it possible that you're sensing the Captain's intent, but it's a Captain Picard from another timeline?"
Deanna looked at Wesley with a frown that gradually softened into some form of understanding. "I'm not certain that I would know the difference," she admitted. "Captain Picard is Captain Picard to me. And if the timelines are connecting somehow, I suppose it's possible that I could be sensing Captain Picard from a different time continuum."
"Well they are interconnected," said Wesley. "Because the Captain Picard who reappeared on Earth with Worf knows all about Bok and the Malkatans and everything else. He even knows why and how he disappeared, because Worf, my mom, you…everyone has explained it to him. And the Captain Picard in the past met Mom on the Malkatan base, was exposed to our technology, and had to use the neutralizer to escape from the Singularity Net," he said talking very quickly now. "So, the only Captain Picard who doesn't understand the problem with the timeline is our Captain Picard. The one who destroyed the Enterprise. He must have done it because he saw something—he was trying to save us."
Deanna swiped at the tears that threatened to fill her eyes. "Of course he was."
"And so now he needs our help. We have to help him to save the Enterprise."
Troi shook her head. "But Wesley, it won't be enough will it, if the thing that he saw that day was indeed the Singularity Net. We have to stop him from seeing it in the first place. But…how do we do that?"
Wesley bit his thumb. "I don't know. I don't think it's that easy. There's more than one thing going on here. But I think that the Captain is still the key to figuring this out." He looked at her again and this time smiled. "You're right, we have to work together, Deanna."
He kissed her and this time she didn't move away. He had needed her for so long, and now she was back. But it couldn't last could it? No, he understood all too well, now. But the closeness of her body didn't make it any easier, and couldn't make all of him understand. He held her to him and she returned his kiss, wrapping her hands around the back of his neck. But before long she pulled away and then ran her hand gently over his bruised throat. She lightly touched the nasty cut on his neck that was now drying.
"What really happened between you and Vigo?" she whispered. Something flashed in his eyes then and he backed away. She could tell that he didn't want to tell her the truth, and he didn't want to lie either. So knowing him, she knew he would say nothing. She reached for his hand, wishing again for the closeness they had just shared, but he sat down on the edge of the conference table and stared silently down at his leg dangling above the floor.
"Don't hide from me," she said, walking toward him.
"Or what?" he said quietly and his face was impassive when he looked up at her. "You'll leave?"
"I told you I—"
"You don't belong here!" he suddenly shouted, getting to his feet and gesturing wildly in the air in front of him. "Don't you think I understand that, Beverly? But don't you see, I don't even want to exist in this world anymore either. I don't want to remember what they did to me…what they did to my crew!"
She shook her head and sat down at the table staring up at him. All of this had happened to him because of a senseless vendetta, and she could do nothing to help him. He had to live with this now. What good had all of her time traveling and attempts to save him done? Would her counterpart on 2355 Earth understand him? Would she reach out to him? "Jean-Luc," she said quietly, trying to reason with him. "When you and the others return to Earth, there will be a time for healing, I know there will—"
"No," he said coldly, placing his palms on the table and staring down at her. "There are no others."
She blinked. "What?"
"They're all dead," he said flatly. She sat in stunned silence, as he walked away from the table, and then they both turned as the doors hissed open and Riker and Zev stepped inside the room.
"Is everything alright, Beverly?" Zev said, shooting Picard a piercing stare.
Beverly simply nodded silently, still in shock.
Riker stepped forward. "We need to talk," he said to Beverly pointedly.
Picard folded his arms in front of him and walked slowly toward Riker. "What about?" he asked, stopping just in front of him.
Riker held his ground. "Zev says you fused the neutralizer with the force field controls," he said.
Picard nodded. "That's correct. Why?" He glanced back at Beverly. "Is that why you came back? For the device you gave me down on the base?"
"You know why I came back, Jean-Luc, because I already told you," she answered. "I came back for you."
"But…Captain, we did want to retrieve the neutralizer from you," Riker said slowly. "We think we can use it. Against the weapons of the Malkatans."
Picard sat down at the table across from Beverly. "I'm listening," he said.
"Then I'll go and keep my eyes on the Ferengi," said Zev, walking out of the room.
"Wesley…."
Wesley sat up in bed, seeing the Traveler's disembodied head floating over him. He should have been surprised, but instead he only felt anger. "Where the hell have you been?" Wesley shouted jumping out of bed.
The Traveler's face shimmered, and his skin looked ever greyer than usual. "He won't let me go," the Traveler said slowly. He looked as though he were drugged. "He won't let me free until he has it…and my time is running out, Wesley."
Wesley ran a frenzied hand through his tousled hair. "What? Who are you talking about?"
"The Jailor…."
"The who? Who is the Jailor?"
The Traveler, or his image began to choke. "It was not only Bok…it was not-find the other one and stop him, Wesley—"
"Find the other one? Who's the other one?" Suddenly the Traveler's image blinked away and Wesley was alone. Wesley reached out and swiped at the area above his bed uselessly, before falling to the floor in frustration. Stop him…
