Chapter 48


The Planet Glanau 2366

When Mayer turned to see Wesley speeding across the dusty plain toward him on the repaired hover bike, he began to run away in the opposite direction. Determined, the teenager hunkered down and closed the distance quickly. It was now dark and he turned on the bright headlight of the vehicle, hoping to blind Mayer in the process. Despite being on foot, Mayer's steps did not slow, until abruptly he stopped and spun around to face Wesley with flashing eyes. Wesley zoomed up alongside Mayer and kicked out with his foot, catching Mayer in the chest. The man tumbled backwards, and then disappeared into thin air. Seconds later, he saw Mayer again, much farther away. Spinning the bike around, Wesley kicked the accelerator and sped off toward his foe. It was a game they were playing and Wesley was determined not to be the one to lose.


The Aldrin 2367

"Nonsense, Beverly," Deanna said still holding out her hand. "I'm not leaving you here. We'll go together. Besides, Captain Picard will have heard the evacuation announcement too."

"But he won't leave. He's thinking the same thing I am Deanna. He wants to find us."

"Of course he does,"Deanna agreed gently. "But...we should at least keep moving." She hit her communicator. "Counselor Troi to Captain Picard." She saw Beverly's eyes widen. The communicator chattered, but there was no response. Honestly she hadn't expected any, but she wanted Beverly to know she was still on her side...that she was trying to help. "I don't believe that he has a communicator," Troi said calmly. "But as soon as we can establish communication we will...I promise. But it's not safe here anymore, Beverly. We have to go."

Beverly stared at her friend apparently considering whatever slim options she had, and then nodded slowly. "Fine...but we have to keep trying to reach him. And if we get to a life pod before him I'm not leaving without him," she said stubbornly. She reached out and took Deanna's hand. "Alright?"

Deanna smiled. "Alright."


A few minutes beforehand...

The shuttle bay was overcrowded, and no one appeared to be in charge. The rescued Starfleet officers milled around intermixed with civilian refugees and the Aldrin' s security personnel. Picard turned his head to look down at Mary and smiled at her. Her eyes were still shut tightly.

"You can open your eyes now, my friend. We're safe now," he reassured her.

She opened her eyes slowly. "Meaning we haven't crashed into the ocean...and we're still alive," she said feeling her face and then her arms.

"Yes," he laughed. "Now I have to go and try to find Beverly," he said quickly. Just then there was a high pitched whistle and a jet of plasma burst from a vent in the ceiling above them. Picard hugged Mary to him and they crouched down. Then a series of violent explosions reverberated through the decks beneath them, and people began rushing by he and Mary.

"What's happening?" Mary shouted over the screams, pushing and shoving of the crowd around her. She continued to hold Jean-Luc's hand and gripped it tighter as she realized they had just transported into chaos. "You said we were safe!"

"Perhaps I spoke too soon!" he shouted over the noise.

Picard was in a daze as he stared at the crew members rushing around them, pushing for the exits. The recaptured officers were traumatized of course, and now they were discovering that they were still in danger.

Jean-Luc and Mary ducked again as the room began to fill with smoke. People went rolling and stumbling past them as the whole ship lurched to the side.

"Calm down!" He sudden heard a familiar voice yelling from a nearby exit. "We're going to get everyone to safety...But the ship has taken heavy damage and we've got to get to the upper decks. Just everyone take it slow."

Picard lifted his head straining to see over and through the crowd. It was Geordi LaForge. The engineer was covered in soot and his uniform was bloody and singed in places. Exhaustion, disorientation and his elation at seeing a familiar face nearly drove Jean-Luc to tears. "Geordi!" he shouted, pulling Mary along with him through the crowd of people. "Geordi!"

LaForge's forehead creased as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing, and then he broke into a brilliant smile. "Captain? I can't believe it's you!"

The two men hugged briefly and then as Geordi pulled away, Picard gripped his forearms desperately. "Geordi, is Beverly alright? How is the baby?"

Geordi studied the Captain closely. His readings were completely off. He didn't bother to ask whether Picard was alright, because clearly he was not. His electromagnetic signatures shifted back and forth according to Geordi's Visor, almost as though he was more than one person. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I haven't exactly met the baby yet...But I'm sure everything is-"

Picard suddenly closed his eyes and his knees buckled.

"Whoa!" exclaimed LaForge, catching Picard and holding him until the captain was able to steady himself. "Careful sir." Noticing Mary for the first time, LaForge smiled grimly and nodded at her. "Ma'am."

Picard passed the back of his hand over his eyes. "Where is she, Geordi? I don't think I have much time left."

"Don't say that, Jean-Luc," Mary protested, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Picard sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Geordi this is Mary...Mary, this is my chief engineer-former chief engineer," he corrected himself.

"Hello young man," Mary said.

Geordi smiled again as he looked at the old woman, who seemed an unlikely companion for Picard; and yet he guessed she had been one of the captain's few allies over these last weeks.

Suddenly Riker's voice sounded over the intercom. He was announcing a shipwide evacuation.

"Shit," LaForge whispered, as the crowd which had been streaming past him at a moderate rate, now was like a river of frantic people. "Wait!" He shouted. "You heard Captain Riker...he said get to the shuttles. We're in the main shuttle bay," he said waving people out of the corridor. He stepped out of the exit trying to direct bodies as much possible before returning to the shuttle bay entrance. Captain Picard and Mary had waited for him and Picard was clearly still expecting to hear some news about Beverly.

Turning back to the Captain he tapped his communicator. "LaForge to Counselor Troi."

The only immediate signal was static-filled but then, "Troi here...Geordi are you okay? What's happening?"

"Evacuation," he said quickly. "Look Counselor, is Doctor Crusher with you?"

"Yes, we're on deck sixteen now and headed for an escape pod."

Geordi' s Visor displayed Picard's vitals fluctuating again. "Captain Picard is here with me," he said. "We're on deck twenty."

"Tell her...tell her I'm on my way," Picard said, his voice wavering slightly.

"The Captain's on his way."


Wesley slowed the bike down and let it hover about half a meter above the ground. "Why are you running from me, doctor?" He yelled into the night toward the last location he'd seen Mayer standing. "Or is this all part of your big experiment?" Wesley cut the motor and for a moment could only hear the wind howling in his ears.

Pulling his small bag from over his shoulder he reached in and pulled out a tricorder. It was full of sand and dust but was still functional. Flipping it open he turned on its sensor sweep and held it up in the air. He adjusted the settings. Mayer's disappearing/reappearing act was getting old, and if Wesley wasn't careful, it could be his demise. He studied the sensor readings. The scientist had seemed to appear and disappear at random places and times. But now Wesley could see strange signatures in the surrounding air. Adjusting the controls again he could see that there were six areas on the horizon showing significant amounts of radiation.

According to the Traveler, Picard had destroyed or disrupted the Singularity Net in the past; at least he had tried to. No doubt Mayer had been there as well and had himself been killed. Perhaps he was still trying to regenerate fully before attacking Wesley head on. Meanwhile Mayer's body continued to be saturated with radiation from the destruction of the Net; the same radiation that was hanging in the air around Wesley. Mayer must have been using these spots over and over to teleport into Wesley's time and space. Some kind of temporal conduit. He's using these spots to travel through. I'll wait for him to pop back through...And then I'll stun him.


Picard turned to Mary. "Mary, please stay with Mr. LaForge...he will ensure you reach an escape pod safely," he said. "Thank you for your bravery...and for seeing it all through with me."

Mary nodded sadly. "I knew we'd have to part ways soon enough, son. Please be safe and take care of your new family."

"I will," he said, and with a final nod to LaForge he moved away at a quick pace.


The condition of the ship was deteriorating quickly as crew members and Earth refugees scrambled for safety. Safety could now only be found outside the confines of the dying star ship, and amidst the shouts he heard the repeated hiss of escape pods deploying. He could feel the heat from the spreading fires beginning to take over the ship, soon to be claiming their prize.

He didn't bother with the turbolifts, there was no point, really. Instead he climbed one utility ladder after the other as quickly as he could, until he reached deck sixteen. Out of breath and exhausted, his senses were still somehow enhanced as he searched frantically for Beverly through the smoky hallways.

She must have seen him first, because she began shouting his name over and over. "Jean-Luc!"

He skidded to a stop, heart racing wildly, and then started forward again when he saw them through the smoke. Beverly with their child bundled in her arms. Beside them stood Deanna looking worried and yet relieved to see him come from nowhere.

He ran the rest of the way nearly falling into her embrace. Wrapping his arms around Beverly and the baby, he heard himself say, "this time I know you are real."

Beverly pulled back and looked into his eyes searchingly. "You remember?"

He kissed her on the cheek. "Yes...now I remember everything. Everything," he repeated looking down at the baby. He laughed, touching the baby under her chin with his finger. "She's so small," he observed. Beverly kissed him, pulling him close.

"You really do remember then," she said when she released him. "The things I told you all those years ago." Her eyes were burning from emotional exhaustion.

"Yes." He nodded and glanced at Deanna. "It's good to see you, Counselor," he said.

Deanna wiped a tear from her cheek. "You as well, captain. It has been far too long."

Warning. Primary and secondary hull failure is imminent. Immediate evacuation is required. Decks thirty-six through thirteen will decompress in five minutes. Warning.

"Let's not waste any more time," Picard said. "We've got to get off of this ship."