By Herside

Chapter 5: Bivalence

Note: I said I would update and I am a woman of my word. Real life has been an absolute B$ #! . I fell and hit my head so hard I had a TBI, a concussion that made my head lose its mind. I had back surgery, my mother has been diagnosed with colon cancer and my remaining brother is in kidney failure and I may be his only match. So I will try to update all of these just so I can have a breather from all the chaos. It's short but I'm still working the plot in my head. As always comments are welcome and begged for.

Engineering 1 hour after the initial polarity shift

"Ensign Lefler I need you to run a continuous bioscan on that planet."

"I thought you were on the AWAY team."

"Change of plans Ensign. Search the coordinates of the team, use the DNA records we have on file, see if you can break through that magnetic field using Kreiger waves." Robin stared off into nothingness as the DNA profiles were sent to her computer. Her mind screamed when she read the name Cadet Wesley Crusher.

"Robin?"

"How could they survive that?" she whispered.

"Ensign. We will find them. We don't give up on our crew."

"Wesley is not even supposed to be here...he's...on vacation" her voice held more of a tremble than she could hide.

"Ensign Lefler, Cadet Crusher is more than qualified for this mission, and is there at the captain's request. I am sure they will be fine. Now do I need to assign someone..."

"No. " she answered and immediately began working. She had to pull herself together. Wesley needed her and she was not going to let him down.

The first sensation he felt was nausea. The bile in his liver had surged ever closer into his throat and made his head hurt. But then it stopped. Just as suddenly as the sensation overwhelmed him he felt it dissipate.

He was floating. He could feel the pain slowly ebbing away from his body as his mind seemed to roam free and he was enveloped in a brilliant warm glow. He could feel a cool liquid drip slowly through his hair as the heat slowly ebbed away from him.

Death.

Is this what death feels like.

He struggled to open his eyes but could only see a strange darkness. Darkness as still as the night sky and sounds as bleak and calm as silence. A sudden terror filled him. He was dead, It was dark, and he was all alone. He blinked rapidly, praying that his eyes would find the light. He tried desperately to open his mouth but found he had no ability to speak. He felt his lips move but could not make a sound, A gasp found its way to his chest as he felt a cool hand on his forehead. A strangled cough came to the surface and a lancenating pain shot through his chest as he tried to peer through the terrifying blackness to find its source.

A cool cloth of nearly ice cold liquid was draped across his neck and forehead.

"Please...be still young one. " the voice said.

"He felt his body start to tremor as he realized he could not move from the ground, and the strong hand easily held him in place. Time stood still as he felt his mind was flooded with images.

He could feel his heart racing in his chest. Suddenly it dawned on him. His heart! His heart was racing. He was alive. He remembered the anguished cries that had disturbed his unconsciousness when he awakened.

The fiery handy of death reached into his chest an took hold, as he tried desperately to move towards those cries. She was calling out to him as she heard a yelp of pain escape his lips in a strangled cry.

Wesley heard her beg him to be still, but he could not. He dragged his battered and broken body towards the sound of her voice and with the last dregs of his strength to collapse beside her and grasp her outstretched hand. He feels the darkness closing in on him and cold fear grips his heart...the unknown darkness brings about his own hell. His eyes peer through the raining dust and found blue eyes. Eyes he begged for permission...but saw nothing but love and pain filled sorrow.

"I love you...it's okay." came out as a strangled whisper, a cough emerging to the surface tinging dusty lips with crimson. With one last glance he heard her whisper...I love you in his mind as his eyes slid shut and a breath of stale air was stolen from his still body.

But now he could feel that breath again... A hand pressing firmly on his forehead forced his eyes open.

"Yes child, you are alive. But you must remain still. I don't have the strength to heal you, My sister and I used all that we had to save you and your friends."

He had framed that question in his mind and was surprised when it was answered.

"You are a rare human. Yes, I can hear you. It was your thoughts that led me to find you."

He pressed the cold cloth to the child's chest and he felt pain when he tried to breathe.

"You cannot talk because you are injured, you are very weak. It took more atrience to bring your spirit back. The one you call "mom" is alive and your captain is better now. It took all of father's gift to save him."

Beneath him he felt the ground start to tremble again. A violent shaking rocked beneath him sending jolts of pain throughout his body. He saw large boulders heading towards him as a surge of panic overtook him. He closed his eyes tightly as one came hurling towards his head. When the impact didn't strike him he opened one eye to see that something, some kind of force field surrounded them as the young woman worked. he peered at her and now saw that the rocks were deflecting off of them, and the person next to him.

The shaking subsided and a fissure in the rocks above him opened up revealing a slither of light from the dust filled sky above.

In the dimness he could see a man and the woman who had been placing the cool water on his head move to the person next to him. He strained to turn his head. He watched, awestruck as the man and woman both rub their hands over the body. He saw their hands tremble as they seem to achieve some level of bivalence...their bodies floated between two places. He wondered if they floated between two worlds, two lives, or two dimension. His head hurt considering the options, but his attention was soon diverted by a moan from his left side.

A scream erupted from her lips that sent a chill down his spine and was quickly silenced. Suddenly he felt a hand shoved into his and heard an audible gasp as it was squeezed. He turned his head in time to see piercing blue eyes staring at him.

"Wesley?" her strangled voice beckoned. He could not gather the strength to move against the crushing gravity but felt his eyes close of their own accord as her hand held even tighter to his limp one. The woman with stormy green eyes, and glowing white skin seemed to flicker in the dim light as the male of her species continued to run hands back and forth over Captain Picard.

Suddenly a sound fractured the silence.

"Riker to Captain Picard, captain do you read?"

Wesley heard the voice and wanted desperately to answer but could not. Beverly reached for her badge but realized it was missing...knocked off by the fall.

"Riker to Picard...come in Captain?"

"Riker To Crusher, do you read?"

The calls went unanswered.

"Data, do we have a fix on their signal?"

"No Commander, I still am not able to register any life signs, but their trace signals are somewhere near the beamed coordinates.

"Commander Data, Worf, prepare a shuttlecrew to go to the surface. Meet me in Shuttlebay 6. We will not leave them on that godforsaken planet. "

"Commander Riker, it is not appropriate for you to leave the ship. If captain Picard is missing, and we are in Cardassian territory, you must be here to protect the Enterprise and its crew." Riker sighed angrily pulling his hand downward across his full beard as he considered Data's statement. He pounded his fist on the chair.

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