Hello again. Before you ask: don't worry, the Original Female Character here will not become major, so you can breathe a sigh of relief and put the Sue-bashing sticks down. And as before, everything that happens with Wyatt and the Tarellians is from the episode "Haven." I wouldn't make this stuff up if I could.
LunaticPandora: You're right, it was kind of short. / Sorry. This one should make up for it.
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It was perhaps a sad sign of the times that Picard was relieved to find himself faced with a problem that didn't seem to involve Q, Riker, or either of the Trois.
The First Electorine of Haven had contacted the Enterprise with a planetary security concern. An unidentified ship, traveling at sublight speed, had entered the Haven system without authorization and was refusing all attempts at communication. If it proved to be a threat, Starfleet was obligated to take action to defend Haven.
Picard, however, was optimistic. The ship was probably disabled. A single, small ship drifting into the system at sublight hardly sounded like an invasion strategy. He was confident that once communication could be established, any misunderstandings would be cleared up.
"Captain," Data reported, "the unidentified vessel is entering visual range."
"On screen, Mr. Data," Picard said, standing up to take a closer look at the viewscreen.
The screen shifted from a view of Haven to a starfield panorama, with a small dot moving slowly across it. Aside from a purplish tint, it was impossible to discern features at this range. "What's its heading and velocity?"
"Appears to be on a direct course for Haven, sir," Data said. "Equivalent speed, roughly one-fifth impulse."
"It'll take them hours to reach here," Picard said. "I think we can risk leaving orbit long enough to take a closer look at what we're dealing with here. Intercept course, full impulse."
As the Enterprise crossed the Haven system, the alien ship on the viewscreen quickly grew. Within a few minutes, its shape was identifiable: essentially a flat silvery triangle with a broad, forked tip and a large purple sphere in the center.
To someone who didn't know what it meant, it might have been beautiful.
"It can't be," Picard said, his voice subdued with shock. "The Tarellians."
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Riker's mind wandered back and forth between Q's explanation of his nature and Deanna's upcoming wedding. Neither was a pleasant subject to dwell on.
He sipped a shot of supercooled protomatter and gazed blankly into a history window somewhat like the Guardian of Forever, which a group of other Q were currently using to watch an evolutionary race between two species Riker had never heard of. They were cheering on their favorites and accusing one another of interfering, accusations that occasionally led to a lively debate on whether something could have happened by itself.
They were people. They weren't worried about where they came from, or where they were going-- the process of identity drift was as natural to them as birth and death were to humans, and as far from their minds most of the time.
A presence approached Riker. "Hey, new guy."
It was the female Q he'd met on his first trip here. She appeared as something like a star's corona without the star. "Hello... Q, was it?" Riker said, reflecting that she had been right about the convenience of the one-name system.
"And here I thought you weren't any good at remembering names," she said lightly. "Aren't you the Grand Overlord of Andromeda?"
"Will Riker," he corrected her. He had the feeling that the conversation was supposed to continue, and that it was his turn to continue it, but he didn't know what it was supposed to be about. "What brings you here?" he asked lamely.
"You're upset," she said. "I could feel the tension straining your essence from across the frame. Q just gave you The Talk, didn't he?"
Riker was a bit embarrassed to hear that his emotions were so visible. "That's right," he said. "I guess I'm still getting used to the idea."
"Yes, I suppose it would be quite a change from your former limited existence, wouldn't it? And it can't be easy having Q to learn it from."
Despite all he'd seen, Riker was somewhat surprised to hear what sounded like sympathy coming from a Q. "He's not the easiest person to get along with, no. I gather he has a bit of a reputation here."
"A bit!" The corona-Q laughed. "Half the time we can't decide whether to congratulate him or dissociate him. Has anyone told you about what he did with the Pagh?"
"No," Riker said, privately wondering what the Pagh might be. "What?"
"Well, he did something to make them angry. Scattering their orbs around in some kind of scavenger hunt, I gather. So the Pagh came here and demanded an official apology, and Q gave them what he claimed was a high-potential naked singularity to make up for all the trouble. It was actually a pre-expansion protouniverse! We never did find out who he stole that from. And by the time the Pagh found out, they'd already put it in their subspace tunnel, and they couldn't risk removing it for fear that it'd go off as soon as they got it into linear time. So now they just have to be very careful to make sure nobody brushes up against it."
She was obviously displeased with Q's actions, but it was just as clear that she found the story amusing. Riker didn't completely understand it, but he got the general idea. "That sounds like him, all right."
"As I recall," the corona-Q added, "the Pagh threatened to send their Emissary to personally hit Q in the face if he ever materialized in the Bajor system." She chuckled. "I think they were actually serious."
"I'd like to see that," Riker said, grinning.
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There wasn't much time left for a peaceful solution.
The Tarellians were helpless people in search of a cure, and Picard didn't like the prospect of having to destroy them. But he could not let them spread their plague to Haven. Wherever the other Tarellian ships had gone, entire civilizations had fallen to their disease. And this ship was refusing to respond to any of the Enterprise's hails.
If all else failed, though, it was a weak ship-- except for the primitive (and apparently malfunctioning) warp drive, it was the equivalent of early 21st-century Earth technology. A single photon torpedo could destroy it, if necessary.
It was starting to look like it would be necessary.
Dr. Crusher and Wyatt Miller were putting together a package of medical supplies to send to the Tarellians as a goodwill gesture. Simply beaming it over wouldn't be enough, though-- and they couldn't risk sending someone over there. Anyone exposed to the Tarellian plague would have to be kept away from all other life-forms, even if they survived the initial infection.
"The Tarellian ship is approaching transporter range of the planet," Data said.
Could the Tarellians have transporters? It was unlikely, but there was no sense in wasting any more time. "Yar, lock tractor beams on that ship. Make sure they can't maneuver or beam out."
Tasha engaged the tractor beams, trapping the Tarellian ship in a web of force. "Got them, sir. They won't be going anywhere."
"Maybe now they'll listen," Picard said. "Mr. Worf, continue hailing them."
Worf turned to his console for a few moments, then looked up. "We are recieving a reply."
"Excellent. On screen."
The Tarellian signal, sent by primitive and weak equipment, took some time to form an image on the main viewscreen. When the image appeared, it was of a chamber lit by soft purple light, in which a young woman (but how could she be young, when the Tarellian plague was so long in the past?) and an older man stood.
Troi's eyes widened when she saw the Tarellians. "Captain!" she whispered urgently to Picard. "That woman-- Wyatt painted her!"
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Wyatt looked from the painting in his hands to the viewscreen several times, hardly believing that what he was seeing was real. He'd been called to the bridge because the Tarellians had asked for him by name; that was strange enough, but this was... impossible. But there she was. "It's you," he said softly. "It's really you."
"Wyatt," the Tarellian woman said. "I am Ariana. I knew you would be here. I knew you would help us."
"Mr. Miller," Picard interjected, "do you two know each other? What is going on?"
"I think we do," Wyatt said. "I mean, we sort of do. She's the one I've always dreamed of..."
"But what is she doing here, on a plague ship?!"
"I don't know," Wyatt said, as mystified as Picard was. "I thought she was just a fantasy."
"Maybe Mother would know," Troi suggested.
Wyatt looked at her. "You're right. I'll go ask her." He turned to the viewscreen. "Ariana... I'll see you later."
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"...so now she's going to marry him, and what we had together doesn't matter. And I'm expected to be happy for them. So I came here."
Riker was surprised to find himself telling someone he barely knew the story of Deanna's engagement, but somehow the conversation had gotten to this topic, and the ease of communicating through direct ideas rather than words had led him to share the whole thing before he knew it. Maybe he just needed to get it off his chest, or maybe the protomatter was kicking in.
"At least now you have us to come to," the corona-Q said. "In just a few of your linear days, you've lost one of your relationships-- but you've also become a Q! Isn't that more important?"
"That's just it," Riker said. "It's too much all at once. And you know the most frustrating part? I have all this power, so much I can taste it, but there's nothing I can do. I can turn a planet inside out, but I can't stop Deanna from marrying a man she doesn't love."
"That's the problem with getting attached to mortals," the corona-Q said sagely. "They say their love will last 'forever', but they can just toss around words like that because they know they won't have to live up to them. They're finite, temporary creatures, and before you know it, one way or another... they'll be gone."
"I know that," Riker said, not happy to be reminded of it. "But I'd like to at least have a lifetime..."
"She's finite, you're infinite. It wouldn't work out."
"I'm not so sure about that," Riker said. "We could have made it work."
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Several hours into the standoff with the Tarellians, and very little progress had been made. They insisted on going to Haven, convinced that they wouldn't spread the plague as long as they landed in a remote area. And they wanted to meet Wyatt Miller. The first was impossible; the second was incomprehensible. And yet, for reasons Picard couldn't even guess at, Miller did have some connection with the woman named Ariana.
Picard hoped that Lwaxana Troi's advice would shed some light on the situation. It was doubtful, from what he'd seen of her so far, but it seemed to be their only lead.
"Captain!" La Forge said suddenly, while still watching his console. "Transporter room two just activated. We're beaming something over to the Tarellian ship."
"The medical supplies?" Picard guessed. He touched the intercom button on his chair. "Bridge to transporter room two, have the medical supplies been transported to the Tarellians?"
No answer.
"Transporter room two! Report!"
Still nothing.
"Lt. Yar," Picard began, "have a security team check--"
"That won't be necessary, Captain."
It was Wyatt's voice. And it was coming from the viewscreen. With a sinking feeling, Picard turned to face him. "Mr. Miller, what exactly do you think you're doing?"
"I have to help these people," Wyatt said sadly. "It's what I was meant to do. That's why... destiny brought me to Haven. I'm sorry. Deanna, I'm so sorry... I'll never forget you."
"Wyatt!" Deanna said. "Wait! We can--" She caught herself. "We can't bring him back, can we?"
Of course. Wyatt had been exposed to the Tarellian plague. Unless he somehow managed to cure it, he'd have to remain with them...
"A ship that shouldn't exist," Picard said to himself, a sickening thought beginning to occur to him. "Appearing here, at this point in time... to carry off the man who was going to marry Deanna Troi."
"Captain?" Wyatt asked. "What are you talking about?"
"Stay where you are for the time being," Picard said. His voice was grim. "I'll make sure things are put right."
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"The best thing to do," the corona-Q said, "would be to find someone you can relate to. Someone on the same level of existence as you." She slowly drifted closer to Riker. "I'm sure that many Q would find your human drive and youthful vitality attractive. Of course, there aren't that many who take on gender traits... but if you look around, you're bound to find someone."
With a little jump of surprise, Riker realized that she was applying for the position herself. He wondered why he hadn't seen it sooner. Maybe it just hadn't crossed his mind to think of the Q in that way. Now that he thought about it, though, it did make a strange kind of sense.
And he had to admit, he was tempted. She seemed to be sensitive, she was there when he needed her, and she was almost literally a goddess... and wouldn't it make Deanna feel better to know that he could move on? Would it?
Not now, Riker decided. It was too soon. Maybe after Deanna's wedding... but not now.
"Thanks," he said. "It's good to know where to start looking. When I'm ready. Thanks for listening, but for now... I need time."
The corona-Q passed him a bottle of something more dimensional than material. Sure enough, it was labelled TIME, and small print clarified that it was 17 radium half-lives. "That's the stuff. Heals all wounds, they say."
"This isn't quite what I mean," Riker said. "I mean, I need to go back to my ship. I have a wedding to attend."
"Shall I send you there?"
Riker shook his head. "No, this time I'd rather arrive with my hair, thank you."
They laughed, and then Riker turned to go.
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When he reappeared on the Enterprise, the first thing Riker did was make sure that he hadn't overstayed his leave time or missed Deanna's wedding. He hadn't, on both counts, but there was a message from Picard asking him to report to the ready room as soon as he got in.
So Riker went to meet Picard in the ready room, making sure to call ahead and enter through the usual doors. He didn't want to make the captain upset again. The moment he entered the room, though, it was clear that it was too late for that.
"Mr. Riker," Picard said with icy cold fury, "what you have done this time confirms everything I've feared. You've become no better than Q himself. You will undo this charade. Immediately."
