Hello once again. Lwaxana's philosophical turn here is once again paraphrased from "Haven"; I'll be almost sorry to be through with that episode, because I won't have it to blame my bad writing on. On the other hand, the next scheduled episode is "The Big Goodbye", a holodeck malfunction episode, so the cheesiness bar is still set pretty high...

Lunatic Pandora: It was a blatant deus ex machina in the episode, so it sort of makes sense that Picard would suspect that's exactly what it is...

Zara: Somehow, I don't think "flashing" anything would improve relations here. ; )

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Riker was speechless for a moment, stunned by the intense anger in Picard's voice. What had he missed while he'd been away? "I-- I don't understand, sir," he stammered. "What do you mean?"

Picard scowled. "I think you know damn well what I mean."

Riker glanced at his reflection on the polished desk; he didn't look any different than usual. The Enterprise was clearly still in one piece, and not at alert status, and a quick scan with his expanded senses showed that Haven was still where it ought to be. That ruled out all the obvious possible crises, and Riker was sure he hadn't done anything lately that would make Picard this upset, even with his decidedly limited patience for Q-related activities. Riker's mind whirled, trying to figure out what Picard could be referring to. Maybe one of the Q had shown up during his absence and framed him for something? Maybe Picard had somehow heard about him sneaking into that locked classroom at the Academy?

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you're talking about," Riker said with just a touch of desperation. "I've been with the Q all day. I haven't done anything."

Picard's gaze was as stony as ever.

"Can't you at least tell me what I'm accused of?!"

"I am referring," Picard said, "to the Tarellian vessel which entered this system at 0920 hours today."

"Tarellian?" Riker vaguely remembered hearing the name somewhere; something to do with a plague, wasn't it? "What does that have to do with me?"

"Years after the last Tarellian ship was destroyed," Picard continued in a low monotone, "this one appeared and demanded, of all people, Wyatt Miller. Counselor Troi's husband-to-be. A Tarellian woman somehow knew everything about him, and Mr. Miller somehow managed to sedate a transporter operator on duty and beam himself over to the Tarellian ship to be with this woman who he'd never met before. And because he has been exposed to the Tarellian plague, we have no choice but to leave him there." Picard looked Riker straight in the eyes. "Quite a remarkable set of coincidences, don't you think?"

Riker tried to take all this in. Wyatt was gone? The wedding was off? "Yes, it is, but--" He was taken aback as he realized what Picard was implying. "You think I caused all that?"

"Do you already think so little of us humans that you expected me not to draw the connection?" Picard said. "We both know that you have the power to arrange this sequence of events, and it worked out exactly in your favor. You wanted it to happen. You could make it happen. And it happened!"

As much as Riker hated to admit it, there was a certain amount of sense to what Picard was saying. He'd have to find out the full story later, but from what he'd heard so far, the incident with the Tarellians did sound implausible. He could see how Picard might think he had something to do with it...

A disturbing thought occurred to Riker. Maybe this was somehow his doing. He could alter reality with his thoughts, after all, and he'd certainly wished something would happen to prevent Deanna from leaving with Wyatt... the old saying "Be careful what you wish for, because you might get it" took on new meaning for a Q. The nova incident rose to the forefront of Riker's mind. He was certainly capable of doing things with his powers that he didn't exactly intend...

No. Riker fought back the rising fear. That incident had been a raw, spontaneous burst of emotion; surely something as detailed and delicate as this would be more than his subconscious was capable of.

Then again, his mind was much more than it had been...

"...No!" Riker burst out, as much to himself as to Picard. "I didn't do it. I had nothing to do with it."

"So you claim," Picard said coolly, showing no apparent response to the fact that there was an angry Q in front of him. "And because I don't technically have proof that you did it, I can't actually bring charges against you. That, I suspect, is a matter for the Q themselves. I remind you, however, that Mr. Miller is likely to die of the Tarellian plague unless something is done."

"And you want me to cure him?" Riker asked. "I thought you made me promise not to do things like that."

"In this case," Picard said, "you would be undoing what you've already caused. It hardly unbalances the universe to save people from diseases that you gave them." He looked intently at Riker. "I believe the Will Riker I know is still in there somewhere. You know what the right thing to do is. Now all you have to do is do it."

There was such a sense of finality about the words that Riker didn't even try contradicting Picard again. After a long, quiet moment, he changed the subject. "How does Deanna feel about all this?"

"It's been a difficult experience for her," Picard said, his voice losing some of its angry edge. Maybe he was relieved that Riker even cared about how anyone else felt.

"Can I see her?" Riker asked urgently. He had to know whether he'd still lost her. Whether she blamed him for all this too.

Picard considered it. "I suppose so," he said slowly. "She's in her quarters. I expect you two will have a lot to talk about. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Riker stood and walked out the door, stinging from Picard's anger and distrust. He didn't know what he'd do if Deanna treated him the same way.

He was starting to wish he'd never come back from the Continuum.

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Riker pressed the chime button on Deanna's door and waited for an answer. She would know it was him. Even though she couldn't sense his feelings, she could still sense his presence. If she didn't want to see him, she could refuse to answer...

Fortunately, though, the door opened to reveal Deanna. "Hello, Will," she said, with a feeling in her voice that was hard to identify but at least wasn't anger. "Come in. I was just visiting with Mother."

Sure enough, Lwaxana was seated by the stateroom window, giving Riker a look of appraisal. Riker sighed quietly. So much for privacy.

"Yes, do come in," Lwaxana said. "So much has happened while you've been away. Where have you been?" With a gesture of frustration, she indicated the computer terminal. "All this thing would tell me was that you weren't on the ship."

"I've been in the Q Continuum," Riker said.

"Oh, yes, yes, that liaison thing you mentioned," Lwaxana said. "But at a time like this? Couldn't you have told them to wait?"

Riker shrugged. "Well, you know how it is-- duty calls."

Lwaxana gave him a pointed look. "You're lying." Deanna glared at her, no doubt sending her a telepathic rebuke. It didn't seem to have any effect.

Riker looked at Lwaxana in surprise. "I thought you couldn't read my mind..."

"I don't have to know what you're thinking to know what you're thinking," Lwaxana said haughtily. "It's written all over you."

There was no getting anything past Lwaxana. "All right," Riker said. "I wanted to stay out of the way so I wouldn't... complicate matters. With everything going on with Wyatt... Captain Picard told me some of what happened, but I don't think I have the whole picture."

"I'm not sure any of us do," Deanna said. "What I do know is that after you left, an unidentified ship appeared at the edge of the system..."

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"...and we can't bring him back," Deanna concluded.

Riker nodded slowly. "Do you have any idea why it all happened?" he ventured, hoping that Picard hadn't shared his suspicions with her.

"Of course I do," Lwaxana said. "All consciousness, after all, is part of the same greater whole. All living things in the universe are bound together, across time and space."

Riker indulged in a small grin. "Someone once told me something like that."

"No doubt," Lwaxana said confidently. "Although it's so simple and obvious that most humans never manage to understand it."

"And that definitely sounds like something he'd say," Riker said wryly.

"That bond is what brought Wyatt and Ariana together," Lwaxana said. "They were meant for each other. So I suppose it all worked out for the best, after all. But it still leaves my poor daughter without a husband..."

"Mother!" Deanna said sharply.

"...and it seems a shame to have gone to all the wedding preparations and then not have a wedding," Lwaxana continued, ignoring Deanna. "Perhaps I should seek out a new mate myself. Captain Picard is quite a handsome man, you know..."

"Mother!"

"...Or the dashing Commander Riker," Lwaxana said slyly, causing Riker to go rigid with sudden fear.

Deanna put a protective arm around Riker. "No. He has... other obligations."

Lwaxana smiled contentedly, watching them. "Yes," she said. "I thought he might."

Riker sighed with relief, returning Deanna's touch. One thing, at least, was right with his world.

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Don't worry, that's not the end... Riker's not NEARLY out of trouble yet. Heh heh heh.