Chapter Two
She opened her eyes, and looked around. She was standing in the middle of a dried up field, with a lush green tree line off in the distance. When she turned around, she saw a large ring standing upright mounted in a stone base.
She studied the ring for a moment. It was approximately twenty feet in diameter, with an inner ring that had constellations on it. The ring had nine chevrons around it, which suddenly lit up bright red. She jumped slightly from the noise it made, and watched as the inside of the ring turned bright blue. A moment later, it looked like a vertical wall of water, just rippling. Suddenly, four Starfleet security officers stepped out of the ring, holding phaser compression rifles. For some reason, they didn't see her.
The lead officer reached up and tapped his comm badge. "Gordon to command, we have a go." A moment later, many more people stepped out of the ring. She recognized her former captain, Jean-Luc Picard. She wanted to rush over and talk to him, to greet him.
Suddenly, she felt danger approaching rapidly from behind the trees. She was overwhelmed with fear, for what she felt was intense hatred and pain.
Deanna Riker opened her eyes and screamed. She was sweating intensely, and had come close to falling out of her bed. "Computer, lights!" She frantically yelled. Her eyes darted around the room. She was back on board the Titan, deep in Romulan space."Deanna to Captain Riker." She said as she ran her hand over her forehead.
"Good morning. I was wondering if you were going to sleep all day."
"Will, I think we have a problem."
"What's wrong?"
"Its about Captain Picard."
--
"We are approaching Sol Sector now, sir." Ensign Valory Brooks announced from the helm.
It's about time. Picard though. "Bring us out of warp, full impulse to earth."
"Yes Sir."
"Hail Starfleet Command." Picard ordered, as he leaned on the armrest of his seat.
"Starfleet, onscreen." An ensign behind him replied. Admiral Janeways face blinked up on the main viewer. "Admiral, we just entered the sector."
"Welcome home, Enterprise. Captain, as soon as you establish orbit, I want you and Commander Madden to beam directly down. We have something to show you. Janeway out." The view screen changed to a forward view. Earth was coming into sight.
Picard and Madden exchanged glances, and they both stood up.
"You heard the Admiral. Establish a standard planetary orbit," He turned to Commander Madden. "Lets see what the Admiral has in store for us." The two officers walked to the turbolift. "Transporter room." Picard said once they were inside. They rode in silence for a moment, and then Commander Madden spoke up.
"Do you think this has anything to do with that power device they found?"
"I would say that's a pretty good bet." Picard replied. A few minutes later, they walked into the transporter room. The comm activated as they stepped up on the transporter pad.
"Bridge to Captain- we have established orbit."
"Thank you, Picard out." He glanced over at Madden and then to the transporter chief. "Energize."
A few moments later, they found themselves standing in a Starfleet Headquarters transporter room. The moment they stepped off the pad, Admiral Janeway and two security officers walked in.
"I trust we are not under arrest…" Picard started.
"Of course not… these boys are here for our protection." Janeway replied. "Welcome back to earth Captain, Commander."
"Protection… what do we need protecting from?" Madden queried, as he shifted his weight uneasily. Janeway broke out in a grin.
"Hopefully nothing. We have increased security all over the grounds since the ring was discovered." She replied, as she ushered them out of the room.
"'Ring?'" Jean-Luc asked, as he raised his eyebrows.
"Do you remember that orange thing I showed you over subspace?" The admiral asked, as they took a left down a hallway.
"How could I forget?"
"Well our engineers have named it a zero-point module, or ZPM. The device seems to create an artificial layer of subspace, and draw power from tiny wormholes that are constantly opening and closing in it."
"That's intriguing. And you say we don't know where it came from?" Picard replied.
"Not a clue." Janeway replied. "We discovered something else buried several yards below the ZPM, as well." She grinned and stopped at a pair of double doors at the end of the hallway. "This is where we part ways, gentleman."
"Your not coming in?" Picard asked.
"I have matters to attend to elsewhere, I am afraid."
"Well it was good seeing you again, Admiral." Picard replied, as he turned to the doors.
Janeway watched Picard and Madden exit through the doors with the security officers, as she tapped her comm badge. "Janeway to Starfleet Communications Department."
"Comm department here. What can we do for you, Admiral?"
"Route me to Utopia Planitia, Commander Martins office. Secure channel."
"Standby." She looked around to make sure she was alone.
"Martin here."
"How is the Vitesse project progressing?" She asked, as she crossed her arms, and looked out a window.
"On schedule. The cloak was installed this morning."
"Good. I want that ship finished by the end of week- and don't forget, mum is the word."
"I read you loud and clear."
"Good. Janeway out."