First Contact

Chapter 5


The door to the shuttlecraft opened. Picard could see that Dr. Griffiths was stunned when he and his away team disembarked from the vessel. He walked towards her cautiously, her body language showed clear anger and defiance. Her voice only confirmed it.

"You were asked to leave," she spat.

"Doctor, we are not pirates," Picard spoke.

"A likely thing for a pirate to say," she replied.

He sighed. "Doctor, do you know what year it is?"

She was taken aback by this question. The young woman didn't have an immediate answer and it was most obvious she had not given it any thought in some time.

"No, time has little meaning here on Never Land," was her eventual reply.

Picard nodded his head and offered a genial smile. "Doctor Griffiths, the year is 2385 according to your calendar. It's the twenty fourth century."

The young woman was hit particularly hard by this news, Picard reasoned from watching her reaction. He gave her a few moments for it to sink in before going any further.

"Yes…, yes, I suppose it would be," she replied.

Picard gently led the woman to some driftwood on the beach where they both sat down.

"My ship, the Enterprise, is not a sailing vessel, Doctor," he said, deciding to continue. "It's…; well it's a starship currently in earth orbit. This vessel behind us is a shuttle craft used for landfall. The Enterprise is a vessel capable of traveling in space to distant stars and planets."

She perked up. "Is it like a rocket ship?" she asked. "Or the space shuttle?"

Now it was Picard's turn to be taken aback. A woman born in the latter part of the 19th century might know of rocket ships, as they were part of science fiction writing dating back to early part of the twentieth century, but not very likely to know of the American Space Shuttle project. He disclosed more hoping to gain her trust and learn the truth of this place.

"It is far more advanced," he told her. Picard surmised that if she knew of the shuttle project she might know enough for him to explain warp drive and its capability. "The Enterprise is able to travel great distances in space because it can move faster than the speed of light."

"Einstein said that was impossible," she replied immediately. "As an object nears the speed of light, time slows down relative to other objects."

"Yes, that is correct, but our warp technology has pushed back that limitation," he told her. "Humans have been faster than light capable since the mid twenty first century."

"Oh dear, I have missed quite a bit, haven't I?"

Picard then summoned the other three. He pointed to the jaundiced looking man and explained that he was not ill. "Mr. Data is an android. A form of artificial-"

"Artificial intelligence," she finished. She stood up to more closely examine Mr. Data. "Is it capable of human like interaction?"

"My ability to interact with humans is more than adequate," he answered her.

"You see, Doctor," Picard explained, "Mr. Data is more than just an android with an AI, he is a sentient being who is self-aware and is considered a unique form of life."

She looked at Mr. Data with a severely puzzled look on her face. Picard was just as puzzled, her knowledge was not as advanced as he originally thought. It clearly had defined limits. What those limits were was another mystery he had to unravel.

"Who made you," she asked the android. "Apple? Microsoft? Samsung? What processors do you use? AMD or Intel? And what…?"

Data interrupted her. "My creator was Dr. Noonian Soong, a cyberneticist. I possess a positronic neural net capable of-"

"A posi what net?" she asked him.

"A positronic neural net is designed to function similar to humanoid mental pathways," Geordi tried to offer helpfully, but the woman seemed even more lost than before.

Doctor Crusher stepped in and offered a better explanation. "A positronic neural net is an artificial brain designed to mimic a human brain. It's what allows Data to act like a human and be considered a life form."

She looked at Mr. Data, curiously. "So your artificial brain works like a human one?"

"It mimics the functions of a human brain, although it can process information much faster and more reliably than the human counterpart," Data answered.

Dr. Griffiths quirked an eyebrow.

Data summarized with, "Yes, it does."

The young woman leaned over towards Dr. Crusher and whispered, "He seems quite loquacious."

Crusher smiled, suppressing a laugh. "Yes, he is," she answered.

Captain Picard addressed the young woman again. "When was the last time you visited the outside world?"

"The first of May in the year 2053," she replied, "the day of The Great Calamity." Her facial expression changed. It became somber and then seemed to show echoes of horrors from long ago. Picard understood why. May 1st 2053 held an infamous place in earth history. "I would prefer not to discuss it further, if you please, Captain."

Picard acquiesced quite easily. Now he understood why her knowledge seemed inappropriately advanced for someone who was born in 1881, yet seemed limited beyond a certain point. His next goal was to find out how she could survive for such a long time and still appear so young.

"Tell me, Doctor, are you familiar with the entity known as Q?" he asked her.

She furrowed her brow. "What does he have to do with your being here?"

"So you have heard of him?" Picard asked, looking for confirmation.

"Yes, he supplies James Bond with all of his gadgets," she answered confidently.

Picard looked at the other members of his away team. They were all just as confused as he was by her reply; except for Data who informed Captain Picard that James Bond was a character in a series of spy novels and motion pictures popular in the 20th century. Q was the quartermaster who supplied Bond with a variety of gadgets to complete his missions.

"Thank you, Mr. Data," he said. Clearly, she knew nothing of the entity.

Picard addressed the young woman. "Do you live here alone?"

"N-, yes, I used to live here with my father," she answered.

"What happened to him?" Picard asked her.

"He perished many years ago," was her quick reply.

"How is that possible?" Data furthered. "You have lived for many centuries without aging."

The woman paused before speaking. "He died in The Great Calamity."

"I am very sorry for your loss," Data said.

Picard held his tongue for the moment. He wished had some tea right now. Instead, he looked around the island at its unspoiled beauty.

"Tell me, Doctor Griffiths," Beverly asked with a gentle tone of voice, "how is it so many different species of plant and animal life have come to live on this island side by side?"

"Well this is Never Land, Doctor Crusher," she answered.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Geordi asked.

"Doctor Griffiths, I don't believe that this is Never Land," Picard said boldly. "We found this island because," he stopped himself for a moment remembering her understanding of technology ended in the middle of the twenty first century. "We detected..., we found an unusual form of energy that brought us to this island."

"Energy?" She was utterly confused.

This answered something else for Picard. She would have no idea what the source of those energy readings were or where to find it.

"Doctor, this island is located in what we call a pocket universe," he told her. Picard attempted to explain in the most layman terms possible that this island existed inside of a small universe all its own and that this mini universe lay off the coast of England. As hard as he tried, she was left utterly at a loss by his explanations.

"There is a point of entry over the English Channel. We found it a coincidence that this entrance correlated with a pair of stars, one brighter than the other."

Her eyes brightened again. "You mean the second star to the right. Yes, that is how we-, I get here."

"Who is 'we,' doctor?" Beverly asked. She used a soft, non-threatening voice that Picard reasoned might coax more out of the young woman than his own sterner voice would have.

"I told you, Doctor Crusher, my father used to live here before he was killed," she answered defensively.

Picard tried to address her as a friend. "Doctor, please tell us, what are you hiding?"

She held her tongue, saying not a word.

"Are you being held here against your will?" Beverly asked. "Did someone kidnap you and bring you here?"

"No, it's nothing like that, I agreed to come here," she answered. "My father and I both did."

"Who invited you?" Picard asked.

The woman gulped hard, her face gave the impression that she had let slip a grave secret.

"Doctor Griffiths, we mean you no harm," Picard stated. "Like you, we are explorers and scientists. The stated purpose of the USS Enterprise is to seek out new life and new civilizations. We do not engage in military conquest. Our highest priority is to respect other societies and civilizations."

The young woman doctor looked close to tears. She turned and glimped back towards the palm trees and dense foliage where she had once stood. The same place the woman appeared to be holding an animated conversation with no one while the away team was in the shuttle retrieving information on Doctor Griffiths.

She turned back around to them. "You must promise no harm will come to her."

"Her? Who is she, Doctor?" Picard asked.

Doctor Griffiths looked at the devices that rested on their hips. "What are those things you are wearing?"

Picard instantly knew what she was asking. He removed the phaser from his holster and handed it to Mr. Data. He then instructed the other members of the away team to surrender their phasers and told Data to store them in the shuttle. He explained that these were side arms, but were only for personal protection and self-defense. "They have a stun setting that allows us to subdue an attacker without harming them."

Captain Picard then removed his other device and held it open. "This is a tricorder," he told her. "It's a portable device that allows us to…, to gather information about our surroundings. We use it to study alien worlds when we make landfall. These devices can record information about fauna, foliage, minerals and even detect humanoid life signs. The tricorder that Dr. Crusher possesses is specially designed for use in the medical field and can diagnose diseases and understand the nature and causes of wounds and other injuries. It is a tool that aids her in her duties as a physician."

"They are non-invasive devices," Crusher helpfully added. She removed hers and took the small, handheld sensor. She moved it around the body of Doctor Griffiths who leaned away from it and kept it within her gaze, suspicious of it. Doctor Crusher showed the results to Doctor Griffiths and explained the readings that were displayed on the tricorder.

"Here is your blood pressure," Crusher said pointing something on the display. "And here is your heart rate, your blood-oxygen saturation which is very good, neural activity and this shows a minor blow to the head you suffered many years ago, probably when you were a child."

Doctor Griffiths eyes widened. "How could it know such a thing?"

"It's very thorough," Crusher answered.

"Does it work like an MRI machine or CT Scanner?"

Crusher chuckled. "It's much more capable."

"And portable," Griffiths added with a smile. Crusher smiled back and nodded in agreement.

Doctor Griffiths took in a deep breath. Upon letting it out, she was calm and gave the appearance of having come to a decision and being comfortable with it. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

The young woman rose from the driftwood and walked quickly back to the edge of the trees. Again, she seemed to be having a conversation with no one. Data opened his scientific tricorder and did not detect any humanoid life signs. "Curious," he said.

"Yes, Mr. Data, very curious," Picard said in agreement.

When the woman started back towards them Data's tricorder recorded that same energy reading for a brief moment. Then it disappeared just as quickly.

Picard and his away team stood as the woman returned to the driftwood. "Captain, I must have your word of honor that you will do nothing to harm her."

"You have my word, Doctor, as a Starfleet Officer and a gentleman that no harm will come to your friend," Picard answered.

"May we use our tricorders?" Data asked.

Doctor Griffiths turned her head slightly and then turned back to them. "Yes you may, but only at her discretion."

"Agreed," Picard said.

Doctor Griffiths held out her left arm. A small glow appeared behind her and moved upward and over her shoulder. It landed on her upper arm where the glow dissipated. A tiny, humanoid figure revealed itself and cautiously walked down her arm to Griffths' hand. It was a female figure, dressed in a tiny green dress and ballet like shoes. Its hair was blonde and pulled up into a bun.

Doctor Crusher watched the tiny figure approach and dropped her tricorder into the sand. "Is that..?"

"Captain Picard," Doctor Griffiths announced once the tiny figure stood in the palm of her hand, "I would like you to meet Tinker Bell."


Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and following this story. Here is the next chapter, I do hope you find it enjoyable.

(For those who follow the Tinker Bell films, yes I did have to sneak in a James Bond reference. For those who don't follow the Tinker Bell film series, in the fourth movie one character was voiced by Timothy Dalton, a former James Bond. James Bond references have become almost de rigueur in writing Tinker Bell fan fiction when Dalton's Tinker Bell character is to be featured in the story.)