Chapter Four

My tour of the Enterprise was brief, to say the least. Basically it consisted of Captain Picard identifying rooms we passed on the way to his ready room. He dismissed the ensign who had trailed along behind us from the docking bay. As she left, we stepped into the turbolift.

"Bridge," Picard growled to the computer, and I felt a slight lift as we began ascending.

"Captain, I…" I began.

"You may call me Jean-Luc!" he snapped. "Or you may call me by whatever other pet name you might have for me, or whatever name my mother might have called me when I was four for that matter!" His eyes blazed, and I backed up a step in the small space. I started to speak, but thought better of it as I felt the turbolift slow to a stop. The doors opened, and I was greeted with the sight of Geordi LaForge. His eerie blue mechanical eyes drifted from my face to the pips on my uniform.

"Good morning, Captains," he said with a smile. I got the feeling that he was well aware of Captain Picard's current frame of mind.

"Good morning, Mr. LaForge," the captain said stiffly as the doors closed and we resumed our ride. "How did your tests go?"

"Excellent, Captain. We'll be ready to implement nacelle modifications by tomorrow morning at the latest." This seemed to cheer Picard a little. Suddenly the doors opened.

"Good work, Mr. LaForge. At some point, you'll have to brief Captain Allen here on your work."

"My pleasure, sir."

In front of me sat the bridge of the starship Enterprise. With a sense of the surreal that had become all too common over the last couple of weeks, I stepped into the circular room of my dreams. The hum of machinery and voices mixing was a glorious sound to my ears; a hub of activity surrounded me. At the far end of the bridge, the viewscreen was on, displaying countless stars. Suddenly someone in the organized cacophony saw us, and stood up.

"Captains on the bridge," he said. Everyone stood, silent and staring at us. I had but a moment to absorb it all, but that was sufficient. I outranked everyone in that room, with the exception of Jean-Luc Picard.

"As you were," he said. "Lieutenant, set a course for the Romulan Neutral Zone, maximum warp." Kell Perim nodded, her fingers already reaching for the conn.

"Aye, sir," she said.

Picard looked at me with barely concealed disdain. "Would you care to join me in my ready room, Captain Allen?" I nodded and followed him. I took one last glance at the bridge as we exited, and saw Geordi LaForge staring back and shaking his head sadly. I got the feeling that I really didn't care to join the captain.

He sat down at his computer, and immediately began messing with a padd. I walked up to his desk, waiting. Finally, he waved a hand absently, indicating that I should sit.

"Captain, I don't know what I've done to offend you, but…" Picard's eyes flashed with anger as he looked up from his padd.

"Well allow me to explain, Mr. Allen! How would you like it if you discovered one day that both the public and private details of your life were common knowledge to millions of people? Would you enjoy it if people thronged to ask you personal questions about former lovers, or thought that the most painful moment in your entire life was humorous? How would you like it, Mr. Allen, if a position that you spent years of your life working for, were suddenly doled out like candy to people from a technologically inferior and highly immature group of people? Understand, Mr. Allen, I earned this!" He pointed to the captain's pips on his collar.

"Furthermore," he continued, standing and tugging at his uniform, "Starfleet is handing starships over to inexperienced crews! Starships, Mr. Allen! Do you have any idea what a starship is capable of in the right hands? More importantly, do you know what a starship is capable of in the wrong hands? And all of that is to say nothing of the Prime Directive!" He fell silent, pacing in front of the window. I turned in my chair to face him.

"Captain, I understand your concern, but…" I had nothing. He was right, I knew. Even though Starfleet had chosen the best of us, we were still what we were: not Starfleet officers. "For what it's worth, Jean Luc, I don't think the Prime Directive exactly applies to us anymore. Starfleet's actions may have been unethical, but what's done is done. Besides, the more of us on the front lines, the better Starfleet's chances of winning against the Borg, right?" Picard looked at me with what seemed to be a mix of irritation and pity.

"My opinion would seem to hold very little weight in the matter, Mr. Allen."

"It's Mike, and what do you mean?" Picard sighed.

"When Starfleet informed me of the 'Wagon Train to the Stars' Project several months ago, I immediately protested, to no avail. I have since filed several objections, all of which have been either ignored or met with open hostility." He saw my face fall a little. "Understand, Mr. Allen…Mike, I do this not against you, but for you. Starfleet has no right bringing you into this conflict." He turned his gaze to the window, watching the stars stream by outside the ship's warp field. "Starfleet is panicked, Mike. They know we're not going to win this war, and in the Federation's final moments they are grasping at every straw within their reach."

"That seems like a pretty hopeless outlook, for someone who's beaten the odds as many times as you have," I said, a little indignantly. Picard looked at me, and a flicker of a smile appeared.

"Perhaps age is finally catching up with me."

"Or perhaps it's the fact that the Borg are too many," I said in his favor. "I understand the situation, Captain. In fact, I understand that the Borg in my universe have plans for Earth as well." I stood and joined him at the window. "There isn't much purpose in staying on an Earth that's going to be assimilated eventually. At least here I have a chance to fight back, and more formidable weaponry to do it with. And if there's even the slightest chance that we can win here, then I have to hope that there's that chance for my Earth as well." Picard looked at me, and this time he really did smile.

"Hope, Mike. You're right. After all, hope is really all we have left." He walked over to the replicator. "Care for some tea?" I nodded.

"Earl Grey. Hot," I said. Picard laughed.

"Earl Grey it is. Coming right up." He spoke to the replicator, and two steaming cups appeared. He gave one to me, and we sat back down at his desk. Picard put his hand forward.

"I'm afraid we didn't get off to a very good start. Jean-Luc Picard."

"Mike Allen," I said, shaking his hand warmly. "Now, if I may ask, why are we going to the Neutral Zone?" Picard took a sip of his tea.

"We are scheduled to meet with Praetor Donatra in two days to discuss the Romulan position on the upcoming war. Since her acceptance as Praetor several months ago, Donatra has been keeping in almost constant communication with the Federation. Apparently, she is pushing for open trade between Federation and Romulan space. Obviously, we have much more serious matters to discuss with her. We are to perform a confidential information exchange and establish checkpoints for Federation reinforcements, since the Romulans will likely be hit before we are. Lastly, we are to escort the Praetor's ship back to Earth for a conference. It will be tricky, since Romulan ships really haven't crossed very far into the Neutral Zone much since the Tomed Incident. In 2311, they…"

"I'm aware of the Tomed Incident, Jean Luc," I said. I knew all about it, in fact. The Romulans had attacked the Federation without provocation, costing several thousand lives. Out of it had come the Treaty of Algeron, which had reestablished the potency of the Neutral Zone and banned the Federation from developing ship-cloaking technology.

"I see," Picard said simply. "Well, it will be touchy, to say the least."

"Yes, I suppose it will. What is my part in all of this?" I asked, fearing the answer. Picard smiled.

"You're to do the same thing you've apparently been doing for years."

"And that is?" Picard finished off his tea, stood and straightened his tunic.

"Watch what I do."


Night on the Enterprise E was amazing. At least to me it was. I wandered around the ship, seeing only the occasional person passing on duty. The long halls I had primarily to myself. Captain Picard had been gracious enough to give me some time to get used to the ship, and I had been taking advantage of that opportunity ever since.

There was no chance of me getting lost. I knew the schematics of the Enterprise practically by heart. But actually being there was amazing. I visited the transporter room, engineering, sickbay…all the places the camera had frequented during the show and the movies. I found them all to be very fascinating, though a bit gloomy in the dimmed lights. I recognized none of the people I came across. Finally, I found myself walking into the Ten Forward Lounge. It was dark in there too, but then it was always dark in Ten Forward. The configuration of tables was a little different than the bar on the Enterprise D, but essentially everything looked the same. There were still the fantastic giant windows, looking out over the starfield as the ship moved at incredible velocity. Two or three people sat at the tables, and none of them seemed to notice my arrival. I had hoped that Guinan was still aboard the ship, and was delighted to find her tending the bar as usual, purple robe, odd hat and all. She recognized me as I walked up to the bar.

"What'll it be, Captain Allen?" she asked with a smile.

"Brandy. With ice, if you don't mind," I said, silently marveling that I was ordering a drink from a legend.

"I never mind," she said, and reached for a bottle. "Have you had synthehol yet?"

"Uh, no. Actually, I haven't had the pleasure." Guinan smirked, something I could not remember ever seeing her do.

"Pleasure is a funny word for it, Captain. But here you go." She offered me a glass. I took a look at it, smelled it and sipped at it lightly.

"Not as bad as I figured it would be," I said. "Still, it certainly doesn't capture the spirit, if you'll pardon my pun." Her smile widened.

"No problem, Captain. So tell me, how are you adjusting to life in the twenty-fourth century?" I thought for a moment as I sat down on one of the stools.

"That's an excellent question. I'm not really sure yet. I guess you know the story behind all of this." Guinan nodded. "Well, finding out that it was real all along has been quite a trip. There's so much stuff that goes on behind the scenes…so much that they couldn't fit into the show. The kind of stuff that makes your reality real."

"And you didn't expect that to be here, did you? You expected only the fantasy that you knew, and what you found was a universe where real people made real mistakes and had real problems."

"Well, yes. That's it in a nutshell I guess. It almost seems too real, if that makes any sense."

"It makes plenty of sense. You see it all the time in relationships between people. The shiny exterior wears off, and the reality begins to be exposed." Guinan leaned forward on the bar. "I'm sure you can appreciate that situation. And you're going to start seeing it even more in the coming days." She was right; I had been very proud of my crew so far. Their performance had been exemplary, and their ability to get along had amazed me. But how would all of that stand up under the duress that was looming ahead?

"What can I do to keep things together, Guinan?" As soon as I said it, I wondered why I had. Why was I asking her for advice? It suddenly dawned on me that I was, without even thinking, essentially re-enacting what I had seen others do in her presence. Still, the El Aurians were supposed to be a race of listeners…

"Why don't you try being yourself, Captain?" She smiled. "Now if you don't mind, I'm closing up for the evening." She motioned to the others that it was closing time, and they got up. I stood.

"Thanks for listening, Guinan. And for the advice."

"That's what I'm here for," she said.


The two days passed quickly. In addition to what remained of the original crew of the Enterprise E, I met several new people. I learned things I never knew about starship functions. I realized just how boring the bridge could get when one sat there for hours on end. Despite the intense joy I got from just being aboard the Enterprise, I was very glad for the change of pace when we arrived at the Neutral Zone.

Picard sat in his command chair. To his right sat Commander Madden, the new first officer. I occupied the chair to his left. Ahead, the starfield suddenly shimmered, and a Romulan Warbird appeared.

"We're being hailed, Captain," Lieutenant Perim stated.

"On screen." Before us, a Romulan commander appeared.

"I am Commander Trel of the Peklar. The Praetor is anxious to commence negotiations."

"Of course," Picard replied. "We would be delighted if she would be our guest aboard the Enterprise for the evening." Trel nodded.

"That will be acceptable. We will beam over shortly. Trel out." His image disappeared, replaced by that of his ship. Picard stood.

"Come, Mr. Allen. Let's make our guests feel welcome. Number One," he said to Madden, although I detected that he did not feel quite right saying it yet, "you have the bridge."

As we walked into the transporter room, the ensign on duty looked up at us.

"Sir," he said to Picard, "there are four of them beaming over. The Praetor says that she has a 'surprise' for you." Picard looked at me with raised eyebrows and a half smile.

"When a Romulan tells you that she's got a 'surprise', you'd better keep on your toes," he said. "Energize, Mr. Henderson." The familiar sound of the transporter effect hummed all around us, as four forms materialized. I immediately recognized the Praetor. She stepped regally off of the transporter pad, her gaze fixed on Picard. Everything looked pretty normal to me. So what was the surprise, I wondered. I looked at her companions, and realized with a start exactly what the surprise was.

Before me stood the aged figure of Ambassador Spock.