Chapter 3

2381

USS Enterprise, docked at Deep Space Nine.

"Deactivate the force field." Dr Crusher ordered as Reg staggered off the pad, stumbled down the steps, and sat hyperventilating. She rushed forward and crouched to scan him. "How do you feel?" She got her answer when he turned from her and threw up over the transporter platform.

"Enterprise this is Daystrom, do you have him?" Dan's voice came over the com channel.

Dr Crusher nodded to Barnard with a smile and he made the reply from beside the transporter operator. "He's here Daystrom, he looks a little green and just lost his breakfast but he's otherwise fine." He walked over and offered Reg his hand to help him up. "Welcome aboard Commander, you just made the record books." Mike grinned and Dr Crusher hugged him.

"Deanna will be so proud." she smiled. "Now, we don't have much time so let's get you to the Captain." she said as she propelled him from the room. "We're docked at Deep Space Nine and he's there talking to Kai Onara and asking if she'll meet with you." she explained as she strode along the corridor gripping his arm. "Have you thought about what you're going to say?"

"I haven't had time." he stated. "They said I had to show her what they meant to people, so I...I brought something." he said as they reached the airlock.

"Refer to her as 'Eminence' when you meet her," Dr Crusher warned him, "and she's going to want to feel your Pagh."

"My what?" he shrieked as they entered the pylon and walked to the turbolift and she tightened her grip on him as he instinctively tried to escape.

"It's a Bajoran religious practice, nothing to worry about. You're not going to lose your cherry or anything." she told him as she dragged him into the lift.

"I don't know if I can do this." Reg stated as she hauled him off the lift and onto the promenade towards the temple. "I…I…I struggle to give lectures on topics I know inside out, I can't negotiate with anyone, let alone speak to a government."

"Dr Crusher?" someone with an English accent shouted over the crowd. "Dr Crusher?"

"Oh shit." she hissed. "Keep walking and ignore him." she instructed.

"Is this Commander Barclay?" Dr Bashir asked with interest.

"Not now Julian." she said firmly and kept moving.

"I'd like to examine you and discuss your experience of hyper-subspace transport Commander, I hope to write a paper on the topic." Julian said to him, struggling to keep up.

"Not now Julian." Beverly stopped and glared at him, then continued to tow Barclay across the promenade.

"Beverly, be fair. This is a huge advance in transporter technology, just the sort of thing that will get me published." the mocha skinned doctor pleaded with her. "How did it feel Commander?" Julian asked as they reached the Temple.

"When my stomach catches up with me I'll let you know." Reg replied as she pushed him in the door and braced herself in the doorway of the temple.

"Just try it Bashir." she warned.

Reg entered the temple nervously, clutching the padd. Captain Picard turned as he arrived, as did a Bajoran woman in plum coloured robes and a stylish, but simple head dress. Reg was shocked, he expected her to be at least in her middle years but she looked no older than her early thirties.

"Ah, Commander." Picard smiled, "Glad to see you arrived safely." he turned to the Kai. "Eminence, this is Lieutenant Commander Reginald Barclay."

"Thank you for t…taking the time to see me Eminence." Reg stammered as she approached him with an intrigued expression on her face and gripped his ear.

"Interesting." she smiled slightly as she released her grip. "You have a message for me?"

"Er…first of all I'd like to say it was in no way my intention to violate or breach the wor…the Celestial Temple. I had no way of knowing that what we were doing was crossing the same part of subspace and… Of course I apologise unreservedly."

"That much has already been explained to me Commander, what I need to know is why further…" she sighed. "Let's avoid the word 'violation'. You deserve a fair hearing and it's far too emotive a word. Why should I allow you recreate your experiment? You have lost three officers and that is unfortunate, but officers are lost in the line of duty every day and the Celestial Temple is most sacred to us."

"That's, well. I…had a…"

"The Prophets spoke to you." she stated.

"Yes. I think so and they told me to come here because… No offence Captain, I'm not a diplomat. They, I think they wanted me to speak for the three officers that are missing…. May I show you something?" he asked and held out the padd. She nodded, took it and stood beside him. "This was our wedding celebration and…also our first anniversary about a month ago. That's Data."

"One of the missing?" she asked. "The one you call Number One?" she asked Picard who looked surprised that she knew this and nodded.

"Yes, he's an artificial life-form, an android. He's a remarkable feat of engineering but more than that he's a person. I've never met anyone who didn't become fond of him. He's noble and honourable and…he yearns to be more than he is…to be Human." The Kai watched with interest as Data interacted at the party in the recording The Doctor had made. He smiled as a young woman, sneaked up behind him and tried to make him jump, then she pouted when her plot was foiled as he heard her coming. He put his arm around her and kissed her softly on the lips then let her take a sip from the glass of champagne in his hand. "That's Jessica, they've been dating for a few months now, he's only just got to the point where he can handle a relationship without…well, messing it up. It's something we have in common." he added with a wry twitch. "Beside him is Commander La Forge, Geordi, he's missing too… I owe him more than I can calculate…he…befriended me when I thought I was about to lose everything and had no one…I wouldn't be the man I am today without him and more than that he," Reg smiled, "he convinced me my heart's desire was within reach. That's Taryn, my wife." Reg sniffed back a tear as they watched The Doctor enter their kitchen and catch them kissing passionately, Reg looking embarrassed and shying away from the camera while Taryn gave a shy guilty smile. Gala appeared and asked her a question, then Taryn stroked her hair and nodded with a warm smile and kissed the top of her head. The girl grabbed a cup cake then ran away to play with her mocha skinned cousins and a tiny girl with Klingon forehead ridges, Miral Paris, who also took one each.

"The child with white hair?" the Kai asked.

"Our daughter Galatea, we adopted her. She's precocious and seems to be becoming a tomboy, always running and climbing trees. She scares us to death as she has brittle bones. Her condition is improving but it's like holding back the tide getting her to slow down." They watched as The Doctor followed Taryn and she walked through the crowd and joined her parents who were holding the twins. "Those are our twins." Reg smiled. "That's Andie, T'Pandra really. She's very sweet, always smiling and laughing. She bounces whenever music plays, Taryn thinks she's going to be a little dancer. The little boy, we call him Philip, Pip for short, he's green like his Mommy. He's a serious little man but he has a smile that lights up the room and a laugh that…" he swallowed. "He has his mother's laugh." he said and the images changed to more recent ones and showed Taryn spoon feeding the twins with Reg. "Forgive the camera work that's Gala." Pip pulled a face and shook his head as a reflex after tasting the pureed vegetable. "He hates parsnip, it was the first time we gave it to him." He looked at the Kai and noticed a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry." he said with a frown

"Your son…my son pulled the same face whenever I fed him moba fruit." she turned away from him, transfixed by the pictures of Pip trying different vegetables. "He died two summers ago, he was just under a year old." she wiped her eyes. "I did not expect to be reminded of him by a child so…different." She touched the screen gently as if stroking the boy's face.

"The Prophets said I should show you our children, because… They've lost their mother. They're in the crèche at the Daystrom Institute and how am I supposed to explain to them their mother who dropped them off a couple of hours ago is dead and has been for over four hundred years? They need her. Her students need her. I need her. The three of them are all needed in the here and now. Geordi will find it hard in nineteenth century Earth, people of African descent were treated appallingly back then and my wife…She…she will have to hide for the rest of her life because she's quarter Orion."

"They are all more than just officers, each of them have saved countless lives." Picard stated. "They are more than colleagues, much more." Picard intoned, speaking from the heart. "Their loss is incalculable not just in terms of their skills and knowledge but the emotional fallout…they are family to us."

"You came here at great risk, why?" she asked Reg. "The journey terrified you. I felt it in your Pagh."

"They told me…" he looked up trying to remember their exact words. "'Too much is at stake for your world and ours for you to falter'. They didn't need to tell me that. I'd walk into a volcano to find her."

"Do not falter." a smile flickered over her lips. "Children without a mother to appeal to a mother without her child." she mused. "Where I a different Kai I would be offended that the Prophets chose to visit an off-worlder, not speak to me directly, but I understand their reasons. Following the death of my child I received a vision that it was part of a greater purpose and I should turn to my faith and not falter. That vision led me to become Kai. I believe the Prophets brought you to me because your intentions are honourable and you mean no sacrilege or harm. You should be given every chance to retrieve your people, but the First Minister and his government will be harder to convince. They will fear for the stability of the gateway to the Gamma Quadrant and the loss of revenue and commerce should it cease to work."

"We have data that proves the…" Reg began.

"I will not be offended if you call it a wormhole." she assured Reg with a hand on his arm. "My faith is not so blind and insecure that I fear and reject science, unlike some of my predecessors." She gave him a gentle smile.

"Well, it was unaffected," Reg stated. "The Enterprise sent us the scans they took as they returned to this quadrant and they showed no anomalies or instability. It formed additional entrances but they closed immediately when we shut down our experiment."

"Then between us we have diplomacy, faith and science," she smiled. "Let's see if we can convince the bureaucrats."

…

"No," the Bajoran First Minister stated. "we cannot give permission for you to continue your experiments." he stated. "There is a bigger picture here. If this, Hyper-subspace beaming works our monopoly on the gateway to the Gamma Quadrant will be superfluous."

"You short-sighted fool Beril." Kai Onara hissed at the man. "This man's presence here is proof that this technology works whether we allow the experiments or not." she pointed a long finger at Barclay. "This is a rescue operation and it may damage our relationship with the Federation irreparably if we do not provide assistance."

"You are outside your remit Eminence." Beril warned. "This is not a matter of faith but of commerce."

"You are going against the will of the Prophets!" the Kai exclaimed.

"The Prophets do not balance Bajor's economy. We do." the Prime Minister advised her. "The Prophets do not run Bajor. We do." There was a rumbling of dissent within the council chamber at his words.

"The Prophets ARE Bajor you blasphemous swine!" Onara stated through gritted teeth.

"Eminence," another council member, an elderly man said calmly, "since your investiture as Kai we have enjoyed a harmonious relationship between the government and the Vedeks. Are you willing to put that at risk to make a stand over three Starfleet Officers?"

"Three or three hundred, it makes no difference as it is the Prophets will." she stated. "I make a call for a vote on this matter, it is not something the First Minister should decide autocratically."

"I second it." another voice followed.

"Carried." another chimed in.

"Very well, we shall cast our votes if you are determined to split this chamber." the First Minister hissed. "The petitioners will leave!" he stood and pointed at the door with a hand that shook with anger.

Barclay and Picard turned and walked from the chamber.

"Well," Picard stated, "makes me glad I'm not a politician." he said as they paced around the anti-room.

"What if they say no sir?" Reg asked plaintively and looked up as the door opened and the Kai emerged looking vexed.

"We lost by five votes." she told them. Barclay let out a ragged sigh and looked crestfallen.

"We'll go to the Office of Temporal Investigations." Picard stated. "I'll fly to Earth and slingshot around the sun if I have to. It will not end here I assure you Mr Barclay."

"No it will not end here. I'm going to call an emergency meeting of the Vedek Assembly. The faithful of Bajor will not tolerate Beril riding roughshod over our feelings any longer. I will call for another vote once the word is spread that they have chosen to ignore the will of the Prophets. At least some of them will change their positions once their constituents make their feelings clear."

"Eminence, it was never our intention to cause a divide in your society…" Picard stated with a frown.

"Our society has always been torn between faith and state and always will be. This is merely the most recent of many insults that faithless…politician has inflicted upon those who believe in the wisdom of the Prophets." the Kai informed him, wielding the word 'politician' as though it were the deepest of insults. "In the meantime there may be a way I can assist you further, and it will send Beril purple with rage when he finds out." She flashed them a wolfish grin. "Meet with me at the Temple on Deep Space Nine in two hours." she stated and swept from the room.

…

1891

Hammersmith

"What I don't understand is why didn't they search civil records if they're searching for someone in particular?" Geordi asked as Data flicked through the records.

"A break in at a register office would be big news compared to sneaking in to an open church and forcing the lock on a cupboard." Taryn reasoned. "It's not like they can just rock up and ask during office hours. The question is why do they seem to be looking for anyone at all? Surely they'd be focused on getting back to the 24th century the same as we are?"

"I can only assume they wish to change the future." Data stated.

"What if they have already?" Taryn stated. "What if Reg doesn't exist, or we never met or worse…he's married to someone else!" she started to panic.

"It will be alright." Guinan said with a hand on her arm.

"You two are destined to be." Geordi stated. "You've been through too much for it to be anything but fate."

"I have not had similar thoughts about Jessica." Data frowned. "Does that mean I do not love her?"

"Oh, Data you can't think like that." Taryn stated. "No two relationships are the same. You probably just aren't as neurotic as I am."

"I do miss her. I think of her frequently. But I do not feel anxiety that should the timeline change we will not be together. Perhaps that is how things are meant to be."

"Data, Taryn isn't just worried that she won't be with Reg, if they don't meet the twins won't be born and who knows where Galatea will end up." Geordi explained and grasped Taryn's gloved hand. "She has more to lose than either of us."

"Find anything interesting?" Guinan asked.

"Perhaps." Data stated and closed the last book and flicked closed his tricorder that was scanning for forensic traces that were not Human. "I believe we need to locate a cheesemonger named William Matthews in this Parish who was married a week ago."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Taryn reasoned and Data agreed with a nod.

…

2381

Deep Space Nine

Reg spent the next hour and a half being poked, prodded and interrogated by Dr Bashir and Ezri Dax but he really had no idea what to tell them. It was pretty much like the transport he experienced when he was beamed over to the Yosemite minus the creatures that bit his arm. He felt some inertia that made his stomach churn as if he were on a white knuckle ride but some of that may have been the anxiety. Bashir started bouncing up and down like a Labrador when he discovered Barclay's skewed genetic chemistry believing it to be caused by the transport until he realised this was the same Barclay that had the Protomorphosis Syndrome named after him. Something Dr Crusher didn't point out and signalled Reg to be quiet with a finger to her lips as she leaned against the wall with her arms folded, a smirk on her face. It wasn't that she disliked Dr Bashir, she explained afterwards. She found him to be a nice enough man and a good practitioner but he was what she called an 'eager beaver' who still needed to learn some lessons for himself. Dax was also friendly but it was clear she was only there to convince him to cooperate with the battery of tests her boyfriend wanted to run on him rather than counsel him, although she did have interesting questions about how his history of transporter phobia may have coloured the experience.

He had no idea what else the Kai could do to help, beyond what she had already as he entered Quark's with half an hour to kill.

"What can I get you friend?" Quark asked with an avaricious smile.

"Warm milk please?" he asked. He needed something bland to settle his stomach and it was after midday Earth time, the point where he started avoiding caffeine.

"You look like you're carrying the Bank of Ferenginar on your shoulders." Quark stated as he placed the drink in front of him and returned to polishing glasses.

"I lost my wife today." he stated flatly.

"Sorry friend, the passing of a loved one is always sad." The Ferengi began. "We have holosuites available if you seek diversion…or comfort?" he suggested pointedly.

Reg was surprised to find he was actually considering it but he pushed the urge away. "Once an addict always an addict." he mused. "No, she's missing not dead, although she must be dead in terms of temporal mechanics. I accidentally opened a portal in time and…" he laughed mirthlessly. "You know I promised her once I would never let her go and that's exactly what I did, I looked into her beautiful eyes as she slipped out of my hand and was sucked five hundred years into the past."

"That's very eloquent," Quark said thoughtfully, "although you might want to rethink the word 'sucked' next time you tell it. It breaks up the rhetoric." Quark advised him. "Sounds like you need something stronger than cow juice."

He shook his head. "I'm the shit hot genius everyone's counting on to fix this mess."

Quark clicked his fingers. "You're Barclay. You know I've heard a lot about you. O'Brien and Worf often waxed lyrical about your Three Musketeers program from the Enterprise. And the Deadwood program with Miss Langford's House of Pleasure." Quark looked both ways and leaned forward and Barclay involuntarily mimicked the movement. "I'd be interested in purchasing a copy of those programs…or any others you may have…?"

"Commander Barclay, how do you feel at being the first living being to travel via hyper-subspace transport?" Reg turned to see the grinning face of a dark skinned young man holding a recording device under his nose.

"I really don't think this is a good time to bother the Commander Jake." Quark advised him.

"Jake?" Barclay asked. "Jake Sisko?" the man nodded. "You wrote a fascinating article a few months ago about my wife." Reg said sarcastically.

"Did you like it?" he asked, the sarcasm lost on him.

"The grammar and spelling was okay but it was far from an unbiased account." Reg stood and pulled himself up to his full height. The younger man was a little taller but he obviously didn't expect Barclay to be the height he was or look like he was ready to go toe-to-toe with him. Reg was certainly in no mood to give an interview. Taryn may not have felt aggrieved at the interview with Trey Masters that Sisko published but he was far from thrilled at his wife being libelled in the popular press.

"I can only write what my sources tell me…" Jake argued.

"Maybe you should be more circumspect about who you choose as a source." Barclay's voice ramped in volume with every syllable.

"I'd be happy to hear her side of the story. I wrote to Commander Prior at the Daystrom Institute…" Jake told him.

"It's Professor Barclay and she won't be giving any interviews." Reg said softly.

"In fact I'd love to interview both of you about your experiences," Jake said excitedly, "the kidnap from Daystrom, the incident with the Bastion and the Odyssey, the Daystrom Annex and the Øresund Bridge. Is it true your adopted daughter is from a disease ridden untouchable caste in Orion society? I'd love to hear what it was like for your wife growing up as the bastard green lovechild of the Judge Advocate General?" Reg grabbed him by the shirt front and they began to scuffle. Not so much a bar brawl as a dance between angry geeks.

"Is there a problem here gentlemen, Quark?" Kira asked and they stopped.

"No Commander," Quark stated. "The Paparazzi just got a little enthusiastic in his questions for Commander Barclay who's isn't having the best day. I'm sure cooler heads are about to prevail, isn't that right?"

Reg swallowed, much as he'd love to shove the journalist's teeth down his throat the last thing he needed was to end up in the security office thanks to a fight in a Ferengi bar. He released his grip on Sisko's shirt and relaxed his posture. Both combatants nodded like naughty children.

"Congratulations on your record breaking transport Commander Barclay." Kira stated and strolled away.

"I've warned you before about harassing my customers." Quark said to Jake. "Leave Mr Barclay to his drink. If he has anything to say I'm sure he'll come and find you." Jake reluctantly turned and disappeared into the crowd. "Sorry about that, he's a little tenacious."

"Thank you for speaking up." Reg said and returned to his seat. Along the bar a Lurian raised a glass to him and he nodded in acknowledgement, lifting his milk.

"Don't get Morn started. He'll talk your ear off." Quark stated. "So Taryn Prior is your wife?"

"You know her?" Reg stated.

"We had a…minor, very minor problem on a holosuite. No one was injured at all." Quark told him.

"I see." Reg stated, almost smirking, in full knowledge they only used to call her in when all hell had broken lose and bodies were flying left and right.

"You're a lucky man. Did I hear right you have a daughter?"

"We have three children." Reg said and found a picture of Galatea on their couch flanked by Andie and Pip on the padd to show Quark.

"You have a lovely family." Quark smiled. "I hope you find her. She did me a favour, she was very discreet and she didn't have to be." he handed back the padd.

Reg finished his milk. "What do I owe you?"

"On the house friend." Quark said, showing uncharacteristic generosity.

"I don't have the Deadwood program, it was Alexander Rozhenko's." Reg stated. "Watch your post for Athos, Porthos and Aramis." he said as he stood.

"What do you want for it?" Quark stated.

"I want people to enjoy it." he said. "Just don't sell it on or copy it." Reg stated, although he knew how to prevent it and planned to do just that.

"I won't." Quark grinned and rubbed his hands as Barclay left the bar and walked towards the temple. "Exclusivity is a valuable commodity."

…

1891

Hammersmith

"This is the place." Taryn stated as the four of them stood opposite the small shop.

"I'll go in and make some discreet enquiries." Guinan stated and crossed the road.

"Be careful." Geordi told her as he looked at the shop front carefully. "Do you see that Data?"

"Indeed." he said also watching the shop. "I see two of them." he whispered.

"Uh huh." Geordi replied and turned to Taryn. "Do you see the distortion on the sill, and the drainpipe beside the door?" he said raising his hand to scratch his nose and turning to look at the shop window behind them.

"They're shrouded." Taryn replied in a whisper.

Guinan emerged and crossed the road to them, carrying a small package. "Mr Matthews is away. He's on his honeymoon…"

"But he is due back tonight." Data stated.

"How do you know that?" Guinan asked with a frown.

"Two Jem'Hadar are watching the shop too." Taryn stated.

"They are?" Guinan asked with a frown. "Well, I hope you like stilton." she said and handed the package to Geordi.

"Do you know if your pheromones have an effect on Jem'Hadar?" Data asked Taryn.

"No. I've never met one. I don't even know if they have a libido." Taryn stated. "Do you have any money?"

"Some, why?" he replied.

"There's a good chance they're carrying disruptors, axes and ceremonial blades and we're unarmed. You're going to need me to fight and I can't fight dressed like this."

"In that case, let's go shopping." Guinan stated, took Taryn by the arm and lead her into the tailor's shop behind them.

Taryn changed in the alley behind the shop as darkness fell. She emerged wearing breeches and long socks with brogues and a shirt and jacket, with her hair tucked into a baker boy hat which also covered the points on her ears.

"How do I look? I'm hoping I'll look dark skinned if I stay out of the lamp light." she asked the others, slinging a duffel bag with her other clothes in over her shoulder.

"It works." Guinan smiled as she looked at her appraisingly. "You make a cute boy."

"What are our friends up to?" Taryn asked Geordi who was keeping look out at the end of the alley.

"Not much, they're still waiting." he replied.

"How are we going to play this Data?" she asked.

"It is hard to say given we do not know what they intend to do, however we should be prepared to use lethal force if necessary." he replied.

"Lethal force?" Guinan asked.

"I doubt they're here to ask the time." Geordi stated. "The Jem'Hadar have a warrior code similar to the Klingons, but they're killers, addicts. Bred to be devout to their last breath...someone's coming."

They peered around the wall of the alleyway as a couple got out of a carriage with two suitcases.

"Geordi, Guinan, wait here. Taryn?" Data whispered and they both crossed the street at a run.

"William Matthews?" a disembodied voice stated as one of the Jem'Hadar removed his shroud.

"Yes?" The man said with a puzzled frown, struggling to see in the dim light.

There was a flash of a blade in the alien's hand, which Data grabbed just inches from the cheesemongers chest. He twisted it from the grasp of the Jem'Hadar and threw it to Taryn, who caught it deftly and kicked the other assailant in the back of the knee pressing the blade to his throat as he dropped. Data grasped the first attacker when he went for another blade. He gripped his jaw and the back of his head and twisted it effortlessly, breaking the Jem'Hadar's neck. The couple ran to their shop and Matthews unlocked the door with shaking hands. He pushed his bride in ahead of him.

"What is your purpose here?" Data asked as Taryn held the Jem'Hadar, her hand on his forehead and her heel dug into his calf, the knife held against the pulsing artery in his neck.

"I will tell you nothing." the being spat.

At that moment William Matthews ran out of his shop brandishing a long blade Taryn recognised as a sword bayonet from a rifle and ran the Jem'Hadar through. She dodged to avoid it but the blade caught her.

"I'm on your side, you tosspot." Taryn shouted at him as the dead Jem'Hadar slid from the man's blade. Matthews turned on Data with the bayonet and he caught his wrist as he struck.

"We are here to protect you." Data stated as he disarmed him without injuring him, then noticed Taryn stagger against the shop window clutching her side.

"This was a new shirt." Taryn moaned as Geordi caught her in his arms having run across the street. "You'd better get their weapons, we'll need them." He sat her on the ground and did as she said just seconds before their bodies were beamed away.

"They didn't have energy weapons, just blades and two contemporary pistols." Geordi told Data. "Maybe they didn't want questions when the bodies were found and wanted it to look like a mugging?"

"Get inside." Data told the man. "Go with him." Data said and Guinan entered the shop with him. He dropped to his knee beside Taryn and looked at her wound. The bayonet had passed through her side leaving an entry and exit wound, it was bleeding but not severely. He took out a handkerchief, took Geordi's from him and put pressure on the wounds. "It is not too bad," he told her, "but we will need to flush the wound and dress it." She nodded and held the wounds herself as he helped her up, then lifted her as she was struggling to walk. Geordi stowed the weapons in her bag and the three of them entered the shop.

"Do you have any alcohol?" Data asked as he entered the kitchen at the rear of the shop, swept the items on the table aside and laid Taryn on it.

"Gin, whiskey, any kind of spirits?" Geordi asked as he grabbed a bowl and some clean tea towels.

"I have s…some Scotch." Matthew stammered, staring at the green creature on his kitchen table. "What is he?"

"Where?" Guinan asked and he indicated the small sitting room adjacent.

"Is Jem'Hadar blood toxic Data?" Geordi asked.

"Not that I am aware of." Data stated as he bathed the wound. "The greatest risk is from infection." He took the bottle Guinan handed to him and poured it into and around the wound. Taryn bucked and moaned through clenched teeth. He turned her and repeated the action on the other side.

"Let me help, I'm a nurse." the bride stated and helped Geordi tear up some sheets he found freshly laundered in the small scullery to make bandages. She helped Data dress the wound.

"Lizzie, it has green blood." William stated. "It's not natural."

"It's a living thing and it risked it's life against those things to help us and it's obviously a she." Lizzie protested. "I wouldn't leave a dog bleeding Billy, you know that. I'm certainly not ignoring an injured creature with two arms and two legs no matter the colour of their skin or their blood."

"Where did you obtain a bayonet?" Data asked the man as he worked.

"It was mine, from Afghanistan." Matthews replied.

"Do you have the rifle to go with it?" Geordi asked.

"Yes, but no ammunition." he replied.

"Good, at least you didn't shoot her." Geordi stated, wiping sweat from Taryn's face.

"I'm okay," she protested. "It just caught me, I couldn't get out of the way in time. As long as it's clean I can heal quicker if I…"

Data nodded. "I know what to do." he assured her.

"Get your gun and any other weapons you have." Guinan stated. "There may be more coming and we need to get out of here." She looked over at Taryn who appeared lifeless on the table. "She's not…"

"No, it is a trance to enable her to heal faster." Data explained and Geordi and Guinan went with Billy to help him gather what he needed.

"What were those things?" Lizzie asked, "and no offence but what are you?"

"That will take some time to explain, but please believe we mean you no harm and are here to protect you and your husband." Data stated earnestly.

The woman nodded. "He didn't mean to hurt her. He was just trying to protect me. Those creatures…"

"I know." Data replied with a smile as he went to wash his hands. "She is extremely resilient. I am certain she will recover."

"She sounded English, but you don't, nor do the others. She's from down south, Hampshire, maybe Wiltshire." Lizzie mused with a light cockney accent.

"You have a good ear." Data stated as he dried his hands. "She was raised on the border, not far from Andover."

"So where were you raised?" she asked as she looked at him appraisingly. "Nowhere I've ever heard of from the look of you."

"You could not be more correct." he replied.

…

"Alright, alright. I'm awake, sheesh!" Taryn protested as Data slapped her. "Where are we?"

"A boarding house." Data replied.

"And not a very good one." William Matthews moaned.

"There was another attack while you were unconscious." Guinan told her.

"Is everyone okay?" Taryn asked worriedly.

"Everyone's fine." Geordi reassured her. "The Jem'Hadar beamed out wounded this time."

"What are we going to do?" Taryn asked. "Mr Matthews has a business to run and incidentally so do we."

"I doubt they will attack in daylight." Data reasoned as he moved the curtain with his finger. "Perhaps it would be safe for you to return to your shop if you are accompanied.

"I'll go." Geordi stated, shoving a loaded pistol into the back of his trousers. "I can spot any Jem'Hadar and call if I need back up."

"Be ready to leave before nightfall. I will locate safe premises in the meantime." Data advised them as they prepared to leave and Geordi finished his cup of tea.

"Well, I have a lunch appointment." Guinan commented.

"Anyone we'd know?" Taryn asked.

"I don't know, they're quite popular at the moment but I've no idea if their works will stand the test of time. Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle."

Geordi sprayed tea from his nose and mouth. "You're kidding?!" he choked.

"You've heard of them?" Guinan asked. "I'll have to listen to them more carefully." Taryn tilted her head in Data's direction and coughed. "Mr Data, would you care to come along?" Guinan enquired, taking Taryn's hint.

"I would be honoured." he replied, his eyes bright with excitement.

"In that case I'll mind the shop." Taryn smiled.

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Guinan asked looking puzzled.

The green woman lifted the side of her shirt and showed two well-healed scars on her side. "I'm certain." she grinned.

"That's incredible." Guinan replied looking amazed and felt her forehead with the back of her hand. "No sign of fever either."

"My immune system is robust. I hardly ever get sick." Taryn explained. "If the blade had gone through anything more than skin and muscle or was any more extensive I'd have been in as much trouble as anyone though. More as we can't exactly call a doctor. I was lucky."

"Let's hope we stay lucky." Geordi commented.