ROLLERCOASTER

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There's No Place Like Home, Part 2

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Dr Crusher moved fast. Although she'd been at a monitor at the other end of the Sickbay when Riker had burst in with Tasha in tow, by the time the Commander had deposited Ishara's comatose form on the nearest operating table, the Doctor was already at their side, equipment in hand.

'What happened?'

'She was shot trying to draw the Alliance's fire away from us,' Riker told the Doctor.

'I warned her,' Tasha added. 'I warned her…'

'I'm sure she was well aware of the risks even without your warning,' replied Riker.

'Did you manage to rescue the crewmen?' Crusher asked as she set to work on the injured young woman.

Riker shook his head. 'Not for lack of effort on anyone's part… least of all, Ishara.'

'I should've followed her,' Tasha fretted. 'Given her cover fire…'

'If you had, you'd have been facing a disciplinary hearing for disobeying my orders,' Riker assured her. 'Besides, how could you have followed her? She was off like a shot into the shadows the second we got there.'

'Never seen anyone move like that,' Tasha mumbled, 'just darting out into all that danger without a thought for their own back…'

Will put a supportive arm around Tasha's shoulder as they watched the medical staff cluster about the patient. 'I have.'

'Is she going to be OK?'

'I'm doing my best,' Crusher muttered. 'Her vitals are low.'

'No…' breathed Tasha. She tried to take a step towards her sister, but Riker held her back.

'Give Beverley some space, Tasha.'

'I'd appreciate it,' added the Doctor. 'Maybe you two should step outside for a while – I'll alert you as soon as I have any updates.'

'No…' Tasha repeated.

'Come on.' Will ushered her outside. He waited for the doors to shut behind them before adding, gently; 'She's in the best hands.'

'Why did she have to go and do something so stupid? Why did we let her? We didn't even get the hostages back…'

'But,' Riker reminded her, 'thanks to the time your sister afforded us, Geordi should be able to pinpoint where we need to go next time.'

'Yeah.' Tasha hugged her arms about herself. 'Yeah. Ishara the Hero. And there was me refusing to trust her.'

'You had your reasons.'

'Did I?' Tasha looked up at Will. 'Or was I just reacting out of petty spite?'

Riker didn't reply.

'Ishara was the only thing in my life that was ever a constant,' Tasha told him. 'We'd pick up stray kids or animals from time to time, but they'd either get lost, or taken, or killed. For the most time it was just me and her. I cared for her. I did things you don't wanna think about to make sure she'd have food and water, and a place to sleep. And at the end of it, when I'd managed to get us a flight off the colony, when I begged her to let me take her away from that Hell… she turned her back on me, and went to them. The Coalition. And trust me, Will, those guys are no different to the Alliance in anything but name. If they'd got their hands on the escape pod, we'd be having exactly the same trouble with them.'

'I don't doubt it,' replied Will.

'She called them her family,' Tasha continued, 'and I'd be damned if that made me family by association. As far as I was concerned, she stopped being my sister that day. She just became another one of them, another part of Turkana IV, that I never, ever wanted to go back to again. But then here she was, all of a sudden, on my territory, talking to my friends… it's like she managed to interrupt my whole life just by her presence. And I didn't want to give her a chance.' She sighed. 'Was I too hard on her?'

'Whether you were or not doesn't really make any difference,' Riker replied, 'since you can't change it.'

Tasha looked at her feet. 'Guess not.'

The sickbay doors slid open, suddenly, and a nurse popped out her head.

'She's stable,' the nurse told the pair, hurriedly. 'She's got a few broken bones, but she'll be OK.'

Tasha sighed with relief as the nurse scurried back into the Sickbay.

'Well then,' added Riker, equally relieved, 'I guess what you can change is how you respond to her now.' He paused. 'She's told me she wants to leave the Coalition – maybe sign up for Starfleet.'

Tasha nodded. 'She mentioned that to me too.'

'So,' Riker reasoned, 'she won't be "one of them" any more. She won't be part of Turkana IV. She'll be part of our world – one of us. Who knows, she might even end up serving under you some day…'

Tasha smiled a little at the thought. 'She'd hate that.'

'So maybe it's time to start allowing yourself to see her as a sister again,' Riker suggested. 'After all, I'm pretty sure the reason so many people on board have taken such a shine to her is that when they look at her, they see a Yar.' He squeezed Tasha's shoulder. 'I know that's why I like her.'

Tasha quirked an eyebrow at him. 'She's a stubborn, antisocial, infuriating little hothead.'

'Like I said,' grinned Riker, '100 percent Yar.'

-x-

Tasha waited outside Sickbay as nonchalantly as possible, as though she just happened to be loitering there, and not as if she had requested that Dr Crusher let her know when her sister was about to leave for the Bridge. She even pretended to look surprised when Ishara stepped out into the corridor.

'Well, if the Human Bullseye isn't up and about already…'

'Hi, Tasha. Beverley said you'd be waiting for me.'

'Dammit, Crusher!' Tasha exclaimed.

'You're welcome,' came a distant voice from beyond the open Sickbay doors.

Ishara smirked. 'I like her. She's fun.'

Tasha shook her head in mock despair, and led her sister away from the Sickbay. 'So, how are you feeling?'

'OK,' Ishara shrugged. 'Just don't ask me to do any sit-ups for the next day or two. I know you were probably rooting for it to be fatal, but I'll try harder next time to…'

Tasha ground to a halt, spinning Ishara round by the arm to face her. 'You're an idiot, you know that, Ishara? You knew it was dangerous, I told you it was dangerous… do you have any idea what a fright you gave me?'

Ishara said nothing in reply, but stared at her sister, a faint, wistful smile creeping over her lips.

'What?' asked Tasha.

'You know,' muttered Ishara, 'that's the exact same thing you'd say back when we were kids, if I didn't stay in the hiding place you'd left me, or I got lost… same tone, same little crease in your forehead… everything.' She cocked her head. 'You really were worried, weren't you? You actually give a tiny rat's ass what happens to me.'

Tasha managed a smile. 'Well, of course I do, you little maniac.' She turned to start walking again. 'So, it sounds like we need to come up with a new plan to get our men out of Alliance territory, because if you think you're acting as live bait with that stupid implant again, you've got another thing coming, young lady…'

'Data and me have been knocking a few ideas about,' Ishara told her. 'He came to visit me…'

'Did he, now?' asked Tasha, archly.

'There you go again,' Ishara smiled. 'You know, I never had you pegged as the covetous type when we were kids.' She shot Tasha a sly glance. 'Relax - we're just friends. Although, I'll admit, I can see where you're coming from. He's so straight and orderly, I keep wanting to just lean over and ruffle him…'

Tasha pinched the bridge of her nose in embarrassment. 'Sis, please…'

Ishara poked her shoulder. 'You just called me "Sis".' She smirked. 'Caring about my wellbeing, accepting me on your ship, familial nicknames… watch out, Tasha, next thing you know, you'll be giving me a hug…'

'Have you always been this annoying?' Tasha smiled. 'You'd better not pester me this much once you've joined Starfleet.'

'So you even approve of that, now?'

'I think a Cadet's uniform would suit you,' shrugged Tasha. 'Besides which, you'd have to call me "Sir".'

Ishara pulled a face. 'Perhaps we should just concentrate on the task in hand for now.'

'You're probably right.' Tasha paused, turning to face her sister again. 'I'm sorry I said all those things about you, Ishara. I am glad to see you alive and well, truly I am.'

'It's OK. I haven't exactly had many kind words to say about you over the years, either.'

Tasha took Ishara's hand. 'I'm happy we found each other again. I do love you, you little idiot.'

For a second, Tasha was sure that her younger sister was about to cry. Ishara pulled her into a tight hug.

'I love you too, Tasha. I love you, too.'

-x-

Tasha grabbed hold of the pilot's wrist and helped him to his feet. The Alliance's hostages were hungry and frightened, but still alive, thanks to Ishara. With a smile, she turned to share a word or two of congratulation with her sister…

…but Ishara was gone.

'Ishara…?'

The others turned to frown at the spot where Ishara had been. It was as though she had simply vanished. Tasha's mind flashed quickly through possible scenarios. Perhaps she'd seen a guard approaching and tried to eliminate him on her own. Perhaps they'd been spotted and one of the Alliance had snatched her away from their party when their attention had been turned on the crewmen. Whatever it was, Ishara was likely to be in danger.

'We'll split up and find her,' Will announced, quickly. 'We don't have much time.' He nodded to the Klingon. 'Worf, get those crewmen beamed up to the Enterprise immediately. We'll be back as soon as we've found Ishara.'

Tasha didn't wait to hear anything else, but scurried off down a small tunnel, her phaser poised in front of her, her mind returning again and again to the image of Ishara's limp, injured body in Will Riker's arms.

She heard footsteps, and ducked behind a thick water pipe, folding her arms and legs tight into her body, the way she used to do when she was a girl. It wasn't until the two men had passed that she wondered why she had automatically hidden. Once their footsteps had faded, she darted out from behind the pipe and hurried through the tunnel, hugging the wall, until she came to a poorly lit intersection. Her heart thundering, she pressed her back against the corner and peered around. There was nobody to be seen. She ran out, making for a large pile of refuse, where again, she ducked down and hid.

She struggled to control her breathing, and asked herself silently why it was that she was suddenly so scared. It obviously had something to do with Turkana City, with the things she'd endured there before, she hadn't been so afraid the last two times she had beamed down – only now. Now that her friends weren't with her, and her sister had gone missing. Now that she was alone. It was just like the old days, she thought to herself, like the times when she and Ishara had been separated, and she'd found herself running and hiding, fretting over her sister's safety as well as her own… She'd had countless nightmares where exactly this had happened – where she'd suddenly found herself back on Turkana IV, alone and terrified. She bit her lip, and cast down her eyes.

In her nightmares, she had always been wearing the filthy rags she had run in as a child, but that wasn't what she was wearing now. She had on a Starfleet Officer's uniform, she reminded herself as she looked down at herself. This wasn't a nightmare - this was real. She wasn't a kid and she wasn't helpless, she told herself. She was armed, and she had means of communication.

She tapped her Comms badge. 'Yar to away team,' she hissed, 'any sign of her yet?'

There was a pause, before Tasha heard Data's voice speaking out of the tense silence, as hushed as hers had been.

'I believe I may have found her trail.'

Tasha exhaled, relieved as much at hearing a friendly voice as at the positive news. 'Where are you?'

'The main north tunnel.'

Tasha got to her feet, and turned to sprint north. 'On my way.'

She made fast work of the tunnels. One Alliance guard spotted her as she ran and began to draw his weapon, but she was on him with a blow to the chest and a concussing roundhouse kick to the head before he had had the chance to so much as aim. As she reached the north tunnel, she saw the flash of Will's red tunic far ahead of her. She quickened her pace once more, emboldened by the sight of her friend. He had stopped in the doorway of a large chamber. Ishara. It had to be her in there. Her heart leaping, she made the last few strides to catch up with Will at the doorway. Ishara was indeed standing in the chamber, a short distance from Data, alarm bells ringing all about them. They'd found her!

'Ishara!'

Startled, Ishara turned her head to the doorway. She drew breath, as if to say something.

And that was when Data shot her.