Chapter IX
Placing his phaser on his belt, Riker turned to the away team and glanced at Worf curiously. "As one of those taking part in the meeting, you don't have to come along," he reminded the Ambassador.
"I am aware of those facts, Commander. However, I insist that you'll need my skills if a problem arises," the Klingon replied. Will shrugged, knowing that he wasn't going to talk his old friend out of it and then turned to the transporter chief and stated, "Ready whenever you are." Deanna stood beside him on the pad, while the operator began the process. In a few seconds, the blue light floated over them and Will closed his eyes for a moment.
As he opened them, he looked at the surface of the planet as it stretched out before them and he walked forward; taking out his tricorder. "Something is very wrong here… this doesn't look the way that it did from the Enterprise," Troi commented.
Will nodded, glancing about at the quiet landscape. Several toppled buildings jutted from the rock here and there, but the entire place appeared to be rather deserted. He glanced up at the sky, which was covered in thick dark clouds as if some sort of nuclear war had blanketed the planet in times past. "Analysis of the atmosphere confirms that we are on Cardassia Prime," the security officer commented.
Quickly tapping his combadge, he said, "Riker to Enterprise." But there was no response. Deanna placed a hand on his arm and said, "Will, I'm worried." He nodded in agreement and replied, "There might be something causing interference. We'd best look around."
Troi followed him as the guard took the rear, his phaser poised and ready in case of an attack. "Do you suppose that there was a transporter accident… because of the anomalies?" the security chief wondered. "I was just beginning to think that myself… but how can we tell for certain?" Will wondered aloud, glancing about at the desolate land. He turned to Deanna and asked, "Can you sense anyone nearby? Perhaps there are survivors who can explain things."
She shook her head and said, "Except for us, there's no one that I can feel anywhere close." "Commander, I believe that there may be a building nearby we might be able to use in order to boost our signal," Worf explained from a higher vantage point.
Riker nodded, climbing up and following his comrade toward a valley as he continued to scan the area. "I'm detecting a large surge of chronoton particles that way," the security officer said, pointing off to one side. Deanna paused, glancing upwards and he turned to her and asked, "Is something wrong?" "I'm not sure… did I tell you about my experience on the bridge earlier?" Troi replied
"No, but you were in pretty bad shape… I didn't want to push you into reliving the incident," Will answered and then added, "Why do you bring it up?" "The emotions that I felt when the surge hit me… I just detected the exact same thing… I can't explain it," she said.
"Then don't try to; we'll get to the bottom of this," Riker admonished. "Commander, come over here," Worf called out. He nodded, heading to where his friend was and paused at the astonishing scene. A large field spread before them, torn by a battle from some bygone day. He knelt down to the closest skeleton and glanced at the decaying uniform.
"This is a Cardassian," he realized and then Worf gestured for him to join the Klingon where he stood over a second victim of the battle. "My scans of this creature indicate that he has been dead for over three hundred years," he stated. "What does that mean?" the security officer asked. "This is a Jem'Hadar," Riker said in surprise.
"What? But the Dominion hasn't entered the Alpha Quadrant since the treaty was signed," Troi argued.
"This conflict apparently happened a long time ago. From the looks of things, the Cardassian army suffered a great defeat," Will commented. He glanced at the shell of a vessel which stuck out of the ground ahead of them and said, "Is that where the chronoton particles are coming from?" "I'm not sure, the readings are off the charts," the security officer stated.
Riker nodded, gesturing for the others to follow as they trekked through the battleground and then Worf scanned the ship and reported, "I'm afraid that the same problem is interfering with my systems as well. Perhaps this is the source of the anomalies that the Enterprise has been experiencing?"
"That's not possible; we've been dealing with them ever since we left Deep Space is different; I don't know what's going on… but this isn't right," Troi said. "Is it possible that the disturbances we encountered in orbit could've transported us through time?" the security chief suggested. Will shook his head and said, "It's happened before… but why here and now? I don't recall that the Dominion ever faced the Cardassians." "Maybe this is the future," Deanna suggested.
"Or an alternate present," Worf added.
"Possibly, we won't know until we get more facts. The computer might be intact and we could download the files," Will answered, passing his tricorder over the vehicle. "The interior is saturated with radiation. It will be impossible to enter without environmental suits," he decided, passing the craft and pointing towards the rift that had been created by the ship as it fell. "My tricorder has been overloaded, sir. We're definitely close to the source of the interference," the security officer commented.
Riker nodded, climbing into the small gorge and quickly finding solid ground. He helped Deanna down and then the others joined them. Switching on the lights attached to his wrist, Will found that an oddly shaped cavern stretched into the soil before them.
"I find this place to be a bit unnerving," Worf commented. "I wasn't aware that you had the capacity to be apprehensive," Riker commented as he silently agreed with his comrade since who knew what was down here. "A Klingon warrior can feel fear, but he overcomes it so that the battle can be won," the Ambassador replied as they moved deeper into the subterranean passage. Will paused as they rounded a corner and came upon an hourglass-like object, which shimmered against the light while hovering in the air and turning about like a radiant diamond.
It emitted a glow from within itself and Riker found the thing to very fascinating. He was about to get a closer look, when Worf stopped his progress and warned, "Commander, this is an Orb of the Prophets. I have come in contact with them before. These are objects of incredible power which could easily overwhelm us."
He nodded at his friend's suggestion but at that moment, the security chief stepped forward; stumbled and grazed the crystalline object. Riker watched in amazement as the guard vanished from sight and then the ground began to shake violently. Dust began to fill the air while rocks began to break free of the ceiling.
"I think we'd better get out of here," Will decided, grabbing the Counselor's arm and together the trio proceeded to sprint uphill towards the entrance of the cave. As they reached the opening, the three of them climbed onto the surface and Deanna looked at the sky above while attempting to keep her balance. A gust of wind began blowing across the ground and he asked, "What's wrong?" "It's here, Will! It's growing stronger!" she exclaimed, collapsing to the ground and grabbing her head.
The buildings he had seen earlier seemed to have collapsed as bolts of lightning formed; while the dark clouds above appeared ready to consume everything like a black hole.
Worf rushed to assist him as the chaos intensified. At that moment, he felt his combadge chirp for attention and he tapped it urgently; crying out as loudly as he could to be heard over the tumult, "Emergency transport, three to sickbay!"
As the entire landscape began to crumble, he felt something strike him roughly as he fell forward even as the beam hit him. Will struck the deck roughly, hearing Deanna collapse at his side and a distant part of his mind wondered why no one had attempted to stop their fall. Groggily, he looked around; but Worf was nowhere to be seen.
The gleaming walls of the room weren't familiar to him and Riker wondered if another vessel had responded to their distress call. Troi shook her head, likewise taking in their surroundings while he stayed close by her side. "Feeling better now?" he inquired and she nodded weakly.
Just then, a door at the far end of the room and a man wearing a strange variant of the current Starfleet uniform entered; examining them carefully. "Commander William Thomas Riker, Counselor Deanna Troi; am I correct?" he asked. "That's right and you are?" he prompted.
"First, do you know what the Stardate is?" their visitor inquired.
"53020… have we been caught in another temporal anomaly?" he asked. "In a manner of speaking… there aren't very many ways of saying this, so I'll come right to the point. We've extracted you from the surface where you witnessed one of the most traumatic events to occur in any timeline. Unfortunately, due to the constraints placed upon us from interfering in the past; only those from this era can help resolve this matter," the stranger told them.
"You're from the future too?" Deanna inquired. "So he's here this time… that adds an interesting layer to the equation. What about Q?" the officer asked.
"Being as annoying and enigmatic as ever… you're not doing too much better, I might add," Riker commented.
"Forgive me… we try to share as few facts about ourselves as we can, but since some of what I'm going to share will already be entered into Starfleet files soon enough… my name is Captain Ducain. This ship monitors disturbances such as the one you are currently stuck in the middle of. We can shield ourselves to a certain extent, even protect you. But extended exposure can lead to temporal psychosis. Unless we can work together to solve this, I'm afraid that no one will survive," their host stated.
"What do you want us to do, exactly?" Troi inquired. "It is rather complicated and difficult to explain. There are so many different sides to the story. Each of them has equal merit, but the outcome depends upon you. I cannot influence how you act one way or another. However, we have little time for chitchat. Come with me, we have work to do," Ducain advised.
Glancing at Deanna, who shrugged helplessly; Riker followed the stranger into the hallway in the hope that somehow they would find a solution to what had occurred.