Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. Anything you recognize is not mine. All characters and events in this story are entirely fictional.
-=oOo=-
Romana, L'Nea, and Celeste walked onto the bridge of the Enterprise. Picard turned to look as they came through the door.
"Greetings, I'm Romana."
"Jean-Luc Picard."
"Would it be possible to begin work?"
"Of course. Ensign Mizuno and Commander Data should be able to bring the others up to speed."
"I'd like you both to look at what we have summarized first," said Ami.
They walked over, with Celeste hanging back.
"Not an engineer huh?" asked Picard of Celeste.
They began reviewing what was already done. Romana was the first one to react. She said, "Somebody has a nanotech system on that planet. Clearly nanomachines are being built. Part of their function is cloaking, which complicates things. I'm just not clear what the rest of their function is. Could this be something activated and free running, or is the function not yet active?"
"Can you explain the sickness then?" asked Picard
She added, "That may not be intentional. It is likely robbing nutrients that the body needs while they replicate and setup. There is a lot of conjecture here. I could be wrong, but I suspect something close to this is going on."
"It fits the data. I do not have a better explanation," said L'Nea.
"How do we confirm it?" asked Picard.
"I can adjust the sensors to find it, probably. There are a lot of unknowns so it could take some time," said L'Nea.
"I'll help," offered Romana.
"But we can't beam down without being contaminated?" asked Picard.
"We should be able to come up with a portable sensor to see if those that beamed down are infected, though likely if we beam them out of their suits into something like a shuttle and they don't exhibit symptoms for a couple weeks your good," said Romana.
"I'd still like that sensor. Some that recover have been infectious," said Picard.
"Of course. We will work on it."
"Do you believe this is Iconian technology?" asked Picard.
"Too early to be certain, but I've seen nothing to give a better origin," said L'Nea.
"Is there anything else we lack that you need?" asked Picard.
"No, well we may need help from your engineering staff, and those already down, but that sort of goes without saying," said L'Nea absently.
"They are at your disposal."
-=oOo=-
An hour later they reported as ready.
"Geordi bring the modified sensors online and begin scan of the planet."
"Sensors are online. This is an active sweep, and while not harmful, it is also not entirely healthy. I'm scanning everywhere where people aren't to start," said Geordi.
"Go ahead."
"It's not easy to find stuff that wants to be hidden," said Romana softly.
Two and a half hours later Data reported, "I believe I have found a possible location."
"On screen."
"It just looks like a mountain," said Picard.
"I am changing to viewing from above and using the computers to attempt to gather data from below," said Data.
"It's a tunnel complex. A vast tunnel complex. How deep is that?" asked Picard.
"Approximately seven hundred and thirty meters," said Data.
"I wouldn't entirely trust a port through that much rock. I'll try if ordered, but I think we have a problem," said Celeste.
"How long till you confirm if our suits are protecting our people?"
"Engineering is fabricating it. It shouldn't be long. It might even be done," said Geordi.
"Go make sure it is finished and beam it down. We need to know if our people are infected," said Picard.
"On my way."
"Could we cut our way down with the phasers?" asked Picard.
"Possibly, assuming whatever is down there won't take offense. If I had a Tardis I could of course slip down there, but my attempt to build one ended badly, and it is not as if they can wander all over dimensions anyway," said Romana.
"I'd drill far enough away not to be a threat, then fly a shuttle down there, or just a portable transporter. Interlink systems, then send a drone in there," said L'Nea.
"Data?"
"We have two shuttles that could work. Drilling would take approximately fifty three minutes. We would want to get within two hundred and seventy meters of the interior."
"Two hundred then for a reasonable margin," said L'Nea.
"Prepare the plan, though I want to know the results of the scans first," said Picard.
Twenty minutes later they found out that yes, everyone was infected, though it seemed the suits were preventing full activation of the nanomachines somehow. Enterprise drilled down, then flew a shuttle on remote into the hole. A standard atmospheric drone was beamed inside using the shuttle's transporter as a relay.
They watched as the drone searched level after level. Rooms opened as the drone approached, then closed afterward. They kept searching. They had gone over eight levels when they started down the ninth. There they found a room at what should have been near the end of the complex, but was in fact a staircase that moved several levels down. They had to stop and beam in additional drones to relay the signals before one proceeded down six more levels coming out into a cavernous room. The drone could see level after level of capsules, most human sized, but some bigger and smaller. The drone got closer.
"Please tell me they are alive," begged L'Nea when she saw her own form reflected in so many of those there.
"I do not have enough information to be sure," said Data.
"I have to go there," said L'Nea.
"Hold. Whatever state they are in, it hasn't changed. We need to take this carefully. That is not just your people," said Picard.
"No it is some damn zoo or something frozen in time. What the heck is this?" exclaimed L'Nea.
"Does that probe have a speaker and a microphone?" asked Romana.
"Negative," said Data.
"Can you get one down there that does?" asked Romana.
"It will take a few minutes."
"Proceed," said Picard.
Data sent the required probe through the transporter down to near where the shuttle was, but inside the complex.
"Will that do?" asked Data.
"I don't know. Let me try to speak perhaps," said Romana.
"Your have control."
"I am Romanadvoratrelundar. My species is known as the Time Lords. I request to communicate with whomever is in charge of this facility or any system left in place for such purpose."
"Your species is known to us Time Lord. You are far from home. Why are you in this universe?"
"I am helping out and to be honest I was bored, so when offered a chance to tag along, I took it."
"And what do you wish of this facility?"
"I wish to know why you have stored so many in suspended animation."
"This is a preservation ark. Long ago my creators created this ark to save samples of species that were in danger of dying out. They are to be left alone until such time as the universe is ready to receive them again."
"What is the purpose of the cloaked nanomachines that are being spread?"
"To obtain knowledge on whether this universe is finally at that point."
"I fully believe it is at that point. I request you disable all of your nanotech and permit us to revive those you preserved and find places for them."
"Proof has not been given."
"What proof will you accept?"
"Transmit current data on this universe."
"We are from other universes. Our data on this one is limited."
"Then transmit current data on multiple universes."
"Go ahead, but stick to what is commonly known," said Picard.
"I am compiling the information now," said Data.
A few minutes later Data said, "I am sending the information through the probe. Please negotiate a higher bandwidth connection via the shuttlecraft if possible."
"Receiving. Format agreed. Accepting."
Five minutes later they heard. "Your testimony is confirmed. The current nanobots will be disabled, and will self eliminate from those that have them in the next few weeks. I have confirmed the air in this Ark is breathable for your species, and that no nanomachines are present. Failure to care for those wakened will result in your immediate termination."
Picard motioned to cut the feed. They did.
"Opinions?"
"It's a machine. I have nothing," said Celeste.
"Someone will have to go and try," said Data.
"I'll volunteer," said Romana.
"I'll go as well," said L'Nea.
"With respect. Your currently, until they wake up, are the last of your kind. There may not be many Time Lords, but I'm not the last. Let me take the risk," said Romana.
"I will go as well. The nanotech may ignore me," said Data.
"There is no guarantee of that. It could as easily consider you a threat. I honestly recommend someone else, just in case they have something against androids;. I don't of course have anything against them, but some races have been known to, and we know they haven't killed any humans," said Romana.
"I'll go," said Beverly.
"You may need some help with those pods. I'll go as well," said Geordi.
"Could we ask if they have such a prejudice? No, that would just inform them. The primary goal is the safety of those down there. Data, I guess your staying here for now," said Picard.
"I understand. I agree that there is a small chance of an issue."
"Let's go," said Romana.
"Shouldn't we confirm the nanotech is inactive?" asked Data.
"Your right. Can you ask for a rescan?"
"Make it so," said Picard.
They waited. A few minutes later they reported, "The nanomachines in everyone not in a suit appear to be going inactive. The ones in the suits are unchanged."
"The signal is apparently muddied by the suits. I'd leave them on a little longer," said L'Nea.
"Then proceed with the mission," said Picard.
Celeste sighed. "For what it is worth, which I'm sure is nothing, I wanted to go too."
"I can hardly believe it. I've searched for so very long. Every time people were lost. Every bit of data I could program Falcon's computers to examine. Everything and they are here."
"I'd offer to help you visit out of body, but I can't think of a single legit reason to do that," said Celeste.
"Romana and those from this ship knows what they are doing. I know this. It is just difficult," said L'Nea.
"Imagine those of us who are stuck on the ship all the time," added Picard.
"Will is pretty much learning to ignore that. He figures if he is killed, Sobaash is perfectly capable and he knows everyone will do their jobs and not risk the ship for him," said Celeste.
"I did get a response back from them. Everyone is promoted to at least Lieutenant. If they want more, he asked me to forward to Ami that they just need to talk to him and he will help them get there," said Picard.
"I honestly don't think anyone cares," said Celeste.
"Now if you had a way we could have avoided spending half a year trapped in our own ship, we would have cared about that," said L'Nea.
"By all accounts you got out as soon as you safely could," said Data.
"Yes. It still sucked. It would be nice if we could at least clean and eat properly. It was not fun at all. Everyone understood of course," added Celeste.
"Data, can you see if there are any changes required on this ship based on that incident?"
"Geordi and I recently sent a few changes to Leah Brahms for approval before we make them. That way they will be incorporated in the next ships built. We plan to implement all the proposed changes, though obviously not the new drive system. Should we require that, we would likely need to build a new ship, either like Falcon, or at least based around the new drive system and upgraded power systems," said Data.
"Are there any reasons why we would want it?" asked Picard.
"The speed doesn't matter until it does. It actually has not really mattered to us yet, but who can predict the future," said L'Nea.
Picard nodded.
-=oOo=-
Romana led them carefully through room after room. Suddenly she noticed a flash of red and tackled Geordi and Beverly out a door as a laser beam shot through the area they were. She spun pulled out a sonic screwdriver and aimed in the beams general direction. It whirled but nothing happened.
"Geordi?" asked Beverly.
Geordi stared into the room. He said, "Whatever it was, seems to no longer be there."
"You may proceed," said the same voice as before.
"Would you mind explaining why you tried to kill us?" asked Geordi.
"If this facility wished you dead, you would be dead. It was merely a test."
"That's nice. If the doctor was here, he would reprogram you on general principle," muttered Romana.
"I have a message from the doctor," said the voice.
Romana blinked.
"Whatever would the doctor be doing in this universe?"
"The message was given to my creators, with a specified time range of delivery. Do you wish to attempt to answer the doctor's challenge?"
"Yes, provided it doesn't affect their ability to safely help those here."
"Please state who Susan Foreman was."
"She is the Doctor's granddaughter."
"What did he last say to her?"
"That's been awhile, but he did tell me once. Let's see. I recall that he said, 'One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.'"
"Identify is confirmed."
The message continued in the War Doctor's voice, "I am scattering this message in the wind in the hope that someone who can help receives it one day. It was to be programmed not to replay unless unique circumstances came into to being. If you are hearing this the Time War with the Daleks has gone badly, well either that or I failed to program this correctly, though for Susan's sake, I hope that is not the case. I have stolen the Moment, and if all else fails, I intend to use it. I intend to stop the war no matter the consequences. Further, if you are hearing this you are within ten years of Susan's timeline. I am going to try to exclude her from the Moment's fire. I don't know if it will let me or not, but I swear I will try. If possible, I will take her place in the fire. This message contains the space time coordinates where we parted ways. Please make sure she is well, and if all is well, please just silently let her live her life. Romana, if this is you, you and her may be all that is left, but I swear to you, the war will end."
Romana's face suddenly became ashen.
"What is the Moment?" asked Geordi.
"Ultimate weapon of the Time Lords. It is otherwise known as the galaxy eater. What could be so bad that he would even consider using that abomination? It should never have been built, let alone used. This is madness. I need to go. Let's get this going, then I must go."
"We will help. You don't have to do this alone," said Geordi.
"You will need all your ships resources to revive these people."
"Then we will get another crew to help you. You don't have to go alone," said Beverly.
Romana nodded, and then gave up walking and started running. The others followed.
-=oOo=-
"Captain's log. Work to revive those in the Ark is proceeding normally. All the nanotech is disabled and self destructing. Several areas remain off limits in the facility, but they are believed to be the computer core and the associated hardware for producing the nanomachines. It is hoped that they will be removable or destroyed when we are done here."
"L'Nea has remained to help her people, while some others work on the refit and the rest went with Romana. They now seek out the meaning behind the message she got. I try to think of what could cause a good person to use a weapon that would destroy so much and can only think that I would have, if I could have destroyed the Borg with it and spared at least some of humanity, if it was the only way to insure some remnant could live free. It is often said the line between civilization and the abyss is thin. Days like this remind us that it is so. We encountered a remnant from another time. A people, no several peoples were saved, only to find that another proud people may be dead now. What should be a day of celebration is anything but, but we continue in our endeavors."
Q appeared in his room with a cup of coffee in his hand that he drank a bit of. Picard looked up at him.
"He did it," said Q before taking a sip.
"They they are all dead then. These Daleks and all the Time Lords?" asked Picard.
"That universe gives me a headache," said Q dryly before taking another sip.
"The answer is everyone believes they are dead, and the Dalek's mostly are, and it might be better if they remained apparently dead."
"Pardon?"
Q snapped his fingers and summoned a bar stool before sitting on it. "Do you know that only a handful of Time Lords are arguably evil? Most are good, but nearly half would probably stand by and let evil rule if it benefited them, or at least didn't bother them too much."
"They are hardly unique there," said Picard ruefully.
"Quite. The Time Lords, when they really push it, can do to their universe things that compare to the Q."
"Romana seemed ordinary enough," said Picard.
"Romana is certainly one of the good ones. That the plans that were loaded in the Doctor's vehicle weren't correct is really the only reason she failed in duplicating her own, and from what I can tell she doesn't even care much anymore. She seems to like your group. The problem is not the good ones."
"Too many are indifferent. The few could not do what they do if the many did not allow it," said Picard.
Q nodded.
"I won't help her find them, and I mean nothing against her, or Susan for that matter."
"Hopefully we don't become that; too powerful with not enough wisdom."
"Don't put sociopaths in power and actively work to get them out when you mess up. That job never ends. There is always one waiting in the wings to say just the right things, but then you read history. So many don't," said Q.
"Do you want me to pass a message to Romana?"
"Up to you. I'm not saying that most Timelords aren't good, but if your not willing to eliminate those high up that would burn the universe for their own power, well, hard decisions are required, followed by more hard decisions."
"And the Daleks?" asked Picard.
"I'd kill them all, but not a universe we work in."
"And this Doctor?"
Q smiled, but didn't answer before vanishing.
-=oOo=-
Romana turned to Plakia. "Thanks for helping us and agreeing to help me try to figure out what is going on."
"I was actually looking forward to meeting all your crew, but all that did come are certainly welcome," said Plakia.
"The captain, Jadzia, Neela, Sobaash, and Samson stayed behind to finish the refit," said Celeste.
"In the mean time I get to see how my daughter has been coming along. How about you and Jinto get us on the way. I believe you are very familiar with these systems?"
Her existing pilot smiled, got up and made way for them. They sat down.
"D-drive checks are confirmed. All systems are nominal. Course is laid in. Reactors are at maximum. Diving." Lafiel moved through her checks with practiced ease, Jinto easily doing half of them smoothly.
"Forty nine minutes till we have to transition to hyperspace," said Jinto.
"Two of our polaron torpedoes are unavailable," said Lafiel.
"We ran into a small problem. I was debating waiting a bit more before retrieving replacements."
"I'm not sure how we missed telling you this, but their is a replicator program for duplicating polaron torpedoes. It involves some manual work and you need to keep some of the raw material on hand, but we just build replacements when we are down a couple. If it was more we went and got them," said Jinto.
"Can you flag it and send it to Kithra?"
"She should have it now."
"Thanks."
"I'll get someone started on this. This is going to take awhile. These are pretty complex instructions," said Kithra.
"You may want to read over them a few times and practice the assembly process in the holodeck until you are sure about it," said Lafiel.
"That sounds like a good idea. With your permission I'll ask someone to begin that."
"Permission granted," said Plakia.
"I'm pretty sure there is a holodeck program somewhere related. You may need one of us to help unlock it," said Ami.
"I'll look."
-=oOo=-
"Coming out of hyperspace using the moon to hide our entry. Cloak is active. Approaching planet to begin standard orbit," said Lafiel.
"Appears to be a fairly typical world early in its first industrial period," said Jinto.
"We do not have enough information to find Susan," said Lafiel.
"I don't either. The Doctor is a fair amount older than me. I never met any of his family on Gallifrey," said Romana.
"How do you suggest we proceed?" asked Plakia.
"I'm not detecting any computer systems we could access," said Kithra.
"We can find her eventually, at least if Romana can help us a bit," said Celeste.
"How long will that take?" asked Plakia.
"Few weeks perhaps. It would help a lot if one of us knew her. We are basically going to have to go on Romana recognizing a fellow time lord," said Piper.
"Continue passive scans and information gathering. Given the development of this world I do not intend they ever find out we are here," said Plakia.
-=oOo=-
Susan looked around her empty cottage. The snowfall made it absolutely silent, and also made it so that the villagers that sometimes traveled here for help would not come unless it was very serious. She was proud of her little log cabin. It wasn't much, but it was hers, even if her would be beau didn't work out.
She looked around again, certain someone was here, but not being able to find anyone. Suddenly there was a knock at her door. She blinked. "Who is there?" she asked.
"I'm a friend of the Doctor's," said a voice.
She rushed to open the door only to have nearly a foot of snow come inside as the very pretty blond carefully stepped in, looking like she was dressed for much warmer weather. She tried to close the door only to be unable to, due to the snow that had piled in.
Romana pulled out a metallic rod like device with an odd end and aimed it at the snow drift. She pressed it and the snow began flying out the door. Less than a minute later it was clear and Romana pushed it closed.
"How did you even get all the way up here in this storm?" asked Susan.
"I didn't. There is a cloaked ship in orbit. They have matter transmission tech."
"Really? The Doctor said he would come back, but never did."
"I honestly don't know much about that, but he did send a message that eventually reached me. I suppose my question is, do you want to keep living here or not?"
"I do miss technology."
"The doctor said you found someone you loved."
"I did. It didn't last. We couldn't have children. I don't think it was me, but it was probably foolish of me to get into a relationship with a regular human. I thought we were compatible. I don't know anymore."
"Hmm, not sure. I'm afraid I don't actually know the answer to that one. Did you want to remain here?"
"They sometimes come to me for healing. Not that I can do much, and I've taught them most of what I know that is actually useful in this age."
Romana remained silent.
"Who am I kidding? My dreams are gone and I've been stuck in the back of the beyond for too long. Let's go."
"Do you have anything you want to bring with you? Particularly any tech?" asked Romana.
"I wish, but no. Well I have a journal. Let me grab that."
Romana waited a few minutes for her to gather a few small things and come up next to her. "Ready to go?" she asked.
"No, but yes."
"We can stay here and talk a bit if you want," offered Romana.
"No, please. Let's go."
"Alright." She tapped her com badge. "Gosroth, please beam the two of us up."
They vanished in sparkles of light.
-=oOo=-
"Why ever did you rename this ship to your old ship's name?" asked Lafiel.
"My old ship was decommissioned and broken up and I liked the name. Besides, there is a Falcon," said Plakia.
"Gosroth, please beam the two of us up."
"Go ahead," said Plakia.
"Beaming," said Kithra.
Romana and Susan appeared.
"Welcome aboard Susan. I am Plakia Lexshue, captain of the Gosroth."
"It is good to see technology again, though I don't recognize the origin of this. Where are we going?"
"We can take you wherever you wish,"said Plakia.
"Can you take me home?" asked Susan.
"Except there. I don't know exactly what happened, but the Doctor, the Time Lords, and the Daleks were involved in some kind of Temporal War. The Doctor did something and it seems. I don't know how to say this, but they are gone. Our people are gone. I'm not sure where. It seems they are not dead, but I don't know," said Romana.
"The Time Lords defeated? I'd have called that impossible," said Susan.
"We are mortal and flawed, for all of our power. You couldn't magically get back the tech you didn't have, no more than I could without a starting point. It takes too long," said Romana.
"I could have done a lot more, but I wouldn't do that to this world. I love it too much," said Susan
"What do you want to do next?" asked Plakia.
"Earth," said Susan.
"That is a good point. The Doctor has quite a fondness for Earth, and so do I for that matter," said Romana.
"Lafiel?" asked the Captain.
"Setting course for Earth. Once we are behind the moon here we can drop into hyperspace," said Lafiel.
"I'm envious. Grandfather stole the Tardis, but it was one that had a massive explosion in all the main control systems. He cobbled together something that would work, but it never was easy to control," said Susan.
"You should have seen the Tardis during a lot of the time we traveled with him. We had managed to anger the black guardian and we spent most of our travels with a random coordinate generator running so he wouldn't find us and make us very dead, or worse, not," said Romana.
"Yet met the Black Guardian?" exclaimed Susan.
"It wasn't an experience I'm proud of. Hopefully he got over that event by now."
"What did you do?" asked Plakia curiously.
"We put together an artifact linked to this universe for time manipulation. It wasn't a time manipulator. It was the time manipulator. The ultimate one. The white guardian presumably used the time we had time stopped to reset what must be reset. When the black guardian tried to trick us into believing he was the white guardian the Doctor dematerialized in such a way as to scatter the fragments to all parts of this universe and we became hunted. Of course there was a whole series of adventures to gather the fragments in the first place, but all that is over now."
"Engaging hyperdrive," said Lafiel softly as the ship silently generated a window and slipped in.
-=oOo=-
"Reading thousands of unknown floating drones of some kind above London," said Jinto.
"On screen," said Plakia.
"Those are Daleks," said Romana.
"Captain Leshue. I request command. I know this ship. Please," said Lafiel.
"Computer grant Lafiel acting Captain Status."
"Confirmed."
"I've sent out the call for help," said Kithra.
"Specify one ship. More isn't going to matter," said Plakia.
"Computer disable all safety systems on transporters and enable matter annihilation mode. Scatter the remnants in space," said Lafiel.
"Second authorization required."
"Do it," said Jinto.
"Transporters are now in matter annihilation mode."
"Everyone else, take shots your sure you can make. I suggest all runabouts be launched and target at will. All of our weapons are too big for this, so be alert," said Lafiel.
"Do it. Launch all runabouts. Attack at will," said Plakia.
"Celeste, I need you and the rest of the telepaths to lean into the ships power. Find some way to stop all that you can," said Lafiel.
"You've got it. We will dow what we can."
"Engines are now to emergency maximum. Inertial dampeners may not fully compensate. Hang on," said Jinto.
"Decloaking and beginning attack run," said Lafiel.
"Ami and I will port down. We can do more good down there," said Pyrrha.
They vanished.
"Anyone with a heavy phaser who can assist in the manual defense is to beam down. Use the runabouts transporters," said Lafiel.
"Confirmed," said Plakia.
The ship soared into the skies of London. The pairing between Jinto and Lafiel was seamless as flare after flare of much reduced polaron beams vaporized Daleks. Others would crash together with explosive force. Phasers were launched out of the runabouts destroying still more while dozens simply evaporated over and over and over again.
An hour into their work a TSAB cruiser came out bearing Nanoha and her entire gang and they started attacking the Daleks, while their ship took what shots it could.
It was another hour and a half later when the grim task was finally done. Lafiel and Jinto passed out.
"Get them to medical. Take care of our people first. Make sure they are alive and if they are they stay that way, and then those on the planet," said Plakia.
"We have an incoming communication," said Kithra.
"On screen."
"Romana?" asked the man on the screen in total surprise.
"Is that you Doctor?"
"I've had a few regenerations since we last spoke, but yes.. What are you doing here? Not that I don't appreciate it. My plan failed."
A blond young woman moved into the frame beside the Doctor in the Tardis. She asked, "Who are you?"
"That's Romana. Me and her go back a long way, but I left her in E-space. I thought she was staying there."
"Things change Doctor. You and I need to talk."
"I require someone to coordinate with to help with cleanup," said Plakia.
"I'll get you in touch with Kate. She can help," said the Doctor.
"Once you do we can beam you aboard," said Plakia.
"I'm not fond of matter transmission. Can I materialize on your ship?" asked the Doctor.
"This ship has a hot dimensional engine. It is probably better if you don't," said Romana.
"This matter transmission tech. Is it the one that obliterated half the Daleks?"
"This ships transporters are offline for use by people. You will have to be beamed up by one of the runabout transporters. Unfortunately, what we did means we can't use our built in system until we have a major service done," said Kithra.
"Well that's a relief at least. I'll get hold of Kate then get back with you." The screen went back to a view of London.
"Are the transporters really so badly damaged?" asked Plakia.
"Yes, what they did was to remove all sane safety limits. It basically burned up the transporters. They just did it slowly enough that is lasted the battle," said Lafiel.
"A fair trade. They certainly did know this ship better. We shall have to strive to change that. Kithra, you have command. I'm going to medical. Romana, I want to be here before the Doctor leaves."
"Understood," they both said.
-=oOo=-
"How are they?" asked Plakia a short time later in sick bay.
"All are exhausted, but I think they will be up and around in probably eight hours or so."
"That's a relief. Do you need anything? Do we need to return more quickly?"
"No, though it probably wouldn't hurt to bring them to their healers to be sure."
"I'll try to return us as soon as we can. We have some major repair work to do anyway."
He nodded.
-=oOo=-
She returned to the bridge.
"We have a coms request from the TSAB ship."
"On screen."
"Hello. My name is Chrono."
"Plakia."
"We just got in contact with a Kate Stewart. Would you like us to be the primary for cleanup?"
"I have no objections. I was just checking on my daughter. She was piloting. They appear okay, just exhausted."
"Well Shamal is helping on the planet, but once she gets time and rest she could take a look, if you want. Our doctors are all busy as well I'm afraid."
"We are going to try to return as soon as feasible. We burned out our transporters and I was thinking of getting Celeste, PIper,Lafiel, and Jinto checked with their doctors."
"Alright. We are now primary. You can leave once the initial cleanup is complete, which will probably be within the hour," said Chrono.
"Thank you. Please direct us as you need us."
"We will thanks. I'm glad you were here, or this could have been very bad."
"I should have perhaps called for more help."
"Possibly, but at most one more I'd have thought, and that is with the benefit of hindsight," said Chrono.
"Agreed. Do you want to be present while we talk to the person we came to look for? He is called the Doctor and apparently tries to protect this universe. There are some issues there."
"Alright. I'll beam over and have my second manage here."
-=oOo=-
The Doctor and Rose beamed up via the runabout transporters that they had temporarily slaved to the main bridge.
"Greetings," said the Doctor.
"Hello," added Rose.
Romana gave the Doctor a hug while Rose looked on and grimaced slightly.
"Relax. I'm not a romantic interest of the Doctor," said Romana.
"Am I that obvious?" asked Rose.
Another walked in the room.
"Susan?" exclaimed the Doctor in shocked surprise.
"Grandfather, is it really you?"
"Yes. Quite a few regenerations later, but yes."
Susan hugged him for several minutes before they let go.
"I don't understand. Why are you here? How are you here?" asked the Doctor.
"I got a message in another universe sent by you apparently that said you had stolen the Moment and were going to use it against the Daleks and apparently the Time Lords, then telling me where to find Susan."
"I don't remember that. I don't remember quite a bit, but they are gone. I know they are gone. I burned them all. It was the only way. Oh, how I wish it wasn't."
"I have received word that they are alive, somehow, but absolute refusal to help find them and a suggestion it may be better not to," said Romana.
"What? That can't be can it?" asked Rose.
"The Doctor is not surprised," noted Plakia.
"We may be nominally on the good side, but it did become hard to tell at the end. Each of us using more terrible weapons than the previous; innocent casualties stacking up. It was horrible," said the Doctor softly.
"Can anything be done?" asked Susan.
"I already did it," said the Doctor sadly.
"What about this?" asked Chrono.
"It was a mess. Some remnant of the Daleks stored in an Ark. They got free. My plan to suck them into the space between universes didn't work. That should, hopefully, really be the last of them," said the Doctor.
"Are you well. Do you need anything?" asked Romana.
"What happened to K9?"
"He is still back on Asgard. They gave him a much better body and he likes playing with the children."
"Asgard as in Odin and Thor?" asked the Doctor.
"Yes. They had some trouble that I'm helping with. It isn't a serious threat to the Alliance I'm working for, but they are still helping. We just saved a bunch of people some group stored in suspended animation."
"That's great." The Doctor turned to Susan. "How are you doing? I thought you were going to start a family and all that."
"It didn't work. We tried and we didn't have the science to really figure out why, though I'm fairly sure it was his sperm."
"I'm sorry to hear that. So after?"
"I ended up living a bit like a hermit in a log cabin helping with folk remedies."
"Really? Did you enjoy it?"
"It got kind of boring."
"And I never came back. I'm so sorry," said the Doctor.
"Doctor, I don't know what to do. You used the Moment, which is insane, but it is done and must be a fixed point in time given the importance," said Romana.
"There is really nothing to do, though if we could stay in touch. I certainly could use a ship like that to help now and then," said the Doctor.
"We can get you one of our dimensional coms." Plakia motioned to someone on the bridge who left to get one.
"That would be great." He turned to Romana. "So did you build a Tardis?"
"I think the plans in your Tardis data bank were fake or flawed. I had my failure destroyed. This group rescued me."
"Oh, I guess you could come down and try again, maybe figure out what is wrong."
"I'm fine. I'm helping out here. Time travel isn't really required to find adventure when you have all possible dimensions to roam."
The Doctor nodded. Rose looked quite curious.
The Doctor turned to Susan. "Did you want to travel with me again Susan?"
"I don't know. I thought about finding some place calm, since I did like that, but at least with some technology."
"Oh, yah, calm isn't really something that occurs on the Tardis, at least not for long."
"You are welcome to come to Mid-Childa or any of our planets. The Alliance also has countless alternatives," said Chrono.
"I'm sure the Empress would welcome you to Lakfakalle as well," said Plakia.
"I'm sorry, I don't recognize your particular group," said the Doctor.
"We are part of the Humankind Empire Abh. A long time ago humans created us to be slaves. We broke free. We did some stuff we kind of regret in hindsight and now rule about half the galaxy with a still large portion hating us for mostly made up reasons."
"It's not a new story, though I'm sorry for what happened to you," said the Doctor.
Plakia nodded.
The Abh that Plakia sent out returned with a small box and handed it to the doctor.
"How does it work?" asked the Doctor.
"Just hold it and ask to send a message to the Alliance. Someone will figure out the rest. Other than that, obviously don't leave it with anyone with sufficient technology to figure it out," said Plakia.
"Will do. I've got a ton of tech in the Tardis that had better not get out."
"I would like to return and get some of my crew checked. They appear okay, but their own doctors would be better, at least once the initial cleanup is complete. You are welcome to come with us. We can bring you back afterward," said Plakia.
"What do you think Rose? Want to go see another universe?"
"Hell yes."
Her original pilot looked up at her and said, "They have only a little bit more that has to be done. We can probably leave now, if you want."
"We will stay till they give the go ahead, but you can set course for the Utopia Planetia shipyards."
"That was some crazy flying you did. Was that you?" asked the Doctor.
"No, that was my daughter and her intended. The neural interface can become taxing at those levels. They were the main pilots on this ship before they built their new one which is undergoing maintenance."
"Anything serious?" asked the Doctor.
"I'm not an expert, but you are somewhat familiar with normal dimensional travel, right Doctor?" asked Romana.
"Yes. Done it a few times, but the Tardis is utterly the wrong vehicle for it, as much as I love her."
"They found a realm that allows faster combined travel across space and dimensions and designed a ship that could do it, and then the engine broke, and they were stuck there for about half a year," said Romana.
"That's not new. That's old. It's been ages since I've heard anyone ever use that realm. Wait they were without energy or without an engine?" asked the Doctor.
"Engine. They managed to cobble together enough power to keep the shields up and effect repairs."
"Or they would be dead," said the Doctor.
"Why did their engine die?" asked Susan.
"They with a group of other ships moved a planet prior to that mission. We wrapped overlapping warp fields around it and slowly towed it out of the way from a stellar core fragment, then fixed things. Doing so over-stressed their still experimental reactors to the point that they developed a power irregularity, which led to the drive failure," said Plakia.
"Which would have been particularly hazardous to that kind of drive. Got it. What are they powering that with anyway? You can't just power that kind of tech with batteries," said the Doctor.
"The same tech as this ship, but the two artificial singularities they have produce four times as much power as the two powering this ship," said Plakia.
"Nice. I really wish I had one of those. Would make the Tardis way more reliable. Well the system I have now works forever, as long as I'm in this universe, but step outside of it and I'm essentially stranded."
"Is that safe? I mean isn't that a micro black hole?" asked Susan.
"Not quite, and it certainly isn't perfectly safe, but no power of that level ever is. I'm utterly impressed they survived," said the Doctor.
Chrono's device beeped. "Yes Amy?" he responded.
"I just wanted to let you know that we have done the initial work. We will stick around for another couple hours, but the emergency services have pretty much got a handle on it now. The biggest thing was the use of transporters to move people to hospitals that could handle them. We helped with the worst cases of course."
"Excellent work. I'll beam back shortly. Gosroth will be leaving soon to better tend to their people and make needed repairs."
"Understood."
Chrono asked, "Does anyone need anything else from me?"
"Can I contact you on this device as well?" asked the Doctor.
"Well the Alliance will direct us here if we are the ones that can best help. You can also ask for me. I'm Chrono by the way."
"The Doctor, and it was good meeting you. I must say to have such amazing talents, you must be from far off."
"You don't have magic in this universe?" asked Chrono curiously.
"Not true magic no. There is some stuff that looks close but it isn't like what you have."
"Well I'll be going. Nanoha and Fate want to get back to their family soon, if possible, so best to get the work done. Durandall, request transport."
Chrono vanished.
"You guys really love your matter transmission. I've had so many dodgy experiences with transmats I avoid them, but I guess you have it working," said the Doctor.'
"Mika, please begin our journey back," said Plakia.
"Moving away from the planet to give more clearance for a hyperspace window. Checking the D-drive while we wait. All checks confirm okay. In position for opening window. Window open. Entering hyperspace. Activating cloak. Forty minutes to where we will cross the dimensional sea."
"Good job."
"Do you cloak by default?" asked Susan curiously.
"it does avoid a certain amount of headaches, and as we have the power to do it, why not?" added Plakia.
"This is a fantastic ship. You can feel it. It has been well loved, by this crew and the previous one," said the Doctor.
-=oOo=-
Doctor Bashir, Mary, Rowan, and Deanna beamed over as soon as they got there. Mary, Rowan, and Deanna had been visiting. Curious, the Doctor, Romana, Susan, and Plakia followed them in.
Doctor Bashir was the first to review their readings. "Celeste is worse. Start there please Mary."
Mary took Celeste's head in her hands and let healing energy flow into her, even as Rowan replaced some of what was spent. Ten minutes later she moved back.
"Now Jinto. He is next, but doesn't seem that bad," said Julian.
She repeated.
"Now Piper."
Another repeat. This time Deanna restored her energy.
"And Lafiel."
Mary finished up and Deanna gave her a bit more energy.
"Four in a row is tiring. They should wake soon though," said Mary.
"That's amazing. Can I learn to do that? I mean I doubt it, but a girl has to ask," said Rose.
"I'll give you a lesson. We usually manage to teach at least basic telepathy. It can be very useful," said Rowan.
"But later. Once we are rested," added Deanna.
Lafiel blinked her eyes open. "Ship safe?" she asked.
"Yes, our ship is very safe, thanks to you and all the rest. Mika is going to be annoyed for awhile till she matches your skill, which looks quite difficult," said Plakia.
"She would need a partner to match our skill probably," said Lafiel tiredly.
"You can go back to sleep. The ship is safe. Jinto is next to you," said her mother.
Lafiel flared her kinetic ability and floated herself into Jinto's bed and curled up, before going to sleep.
Jadzia walked in. "I just wanted to let you know, that I went ahead and sent in your needed repairs to the shipyards. We are still busy with Falcon, but they are already beginning to fabricate what you need."
"The transporters system was not salvageable?' asked Plakia in concern.
"We don't test transporters using that mode, so we basically set a limit of more than about a minute of total operation in that mode and we scrap the entire thing. It just isn't worth the risk when sentient life is involved. We can enable it for normal use if we must, but as soon as possible it is replaced," said Jadzia.
"I see."
"Do not worry about the cost. Lafiel's decision was correct. We will gladly replace your transporter every mission, if that is necessary to save lives," said Jadzia.
"I didn't even know it was possible. I have much to learn it seems."
"Good move on replacing. Using something like that in a mode that is not tested exhaustively then going back to a normal mode would be a bad idea, given the energy fluxes," said the Doctor.
"Pardon, you are Romana's friend right?" asked Jadzia.
"Yep. I'm the Doctor. And you are?"
"I'm Jadzia Dax. I'm basically the number two science officer, though number one now since L'Nea is on leave."
"If you like I can take a look at your drive design. Its been, well, a very very long time, but I have seen such before."
"You can trust the Doctor," said Romana.
"Well that will be up to our Captain, but we can ask."
"It isn't essential. Basically, you have just stated the problem and the solution," said the Doctor.
Jadzia blinked, then said, "Try very very hard to not do anything new, except in very controlled test conditions?"
The doctor nodded. "Once you fix the power issue and you should be good for the most part. It's still quite a bit more dangerous of course, but you knew that."
"We did."
"Is there any chance of getting one of your point singularity power sources?" asked the Doctor.
"That is a very big ask, particularly with none of us being with it," said Jadzia.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind some company. What about you Rose?"
"No, the Tardis is huge. We have tons of space," said Rose.
"We can certainly discuss it, but it nevertheless is a big ask. You could crack a planet like an egg with one of those," said Jadzia.
"I know. Unfortunately the Tardis could really use a more reliable power source. I doubt I need the ones like in your new ship. One of the old models is likely fine. In fact, it is probably better since they have a longer proven history," said the Doctor.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened with this Moment, the Daleks and the Timelords?" asked Jadzia.
"I killed them. They all burned," he said softly.
"You had no choice," said Rose.
"Of course I had a choice," half yelled the Doctor before his face softened. "I'm so Sorry Rose. I should not yell at you."
Deanna turned to him. "I do shield by default, but I'm sorry the amount of grief your giving off is not healthy. See me. See someone. Please."
"You can't help," he said morosely.
"Grandfather," said Susan softly.
"You know, I'm probably more than adequate to give a first lesson in telepathy now, if you wanted," said Rowan to Rose.
"What? I thought the Doctor did that."
"I don't know how to teach you Rose. I didn't even know it was possible. Other universes can change the rules a bit. Learn if you want."
"Could I help the doctor more then?" asked Rose softly.
"It certainly can't hurt. I happen to know that Pyrrha knows another trick that will help, at least if it works for you," said Rowan.
The doctor blinked. "I suspect you are talking about something that I know nothing about. That's marvelous."
"She will need to get stronger before her aura is unlocked. I'm sure of that much," said Deanna.
"Good point." Rowan turned to the replicator. "Create a glass of wine of the Cheateau Picard the former crew favored," said Rowan. The cup materialized. The Rowan picked up the glass and infused it with her energy then offered it to Rose.
"That is very very clever. Very very old. What is old is new here it seems. You should drink Rose."
"I don't mind alcohol, but I don't exactly want to get drunk right now," said Rose.
"There is not that much. I can help you remove the alcohol from your body afterward if you want," said Julian.
Jinto said softly, "Never say yes when the doctor offers. I hate that." He fell back asleep.
"People just love your bedside manner Julian," said Jadzia.
"It's not my fault that the process of getting rid of alcohol is less than pleasant," said Julian.
Rose took the cup and hesitantly took at sip. She seemed to shimmer briefly.
"Oh looks it's interacting with the residue of time travel. Harmless, but a quite pretty light show," said the Doctor.
"It is harmless," agreed Romana.
Rose took a bigger drink. "Dang, if I had this around all the time I might drink way too much."
"The real stuff is pretty hard to get. Captain Picard sends us a few bottles now and then," said Rowan.
"He has a farm?" asked Romana.
"His family does."
"There is a stash on Falcon of the good stuff Loki gave us," said Jadzia.
"Ah the simple pleasures. Personally, I always like a good cup of tea," said the Doctor.
"He is from another planet, yet acts more British than me," said Rose despairingly.
-=oOo=-
Pyrrha walked in after the Doctor, Rose, and Romana watched over Rose's first lesson. After it was done Rose asked, "How'd I do?"
"Pretty well. It's a bit hard to guess, but you might end up T-4 in path and port. I think you may have another talent of some kind, but as I don't have it, it is hard to recognize," said Rowan.
"Is that good?"
"I'm a T-1, though a very strong T-1. A T-4 could transport themselves short distances, like to the other side of a city if they had enough electrical power available to tap. You could also transport someone else that distance, but one at a time, and again you would need available power. Don't even think about transporting anything living unless a life depends on it, or unless one of us says your rated for living. That takes a lot of practice," said Rowan.
"What about well animals?" asked Rose.
"Well none you care about at least," added Rowan.
"You have come so very far. I'm impressed," said the Doctor.
"Rowan began much of it, when she fell through a rift to our universe. So much has happened since then," said Deanna.
"I would have liked to have seen that," said Susan.
"We might be able to dig up video. I think we have all of the Enterprise records from those days," mused Deanna.
"On thing I don't understand. Why do you say you burned them, when we know the Time Lords at least are alive somewhere," asked Jadzia.
"I don't know. Could be something hidden from me. Perhaps time travel is involved. Time Lords are resistant against that kind of thing, but not invulnerable. Are you certain they are alive? I just keep seeing the memory of what I did," he said uncertainly.
Q appeared. "The problem with time travel is unless you are at the end of things it is hard to see how things come out, well that and the fact that it destabilizes any normal universe. Yours is very messed up."
"That's a fair point," the Doctor conceded.
"Who are you?" asked Rose.
"Name is Q. To answer the question I didn't intend to answer is technically from the Doctor's point of view he both did and did not do it. The potential exists for another path in your past that you have and have not taken."
"I broke or will break the first law of time then?" asked the Doctor more curious than surprised.
"That choice remains yours. I'm just here to say if you screw things up again I'll be very angry."
"The Time Lords."
"Yes. Saving the little people matters. I applaud it. Ignoring the big ones who can turn around and destroy all you have done is not going to work."
"Hey, the Doctor works hard," defended Rose.
"I did not say he did not. I said he was stupid," said Q.
"He is doing it all alone," defended Rose.
"Yes, he has been, for the most part. The few strays he picks up non withstanding. I could say this is my work, but that would be a lie."
"Ours," said Rowan.
"Correct. Do you see a difference?" asked Q.
The Doctor nodded sadly.
"Do I need to make it more plainly?" asked Q.
"No," said the Doctor sadly.
"Then it seems I'll be returning with the Doctor. You don't need my help, at least not as badly as he does," said Romana.
"I'll go as well," said Susan.
Jadzia glanced at Q who gave a barely noticed nod. "I'll make sure you get the artificial singularity reactor system you needed."
"I greatly appreciate that," said the Doctor.
"We did get permission to skip some of the planned process since all the work we did while we were lost was accepted as a starting point. We were hoping L'Nea would return, but do not wish to interrupt time with her returned family."
"You might ask. I suspect she may have enough family for awhile," said Q.
Jadzia smiled ruefully. "We will do that."
Julian walked in. "I figured I'd let you know that Celeste and the others are awake. Everyone is fine."
"I am going to talk to my daughter while their is a bit of time," said Plakia.
"And I'll go see if the base has the makings of a replacement reactor," said Jadzia.
"It seems we just got here and are going," said Rose softly.
An apple appeared in Q's hand.
"Wow it must be nice to just have food appear," said Rose.
"This one is somewhat special, though I feel like I'm reenacting an old myth," said Q.
"Oh, what does it do?" asked the Doctor warily.
"Eat it, all of it, and you will have some of the strength required to aid the Doctor," said Q to Rose.
"There has to be some kind of catch."
"I am not doing it for you. You have enough potential that I'm willing to take the gamble, but that is all," said Q.
"He isn't doing it for me either, but he knows I care about you Rose and if I lose more people I care about I'll probably make more mistakes, which will damage my universe more. That is right, is it not Q?" asked the Doctor.
Q nodded.
"I could as easily care more for her and then make even worse mistakes. Can you risk it?" asked Q.
"Q puts faith in people. We know he won't always be able to save us," said Rowan.
"I more or less agreed with the others about you saving yourself when you changed to the old way of traveling," said Q.
"Power has a price. We aren't sure we should continue or not. The other ways work, but we know that we did save some lives with this. It hasn't been a lot yet, but it could be, and who is to say that those lives were not worth it?" asked Deanna.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much, provided you actually do create a handful of ships, and report your travel. Then again, I've traveled alone for so very long, I'm probably not one to give advice," said the Doctor.
Q nodded.
-=oOo=-
"Okay people, you know your duties. Next stop TSAB controlled space for the new Iconian world," said Riker.
Lafiel and Jinto smiled as they settled into their seats. Systems whirled to life as they connected to the system.
"All checks of our brand new ID drive report as ready. All systems report as ready, and even eager. I got used to the old ship for awhile and missed this."
"Course is laid in. We don't have a recent enough coverage anywhere now, so we will be running at a lower speed," said Jinto.
"Problem?" asked the Doctor.
"Sensors can't see far enough ahead for our top speed, so we only use it on a route we have traveled recently," said RIker.
"I think I can come up with a thing or two for that. Might need to consult my Tardis data banks."
"That would be very much appreciated," said Riker.
"Shields to maximum. Engaging ID drive and diving," said Lafiel as their world became a blur of violet and white.
"I like it," said Rose who eat the apple.
"Pshaw. The Time Vortex is prettier."
"But we never see it."
"Well you can always turn the monitor on you know," said Romana.
Susan smiled. "It will be interesting to see what you have made of the Tardis in all this time Grandfather."
"Must you call me that? It makes me feel old," complained The Doctor.
"You are old Grandfather," said a cheeky Susan.
"You know its weird being in a hi-tech ship where everything works," said Rose.
"Hey," complained the Doctor.
"When I traveled with him, I caught him leaving what is essentially the engine brake on the entire time till I turned it off," said Romana.
"So much disrespect," pouted the Doctor.
A chime went off.
"What was that?" asked Rowan.
"I've got it," said Jadzia.
"Details?" asked Riker
"Request for pickup from hitchhikers? Really? Someone managed to muck with our emergency warning net to send that?" asked Jadzia in surprise.
"Let me see," said Romana. The Doctor walked over as well.
"It's probably Drax. Look at the metadata and translate to old Gallifreyan," said the Doctor.
"I never did understand why people learned that, though I suppose I do now more or less," said Susan.
"Yes, very difficult to auto translate, particularly when there are no records. It comes in handy now and again," said the Doctor.
"So you know him?" asked Riker.
"I believe so. Drax is a Time Lord and a con man. He would be helpful, if it is him," mused the Doctor.
"Alright, we would have responded anyway. Go ahead and divert."
"I already did. I figured in the unlikely event you decided not to we could change back," said Lafiel.
"Fair enough. ETA?"
"Twelve more minutes. It is more or less on the way," said Jinto.
"I wonder if he took his Tardis outside of our universe when the Time War heated up, and now can't power it," mused the Doctor.
"We only have the one spare core with us and he isn't authorized to receive it," said RIker.
"I'm not inclined to give him it either. He has always colored just inside the lines, but the last time Romana and I saw him he was selling weapons systems."
"I remember," said Romana darkly.
"Of course you do. Its been what ten or twenty years for you?"
"Closer to the later. I was so glad to get out of there."
"It's been a few more for me."
"I wonder if this is a gift of Q. He could have nudged things," said Samson.
"Good question. It's a heck of a coincidence otherwise," said Romana.
"Bring us in under cloak. Maximum precautions," said Riker.
"Understood," said Lafiel.
"Probably worthwhile. I doubt he has become actually evil, but not trusting Drax is likely wise," said the Doctor.
"Transitioning back to real space. Cloak is active. Power emissions profile is at minimal. Shields at normal. We are as stealthy as we can get without lowering shields. Proceeding on impulse drive. Fifteen more minutes of travel required," said Lafiel.
"Show us. Full passive sensor suite with computer assist," said Riker.
"An old derelict freighter?" asked Susan in confusion.
"Confirmed. Estimated volume is comparable to our own, but only one section appears to be emitting heat that might be compatible with humanoid life," said Sobaash.
"When we get closer, Pyrrha and I can take a quick look," offered Piper.
"Alright. Precautions remain. Is the situation as described or not? Once you determine that return, or after ten minutes."
"Understood."
"What do you mean?" asked Rose.
"We will keep our bodies here but extend outward with our minds," said Piper.
"A Time Lord could detect that," said the Doctor.
"I did, but it was very vague. I thought it was a person at first," said Susan.
"We weren't being too subtle then. They will take greater care," said Celeste. Piper and Pyrrha nodded.
"I can go across whenever," said the Doctor.
"Let's do our own tests first. You can be next," added Riker.
A short time later Lafiel said, "We are there."
Piper took Pyrrha's hand as they both leaned their seats back and became still. They seemed to wake less than ten minutes later.
"There is a massive amount of food and what we think is medicine. We think it is still good. There is one man, balding, lying under a lot of covers. His energy supply is nearly gone. The ship is otherwise dead," said Pyrrha.
"Jadzia, Romana, Neela, Ami, beam over in suitable gear. Asses the ship. Attempt to find out if any of it is salvageable, and its intended destination. If there are people starving or who need medical assistance they are our priority. While you do that we will beam this guy here and talk to him, and if necessary render medical treatment," said Riker.
They immediately got up to leave.
"I obviously don't know this universe. Do you have anything on the course it is sort of on?" asked the Doctor.
"Nothing reliable. Possibly aiming for what in one universe is Centauri Prime, but there is way too much guesswork in that," said Samson.
"We are ready to go," said Ami.
"Proceed. Sobaash, simultaneously beam our guest here," said Riker.
"There is something interfering with the beam out. Cannot do the simultaneous beam," said Jadzia.
The Doctor leaned over and reviewed her data. "He has an alloy that is blocking your tech, but just around his quarters. That sounds like Drax. Beam me over to just outside and I'll drag him out of the protected area."
"Your not in an enviro suit, and outside is freezing," said Riker.
"I can port him in. He hasn't protected against that," said Celeste.
"Proceed, then send the others."
Her well flared briefly into view before vanishing and an extremely overdressed man appeared on the floor. of the bridge.
"We are here safe. It will take us awhile to figure this out," said Jadzia.
Celeste bent down and gently took his hand, letting healing energy flow into him. He opened his eyes, looked around and focused on the Doctor. "Doc?"
"Hello Drax. Please explain your cargo."
"It's all legit I promise. I've turned over a new leaf I have."
"Where is it going?" The Doctor reached down to help him up.
"Oh sweet little planet. Has the absolute best looking babes."
"Please show Sobaash where the planet is. I also need to know what the situation is. Are lives at stake?" asked Riker.
"Well we are a few weeks late. Nobody should starve though the medicine was sorely needed. The vegetables are probably okay given the temperature they are at. Pretty sure they freeze alright. Main reactor went kaput. Tried to fix it, but don't have the parts you see."
"The coordinates please Mr. Drax," said Riker.
"Hold your horses. I'm getting there."
Riker waited patiently as Sobaash and Drax tried to piece together coordinates.
"Dax to Falcon."
"Go ahead."
"We have the log book, the destination coordinates, an estimation on repairs of weeks, and know how much he overcharged these poor people. This isn't even his ship. Recommend immediate tow to destination. We will bring the info now, unless you want something else. We should at least return this ship to the owners, which are at the destination."
"Understood. Beam the away team back," said Riker.
"You noising around my ship without asking?" asked Drax.
"It's not your ship. Besides your reputation preceded you," said Rose.
"What ever happened to Romana Doc?"
Romana and the rest appeared.
"Why I'm right hear Drax and you have been a naughty boy." She handed Sobaash her tricorder. He pulled the coordinates from it and entered them.
"It's an unknown rim world," said Sobaash.
"Position ourselves for towing."
"You can't just tow a big freighter like mine," said Drax.
"Falcon is positioned. Extending warp field to lower ships inertial mass. Effect achieved. I believe we can achieve Warp two, but recommend no more than Warp 1," said Lafiel.
"Proceed at Warp 1. ETA."
"Four days," said Jinto.
"Your ship is that slow. Jeeze my hyperdrive isn't great, but I could have made it in twelve hours tops."
"Our ship is not a tow vessel Drax. Your have near the same volume and nearly double the mass. Be lucky we have a way to move it at all," said Riker.
"I'd like to volunteer to take the medicine ahead of us. We can load it in a pair of runabouts," said Sobaash.
"Agreed. We aren't doing anything special so you can probably pick your crew."
"Alright, how about Ekuryua, Ami, Pyrrha? Ekuryua can lead the second runabout."
"Agreed. Provide what they need. If we need to do something else, let us know. Don't forget to reassure them that we are returning their ship," said Riker.
"My ship."
"Got proof? Records say otherwise," said Romana.
"Is my word worth so little?"
"Pretty much Drax," quipped the Doctor.
"No respect. I get no respect."
"Why are you in this universe Drax?" asked Romana.
"Well it was a mess right, what with the war and stuff."
"The Time Lords were in a war against the Daleks and you didn't help?" asked Romana.
"You didn't either."
"I was in a different universe. I had no idea it was going on. You ran."
"Yes I ran. We aren't all daring do gooders like Doc here."
"Doctor," said the Doctor in annoyance.
"I'm more concerned with making sure people don't starve. You can deal with Drax," said Riker.
"Where is your Tardis Drax?" asked the Doctor.
"It's broken you see. I had the same mod you did, see. Draw power from the universe. Infinite travel, but it died. Was a rather messy explosion. Thankfully I managed an unpopulated planet and then managed a distress call. But I felt her die about a year ago. All that matter got shunted into the vortex. A lifetime of collecting lost," said Drax sadly.
"I'm sorry Drax," said Romana.
"You never had one did you babe?"
"Behave Drax. Act civilized," said Romana crisply.
"I will want someone with Mr. Drax at all times," said RIker.
Drax rolled his eyes.
"This is Ekuryua. We are ready to depart. We have already loaded our runabouts."
"Proceed."
"They have exited our warp field. They should be there in a few hours," said Lafiel.
"So, who gets to be the pilot next?" asked Riker.
"I'd like to take a spin," offered Samson.
"That works. Sobaash, do you want to take a break now and be ready for the next shift?" asked Riker.
"Okay, though I half wish we could call a more suitable ship to tow this thing."
"If it was much longer I'd be tempted to ask, but the only thing obvious would be to tie up two or more ships and it just isn't worth it," said Riker.
"We could go and make a start on his reactor core," offered Neela.
"Might as well. Neela, Jadzia, Romana, Doctor, Drax. Why don't you try to make some progress on that ship while we have time?"
Jadzia said, "It would be less annoying without his attempts to fix it. We are going to basically have to replicate a new reactor core. Thankfully it is nothing exotic. Just a basic fusion reactor. I assume we can substitute a standard Federation one. The tech looks about the same," said Jadzia.
"That seems fine with me. Proceed."
-=oOo=-
A few hours later Sobaash contacted them. "The need for medicine was greater than known. Request priority replication of the small yellow tablets. There should be a couple boxes we didn't have space for. I am also sending the scans we have made of the viral infection this is treating. Again this is a top medical priority. Please replicate what you can prior to our arrival."
"Julian, did you get that?"
"I did."
"I'm calling back Jadzia and Neela for the replication. I'll have them bring the medicine."
"Okay, I'll try to see if I can't come up with anything better, but I agree, go with what we know works initially."
"Riker to Neela and Jadzia."
"Neela here. Jadzia is next to me."
"I need you to find the remaining boxes of medicine. They are small yellow tablets, then I need you to return and replicate more. Sobaash has declared a medical emergency."
"Understood. We will return shortly. The others can keep working."
-=oOo=-
They had enough to fill half a runabout by the time Sobaash and Ekuryua returned. Ekuryua left immediately with what they had as well as Julian. Celeste remained since she had to risk infection to treat.
Sobaash waited till they could again fill half a runabout and left again. Just after they left Julian contacted them. "This is pretty bad. You need to call in the Enterprise or some ship with a major medical contingent. Also change over to what I had lined up in the replication. It isn't ideal, but it is better."
"Understood. Keep me posted. Riker out."
"Connect me with Alliance emergency response."
"You'are online. Audio only," said Jadzia.
"This is Captain Riker on Falcon. We have a viral medical emergency. We are replicating medicine that helps, and are shifting to a variant recommended by Doctor Bashir. Details will be added to this message. We request assistance. I repeat. We request medical assistance. This planet needs help."
"Hang on Falcon. We are pretty busy here. Wait, that's a pretty common antiviral. I read Starbase 375 has a large existing supply. I am ordering Sisko out with Calliope. I will make sure the Starbase has it ready and they send along all the medical staff they can spare."
"Thank you," said Riker.
"All part of the job."
"A lot of our current tasking is moving a freighter with twice the mass of Falcon. We mention it only to mention we may want to build a few ships that can do this task without tying up something like Falcon."
"I'll make sure your idea is forwarded. I suspect it will get added to the list, since it could be used to mass move resources where needed. They might also work next time we have to move a planet."
"Thanks."
-=oOo=-
Rose looked on from the window in the quarters they had been assigned on Falcon. There were now three Alliance ships here, as well as the freighter and an additional two from this universe. Once the locals knew there was a world in trouble they gladly offered to help out. Drax agreed to stay and help, mostly to try to convince them to let him have a ship. Time would tell if that would work out.
"It's amazing isn't it doctor?" asked Rose.
"It's glorious. It's the kind of thing I hope to find in our own universe more often. It probably occurs more than I know. The Tardis tries to take me where I'm needed. This obviously isn't it."
"Isn't it though?" asked Rose.
"What do you mean?"
"Doesn't seeing that you aren't alone in your battle help?" asked Rose.
The Doctor put his arm around Rose and pulled her gently close. "It really does help."
She sat and enjoyed his comfort for nearly an hour before she said, "I need to go for another lesson. Got to get them while I can."
"Now that someone got you to the point where you can use your mind safely I can probably teach you a few things."
"I look forward to it," said Rose with a smile, before getting up and going to her lesson.
-=oOo=-
The Doctor beamed over to Calliope later that day. Faile was there speaking with Sisko.
"Hi, I'm the Doctor."
"I'm Benjamin. This is Faile."
The Doctor held out his hand to both. Both shook it. "I'm just glad to meet all these people fighting the good fight and was wondering if I could do anything to thank you," said the Doctor.
"I'm fine. We have what we need. We are still expanding slowly rather than risk such dangerous tech getting into the wrong hands, but not much you can do there," said Sisko.
The Doctor nodded then turned to Faile.
"I have heard about you and I do actually have a request."
"Name it."
"I wish whatever records you have on interesting animals that fly. Video, detailed information, where they may be found."
"Could I ask why?" asked the Doctor curiously.
Faile morphed into a sparrowhawk, flew around a bit, and then morphed back.
"A changeling. Very very rare. Sure, I can help. In fact I recall a species that may still exist in this time that were a mix between humanoid and avian. They could truly fly, but they never much needed my help, so I never went there. I have all those records in the Tardis. I'll make sure you get them, or you can come with us and get them sooner."
"Interesting. You mentioned changelings are rare. Do you know of more of them?" asked Faile.
"Well there is one species called the Graske that invades by replicating people. That is obviously not the same. Most of what I've seen is usually temporary duplicates for that kind of thing. I have some older histories of what may be similar to your people, but I'm sorry I do not know of any current in my universe. A Time Lords own ability is to change their appearance when they regenerate, but as we can only do that a limited number of times it also isn't the same and usually isn't as controlled."
"I would like to review your histories in these areas."
"Sure general knowledge I love to share."
"I will request permission from Captain Riker to come with you."
"I'm sure you will receive it," said Sisko.
"Yes, but asking is still required. We require everyone to ask before entering our domain. I will not do less," said Faile.
"Fair enough," agreed Sisko.
"You could show me now some of it?" offered Faile.
"Boy, this Alliance really loves their telepathy. To be honest, it is very rare that I drop my shields, and again, no offense, but not to someone I barely know," said the Doctor.
"No offense was taken. It is a fair concern. Rowan taught us all as much as she knew and we have all gotten very good, but your right, when you share their is risk," said Faile.
The Doctor nodded. "If you guys do need any help, well you have a lot of resources, but if those don't work, look me up. I'll do what I can."
Sisko and Faile nodded.
-=oOo=-
After the disease was under control and they had more than enough medicine until they could get their own manufacturing back online they took their leave. They also left them a repaired ship which they agreed was theirs. They then picked up L'Nea without incident and returned to the Doctor's Earth.
A few hours after the others went down to Earth to view histories or to help install the Doctor's new reactor they received a transmission.
"On screen," said RIker.
"It is audio only."
"Doctor. Is the Doctor there?" asked a woman's voice.
"Sorry, he is fixing his ship. Can we help you?" asked Riker.
"Oh, I used to travel with him for a time, but then he brought me back. I won't bother you anymore."
"I'm actually curious how your talking to us," admitted Riker.
"Well the Doctor gave me this enormous computer thing. It's nice. It's just not the same you know."
"Would you like to come up here and talk for a time? We could also beam you to where the Doctor's machine is."
"I could see your space ship? Really?"
"Sure thing."
"Alright."
Riker glanced at Sobaash who nodded.
A still attractive but older woman appeared in transporter light.
"Boy this looks ever so much more modern than the Tardis."
Riker smiled.
The woman winced as she moved.
"Are you alright?" asked Riker.
"I'm old. It happens."
Her stomach rumbled.
"Would you like dinner. We were just about to eat," said Riker.
"Alright."
-=oOo=-
Sarah Jane Smith loved her dinner, particularly the wine. She had talked for hours about her adventures with the Doctor and since then. She felt better than she had in ages when a young woman named Celeste and a few others walked her to a temporary room, and helped her lay down.
Before she fell asleep Celeste asked, "Would you like us to see if we can help a bit with your health?"
"You can do that kind of thing?"
They nodded.
"Sure, why not. My doctor says, well he is a pessimist. I'll be fine, but if you can do something, well I certainly wouldn't refuse your kindness."
Celeste, Ami, and Piper joined hands and then Sarah took theirs, even though she remained laying in the bed. She fell asleep bathed in light and magic. The three beside her stayed awake long into the night slowly doing everything they could to heal her and strengthen her, until they too fell asleep.
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