Hi! Thank you for visiting Chapter 3 of my Jean-Luc Picard fanfic "A Second Life."
It has been quite a long while since Chapter 2, but I figured why not?
Some background info:
This third chapter takes place on the TNG/DS9 timeline that is season 7 of DS9. The location of this story mostly takes place on the Chintoka System planetoid "AR-558" which was contested during the Dominion War and was featured in the episode "The Siege of AR-558". Timeline puts this roughly 4 years after my chapter 2 "The Pegasus." Former Lieutenant J.G. Picard is now steadily climbing up the ranks.
Story Structure-wise, you may recognize an element from a certain TNG episode and the Tom Cruise movie "Edge of Tomorrow." Happy Groundhog Day!
Hope this chapter is enjoyable.
Chapter written: January 2025. Published Feb 1st, 2025
Author: Vincent Chia
Chapter Title: "Rinse & Repeat"
Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard was in a fantastic mood. Five years after he had experienced something he characterized as a vivid hallucination, he decided to be more ambitious in life and steadily climbed from a junior astrophysics officer to a geosciences section head and now he was being tapped to be the first officer of a new Nova-class science ship. Life was going pretty well. He was temporarily onboard the U.S.S. Oberon, reunited with his fiancee Neela Daren, whilst he was being ferried to his new post.
Commander Picard entered the ship's conference room, where he was summoned by Vice Admiral Alynna Nechayev. He had never met her but had heard she was quite a no-nonsense and possibly even dictatorial type manager. Picard tried his best to give people fresh slates when forming opinions of them.
"Commander Picard, please have a seat," said Admiral Nechayev.
Picard tugged his shirt downwards a little bit and then took a seat opposite of the Admiral.
"I am very sorry to pull you away from your leave," said the Admiral. "I understand you are only onboard to visit the Director of Stellar Cartography, your girlfriend Commander Daren."
"Yes," said Picard. "But that is quite all right. Did you need to speak to me about something?"
Nechayev nodded.
"Right to the point, I like that," said the Admiral. "I am sorry to pull you away, but I need you on a specialized mission. We are being diverted to the Chintoka System and will arrive in less than a day."
The screen behind the admiral blinked on and a map appeared.
"We have a small contingent on the planetoid AR-558, here," she said. The screen zoomed in.
"I am going to drop you off and ask you to attempt to hack into the Dominion Communications Array on that site. It is one of their major hubs. Most of Starfleet's Signal Intelligence Officers are otherwise occupied and spread all throughout multiple theatres of operations. I noticed that you have a strong background in communications systems. I need your help. It would be of tremendous value for us to successfully hack into this Array," said Nechayev.
"I'm not sure I would say I have a strong background in this," said Picard, a little hesitant.
"You served a stint as officer-in-charge of Communications Relay Station 47, not too long ago," said Nechayev as he was reading through Picard's service file on a PADD.
"That is true," said Picard.
Nechayev smiled. "Then that is good enough for me," she said.
Picard studied the information on his own PADD. AR-558 was considered contested territory. It was an active warzone.
Nechayev saw the look on Picard's face.
"I promise you I will return you in time for your new posting on the U.S.S. Oppenheimer," she said. "Regardless of whether you successfully hack into the Dominion systems, I will extract you from AR-558 in less than 2 weeks. All I ask is that you try. Just one last mission before your promotion."
Picard nodded, and gave a weak smile. He wasn't sure exactly how he would break the news to his fiancee that he would be deployed to an active battlezone but he knew she would ultimately understand.
"Oh, I will also send Commander Daren with you. I understand she has some expertise in deflector shield units. That might come in handy since the Starfleet force has been under frequent attacks by the Jem Hadar."
Picard was appalled.
"Admiral, I must protest. Commander Daren is not a battlefield rated officer. You should not send her down planetside."
Nechayev was slightly annoyed.
"Commander Picard, we are at a time of war. All Starfleet officers are expected to serve on the front lines if needed."
Picard grew more incensed. "She does not have the SERE training for this. It's an enemy occupied planet!"
SERE stood for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. It was training provided to all Starfleet personnel who might be captured behind enemy lines.
"She will manage," insisted Nechayev. "Neither you nor Commander Daren will be captured by enemy forces."
Picard insisted. "I will not cooperate with your mission if you cannot assure me that you will keep Commander Daren ship-side. I will not hack into the Dominion Communications Array."
Now it was Nechayev who was incensed.
"Commander Picard, you will obey your orders."
"I resign my commission, effective immediately," retorted Picard.
"We are in a time of war. Your resignation is rejected," said Nechayev. "But I will promise you this: I am not sending Commander Daren down to the planetoid."
She gave Picard and smile and Picard was relieved. Nechayev called in an aide. Before Picard knew it, a nurse had pressed a hypospray against Picard's arm and he was knocked unconscious.
Act One:
"Get UP, dirtbag!" screamed the battalion sergeant at Picard. The sergeant lightly kicked Picard in the torso while he was prone on the ground.
Picard slowly came to and dusted himself off.
"That's no way to treat a commissioned officer," stated an annoyed Picard.
The platoon sergeant stared at Picard with an angry face.
"Sergeant Major Reese!" exclaimed a female Starfleet officer. "As you were!"
The sergeant major backed down and returned to sharpening his combat knife.
The female officer guided Picard away from the rest of the group and to a more secluded area of the cave.
"You should know, Mr. Picard, you've received attention from quite a high-ranking officer. Welcome to hell."
Picard looked around him and gathered that he had been sent to the underground caverns of AR-558 in the Chintoka system. What he didn't know was why he had been drugged.
"I'm Lieutenant Nadia Larkin," said the female officer. "One hundred and first Tactical Battalion. J-Company. I took command of the Battalion after Commander Parker was killed in action."
"Pleasure to meet you, lieutenant," said Picard, trying to be as friendly as possible.
"As a parting gift to you, Vice Admiral Nechayev stripped you of your rank and sent you here as a deserter. You're under my command, and under Sergeant Major Reese. You must've pissed her off pretty badly."
Picard was horrified.
"Report to Reese, he'll fill you in. I've got some injured troopers to attend to," said Larkin. "Once again, welcome to paradise."
As Picard walked over to Reese, he tried to diplomatically explain.
"Sergeant Reese, there has been a mistake," said Picard.
"No mistake, son," said Reese. "Or, shall I say, old-timer."
"Third Squad, fall in!" yelled Reese. Several Federation soldiers gathered by Reese and then stood at attention.
"Squad, this here is former Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard. He was recently court-martialed for disobeying direct orders, cowardice, and desertion. He's been stripped of his rank and ordered to join us here."
"I can assure you, sergeant major, I'm no deserter; there has been a mistake," said Picard.
"Never mind that, old-timer. For Fate is the Great Redeemer, and the battlefield is the fiery crucible in which true heroes are forged. As Fate would have it, the former lieutenant commander has a unique skillset crucial to our mission here on AR-558. As such, instead of being busted all the way down to Private or Airman, the Admiral has demoted him down to Chief Petty Officer, with the occupational rating of Sensors Chief. He's going to help figure out this Dominion communications array so we can all go home!" said an excited Reese. Reese enunciated his words slowly and loudly, like a typical drill sergeant.
"Lance Corporal Vargas, front and center!" said Reese.
"Yes, sergeant major!" said a young Federation marine.
"You are going to be Picard's personal bodyguard. Where he goes, you go. He takes a leak, you help him zip up. You get me?"
Vargas nodded. From time to time, Jem Hadar soldiers had been able to mysteriously appear out of nowhere and ambush the Federation troops. Reese needed Vargas to keep Picard alive.
"Crewman Anthony Killen, you assist Picard in whatever machinery related help he needs," said Reese.
"Yes, sergeant major," said a male in a beige Starfleet uniform.
"The rest of you, form up with Squads Five and Six. We're going hunting in 15 mikes," said Reese, with a somewhat maniacal smile on his face.
Picard was taken aback by Reese's demeanor. Picard hadn't interacted with a drill sergeant since his days in field training. He also hadn't heard the abbreviation "mikes" in many decades, since his days at Starfleet Academy when he learned it stood for minutes. Starfleet never used such abbreviations anymore. Or so he thought.
Killen approached Picard.
"This way, Chief," said Killen. He was good-natured but also very tired. "I'll walk you to the main computer terminal on the communications array. We've spent weeks trying to figure out the Dominion technology with no success making heads or tails of it thus far. Hopefully you'll have better luck."
Before Picard left, Lieutenant Larkin stopped him and placed something in his hand. It was a hollow rank pip. It was then that Picard realized that his lieutenant commander pips had been removed from his collar.
"It's not the two-and-a-half pips you are accustomed to," said Larkin, half apologetically. She felt a certain sense of sympathy for Picard. She knew he probably wasn't a deserter.
"I understand," said Picard as he put the hollow rank pip on his collar. Throughout his career in Starfleet, almost all the chiefs he ever saw onboard starships were Transporter chiefs.
Crewman Killen watched in partial awe as Picard seemed to effortlessly tap his way through multiple command protocol screens to access the communications array.
"Boy am I sure you fell into our laps," said an excited Killen. "No offense, of course. I know it must be hard being court-martialed and all."
Picard was strangely good natured. "I'm sure it'll be straightened out once I get back onboard the Enterprise," he said.
"You know, I took the promotion exam for Petty Officer a couple of times. Never quite made the cut," said Killen.
"Keep trying," Picard said, trying to encourage the young man. "You never know."
"Would you mind explaining a little bit of this to me," asked Killen as he gestured to the communications array.
"Sure," said Picard, smiling. "First of all, what is your Starfleet Occupation class?"
"I'm rated a junior engine mechanic, but haven't had much training since they reassigned me to the ground forces of the 101st Tactical Battalion. Before that, I was an Airman Apprentice working on fueling and arming troop landing craft when I was stationed aboard the USS Valley Forge."
"I see," said Picard. "Well, what would you like to know?"
"Everything," said an excited Crewman Killen. It was very soon apparent to Picard that Killen had not been the first person assigned to work on the communications array and he had zero training on the topic. Sadly, two higher ranking engineers were killed in action as various Jem Hadar soldiers attacked the Federation troops. In fact, over 100 of the original 150 members of the Battalion had already been killed in action.
Picard started with the basics.
"Well, this communications array is what we call an Omni-directional Fromactal Signals Emitter. The core element of the emitter is the isopalavial processor. The Processor itself is composed of twenty-five trilateral kilo-stacks, with twenty of those slaved to the primary Heisenfram terminal."
Killen smiled and nodded along. Picard felt bad about all the terms and the seeming technobabble. He tried to walk through the components with more explanation. He pointed to the core component.
"This is the emitter," said Picard. "As long as it's functioning, messages can be sent and received. Thus far, it appears that the device is functioning. So, all we really have to do is access the protocols and interface with our computers to be able to 'spy' on the communications. To do that, we are going to disrupt their security encryption. We can tap into it using a 'backdoor' through one of the kilo-stacks."
"Wow," said Killen. "We'll get this done in no time," he said optimistically.
"It might take quite a while," said Picard. "But it's just a matter of time."
Seven days later
"Starfleet Sector 6 Command is going to be very impressed with you," said a beaming Lieutenant Larkin to Picard.
Picard was tired, but he wasn't as ragged as the combat troopers surrounding him.
"It wasn't anything special," said Picard. "To be honest, I'm not sure why the Dominion commanders wouldn't just remove this Planet's communications array off of their comms web. Or… in the alternative, Dominion counter-espionage division might sneak in fake info to us. Hopefully, Starfleet Intel can figure any misdirects."
Larkin hadn't thought about Dominion countermeasures and hoped her Battalion didn't lose over 100 men and women fighting over an irrelevant device.
"In any event, Chief Picard, I'll have you on the next available trip out of here. You've completed your assignment and I thank you," said a grateful Larkin. Of course, she was also hoping that she and her own battalion would be rotated out by an appreciative Admiral Nechayev.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Picard. "One other thing," added Picard. "I couldn't help but overhear that you and your troops were having problems with Dominion mines. Have you considered cross-linking the optronic and isodyne relays on your sensors?"
"I don't know what you just said, Picard, but if you can upgrade our sensors to detect the mines, please do so," replied Larkin, with some newfound hope that her troopers could better handle the Dominion onslaught.
"Making it so," responded Picard with a smile.
"That's why they call him the sensors chief!" said Kellin in admiration.
After Picard and Kellin de-activate the mines.
"I've been thinking, Picard, can we carefully re-activate the mines?" asked Larkin.
Picard raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"
Larkin arranged an informal three-person meeting between her, Picard, and Sergeant Major Reese.
"This whole time, we've been on the defensive against the Jem Hadar soldiers. The mines were a big part of the reason. Now, we can flip the tables."
Picard was hesitant. "Anti-personnel mines are generally considered inhumane by multiple Federation treaties," said Picard. "I'm not sure Starfleet Command would approve."
"Screw the pencil pushers sitting behind their desks!" said an annoyed Reese. "They aren't down here spilling blood in the dirt."
Picard gave it some thought. While he had always been engrained in the ethics of warfare, he started to see it the sergeant major's way. After all, why are anti-ship mines allowable while anti-personnel mines are not? Anti-ship mines can cause just as many horrific casualties, it's just that you don't see the deaths up close.
Picard nodded. "Give me about three hours."
Larkin was grateful. "If it assuages your conscience, I've giving you a direct order."
Picard smiled. "That's a gentle thought, lieutenant. But we both know that I was about to be promoted to Commander and even if not, I am the type of person to disobey a direct order….."
Sergeant Major Reese was partially annoyed that Picard would so easily disregard the chain of command, but supposed that in re-rigging the mines, Picard was being a bit of a rebellious type and it was sometimes necessary to bend the rules.
"If you ask me," said Reese, "it's the admirals who are the true cowards. Put a phaser rifle in their hands and let them man a post from time to time."
"Jem Hadar are in full retreat," reported Corporal Haro, a Bolian member of Reese's First Squad.
"Hold the line here," said Larkin. "Don't chase them into any potential traps."
Her troops acknowledged and held their positions.
"Lieutenant Larkin, ma'am," said Crewman Smith, Captain Loomis' personal yeoman before he was killed in action. "Good news, two Federation ships are on their way to provide supplies and reinforcements. The Defiant and the Oberon."
Picard was annoyed and relieved at the same time. The U.S.S. Oberon was Admiral Nechayev's flagship. The ship that originally dumped him here on this battle-scarred planet.
Six hours later.
"Lieutenant, ma'am," said a confused junior crewman. "We are receiving a hail from a disabled ship, the Federation troop transport Dunkirk."
"The Dunkirk?" said Larkin. "She was supposed to reinforce us two months ago….."
"None of our sensors are detecting the ship anywhere," said the junior crewman. "The hail appears to be a standard automated distress call."
"Picard?" asked Larkin.
Jean-Luc Picard started tapping away at his computer console but could not determine where the distress hail was originating from. The nearest ships were the Oberon and the Defiant, still roughly two hours away from reaching them.
Onboard the U.S.S. Oberon
"Admiral, there appears to be a localized distortion in the space-time continuum," reported the Oberon's science officer.
"Back us away, nice and slow," said Commander Sutherland, the ship's first officer.
"Maneuvering thrusters are unresponsive," replied Helm Officer Phoenix.
"Power levels are fluctuating all over this ship!" reported the Chief Engineer. The lights all around the bridge started dimming.
"Reports from the Defiant," said Sutherland. "They are experiencing a similar power drain."
Admiral Nechayev stood up from her command chair.
"Something is emerging from the distortion," reported the science officer. "An unidentified ship, it's on a collision course."
"Hail them!" said Sutherland.
"No response," said the weapons officer. "Collision in 45 seconds."
"Suggestions?" asked the Admiral.
"We can reverse our tractor beam into a repulsor beam and push the other ship away," said the science officer.
"Do it!" said the Admiral.
The Oberon emits a repulsor beam, but it is insufficient and the unidentified ship crashes into the Oberon's starboard nacelle.
Jean-Luc Picard watched helplessly along with Lieutenant Larkin as the telescopic image sensors showed them both the incident that was happening in orbit above them. They saw the ship they identified as a Dunkirk collide with the flagship Oberon. Within ten seconds, both ships, along with the Defiant, disappeared in a brilliant flash, rivalling the brightness of a star. Picard had to shield his eyes.
CYCLE TWO
"Get UP, dirtbag!" screamed the battalion sergeant at Picard. The sergeant lightly kicked Picard in the torso while he was prone on the ground.
Picard slowly came to and dusted himself off. Where was he? He was disoriented. He last thing he could remember was a bright flash, but he could remember nothing before then.
"That's no way to treat a commissioned officer," stated an annoyed Picard.
The platoon sergeant stared at Picard with an angry face.
"Sergeant Major Reese!" exclaimed a female Starfleet officer. "As you were!"
Lieutenant Nadia Larkin explained the situation to Picard. He was beamed down to the planet a few minutes ago by Admiral Nechayev, who had stripped him of his rank and labelled him an attempted deserter.
Picard was shocked! Yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt this series of events had happened before. He felt his collar for his rank pips, which were no longer there.
"Please report to Sergeant Major Reese," said Larkin. "I have some injured crewmembers to attend to."
A little bewildered, Picard walked over to Reese.
"Old-timer!" said Reese with a smile, as if glad to see Picard again.
"Sergeant Reese, I believe there has been a mistake," said Picard.
"No mistake, former science officer Picard," said Reese in a sing-songy cadence. "Third Squad, fall in!"
Reese explained to the several troopers standing at attention that Jean-Luc Picard was a former starship science officer who was stripped of his rank after disobeying an order and attempting desertion. Nevertheless, Fate can be a Great Redeemer and as luck would have it, Picard has a specialized skillset vital to the winning battle.
"Regardless of your alleged cowardly behavior onboard your starship, Picard, the battlefield is the fiery crucible in which true heroes are forged."
Reese then assigned Vargas to shadow Picard as his bodyguard, and Kellin to assist with any mechanical aspects of investigating the Dominion communications array.
As Picard was following Kellin to the main communications computer terminal, Reese stopped him for a moment.
"Just remember Picard, it's okay to be afraid. Without fear, there is no courage."
"I assure you, sergeant major, I have been in battle before and I will equip myself well."
"Sensors Chief Picard," said Reese. "You will find that aerial battle in space onboard your starship is very different from ground combat."
Reese then went over to his reconnaissance squads as they planned their next incursion into Dominion lines.
As Picard was explaining the components of the communications array to an attentive Crewman Kellin, he couldn't help but think that he had done this before. And not just to another junior crewman but to this exact crewman. In this exact place. He even felt like he knew exactly how long it would take for his brute force decryption programs to break the Dominion defenses. Seven days. He was sure of it. He then wrote it off as just expertise on the computer programs which led to a skilled estimate.
As Picard monitored his AI program's progress on deciphering the Dominion systems, he overheard some of the troopers grumble about how "impossible" it was to defend against the Dominion 'Houdini' mines. It triggered another sense of déjà vu. Not only about the anti-personnel mines, but the nickname Houdini that the troopers used. Picard was sure he had never heard that nickname before in any other context, in another battle, yet he knew he heard it before. He was convinced. He had lived this day before. Not only this day, but this past week.
Picard and Kellin had figured out how to "break into" the Dominion communications web and also how to deactivate the Houdini mines. He was now more relaxed, knowing that he was no longer in immediate danger from Jem Hadar attacks.
Lieutenant Larkin then asked him if he could re-program the anti-personnel mines to work in their favor, against the Dominion. Picard hesitated, and once again was certain he had this conversation before. This very conversation with this very same lieutenant. He had voiced the same conflicting feelings, that it was against Starfleet ethics. Eventually, Picard nodded and agreed to re-set the mines.
"If you ask me, it is the admirals with the questionable morals," said Reese. "Arm them with a phaser rifle and have them form a defensive perimeter. See how they feel about getting shot at. They'd change their opinions about ethics in a heartbeat."
"Lieutenant, there is good news," said an excited young ensign. "Two Federation ships are en route to relieve us, the USS Defiant and the USS Oberon."
The men and women around him visibly felt a great sense of relief. One or two even cheered. But Picard had a sense of dread. Then, he imagined a huge explosion after a collision of two ships.
"No, no, no," said Picard, surprising everyone around him. Picard pulled Larkin aside.
"Lieutenant," said Picard in a low voice. "Do you have the feeling we've been through this before? That we've lived this day before?"
"What are you talking about Picard?" asked an annoyed Larkin.
"This day. This exact day. And perhaps a handful of days prior. Have you had a sense of Déjà vu?"
"Picard, I've re-lived every day for probably the past 5 months. Jem Hadar attacks on our position. Waiting for Starfleet to rotate us out with reinforcements. Waiting and waiting."
"No, no," said Picard. "These exact events. Breaking the Dominion encryption. Reversing the anti-personnel mines. The arrival of the USS Oberon. Do you not remember each of these things happening before?"
"Of course not, Picard. Though I will admit to a feeling of reliving the exact same hell over and over again on this battlefield."
"You must send a message to Admiral Nechayev on the Oberon. You must tell her to stay away. A great catastrophe will result if she attempts to enter orbit above the planet."
"You're insane Picard!" said an angry Larkin. "I will do no such thing."
A little over six hours later.
Sensor Chief Picard and Lieutenant Larkin watched helplessly as two Federation starships collided with each other. Less than ten seconds later, the Oberon exploded in a white flash of light, taking the Defiant and the Dunkirk with it.
Larkin's jaw dropped.
"I'm sorry, Picard," said Larkin.
Before Picard could answer, Picard felt faint and went unconscious.
CYCLE THREE
"Get UP, dirtbag!" screamed the battalion sergeant at Picard. The sergeant lightly kicked Picard in the torso while he was prone on the ground.
Picard slowly came to and dusted himself off. Where was he? He was disoriented. But he soon realized where he was. He was on the planetoid AR-558 in the Chintoka system. He was assigned to crack the Dominion communications array. Because of his stubborn defiance of Admiral Nechayev earlier in the day, Nechayev had stripped him of his rank and sent him down to the Dominion planet alone. He had lived this week before, at least twice.
"Sergeant Major, you must listen to me," insisted Picard.
"What did you say, dirtbag!?" yelled the sergeant.
"Sergeant Major Reese!" exclaimed a female Starfleet officer. "As you were!"
Lieutenant Larkin gently pulled Picard over to a more private area of the cavern.
"Lieutenant, please listen to me, I believe we are trapped in a temporal anomaly," said Picard.
"What are you talking about?" asked Larkin.
"We've lived this day before. We've had this conversation before. You and I. You are about to explain to me what happened on the Starship Oberon. That Admiral Alynna Nechayev drugged me and then sent me down here after stripping me of my rank. She was displeased that I tried to convince her not to also send down my fiancée, another Starfleet science officer with expertise in deflector shielding," said Picard.
"Actually, I have no knowledge about anything regarding another science officer. Just that you disobeyed orders and the Admiral sent you down here after demoting you to Sensor Chief," said Larkin.
"Right. Right," said Picard, trying to recover. "Listen to me. A little over seven days from now, the Oberon is going to make a return trip. It will come to pick me up, drop off more supplies, and rotate in reinforcements. However, a calamity will happen and the ship will be lost. Everyone will be sent through a time-loop."
"A time-loop?" asked Larkin. "I'm sorry Picard, it has been a while since the Academy and I was never good with temporal physics."
"Never mind that," said Picard. "The important thing here is that seven days from now, when the Oberon is en route, you must convince the ship not to approach the planet."
Larkin looked at him, puzzled.
"Just report to Sergeant Major Reese and he'll assign you an assistant. Get that Dominion communications array working and I'll see about your request," said Larkin.
Picard reported to Sergeant Major Reese.
"Third squad, fall in! Let me introduce you to former Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard, who has been stripped of his rank and deemed a deserter."
Picard, seemingly in a rush, interrupted Reese.
"I know what you think of me. Not to worry, I will complete the task of tapping into the communications array."
"It swells me with great pride to know that a man of your….. caliber…. Will help us achieve our mission," said a smiling Reese. "For as I always say….."
"Fate is the Great Redeemer, and the battlefield is the fiery crucible in which true heroes are forged," said Picard, simultaneously and almost perfectly in sync with a slightly astonished Sergeant Major Reese.
"Corporal Vargas is with me as my personal bodyguard, and Crewman Killen is my junior mechanic assistant. Okay, let's go," said a smiling Picard, as he clasped his hands together. He left Reese standing there bewildered.
[Picard works furiously to decypt the Dominion communications array and also re-engineer the anti-personnel mines. Most importantly, he works furiously to develop a way to send a comm message to the Oberon so that it will not approach the planet.]
Two Days Later
"You seem a little bit distracted, Chief Picard," said Crewman Kellin. He noticed that Picard had spent some of his spare time staring at imaging sensors that showed the skies above their location. The skies were currently empty. Was Picard longing to be rescued from this planet?
"Oh, it's nothing, Crewman," said Picard.
Picard's AI program was already running through the Dominion firewalls at a quicker pace than the last cycle through the time-loop. He had remembered a lot of what happened last time and was able to narrow the decryption protocols so that they wouldn't waste time on dead ends.
At the same time as he was monitoring the progress at the communications array, he was also working on the anti-personnel mines problem and now also thinking about what he would say to the Oberon once it got into comms range. Larkin and Reese had been surprised when Picard initiated the conversation about the Houdini mines, and then followed up with a suggestion that they re-program the mines to their advantage.
"You know what? You're okay after all," said Reese.
Five Days Later.
The Jem Hadar were in full retreat and for the first time in a long time, the Federation contingent had some breathing space.
"Good news, Lieutenant," said a young ensign. "Starfleet is sending two ships to relieve us soon, the Oberon and the Defiant."
The news was welcome indeed.
Picard pulled Larkin aside and spoke to her in a whisper.
"Lieutenant, you must warn the Oberon."
Larkin weighed the request. But she ultimately said no. Her troops needed to be rotated off this planet. They were overdue by many weeks.
"Lieutenant!" Picard said in a shouting whisper. "You must! There is going to be a catastrophe. I know it. Just have them delay their arrival until the coast is clear."
Larkin again denied the request.
Five hours later.
Jean-Luc Picard had been working on the communications array for the past hour, waiting for the Oberon to enter into simultaneous communications range. In that way, Larkin couldn't intercept the message. Once the ship was close enough, he would warn them. He opened a channel, but there was too much interference and he could only establish an audio link. He didn't have time to secure the link.
"U.S.S. Oberon, this is Jean-Luc Picard at your destination site. You must not approach. I repeat, you must not approach. There is a temporal anomaly nearby which poses a grave danger to both your ship and the planet."
Larkin was furious and immediately yanked Picard away from his computer console.
Within five seconds, a response came.
"Mr. Picard, this is Commander Christopher Sutherland along with Admiral Nechayev, repeat your last."
Larkin let go of Picard.
"There is a time-wave distortion somewhere above the planet. If you attempt to arrive in orbit, you will encounter it," said Picard.
"Our long-range sensors show no issues near you," said Sutherland.
Picard hesitated to explain what he knew, but ultimately decided that he should.
"Commander, I know this must sound strange, but I believe we have been trapped in a temporal causality loop for quite some time. We're repeating the same seven days over and over. I believe the destruction of the Oberon may have caused a rupture in the space-time continuum, trapping us all in this loop. If the disaster is not averted, we will re-start the loop again," said Picard.
"I know I am not as well versed in the sciences as you, Commander Picard, but this sounds very far-fetched," said Sutherland.
"Sensor Chief Picard," said Nechayev, sounding somewhat petty but also in command.
Sutherland coughed.
On the bridge, medical officer Elizabeth Lense appeared pensive.
She then signaled the weapons officer to mute the channel.
"Admiral, perhaps it would be prudent to run a more in-depth scan of the area," said Lense.
Admiral Nechayev stared at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I have been experiencing very minor flashes of what you might call déjà vu in the past two days. Nothing strong, but I discussed it with a few members of the senior staff. While they don't have any similar experiences, one junior member of the engineering staff has been having severe nightmares about the ship being destroyed in an explosion above the same planet we're heading toward. He insists it felt very real. A crewman in the lower decks had also reported to sickbay yesterday afternoon, claiming he gained the ability to sometimes predict the future….. Picard's time loop theory fits."
Nechayev was intrigued but remained unconvinced.
"Can we access any Federation time beacons?" she asked the bridge staff. Starfleet deployed such beacons for these types of timeline departure situations. She herself had been sensing no bouts of déjà vu and on a ship of close to 600 Fleet personnel, she would expect more reports of such a phenomenon.
"Chintoka is too remote," reported the science officer.
As the Admiral gave it more thought, her strategic operations advisor chimed in.
"I should remind the Admiral, while there appears to be a lull in the fighting during Lieutenant Larkin's last report, the Federation forces on the ground remain quite depleted and estimated to be massively outmanned and outgunned. They will not last much longer."
That sealed the Admiral's decision.
"We continue the resupply mission," said the Admiral. "Give me a level 3 in-depth continuous scan for any potential disruptions in time-space."
"Aye, ma'am," came the response from three officers in unison.
With the channel unmuted, Commander Sutherland informed Larkin and Picard that the Oberon was going to continue as planned.
"But Commander," insisted Picard.
"Sensors Chief Picard," said Sutherland, cutting Picard off. "Your advisement of caution has been received and we will monitor any disruptions in space-time as we approach. We will see you in less than 2 hours. Oberon out."
One hour, fifty-five minutes later. Onboard the U.S.S. Oberon
"Admiral, there appears to be a localized distortion in the space-time continuum," reported the Oberon's science officer.
"Why didn't we see this before?!" asked an alarmed Admiral Nechayev.
"It wasn't there ten seconds ago," reported the science officer.
"Back us away, nice and slow," said Commander Sutherland, the ship's first officer, a little bit worried.
"Maneuvering thrusters are unresponsive," replied Helm Officer Phoenix.
"Power levels are fluctuating all over this ship!" reported the Chief Engineer. The lights all around the bridge started dimming.
"Reports from the Defiant," said Sutherland. "They are experiencing a similar power drain."
Admiral Nechayev stood up from her command chair.
"Something is emerging from the distortion," reported the science officer. "An unidentified ship, it's on a collision course."
"Hail them!" said Sutherland.
"No response," said the weapons officer. "Collision in 45 seconds."
This is what Picard must've been talking about, thought everyone on the bridge.
"Suggestions?" asked the Admiral.
"We can reverse our tractor beam into a repulsor beam and push the other ship away," said the science officer.
"Do it!" said the Admiral.
The Oberon emits a repulsor beam, but it is insufficient and the unidentified ship crashes into the Oberon's starboard nacelle.
"Damage reports flooding in from all decks. Warp core breach is imminent."
"All hands to the escape pods. All hands abandon ship," ordered Commander Sutherland.
But it was too late…..
Nechayev and Sutherland gave each other a grim look before they met their doom.
Sensor Chief Picard and Lieutenant Larkin watched helplessly as Oberon exploded in a white flash of light, taking the Defiant and the Dunkirk with it.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," said Larkin. Picard nodded. He wasn't angry. He was just tired. He soon fell unconscious.
CYCLE FOUR
"Get UP, dirtbag!" screamed the battalion sergeant at Picard. The sergeant lightly kicked Picard in the torso while he was prone on the ground.
Picard slowly woke. He felt a sad sense of resignation. This again…..
"I said get UP!"
"Sergeant Major Reese!" exclaimed a female Starfleet officer. "As you were!"
The sergeant major backed away and Larkin pulled Picard over to a more secluded area of the cavern.
"I don't suppose you recognize me at all, Lieutenant?" asked Picard.
Larkin gave him a quick once-over.
"No. Have we met?" asked Larkin.
Picard shook his head no. He then went on to explain everything he attempted to explain during the past cycle. That they were trapped in a time-loop. He spat out random trivial factoids about Lieutenant Larkin, Sergeant Major Reese, and Crewman Kellin, which he wouldn't have known if he hadn't met them before. He also explained the grave consequences if the Oberon were not convinced to halt their return to the planet roughly seven days from now. Larkin could see Picard had been through quite an ordeal, but wasn't sure she believed what he was saying.
Picard could see that Larkin tried to be diplomatic, but did not fully believe him.
"In the meantime," said Picard, I will work on the Dominion communications array. I will also work on re-purposing the Dominion anti-personnel mines, since they've been giving you trouble.
Larkin nodded. She hadn't mentioned the anti-personnel mines before, so she suspected there might've been something to his time-loop story. Though, it was not completely clear to her what she could do about it. What little she remembered from her temporal physics modules at the Academy told her that altering the "past" was an extremely dangerous thing to do. Then again, she didn't want to be stuck in a time loop…..
Two days later.
Picard's AI program was on the verge of cracking through the Dominion encryption defenses when an urgent call came to Larkin from the front lines.
"Lieutenant Larkin, ma'am," came a stern female voice. Sergeant Cassandra M'vek led the forward elements of 1st platoon.
"Go ahead," said Larkin.
"I have a Dominion officer here. She is unarmed and here with only one Jem Hadar bodyguard. She insists on speaking with you."
"I must speak with science officer Picard," Larkin overheard an unfamiliar voice, speaking with urgency. "Without delay."
"Hold her there," said Larkin. "Picard and I will come to you."
"I have been trapped here for at least ten turns," said a female Vorta who identified herself as Milana.
"Turns?" asked Picard. He wasn't sure if she meant "days" since a day was a full rotation.
"You refer to them as loops," said Milana.
Picard understood, and Milana could see a little bit of excitement in his eyes.
"None of my Jem Hadar have any sense that we have been trapped in a repeating time period for many turns. I felt like I had been going insane until the very last loop when I overheard your wide broadcast transmission to your flagship, stating that you knew about the loop and attempting to avoid the ship collision which is likely the cause of the time reversions."
"Ten loops," wondered Picard. He was surprised. He could only remember three.
"At least!" said Milana. "Though, the first few are hazy memories. And I do not remember knowing of any starship explosions at the ends of the first few turns…. It may be that I was just unaware of what was happening in orbit."
Lieutenant Larkin watched in disbelief as Picard and the Vorta were seemingly getting along so well.
"We must work together to escape these time reversions," insisted Milana.
Larkin was appalled.
"You have been killing Federation troops by the dozens!" exclaimed Larkin. "Now you want to call a truce and work together?"
"You're no angels," retorted Milana. "Many of my Jem Hadar have been killed in quite brutal fashion. But either we work together to escape your time loop or we're cursed to eternity."
Sergeant Major Reese walked up to Milana and pointed a phaser pistol to her head.
"Reese!" shouted Larkin. "She's unarmed and under a flag of truce. I won't allow this."
Reese holstered his sidearm.
"I don't like the idea of being stuck in a time loop any more than you do," said Larkin as she addressed Milana. "But the fact remains: we are enemies on this rock. I can't work together with you, in case this is some subterfuge for sabotage. I'm going to let you walk away from this and back to your lines unharmed. But after this meeting, we return to being enemies."
The Vorta Milana was afraid of such a reaction. It is why she asked specifically to speak with Picard. She knew he would understand better. He was the one on the Federation side with full memory of what would happen at the end of the time loop. Just like she was the only one on the Dominion side with such memory.
Picard gave her a look as if to say he was sorry.
"Nobody wants this loop ended more than I," said Picard. "Every time I restart this loop, I am yelled at and kicked in the stomach. Literally…."
"You are not the only person who experiences unpleasantness at the beginning of the loops," said a despondent Milana. At the beginning of her loops, a Jem Hadar honored elder is grabbing her by the collar, demanding more ketracell white for his men.
The next few days were surprisingly quiet. Although Jean-Luc Picard had not been on the front lines in the past few loops, he had always been prepared for an ambush at any moment's notice. He had also gotten used to the intermittent streams of troopers returning to "home base" after skirmishing on the front lines with the Jem Hadar. During this loop, there were no such events. Picard presumed that Milana wanted to show good-will since she proposed a truce.
Larkin felt uneasy. Although she was happy for the pause in the fighting, she couldn't help but feel this was the calm before the storm. He encouraged her troops to look alive and prepare for a large onslaught.
Picard eventually reported that he was able to break through the encryption of the Domination communications array, but that he feared the Dominion would either alter their communications web or even feed false information to Chintoka, knowing their array was likely compromised. Lieutenant Larkin hoped that neither of those came to be, as she didn't want over 100 of her comrades to have perished for nothing. Picard gave her some hope that the compromised communications array would turn out helpful, as he and Larkin discussed the fact that the Vorta, and especially the Changeling Founders, were notoriously arrogant regarding their technological prowess and likely would not have imagined Terran humans being capable of deciphering their devices.
Soon after, Picard also reported to Larkin that he and Kellin devised a way to gain control of the already neutralized anti-personnel mines. Though, he subtly nudged the Lieutenant not to use them, as they would be against the spirit of the Starfleet code of ethics, and also not reciprocal of the truce Vorta Milana had declared a few days ago.
Sergeant Major Reese scoffed. The admirals who wrote the various codes of conduct had no clue about the real world. No clue. Except perhaps that Admiral Ross character.
Nevertheless, Larkin told Picard she would continue the cease-fire. For now.
One day before the U.S.S. Oberon estimated time of arrival at AR-558
Finally, the Oberon was within simultaneous communications range. Jean-Luc Picard dutifully sent out his message to the Oberon and as he had experienced in the previous loop, Vice Admiral Nechayev and Commander Sutherland shut down his request, although they promised Picard they would be on the lookout for temporal anomalies.
Ten minutes afterward, Picard retreated to his personal sleeping space. Larkin had saw fit to give Picard his own private "quarters" as it were; really just a somewhat secluded alcove in the compound of caverns. But it was enough privacy that Picard would be undisturbed and nobody could hear him. Picard opened a new channel, this time to his fiancée, Commander Darren.
"Jean-Luc," said Darren with a somewhat concerned tone of voice. "Are you doing okay?"
"Quite all right," said Picard. "Listen, there isn't much time and this is a complicated situation. When the Oberon reaches AR-558, you must be on the bridge."
"The bridge?" asked Darren, a little bit confused. "I planned on being in the Transporter Room to greet you upon our return. I heard you succeeded in decoding the Dominion Communications Array and were being reinstated as soon as possible."
"Yes. But there is a matter of greater urgency," said Picard. "This might sound strange to you, but I believe you and I have been trapped in a recurring time-loop for quite some time. The Oberon is about to experience a catastrophic collision when it reaches orbit. You must be on the Bridge at the time and do everything you can to steer the ship away from an oncoming transport freighter. You must maneuver the ship to the port side."
"What are you talking about, Jean-Luc," said Darren.
"Just trust me. Find a reason to place yourself at one of the science stations at the rear of the Bridge. If the ship encounters a temporal anomaly, find a way to push the ship to the Port side. During previous time loops, a transport freighter had emerged out of nowhere and struck the Oberon on its Starboard side. The Admiral's reverse tractor beam will not be effective."
Darren wanted to know a little bit more, but she had always trusted Picard. She nodded her ascent.
"Everything else okay otherwise?" she asked.
"Peachy," replied Picard.
"Love you," said Darren.
"Love you back," said Picard.
They ended their transmission and Picard returned to pretending to be on guard for a Jem Hadar ambush.
Commander Darren strolled onto the Oberon's bridge and nonchalantly sat down at the astrometrics console.
"Wanted to catch a little bit of the action?" asked Captain Shelby, the Admiral's Strategic Advisor. Darren was almost never up on the bridge. Although she was higher ranking than the science officer usually assigned to the bridge, Darren was considered more of a "lab scientist" or "field scientist" than a bridge officer.
Darren nodded to acknowledge Shelby.
Shelby returned to a position standing to the right side of Admiral Nechayev.
"We'll drop out of warp in ten minutes," announced the Helm Officer.
Everyone on the bridge was alert, but otherwise fairly relaxed. Long range sensors had shown that the closest Dominion warships were five sectors away, and occupied with a small Klingon strike group.
Darren pretended to be helping the weapons officer monitor the readiness status of the deflector shields. The Oberon was cruising at Yellow Alert at the time, which meant the shields were not up yet.
Within what felt like a little over 2 minutes, one of the Oberon's alerts rang out.
"Admiral, there appears to be a localized distortion in the space-time continuum," reported the Oberon's lead science officer.
"Why didn't we see this before?!" asked an alarmed Admiral Nechayev.
"It wasn't there ten seconds ago," reported the science officer.
This must be the temporal anomaly Jean-Luc had asked her to be on the lookout for, thought Darren.
"Back us away, nice and slow," said Commander Sutherland, the ship's first officer, a little bit worried.
"Maneuvering thrusters are unresponsive," replied Helm Officer Phoenix.
"Power levels are fluctuating all over this ship!" reported the Chief Engineer. The lights all around the bridge started dimming.
"Reports from the Defiant," said Sutherland. "They are experiencing a similar power drain."
Admiral Nechayev stood up from her command chair.
"Something is emerging from the distortion," reported the science officer. "An unidentified ship, it's on a collision course."
"Hail them!" said Sutherland.
"No response," said the weapons officer. "Collision in 45 seconds."
In addition to Darren, the rest of the Bridge officers now realized that this was the catastrophic event Picard had been trying to warn them about
"Suggestions?" asked the Admiral.
"We can reverse our tractor beam into a repulsor beam and push the other ship away," said the science officer.
"The Admiral's reverse tractor beam will not work," Darren remembered Picard telling her.
She thought for a few seconds and then rushed up to the weapons officer.
"Open the doors to the Starboard shuttle bay. The force of the decompression should shift us to Port," said Darren.
The weapons officer was a little taken aback at first, but realized the urgency of the situation and punched in the commands before waiting for confirmation from Nechayev or Sutherland.
With both the repulsor beam and the decompression of the starboard shuttlebay, the Oberon and Dunkirk avoided colliding, with a clearance of roughly 10 meters.
Picard watched the simulcast feed from the imaging telescopes and was relieved to watch the Dunkirk float by the Oberon without striking it.
"Thank goodness," said Picard to himself.
"You see," said a smiling Larkin. "Worried about nothing. Though I would like to know where that other ship came from….."
Picard no longer cared. He had finally escaped the Groundhog Day loop and could proceed with the rest of his merry life. Get married. Get promoted. Stay as far away from Chintoka as humanly possible.
THE END?
Author's Post-Notes:
- TNG fans might recognize the structure and some story elements from the 5th season episode "Cause and Effect."
- Sergeant Major Reese is an amalgamation of the character Reese from the DS9 episode and the character Master Sergeant Farrell from "Edge of Tomorrow."
- Picard's brief "technobabble" speak is courtesy of Commander William Riker from the 6th season episode "Rascals."
- Thanks for reading!