THE NOVA - E - Part Two ----------------------------- A Story By Matthew Dean ------------------------- Captain Picard strolled around to Commander Riker standing at the Tactical station, and studied the scans of the ship closely. He realised he needed time, more than anything else. "Thank you Captain. I'm sorry, but we are having problems with our communications system at the moment. If you could wait one hour, we can begin formal greetings." Ensign Ro and Commander Riker looked over at the poker-faced Picard in bewilderment. The Young Captain on the screen also eyed Picard in surprise. The atmosphere on the bridge turned cold. Finally, the young Captain's gaze was broken by a yellow uniformed officer handing him a blue padd. After looking at it for a second, he spoke quickly to the screen. "Of course Captain." He forced a smile. "I will contact you in an hour.". The screen did not go blank quickly enough to hide the young Captain standing up quickly and heading for a turbolift. Picard still stared at the screen, and barked a single word at his astounded crew. "Conference" All but Data, who was carried by Geordi to the tubolift, left for the conference room, in silence. * * * "I just can't see how it happened" Riker said, completing his speech on how they could have run into the Enterprise of the future. It was not a very positive comment, but Picard let it go. "Perhaps this is similar to the situation that occured back with our friend Berlingoff Rasmussen three years ago?" Doctor Crusher recalled. Picard shook his head and looked out into space at the stange ship in the distance. "No... Rasmussen was a time-traveller himself. I don't get the impression that they have travelled through time. They don't seem in the slightest doubt as to where they are" "And we do." Beverley finished. Slowly recognition began to dawn on the assembled crew. Commander Riker slowly sat down again to face the crew. "Then perhaps WE are the ones that have travelled in time." "We CAN'T have travelled in time! There was no space-time distortion" Geordi said. After a brief silence, the voice of Geordi came through the comm system. "Captain Picard - I've got Data down here in Engineering. There's something he wants to see you about." Picard tapped his badge - "On my way. Picard out.". Picard stood up. "Commander Riker, Doctor Crusher, you're with me. Mister Worf - work with Ensign Ro in getting our defensive systems on-line. Counselor Troi, I would like you to liase with all department heads in discovering what has happened to us. Dismissed." As the crew left the room silently, they all felt a certain relief that all was still under control - and that they could trust their Captain to guide them through this particular mess. But the Captain was the lonliest man on board - there was no-one to guide HIM through this mess. * * * The turbolift journey went a long way in calming Picard down. "Mostly all of our systems have been reconfigured now." Riker continued, after a discussion, "Yes - the medical database came on line five minutes ago, and has been running smoothly ever since." Beverley said. "Defensive systems?" Picard asked. "They'll be on line in about 15 minutes, sir" Riker replied. "Good work, Riker." Picard said. "Hmmm - well, to tell you the truth, it's all surprised me a little." Riker said, "It seems that all of our systems are just coming back on line at random, as if they are on a kind of timer which is running down." Picard smiled at Crusher. "At least something is going our way." he said, as the doors opened to Engineering. Captain Picard arrived in Engineering with Crusher and Riker to find the prostrate form of Data slumped in a chair, with several optical fibres connecting his head to a computer interface. Where the hole had been in his head, there was a round metal plate. Picard looked with interest at several small components lying on the desk next to him. "Mister LaForge?" he called. "Oh, sir - its a good job you're here - Data urgently wants to see you." Geordi said, walking across the room. He strode over to Data, and gently pressed a flashing button on a panel next to him. With a twitch, the android came to life, and looked around. His head stopped jerking when he saw the Captain. "He had a pretty bad bang, and lost half his secondary sub-proccessor, but I've replaced the parts and patched him up fairly well. There's no real damage, except to the skin." "Can he talk?" Picard asked. Geordi shook his head "Not yet - he's currently recalibrating his systems to incorporate the new parts. His speech processors won't be on line for a few minutes yet. He can hear you, though, and can comunicate through the computer." Picard looked down at Data. Data looked at Crusher and Riker blankly, and back at the Captain. Taking the all-too-human hint, Picard asked Crusher and Riker to assist Geordi in getting the non-essential systems back on line. As soon as they had gone, a message came up on the screen. "I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT. WE HAVE PASSED THROUGH IT" It read. "WE ARE IN DANGER. WE MUST LEAVE THIS PLACE THE WAY WE CAME." Picard was confused. "What is the light?" he asked the android. "IT IS A FORM BEYOND PHYSICS: BEYOND EMOTION: BEYOND HUMAN IMAGINATION. BEYOND BEYOND." "Are you saying that we have been commandeered by unknown forces, Mister Data? I'm not sure I understand." "NOT SUPPOSED TO." The message continued, with Data still engaged in a fixed gaze at the Captain, "WE MUST RETURN BACK THROUGH THE LIGHT, OR DESTROY ALL." Picard remained silent, still unsure what the android was getting at. He knew that as an android, Data was unable to accept anything beyond Physics, and yet he was now saying he had encountered something beyond it. Several possibilities rushed through Picard's head. Data slowly turned back from facing the Captain, and shut down his systems, continuing the recalibrations. "Computer, file this text display under PICARD ONE, and store." Picard said. With this, he called to Geordi and Riker. They followed, leaving Crusher to return to sickbay. * * * In the Captains ready room, Geordi and Riker studied their PADDs thoroughly. They read.. "I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT. WE HAVE PASSED THROUGH IT WE ARE IN DANGER. WE MUST LEAVE THIS PLACE THE WAY WE CAME. IT IS A FORM BEYOND PHYSICS: BEYOND EMOTION: BEYOND HUMAN IMAGINATION. BEYOND BEYOND. NOT SUPPOSED TO. WE MUST RETURN THROUGH THE LIGHT, OR DESTROY ALL." Riker was the first to speak, "Are you sure it wasn't a glitch in the new sub-processor? Could Data could have accessed an old memory file?" he said. "No - not possible. Data wanted to speak to Picard even before I started reconfiguring him." Geordi countered. "Doesn't seem much like the Data I know, though." Again there was silence. "It seems to me that my words didn't really have any effect on Data. If you read this, It makes sense without knowing what I asked." Picard said, deep in thought. "Are you sure he could hear me, Geordi?" Picard continued. "He should have been able to - but, only Data really knows." he replied. "But what does he mean?" Riker asked, his voice strained with thought. "Perhaps he means the distortion." Geordi replied. "The Malagarve sector time distortion?" Riker asked, and had an idea. "Perhaps...." Riker began. Picard cut off the Commander - "We haven't established the Malagarve sector IS a time-space anomoly, yet Commander." "Yes, but it is our only real explanation of the events up to now." Riker's voice grew ironic. "Unless Starfleet have just standardised new uniforms and created a new Enterprise, and forgotten to tell us, that is..." Picard sat down. "All right. Lets work on the assumption that it was a time distortion. That still doesn't explain Data's words." "But it does!" Geordi shouted. "The light refers to the aesthetic appearance of the anomoly, when we encountered it!" "But why would Data refer to an appearance. Why not quote it's scientific characteristics instead?" "It was the last thing he must remember, before being deactivated. It remained in his memory - like you remember your last activities before fainting." Geordi silently prayed that Picard would accept his rather unsteady explanation. Riker looked up slowly. "Then .. if we are in danger, as Data says, then we must be in danger of changing this time frame. We are not supposed to be here." Riker said slowly, and looked up. "To use a metaphor, we may have derailed the train of fate..." "...and we have to get the train back on the track as soon as possible before the next station misses us..." Picard said. "...Before we destroy all." Geordi finished. Before Picard had time to ponder these ideas, Worf's voice came over the communications system. "Commander LaForge, will you join me in the Main Computer Core in the primary hull? I need your access code in rebooting the recreational database." Geordi looked at Picard, who nodded. "I'm on my way, Worf." Geordi said, and walked out of the door. * * * After 10 minutes, Picard was again sitting in his chair on the bridge, awaiting the other ship's signal. Worf walked in, massaging his mended wrist. "Condition, Mister Worf" Picard ordered. Worf carressed the tactical panel, and spoke - "We are at almost full operational status, sir. Defensive systems are on-line, and matter-antimatter containment is at 95%. Turbolift 6 still remains inoperable. Mister Data is now able to speak, and will be able to report for duty in an hour, while he fully reboots his motor system." "Good." Picard said "We are back to operational status as we were before the... accident." Worf finished. Picard suddenly realised that now everything everybody was saying was related to time-travel. He knew that he would have to tell them what he had deduced with Geordi and Riker soon. Perhaps when Data was fully operational. His train of thought was interuppted by Worf. "Sir - the Captain of the Enterprise-E is hailing us." he said. "On screen" Picard barked, pulling down his uniform. For some reason his stomach churned. "Captain -" Picard said, brimming with anticipation. "It's good to see you again. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I'm Captain Picard." He said. "Captain of what, exactly?" The young Captain asked. He had taken on a more serious and inquistive tone since their last meeting. "Lets talk about that face to face shall we?" Picard saw the perfect oppurtunity. "Perhaps we can dine together - my officers and yours." "Hmm," The Captain said, and looked to his right. "It is now 22:30 hours. Perhaps you could come over this evening." "We would like that. We'll signal for beam-over in twenty minutes. Then we can talk." The screen went blank. Immediately, Picard knew he did not trust the man. He also found himself to be incredibly incompetant not to have asked as much as he could, while he could - given the circumstances. He tapped his badge - "Commander Data, Commander LaForge and Doctor Crusher - please report to the observation lounge in five minutes for an away mission briefing. Dress uniform, please. Picard out. Deanna, Will and Worf - you too." "Aye sir," Riker said, on behalf of all six, as they exited. With a look at the sparsely populated bridge, Picard also exited. * * * In under a minute, all six were standing once again in the observation lounge. Commander Data looked the strangest of all, with yellowish skin showing at the top of his head. Picard walked in and addressed Data. "You feeling ready for duty, Commander?" Picard said. "Of course sir. I am now fully operational - apart from my left arm which has suffered a rather severe shock. I am currently attempting to recalibrate it using by FT20 picoprocces.." "Thank you." Picard said, chopping off Data's description. He was certainly back to the old Data again. Picard turned and addressed the rest of the group. "Now I am not asking you to do anything in particular." Picard said to the group. He felt like an old Army general about to send his troops on a mission into danger. "I am only calling on your skills of observation. I just want you to learn everything you can while you are on the other ship." Picard was trying to be as subtle as possible - hoping that no-one would question him. "What if were found out?" Geordi asked, eventually. "They're not going to take kindly to strangers, possibly from the past, poking around on their starship, sir." Riker added. "We won't be `poking around' on their ship, Commander." Picard stated, enforcing his authority. He looked at his group. "We're going to be as subtle as possible. Understood?" Geordi nodded with the others, but the atmosphere in the room was still negative. "Mister Data, I want you to concentrate on leaning all you can about their propulsion and defensive systems. Begin as early as possible." "Yes sir." Data said. "Commander Riker - You will try and tap into their computer system. I advise you try and leave the dinner before it ends." Picard continued. "Aye, sir" Riker said. "Counselor - I want you to try and ascertain the mental states of their crew. I want a report for when we return - oh, and I will be calling you Lieutenant Commander, as opposed to Counselor. I don't want them to know you are a telepath." "Understood, Captain." Troi said - thankful she was in standard dress uniform. "Commander LaForge, Doctor Crusher, Lieutenant Worf, you will assist me in keeping their party happy." "All right, lets get to it." Picard said, and the dress-uniformed group stood and went out through the door. When Riker finally exited, Picard remained behind and looked out of the window at the other ship. "Who the hell are you?" Picard whispered at the ship. Then he, too, marched out of the room towards the transporter room. * * * O'Brien was once again present at his favourite transporter room. Only six months ago, after his promotion, he had been requested by Picard, and made not only Transporter Chief, but Systems Officer as well. O'Brien saw it as a chance to rip apart a replicator here and there, and possibly have a go at the propulsion systems. He was also just getting used to people beginning to call him `Lieutenant'. While he was thinking of his daughter's Fifth birthday party, Picard and the rest of the away team walked in. Data and Geordi gave O'Brien an acknowledging nod, while Riker and Picard were finishing a conversation. All seven stepped up on the transporter pad. "The other ship has provided us with the coordinates of their transporter room, sir." "Very good, Chief." Picard said, simply not noticing his mistake. "Energise." O'Brien moved his hand up the sequence initiators, and watched the group dissolve. Just as the sequence finished, the transporter system went off-line. "Oh, Bloody hell!" The Chief shouted, plunged into darkness, and banged his knee on the console on the way to the access panel. "Power on this deck has been temporarily diverted to Engineering." The computer stated. "Damn this Federation technology!" he shouted, remembering how he had felt the same way about the Bajoran computer when he began serving on `Deep Space Nine'. With that, the lights came back on. Smiling, O'Brien returned to his panel. * * * On the other ship, Picard and his group has just materialised on the Enterprise-E's transporter pad. The design of the transporter room was not unlike their own - except it was much smaller. Standing in front of Picard was the young Captain. Around him stood seven other officers, with another one at the console. The young Captain spoke as Picard looked back at him. "Hello, Captain Picard - it is so good to see you at last. I'm Captain Ben Stone. Allow me to present my first officer Commander Hasslum, and Lietenant Commander Sigon, Lieutenant Commander Fitenry, Lieutenant Ranx, Lieutenant Keller, Chief Medical Officer Doctor Randall, Security Chief Lieutenant Klarx, and finally, Transporter Chief Richter." Nothing was really unusual about Stone's crew, apart from the fact that Randall already seemed to be looking rather merrily in Doctor Crusher's direction. Picard noted that Lieutenant Ranx was an Andorian, and stood out like a sore thumb - he must be the science officer, he thought. Also, the security chief, Klarx, was Klingon. Riker noted that he and Worf were already engaged in a fierce staring match. "Very glad to meet you Captain." said Captain Picard, "Allow me to present my first officer Commander Riker, my Science Officer Commander Data, Lieutenant Commander Troi, Security chief Lieutenant Worf, Doctor Crusher and Chief Engineer, Geordi LaForge." After about a minute of exchanged handshakes, Picard was beginning to relax - but that Klingon unnerved him a little for some reason. But he still did not trust this Captain. There was something about him - his air of casuality. Picard turned to Riker and whispered, "First Impressions?" he said. "Lets be careful. I'm very uncomfortable about this. I don't like the look of that Klingon one bit." Riker replied. Picard wanted to remind Riker to keep his personal views about other species to himself, but he realised that he was feeling exactly the same. He did not answer. All fifteen of the group walked out of the transporter room and into the coridoor, which, to Picards surprise, was essentially identical to the one on HIS Enterprise. After about a minutes walk through the coridoors, they arrived at a turbolift. "Bridge" Captain Stone stated. Data was the first person to initiate a conversation, with forced confidence that reminded Riker of his late associate `Hutch'. "Captain, if you would be so kind, would you mind if I used an computer access terminal on the bridge. I am currently working on a project into warp field distortions." Captain Stone looked undecided. "Won't you go hungry?" Picard looked at Data slowly. Trying his best, Data replied "I am afraid I have no desire for sustanance.". Riker sure hated Data's way of saying `I'm not hungry' - but I suppose he had had little practise with the phrase. "Of course you can." Lieutenant Commander Sigon stated. You can use the science station on the bridge, and accompany me to Engineering, if you like." Captain Stone smiled at Data. Stone stopped short of asking him what he... was. Troi looked deep into the Captain with interest. He noticed her gaze and stared back, with a smile. A little embarrased, Troi looked away. They arrived on the bridge and stepped out. Again, Picard was surprised. It was approximately half the size of his bridge, with a single conn, and several computer panels recessed into walls. "Well," Picard stated "This is certainly different to our Enterprise." Troi and Riker were the first to notice that there appeared to be no tactical station - only a `defensive' station inbetween the other stations at the back of the bridge. "Huh." Worf commented. "No battle potential whatsoever" he said, under his breath. Klarx heard him. "What did you say, Klingon?" he said. Not noticing what was happening, but in time to stop a retaliation, Captain Stone looked up at Commander Hasslum. "Lets dine now, shall we?" he said. Picard followed Stone into what must have been the observation lounge, at the back of the bridge. This was about the same size as the bridge, and had a large black table in the middle. Through the windows at the back of the lounge, Picard could see his Enterprise. It had been a long time since he had seen it like this in space, suspended - he noted that it was still as beautiful as when he had first seen it - almost seven years ago now. And here he was now, on another man's Enterprise, which seemed so familiar - and yet so different... * * * Commander Data seemed to be the only person who was really enjoying himself. He and Commander Sigon had moved from the bridge and were now in Engineering, studying the Matter/Antimatter Reaction Assembly. This Engineering section was much different to the Enterprise D's - for it was much smaller, and the M/ARA was positioned horizontally, rather than vertically. It stretched the whole length of the ship's battle section. "I find it interesting that you have two dilithium chambers - evidently they are able to share significant quantities of matter. Do they make any marked improvement to the power output of the ship?" Data said, ignoring his useless arm. "Hmmmm - I'm not too sure on your power output levels, but I would suspect that the output is greater, yes." "Indeed." Data commented. "And these are not dilithium chambers - they are BIlithium chambers." Sigon said, trying desparately not to boast. "Bilithium. Fascinating." Data said, not noticing the large smirk speading across Sigon's face. "They should be able to produce an improvement in performance quite significantly higher than that of our Enterprise." "Yes." said Sigon, sounding a little bemused at Data's rather casual reaction. His face fell. "Next I would like to see the Deuterium holding facility." Data said after a while. Sigon paused for a second, before realising that the Commander had spoken. "Errr, of course." he blurted, and started off towards the turbolift. * * * Meanwhile, in the observation lounge, everybody was engaged in a rather pleasant talk, while eating a rather filling dish of delicious Charliaan soup. Doctor Crusher, and the tall Doctor Randall were talking of ancient medical practices. They seemed to be getting along very well, and Crusher seemed not to mind Randall's eyes constantly drifting downwards. Commander LaForge, and the strange Lieutenant Ranx were also conversing. However, they were closer to arguing than talking. They were putting forward some very biased views on first contact situations. As it could be expected, Worf was simply locked into a staring match with Klarx, who had downed his stew in one gulp - without the assistance of a spoon. Worf left his stew untouched. Finally, Captain Stone, Commander Hasslum, Lieutenant Commander Fitenry, and Lieutenant Keller were converesing with Counselor Troi, Captain Picard and Commander Hasslum. Stone had just completed a rather controversial speech on how their Enterprise must have travelled forward in time. Riker found himself agreeing with the Captain, who had told them how far forward in time they had come - but Riker realised he wanted to get his hands on their computer system. It was time to storm out. Riker rose to his feet: the Captain had finally irritated him too much. "39 years! I'm sorry, thats just not possible!" he shouted at Captain Stone. "It is every bit possible!" Stone's First Officer, Commander Hasslum, returned. "OK - prove it!" Riker shouted, as Picard put his hand on his arm. "No. 1 - sit down." he said, quietly. Riker continued, as if Picard had not spoken. "GO ON! PROVE IT!" he shouted. The rest of the group were now staring at him. This time, Picard stood up, and glared at his first officer. "Commander Riker. Sit down now! I will not ask you again." he said - not shouting, and yet stopping Riker in his tracks. Picard realised what Riker was doing. "If you don't mind, sir - I'd like to return to the Enterprise." Picard sat down, and retaining his composure, dismissed him. Stone looked across at his Chief Enginner, who was seated next to him. "Lieutenat Fitenry - please accompany Commander Riker to Transporter Room 4." Picard's stomach churned, along with the rest of his group. Riker HAD to be alone. Riker's confidence won through. "I think I can find my own way, Lieutenant" Riker called, and walked straight out of the observation lounge, the door hissing shut behind him. Fitenry raised his eyebrows and looked at Hasslum. "Your first officer is a very... thoughtful man" Stone commented. "He just likes to know whats going on." Deanna added, taking a mouthful of Charliaan soup. She was still eyeing Captain Stone very carefully. he admired his relaxed attitude, and also found him quite attractive. The group continued to eat for a while, and continued their conversations, before Picard spoke. "As my first officer said, we will need proof that it is indeed US who have travelled forward in time." Stone's Chief Engineer spoke, eager to clear the air. "Listen - we had absolutely no idea that you were ever going to arrive. You just appeared on our sensors, just like any other Alliance ship would have done, if it passed our way." Worf's staring match had graduated to a cautious conversation about Kahless. He stopped when he heard the Chief Engineer speak. "Alliance?" he said. Picard was also staring at the Engineer. "Yes. The Galactic Alliance." Hasslum said, looking confused. The noise level in the lounge fell like a brick. Deanna covered her mouth with her hand, surpressing a gasp. She knew what was coming next. No WONDER there was no Tactical station on the bridge! There was no-one to fight! Picard lowered his spoon into his stew, and his face turned slightly whiter than it already was. "Who does this Alliance comprise of, exactly?" he said, in a somewhat husky voice. Stone looked at Hasslum. "The United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Alliance." Hasslum stated. Worf's spoon dropped. "ROMULAN ALLIANCE?" he shouted, and looked at Picard. Equally, Picard looked at Deanna. Instincively, Captain Picard desparately wanted to put as much distance as he could between himself and this ship he was on. Worf let his personal feelings flow. "I will NOT dine with TRAITORS!" he growled, trying not to shout, but nonetheless being heard by all. He spat out a chunk of stew. "Lieutenant Worf. Compose yourself." Picard intoned. Worf sat down and growled quietly to himself. Picard had never seen his crew quite as astounded as they were now. They all sat, looking directly at him for guidance. This is what concerned him most. Stone's crew sat bewildered. For them, an alliance with the Romulans was life. For Picard's crew, it could be death. Captain Picard resolved to take his only real option - to regroup and run - if only to his own ship. "Well, thank-you for a delightful meal, gentlemen and ladies, but I really must be getting back to my own ship. We are in the midst of a repair, and... I'm sure that something has gone wrong." It was the worst excuse Deanna had ever heard Picard give, but there was no time to think of that, and Picard stood. "Indeed." Hasslum said, standing with the rest of the group. "If there is anything we can do to help, then I'm sure we can assist you." "Thank-you. We'll be in touch on sub-space." Picard said, and walked out of the door, followed by the rest of the group. However, Doctor Crusher and Doctor Randall remained behind for a while. Randall walked up very close to Crusher and smiled - stopping her from exiting with the others. "The new medical database is probably twice as big as the one on your ship. Perhaps you would like to see it?" he said. It was a long time since Crusher had heard a chat-up line quite as bad, but she liked this charming Doctor - and his casual wit reminded her of Jack. "I'd like that. I'll have a word with Captain Picard to see if I can return tomorrow, then." she said. "It's a date." Doctor Randall said, and smiled. Crusher smiled back, and followed the Doctor out of the lounge. As she arrived in the turbolift at last, Picard tapped his badge. "Commander Data - please return to the transporter room. We're leaving." * * * Riker was kneeling in a Jeffries tube on deck seven. It had taken him about ten minutes to find it. He had removed a large hatch, and optical wire surrounded him. He tapped his badge. "Okay, Lieutenant - send over the transponder as discussed." "Aye sir." O'Brien said, and took the transponder over to the pad. "Captain Picard and party are about to come back. I'll send you the transponder at exactly the same time as they beam over - it'll stop the transport being detected." On cue, O'Brien recieved the message to initiate transporting the Captain and party back. He complied, but as they materialised on the pad, the transponder disappeared. Back in the Jeffries tube, Riker took the tranponder as soon as it arrived, and carefully hooked it to the optical fibres, with practised skill and accuracy. When this job was complete, he forced the transponder through the access hatch, and closed it all up. Whacking his badge, Commander Riker called for transport, and faded away. * * * He reappeared on the pad, still lying down, and noticed the others looking at him. "Report, Commander." Picard called, still looking sombre. "I managed to install a subspace transponder directly into their computer system. If it works, we should be able to access their computers, without them knowing." Riker stated. "I want a conference of all the senior staff in twenty minutes." Picard told his group. Riker knew that it was his job to inform the senior staff. While Picard was finishing his sentence, Mister Worf stormed out of the transporer room, growling. Picard watched him go, sypathetically. "I want reports from you Riker, and Troi, ready for then. Mister Data, I want you to find out all we have on the Enterprise-E." Picard said, and walked out of the transporter room with Deanna and Beverley. Before Data could ask what had happened while he was away, Geordi spoke to Data, "What did you find out Data?" he said. "It IS us who have travelled forward in time." he said. "US? That's impossible" Geordi shouted, knowing it was not. "How do we get back? There was no Space-Time distortion." "He's right." Riker said "The disappearance of the Enterprise D is in their Library Computer database." "Oh my good god." Geordi whispered. "If you don't mind me asking sir, what's goin' on?" O'Brien said, looking very confused. Riker walked out of the transporter room, leaving Geordi and Data to think. They both looked up at O'Brien, and Geordi finally spoke. "Come and have a drink with me in ten forward Chief. I'll fill you in." he said. With this, the remaining three walked out, leaving the tranporter room empty - almost as empty as Picard felt, as he sat in his quarters - alone. He had put up with this life for the past seven years, and had not looked back once. But he was beginning to question the wisdom of his career, and was unsure others around him would have the strength to pull themselves through this particular mess. He remembered the looks on the faces of his crew on Stone's ship when the alliance with the Romulans was revealed. They were all looking at HIM for guidance - even his own Counselor. He was sure that in the end everything would turn out for the better for everyone concerned. Whether that included him or not, he couldn't tell. With that, Picard pulled on his standard uniform, and made for the conference room. * * * * * END OF PART TWO