HERE
U.S.S. Enterprise-E
The drink seemed to have no flavor, which T’Ryssa Chen thought odd considering the crew lounge’s bartender, Jordan, had made it based on her exacting specifications. Certain it would taste no better with the next sip, she set her glass on the bar and pushed it away.
Sitting next to her, Dina Elfiki asked, “You okay?”
Chen nodded. “Just lost in thought, I guess.”
Pointing to the drink, Elfiki asked, “What is that supposed to be, anyway?”
“A tolik sour fizz. It’s made from a Vulcan fruit, the tolik.” Chen shrugged. “Ensign Scagliotti took shore leave there before we left for the Odyssean Pass the first time. She said she found it in a tourist-friendly club near Lake Yuron after reading about it in a travel guide.” Tapping the edge of the glass with her fingers, she added, “I don’t think I got the recipe right.”
“This is why I stick to vodka martinis,” said Elfiki, holding up her own glass. “It’s almost impossible to get them wrong.”
“I’ll remember that.” Swiveling her seat, Chen took in the rest of the lounge. Alpha shift had ended less than an hour earlier, which meant that the Happy Bottom Riding Club—as named by William Riker before accepting his promotion to captain and departing the Enterprise to assume command of the U.S.S. Titan—was on its way to reaching capacity. It was a nightly tradition to gather here at the end of a normal duty day, or what might constitute “normal” considering the events of the past few days. Chen could not help noticing that the atmosphere, though relaxed and even jovial, felt subdued. Perhaps everything that had transpired was finally catching up, and everyone was only now beginning to decompress.
Works for me. I could use the company.
Elfiki turned in her seat so that like Chen she could face away from the bar. “You’ve been pretty quiet since you got back to the ship.”
“I know. It’s a lot to process, I guess.” Chen leaned back in her seat. “It’s one thing to study about parallel dimensions and alternate realities in class when it’s just some theory. It’s another to read the mission logs from ships like this one where the crew had actual encounters with such things, but none of that compares with coming face-to-face with the evidence that they really, truly exist.” She blew out her breath. “It’s pretty weird.”
“That’s one word for it.” Elfiki sipped from her own drink. “And as weird as it is for us, imagine how it must be for the captain or anyone else who served on the old Enterprise-D.”
Following that ship’s destruction, Chen knew that the majority of its crew had asked to remain with Captain Picard when he eventually took command of its Sovereign-class successor. Many of those people had since moved on to other assignments, or left Starfleet altogether, or perhaps met unfortunate fates as could happen from time to time, but there was still a core of personnel who had remained with the ship throughout everything. Aside from Doctor Crusher and Commanders Worf and La Forge, fully a third of the Enterprise-E’s current contingent had carried over from the starship’s forerunner or had returned here after serving on other ships or starbases.
She had overheard snippets of conversations following her excursion to the planet. The common questions and speculation all ran toward the obvious differences between the two ships’ senior staffs, including the conspicuous absence of Captain Picard. Answers had not been forthcoming and likely would remain out of reach, in keeping with the captain’s decision not to reveal details about how events had unfolded in much different fashion in the other reality.
“They’re sure staying tight-lipped about the whole thing,” said Chen. “I mean, really quiet. It’s not like I expect Captain Picard to lay it all out over the intraship, but I guess I figured I’d hear . . . something. I was down there when Data arrived from the other Enterprise. He certainly didn’t offer anything, and he was the only one who had any interaction with any of our people.”
Elfiki replied, “Not counting the captain and Doctor Crusher going over there. Talk about out of the blue.”
The decision by Picard to visit the Enterprise-D had sparked its own set of rumors. That action would almost certainly trigger an investigation by the Department of Temporal Investigations. It would not matter that the other starship had come from a different dimension; the mere mention of a time-related incursion would be enough to set off agents within the mysterious organization. Those agents would doubtless be thrilled to be talking with the captain so soon after their last discussion following the Enterprise’s encounter with the Raqilan weapon ship from the future.
“Even Taurik doesn’t know what’s up,” said Chen, “or if he does, then he’s not saying.” She made a note to ask him, wondering if the planet Ushalon and the Sidrac had appeared in any of the computer data the Vulcan had accessed from the Raqilan vessel before sealing all of that information and giving it to DTI. Of course, Taurik had been sworn to secrecy about whatever knowledge of future events he might possess.
“Maybe it’s better to just not know,” said Elfiki.
Chen giggled. “Knowing what you know about me, do you see me leaving this alone?”
“Yeah, I didn’t really think that through.”
Movement behind them made both women turn to see Jordan emerging from the work area behind the bar. Chen saw that he was carrying a silver frame, and it was obvious that the bartender was looking to mount it along with the eclectic collection of memorabilia that covered the bar’s back wall. In keeping with the lounge’s namesake—a bar on twentieth-century Earth frequented by military test pilots—an assortment of photos and other curios decorated the walls, featuring replicated items from the original establishment as well as Starfleet mementos dating back more than two centuries. Jordan, a human with a penchant for his planet’s ancient history, had taken to Captain Riker’s naming of the lounge with great enthusiasm for carrying on the tradition of the original Riding Club. He was forever adding or exchanging various pieces of bric-a-brac around the room in accordance with his shifting tastes.
“Finally found something new?” asked Chen.
Holding up the frame, Jordan replied, “Not me. This is from the captain.” He paused for a moment, studying the wall, and eventually selected a frame in which was mounted a white trapezoidal patch originally worn by men and women assigned to Earth’s first permanent moonbase in the twenty-first century. In its place, Jordan hung the new frame, and Chen got her first good look at the photograph it contained.
“I’ll be damned,” said Elfiki.
Jordan smiled. “I know, right?”
It was a picture of Captain Riker and his senior staff from the Enterprise-D.
Chen said, “That’s going to raise some eyebrows.” She gestured to the photo. “Wait. Does this mean the captain told you the story behind it?”
“Yes,” replied the bartender.
“So you can tell us?” asked Elfiki.
Now the man’s smile turned mischievous. “One day. Maybe.”
Rolling her eyes, Chen tapped her glass. “I need a drink.”
“We can fix that.”
Her attention caught once more by the photograph as the bartender set to work, Chen could only wonder about what might have been and what might still be.
• • •
The nebula was, in a word, beautiful.
With everything that had transpired since their discovery of the planet, Picard had somehow allowed himself to forget about NGC 8541’s simple splendor. Even without the mystery it had harbored, the nebula offered numerous research opportunities for the ship’s science department. On the other hand, after the events of the past days, he knew it would not be easy for them to return to such mundane work, no matter what else they might find here.
It’s hard to blame them.
Only upon hearing Worf’s voice did Picard realize he had allowed his mind to wander, and that he had done so not while sitting alone in his ready room, but in the ship’s observation lounge, with his senior officers and most trusted friends waiting in apparent silence for him to stop daydreaming.
“I’m terribly sorry,” he said, straightening in his chair before looking at Worf, Geordi La Forge, and Beverly. “I have to admit that I’ve been prone to the occasional bout of distraction these past few days.” He leaned forward in his chair, resting his forearms atop the polished obsidian conference table. “I’m finalizing my report for Starfleet Command and wanted to know if any of you wished to add anything. I value your perspectives and opinions on what we all experienced.”
La Forge replied, “I’ve organized information from our sensors and our tricorder readings while we were on the surface, sir. Everything we were able to learn about the quantum-field generator is in there. Starfleet R and D will love that.”
“Indeed. Particularly since we can include in our report that Ushalon and the Sidrac returned safely to their own dimension.” The final transmission from Nelidar, transmitted through the dimensional barrier via the targeting buoy deployed to this reality, had detailed the planet’s safe arrival and the Sidrac’s evacuation to their home world, Elanisal. This, preceded by the message from Captain Riker that the Enterprise-D and the Romulan ship had also made it to their proper places in space and time, would ignite the imaginations of countless engineers and scientists back home. Starfleet Research and Development was always on the lookout for some new specimen of alien technology to study, be it something offered by a modern society or some ancient remnant of a lost civilization. The Enterprise had presented those scientists and scholars with a fair number of such specimens over the years, and they would spend months if not years poring over this new data. Picard imagined he would hear something about the fact that no practical examples of the quantum-field generator would be delivered, and even the targeting buoy was gone, having been obliterated thanks to a self-destruct command sent by Nelidar.
Oops.
“It’s not R and D you have to worry about,” said Crusher. “What about your report for DTI?”
Picard offered a wry smile. “As you might imagine, that will be somewhat longer and more detailed.”
And that’s before they find out everything.
“I hope you realize that I didn’t call you three here to discuss these particular matters,” said Picard. “Despite the extraordinary circumstances in which we found ourselves, these post-mission activities are mundane, if important. Instead, I invited you to this meeting because I need to confess something to you.” He placed his hands flat on the table and lowered his gaze to study its surface. “Captain Riker—Will—confided in me details about . . . some . . . of the differences between our two realities. As you might imagine, I was most curious as to what happened to my counterpart.” He briefly described the Enterprise-D’s first year with Riker in command after the abduction of that dimension’s Jean-Luc Picard and the destruction of the Borg cube that had assigned him as their spokesperson, Locutus.
“The Borg remain a threat in that timeline,” he continued, “which means they will launch further attacks against the Federation. There’s no way to know if those future campaigns will mirror what we experienced, but there’s also no reason to assume they won’t.” He looked up from the table in order to look at his friends. “I gave Captain Riker the schematics for a transphasic torpedo.”
Picard was uncertain what reaction to expect from the others, with one exception. There was Worf, sitting ramrod straight in his chair with an unreadable expression while Beverly and La Forge exchanged glances.
“That’s going to get someone’s attention at DTI,” said Crusher. “I guess we’ll find out once and for all whether the Temporal Prime Directive has rules to govern this sort of situation.”
“I’m okay with it.” La Forge clasped his hands and rested them on the table. “If the Borg do ever show up in force, the Federation will need every advantage it can get. If they get started now, they’ll have years to figure out how to make a better version of the torpedo. That might be all the jump they need to help take out the Borg before they can inflict the sort of destruction we faced.”
“Precisely,” said Picard. “That, and luck for the interstellar dominoes to fall where needed. Easier said than done, of course.”
Worf asked, “What do you plan to tell Starfleet Command, sir?”
“The truth, Number One. I’ve found that’s always the best course.” There would be innumerable questions and no small portion of hell to pay, but that did not concern Picard. If he could spare that other version of the Federation the same level of tragedy they were still working to repair, then his actions were worth it.
And what if you only make things worse?
It was a possibility, Picard knew. By giving Riker the schematics, he risked that dimension’s Starfleet developing and deploying the weapon against the Borg at a point in time well in advance of when it was first used in this reality. What if the Collective adapted to the technology far earlier? Would that Federation be able to devise some other means of defense? There was also the possibility that the Borg in that dimension could be destroyed earlier. Picard realized he could spend days, if not weeks, contemplating the various scenarios and their outcomes. It was enough to drive a person mad.
“Do you need us to do anything, sir?” asked Worf.
Picard rose from his chair, signifying the meeting’s conclusion, and his officers followed suit. “Just what we always do, Mister Worf. We shall continue our mission and let destiny take its course.”
After dismissing his staff to return to their duties, Picard was alone in the observation lounge. He swiveled his seat so that he could look out the windows, free once again to regard the nebula. He tried to lose himself in its simple beauty, but it was difficult, consumed as he was by thoughts of what might have been, and what might still be.
Make it so, Will.