Story content and all other characters in The Doctor And The Enterprise D are (c) Rob Cowell. 1995
EXCEPT the article 110 section, from the story The Doctor and
The Enterprise by Jean Airey.
The Doctor And The Enterprise D
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Chapter Five
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Sarah looked on in horror as the lifeless body of the Doctor
drifted away from the ship.
“You’ve got to do something!” she exclaimed.
“There’s nothing I can do from here.” Riker said, by way of an
apology. He turned to Q, “Bring him back onboard Q.”
“I would, but you see he’s not really there. I tried looking
for him but I can’t find him. That’s why I asked you the question.”
“That was horrible. It was just a despicable trick to get us to
tell you.” Sarah blurted out. She had been close to tears at the
sight, but now she was regaining her composure somewhat and anger was
replacing grief.
“Oh I forgot. You humans are such emotional beings. You grieve
over the slightest of things; a lost puppy, a dead pet.” Q said. His
voice began to take on a mournful, yet mocking, tone as he spoke.
“Yes we are emotional. We have feelings. We care for others,
even people we don’t really know. It gives us strength and allows us
to touch the lives of strangers. But at least we don’t play cruel
tricks just to get a laugh, or a kick.” Sarah strode towards Q
meaningfully, but the entity just clicked his fingers and she found
herself on the other side of the bridge.
Worf had been silent and stationary all this time but now he
moved towards the conference lounge. The doors opened with a swish
and he looked inside. The room was bare. Only the table and chairs
were visible.
“Commander, this is not the real Enterprise.” he said.
“Of course it isn’t Worf.” said Q. “I decided to get my own
ship. I call her the U.S.S. Continuum. Registration number Q.C.C.
0001-Q. What do you think of her Riker?”
“I think it’s boring. Ordinary. I would rather travel in a
bucket.” Riker said in an offhand way. “The Enterprise could run
rings around this ship.
“Oh really? We’ll see about that. Very well Riker, you may
leave. I’ll show you who’s ship is the best.” Q gestured angrily and
Riker, Worf and Sarah vanished.
“Run rings around my ship… We’ll see.”
Captain Jean-Luc Picard sat in his chair on the bridge.
Commander Data had just finished his report on the non-existence of a
computer log entry for Sarah Jane Smith when a flash of light
deposited the missing people in the middle of the bridge.
“Number One, are you alright?”
“Apparently so captain. Q decided to finish with his game and
start a new one.” Briefly Riker told his captain what had transpired,
and what was going to happen.
“Well done commander. I think we’d better check on the
complement of the ship.” He directed his voice upwards to the
communications pick-up in the ceiling, “Computer. Are there any
members of the crew unaccounted for?”
“The current crew count is one thousand and forty seven. There
are no crew members missing.” the computer replied. Picard nodded and
then looked at Data.
“Commander, would you inform the Doctor of our position and tell
him we are ready.” Data acknowledged the request with a curt nod and
walked towards the conference lounge.
The Doctor was in the TARDIS, with the spare parts Picard had
ordered up for him, and was re-testing the, now working, machine. The
results flowed across the terminal on his workbench and he nodded with
approval. Switching off his machine he waited for the all-clear
before removing the apparatus from the test room. Cradling the devise
carefully he walked back into the laboratory and placed it on the
bench. He tidied the room up before leaving, then exited the room and
made his way back to the console room. Leaving the machine on the
floor near the base of the control console, he opened the doors and
stepped out. Data had just appeared from the bridge and upon seeing
the Doctor relayed the message from the captain.
“Excellent Mr Data. Wait there a moment.” said the Doctor and
then he dashed back into the TARDIS. He returned a few seconds later
carrying the machine.
“Might I enquire as to the nature of this apparatus?” Data asked
politely.
“Not yet. I don’t want our trump card being shown too early.”
was the reply. He put the machine on the table and directed it
towards the TARDIS. The Doctor and Data strode onto the bridge and
saw a similar ship on the viewscreen. The stars flashed past the
other ship indicating a high-warp chase.
“It’s a race.” Geordi said, in answer the Doctor’s unspoken
question. “Q challenged us to a race to a nearby system just to prove
his ship’s better than ours. Personally I think he’s going to cheat.”
“That would be consistent with his normal behavioural patterns.”
Data noted.
“The only question that we have to ask is, What does the loser
get as a prize?” murmured Geordi.
“A handshake and ‘thank you for taking part’ is what I always
got.” Sarah said. The Doctor smiled and asked how she was.
“Oh you know, the usual. I get beaten up, or scared
half-to-death, or shot at, or bombed, or tortured, or possessed. Just
the run-of-the-mill stuff. while you get to meet the aristocracy and
sort out their problems.” She grinned and the Doctor was relieved. If
she could make light of what had happened then she wasn’t really hurt.
One of these days he was going to give her the holiday he’d promised.
The ship ahead suddenly veered of to the right and Riker barked
a command to the ensign at the helm to follow it. A brief moment
later the ship was back in the centre of the viewscreen, and slowly
the Enterprise gained on it. The Doctor moved round the bridge and
stood before the captain.
“Captain, when we finally get this Q person on board I’d like
for you to get him into the conference lounge so that I can talk to
him.”
“Understood Doctor. I’ll see what I can do.”
The Doctor then moved out of the way and let the captain
continue to race the ship.
“Captain, we are at warp 9.7. That’s our top speed. The
engines are red-lining as it is.” Geordi reported.
“We aren’t gaining fast enough. Is there anything we can do to
increase our speed?”
“No sir. If we push the engines any further they’ll go into
auto-shutdown.”
“I see. Reduce speed to warp 9.5. We’ve lost the race this
time.”
The helm complied with the order and the ship on the screen
began to increase its lead once more.
“Captain, are you forfeiting the race?” came the voice of Q.
“We have to. Our engines can’t take the strain anymore.
Congratulations Q, you’ve won.”
“Oh that was too easy. I’ll have to think up something else.”
“Perhaps you would care to join us in the conference lounge for
a moment – to discuss the prizes.” Picard offered. Q accepted and
with a flash of light the ship vanished from the screen. Picard stood
and walked towards the doors, tugging at his jumper. Riker followed
him, closely followed by Worf, Data, Geordi and the Doctor. They
filed into the lounge and saw Q sitting at the head of the table
dressed in an Starfleet examiner’s uniform. He looked up as they
entered, and upon seeing the Doctor his eyes widened.
“Doctor, so good of you to show up. I’ve been admiring your
box. It has an interesting architecture that quite puzzles me.
Perhaps you might allow me to see inside.”
Certainly. If you’d like to step over here I’ll open the door
for you.” The Doctor gestured to the TARDIS but refrained from moving.
Q stood and walked over to the TARDIS stopping at the door. He looked
questioningly at the timelord who fished out his key and inserted it
into a lock contained on the machine. Twisting the key caused the
machine to hum quietly, but the doors refused to open.
“That’s odd. The doors should have opened. Just a moment.”
Said the Doctor. He twiddled a knob on the control panel of the
machine and a sharp whistle emanated from the machine then died down
to the quite humming noise again. “No, it definitely doesn’t want to
open.”
Impatient, Q decided to take matters into his own hands.
Lifting his hand he gestured, but nothing happened. He gestured
again, still nothing.
“What have you done?” Q cried, alarmed.
“This device is actually quite an achievement. It has
effectively removed your abilities to manipulate space and time. What
I have done is set up a dimensional space/time dampening field around
you. Nothing you can do will break it, and the only way out is for
the machine to be switched off. If I wanted I could leave you here
for all eternity.” the Doctor said, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
Q walked away from the TARDIS only to be brought up short by an
invisible barrier.
“Oh yes, there’s also a form of forcefield. It wouldn’t do to
let you walk out of range, would it?” added the timelord. He turned
to Picard, “Jean-Luc, could I have some time alone with Q, please?”
Picard nodded and he and his senior staff vacated the room.
Q looked at the Doctor with intrigue. The Doctor, however,
looked on with pity and regret.
“What are we going to do with you Q?”
“What do I care. As soon as I am free of this I shall create
havoc for you until the end of your days.”
“You tried that once before and I was forced to help stop you
then. It looks like I must do it again.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You seem to have forgotten. I’ll tell you what I know and you
can stop me when you start to remember. But before I do start I must
do something.” The Doctor looked up and spoke to the computer.
“Computer, cease all recording of events in this room until
otherwise instructed.”
“Please enter access code for requested function.” replied the
computer. The Doctor thought for a moment and then supplied a code.
It was one he had stumbled across when helping Data fix the computer
core, and he hoped it would work now.
“Code verification check initiated, please wait… code
verified and accepted. Recording has ceased.”
The Doctor pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. He
leaned his head back and closed his eyes, collecting his thought into
order. Q sat on the floor heavily and waited. Presently the Doctor
opened his eyes and spoke as though he were reading some ancient text.
“In the beginning there was chaos. Rassilon decided to bring
about order. Eventually he did and, with the help of Omega, created
time travel. Omega was cast into a black hole by the force of the
supernova exploding, where he lay trapped in a universe of anti-matter
believing himself to be exiled and forgotten.
There was another being at that time whose thirst for power and
domination was almost greater than Rassilon could overcome. But
Rassilon prevailed and the other one was cast out of society. He was
banished, exiled, to a prison of great cunning. The prison was
wrought from the very fabric of time and intersected with dimensions
even Rassilon had not known existed.
The exiled one was placed in the prison and given a guard. The
guardian was there to ensure the prisoner did not try to escape. If
he did, she was told to alter the destination so that he could never
return to his home planet.
Time passed and the prisoner drifted throughout space, time and
dimensions. At some point there was a crack in the prison – a
temporal flux in the universe – which allowed the exiled one to
escape. The guardian, realising what had happened, carried out her
orders and stopped him from reaching his destination. Trapped in a
small dimension, he began to create illusions using the power of his
mind. He lured unsuspecting travellers into his dimension where he
forced them to play his games. If they lost, they became subservient
to him. If they won they were allowed to go on their way. Winning
was not easy, especially since it would involve the destruction of his
small universe along with anybody, or anything, inside it – including
the winners.
At some point he snared a being, accompanied by two friends.
The ensuing battle of minds was great and eventually the captive, an
old man, won. The dimension exploded sending the exiled one back into
his prison. The old man, however, was extremely clever. He
engineered a way to exit from the small universe without losing his
life, or that of his companions.
The aftershock of the exploding dimension followed the prisoner
back to his prison and shifted it into a far distant dimension, where
another universe existed. The resulting shock of the journey was
enough to break the prison entirely and allow the prisoner freedom.
The guardian was set free also, and she spent a long time tracking the
exiled one down.
Are you getting all this?” The Doctor stopped for a moment to
allow the information he’d imparted to sink in to Q’s mind. Q nodded
and signalled for the Doctor to continue.
“I managed to piece the rest together with some help from people
in this universe.” the Doctor said, and then continued with his
narrative.
“The exiled one found that the power of his mind was enhanced by
elements of this new dimension. There were others in that dimension
and they decided to call it The Continuum. The exile decided to call
himself Q.”
Q started at that. Suddenly all recollection came back to him.
He remembered Gallifrey, the time of chaos, Rassilon, the Guardian.
The Guardian!
“Isn’t it strange how over the years words change?” the Doctor
said conversationally, as though he could see Q’s mind racing to the
conclusion. Guardian, Guardin, Goudin, Guidin, Guidan, Guinan! Q was
stunned. Guinan was a descendant of the Guardian.
“Do you mean to tell me that the Guardian has passed the
knowledge down through the generations to Guinan?” Q asked
incredulously.
“No. Guinan IS the Guardian. She told me that when she met you
for the first time on this ship that you and she recognised each
other, but were not sure from where. That’s because the information
of who she was had slipped to the back of your mind and was of no
importance to you. Well, I say that is was of no importance to you,
what I mean is that both you and she had changed. Altered your
appearances, you might say, and that was the reason you failed to
recognise her.”
“No. I recognised her from a previous meeting we’d had many
years ago. I forget exactly where or when, but we’d had our
differences then and I think the shock of seeing her on board this
ship clouded my recollection of who, or what, she really is.” Q said.
He paused as he collated the information imparted by the Doctor, then
spoke again.
“You said that this Rassilon person brought about order. What
was I – the exiled one – charged with?”
“Interference with other sentient lifeforms, wilful destruction
of public property, subversion of minor races leading to their
ultimate destruction. Need I go on?”
“No, I don’t think so. So, the exiled one was imprisoned and
cast out of the universe. Then after a long while I emerged into the
universe, dimensions away from Gallifrey. What are you doing here
then Doctor, and why now?”
“I don’t know. I had been effecting repairs to the TARDIS when
somehow I was shifted across the dimensions into this universe. I do
know, however, that I cannot stay here. There is an imbalance in the
weight of this universe and that the longer I stay here the more
damage I unknowingly do to it. I must find a way to return to my own
universe and dimension before the damage becomes irreversible.”
“Then you can take me with you. I could go back to Gallifrey
and begin again. You know it makes sense, after all, I can effect
changes in the universe – even the multiverse – and help us get back
home.” Q sounded keen, almost eager to help. The thought of being
able to return to Gallifrey and continue his work there was becoming
an obsession with him. He had already begun planning what he would do
once he returned. The Doctor gently probed Q’s mind and disliked what
he found.
“No, Q. I will not return you to Gallifrey. You were exiled
for a very specific reason, and until you carry that out you can never
return. I’m sorry, but there are standing orders issued to all
timelords that if ever they met you they were to say that, and if all
else failed to take their own lives and prevent any possibility of
your return. You know, deep down, what that reason is and you must –
in fact you are compelled to – finish that task first. Even if I were
able and willing to take you back you wouldn’t get very far. The High
Council would sense your presence in my universe and simply exile you
back here, or back into another prison, until you had carried out the
task.”
Q hung his head, knowing the Doctor was telling the truth. The
task was not really a great deal, but it hung about his neck like a
heavy weight.
“You are right, I must stay. I do not know when the task will
be completed but I will stay until it has. How will the timelords
know when it is done?”
“The Guardian has implanted in her the knowledge of how and when
to contact Gallifrey. She does not know how, why or even what the
knowledge is, and neither you or anybody would be able to extract the
information from her. When the time is right, she will know.” the
Doctor replied. ” I will leave you here for a while to contemplate
your future and the task. From what I have seen here I don’t think it
will be long before you are ready.” The Doctor rose from his chair and
slowly walked out of the room.
On the bridge Picard sat waiting. The bridge was quiet,
everyone was subdued. To have a powerless Q aboard started to give
people ideas about retribution. The doors to the observation lounge
opened and the Doctor walked through, slowly and deep in thought.
“Doctor, is everything alright?” asked Sarah.
“Hmm? Er… Oh, yes. I was just thinking of the enormous task
that lies ahead.”
“For you, me or us?” she pressed.
“For humanity, in any dimension or universe. So much to do and
so little time.”
“That’s always been the problem. Not enough time.” Sarah said.
She tried to inject a note of humour into her voice but the Doctor
didn’t seem to have noticed. He moved down the ramp and came over to
the captain.
“Captain, I would appreciate it if you could forget Q was on
board and helpless and continue with your mission at hand. I think Q
is going to have a slight change of heart about humanity in general.
I gave him a lot to think about and he seems to be considering my
words carefully. Could you see that no-one enters that conference
room until I am sure he’s ready.”
“I can’t really do as you ask. Q is responsible for the deaths
of thousands of beings, from all over the galaxy – probably even the
universe. The Borg invasion is one of the most prominent examples.
If there is any chance of having him stand trial for his crimes then I
must make the arrangements to do so.”
“You don’t really have any choice, unless you plan to keep me
here as a prisoner.”
“You are a commander in Starfleet, and have not broken any rules
or regulation that I am aware of. I have no reason to keep you here.”
“The equipment holding Q in the stasis field in composed of
parts from my TARDIS. Without them I cannot leave, and I do not think
your replicators could manufacture the necessary parts without first
scanning the originals. To get to the originals I would have to
switch off the forcefield and disassemble the machine. Once it has
been turned off Q is free to go. Which do you propose to enforce?”
“You do not leave me with a great deal of choice. I will need
time to consider the options. If you’ll excuse me, and my senior
staff, I’ll convene a meeting.” Picard turned to Riker and asked for
the senior staff to meet him in the ready room in ten minutes. Riker
nodded and issued the command.
Ten minutes later they were together in the ready room. Worf
and Data stood near the door. Riker was seated near Picard’s table,
with the captain taking the obvious seat behind the table. Troi,
Beverly and Geordi sat on the couch.
Jean-Luc Picard sipped his tea and placed the cup back on to the
table. Clearing his throat he began the meeting.
“As you are all no doubt aware, Q is aboard the ship. At the
moment he is trapped by a forcefield of some kind, built by the
Doctor, and is powerless. The Doctor asks that we let him go and
carry on with our mission. I am reluctant to do so. As I have said,
Q is powerless and we have the possibility of bringing him to trial.
Comments please.”
There was silence as the crew digested that speech, then Riker
spoke up.
“As I understand it, the Doctor is using parts from his craft to
keep Q here.” Picard merely nodded. Riker continued, “Could we
duplicate these parts whilst the machine is operational?”
“I do not think we would be able to get a true assessment of the
components.” Data said, thoughtfully. ” I believe the machine is
emitting a high distortion field covering space and time. These
effects would interfere with the scanning of the machine.”
“Data’s right.” Geordi put in, “The machine would need to be
completely switched off in order for the computer to lock on to it.
Effectively, it would be like transporting it, just to get a precise
look at what it is, and how it’s constructed.”
“Could we transport Q and hold him in the beam until we’ve
scanned the device?” Troi asked.
“No. You see counsellor, in order for the transporter to lock
onto Q we would need the forcefield surrounding him to be deactivated.
The moment that’s gone we’d lose Q as well. If there were a way to
transport him out from within the field it would have pretty much the
same effect. As we transport him the containment field would
interfere with the forcefield. The strength of the forcefield would
effectively be dissipating, therefore he’d just wink himself out of
the beam.” Geordi explained.
“Can any of us enter the field?” Beverly asked.
“I don’t know, to be honest doctor.” was La Forge’s reply.
“Why?”
“I was just wondering. If one of us could get inside the field
without interrupting it, we could stun Q. I could make a hypo-spray
that would knock an elephant out for a week, if need be. Once Q’s
unconscious it’d be no trouble to switch off the machine and scan it.”
“We could ask the Doctor whether the machine could do that.”
Worf offered. Picard was silent for a moment as he contemplated the
suggestion.
“What’s to say that the hypo-spray won’t have any effect on Q.
We don’t know if he’s actually a humanoid or whether it’s just an
illusion. If he’s not, then we could end up with a hostage
situation.” Picard paused, than asked Worf to escort the Doctor into
the room. They waited for the timelord and the Klingon to arrive.
Presently Worf returned with the Doctor. Picard briefly explained the
course of the meeting.
“The answer, Jean-Luc, is no.” the Doctor said, when asked about
the permeability of the forcefield. “In essence it is just like any
of the forcefields in this ship. It blocks passage, and in addition
to that this one blocks time, space and dimension.”
“Dimension?” asked Geordi.
“Q has the power to shift himself into other dimensions – as you
know. If you were able to enter the forcefield you would disrupt it
long enough for him to escape.”
“I see.” said the captain. “Then it would seem that we are
unable to keep him here without also keeping you a virtual prisoner.”
“Why would you wish to keep him here?” asked the Doctor. The
question, whilst not unasked before, was designed to force Picard to
re-state the answer.
“I think Starfleet would welcome the possibility of bring Q to
justice. Reparations could be extolled from the Q continuum.”
“Is he worth that much to them?” the Doctor asked. “If
reparation is all you’re after, does that not fit the description Q
made of you when you first met?”
“I beg your pardon?” Picard said, with a frown. This wasn’t
quite the response he’d expected.
“You told me that at your first encounter with Q he put you – as
a species – on trial for being a ‘grievously savage race’. Does the
notion of holding a person to ransom – which IS effectively what you,
and Starfleet, would be doing – not give credence to support Q’s
charge.?” The Doctor turned to Worf, asking, “Mr Worf, I believe there
is a Klingon saying about revenge. Do you happen to know it, off the
top of your head?”
“Revenge is a dish that is best served cold.” Worf quoted.
“That’s the one. Jean-Luc, isn’t revenge a petty thing done by
less intelligent species, or at least, less socially developed beings.
Isn’t that what Q has asked you to prove you are not?”
“You are right. As the accused standing in the dock, I must
concede the point.” Jean- Luc Picard was silent for a while as he
weighed the sides of the argument. “Very well, I will let Q go. But
on the conditions that he knows why I am letting him free, and that he
refrain from involving us in childish games.”
“I think I can get him to agree to that. I’ll have a chat with
him after he’s had time to think of his imprisonment.” The Doctor
turned and left, without another word. Picard looked at his crew and
they, in turn, looked back with approval in their eyes. All except
Worf, who had been hoping to throw Q into the brig. Picard nodded to
his senior staff and they filed out of the room, leaving the captain
to his thoughts.
In the observation lounge Q sat looking at the floor. He’d been
powerless before, but he had known it was going to happen. To be
caught like a fly in a web, and stripped of his powers instantly – and
without warning – unnerved him a bit. He sat in silence trying to
gather his thoughts. Riker and Worf would probably want him locked
up, with the key thrown away. Whereas Picard had a moral sense of
right and wrong. Knowing that he would be condemning not one but two
(or three if Sarah was to be counted) to their own form of
imprisonment might help sway the balance. If Picard could come to
terms with the things Q had done, then he might – while not actually
feel sorry – understand part of the game, part of the task placed in
Q’s lap. With that understanding he might decide against keeping Q
prisoner.
The door hissed open and the Doctor stepped through. Looking at
Q he noticed the slight worry lines around the omnipotent beings eyes,
the haunted look on his face, the slight look of hope springing to the
surface.
“The captain is considering letting you free, but there are
conditions. He wants you to know why he is doing this, and wants you
to refrain from playing games with him and his crew.”
“Why is he letting me go?” Q asked, then answered it himself,
“Because he feels it would be wrong to keep more than me prisoner.
You and your companion would end up prisoners, at least until you
could fix your TARDIS.”
“I cannot duplicate the necessary circuits for the TARDIS using
the replicators. There are specific components that can’t be found in
this dimension. Yes, that is probably the main reason for not exiling
you to a prison.”
“And the games… Very well, I will not use this crew for my
playthings, at least not in a malevolent way. I can’t speak for the
rest of the continuum though. There are those who would relish the
chance to drag this crew into a black hole, just to see what would
happen. I will try to curb their bloodlust, as far as I am able.”
“That should be enough.” The Doctor moved over to the table and
turned the key, extinguishing the forcefield. Q exhaled a sigh of
relief, as he felt his powers returning. He raised a hand a in his
palm there was a small flicker of light. Closing his fist he shut off
the light and stood.
“I have you to thank for saving my life, no doubt, and I’m not
sure if I could repay you. As a small token of my appreciation I will
give you the information to enable you to swap dimensions. He
concentrated for a moment, then looked the Doctor in squarely in the
eyes. The Doctor pushed forth his mind and made a tentative contact
with the others mind. The information flooded into his mind and
suddenly he understood how the shift had happened. Understanding,
though, did not give knowledge. the knowledge would have to be
learnt, and once learnt it would need to be applied. Pulling his mind
back, the Doctor regarded Q in a different light. Before this
encounter he had been arrogant, overbearing and almost obnoxious.
Now, however, there was the slightest glimmer of respect – for the
timelord as well as the crew of this ship. Satisfied that the change
would eventually be for the better, the Doctor took the key from the
machine and lifted the jumble of circuit boards and wires to the floor
beside the TARDIS. He turned to Q.
“Thank you for th – ” but the entity was no longer in the room.
The Doctor stopped and giving himself a mental pat on the back opened
the police box doors. The machine was placed inside, near the foot of
the console.
There would be time enough to re-assemble the old girl, he
thought, let’s get these computations underway.
Sarah was good at goodbyes, the Doctor was not. It had taken
almost four days to sort out the correct structure to enable the
TARDIS to penetrate the universal membrane. Picard had given all the
help he could – without upsetting the running of his ship – and to
that end, Data had been the main force in working out the figures.
The Doctor had asked that Data join him in the TARDIS on the final
day. As a sign of good faith and trust, Picard had ordered Data not
to divulge any of the information pertaining to the internal structure
and workings of the police box, or any information about the figures
he was helping with. The Doctor had been relived at this, knowing
that Data would not – and could not – impart that information. To
this end he had allowed Data quite a bit of access to the ships
computer and navigation controls. Although Data did not fully
understand, or comprehend, the workings of the TARDIS, he was
gratified to be granted almost unlimited access. The Doctor had shown
him various parts of the console functions, like how to initiate a
search program of people and places, or how to access the vast wealth
of information contained in the computer database. None of the
knowledge he had shown would interfere with the history – past,
present or future – of the federation, or Starfleet.
Then it was time to leave. Riker had arranged a small farewell
party in Ten Forward, with a few friends. Geordi, Troi and Beverly
were there. Worf had declined to offer, due to the increasing
workload of having a large number of new staff joining the ship at the
next port of call. With a good proportion of them being security he
had wanted to ensure the smooth transition of personnel. Data was
duty officer on the bridge and had been forced to decline Riker’s
request. Picard was there, as was Guinan. She and the Doctor had
talked over a few things about Q and then Riker had announced the
party to have started.
“I was curious as to how you managed to trap Q so easily.”
Picard asked the Doctor.
“Easy? No, it wasn’t easy. There were any number of things
that could have gone wrong. I might have missed blocking a particular
dimension, of the field strength might not have been high enough.
Anything small and insignificant might have allowed him to escape.
Then we would have been back at square one, trying to capture him
again. It was different last time.”
“Last time? Had you met him before?”
“Yes, I had. It was a long time ago, and that was the reason I
didn’t recognise him right away. I’m not sure if I could have stopped
him at that time though.”
“Doctor, I was just talking to Sarah and she’s been telling me
about a few of the adventures you’ve had together.” Beverly said.
Picard looked faintly amused at the slight freezing of the Doctor’s
expression. He knew that feeling all too well.
“Oh, which ones were they?” asked the Doctor. He was fairly
sure which adventure would be circulating.
“It was one of you most recent ones.” Beverly said, “To do with
Dayleks?”
“Daleks.” The Doctor’s voice became slightly cooler. Picard
noticed the edge to his voice and shivered. The Doctor carried on,
“Yes. We were fairly lucky. Harry and Sarah nearly got killed in a
rocket blast, Harry nearly got eaten by a large mollusc, and I got to
meet with a brilliant scientist. It was a pity that he was quite
insane about his creations. You can think yourselves fortunate not to
have met him, or them.” There was pause, one of those uncomfortable
silences that seems to carry across the room to everybody, and then
the Doctor excused himself from the captain and his chief medical
officer.
Slowly, he and Sarah managed to make their way around the room,
heading for the exit. The Doctor looked over at Guinan, who nodded a
brief farewell, and the travellers smoothly left the party.
It was only a few minutes when Picard and Geordi noticed the
disappearance. Picard asked the computer to locate the Doctor and
Sarah.
“The Doctor and Sarah Jane are in turboshaft one, en route to
the bridge.” replied the computer. Geordi and Picard moved out into
the corridor and headed for the turbolift.
“I’m on duty in a few minutes. I’d better get to engineering.”
Geordi said. Picard nodded and Geordi headed off in another
direction. Riker, Troi and Beverly had caught up with the captain.
“Is something wrong captain?” Troi asked.
“No, not really. It would appear that our guests have decided
to leave the party early. There’re headed for the bridge. They are
probably hoping to slip away quietly.” The lift arrived and the group
ascended to deck one. Data was looking at the door which led to the
observation lounge, when the other arrived.
“The Doctor and miss Smith are preparing to leave.” the android
stated. Picard and the others walked over to the doors, with Data
joining them. Inside the lounge they could hear a groaning noise.
There was a thump and more groaning. Coming through the doors Picard
was astonished to see the battered police box fade from sight.
“Good luck, Doctor, and happy landings.” Troi said quietly.
Riker nodded an agreement. In the silence that followed each of them
had thoughts of their own, ranging from well-being to wondering about
whether the TARDIS would get them travellers home. They were
interrupted when the Enterprise was thrown to one side. Picard, Worf
and Troi were deposited in a heap, while Data caught Riker from
falling.
“What the hell – “began Riker, then followed it with the
command, “Red Alert! All hands to battle stations.”
The senior staff moved onto the bridge and took their customary
places. On the viewscreen was a picture, distorted, and totally
unrecognisable.
“Mr Data, report please.” said Picard.
“We appear to be caught in a temporal vortex. It has
characteristics that I have not seen before.”
“Is there any way to break out of it?” asked the first officer.
“I am not sure. There is no data on this type of phenomena.”
the android replied.
The Enterprise rocked as the disturbance grew. Deanna was
reminded of the failed holodeck simulation she’d taken, only a few
days previous. Luckily the command crew were still onboard. The
rocking subsided for a brief moment before returning with a vengeance.
“Captain, life support on decks 7 through 13 has dropped by 54%
and we are losing the inertial dampeners on decks 28, 30 and 31.”
reported Worf.
Suddenly the viewscreen cleared. The stars filed back into a
semblance of order and the Enterprise slowly drifted.
“All stop.” barked Riker. The ensign at the helm complied. The
Enterprise became still, the bridge became quiet. The silence was
broken by the voice of Data.
“Sir, according to the sensors, we are no longer in federation
space.”
“Then where are we?” asked Picard.
“The sensors have located a planet. It appears to be Remus.
Although there are no signs of life. The twin planet, Romulus, is not
in this star system.”
“Can you plot a course back to federation space? Mr Worf
contact Starfleet command. I want to find out if they know anything
about a missing planet.”
“Aye sir.” Worf acknowledged.
“I am unable to plot a course. There are significant changes to
the star maps which make it difficult to obtain a precise location
fix.”
“Captain, I am not receiving Starfleet on any channel. There is
no interference, just no signals.” Worf stated.
“Perhaps the communications were damaged in the shaking.” Riker
suggested.
“I have run a diagnostic on the communications array. There is
nothing wrong with it. There are simply no signals on any Starfleet
frequencies.”
“La Forge to captain. Sir, we’ve run a full scan of the
surrounding space. It all looks different and the field density is
off balance. It’s also out of sync with the Enterprise. It looks
like we’ve not only jumped out of federation space, but out of our
universe.”
Chapter Six
—————–
The TARDIS was lying at an awkward angle. The doors were closed
but faced up to the sky. It was raining. Alongside the blue box,
also deposited at an angle was a metal bar. The end bleeped and there
was a faint blue light flashing somewhere in the depths of the metal
itself. The TARDIS doors had a black circle marking them. Not paint,
more like soot. The rain caused the mark to smudge and run down the
doors collecting in a puddle at the bottom, before running along the
step and off the corner. The was an acrid smell in the air, but
no-one to smell it.
A noise came from the undergrowth, a rustling. Another,
different, noise came from the small hillock in front of the TARDIS.
This was the sound of an energy weapon discharging. The energy bolt
hit the undergrowth with remarkable accuracy. The rabbit disappeared.
A noise behind the gun wielder caused it to turn, but not fast enough.
The silver gloved hand was torn from the arm, a second stroke from the
branch removed the head from the shoulders. The decapitated corpse
flopped to its knees, then fell sideways.
The attacker leaped over the body and rushed to the TARDIS
doors, bringing a key up to the lock in one smooth movement. The
companion to the corpse swung its weapon round, but by the time it
had locked onto the movement it was gone. The assailant had disappeared.
The doors were still closed. The small clearing in the small forest was
once again silent, apart from the faint drip, drip, drip of water on leaves.
Far out in space a sleek silver spaceship glided effortlessly
through the blackness. On board the USS Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc
Picard was worried. His ship and crew were lost. Not lost on the
conventional sense, but lost on a universal scale. By all accounts
this was not their universe and they had no idea how to return to the
universe of their origin.
“Mr Data, have you been able to ascertain how we were brought
here?” asked the captain.
“No sir. I have scanned the immediate area for any anomalous
readings, but as yet I have not found any. I am widening the search
parameters.” replied the android.
“Could it have been Q?” Riker asked.
“That is a possibility, although there is no way to scan for evidence
of that nature.” Data replied.
“Number One, I’ll be in engineering. Call me if you find
anything.” Picard said, rising from his chair.
“Aye sir”
Picard left the bridge and descended into the heart of his ship.
He arrived in main engineering to find Geordi La Forge and a team of
twenty engineers stripping the computer for information. They were
also running diagnostics and adjustments to many of the systems,
hoping to find the cause of the transposition out of their universe.
In sickbay Beverly Crusher was tending to several minor
injuries. A twisted ankle and some large bruising seemed to be worst.
After a while the room was quiet once more, and she went to her office
to sit down. Nurse Ogawa put her head round the door and wished her a
good night, then the office and sickbay were all silent. Beverly
leaned back resting her head on the chair and closed her eyes.
I’ll just rest for a moment then I’ll –
Silver Shapes – Voices, Screams –
The chief medical officer snapped open her eyes. The images
that flooded though her mind ceased. She closed her eyes again,
slowly.
Silver Hands – holding her? – Restraints – A Weapon (pointed
at her?) – A girl, muddied, tattered clothing, (trying to run) – Silver
Shapes –
Beverly re-opened her eyes. The images faded from her sight,
but not from her mind. She stood, gathered her thoughts and strode
out of her office, out of sickbay, and down the corridor, heading to
somebody who could help her.
The chime of the door announced a visitor. Deanna looked
towards the door and called for the person to enter. The doors slid
open and revealed a slightly perplexed looking Beverly Crusher.
“Beverly, what’s wrong.” Deanna got up and walked to the
doorway, concern evident on her face. Beverly crossed the threshold
and the doors closed behind her.
“I’ve had – ” she began, then started again.
“There were pictures – ” she faltered once more. Deanna guided
her to a chair, sitting her down, then sat herself. Beverly crusher
took a deep breath, sorting out the confusion in her mind.
“That’s alright. Just take your time.” Deanna advised.
“I was in sickbay. I had just finished treating the minor
injuries caused by the rocking of the ship. I went to my office and
sat down to write up my log. Sitting back in the chair I closed my
eyes to collect my thoughts, when… ” she paused, trying to recall
the images, “When there were a flash of images flooding my mind.
They’re still a bit vague, but I saw something silver – a hand? – a
weapon of some sort? There were voices – harsh tinny voices….”
“These voices, what did they say?”
“There was one that said something like ‘hold them’ and another
said ‘ speak’ – no it said ‘you will answer’ , yes. That’s what it
said.”
“Was the voice talking to you, or were there others with you?
Did the voice speak to them?”
“No. There was only me. The second time I closed my eyes there
was somebody else. A girl – she looked about eighteen – she was dirty
and tattered. She ran away, I think. No, she was struggling. There were
hands holding me, but not me. Do you know what I mean?”
“I’m not sure. These hands were holding the person in your
mind, but you thought they were holding you. As if you were looking
through somebody else’s eyes.” Deanna suggested. Beverly nodded
enthusiastically.
“Yes, that was it. I was looking through someone’s eyes at a
scene. It was happening to somebody else. Deanna, am I going crazy,
or did this really happen?”
“To you it was real. It seems to me as though you experienced a
telepathic link with another mind and saw what was happening to them.
This isn’t unusual. In most cases this things sort themselves out
after a few days, sometimes it only takes a few hours. My advice is
to go to bed and rest. If you feel you want to prescribe something to
help you sleep then do it. You’ll probably find that tomorrow this
will have passed over.” The Betazoid rose from her chair and guided
the doctor to the door.
“If this still affects you tomorrow come and see me again.
Don’t worry if you dream, that’s perfectly normal after this kind of
experience. Your mind will only be re-playing the scene over again,
trying to understand it better. Good night.”
“Good night Deanna, and thank you.” and Beverly left for her own
quarters.
The night passed uneventfully. Beverly did dream, but it wasn’t
about the events of that evening. She woke refreshed, dressed and
left for breakfast with the captain. Breakfast went smoothly,
Jean-Luc preparing it. After breakfast she went to her office and the
captain went to the bridge.
William Riker was on the bridge when Picard strode out of the
turbolift. Data was also there, sitting at Ops.
“Good morning captain.” said the first officer, “Data has picked
up a disturbance in the space/time continuum. We’re heading towards
it to investigate.”
“A temporal disturbance? Mr Data, has this anything to do with
our reasons for the universe jump?”
“There is no way to know captain. The time difference between
our jump and this disturbance is approximately fourteen hours and
forty seven minutes. It is unlikely that this is the cause. It is
more likely to be the aftershock.” replied the android.
“Coming up on the co-ordinates now sir.” reported Ensign
McKnight.
“All stop. Begin close range scans.” ordered Riker.
“There is a disturbance emanating from the third planet of the
star system. The disturbance is subsiding dramatically.” Data noted.
“Plot a course Ensign. Standard orbit”
“Aye Sir”
The enterprise moved slowly towards the planet and assumed
standard orbit. Data continued scanning and reported the disturbance
to have all but disappeared. Picard thought for a moment before
ordering an away team.
In transporter room 3 Riker waited for Geordi to arrive.
Beverly, Data and Worf were already there. Geordi entered and the
away team stood on the platform.
“Energise.” said Riker, and the five people faded from sight.
On the planet below five people materialised, surrounded by
trees. They looked around for a moment then removed tricorders and
phasers from their belts.
“There is a residual temporal fluctuation, bearing 124 mark 6,
distance two hundred metres. It is in a small clearing” reported
Worf, “There are also some forms of life, although the readings are
indistinct. I cannot get a true reading on them, although one of them
is weaker than the other.”
The party set off, warily, looking about them as they went.
They came to the clearing, slowing their approach as they neared. A
movement off to one side caused Riker to stop and drop to his knees.
The movement continued and Riker saw it was a silver hand, holding a
weapon of some sort. He barked a command.
“Down!”
The away team dropped and moved back into cover just as an
energy bolt sizzled over their heads, followed by more in quick
succession.
“Not very friendly, are they?” said Geordi. Worf didn’t talk,
he just fired a phaser burst in the direction of the silver hand.
There was a muted crackle of exploding electronics and the energy
bolts stopped. Riker waited for a moment before venturing out into
the clearing. Behind him he could hear the scanning of a tricorder.
“There is still a lifeform reading in the area, but the readings
are weak.” Beverly said. The silver figure stumbled out from behind a
tree. One of its arms had been severed at the mid-point between the
elbow and wrist. It bent down and with its good arm picked up the
fallen weapon. It turned to face Riker and aimed the gun. Riker
jumped behind a tree, but Data was faster. He leapt towards the
figure and wrestled with it. The silver being grappled, trying to get
a hold on Data, but with only one arm it was difficult. The android
was pulled in close and the struggle intensified. Then the figure
fell away, gasping. It fell backwards, clawing at the panel on its
chest. After a few moments the figure ceased all movement.
“Data, what did you do?” asked Geordi.
“I do not know. It just seemed to fall away as if were
choking.”
Beverly ran the tricorder over the silver being.
“That’s exactly what it was doing.” she said, “It seems to have
asphyxiated, but I can’t tell exactly how.”
“It was grasping at its chest.” Geordi said, “Data, what’s that
in the grill?”
“It appears to be a fine golden dust, although I am at a loss to
see where it came from.”
“I’m not.” Riker said, “Your com-badge is damaged and it has
gold in it.”
“Hey, you’re right. The edge of the badge has been grated. The
grill on its chest must have come into contact with the com-badge long
enough to scratch some of the gold off.” Geordi exclaimed.
Beverly scanned the surrounding area again.
“There doesn’t seem to be any life reading in the immediate
vacinity.” Beverly said, “That temporal disturbance is closer now.
Over there.” she pointed over to a small mound. They moved over to
it, and Riker stopped in amazement.
“Is that what I think it is? What’s it doing here?”
“The tricorder readings confirm it to be the TARDIS.” stated
Data.
“Scan the area around. See if you can locate the Doctor. ”
Data and Worf scanned the surrounding forest. They reported no
signs of life. Riker was puzzled. Why was the TARDIS here? Where
was the Doctor? Who were the beings who’d fired at them? Well, the
last question could be answered.
“Data, see what you can find out about these beings.” Riker
gestured towards the silver corpses. Data moved over to the nearest.
Beverly moved over to the other figure and began scanning. “Worf, is
the TARDIS the source of the temporal disturbances?” The Klingon
scanned the area, “No. The readings are coming from a point a few
kilometres away. This would appear to ahve been the original location
though.”
Data motioned for Riker to look at the silver figures on the
ground.
“They seem to be part organic, part machine. The body is of a
metal not known to us, and the only organic section on this body is
the brain, although that is only 18% organic. The remainder seems to
be a primitive computer system.” Data said, still scanning.
“This one’s different.” Beverly noted, “There is more organic
structure to the upper body, the chest, the respiratory functions, the
heart. The rest is machine, even the brain. It’s as if they were
made by different people. Or perhaps that one is at a later stage of
development to this one.”
“I think you are correct doctor. Your being is certainly less
developed. However, the brain is totally mechanistic. It would
appear that the body functions are not created at the same rate for
all beings.”
“Commander, There is no sign of any life in a radius of 5
kilometres. If the Doctor is here he must be inside the TARDIS. The
temporal fluctuations are approximately 6 kilometres away.” Worf said.
Riker looked thoughtful before saying,
“I think we must assume the Doctor is nowhere in sight and that
he may be in the TARDIS. However, we cannot stay here. There is no
life nearby. I think we should beam up and take the TARDIS with us.
We can keep this area under surveillance from the Enterprise and if
the Doctor does come back we can beam him aboard. I would rather do a
planetary scan from the ship than run into more of these things.”
Data and Worf agreed, although Beverly looked doubtful. She
didn’t voice her doubts though and with that Riker ordered the five
people and the TARDIS beamed up.
The away team arrived in transporter room 3 once again. The
TARDIS, however, arrived in cargo bay 4. Worf sent a security detail
to watch over it, and Riker went to the bridge to give his initial
report the captain.
“These silver beings sound a lot like the Borg, part organic,
part machine. It doesn’t sound too promising, does it Will?” Picard
said after hearing the preliminary report from his first officer. He
had shared Rikers discomfort at not finding the Doctor, but believed
the course of action was justified. Meanwhile, they were no closer to
finding out the cause of their being in the wrong universe.
“I’d like another look at the TARDIS. I find it a little
worrying that it should be almost abandoned on the planet. Have
Geordi and Data meet me in cargo bay 4.”
“Aye sir.”
Picard and Riker stood and walked out of the ready room. Picard
moving to the turbolift whilst Riker paged the two officers to
accompany the captain.
In cargo bay 4 the security team moved away from the TARDIS to
let the three men look it over.
“There doesn’t seem to be any difference to when we saw it a
while ago.” Picard noted. True, there were a few dents and scratches
where there weren’t before, but the blue box looked the same
otherwise.
“I am detecting no temporal disturbances from the craft.” Data
reported, “It would seem that this was not actually the source we located.”
Just then there was a thump from the other side of the box and
the doors opened. A girl, tattered and muddied, stepped out. She had
a fierce look on her face that turned to surprise, her surroundings
suddenly sinking in.
“What – ” she began, “Where am I? I didn’t feel the TARDIS
move. Where’s the professor?”
“Ah..” Geordi said.
“The professor?” Picard asked, “Young lady might I enquire who
you are?”
“Ace.” said the girl, still mystified as to how she got here.
“Ace, I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the federation starship
Enterprise. These are commanders Data and La Forge.” He indicated the
other two officers. “Is this TARDIS yours, or does it belong to the
Doctor.”
Data had been scanning the new arrival and announced his
findings to the captain.
“She is human. About eighteen years of age.”
“Of course I’m human, Golden Eyes.” she turned to Geordi,
“Speaking of eyes, where’s yours? What’s with the hair band?”
“My eyes are behind this VISOR. It enables me to see. Er..
what hair band?”
“The thing over your eyes. Looks wicked!”
“Er, gentlemen, miss Ace, I think this discussion is wandering
off the original topic. Miss Ace, I -”
“Just Ace.” Ace said pointedly
“Ace, ” Picard corrected himself, “This TARDIS -”
Ace interrupted him again, starting to enjoy this conversation,
“The TARDIS belongs to a timelord who calls himself The Doctor. He
has two hearts and a body temperature of only 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
He’s also over 900 years old.” She smiled to herself. Let’s see how
they digest that, she thought.
“Yes, we’ve met him already” Picard said. Ace mentally frowned,
the Doctor hadn’t mentioned meeting these people – but then he’d never
really volunteered information about his past. Picard was speaking
again, and she brought her mind back to the conversation.
” – and we were wondering where the Doctor was. We found the
TARDIS on the planet below being guarded by two silver beings, robots
of some sort.”
“Cybermen.” Ace supplied. “They captured us, the Doctor and me,
and took us to their ship. They were going to turn me into one of
them, but I managed to escape. I headed back to the TARDIS to brew up
some Nitro. Then I was going back to the ship to get the Doctor out
and blow it up. When I came out I was here, wherever this is. Neat
looking set-up.”
“Nitro?” enquired Data.
“Nitro-Nine. It’s a home-made explosive, based loosely on
Nitro-glycerine but really awesome.”
“I see. Did you -” Data was cut short by Picard, who was trying
to bring the conversation back to a semblance of order.
“You’re on board the Enterprise, Ace. We’re in orbit of the
planet you were on. Do you know what happened to the Doctor?”
“They said they were going to interrogate him. Something about
wanting to travel back in time to stop the destruction the their
fleet. They were getting ready to take off when I left. I’d hoped
they would wait for me to get back before going. Can you scan the
planet to see if they’re still there?”
“Yes we can. How far away were they from the TARDIS?”
“About five miles I suppose. It’s hard to judge distance when
you’re being chased.”
Picard touched his com-badge.
“Picard to bridge. Commander Riker, scan the planet for another
ship about five miles from the site of the TARDIS.”
“Aye sir.” there was a pause followed by, “Nothing sir. Sensors
show a small disturbance in the forest 5.4 miles from the site, but
that’s all. The sensors say that there was a temporal disturbance
there, just before we got here. That must be what Data picked up.
There’s no signs of another ship or shuttle nearby.”
“Thank you commander.” Picard turned to Ace.
“It would seem they left without you.”
Ace looked at the captain with eyes glistening. The Doctor was
really gone. She was alone with just an empty TARDIS for company…
(more parts will be online later)
—————————————————————–
All Star Trek characters are copyright Paramount.
All Doctor Who characters, and the TARDIS, are copyright BBC
Enterprises.
Story content and all other characters are (c) Rob Cowell. 1995
EXCEPT the article 110 section, from the story The Doctor and
The Enterprise by Jean Airey.
This story will be uploaded to the anonymous ftp site for
startrek.creative stuff, and to Frontios.
Rob Cowell
All Marks are owned by their owners.
Doctor Who & related characters are the BBC’s
Star Trek & related characters are Paramount’s