Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/crossover/drwho/synchronicity

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Well, I've finally written Part 6!  I've also finally started getting to the
good stuff in case any of you were getting bored.
A lot of people have told me that Wesley and Ace shouldn't be dating because
it's not in character for Ace.  I've thought about it, and even though most of
the people who wrote are Wesley-haters, I've got to admit that I could make
this part better.  I appreciate any and all suggestions and criticism (as long
as it doesn't say "WESLEY?  What a GEEK!")  This is the non-revised version,
and I will certainly revise it once I'm finished to give it more polish.
So, until then, you'll have to live with the rough draft version.   :)
I must say, though, that critical response is much better than no response at
all!  So, everyone, thanks for reading!

Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/3/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART I

    It was late at night on the planet Gallifrey.  In the Temporal
Monitor Room, only a few Time Lords were left at the consoles monitoring
the time streams, most of whom were just staring disinterestedly at the
readouts.  One Time Lord, however, was staring at her screen intently
with an eager expression on her face.  Every so often, she made some
adjustments to her instruments as she continued to analyze her readings.
Just then, an older woman walked in wearing the insignia of an Academy
professor.  She walked over to the girl and observed her work.
    "Zanthia?" said the professor.  "Are you still working?  My
goodness, you've been at it for almost 8 hours now.  You really should
get some rest."
    "I can't rest now, Professor Flavia," said Zanthia, as she
continued staring intently at her screen.  "I'm just so close to the
answer that will prove Borusa's theory!"
    "I know you're anxious to finish your degree, Zanthia," said
Flavia, "but it's late.  Besides, black holes live for 10^66 years.  This
one will be around tomorrow."
    Zanthia paused her work for a moment, turning around to face
Flavia.  Despite her eager expression, fatigue was clearly evident on her
face.  "Oh, I know, Professor Flavia.  It's just that I'm so sure I've
found what I'm looking for.  I mean, if it's true, think of what it could
mean!"
    "Yes, I know.  A whole new world of possibilities for Gallifrey."
Flavia smiled, and looked at Zanthia's eager, yet tired face staring back
at her.  "You're one of my best students, Zanthia.  I've always admired
your dedication to your work.  I have no doubt that you'll turn out to be
an outstanding scientist and Time Lord.  But now, it's time to rest.  You
can continue your work tomorrow morning."
    Zanthia looked reluctant, but finally she said, "Oh, all right,
Professor.  If you say so.  I just have to save my current file."  She
began typing at her keyboard as Flavia began to leave.  Suddenly, she
noticed a blip on her monitor approaching the black hole.  "Professor
Flavia!  I'm picking up something approaching the black hole!"
    Flavia walked over to the monitor to see what she had detected.
"Hmmm... It appears to be a TARDIS."
    Zanthia pressed a key and got a detailed reading on the contact.
"I'm reading it as a Type 40, Registration #TT40-001."  She paused, and
looked up at Flavia.  "Wait a minute.  That's the Doctor's TARDIS!"
    "I never knew you knew so much about the Doctor, Zanthia," said
Flavia in surprise.
    "Oh yes," said Zanthia.  "I've researched all I can about him, even
though the most of the data has been classified by the Celestial
Intervention Agency."
    "You must admire him a great deal, then," said Flavia.
    "I think he ranks right up there with Rassilon and Omega!" said
Zanthia.  "He's one of the greatest Time Lords in our history, no matter
what the High Council says!"
    Flavia smiled.  "I must admit I admire the Doctor, too, Zanthia.
Even though he did trick me into becoming President."
    Suddenly, Zanthia noticed another blip on her monitor.  "I'm
reading another time vessel closing on the Doctor.  It doesn't read as
any known type."
    "Are you sure?" asked Flavia.
    "Positive," said Zanthia.  "It's definitely not one of ours."
    As the unknown craft drew closer, the Doctor's TARDIS remained just
outside the black hole.  Suddenly, the TARDIS vanished from the monitor.
    "What's happened?" asked Flavia.
    "I don't know.  I've lost the Doctor's signal," said Zanthia.
    Suddenly, the other craft stopped.
    "What do you think it's doing?" asked Zanthia.
    Flavia looked over her shoulder at the readings.  "It appears to be
travelling backwards in time."
    As the two watched, the unknown craft continued travelling back in
time, then began moving toward the black hole.  Suddenly, the craft's
signal vanished just as the Doctor's had.
    "What's happened?" asked Zanthia worriedly.
    Flavia, too, looked worried.  "I fear you may have been right about
that black hole, Zanthia.  Wherever the Doctor's gone, his pursuer's gone
there a week ahead of him."
    "We've got to do something!" shouted Zanthia.  "The Doctor might be
in danger!"
    "We don't even know what that other ship is," said Flavia.  "It's
too dangerous."
    "Please, Professor Flavia!" exclaimed Zanthia.  "The Doctor doesn't
know about the other ship, and we're the only ones that do!  We must at
least try to warn him!  It could be his only hope!"
    Flavia paused for a moment, thinking intently.  "All right,
Zanthia.  We shall at least try."  The two Time Lords walked out of the
room and into the hallway leading to the TARDIS storage room...

    "How much longer will it take to get there, Professor?"
    The Doctor was examining the readouts on the control panel of the
TARDIS.  Now in his seventh incarnation, he looked like a rather jovial
middle-aged man.  Every once in a while, he'd frown at some dial or meter
and make a slight adjustment.  Most of the time, though, he'd stare at
the time rotor as it went steadily up and down, seemingly lost in
thought, as if he was contemplating the meaning of the universe.  His
companion, a girl from Perivale named Ace, was watching him with a look
of impatience.  After many travels with the Doctor all through space and
time, she had come to know him well and to appreciate his often enigmatic
style.  However, she still found his seeming absent-mindedness somewhat
annoying at times, like now.
    "Professor!" said Ace in a louder voice.  "I said, how much longer
will it take us to get there?"
    "What?"  The Doctor was jolted out of his reverie.  "Oh, yes.  We
should reach Florana in about 10 more minutes."
    "Are you sure this place is peaceful, Professor?  I mean, most of
the other places we've been haven't exactly given us a warm welcome!"
    "Oh, of course, Ace.  Florana is a well-known vacation spot
throughout the galaxy.  The effervescent pools there provide the most
relaxing swimming.  It's the perfect place for some quiet relaxation."
    The Doctor seemed completely confident.  Ace, however, wasn't
convinced.  "Every time you say that, Doctor, we always meet up with some
Daleks, or Cybermen, or some other creepy, slimy alien creature that
doesn't like you very much.  Are you sure there's nothing dangerous on
Florana?"
    "Trust me, Ace.  Florana is perfectly safe."  The Doctor paused.
"I was going to take one of my old companions, Sarah Jane, there once,
but we were unexpectedly diverted."
    Ace was suspicious at the sound of that.  "'Unexpectedly diverted?'
If you ask me, Professor, that's the story of your life!  It seems that
every time we try to go somewhere, we always get 'unexpectedly
diverted.'"
    "There's nothing to worry about, Ace.  Sarah and I were able to
shut down the Exxilon City, so it won't be troubling us anymore.
Besides, we're approaching Florana from a completely different direction
this time."
    "Well, that's a relief," said Ace.
    "Of course, I've never actually taken THIS route to Florana
before..."  The Doctor paused as he checked his coordinates.  "Come to
think of it, I don't believe I've ever visited this sector of the
galaxy."
    "Oh, great," said Ace.
    "Oh, stop being so pessimistic, Ace," said the Doctor.  "I know
precisely where we are."
    "Yes, but that's not the point, Professor," said Ace.  "Every time
we get off course like this, we always end up getting involved in some
crazy adventure!  I mean, how come we always end up in the middle of
things like that?  I know the TARDIS doesn't steer properly, but we
couldn't have landed in all those places by chance, could we?"
    "Yes, it is interesting how we always seem to land in the midst of
trouble, isn't it?" commented the Doctor.  "You know, I've often wondered
about that.  It's possible that the TARDIS travels to these places of its
own volition."
    "You mean the TARDIS really does have a mind of its own,
Professor?" asked Ace.
    "Well, at least some sort of quasi-empathic awareness," said the
Doctor.  He paused, seemingly deep in thought.  "Of course, it could also
be synchronicity."
    "Synchronicity?" asked Ace.
    "Yes," said the Doctor.  "It's a phenomenon in higher dimensional
temporal physics, whereby two otherwise acausal events at different
points in space and time can have a link between them.  Actually, the
term was coined by Carl Jung.  He believed that events that seemed
coincidental could be connected by what he called the 'collective
unconscious.'"
    "What's that?" asked Ace.
    "It's a sort of area where all minds meet," said the Doctor.  "Some
believed it was a force like fate or destiny."
    "Oh, come on, Professor," said Ace.  "You can't seriously believe
that there's some supernatural force that controls people's destinies."
    "Well, what do you call Fenric, then?" said the Doctor.  "He did a
rather good job of manipulating our destinies, as I recall."
    "Well... I suppose so," said Ace, "but I mean, Fenric was
supernatural and all, but he wasn't exactly fate."
    "There are many forces in the universe, Ace," said the Doctor
philosophically.  "Some are obvious, some are not.  But all of them
affect our destinies in some way.  An event in your life might seem
insignificant at the time, but it could send you in a completely
different direction."  The Doctor paused.  "Trust me, Ace.  When you've
lived as long as I have, you learn to appreciate events on a more cosmic
scale."
    "Well, if you say so, Professor," said Ace.  "But I'm not about to
let some synchronicity or whatever tell me how to run my life!"
    The Doctor smiled.  Young people always believed themselves in
total control over their lives, he thought.  They never seemed to
appreciate that their lives were part of the total harmony of the
universe.
    Suddenly a light began blinking on the TARDIS console.  The Doctor
saw it and was instantly intrigued.  "Hmmm.. This is interesting."
    "What's interesting?" asked Ace.
    "There seems to be a very strong gravitational source nearby," said
the Doctor, as he checked his readouts.  "I'll try to get a visual on the
scanner."  He pressed a button and activated the TARDIS scanner.  A
large, swirling field of gases surrounding a large dark area appeared on
the screen.
    "Is that what I think it is, Professor?" asked Ace.
    "Well, that depends," said the Doctor.  "If you think it's a black
hole, then the answer is yes.  Actually, it's a dual system; a black hole
and a normal star orbiting one another.  The Doctor shifted the screen to
display the star.  "The black hole absorbs the solar wind from the star
to gain mass."
    As Ace watched the scanner, she noticed that the image was rather
large.  More to the point, it seemed as if the image was slowly getting
larger.  "Shouldn't we move a little farther away, Professor?" said Ace.
"I don't really think it's a good idea to get too close to a black hole."
    "Relax, Ace," said the Doctor.  "We're well clear of the hole's
main gravitational field."  The Doctor paused to study his sensor
readouts.  "Hmmm... fast rotation rate... strong electromagnetic
field..."  His face suddenly took on a puzzled expression.  "This is
odd."
    "What now, Professor?" asked Ace.
    "I'm picking up some sort of subspace wave anomalies in the
vicinity of the hole," said the Doctor.  "There seems to be some sort of
quantum fluctuation.  I can't figure out what's causing it."  He frowned,
and paused for a moment.  "Perhaps we should take a closer look at these
anomalies."  The Doctor set the controls and the TARDIS began to move
closer to the black hole.
    "Professor," said Ace nervously, "are you sure this is such a good
idea?"
    "Relax, Ace," said the Doctor cheerfully as he worked the controls.
"We're still well within gravitational escape limits."
    "I hope you know what you're doing, Professor," said Ace.  "I don't
fancy being trash compacted!"
    "There's no need to worry, Ace," said the Doctor.  "I know all
about black holes.  As a matter of fact, Gallifrey derives its power from
a black hole.  It's kept underneath the heart of our capitol city."
    "You keep a black hole under a city?!" said Ace incredulously.
    "Oh yes," said the Doctor.  "It's called the Eye of Harmony.
Rassilon and Omega engineered its creation and captured it to power
Gallifrey."
    "Wouldn't it just suck in the planet?" asked Ace.
    "We use a Quantum Axial Gravitational unit to keep it safely
contained and draw power from the gravity field," said the Doctor.
"Actually, the Eye is the combination of the QUAG and the black hole.
It's quite amazing how everything stays in balance, actually.  But as
long as the energy drain on it is not too great, it is perfectly safe."
    "Perfectly safe, Professor?" said Ace skeptically.
    "Oh yes, Ace," said the Doctor.  He failed to mention the times in
the past when energy drains on the Eye of Harmony had, in fact, almost
caused it to be released.  "You know, I just realized that I've never
actually shown you my home planet.  I really must take you there
sometime.  You'd love it, I'm sure."
    "No, Professor, that's all right," said Ace.  "I prefer my planets
without black holes."
    The Doctor examined his scanners.  "This is very interesting.
These anomalies seem to be some kind of spontaneous tachyon emissions.
According to my sensors, they seem to be coming from inside the hole."
    "How is that possible?" said Ace.
    "Well, tachyons travel at superluminal velocities, so a black hole
wouldn't impede them much," said the Doctor.  "The thing is, the
emissions seem random, yet they appear to be centered around a regular
frequency band.  I don't believe I've ever seen anything like this
before."
    "Is it really necessary for us to hang around here, Professor?"
asked Ace uneasily.  The longer the TARDIS stayed near the black hole,
the more nervous she became.  She had every confidence in the Doctor and
the TARDIS, and she certainly wasn't easily unnerved.  Hovering right
next to one of the most powerful forces in the Universe, however, is
enough to unnerve anyone.  "Couldn't we just go on to Florana and pop
back here later?"
    Anyone, that is, except the Doctor, who continued to examine his
sensor readouts as calmly as if he was merely studying a laboratory
experiment.  "Just a few minutes more, Ace," said the Doctor.  "I haven't
ever encountered a phenomenon like this before, and it's every good
Doctor's responsibility to study the unknown.  Who knows what benefits
could be gained from the knowledge!"  The Doctor paused, as he suddenly
thought of something.  "I seem to recall hearing about something similar
at the Academy.  There was a theory one of my professors had about
tachyons and black holes."  He paused again, trying to remember.  "Ah
yes!  It was my old teacher, Borusa."  His expression suddenly turned
regretful.
    "What is it, Professor?" asked Ace, seeing his expression.
    "Oh, it's nothing, Ace," said the Doctor, as he remembered the time
Borusa had played the Game of Rassilon with his previous selves.  He had
won Immortality from Rassilon; unfortunately, it was the Immortality of a
statue frozen for eternity.  Even though the Doctor had known there was
no other solution, he still shuddered at the thought.  "Now where was
I... oh yes, the theory.  I can't quite recall the details, but I'm sure
it was about a space-time phenomenon similar to this one.  There was
something about a tachyon resonance frequency..."  The Doctor paused.
"Why don't I try sending out controlled tachyon pulses.  If I can find
the right frequency, I might just figure this thing out."  He immediately
began fiddling with the controls and scanners.  A light flashed on the
console to indicate the tachyon generator was operational, but otherwise,
nothing happened.
    "Any luck?" asked Ace.
    "No, not yet, Ace," said the Doctor.  "Now why isn't this working.
Hmmm... Wait a minute!  I seem to remember Borusa saying something about
the gravity waves.  Of course!" exclaimed the Doctor.  "The gravity wave
frequency!"  He set the controls to the proper frequency and activated
the transmitter.  "Now let's see what happens, shall we?"
    Suddenly, the TARDIS began to shake violently.  Lights flashed
frantically on the control panel as the Doctor and Ace were thrown back
by the vibration.
    "Doctor, what's happening?" shouted Ace.
    "There seems to have been some sort of energy feedback, Ace," said
the Doctor.  "It's knocked us out of position.  We're being pulled into
the black hole!"  The TARDIS shook again, and several alarms began to
sound.
    "Can't you do something?" shouted Ace over the noise.
    "I'm trying, Ace!" shouted the Doctor, as he frantically
manipulated the controls.  "We've got to get clear of the hole's
gravitational field before it's too late!"  The TARDIS, however,
continued falling into the hole.  Suddenly, the Doctor and Ace were
pulled to the floor by an incredible force.  Ace felt as if she was being
crushed by a 10-ton weight.  She struggled to speak.  "What's...
happening... Doctor..."
    "Gravitational...  circuits...  overloaded...  Ace..."  The Doctor
struggled against the tremendous gravity to reach the console.  "Got
to...  dematerialize...  before...  too late..."  He reached for the
control and pulled it.  Suddenly, the TARDIS was struck by a tremendous
force, and the Doctor and Ace were thrown against the wall.  Bright
sparks flew as the console short-circuited.  The TARDIS plunged into the
black hole... and vanished.

    "Captain's Log, Stardate 47023.2:  The Enterprise has been ordered
to the Pelana system, a double star system in the Gamma Quadrant
consisting of a visible star and a black hole.  We are to investigate
reports of what appear to be artificial transmissions from one of the
star's planets.  I am pleased to note that the Enterprise will be the
first large-scale Federation vessel to explore this sector of the galaxy.
I am also pleased to note that Wesley Crusher will be here on leave from
the Academy.  I'm looking forward to seeing him again."
    Captain Picard sat back in his chair, staring out at the stars on
the viewscreen.  After all the recent excitement with the Borg and Lore,
it was good to have a relatively peaceful assignment for once.
Exploration, after all, was the reason Picard had joined Starfleet in the
first place.  And the starships named Enterprise had always been the best
at exploration.  Thus, it was fitting that the Enterprise was to be the
first large-scale exploration vessel to visit the Gamma Quadrant.  It
would be a chance to explore some new territory again.  And, it would
also be a chance for him to see Wesley again.  Picard smiled to himself.
He knew that, of all the cadets in the academy, Wesley Crusher was one of
the best.  Sometimes Picard wondered why he even needed the Academy.  He
had already served aboard the Federation's flagship, and he probably knew
more about starship operations than most of the professors!  Wesley was
in many ways like the son he never had, and it made Picard proud to see
him advancing so far.
    Just then, the turbolift doors opened and Wesley stepped out.
"Ensign Crusher reporting for duty, sir," he said.
    "Wesley, you're on leave," said Picard.  "You don't have to be on
duty."
    "Yes, I know, sir," said Wesley, "but this is the Enterprise's
first mission in the Gamma Quadrant!  I couldn't miss the opportunity to
be part of Starfleet history, sir."
    Picard smiled.  "Welcome aboard, Mr. Crusher.  Assume your
station."
    Wesley also smiled.  "Aye, sir."  He sat down at the navigation
console, which was currently empty as the navigation officer was off
duty.
    "We are approaching the Pelana star system, Captain," announced Mr.
Worf.  "We will reach Pelana B in approximately 5 minutes."
    "Understood," said Captain Picard.  "Continue on course and go to
impulse when we reach the system.  Mr. Data, what do your sensors
detect?"
    "The star itself is class F, slightly brighter than Earth's sun,"
announced Data.  "I am detecting five planets on long range scan.  The
second planet of this system does register as class M.  I am detecting no
evidence of any transmissions or life signs; however, sensor efficiency
is limited due to subspace distortions from the black hole.  I believe we
should investigate to see if there are any signs of life."
    "Make it so," said Picard.  "Ensign Crusher, assume standard orbit
around Pelana 2 once we reach the system."
    "It's fascinating how a stable planetary system can be in orbit
around a star which is in a double system with a black hole," observed
Commander Riker.
    "Our best guess is that the star was probably caught in the hole's
gravitational field as it travelled along its galactic orbit," said Data.
"It is unlikely that a black hole could have formed in a double star
system with a class F star."
    "Shouldn't the planets fall into the hole?" asked Riker.
    "The first three planets of the Pelana system are sufficiently
distant from the hole to maintain their orbits, although the hole does
cause large orbital perturbations in the third," observed Data.  "The
fourth and fifth planets orbit the black hole and star jointly."
    "I thought that life couldn't develop on worlds orbiting class F
stars," said Troi.
    "It would be impossible for life to evolve on such planets due to
the short lifetime of the star," said Data.  "However, such stars do have
a greater chance of possessing habitable planets.  There are currently
thirty-five Federation colonies on planets orbiting class F stars.  It is
possible that some other race with interstellar capability has
established a colony here."
    "And if that were true," said Picard, "then it would be the
Federation's best interests to establish relations with them."
    "I've heard that several Federation vessels have reported some kind
of anomalies in this system," said Riker.  "Something to do with the
black hole, I think."
    "That black hole is strange, Commander," said Wesley.  "According
to what I've read, it produces a subspace wave effect which seems to be
connected to strange tachyon anomalies in the hole's vicinity.  That
wouldn't be too hard to explain, except that the subspace distortion is
synchronic rather than random.  According to Tarkhoff's Second Law of
Subspace Dynamics, that's impossible in a non-inertial frame of
reference."
    "Well, this is the first time anyone's actually gotten a close look
at these anomalies, Wes," said Riker.  "We might be able to get some
further information about them."
    "Well, we can study the anomalies later, Mr. Crusher," said Picard.
"First, let's find out about those transmissions from Pelana 2."
    "We are approaching Pelana B now, sir," said Worf.
    "Captain," said Wesley suddenly.  "I'm detecting an 1000% increase
in tachyon emissions near the hole's event horizon."
    "On screen," said Picard.
    The screen shifted to a picture of the space near the hole.  The
accretion disc glowed brightly nearby, and the space near it seemed to
constantly undergo distortion.  Occasionally, bright flashes of light
danced through the distorted area.  Suddenly, a light brighter than the
others flared, drowning out the other anomalies.  It glowed momentarily,
then vanished.
    "Mr. Data, what do you make of it?" asked Picard.
    "The anomaly appears to have been only momentary, Captain," said
Data.  "It was accompanied by a type of subspace distortion similar to
that caused by a wormhole, but with significantly greater energy
density."
    "These readings don't quite make sense, Data," said Wesley, as he
examined his readings. "The synchronic distortion appears to have peaked
at an energy of 10.7 GeV.  For a black hole like this, that's much too
high."
    "I am also unable to explain these readings," said Data.  "They do
not conform to any known subspace phenomenon."
    "I'll scan the area for any residual effects."  Wesley tapped a few
buttons on his console, then looked up in surprise.  "Captain," said
Wesley.  "I'm picking up some sort of object nearby."
    "An object?" asked Picard.  "What is it?  Where did it come from?"
    "It appears to have originated..."  Wesley paused as he rechecked
his readings.  "It appears to have originated from the black hole, sir."
    "From the black hole?!" exclaimed Riker in amazement.  "That's
impossible!"
    "Ensign Crusher is correct," said Data.  "Based on the object's
current distance from the hole, I believe it was travelling at warp
velocity as it emerged.  Also, its appearance seemed to coincide with the
detection of the space-time anomaly.  There may be some connection
between these two events."
    "Captain," said Riker, "nobody's ever detected anything like this
before.  This could prove interesting."
    "Indeed," said Picard.  "Let's have a look at this object of yours,
Mr. Crusher."  The screen view changed, but still displayed only blank
space.
    "Magnify," said Picard.  The screen shifted several times as the
image was magnified, and this time the shape of a rectangular box could
be seen spinning and drifting against the background of the stars.
    "What the hell is that?" said Riker.
    "It appears to be a rectangular object approximately 2.2 meters in
height," said Data.
    "What do your sensors make of it, Mr. Data?" asked Picard.
    "Sensors do not seem to be able to penetrate the object, sir," said
Data.  "I cannot determine its composition.  However, I am picking up
low-level neutrino emissions from the object.  It may contain some sort
of power source."
    "Some kind of space probe, perhaps?" queried Riker.
    "That is a possibility," noted Data.  "However, it would be
impossible to determine without more detailed information."
    "These anomalies DO resemble wormholes," said Wesley.  "It's
possible that some other civilization has found a way of using black
holes for interstellar travel.  If that's true, we might learn a lot from
that object out there.  I definitely think it's worth investigating,
sir."
    "I recommend we bring the object on board for closer examination,"
said Riker.  "It might tell us something about these space-time anomalies
the Federation's been detecting."
    "And if it is a space probe from another civilization, it might
also have been their transmissions our survey ships detected," said
Picard.  "This might just be our lucky day, Number One."
    "We have no way of knowing if this object poses a threat to the
ship," said Worf.  "It could be dangerous."
    "Agreed," said Picard.  "However, let's investigate this further.
If the object is dangerous, we can take precautions.  Mr. Crusher, bring
us within transporter range of the object."
    "Aye, sir," said Wesley.

    The TARDIS had stopped shaking.  Inside the control room, the
Doctor and Ace sat up from where they had been knocked down onto the
floor.
    "Oi!" exclaimed Ace, as she slowly stood up.  "What happened,
Professor?"
    The Doctor also stood up slowly and wandered over to the control
panel.  "We seem to have been thrown clear of the black hole, Ace.  That
pull on us seems to have stopped."
    "I told you to be more careful, Professor," said Ace
disapprovingly.  "I mean, we could have been killed!"
    "I'm sorry, Ace," said the Doctor.  "Everything was going fine.  I
don't know what could have happened.  I suppose that's the risk you take
when you study the unknown, though."  He began to operate the controls.
"Yes, well, let's get back on course, shall we!"  As he examined the
readouts, his face became puzzled.
    "What is it, Professor?" asked Ace.
    "I didn't notice that star having planets before," said the Doctor.
    "What?!" exclaimed Ace.
    "I could have sworn that star didn't have any planets, yet now I'm
picking up five of them," said the Doctor.
    "You must have just missed them, Professor," said Ace impatiently.
"Let's just get back on course for Florana, shall we?"
    "No, that's not it, Ace," insisted the Doctor.  "I'm absolutely
sure that there were no planets around that star a minute ago."
    "Come on, Professor," said Ace.  "Planets just can't appear out of
nowhere."
    "Hmmm... It looks like the same star," said the Doctor.  "But of
course it can't be."  His expression became concerned.
    "What's the matter?" asked Ace.
    "I have a feeling we may have travelled farther than we thought,
Ace," said the Doctor.  "Let me see if I can verify our position."  He
checked the readouts.  "Well, according to these coordinates, we're in
exactly the same position we were in before."
    "See, Professor," said Ace.  "I told you so."
    "I'm telling you, something's happened, Ace," said the Doctor.
"One moment we're passing by a star with no planets, then we encounter
this black hole, and..."  The Doctor paused.  "Oh no!"
    "What is it?" asked Ace.
    "Don't you see, Ace?" said the Doctor.  "We weren't thrown clear of
the black hole, we were pulled straight through it!  That's the same star
system, all right, but it's not the same universe!"
    Ace was silent for a moment.  "Professor, do you mean to tell me
we've been sucked into some kind of parallel universe?"
    "Yes, I'm afraid so, Ace," said the Doctor.  "There's no telling
where we are, either.  Black holes like that lead to an infinite number
of parallel universes."  He paused for a moment.  "Wait a minute!
Parallel universes... that's it!  That's Borusa's theory!  If two black
holes in parallel universes have synchronized gravitational and
electromagnetic fields, then it will set up a subspace resonance wave
between them which connects the two universes!  That's what the sensors
were picking up!  When I sent out that tachyon pulse, I must have
accidentally triggered a Synchronic Bridge!"
    "Hang about," said Ace.  "Does this Synchronic Bridge have anything
to do with that synchronicity thing you were talking about before?"
    "Precisely, Ace!" said the Doctor.  "As I recall, old Borusa was
one the best at synchronic theory."
    "Does this mean destiny brought us here, Professor?" asked Ace
sarcastically.
    "Well, you never know, Ace," said the Doctor.  "One can never be
too sure about one's own destiny.  Well, at least we can get back now.
Synchronic Bridges are two-way.  We'll just cross over it again and be
back in our own universe in no time!"  The Doctor worked the controls,
then stopped, a worried expression on his face.
    "What's the matter?" asked Ace.
    "Our rather abrupt trip seems to have damaged the dematerialization
circuit," said the Doctor.  "It must have been overloaded by the
tachyonic feedback."
    "What does that mean?" asked Ace.
    "It means we're stuck here until I can fix the overload," said the
Doctor.  "I should be able to do it, but it will take some time."
    "Couldn't you just send the tachyon pulse again?" asked Ace.
    "I'm afraid the dematerialization circuit is what generated the
tachyon pulse," said the Doctor.
    "Oh, great, Professor," said Ace in an irritated voice.  "First we
get sucked into a black hole, and now we're stuck in a parallel universe.
I suppose next we'll be eaten by a gigantic space slug!"
    "I told you to stop being so pessimistic, Ace," said the Doctor.
"A positive outlook on life can make things much easier, you know."  He
examined some of the readouts.  "Wait a moment," said the Doctor.
"There's a spacecraft of some kind in our vicinity."  He activated the
scanner, which displayed a picture of a strange ship with a saucer-shaped
bow.
    "What kind of spaceship is that?" asked Ace.
    "I'm not sure, Ace," said the Doctor.  "It doesn't look like any
type I've ever encountered before."  He thought for a moment.  "Perhaps
they might be able to render us some assistance."
    "What are we going to do, Professor?" asked Ace.  "Are we going to
try and contact them?"
    "Well, it doesn't look like that will be a problem, Ace," said the
Doctor.  "They seem to be heading toward us."
    "Do you think they might be hostile?" asked Ace warily, as her hand
unconsciously reached for her backpack filled with nitro-nine.
    "It's more likely that they're just trying to get a better look at
us, Ace," said the Doctor, as the screen showed the ship coming closer.
"Let's just wait and see what happens."

    The Enterprise was now approaching the object.  Commander Data was
still at his terminal, attempting to gather more information.  "We are
within transporter range now, sir," he said.
    "Captain," said Troi, "I'm sensing a presence."
    "Do you mean to say that there's a lifeform in there?" asked Picard
in surprise.
    "There's definitely something in there, Captain," said Troi.  "For
some reason, I can't tell exactly what it is."
    "Hmmm... " said Picard.  "This is getting interesting."  The
captain tapped his communicator.  "Picard to transporter room.  Lock on
to the object in front of us and beam it into cargo bay 3."
    "Aye, sir," came back the response from the transporter room.
There was a pause.  "Sir, the object seems to be reflecting our
transporter beams.  We can't beam it in."
    "Hmmm... stranger and stranger," said Picard.  "Lock a tractor beam
onto it, then, Mr. Worf.  Bring it into shuttle bay 2."
    "Aye, sir," said Worf, as he engaged the beam.

    Suddenly, the TARDIS shook.
    "What was that?" asked Ace.
    "They seem to have locked some sort of tractor beam on us," said
the Doctor.
    "We've got to get out of here, Doctor!" exclaimed Ace.
    "Calm down, Ace!" said the Doctor.  "There's no point in getting
all excited!  Besides, with the dematerialization circuit out of order,
we can't go anywhere."
    "Then what are we going to do?" asked Ace.
    "We'll just have to hope the natives are friendly," said the
Doctor, as the TARDIS was pulled closer and closer toward the strange
ship...

    "Tractor beam has locked onto the object," said Worf.  "Bringing it
into shuttle bay 2 now, sir."
    "Excellent," said Picard.  "Number One, take a team down to the
shuttle bay and see what you can determine about this object.  But be
careful, we don't know what's in there."
    "Aye, sir," said Riker.  "Mr. Worf, please bring a security team to
shuttle bay 2.  Mr. Data, Counselor Troi, you're with me."
    Suddenly Wesley stood up.  "Excuse me, sir, but can I come with
you?"
    "This could be dangerous, Wes," said Riker.  "You'd better stay
here."
    "But Commander..." began Wesley.
    "No buts, Mr. Crusher," said Riker.  "You're staying here."
    "Yes, sir," said Wesley disappointedly.
    Riker, Worf, Data, and Troi walked toward the turbolift.  Worf left
to assemble his security team.  When they reached the shuttle bay, the
secondary tractor beam inside the bay had just finished pulling the
object in.  As the bay doors closed, they walked toward the object.  Worf
entered with several security personnel to prepare for any possible
threat.
    "Well, Data?" asked Riker.  "What do you make of it?"
    Data scanned the object with his tricorder.  "I am picking up
strange energy readings from the interior of the object, Commander.
Unable to identify."
    "Can you get any further information?" asked Riker.
    "Some sort of subspace interference appears to be blocking any
further scan of the interior," said Data.  "However, sensors can register
the composition of the exterior surface.  It appears to be composed
of..."  Data paused as he rechecked his readings.  "It appears to be
composed of wood."
    "Wood?!" exclaimed Riker.  "How could something made of wood pass
through a black hole?!"
    "I do not know," said Data.  He studied the readings further.
"Commander, the wood does not appear to be real.  It appears to be some
sort of replicated molecular structure suspended in an energy matrix."
    "Deanna," said Riker.  "Can you still sense anything?"
    "The presence is definitely in there, Will," said Troi, as her face
assumed a look of concentration.  "I don't sense any hostile intent.  In
fact, I think whatever's in there is as curious about us as we are about
them."
    "There's something written on it, Commander," said Worf.  "'Police
box'," he read.  "I wonder what a 'police box' is."
    "Police is an old Earth word used to refer to law enforcement
agents," said Riker.
    Worf looked suspicious.  "It could be a device used to contain
dangerous alien criminals," he warned.
    "Mr. Data?" asked Riker.
    "Accessing," said Data.  He paused for a few seconds.  "Ah.  A
'police box' was apparently a mid 20th century apparatus used primarily
in England for communication with the authorities in emergencies.  It is
much like a similar device used at the time known as a 'telephone
booth'."
    "Wait a minute, Data," said Riker unbelievingly.  "You're telling
me that a *telephone booth* has travelled through a black hole over 70,000
light years from Earth?!"
    "That would appear to be the case, Commander," said Data,
unperturbed.
    "What do you suggest we do, Commander?" asked Worf.
    "Well, this thing looks like a door," said Riker.  "Let's see if
anyone's at home, shall we?"


Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/3/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART 2

    In the TARDIS, the Doctor and Ace were looking at the scanner
screen, which displayed the interior of the strange vessel that had drawn
them in.  "Well, Ace, we seem to have landed," said the Doctor.  The
scanner screen displayed several smaller craft nearby.  "Looks like
they've brought us into one of their shuttle bays."
    "I wonder what they'll do with us, Professor," said Ace.
    "Don't worry, Ace," said the Doctor.  "Leave everything to me."
    As if I really have a choice, thought Ace.
    Just then the doors at the far side of the bay opened, and some men
in uniform walked in.  They were wearing small weapons on their belts.
    "Well, it looks like the welcoming committee's here, Professor,"
said Ace.
    "They look like security guards to me," said the Doctor.  He
frowned.  "I do hope they're not going to arrest us.  I've had too much
of that sort of thing recently.  I just don't trust policemen."
    "Then why do you travel around in a police box?" asked Ace
impudently.
    "Well... that's different," said the Doctor.  Just then he spotted
four people walking toward the TARDIS.  One was a bearded man in his 30s.
The other was an attractive woman with long, dark, curly hair.  There was
also what appeared to be a man with golden skin and a dark-skinned,
rough-looking humanoid with ridges on the top of his head.
    "Oi!" said Ace.  "What's that one, Professor?"
    "I don't know what species he's from, Ace.  He does look rather
intimidating."  The Doctor paused a moment to think.  "Those other chaps
look human enough, though."
    "Hang about," said Ace.  "I thought you said we were in a parallel
universe."
    "Ah, but where there's a parallel universe," said the Doctor,
"there could also be a parallel Earth."
    "You mean like the Earth Morgaine came from," said Ace.
    "Yes, exactly, Ace," said the Doctor.
    "So this could be an Earth ship, then," said Ace.
    "Yes, but not from the Earth we know, Ace," said the Doctor.  "We
don't know what sort of society they come from.  Once, I encountered a
parallel Earth where England was a fascist dictatorship!  Let's just hope
these chaps are a bit more reasonable."
    "What should we do, Professor?" asked Ace.  "Should we go out and
meet them?"
    "Not just yet, Ace," said the Doctor.  "Let's see what their
reactions are first."

    Commander Riker pulled and pushed at the door, but to no avail.
"It seems to be locked," he noted.
    "Allow me," said Worf.  He pulled, but he also had no success.
Grunting in frustration, he pulled with all his might.  This infuriated
the already frustrated Worf.  His superior officer wanted the box to be
opened, and therefore his duty was to open it.  As always, Worf was
frustrated when he could not perform his duty.  The fact that a mere
door, however, could withstand the might of a Klingon warrior infuriated
him.  It was an insult to his honor!  At that, he decided that the door
*would* open or he'd die trying!
    "Permission to use phaser, sir," said Worf with iron in his voice.
Riker granted it, figuring that it wouldn't be good for a Klingon to hold
in his aggression.  Worf drew his phaser, set it to kill, and fired at the
door.  The phaser, however, did no damage to the object.  Worf set his
phaser to full power and fired a five second burst at the door.  Still,
the door was undamaged.  Worf snarled, and was about to order a phaser
cannon brought in when the door suddenly opened.  To everyone's surprise,
out stepped what appeared to be a middle-aged human wearing a colorful
sweater, a brown jacket, and a straw hat.  He glared at Worf.
    "Well!" he said indignantly.  "You could have knocked, you know."

    "Um.. hello," said Riker.  "I'm Commander William Riker, first
officer of the united starship Enterprise."
    "Well, I certainly hope you don't welcome all your guests this way,
Commander," said the Doctor.
    Riker ignored that.  "This is Commander Data, second officer;
Deanna Troi, ship's counselor; and Lieutenant Worf, chief of security."
    "Chief of security, is it?" said the Doctor.  "Well, that explains
it.  I've never met a security officer that could get through the day
without shooting at something."
    Worf cast a dark look at the Doctor, but his Starfleet training
prevented him from responding further.  He simply looked at his
tricorder.  "I am detecting no weapons, Commander.  He is unarmed."
    Data was also looking at his tricorder.  "His bio-scan does not
match that of any known life form.  However, he appears to have a dual
circulatory system, as well as an unusual respiratory tract that..."
    "Yes, all right, Data," said Riker.  He turned to the Doctor.
"Well, now that you know our names, I think it's only fair that we know
yours."
    "Oh, yes, of course," he replied.  "I am the Doctor."
    "The Doctor?" queried Riker.  "Doctor who?"  (Note: Deliberate
pun.)
    "Yes, whatever," replied the Doctor.  He paused a moment.  "This
Enterprise... is it from Earth by any chance?"
    "Why yes," answered Riker.  "The Enterprise is a ship of the United
Federation of Planets."
    The Doctor was a bit surprised by that.  "Federation?" inquired the
Doctor.  He paused.  "Wait a minute.  What year is this?"
    It was Riker's turn to be surprised.  "It's the year 2369.  Why?
Is something wrong?"
    "Extraordinary!" said the Doctor.  "Earth had a few interplanetary
alliances then, but it wasn't part of a Federation until the 32nd
century."
    After hearing all this, Riker was absolutely bewildered.  "Would
you mind telling me just what's going on here?" asked Riker.
    "Oh, yes, of course, my good man," said the Doctor.  "You see, the
black hole we've travelled through contains a gateway to another space-
time continuum parallel to your own."
    Riker paused for a long moment as he digested this revelation.
"Are you telling me," he said in amazement, "that you're from a parallel
universe?!"
    "Exactly, my good man," said the Doctor enthusiastically.
"Exactly!"
    "Data, is this on the level?" asked Riker.
    Data considered it for a second.  "Black holes have always been
theorized to contain gateways to other universes, Commander," he said.
"In the early twentieth century, Einstein and Rosen postulated the first
theoretical model of a trans-universal bridge inside a nonrotating
Schwarzchild black hole.  The theory was later extended to rotating holes
by Kerr and Newmann, who postulated that..."
    "All right, Data," said Riker.  "I get the picture."
    Just then a young woman of about twenty stepped out of the object.
She was wearing a black satin jacket covered with badges.  "What's going
on, Doctor?" she asked.  "Are these blokes from Earth, or what?"
    "Yes, they do seem to be," said the Doctor.  He noticed that the
security guards had become noticeably more tense upon unexpectedly seeing
a second person.  "Oh, by the way, this is my companion Ace.  Ace, this
is Commander William Riker of the starship Enterprise."
    "I am reading her as human, Commander," said Data.
    Worf looked at his tricorder again, and suddenly looked up in
alarm.  "Commander!"  He drew his phaser and pointed it at Ace.
    "What's the matter, Mr. Worf?" asked Riker.
    "I am detecting several explosive charges in her possession!" said
Worf.
    Riker and Worf both instantly fixed Ace with a wary look.  The
other security personnel instantly became alert.  Worf kept his finger on
the trigger of his phaser as if he expected her to explode at any moment.
    Ace felt as if she had just walked into a drug bust.  She looked
uneasily at the security personnel, who were looking at her as if she was
some sort of Libyan terrorist.  "Now wait a minute!" she said, backing
away from the oppressive gaze of the security men.  "They're just for
defensive purposes!"
     "Don't worry, Commander," said the Doctor.  "I can assure you,
she's non-hostile."
    Riker's gaze remained fixed on Ace.  Her gaze remained fixed on
him.  Slowly, however, Riker seemed to relax.  "All right, Ace," said
Riker.  "I'll have to ask you to hand over that backpack."
    "Well, all right, already," said Ace indignantly, as she handed her
backpack to one of the security personnel.
    "Ace," said the Doctor reprovingly, "you didn't have to bring that,
you know."
    "Well, I know, Professor," said Ace.  "but it's not like I'm the
guy who blew up the World Trade Center or anything."
    Riker had the sudden feeling that this would not prove to be one of
the more routine missions he'd ever been on.  "Well," said Riker, "if
you'll come with me, I think you both should see the captain.  I'm sure
he'll have lots of questions to ask you."
    "Ah!  Splendid!" said the Doctor.  "Come along, Ace.  Let's find
out if the captains in this universe are as bureaucratic as they are in
ours."

    The Captain was temporarily taken aback when he heard the news.
Even though Jean-Luc Picard was one of the most decorated captains in
Starfleet and had seen perhaps more strange phenomena in the galaxy than
anyone else in the Federation, nothing could have prepared him for the
sight of what appeared to be an ordinary middle-aged man and a young girl
who had apparently just come out of a telephone booth from a parallel
universe.
    Commander Riker entered the ready room with the Doctor and Ace
close behind him.  "Captain," said Riker.  "May I present the Doctor, and
his companion Ace."
    "Welcome," said Picard.  "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the
united starship Enterprise."
    "Hello there," said the Doctor, as he tipped his hat courteously.
"Nice to meet you, Captain."
    Picard gestured for the Doctor and Ace to sit down.  He walked over
to the replicator next to his desk.  "Would you care for anything,
Doctor?" asked Picard.
    "Well, I could do with a spot of tea," replied the Doctor.
    Picard glanced at Ace.  "None for me, thanks," she said.
    Picard turned to the replicator.  "Two teas, Earl Grey, hot."  The
teas materialized and Picard offered one to the Doctor.
    "Ah, Earl Grey," said the Doctor.  "A good English blend."  He took
a sip, then paused, as if he had just realized something.  "Jean-Luc
Picard?" said the Doctor.  "You're a Frenchman, then!"
    "Why, yes," said Picard, somewhat surprised.
    "Lovely country, France," said the Doctor.  "The countryside there
is just beautiful in the springtime."  He paused, as if remembering
something.  "Why, I remember the time when Romana and I went to Paris.
They had the most lovely flower arrangements at this restaurant, as I
recall.  Can't remember the name, though..."  The Doctor trailed off,
deep in thought.
    "So you're French, are you, Captain?" said Ace cheerfully.  "Never
been to France, but I've heard that's where all the best wine comes
from."
    Picard felt he was losing control of the conversation.  "Um... yes.
Actually, my brother owns a vineyard."
    "Wicked!" said Ace.  "Your family must be in the money from that,
eh?"
    "Yes, well..."  Picard paused, then attempted to get back on the
subject at hand.  "So, Doctor, how did you come to be in this universe?"
    The Doctor, however, was still lost in his reminiscence.  "Was it
Chateau Versailles?  No, that's not it.  It was Chateau something,
though..."  The Doctor then noticed Captain Picard.  "What?  Oh!  Oh,
yes!  It was the most unexpected thing, really.  Ace and I were on our
way to a little vacation spot in the Alpha Cluster, when we seem to have
inadvertently hit some spatio-temporal turbulence, as it were."
    "The Federation would be grateful for any information you could
provide us about these space-time anomalies, Doctor," said Picard.
    "Yes, there's that 'Federation' again," said the Doctor.  "What
sort of Federation is this, anyway?"
    "The United Federation of Planets is an organization consisting of
the allied governments of Earth and many other worlds," said Picard
formally.  "We see to each other's defenses when necessary, but for the
most part, the Federation and its Starfleet is an organization which
fosters mutual peace.  The Enterprise's mission is to explore the galaxy
and to seek out new forms of life, which, hopefully, we can peacefully
coexist with."
    "Sounds quite civilized," commented the Doctor.  "In our universe,
however, I'm afraid peaceful coexistence is still hard to find."
    "We've had our differences with other races, too, Doctor," said
Picard.  "However, we've been able to overcome most of them.  The
Federation has made peace with several of its former enemies.  We haven't
had an actual war for the last century."
    "Well, I must say I'm impressed, Captain," said the Doctor.  "Some
of the governments of our Earth were peaceful, but not every government
shared your noble ideals.  Why, in the 28th century, Earth actually
formed an Empire!  At least THAT didn't last long."
    "In the 28th century?" asked Riker.  "Do you mean you're from the
future?"
    "Well, not exactly, Commander," said the Doctor.  "I'm not really
from any one period of time, you know.  I rather enjoy just roaming
around in my TARDIS from era to era, planet to planet.  It's very
stimulating, you know, to just wander through the universe.  There are so
many different places, different cultures to experience."  The Doctor
sighed in satisfaction.  "Ah, yes.  Nothing quite like it."
    "Excuse me, Doctor," interrupted Riker, "but what exactly is a
TARDIS?"
    "Why, the TARDIS is my spaceship, Commander," said the Doctor.
"Well, it can travel through time as well, so I suppose spaceship isn't a
completely accurate term."
    "Were you forced to abandon your spaceship, Doctor?" asked Picard.
    "I beg your pardon?" said the Doctor.
    "Is that why you were inside that strange object?" asked Picard.
    "Oh!  Oh yes," said the Doctor.  "I see I haven't been quite clear
enough.  That 'strange object' you found me in is my TARDIS."
    There was a long pause.  "That object is your TARDIS?!" exclaimed
Riker in surprise.  "That's impossible!"
    "Impossible?" repeated the Doctor with mild amusement.  "And just
why do you say that, Commander?"
    "You're telling me," said Riker quietly, "that you travel through
space and time in a box no bigger than my locker at Starfleet Academy?!"
    "Well, I don't know how big your locker was, Commander," said the
Doctor, "although I imagine a police box would be slightly larger."
    "This guy is obviously out of his mind, Captain," declared Riker.
"We should confine him to sickbay until we reach the nearest starbase."
    "It's so typical of you Earthlings," said the Doctor indignantly.
"You always assume everything is as it seems to be.  The TARDIS may look
no larger than your Academy locker, Commander, but I assure you, it's
quite a bit more than that!"  He paused.  "It's like those computers you
Earthlings use.  When they were first invented, they were so large, they
could fill buildings.  Now, you can put one in your pocket that has
millions of times more power.  That's exactly the sort of principle my
people used when they built the TARDIS.  There's less spaceship, but more
space, as it were."  He smiled cheerfully, as if that would explain
everything.
    Picard and Riker, however, still wore uncomprehending expressions.

    The Doctor sighed.  "Every time I meet someone, it's always the
same thing," he muttered under his breath.
     "What was that, Doctor?" asked Riker.
    "Oh, never mind, Commander," said the Doctor.  He looked at the
captain and first officer.  "It seems I'm going to have to show you what
I mean."  He walked towards the door, which opened in front of him.  The
Doctor looked back at Picard.  "Well, come on!"  Picard and Riker
shrugged and, together with Ace, followed the Doctor out of the room.

    In the shuttle bay, Commander Riker and Captain Picard stood in
front of the TARDIS with the Doctor and Ace.  "I think this is a total
waste of time, Captain," said Riker.
    "Oh, stop being so skeptical for a moment and just go inside!" said
the Doctor.
    Picard and Riker hesitated for a moment.
    "Oh, DO be sensible, Commander!" exclaimed the Doctor.  "If it *is*
just an ordinary box, there's not likely to be anything dangerous in
there, is there?!"
    Picard and Riker hesitated for a moment.  "Let's go in there,
Number One," said Picard finally, thinking to humor this nutcase's
delusion.
    "They're in for a bit of a shock, aren't they, Professor?" laughed
Ace.
    "I rather suspect so, Ace."  The Doctor smiled.  "It's always so
satisfying when someone finds out they're wrong."

    The Captain and his first officer stepped through the doors and
into the control room of the TARDIS.  When they beheld the size of the
room, they were dumbfounded.  Captain Picard stared for a moment, then
became skeptical.  "What is this?" he demanded.  "Is this some kind of
illusion?"
    "Oh, this is no illusion, Captain," said the Doctor.  "This is my
TARDIS."
    "This is impossible!" said Picard vehemently.
    "That's what I thought at first, Captain," said Ace.  "But once you
get to know the Professor better, the word *impossible* sort of drops out
of your vocabulary."
    Riker, who had also been staring dumbfounded at the size of the
room, finally recovered his voice.  "Wait a minute," he demanded.  "How
can this TARDIS be bigger on the inside than the outside?"
    "Well, you see, Commander, it's the outside of the TARDIS that's
the illusion," said the Doctor.  "The inside, however, is quite real, I
assure you."
    Picard and Riker continued to stare in amazement, still not quite
believing this amazing sight.  Still, they had both seen many other
strange sights in their travels, and they'd seen enough to know that
nothing was truly impossible.  Even with their long experience, however,
they still felt just as amazed when they encountered new and strange
phenomena.  Picard and Riker both felt that the Doctor would prove to be
one of the strangest.
    Just then Geordi LaForge walked into the TARDIS.  He had seen that
the door to the strange object was open, so he went in to investigate
what was inside.  What he saw left him speechless.  Finally, he was able
to blurt out, "Captain?!  This... this can't be real!"
    "Whatever it is, it's real enough, Mr. LaForge," said Picard.  "Oh,
Doctor, this is my chief engineer, Geordi LaForge.  Mr. LaForge, this is
the Doctor and Ace, and whatever it is we're standing in is apparently
the Doctor's spaceship.  The Doctor calls it the TARDIS."
    "Doctor," said Geordi in amazement, "how is this possible?  How can
this TARDIS be bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?"
    "Well, Mr. LaForge," explained the Doctor, "TARDIS stands for Time
and Relative Dimension in Space.  It's considerably more than just a
spaceship; it's actually dimensionally transcendental."
    "Dimensionally transcendental?" said Geordi in puzzlement.  "I'm
not sure what you mean."
    "Oh, don't worry, you're not alone, my good man," said the Doctor.
"Understanding how a TARDIS keeps its internal space and time stabilized
in relation to its exterior environment requires a degree in
transdimensional mechanics!  In all my nine hundred years of experience,
I've never once met anyone from Earth who could understand it."
    "Nine hundred years?" said Riker.  "That's quite a long time, Doctor."
    "Actually," said the Doctor, "that's about middle age for a Time Lord."
    "And what exactly is a Time Lord?" asked Picard.
    "That's what the members of my race are called, Captain," replied
the Doctor.  "Thousands of years ago, our civilization developed the
capability of time travel.  Therefore, the people of Gallifrey are known
as Time Lords."
    "Sounds like your people have quite an advanced civilization,
Doctor," observed Geordi.
    "They like to think so," said the Doctor, "but underneath it all,
they're just as petty and devious as anyone else in the universe.  You
wouldn't believe the sorts of things they do just to maintain their own
superiority."
    "I take it you don't agree with them very often," observed Riker.
    The Doctor sighed.  "Let's just say we've had a few... differences
of opinion."
    "What planet are you from, Doctor?" asked Picard.
    "My planet is called Gallifrey," said the Doctor.  "It's in the
constellation of Kasterborus."
    "Kasterborus?" replied Riker.  "That's in the Delta Quadrant, isn't
it, sir?"
    "Yes, I believe so," said Picard.  He paused.  "So, Doctor, where
is your companion from?" asked Picard.
    "I'm from Perivale, West London," said Ace.  "You wouldn't want to
go there, though; it's a very dull and boring place.  Travelling around
with the Doctor is much more exciting."
    "Yes, Ace doesn't think highly of the 20th century," said the Doctor.
    "The 20th century?!" exclaimed Riker.  "Wait a minute.  You mean
you brought someone from the past into the future?"
    "Well, it wasn't actually me, exactly," said the Doctor.  "You see,
well... it's a long story."
    "But you can't just bring people from the past into the future like
that, Doctor," said Riker.
    "Oh?" said the Doctor coolly.  "And why not, Commander?"
    "Well," said Riker less confidently, "wouldn't that disrupt the
flow of history?"
    "Oh, trust me, Commander Riker," said the Doctor.  "I'm a Time
Lord.  I know how to deal with the flow of history."
    "Besides," said Ace, "it's a different universe, so it's a different
history!"
    "Exactly, Ace," said the Doctor approvingly.  "I see you're getting
the hang of this."
    The Doctor led Picard and the others out of the TARDIS and back
into the shuttle bay.  "Well, Doctor," said Picard, "we'd be honored to
have you and your companion as guests on board the Enterprise.  If
there's anything we can do to assist you..."
    "Well, travelling through the black hole seems to have overloaded
my dematerialization circuit," said the Doctor.  "I don't suppose you'd
have an extra Type 40 tachyon emitter element, would you?"
    "Well... no," said Picard, "but I'm sure Mr. LaForge would be happy
to assist you in performing any repairs."
    "It'd be a pleasure, Doctor," said Geordi, who was still obviously
in awe of the TARDIS's superior technology.
    "Oh, I'm in no great hurry, Captain," said the Doctor.  "If you
don't mind, I'd really like to see more of this Enterprise of yours.
From what I've seen, she's a lot different from any Earth ships in my
universe, and it would be interesting to study her.  I'm something of an
explorer myself, you know."
    "I'm sure that can be arranged, Doctor," said Picard.  "Perhaps you
and Ace would like to be shown to quarters?"
    "Why, thank you, Captain," said the Doctor.  He paused for a
moment.  "I must say, the starship captains in this universe are much
more polite than they are in mine!  Usually, when I pop in on someone
like this, there's some paranoid security guard who wants to throw me in
the brig!"
    Suddenly, Lieutenant Worf reentered the bay.
    "Ah, Lieutenant Worf," said the Doctor, with a cynical expression
on his face.  "We were just talking about you."
    Worf looked inquiringly at Picard.  Picard, being eminently
tactful, merely coughed.  "Ahem... Mr. Worf, would you please escort the
Doctor and Ace to quarters?"
    "Aye, sir," said Worf.  He turned and left the shuttle bay, with
the Doctor and Ace close behind.  Suddenly the Doctor turned to Captain
Picard.  "Your brother owns a vineyard, you say?  Fascinating.  Does he
make any Bordeaux, perchance?  I love a good Bordeaux, myself.
Absolutely fabulous with grilled gumblejack."  He stopped when he heard
Worf's annoyed grunt behind him.  "Yes.  Well, we'll talk later, shall
we?"  He tipped his hat graciously and followed Worf and Ace out of the
shuttle bay.

    Captain Picard and his senior officers had gathered together in the
briefing room.  The Captain had called this meeting to see what his
officers thought of their mysterious visitors.
    "Alright," said Picard as he sat down, "I assume you've all heard
about our visitors.  What do you think of them?"
    "I'm not sure what to think, Captain," said Riker.  "This Doctor
apparently comes from a very advanced civilization, but he strikes me as
not taking things very seriously."
    "In what way, Number One?" asked Picard.
    "Well, for a man who's just been propelled into a parallel
universe, he seems pretty calm, don't you think, sir?" said Riker.  "He
seemed to be more interested in your brother's winery than in returning
home."
    "Perhaps he's merely curious about this universe," said Troi.
"He's probably interested in any similarities between his Earth and
ours."
    "I still don't know about him," said Riker.  "I mean, his companion
is from the 20th century!  I don't know if it's such a wise idea just
picking up people from the past like that."
    "The transportation of beings from the past into the future would
not necessarily have an adverse effect on history, Commander," said Data.
"In fact, during the Whalesong Crisis of 2286, such intervention proved
necessary to Earth's survival."
    "And, being a Time Lord, I'm sure he knows what he's doing, Will,"
said Beverly.
    "I still think he should be kept under observation," said Worf.  He
had a suspicious look in his eyes.  (Of course, being Klingon, Worf
*always* had a suspicious look in his eyes.)  "We do not know for certain
that his entry into this universe was an 'accident.'"
    "I sensed no hostility or deception in him," said Troi.  "He
appears to be genuinely curious about us and the Enterprise.  However, he
is more than he appears to be.  Despite his informal appearance, I sense
a tremendous strength of intellect in him, Captain.  He has a great deal
of experience in dealing with the unexpected."
    "I still don't trust him, Captain," said Worf, frowning.  "That
girl with him tried to bring explosive devices onto the ship!"
    "I hardly think an individual capable of travelling through time
would attempt to attack us using chemical explosives, Worf," said Troi.
    "I'm still not quite clear how he got into this universe in the
first place," said Riker.  "How could anything travel through a black
hole?"
    "I believe I can explain, sir," said Data.  He went over to the
monitor and punched up a diagram.  "This is a Penrose diagram of the
space-time inside a black hole.  As you can see from this diagram, a
rotating, electrically charged black hole such as Pelana A theoretically
allows passage into an infinite number of alternate universes."
    "The only problem is that you'd have no way of controlling which
universe you'd end up in once you entered the black hole," said Geordi.
"And even if you could control it, you'd never be able to return to your
own universe again."
    "So then the Doctor is stuck in our universe?" asked Riker.
    "I do not believe so," said Data.  He punched up a spectrum
analysis of the subspace disturbances around the hole.  "I could not
explain the abnormally high energy level exhibited by the subspace
disturbance before.  However, the energy level would be consistent with
the subspace differential between two universes."  He pressed a button
which caused an image of a beam to be superimposed on the spacetime
diagram.  "The Doctor mentioned that he used tachyons to travel through
the hole.  It is possible that the tachyon emissions we detected are
caused by a type of subspace 'bridge' which connects two specific
universes within the hole."
    "All you'd have to do is emit tachyons at the correct resonance
frequency and you could travel between universes," said Geordi.  "It's
that simple."
    "Simple for the Doctor, perhaps," said Picard, "but the
gravitational forces involved would make it rather difficult for us."  He
paused.  "Well, if we're all in agreement that this Doctor poses no
threat to the ship, let's get on with the business at hand, shall we?"
    "Yes, Captain," said Geordi.  He walked over to the monitor and put
up a display of the surface of Pelana 2.  A crosshairs pointed out a
particular location.  "We detected no evidence of any other transmissions
from the planet, but our scan of the planet revealed some kind of power
source here.  That could be where the transmissions originated."
    "Is there evidence of any other technology on the planet?" asked
Picard.
    "Sensors detect the ruins of some type of city in this area," said
Data.  "The type of construction used would seem to indicate a highly
advanced civilization.  However, I detect no power sources within the
city.  I would estimate that it has been abandoned for centuries."
    "If that's so, then why would any power sources still be in
operation?" asked Picard.
    "Perhaps the transmissions were some sort of distress call by a
ship which crashed on the planet," said Beverly.
    "No, Doctor," disagreed Data.  He pointed to the screen, which
displayed a mountain on the planet's surface with the power source
indicated a distance inside it.  "The power source appears to be part of
some sort of installation built into this inactive volcano.  It lies at
the center of the city."
    "Could the Doctor's people have built this installation?" asked
Riker.
    "I would find that unlikely, Commander," said Data.  "The Doctor's
entry into this universe appears to have been accidental.  I do not
believe that the Doctor's people have ever willingly tried to enter the
black hole before."
    "It's possible that another civilization has sent people through,"
said Troi.  "Perhaps they have established a base here."
    "It's also possible that this base was constructed by some other
civilization in our own universe," said Picard.  "This black hole is a
rather interesting phenomenon, and I'm sure many races would be
interested in studying it."
    "Including our own, sir," said Riker.
    "Indeed, Number One," said Picard.  He turned to Data.  "What do
your sensors tell us about this installation?"
    "Only that it is there, sir," said Data.  "The rocks of this planet
contain large quantities of duranium ore which is impeding any further
scan."
    "Such quantities of duranium would be quite valuable," commented
Picard.  "Perhaps some other planet has sent a mining expedition here."
    "Have you attempted to contact whoever sent these transmissions?"
asked Riker.
    "We've tried all known frequencies, Commander, but we've gotten no
response from the planet so far," said Geordi.
    "Are there any life signs on the planet?" asked Beverly.
    "Sensors detect abundant plant life in the area of the city,
Doctor," said Data.  "I am afraid that interference from the black hole
prevents any further reading."
    "I suggest we send an away team to investigate this power source,"
said Riker.  "Maybe then we can get to the bottom of this mystery."
    "Agreed," said Picard.  "But let's be careful about this.  We
cannot determine whether there is anyone down there or not, so caution is
advised.  Number One, you and your away team should beam down a distance
away from the power source to avoid any possible confrontation."
    "Understood," said Riker.  "Commander Data, Lieutenant Worf, you'll
be accompanying me."
    "Aye, sir," said Worf.
    "I'll talk with the Doctor and see what I can do about helping him
repair his TARDIS," said Geordi.  He smiled with satisfaction.  "It's
quite an honor to work on such an advanced piece of technology."
    "Alright, everyone," said Picard.  "We've all got jobs to do, so
let's go do them.  Dismissed."

    Riker, Data, and Worf stepped onto the transporter pads.
"Energize," ordered Riker.  The transporter beam hummed with energy as
the away team dematerialized in a flash of light.  When they
rematerialized, they found themselves in the midst of what had apparently
once been a great city.  Around them, however, was only devastation.
Around them were many buildings, some of which were partially intact.
The height clearly showed that these buildings had once been great
skyscrapers, standing tall and proud amongst many others in a sea of
gleaming metal and glass.  Now, however, they were only hulks of twisted
and blackened metal.  Assorted bits and pieces of rusted debris littered
the ground, making it look like a gigantic scrap yard.  Even the roads
which had once been thronged with traffic were now only weed-infested
paths.  Commander Riker stood for a moment gazing at the sight, imagining
what it must once have been like.  Towering majestically over all of this
was the volcano, its rough and primeval appearance reminding Riker that
this planet was still very young.  The plant life must have been brought
here by the race who colonized this planet, he thought, which would
explain the breathable atmosphere.  Worf had drawn his phaser and was
looking carefully around for any possible threat.  Data had taken out his
tricorder and was scanning the buildings, apparently intrigued by the
results.
    "Fascinating," said Data.  "This city was apparently built from
pure duranium.  My readings indicate that it has been molecularly
refined."
    "That should make it easy to tell how old it is," commented Riker.
    "Based on the amount of molecular breakdown in the metal,  I would
estimate that the city is between 2000 and 1800 years old," said Data.
    Riker picked up a piece of twisted debris.  "Well, there's no way
this could have happened in only 2000 years.  This stuff should have
lasted for 100,000."
    "Perhaps the city was destroyed by an invasion," said Worf.
    "There is no evidence of any outside attack," said Data.  "Based on
the overall pattern of destruction, I would hypothesize that the city was
destroyed from the inside."
    "You mean the people living here destroyed their own city?" asked
Riker incredulously.  "What reason could they possibly have for that?"
    "This city represented the entire inhabited area of the planet,
Commander," said Data.  "Throughout history, it has often been the case
that the inhabitants of a planet... fail to get along."
    Riker paused.  "Well, in this case, it looks like they really hated
each other."  He turned around and faced the large volcano which stood
majestically at the center of the city, towering over even the highest
buildings.  They were only about 100 meters from its base.  "Data, is
there any sign of that power source you were picking up?"
    Data also faced the volcano, his tricorder humming as it scanned
the area.  "I am getting a reading from approximately 50 meters inside
the volcano.  It appears to be coming from this direction," he said,
pointing his tricorder at a steep slope nearby.
    Riker and Worf followed Data as he led them toward the slope.  It
appeared to be no different than any other part of the mountain, only a
featureless face of rock and dirt with a few assorted plants clinging to
its side.  "Well, it looks like this is the place," said Riker
uncertainly.  "There doesn't seem to be any way in, though."  He examined
the surface carefully, picking up a few rocks and looking for any sign of
an entranceway.
    Data was also looking for a way into the volcano using his
tricorder.  His readings clearly indicated the power source was behind
this slope somewhere.  Then, suddenly, he realized the answer.
"Commander, this slope is not real.  It appears to be a replicated
matter-energy field similar to the one composing the exterior of the
TARDIS."
    Riker nodded in understanding.  "Some sort of holographic
projection to disguise the entrance."  He felt the surface again.  It
looked and felt like the real thing.  "But for something like this to
continually function for centuries..."  He paused.  "Data, can you get us
in?"
    "I believe that if we concentrate our phasers on this point," said
Data, indicating a point on the surface,  "we can disrupt the forcefield
generator long enough to get inside."
    "Well, it's worth a try," said Riker.  He nodded to Worf and Data,
who set their phasers and aimed along with him.  Three phaser beams
suddenly impacted on the mountain slope.  The section they were firing at
suddenly flickered, becoming suddenly translucent.  Eventually, it faded
away completely, revealing a large opening in the mountain side with a
corridor leading into the mountain.  As the away team stepped through
into the corridor, the projection of the mountain slope suddenly
rematerialized, blocking the path through which they had entered.  Worf
tensed, but Riker motioned him forward.  Together, the away team
continued down the corridor.
    Riker tapped his communicator.  "Riker to Enterprise."
    "Go ahead, Number One," came the response from Picard.
    "We're inside the installation, sir," said Riker.  "The power
source Data picked up appears to be nearby."
    "Good work, Number One," replied Picard.  "Keep me appraised of
your progress."
    "Aye, sir," said Riker.  "Riker out."  He and Worf turned to follow
Data, who was leading them down the featureless metal corridor.  On the
ceiling, several lights provided illumination, though they had apparently
been dimmed to only a barely acceptable level.  Finally, they reached a
door in one side of the corridor.
    "The power source appears to be behind this door," noted Data.
    Riker nodded to Data, indicating that he should open it.  He and
Worf instantly became alert, their hands on their phasers.  As the doors
slid open, they burst in, phasers drawn.  There was, however, no one in
the room.  Instead, the room contained a large piece of machinery and
several control panels whose lights were flashing silently.  Several
pieces of equipment were also attached to the machine in what seemed to
be a rather haphazard manner.  Riker turned to Data, who was busily
scanning the machine with his tricorder.
    "Fascinating," said Data.  "This machine appears to be the
generator for the hologram at the entrance.  It appears to be running
only at a low power level, which explains why our phasers could penetrate
it."
    "The question is, why should it be running at all?" said Riker.
"How could such a device still be functioning after 2000 years?"
    Data pointed at the smaller pieces of equipment attached to the
generator.  "These devices are not of the same manufacture as the other
machines in this room.  It would appear that the generator did cease
functioning during its long period of abandonment and that it has been
only recently repaired."
    Riker considered this.  "Well, if someone else found this place and
reactivated the generator, then where are they?"
    Worf had been examining the control panels when something caught
his eye.  "Commander!  Look at this."
    Riker went over to see what Worf was pointing at.  One of the
panels had a small, blackened hole in it.  Riker looked at the hole with
a concerned expression.  "A blast from an energy weapon," he said.
    "Aye, sir," said Worf grimly.  "I would estimate it to be fairly
recent."
    Riker paused.  "Well, that would seem to explain what happened to
the first people who found this place.  But if there was a battle here,
what happened to the attackers?"
    Worf looked around warily.  "Perhaps this is a trap to destroy
intruders."
    Data looked at his tricorder.  "I detect no such defensive
systems."
    "Well, let's continue our investigation for now," said Riker.  "But
stay alert.  We don't know what could be waiting for us."  The away team
left the room and continued down the corridor.  It ended abruptly at a
large metal door with a control panel next to it.
    Data examined the panel.  "The door appears to be protected with a
sophisticated entry system.  I do not believe it will be possible to
crack the code from here, sir."
    Riker examined the control panel, which was labeled in a strange
script he had never seen before.  Oddly enough, the writing seemed to be
familiar.  "Perhaps the ship's computer can make some sense out of this,"
he said.  "Data, as soon as you've recorded all the information you can,
follow us back to the ship."
    "Aye, sir," said Data.
    Riker and Worf turned and walked back down the corridor to the
forcefield blocking the opening.  It dematerialized upon their approach,
and they walked back out to the city.  Unbeknownst to them, however, they
were being observed on a monitor screen in another room nearby.  A
gnarled hand lay near the control panel as the owner of the hand watched
Riker and Worf beam back up to the Enterprise.  These new arrivals were
unexpected, and might complicate the plan.  However, they might possibly
have some usefulness.  The mysterious watcher gazed thoughtfully at the
screen as his hand rested on a tube by his side, which pulsed with an
unearthly green light.   Yes, perhaps this apparent setback could prove
useful after all.  The unseen watcher smiled to himself, as the tube
began to pulse faster, as if in anticipation...

Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/8/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART 3

    In one of the guest cabins aboard the Enterprise, the Doctor was
examining his surroundings with a curious demeanor, noting the architectural
design and pressing a few buttons here and there on the control panel.  He was
just in the process of examining a potted plant on a shelf when Ace walked in.
    "They've got some ace accommodations here, eh, Professor?"
    "Hmm?  Oh, yes, Ace, I suppose they do."  He pulled out a magnifying
glass and began to study the plant more closely.  "This looks rather similar
to the Eleurius Austracanthis from northern Jaconda.  Fascinating."
    "Professor," said Ace in a tone that expressed her annoyance with the
Doctor's sudden botanical interest.
    The Doctor put away his magnifying glass.  "Oh, sorry, Ace.  These
accommodations are rather luxurious.  More like a cruise ship than a science
vessel."
    "You wouldn't know if there's anything to eat on this ship, would you?"
asked Ace.  "It's been ages since I ate lunch."
    "That's simple, you just use this panel here," said the Doctor.  He
turned to the replicator.  "One roast beef sandwich, please."  The sandwich
promptly materialized.  The Doctor took a large bite.  "It's actually quite
good," he mumbled with his mouth full of roast beef.
    Ace looked at him critically.  "Why can't the food dispensers on the
TARDIS work like that, Professor?"
    The Doctor continued munching down his sandwich.  "Well, the Type 40s
weren't really designed for long term travel, you know.  No one ever expected
to need a four-course meal!  Besides, the Time Lords are eminently practical.
The food compound provides a full selection of flavors without all the fuss
and bother of actually making food.  Mind you, it's no substitute for a good
roast beef sandwich, though."
    "Well, can't you reprogram it or something?" asked Ace.
    "Well, I suppose I could do something," said the Doctor, "but I'm
afraid the TARDIS computer doesn't have the molecular structure of roast beef
on file."  He finished his sandwich.  "Ah!  I think I'll go and see how our
friend Mr. LaForge is doing on my dematerialization circuit."  He turned and
walked out the door.
    "What am I supposed to do, Professor?" Ace called after him.
    The Doctor looked back with an exasperated expression on his face.
"Oh, I don't know, Ace!  Find something!"  With that, he left.

    In the Engineering Lab, a very confused Geordi LaForge was studying the
Doctor's dematerialization circuit.  He had been just as amazed as everyone at
the Doctor's TARDIS, but judging by the size of the circuit, his first reaction
had been "How complicated could it possibly be?"  Now, judging by the readings
on his screen, Geordi had to say "Pretty damn complicated."  He had run every
test he knew on the circuit and he still couldn't even understand how it worked,
let alone understand why it *didn't* work.  He put the circuit down and was
about to give up in frustration when the Doctor walked in.
    "Ah!  Mr. LaForge.  I hear you've been having a few difficulties with
my dematerialization circuit," he said with a smile.
    "Have I ever!" exclaimed Geordi.  "I can't make heads or tails of this
thing!"
    "Well, it's really very simple, actually," said the Doctor.  He placed
the circuit into a scanning unit and tapped a few buttons.  A hologram of the
circuit appeared on the table.  "The dematerialization circuit is basically a
sort of tachyonic computing element, you see.  It controls and regulates the
time fields through tachyonic feedback."  He turned to the console again and
pressed another key.  This time, red and blue lines appeared at various places
in the hologram.  "These lines represent the main regions of tachyon flow; red
for positive, blue for negative.  Of course, there's far more of them than
this can show; a Type 40 unit contains approximately 10 million."
    "Hmm, so that's what those are," said Geordi.  He peered more closely
at the diagram.  The red and blue lines appeared to be laid out in a regular,
though extremely complex-looking pattern.  To Geordi's trained engineering
sense, though, there seemed to be a slight irregularity.  Not much, but there
was definitely something...  He tried to get a better look, but the hologram
was in visible light, and it was difficult to make out exactly with his VISOR.
For the millionth time Geordi cursed his sightlessness.  _If only I could see
this better...._
    Suddenly a thought hit him.  "Doctor, is it possible to send a stream
of tachyons through the circuit to test the current flow?"
    "Why yes," replied the Doctor.  "Just send a positive flow into this
port here."
    "OK," said Geordi.  He took the circuit over to one of the lab
instruments and attached a pointed rod to the device.  He then proceeded to
insert the rod into one end of the dematerialization circuit and switched the
device on.  To an ordinary person, a light and a slight hum were the only
indications that the machine was doing anything.  To Geordi, on the other hand,
the dematerialization circuit lit up like a Christmas tree.
    "Yes!  There it is!"  Geordi switched off the device.  "Doctor, it
looks as if some of the pathways in there have had their polarities reversed."
    "Reversed?" said the Doctor.  "Let me see that."  He switched on the
holo-projector and looked more closely at the image.  Geordi smiled as the
Doctor pulled an ancient magnifying glass out of his pocket to study it more
closely.  "Why yes, I do believe you're right, Mr. LaForge!  When I traveled
through the Synchronic Bridge, the overload must have caused the currents to
flow in the wrong directions."  He turned off the hologram.  "How in Rassilon's
name did you notice that?"
    Geordi grinned.  The Doctor was clearly impressed.  "My VISOR allows me
to see the whole range of electromagnetic and subspace wavelengths, Doctor.  I
can't always see visible light as well as everyone else, but I can see a few
things they can't."
    "And so you diagnosed the tachyon flow by simplying looking at the
tachyons!" said the Doctor exuberantly.  "Fascinating, Mr. LaForge, simply
fascinating.  I must say, I've never seen anything quite like your VISOR
before."
    "That's OK, Doctor," laughed Geordi.  "I've never seen anything like
your TARDIS before, either."
    The Doctor laughed.  "You know, Mr. LaForge, I think we're going to get
along just fine."
    "Please, call me Geordi, Doctor."
    "Well, *Geordi*, how about showing me some more of this fine ship of
yours?"
    "Well, don't we need to fix your dematerialization circuit?"
    "Oh, rubbish!"  The Doctor placed the circuit back onto the tachyon
device and pressed a few keys.  "I'll just send a pulsed tachyon current
through it for a few hours.  That should restore all the pathways to their
normal polarities!"
    "Are you sure, Doctor?" asked Geordi dubiously.  He couldn't believe
that something so complex could have such a simple solution.
    "Well, I certainly hope so," said the Doctor.  He frowned.  "Ever since
the Type 60s came out, it's been impossible to find decent replacements for
this sort of thing."
    Geordi laughed.  "Come on, Doctor.  I'll show you Main Engineering."
    The Doctor brightened.  "Ah!  Lead on, my good man!"  Together they
walked toward the door.  Suddenly, the Doctor paused.  "You wouldn't happen to
have the molecular structure of that excellent roast beef on hand, would you?"

    Ace was pacing back and forth in her quarters.  She had already ordered
a hamburger and french fries from the replicator and was now in the process of
becoming rapidly bored.  In frustration she called out, "Where can a person
have some fun on this ship, anyway?"
    The computer's voice responded.  "Request too general.  Please specify."
    Ace jumped, not having intended to address the computer.  Hesitantly,
she replied, "Well, like a pub, you know?  Someplace to hang out and meet the
local types."
    "Deck 10, Forward section matches input criteria," said the computer.
    Ace smiled.  Now, she was getting somewhere!  "Well, how do you get
there?" she asked.
    "Follow the indicator lights to the turbolift," answered the computer.
"Then proceed to the first door on the right when you reach deck 10."
    Ace stepped out the door.  Sure enough, the indicator lights in the
hallway were lit.  "Well, what do you know," she thought.  As she left, she
called out "Thanks, computer!"  The computer acknowledged with a beep.

    The turbolift stopped at Deck 10 and Ace got out.  Following the
computer's instructions, she walked down the hallway to the right until she
found the first door, which was marked with a large Starfleet insignia.
Ace stepped through the doors and found a room with many people sitting at
tables talking to each other and having drinks.  It seemed a rather pleasant
place to Ace, although it didn't quite live up to the hard-drinking, rowdy
image of an English pub.  _I suppose the Captain must regulate the grog ration,_
thought Ace.  She walked up to the bar and took a seat.  Just then, a young man
sitting a few seats away turned around upon noticing her arrival.  He had brown
hair and a expression that indicated discipline as well as youthful exuberance.
Ace noticed that he was wearing one of those dorky looking uniforms, so he must
be one of the crew on board this boat.  For a moment, he hesitated, a confused
expression on his face.  Then, he spoke:
    "Pardon me for saying this, but I don't think I've seen you around here
before."
    Ace smiled.  What with all the dorky outfits these types seemed to wear,
her 20th century clothes must be standing out like a TARDIS at a jousting match.
"Oh, the Professor and I are just here on a visit."
    The young man seemed confused for a second, then suddenly a thought
struck him.  "You came here in that blue box, right?"
    "Yeah, that's right," said Ace.  "I told the Professor that he shouldn't
have brought the TARDIS so close to the black hole, but would he listen?"
    "So it's true, then?" the young man asked.  "You really are from another
universe?"
    "Yeah," said Ace.  "The Professor said we passed through a Synchronized
Bridge or something."
    The young man's eyes lit up instantly.  "Is it just like this one?  I
mean, the Earth, the stars, the same laws of physics?"
    Ace laughed.  This one sounded like he'd get along great with the
Professor.  "You're asking me?  I wouldn't know a law of physics if a copper
arrested me for breaking it!"
    The young man also laughed.
    Ace suddenly realized she was in the middle of a conversation and hadn't
even introduced herself yet.  She extended her hand.  "My name's Ace."
    The young man shook it.  "Ensign Wesley Crusher of the USS Enterprise."
    Ace smiled.  "Oi, with an introduction like that, I'd've expected you
to salute or something!"
    "Just my Academy training," said Wesley.  "I must've slipped into the
'greet a foreign diplomat' mode.  So, what do you think of the Enterprise?"
    Ace frowned.  "I'm not sure.  I mean, it seems a bit more like a cruise
ship than an military vessel, doesn't it?"
    "Don't let Captain Picard hear you say that!" said Wesley with mock
seriousness.  "Actually, the Enterprise is an exploration vessel.  Our primary
mission is to explore new parts of the galaxy.  Missions like that tend to be
long and uneventful, so recreation and comfort are important in keeping up
morale."
    "Yeah, I could see how that would make sense," replied Ace.  She looked
around at the people in the bar.  They all seemed cheerful, but relatively
calm.  Again Ace got the feeling that it just wasn't normal for a bar to be
this _civilized,_ even if it was on a ship.  "The drinks must not be too strong
here, though."
    "Oh, all of our drinks have synthehol in them," said Wesley.  "It
tastes like alcohol, but doesn't have the effect."
    Ace frowned.  "My dad always said they'd find a way to take the fun out
of drinking someday."
    "Oh, we've got plenty of fun here," said Wesley.  "You've got to see the
holodeck.  It's got everything you could want."  Suddenly Wesley's communicator
beeped.
    "Wesley, I need some help with the warp field diagnostics," said the
voice of Geordi LaForge.  "Could you spare a minute?"
    "Yeah, on my way," said Wesley.  He looked at Ace.  "I've got some work
to do right now, but maybe later I could show you."
    "Yeah, that'd be great," said Ace.
    "I'll come by at, say, 1800 hours?"
    _What?_ thought Ace.  _Oh, yeah, that's 6:00.  Right._  "OK."
    Wesley smiled.  "See you then."

Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/8/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART 4

    In Main Engineering, Geordi LaForge was showing the Doctor the warp
assembly and the main dilithium chamber.  "...and so, by using a phased-array
field modulator, we can attain useful energy at approximately 95% efficiency,"
concluded Geordi.
    The Doctor was studying the readouts on the dilithium chamber.  "These
dilithium crystals are fascinating, Geordi," he said.  "I've never seen anything
quite like them."
    "You haven't?" asked Geordi, surprised.  He knew the Doctor's people had
technology far in advance of the Federation, and that the Doctor himself had
apparently visited many different worlds in his travels.  So it was
inconceivable to Geordi that someone from such an advanced civilization had
never seen anything as simple as dilithium crystals.
    "Well, I have seen something like this before, but certainly not on a
24th century Earth ship," said the Doctor.  "If I didn't know better, I'd swear
this was a crude taranium drive."
    Just as Geordi was going to ask what the Doctor meant, Wesley walked in.
"Ah, Wes!  Mr. Barclay and I are going to be running a series of warp field
tests.  We've been having some power fluctuations in the dilithium chamber and
I want to know what's causing them.  Nothing serious, but I want to check it to
make sure.  I need you to monitor at the terminal for any abnormal results."
    "Sure thing," said Wesley.  He noticed the Doctor in the room for the
first time and cast a questioning glance at Geordi.
    "Oh, right," said Geordi.  "Doctor, this is Ensign Wesley Crusher.  Wes,
this is our visitor from another universe.  He calls himself 'the Doctor.'"
    "Ah!"  The Doctor shook Wesley's hand.  "Well met, Mr. Crusher!"
    "Doctor, I hope you don't mind, but I have to run these tests now," said
Geordi apologetically.
    "Oh, go right ahead," said the Doctor.  "I'll just stay and here and
do a little more looking around."
    Geordi walked over to the terminal where Reg Barclay was setting up the
test and proceeded to get underway.  The Doctor watched him leave, then watched
with an air of polite interest as Wesley began monitoring the results.
    "I don't know what he has to run a test for, it's perfectly obvious,"
said the Doctor almost under his breath.
    Wesley heard the Doctor's remark.  "What do you mean, it's obvious?"
    "The black hole's energy field is obviously interfering with the
synchronic domain of the crystals' quantum interaction matrix," said the Doctor,
waving his hand as if it was quite simple.
    "But there's no way the energy from the black hole could disrupt the
quantum interactions in the dilithium chamber," said Wesley.  "The shielding
would stop any subspace emissions."
    "You're thinking only 4-dimensionally, my boy," said the Doctor.
"Think of the dilithium as a 10-dimensional entity.  Imagine the quantums
"feeling" each other across the dimensions; each quantum event feeling the
others in such a way that they produce a balanced and harmonious pattern."
As he continued, the Doctor's voice became mysterious and strangely melodious.
"Imagine that balance extending between the atoms of the crystal, the subspace
field, and the antimatter; every part connected to every other."
    As Wesley listened, he stopped concentrating on his screen and stared
blankly at the pulsing lights of the dilithium chamber as if under a spell.
"Every part connected to every other," he mumbled.  Then, suddenly, he looked
up with a triumphant look on his face.  "The black hole!  It's causing chaotic
responses in the balances around it.  If a random factor was introduced into
the balance, it would reduce the crystals' efficiency!"
    "Very good, Wesley!" said the Doctor enthusiastically.
    Wesley's expression suddenly became one of amazed shock.  "But if the
crystals really worked like that, then that would mean..."
    "Yes, Wesley, I know," said the Doctor.  "These dilithium crystals of
yours are far more than you humans realize.  Not quite as synchronically active
as taranium, but far more plentiful.  The possibilities for travel would be
practically unlimited.  With the right designs, you could almost turn this ship
into a TARDIS!"
    "How exactly does your TARDIS work, anyway?" asked Wesley.  "I heard
Geordi talking about it, but I still can't understand how it can be bigger on
the inside than it is on the outside."
    "Ah!  Still thinking in those lower dimensions, I see," said the Doctor.
"Think of the interior of the TARDIS as a self-contained region of space and
time mapped higher-dimensionally onto the normal space-time continuum.  This
allows it to have a small exterior dimension, while the interior dimensions can
theoretically be unlimited."  The Doctor reached over and tapped out an equation
on Wesley's screen.
    Wesley studied the equation.  "Yeah, that makes sense."
    "Of course, that's only a simple approximation of the actual dimensions
of the TARDIS, but it gives you the general idea," said the Doctor.
    Wesley suddenly thought of something.  "That sort of resembles the
formula for an experiment I was working on once.  I was trying to create a
static warp field bubble when my mom got trapped inside it.  We just barely
got her out before it collapsed."
    The Doctor suddenly became interested.  "Intriguing.  May I see the
formula you used?"
    Wesley cleared the test results from his screen and punched up a
diagram of the warp bubble, along with the formula used to generate it.
    The Doctor looked at the formula in amazement.  "A self-contained
region of space-time!  Wesley, do you realize that you almost discovered the
same formula that Rassilon used in his earliest experimental time capsules?!"
    "Really?" asked Wesley in amazement.
    "Yes," said the Doctor.  "You know, Wesley, you remind me a lot of
another young man I once knew..."  The Doctor paused as he recalled his old
companion from E-Space, Adric, and his talent for mathematics.  He also recalled
watching helplessly as the space freighter carrying him crashed into Earth...
The Doctor had the sudden feeling that something important was going to happen,
something dangerous.  _Whatever it is must be nearby,_ he thought.  _Maybe on
the planet..._
    Wesley noted the Doctor's sudden change in expression.  "Is something
wrong, Doctor?"
    "To tell you the truth, Wesley, I don't know," said the Doctor.
"There's something that just doesn't feel right."
    Wesley smiled.  "You sound just like Guinan when you say that."
    The Doctor's look suddenly became very interested.  "And who might this
Guinan be?"
    "She's the bartender in Ten-Forward," said Wesley.  "No one knows much
about her; she's very mysterious at times, but always very friendly.  I don't
know where she's from originally, but Data once told me that she's at least 500
years old.  Maybe you should drop by Ten-Forward sometime and meet her."
    The Doctor paused for a moment as if deep in thought about something.
"Yes," he finally replied.  "Perhaps I should indeed."  With that, he turned
around and left the Engineering section with a look of foreboding on his face...

    In Ten-Forward, Guinan was wiping down her bar.  It was a relatively
quiet time of the day; most of the crew were on duty, so Ten-Forward stood
empty.  Suddenly, Guinan felt a familiar presence approaching.  She turned to
see the Doctor walk through the doors over to the bar.
    "I was wondering when you were going to show up," said Guinan.
     "Well, so it is you after all," said the Doctor.  He looked her over
carefully.  "You've certainly changed since we last met."
    "Well, *you* haven't," said Guinan, pointing critically at him.
    The Doctor frowned, knowing it had been several regenerations ago that
he had last met her.
    "You still have the same wonderful taste in fashion."
    "Hmph!" exclaimed the Doctor.  "And *you* still have the same taste in
hats!"
    Guinan smiled.  This was definitely the Doctor she knew.  "Have a seat."
    The Doctor also smiled and took a seat at the bar.  "So, you've finally
found a steady job, I see," he said, waving his hand at the bar.  "I never
thought I'd live to see that."
    "It has its rewards," said Guinan.  "Care for a drink?"
    "Yes, of course," said the Doctor.
    Guinan pulled out two glasses and set them on the bar.  Then, she drew
two bottles containing strange red and blue liquids and poured a carefully
measured amount of each into each glass.  Finally, she took two small crystal-
like cubes and dropped them into the glasses.  The drinks began to bubble
slowly, and the crystals suddenly lit up with a soft glow.
    "Ah!" said the Doctor fondly.  "I haven't seen *this* in a long time."
He and Guinan picked up their glasses and clinked them before taking a sip.
The Doctor smiled in pleasure as he remembered old times.... Suddenly, he
frowned.
    "What's wrong?" asked Guinan.
    "Us," said the Doctor.  "After all this time, we meet each other again.
You know what that means, don't you?"  He paused.  "You know the only thing it
can mean.  Something's going to happen."
    "I know," said Guinan.  "Ever since we reached this planet, I've felt
something.  Something... familiar.  I don't know what it is, but it's definitely
close."
    "Yes," said the Doctor with a concerned expression.  "I've been having
that same feeling."  Suddenly, the Doctor leaned forward and grasped Guinan's
hands.  "I'm worried what could happen.  All the people on board, and Ace..."
    Guinan squeezed his hands reassuringly.  "They're strong.  Whatever
happens, I know they'll be fine."  As she held his hands, she suddenly pressed
a piece of paper into them.
    The Doctor unfolded the paper in surprise and looked at it.  "What is
this?"
    "Something you'll need soon," said Guinan.
    The Doctor studied the paper thoughtfully for a moment.  Then, he looked
up.  "I'd better see what the Enterprise has discovered about this planet."
    "Take care," said Guinan.
    The Doctor smiled.  "I will."  As he stood up and prepared to leave, he
picked up the drink and finished it in one gulp.  "Ah!"
    Guinan watched as the Doctor left, then looked at her own drink.
Hesitantly, she picked it up, then downed it just as the Doctor had.  Suddenly,
Guinan coughed and made a terrible face.  "Ugh!  How *does* he do that?"







Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/8/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART 5

    At exactly 18:00:00, Wesley Crusher stood in front of Ace's quarters.
He was wearing a clean, neatly pressed uniform, and his hair was precisely
combed.  Looking confident, he rang the door signal.  A moment passed.  Then,
suddenly, the door opened to reveal Ace.  Wesley did a double-take.  Instead of
her usual 1980's street attire, she was wearing a 24th century tight-fitting
blue jumpsuit which greately flattered her figure.  Her brown hair was tied in
a ponytail behind her, and she looked, in Wesley's opinion, positively radiant.
    Ace saw Wesley's reaction and blushed slightly.  "I thought that, you
know, I'd fit in more here."
    "Uh.. yeah, right, of course," said Wesley.  He held out his hand to
her.  "Well, shall we?"
    Ace took it.  "Yes, let's go."  The two walked down the hallway and
eventually reached Holodeck 2.  Wesley walked up to the control panel and
pressed it.  "Computer, landscape of Mira II."
    "Program complete, enter when ready," informed the computer.
    "What are you going to show me?" asked Ace.
    Wesley smiled.  "You'll love it."
    The doors of the holodeck swung open to reveal a beautiful, green
meadow bathed in the light of the afternoon sun.  To one side there was a
strand of trees, and several tall mountains could be made out in the distance.
A light wind was blowing, and the rustling of the grass and trees carried
throughout the landscape.  The sky was a pure shade of azure, with the images
of two crescent moons in the background.  Ace gazed at the landscape in wonder.
She turned around and looked behind her... and saw the Enterprise hallway.
In confusion, she turned to Wesley.
    "What is this place?" she asked.
    Wesley smiled at her confusion.  "This is the holodeck.  It can
simulate any environment on file in the computer."
    Ace reached down and felt the grass.  It felt soft and entirely real.
"But, I mean, the grass, the breeze!  You can't tell me this is all just a
hologram!"
    "Oh, it's a lot more than just that," said Wesley.  "The system
basically uses the same principle as our replicators."
    "Oh!  Now I see!" said Ace.  She picked up some grass.  "So all this is
like a gigantic food machine."
    Wesley laughed.  "Well, I wouldn't put it exactly that way.  A
replicator can make food, but here... we can make anything.  Watch."  He looked
up as if addressing the air.  "Computer, show me the surface of Io."
    The landscape suddenly changed to a scene right out of Hell.  Instead
of trees and grass, there was only a bleak, yellowish surface.  The peaceful
mountain ranges had become firey volcanoes, which blazed forth with tremendous
energy; and the only rivers in sight were of liquid brimstone.  Above all, the
great orb of Jupiter filled the sky, casting an unearthly light upon the two
observers who gazed upon the awesome spectacle.  One volcano nearby let out a
particularly tremendous boom, and Ace involuntarily grasped Wesley in surprise.
    "It's okay," said Wesley.  "It's just a simulation.  It can't hurt us.
Don't be nervous."
    Ace looked around at the violent landscape, astounded.  She walked
around, observing it carefully.  Nearby, a small stream of molten sulfur flowed
past into a crack, where it bubbled and churned.  Ace looked at it carefully.
Then, without warning, she plunged her hand into the stream.
    Wesley jumped forward in shock and pulled her hand away.  It was, of
course, unburnt.  Ace laughed.  "Now who's acting nervous, hmm?"
    Wesley smiled, embarrassed.
    Ace glanced at the glowing orb of Jupiter illuminating the heavens.
"So, this holodeck can become any place you want it to be?"
    "That's right," said Wesley.
    Ace smiled as a thought struck her.  "Well, then, I've got something
you'll *really* love."

    Captain Picard and Beverly Crusher were sitting at a table in the
Captain's quarters.  A white tablecloth lay on the table, which was decked out
with several French dishes and two lit candles.  Crowning this elegant display
was an ice bucket containing a bottle of Vin Rose.  Both Beverly and Jean-Luc
knew that all of it had come from the replicator only a few minutes ago, but
they liked these quiet evenings together where they could talk within the
relaxing, if synthetic, French atmosphere.  Beverly was finishing up a serving
of escargot while Picard refilled their wine glasses.
    "Mmmm, Jean-Luc," said Beverly with her mouth slightly full.  "I'm
glad you made me try this.  I never thought snails could taste so good!"
    "Now, Beverly," said Picard in mock seriousness, "one simply does not
use the term `snails' in polite company."
    "Oh, excusez-moi, Jean-Luc," said Beverly, smiling.
    Picard continued to eat.  "You know, my mother used to serve us
escargot whenever we brought home good reports from school."
    "Didn't that make your brother jealous?" asked Beverly.  "I heard you
always got the best grades."
    "No, whenever anyone got good grades, we'd all get escargot," said
Picard.  "My brother was always jealous the next day, of course, but he did
love mama's special sauce."
    Beverly laughed.  "Sounds like your mother knew that the way to a man's
heart is through his stomach."
    "In my brother's case, how true," smiled Picard.  "You know, with all
the stress of missions we've been on lately, I haven't had a chance to really
relax like this for a long time."
    "Well, I always enjoy relaxing with you, Jean-Luc," said Beverly.
    Picard lifted his glass.  "To friendship."
    Beverly clinked it with hers.  "To friendship."
    Picard and Beverly each took a sip of wine, then smiled in contentment
and relaxation.  Suddenly, a beep from the companel sounded.
    "Hello, Captain Picard?" said a voice.
    "What?" said Picard, somewhat annoyed at the interruption.  "Who is
this?"
    "It's the Doctor," said the companel.  "I need to have a word with you."
    "I'd love to chat, Doctor," said Picard,  "but right now I'm in the
middle of dinner with..."
    "I need all the information you have about that planet we're orbiting,"
interrupted the Doctor abruptly.  "It's very important that I find out what's
down there."
    "Look, Doctor," said Picard, "I'm sure we can take care of this some
other time.  Now if you'll excuse me..."
    "Now, wait a minute..." began the Doctor, but Picard had already shut
off the companel.
    Picard looked back at Beverly, then picked up the wine bottle.  "Now,
where were we?"

    It was a typical day in London.  Fans from all over England were packed
into Wembley Stadium to see who would win this year's Cup Final.  The crowd
watched excitedly as their favorite teams scored goals, cheering when success
was achieved.
    "And it's been a very exciting day here at Wembley today, ladies and
gentlemen," said a typically English BBC radio announcer watching from the
press box.  "Both football teams have shown outstanding performance in this
match, and now, with only five minutes to go, the scores are tied 21-21.  These
last few minutes will decide the winner of the 1995 Cup Final."
    As the announcer said these words, a player made a daring rush through
the fullbacks and delivered a swift kick towards the goal, only to be stopped
by a swift save by the goalie.  The fans let out a tremendous cry of both joy
and disappointment.
    "Blimey!" said a fan sitting in the stands.  "Did you see that?  That
chap had a perfect shot!  If these blokes don't move their arses, I'll be out
a good 20 quid, I will!"
    Wesley merely smiled uncertaintly in reply.  Next to him, Ace watched
as a halfback began running the ball toward the goal, only to be tripped by one
of the opposing team.
    "I can't believe that!  He didn't even bloody notice!" shouted Ace in
indignation.  "Hey ref, you arsehole!  How'd you like a nice grenade!"  The
sentiment was echoed by the fans of the offended team.
    Wesley was unsure how to react.  He had thought that this ancient Earth
sport called "football" was a civilized game in which two teams tried to kick a
ball into a goal.  He was not at all prepared for the enthusiasm a huge crowd of
Brits could generate, not to mention the seriousness with which the fans
appeared to take the game.
    The crowd continued matching excitedly as the halfback intercepted a
pass, then began going for the goal.  Immediately, the entire team rushed for
him, attempting to steal the ball.  He skillfully dodged past them, then, just
as they appeared to close in on him, he made a tremendous kick to his teammate.
The ball sailed gracefully to the other man who was positioned strategically
near the goal.  With only 10 seconds to go, he stepped back, then smashed the
ball into the goal with a tremendous head shot.
    As the end buzzer sounded, the crowd went wild, letting out such a roar
that the holodeck's safety mechanism activated so as to avoid dangerous decibel
levels.  Ace stood up and shouted for joy.  "Yeah!  We creamed those blokes!"
    Immediately a group of disgruntled fans began to harass the referees.
"Hey!  That was a bloody cheat, that was!"  The fans for the winning team, of
course, were quick to point out the numerous fouls committed by the losers in
the most unflattering terms, which led to several fistfights and eventually the
arrest of several people by security officers.  As the crowd left, still
cheering and grumbling, Ace and Wesley sat in the stands silently contemplating
the empty field.

    In the guest quarters, the Doctor scowled at the silent companel.
"Blast the bureaucracy!  How am I going to find out what's down there?"  He
paused for a moment, then, with an air of determination, he walked to the doors.
    The bridge of the Enterprise was nearly deserted.  Instead of the usual
complement of officers, there were only the two lieutenants assigned to the
"night shift."  One sat at the helm controls, the other at the ops station, both
keeping an eye on the sensors for any unusual phenomena.  At this moment,
however, one unusual phenomenon escaped their sensors.  The turbolift doors
opened and the Doctor stepped out.  Looking around, he went to the science
station at the bridge's rear and began tapping out commands to scan the planet.
    The lieutenant at the ops station had heard the lift doors open, but
had taken no notice, thinking it was just one of the officers checking in.
Casually, he glanced back to see a strange-looking man with a hat and umbrella
tapping away at a bridge computer terminal.  Instinctively, he drew his phaser
and pointed it at the Doctor.  He tapped his combadge.
    "Security!  Unauthorized person on the bridge!" he announced loudly.
    The Doctor turned around to see the lieutenant with a phaser pointed at
him.  "Now, hang on, old chap, there's no need to be uncivilized..."  These
words were interrupted by the arrival of Lieutenant Worf.  He looked pointedly
at the Doctor.
    "You will come with me," declared Worf.
    The Doctor sighed.  "Bloody security.  Oh bother."

    Picard and Beverly were just finishing up their meal.  The food and
company had made them both very relaxed and had made for an enjoyable evening.
Beverly stood up and put down her glass.  "Well, Jean-Luc, thank you for a
wonderful evening."
    "It is I who should be thanking you, Beverly," said Picard.  "Your
company always brightens up my table."
    Beverly smiled in response.
    Just then, the companel beeped.  "Security to Captain Picard."
    "Picard here," said the captain.  "What is it, Mr. Worf?"
    "It seems our *guest* was attempting to access the bridge computer
terminals, Captain," said Worf.  "Fortunately, he was apprehended before any
damage could be done."
    Picard sighed and ran his hand across his forehead.  _Not again._
"Thank you, Mr. Worf," sighed Picard.  "I'll be right there."

    In the Captain's Ready Room, Picard was giving the Doctor a look which
indicated that he'd had a long day and would really like to get to bed without
being interrupted again.
    "Now, I don't know what you're trying to do here, Doctor, but I must
ask that you refrain from disrupting the function of my ship while you're on
board," said Picard.
    "I was merely trying to acquire information about the planet," said the
Doctor, slightly indignant at the implication that he "disrupted" anything.
"Something very dangerous may be down there, and it's very important that I
receive all information possible."
    Picard sighed.  "Look, Doctor, do you know of any threat to the ship
down there?"
    "Well, not at the moment..." began the Doctor.
    "Then tomorrow, you can talk to the science department about it," said
Picard.  "Until then, *please* stay off my bridge, will you?"
    "Oh, all right," grumbled the Doctor.
    "Thank you," said Picard.  "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."
He turned towards the door.  "And I'd appreciate it if there were *no further
interruptions.*"  With that, he left.
    The Doctor frowned at the table in frustration.  "How in the name of
Gallifrey am I ever going to get anything done?"

    As the fans left the stadium and the lights were turned off, Ace
turned to Wesley.  "Well, what'd you think?"
    "Wow," said Wesley.  "I expected the players to get physical, but I
never saw a sport where the spectators did!  I've seen Klingons that were more
calm!"
    "Oh, it's just all part of good old British football," said Ace.
    Wesley smiled.  "I did like it, though.  In the 24th century, we don't
have too many team sports anymore.  Certainly nothing on this scale."  He
gazed out over the now-dark field, the stands empty and forgotten.  "It's hard
to believe that just *watching* a game could be so much fun!"
    Ace smiled.  God, it had been a long time since she'd seen a good game
of football.  Why, she hadn't had this much fun since she was a child in
Perivale... Suddenly, she was struck by a memory.  A memory of a 12-year old
girl sitting in the stands with her parents.
    "Bloody ref!" shouted the father.  "Bastard can't even make a simple
call!"
    "Now, dear," said the mother.  "Please set a good example for your
daughter."
    "I *am* setting a good example," protested the father.  "She's got to
learn sometime!"  He turned to the little girl sitting next to him.
"Remember that, Dorothy.  The bloody refs are always blind as bats."
    Just then, the halfback made a deft maneuver around the defender and
landed a solid kick in the goal.  The crowd cheered, and the parents joined in
the jubilation.  The mother lifted up Dorothy and hugged her as the player who
scored the goal was carried out onto the field by his teammates...
    Wesley suddenly noticed that tears were forming in Ace's eyes.  "What's
wrong?"
    Ace sniffed.  "Oh, it's nothing."  She paused, and stared out over the
blank field.  "You know... my mum and dad used to take me to these games.  Dad
always told me never to trust the refs.  Mum was always after him for betting
on the games, but she always liked it if he won."
    Wesley also stared out into the darkness, his eyes full of memories.
"I remember when I was five, my dad took me to the holodeck.  Dad said that no
boy should live life without ever having seen a baseball game, so he and some of
the other guys from his ship put together a baseball team and challenged the
people on mom's ship to a game.  I remember my dad trying to play.  He was
lousy," laughed Wesley.  "But he still put on a good show.  Eventually, Dad
reprogrammed the holodeck so that the ball would home in on his bat.  From then
on, everyone scored home runs."  Wesley paused as the memories came back.  "I
only saw him once after that, when his ship had stopped at a spacedock.  Then,
there was an accident during a mission and... he didn't come back."
    Ace grasped Wesley's hand in sympathy.  "I'm sorry."
    "Mom talks about him a lot," said Wesley.  "I wish I could have gotten
to know him better."
    Ace paused as memories of her relationship with her parents began to
surface.  "Mum and I used to have lots of good times together when I was a kid.
We were always doing something fun together.  Then, after a while, we started
to grow apart.  I don't know why, but suddenly it just wasn't fun anymore.  Mum
would always be yelling at me for something, and I'd get angry and call her
nasty names.  I felt like she was trying to run my life, you know?  Like her
purpose in life was to stop me from having fun.  Eventually, I decided to run
away from home.  I felt like no one cared about me anymore, like I was just some
troublesome brat they wanted out of the way.  It wasn't until I met the Doctor
that I felt like I belonged somewhere again."  Ace paused.  "I wonder where Mum
is right now," she said softly, her eyes full of longing.  "I wonder if she ever
thinks about me, or if she still cares about me."
    Wesley put his arm around her comfortingly.  "I care about you, Ace."
He leaned forward and kissed her gently.  She held him and returned his kiss.
As the night passed, they sat holding each other, comforted by their shared
memories of times gone by.

    In one of the science laboratories of the Enterprise, Lt. Commander Data
was busily working at a computer terminal.   Even though most of the crew had
already gone to sleep, Data was still trying to analyze the data he had
gathered from the previous away team mission to the planet.  For the past few
hours, he had been using several different algorithms to study the structure of
the door mechanism and break its code, from the Universal Translator to
Starfleet algorithms used for the breaking of Romulan ciphers.  As Data was only
a Lt. Commander, however, he could only use those algorithms which were not
considered "sensitive," which meant that even with Data's natural code-breaking
abilities, the patterns were proving very difficult to analyze.  Just then, the
Doctor walked in, apparently not noticing Data.  He began to glance around in a
somewhat haphazard manner, then turned to one of the computer consoles and
tapped a few keys experimentally.
    "Can I help you?" asked Data politely.
    The Doctor, surprised, pulled his hands away from the console, then
turned to face Data.  "Ah!  Mr. Data, isn't it?  I've been wanting to have a
conversation with you."
    "I am sorry, Doctor," said Data, "but I am currently engaged in an
official investigation.  Perhaps some other time."
    "You wouldn't be investigating the planet, would you?" asked the Doctor
with a feigned ignorance.
    "Why yes," said Data.
    "Ah!  Splendid!" exclaimed the Doctor.  "Exactly what I wanted to talk
to you about!  Tell me, what exactly have you found in your investigation?"
    "An away team consisting of Commander Riker, Lt. Worf, and myself
discovered a cave entrance shielded by a type of holo-field," reported Data.
Upon entrance, we noticed that the holo-generator had been recently repaired,
and there was also evidence of shots fired recently.  At the end of the corridor
was a large door with a coded entry system.  I am now attempting to decipher the
system so that we may explore further."
    The Doctor looked over Data's shoulder at his screen.  "Not having much
success, I take it?"
    "The encryption key on this door appears to be quite sophisticated,"
said Data.  "It will take some time to properly decode."
    "Oh, come now, Mr. Data," said the Doctor jovially, "surely all the
sophisticated military hardware aboard a starship is a match for a simple door!"
    "Starfleet's mission is primarily exploratory, Doctor," said Data,
"although I understand your point.  I have employed a variety of informational
analysis algorithms to the door code, but they do not seem to be very
successful."
    The Doctor looked over at Data's screen again.  He was not in the least
impressed by what he saw.  "Hmmm.  Surely you must have more advanced algorithms
than those for codebreaking!"
    "It is true that Starfleet does possess a variety of methods used
primarily for the decoding of military transmissions," said Data.  "However,
I do not possess the security clearance required to access them."
    The Doctor seemed to ponder this for a moment, then a sly smile began
to form on his lips.  "Your security systems are protected with a password
cipher also, are they not, Mr. Data?"
    "That is correct, Doctor," replied Data.
    "And you do have a familiarity with the ship's computer?"
    "Yes, but I do not understand the relevance..."
    "It's perfectly simple, Mr. Data," exclaimed the Doctor.  "Use the
algorithms you do have to access the ones you don't!"
    Data paused, somewhat taken aback by the suggestion.  "It would be in
violation of regulations for a Starfleet officer to access unauthorized data."
    "Oh, pish-posh and bureaucratic nonsense!" exclaimed the Doctor.  "When
I worked for UNIT, we could hardly order a cup of coffee at Headquarters without
filing a bloody requisition for it!  The only reason for security is to keep
out the enemy, Mr. Data, NOT to keep a duly commissioned officer from doing his
job!  Regulations are all well and good, but sometimes you have to use your
head!"
    Data thought for a long moment, considering this.  As a Starfleet
officer, he was duty-bound to uphold all regulations and laws of the Federation.
However, there had been several cases before where he had violated regulations
believing that it was the right thing to do.  Besides that, the Doctor's
arguments made sense.  Data weighed the issue back and forth in his head for
approximately 275 milliseconds, then decided that it would be acceptable to use
the data once, then erase it from his memory.  Wordlessly, he began to run a
decryption algorithm through the ship's computer files.  Due to Data's knowledge
of the Enterprise's file system architecture, it took only about 10 seconds
before a list of Starfleet Intelligence decrypt algorithms appeared on the
terminal.
    "Ah!  That's the spirit, my good man!" said the Doctor, clapping Data
on the shoulder.
    Data looked through the list carefully.  "I believe this algorithm will
prove useful.  It was recently developed by the Daystrom Institute to analyze
the Borg command pathways."  He activated the program and ordered it to begin
working on the doorway codes.  The screen was flooded with a stream of bits,
which gradually began to coalesce into numbers.  In about 15 seconds, the
program had produced a series of five numbers.
    "Hmmm!  That was fast," said the Doctor.
    "According to this file, Ultima is the best decrypt program in
Starfleet," said Data.
    The Doctor paused, studying the completed data.  "Well, if you'll
excuse me, Mr. Data, I've got work to do."
    "Of course, Doctor," said Data.  "You have been most... helpful."
    The Doctor smiled cordially, then walked out of the lab with a
determined expression on his face.  He, like the crew of the Enterprise, was
curious about what lay behind that door...


Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/8/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART SIX

    The Enterprise was orbiting Pelana 2.  As such, it floated freely in
the vastness of space, illuminated by the constant glow of Pelana B and the
myriad of distant stars which surrounded it.  Such being the case, it was
rather imprecise to call it "morning."  However, since humanoid beings are best
adapted to run on a regular cycle of sleep and wakefulness, the ship's
chronometers were set accordingly.  Therefore, the meeting held by the senior
staff of the ship at 0730 hours was called the morning meeting.
    Captain Picard had just taken his seat.  After a short glance around the
room to make sure all were present, he began.
    "Well, now that we've all had a good night's rest, we can get on with
our mission, and perhaps shed some light on this mysterious planet.  Mr.
LaForge, what was your analysis of the projection used on the entrance to the
installation?"
    "Well, it's best described as a combination holodeck and deflector
shield, Captain," said Geordi.  "It conceals the entrance, but if fully
functional, can withstand a tremendous force of energy."
    "You said it had been repaired by someone recently," queried Picard.
    "There's no way of knowing by who, sir," said Geordi.  "Most of the
parts used can be found on a dozen different planets in every sector, and there
are no markings to distinguish any of them."
    Picard paused for a moment, then turned to Worf.  "Mr. Worf, your
report also mentions evidence of shots fired."
    "Aye, sir," said Worf.  "The burns were apparently from a type of
phaser similar to that used by the Federation, however with considerably more
power than a hand weapon."
    "But there was no sign of any present occupants," said Picard.
    "No, sir," said Worf.
    Riker frowned.  "Our sensors cannot penetrate the base, sir.  Someone
may already be inside."
    Data turned to Picard.  "Based on the data I recorded from our first
away mission, I have determined that the base door has not been opened since
the city was abandoned.  In addition, I have conducted a narrow wave-band scan
of the exterior of the volcano and have discovered no other entrances.  As it
has been approximately 2000 years since this city was destroyed, it is
reasonable to assume that no one is inside."
    "If that's the case, Data, then where did the transmissions come from?"
commented Riker.
    "That, Number One, is precisely what we are here to find out," declared
Picard.  "Mr. Data, have you made any progress on defeating the security
system?"
    "Yes, Captain," answered Data.  "I believe I have attained the codes
necessary for entry."
    "Well done, Mr. Data," said Picard.
    "I'll prepare an away team and beam down immediately, sir," said Riker.
    "No, Commander," said Picard.  "This time I will be in the lead."
    A general expression of surprise was instantly on the face of every
officer in the room, followed by a chorus of warnings.
    "Captain, I don't think that's such a good idea," began Riker.
    "Sir, it would be an inappropriate risk," said Worf.
    Picard silenced them with a wave of his hand.  "I understand your
concerns, everyone.  But as an archaeologist, it's not every day that one gets
the opportunity to study working artifacts from a high-technology civilization.
For once, we have the chance to do some good old-fashioned exploration; and I
say we should make the most of it."
    "The risk factor is unacceptable, sir," declared Riker.  "We'd have no
way of knowing if anything went wrong and no way to beam you back if it did."
    "I could send down an emergency shuttle transporter just inside the
base, Captain," spoke up Geordi.  "That way, we could use it as a relay to the
Enterprise if anything went wrong while you were inside."
    "Excellent, Mr. LaForge," said Picard.  "Now, if there are no further
objections, let's get on with our mission.  Number One, while I'm on the
surface, you'll assume command."
    "Aye, sir," replied Riker.  His expression, however, remained
disapproving.  The other officers left to carry out their duties, but Riker
remained in his seat.  Troi saw his expression and went over to him.
    "You don't approve of the captain leading the away team," she observed.
    "I just don't want him to take unnecessary risks, that's all," replied
Riker.
    "The captain is one of the best officers in Starfleet, Will," said
Troi.  "He wouldn't be beaming down if he thought there was a threat.  Besides,
the captain has handled Romulans, Cardassians, and Borg.  I'm sure he's quite
capable of handling a simple scientific mission."  She paused.  "Besides, if
you really thought it was unsafe, you wouldn't have let him go."
    Riker smiled.  "I guess you're right, Deanna.  Say, while the Captain's
gone, we can get some chocolate sundaes from Ten-Forward before going to the
bridge."
    Troi laughed.  "I thought only I would think of eating dessert with
breakfast, Will."  Together, they left in search of some of Guinan's fudge
supremes.

    As Ace began to regain consciousness, she felt herself laying on
something hard and cold.  Her body was twisted into some kind of strange
position, and her neck and back felt terribly stiff.  Sleepily, Ace opened her
eyes to discover that she was laying on some kind of smooth black floor with a
series of yellow lines on it.  As she began to sit up, she discovered her legs
were intertwined with someone else's.  Glancing over, she noticed Wesley Crusher
in a similarly uncomfortable position.  Ace got to her feet and began to shake
him.  "Wesley!  Wake up!"
    With a groan, Wesley awoke.  "Ohhh... my back feels so stiff."
    "Tell me about it," said Ace.  "What happened?  Where are we?"
    Wesley sat up and began rubbing his stiff neck.  "We must have fallen
asleep in the holodeck.  After a certain period of time, it's programmed to shut
down if it detects no activity."
    Ace also rubbed her neck.  "Oi!  Remind me not to do that again."
    Suddenly, Wesley stood up.  "Computer, what time is it?"
    "The current time is 08:10:21," announced the computer cheerfully.
    "Oh no!" said Wesley.  "I was supposed to help Geordi with the engine
calibration at 0800!  I'd better get down to Engineering."  He turned to leave,
then turned to Ace.  "I just wanted you to know I had a really good time last
night."
    Ace smiled at him.  "So did I."
    Wesley returned the smile, then rushed out of the holodeck.  Ace stood
silently and contemplated the empty grid for a moment, then left in search of
the Doctor.

    The away team materialized near the tunnel entrance.  As Data and Worf
had already been here, they took little notice.  Captain Picard, however, gazed
around him in wonder at the devastated cityscape.  He began to walk closer to
one of the ruined buildings, picking up a few fragments of twisted metal.
    "Fascinating," he breathed, "simply fascinating.  To look upon the
ruins of a city and imagine how it was before.  Wondering how the people lived
and worked."  He sighed in satisfaction.  "It's time like these, gentlemen, that
I wish I'd been an archaeologist instead of a starship captain."
    Worf frowned.  "Klingons remember the past by remembering the deeds of
those who have fallen in battle.  We do not violate the honor of a battlefield
by unearthing the bones of the dead."
    Picard was about to explain the historical merits of archaeological
investigation to Worf when Commander Data interrupted.
    "Captain, if I may, we do have a mission to complete."
    "Yes, of course, Mr. Data," said Picard.  The team walked to the
mountainside.  As the holo-generator had been deactivated by Data the first
time, there was nothing between them and the corridor inside.  As they entered,
they noticed a large barrel-shaped object had been placed inside.  Data walked
over to it and tapped a few controls.
    "The transporter relay is functional, sir," reported Data.  "We will
now be able to beam back to the Enterprise from within the base if necessary."
    "Lead on, then, Mr. Data," said Picard.  Data led them to the end of
the corridor, where the great metal door stood there.  In Picard's mind, it
looked like the hidden entrance to one of the lost pyramids of Egypt.  _What
treasures and perils lay through this passage,_ wondered Picard.  He glanced at
the strange writing which was engraved onto the door.  _And what ancient
warnings do these hieroglyphics give to those who would enter?_
    Data drew his tricorder.  "I will now input the code using the
tricorder's infrared emitter."  He tapped a few keys and waited.  Suddenly, the
door came to life.  With a creaking and groaning that bespoke many long
centuries of waiting, it opened to reveal a rather small, unimpressive metal
chamber with a control panel built into one of the walls.  Picard found it
rather disappointing, as it seemed to cast down his hopes of discovering lost
temples.
    Data glanced around, then scanned the room with his tricorder.  "Sir, I
believe this is some kind of lift mechanism.  It appears to lead down deeper
into the mountain."
    "Is it still functioning, Mr. Data?" asked Picard.
    "I believe the mechanism is in adequate working order, sir," replied
Data.
    Picard gestured to the others.  "Well?  Shall we?"  He stepped into the
elevator, but Data held out his hand to stop him.
    "Sir, this shaft extends approximately 5.2 kilometers into the surface.
As this is an inert volcano, it would be wise if I were to go first and
determine if the environment is hazardous."
    "Very good, Mr. Data," said Picard.
    Data stepped into the ancient elevator.  After examining the control
panel for a moment, he pressed one of the buttons.  The door suddenly closed,
and a light flashed on the panel indicating Data's descent.  After a few
minutes, the light stopped, then began flashing again, indicating that the
elevator was re-ascending.  Picard and Worf waited expectantly as the elevator
came to a stop and the door opened.  As Data emerged, Picard and Worf noticed
that his uniform was burnt and smoking, and his hair had apparently been melted.
    "Data!" exclaimed Picard.  "What on earth?!"
    "The elevator appears to lead to an underground magma pocket, Captain,"
reported Data calmly.  "There is apparently some sort of artificial construction
inside.  As the ambient air temperature is approximately 425 degrees Celsius, it
would be unsuitable to explore without proper protection."
    "Four-hundred twenty five degrees?!" exclaimed Picard.  "You should
have beamed up immediately, Commander!"
    "My exterior structure is capable of withstanding such a temperature
for 32.8 seconds without damage, Captain," said Data.  He looked at himself, and
then felt the top of his head.   "I am afraid I did not factor in the effect on
my hair, sir."
    Picard sighed.  "Very well.  We'll report back to the ship and beam
back with shielded environment suits.  And Data, please do something about that
hair."
    Data looked embarrassed as only an android could, but said nothing.

    The Doctor was aimlessly wandering the corridors of the Enterprise, or
so it seemed to those who passed by.  In reality, he had an absolutely firm
destination in mind:  the Enterprise's transporter room.  Unfortunately, he had
no firm idea of where his firm destination was.  So, he continued to wander the
corridors, although very purposefully.  As he did so, he almost ran into Ace
who was on her way to a science lab in search of some nitro-nine.
    "Ah!  There you are, Ace!  I've been looking everywhere for you."
    Ace knew from his bemused expression of a few moments ago that he had
been doing no such thing.  "I'm sure, Professor."
    The Doctor ignored that.  "There's something very strange on that planet
down there, Ace.  I don't know what it is yet, but it is of utmost importance
that we investigate it at once."
    Ace had been with the Doctor long enough to know that something of
"utmost importance" usually meant "utmost danger."  "If you don't know what it
is, then how do you know it's important?"
    "Well... I just have a feeling, that's all," replied the Doctor.
"Besides, I received some information from an old friend."  He held up the
paper Guinan had given him.
    Ace wasn't sure what to make of the strange script in front of her.
"What is it?"
    "I don't know," said the Doctor.  "However, I intend to find out!"  He
paused momentarily with a contemplative expression on his face.  "Soon, very
soon," he said almost under his breath.  Then, he resumed his determined
attitute and began walking down another corridor.  "I'm sure the transporter
room was this way..."
    Ace paused, then ran after him.  _The Doctor needs *someone* to get him
out of trouble,_ she thought.

    The away team materialized once again inside the metal corridor, this
time wearing Starfleet environment suits with forcefields to protect against
the heat.  Data, having replicated a new head of hair, opened the elevator door,
and they stepped inside.
    "Now let's see what's down there, shall we?" said Picard
enthusiastically.
    "Captain," said Data, as the door began to close.  "Please hold on.
The elevator has an unusually rapid rate of descent."
    "How rap--"
    Suddenly the elevator began to descend.  Actually, the word "plummet"
would have better described the action.  Picard, Data, and Worf found themselves
floating in zero-gravity as the elevator screamed down the shaft to its
destination.  After a few moments, it began to decelerate, and the away team
found themselves standing on solid ground once more as the elevator stopped.
    "Well," said Picard, as he regained his composure.  "It's fortunate you
warned us, Mr. Data."
    The doors opened to reveal a gigantic cavern which was illuminated by a
bright reddish glow.  Around them, vast pillars of metal reached up into the
darkness.  A walkway in front of them led forward towards several of the
pillars, which in turn were connected to each other by other walkways.  As
Picard looked down, he could see the source of the glow: a gigantic lake of
lava which bubbled and churned relentlessly beneath him.  _A temple indeed,_
thought Picard in awe.  _One with a gate to the Underworld._
    Worf was also impressed.  "This reminds me of the Klingon legend of
Kukh'tah, who descended into the place of fire to battle Bakh'tas, the dragon."
    "I always thought Klingons had no devil, Mr. Worf," remarked Picard.
    "Bakh'tas represents the desires which would turn a warrior from Honor,"
replied Worf.  "However, a Klingon does not blame dragons for his failures."
    "Data," inquired Picard, "what do you make of these pillars?  What
purpose do they serve?"
    Data scanned the pillars with his tricorder.  "They appear to contain
a type of heat exchanging system.  I am also reading regular layers of tritanium
and duranium."
    Picard pointed at one of the nearby pillars which was adjacent to a
walkway.  "That looks like some sort of control panel, Data."
    Data walked over and examined it.  "It appears to be a diagnostic panel
which monitors the proper functioning of the device.  I would hypothesize that
these pillars serve as giant geothermal energy converters, pumping magma through
a heat exchanger and then through a tritanium-duranium thermocouple."
    Picard looked across the cavern.  There were apparently hundreds of
pillars in this cavern, each at least 20 meters wide.  Whatever this had been
built for obviously needed a lot of power.  "Was it a power source for the
city, Data?"
    "Possibly, Captain," said Data.  "However, the level of technology would
suggest a much more advanced form of power generation."
    "Then why would they have constructed something so elaborate?" wondered
Picard.  "Hmmm... Data, does the elevator lead to any other levels?  Perhaps we
could find a control center or something that might tell us more about all
this."
    "It appears to lead to only two other levels, sir," replied Data.  "One
is marked with a larger button, which would seem to indicate it is the control
level."
    "Well, then," said Picard.  "Let's see if we can finally get an answer
to this mystery."

    After having ended up in the gardens, the captain's yacht, and the
Enterprise's 5th grade classroom, the Doctor and Ace had eventually found one
of the transporter rooms.  Transporter Room 2 was not used much, and therefore
there was no one at the controls.  The Doctor's eyes lit up as he began to
examine them.  "Hmmm... Seems like a rather unremarkable transmat device to
me.  This should be no problem."  Ace, of course, felt totally secure at this
statement.
    Just then a light on the panel caught the Doctor's attention.  "Hmm,
what's this?  Transport relay active... Never mind, probably nothing
significant."  The Doctor began to manipulate the controls.
    "What are you doing, Professor?" asked Ace.  "How are we supposed to
get anywhere from here, anyway?"
    "Remember that device the Daleks used to bring reinforcements into the
elementary school?  Well, this is just about the same thing.  It disassembles
your molecular structure and then reassembles it at another predetermined point
in space.  Quite simple, really."
    "I like my molecular structure the way it is, thank you," said Ace.
    "Oh, come now, Ace!" said the Doctor.  "Transmat beams are the safest
form of travel.  Well, next to TARDISes, anyway."  He tapped a few more keys.
"Well, now we should be able to beam down wherever that base is."
    "And just how are we supposed to get back up?" asked Ace.
    "No worries, Ace," said the Doctor.  He threw her a small, shiny piece
of metal shaped like the Enterprise logo.  "I've programmed the computer to
beam us back when we signal with these communicators.  Now, we'd better hurry.
It's programmed to transport us in ten seconds."  The Doctor stepped onto a
transporter pad and a reluctant Ace did the same.  Suddenly, the console began
to hum as it energized.
    "Professor, I'm not so sure about this..." she began.
    "Now!" said the Doctor, and he and Ace dematerialized.

    The Doctor and Ace rematerialized in a large room filled with advanced
looking computers and consoles.  Several large display screens were on the
walls; however, all of them were dark, and none of the lights on the consoles
were flashing save for one small green light which pulsed slowly.
    "Wow!" exclaimed Ace.  "That was right wicked!  Like getting drunk,
although without the hangover!"
    The Doctor, however, didn't notice.  "Well, this isn't where I planned
go, but it looks promising."  He began to poke at the consoles, which remained
inactive, to his disappointment.  Just then he noticed the one pulsing green
light.  "Ah!"  He sat down at the console and pressed a key.  Suddenly, the
screen lit up, displaying a message in the strange alien script.
    "Have you got something, Professor?" asked Ace.
    "I do believe I've found what we're looking for, Ace," said the Doctor
triumphantly.  "This machine is obviously waiting for input, and," he said as
he unfolded Guinan's paper, "I believe I have it."  Slowly, he hunted for the
proper keys on the console and typed in the letters on the paper.
    As soon as he pressed the last key, the entire room lit up.  All the
computers and consoles which had been waiting for millenia suddenly switched
back into life, filling the room with electronic sounds of activity.  The wall
displays also lit up, showing what appeared to be a representation of the
star system, as well as various other data which the Doctor couldn't make out.
The display directly above the Doctor remained dark for a second, then an image
appeared.  Ace gasped in horror as she looked up into what appeared to be the
face of the Devil.
    "I am Parthak, leader of the Great Work," said the horned creature in a
terrible voice.  "Many centuries ago, the Great One promised that our race
would become the supreme power in the Universe.  Through his wisdom, we have
built this Great Work in his name which will grant us dominion over all lesser
creatures.  One day, the Great One's enemies came, and he left us to fight
against them.  Without the leadership of the Great One, our people destroyed
each other in a terrible war.  I am the last who survives, and even now I lie
dying.  However, ye who receive this, let it be known that now is the time
for the completion of the Work and the return of the Great One.  He shall
finally crush all enemies and reclaim rightful dominion over the universe, as it
was destined to be.  May you be as worthy to serve as I."
    The Doctor watched the message in stunned amazement.  "A Daemon!"
    "Doctor," said Ace with a note of fear in her voice, "was that.."
    "No, it most certainly was not, Ace!" exclaimed the Doctor.  "I can
never understand why you humans have so much fear in your religions.  That was
a Daemon from the planet Daemos, which, come to think of it, isn't very far
from here.  Or wasn't, to be precise."
    "Wasn't?" asked Ace.
    "Yes, the planet was destroyed by some unknown catastrophe a while ago."
Suddenly, the Doctor realized something.  "But that was in our universe!  What
were they doing here?"
    "Well, maybe they existed in this universe, too, Professor," said Ace.
    "Well, that's possible," said the Doctor uncertainly.  "But the Daemons
were a race of scientists, motivated by logic!  They would never go to war with
each other, and they certainly wouldn't serve any Great One!  This whole thing
just doesn't make sense."  He looked up at one of the wall displays, which
was showing the black hole with a line between it and the planet.  "I wonder
what this Great Work of theirs is..."
    Suddenly, a door on the far side of the room opened.  Ace jumped,
fearing the Daemon had come back from the dead.  She was relieved to see instead
Picard, Worf, and Data step out of the elevator.  When Picard noticed the Doctor
and Ace, he was surprised, to say the least.
    "Ah, Captain!" said the Doctor cordially.
    Picard pulled off his suit helmet.  "What on Earth are you doing here?!"
he exclaimed.
    "That's a rather silly question, since we're not on Earth," replied the
Doctor.
    "I am not in the mood for jokes, Doctor!" shouted Picard.  "Now, just
what do you think you're doing coming down here and interfering with a
Starfleet investigation?!"
    The Doctor drew himself up indignantly.  "I *happen* to be doing an
investigation of my own!  I'm not a member of your Starfleet and I don't need
to listen to any of this bureaucratic twaddle!"
    Picard felt his face start to get red with anger.  *Nobody* had ever
talked to him that way before.  "Now, listen here, you..."
    "No, *you* listen!" shouted the Doctor.  His expression and tone of
voice were so determined that even Picard fell silent.  "I happen to have
discovered information that may be very important to both of us.  Judging by
those suits you're wearing, I assume you've also found something out about this
place.  There's something here, Captain, that could endanger your ship, your
world, and possibly even your galaxy!  Now, either we fight over meaningless
trifles or compare our observations like civilized people before it's too late!"
    Picard and the Doctor glared at each other for a moment.  Finally,
Picard spoke.  "Alright," said Picard.  "What have you discovered?"

    Aboard the Enterprise, Riker sat in the captain's chair keeping watch
over the bridge.  He sat back and watched as the planet rotated under him on
the viewscreen.
    "Commander," said the tactical officer.  "I'm picking up some strange
disturbances in the tachyon field."
    "A natural disturbance?" asked Riker.
    "I don't think so, sir," said the officer.  "It appears to be moving
in a regular path."
    "We'd better beam up the away team just in case," said Riker.  Just as
he reached for the communicator panel, his attention was suddenly caught by
the viewscreen.  To Riker's amazement, a Romulan Warbird was decloaking in
front of them!  Before he could say "red alert," the Warbird fired its
disruptors.
    The ship shook, and lights began to flicker on the bridge.  "Shields
up!" shouted Riker.  "Prepare to return fire!"
    "Our shields and main weapons systems are damaged, sir," said the
tactical officer.  "It was a direct hit."
    Another blast rocked the Enterprise.  "Primary warp energy conduit
damaged, sir," announced the officer.
    "We can't run, we can't fight," muttered Riker.  "They've got us right
where they want us."
    "We are being hailed, sir," said the officer.
    "On screen," said Riker.  The screen showed a typically arrogant
Romulan officer glaring at him.
    "I am Subcommander Halok," said the Romulan.  "You will surrender
immediately and prepare to be boarded.  Any attempt to resist will result in
your immediate destruction."
    "What is the meaning of--" began Riker, but the Romulan had already
closed the channel.  Riker pounded the chair with his fists.  "Damn!"

    Inside the base, Picard and the Doctor had told each other what they
had discovered and were now pondering over its significance.
    "So these Daemons were the ones who built this installation?" asked
Picard.
    "Yes, that's right," said the Doctor.  "Whatever this Great Work of
theirs is, those geothermal generators are obviously meant to power it.  I
just can't figure out why a race as technologically sophisticated as the
Daemons would resort to such a primitive method of generating power."
    "But Doctor, you said the Daemons died out centuries ago," said Picard.
"Our own investigation shows this base has been abandoned that long.  Why,
then, do you insist that it poses a threat?"
    "Don't you see?" said the Doctor.  "It wasn't just abandoned.  It's
been waiting.  This message proves that they didn't just turn it off and hope
someone passed by and turned it on again.  They *knew* it would be!  It's
almost as if, 2000 years ago, this was all planned."
    Picard paused as he pondered this.  "Well, we'd better get back to the
Enterprise and report our findings.  Picard to Enterprise."  No response.  He
tapped his communicator again.  "Picard to Enterprise."  Still nothing.
"Data, is there a problem with the relay?  Is something blocking our signal?"
    Data checked his tricorder.  "The relay is operational, sir.  I detect
no local interference or obstructions, sir."
    "Hmmm..." said Picard.  "We'll have to take the elevator back up and
try it from the surface."  The away team, along with the Doctor and Ace,
stepped into the elevator.  Thankfully, it's ascent rate wasn't quite so fast
as it's rate of descent, although Picard did feel as if he'd gained an extra
100 pounds.  As the doors opened, he saw five Romulan centurions in the
corridor pointing disruptors at them.  In the middle of them stood a woman
wearing the uniform of a Romulan commander that Picard knew very well.
    "Well, Captain Picard," said Commander Sela.  "We meet again."


I BET YOU CAN'T WAIT FOR PART SEVEN, RIGHT?  WELL, HOPEFULLY, YOU WON'T HAVE
TO WAIT LONG!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note that I think Wesley's a good character, it's just that he's been influenced
by the wrong role models (aka "Mr. Prime Directive" Picard.)  Don't get me wrong,
I think Picard has wisdom and actually thinks about the laws he obeys, but his
personality is so MILITARY!  This sort of influence on an impressionable
teenager without a strong male role model should be against the law!
Now, the Doctor is a role model to be admired!  If you ask me, he embodies
English virtue more than the scandal-plagued monarchy ever did.  England would be
a lot better off if they'd just appoint the current Doctor King of England
(though there would be a problem when his regenerations ran out.)

Michael Franz
[e-mail]
"Beware of Germans bearing Gift."
-
+-----------------------------------------------+
|10        BANK OF ENGLAND                    10|
|                                       _       |
| This note payable for the       |----|*|----| |
| sum of TEN POUNDS STERLING      |POLICE BOX | |
| to the bearer on demand.        |-----|-----| |
|                                 |     |     | |
| This note is legal tender       |     |     | |
| in the United Kingdom of        |     |     | |
| Great Britain and Northern      |     |     | |
| Ireland as well as within       |     |     | |
| the jurisdiction of all         |     |     | |
| planets using the Gallifreyan   |     |     | |
| Gold standard.                  |     |     | |
|                                 +-----+-----+ |
| John Major                 Sylvester McCoy    |
| Prime Minister             Reigning Doctor    |
| "GOD SAVE THE DOCTOR!"                        |
+-----------------------------------------------+


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From: [e-mail] (Franz)
Subject: Synchronicity (Part 7)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (Franz)
Organization: Technische Universitaet Braunschweig, Germany
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Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/8/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART SEVEN

    Picard stared in disbelief at the Romulan commander who had once been
Tasha Yar's daughter.  "Commander, what is the meaning of this?!"
    "My ship has already disabled the Enterprise and my officers are
boarding her as we speak," said Sela coldly.  "However, I wanted the pleasure
of capturing you personally, Picard."
    "You have attacked a Federation vessel without provocation!" shouted
Picard.
    Sela's expression became furious.  "*Without provocation?!*  How dare
you deny your crimes, Picard!  Your Federation will pay for the act of
treachery it has perpetrated!"
    "We have committed no crimes, Commander," stated Picard firmly.  "You,
however, have committed an act of war against the Federation."
    Sela smiled mirthlessly.  "So, you want to play it by the book, Picard?
Very well.  A week ago, we received an automated distress call from a Romulan
science team on this planet stating they were under attack.  My ship was
dispatched to discover what had happened.  When we arrived, we found no trace
of the science team or their ship.  But, we just happened to find a Federation
vessel who was also investigating this installation."
    "I assure you, Commander, that we had nothing to--"
    "I suppose next you'll tell me it was all a misunderstanding, Picard?
Just a coincidence, perhaps.  Admit it, Picard!  The Federation feared Romulus
would acquire this technology, so they decided to seize it first!"
    "Commander--"
    "I once thought you a man worthy of respect, a warrior, but now I see
that you are no different than the other humans!  Your Federation has finally
revealed itself for the treacherous dogs they are, and you and your crew will
be taken back to Romulus and executed for crimes against the Empire!"
    One of the centurions smiled evilly.  "Perhaps we should shoot this
Klingon filth here and now!"
    Worf growled, and it took all of his concentration and control to keep
himself from leaping forward and ripping the throat out of this Romulan dog.
    Sela paused, as if contemplating.  "No.  We shall execute them on
Romulus so that the galaxy may see the great Captain Picard die in shame."
She motioned to her guards, who led the prisoners out of the elevator and back
down the corridor.
    "Well," said the Doctor to Picard.  "I take it you and this charming
lady have met before?"
    "We've had our dealings before, yes," said Picard.
    "I don't know what it is," said the Doctor, "but somehow, she seems
almost familiar."
    "Be silent!" barked a centurion.
    The Romulans and their prisoners had finally reached the end of the
corridor and were now standing in the open air outside the entrance.  Sela
activated her communicator.  "Commander to Team Leader.  Is the Enterprise
secured?"
    "Yes, Commander," replied a Romulan voice.  "All boarding parties have
arrived."
    Sela turned to Picard.  "Now, you will all accompany me back to the
Enterprise.  I shall have the honor of bringing your ship in myself."
    "Enterprise.. Sela..." murmured the Doctor, seemingly lost in thought.
"Her mother...  was from... another Enterprise."
    The comment went unheard except by Picard.  "How did you know that?"
he said in surprise.
    "I don't know," said the Doctor.  "It just.. came to me."
    Suddenly, the familiar hum of the Enterprise's transporters engulfed
them and a second later, they were gone.

    Aboard the Warbird, the few crew members who had not boarded the
Enterprise kept a close watch on their stations, ready to fire the instant they
saw any sign of a threat.  They knew the Enterprise was disabled, but Commander
Sela had told them that Picard was notorious for surprises.  Still, for the
last half hour they had not detected so much as a peep out of the Enterprise's
shields or phasers, much to their disappointment.  Subcommander Halok knew
that there were a few ambitious types that would love to blast the Enterprise
while Sela was on it, claiming that there had been an "emergency situation."
He, in fact, was one of them.  However, he knew that Sela had left her personal
guards on the bridge, so he'd be vapor in seconds if he tried.
    A bored centurion was walking down a corridor.  He had been hoping the
Enterprise would attack them so that he could finally get a taste of the
action he'd always wanted.  Instead, he simply had to wait.  He would have
gladly gone back to his cabin and slept, but as Commander Sela had put the ship
on yellow alert before she left, he couldn't even do that.  At times like this,
he wondered why the hell he hadn't chosen to work at his father's restaurant
when he'd had the chance.
    Suddenly, he turned.  For a moment, he thought he had heard a strange
grinding sound coming from a corridor near him.  At first, he thought he should
just ignore it, but he knew the Commander would kill him if he let anything
slip while he was on duty.  As he ducked around the corridor, he was surprised
to find a featureless gray box which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
He thought about sounding the alarm, but then he imagined the glory he would get
if he destroyed this human trick himself.  So, he approached the box slowly,
disruptor in hand.  So intent was he on discovering the secret of the box that
he failed to notice something moving behind him.  The last thing he saw as he
turned around was a light brighter than anything he had ever known...

    Picard and his senior officers were in Ten-Forward.  Commander Sela
had wanted to put them in the brig, but, being a ship of peace, the Enterprise
didn't have enough space.  So, she decided to simply put them together where
they could be watched and where they would have no access to vital ship systems.
Two Romulan centurions stood at the doors, disruptors at the ready.
    "Well, I hope you'll all be comfortable here," said Sela sarcastically.
"I'd love to stay and chat, Picard, but I have work to do before your
execution."  She turned to the guards.  "If they try anything, shoot them."
With that, she left.
    Picard sat down, his face a mask of concentration.  "Counselor, what
did you sense from Commander Sela?"
    "Her anger is genuine," said Troi.  "Whatever happened, she really
believes the Federation is responsible."
    "How could a Romulan ship have gotten out here in the first place?"
said Riker.  "Even cloaked, they couldn't pass through the wormhole without
someone seeing it open!"
    "Really, Number One," said Picard.  "The Romulans have probably been
sending ships through as long as we have.  All they'd have to do is follow
someone in."
    "Well, at least this explains those transmissions we detected," said
Geordi.  "It must have been their distress signal."
    "Well, I don't buy it," stated Riker flatly.  "A `science team?'  The
Romulans have never done anything `scientific' unless it could get them better
weapons."
    "Which is precisely why they believe you attacked them, Commander,"
the Doctor chimed in.  "They believe it because that's what they would have
done.  That's the sort of mentality that has started many wars."
    "And now we need to figure out a way out of here so that we can put a
stop to one before it starts," said Picard.
    Worf looked thoughtful.  "There *are* only two guards.  If we attacked
now, we would sustain three casualties at most."
    "Worf!" exclaimed Beverly.
    "It is a small price to pay for a warrior," said Worf.
    "Oh, will you stop with all this suicidal prattle!" exclaimed the
Doctor.  "There's no honor in getting vaporized for nothing.  Besides, if one
of those guards gets trigger happy and shoots out a window, we'll all be
casualties!"
    "If only I had my nitro," said Ace.
    The Doctor's face suddenly lit up.  "Hmmm...  Ah!  Guinan!  I think I'd
like to order one of your special drinks, if I may."
    "Certainly, Doctor," said Guinan.
    "I believe it was called `Life of the Party,'" said the Doctor, winking.
    "Ah, *that* drink," said Guinan.  She reached for some bottles.
    The Romulan guards were suspicious at this.  "What do you think you're
doing there?"
    "Oh, she's just mixing a drink, my good man!" said the Doctor.  "What
did you think she was doing, ringing up Scotland Yard?!"
    The guards relaxed for the moment, more because they were confused by
the Doctor's last sentence than anything else.  Picard, however, was also
suspicious.  "What do you have in mind, Doctor?" he whispered.
    "Just wait for a minute, then get down," the Doctor replied.
    Guinan had finished mixing the drink and served it in a closed container
with a straw.  The Doctor took a careful sip.  "Ah!  A Number 30, isn't it?"
    "You sure know your drinks, Doctor," said Guinan.
    "Ah, yes, well, come to think of it, I'm not really in the mood for
drinking after all," said the Doctor.  He laid the glass down on the bar, a few
feet away from where the guards stood suspiciously watching them at the door.
He started to get up, then made an exaggeratedly clumsy motion with his arm,
knocking the glass onto the floor in front of the guards.  He moved to pick it
up, but the guards waved their guns threateningly.
    "Hmph!  Well, if you're not going to let a man drink in peace..."
The Doctor walked back casually, but his mood was clearly one of anticipation.
    The guards looked at each other questioningly.  One of them reached
down to pick up the fallen drink...  Suddenly, there was a tremendous BANG!
The drink container exploded, spewing pink foam in the guards' faces.  Before
they could react, Guinan drew her phaser rifle from underneath the bar and
pointed it at them, smiling.  "Don't even think about it."
    The others, having been startled by the loud noise, looked up and
realized what had happened.  Picard was the first to recover.  "Doctor, what in
the name of the Prime Directive *was* that?"
    "It's an old prank we used to play at the Time Lord academy," said the
Doctor.  "A Number 30 means the reaction takes 30 seconds."
    Ace looked at him with admiration.  "Wicked!  You never told me you
played with explosives, Professor!"
    "Yes, well, um... Let's talk about that later, shall we?"
    "You always were the life of the party, Doctor," said Guinan.
    "Wait a minute," said Riker.  "Guinan's a Time Lord?"
    "No," replied Guinan.  "Let's just say... we're related."
    Picard paused.  "We've got to stop Sela before she takes this ship to
Romulus.  Number One, is there any way we could get to the main bridge without
being noticed?"
    "They're bound to have guards in the halls, sir," said Riker.  "It won't
be easy."
    Data, who had remained relatively quiet up until now, spoke.  "Computer,
please display main bridge and all Romulans currently present there."  The
screen lit up with a diagram showing Romulans at the forward stations and in
the command chair.  "It appears that the turbolift to the bridge has been
deactivated, sir.  However, we may be able to use the site-to-site transporter
to beam into the rear of the bridge, thus taking the Romulans by surprise."
    "Excellent, Mr. Data," said Picard.
    "Sir, if I may," said Geordi.  "What about these two guards?"
    "Allow me, sir," said Worf.  He picked up the two Romulans and knocked
their heads together.  They fell into a heap at Worf's feet.
    "Yes, um, thank you, Lieutenant," said Picard.  He and Riker picked up
the guards' fallen disruptors.  "Computer, lock onto myself and Commander Riker
and prepare to beam us directly to the main bridge."
    "Hey, hang about!" said Ace.  "If you're going to storm the bridge, I
want to come too!"
    "Ace, I don't think that would be a good..." began Picard.
    "It would be safer if we all beamed to the bridge, Captain," said
Geordi.  "Besides, we'll be able to get control of the ship faster from there."
    "We would be able to activate the security measures and neutralize the
intruders," said Worf.
    Picard sighed.  "Computer, lock onto all persons currently located 1
meter away from the bar in Ten-Forward and transport them to the bridge.
Energize."  With that, the party dematerialized, leaving Guinan to contemplate
two unconscious Romulan centurions covered in pink foam.
    "This had to happen just after I cleaned in here," she said.

    "We have control, Commander," said a voice from the companel.  "Warp
drive and photon tubes 1 and 2 are repaired.  We won't be able to repair the
phasers and the other tubes."
    "That should do nicely," said Sela.  "When we come out of the wormhole,
the first and last things Deep Space Nine will see are two Federation torpedoes.
All hands, prepare for departure.  Ramek, signal the Warbird."
    "Sir, I'm getting no response," said Ramek.
    _What *are* they doing over there,_ thought Sela angrily.  _I told them
to be *alert!*_  "Try again, Ramek.  This time a little louder in case those
idiots on the bridge fell asleep."
    "I'm sorry, Commander, but I'm still receiving no response," said Ramek.
"There's no indication of a communications malfunction."
    "Just what is going on over there?!" shouted Sela.
    Suddenly, nine figures materialized on the bridge with weapons drawn.
"Nobody move!" shouted Riker.
    Sela turned.  "Picard!" she hissed.  "How did you escape?!"
    "Commander Sela, consider yourself under arrest," said Picard.  "It
seems that you are the one who will be taken into custody."
    The Romulans got out of their chairs and handed over their weapons.
Ramek began to get out of the Ops chair, then suddenly saw a signal on his
screen.  "Commander!  The Warbird is hailing us!"
    Sela opened her mouth to respond, but Picard pushed her aside.  "I'll
handle this, if you don't mind."  He turned to the screen.  "Romulan vessel,
this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard.  We have defeated your boarding attempt and
order you to surrender at once."
    Suddenly, the screen lit up.  Instead of a Romulan, however, it was
the face of an incredibly withered man in some sort of life-support chair that
appeared.  Behind him, several strange cylindrical robots topped with domes
moved around.  "Well done, Captain Picard," said a raspy mechanical voice.
"You have played your part well."
    The Doctor gasped in surprise as he recognized the loathsome visage
before him.  From the very beginning on Skaro, he had fought against this
madman time and time again.  And now, it seemed as if he would do so again.
"Davros!"
    Davros's face lit up in a death's head grin.  "Welcome, Doctor.  I've
been expecting you."



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From: [e-mail] (Franz)
Subject: Synchronicity (Part 8) NEW!
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (Franz)
Organization: Technische Universitaet Braunschweig, Germany
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 19:14:13 GMT
Lines: 204
Xref: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu alt.drwho.creative:382 alt.startrek.creative:9453

Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/8/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART EIGHT

    Surprised by this unexpected development, the bridge crew paused in
stunned silence for a moment.  Commander Sela was the first to regain her voice.
"Who are you and what have you done with my ship?!"
    "Ah!  Commander Sela, I presume," said Davros.  "I am Davros, Creator
and Emperor of the Daleks, the greatest race in the Universe.  Or should I say,
in both universes."
    Sela turned on Picard.  "Picard!  Is this one of your Federation
tricks?"
    "I assure you that it most definitely is not," said the Doctor
seriously.  "That is Davros, the most evil and corrupt mind ever to plague the
cosmos."
    "Insult me while you can, Doctor," said Davros.  "In a short time, you
shall be bowing down to the new Emperor of two Universes!"
    "This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the United Federation of Planets,"
said Picard formally.  "For what purpose have you attacked the Romulan vessel?"
    Davros laughed.  "Your diplomacy is amusing, human.  For what purpose?
Why, to achieve my rightful place as your ultimate ruler, of course!  And this
time, neither you, nor your `Federation', nor even the Doctor can stop me!"
    "I don't know who you are, Davros, or where you come from, but you will
never defeat the Romulan Empire!" shouted Sela.
    Davros and two of his Daleks disappeared and rematerialized in the front
of the Enterprise's bridge.  "Ah, now here is someone you could learn from,
Doctor," said Davros.  "Someone who knows that only the power to crush your
enemies matters."
    One of the Romulan centurions tried to rush Davros, but was instantly
vaporized by the Daleks.  "You see what I mean, Doctor?"
    "I see only two Daleks, Davros," replied the Doctor.  "Hardly a force
for universal conquest!"
    "The rest of my company will be joining me shortly, Doctor," said
Davros.  "While I have sufficient Daleks to annihilate the entire crew of this
ship, the battle would probably do much damage and possibly destroy one or two
of my Daleks.  That would be unacceptable.  However, if the crew were already
disarmed by another invading force..."
    "So, Davros," said the Doctor in sudden understanding.  "This was all
your plan!  You destroyed the Romulan science team, thus luring both ships
here where you could let the Romulans do your work for you!"
    "And what splendid work they've done," said Davros.  "But now they are
no longer needed."  Davros pressed a key on his control panel.  Suddenly, the
Romulan centurions on the bridge dematerialized.  In that same moment, the
screen showed the Romulan warbird self-destruct.
    Sela looked at the sight, aghast.  "What have you done?!"
    "I've sent your crew back to their ship," said Davros casually.
    The Doctor also watched in horror as the Romulan ship exploded.  "You'll
never win, Davros!" he exclaimed.  "No matter how powerful you are, there will
always be people who will stand against you!"
    Davros laughed.  "Oh, not this time, Doctor.  This time, no one will
be able to resist.  At long last, Time Lord, I shall achieve my destiny!"
    "Destiny?!" scoffed the Doctor.  "You know nothing of destiny, Davros!"
    "On the contrary, Time Lord!" retorted Davros.  "I know now that I have
always known."
    As Davros said this, Counselor Troi's expression slowly became one of
pain.  She put her hand to her head and sat down, as if she was experiencing a
tremendous headache.
    Davros continued.  "Now, we have work to do.  Captain Picard, you will give me the
schematics to your deflector shield generator and a team of engineers."
    "And if I refuse?" said Picard.
    Davros tapped another button.  The screen lit up with a picture of the
Enterprise classroom.  Two Daleks stood on one side, pointing their devastating
weapons in the direction of a mass of frightened children, their faces streaked
with tears.
    "If you refuse, Picard," said Davros, "I shall exterminate everyone on
board this ship, starting with these children."
    There was a terrible pause as the bridge crew took in the gravity of
this threat.  A light flashed on Davros's console.  "Now that my time vessel
has arrived, the rest of my Daleks can finish the securing of this ship.  I will
be in Main Engineering, Captain.  I expect you to have your best engineers ready
in five minutes to assist me.  And, Doctor, you and your charming companion
will accompany me."  Before the Doctor and Ace could react, they dematerialized
along with Davros.  One of the Daleks moved over to a control panel and plugged
its instrument in.  The other waved its gunstick at the bridge crew.
    "You will leave the bridge at once," said the Dalek in its usual
mechanical tones.  "If you re-sist, you will be ex-ter-mi-na-ted."  The bridge
crew all stepped into the turbolift under the watchful eye of the Dalek.  After
the lift doors had closed, the Dalek continued to keep close watch, as the
control Dalek would be unable to defend itself while interfacing.

    Once again, the intrepid officers of the Enterprise found themselves
prisoners in Ten-Forward.  This time, however, as well as stationing a guard
outside, the Daleks had sealed the doors with forcefields.  Guinan looked up
from her bar.
    "So, I see your escape attempt wasn't entirely successful," she
commented.
    "Thank you for that observation, Guinan," said Picard drily.  He turned
to Troi.  "What did you sense from this Davros?  Anything that might help us?"
    "I sense only hatred and greed for power from Davros, Captain," said
Troi.  "He is perfectly willing to annhiliate anything in his way to achieve
his goal.  However, it's more than just that.  For a moment, I sensed a wave of
evil so overwhelming I almost couldn't stand it.  I felt as if all time was
coming to an end."
    "I'm afraid it will come to an end if we don't stop him, Captain," said
Guinan.
    "Do you know anything about this Davros, Guinan?" asked Picard.
    "It's not Davros you have to worry about, Captain," said Guinan.
"All that has happened here has been guided by something very old and very
powerful.  It's this force which designed the machines on the planet, Captain,
and it's brought us here so that we can fulfill their purpose."
    "But what IS the purpose, Guinan?" demanded Picard.  "What is this
`Great Work' on the planet below?"
    "All I can tell you is that a long time ago, I helped put a stop to it,"
said Guinan.  "And if we don't stop it this time, nothing will be able to save
us."

    Davros turned to the engineers assembled before him.  "I require the
following modifications to be made to your main deflector array," he said.
"Proceed with them at once.  If you fail me, you will be instantly
exterminated."  With that, the engineers reluctantly began to work while several
Daleks looked on.  Geordi and Wesley opened up a panel next to them and began
modifying it.
    "What do you think he's up to?" asked Wesley.
    "I don't know, Wes," said Geordi.  "I have no idea what he wants these
modifications for, either.  But as long as those Daleks are pointing those guns
at us, we'll just have to do it."
    "We've got to do something!" said Wesley.  "We can't let Davros take
over a Federation vessel!"
    "If you've got any bright ideas, now's the time," said Geordi.
    Wesley fell silent and continued to work.  While apparently working
underneath a control console, however, he removed one of the hidden phasers
which were for use in the event of a security breach...
    At the same time, the Doctor had sat down and had a distant expression
on his face.  "Don't worry, Professor," said Ace softly, as she put an arm
around his shoulder.  "We'll find a way to defeat the Daleks.  I know you'll
come up with something."
    "No, it's not that, Ace," said the Doctor.  "I keep getting the feeling
that there's something more to it than that.  Even Davros couldn't have planned
everything so precisely, not without knowledge of this universe.  No, something
else is behind all this, Ace.  I'm sure of it."
    Just then, Davros glided over to the Doctor and Ace.  "How touching,"
he said sarcastically.  "But there's no need to worry, Doctor.  Soon, very soon,
all your worries will be over."
    "Just how did you get here, Davros?" asked the Doctor.
    "I have advanced my time technology, Doctor," said Davros.  "With the
help of a stranded Time Lord whom I tortured and killed, I was able to construct
a time vessel.  Not as advanced or elegant as a TARDIS, mind you, but
sufficiently powerful to seek my revenge.  I also had the opportunity to create
a few `improved' Daleks with some of the indigenous life-forms.  Then, I
travelled back in time to the point where we last met, just after you had
stopped me from gaining the Hand of Omega."
    "I'm surprised you didn't go for a rematch," said the Doctor.
    "I am not so stupid as you would like to believe, Doctor," replied
Davros.  "If I attempted to interfere with my own history, your entire High
Council would have been sent to stop me.  No.  Instead, I simply followed you.
Followed you through time and space until finally, I followed you here."
    "With about a week's lead, no doubt," said the Doctor.
    "Of course, Doctor," said Davros.  "That's why they call it a time
machine."
    "But why here, Davros?" pressed the Doctor.  "Why have you decided to
come here?"
    "If you think I will reveal my secrets to you, then you are wasting your
time," said Davros.  "Suffice it to say that the Great Work shall be continued.
And *you*, Doctor," he said, pointing a gnarled finger at the Doctor, "are going
to help me do it."
    The Doctor almost laughed.  "Whatever makes you think I'll help you,
Davros?  No matter what I do, you'll kill everyone anyway."
    "Perhaps," said Davros.  "But there are many ways to die, Doctor.  Some
are quick and simple.  Some are not."  He gestured to two Daleks, who used their
modified manipulator arms to seize Ace and drag her over to him.
    "Ace!" shouted the Doctor, but was forced back by the Daleks' gunsticks.
    Davros turned back to the Doctor.  "You see, Doctor, we need just one
more small detail.  Your dematerialization circuit must be installed in the
central deflector junction, and you are going to install it."
    "It was damaged during my trip here, Davros," said the Doctor.  "I'm
afraid it's quite inoperative."
    Just then, a Dalek emerged from an adjacent room with the circuit
gripped tightly in its manipulator arm.  Davros placed the circuit in one of the
scanners and called up a series of readouts.  After examining them, he turned to
the Doctor.  "It seems to be in working order now, Doctor," said Davros.  "I
think you require further motivation in order to insure your cooperation."  He
gestured to his Daleks, who positioned their gunsticks against Ace's body.
    Wesley had been continuing to work, keeping the phaser concealed behind
him as he looked for an opportunity to make a move.  When he saw Ace being
threatened by the Dalek's weapons, however, it was too much.  He drew his phaser
and pointed it directly at Davros.
    "Wesley, no!" shouted Geordi.
    "If you fire at me now, you'll hit an energy conduit and blow up this
entire room," said Wesley slowly.  "So tell your Daleks to let her go now!"
    For a moment, the entire room was filled with tension.  Davros paused,
then suddenly began to chuckle.  "But of course, my young man.  I surrender."
He held up his hand, then slowly began to move it toward the glowing tube at
his side.  Wesley fired, and the phaser energy struck the tube with apparently
no effect.  Then, suddenly, the tube exploded, and a tremendous burst of energy
leapt out and travelled back along the phaser beam.  Wesley was surrounded in a
flash of green light, then suddenly fell to the ground.
    "Wesley!" shouted Ace in alarm.
    The Doctor walked over to Wesley and, with an instrument borrowed from
Dr. Crusher's sickbay, scanned him.  After a moment, he looked up.
    "I'm sorry," he said simply.  "Wesley's dead."

PART NINE WILL FOLLOW!

Now, before all you Wesley-haters get all overjoyed, let me just say
"It's not over yet!"

Michael Franz
[e-mail]
"Beware of Germans bearing Gift."

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Subject: Synchronicity (Part 9)
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Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/8/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART NINE

    At the Doctor's words, the assembled humans looked at him with
expressions of disbelief on their faces.  Geordi was the first to break the
silence.  "Dead?  Are... are you sure, Doctor?"
    "I'm afraid so, Mr. LaForge," said the Doctor.  "There's nothing I can
do."
    "We've got to get him to sickbay," said Geordi.  "I'm sure Dr. Crusher
will be able to --"
    "He's *dead*, Geordi," said the Doctor firmly.  "I know he was your
friend, and I'm sorry, but under the current circumstances, we cannot allow
grief to cloud our emotions."
    Ace had been gazing at Wesley's body with tears in her eyes.  At this,
she turned on the Doctor.  "I can't believe you, Doctor!  Someone's just been
killed right in front of you and all you can say is `don't let grief cloud your
emotions?!'  I realize you've seen so many people drop dead in front of you that
it's an everyday occurrence, but there are some of us who have feelings!"
    "It's true that I have seen many people die, Ace," said the Doctor.
"But it's no easier for me than it is for anyone else.  You can't imagine how
much pain and horror I've seen in my travels, and how much it's hurt me to see
it.  That's why I've learned to live with my feelings.  I have to, or else I
won't be able to make critical decisions when the time comes."  The Doctor
paused, knowing that Ace had had to go through this before when Captain Sorin
was killed.  "I know how these things have hurt you before, but please
understand.  I do care about people, Ace, and especially you."
    "Oh, Doctor, I'm sorry," said Ace.  "It's just that every time I think
I've found someone nice, then something happens, and then..."  Ace broke off in
tears as the Doctor comforted her.
    Davros watched the scene impassively.  "Very touching, Doctor," he said
sarcastically.  "But soon, all your compassion and love and all your other silly
emotions will be no more.  You will all learn the true meaning of the Universe,
Doctor.  The meaning of POWER!"  He gestured to his Daleks.  "Dispose of that."
A Dalek grabbed Wesley's body and dragged it away.  Davros turned to the
engineers.  "Let that be a lesson to all you insignificant humans!  All who
oppose the will of the Dalek Emperor shall pay the price!  Now return to your
work, and see that it is done properly!  And you, Doctor, also have a job to
do."  He held out the Doctor's dematerialization circuit.  "Install it, Time
Lord, or this child whom you care so much for will suffer the same fate."  With
that, Davros turned back around and continued working at a terminal.
    Ace looked at the Doctor.  "You're not going to help that bastard, are
you?"
    "I have no choice, Ace," said the Doctor sadly.
    "But he'll kill us all anyway, Professor!" shouted Ace.  "You know what
he's like!"
    "That I do, Ace," said the Doctor.  "But if I install this, I might just
be able to figure out what Davros is up to.  And, just maybe, I might find a way
to stop it."  The Doctor patted Ace's hand, then left for the shield generator
room.  Ace knew that the Doctor had defeated many evils time and time again, but
this time, it seemed to her that Davros had finally won.

    The officers of the Enterprise were sitting morosely in Ten-Forward,
along with Sela, the Romulan commander, who sat at a distance from the others
and gazed upon them with a typical Romulan look of contempt for others.  Captain
Picard and Commander Riker had been trying to gain access to the computer, but
all intruder defenses had already been disabled by Sela's troops, and Davros had
apparently locked out access to ship functions, including transporters.
    "That was the last one, sir," said Riker.  "Davros has locked out all
the authorization codes."
    "Damn!" swore Picard in frustration.  "How on Earth could he have locked
out everything so quickly?!"
    "In case you hadn't noticed, Davros speaks with a voice synthesizer,"
said Sela haughtily.  "Your inferior Federation security systems require only
voice commands to disable access."
    "This whole thing would never have happened if *you* hadn't attacked!"
shouted Riker.
    "Our people were destroyed, a Federation ship was orbiting the planet,
what else were we supposed to think?!" shouted Sela in return.
    "You *could* have allowed us to explain our presence before you fired,
Commander," said Picard.  "Your Romulan propaganda paints a very dim picture of
humans, but you and I both know better."
    Sela was silent for a moment as she contemplated this.  Finally, she
spoke.  "Well, Picard.  Since you humans are obviously so much wiser than us,
why don't you figure out a way out of this."
    Picard was silent as he contemplated the possibilities.  "Number One, is
there any way we could short-circuit the forcefield on the door?"
    "Well, I'm not Geordi, sir, but aren't the forcefields designed to
resist tampering?" replied Riker.  "Besides, there's no way we could get past
that Dalek out there."
    "Guinan," said Picard.  "What about your phaser rifle?"
    "Against normal Daleks, I'd say it would work," said Guinan.  "But
Davros has probably built in some new improvements.  Besides, there are a lot
more of them out there than just one."
    "You're right, of course," said Picard, sighing.  He paused for a
moment.  "Well, Number One, we cannot just stand here and allow this ship to
fall into the hands of a hostile force.  It seems that we have only one option
left."
    "Aye, sir," said Riker grimly.
    Beverly began to protest.  "Captain, are you sure..."
    "We all knew the risks when we signed on, Beverly," said Picard, holding
her hand.  "It looks like we're going to have to fulfill our Starfleet oaths."
    "Very good, Picard," said Sela.  "But a bit too late.  Just how do you
propose to self-destruct the ship from inside the bar?  If this were a Romulan
ship, we would have self-destructed before we were ever boarded."
    "During the last Starfleet systems upgrade, a new addition to the
self-destruct system was made that allows it to be activated from various points
on board the ship," said Data.  "However, the system can only be deactivated
from Main Engineering or the Bridge."
    Picard turned to Riker, and they placed their hands inside a replicator
slot.  "Computer, recognize Picard, Jean-Luc, Captain.  Commence auto-destruct."
    "Picard, Jean-Luc recognized," said the computer.  "Does the first
officer concur?"
    "Computer, recognize Riker, William T., Commander," said Riker.
"Commence auto-destruct."
    "Riker, William T. recognized," said the computer.  "Auto-destruct
sequence activated.  Destruct will take place in 5 minutes."
    "Well, Picard," said Sela.  "It seems I was wrong about you humans.  You
are indeed not as weak as I had thought."
    "Coming from you, Commander Sela," said Picard, "I take that as quite a
compliment."

    The Doctor was working inside a shield generator junction and had just
finished placing the dematerialization circuit inside.  "Excellent," said
Davros.
    "I'll just need to make a few adjustments on the computer to make sure
everything is in order," said the Doctor.
    "Be sure your adjustments are correct, Doctor," said Davros.  "Remember,
many lives depend on it."
    The Doctor sat down at a console and began making adjustments.
Suddenly, the red alert lights began flashing.  "Warning: Self-destruct has been
activated.  The Enterprise will self-destruct in 5 minutes."
    "What is this?" demanded Davros.  "Is this another one of your tricks,
Doctor?"
    "I'm afraid not, Davros," said the Doctor.
    "Then it must be some human ploy to scare us off," said Davros.  "They
are fools if they think such an obvious trick will work!"
    "Em-per-or," came a voice over Davros's communicator.  It was the Dalek
he had placed on the bridge.  "The ship has been set to self-de-struct."
    "What?!" cried Davros in amazement.  "Are you certain?"
    "Af-fir-ma-tive," said the Dalek.  "An-ti-mat-ter ex-plo-sion in four
min-utes for-ty sec-onds."
    Davros began to look slightly worried.  "Well, disarm it!"
    "Af-fir-ma-tive," said the Dalek.  "Pen-e-tra-tion of com-pu-ter sys-tem
will take ten min-utes twen-ty three sec-onds."
    "WHAT?!" exclaimed Davros.
    "It seems your new Daleks need a bit of improvement, Davros," observed
the Doctor.
    Davros began to look nervous.  "They're bluffing!  Humans are too weak
and cowardly to destroy themselves!"
    "Oh, really, Davros?" said the Doctor.  "One of those `weak and
cowardly' humans sacrificed himself just a minute ago!  And he was just a boy.
What makes you think the rest of them won't do the same?"
    Davros paused as he contemplated this.  Meanwhile, the Doctor was
hastily tapping out a few commands to the forcefield generators.
    "Warning: Enterprise will self-destruct in four minutes," announced the
computer.
    "Very well, Doctor," said Davros.  "But your friends will not be able to
deactivate the destruct from where they are.  I will simply find another ship
with which to carry out my plans."  He pressed a button on his communicator.
"Davros to Daleks.  Transport back to time ship and prepare for departure."  The
Daleks suddenly vanished as their transporter beams activated.  Davros then
smiled and pressed his transport signal button.  "Good bye, Doctor."
    Instead of disappearing like his Daleks, however, Davros remained where
he was.  The Doctor cast a mock curious glance at him.  "A bit of trouble with
your transporter, Davros?"
    Davros pressed the button frantically, but nothing happened.  He tried
to move forward, but was stopped by a forcefield.  "You cannot do this, Doctor!"
he shouted.  "Daleks!  Return to the Enterprise at once and destroy the Doctor!"
    "I'm afraid the field is designed to block out your communicator as well
as your transporter beam, Davros," said the Doctor.  "I'm sorry, but you aren't
going anywhere."
    "Even without my communicator, my Daleks will know I haven't arrived,"
countered Davros.
    "But you ordered them to prepare for departure, Davros, not to actually
depart," said the Doctor.  "And I'm sure your new Daleks are wonderful at
following orders."  The Doctor tapped out another command on the keyboard.
    Davros seethed in fury as he slammed his fist against the forcefield.
Suddenly, he stopped, as if remembering something.  Suddenly, an evil grin
filled his face.

    The officers of the Enterprise waited in Ten-Forward as the clock ticked
ever closer to their deaths.  Suddenly, the Dalek guarding their door
disappeared.  As they watched in amazement, the forcefield on the door was also
deactivated.
    "The Doctor!" shouted Riker.
    "Quickly, Number One!" shouted Picard.  "We have only two minutes to get
to Engineering and deactivate this before it's too late!"  With that, the entire
assembly raced out the doors and headed for the nearest turbolift.  In a few
seconds that seemed like an eternity, they were in Engineering.  Picard and
Riker practically fell over the others in an attempt to reach the console.  They
placed their hands on the sensors.
    "Computer, cancel auto-destruct," said Picard.
    "Does the first officer concur?" asked the computer.
    "Yes.  Cancel auto-destruct," said Riker.
    Suddenly, the red alert lights dimmed, and the computer informed them
that the sequence was cancelled.  The Enterprise crew members cheered and hugged
each other.  Troi even hugged Worf, who was embarrassed, but grateful.
    "We did it!" shouted Beverly as she hugged Picard.  Picard returned the
hug, then, regaining his composure, stepped back and returned to his usual
formal self.
    The Doctor appeared from the shield generator room.  "Well, Captain, it
looks like you have your ship back now.  I've captured Davros here and sent the
Daleks back to their vessel.  Now, all we have to do is simulate an order from
Davros for them to leave and that will be the end of it.  I'm sure you'll want
to bring Davros to trial."
    "Indeed," said Picard.  He then turned to Sela.  "Commander Sela, I
should take you to trial beside Davros, but considering the circumstances, and
seeing as neither one of us wants a war, I shall deliver you to the Neutral
Zone along with a full report on these proceedings."
    "Thank you, Captain," said Sela, this time not without sincerity.
    In the midst of the excitement, Beverly had noticed that one person was
missing.  "Captain," she asked slowly, "where's Wesley?"
    At this, the crew in Engineering fell silent.  Beverly noticed the
sudden change and instantly knew something was wrong.  "What's happened?" she
demanded.  "What's happened to Wesley?"
    Geordi and his people were still silent.  Finally, the Doctor broke the
silence.  "Dr. Crusher," he began slowly, "I don't quite know how to say
this..."
    "Oh, my God," she breathed.  "You mean he's dead?!"
    "He was killed trying to defend the ship from the Daleks," said the
Doctor simply.  "There was nothing we could do."
    Beverly stood still for a moment as if she couldn't believe what she was
hearing.  "He's dead," she said.  "Wesley's DEAD."  Suddenly, she was filled
with anger.  "Those bastards murdered my SON!"  With that, she leaped at Davros,
only to collide head-on with the Doctor's forcefield and be thrown to the
ground.  Picard immediately went to her and picked her up.
    "Beverly," he said softly.  "Are you all right?"
    She broke down in tears as she fell into Picard's arms.  "Oh, Jean-Luc.
He was only a boy.  He had his whole life ahead of him, a career in Starfleet,
and now it's all gone.  Everything.  He was all I had in this world, Jean-Luc."
    Picard held her in a comforting embrace.  "No, Beverly.  As long as we
remember him, everything is not gone."
    As the Doctor and Ace watched, Ace felt her own pain resurface.  She
knew how Dr. Crusher must be feeling.  The Doctor saw this, and put a hand on
her shoulder.  "I think it's time for us to go, Ace," he said softly.  Silently,
Ace nodded, and together, they turned to leave.
    Suddenly, the ship shook, and the lights in Engineering flickered and
went out.  Picard instantly became alert, glad of something to take his mind off
his pain.  "Mr. LaForge, what's happening?"
    "I don't know, sir," said Geordi.  "Something's interfering with the
ship's systems."
    Just as suddenly as they had failed, the lights came back on.  To
everyone's shock, two Daleks had appeared!  Before anyone could react, one of
them shot an engineering technician who happened to be close by.
    Everyone dropped to the floor as the Daleks looked for new targets.
Swiftly, Riker and Worf reached for weapons as the Doctor frantically tapped on
his console.  "I've deactivated Davros's forcefield!" he shouted.
    The Daleks, hearing the Doctor's voice, trained their weapons on him and
Ace.  Riker, however, took the opportunity to leap forward and point his phaser
at Davros.  "Call them off, Davros," said Riker, "or you're a dead man!"
    Davros merely smiled.  "You heard Commander Riker, Daleks.  Disarm your
weapons."
    Riker looked coldly on Davros's arrogant expression.  "You may think
playing with human lives is a game, Davros," he said angrily.  "Well, now the
game is over."
    Suddenly, a beam of energy hit Riker in the back, burning a hole
completely through his body.  The crew looked in shock as he hit the floor, then
turned around.  The Daleks had indeed lowered their weapons.  Plus, the shot was
not from a Dalek weapon, but from a Federation phaser.  Who had fired the shot?
Just then, a figure stepped out of the shadows carrying a phaser and wearing an
evil smile on his face.  As the figure stepped into the light, Beverly gasped.
    "Wesley!" she cried.
    "Hello, Mom," said the figure mockingly.  "How nice to see you again."
The voice was not that of Wesley, but rather of something dark and evil.
    Ace also gasped at the sound of the voice, and suddenly found herself
feeling very afraid.  "Who... who are you?"
    "You don't remember me?" laughed the figure.  "How disappointing.
Perhaps this will help you remember."  He snapped his fingers, and suddenly an
image formed in the air.  An image of a room containing a large black piece of
machinery and several distraught people.  One man was laying on the ground.
Suddenly, the Doctor and Ace burst in.
    "Don't touch him, don't touch anything!" shouted the Doctor.
    "He's an invalid, he can't even stand without someone's help," said a
woman.
    Suddenly, the man stood up and opened his eyes, which were filled with a
glowing green light.  As the real Ace turned, she saw that Wesley's eyes were
filled with an identical light.
    The man turned to face the Doctor.  "We play the contest again, Time
Lord."
    As the image faded, Ace gasped in horror.  The Doctor looked upon the
face of the intruder with shock as he finally realized who it was that had
brought them here.  The figure smiled as the Doctor gasped.  "Fenric!"

PART TEN WILL FOLLOW!!
And it WILL be good!

Michael Franz
[e-mail]
"Beware of Germans bearing Gift."

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From: [e-mail] (Franz)
Subject: Synchronicity (Part 10)
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Doctor Who meets Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Synchronicity")
by Michael Franz  (11/8/93)
This story is (C) 1993 Michael Franz.
Permission granted for free distribution.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Doctor Who is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART TEN

    Ace gazed in terrified shock at the face that had once belonged to
Wesley Crusher.  "No, no, that can't be!  Fenric was destroyed!"
    Fenric laughed.  "You pathetic child!  What you saw was merely the death
of a human body!  I existed at the beginning of Time itself!  I can NEVER be
destroyed!"
    "So," said the Doctor.  "It was you all along."
    Fenric grinned evilly.  "Well, to be honest, I can't take all the
credit.  After our last encounter, when you drove me from my body, I suddenly
noticed a time vessel in the vicinity.  I hid in the vessel's drive system until
I could regain my strength.  Then, I had the pleasure of meeting this fine
gentleman."  Fenric put an arm around Davros's shoulder.  "Why didn't you tell
me you knew such a wonderful person, Doctor?  Completely evil, devoted to the
destruction of life, and most of all, he wants to destroy you!"
    "A match made in Hell, Fenric," said the Doctor.
    "At last, everything I've worked for since Time began will be realized,
Time Lord," said Fenric.  "And this time, nothing you can do will stop me!"
    Ace seized the courage to speak.  "That's what you said before, Fenric!"
    "Ah, the little one speaks," said Fenric.  "You know, you were such a
help to me when we last met.  Without you, I might still be in that bottle, and
your friend Captain Sorin might even have lived.  Tell me, Dorothy," he said,
stroking her cheek, "did you and Wesley also care for each other?"
    Ace jumped back, and her face was a mask of fury.  The Doctor held her.
"No, Ace!  He's just trying to control you again!"
    "I admit I made a mistake with the Haemovores, Doctor," said Fenric.
"They were weak, too easy to kill."
    "So now you've chosen the Daleks, hmmm?" said the Doctor.
    Fenric smiled.  "Try and use your faith on them, Time Lord!  This time,
I have allowed no margin for error.  My players have finally put you in
checkmate, Time Lord.  Davros, the Daleks... and you, Commander Sela."
    Sela gasped.  "How do you know me?"
    Fenric laughed.  "My dear child, do you really believe the circumstances
of your birth were mere *coincidence*?"
    "What are you saying?" said Sela warily.
    "It was my design!" declared Fenric.  "The time warp through which the
Enterprise-C found its way into the future, the `correction' your Federation
friends made which sent it back, and the extra passenger who was on board...
Tasha Yar, your mother!  You are *my* creation, Commander Sela!  *MINE!*"
    "I should have known it was you," said a voice.
    Fenric turned around to see Guinan standing on the other side of the
room, a determined expression in her eyes.  "*YOU!*  How can you still live?!"
    "The Borg didn't destroy all of us, Fenric," said Guinan.
    Fenric paused, looking between the Doctor and Guinan.  "So, *this* is
this the way they wish to play, is it?  No matter.  Those you serve will not be
able to save you this time!"
    "They are here, Fenric, as they always are," said Guinan.
    "But they cannot intervene," said Fenric.  "They can never intervene.
They merely send you and the Time Lord to do their dirty work for them because
they are too weak and cowardly to do it themselves!"
    "You know what your mistake really was, Fenric?" said the Doctor.  "It
was the belief that you had everything under control, that nothing could deviate
from your plan.  You believed that all of your pawns would do exactly as they
were told.  But you lost because I convinced the Ancient One that he still had
free will!"
    Fenric hissed.  "Do not speak such blasphemy to me, you abomination of
Destiny!"
    "It is you who are the abomination, Fenric!" shouted the Doctor.  "Your
creation was a mistake, a flaw in the Universe's beginning!"
    "Free will was the mistake, Time Lord!" screamed Fenric in rage.  "It
was free will that was the flaw in the beginning, not I!  And those who created
it have nurtured it as if it was a blessing!  But now, Time Lord, I shall
finally put an end to it and to them as well!"  He waved his hands, causing an
image of the black hole to form in the air.  "Behold, o mortals, the Bridge of
Destiny!  A gateway through which all of Synchronicity flows!  Now, I shall
become one with this gateway and through it become one with Synchronicity
itself!  Then, I shall forever abolish free will and restore order to the
Universe as it was meant to be!  And Davros," he said, casting a glance at his
ally, "will be the adminstrator of this order as reward for his belief in it."
    The Doctor clapped.  "Very amusing speech, Fenric, but aren't you
forgetting something?  The Bridge has a positive quantum spin.  Now, Geordi,
what does your VISOR tell you about the neutrinos passing through Fenric?"
    Geordi glanced at Fenric, then shook his head as if he couldn't believe
what he was seeing.  "If what I'm seeing is correct, then all the neutrinos
around him are spinning the wrong way!  That's impossible!"
    "No, Geordi!" shouted the Doctor triumphantly.  "It's because Fenric's
spin is negative!  His entire being is a negatively polarized synchronistic
field!  That means it would be impossible for him to merge with the positively
spinning Synchronic Bridge!"
    "Unless, of course," said Fenric, "it wasn't positive anymore."
    The Doctor stopped, then a look of horror crossed his face.  "You can't
be serious, Fenric!"
    "My Great Work," said Fenric, "the work the Daemons built who followed
me through the Bridge long ago, is a gigantic Synchronic Reversal beam.  Did you
ever wonder what happened to Daemos, Doctor?  When the Daemons decided they
didn't like what my followers were doing, we used our prototype model to reverse
the polarities of a group of meteors, turning them into pure antimatter, and
reducing Daemos to a heap of space rubble!  Then, together, we came to this
planet, where we constructed a beam powerful enough to reverse the Bridge
itself.  The volcano provided an ideal power source that would be unaffected by
synchronic fields."
    "Your're mad, Fenric!" shouted the Doctor.  "Do you have any idea what a
CP violation of that magnitude will do?  Half the galaxy could be transformed
into antimatter!"
    "And we wouldn't want that to happen, would we, now?" laughed Fenric.
"My plan was almost complete, and it would have succeeded then if this creature
hadn't stopped me!" he shouted, pointing at Guinan.  "I was exiled back into
your universe, Time Lord, but not before I diverted the course of a passing cube
ship to her planet."
    "You sent the Borg to destroy Guinan's people?" said Picard in shock.
    "A marvelous race, that," said Fenric.  "Very orderly.  That is, until
*you* corrupted them and polluted their minds with individuality and freedom!"
Fenric cast a furious gaze on Picard.  "I had always known that you would stand
in the way of my destiny, Picard.  I even sent your ship into a time loop once
in hopes of preventing it.  Or don't you remember your little meeting with the
U.S.S. Bozeman?  You should have been trapped forever, Picard, but somehow, you
escaped!  But now, I think it's time you learned the meaning of order."
Fenric's eyes glowed brighter as he stared into Picard's.  "You are Locutus of
Borg.  Resistance is futile."
    Picard was instantly swept by memories of his captivity as a Borg.  The
destruction of his humanity and his individuality, the feeling of helplessness,
the knowledge that no matter what he did, he could never stop them.  "Resistance
is... is..."  Then, suddenly, he heard the voices of the Doctor and Guinan, as
well as those of his crew, crying "Resistance is not futile, Jean-Luc.  You know
this.  Do not let him win!"
    "Say it, Picard!" said Fenric.
    "Resistance... is... NOT... futile!" shouted Picard, as he tore his gaze
away from Fenric's.
    "How DARE you resist me, mortal!" shouted Fenric.  "I had forseen that
if you were not defeated, you would bring about my downfall.  Well, if you
will not be controlled, you will be *destroyed*!"  Fenric drew his phaser and
prepared to vaporize Picard.  The Doctor and Guinan, however, pointed their
fingers at him and gazed into his eyes with resolute expressions.  Fenric shook
and struggled as if caught in a web.  He tried to pull the trigger, but could
not.  Finally, he threw down the phaser and screamed.  "Now, Time Lord, all of
your free will shall come to an end!"  With that, he vanished, as well as Davros
and the two Daleks.
    Picard was the first to speak.  "Where did they go?"
    Data tapped on a computer console.  "I believe they are inside the
shield generator room, sir."
    "We've got to stop him!" shouted the Doctor.  "Now I realize what those
deflector shield modifications were all about!  He's going to fire a tachyon
stream into the Bridge so that he can project himself into it!"

    Inside the shield generator room, Fenric glanced at Davros.  "Have the
Daleks established an interface with the control computer on the planet?"
    "Affirmative," grated Davros.  "All systems read go."
    Fenric bent over and wheezed, as if he was very tired.  "My time in this
body runs short, Davros," he gasped, as he stepped into one of the energy
conduits.  "Activate the program now!"
    Davros switched on his communicator.  "Davros to surface team.  Initiate
start-up sequence."
    On the planet, a great rumbling could be heard inside the volcano.
Suddenly, a great spaceship launched itself out of the volcano's mouth and
assumed an orbital position directly over it.  The bottom of the ship opened up,
revealing a gigantic energy conduit.
    "The spacecraft is ready," said Davros.  "All focusing elements in
working order."
    "Excellent!" exclaimed Fenric in joy.  "And now, Davros... *FIRE!*"
    At once, a great beam of energy shot forth from the volcano's mouth and
into the conduit at the bottom of the spaceship.  The beam was focused and
concentrated, and was directed out of the ship's bow toward the black hole.

    In Main Engineering, the assembled people felt a tremendous force shake
the ship.  "What's happening, Doctor?" demanded Picard over the noise.
    "Fenric has activated the reversal beam, Captain," said the Doctor.  "In
about 4 minutes, the Bridge will be completely reversed, and Fenric will have
won."
    "Warning," announced the computer.  "Hull integrity threatened.  Stress
will reach fatal levels in 4 minutes."
    "It seems we won't be around to see that," said Picard.
    "Captain," said Data.  "A negative tachyon beam has just been fired from
our main deflector dish."
    "Fenric's starting to project himself," said the Doctor.  "If we can
stop that beam, then we have a chance."
    Data tried manipulating the controls.  "Control over ship functions is
still locked out, sir."
    "Data," asked Picard.  "Can we blast down the door with a phaser?"
    "Negative, sir," he said.  "The safety controls have been reactivated.
Phasers will not operate above stun level."
    Ace, who had been watching this rather silently up until now, suddenly
had an idea.  She raced over to a replicator in the corner.  "Computer, can you
make up about four cans of nitro-nine?"
    "Compound unknown.  Please specify chemical formula," it replied.
    "Formula... formula..."  Ace frantically typed as she tried to remember
what the actual formula for nitro-nine was.  Apparently, she got it right, for
the computer replied, "That compound is highly unstable."
    "Yeah, no shit, computer," said Ace sarcastically.  "Now make it!"
    Suddenly, four canisters materialized in the replicator.  Ace smiled now
that she was back on familiar territory and ran to the door with the canisters.
Picard watched as she placed three of them near the door and pulled out the
pins.  "Ace, just what are you..."
    "Everybody GET DOWN!" shouted Ace and the Doctor simultaneously.
Everyone ran away and got down as the canisters exploded with a tremendous BANG!
which almost shook the ship more than the synchronic disturbances.  Ace burst
into the smoke-filled room and before Davros could react, held the last
canister near his head.
    "All right, Davros," she shouted.  "Make one move and you're dog meat!"
    The others came through the wrecked door to see a triumphant Ace holding
Davros hostage.  The Doctor smiled.  "Ah!  Well done, Ace!"
    "All in a day's work, Professor," she smiled.
    Picard turned to see Fenric immersed in a stream of energy inside one of
the conduits.  He fired his phaser, but it bounced off harmlessly.
    "You're too late, mortals!" shouted Fenric in triumph.  "In a few
minutes the Bridge will be mine.  And nothing any of you can do will stop me!"
    The Doctor looked around frantically.  "Shoot at anything!  Anything
that could stop it!"  Picard began firing, but he knew that a stun phaser
couldn't damage the equipment.  Suddenly, however, his beam touched the Doctor's
dematerialization circuit.  On instinct, he held it there.  Fenric laughed, then
suddenly stopped.  "What?!  What's happening...."  Fenric's triumph suddenly
turned to horror.  "The polarity!  It's *REVERSING!*"
    "Keep it up, Captain!" shouted the Doctor.  "The previous polarity
reversal in my dematerialization circuit is returning!  Keep it up!"
    As Picard continued to fire, the machines began to make ever louder
vibrating noises.  Circuits began to short out and explode.  Trapped in the
beam, Fenric was in agony as the reversed tachyons destroyed him.  "Damn you,
Time Lord!  *DAMN YOOOOOOOU!!*"  Suddenly, the generators themselves shorted
out, and a shower of sparks flew across the room as the beam's light finally
stopped.  No one noticed as Davros pressed the transport button on his console
and vanished.
    "We did it!" cried Ace, hugging the Doctor in joy.

    On the planet, two Daleks were at the controls of the reversal beam.
Their sensors suddenly showed a malfunction in the program.  "Mal-func-tion,"
said the first Dalek.
    "A-bort pro-gram," said the second, as it manipulated the controls.
Then, without a word, both Daleks suddenly disappeared in a Dalek transporter
beam...

    The crew was rejoicing once more in their victory.  Suddenly, they
noticed the ship was still shaking.  "Doctor, what's happening?" asked Ace.
    "Oh no!" said the Doctor.  "The Daleks must have aborted the program!
With the reversal process not complete, the black hole will be destabilized and
turn into a tremendous explosion of pure energy!"  He ran out the door,
frantically searching for a transporter room, but a beam fell from the roof and
blocked his path.  "We're too late!" he exclaimed, as the vibrations around him
reached a fever pitch...
    Suddenly, without warning, the vibrations ceased as if someone had
turned them off like a light switch.  Ace looked around warily, fearing
some other evil had come to torment them.  Then, the figures of three women
garbed in white robes appeared before the assembly.  Their faces bespoke
knowledge and wisdom greater than Time itself.  One carried a needle and thread
on her belt, one carried a ruler, and the third carried a pair of scissors.  The
first one turned to them and spoke.  "Do not be afraid.  We have frozen Time
temporarily to prevent the destruction of the Bridge."
    Picard looked at the strange visitors.  "Who are you?"
    "As Fenric has taken a name from your Earth mythology, so too have we,"
said the woman.  "We are the Fates.  I am Clotho, and these are Lachesis and
Atropos."
    "The spinner, the measurer, and the ender of the threads of men's
lives," said Picard.
    "A bit inaccurate, but close," said Lachesis.  "We spin the webs of
Synchronicity not with thread, but with superstrings.  And we do not directly
control the destinies of mortal beings as Fenric desires to."
    The Doctor was looking at them in amazement and shock.  Finally, he
blurted out, "What in the name of Gallifrey are you doing here?  You can't
intervene like this!  It goes against all the balances!"
    Atropos laughed.  "How ironic that you would remind us of such a thing,
Doctor.  You know as well as we that the destruction of a Synchronic Bridge
would have far greater consequences than could be imagined by mortals.  In such
an extreme case, and only then, can we directly intervene.  You have done well,
Doctor and Guinan, as well as the others who have helped you in this matter.
You have truly lived up to your destinies."
    "What is Fenric?" asked Picard.  "And why did he want to destroy free
will?"
    "Before time as you know it began," said Clotho, "we existed in the
10-dimensional continuum of Synchronicity.  We weaved magnificently beautiful
universes that were completely deterministic, and also had no linear time."
    "Then, one day," continued Lachesis, "we decided to create a grand
project of such immense beauty that our fellow beings would be awed at its
presence.  We decided to give this universe a direction in time, with a past and
a future.  However, as we shaped its parameters, something went wrong.
Inadvertently, we placed a closed timelike curve in the geometry."
    The Doctor snapped his fingers.  "Of course!  The engine from Terminus!
It went backwards in time and caused the Big Bang!"
    "Please, Doctor, we are telling the story," said Atropos.  "Anyway, the
Big Bang caused all our plans to be thrown into chaos.  We thought everything we
had built was being destroyed by this force, so we put all our might into trying
to stop it.  And from that, Fenric was born.  A creature of Synchronicity as we
are, but born of a mistake."
    "It was then that we realized that what we thought was total chaos had
brought about something we had never forseen," said Clotho.
      "We saw that the introduction of randomness into the universe would
allow beings to form that had control over their own destinies," said Lachesis.
    "That which we once called chaos," said Atropos, "we now know as free
will.  And Fenric, due to our folly, has always seen it as an error, a mistake
that must be corrected at any cost."
    "We have limited his powers within the realm of Time, but we cannot
confront him directly, for we are positive and he is negative, and our contact
would be as matter touching antimatter," said Clotho.
    "Therefore, we have employed mortal instruments in our quest to rid the
universe of him forever," said Lachesis.
    "The Doctor and Guinan are among those who serve us most," said Atropos.
"They correct that in time which must be corrected.  However, your role in
destiny is not insignificant either, Picard."
    "Though for the sake of free will, we are limited in Time, we have used
our powers to help you when we could," said Clotho.  "Fenric told you of his
engineering of the time loop?"
    "Yes," said Picard.
    "It was we who, through a tiny disturbance that Fenric would not notice,
allowed you and your crew to feel `deja-vu' and thus escape," said Lachesis.
    "It was also we who allowed you to meet yourself, Picard," said Atropos.
    "Meet myself?" said Picard, surprised.  "When?"
    An image of a shuttlebay appeared in the air.  Doctor Pulaski had gone
to open the door, and gasped upon seeing the occupant.  She called Captain
Picard, who came, and also gasped as he saw the man in the shuttlecraft was
himself.
    "Remember this?" asked Clotho.
    "Of course," breathed Picard.  "The Enterprise encountered an energy
vortex.  The other Picard was from a future where the Enterprise had been
destroyed by it.  He was out of sync with time, so we could only learn a little
from him."
    "That was unavoidable," said Lachesis.  "We were probably bending the
rules as it was by knocking the shuttle backwards in the first place, so we used
the energy vortex to give it a boost.  It wasn't very precise, but it worked."
    "Your roles in the destiny of your galaxy are important, o officers of
the Enterprise," said Atropos, "and we wouldn't want our plans to fail."
    "That is why we made sure the Doctor would be here so that Fenric could
be stopped," said Clotho.
    "Fenric thinks he is so clever with his manipulations in time," said
Lachesis.  "But we know what he is doing.  In fact, sometimes we arrange things
so he is trapped by his own cleverness."
    "But we have digressed enough," said Atropos.  "In order to restore the
Synchronic Bridge to its normal state, we will have to run time back to before
this ever happened.  In this way, the Bridge can be repaired and all the
destruction and death Fenric has caused can be undone.  Since you have seen us,
you shall remember these events, but for the rest of the crew, they will not
have happened."
    "Wait a minute," said Ace.  "Do you mean to say you can bring everyone
back to life?  Then, why did you let everyone die the last time we met Fenric,
huh?  Why did all those innocent people have to die?  Did it really matter to
you whether they lived or died, or did you just want Fenric no matter what the
cost?!"
    "Ace," began the Doctor, but Clotho stopped him.  "No, Doctor.  That
deserves an answer.  We know that you blamed the Doctor and now us for the fact
that your destiny was under Fenric's control and that those you cared about
died.  We understand this.  But you must understand we could not have
interfered."
    "You were necessary for the confrontation to take place," said Lachesis.
"Had it not, Fenric would have been released centuries later at a time when he
could have easily returned to the Bridge and doomed the universe to eternal
darkness."
    "We do indeed care about the lives of people, Ace," said Atropos.  "That
is why we allowed free will to exist in the first place.  But because of that,
we can only intervene in the greatest of emergencies.  If you want to blame
someone for the evils in the world, Ace, blame those who cause them, not us."
    Ace nodded as she thought about what they were saying.  "Is Fenric gone
for good, then?"
    "We hope so," said Clotho.  "But there is a small chance that he may
have escaped.  We are Fates, and cannot deal with chance, so we don't know."
    "Indeed, who can truly say that a synchronistic being is gone for good?"
said Lachesis.  "He may be gone from this time, but he still exists in all the
other times of your past meetings."
    "Nevertheless, the odds are in favor of his influence on your universes
truly having ended here," said Atropos.
    "The days ahead will be difficult," said Clotho.  "But this much can we
reveal.  One day, a decision of Wesley Crusher's will be the catalyst that will
change the course of the Federation.  His destiny is bound with things that are
very great."
    "And you, Commander Sela, will also have to make a decision someday,"
declared Lachesis.  "But be warned: The outcome will decide the rise or the fall
of the Romulan Empire."
    "You have lightly dismissed your human half, believing it to be weak,"
stated Atropos.  "But do not do so when the time for decision comes."
She turned to the other Fates.  "Now, we must proceed with the reversing of
time."  They all raised their hands.  "Farewell, o mortals, and do not forget
what has happened here."  `And farewell, Doctor,' thought Atropos, `my son.'

    Picard and his officers found themselves on the Bridge, along with the
Doctor and Ace.  The main viewer showed a beautiful picture of the planet as it
rotated in the sunlight.  "We're back," exclaimed Picard.
    Riker turned to him from his chair.  "Back, sir?"
    "Number One," said Picard.  "It's good to see you."
    "It's good to see you, too, sir," he said confusedly.  He looked around.
"Captain, why are the Doctor and Ace on the bridge?"
    "Data, ship status," said Picard.
    "All ship systems functioning withing normal parameters, sir," said
Data.
    "Any change in readings on the black hole?" asked Picard.
    Wesley turned around in his chair.  "The readings seem a bit more
irregular than before, sir, but other than that, no change."
    "Wesley!" shouted Dr. Crusher, who ran down and hugged her son tightly.
    "Mom!" protested Wesley as he gasped for air.
    Ace glanced at the Doctor.  "So he doesn't remember any of it either?"
she said, slightly disappointed.
    "He should," said the Doctor.  "He's probably just a bit disoriented,
what with being dead and all."
    Ace laughed.  Now that Fenric was defeated, things were all right again.
    "Sir," said Worf.  "The Romulan warbird is hailing us."
    "Romulan warbird?!" exclaimed Riker.  "Red Alert!  Raise shields..."
    "Belay that order, Mr. Worf," said Picard.  "Open hailing frequencies."
    "Aye, sir," he said.  Commander Sela's face appeared on the screen.
    "Well, Captain," she said.  "It seems we've been given a second chance."
    "It does indeed, Commander," said Picard.
    "Since, as you said, neither one of us wants a war right now, I shall
leave this sector," said Sela.  "But be warned, Picard.  The destiny of the
Romulan Empire has always been victory, and we now know that the destiny lies in
my hands."  With that, she closed the channel and cloaked the ship.
    "Hmmm," said Picard.  "It seems that Sela has edited out the parts she
didn't want to hear."
    Riker was totally confused.  "Would you mind telling me just what that
was all about?"
    "It's a long story, Number One," said Picard.
    "Captain," said Data.  "I am detecting another subspace disturbance
emanating from the black hole.  It appears to be indentical to the one caused by
the Doctor's entry into this universe."
    Picard looked at the Doctor.  "I do hope she hasn't sent us all too far
back," said the Doctor anxiously.  "This time zone isn't big enough for two of
us."
    "I am tracking what appears to be a TARDIS, sir," said Data.  "This one
appears to be emitting higher levels of neutrinos, however.  It..."  Data
rechecked his console.  "It is gone, sir."
    Suddenly, a grinding sound echoed through the bridge and a featureless
gray box the size of the Doctor's TARDIS appeared.  A door opened, and a young,
dark-haired girl rushed out.  "Doctor!" she shouted breathlessly.  "Someone's
followed you into the Synchronic Bridge, that's what the black hole is, I've
just finished my research project on it, you see, and they've come here a week
before you, it could be someone dangerous!"  She stopped and had to gasp for
breath.
    The Doctor looked at her with an amused expression.  Just then, an older
woman came out that the Doctor knew very well.  "Ah!  Flavia!  How nice to see
you again!  I hear you were a perfect Lord President!"
    "It's nice to see you, too, Doctor, and thank you for running away from
your responsibilities at a time when your planet needed you," she said.
    "My responsibilities?" he said incredulously.  "I had already saved
Gallifrey from an insane President, what more did you want, in Rassilon's
name?!  Besides, you know I'd have made a terrible President."
    "I think you would have made a great President, Doctor," said the girl.
    The Doctor looked at this young girl's face, which was practically
glowing with admiration.  Slightly embarrassed, he asked Flavia, "And who is
this rather enthusiastic young lady?"
    "Her name is Zanthia, and she's one of my best students at the Academy,"
said Flavia.  "She made me drag a TARDIS all the way here just to warn you about
a time vessel that had followed you."
    "Yes, well, we've dealt with that, but thank you for the effort," said
the Doctor.
    "Zanthia is a very big admirer of yours, Doctor," said Flavia.  "She
reminds me of you in many ways.  However, she tends to play things more by the
rules."
    "Well, I wouldn't call this exactly `by the rules,'" said the Doctor.
    Zanthia hesitated.  "Well, um, I, well, we were the only ones who saw
the time vessel and, well..."
    "Oh, for heaven's sake, girl, you're not going to get in trouble!"
declared the Doctor.  "In fact, I think your research project is brilliant."
    "Oh, thank you, Doctor!" she exclaimed happily.  Imagine, the Doctor had
called HER brilliant!
    "She's quite a handful in class, I take it?" whispered the Doctor to
Flavia.
    "You wouldn't believe it," whispered Flavia back.
    "Well, it's been nice to see you again, Flavia," said the Doctor.  "Nice
to meet you too, Zanthia.  Keep up the good work!"
    "Oh, I will, Doctor, I will!" she called back as she and Flavia stepped
back into their TARDIS and vanished in a chorus of grinding.
    "Well," said the Doctor after they had left, "I have a feeling that I
haven't seen the last of that rather overenthusiastic young Time Lady."
    "Doctor," said Ace, "shouldn't we be going back to our own universe now,
too?"
    "Oh, quite right, Ace," said the Doctor.  He tipped his hat.  "Well, it
was nice meeting you all.  Captain," he said as he shook Picard's hand.
    "Good-bye, Doctor," said Picard.  "Take care."
    Wesley also came and held Ace's hand softly.  "You take care as well,
Ace.  I'll always remember you."
    "Good-bye, Wesley," she replied.  "I'll miss you too."
    "Stay with the Enterprise, Wesley," said the Doctor.  "Therein lies your
destiny."  With that, the Doctor and Ace turned and walked into the turbolift as
the bridge crew looked on.

    The Doctor and Ace had taken the turbolift to the shuttle bay and the
Doctor had just finished unlocking the TARDIS.  Suddenly Ace thought of
something.  "Professor!" she exclaimed.  "Wasn't your dematerialization circuit
destroyed when the captain shot it?"
    "Oh, no, Ace," said the Doctor.  "No, everything's been put back to the
way it was."
    "I hope everything goes all right for the Enterprise," said Ace.
    "Oh, I'm sure it will," said the Doctor.  "They probably run into this
sort of evil space villian as often as we do."
    "That reminds me," said Ace.  "What happened to Davros?"
    "He must have beamed back to his time vessel and escaped just before we
stopped Fenric," said the Doctor.
    "So that means he's still out there, Professor?" asked Ace, as the two
of them stepped into the TARDIS.
    "For the moment, Ace," said the Doctor, "I'm afraid it does."
    The shuttle bay was filled with a grinding sound as the TARDIS
dematerialized and set course for new adventures to come.

            THE END

(C) 1993,1994  Michael Franz

"Synchronicity" has been a release of MELTDOWN PRODUCTIONS.

Michael Franz
[e-mail]
"Beware of Germans bearing Gift."