Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/incomplete/iftheybetwo.ch8-10

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Subject: New TNG Story: If They Be Two ch. 8-10
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DISCLAIMER: Paramount has the most toys, Paramount wins. The story is
mine, so don't mess with it, don't sell it, and leave my name attached.
Send all comments to [e-mail].

If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason

Chapter 8
********
 Thirty minutes later Riker sat back in Captain Picard's usual chair in
the observation lounge and looked around at the people gathered there.
Geordi and Data had joined them and he had, with added comments from the
rest of the team, filled them in on the strange happenings on the planet
Sitaar. Now they all just sat and stared at their hands, in that deadened
way people have when they've been given a great shock.
 Riker was suddenly very angry. He leapt up. "I am not giving up like
this. The captain, the doctor, and two crew members are gone. I am not
going to simply write off their disappearance and say they're dead! We are
taking six more away-teams down there and we are going to find them if it
takes the rest of our lives. I want to at least know what happened." He
stopped as the crew turned confused faces to him. "Now does anybody have
any ideas on what it could be? I'm open to even the wildest suggestions."
 The eleven people around the table glanced bemusedly at each other,
startled into thinking again.
 "Commander," said Geordi, slowly pulling his mind back into shape. "What
if it were some form of energy? A form that could manipulate matter. We
were getting strange EM readings before the tricorders quit."
 "You mean like anaphasic energy?"said Morris.
 "Yes, but that can only exist in organic matter. The rock, whatever else
it is, is not organic," Abblewhite pointed out.
 "What if it were something else, then," asked Torres. "Some other form of
energy we're not familiar with, or can't determine without the
tricorders?"
 "I suppose that's possible," said Morris.
 Riker turned to Geordi. "Can you think of any way we can tell if it's
some energy form without scanners?"
 "I can keep working on it. At the moment I don't have any better ideas.
It would have to take plasma form to do what you're describing."
 "Check on it, Mr. LaForge. I'd like to have you on the planet to help
search, but I need you to stay here. Keep working on a means of
communication and transport, too."
 "Couldn't we drill a hole in the rock with the ship's phasers?" asked
Erickson.
 "We'll keep that idea in mind, but we would risk hurting our crew that
way. Also, we have no idea where they are and it would be pointless
without them being somewhere near the hole." He didn't need to say that he
was, in this statement, assuming they were alive.
 "Will, why would energy plasma want our people?" asked Troi reasonably.
"There has to be a reason for it taking the crew."
 "You're right, Counselor." He thought a moment. "Nevertheless, I want to
find the captain and the others before we try to puzzle this one out. Now,
we've never been attacked in groups of even two, so it seems to be that it
will only chase us when we're separated. We have to go back in and look
for them, so we'll pair up."
 The comm. speakers in the observation lounge crackled to life as
Lieutenant Dag's voice came in from the Bridge. "Commander," she
practically shouted, "I've got a comm signal on the sensors!"
 With a total disregard for protocol, the entire group at the table leapt
up as one and ran for the Bridge, causing a traffic jam in the doorway.
Riker fought his way through, shouting to Dag the entire time. "Who's
signal, Lieutenant?"
 "Jackson's, Sir."
 Despite his very human wish that it had been that of Picard or Crusher,
Riker was happy to know Jackson was safe. Most especially because it meant
the others might be safe as well. "Can you get a lock?" He struggled
through the crowd.
 "Yes, Sir."
 "Beam her up, Dag!" he called joyfully, running for the Turbolift.

                                       **********

 "I really don't remember anymore, Sir," said Jackson from her seat on the
biobed. "I just turned around to call for help and then I woke up in a
little chasm.  I climbed out. I could see a glimmer of light, thank
goodness, from the opening. With my torch broken, I wouldn't have made it
without that light. I just climbed toward it and eventually came out in
that cave."
 "You didn't hear any noises which might have been from our people?"
 "I didn't hear anything at all. It's so quiet down there, it's eerie."
 "Can you tell what's happened, Doctor?" he asked Dr. Selar.
 The Vulcan shook her head. "I am getting some very strange EM readings,
but the trace evidence is almost nonexistent. I would need an actual
sample of the matter in order to more carefully test it."
 Dr. Selar fixed Riker with a stern glance which was very clearly meant to
say "you have asked enough questions, now leave my patient alone." He took
the hint.
 "You've done well, Lieutenant. Get some rest."

                                        **********

 The _Enterprise's_ senior officers walked down the hall, heading for the
Turbolift. Riker turned to Data. "Have you contacted Starfleet, Mr. Data?"
 "Yes, Sir. I have notified them of our problem. Fortunately, we have
several days leeway before we need be at Starbase 43. Admiral Jory would
like you to contact him in person to tell what is happening before you
beam back to the planet, Sir."
 Riker scowled. "All right. Geordi, what have you found out about the
shuttle?" he asked with a sigh.
 "It was a fluke that it happened, Sir. Evidently, one of the maneuvering
thrusters malfunctioned. One of them was still online and the doctor was
able to set down with that. My guess is she ran into a Omega pocket. They
can make an awful lot of funny things happen to those little shuttles. The
_Enterprise_ would never have noticed it, just sailed through it like it
wasn't there. There was a lot of damage to the shuttle's computer, though.
It's just a good thing the doctor made it to a Class-M planet."
 "What's an Omega pocket, Geordi?" asked Deanna.
 "It's a very small subspace anomaly that can cause massive computer
failure in small craft. Their computers just can't handle the
interference. The shuttle's sensors could pick up a larger one, but not a
real small one. Fortunately there aren't many of them around."
 "Good work, Geordi," said Riker. "I want to take another set of teams to
the surface. We're going to find out where our people are and what's going
on down there. Are you done with the shuttle?"
 "Yeah. We're fixing the problem now and the shuttle should be ready to go
in a week or so. It's taken a beating, so we'll need some repairs, but
it'll be OK."
 "Good. Then if we can leave others in charge of it's repairs, I can leave
you the Bridge while you try to reconfigure the comm link. Mr. Data, I'd
like you to lead one of the away-teams. Mr. Worf, you'll take another, as
will you, Counselor. I'll give one to Abblewhite and one to Morris. I'll
take the sixth one."
 They stepped into the Turbolift and Worf said, "Bridge."
 "Data," said Riker, "besides the coordinates we got when we beamed
Jackson aboard, did you find any other entrances to the tunnels?"
 "Yes, Commander. The nearest one is several hundred kilometers from the
openings we know of already. Lieutenant Jackson's is three thousand
kilometers from either of them."
 "What?" Riker was incredulous. "How did she get three thousand kilometers
away?"
 "I do not know, Sir. Evidently, she was carried through the rock."
 Riker frowned at the implications of this. The tunnels must go on
forever, and if their people were being taken *through* the rock, they
could be anywhere. They would have to move quickly. "You and I, Data, will
take our teams to Jackson's tunnel and search that way. I'll send two more
to the one you found earlier, and two to the original one. We'll cover
them all. Everybody meet in Transporter Rooms 1 and 2 in half an hour.
I'll notify the others."
 They had reached the Bridge and stepped out. Riker went to Picard's ready
room to call Admiral Jory. He sat in the captain's chair and for a few
minutes he silently cursed himself for ever letting Picard go down there.
Then he put through the call to Starfleet. There wasn't time for regrets,
he had people to find.


Chapter 9
********
 Picard stretched again, feeling for the ledge, but though his fingers
could just reach it, he couldn't get hold of the rock. He fell back and
sank down against the wall. He estimated that about two hours had gone by
since he'd wakened in this little place. How long he'd been out before
that he had no idea. By this time, he knew, Riker and the others were
scouring the tunnels for him, but that was small comfort in all this vast
blackness. If his arm were in one piece he'd be able to reach that ledge.
There had to be a way out of here. He'd been put *in* here, so it stood to
reason that there was some kind of entrance. He'd been all over the walls
for any means of egress and, finding none that way, had determined to go
up.
 He would just rest a minute, he decided. He was exhausted, his shoulder
throbbed, and he was starving, but what he wanted more than anything else
in the galaxy was a drink of water. What a hell of an unpleasant way to
die this was going to be. He scowled. That's not the way to think, Picard,
he told himself. In difficult situations it is important to think
positively. He remembered being stuck in that prison on KesPrytt and
saying those very words to Beverly. Then, when he'd expressed frustration
she had said sarcastically, 'I'm beginning to think negatively Jean-Luc.'
 Picard sighed. What a strange time that had been. Being telepathically
linked to another person had been difficult to say the least. When it was
the one person who knew you extraordinarily well, but from whom you'd do
just about anything to guard a great many thoughts, it was quite
definitely intolerable. Yet how he had missed it when she was gone; when
he no longer had to distinguish between her thoughts and his or simply
feel a certain way and know she would respond in kind; when he'd been able
to talk to her without saying anything at all. They had shared so much in
those two days. They two, who each knew the other better than anyone else
knew them already, had shared more of their thoughts and feelings than
most mortals ever would, and he'd been elated by the result of that
connection - until she'd walked away. During those few hours when they had
heard each other's every thought, he had learned that she loved him as he
loved her. Then she had turned it away, and without the implants to tell
him what she was thinking, he was at a loss to explain why.
 He remembered that night when they'd sat by the fire and the flames had
been mirrored by the red hair around her face... Picard sat straight up.
He searched frantically through his myriad memories of Beverly and he
could not, in any one of them, see her face. He could see her body, her
hair, her hand, her back, but not her face. He suddenly realized that he
never had been able to recall it when she was not right in front of him.
It was always a blur. He remembered then what an artist friend had told
him when he first began to try his hand at portraits. "There are a few
people," said M. Jouran, "whose faces you will never be able to draw from
memory. Those are the faces of the people you most love, your constant
companions. It is almost always impossible to recall exactly, if at all,
what they look like." Picard slumped back and for just a moment, gave in
to despair.

                                        **********

 The six away-teams accumulated in their designated positions on the
planet's surface and gathered into their assigned groups. Riker had issued
instructions before they left the ship. "Do not," he had reminded them,
"take any chances. Do not split up with your partner. Make frequent chalk
marks on the walls. Meet back at the transport sites in five hours,
sharp." From three sites, spread far across Sitaar, the crew members of
the _Enterprise_ entered the tunnels to search for their friends.

                                     **********

 Picard woke with a start. He could have sworn he'd heard something. He
held his breath, straining to hear anything in the dead silence of the
tunnels, but all he heard was the beating of his own heart and the rush of
blood in his ears. He stood up. Damn this blackness! He kicked in sheer
frustration at a nearby rock and the sound as it rattled over the floor
was loud as a scream.
 He stopped again. There *was* a sound. He'd heard it. I am going mad, he
thought. But, no, it came again. A faint sound, but quite close. "Who's
there?" he called. His voice echoed around the rocks. "Will, is that you?
Worf?"
 "Jean-Luc?"
 Picard froze. He was going mad after all.
 "Jean-Luc?"
 "Beverly?"
 "Jean-Luc, where are you?"
 Picard thought irrelevantly that this was just like that moment in a
novel, when it was said that the protagonist didn't know whether to laugh
or cry. He had often felt a little like that, but never so keenly. He
decided that, since he had to do one or the other or burst, he would
laugh. He began with a chuckle and laughed until he couldn't breathe. It
was thunderously loud reverberating in the tunnels, but he didn't care.
 "Jean-Luc, where are you? Why are you laughing, damn it?" The voice was
getting closer and she was sounding more like herself.
 "Beverly," laughed Picard, "I don't have any idea where I am. Where are
you? Are you all right?" He stopped laughing. "Are you all right?"
 "Yes, I'm fine. A little bruised, but nothing much else. Keep talking so
I can find you."
 Picard had been without light for so long that when he first saw the
faint glimmer above his head he thought it was a figment of his
imagination. It grew stronger, though, and soon he was having to squint
his eyes against its painful brightness. "You're on the right track," he
called. I can see your light."
 "Where's yours?"
 "Broken."
 "Keep talking."
 "Where did you come from?" he asked.
 "I don't know. I was in some kind of cavern, like a pit."
 "You climbed out?" Picard admired afresh the fortitude of the woman. She
hated heights.
 "I wasn't going to sit there waiting to be lunch for whatever is in
here."
 "Beverly, how did you get in here? What happened when you entered the
tunnels?"
 "I'll explain in a minute. Keep talking, I think I've found you."
 "There's no way out of here by myself. If you could get over here I may
be able to grab your hand, though. I can't really tell how high these
walls are."
 "How long have you been here?"
 "By now about four hours at a guess. I've been unconscious, though. We'd
been searching for you for three hours before that."
 The light flashed bright above his head. "Over here," he called
helpfully.
 "I see where you are, now."
 Picard stared up at the light growing brighter above him and then it
flashed down upon his face, blocking out everything behind it. "Hello,"
said Beverly's voice.

Chapter 10
*********

 Riker dropped over the edge of the small ravine and flashed his torch
around as the rest of the team followed him. His group had split up from
Data's nearly an hour ago, a few minutes after entering the main tunnel.
The commander sent two lieutenants down a passage to his right.
 The tunnels they were exploring now were far more difficult terrain than
that of the tunnels they'd searched on the other side of the planet. These
were made up of pits and fissures and cliffs. They'd had to do a lot of
climbing over here. They'd not yet seen any sign of the rock creature.

                                       **********

 Picard put his hand up to block the light and she moved it away. From
behind it her face emerged, smiling down at him. She looked extremely
disheveled and there was a nasty looking cut on her right cheek, but she
was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. He felt a small thrill of
sheer joy spread through his body as he smiled back.
 "Nice of you to drop by," he said lightly.
 Beverly stretched out her hand. "Come on up," she said.
 Picard stretched up with his left hand, but missed her hand by about four
inches. His right arm hung limply at his side.
 Beverly frowned. "What's the matter with your other arm?"
 "I think the shoulder's out of joint." He reached again for the ledge
he'd found earlier.
 Crusher scooted forward to give him about another inch. "Come on, reach."
 Picard fell back, grunting in pain. "Give me a minute."
 "I'll come down."
 "No, don't do that. Then we'll both be stuck down here."
 "We can boost each other up." She swung her legs over the edge of the pit
and searched for a toehold in the rock. Slowly, she made her way down
until she reached the ledge, about two meters off the ground. From there
she had to drop. She wasn't happy about it, but she did it. Picard stood
back and let her land alone, knowing the easiest way to hurt someone is
with an inexpert catch.
 "There," she said, dusting herself off, a fruitless endeavor. "Now, let's
see about that shoulder."
 Picard grinned at her. Grubby as she was, she was a sight for sore eyes.
"I'm glad to see you're all right. We were very worried. What did you do
to your cheek?"
 "Cut it, and I'm hardly safe and sound," she retorted with a sudden flash
of temper. "In fact, you didn't even find me. I had to find you."
 "I'm awfully glad you did, Doctor." He refused to be ruffled. He was too
glad to see her.
 Beverly smiled in reconciliation.  She gestured toward his arm. "Let me
see."
 He turned it toward her and she helped him remove his jacket. He winced
as she touched the arm. "It'd be easier if we could have this shirt off.
Can you raise it at all?"
 "I'll try."
 With some to-do and many muttered curses from Picard, Beverly worked the
shirt over his head. She examined the shoulder. "How did you do this?"
 "That's an interesting story. I'm anxious to see if it matches your own,"
he said.
 "Mine takes a bit of explaining, so let's get this done first. I've lost
my tricorder and in any case it doesn't work down here, as you probably
know, so I can't get a good idea of what's going on with this. I'd like to
know if you've seriously damaged any ligaments." She probed the shoulder
with gentle, expert fingers. "If we are going to get out of here, it'll be
easiest if we put this back. Then I can repair any further damage once
we're back on the ship. What do you think?"
 "You're the doctor," he replied.
 "It'll hurt, but it's probably the best idea."

                                        **********

 Half an hour later, a sweaty and exasperated doctor, and her equally
sweaty and exasperated patient, sat down with their backs against opposite
walls and glared at each other. Picard was dressed again and though he was
in a lot of pain, his shoulder was back where it was supposed to be. For a
while they were silent, catching their breath and recovering their
customary equable tempers. Finally Picard sat up. Taking a deep breath he
said, "Thank you, Doctor."
 She scowled amicably at him. "You are welcome, Captain."
 "Now," he said, "for part two of your plan. How are we to get out of
here?"
 Beverly considered the question. "I think the best way would be for you
to boost me up to that ledge and then I can help you up that far. After
that I can climb to the top and we'll do it again."
 The captain nodded. "Let's get going then."
 In this way they managed to climb to the top of Picard's prison. The
captain appreciated his friend just then. Looking down to help him was not
precisely pleasant. However, she did manage it. Scrambling over the edge
at last, he lay still for a moment, catching his breath.
 She gave him a hand to sit up and adjusted the sling she had fashioned
from his jacket. "Let's rest a minute," she said. "We'll swap stories on
how we got into this predicament."
 "All right. I'm glad to see you weren't hurt much by the shuttle crash.
What happened?"
 "I don't know. All of a sudden the computer started acting up and one of
the thrusters went offline. I was able to set it down, as you've seen, but
it was messy. I came out with just a couple of bruises, though."
 "How did you cut your face?"
 "Probably being dropped on my face. Let me tell you what happened. It's a
very strange story," she said slowly. "I was attacked by... the rock.
Jean-Luc, I know this sounds crazy, but the wall was chasing me."
 "It doesn't sound crazy. It chased me, too. Do you have any idea how it
got you?"
 "No. I got out of the rain in the cave. I knew somebody would pick up the
shuttle's signal eventually, but I went exploring until then. I crawled
into the tunnel and I was walking along when this thing reached out to
grab me from behind. I ran and fired at it, but it kept chasing me. I
remember feeling something grab me. It felt like somebody had molded jelly
around me and lifted me off my feet. I must have gone unconscious then,
because I don't remember anything else until I woke up. I had a few
bruises from the shuttle crash, but now I've cut my cheek and I feel as if
I've been massaged by Data." The metal fingered android never had quite
grasped the fragility of humans.
 "That's what we guessed had happened. Were you near here when you came
to?"
 "Not really. I've been walking for about an hour. I had no idea where I
was going." She glanced at him rather shyly. "I was damned scared, if you
want to know the truth. I was so glad to hear your voice, I could have
cried."
 He smiled at her. "Well, now we're together. We may have no idea where we
are, but we're together at least."
 "'And thou beside me, singing in the wilderness.'" she said.
 Picard chuckled. "I didn't know you'd read so much ancient poetry,
Beverly. You always do have another surprise up your sleeve."
 She grinned at him. "So what happened to you?"
 "A very similar incident, actually. Worf and Deanna and I were searching
for you. We'd lost Savin already, presumably to the rock. We need to keep
an eye out for him, by the way. Anyway, I had just found your tricorder
when the rock thing came up behind me. I fired, too, but in that tiny
space there wasn't a whole lot of scope for maneuvering. It grabbed me. I
felt that jelly-likeness, too. Then I woke up in there."
 "Do you have any idea what it is?"
 "None." Picard frowned. "I have never in my life seen anything like it. I
just wish the tricorders would work."
 "Where did you find my tricorder?"
 "I've no idea. It could have been round the corner or on the other side
of the planet for all I know. I hope it was around the corner since
that'll make it much easier to get back." He looked around. "I suppose I
dropped it when the rock got me. I certainly dropped mine. I do have my
phaser."
  Beverly had grown thoughtful. "I lost that, too. Jean-Luc the thing
grabbed me near the mouth of the tunnels. Why wouldn't you have found my
tricorder so far away?"
 "I don't know. That is odd. Maybe it dropped you there for a minute."
They considered this for a moment and then the captain said briskly,
"Let's get moving. We have to find Savin and get back. I wonder where he
is?"
 "Settle down, Jean-Luc. Don't strain that shoulder any more. If he's
nearby and conscious he would've heard us by now. We'll have a look around
for him. Which way do you think we should go?"
 Picard shook his head. "You came from over there?" She nodded. "Well,
let's just head in the same direction you've been going. I think as long
as we keep going up we'll be all right."
 They rose and started off through the tunnels.

More to come...Hope you like it so far!