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Subject: New TNG Story: IF THEY BE TWO
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If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason
Copyright 1995

>>>>>The usual disclaimers about Paramount owning every character, prop,
set piece, alien, human, and bit of matter or anti-matter in known and
unknown space, not to mention my complete devotion if they will keep
giving me Star Trek films/TV shows. However, though they own the rights to
the characters, etc. within this story, the tale itself is mine, for good
or ill. "Tis a small thing, but mine own."<<<<<<

This is for the enjoyment of fandom at large so feel free to pass this
along, but please leave my name attached. This is not, under any
circumstances, meant to be sold. (Unless Paramount or Pocket Books decide
they can't live without it!) E-mail me with any and all comments at
[e-mail]


                            *********************

                                      If They Be Two

Prologue
*******

 The door chimed and Picard set his coffee cup on the table. "Come," he
called. He smiled as Beverly Crusher walked in.
"Are you all ready?" he asked.
 Beverly sighed. "I think so. This presentation isn't going to get any
better for my worrying over it, I suppose." She dropped discontentedly
into a chair and grabbed a napkin.
Picard poured coffee and passed her a croissant. "No, it's not. So relax
and eat your breakfast. We can't be sending undernourished CMOs to
important medical conferences. It would reflect very badly on the ship."
 Beverly started to smile, but immediately frowned again. "I think I've
got it all down. It's the part about the Phorian surgical practices I'm
not sure of. Their treatment of disease is quite easy to explain, but if I
could just find a way to better illustrate their manipulation of the
neural pathways during the actual surgery. That's very difficult to show
without an actual patient, not even the holographic images are quite
adequate to-"
"Beverly." Picard smiled. "Stop worrying. I've seen your entire
presentation myself. It's very good. You'll be fine."
 "You didn't understand a word of it."
 Picard laughed. "True, but medicine has never been my strong suit."
 The doctor smiled wanly. "Well, anyway, sickbay should be OK. I've given
Dr. Selar instructions about what to do if-"
 "Beverly," Picard said again. "Much as we need and rely on you here,
we'll survive without you for a few days. You're only going to be gone a
week. Enjoy your time away. I know for a fact that you have three free
days in the middle of the conference and I want you, Doctor, to come back
rested. Have fun."
 Beverly cocked an eyebrow at him. "Isn't that what I'm always telling you
about shore leave?"
 "I'm different," he protested.
 "Hah! And how, pray tell?"
 "I just am, and you haven't eaten anything yet, and your coffee is cold."
 Beverly looked rebellious, but she took an enormous bite of croissant as
Picard poured her a fresh cup of coffee.


Chapter One
**********

 "Captain, we are receiving a distress signal." Worf's deep voice startled
Picard out of his reverie. The Bridge of the new _Enterprise 1701-E_ had
been quiet all morning and he'd allowed his thoughts to wander.
 "Where from, Mr. Worf?" asked Riker.
 "The planet Sitaar, Sir. It appears to be coming from a Starfleet shuttle
pod."
 Picard frowned. "Sitaar? Mr. Worf, did Dr. Crusher's shuttle pass that
planet on its way to our rendezvous?"
 "Yes, Sir. The shuttle is one belonging to Starfleet, but until we are
closer I will not be able to determine exactly which shuttle it is.
 "Set a course for Sitaar, Ensign. Warp 5." commanded Picard.
 "Aye, Sir."
 "ETA, Mr. Data?"
 "Approximately thirty-seven minutes at your specified speed, Sir,"
responded the android.
 Picard turned to Riker. "That should give us enough time to see about
this distress call and get back to our rendezvous with Dr. Crusher.
Assuming this shuttle is not hers, of course," he added grudgingly.
 A short time later Data spoke again. "Captain, we are entering the
Sitaar's system. I am scanning the planet.
 "Report, Mr. Data."
 "Sir, the shuttle appears to be that of Dr. Crusher." Picard's heart
turned over, reminding him painfully of its exact position in his body.
"Any sign of the doctor?"
 "I am finding no humanoid life forms on the planet, Sir."
 For a moment Picard stopped listening. Into his mind came the voice of
his father, telling him his mother was dead.
 Data was speaking. "...which makes it impossible to scan."
 "What?"
 Data frowned and rephrased his explanation since the captain seemed not
to understand. "I said, Sir, that the planet appears to be made up of rock
interlaced with numerous caves and tunnels. The rock contains large
quantities of heavy metals. These make it impossible to scan beneath the
surface. Therefore, we may be unable to detect Dr. Crusher's life signs if
she went into one of the caves to escape the storm after the shuttle broke
up."
 "What kind of storm?"
 "A common electrical storm such as is found on most M-Class planets,
Sir." Data decided, correctly, that the captain was disturbed by his
friend's disappearance. Ordinarily Picard understood things like simple
storms.
 Picard gathered his straying wits. "Is it safe to beam down?" he asked.
 "Not until the storm passes, Sir," answered Worf.
 "Captain, I'd like to beam down anyway," said Riker.
 "I'll go, too," added Troi.
 "No, Number One. I can't allow it," said Picard, feeling a strong desire
to sprint to the Transporter Room himself.
 "Captain, if Dr. Crusher is down there she may be injured."
 "She's the best one to take care of that," snapped the captain. He
thought for a moment. If Beverly was alive she was in one of the caves. If
she wasn't in one of the caves... well, that didn't need to be thought
about. Picard pointed this out to his officers. "We will have to wait
until the storm passes. Take us into orbit, Ensign. I'll be in my ready
room."
 Jean-Luc Picard went into his ready room and ordered tea from the
replicator. He stared out at the planet they were circling and thought
about his Chief Medical Officer. Picard had never been much of a family
man, but a lot of things had happened in the past couple of years which
had forced to him to reevaluate what he found important in life. One of
the conclusions he had arrived at was the highly original idea that there
simply was not enough time in the human life spun to dawdle about and take
things for granted. With this in mind he had tried lately to make some
headway in his relationship with Dr. Crusher.
 For nearly a quarter of a century they had been friends. Since they had
both begun to serve on the _Enterprise D_ they had become each other's
closest companion and confidante. That camaraderie had continued here on
the new ship. They had been together through most of the crises of their
eventful lives. However, it was under Picard's command that Beverly's
husband, Jack, Picard's oldest and dearest friend, had been killed. Since
the captain had been in love with Beverly from the day he met her, while
she was already engaged and then married to Jack, his guilt was almost
more than he could bear. Now, though, twenty years later, things had
changed, and two years earlier Picard had found, much to his own surprise,
that he was ready to pursue the kind of relationship he'd always wanted
with the doctor. Due to some very unusual circumstances, he was in a
unique position to know that she felt much the same way, but for some
inexplicable reason she had decided against such a change in their
relationship.
 Fortunately, their friendship was strong enough to overcome any strained
relations which might have been reasonably expected to follow such a
confrontation, and Picard had lately begun to wonder if, given a little
time, she might yet be persuaded to change her mind. Now this woman, so
dear to him, was perhaps injured (he wouldn't admit to anything else) on
the planet outside his window, and he was powerless to help her. He
recalled her saying the same thing about him when she, his physician,
struggled to save his life on more than one occasion. They were not in the
safest of jobs, these two. Like thousands of others before him, Picard now
sighed over the frailty of life.

Chapter 2
********

 Picard was still lost in thought forty-five minutes later when Worf's
voice came over the ready room speakers. "Captain, the storm has abated to
safe levels."
 Picard jumped up, grabbed his jacket, and strode to the Bridge. "Take an
away-team, Number One!"
 Riker was on his feet. "Mr. Worf, Counselor, you're with me. Riker to La
Forge: meet me in Transporter Room One. Riker to Lieutenant Savin: meet
the away team in Transporter Room One."
 A few minutes later the first officer's voice was heard on the Bridge.
"Riker to Enterprise: we're here, Captain. There's no sign of Dr. Crusher.
The shuttle is pretty banged up so she must have gone into one of these
caves. There are several of them. We're going to check it out."
 Picard let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Very good,
Commander. What happened to the shuttle?"
 Geordi spoke up. "I'm not certain, Captain. Most of the superficial
damage was certainly caused by its crash on the planet's surface, but why
exactly it crashed I can't say 'till I've had a closer look. I'd like to
beam it aboard later and examine it more closely."
 "Very well, Mr. La Forge. Counselor, can you sense anything that might
give us some idea of what has happened to the doctor, what direction she
might have taken?"
 "Not much, Captain. I can sense Beverly's residual imprints. She was
here, but that's all I can tell."
 "Was she hurt?" Picard asked quickly.
 "Not very much, Sir, or I'd sense it more strongly."
 Well, that was something to be thankful for, anyway.
 "Sir," said Riker. "We're heading in."
 "Good luck, Number One," answered Picard with feeling.
 The captain turned to the Lieutenant Commander at Ops. "Mr. Data, why is
this planet not inhabited?"
 The android looked up. "The environment is very inhospitable, Sir. There
are a great many electrical storms at all seasons, and in all areas of the
planet. These are frequently, but not always, accompanied by rain. No
extensive exploration has been done here as yet due to the difficult
conditions. Starfleet has been planning to send study groups here, but
other planets in this sector have demanded more attention. There are
various types of plant life on the surface, but few other life forms. Most
of these have been studied somewhat. There has been no attempt to map the
underground passages. They are of sheer rock, nothing more, and are
evidently vast."
 "Are there many openings to those tunnels?"
 "Very few, Sir. However, one of the known openings is in the area the
away-team is exploring now. One of the caves provides access to the
tunnels. It was discovered by Commander Allin of the Starship Julius."
 "The tunnels were formed by water?"
 "Unlikely, Sir. It is believed that they were formed by volcanic
activity. There is still some such activity on the planet. Though it rains
a great deal, very little water actually goes below the surface."
 "Why?"
 "It is a curious feature of this planet, Sir, that the only know tunnel
openings are in caves, where the rainwater cannot get to them."
 "Did you tell Commander Riker all this?"
 "Yes, Sir. We discussed it while you were in your Ready Room."
 Picard felt rather as if he'd bunked it, having run off to his Ready Room
like that, but it was the First Officer's duty to prepare for
away-missions. "Very good, Mr. Data."
 Fifteen minutes later Riker spoke again. "Riker to Enterprise: Captain,
we've located the cave Dr. Crusher went into. There's an opening to the
tunnels at the back of it. The readings we're getting tell us she went in
there. We're going to check it out."
 "Very good, Commander."
 An anxious ten minutes passed before Riker communicated with the ship
again. The comm link was full of static. "Captain, we're getting an awful
lot of interference down here. The tricorders are almost totally useless.
We're going to keep searching. We may be out of communication for a while.
We'll report back in an hour, hopefully less."
 "All right Number One. Take every precaution, but leave no stone
unturned."
 "Understood, Sir. Riker out."
 Picard fidgeted. He found himself unreasonably angry with Dr. Crusher.
Why on Earth, he thought, would she, injured as she probably was, decide
to go exploring. He fidgeted again.
 Data looked sympathetic, and a little worried as well. "I am confident
that the away-teams will find the doctor, Sir. It is extremely unlikely
that she would have wandered very far into the tunnels."
 Picard tried to look equally confident, but made a complete hash of it.

                                        **********

 By the time an hour had passed Picard was walking up and down the Bridge
trying not to look like he was pacing. Where were they? To the intense
relief of his nerves Riker's voice came over the speakers again, but
Picard's nerves were not destined to have a good day. "Captain, we can't
find her. We'll have to go back in."
 "What *have* you found, Number One?" asked Picard more harshly than he
had intended.
 "Sir, we've explored the tunnels a bit, but they make up an extensive
system. A real labyrinth once you get down in there, all sloping down into
the planet. The farther down you go, the more difficult communication
becomes. By the time we got to the bottom of the first shaft,
communication was impossible. Even the tricorders work on only a minimal
level. About all they'll give us is a sketchy reading of the atmospheric
state down there. There seem to be a lot of magnetic fields as well as
heavy metals which disrupt the reading the further down you go. With no
readings of Dr. Crusher to follow we only know that she entered the tunnel
at all by the original readings we were able to get at the mouth of the
cave. She never was in another one. Beyond that we're guessing as the
tunnels branch off. We nearly got lost several times. We're going to
divide into two groups and use a sort of Hansel and Gretel maneuver. There
are chalky deposits out here. We'll use the pieces to make marks on the
walls. It's primitive but it will work. Also, though we didn't see any
other ways to get out of there, they must exist. The ship should scan
continuously for her life signs. That way if she does come out another way
we'll be sure to find her to beam her out."
 Data had put his head on one side, a sure sign he was going to ask a
question. Most likely about the Hansel and Gretel Maneuver, thought
Picard. However, he had no time to go into it now.
 "We'll keep scanning, Number One. Why do you think she's gone so far in?
Wouldn't it make much more sense for her to stay near the entrance? She
had set the distress call and knew we'd come to get her. Why wouldn't she
mark her own path?" Picard fired off the questions.
 There was a pause from the voice on the planet. "She did mark her path,
Sir," said Riker reluctantly. Another pause. "With phaser blasts."
 Picard did not understand. "You mean she was firing at the rock as she
went along?" That would have been foolish, he thought."No, Sir," said
Riker slowly. "She was clearly firing at someone or something. By the
marks she was turning to fire over her shoulder. The blasts stop about a
quarter of a kilometer down the main tunnel. There's no sign of her after
that."
 Picard suddenly felt as cold as if his body had been dipped in liquid
nitrogen. "Any return fire?"
 "No, Sir"
 "Why would she run from an unarmed attacker? She's an accurate shot. And
who or what would've come after her? The planet is uninhabited." He was
frightened and was annoyed about it.
 "We are trying to determine that, Sir." said Riker, patiently. "We're
going to have to go back in. We'll need another security team, and at
least two people from engineering to go over the shuttle. Some science
personnel would come in handy, too."
 "I'll bring them down myself, Number One," announced Picard.
 "Sir -" Riker didn't have time to finish.
 "I will be down at once, Commander! That is all. Picard out. Mr. Data,
you have the Bridge. Keep scanning for Dr. Crusher." Jean-Luc Picard
strode into the turbo lift. He could not just sit up there in his ready
room while she was down there. Picard had no illusions about his friend.
She was perfectly capable of handling nearly every situation life could
throw at her, and she would probably scoff at him coming down to find her
like this; but damn it, she had been his friend for more than twenty
years, she should be more. He had lost one Crusher who had been his best
friend and that was enough for one lifetime.

                                    **********

 A few minutes later Picard materialized in front of the away team with
four more security officers at his back. Three science crew and two
engineers appeared moments later. They stood in a large open space. About
eight meters away the cliffs and rock formation so prevalent on the
planet, jutted skyward. Picard thanked Heaven and Beverly's own piloting
skills that she had managed to put the shuttle down here in the open, and
not smash it into the rocks.
 "All right, Number One, what tunnel did she take?"
 "That one," said Riker, pointing to a cave about ten meters north.
"Captain, as the first officer of the ship I must protest against your
coming down here. Your presence, if you will forgive me, Sir, is
unnecessary at this time."
 "Your protest is duly noted, Number One, but I remain on this
away-mission." Picard's voice had an edge it almost never held. Even Will
Riker knew when he was beaten.
 "You still sense nothing, Counselor?" asked Picard.
 Deanna glanced at Riker. "Sir, I sense nothing from Beverly. I do get the
impression that there is a life form down there. I don't think it's
sentient, though."
 "Can you pinpoint it any more? Is it a life form we know?" asked Picard.
 "I don't think so, Sir, but I'm still trying to find out more."
 Picard nodded and looked round at the assembled crew members. "Commander
Riker, you know the territory. Assign teams and let's get moving. There is
another storm headed this way."
 "Aye, Sir," said Riker unhappily. "Captain, you'll lead one team composed
of Commander Worf, Savin, and Troi. Lieutenant Morris, you take Chow,
Jackson, and Bellar. Erickson, Torres, and Abblewhite, you're with me. Mr.
La Forge, you, Phillips and Katil will stay here with the shuttle in case
she comes back a different way, but if that storm comes any closer beam up
to the Enterprise. As for the rest of us, here's the plan: we will each
carry a couple of pieces of chalk to make marks on the walls after we get
past the phaser marks." He glanced at the captain but as usual Picard's
face showed nothing of what he was thinking. "When we get to the fork in
the tunnel where we lose sight of the doctor's path, my team will go left.
Captain, you and Troi lead teams to the right. You'll probably have to
split up from there. We don't know what's in there so keep your phasers
ready and pay attention for anything which might give us a clue as to
what's in there and where the doctor might be. Let's go."

                                 **********

 A moment's walk brought them to the mouth of the cave Beverly had
entered. It about six meters deep and the floor was level. Riker pointed
out to the captain that as soon as they were three meters inside the
tricorders stopped working almost altogether. At the back of the cave was
a fissure about a meter and a half high. Worf went in first, phaser at the
ready. He called back to them, "It appears to be all clear, Commander."
They had to crawl into the tiny opening and for broad-shouldered Riker it
was a tight fit, but the rock parted after a meter or so into a single
large tunnel disappearing into darkness. They all had their hand torches
on by this time. Picard flashed his about. It seemed to be large enough to
walk in fairly easily and was quite straight. He decided he wouldn't want
to try running in it, however, especially while pursued.
 Riker dusted himself off. "We continue this way, Sir," he said quietly,
gesturing ahead. "My guess is that Dr. Crusher did a little exploring
while she was waiting for us. That's probably why she was back here in the
first place. Whatever came after her didn't appear for about ten meters.
There's the first phaser mark - here, Sir." He stopped and turned his
torch on a black spot on the wall of the cave. "Whatever she was shooting
at must have been threatening or she never would've fired. But why she ran
*and* missed, I don't know."
 "Why do all these blasts appear to hit the wall?" wondered Picard.
 "If she were firing over her shoulder as she was running in this cramped
dark space and on this slope, she may just have been missing, but whatever
was chasing her was probably sticking close to the wall to avoid being
hit," postulated Worf.
 "If that were the case and it was avoiding the phaser, then it could have
been injured by it, so she need not have run," pointed out Lieutenant
Savin, who was a Vulcan. "In any case, it is hard to conceive of any being
able to run in these tunnels without being hit by the phaser. It is
possible to assume that whatever it was, either was not very fast, did not
actually want to catch her, was not able to catch her due to the phaser,
or was unfamiliar with the tunnel's terrain, itself."
 They walked on in silence for some minutes digesting this, and Picard,
noticing the frequency of the phaser marks, and pondering the cause of
them, grew increasingly depressed as they descended. It was eerily quiet
and considerably colder here then it had been on the surface, but, as with
most underground areas, the temperature was fairly constant. The air was
dry, anyway. As usual Data had been right. No water had flowed down these
tunnels in the last millennium, if ever. Picard was so absorbed in his
thoughts that he bumped smack into Riker when the commander stopped
abruptly. Riker pointed his torch at a phaser mark. "This is the last one
we were able to find. The fork in the tunnel is just up ahead."
 A moment later a wall rose suddenly from the darkness and Picard,
flashing his torch about, was able to see the two separate tunnels
branching off to his left and right.
 "We went a short way down each of them before and found nothing. We'll go
farther this time. Each tunnel has dozens of small passages leading off of
it. We should take time to examine each one. Also, we're making a lot of
noise already, but it probably won't hurt to call to her. We don't want to
miss her in case she can't hear us." said Riker. "All right, my team to
the left. Captain," He looked hard at Picard. "Captain, be careful. I
really wish you were -"
 "'In Thames up to the neck', Number One?"
 "Pardon, Sir?"
 "Never mind. Pay attention to your job, Commander. I'll be fine." Picard
turned and walked with his team and Morris' into the black void at his
right.