Star Trek-TNG-Novel-Imzadi 1

"Deanna! It's a trap!"

  Troi spun, his ^ws and his mind reaching out to her

  and warning her.

  Data, aware that he had been found out, drew

  back his fist, and Troi saw it just as she

  turned. He stepped forward and drove his fist

  straight toward her face.

  With a cry of alarm, Deanna dropped back.

  Data's fist whistled bare inches from her face and

  smashed into a wall, going in with such force that his arm

  penetrated up to his elbow.

  Deanna tried to run, but Data lashed out with

  one of his feet and tripped her up. She fell

  with a cry, and Will charged forward, bringing his phaser

  up.

  With the hand that had already entered the wall, Data

  ripped out a huge chunk and hurled it directly

  at Riker. Riker dodged it, and as the twisted

  metal thudded to the ground in back of him, Riker

  fired the phaser.

  Data moved with blinding speed and grabbed at the

  phaser that Riker was holding. Taking a

  desperate gamble, knowing that he couldn't match

  Data's superior strength, Riker relaxed his

  grip and instead shot his hand out toward Data's

  off-switch.

  It wasn't there.

  "I had it disconnected, Commander," said

  Data, sounding almost apologetic. "It became

  a nuisance." Data's fingers wrapped around the

  phaser and squeezed, and Riker had to release his

  grip or risk his hand getting crushed along with

  it.

  Data dropped the twisted metal to the ground,

  then picked up Riker and hurled him against the far

  wall. Riker crashed into it and slumped to the

  ground, dazed.

  Picard came from nowhere, hurtling through the air

  and grabbing Data from behind. Data reached around,

  grabbing the captain's arm and twisting it around and

  back. Picard cried out, but that didn't stop him

  from slamming his free hand up into Data's face.

  The resulting injury was severe ... but not for

  Data. Picard, however, sprained his hand.

  "I'm doing this for you, Captain," said

  Data, sounding almost remorseful. "If I had

  any choice, I'd do anything else." And he

  lifted Picard completely off his feet, about

  to hurl him into the ambassadors who were flooding

  into the hallway. They fell back, trying to get

  out of the way.

  And Will Riker, pushing off from the wall, charged

  and tackled Data around the legs. It knocked the

  android off balance, and he lost his grip on

  Picard, who tumbled down on top of him.

  "Stop it!" Deanna was shouting. "Stop

  it!"

  Picard and Riker each grabbed an arm, trying

  to pin Data. It didn't work. With his superior

  strength, Data twisted around, lifting Riker

  clear and crushing him against Picard. Data started

  to get to his feet.

  All the ambassadors were shouting at once.

  Data was turning his attention to Deanna.

  Riker, indomitable, was grabbing at Data's

  leg, trying to slow him down. Picard, using the

  wall for support, was pulling himself to his feet.

  Everywhere there was confusion, chaos, raw emotions

  running rampant ...

  And that was when Deanna Troi pointed at the

  Sindareen delegation.

  "They're deceiving us!" she cried out.

  Time froze.

  "It's a lie!" said Nici with amazing calm.

  "No," said Deanna, her voice building in

  intensity. "No, it's not a lie."

  "Shut up," Eza now said, looking to Nici.

  "Make her shut up."

  "I sense that you want him"--she pointed at

  Data--?ffsucceed. You ... you did not come here in

  good faith. I sense duplicity ... lies,

  cheats, anything to stall for time for the Sindareen."

  "This is madness," Nici snarled, louder and

  angrier.

  But Deanna ignored her, whirling on Eza.

  "And you! You want me dead! You'd do anything

  to see me dead. You ... you tried! You tried

  to kill me! Put something in the drink ... I

  sense your emotions, homicidal, murderous."

  The air around them seemed to be shifting, coming

  to life somehow. There was a crackling of energy that

  seemed to come from nowhere ...

  And Eza howled, "ally empathic bitch!

  You've ruined everything!"

  From his sleeve he produced a

  small phaser, smaller than almost anyone had

  ever seen.

  He had a clear shot at Deanna. He

  wasn't going to miss.

  And suddenly, arcing through the air over

  Deanna's head, came a tumbling, golden

  object. It struck Eza squarely in the chest,

  knocking him backward. The phaser fired but the

  shot went wide, striking the ceiling over

  Deanna's head.

  The golden object skittered across the floor

  and rolled up to Deanna's feet. She looked

  down in astonishment at Data's face. "I

  suggest you drop to the floor, Counselor."

  Deanna was still staring in confusion at Data's

  head, presenting a perfect target. A split

  second later, Data's body slammed into her

  from behind, knocking her to the floor next to Data's

  profusely apologizing head. However, his

  apologies were drowned out by the phaser beam that

  crackled over them. It enveloped Eza, staggering

  him, and he screeched in protest.

  Adm. William t. Riker advanced on

  him slowly, inexorably, the power blasting out of his

  phaser. "Stay down, Deanna. It still takes

  a lot of phaser power to put these bastards down

  for the count."

  "Bastards!" shrieked Nici in indignation.

  "Captain Picard, I object to being

  described in--"

  "Be quiet!" snapped Picard.

  Eza writhed in the power of the phaser. He lost

  his grip on his own phaser and it tumbled to the

  floor, but so consumed with fury was he that he still

  tried to make headway against the blast.

  "You're from my time, aren't you," said the

  admiral, progressing relentlessly. "That's the

  only place you could have gotten that weapon. You're

  from the time stream that was ... and will be again. You

  decided that this point in time was the turning point for

  your people--was the downfall of your race--and you

  decided to come back and change it to your liking.

  Kill the woman who blew the whistle on your people.

  And in one reality, you got away with it. But not in

  my reality, you murderer. Not in my reality!

  Because you picked the wrong focal point!"

  Around Eza the scream of the phaser merged with the

  howling of the air, and he was knocked completely off

  his feet, thrown against the wall like a straw in a

  hurricane. He sagged to the floor,

  unconscious and helpless.

  And then the air around them was roaring. Roaring with

  far-off winds that seemed to call from another time and

  place, from an infinity of maybes. A

  coruscating, sparkling whirlpool of color and


  light.

  Eza was starting to dematerialize, his very

  molecules being drawn into the vortex around them.

  And Will Riker suddenly lost his grip on

  Data. For a panicked moment he thought that the

  android had slipped loose and was going to make one

  final, desperate lunge for Deanna. But he

  realized his error immediately. Data was starting

  to fade. W's hands were passing through him.

  Deanna whirled to face the admiral.

  He, too, was being drawn off. The color

  seemed to be fading from him, as if being yanked

  away.

  "Deanna!" he called to her, reaching out.

  Heedless of the danger to herself, Deanna Troi

  stretched out her hand to the man who had crossed

  decades, remodeled the universe, all for her.

  Her hand passed right through him, as if he were a

  ghost. The ghost of things yet to come.

  His body started to flatten out, twisting from three

  dimensions to two and then one.

  "I'm sorry!" she cried out to him. "I

  tried ... to touch you one last time."

  He smiled, his body disappearing like the

  Cheshire cat's. His voice sounded distant as

  he said, "Don't be. Maybe it won't be the

  last time. Besides ... who really cares about all this

  physical touching. Not young Deanna Troi.

  It's the spiritual that's important ... that's forever

  ..."

  And then, with a final roar and burst of wind that

  swept over everyone in the corridor ...

  He was gone.

  CHAPTER 43

  "Come in," said Deanna as the tone at her

  door chimed.

  Riker entered, his hands behind his back. He

  stopped as the door closed behind him. "Are you

  okay?"

  She shut off the computer screen she was studying,

  folded her hands, and said, "Why shouldn't I be

  okay?"

  "Well ... you went through a lot."

  "We both did," she reminded him. "But that was

  twenty-four hours ago. I bounce back

  quickly, given time."

  "Given time."

  He walked slowly toward her. "I thought you'd

  be interested ... the Chameloid disappeared about the

  same time as ... the others."

  "I assumed as much," she said quietly.

  "The Sindareen ambassador has been sent

  packing. She's not particularly happy about it.

  The peace initiative has fallen apart, and the

  experts predict that it's just a matter of time now

  before the entire Sindareen civilization

  collapses. There's already talk about how the

  Federation might come in to pick up the pieces if

  that happens."

  "That would be very humane."

  "Oh, and Data has his head together ... so

  to speak. It turns out that I ... that the admiral

  told him that this other Data--the one who tried

  to kill you--was actually Lore."

  "And was it?"

  Riker paused. "I don't know," he said

  slowly. "I know Data believes it to be. I

  think he is far more ... satisfied ... with the

  notion that it was Lore than he would be with the concept

  that there would be a circumstance in which he'd try

  to murder you."

  "We have no idea what influences will shape

  Data over the next forty years," she said

  slowly. "For all we know, given a set of

  circumstances where the life of one woman is

  weighed against the reality that he knows ... he might

  very well decide that that woman is dispensable."

  "Even if the woman is you?"

  "Even if. And frankly ... I'd understand his

  decision."

  "Yes ... but maybe he wouldn't understand.

  That's a hell of a thing for him to have to live with. So

  maybe it would be better if we ..."

  "Kept it between ourselves?"

  He nodded.

  "Consider it kept." She leaned back. "So

  ... did you come here to discuss everything except

  what you really want to discuss?"

  "And what might that be?"

  "u."

  He let out a slow breath. She waited for him

  to speak.

  "I don't know what's going to happen

  with us," he said. "I saw what my life was like

  without you ... saw what I developed into. I

  can't say I like it very much. But ... that was when you

  had been pulled from my life completely. We

  could continue in the way that we are now, and as long as

  you're there to be friend, confidant ... soul mate

  ... things could work out well for both of us."

  "I see what you're saying," Deanna said

  slowly. "Of course, on the other hand, if we

  become ... or go back to being ... lovers ...

  things could work out even better for us."

  "Or worse," he pointed out.

  "Or worse," she acknowledged.

  He shook his head. "I feel so

  ridiculous. Do we really have to wait forty years

  until we're ready to take a chance on the two

  of us?"

  "No, W"--she smiled--?we just have to wait

  until we're ready. It might take forty

  years. Or who knows? It might take forty

  days. We have to wait and see. But at least we have

  a chance. It's up to us how we use it."

  He nodded and then said, "Oh ... by the way

  ... I made something for you. It's only an

  approximation, of course, based on my

  memories ... memories which were filled, at the

  time, with the sight of a particularly nubile young

  maid of honor and her magnificent figure."

  Her face colored slightly. "Will, what are

  you talking about?"

  He brought his hand from behind his back. In it was a

  thin, white, gauze headband.

  She stared at it, uncomprehendingly at first.

  But then she understood. "That's ... that's like the one

  Chandra wore!"

  "So I did make it close enough so that it's

  recognizable. Good. Um ... if you wouldn't

  mind turning your head ..."

  She angled her head around and he looped it

  around and back, pulling her hair through. She stood

  and presented herself for inspection. "How does it

  look?"

  "As beautiful as the woman wearing it."

  She felt her emotions turning to melted

  butter, and she went to him. He enveloped her in

  his arms, and their lips came together. ...

  Andfora long moment, all the confusion and complexity

  of their lives fell away, and they were once again the

  young man and woman hungering for each other; the

  couple shyly learning about one another and

  exploring the things that each of them lacked and each of

  them provided; the new lovers in the jungle,

  intoxicated with their environment and each other; she

  was the woman whose life he'd saved, and he was the

  man whose life she had made.

  And they had all the time in the universe. ...

  THE BEGINNING OF THE END

  CHAPTER 44

  Mary Mac watched in astonishment as four people

  emerged from the swirling vortex of the Guardian of

  Foreve
r: Admiral Riker, Commodore Data,

  Lieutenant Blair, and one more form that tumbled

  forward, clearly unconscious.

  She went to them, rolling the body over to get a

  better look and confirm what she had thought. "This

  ... this is Mar Locffwas

  Data looked at her, his head tilted. "The

  scientist whom you said had departed?"

  She nodded in silent amazement.

  And then the Guardian spoke, in that vast and

  all-encompassing way that it had: "All is

  ... as it was."

  Data turned to face the Guardian. "You

  mean that Admiral Riker did indeed restore the

  time line to its original form?"

  "All is as it was," repeated the

  portal.

  And now Blair stepped forward, his long fur

  swirling. "For crying out loud," he shouted, "if

  you knew that time had been tampered with in the

  first place, and you knew that the admiral's actions

  were correct ... then why in hell didn't you

  tell us that?!"

  With utter serenity, the Guardian replied,

  "ally did not ask."

  There was dead silence, except for the howling of the

  wind, for about ten seconds. And then Blair

  managed to get out, "We didn't ask?"

  Riker started to laugh.

  "We didn't ask!" Blair sounded

  positively outraged. "You mean everything we

  went through, all the difficult decisions we had

  to make, all the ... we didn't ask!"

  "We didn't," said Data in quiet

  amazement. "That was very foolish of me. In my

  determination to uphold the Starfleet imperative

  of noninterference with time, I ..."

  And Riker, who had managed to calm himself down

  sufficiently, said, "What you did, Data, is

  forget the very first duty of Starfleet ... something

  that I started thinking about when I was spending time with

  Capt. Wesley Crusher, and remembering the

  hard lesson he learned back in his Academy

  days. The duty that supersedes all the

  imperatives and directives ..."

  "That we must always seek the truth," said

  Data.

  "Right. And the truth," said Riker, hauling the

  unconscious Mar Loc, a.k.a. Eza, to his

  feet, "is that this little sleaze decided to make his

  people's life better. Mary Mac ... have you had

  any unexplained bruises in recent weeks?"

  "Why ... why yes," she said, looking at

  Data. "Remember, Commodore? I had a

  round bruise on my upper arm."

  "A spray-hypo mark," said Riker.

  "Press down too hard, you leave one. One

  night while you were asleep, he must have shot you up