All Good Things__ - Michael Jan Friedman [67]
It was up to the admiral. Knowing that, everyone looked at him, waiting to see what he would do. After a long beat, he hit his comm badge.
“Riker to bridge. Set course for the Devron systemú Maximum warpú”
“Aye, sir,” came the voice that Data now recognized as that of Lieutenant Gaines.
In the next moment, the admiral was on his feet, leading them to the exit. Everyone except Worf followed —causing Riker to stop and look backú
“Worf, we could use a hand,” he said simplyú
Worf considered for a moment, then followed.
CHAPTER 23
It felt good to be back in his clothes again, thought Picard. it was bad enough to be a little crazy. Looking the part only made matters that much worse.
As he stood on the bridge with Riker, Beverly, Data, Worf, and Geordi, he could almost imagine it was twenty-five years ago, and he was once again in his prime. Then, he had been the man on whom the fates of more than a thousand people depended. Now, he was lucky to have established some control over his own, meager existence.
“Entering the Devron system,” announced the man at tactical. What was his name again? “Thank you, Mr. Gaines,” said Riker. “All stop.” That’s right, Picard told himself. It was Gaines. He would do his best not to forget again—though he knew better than to make any promises in this time period.
Data, who had taken up a position next to La Forge at one of the aft consoles, looked up from his monitor. “Sensors are picking up a small temporal anomaly off the port bow,” he reported.
A… temporal anomaly? Then there was one in this time period. Picard felt that he was on the verge of being vindicated.
“On screen,” ordered the admiral. His tone indicated that he wasn’t quite ready to believe it.
But a moment later, the proof was handed to him on a latinum platter. Or, to be more accurate about it, on the viewscreen—where they could now make out a very small version of the anomaly.
Picard nodded. He had been right. But he didn’t feel victorious—just vastly relieved.
“It’s an anti-time eruption, all right,” called Geordi, who’d scanned it. “It seems to have formed in the last six hours.” He paused, calling for more information from the sensors. “And it’s getting bigger.”
“We can’t let that happen,” said Picard. “We’ve got to stop it here in the future… so it won’t be able to travel back through time …. “
Riker looked at him. He knew better now than to believe the captain was just raving.
He turned to the android. “All right, Data. We need a solution and we need it fast.”
The professor looked up from his monitor. As always, he seemed to have a response on the tip of his tongue.
“Since this anomaly has been formed by a convergence of tachyon pulses from three different time periods,” he reasoned, “my first suggestion would be to shut down the pulses in the other two time periods.”
A good idea, thought Picard. “The next time I’m there,” he promised, “that’s the first thing I’ll do.”
“But in case that doesn’t work,” the admiral added, “we’re going to need a fallback solution.”
Data noddedú “Understood, sir. I’m on it.”
As the android went back to work, Beverly moved to Picard’s side. “Jean-Luc,” she said, “you look tired. Why don’t you sit down?”
“Beverly,” he rasped, “don’t nursemaid me.”
“It’s not nursemaiding,” she argued. “It’s helping you to apply your resources more efficiently.”
“Nursemaiding,” Picard insisted volubly. Moving away from her…
… he saw that he was back at the aft consoles with Geordi and Data. Back in the present.
“Data,” he snapped, seeing his opportunity. “Disengage the tachyon pulse. Quickly.”
The android looked up at him. “Sir?”
“Just do it,” demanded the captain. “The convergence of tachyon pulses from the three time periods is what’s causing the anomaly.”
Data considered the implications at a speed even a computer might have envied. “Aye, sir,” he responded, and got to work. “Tachyon pulse disengaged,” he announced.
“Is there any change in the anomaly?” Picard asked…
… and found himself in his command chair, addressing the Data of