All Good Things__ - Michael Jan Friedman [71]
Another switch—this time, to the past. The captain could tell by his uniform, even if he couldn’t see much else.
As in the other two time frames, the ship was tossing like a leaf in a hurricane. Beside him, Troi’s eyes were wide with barely contained fear.
“Something is happening within the anomaly,” Data declared from his post at ops. “A new subspace barrier appears to be forming …. “
Tasha cried out, “Captain! Sensors are picking up two other ships… !”
Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the viewscreen, where they saw a spectacle that seemed to defy reality. In the midst of the roiling display of temporal energies, Picard could see the ghostly images of two other Enterprises.
The ships were drifting in the anomaly, remarkably close to each other. In fact, as the captain peered at them from the command center, they actually appeared to be moving through each other. His mouth went dry as he…
ú.. joined the bridge contingent in the present.
Like everyone else, he was peering at the viewscreen —where two other Enterprises were being tossed about in the anomaly’s temporal maelstrom.
As his mind reeled from the acceleration of his time-shifting, Picard could scarcely…
ú.. remember where he was—until he turned and saw the gray-bearded Admiral Riker sitting next to him. Like everyone else, he was fascinated by the sight of two other Enterprises on the viewscreen.
The past and the present had finally caught up with them, at least here in the confines of the anomaly…
ú.. where the present and the future seemed to have met them head-on.
“It appears to be working,” shouted Tasha, intent on her tactical monitorsú “The anomaly is beginning to collapse. I think that…”
She hesitated, and he turned. For a moment, their eyes met, and he knew that the news wouldn’t be good.
“Sir,” she cried, her brow creased with concern, “the temporal energy is disrupting our warp containment system!”
Picard swore. That was the only problem they couldn’t take in stride, the only puzzle they couldn’t find a solution for. “We must eject the core!” thundered Worf.
“No!” bellowed the captain. “We have to maintain the static warp shell for as long as possible!”
The ship staggered and quaked under the temporal onslaught. Picard couldn’t look directly at the viewscreen, lest it blind him.
‘Tin losing containment!” barked Tasha, her eyes wide with expectation. “I can’t stop it. It’s going to—”
Back in the present, Picard’s eyes were fixed on the viewscreen. Through the chaos of the anomaly, he saw one of the two other Enterprises engulfed in a conflagra-tion of ]ames and debris. And having just been on board the doomed vessel, he knew which one it was.
Filled with a sense of immeasurable loss, he wished he had time to mourn staunch, loyal Tasha and the young, headstrong Worf… or Troi of that time frame, or O’Brien. As it was, he could only do his best to make sure they hadn’t died for nothing.
Quickly, he turned to Geordi, reluctant to make the same mistake twice. “Transfer emergency power to the antimatter containment system!”
The chief engineer worked frantically at his console. “I’m trying, sir… but there’s a lot of interference …. “
The ship lurched and swung, jerking them out of their seats. As the captain got to his feet, he heard Data say, “The warp shells are definitely having an effect, sir. The anomaly is beginning to collapse.”
“Maintain position!” Picard bellowed. “At all costs, maintain position! Mr. La Forge—”
As he clung to his armrests with aged, blue-veined hands, Picard could see the Enterprise of the present go up in a ball of fiery energies. The significance of it hit him square in the chest, with the impact of a phaser beam set to stun.
Will and Deanna, cut down in their prime. The same with Worfand Data and Geordi, never to know what life might have had in store for them. And Beverly… who would never have to put up with a husband named Picard.
“Damn,” he muttered, reeling at the thought of it. Then, driven by curiosity and dread, he turned…
And saw