Q & A - Keith R. A. DeCandido [65]
“As I expected,” Worf stated.
Kadohata was staring at him. “How?”
Leybenzon cried out, “One of the ships is firing on us!”
17
Quantum fissure, Gorsach system
The end of the universe
JEAN-LUC PICARD SAT ON THE BRIDGE OF THE U. S. S. Enterprise.
To his right was an untried first officer; to his left, a new counselor. As they faced this bizarre circumstance, he wondered how this crew might handle it. They had all been devastated by Data’s death at the hands of Shinzon, and then Riker and Troi had gone on to the Titan.
Turning to his first officer, he said, “Number One, what do you make of this?”
Commander Martin Madden leaned forward in the first officer’s chair, studying the viewscreen with its multiple Sovereign-class ships all appearing around a rift. “I don’t know what to make of it, Jea—er, Captain.”
Picard sighed. Madden had been told by Riker that the captain preferred to be called by his first name, a practical joke that had surprised Picard and embarrassed the hell out of Madden.
“Counselor Hedril, do you sense anything?”
The young Cairn woman said, “There’s a great deal of confusion, sir.” She turned to Picard. “And with you, sir.”
The captain realized that this was wrong. Hedril, who had visited the EnterpriseD as a girl, wasn’t in Starfleet, and Picard had never heard of any Commander Martin Madden. The last thing he remembered was being in that all-white space with Q.
What the—
Jean-Luc Picard sat on the bridge of the F. S. S. Enterprise.
To his right was his trusted first officer of many years’ standing; to his left, a new counselor. As they faced this bizarre new circumstance, he had every faith in his crew’s ability to handle it. Ever since Data had advanced to the first officer’s position—following Riker assuming command of the Aries a decade and a half ago—they had become the proverbial well-oiled machine.
Picard had gone through a variety of counselors since Troi had married and moved to Qo’noS to join her husband, Worf, the Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire. None, though, had been able to replace Troi. He hoped that T’Lana would.
“Captain,” Commander Data said, “I believe that what we have encountered is a quantum fissure across time and space. Each Enterprise that we are seeing is likely from a different quantum universe.”
Picard nodded. To ops, he asked, “Commander Kadohata, can you verify that?”
From the operations console, Commander Geordi La Forge, his second, turned around and asked, “Captain?”
Picard realized that this was wrong, that La Forge should be in engineering, Worf should be by his side, and Data should be dead. The last thing he remembered was being with Q in that all-white area—and then somewhere else. But where?
What the hell—
Jean-Luc Picard sat on the bridge of the U. S. V. Enterprise.
He was alone, of course. Humans had long since engineered themselves to the point where the entire concept of a ship’s crew was outmoded. The ship was hardwired directly into Picard’s cranium, allowing him to more efficiently control ship’s functions. He sat in the center of the bridge, connections to each station linked to a central machine behind him. The machine itself was integrated with Picard’s skull. A separate machine to his right provided him with whatever nutrients he needed to survive, and another to the left monitored his health. If he became overly fatigued, another machine would sedate him until he was sufficiently rested to continue functioning.
Upon the ship’s sudden appearance in this strange place, surrounded by dozens of similar ships, Picard accessed computer records. He got a hit on parallel universes and the theory that there were an infinite number of quantum universes, each with a distinctive signature. Picard had sensors scan the other vessels, and each one displayed a different quantum signature—which was impossible, as everything had the same signature. The only way this was possible was if the barriers between universes were breaking down.