💾 Archived View for gemini.spam.works › mirrors › textfiles › sf › STARTREK › alternat captured on 2022-03-02 at 00:36:39.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Alternate Realities
by Rachel Loss-Cutler
*It was cold. No: make that cold and dark. No, make that
nothing. That is exactly what it was like! Cold dark empty
nothingness. Then through it all I heard a voice saying
something about a power failure and two lights switched on
from nowhere making the nothingness nothing with light.
I was sitting down in a machine. That is all that I can say.
No other words of description fit. There was an eyepiece that I
seemed to be looking through, and I could see that I was
inside a glass dome.
I heard a voice speaking; "Well,. we can't just leave the
creature without anything to do! " Straining my hearing I
could hear another voice heavy with relief.
"We've got the power back on-line, with any luck it will
just think that this was all just a...what is the word we made
up?... oh yes, a dream."
I could Feel everything that I had ever known refusing to
come back to me. Did I just wake up, or did I just go back to
sleep? Reality was a blur. I did not know who, what, or even
where I was.
Suddenly around Lwaxanna bright lights flashed and she
woke up to the clapping, cheering, and emotional approval of
aquaitences and friends. Then, from the expression on her face
you could tell that the young Betazoid was remembering, Or if
you, too, were a Betazoid, you would only have to read her
thoughts (or emotions) to know the confusion, and then the
relief, when memories and self-being came pouring in, along
with knowing that she had passed the Betazoid Rite of
Initiation, of facing her worst fears and confronting them.(In
her case being controlled by another and of having her whole
world be a dream.).......*
Lwaxanna woke up and saw a woman with blond hair
standing before her. The woman asked, "Are you Deanna's
mother?"
Only half awake Lwaxanna nodded yes. The woman replied
"Oh good, I'm finally on the right track. Mother, you just go
back to sleep."
"Oh Kestra dear, I love you."
"I know."
In her half asleep state, Lwaxanna paid no heed other then that
to the fact that she was talking to her dead daughter. Thinking
that at least parts of this dream were new, she turned over and
went back to sleep.
________________________________________________
Deanna Troi, ship's counselor rolled off her bed and awoke
sitting on the floor in the shuttlecraft 'Rift', calmly thinking
(Even though in the physical reality she was out of breath)
Where am I? Where am I going?
Then the answers to her questions came steadily through
the still foggy part of her brain. Where am I? I am in a
shuttlecraft. What am I going? I am on shore leave to Betazed
to visit my mother.
Then even though she wanted to stop it a fourth thought
came creeping in: if I wanted to relax why am I going to visit
my mother : Lwaxanna Troi: a daughter of the fifth house,
holder of the Chalice of Riix and Keeper of the Holy Rings of
Betazed?
( Translation: Holder of a dusty clay pot that she doesn't even
take out to dust and a couple of clay rings who's only use was
for my teething: quite a few were broken that way.)
I am going, Deanna gentle chided herself, because my
mother who loves me is lonely and misses me. Then the
thought that she'd been trying to avoid all along rose to the
surface:
My mother who almost certainly will spend half to three
fourths of our time together subtly or not subtly, hinting or
outright saying that I should marry someone (anyone) and
settle down, and that grandchildren would not be
unappreciated.
Sighing with the thought of the exasperation to come,
Deanna went back to sleep.
____________________________________________
On board the Enterprise, Dr. Beverley Crusher sighed.
Five emotional crises and four near breakdowns of Deanna's
patients all in the two days that the counselor had been
gone.
"Sometimes", she said absently to Guinan, "I don't know
how we get on without her! You know instead of both of you to
rely on we only have one! It COULD be much worse, but still
we shouldn't be so dependent on Deanna that she can't be
away for shore leave three days before we're crying for
mommy!"
Keeping the wise face the hostess of Ten-Forward was
known for, she replied "It's not that we're crying for mommy,
it's just that we're emotionally dependent on the counselor,
maybe a little to much, but that's normal. The patients have
built up their water blockades, with her being gravity. It won't
always be like this, just be glad that she was there for them to
be attached to in the first place!"
Over in a corner of the room, Worf sat in a stupor just
staring at his drink. Beverley heard a hint of a whisper in her
ear: "Speaking of Emotional Dependence" then with a swish
of her robes and that odd smile, Guinan went over to Worf.
The doctor heard Worf muttering something about
Alexander and then wisely turned her attention to something
other than the growling Klingon. Looking around the lounge,
she didn't find any better candidates.
Ensign Ro Laren looked ready to throw something. LaForge
looked incredibly depressed, like he had looked during the
incident with the Sli. Data looked thoughtful and blank as
usual. Riker looked like he was thinking of himself as pond
scum and drinking alcohol instead of synthihol (No surprise
there), and the biggest surprise of all: Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
was actually there, looking..... angry? At himself?
Why, Beverley thought to herself, why did we all pick the
time that the counselor was away to have our emotional
crises? And most of all, why did I have the stupidity to tell
Deanna that no time would be a good one, but at least we had
just completed our mission to deliver supplies for the recently
acquired station, Deep Space Nine? Honestly, she smiled,
how can a Betazoid not know her own mind?
________________________________________________
Sitting in the shuttlecraft, Deanna was wondering about
just that. But coming up to Betazed, all the wonder
of the planet jumped up and took her by the throat- and just
left no room for those childish concerns of her self-
knowledge; just in staring at the beauty around her.
Even from space, when all planets looked awe inspiring,
Betazed was special. Seeing the blue-green planet again
brought back memories of a bright classroom with white
walls, a lovely light brown wood floor, perfect for sock-
skating on, and wide windows where the sun was always free
to shine in. The smells were as bright as the room, and just as
clean. Mostly, a warm wood and sunshine smell.
Her favorite lessons were always the ones that were about her,
or her world. She heard the calm, smooth voice of her teacher,
and the chuckle of her best friend, listening to something that
she knew by heart. Staring at her friend's hair, brown and
sparkling in the sunlight, was almost as entertaining as
listening to what her teacher was saying.
Still, she was never tired of hearing her teacher speak about
their world. "Betazed", she heard Taniya say, "is the fifth
world in a eight planet system. It orbits a medium-sized star
known as Beta Veldonna. Betazed is the only world in this
system capable of supporting carbon based life, and the only
one with a moon. The traders' nickname for our planet is
"Jewel of the Outer Crown". Even the Ferangi (whose
meaning of beauty is gold pressed latinum) conclude that this
planet is extraordinary (even, in their words, if only for
tourists)." (Deanna choked back a giggle, seeing her friend
put both hands over her ears and puff out her stomach in an
exaggerated imitation of a fat Ferangi) "Natural wilderness
covers most of Betazed. High mountains with crystal peaks
catch the sun, acting as a natural prism and coloring the
ground below with streaks of color. The soil contains crystals
of a green hue, called Versina, which give the whole planet---"
With a start, Deanna was pulled out of her daydream by a
bright flash. Something was coming straight up at her from
the planet! Suddenly she was enveloped in white. She could
see nothing and nothing could see her. She heard a beeping,
and wished for the confusionless environment of her
childhood.
She could see again. Before her was a little boy. She had NO
idea who he was, or how on earth he had boarded her shuttle.
Deanna gazed at the little boy in shock, hardly even hearing
what he said.
"Aunt, even though you joined the colony a couple of years
ago, you should remember to keep the .04 phase adjuster on!
After all, that is our standard greeting. You agreed on it
yourself!"
Deanna just stared at him in shock, not comprehending the
fact that this little boy had just called her "Aunt"!
_______________________________________________
On the Enterprise, Riker was sad, angry, depressed... just
about every negative emotion (There might not be negative or
positive emotions but if there were, he would not be
experiencing the positive) possible.
This, he thought to himself, is absolutely BORING. Why
can't we DO something instead of sitting like a fly in pond
scum; calmly oblivious to the hungry frog as he prepares to
end our useful life forever?
(Gulp)
(...Why, Will, that's almost poetic!... Thank you, Riker...)
When you think of all the things that we could be doing
instead of sitting around in a stupor, it's amazing that all we're
doing is drills and diagnostics. At least we'll be the best
running ship in the fleet, even if we're the one with the most of
nothing to do........
________________________________________
In the Medical Diagnostics Room Dr. Crusher sighed, while
an impatient Barclay sat looking around the room fearfully.
His eyes locked on the med tables as if they might stand up and
attack him any minute if he didn't stare at them.
"Are you SURE that I don't have Callum's Syndrome? I
have been feeling rather dizzy and coughing alot; my mouth is
dry and......" Barclay just trailed off and left Crusher staring
impatiently at him. Just as she opened her mouth, he nervously
continued, "....And the headaches! I forgot to tell you about the
headaches! You see it almost feels like--"
"REDGE", Crusher almost screamed, "you have just been
working too hard!" Then, getting her temper under control,
she continued more quietly, "I spoke to Geordie, and he said
that not only have you worked three shifts in a row, but you
have been making emergencies yourself and then running to
fix them. Now, I am prescribing ten hours of uninterrupted
sleep!"
While he was walking sheepishly out of sickbay she called
at his back, "And STAY AWAY from Medical Database!"
"Finally!", Crusher sighed, extremely happy that she had
managed to remove Barclay from her Sickbay. Then she turned
to Miles who had been waiting patiently through it all.
"How was Shore Leave, and what seems to be the trouble?"
"Well," he said in that sunny-accented (Or whiny,depending
on the occasion) voice, "Shore Leave was wonderful but I
seem to have caught a bit of flu, I've been coughing quite a bit.
But that's all."
She circled the Med Scanner over him and turned to the
computer. "Just have this prescription replicated and if
anything changes in the next 48 hours let me know."
"All right", he called as he left sickbay.
Such a pleasure to work with someone cooperative, she
thought to herself. I seem to be doing quite alot of sighing
these days. She sighed and went back to work.
_______________________________________________
After entering his quarters, Miles O'Brian lay on his bed.
That didn't help the dizzy feeling at all. He needed to tell the
Doctor about the new development in his condition. He got up
and started walking toward the door.
Suddenly he felt terribly dizzy, his quarters spun...
Stumbling to the ground, he knocked his head on the sharp
angular corner of the table, and hit the deck, unconscious. Just
before he blacked out he managed to shout, "O'Brian to
sickba..." In the Darkness the computer said in it's cheery
voice: "This command is not understood."
______________________________________________
Aboard the shuttlecraft, Deanna was puzzled. She couldn't
sense his emotions, but the child apparently believed that he
was her nephew! She noticed that his nose was slightly
mashed, his face had a rubbery look to it and his hair was
slick. Finally, she got tired of sitting there with her mouth
open and asked: "What colony are you talking about? Why did
you call me Aunt? And why do you look like me?"
Deanna instantly regretted her words. If she was really his
aunt, their similar appearance made sense! But her sister had
died when Deanna was still a baby, so how could that be?
But at the question "What is the colony?", the boy turned into
something gelatinous and then changed into a woman with
dark hair, with a face that was all angles where the boy's had
been smooth. The woman bore a remarkable resemblance
(Where have I heard this before?) to...
"Ardra", Deanna whispered.
But then, "Oh no, you little Goody-Goody" hissed the Morph
(Deanna wondered if Morph was the right word) and slapped
her twice on her cheeks, the way that you would slap someone
who had fainted. "Oh no! I'm not Ardra, just a friend of hers.
In case you were wondering, I am a shapeshifter, like Odo on
DS9. That is why, you pitiful Betazoid, you can't read my
emotions! I'm-- WAS-- a friend of the one that you call Ardra.
You call her that because you forgot her real name; didn't even
give her THAT courtesy, did you? She was my only Friend;
the only one who bothered to help the poor helpless misfit.
That's why I can do her face fairly well, and why I'm going to
have my revenge!"
"But," Deanna replied, confused, (the woman's manner had
hurt her deeply) "I haven't yet been to DS9, and I don't know
why you need revenge!"
"BECAUSE" the Morph said, as if educating a child, "After
your Wonderful CAPTAIN put her in rehabilitation, she was
never the same. She killed herself, you know, after they let her
into the garden! Hah! I've heard of better gardens on Rural
Pente! She killed herself with SOMETHING. No one knows
what, because no one bothered to find out! The doctors (HAH!
what doctors) had long since given up on her; said she was a
hopeless case; just clucked their tongues- And that was that!
But no, Oh no..." the Morph was now just crooning to her self,
"Couldn't have that." Then she stared at Deanna. The
intensity of the look felt to Deanna as if holes were burning
through her head. "You and your precious captain, will both
PAY!"
"But," Deanna said, her voice taking on a new strength,
"She wasn't PUT in Rehabilitation! The judges decided that it
wasn't necessary."
"Don't lie to me! I know you're LYING! You HAVE to be!"
In her rage, the Morph pushed Deanna against a wall.
Deanna's phaser jarred loose. The Morph grabbed it, aimed,
and pulled the trigger ..
__________________________________________________
When O'Brian didn't return to duty, no one thought
anything of it. He had said that he was a little sick and
LaForge had excused him from duty until the time that he was
fully recovered.
Deanna's shuttlecraft had just effected an emergency
landing. A mysterious transmission from the craft, a few
hours before, had indicated that Deanna had been suddenly
disabled and remained uncounscious. The shuttle's autopilot
had engaged at once, sent out a distress call, and plotted a
course for Shuttlebay 2. Once within range, the tractorbeam
had finished the job.
A message was sent to Mrs. Troi on Betazed. What a pity,
she thought, Mr. Holm had made her a special Chocolate
Sundae. The real thing that wasn't replicated. "Oh well, I
guess I'll have to eat it, myself ", she thought to no one in
particular.
In the hurry to stabilize Deanna no one paid any attention
to the mess in the shuttle that was evidence that a fight had
occurred. There was also no thought of Deanna's bag on the
shuttle, though if someone had checked, it would have been
found to be quite heavy and quite empty. When no one was
looking a pool of clear yellow gelatinous goo came oozing out
of it.
From looking at the shuttle's database, the Morph had
decided that Miles would have to be disabled. Imagine It's
surprise when he already was.
All that night, the Morph studied Miles' voice print,
personal logs and duty logs, to be prepared to return Mr.
O'Brian to duty.
_________________________________________________
The next day Miles stopped by to tell Beverley he had gotten
over the cold. She was astonished at the amount of time
required and accepted his gratitude with thanks. As soon as he
returned to duty he requested a private meeting with the
Captain.
The door chimed to the Captain's Ready Room.
"Yes, Come in Mr. O'Brian."
"Thank you sir. I assume that you are a little surprised about
my request."
"A little doesn't quite sound right. Astonished would be
more like it."
"Well you see sir, I have discovered a harsh chemical that
could have hurt Counsellor Troi aboard the shuttle, and I need
your permission to go in and verify it, so that she can be given
the right treatment."
"This, ah, chemical isn't life threatening is it, O'Brian?"
"Well, it is if you aren't wearing protective clothing. We
have about three days before treatment will no longer help,...
Sir."
"Mr. O'Brian, make it so! Oh, and could you move over a
little? You're crowding me a bit. "
"Yes sir. O'Brian to Shuttle. Two to beam back."
The Captain's protests were lost in the transporter beam.
____________________________________________
In sickbay Beverley had just stabilized Deanna's
condition, and found out what her condition was.
"Thank you nurse, in an hour she should be fully recovered.
I'd just like to know why she was exposed to a stun beam for
40 seconds. That is almost life threatening!"
"I don't know Doctor, but is she supposed to be in a
transporter beam right now?"
" No, she isn't! Damn! Crusher to Data."
"Yes, Doctor?"
"Where was the transporter just being activated?"
"There were exactly 98 transporters in the known galaxy
activating at that moment, could you be more specific?"
"DATA I mean ON THIS SHIP!"
"Thank you Doctor, a transporter was just shown activating
from Shuttlecraft Rift, in Shuttle Bay 2. The shuttlecraft has
just beamed three personnel aboard, and is scheduled for
departure. As a matter of fact, it is leaving right now."
"Data, this is IMPORTANT! Can you beam the three crew
members back to the Enterprise?
"No Doctor, the shuttle has its shields up, and any attempt
on our part to lower them might result in serious damage to
those inside."
" Thank you, Data. Crusher out."
Disheartened at hearing that last piece of news, Crusher
turned on her view screen and watched as the shuttle moved
out of sight. Then something occurred to her. Muttering
"Hindsight is always perfect" She called, "Crusher to Data"
"Yes, Doctor..." (Was that impatience in his voice?)
"Did you find out what life forms were on the shuttle?"
"Yes, Doctor, I did. The Lifeforms registered as Miles
O'Brian, Deanna Troi, Captain Picard, and one unknown life
form."
"The CAPTAIN is on that shuttle? With an UNKNOWN
LIFE FORM?"
"That is what I said, Doctor? "
Now Beverley wasn't depressed, she was steaming mad.
_________________________________________________
Aboard the shuttle there were three people, and one Morph.
Unfortunately the Morph was the one in control of the
situation. The humans in the shuttle were just learning what
the situation was. The Morph had just assumed human shape.
Picard exclaimed "So THAT'S why O'Brian transported me
over here, he wasn't himself!" Meanwhile the real O'Brian
wasn't in shape to agree or disagree, Crusher had given him
someone else's medication by mistake: Barclay's. The
medication was a strong tranquillizer to insure that he could
sleep and heal himself while sleeping. Crusher had long ago
learned that whenever Barclay is frightened (Whenever he is
sick) he stays up all night worrying. Who knows WHY the
mix-up happened, maybe Barclay had Dr. Crusher so frazzled
that she just wasn't thinking. The Morph was just explaining
what was happening:
"I am taking you to the planet of the Guardian of Forever.
Want to know why? So that you can see what happened to
Ardra. After you are convicted for your crimes --by Me-- I will
take you to a special Rehab Colony that doesn't ask questions
like 'Who are you?', where you can live out the rest of your
days as Ardra did: in misery."
Just as the Morph finished talking they landed on the
planet's surface. After walking a short distance, the Morph
presented them to the Guardian of Forever. The captives
made no attempt to escape as they were curious as to what the
Guardian would show them. Mr. O'Brian was still
incapacitated in the shuttle and would probably remain so for
quite a while. The Morph stood in front of the Guardian and
requested, tricorder in hand, "Show me what has happened to
the woman who called herself Ardra in the Rehab Colony, in
this timeline." In front of the witnesses the events played
faster and faster as the Guardian searched for the moment in
Her Story that would show who was correct.
Finally the Guardian boomed "The moment mentioned has
not happened in this timeline." The confusion showed on the
Morph's face. Just as he was about to speak, a woman
appeared in front of Deanna and the Morph. (The Captain was
looking at the Guardian) She was calm and radiant, but at the
same time she was excited and had a look about her that said
she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. She was smiling
openly at Deanna's confusion.
Finally Troi stammered out, "Sister?"
"You are right, Sister. I am sorry that it took me so long to
come here, it took us a while to find Karenia in all the
alternate timelines. You see (she now addressed the Morph)
all that you witnessed when you checked up on your friend
was in an alternate reality other than this one. When these
ones did not know Odo yet, that should have tipped you off."
Troi spoke "All this dimensional shifting is getting to me,
Kestra. How are you here?"
"Did Karenia mention a colony?"
When Deanna nodded affirmative, her sister continued, "In
another timeline I survived the accident. A year or two after I
was twenty, I left Betazed to find a planet to colonize with a
group of highly talented people; the best suited to the task that
Betazed had to offer. After a long while of searching we came
to a Temporal Distortion. Not knowing what it was, we went
into it and in the middle we found a planet ideal for
colonization. Then we discovered the nature of the distortion:
It is a 'Node', if you will, a place where all realities come
together, and where there are none alone. It IS a bit
confusing. When we found out we decided not to leave. The
planet was wonderful and we had searched long enough not to
want to give up a potential home. We are sorry about the mix-
up about Karenia's friend, we will try to smooth things out
before going. Karenia, we know that you are tired of the life
that we have been living, we are going to erase your
knowledge of us and place you in a Timeline where the
'Ardra' mix-up never happened. And as for you, Deanna,
Picard, and the transporter operator in the shuttle: We'll put
this in a easier form to understand."
"Goodbye, Sister."
__________________________________________________
EPILOGUE
In Ten-Forward, Deanna was telling Guinan "That was the
STRANGEST Holodeck simulation that I have ever
participated in.
Do you know, the shuttle 'Rift' has completely disappeared?"
__________________________________________________
In 'Ardra's' ship she and Karenia were deciding what to do
next, when they heard of a planet who had a 'Ardra' problem.
It sounded boring so they flew right by it. It just wasn't their
kind of escapade, it didn't have a sure profit. Besides, the
Ferangi were still looking for them over a little
'misunderstanding....'
__________________________________________________
Happy in the knowledge that she had seen her sister who
had died in birth, Kestra (Deanna's sister) went back to a world
of infinite possibilities.
__________________________________________________
THE MIDDLE
(They aren't dead yet, so why should it be The End?)
**********
Copyright 1995 Rachel Loss-Cutler
You may copy this story as many times as you want as long as
my name stays on it and so does this notice. If you want to sell
it make me an offer (I'd be flattered) otherwise don't even
THINK about it!
The information about Betazed can be found in the book
'Worlds of the Federation', except for the information about
the Betazoid rite of Initiation. If you want to know more about
'Ardra' get information about the TNG episode called 'Devil's
Due'.
Kestra is Deanna's sister who died in an accedent, she fell
into a pond and dround trying to catch a dog. That is covered
in the TNG episode 'Dark Page'. (Warning: If you don't feel
like being sad, don't watch 'Dark Page')