textfiles/sf/STARTREK/alternat

      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')