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From: prbev@aol.com (PRBev)
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Subject: New TNG Story: IF THEY BE TWO
Date: 12 May 1995 03:34:56 -0400
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If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason
Copyright 1995

>>>>>The usual disclaimers about Paramount owning every character, prop,
set piece, alien, human, and bit of matter or anti-matter in known and
unknown space, not to mention my complete devotion if they will keep
giving me Star Trek films/TV shows. However, though they own the rights to
the characters, etc. within this story, the tale itself is mine, for good
or ill. "Tis a small thing, but mine own."<<<<<<

This is for the enjoyment of fandom at large so feel free to pass this
along, but please leave my name attached. This is not, under any
circumstances, meant to be sold. (Unless Paramount or Pocket Books decide
they can't live without it!) E-mail me with any and all comments at
PRBev@aol.com
                                        

                            *********************

                                      If They Be Two

Prologue
*******

 The door chimed and Picard set his coffee cup on the table. "Come," he
called. He smiled as Beverly Crusher walked in. 
"Are you all ready?" he asked.
 Beverly sighed. "I think so. This presentation isn't going to get any
better for my worrying over it, I suppose." She dropped discontentedly
into a chair and grabbed a napkin.
Picard poured coffee and passed her a croissant. "No, it's not. So relax
and eat your breakfast. We can't be sending undernourished CMOs to
important medical conferences. It would reflect very badly on the ship."
 Beverly started to smile, but immediately frowned again. "I think I've
got it all down. It's the part about the Phorian surgical practices I'm
not sure of. Their treatment of disease is quite easy to explain, but if I
could just find a way to better illustrate their manipulation of the
neural pathways during the actual surgery. That's very difficult to show
without an actual patient, not even the holographic images are quite
adequate to-"
"Beverly." Picard smiled. "Stop worrying. I've seen your entire
presentation myself. It's very good. You'll be fine."
 "You didn't understand a word of it."
 Picard laughed. "True, but medicine has never been my strong suit."
 The doctor smiled wanly. "Well, anyway, sickbay should be OK. I've given
Dr. Selar instructions about what to do if-"
 "Beverly," Picard said again. "Much as we need and rely on you here,
we'll survive without you for a few days. You're only going to be gone a
week. Enjoy your time away. I know for a fact that you have three free
days in the middle of the conference and I want you, Doctor, to come back
rested. Have fun."
 Beverly cocked an eyebrow at him. "Isn't that what I'm always telling you
about shore leave?"
 "I'm different," he protested.
 "Hah! And how, pray tell?"
 "I just am, and you haven't eaten anything yet, and your coffee is cold."
 Beverly looked rebellious, but she took an enormous bite of croissant as
Picard poured her a fresh cup of coffee.


Chapter One
**********

 "Captain, we are receiving a distress signal." Worf's deep voice startled
Picard out of his reverie. The Bridge of the new _Enterprise 1701-E_ had
been quiet all morning and he'd allowed his thoughts to wander. 
 "Where from, Mr. Worf?" asked Riker.
 "The planet Sitaar, Sir. It appears to be coming from a Starfleet shuttle
pod."
 Picard frowned. "Sitaar? Mr. Worf, did Dr. Crusher's shuttle pass that
planet on its way to our rendezvous?"
 "Yes, Sir. The shuttle is one belonging to Starfleet, but until we are
closer I will not be able to determine exactly which shuttle it is. 
 "Set a course for Sitaar, Ensign. Warp 5." commanded Picard. 
 "Aye, Sir."
 "ETA, Mr. Data?"
 "Approximately thirty-seven minutes at your specified speed, Sir,"
responded the android.
 Picard turned to Riker. "That should give us enough time to see about
this distress call and get back to our rendezvous with Dr. Crusher.
Assuming this shuttle is not hers, of course," he added grudgingly.
 A short time later Data spoke again. "Captain, we are entering the
Sitaar's system. I am scanning the planet. 
 "Report, Mr. Data."
 "Sir, the shuttle appears to be that of Dr. Crusher." Picard's heart
turned over, reminding him painfully of its exact position in his body.
"Any sign of the doctor?"
 "I am finding no humanoid life forms on the planet, Sir." 
 For a moment Picard stopped listening. Into his mind came the voice of
his father, telling him his mother was dead. 
 Data was speaking. "...which makes it impossible to scan."
 "What?"
 Data frowned and rephrased his explanation since the captain seemed not
to understand. "I said, Sir, that the planet appears to be made up of rock
interlaced with numerous caves and tunnels. The rock contains large
quantities of heavy metals. These make it impossible to scan beneath the
surface. Therefore, we may be unable to detect Dr. Crusher's life signs if
she went into one of the caves to escape the storm after the shuttle broke
up."
 "What kind of storm?"
 "A common electrical storm such as is found on most M-Class planets,
Sir." Data decided, correctly, that the captain was disturbed by his
friend's disappearance. Ordinarily Picard understood things like simple
storms.
 Picard gathered his straying wits. "Is it safe to beam down?" he asked.
 "Not until the storm passes, Sir," answered Worf.
 "Captain, I'd like to beam down anyway," said Riker.
 "I'll go, too," added Troi.
 "No, Number One. I can't allow it," said Picard, feeling a strong desire
to sprint to the Transporter Room himself.
 "Captain, if Dr. Crusher is down there she may be injured."
 "She's the best one to take care of that," snapped the captain. He
thought for a moment. If Beverly was alive she was in one of the caves. If
she wasn't in one of the caves... well, that didn't need to be thought
about. Picard pointed this out to his officers. "We will have to wait
until the storm passes. Take us into orbit, Ensign. I'll be in my ready
room." 
 Jean-Luc Picard went into his ready room and ordered tea from the
replicator. He stared out at the planet they were circling and thought
about his Chief Medical Officer. Picard had never been much of a family
man, but a lot of things had happened in the past couple of years which
had forced to him to reevaluate what he found important in life. One of
the conclusions he had arrived at was the highly original idea that there
simply was not enough time in the human life spun to dawdle about and take
things for granted. With this in mind he had tried lately to make some
headway in his relationship with Dr. Crusher. 
 For nearly a quarter of a century they had been friends. Since they had
both begun to serve on the _Enterprise D_ they had become each other's
closest companion and confidante. That camaraderie had continued here on
the new ship. They had been together through most of the crises of their
eventful lives. However, it was under Picard's command that Beverly's
husband, Jack, Picard's oldest and dearest friend, had been killed. Since
the captain had been in love with Beverly from the day he met her, while
she was already engaged and then married to Jack, his guilt was almost
more than he could bear. Now, though, twenty years later, things had
changed, and two years earlier Picard had found, much to his own surprise,
that he was ready to pursue the kind of relationship he'd always wanted
with the doctor. Due to some very unusual circumstances, he was in a
unique position to know that she felt much the same way, but for some
inexplicable reason she had decided against such a change in their
relationship. 
 Fortunately, their friendship was strong enough to overcome any strained
relations which might have been reasonably expected to follow such a
confrontation, and Picard had lately begun to wonder if, given a little
time, she might yet be persuaded to change her mind. Now this woman, so
dear to him, was perhaps injured (he wouldn't admit to anything else) on
the planet outside his window, and he was powerless to help her. He
recalled her saying the same thing about him when she, his physician,
struggled to save his life on more than one occasion. They were not in the
safest of jobs, these two. Like thousands of others before him, Picard now
sighed over the frailty of life.

Chapter 2
********

 Picard was still lost in thought forty-five minutes later when Worf's
voice came over the ready room speakers. "Captain, the storm has abated to
safe levels."
 Picard jumped up, grabbed his jacket, and strode to the Bridge. "Take an
away-team, Number One!"
 Riker was on his feet. "Mr. Worf, Counselor, you're with me. Riker to La
Forge: meet me in Transporter Room One. Riker to Lieutenant Savin: meet
the away team in Transporter Room One."
 A few minutes later the first officer's voice was heard on the Bridge.
"Riker to Enterprise: we're here, Captain. There's no sign of Dr. Crusher.
The shuttle is pretty banged up so she must have gone into one of these
caves. There are several of them. We're going to check it out."
 Picard let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Very good,
Commander. What happened to the shuttle?"
 Geordi spoke up. "I'm not certain, Captain. Most of the superficial
damage was certainly caused by its crash on the planet's surface, but why
exactly it crashed I can't say 'till I've had a closer look. I'd like to
beam it aboard later and examine it more closely."
 "Very well, Mr. La Forge. Counselor, can you sense anything that might
give us some idea of what has happened to the doctor, what direction she
might have taken?"
 "Not much, Captain. I can sense Beverly's residual imprints. She was
here, but that's all I can tell."
 "Was she hurt?" Picard asked quickly.
 "Not very much, Sir, or I'd sense it more strongly." 
 Well, that was something to be thankful for, anyway.
 "Sir," said Riker. "We're heading in."
 "Good luck, Number One," answered Picard with feeling.
 The captain turned to the Lieutenant Commander at Ops. "Mr. Data, why is
this planet not inhabited?"
 The android looked up. "The environment is very inhospitable, Sir. There
are a great many electrical storms at all seasons, and in all areas of the
planet. These are frequently, but not always, accompanied by rain. No
extensive exploration has been done here as yet due to the difficult
conditions. Starfleet has been planning to send study groups here, but
other planets in this sector have demanded more attention. There are
various types of plant life on the surface, but few other life forms. Most
of these have been studied somewhat. There has been no attempt to map the
underground passages. They are of sheer rock, nothing more, and are
evidently vast." 
 "Are there many openings to those tunnels?"
 "Very few, Sir. However, one of the known openings is in the area the
away-team is exploring now. One of the caves provides access to the
tunnels. It was discovered by Commander Allin of the Starship Julius."
 "The tunnels were formed by water?"
 "Unlikely, Sir. It is believed that they were formed by volcanic
activity. There is still some such activity on the planet. Though it rains
a great deal, very little water actually goes below the surface."
 "Why?"
 "It is a curious feature of this planet, Sir, that the only know tunnel
openings are in caves, where the rainwater cannot get to them."
 "Did you tell Commander Riker all this?"
 "Yes, Sir. We discussed it while you were in your Ready Room."
 Picard felt rather as if he'd bunked it, having run off to his Ready Room
like that, but it was the First Officer's duty to prepare for
away-missions. "Very good, Mr. Data."
 Fifteen minutes later Riker spoke again. "Riker to Enterprise: Captain,
we've located the cave Dr. Crusher went into. There's an opening to the
tunnels at the back of it. The readings we're getting tell us she went in
there. We're going to check it out."
 "Very good, Commander."
 An anxious ten minutes passed before Riker communicated with the ship
again. The comm link was full of static. "Captain, we're getting an awful
lot of interference down here. The tricorders are almost totally useless.
We're going to keep searching. We may be out of communication for a while.
We'll report back in an hour, hopefully less."
 "All right Number One. Take every precaution, but leave no stone
unturned."
 "Understood, Sir. Riker out."
 Picard fidgeted. He found himself unreasonably angry with Dr. Crusher.
Why on Earth, he thought, would she, injured as she probably was, decide
to go exploring. He fidgeted again.
 Data looked sympathetic, and a little worried as well. "I am confident
that the away-teams will find the doctor, Sir. It is extremely unlikely
that she would have wandered very far into the tunnels."
 Picard tried to look equally confident, but made a complete hash of it.

                                        **********

 By the time an hour had passed Picard was walking up and down the Bridge
trying not to look like he was pacing. Where were they? To the intense
relief of his nerves Riker's voice came over the speakers again, but
Picard's nerves were not destined to have a good day. "Captain, we can't
find her. We'll have to go back in."
 "What *have* you found, Number One?" asked Picard more harshly than he
had intended. 
 "Sir, we've explored the tunnels a bit, but they make up an extensive
system. A real labyrinth once you get down in there, all sloping down into
the planet. The farther down you go, the more difficult communication
becomes. By the time we got to the bottom of the first shaft,
communication was impossible. Even the tricorders work on only a minimal
level. About all they'll give us is a sketchy reading of the atmospheric
state down there. There seem to be a lot of magnetic fields as well as
heavy metals which disrupt the reading the further down you go. With no
readings of Dr. Crusher to follow we only know that she entered the tunnel
at all by the original readings we were able to get at the mouth of the
cave. She never was in another one. Beyond that we're guessing as the
tunnels branch off. We nearly got lost several times. We're going to
divide into two groups and use a sort of Hansel and Gretel maneuver. There
are chalky deposits out here. We'll use the pieces to make marks on the
walls. It's primitive but it will work. Also, though we didn't see any
other ways to get out of there, they must exist. The ship should scan
continuously for her life signs. That way if she does come out another way
we'll be sure to find her to beam her out."
 Data had put his head on one side, a sure sign he was going to ask a
question. Most likely about the Hansel and Gretel Maneuver, thought
Picard. However, he had no time to go into it now.
 "We'll keep scanning, Number One. Why do you think she's gone so far in?
Wouldn't it make much more sense for her to stay near the entrance? She
had set the distress call and knew we'd come to get her. Why wouldn't she
mark her own path?" Picard fired off the questions.
 There was a pause from the voice on the planet. "She did mark her path,
Sir," said Riker reluctantly. Another pause. "With phaser blasts."
 Picard did not understand. "You mean she was firing at the rock as she
went along?" That would have been foolish, he thought."No, Sir," said
Riker slowly. "She was clearly firing at someone or something. By the
marks she was turning to fire over her shoulder. The blasts stop about a
quarter of a kilometer down the main tunnel. There's no sign of her after
that."
 Picard suddenly felt as cold as if his body had been dipped in liquid
nitrogen. "Any return fire?"
 "No, Sir"
 "Why would she run from an unarmed attacker? She's an accurate shot. And
who or what would've come after her? The planet is uninhabited." He was
frightened and was annoyed about it.
 "We are trying to determine that, Sir." said Riker, patiently. "We're
going to have to go back in. We'll need another security team, and at
least two people from engineering to go over the shuttle. Some science
personnel would come in handy, too."
 "I'll bring them down myself, Number One," announced Picard.
 "Sir -" Riker didn't have time to finish.
 "I will be down at once, Commander! That is all. Picard out. Mr. Data,
you have the Bridge. Keep scanning for Dr. Crusher." Jean-Luc Picard
strode into the turbo lift. He could not just sit up there in his ready
room while she was down there. Picard had no illusions about his friend.
She was perfectly capable of handling nearly every situation life could
throw at her, and she would probably scoff at him coming down to find her
like this; but damn it, she had been his friend for more than twenty
years, she should be more. He had lost one Crusher who had been his best
friend and that was enough for one lifetime. 

                                    **********

 A few minutes later Picard materialized in front of the away team with
four more security officers at his back. Three science crew and two
engineers appeared moments later. They stood in a large open space. About
eight meters away the cliffs and rock formation so prevalent on the
planet, jutted skyward. Picard thanked Heaven and Beverly's own piloting
skills that she had managed to put the shuttle down here in the open, and
not smash it into the rocks.
 "All right, Number One, what tunnel did she take?"
 "That one," said Riker, pointing to a cave about ten meters north.
"Captain, as the first officer of the ship I must protest against your
coming down here. Your presence, if you will forgive me, Sir, is
unnecessary at this time."
 "Your protest is duly noted, Number One, but I remain on this
away-mission." Picard's voice had an edge it almost never held. Even Will
Riker knew when he was beaten. 
 "You still sense nothing, Counselor?" asked Picard.
 Deanna glanced at Riker. "Sir, I sense nothing from Beverly. I do get the
impression that there is a life form down there. I don't think it's
sentient, though."
 "Can you pinpoint it any more? Is it a life form we know?" asked Picard.
 "I don't think so, Sir, but I'm still trying to find out more."
 Picard nodded and looked round at the assembled crew members. "Commander
Riker, you know the territory. Assign teams and let's get moving. There is
another storm headed this way."
 "Aye, Sir," said Riker unhappily. "Captain, you'll lead one team composed
of Commander Worf, Savin, and Troi. Lieutenant Morris, you take Chow,
Jackson, and Bellar. Erickson, Torres, and Abblewhite, you're with me. Mr.
La Forge, you, Phillips and Katil will stay here with the shuttle in case
she comes back a different way, but if that storm comes any closer beam up
to the Enterprise. As for the rest of us, here's the plan: we will each
carry a couple of pieces of chalk to make marks on the walls after we get
past the phaser marks." He glanced at the captain but as usual Picard's
face showed nothing of what he was thinking. "When we get to the fork in
the tunnel where we lose sight of the doctor's path, my team will go left.
Captain, you and Troi lead teams to the right. You'll probably have to
split up from there. We don't know what's in there so keep your phasers
ready and pay attention for anything which might give us a clue as to
what's in there and where the doctor might be. Let's go."

                                 **********

 A moment's walk brought them to the mouth of the cave Beverly had
entered. It about six meters deep and the floor was level. Riker pointed
out to the captain that as soon as they were three meters inside the
tricorders stopped working almost altogether. At the back of the cave was
a fissure about a meter and a half high. Worf went in first, phaser at the
ready. He called back to them, "It appears to be all clear, Commander."
They had to crawl into the tiny opening and for broad-shouldered Riker it
was a tight fit, but the rock parted after a meter or so into a single
large tunnel disappearing into darkness. They all had their hand torches
on by this time. Picard flashed his about. It seemed to be large enough to
walk in fairly easily and was quite straight. He decided he wouldn't want
to try running in it, however, especially while pursued. 
 Riker dusted himself off. "We continue this way, Sir," he said quietly,
gesturing ahead. "My guess is that Dr. Crusher did a little exploring
while she was waiting for us. That's probably why she was back here in the
first place. Whatever came after her didn't appear for about ten meters.
There's the first phaser mark - here, Sir." He stopped and turned his
torch on a black spot on the wall of the cave. "Whatever she was shooting
at must have been threatening or she never would've fired. But why she ran
*and* missed, I don't know."
 "Why do all these blasts appear to hit the wall?" wondered Picard.
 "If she were firing over her shoulder as she was running in this cramped
dark space and on this slope, she may just have been missing, but whatever
was chasing her was probably sticking close to the wall to avoid being
hit," postulated Worf. 
 "If that were the case and it was avoiding the phaser, then it could have
been injured by it, so she need not have run," pointed out Lieutenant
Savin, who was a Vulcan. "In any case, it is hard to conceive of any being
able to run in these tunnels without being hit by the phaser. It is
possible to assume that whatever it was, either was not very fast, did not
actually want to catch her, was not able to catch her due to the phaser,
or was unfamiliar with the tunnel's terrain, itself."
 They walked on in silence for some minutes digesting this, and Picard,
noticing the frequency of the phaser marks, and pondering the cause of
them, grew increasingly depressed as they descended. It was eerily quiet
and considerably colder here then it had been on the surface, but, as with
most underground areas, the temperature was fairly constant. The air was
dry, anyway. As usual Data had been right. No water had flowed down these
tunnels in the last millennium, if ever. Picard was so absorbed in his
thoughts that he bumped smack into Riker when the commander stopped
abruptly. Riker pointed his torch at a phaser mark. "This is the last one
we were able to find. The fork in the tunnel is just up ahead." 
 A moment later a wall rose suddenly from the darkness and Picard,
flashing his torch about, was able to see the two separate tunnels
branching off to his left and right. 
 "We went a short way down each of them before and found nothing. We'll go
farther this time. Each tunnel has dozens of small passages leading off of
it. We should take time to examine each one. Also, we're making a lot of
noise already, but it probably won't hurt to call to her. We don't want to
miss her in case she can't hear us." said Riker. "All right, my team to
the left. Captain," He looked hard at Picard. "Captain, be careful. I
really wish you were -"
 "'In Thames up to the neck', Number One?"
 "Pardon, Sir?"
 "Never mind. Pay attention to your job, Commander. I'll be fine." Picard
turned and walked with his team and Morris' into the black void at his
right.

Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!tadpole.com!news.dell.com!natinst.com!cs.utexas.edu!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!news-e1a.megaweb.com!newstf01.news.aol.com!newsbf02.news.aol.com!not-for-mail
From: prbev@aol.com (PRBev)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: New TNG Story: If They Be Two ch. 2-3
Date: 12 May 1995 03:34:58 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
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DISCLAIMER: Paramount has the most toys, Paramount wins. The story is
mine, so don't mess with it, don't sell it, and leave my name attached.
Send all comments to PRBev@aol.com. 

If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason

Chapter 3
********

 For several minutes they walked through a much lower tunnel. They had to
creep along practically doubled over. The small rifts to the sides were
growing more frequent as the tunnel became more twisted, and each one had
to be carefully explored. Some went several meters into the rock. As he
poked cautiously about, Picard tried to consider the problem of what had
been chasing the doctor without thinking about his CMO herself. Not an
easy task. What in Heaven's name could chase a person in these tunnels
without getting shot, and where could Beverly be now? There were no traces
of her after that last phaser blast. Did whatever was chasing her carry
her off somewhere or worse? Picard realized he was back to worrying about
Beverly and mentally shook himself. He turned to Troi, who had stopped for
a moment to stretch her back. "Can you sense anything, Counselor?"
 "No, Sir. I'm still getting nothing different, just that same vague
sense."
 Worf's torch beam flashed ahead of the group. "Captain, it appears that
the tunnel forks again just up ahead." They moved forward cautiously.
 "You're right, Commander." He turned to the crew. "Each team will go
twenty meters down a tunnel, then come back up here. If the tunnels are
large enough to pursue, we'll split up. Morris, take your team to the
right. Let's go."
 Several minutes later the two teams met again. "Report, Lieutenant," said
Picard. 
 "Sir, the tunnel appears to be very deep. There is a branch about ten
meters down as well which we should look into. There were no signs of Dr.
Crusher, though."
 "A lack of evidence doesn't prove she did not go that way. Our tunnel is
worth exploring, too. Search every possibility, Lieutenant, but don't take
any chances. We'll go this way."
 "Aye, Sir." Morris and her team turned to the right and vanished into the
darkness. Picard turned left, a worried Worf close on his heels. 

                                         **********

 Will Riker was not a happy man. He and his captain understood one another
very well. Since Riker first beamed aboard the _Enterprise D_ nearly nine
years before, he and Picard had not only worked closely together, they had
become friends. At the heart of that friendship was trust. Riker trusted
Picard's judgment; Picard trusted Riker's. The first officer considered
himself very much responsible for Picard's safety and regarded it as being
of the first importance. 
 Why, he asked himself, had he allowed the captain down here? He should
have put up more of a fight. The more he saw of these tunnels and
considered Dr. Crusher's disappearance, the more he wished the captain
safely aboard the ship. Of course, Riker could answer all his own
questions perfectly well. He knew exactly why he'd given in when Picard
insisted on joining the search. The captain and the CMO had been friends
for a long time. No one on the ship was insensible to the way those two
felt about each other, except possibly the two people most concerned -
themselves. The commander knew how he'd feel if it were Deanna who were
missing. She was his dearest friend, and if she disappeared he would do
anything to aid in her rescue. Picard was no different. Both the captain
and his first officer were men of action, and to sit idly by on starships
while the people they loved were in need of their help was anathema to
them. Beverly and Deanna would behave exactly the same way, actually. If
it were Picard missing in these tunnels, Beverly would have been the first
one down here. She probably would have found him by now, too, he thought
ruefully. No, Riker knew when things were out of his hands. That did not,
however, prevent him from worrying.
 "Commander!" 
 Riker spun round at the shout and took off down the tunnel to where
Torres and Erickson had gone ahead. Coming round the bend, what he saw
made him stop short, his sanity seriously in question. Torres stood about
twelve meters away in the center of the tunnel pointing his phaser and
torch at an outcropping of rock which seemed to be moving toward him. For
a second no one moved as the rock got closer. Then Riker saw the wall seem
to part and stretch out what could only be called arms or wings toward the
lieutenant. Erickson came darting out of a nearby fissure just as it
touched Torres. The terrified lieutenant fired at the thing. The sound was
deafening in the enclosed space. Riker was too stunned even to shout about
the inadvisability of firing point blank in such a tiny area. The normally
unflappable commander watched with open mouth as the mass of rock suddenly
caved in on itself and seemed to morph back into the wall of the cavern.
There was a sudden, stunned silence. 
 Riker pulled himself together and looked round at his team. Abblewhite,
came up slowly from behind him where she'd been inspecting a small cavern.
"Sir?"
 Torres and Erickson came back to them and for a few moments they all
turned about staring suspiciously at the walls.
 "Did everyone see that?" asked Riker, not entirely trusting his own eyes.
 "Sir, the rock did appear to be moving," confirmed Torres.
 "It all happened so quickly, I'm not sure what I saw," said Erickson.
 The commander had served aboard starships for a long time. He had seen
many strange things in his travels round the galaxy. He was not used to
feeling entirely at a loss, but feel at a loss he did now. It did not do
for the leader of the away team to look out of control, but a little
brainstorming appeared to be in order. "Anybody got any ideas?" 
 The rest of the team looked as much at sea as he felt, but they gamely
tried to come up with solutions as they kept a sharp eye out for moving
rock. "Perhaps it was a hallucination caused by our being so far
underground. We have only a sketchy idea of what gasses are down here,"
said Abblewhite, scanning with her almost useless tricorder. 
 "Why would all have the same hallucination, and at the same time?" Torres
pointed out. 
 "True," said Riker. "All right, assuming it was not a hallucination, what
was it?"
 The rest of the team shook their heads, unable even to guess.
 "It could be alive," suggested Erickson rather tentatively.
 Riker looked at Abblewhite. "Can you pick up *any* bio readings?" he
asked. He'd been saying that throughout the mission but this time he
didn't want the doctor's life signs so much as he wanted to know if what
they had seen was caused by a living organism.
 "I'm getting nothing," she answered. "But that doesn't preclude the
possibility that whatever that thing was it actually was alive. I am
getting increased EM readings, but that could be all sorts of things."
 Torres looked doubtful. "We know rock is not alive so how could a living
organism make rock move like that?"
 "Well, you've just said it," said Abblewhite. "'Move like that.' That
rock looked more like jelly than rock. It was almost a liquid motion."
 Riker looked down at the science officer. He really would rather it was
not alive. "Why would it have waited all this time to show itself?" 
 Abblewhite shook her head. "No one saw it when you were down here
before?"
 "No." He looked around again. "Well, let's keep moving. We don't have the
luxury of a lot of time. Normally I'd suggest getting the hell out of here
but we need to find the doctor. If you see that thing again, fire if you
have to. It appears to be affected by the phasers, but not anything more
than stunned. Come on."
 Riker hoped the others had not run into this thing, but he had a terrible
feeling that the doctor had encountered it. He hoped to Goodness she'd
also outrun it.

Chapter 4
********

 For a while Picard could hear Morris' team calling to Dr. Crusher as they
descended, and then even those sounds were lost. In the dead silence their
footsteps sounded impossibly loud. When they spoke, they did so in hushed
voices, the way people do in quiet places, as if the silence itself were
listening. When they called to Beverly the sound echoed back through the
rock mockingly, at an appalling volume. The torches flashed on the walls
and faces leapt suddenly out of the blackness for all the world as if they
were ghosts. 
 Picard had done a fair amount of groping about in dark caverns in his
time. Many archeological expeditions took him far underground. He had
never been claustrophobic and he had never been afraid of the dark, but
here in these tunnels the blackness was so thick he could taste it. It was
like a living being; malevolent, lurking just around the next bend of the
tunnel to leap. He could almost hear it breathing as he picked his way
cautiously among the bits of rock on the narrow floor. He jumped when he
heard the soft scrape of chalk on the rock walls as Savin made another
mark to lead them back again, but was immediately reassured by the
presence of his team. To be in this darkness alone would be horrific.
Beverly. She was in all this darkness alone. He quickened his pace. 

                                      **********

 The tunnel forked again unexpectedly and Abblewhite bumped her shoulder
hard on the rock. Scowling, she rubbed the bruise as she flashed her torch
beam down the next tunnel. The strong light disappeared into the blackness
and the science officer cursed quietly in her native Bajoran. She turned
to Riker, "Sir, we should explore this way too. It seems to be pretty
deep."
 "All right," said Riker. "I'll check this one, you go that way. Stay
within calling distance." He raised his voice. "Torres, Erickson, we're
gonna check these two."
 "Right, Sir. Aye, Sir" The voices drifted down from the tunnels above his
head. He turned and ducked into the low shaft, thanking the serendipity
that had lead the captain to bring down the tiny Abblewhite. He would
never have gotten into that tunnel she was exploring, and even she was
needing to crawl.

                                       **********

 "Sir, are you all right?" Worf lent a hand to his captain to help him
rise. 
 "Yes, Mr. Worf, I'm fine. I just tripped in the dark." 
 "Perhaps, Sir, we should rest for a few moments."
 "No!" Picard said quickly. He took a deep breath and continued more
quietly, "Let's go on. We haven't much time. We've only got two hours left
and we have to allow time for getting back."  Of course, Picard had no
intention of going anywhere without knowing what had happened to Beverly.
He would not leave her alone in this black void. "Counselor, will you and
Mr. Savin please examine that passage behind you? See how big it is." He
turned to the right and Worf followed.
 This tunnel was particularly steep and rubble-strewn and they had to pick
their way carefully. Picard could hear Savin's and Troi's voices from the
other tunnel, growing fainter the farther away they moved. His light
bobbed about as he struggled to maintain his balance, casting long shadows
on the rough walls. Worf turned down a small auxiliary tunnel and Picard
continued down the main slope for a few feet. The shout took him
completely by surprise and he nearly lost his footing as he whipped round
and began to scramble up the slope. The sound of phasers was a roar in the
echoing caverns. Worf, having been in a tunnel above the captain, got to
the main passage first. The fissure Savin and Troi had entered glowed red
with phaser fire. Worf and Picard flattened themselves to the wall beside
the opening and Worf looked in just in time to see Troi thrown back with
the ricochet of the phaser. The silence was abrupt and deadening. The two
at the top of the tunnel stepped into the opening, phasers at the ready,
torches flickering along the walls. All was still. Troi lay unmoving on
her back, Savin was nowhere to be seen. 
 Picard reached the counselor first and felt for a pulse. She was still
alive and appeared only to have been stunned. Picard opened his tricorder
and scanned about in the vain hope it would tell him anything. He snapped
it shut in frustration. "Mr. Worf, what do you make of this?"
 Worf backed up to the captain, his phaser held tight in his hand. "I can
find no trace of Lieutenant Savin, Sir, but there are phaser marks along
that wall."
 "Show me."
 They crossed the wide tunnel and shone their lights on the far wall. Two
black spots marred the rock. Picard stifled a sigh and glanced at his
Chief of Security. "What do you make of all this, Commander?" 
 Even in the darkness the scowl on the Klingon's face was frightening. "I
do not know, Sir." It was Worf's least favorite phrase. "However,
*something* has clearly outdone one of my finest security officers.
Perhaps when she wakes, Counselor Troi will be able to tell us more."
 Behind them, as if on cue, Deanna groaned. The two men turned and hurried
to her side. Picard helped her to sit up. "Counselor?"
 The woman blinked. "Captain, what- where's Savin?" 
 "We were hoping you could tell us that. He's disappeared. I think you
were stunned with the ricochet of the phaser. How do you feel?"
 "Like I've been stunned with the ricochet of a phaser," she said. "Sir,
what do you mean Savin's disappeared? How long have I been out?"
 "About three minutes," said Picard. "We got here in time to see the
phaser-fire. Savin was taken immediately, but how, and by what and where
to, we do not know. What were you firing at?"
 Troi shook her head. "Captain, we were firing at the wall. It was moving,
Sir. It reached out to Savin with arms, I swear it."

                                       **********

 The girl eased herself down the tiny passage and thought that the first
thing she was going to do when she got back to the ship was get the
replicator to make her the biggest glass of water that it possibly could.
The second thing would be to create a holodeck program simulating the wide
open plains of North America on Earth, where she'd once spent some time
with an Academy friend. She'd make the grass stretch for miles in every
direction, covered by Earth's pretty blue sky. There wouldn't be so much
as a gopher hole to remind her of these dark, closed spaces. Abblewhite
sighed and called out, "Dr. Crusher?" Her voice reverberated back to her.
How much farther did this tunnel go? She stretched her shoulders
uncomfortably and crawled forward. 

 The lieutenant blinked hard and adjusted her phaser in her hand. She
flashed her torch about but saw nothing. Then out of the corner of her eye
she caught a movement again. This time she was sure of it, this was no
hallucination, that wall was moving. Abblewhite began to scoot herself
cautiously backwards. There was no room to turn around until she got
another couple of meters back. The rock was coming closer and the girl
crawled faster. She'd have to chance using the phaser, despite the tiny
space. She raised it and fired. The light and noise were tremendous, but
she somehow escaped being stunned herself. The rock shrank away for a
moment and she made it to the spot where the tunnel widened. 
 "Commander!" she shouted. "Torres, Erickson!" She was scrambling
frantically up the passage now. She turned to glance over her shoulder and
found that the rock had recovered and was coming toward her again, faster.
She fired the phaser and for a moment it shrank away again only to come
after her seconds later. Her feet slipped on the gravel littering the
tunnel as neared the top. From the main tunnel above there was a lot of
other noise, a great deal of shouting and what sounded like a phaser shot
above the din. She turned to fire once more but missed. The thing reached
out for her ankle just as she reached the mouth of the tunnel and strong
arms reached in to haul her up as two other phasers were shoved toward the
fissure. 
 Erickson half dragged her out of the way as Riker and Torres waited at
the tunnel's entrance. They all stood gasping in the main passage and
whirled around, looking for any moving rock. All was quiet. The rock was
just rock again. The two commanders flashed their lights into the
passages, but found nothing. For a few moments they all waited.
 Finally Riker turned to the lieutenant. "Was it the rock again?"
Abblewhite nodded. "It was just like it was with you," she said, nodding
at Ensign Erickson. "It felt like the tunnel was closing in on me, only
the rock was like no rock I've ever seen."
 "The same thing just happened to me," said Riker. 
 "To you?" gasped Abblewhite. "Then there's more than one of them?"
 "Evidently."
 "Did they look like what we saw the first time?" asked Torres.
 "Pretty much." answered Riker.
 "Sort of. Only it was in a smaller space so it wasn't as big. At least,
that's the only explanation I can find for the difference in size."
Abblewhite thought for a moment. "Actually, the first time I saw it -"
 "You saw it *twice*?" Riker interrupted.
 "Well, when I saw it, I fired and then it went away for a second. Then I
saw it again. This time though, I was already getting away from it and it
chased me. It made the rock look like a wave. It seemed like something was
under the rock, like a shockwave model." She was reminded of the gopher
hole on her yet-to-be-created holodeck program. "It was kind of like the
way a mole makes a trail just under the ground so you can see the ground
pushed up where it was. Only when it reached out for me, like it did for
Erickson, it never broke the surface, just took the rock with it."
 "That's the same kind of experience I had," said Riker. "I had more room
to run, though." He looked apologetically at Abblewhite. 
 "Neither of you saw it again?" The girl turned to Torres and Erickson. 
 "No, but we were together." said Torres. He turned to Riker. "Sir, I have
a theory."
 "Lieutenant, right now, I'll take all the theories I can get," said
Riker.
 "I think that we only see that... thing... when we're alone. Erickson saw
it after I'd gone down another tunnel. Then we didn't see it for half an
hour. Now you two each see it when you are alone. It may be that whatever
it is, it's afraid to attack us when we're together."
 Riker considered. "That's a possibility. All right. Let's go a little
farther. We have about forty-five minutes before we need to head back.
Abblewhite, from now on you and I are together." He turned to the others.
"The same goes for you two. Let's not let each other out of our sites for
an instant. If we see that thing again we're heading straight back. I
don't quite know what it might do to us, but I'm sure as hell not going to
stick around to find out."

                                        **********

 Picard looked skeptical, to say the least. Worf, who had been standing
guard and searching for clues, swiveled around and looked at Troi with an
incredulous stare. The counselor turned to Picard, "Sir, this could not
have been a hallucination."
 "Tell us exactly what happened, Deanna."
 "This tunnel, you see, branches slightly. This one is only about four
meters deep." She gestured to the left. "Savin checked out this little one
while I went down the deeper one. I got just about two meters down when
the wall started to come toward me. It actually moved! I fired and
shouted. I ran back and I heard Savin shout. He was standing there
pointing his phaser at the wall, and, Sir, I swear to you, it was moving
toward him and reached for him with ...arms. We fired at both of them."
 "You say the wall moved, came toward you with arms. Can you be more
specific?" asked Worf.
 Troi groped for words. "It looked like the wall had been turned into
jelly. It sort of oozed toward him and out of the mass of the rock came
out these... extensions, like arms. It... it looked like a child's clay
figure, the way they mold the arms out of the main body," she finished up
in a flash of inspiration.
 "So they were more shapeless than arms?" asked Picard.
 "Oh, yes, very shapeless. Not really arms at all, but that's the best
analogy I can think of. Maybe wings is a better term, they were huge."
 "What did the rock do to him?"
 "I don't know. I was hit before I could see anymore. Before I was knocked
unconscious, though. I did feel more strongly that unsettled feeling I
sensed before."
 Picard felt no more enlightened, but he had his Captain's Confident
Demeanor more firmly in place now. "Right," he said. "Well, Mr. Worf, any
ideas?"
 "I can find no further evidence of what has happened to Lieutenant Savin,
Sir. I suggest that we continue our search. We have little time."
 "True," said Picard. "And now we have two people to search for. Are you
feeling stronger, Counselor?"
 "Yes, Captain," answered Troi.
 "Right," said Picard again. "Let's go. Mr. Worf, if you would lead the
way to the main passage, please."
 As they reached the principle tunnel again, Picard turned at the mouth of
the smaller passage and marked a large X on the wall.

                                       **********

 Torres crawled out of the tunnel and gave Erickson a hand. The two turned
to meet Riker and Abblewhite who had come up from the tunnel below. Riker
looked dejected. "We'll have to go back," he said. "Otherwise they'll just
send teams down here to search for us. We'll get some sleep and in a few
hours we'll come down with more people."
 No one said anything. They all knew that unless one of the other teams
had found her, or she'd found a different way out, the chances of finding
Dr. Crusher, much less finding her alive, were very slim. In silence they
turned to climb back to the rendezvous point in the primary tunnel.


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From: prbev@aol.com (PRBev)
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Subject: New TNG Story: If They Be Two ch. 5-7
Date: 12 May 1995 03:34:58 -0400
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DISCLAIMER: Paramount has the most toys, Paramount wins. The story is
mine, so don't mess with it, don't sell it, and leave my name attached.
Send all comments to PRBev@aol.com. 

If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason

Chapter 5
********
 Picard's diminished team continued soberly into the tunnels. The passages
had begun to twist and turn much more now and they were finding it hard to
keep their footing on the slope. Rounding a bend, Picard stopped suddenly
and Troi just avoided tripping over him. Worf came up and the three
officers stared in fascination at the scene before them.
 An enormous cavern stretched seemingly forever ahead and up. Stalagmites
and stalactites clung to the floor and ceiling. So some water did get in
here after all, thought Picard, who was beginning to be very thirsty. They
all three shone their torches round the cavern's walls and the light
seemed tiny and insignificant as it disappeared into the great space. 
 "It's huge," whispered Troi in awe. 
 Picard reached automatically for his tricorder, before he remembered how
useless it would be. He felt a kind of security knowing this was here.
He'd rarely heard of tunnels without a few big caverns mixed in. However,
now was no time for pondering the mysteries of this planet's make-up.
"Let's keep moving," he said. "This way."
 He moved along a nearby ledge to the cavern floor, and began to pick his
way cautiously among the stalagmites.
 About half way across the cave a large fissure opened to the right and
Picard flashed his torch beam into it. "Mr. Worf!" he shouted. 
Worf, to his everlasting chagrin, actually jumped. He ran to the the
entrance of the tunnel into which the captain had just disappeared. "What
is it, Sir?"
 "Look!" Picard's hand was shaking as he tried to steady the torch beam on
the thing in his hand - a medical tricorder. "She's down here. She's this
way. Come on!" He turned and almost ran down the tunnel in a most
un-captainly manner. 
 Worf gestured to Troi and took off after Picard. They caught him up as he
stopped to examine a tunnel branching off of the one in which he stood. He
turned as they approached, rather out of breath. "Commander, you two go
that way. It seems as though it branches again just down there." He
flicked his light along the walls. "I'll continue in this tunnel. It
doesn't look like it branches for a while."
 "Captain, I should come with you," said Worf, despite his quite natural
tendency to want to be with Deanna.
 "Nonsense! We haven't much time left. We ought to start getting back to
the rendezvous point in about fifteen minutes. If we're not there in time,
Commander Riker will worry like a mother hen. We need to cover all the
possibilities. That means that we have to split up, especially now that we
have fewer people to search."
 "Sir!" objected the responsible Worf, wondering which would make Riker
kill him faster: allowing harm to come to Deanna or the captain. He
decided not to contemplate either possibility.
 "That's an order, Commander!"
 Worf sighed and scowled, but he turned to explore his designated tunnel.
 Worf and Troi were nearly at the branch of their tunnel when they heard
the captain call out to them. "Commander Worf! Deanna!" 
 They sprinted back up the passage. Before they had gone a meter, they
heard the sound of a phaser. Worf burst out of the tunnel and narrowly
missed being killed by a phaser blast which came shooting past his ear
from the direction of the captain. Troi ran smack into him. "Captain!"
Worf shouted.
 "Get out of the way, Worf!"
 Worf had no intention of keeping out of the way and took off down the
tunnel, keeping low to the ground. Ahead of him, around the sharp bend of
the tunnel, he could see the captain's light flickering about. A sudden
shadow partially obscured the light for a moment. There was another phaser
blast and the shadow disappeared. Worf could hear the captain's running
footsteps and he tried to find the shadow with his torch. He didn't dare
fire, lest he hit Picard. He ran faster. There was a smothered cry from
Picard and then a sudden, engulfing silence. Worf stopped short and behind
him, Troi did, too. Their gasping breaths were the only thing to be heard.
Worf shone his light down the passage to where it curved out of sight.
Slowly, staying flat against the wall, he edged down toward the turning,
Deanna right behind him. They came to the bend turn and Worf stopped
again. He gestured to Troi and nodded each count - one, two, three. He and
Troi jumped out from behind their protective corner, phasers braced for
anything, torches pointing ahead. There was nothing there. The captain had
disappeared.

                                         **********

 "Captain!" shouted Worf. "Captain Picard!"
 His own echo laughed at him through the tunnels as he beamed his torch
light frantically around the walls. He began to run down the passage, all
thoughts for his own safety gone completely out of his head. Behind him,
he heard Deanna calling, " Worf! Worf, it's no use. He's gone."
 The Klingon rounded on her. "Gone where then? He cannot simply have
vanished. It is impossible."
 "Worf, I think he was taken the way Savin was."
 "And how was Savin taken?" demanded Worf.
 "I'm not sure. But you said yourself that he disappeared from a crevice
which had but one way out. Worf, if that's the case, and this rock thing
has him, then he could very possibly be... dead." Deanna swallowed hard.
She was terribly fond of Picard. "I can't sense him anymore, Worf."
 Worf's Klingon temper was well to the fore and he practically roared at
Troi. "No! I will not allow the captain to vanish like this. He cannot be
dead or we'd see a body. He must be somewhere. We must stay and search for
him. You will take that tunnel-"
 "Worf," Deanna broke in firmly. "If we separate, we will be taken by the
rock as well and then we will be of no use to the captain at all."
 "We will not be taken, Deanna. We must find the captain."
 "Worf, listen to me" Troi knew that Worf would listen to reason if she
allowed him to get over his fright somewhat. "The captain was taken while
he was alone. So was Savin. I had only been out of his sight for an
instant and yet I, too, was attacked. My tunnel was larger and I got away
faster. You and the captain were together and so you were safe. The same
thing happened here. We were together and so we were not attacked. If we
separate, Worf, we will be captured or killed and will do the captain only
harm. We cannot search together because we haven't time and we need more
people. Let's go back and tell Will. Then we can bring down more people to
help search if we have to."
 Worf was angry and very frightened for Picard's safety, but he was a
Starfleet officer, trained to think like one. He also was apt to listen to
Deanna Troi. He nodded. "Come," he said, and started back out of the
tunnel at a near run. Troi hurried behind him.


Chapter 6
********
 The two away-teams could hear each other before they could at last see
one another's lights. Riker came hurrying up the passage ahead of his
people and met Morris running into the branch of the tunnels. She looked
distraught. "Lieutenant, did you find anything?"
 "No, but we lost someone, Commander - Lieutenant Jackson. She's gone."
 "Take it easy Morris. What do you mean you lost Jackson? She's lost in
the tunnels?"
 "I mean we lost her. She's dead, Sir."

                                      **********

 "How did it happen?" he asked tonelessly.
 "She was in a small fissure while Bellar was in another passage. We heard
a cry and ran." Morris turned to Bellar. "You saw it. You explain."
 "Commander, I came up just in time to see. She was... she was taken into
the wall. These arms seemed to extend from the wall and just... envelope
her. Then the wall went flat again and she was... gone."
 Riker glanced at his team. "She's in the wall?" he asked incredulously.
 "I think so, Sir."
 "So that's what happens," he said bleakly. "We saw the rock thing, too,
and ran from it. There's no time to talk now. We'll discuss this back on
the ship. I want a dozen more people down here to search until we're sure.
It will only take us one at a time, we're safe in numbers." He thought of
Beverly.
 From down in the tunnels there came the sound of hurrying feet followed
by Worf's voice, "Commander!"
 "Up here, Mr. Worf!"
 Worf scrambled out of the low tunnel followed by Troi. "Commander, the
captain has been taken!"

                                       **********

 Riker turned white in the black tunnel. "What?"
 "The rock, Sir. It has taken the captain and Lieutenant Savin."
 The nine people now left of the away-teams looked at each other, stunned
into silence. Riker spoke first. "He's dead?"
 "I do not know, Sir." Worf's voice was flat, but Troi was almost crushed
beneath the weight of his sorrow. "We were searching a tunnel, Sir. We had
already lost Savin in strange circumstances. He simply vanished. Because
of our diminished numbers we separated. The captain had found Dr.
Crusher's tricorder and wanted to search quickly. Lieutenant Morris and I
went toward a branch in one tunnel and the captain searched another. We
heard him call to us and ran. There were phaser blasts. I could not fire
without hitting the captain. Then he was just... gone. We searched for him
and finally came back to get help. We will need more people." the muscles
of his jaw worked. "Commander, it is my to my everlasting dishonor and my
sorrow that I have lost Captain Picard." 
 "Mr. Worf, I don't blame you, but I don't have time to worry about your
honor right now." He looked at the tired, grubby, and dis-spirited people
around him. "We'll go back to the ship for reinforcements. I am not giving
up that easily."


Chapter 7
********
 Picard woke and resisted the impulse to open his eyes. He had no idea
where he was, but he was sure it wasn't the _Enterprise_. He therefore had
no intention of making himself a target for unpleasantness without first
gaining some idea of his surroundings. At the moment he was being left
alone, so he'd remain exactly as he was until he considered it safe or
necessary to do otherwise. 
 He remembered what had happened. He'd been firing a phaser at that moving
wall, of all things. Deanna hadn't been kidding. The rock did have arms.
Wait, that was it. The rock had reached out for him and had actually
lifted him off the ground. That was as far as his memory went. 
 Slowly he took stock of his situation. He was rather sore, as if he'd
been squeezed very hard all over. He didn't seem to be in acute pain in
any specific spot except for his right shoulder, though. That probably
meant that the shoulder was damaged, but other than that he was all right.
As surreptitiously as possible he flexed various muscles. Everything
except the shoulder appeared to be in order. His head ached quite a bit,
but he doubted it was a concussion, more likely just a continuation of the
general soreness he felt. Picard started checking the status quo outside
his own body. He decided he was still somewhere in the tunnels because
whatever he was lying on was very hard. It was also totally silent. Damn.
Then Worf and Troi were probably not very nearby. 
 It was so quiet that Picard decided to risk opening his eyes. Very
carefully he opened them a fraction. He opened them a fraction more.
Trying not to panic, he opened them as wide as he could. He'd gone blind!
He couldn't see! Then he took a deep breath. Of course. His torch had gone
out and in the tunnels there was no light. He closed his eyes again and
counted to ten to calm himself. He listened for any sounds of a possible
captor and hearing none, began to feel cautiously about for his torch. He
was definitely in the tunnels, he could feel the texture of the rock
beneath his fingers. It appeared to be a small tunnel because he barely
fit between the two walls. He couldn't feel the ceiling, though. He sat up
and cautiously felt his right shoulder. It didn't feel broken. Probably
dislocated. He sighed softly and continued searching for his torch. He
crawled cautiously down the tunnel for about a meter before his fingers
found it. It was broken. Picard experienced a moment of sheer terror. If
he had no light, he could never find his way back, assuming of course,
that he would ever have been able find the chalk marks again. 
 He tried to calm himself. Now was hardly the time for panic. He had to
think. He needed a way out. He could stay put and wait for the others to
find him, as they undoubtedly would try to do, but that might take a very
long time. For all he knew he was on the other side of the planet. No one
had any idea how far these tunnels went. There was also the rock creature
to contend with. It seemed to have lost interest in him for a moment, but
it might come back. He had no idea what it wanted him for, but he wasn't
overly anxious to find out. He was pleased to note he still had his
phaser. He would just have to start moving and simply trust that he was
going toward his searching crew and not away from them. He stood up,
grunting softly as pain shot through his shoulder. Keeping his left hand
on the wall, he moved forward. 
 And struck another wall. He turned back the other way and after about
five meters, reached the other end of his little room. He was in a five by
one meter crevice. A big coffin, he thought bleakly.

                                         **********

 Riker led nine silent people out of the tunnel and into the cave. Outside
it was still raining, but the lightning had stopped. Abblewhite wouldn't
have cared if they had to wait out the worst storm in the planet's history
so long as she could see the sky and have room to turn around. She walked
sadly by Torres's side to the mouth of the cavern. Standing just inside
the sheltering rock Riker called the _Enterprise_ and told Data to beam
them up. They stepped out into the downpour and the feel of raindrops on
her skin was the most wonderful sensation Abblewhite could remember. Then
the tingle of the transporter started and the surrounding rocks became a
blur. 
 The first half of the away-team, or what was left of it, stood dripping
on the transporter pad. Abblewhite moved off with the others and a moment
later the last of the team shimmered into being. Riker rubbed his face.
"Everybody go get into some dry clothes. We'll meet in the conference room
in fifteen minutes. Mr. Morgan," he turned to the transporter chief. "Did
Mr. LaForge and his crew get that shuttle back up ok?" 
 "Yes, Sir. They came back up about two hours ago when the storm got too
bad to stay on the surface."
 "Good. Thank you." 



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From: prbev@aol.com (PRBev)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: New TNG Story: If They Be Two ch. 8-10
Date: 12 May 1995 03:35:13 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
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DISCLAIMER: Paramount has the most toys, Paramount wins. The story is
mine, so don't mess with it, don't sell it, and leave my name attached.
Send all comments to PRBev@aol.com. 

If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason

Chapter 8
********
 Thirty minutes later Riker sat back in Captain Picard's usual chair in
the observation lounge and looked around at the people gathered there.
Geordi and Data had joined them and he had, with added comments from the
rest of the team, filled them in on the strange happenings on the planet
Sitaar. Now they all just sat and stared at their hands, in that deadened
way people have when they've been given a great shock.
 Riker was suddenly very angry. He leapt up. "I am not giving up like
this. The captain, the doctor, and two crew members are gone. I am not
going to simply write off their disappearance and say they're dead! We are
taking six more away-teams down there and we are going to find them if it
takes the rest of our lives. I want to at least know what happened." He
stopped as the crew turned confused faces to him. "Now does anybody have
any ideas on what it could be? I'm open to even the wildest suggestions."
 The eleven people around the table glanced bemusedly at each other,
startled into thinking again.
 "Commander," said Geordi, slowly pulling his mind back into shape. "What
if it were some form of energy? A form that could manipulate matter. We
were getting strange EM readings before the tricorders quit."
 "You mean like anaphasic energy?"said Morris.
 "Yes, but that can only exist in organic matter. The rock, whatever else
it is, is not organic," Abblewhite pointed out.
 "What if it were something else, then," asked Torres. "Some other form of
energy we're not familiar with, or can't determine without the
tricorders?"
 "I suppose that's possible," said Morris.
 Riker turned to Geordi. "Can you think of any way we can tell if it's
some energy form without scanners?"
 "I can keep working on it. At the moment I don't have any better ideas.
It would have to take plasma form to do what you're describing."
 "Check on it, Mr. LaForge. I'd like to have you on the planet to help
search, but I need you to stay here. Keep working on a means of
communication and transport, too."
 "Couldn't we drill a hole in the rock with the ship's phasers?" asked
Erickson.
 "We'll keep that idea in mind, but we would risk hurting our crew that
way. Also, we have no idea where they are and it would be pointless
without them being somewhere near the hole." He didn't need to say that he
was, in this statement, assuming they were alive.
 "Will, why would energy plasma want our people?" asked Troi reasonably.
"There has to be a reason for it taking the crew."
 "You're right, Counselor." He thought a moment. "Nevertheless, I want to
find the captain and the others before we try to puzzle this one out. Now,
we've never been attacked in groups of even two, so it seems to be that it
will only chase us when we're separated. We have to go back in and look
for them, so we'll pair up." 
 The comm. speakers in the observation lounge crackled to life as
Lieutenant Dag's voice came in from the Bridge. "Commander," she
practically shouted, "I've got a comm signal on the sensors!"
 With a total disregard for protocol, the entire group at the table leapt
up as one and ran for the Bridge, causing a traffic jam in the doorway.
Riker fought his way through, shouting to Dag the entire time. "Who's
signal, Lieutenant?"
 "Jackson's, Sir."
 Despite his very human wish that it had been that of Picard or Crusher,
Riker was happy to know Jackson was safe. Most especially because it meant
the others might be safe as well. "Can you get a lock?" He struggled
through the crowd.
 "Yes, Sir."
 "Beam her up, Dag!" he called joyfully, running for the Turbolift.

                                       **********

 "I really don't remember anymore, Sir," said Jackson from her seat on the
biobed. "I just turned around to call for help and then I woke up in a
little chasm.  I climbed out. I could see a glimmer of light, thank
goodness, from the opening. With my torch broken, I wouldn't have made it
without that light. I just climbed toward it and eventually came out in
that cave."
 "You didn't hear any noises which might have been from our people?"
 "I didn't hear anything at all. It's so quiet down there, it's eerie."
 "Can you tell what's happened, Doctor?" he asked Dr. Selar.
 The Vulcan shook her head. "I am getting some very strange EM readings,
but the trace evidence is almost nonexistent. I would need an actual
sample of the matter in order to more carefully test it."
 Dr. Selar fixed Riker with a stern glance which was very clearly meant to
say "you have asked enough questions, now leave my patient alone." He took
the hint.
 "You've done well, Lieutenant. Get some rest."

                                        **********

 The _Enterprise's_ senior officers walked down the hall, heading for the
Turbolift. Riker turned to Data. "Have you contacted Starfleet, Mr. Data?"
 "Yes, Sir. I have notified them of our problem. Fortunately, we have
several days leeway before we need be at Starbase 43. Admiral Jory would
like you to contact him in person to tell what is happening before you
beam back to the planet, Sir."
 Riker scowled. "All right. Geordi, what have you found out about the
shuttle?" he asked with a sigh.
 "It was a fluke that it happened, Sir. Evidently, one of the maneuvering
thrusters malfunctioned. One of them was still online and the doctor was
able to set down with that. My guess is she ran into a Omega pocket. They
can make an awful lot of funny things happen to those little shuttles. The
_Enterprise_ would never have noticed it, just sailed through it like it
wasn't there. There was a lot of damage to the shuttle's computer, though.
It's just a good thing the doctor made it to a Class-M planet."
 "What's an Omega pocket, Geordi?" asked Deanna.
 "It's a very small subspace anomaly that can cause massive computer
failure in small craft. Their computers just can't handle the
interference. The shuttle's sensors could pick up a larger one, but not a
real small one. Fortunately there aren't many of them around."
 "Good work, Geordi," said Riker. "I want to take another set of teams to
the surface. We're going to find out where our people are and what's going
on down there. Are you done with the shuttle?"
 "Yeah. We're fixing the problem now and the shuttle should be ready to go
in a week or so. It's taken a beating, so we'll need some repairs, but
it'll be OK."
 "Good. Then if we can leave others in charge of it's repairs, I can leave
you the Bridge while you try to reconfigure the comm link. Mr. Data, I'd
like you to lead one of the away-teams. Mr. Worf, you'll take another, as
will you, Counselor. I'll give one to Abblewhite and one to Morris. I'll
take the sixth one."
 They stepped into the Turbolift and Worf said, "Bridge."
 "Data," said Riker, "besides the coordinates we got when we beamed
Jackson aboard, did you find any other entrances to the tunnels?"
 "Yes, Commander. The nearest one is several hundred kilometers from the
openings we know of already. Lieutenant Jackson's is three thousand
kilometers from either of them."
 "What?" Riker was incredulous. "How did she get three thousand kilometers
away?" 
 "I do not know, Sir. Evidently, she was carried through the rock."
 Riker frowned at the implications of this. The tunnels must go on
forever, and if their people were being taken *through* the rock, they
could be anywhere. They would have to move quickly. "You and I, Data, will
take our teams to Jackson's tunnel and search that way. I'll send two more
to the one you found earlier, and two to the original one. We'll cover
them all. Everybody meet in Transporter Rooms 1 and 2 in half an hour.
I'll notify the others."
 They had reached the Bridge and stepped out. Riker went to Picard's ready
room to call Admiral Jory. He sat in the captain's chair and for a few
minutes he silently cursed himself for ever letting Picard go down there.
Then he put through the call to Starfleet. There wasn't time for regrets,
he had people to find.


Chapter 9
********
 Picard stretched again, feeling for the ledge, but though his fingers
could just reach it, he couldn't get hold of the rock. He fell back and
sank down against the wall. He estimated that about two hours had gone by
since he'd wakened in this little place. How long he'd been out before
that he had no idea. By this time, he knew, Riker and the others were
scouring the tunnels for him, but that was small comfort in all this vast
blackness. If his arm were in one piece he'd be able to reach that ledge.
There had to be a way out of here. He'd been put *in* here, so it stood to
reason that there was some kind of entrance. He'd been all over the walls
for any means of egress and, finding none that way, had determined to go
up. 
 He would just rest a minute, he decided. He was exhausted, his shoulder
throbbed, and he was starving, but what he wanted more than anything else
in the galaxy was a drink of water. What a hell of an unpleasant way to
die this was going to be. He scowled. That's not the way to think, Picard,
he told himself. In difficult situations it is important to think
positively. He remembered being stuck in that prison on KesPrytt and
saying those very words to Beverly. Then, when he'd expressed frustration
she had said sarcastically, 'I'm beginning to think negatively Jean-Luc.' 
 Picard sighed. What a strange time that had been. Being telepathically
linked to another person had been difficult to say the least. When it was
the one person who knew you extraordinarily well, but from whom you'd do
just about anything to guard a great many thoughts, it was quite
definitely intolerable. Yet how he had missed it when she was gone; when
he no longer had to distinguish between her thoughts and his or simply
feel a certain way and know she would respond in kind; when he'd been able
to talk to her without saying anything at all. They had shared so much in
those two days. They two, who each knew the other better than anyone else
knew them already, had shared more of their thoughts and feelings than
most mortals ever would, and he'd been elated by the result of that
connection - until she'd walked away. During those few hours when they had
heard each other's every thought, he had learned that she loved him as he
loved her. Then she had turned it away, and without the implants to tell
him what she was thinking, he was at a loss to explain why. 
 He remembered that night when they'd sat by the fire and the flames had
been mirrored by the red hair around her face... Picard sat straight up.
He searched frantically through his myriad memories of Beverly and he
could not, in any one of them, see her face. He could see her body, her
hair, her hand, her back, but not her face. He suddenly realized that he
never had been able to recall it when she was not right in front of him.
It was always a blur. He remembered then what an artist friend had told
him when he first began to try his hand at portraits. "There are a few
people," said M. Jouran, "whose faces you will never be able to draw from
memory. Those are the faces of the people you most love, your constant
companions. It is almost always impossible to recall exactly, if at all,
what they look like." Picard slumped back and for just a moment, gave in
to despair. 

                                        **********

 The six away-teams accumulated in their designated positions on the
planet's surface and gathered into their assigned groups. Riker had issued
instructions before they left the ship. "Do not," he had reminded them,
"take any chances. Do not split up with your partner. Make frequent chalk
marks on the walls. Meet back at the transport sites in five hours,
sharp." From three sites, spread far across Sitaar, the crew members of
the _Enterprise_ entered the tunnels to search for their friends.

                                     **********

 Picard woke with a start. He could have sworn he'd heard something. He
held his breath, straining to hear anything in the dead silence of the
tunnels, but all he heard was the beating of his own heart and the rush of
blood in his ears. He stood up. Damn this blackness! He kicked in sheer
frustration at a nearby rock and the sound as it rattled over the floor
was loud as a scream. 
 He stopped again. There *was* a sound. He'd heard it. I am going mad, he
thought. But, no, it came again. A faint sound, but quite close. "Who's
there?" he called. His voice echoed around the rocks. "Will, is that you?
Worf?"
 "Jean-Luc?"
 Picard froze. He was going mad after all. 
 "Jean-Luc?" 
 "Beverly?"
 "Jean-Luc, where are you?"
 Picard thought irrelevantly that this was just like that moment in a
novel, when it was said that the protagonist didn't know whether to laugh
or cry. He had often felt a little like that, but never so keenly. He
decided that, since he had to do one or the other or burst, he would
laugh. He began with a chuckle and laughed until he couldn't breathe. It
was thunderously loud reverberating in the tunnels, but he didn't care. 
 "Jean-Luc, where are you? Why are you laughing, damn it?" The voice was
getting closer and she was sounding more like herself.
 "Beverly," laughed Picard, "I don't have any idea where I am. Where are
you? Are you all right?" He stopped laughing. "Are you all right?"
 "Yes, I'm fine. A little bruised, but nothing much else. Keep talking so
I can find you."
 Picard had been without light for so long that when he first saw the
faint glimmer above his head he thought it was a figment of his
imagination. It grew stronger, though, and soon he was having to squint
his eyes against its painful brightness. "You're on the right track," he
called. I can see your light."
 "Where's yours?"
 "Broken."
 "Keep talking."
 "Where did you come from?" he asked.
 "I don't know. I was in some kind of cavern, like a pit."
 "You climbed out?" Picard admired afresh the fortitude of the woman. She
hated heights.
 "I wasn't going to sit there waiting to be lunch for whatever is in
here."
 "Beverly, how did you get in here? What happened when you entered the
tunnels?"
 "I'll explain in a minute. Keep talking, I think I've found you."
 "There's no way out of here by myself. If you could get over here I may
be able to grab your hand, though. I can't really tell how high these
walls are."
 "How long have you been here?"
 "By now about four hours at a guess. I've been unconscious, though. We'd
been searching for you for three hours before that." 
 The light flashed bright above his head. "Over here," he called
helpfully.
 "I see where you are, now."
 Picard stared up at the light growing brighter above him and then it
flashed down upon his face, blocking out everything behind it. "Hello,"
said Beverly's voice.

Chapter 10
*********

 Riker dropped over the edge of the small ravine and flashed his torch
around as the rest of the team followed him. His group had split up from
Data's nearly an hour ago, a few minutes after entering the main tunnel.
The commander sent two lieutenants down a passage to his right. 
 The tunnels they were exploring now were far more difficult terrain than
that of the tunnels they'd searched on the other side of the planet. These
were made up of pits and fissures and cliffs. They'd had to do a lot of
climbing over here. They'd not yet seen any sign of the rock creature.

                                       **********

 Picard put his hand up to block the light and she moved it away. From
behind it her face emerged, smiling down at him. She looked extremely
disheveled and there was a nasty looking cut on her right cheek, but she
was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. He felt a small thrill of
sheer joy spread through his body as he smiled back.
 "Nice of you to drop by," he said lightly.
 Beverly stretched out her hand. "Come on up," she said.
 Picard stretched up with his left hand, but missed her hand by about four
inches. His right arm hung limply at his side.
 Beverly frowned. "What's the matter with your other arm?"
 "I think the shoulder's out of joint." He reached again for the ledge
he'd found earlier.
 Crusher scooted forward to give him about another inch. "Come on, reach."
 Picard fell back, grunting in pain. "Give me a minute."
 "I'll come down."
 "No, don't do that. Then we'll both be stuck down here."
 "We can boost each other up." She swung her legs over the edge of the pit
and searched for a toehold in the rock. Slowly, she made her way down
until she reached the ledge, about two meters off the ground. From there
she had to drop. She wasn't happy about it, but she did it. Picard stood
back and let her land alone, knowing the easiest way to hurt someone is
with an inexpert catch.
 "There," she said, dusting herself off, a fruitless endeavor. "Now, let's
see about that shoulder."
 Picard grinned at her. Grubby as she was, she was a sight for sore eyes.
"I'm glad to see you're all right. We were very worried. What did you do
to your cheek?"
 "Cut it, and I'm hardly safe and sound," she retorted with a sudden flash
of temper. "In fact, you didn't even find me. I had to find you."
 "I'm awfully glad you did, Doctor." He refused to be ruffled. He was too
glad to see her.
 Beverly smiled in reconciliation.  She gestured toward his arm. "Let me
see."
 He turned it toward her and she helped him remove his jacket. He winced
as she touched the arm. "It'd be easier if we could have this shirt off.
Can you raise it at all?"
 "I'll try."
 With some to-do and many muttered curses from Picard, Beverly worked the
shirt over his head. She examined the shoulder. "How did you do this?"
 "That's an interesting story. I'm anxious to see if it matches your own,"
he said.
 "Mine takes a bit of explaining, so let's get this done first. I've lost
my tricorder and in any case it doesn't work down here, as you probably
know, so I can't get a good idea of what's going on with this. I'd like to
know if you've seriously damaged any ligaments." She probed the shoulder
with gentle, expert fingers. "If we are going to get out of here, it'll be
easiest if we put this back. Then I can repair any further damage once
we're back on the ship. What do you think?"
 "You're the doctor," he replied.
 "It'll hurt, but it's probably the best idea."

                                        **********

 Half an hour later, a sweaty and exasperated doctor, and her equally
sweaty and exasperated patient, sat down with their backs against opposite
walls and glared at each other. Picard was dressed again and though he was
in a lot of pain, his shoulder was back where it was supposed to be. For a
while they were silent, catching their breath and recovering their
customary equable tempers. Finally Picard sat up. Taking a deep breath he
said, "Thank you, Doctor."
 She scowled amicably at him. "You are welcome, Captain."
 "Now," he said, "for part two of your plan. How are we to get out of
here?"
 Beverly considered the question. "I think the best way would be for you
to boost me up to that ledge and then I can help you up that far. After
that I can climb to the top and we'll do it again."
 The captain nodded. "Let's get going then."
 In this way they managed to climb to the top of Picard's prison. The
captain appreciated his friend just then. Looking down to help him was not
precisely pleasant. However, she did manage it. Scrambling over the edge
at last, he lay still for a moment, catching his breath. 
 She gave him a hand to sit up and adjusted the sling she had fashioned
from his jacket. "Let's rest a minute," she said. "We'll swap stories on
how we got into this predicament."
 "All right. I'm glad to see you weren't hurt much by the shuttle crash.
What happened?"
 "I don't know. All of a sudden the computer started acting up and one of
the thrusters went offline. I was able to set it down, as you've seen, but
it was messy. I came out with just a couple of bruises, though."
 "How did you cut your face?" 
 "Probably being dropped on my face. Let me tell you what happened. It's a
very strange story," she said slowly. "I was attacked by... the rock.
Jean-Luc, I know this sounds crazy, but the wall was chasing me."
 "It doesn't sound crazy. It chased me, too. Do you have any idea how it
got you?"
 "No. I got out of the rain in the cave. I knew somebody would pick up the
shuttle's signal eventually, but I went exploring until then. I crawled
into the tunnel and I was walking along when this thing reached out to
grab me from behind. I ran and fired at it, but it kept chasing me. I
remember feeling something grab me. It felt like somebody had molded jelly
around me and lifted me off my feet. I must have gone unconscious then,
because I don't remember anything else until I woke up. I had a few
bruises from the shuttle crash, but now I've cut my cheek and I feel as if
I've been massaged by Data." The metal fingered android never had quite
grasped the fragility of humans.
 "That's what we guessed had happened. Were you near here when you came
to?"
 "Not really. I've been walking for about an hour. I had no idea where I
was going." She glanced at him rather shyly. "I was damned scared, if you
want to know the truth. I was so glad to hear your voice, I could have
cried."
 He smiled at her. "Well, now we're together. We may have no idea where we
are, but we're together at least."
 "'And thou beside me, singing in the wilderness.'" she said. 
 Picard chuckled. "I didn't know you'd read so much ancient poetry,
Beverly. You always do have another surprise up your sleeve."
 She grinned at him. "So what happened to you?"
 "A very similar incident, actually. Worf and Deanna and I were searching
for you. We'd lost Savin already, presumably to the rock. We need to keep
an eye out for him, by the way. Anyway, I had just found your tricorder
when the rock thing came up behind me. I fired, too, but in that tiny
space there wasn't a whole lot of scope for maneuvering. It grabbed me. I
felt that jelly-likeness, too. Then I woke up in there."
 "Do you have any idea what it is?"
 "None." Picard frowned. "I have never in my life seen anything like it. I
just wish the tricorders would work."
 "Where did you find my tricorder?"
 "I've no idea. It could have been round the corner or on the other side
of the planet for all I know. I hope it was around the corner since
that'll make it much easier to get back." He looked around. "I suppose I
dropped it when the rock got me. I certainly dropped mine. I do have my
phaser."
  Beverly had grown thoughtful. "I lost that, too. Jean-Luc the thing
grabbed me near the mouth of the tunnels. Why wouldn't you have found my
tricorder so far away?"
 "I don't know. That is odd. Maybe it dropped you there for a minute."  
They considered this for a moment and then the captain said briskly,
"Let's get moving. We have to find Savin and get back. I wonder where he
is?"
 "Settle down, Jean-Luc. Don't strain that shoulder any more. If he's
nearby and conscious he would've heard us by now. We'll have a look around
for him. Which way do you think we should go?"
 Picard shook his head. "You came from over there?" She nodded. "Well,
let's just head in the same direction you've been going. I think as long
as we keep going up we'll be all right."
 They rose and started off through the tunnels.

More to come...Hope you like it so far!


Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news-e1a.megaweb.com!newstf01.news.aol.com!newsbf02.news.aol.com!not-for-mail
From: prbev@aol.com (PRBev)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: New TNG Story: If They Be Two ch. 11, 12, and 13
Date: 13 May 1995 04:05:44 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Lines: 380
Sender: root@newsbf02.news.aol.com
Message-ID: <3p1p8o$fs8@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
Reply-To: prbev@aol.com (PRBev)
NNTP-Posting-Host: newsbf02.mail.aol.com
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:10307

DISCLAIMER: Paramount has the most toys, Paramount wins. The story is
mine, so don't mess with it, don't sell it, and leave my name attached.
Send all comments to PRBev@aol.com. 

If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason

Chapter 11
*********

 So far all was uneventful. There had been no sign of the rock entity
since they had entered the tunnels so Torres's theory was evidently
correct; there was safety in numbers. Riker devoutly wished he could
communicate with the other teams. He reached up to make another mark on
the wall as Joyce and Carter came up out of a fissure they'd been
exploring. "Did you find anything?" he asked.
 "No, Sir."
 "Well, head that way, then," he said, pointing down another tunnel. 
 He turned to his own partner, Lieutenant Bronson. "Let's go this way."
They turned left into a narrow, debris-strewn passage. About twenty meters
along the tunnel widened considerably and they walked on opposite sides,
well within range of each other. A moment later Bronson narrowly avoided
falling into one of the fissures that seemed to be so common in this area
of the tunnel network. He flashed his light downward. "Commander!"
 Riker hurried across the tunnel and followed Bronson's light with his
own. "Savin!" he exclaimed. He sat down and swung his legs over the
edge."Call the others," he said to Bronson.
 In the absence of communicators, the lieutenant resorted to a
time-honored way of summoning a group of people who were not within arm's
reach: he stepped about two meters up the tunnel and shouted. In a few
moments four more people hurried in. Riker, having reached the chasm
floor, dropped to his knees beside the unconscious Vulcan. "Savin," he
said. 
 He felt for a pulse and was relieved beyond measure to feel it strongly
beneath his fingers. "Savin," he called again. He slapped the man's wrists
and patted his cheeks. 
 The lieutenant's eyes opened. He blinked. "Commander?"
 "How are you, Lieutenant?" asked Riker. "Does anything hurt?"
 "No, Sir. At least... I may be a rather bruised, but I feel no indication
of anything more serious."
 "Good." Riker helped the man to sit up. "Sit still for a minute. We don't
want to move you too quickly. You've been unconscious."
 "Sir, if I may ask, how did you find me?"
 "We looked for you, Lieutenant," grinned Riker. "Now, can you tell me how
you got here?"
 Savin recounted the story of his run-in with the rock entity before he
lost consciousness. "It felt like being folded into jelly," he finished.
 "And you have no idea how you came to be here?"
 "None, Sir. If I were folded into the rock, as the evidence of Lieutenant
Bellar and my own brief physical sensation seem to suggest, It is possible
that the entity could have moved me *through* the rock as well, bringing
me here."
 "Yes," said Riker slowly, "we think that's just what it did do.
Lieutenant Jackson was taken as well, and evidently she was moved through
it. She found a way out fairly near here, when she woke up. It must move
very quickly to take you this far and keep you alive."
 He thought a moment. "Why would it have let you go, though?"
 "I do not know its motives, Sir. It is possible that it never intended to
keep me within its grasp, and saw this pit as a convenient place to put
me. There is no precedent for such an occurrence. We therefore have no way
of knowing what it wanted, or even how it operates."
 "But what is it, damn it? What can move rock like that? We're calling it
the rock, but it's not. It's something within the rock."
 "It is possible, Sir, that the rock contains a type of energy which is
causing this effect."
 "Yes, Lieutenant, we thought of that. The only trouble is, we don't know
what kind of energy, and we can't scan down here." Riker found himself
frustrated once again. "Come on, Savin, let's get you out of here."
 With the help of the other team members, they climbed out of the chasm
and paused at the top to let the still-weak Savin rest. Then they
continued out into the larger tunnel. 
 Riker turned to Lieutenants Jones and Takra. "I want you two to take Mr.
Savin back to the mouth of the tunnel system. Have Geordi beam him up to
the ship, then report back to me. Without having to search, that's about a
half hour walk each way, but we need you two here. Savin, you are needed
up there. I want you to have Dr. Selar check you out, then see if you can
be of any use to Mr. LaForge. You've told us all you can and your
first-hand experience may be helpful to Geordi. He's trying to find a way
to get hold of the comm signals. After that, Lieutenant, get some sleep."
He smiled at Savin and clapped him on the shoulder. "Off you go."
 The team split up with Savin and his escort going up, and Riker leading
the three others deeper into the planet.

                                        **********

 Beverly picked her way amongst the rubble on the small cavern's floor.
"Jean-Luc, what if that thing comes back? How will we avoid it? Come to
think of it, why haven't we seen it yet?"
 "I've been thinking about that. Since we haven't seen it since we were
dropped into our respective prisons, from which you so nimbly escaped,
it's possible that it didn't want to keep us, just put us somewhere out of
the way."
 "That doesn't make sense, though. Why would it just drop us into a
convenient chasm and then allow first me, and then both of us, to go
wandering around like this?"
 "I'm not sure. It's possible that it only attacks when one is alone. I
was down here with the away-team for an awfully long time and it never
attacked except when we separated." He shook his head. "That doesn't
explain why it didn't attack when you were walking about alone, though.
I'd really like some answers on this one, Beverly."
 "Me, too," she said, unsuccessfully attempting to suppress a small sigh.
 He glanced over at her and saw that she was looking decidedly dejected.
She must be exhausted, he thought. He cast about for some way to distract
her mind from their current situation.
 "How was the conference?" 
 Beverly backed out of a fissure she was examining in her search for Savin
and stretched her back. "Good, actually. The presentation went over very
well. Everyone seemed to understand what I was talking about. There was
some confusion at first, but they got it. It almost got difficult. Let a
group of scientists once grasp an idea and they immediately have a million
questions you've never even thought of. I was hard put to answer
everything."
 "There, you see. I knew you were worrying needlessly. Congratulations,
Doctor."
 "Thanks. I was really very pleased."
 "I hope you took some time off to relax." Picard ducked under a low
outcropping of rock.
 "I did actually. I spent the time with some old friends. Do you remember
Dr. Jalar'k, the Brodian man? I introduced you when we were at DS2 that
time. He's their CMO."
 "Oh, yes. Tall man. Greenish."
 "That's the one. Well, he was there. It was great to see him. He's
married now."
 "Is he?"
 "Mm hm. I also saw a fellow intern of mine, Dr. Grey. She's from Earth.
Still there, actually."
 "And she came all this way to attend the conference?"
 "Well, she was dragged here by our old tutor Dr. Lucien. He told me that
he insisted she come. He told me it was because he thought she was growing
stale." Beverly's voice took on a melancholy note. "He was right. It was
rather sad, Jean-Luc. She's just lost so much of the freshness and sparkle
she used to have. Not that she's not very vivacious and cheerful, she is.
Just too much so. She's like a child still. I don't think she's aged a day
and on her it comes across as being all wrong."
 "Most people would love to have it said of them that they hadn't aged,"
remarked Picard.
 "Not me." She turned right down a wide passage. "Would you have your
youth back if you could?"
 "Actually, I have in a way. My early youth, that is."
 Beverly chuckled. "I'd forgotten about that."
 "Yes, well, I'm in a unique position to tell you that I wouldn't do it
again. The person I was then and the person I am now are two different
people."
 "Would you do anything differently?"
 "No. I've done that, too, and I didn't like the way it turned out."
 "But if you could change one thing and keep everything else the same,
what would you change?" 
 Picard was silent for a moment and Beverly felt one of her teasing
attacks coming on. It wasn't nice, but she was suddenly, unaccountably
jealous, and said it anyway. "Would you have married Jenice?"
 Picard was silent for a second. "No," he said quietly. 
 "Why not?"
 "For the same reasons I didn't marry her the first time. I have a career
in Starfleet... Besides," he said after a moment, "we would have been
unhappy."
 Now Beverly's curiosity was piqued. She looked over her shoulder at him.
"Why do you say that?"
 "When I left Jenice in Paris," he said slowly, "there were a lot of
things that hadn't happened to me yet. Those things would have gotten in
the way."
 "I suppose for the same reasons, you didn't marry Nella." It was an old
wound and she rubbed it with the perverseness that compels us to revel in
our own unhappiness from time to time.
 "There was never a question of marrying Nella," said the captain,
wondering if this was entirely true. "And yes, there were a lot of things
that would have gotten in the way. A lot of things which in fact, did get
in the way."
 "Such as?"
 "Why the sudden desire to know all the most intimate details of my life,
Beverly?" he asked rather testily.
 "I'm curious."
 He stared at her for a moment and then said deliberately, "I think you
know some of the reasons."
 He was giving her that damn look again. That look that did funny things
to her insides. He's been looking like that a lot more lately, she
thought. Beverly had been asking for it, but as usual the thought that
what one gets is one's own fault was small comfort. She felt profoundly
discomfited to actually hear him say anything of the kind. Why, she asked
herself, did she do things like that? Something told her that she knew
exactly why, but she pushed the thought away and said lightly, "Well,
that's an excellent argument against marriage: you never know what might
happen," she said.
 "Yes," he said thoughtfully.


Chapter 12
*********

 They had been walking forever. In point of fact it was probably about two
hours, but in this difficult environment it felt like a week. Picard
stopped for a moment and stretched. This was not easy terrain. Where he
had been crawling through sloping, but simple tunnels before with the
away-team, he and Beverly were now in tunnels which had cliffs and chasms
added to them. 
 They stopped for a moment. Beverly sat down, sank back against the wall,
and shut her eyes. "Let's just rest a minute, Jean-Luc."
 He sat beside her and turned the torch on its end, between them, the
light shining upward.
 For a little while they were silent, then Beverly said unexpectedly,
"What do you think Wes is doing now?"
 The question caught Picard off guard. "I imagine he's off in some far
corner of the galaxy studying some fascinating people," he said lightly.
 "I miss him."
 "I know you do," Picard said softly.
 They were quiet again until Beverly spoke. "He is my only son, Jean-Luc.
My only child. I may never see him again. His life is so far removed from
mine that I can't even get occasional news of him. I love Starfleet and
what I do, but I sometimes regret that he was never given a real
childhood. He was just taken with me everywhere I went, like a parcel. I
sometimes wonder if he would have made the same choices if his life had
been different."
 "We just said that we would all have made different choices if life had
been different. And as we are now, we wouldn't want to change our pasts,"
he replied.
 "I know, but what if he forgets all about me and I never see him again?"
 "Hey." Picard turned her face toward him to look into her eyes. "Wesley
will not forget about you, Beverly. You are his mother. He will remember
you no matter what plane of existence he is on, and he will love you."
 She reached out and clasped his hand gratefully.

                                       **********

 Picard struggled up over the cliff and dropped, breathless, beside
Beverly. She flopped back against a convenient boulder. "I'm starving,"
she said.
 "Don't start," he snapped. They were both exhausted, not to mention
thirsty. Picard's shoulder throbbed. Tempers were getting rather short.
 "Well, I am. I'm so hungry I could eat fried Cardassian Vole."
 "I could eat Terralian Cricket Pie - no salt," he said, chuckling.
 Beverly laughed. "I could eat Bajoran Lumpas filet with Cardassian
Kampala Sauce!"
 Picard nearly choked from laughing. "I could eat Bregit Lung!"
 "I could eat Gagh!" 
 "Oh! I don't think I can top that one, Doctor, unless possibly with Blood
Worms."
 "Which amounts to the same thing," she said merrily.
 With that they laughed until they could not breathe, and lay gasping for
air on the cavern floor, feeling much better. "Oh, my. We'd better keep
going." He grinned at his companion. "Come on, up we go." He lent his left
hand to help her up, and, still chuckling, they made their way down into
the next tunnel.

                                      **********

 Abblewhite stared into the fissure, trying to see again what she'd just
thought she'd seen. "There," she said quickly, pointing her light at it.
For just a moment Erickson saw it, too. A faint motion in the corner, like
a passing shadow. 
 "What do we do?" he asked. 
 "It won't attack us together. I want to get a sample."
 "What?" Erickson couldn't believe his ears. "You can't get a sample!"
 "Well, I can't get a reading and I want to know what it is," she
whispered. "Dr. Selar said she needed a sample and I'm going to get her
one."
 "And just how do you plan to get a sample?"
 "I'm going to go in there alone. You stand here with a phaser. When it
tries to grab me, fire, then run in. It'll know, however it knows, that
you are there, and it'll go away again."
 "This is nuts! Commander Riker would never let you do this, and I can't
fire! What if I hit you?"
 "Yes, he would. It is for the good of our missing crew. Now come on, we
have to start heading back to the ship soon. Fire accurately."
 "Just how do you intend to get this sample?" asked Erickson, placing a
restraining hand on her arm.
 "I don't really know. Maybe if I just grab at it, some of the plasma will
stay in my hand."
 "Oh, good idea! Grab hold of it and hope an unknown plasma stays in your
hand and doesn't hurt you!"
 "It won't hurt me. Jackson was carried through the rock by it and she's
fine."
 "This is a bad idea."
 Abblewhite pulled rank. "Ensign, I am going in there. I order you to fire
on my mark." 
 She put away her own phaser and took a deep breath. She walked into the
little cave and stood near the wall, her face toward the entrance.
Erickson, around the corner, was out of sight.
 From behind her came huge arm-like extensions of rock. She saw them out
of the corner of her eye. Her hands shot out to either side, grabbing at
the rock as she shouted for Erickson. She felt her hands close over
something gooey and as her partner leapt round the corner, she dropped to
the ground, giving him a clear shot. The rock, stung by the phaser blast,
slipped back and vanished into the wall again. Erickson hurried to help
her up. She stood and cautiously opened her hands. Within them lay a small
amount of a clear, jelly-like substance.


Chapter 13
*********

 Commander Riker scrambled over the last cliff and followed his team to
the mouth of the tunnel. He could not allow himself to look as dejected as
he felt. They had, after all, found Savin this time out, and that was
certainly cause to be pleased. Riker was, in fact, delighted and relieved
to have found the lieutenant, but he desperately wanted to find the
captain and doctor. He brightened slightly when he remembered that they
had been out of communication for a long time. The others may have found
them. 
 They arrived at the tunnel's entrance and found Data waiting, having sent
his team on ahead. "Did you-?" began Riker, but Data's long face told him
the answer. 
 "I have communicated with the _Enterprise_. None of the other teams have
found them either," said the android sadly. "All are up except Lieutenant
Abblewhite's team. They may have found them. No doubt they will be there
in a few moments." He did not sound too hopeful. He tapped his comm badge.
"Data to Enterprise: please beam up Commander Riker's away-team."
 The transporter room took on solid shape in front of Riker. He stepped
down from the pad and turned to his team. "Well done, everyone. Go and get
some rest. We'll reconvene at 0-800 hours."
 Data had materialized behind him and the two senior officers headed for
the observation lounge to meet with the other team leaders. They were just
outside the Turbolift when they heard running feet behind them. They
turned, startled at this breach of ship decorum and saw Lieutenant
Abblewhite sprinting toward them, her blond braid flapping behind her.
"Commander Riker, Commander Data! I've got a sample of the plasma! I have
to get to sickbay!" she shouted.
 "What?" said Riker for the umpteenth time that day. "Well, hurry up,
Lieutenant!" They all rushed into the Turbolift. 
 The lift seemed to take forever, but they were soon in sickbay and Dr.
Selar, called in for the tests, was scraping the plasma off Abblewhite's
hands into a petrie dish. "Wash your hands with this," she said,
replicating a vial of special soap when she was done. "Nurse Perry will
run a scan on you to make sure you have suffered no ill effects."
 Selar returned to Riker and Data. "I will run full diagnostics on this,
Commander," she said to Riker. "It will take about three hours."
 "Thank you, Doctor," he answered. He went over to Abblewhite. "Very well
done, Lieutenant. We all thank you very much. I thank you." He smiled and
Abblewhite grinned back at him. 
 Data cocked his head. Despite his emotion chip, he was still not getting
any better at this human behavior called flirting. He decided he needed to
work on his smile.

                                       **********

 They had been struggling through the tunnels for about six hours now, by
his best estimation. Picard was tiring fast. His shoulder ached and he was
desperately thirsty. He needed to get some water soon. They both did. He
tried not to think about water and so of course, the thought of wine
instantly entered his head. He still had that bottle of the Forty-Seven
Robert had given him. What was it his brother had said? "If possible don't
drink it alone." He'd share it with Beverly one of these days. He opened
his mouth to tell her that and changed his mind. Why make her think of
drinking? She was probably thirstier than he was. She'd been down here
longer. 
 Thinking of the Forty-Seven was a bad idea, too. It made him think about
his brother and his family. There were no more Picards making wine now. He
thought of his 'uncle' Rene. Poor little boy, dreaming of the stars and
adventures. 
 "Penny for your thoughts."
 Picard smiled a little sadly at Beverly's pet phrase. "I was just
thinking about my nephew."
 Beverly waited.
 "He would have been so excited by this particular 'adventure'."
 "Adventure?"
 "Yes, I'd gotten into the habit, you know, of sending him a communique
every few weeks. He loved hearing about what he called my 'adventures'. A
rock monster would be just his cup of tea."
 "He loved you very much, didn't he?"
 "I loved him," said Picard. 
 "I never thought to hear Jean-Luc Picard say he loved a child," said
Beverly gently.
 "Neither did I," he said.

                                      **********

 "Let's rest a minute, Beverly."
 They sat down side by side, their backs braced against the wall. Beverly
adjusted Picard's sling. "How's that feeling?"
 "Fine," he lied, knowing she knew he was lying.
 Beverly's guard had been up all day. Having Jean-Luc this near her in
such stressful circumstances as these was no picnic for her nerves. She
constantly had to watch what she said and did. She could not risk that
look too many times. All her defenses could crumble before it if she
weren't careful. At the moment, however, she was exhausted; so much so
that keeping up her guard was utterly useless. She didn't have the
strength it required. She leaned against his good shoulder in the
darkness, enjoying the solid warmth of the flesh and bone beneath the grey
tunic. 
 Picard adjusted his arm so that he could put it around her shoulders. He
leaned his head on hers and in this manner, sharing warmth and support,
they slept.
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From: prbev@aol.com (PRBev)
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Subject: New TNG Story: If They Be Two ch. 14, 15, and 16
Date: 13 May 1995 04:05:56 -0400
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DISCLAIMER: Paramount has the most toys, Paramount wins. The story is
mine, so don't mess with it, don't sell it, and leave my name attached.
Send all comments to PRBev@aol.com. 

If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason

Chapter 14
*********

 Troi looked round again at the assembly in the observation lounge.
Spirits were certainly improved from yesterday. Despite the rather early
hour, everyone was wide awake and ready to hang on Dr. Selar's every word
as she explained the nature of the plasma inhabiting the rock on Sitaar.
With two of the crew recovered and having now gained some knowledge of
their foe, there was an excellent chance that they would find the captain
and doctor.
 She turned her attention back to Selar. The doctor was ready to begin her
explanation. Geordi and Data, who'd been assisting her, were looking like
the proverbial cats who swallowed the canaries. They obviously had some
marvelous new theory to use in getting Picard and Dr. Crusher back.
 Dr. Selar cleared her throat for attention and tapped the keypad of the
Lounge view screen. A structural diagram of the plasma's energy code
appeared on the screen, revolving slowly to give a three-dimensional view.
"This," said the doctor, "is a diagram of the plasma Lieutenant Abblewhite
retrieved from the tunnels yesterday. After running every possible
diagnostic, I have determined this plasma to contain metascoriac energy."
 "Metascoriac energy?" said Riker.
 "Yes, Commander. Metascoriac energy was first discovered by Dr. Arthur
Blair seventeen years ago when he was studying volcanic disturbances on
Isis, a moon of the planet Horus. While Dr. Blair was examining scoria,
the refuse left by the melting of metals and reduction of ores in the
volcanic processes, he discovered an entirely new phenomenon. The scoria
was actually giving off energy, something inorganic matter is supposed to
be incapable of doing. This energy was capable of consolidating itself
into a kind of plasma, evidently extracted from the materials in the magma
of the volcanoes. Being itself of inorganic compounds, this energy is in
fact capable of manipulating any inorganic matter around it."
 "I remember this, now," said Troi. "There was a great deal of talk about
it at the time. There was some concern that it could be used as a weapon.
Starfleet kept it under wraps until about ten years ago."
 "Yes, Counselor," said Data. "It was eventually determined that the
energy is too unstable to permit its use as a viable weapon. Still, they
have kept tight security control of Isis. This is the first discovery of
metascoriac energy anywhere else." He turned to Riker. "We should contact
Starfleet immediately."
 "We will, Mr. Data, but first, what else do we know about this and how do
we get the doctor and the captain out?" He turned questioningly to Selar.
 "I am not an expert in this field, Commander," said Selar. "In fact, it
took me some time to realize what exactly we are dealing with, but Mr.
Data and Mr. LaForge have done considerable research since I informed them
of my findings last night." She looked to Geordi to continue.
 "Sir, the energy not only comes from scoria, it seems to feed off of it.
It has to have it to survive. If this planet had as much volcanic activity
as we think it did eons ago, there is a lot of the stuff still around.
There's even some current volcanic activity at a minimal level, so there
is still a supply which has the potential to last quite a while. This
energy may not be sentient, but you don't have to be to protect your
source of food. We think that's why it took the crew. We were getting a
bit too near dinner."
 Riker nodded. This was starting to make more sense. "But how does it fold
people into itself, and how does it get them three thousand kilometers
away? More importantly, why? Why take your enemies away and then dump them
somewhere? Why not just kill them?"
 "There is much we do not know yet, Sir. For example we do not know how it
holds on to matter, but it clearly does it somehow. " said Data. "As for
the 'why' of the question, it is possible that the original tunnel system
you explored is close to a high concentration of scoria. Lieutenant
Jackson and Lieutenant Savin were found nearer to the other entrance.
Possibly the energy beings put them over there to remove them from the
site of their food."
 "But why carry them away at all? Why not just kill them, leave them in
the rock?" Riker did not like these suggestions, but they had to be
addressed. 
 "I believe, Sir," Data continued, "that the energy beings may not have
any understanding of killing. It would not be possible to leave bodies in
the rock unless the atomic structure of the bodies were broken down, as
they are in transporting someone. To keep them within the energy being
itself would be very inconvenient for the being."
 "These creatures must move very quickly if they can take someone three
thousand kilometers without the person dying from lack of oxygen,"
remarked Abblewhite.
 "That brings up an interesting point, Lieutenant," said Selar. "The scans
I did of Jackson and Savin show, as we thought they would, that they had
been unconscious for some time. They also showed, however, traces of a
chemical I cannot identify which seeped in through the nasal cavities and
mouth. This seems to have neutralized them, allowing them to remain
without oxygen for some time, and which probably caused them to become
unconscious within seconds after being exposed to it. Your own scans
showed traces of this chemical on your hands, where it would not have
affected you. However, this would not have kept the crew members alive
forever, so it is possible to surmise that the energy beings do indeed
move quickly. I will be... pleased... to inform the scientific community
of this property the plasma possess. It could have many uses in the
medical field." Selar looked nearly excited, as excited as anyone had ever
seen her, anyway.
 "Well, all right. How can we use this information to get the captain and
doctor back?" The ever-practical Riker was interested in this discussion,
but he had more important things on his mind.
 Geordi practically bounced in his seat. "That's where this gets really
exciting, Commander. Even though the energy is fairly unstable, I think it
can be used as a conduit for our comm transmissions. I just have to do a
little reconfiguration and either Data or I will have to go down to
actually install a transceiver in the rock which can link itself to the MS
energy."
 "Get on it, Mr. LaForge! How long until it's ready?"
 "Six-seven hours. We've never tried anything like this before, so it may
give us some trouble."
 "Then let's get moving."
 The gathering broke up as Riker headed to the ready room to call
Starfleet and tell them the news.


Chapter 15
*********

 Beverly woke in the darkness, startled. She felt Jean-Luc's arm about
her, though, and was comforted by his presence. She was concerned about
him and would have liked him to sleep longer, but her movement woke him.
"Are you all right?" he asked at once. 
 "Fine. Go back to sleep."
 He moved his arm from behind her and stretched. "I'd prefer not to," he
said. "My arm's asleep, though."
 She massaged it for him. "How's the other one?"
 "Better now that it's been still a little while." The feeling was
returning to his arm as she rubbed it. "Thank you. I think it's all right
now. I suppose we should get a move on." 
 They staggered to their feet on stiff limbs and stretched. "We're going
to need water soon or we'll become so dehydrated we won't be able to go
any farther," said Beverly. Her voice was beginning to sound gravelly with
the dryness of her throat.
 "Don't worry, Beverly" answered Picard. "Remember, in any difficult
situation it is important to think positively."
 "...think positively." She finished it with him and they both laughed as
they turned into the tunnels once more.

                                       **********

 They had been walking for hours again. The tunnels were growing steadily
steeper and had more cliffs added to them now, as if some malicious fate
was putting them there out of sheer perversity. It was impossibly dark.
Their one torch was beginning to fade a little with its constant use and
the thought of it going out all together made Beverly physically ill. She
eyed it suspiciously.
 "I hate the dark."
 Picard glanced up. "When I was a little boy, my mother would sing to me
at night, and the darkness wouldn't seem so frightening anymore."
 "Are you suggesting we sing something?" she asked incredulously.
 "Actually it works quite well. Do you remember that time the old ship was
hit by that subspace shockwave?"
 "Do I ever!"
 "Well, I was in the lift shaft with those children. They were frightened
and we sang songs to make them feel better."
 "Them?"
 "Well... I felt better, too," he admitted shamefacedly.
 Beverly quirked a smile at him. "And just what do you suggest we sing?"
 Picard thought a moment and then looked wickedly at his companion.   
 "Aupres de ma blonde, qu'il fait bon, fait bon, fait bon
 -Aupres de ma blonde qi'il fait bon dormir"
 
 Beverly's cheeks turned faintly pink in the dimness.
 Picard stopped singing and his expression changed. That look again.
 "Let's go this way," said Beverly quickly, turning left.
 "Beverly."
 "Jean-Luc, let's go this way."
 Picard sighed quietly and followed her.

                                      **********

 Geordi didn't much care for people breathing down his neck when he was
trying to work, but he understood Riker's impatience and tolerated him.
"Data," he said, over Riker's arm, "you got that connection established
yet?"
 "Yes, Geordi. I have a lock on the transceiver circuit."
 "Ok, modulating comm frequencies to the transceiver signal."
 There was a brief moment of tension when they weren't sure it would work.
"Got it! Lock established. Ok, here goes nothin'. Talk away, Commander."
 The _Enterprise's_ communications array was now configured to send its
outside signals to the transceiver Data had installed in the rock This was
just inside the entrance to the cave Dr. Crusher had first entered. Riker
spoke to the computer's comm system, hoping that the metascoriac energy
would act as a conduit through the rock to the comm badges of Dr. Crusher
and the captain. "Riker to Picard: Are you there, captain?" 
 On the Bridge of the _Enterprise-E_, no one breathed. They all strained
their ears listening for a return voice from the planet below. 
 "Enterprise to Dr. Crusher... Enterprise to Picard or Crusher, can you
hear me?"
 He turned to Geordi. "Why isn't this working?"
 "I don't know, Commander." Geordi's fingers flew over the keypad before
him. He stopped and heaved a sigh. "We'll have to try a different
configuration. It'll be another couple of hours, Sir."
 "Mr. LaForge, I don't know that we have another couple of hours. They are
down there with no food or water. They may be injured. We may soon lose
any ability to contact them, because they are unconscious." It wasn't
Geordi's fault, but Riker was mightily disappointed and worrying helped.
 "I'll see what I can do, Commander," said Geordi with dignity.  
 Riker gave him a terse nod that indicated he apologized for seeming to
blame him, which he did not. Geordi grabbed Data and towed him off to
Engineering.


Chapter 16
*********

 "Beverly, if we don't ever leave these tunnels, I would like to say here
and now, thank you."
 "Thank you for what?"
 "Everything."
 Beverly did not like the turn this conversation was taking. She shifted
her position on the floor. "Don't be maudlin, Jean-Luc. Will will have us
out of here eventually."
 "Eventually may not be soon enough." He swallowed, trying to soothe his
parched throat.
 "What happened to the importance of thinking positively?" She sounded
peeved.
 He ignored her tone. "It's still on the books. Only there's an addendum,
which is, always say important things if it becomes necessary. I believe
you yourself have used this addendum before."
 The two of them smiled gently at each other. Beverly swallowed. "You and
I, Jean-Luc, have been friends for a long time."
 "Yes," he said. "Friends."
 She held out her hand and he took it in his own. "Get some sleep," she
said quietly. 

                                        **********

 She was back on board the _Enterprise_, sitting at the table in
Jean-Luc's quarters and eating a plum. She was laughing about something.
He raised his eyes to her with that look that turned her heart over. She
stopped laughing. He got up and slowly walked toward her. He bent his head
and... "Riker to Picard."
 Beverly cursed Riker as she drifted up out of the comfortable chair and
opened her eyes. She'd been much too interested in that dream. Damn
traitorous subconscious! 
 She shifted uncomfortably on the rock floor. "Riker to Crusher."
 She was still dreaming for crying out loud! "Beverly," said Jean-Luc,
"did you hear that?"
 "Hear what?" she asked, disoriented from sleep and lack of sustenance.
 "Enterprise to Picard or Crusher."
 They both heard it this time. It was faint and full of static but it was
there. Picard hit his comm badge so hard it hurt. "Picard here: Will, can
you hear me?"
 "Captain! Sir, are you all right?"
 "We're fine, Number One, just a bit thirsty." The comm link crackled with
static again. 
 "We? You mean you found Dr. Crusher?" 
 "No, she found me." Picard shouted, grinning at his friend. "We haven't
found Lieutenant Savin, though."
 "We found Savin, Sir. He's here and he's fine. We're working on a way to
get you out. We're trying to establish a lock on your badges so we can
figure out where exactly you are. Then we're going to try to drill through
to you. It's not something I want to do, because it may make the
surrounding area unstable, but it seems to be our only option..." The
static crackling took over and then abruptly ceased, along with the sound
of Riker's voice.
 "We lost them," said Beverly.
 "They'll get the link back." Picard smiled happily at Beverly. 

                                      **********

 The feelings of relief and joy on the Bridge knew no bounds. Riker,
grinning from ear to ear, turned to clap the Chief Engineer on the
shoulder. "Did we do it?"
 "I'm afraid not, Commander. We need to reestablish that link so I can
lock on." Geordi and Data looked a trifle downcast.
 "Get on it then, Mr. LaForge," said Riker, feeling too cheerful to worry
about details like comm links.
 "I'm on it, Commander. Come on Data. I need you in Engineering again."

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From: prbev@aol.com (PRBev)
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Subject: New TNG Story: If They Be Two ch. 17, 18, and 19
Date: 13 May 1995 04:10:31 -0400
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DISCLAIMER: Paramount has the most toys, Paramount wins. The story is
mine, so don't mess with it, don't sell it, and leave my name attached.
Send all comments to PRBev@aol.com. 

If They Be Two
Paisley R. Mason

Chapter 17
*********

 "Try that, Data." Geordi turned to the main engineering console and
tapped a few keys. 
 "It is still not working."
 "Darn." Geordi hung over the console, gazing at it as if he could find
inspiration in its shiny surface. Evidently he did, because his fingers
flew suddenly to the keypad again.
 "I am concerned, Geordi."
 "About what, Data?" asked his friend abstractedly.
 "These energy beings. Is it possible that we will injure them by drilling
through the rock?"
 "I don't think so, Data. If they have any kind of survival instincts at
all, though, the second we start drilling they'll get out of the way. I'm
not sure plain old energy is capable of that higher reasoning, though."
 "It is not something I am looking forward to. We may be harming innocent
beings," said the android mournfully.
 Geordi looked up. "Nobody wants to hurt them, Data, but we have to get
the captain and doctor out. The creatures will be fine. Actually, from
what we can tell, the phasers don't bother them at all."
 Data sighed softly. He was very fond of Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher,
but he considered himself the self-appointed guardian of those who had no
voice and were alone in the universe. On occasion this had led him to
directly disobey the captain. However, this time Geordi was right. Even if
the phasers did harm them at all, and there was no indication that they
would, the energy beings, or at least most of them, would live. The
captain and doctor would not, unless they were retrieved from those
tunnels soon. He turned back to the wall display of the emitter arrays.

                                       **********

 Riker strode into engineering. "What have you got, Mr. LaForge?"
 "I think the modifications are going to work, Commander. We should be
able to keep the channel open long enough to get a lock on their signals.
Once we've got that, I've rigged the comm frequencies to tell how far down
they are. Then we can drill down to that level. The sensors should be able
to pick up the signals and pinpoint the corresponding location on the
planet's surface so we know where to drill."
 "Well done, Geordi. How long?"
 "We're ready to go now."
 "Let's do it."
 The three trooped off to the Bridge.

                                        **********

 "I've reestablished the comm link, Sir," said Data. "You are clear to
report to Captain Picard while we attempt to lock onto their signals."
 "Enterprise to Picard: do you read me, Captain?"
 The link was still full of static, but it held. "We're here, Number One.
Can you find our signals?"
 "We're trying. We need to keep talking until we've done so. Are you two
all right?"
 "We're still fine. I have no idea even how close to the surface we are."
 Data's fingers tapped out continuous searches for the comm badges of the
missing crewmen. Normally, the ships sensors would be able to get an
immediate lock on the badges, but, though they could now talk, they could
not find the signals. The voice relays were being carried from energy wave
to energy wave in the rock and the computer, assisted by Data, had to
search through each of those waves in its hunt for the signals.
 A light flashed on the console and Geordi, looking over Data's shoulder,
jumped. "We've got them, keep talking!"
 He darted to the next station and scanned the planet's surface for the
signals the computer sent up. There. "We got it! Here they are!"
 "Are they anywhere near an entrance, Geordi?"
 "No. They're a million miles from anywhere."
 "Captain," said Riker, "we've got a lock and we know your coordinates.
We'll begin drilling soon."
 "Well done, _Enterprise_. Picard out."

                                       **********

 "If we begin drilling here, that should be far enough away from them so
they won't be hurt, yet close enough that they can find it."
 The senior officers were gathered in the observation lounge again,
listening to Geordi's plan of attack for extricating Captain Picard and
Dr. Crusher from the tunnels of Sitaar.
 "Can we be sure the structural integrity of those tunnels will hold,
Geordi?" asked Riker.
 "No, Sir," the engineer said honestly, "but the only other thing would be
to walk them out by tracking their badge signals. It would take too long
to get them to an entrance. This way, at least we only have to track them
to the drill shaft."
 Riker shook his head. "I just wish they weren't so damn far down there.
We could have that option of an entrance, then."
 "How can we be sure they can find the shaft once we do drill? Won't it be
too far away to find easily?" asked Troi.
 "That's what I mean by tracking their signals. It's tricky. If we can
keep a lock on their signals we can tell them to turn left or whatever and
they can follow it as best they can underground until they get to where
they can see the shaft. Trouble is we may lose the comm signal once we
start drilling. That energy is unstable stuff. In that case they'll just
have to find it on their own unless we can reestablish."
 Worf looked up quickly. "You do not think the energy would harm them? It
was outlawed as a weapon because of its instability."
 "I do not think so, Commander," said Data. "It is unstable, but not so
much so that it would explode or otherwise damage them."
 Riker looked around the table for a moment. They all looked concerned,
but reasonably certain. "Let's do it," he said.

                                        **********

 Once again Geordi opened the channels and Riker spoke to the captain.
"Riker to Picard."
 "Picard here."
 "Captain, we're going to start drilling now. We're going to do it at some
distance since we don't want to compromise the structure of the tunnels
you're in. We don't know if you'll be able to tell where we're drilling.
Basically, we're just hoping this works and that we won't lose the channel
altogether. But if we do, Sir, you'll have to try and find the drill shaft
on your own until we can reestablish.
 "Very good, Number One. We'll be ready. Picard out."
 On the Bridge, Riker turned to Geordi and gave the signal to begin firing
phasers.


Chapter 18
*********

 After a little while, the captain and doctor could here the noise
faintly. It grew louder in the silence until it was a whine. It was
distant, so they must be drilling quite far away, but the sound was there,
and reassuring to the two people alone in the tunnels.
 The noise ended abruptly. They waited for the sound of Riker's voice.
Picard tapped his badge. "Picard to Enterprise."
 "This is the captain, do you read me?" There was not so much as a
crackle.
 "Enterprise please respond." He sighed and turned to Beverly. "Well, I
guess we're on our own again. Come on."
 It was difficult to tell where sound originated in these echoing tunnels,
but they judged it as best they could and started off.

                                      **********

 Beverly turned her head with a little gasp. "Did you see that?"
 "See what?"
 "That little movement. I just caught it out of the corner of my eye...
Never mind. Probably just a shadow."
 "Beverly, don't start seeing things now," Picard teased. "We're almost
there."
 Beverly shook her head. "I've been down here way too long. I'll start
thinking you're a rock monster next."
 Picard gave a mock evil laugh. "Careful. I might carry you away, Doctor."
 Beverly scowled at him. Couldn't she say anything anymore without
wondering how he might interpret it to her discomfiture?
 Picard had the grace to look a little ashamed of himself. They came to a
branch in the tunnel and he stopped. 
 "Which way?" she asked.
 "Here." 
 She, holding the light, went first. She didn't notice when he turned to
look over his shoulder, catching a movement out of his peripheral vision.
It was nothing, he decided. He turned around to follow her. She was around
a bend in the tunnel. 
 Beverly heard the deafening roar of falling rocks and jumped. She whirled
around. "Jean-Luc!" He was not behind her and she fairly flew round the
corner, terrified of what she might find. She careened into him as they
both rounded the turn running. "Jean-Luc!" She flung her arms round him,
nearly crushing him in her joy to find him still alive.
 "Are you all right?" She looked him over worriedly.
 "I'm fine. It appears that we are getting near the drill sight. The walls
are becoming unstable." 
 She looked behind him at the rubble-strewn floor. "Are you sure you're
all right? What happened?"
 "I was just walking along and the rocks fell. It's a good thing I heard
them first."
 "Here, you've cut yourself." She examined the small wound on the back of
his head. 
 "I'm a