Klingon Hearts 06 Battles - The Ones You Lose Read online

  Thanks to Marianne, Michele and Junior for the beta reading. Special thanks to Marianne and Michele for the endless story bouncing that helped me get this one done.

  Rated PG-13 for some suggestive scenes.

  As always, they belong to Paramount. Except for K'Leena, Lucas, Kyle and Robbie.

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  Klingon Hearts--Enterprise

  Battles--The Ones You Lose

  by: Tracy L. Sobieski

  "Oh, hell!" Commander Tom Paris swore vehemently. "Red Alert! All hands to battle stations! Captain to the bridge!"

  "What's the matter, Helmboy? Aren't you happy to see me?"

  Tom glared at the female Q. He didn't need this today. Half the ship's systems were down due to the gel-pack conversion, Command was all over him because of the incident with the Zularians and B'Elanna was still mad about the damn t-shirt.

  Tom Paris had one hell of a headache. He was in no mood for Q-games.

  Captain Riker stalked out of his ready room. "Who the hell are you?!" he barked at the stunning woman sprawled in his chair.

  The statuesque red-head wore a Starfleet uniform and a wicked smile. Raising an eyebrow she stood up slowly.

  "I see Q wasn't exaggerating for once in his miserable existence...," she said imperiously. "You -are- more annoying than Helmboy here. If I didn't have more important matters to deal with this could almost be fun."

  "Well," Tom drawled, crossing his arms in front of him and leaning back against the console. "Don't let us keep you from your hair appointment."

  Riker struggled to keep the grin off his face. Leave it to Paris to insult a Q.

  With careful deliberation she turned back to Tom. "I do so enjoy your company, Blue-eyes," Q replied with an evil smile. "Where is that charming wife of yours, by the way?"

  The Commander's eyes narrowed. "Are you here for a reason? Or is this a social visit? Because my schedule is pretty full this week. Maybe I can squeeze you in sometime later next month?"

  Will groaned silently. This is it. We're all going to die because my first officer is a smart ass.

  The Q threw her head back and laughed, much to Riker's surprise. She glanced over at the captain.

  "Staff meeting, boys," she chuckled gleefully and snapped her fingers.

  An instant later the entire Senior Staff was seated around the Briefing Room table. Q had commandeered the captain's regular spot.

  B'Elanna bolted out of her chair in shock.

  "What the hell...?"

  "Settle down, my dear," the Q told her in a bored, condescending tone. "This won't take but a minute."

  Tom cringed inwardly when B'Elanna took a step toward their uninvited guest.

  "I should have known," the chief engineer sighed dramatically. "What's the matter? Q run off with a younger, prettier omnipotent and leave you home alone?"

  >

  Commander Torres turned to her husband, her face one of complete innocence.

  "What?"

  "Enough!" Captain Riker exploded. "Commander, sit down!" Will waited for B'Elanna to reseat herself before continuing. "What is going on?"

  "I'm here to deliver a message," Q told them.

  "A message?" Tom almost snorted. Things were never that simple with the Q.

  Will silenced his first officer with a look.

  "What kind of message?" The captain asked.

  "A warning," she replied. "Things are not as they appear. Lives are at stake and reality as you know it is in danger."

  "Well, that's rather cryptic," Deanna Troi said, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning back in her chair.

  Q met her intense, searching gaze with mocking arrogance.

  "Be careful where you tread, little empath. I might just let you in," she warned ominously.

  Riker stiffened at the veiled threat to his wife. "Back off, Counselor," he instructed her tersely.

  "What's in this for you?" B'Elanna demanded. "What are you getting out of 'helping' us?"

  "Personally, I could care less," she told them honestly. "But the Continuum feels it owes you. It's a repayment of an old debt."

  "So," Tom began thoughtfully. "You're warning us out of the goodness of your heart?" He didn't believe it for a micro-second.

  "Listen, Helmboy," the Q drawled lazily. "I don't much care what you believe. I'm here to deliver a message. Take heed, this is not a game. If you don't understand what is happening, it will be over before you know it and then -nothing- can help you."

  "All right then," Will said calmly. "What's your message?"

  Glancing down the length of the table, her gaze came to rest on Tom.

  "When evil lurks and darkness reigns, it will be the new generation that will save you. Don't let your narrow minds blind you to what -must- be done. All will be lost if they cannot fulfill their destiny."

  "That's it?!" Tom demanded. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

  "When the time comes, you will know."

  With a brilliant flash, she was gone and they were all back at their duty stations.

  Will turned to his first officer. "Do you believe her?"

  "Hell, no," Tom told him without pause. "A compassionate Q? Not a chance. I think the warning was genuine, but I don't buy her motives. Something more is going on here. I'd bet my life on it."

  Will nodded in agreement.

  *****

  "Sir," the helmsman called to the captain. "We're picking up a distress signal. On an encoded Federation phased carrier wave. I've never seen this type of configuration before, Captain."

  Riker looked up from the PADD he was reading. "An encoded carrier wave?"

  "Yes, sir."

  Tom stood up and walked to the Science Station with Riker fast on his heels. When he pulled up the signal, his breath caught.

  "I'll be damned," Tom whispered to himself.

  "Son of a...," Riker bit off the rest of the expletive as he looked over Paris' shoulder.

  "Helm, set an intercept course," Will commanded. "Warp eight."

  "Course set, Sir."

  "Engage."

  Captain Riker turned to his first officer. "My Ready Room," he ordered as he turned on his heel, heading for his office.

  Tom hesitated for a moment, then followed with resignation.

  Will gestured for Tom to take the seat across from his desk before taking his chair.

  "You have something you want to tell me, Commander," he asked.

  Tom groaned silently. "No, Sir."

  Will leaned back in his chair, silently viewing his first officer for a long, tense moment.

  "There was a time," Riker began thoughtfully. "When a former captain of mine put me in a very difficult position with Captain Picard. I made the wrong choice when push came to shove. I hope you don't make the same mistake I did, Commander. So, I'll ask again. Is there something I should know?"

  Tom met Will's gaze head on. "I'm not a liberty to say, Captain." Damn, he hated this, but he had no choice.

  Riker let the tension in the room stretch a little more before he surprised Tom and smiled broadly.

  "Computer," Riker called out. "Recognize authorization Riker: Alpha Team, one, one, four."

  Paris' head snapped back in surprise.

  --Authorization recognized.--

  "Identify the other occupant in this room with me and list his Alpha Team status," Will instructed the computer.

  --Thomas Eugene Paris. Commander. Federation Starship Enterprise. Alpha Team, status: inactive.--

  Will smiled broadly over the top of his desk.

  "So, Commander Paris, how long have they ha
d you?"

  Tom shook his head, returned the grin.

  "About fifteen years too long, I'd say. You?"

  Will grimaced. "More than twenty now."

  "That signal is coming from deep in Cardie space. Could it be a trap?" Tom asked.

  "I doubt it's a trap. Alpha Team has used that signal in emergency situations for years and it's never been compromised. There aren't that many ships that can even detect the damn thing, it's encoded so specifically. The only reason the Enterprise can is because I'm her captain."

  Tom nodded. "Agreed. We've got an agent in trouble."

  Will informed Command of the distress signal and updated their status to search and rescue. It wasn't a half hour later when the Enterprise was hailed by Fleet Admiral Dyneb.

  Captain Riker took the priority one message in his Ready Room.

  "You are ordered to halt present course, Captain, and return to your previous position and status," he was told.

  "Pardon me, Sir," Riker replied. "But we are pursuing a -distress- call. I can't stand down."

  "I'm not asking, Captain Riker. I'm ordering."

  Will gritted his teeth. "Can you, at least, give me a reason?"

  "You're chasing an echo not a distress call, Captain Riker. There is no need to waste Federation resources on a pointless search and rescue."

  "An echo," Will repeated grimly. "Very well, Sir. The Enterprise will stand down and return to her prior position."

  When the Captain stalked out of his Ready Room, Paris stood up from the command chair with an eyebrow raised high.

  "Captain?" he asked.

  "Commander," Riker replied grimly. "We've been ordered to stand down and return to our assignment."

  Tom viewed Will thoughtfully for a long moment.

  "I'm afraid that's not possible, Sir," he informed his Captain with a casual tone that belied the glint in his eye. "We are experiencing a cascade failure in the Nav Control due to the gel-pak conversion. Engineering needs us to maintain present course and heading to correct the problem."

  "Hmm," Will sat down slowly. "For how long, Commander?"

  "Oh, at least eight hours, Sir."

  "Very well," Riker picked up a PADD and viewed it nonchalantly. "Inform Command of our status, Commander."

  "I'll notify Command as soon as the cascade failure in the Communications system is fixed, Captain."

  "Very good, Commander Paris."

  Two decks down, Counselor Deanna Troi paced around her office in frustration. She'd cancelled all her appointments for the day. Deanna was so distracted she couldn't concentrate on her patients. Even though she was 'technically' still on maternity leave, she was coming in to see patients a couple of hours a day.

  Something wasn't right. Something so out of place it just wouldn't leave her alone. A feeling. A sensation that just shouldn't be there.

  There. She felt it again. Familiar but different. Calling to her. Touching her mind. Closer. She knew this. She'd felt this before. It was -familiar-....

  "Tom," she whispered.

  Will was on the bridge, leaning over a science station console when she arrived.

  "Counselor?" he glanced up at her. "Is something wrong?"

  "Can I speak to you...privately?" she asked.

  Will nodded and followed her into his Ready Room.

  "You okay?" he wanted to know the minute they were alone.

  "I'm fine," she assured him. "What's going on up here?"

  "Why do you ask?" Will turned his back to her, making a pretense of straightening out the computer interface on his desk.

  Deanna's eyes narrowed. "Don't play coy with me, Will Riker. Why are we in Cardassian space...and why am I sensing Tom's presence?"

  "Tom?" Will's head jerked around suddenly. "Are you sure?"

  She crossed her arms in front of herself. "It's pretty hard to miss. One of you is difficult enough to ignore. Two of you is impossible."

  Will pulled a tired hand over his face. "Damn!"

  "What?" she demanded.

  "We picked up a distress call earlier, deep inside Cardassian space. Once Command learned we were going to investigate, Admiral Dyneb couldn't contact me fast enough to order the Enterprise to stand down and return to our prior coordinates."

  "So, naturally," she drawled. "We're still in Cardassian space headed for the source of the signal."

  He had the grace to give her a sheepish grin.

  "Why do I get the feeling you're leaving something out, here?" his wife wanted to know.

  "I have no idea."

  "You're impossible," Deanna grumbled as the comm system crackled to life.

  --Paris to Riker. We've arrived at the coordinates, Captain.--

  "Acknowledged. On my way. Riker out." Will looked at Deanna sharply for a moment. "Do me a favor?" he asked.

  "Anything."

  "Take the rest of the day off. Get the boys from the nursery and go home, you look like hell."

  "Gee, thanks, honey," she drawled with an angry glint in her eye. "All these compliments are going to go to my head."

  Will sighed. "I didn't want you going back to work this soon to begin with. Neither did Dr. Bashir."

  "It's just a couple of days a week."

  "And you're exhausted. Admit it, Deanna."

  "All new mothers are tired," she said defensively.

  "Most new mothers are a little bit younger than you, too." The second the words left his mouth, he knew he'd pay for that.

  Deanna froze, her hands planted firmly on her hips. "So, now I'm too -old- as well?!"

  "Dammit!" he swore harshly. "That's not what I meant, and you know it! The pregnancy wasn't easy, Deanna. Neither was the delivery. I just want you to take time to fully recover . Didn't you learn anything after Lucas?"

  Her eyes widened. "What do you mean?" she bluffed.

  Will's expression hardened. "Just because you weren't here, doesn't mean I didn't know what was going on," he told her pointedly. "I received weekly reports from Reg after Voyager got home and you were temporarily assigned to Pathfinder. I know everything, Deanna."

  "You never said anything."

  Will shrugged. "It wasn't my place. We were separated."

  "But checking up on me was?"

  "You were still my wife, legally. The mother of my son. It was my responsibility to keep you safe. It still is."

  "That was an entirely different situation," she told him. "It was only a week after I had Lucas that I took that assignment. Kyle is almost two months old."

  "Deanna, I don't care if you want to start back to work a little at a time. I just want you to recognize when you've done too much and rest when you need it. What is so damned unreasonable about that?!"

  That deflated her anger a little. She grimaced. "Sorry. You're right. I am tired."

  Will smiled. "Then you'll take the rest of the day off?"

  "Yes," she nodded. "But just today."

  "How about we talk more later," he suggested, his hand reaching out to cup her cheek. "I need to get down to the surface and...."

  "You shouldn't go on the away mission," she reminded him. "The captain's place is on the bridge."

  His hand fell away and he took a step back.

  "I have to go," he said simply. "That's my brother down there."

  "Commander Paris will fight you tooth and nail on this," she warned.

  Will smiled arrogantly. "He always does, but I'm still going."

  She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him swiftly. "Don't do anything stupid down there, Riker."

  "Nothing stupid. I promise." He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Now, get out of here." He pushed her toward the door. She nodded and left his ready room.

  Will waited a moment then strode purposefully onto the bridge.

  "Away team assembled?" he asked his XO.

  Tom nodded. "We're ready to go."

  Riker gestured to the turbolift. "Lead the way, Commander."

  Paris' eyes widened. "You're not...."

 
"Going with you? Yes, Commander, I am." There was steel in the captain's voice.