The USS Stargazer was on a routine mission when it detected intermittent signals from an unknown source.

“Captain Picard, I have something randomly appearing on sensors.” The ensign at the science station said from the back of the bridge.

“Can you localize it?” Picard asked as he stood to go over to the station.

“I've run several algorithms and nothing is coming up, sir.”

“Hmm. That's interesting.” Picard said and rubbed his chin as he thought about it. “Helm, change course by ten degrees and bring us to low impulse.” He said and nodded at the ensign. “Perhaps the change in telemetry will let you narrow the search area for the signal.”

The ensign nodded and waited for the ship to change course and sent out another scan with a different search pattern. “Yes!” She exclaimed and then coughed to cover her enthusiasm.

Picard smiled at her. “It's all right to be excited. We are potentially discovering something new.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” The ensign said and blushed as she quickly brought up the information she had just found.

“It kind of looks like a life pod of some unknown design.” Commander Crusher said as he came over to look at the readings.

“I'm not detecting any life signs.” The ensign said and then she frowned. “Actually, I'm not getting any readings at all from the structure.”

“Oh?” Picard leaned down to get a closer look. “Did you try a multi-phasic scan?”

“Only the basic passive one, sir. Initiating the direct scan now.”

The three of them waited for nearly thirty seconds and then they were surprised when nothing penetrated the hull of whatever it was.

“Now that is interesting.” Picard said and crossed his arms. “Commander, any thoughts?”

“According to the readings, it's adrift in space.” Crusher said. “If there is anyone alive inside, they're either trapped or stranded.”

“If no one is alive, then we have a different mystery to investigate.” Picard said with a nod.

“Should we beam it aboard?” Crusher asked and let some concern show in his voice. “If it's an ancient missile or some kind of space mine, it will need to be contained and defused.”

“You're thinking the scans it repulsed tell us that it's hiding something?” Picard asked and Crusher nodded. “If that's the case, then beaming it over might activate it, whatever it is.”

“Or disrupt the power flow.” Crusher said. “Tractor beam or shuttle inspection?”

“Shuttle first, then tractor.” Picard said and walked towards the turbolift. “You have the bridge. Coordinate with the shuttlebay.”

“Yes, sir.” Crusher said and went to sit in the captain's chair and hit the intercom button. “Bridge to Shuttle Bay One...”

*

“Well, isn't that the damnedest thing.” The chief engineer said as he looked at his modified scanner readout on his helmet visor. “Everything's bouncing off of the metal, sir.”

Picard floated around the object and thought he figured out where the front of it was. He could also see a peppering of indents on the tarnished gold metal with several holes intermixed between them.

“Have you scanned this side to see if the holes allow scans to penetrate?” Picard asked.

“Those are micro-meteorite impacts and the scans can't penetrate past the holes themselves, as if the metal is repelling any attempt to scan it.” The engineer said. “Whatever this thing went through, I'm really surprised it's still intact.”

“I don't see any signs of propulsion.” Picard said and moved to what he thought of as the back. “I don't see any impulse exhausts that every known small craft has.”

“They could be retracted or covered up when not in use.” The engineer said. “It's not warp capable either, assuming you could squeeze a warp drive into something this small.”

“Or this thing uses something we haven't seen before.” Picard said. “You're not picking up any radiation or anything from it?”

“It's completely inert.” The engineer said. “Of course, I'm assuming that signals can still come from inside the thing when we can't get anything through from the outside.”

Picard nodded at that. The life pod or life capsule was a puzzle that he couldn't figure out. Nothing he had ever encountered had been this difficult to detect. “I think we've investigated as much as we can in space. We need to use a tractor beam on it for a moment and see if it reacts. If it doesn't, we can haul it into the shuttle bay.”

“Yes, sir.” The engineer said and they both backed off as he told the shuttle pilot to try the tractor beam for one second and to cut the power. The blue light shot out of the back of the shuttle and hit the life pod for one second and then disengaged. Nothing happened.

“Any readings or fluctuations?” Picard asked.

“None, sir. It's still completely inert.” The engineer responded.

“Then let's get this thing inside.” Picard said and they retreated to the comfort of the shuttle to remove their space suits as the pilot used the tractor beam to haul the life pod back to the ship.

*

“It's been a week, Commander Crusher.” Picard said as he entered the mechanical engineering bay where the life pod was being studied. “What do you have for me?”

“A whole lot of nothing, Captain.” Crusher said with a chuckle.

Picard shook his head at his friend's sense of humor. “What have you tried to do to open it?”

“Everything. Hand phasers on low to maximum, phaser rifles, cutting tools, plasma torches, industrial cutting lasers, impact shears, and I even looked at the database for ancient tools and used something called a jackhammer.” Crusher said and shook his hands as if reliving the experience. “Boy, was that a bad idea!”

Picard had to smile at that. “No change?”

“Nothing. The readings are all completely flat-line. I even tried kicking the thing.” Crusher said and then laughed. “Beverly cursed at me for an hour for being so stupid.”

Picard's smile grew. “How many toes did you break?”

“Only three.” Crusher said with a grin.

“You're lucky we're ending our current deployment soon. You need to spend some time with her.”

“It's not my fault you roped me into another deployment right after my wedding. No, wait. It is.” Crusher said and Picard almost laughed. “Thanks for getting her assigned as a temporary medical crew officer this time.”

“It's the least I could do for my friend.” Picard said and looked at the pod. “We've put enough of our efforts into this thing for now. We can drop it off at Starfleet's Research and Development Division back on Earth when we stop for the refit. Maybe they can come up with something to crack it open.”

“I would like to request that they keep me informed when they do.” Crusher said, almost with a pleading tone in his voice. “I'm really curious about what could be inside it that it was made to be nearly impenetrable.”

Picard nodded in agreement and left while Crusher packed up all of the tools and things he had used to work on the life pod.

*

“Why are we riding with this thing again?” Beverly Crusher asked her husband while they rode inside a cargo shuttle as it descended through Earth's atmosphere. The life pod seemed a lot larger in the much smaller space behind them.

“Captain Picard asked me to ferry the thing to Starfleet R&D.” Jack Crusher said to his wife. “Since we were going home anyway and I am the most senior officer on the ship...”

Beverly sighed. “You have to stop sucking up to him.”

Jack laughed. “Honey, it's not sucking up. I'm doing him a favor.”

“It's sucking up and giving him the idea that you'll do anything he asks of you.” Beverly said.

“Well... I kind of would.” Jack said and she glared at him. “What? I'm not going to tell my commanding officer 'no' all of the time, am I?”

Beverly sighed again as the shuttle stopped rocking from atmospheric turbulence. “At least the ship is going to be in refit for the next two months and we can finally go on our honeymoon.”

“I'm looking forward to it as much as you are.” Jack said and saw her disbelieving look. “I am! I'm not suffering from space fever!”

“You keep telling yourself that.” Beverly said with a smirk and he laughed.

Twenty minutes later, Jack brought the cargo shuttle to a safe landing at the designated landing pad he had been assigned. He shut everything down and stood up to look at the life pod.

“Well, it's been fun playing with you; but, our time together has come to an end.” Jack said and pat the front of the pod. As soon as his hand touched the surface, a hum started and a second later, grew loud in the shuttle. “Uh oh.”

“Jack, what is it?” Beverly asked just as a seam opened in the front of the pod and a blast of stale air hit her and Jack in the face. She dropped her medical bag and started coughing from the stench. As a medical professional, she knew the smell of someone being dirty from urinating and wallowing in that filth.

Jack was gagging and had to stop himself from throwing up. “Oh, god. What... what...”

They both watched as the front of the pod lifted up on invisible hinges and revealed a one year old baby. Its skin was a sickly yellow in color and it had an air breather over its face with a feeding tube in its throat.

Beverly reacted immediately and hit her communication badge. “Medical emergency! Infant suffering from prolonged stasis and the failure of that stasis!” She nearly shouted as she lifted the apparently not-functioning air breather from the child's face and carefully pulled the feeding tube from its throat, only for a gush of liquid to come out of the tube.

She plucked the baby out from the large puddle of filth the child was in and ignored the mess it was making of her own clothing as she cradled the child on one arm with its face pointing down.

“The transporter can't lock onto your signal.” A voice said from her com badge.

“Dammit!” Beverly shouted and slapped her hand firmly across the child's back. “Come on, breathe!”

“Beverly, what...”

“The pod's interfering with the signal!” Beverly said and rubbed the child's back and listened for breathing sounds, then she slapped the baby's back again as she used her other hand to dig into the child's mouth. “When we entered the atmosphere, the stasis field or whatever it was must have failed. The damage the pod suffered probably caused the breather to malfunction and the feed tube to overflow and fill the baby's stomach and lungs!”

The child made a choking sound and then a large amount of whitish liquid came out of its mouth as it threw up. Beverly massaged the child's back and then slapped it hard again. More liquid came out, much more than should have fit inside something so small, and the child made two more coughing sounds before it started to cry.

Beverly almost cried herself from relief as she turned the child over to examine it and the child's bright blue eyes were filled with tears and locked onto hers. “Shh. It's okay, now. It's okay.” She said and hugged the child. “I can only hope that there's no brain damage from lack of oxygen.”

“We did take a long flight down.” Jack said, worry in his voice.

“His eyes are clear.” Beverly said, relieved when the child stopped crying and kept staring at her. “I won't know if there's any permanent damage until I examine...”

The shuttle's doors opened and a three person medical team rushed inside, hit the smell, and gagged.

“Thank you. I've got this.” Beverly said to the medical team and walked over to the closest door.

Jack followed her closely and warned people about approaching the opened pod because of the smell.

“The poor thing's body was trying to compensate by expelling the liquid in the only way it could.” Beverly commented.

“Through his kidneys and bowels.” Jack said in understanding. “Do you think he'll be okay using a sonic shower?”

Beverly shook her head. “We can't take the chance with the vibrations so soon after that. It could cause unforeseen medical problems.”

Jack nodded and used his com badge to contact security and the Starfleet research team that was to take the life pod. He warned them about the condition of the pod and what came out of it. Their responses would have been funny if they hadn't just experienced what they experienced.

Beverly didn't say anything about their reaction to having a living being inside the thing and about it finally opening. She walked into the closest medical bay instead and started barking orders. The other medical officers complied, even though she was only a low ranked officer, because they all respected a command voice when they heard it.

The baby was quickly washed and cleaned up with actual water before it was changed and was placed onto a small medical bio-bed.

“Get me any scans you can on that ship. I need a species classification to apply the proper medical procedures.” Beverly said to her husband as she quickly changed out of her soiled uniform and into medical scrubs.

“Honey, that's going to be difficult. We don't even have a trajectory to trace it back to its origin.” Jack cautioned his wife. “It was drifting for an unknown amount of time. In fact, it could have been out there for hundreds of years and we would never know.”

Beverly sighed and nodded as she walked over to the bio-bed. She looked down at the baby and it stared up at her. “Well, it looks like I'll be using a baseline human as a basis for treatment. How does that sound to you, cutie?”

The baby giggled and waved its arms around, which made her smile.

“Here's a medical tricorder.” An assistant said as she handed it to her. “Base scans are having a difficult time registering anything inside the bio-bed.”

Beverly didn't let her frustration show as she used the medical tricorder to start taking readings. “You cute little thing! You're as difficult to read with scans as your ship is! Yes, you are!”

The baby kept laughing and she reached down to tickle it under the chin to keep it distracted as she increased the signal strength of her device. She had to place the thing directly onto the baby's skin to get any readings at all. When she did, she sucked in a sharp breath.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“I know why the scans are having so much trouble.” Beverly said and hit several buttons on the tricorder.

“Well? Don't keep me in the dark.” Jack said and looked at the readings. They looked normal to him.

“The baby's molecular density is about a thousand times higher than ours.” Beverly said and the other medical officers gasped. “If his basic biology is that dense, I can only imagine what the metal from the same planet is like.”

Jack was shocked. He couldn't fathom what that kind of metal could do to modern ships if it impacted it. In fact, if the Stargazer hadn't altered course to get another reading, they could have run into the thing and wouldn't have known what happened.

“I expect this baby to be extremely strong when he starts to develop his muscular structure.” Beverly said and ran her hand through the baby's soft dark curls of hair. “You are going to make a huge splash when you are older, aren't you?”

The baby giggled and reached for her hand.

“NO!” Jack yelled and tried to pull Beverly's hand out of the baby's grip, only to be surprised that he couldn't.

Beverly only smiled at the baby as it held on without hurting her. “You understand, don't you? Not to grab too hard because we are so much softer than you.”

The baby giggled again and lifted her hand to stare at it. Beverly wiggled her fingers to make the baby laugh and it let go, so she tickled the baby's belly and it laughed and laughed.

Jack let out a relieved sigh and walked over to the chair at the side of the room and sat down. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Get me those scans. As many as you can. We need more information before we can make any kind of decisions about it.” Beverly said and gave her husband a searching look. “You should contact Starfleet Command as well and let them know that the federation has a brand new citizen.”

Jack blinked his eyes for a moment. “Beverly, you can't be thinking what I think you're thinking.”

“We found him, Jack. I saved his life.” Beverly turned back to look at the baby. “I won't just hand him over to some random stranger and then hope he's treated right while only getting occasional updates about him.”

Jack sighed and stood up. “You know we might not have a choice about that.”

“What's that old saying? Finder's keepers?” Beverly asked. “Your ship found the pod, you worked on it for weeks, and then opened it. I'd say that gives you more right to what's inside than anyone else in Starfleet, wouldn't you? Except for this little guy right here!” She said. “Coochie coo!”

Jack nodded as the baby laughed. “I'll call and change our honeymoon plans as well.”

“Don't bother.” Beverly said and picked up the baby. “I think we can get this whole thing settled before we planned to leave next week.”

“What are we going to do with him?” Jack asked, slightly confused.

“We take him along, of course.” Beverly said and started to walk around to show different things to the baby. “Just because we have a child now, it shouldn't change what we do from now on.”

Jack shook his head. “I know you're eager to start a family...”

“I still am.” Beverly said and held up a shiny tool for the baby to giggle over. “We're just getting an early start with little Calvin.”

“Ugh. Really? Calvin Crusher?”

“You can name our second child.” Beverly said with a smile. “Assuming it's not a stupid name.”

Jack sighed and walked over to the door. “I'll let you know what I find out at R&D.”

“Thank you, Jack.” Beverly said and gave him a nod.

Jack knew she was thanking him for not fighting her about the baby, so he walked over to give her a one arm hug and then kissed her. The baby giggled and slapped Jack's cheek and pushed him away.

Beverly laughed at her husband's shocked look and kissed the baby's cheek. “Don't be jealous, Calvin. I've got enough kisses for the both of you.”

The baby giggled again and Jack shook his head before he left.

*

Surprisingly, Starfleet didn't fight against the Crushers adopting the child. They even made all of their research into the now opened life pod available to the both of them. Beverly did everything she could to work out what species her son was and she shared any new information with Starfleet as well.

Jack Crusher deployed for another six month stint on the USS Stargazer after their honeymoon and Beverly stayed on Earth with her son. They had agreed before getting married that one of them would take several years off when a child was brought into their family, mainly to raise them on a planetary surface and not in space. Nothing beat having fresh air and actual sunshine for a healthy childhood.

Beverly saw how rambunctious Calvin was and recorded all of her observations. As far as she was concerned, his species seemed to be completely humanoid and could pass for a human from Earth, except for the fact that his dense molecular structure gave him certain abilities. She noted his excessive strength, even as the baby waddled around faster than any child she had ever seen.

She was also grateful that replicating replacement toys was almost instantaneous as the baby crushed them, sometimes for fun. To her surprise, he almost never cried, even when he fell down or banged into the furniture. He would just giggle and keep going, which gave her nerves and heart a trying time, to say the least.

*

The years passed by as the baby grew up and Calvin became a handsome young man of twelve when his parents had another child. This time, both Beverly and Jack took time off from working for Starfeet for two years to bond with the new baby named Wesley and to take care of Calvin.

This was fortuitous, because Jack wasn't present when the USS Stargazer was on an away mission where Captain Picard rescued a crew member and his replacement first officer was lost.

Jack immediately filed for a transfer from spaceship command to ground-side command. He wasn't going to ignore the fact that he would have been dead if he hadn't taken the time off to take care of his growing family.

To say that Beverly was relieved about the whole thing was an understatement. If it was up to her, she would have her husband at home all of the time and not just during his downtime. They both liked to work and keep busy, however. So, she was content with just having her family planet-side with her.

Both of their careers were steadily progressing, even planet-bound like they were. Their first child was also much smarter than them and excelled at his studies. Calvin was already well past all of his classmates and because of the achievement system in place, no one resented him as he advanced.

Calvin was humble about the whole thing and didn't rub it in anyone's faces that he was so smart. That he could move his hands faster than people could see and complete tests almost instantly was vexing for his teachers, though. After a few false accusations of him cheating, they accepted that he was just that good.

Two years later, the USS Stargazer was in an altercation with an unknown vessel and it was heavily damaged. Captain Picard performed a feat that would become known as 'The Picard Manoeuvre' and saved the crew from certain death by destroying the enemy ship. Unfortunately, the Stargazer had to be abandoned. They didn't want it to fall into enemy hands, so the self-destruct was executed.

Both Jack and Beverly were relieved to have been nowhere near the ship that seemed to have become a trouble magnet.

Calvin's grades were noticed by Starfleet and he was given the Starfleet Academy entrance exam a full two years early. He was fourteen and looked several years older, thanks to his mother's insistence that he eat twice as much as everyone else. His metabolism was much higher than a normal person's and his growing body needed the extra fuel.

Needless to say, Calvin passed the exam with perfect marks. Even the stress test that measured a cadet's composure and command decisions was easy for him. When given a choice of who to save when in a life-threatening situation, he used his immense strength and speed to save both. Also, because of his mother's medical knowledge that he had acquired over the years, he even performed the appropriate field medical services on both injured people.

“I can honestly say that hasn't happened before.” The test commander commented as he entered the simulation and everyone dusted themselves off and stood. “Potential Cadet Crusher, how did you do that?”

“My mother trained me to use my abilities for years.” Calvin said, proudly. “She's the chief medical officer at Starfleet Medical.”

“Beverly Crusher?” The man asked and Calvin nodded. “That explains a lot.”

“My dad's the security commander for Starfleet Headquarters in Paris, too.”

The test commander laughed. “All right, I get it. You've had a lot of previous experience.”

“I love 'take your kid to work' days.” Calvin said with a grin and that made everyone laugh.

“Congratulations, Cadet Crusher. You passed and can start at the Academy this semester.”

“Thank you, sir!” Calvin said and saluted.

The test commander saluted back. “Dismissed.”

*

Six years passed as if it didn't happen and Calvin finished the main crew course, the command course, the engineering course, and the medical course. He blew through everything faster than anyone had ever done it before and graduated with perfect marks.

“I'm so proud of you!” Beverly gushed as she hugged her twenty year old son when the graduation ceremony was over.

Calvin was as tall as her now and he hugged her back tenderly. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I assume they're giving you your choice of jobs to take?” Jack asked and Calvin nodded. “What career track are you taking as a primary?”

“I was tempted to do engineering.” Calvin said and then smiled. “I won't take that away from the enlisted, though.”

Jack chuckled. “You're too considerate, son. If that's what you want, then take it.”

“I'd rather go for a bridge position and make myself more versatile. If I'm stuck in engineering all the time, they won't let me play with the medical bay and science stations.”

Beverly laughed and let her son go. “That's not supposed to be an option, you know.”

Calvin gave her a big grin and winked as he knelt to look at his younger brother. “How are your studies going, Wes?”

“I'm blowing through the coursework almost a fast as you, Cal!” The eight year old Wesley responded.

“That's great! You're taking after our parents just like I did.” Calvin said.

“Yeah! We're both really smart!” Wesley said, happily.

The family of four moved towards the exit, now that the crowd was thinning out.

“Did they assign you a ship for your initial cruise?” Jack asked as they walked.

“The Yamikaze.” Calvin said and Jack nodded. It was a well maintained training ship that made a basic patrol route through several star systems for six months to give ensigns a taste of life on a starship.

“I'm going to hope you have a nice and easy deployment with no incidents.” Beverly said.

Calvin put his arm around her waist and she put her arm over his shoulders. “Don't worry, Mom. You know I've been practising holding my breath. Even if there is an unexpected hull breach or something, I'll be fine.”

“I wish I never gave you access to your medical records from back then.” Beverly sighed. “No one should know that they won't suffer from oxygen deprivation if they still have some in their bloodstream.”

Calvin chuckled. “I love you, too.”

“You did innovate better scanning methods because of that.” Jack said as they entered the transport.

“I suppose.” Beverly said as she sat down between her husband and oldest son. She had worked for months back then with several engineers and other medical professionals to figure out how to modify the medical scanners to get readings from Calvin. The power requirements were ridiculous, though.

“Thanks to you, we adapted our own scanners to use on the life pod.” Jack said. “It's just too bad that the limited database inside the ship was damaged and we only retrieved a few things.”

Calvin nodded. “It's funny how my name is almost the same. Kal and Calvin.”

“I'm glad that you were okay with only adding it as your middle name.” Beverly said.

“I'm not giving up the name you gave me, Mom.” Calvin said and kissed her cheek. “It doesn't matter who or what gave birth to me. You raised me and you're my mother. Nothing can ever change that.”

Beverly blushed a little and kissed his cheek back. “You're so sweet. Thank you.”

“We'll figure out how to modify the transporters for you to use someday.” Jack said and Calvin laughed.

“Dad, even I can't figure out how to give the transporter system a big enough buffer and a power boost to attempt to disassemble me, let alone actually transport me, and that's using a full holodeck's processing power.”

Jack laughed as well. “You keep trying and let R&D know if you have any progress.”

Calvin nodded and they fell silent as they flew in the transport that took them home.

*

“Welcome to the Yamikazi, Ensign Crusher.” A very pretty blonde woman said as Calvin stepped off of the shuttle. She held her hand out to him and he shook it. “I'm Lieutenant Sarah Hoffman.”

Calvin let her hand go and snapped a perfect salute. “Calvin Crusher reporting for duty to the first officer, ma'am!”

Sarah barked a laugh and returned the salute. “At ease, ensign.”

“Yes, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am.” Calvin said and then smiled. “I was told to be strict with initial greetings.”

“By your father or your mother?” Sarah asked and motioned towards the turbolift.

“Father. He learned at the heels of Captain Picard.” Calvin said and walked beside her.

“Picard's been in the game for a long time.” Sarah said. “What was his service on record for the Stargazer?”

“Twenty-two years.” Calvin said and she nodded as they entered the lift. “Dad took a break from service when my brother was born and then transferred to planet-side. He wasn't there when they scuttled the ship.”

Sarah smiled. “I doubt he would have let that happen if he was still first officer.”

“I'm not sure he would have had a choice. I've reviewed the recordings and data. They were in a bad way when they got caught by those Ferengi.”

Sarah nodded. She had read the debriefing that had been sent to all the command crews for their future encounters with the newly discovered alien species. “What are your thoughts on the famous Picard Manoeuvre?”

Calvin thought for a minute and saw Sarah's calculating look as she tried to gauge his reaction. “Honestly, it was a huge gamble. It would only work once and it left the ship completely open to attack. If the Ferengi had saved even a single weapon from their own attack, the ship would have been lost with the crew still aboard.”

“Why do you say it would only work once?” Sarah asked as the turbolift came to a stop and she hit the button to keep the doors closed.

“Once the technique was used and disseminated throughout the federation, every race that has contact with us will know to look for it and program it into their tactical systems and simulators.” Calvin said. “The only way it will work again is if we use it against yet another new species that doesn't have contact with any of the federation's member worlds or affiliated protectorates.”

Sarah turned to face him with a blank face. “That's a very pessimistic view.”

“No, ma'am. It's realistic.” Calvin said, not bothered by her direct scrutiny. “It's the same with my own achievements at the academy. Even without attaching all of the extras to my personal file, I'm absolutely sure that most of the crew on this ship have already looked at my service record and decided their opinions of me without even meeting me.”

Sarah gave him raised eyebrows. She didn't comment that she hadn't and turned back to hit the button to open the turbolift doors. “Captain Svenson.” She said and walked onto the bridge. “May I present Ensign Crusher?”

The man in the captain's chair stood and turned to look at her. “Our new star recruit has finally arrived, has he?”

Sarah's mouth opened slightly in surprise at the captain's comment. She had no idea how to respond to the man's snarky question.

“Permission to enter the bridge, captain.” Calvin said from the turbolift.

“Granted.” Captain Svenson said and he watched the newly minted ensign stepped onto the bridge. “Normally we would give you a day to acclimate to the ship before assigning duties to you; but, your unconventional transport here has delayed us enough. Take your station at console three.”

“Yes, sir.” Calvin said and went over to the proper station and sat down. He quickly logged in using his Starfleet identification and confirmed it verbally with the computer before speaking to the captain. “Duty station three is operational.” He said and swung his chair around to face the captain. “Previous diagnostics confirm full functionality, sir. Permission to run secondary diagnostics?”

The captain nodded and watched his new ensign turn back around to do just that. “Helm, take us to sector five. We have a patrol route to get to.”

“Aye, sir. Heading two one mark one locked in.”

“Execute.” The captain said and sat down.

Sarah stood there and didn't know what to do. She was now sure that Calvin was entirely correct in thinking that people had preconceptions about him, especially with the evidence provided by the captain.

“Miss Hoffman, I believe you have a duty roster to work out and personnel quarters to assign.” Captain Svenson said without looking at her.

“Yes, sir.” Sarah said and walked over to station three to whisper. “Shift ends at oh-eighteen-hundred. Come to my office for your quarters assignment.”

Calvin nodded and kept working.

Sarah left the bridge and went back to her office to check the duty roster and saw that the captain was right. If he assigned Calvin to be on the same shifts as him, she would need to move a few things around to fill the holes in the command structure during second and third shift. Her console beeped and she checked the incoming message.

“He can't be serious.” Sarah said and quickly typed up a response. “I can't give him double shifts!”

The console beeped at her again and she read what it said. She saw a file reference and opened it, only to see a performance report on Calvin Crusher's academy schedule. Her eyes widened as she took in everything he had done. In essence, he did two days work for every day of official classes. He only needed four hours of sleep a day, maximum, and that left him with a lot of free time for everything else. It wasn't until she read what shifts he was angling for that she sat back in her chair and wondered what the captain would say if he knew about it.

“He would never let me do it.” Sarah said as she remembered the captain's tone of voice. “If he knew.”

The console beeped again and she sighed as Calvin asked for a swing shift occasionally for the medical bay in place of the engineering shift.

“You're going to drive me nuts, aren't you?” Sarah sent back and a beep an instant later told her 'yes'. “Well, if you want it, you've got it.” She said and quickly used Calvin's offer to easily fill in the command structure holes that she had in the shift rotations.

Sarah worked for an hour to get everything sorted and sent the details to Calvin. She was very tempted to send the new duty schedule to the captain as a priority, then changed her mind. Little did she know that the captain would be more than happy to see that Calvin would be working twice as hard than everyone else on the ship.

*

What passed after that was the calmest and most unremarkable ensign cruise to ever happen to anyone in Starfleet. The six month deployment consisted of absolutely routine patrols and no incidents happened at all... according to the captain and his logs.

What the captain didn't know was that his first officer Sarah Hoffman had handled everything long before the captain was ever able to be aware of it, thanks to Ensign Crusher. His expertise in each field on the ship made him so versatile that any potential problems were handled before they could be reported officially.

The captain didn't even know that Ensign Crusher had worked double shifts and actually logged in a full year's worth of hours instead of the normal shifts. With no incidents and his involvement only noticed by the first officer, the captain had no reason to give him a bad performance review or to belittle the ensign's efforts.

Thankfully, the first officer's performance report was also sent in to official channels. Discreetly, of course. It was also sent with copies of Ensign Crusher's logged work shifts, his duties, and the things he handled without the captain noticing. Needless to say, the report made significant waves back at Starfleet Personnel.

“Have you seen this, Admiral Picket?” Admiral Hossum asked as he walked into his friend's office and held up a datapad with the reports on it.

“You need to be more specific.” Picket said and waved at the dozens of datapads on his desk.

“Ensign Crusher's scheduled maiden cruise.” Hossum said and handed over the datapad. “It's ridiculous and unbelievable.”

Picket flicked through the report in a few seconds and huffed. “It looks like a normal deployment.”

“If it was for a year, yes.” Hossum said and tapped the datapad. “That's only for a six month cruise.”

“WHAT?” Picket exclaimed and then flicked back through the pages to look at the log dates. “You're right. This is ridiculous. It has to be doctored.”

“I thought it was as well and talked to the first officer directly.” Hossum said.

“Not the captain?” Picket asked.

“It's Svenson.”

“Oh. Never mind.” Picket said and sat back in his chair. “What did the first officer say?”

“Only that she had to force the ensign to only do two shifts a day. A lot of those repairs and things he did on his own time, especially the EVA hull repairs.” Hossum said.

“Wait just a minute! How did he perform hull repairs outside of a space dock?”

“By hand, apparently.” Hossum said with a chuckle and sat down in the visitor's chair in front of his friend's desk. “He put the new replicated plating into the cargo hold and then walked the damn things out onto the hull and replaced them.”

Picket shook his head. “Next you're going to tell me he rewired the plasma conduits to be more efficient.”

“Go to page five of the repair report.” Hossum said and crossed his arms to wait.

Picket glared at him and then went to the last page to read it. “Hold on, what's a power manifold?”

“Oh, it's nothing. Just a homemade device that he created and patented that gives the entire plasma grid an eleven percent increase in efficiency.”

“WHAT?!?” Picket yelled and Hossum laughed.

“That was my reaction when I read it, too.” Hossum said. “The most anyone's ever gotten out of a normal grid was six percent, and that was by flooding the thing with direct warp plasma and it blew half of the grid couplings and a third of the conduits afterwards.”

“We need to get that stupid procedure out of the emergency warp shutdown protocols before someone else thinks it's a good idea to try and jump start the battery backups for reserve power of a starship without ejecting the damaged warp core first.”

Hossum laughed and then shrugged. “It would be safer to add in 'cut the feed after the initial injection' instead.”

“I'll send the modification to the tech department.” Picket said with a smile and went back to the report. He read it over again, this time at a normal pace and he looked at his friend. “How much are we giving him for the manifold idea?”

“Ten thousand credits each.”

“Wait, each?”

“He owns it and the patent. We can't replicate it without his permission.” Hossum said.

“Excuse me?” Picket asked with a frown.

“Exclusive rights, I believe he said. If we want to put it into another starship, he gets ten thousand federation credits.”

“I suppose that's his prerogative if he designed the thing. How many Excelsior class ships do we have that can use it, anyway?”

Hossum smiled and pointed to the datapad. “Check the technical report.”

“Why would a technical report have the number of ships we have...” Picket stopped talking when he read the relevant report. “It can go in ANY starship?!?”

Hossum laughed. “Yes, it's a universal power manifold for any plasma grid that exists. You just pop it in the right spot with the attached modifications, install the software update for the computer to handle the calculations and bing bang boom, eleven percent increase in power efficiency.”

“Please tell me it will work for starbases!”

“We're trying it out as we speak on beta station in orbit.” Hossum said. “Mind you, you need one for each warp core and if there's more than one plasma grid attached, you need a manifold for each.”

“It can scale up for bigger things?” Picket asked and Hossum nodded. “No wonder you gave him ten thousand credits for each of them. If it works on the starbase...”

“...we can install them on everything that has a plasma grid across the entire federation.”

“That kid's going to be rich.” Picket said and Hossum laughed. “What?”

“Only in the federation. Credits are our currency only.”

Picket barked a laugh. “He can easily trade them in for precious metals that can be used anywhere.”

“Actually, you're right. He can take a buyout with gold pressed latinum, too.” Hossum said and uncrossed his arms. “Not that it matters. He's already rich.”

“What? How?” Picket asked.

“Starfleet R&D has been pulling little things out of his life pod ever since he was taken out of it.” Hossum said and sat forward on the chair. “He didn't have to go to Starfleet Academy to earn a decent living or a better appartment.”

“Why did he?” Picket asked and put the datapad down. It wasn't going to become any more believable if he kept reading it.

“He wanted his command, engineering, and medical degrees.” Hossum said and laughed at his friend's gasp and scramble to push the other datapads out of the way to get to his main console. “His name is Calvin Crusher, Ensign.”

Picket nodded and entered the information. After a few moments, his eyes widened and he looked back at his friend. “This is real? Only six years and he did three master courses?”

“Apparently, he only sleeps four hours a night.”

“Good god.” Picket whispered and sat back, the mess on his desk forgotten. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Usually, an ensign makes themselves stand out during their initial deployment and ingratiates themselves with their captain. That usually leads them into a recommendation for his next ship assignment...”

“...which he won't get because Svenson is an ass.” Picket said with a sigh. “Who gave Crusher that cruise? I want them transferred to filing.”

Hossum laughed. “I've already sent a few discreet messages to the academy's board.”

“Good. That mistake shouldn't have happened.” Picket said and the two friends sat there for several minutes without saying anything.

“Can I make a suggestion for his next posting?” Hossum asked and his friend made a 'go ahead' gesture. “The new Galaxy class flagship is launching soon.”

Picket stiffened and then narrowed his eyes. “How did you know that?”

“I'm in the equipment side of things.” Hossum said with a shrug. “All the latest and greatest have been ordered for a thousand people.”

Picket sighed and rubbed his face. “I told supplies to only order the normal amount and then stagger the other orders to hide the amount.”

Hossum smiled. “I'm sorry if it's a big secret. Do I get a merit badge for discovering it?”

Picket barked a laugh. “I'll give you a kick in the arse.”

Hossum laughed, too.

“It's launching in two months. I've been scrambling around to cobble an appropriate crew together without leaving too many holes in my wake.” Picket said and waved at the mess of datapads. “Want to give me a hand?”

“If you want me to assign spanners and personal consoles.”

Picket shook his head and then sighed. “Are you bucking him up for a promotion, too?”

Hossum shook his head. “I'm friends with his father and all he wants is for his son to have a real maiden cruise.”

Picket thought about it for a minute, then nodded. “All right. I can squeeze an ensign onto the crew. How's his piloting?”

“Ace Plus.” Hossum said and that made Picket's eyes widen. “He broke the simulation three times and then he made old Iron Stomach Farraday throw up getting his license.”

“I'm putting the paperwork through right now.” Picket said and started typing on his console. “Call his father and let him know that orders are going through in the morning.”

“What do I tell him?” Hossum asked.

“Ensign Crusher is the new main pilot for the Enterprise.”

*

“This the shuttle going to the Enterprise. Are you a crew member?” Calvin asked as he approached the now guarded shuttlepod that had a dark skinned man in a yellow and black uniform standing beside the rear door. He also wore a visor of some kind over his eyes.

“Ensign Crusher?” The man asked and Calvin nodded. “Geordi LaForge.”

“You're Chief Engineer Sarah MacDougal's second in command.” Calvin said and offered his hand. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Geordi raised his eyebrows at him. “How did you know that?”

“I memorized the crew compliment.” Calvin said and put his small personal bag into the shuttle.

“Excuse me?” Geordi asked, surprised.

“It wasn't that hard.” Calvin said and stood beside him, finally noticing that he was nearly a foot taller than the shorter man. “Who else is coming this way?”

Before Geordi could answer, the guard came to attention.

Calvin turned to see who it was and his eyes widened as he saw Captain Picard. He immediately snapped a perfect salute. “Captain!”

“At ease.” Picard said and returned the salute lazily. “Mr. LaForge.”

“Captain.” Geordi said and waved to the shuttle. “We're prepped and ready for take off.”

“Excellent.” Picard said and stepped onto the shuttle without introducing himself or asking who Calvin was.

Geordi gave Calvin a glance and a shrug, then entered the shuttlepod. Calvin held in his sigh and entered as well. He sat at the back of the shuttlepod and used a small jumpseat to leave the two front seats for the captain and Geordi, whom was piloting.

The shuttlepod took off after getting clearance and a flight path. It zoomed up and out of the atmosphere for ten minutes and went towards the large space dock that looked like a giant spider gripping the ship. Geordi slowed the shuttlepod down and made a loop around the ship to give the captain a full view of the hull. It was a huge waste of time; but, it was also tradition.

The shuttlepod eventually docked on the side of the saucer section for some reason and Calvin stayed seated until the captain exited the shuttlepod first. He quickly followed Geordi out and the door shut behind them. He would send a message as soon as he could to have the shuttlepod moved to the secondary shuttlebay where it should have been stored.

Picard hit his communication badge as they walked up the hallway. “All command crew report to the bridge.”

Calvin looked down at his personal bag hanging on his shoulder and held in his sigh. He was going to have to get to his quarters several decks down, change into his uniform, and get back up to the bridge in less than two minutes. He was glad that he had so much practice using the Jefferies Tubes on the Yamikaze to get around the ship without having to rely on the turbolifts. He took off running towards the closest access point and disappeared from sight as he closed it behind himself.

Geordi and Picard didn't notice that he had left until they reached the turbolift and entered, expecting the ensign to be there with them. Neither said anything about the missing crewman and Picard called out the bridge as their destination. The ride was only a minute long, taking them across the large saucer section of the ship and then up to the deck that the bridge was on.

Calvin reached his quarters and zoomed inside, changed his clothes almost instantly, and left his bag. He entered the Jefferies Tube again and quickly made his way up to the bridge. He was tempted to come out under the science console at the back of the bridge, then decided against it. He popped out on the deck below the bridge and entered a turbolift to go there instead.

Captain Picard walked towards the center of the bridge as Geordi went to the engineering section at the back of the bridge to stand beside the Chief Engineer. The turbolift opened again and Calvin stepped out wearing his red and black duty uniform and walked unobtrusively to the pilot's station to take over from the crewman sitting there. They exchanged nods and the crewman went to the back of the bridge to sit at one of the science stations.

When no one else showed up, Picard looked around at the people there. “This is a new ship and a crew that haven't worked together yet.” He nodded to Lieutenant Tasha Yar and Geordi. “Some of you I have met before and I'm sure that I can trust you to do your duty. Over time, I hope to get to know each of you and we can become a crew that everyone in Starfleet will be envious of.”

Sounds of agreement came from some of the people on the bridge. Calvin didn't say anything and kept his face blank, because that wasn't why he joined Starfleet. He knew better than to voice his concern before the ship even left space dock, however.

“We have a rendezvous with the USS Hood to make a delivery and to pick up our new first officer. After that, we have a mission to visit a new station that has petitioned to become a new starbase for the federation and to pick up our chief medical officer.” Picard said and didn't see Calvin's blurring hand moving over the pilot's console. “Helm, release all moorings and set a course for the USS Hood.”

“Already done, captain.” Calvin said as he sat at his station. “On your command.”

Picard exchanged a look with Tasha, who shrugged. “One quarter impulse.” He said and sat. “Engage.”

Calvin tapped the controls and the ship eased out of the space dock cradle at one quarter impulse. He deftly controlled the ship as it left the safety of the space dock and then changed course to take them out of the majority of the traffic in orbit around the Earth.

Once at the proper distance from the slower traffic, he increased to half impulse and passed the moon. When the ship passed Mars, he increased to full impulse and guided the ship towards the gravitational limit of the solar system.

“Two minutes for warp.” Calvin said and tapped the intercom. “Helm to Chief Engineer. Requesting cruising speed of warp six.”

Sarah MacDougal was surprised to get the request. “Uh... of course. The engines are ready.”

“Thank you. Helm, out.” Calvin said and watched the ship's progress as it approached the gravitational limit. “Captain, on your word.”

“Make it so.” Picard said, just as the ship crossed into the safe for warp area.

Calvin initiated the command sequence and the ship jumped to warp.

“Counsellor Deanna Troi.” Picard said as he turned to the dark haired woman that sat in the chair next to him. “I've read your service record.”

“I've served on several vessels as the ship's Counsellor.” Dianna said. “Starfleet Command assigned me this post because they believed I could be an asset to the new flagship of the federation.”

“I certainly hope so.” Picard said and stood to look at the Klingon at the weapons station. “Lieutenant Worf.”

“Sir, I've trained relentlessly as a weapons expert. I can wring as much as possible out of the new combat systems on this ship.” Worf said.

Picard sighed slightly. “I certainly hope that we won't need your expertise too often.” He said and turned to look at Tasha Yar. “It's good to see you again, Tasha.”

“You too, sir.” Tasha said and stayed at military rest with her hands behind her back. “Thank you for the recommendation.”

Picard smiled. “I needed a security chief that can handle anything that might come up. Your name was the first on my tongue.”

“Thank you, sir. I won't disappoint you.” Tasha said and smiled back.

“I doubt you ever will.” Picard said and briefly looked around the bridge at the others that he hadn't talked to yet, including the Chief Engineer. “I know that none of us were supposed to be on shift right now, so you are dismissed until your actual shift starts.”

“Yes, sir.” Nearly everyone said as one.

Calvin looked at the time index and shrugged. He was going to report in an hour and a half anyway for his regular shift and stayed where he was. He sent a discreet message to his pilot backup letting them know and they left the bridge with the command crew. It took two trips for the turbolift to take everyone that wasn't supposed to be there.

The last to leave was Deanna Troi, because she was standing off to the side of the turbolift to get a feel for everyone. The only one Deanna couldn't read was the new ensign, Calvin Crusher. She stared at the back of Calvin's head as the turbolift doors opened and she took two steps inside and held her finger on the door button. She contemplated why she was having such a difficult time with him for several seconds, then she let the doors close.

“I believe she is having as much trouble with you as she has with me.” The android at the other console said. “Are you perhaps cybernetic?”

Calvin chuckled. “No, Lieutenant Data. I just have a unique biology that makes getting any kind of readings from me difficult, be it physical or metaphysical.”

Data gave him a curious look. “May I inquire about it?”

“Of course. We're going to be working together a lot.” Calvin said and turned to look at the android and held a hand out. “Ensign Calvin Crusher. My friends call me Calvin or just Cal. You have my permission to access my personal medical file under the restriction that you don't share it with anyone else, as per Starfleet regulations.”

Data's eyes widened. It was very rare for someone to trust him like that. He grasped the offered hand and shook it. “Thank you, Cal. You can call me Data.”

“Thanks, Data.” Calvin said and turned back to his console. “Are there any nasty particle emissions or stellar phenomenon I need to steer clear of on this heading?”

Data's hands moved like lightning as he ran the appropriate scans and checked the results. “Nothing new has appeared within the last ten hours.”

Calvin nodded and his own hands blurred as he ran several plot corrections to get the optimum efficiency out of the ship's course.

“I think this is going to be the start of a great friendship.” Data said after observing his new friend.

“I do, too.” Calvin said with a smile.

*

It was halfway through the next day shift when the command crew were on duty that something unexpected happened.

“Captain! I feel... a very powerful mind is observing us.” Deanna Troi said.

“Can you be more specific?” Picard asked.

“Captain, something just appeared on our sensors.” A crewman said from a science station. “It's right in front of us!”

“Helm! Full Stop!”

“Aye, full stop.” Calvin said and quickly brought the ship out of warp and to a stop as a large something appeared in front of the ship. It started to spread in a kind of checkered grid pattern and filled the viewscreen.

“Data?” Picard asked.

“It's encompassing us.” Data said and his hands moved in a blur. “According to the sensors, it's both there and not.”

Calvin copied the information from Data. “It must be partially out of phase or it's half illusion. The multi-phasic scan is inconclusive.”

Data and Picard gave him a searching look.

“I have an engineering masters degree.” Calvin said and both Data and Picard looked surprised.

“I thought you were just a pilot.” Tasha Yar commented, unknowingly matching Captain Picard's assessment. That was why he hadn't tried to get to know the young man despite him sharing a last name with one of his first officers from the Stargazer.

“Everyone is entitled to make the wrong assumptions.” Calvin said as he turned to smile at her.

“You shouldn't be leaving your own star system.” A malevolent voice echoed through the bridge.

“Identify yourself!” Picard ordered.

“I can do better than that.” The voice said as a brief bright light formed and then a tall and lanky man stood there wearing an old world war military uniform.

A crewman pulled out a palm phaser and raised it at the intruder.

“Filthy barbarian.” The man said and waved a hand at the crewman, who was instantly frozen solid.

“Torres!” Tasha gasped at the sight and turned to face the intruder. “How dare you...”

“How dare you think you can go out into the universe and cause all kinds of trouble?” The man asked, cutting off her threat. “You need to stop exploring space and return to that mudball you crawled off of or you shall most certainly die.”

Calvin slowly stood and did his best to not draw attention to himself. He somehow knew that he would only have one chance. He looked at Data and nodded towards the captain. Data got the hint, stood and walked over towards Captain Picard, and gave Calvin the distraction he needed as the intruder focused on the android.

“That's a clever tool you've made.” The man said as he looked over Data as if he was an interesting specimen. “Much better than the stone axes your grandfathers used.”

Picard raised his eyebrows at the intruder's complete lack of proper references for humanity, then he gasped as a blurred fist slammed into the intruder's face, then he was shocked when Calvin grabbed the intruder by the head and twisted it all the way around to make a very loud snapping sound. A second later, that head was removed from the body with some kind of blade that flashed for only an instant and disappeared.

Surprisingly, there was no blood or anything as the body dropped to the floor. In fact, it was some kind of thick grey substance that didn't flow out or move and the skin was just a thin film covering it.

“ENSIGN!” Tasha Yar yelled, since she was used to seeing violence like that and wasn't shocked like everyone else was. “Why did you attack him?”

“He's not real.” Calvin said and turned the head over to look into the part where the neck used to be. “No organs, no blood, and no heartbeat. I suspect this is just a physical construct of a higher plane being or some kind of inter-dimensional jokester. The only way to interact with us is to appear like us.”

“Captain! The barrier's gone!” A crewman shouted in surprise.

Picard was too stunned at what happened to respond immediately. It took him several moments to compose himself and he took a deep breath and let it out. “Tasha, take the frozen crewman to the medical bay and see what can be done for him.”

Tasha nodded and stepped close to the man. “Emergency transport to the medical bay. Two to beam.”

“Acknowledged.” A voice said. “Energizing.”

Tasha and the frozen crewman disappeared in a swirling pattern of disintegration.

“Helm, resume previous course.” Picard said.

Calvin handed the head to Worf before he went over to the helm and sat down to engage the engines again. No one really said anything, especially Deanna. She had been overwhelmed by the intruder's oppressive mental faculties and couldn't do anything except stare at the thing. Now she was staring at the headless corpse and she didn't know what to do about it.

“Mr. Worf, please secure... that.” Picard said and gestured to the body.

“Should I keep them separate?” Worf asked and looked at the head in his hands.

“Just in case.” Calvin said from the helm as the ship jumped back to warp speed. “It might have regeneration or reintegration if the head is left near the body.”

“Make it so.” Picard said and Worf nodded to a crewman, who came over to help carry the body. They left and the bridge remained quiet as people resumed their duties at their assigned stations.

“How did you do that?” Data asked.

“I have a strip of metal that I managed to peel away from the hull of my life pod that's pretty much indestructible.” Calvin answered. “It's only eighteen inches long and I took it as a memento because R&D were disassembling the pod. It's not like it's an actual weapon or anything.”

“You can use it as such when necessary?” Data asked.

“Apparently. I just reacted and grabbed what I had on hand.” Calvin responded and pat his thigh.

“That's versatile.” Data commented with approval.

“It really is now.” Calvin said with a chuckle. “It's also a memento of another memory.”

Data smiled and nodded.

Picard sat down in his chair as his mind went over everything he and his crew had just experienced.

Deanna was doing the same thing, only she was entirely focused on Ensign Crusher.

*

A purple robed figure walked through the ship and followed her feelings. She knew she needed to go somewhere but not where, so she roamed and let her instincts carry her. She approached a guarded door and was surprised that she felt like she needed to go inside.

“Excuse me, can I enter?” Guinan asked the guard.

“What for?” The guard asked.

“I don't know. I just felt like I needed to come here.” Guinan said and folded her hands into her robes.

The guard hit his comm badge. “Carson to Lieutenant Worf.”

“Worf, here.” A gruff voice responded.

“The bartender from Ten Forward is requesting access to the remains.” The guard said, to Guinan's surprise, because she hadn't realized that people were already associating her with that job.

“One moment.” Worf said and the signal went dead. After a few moments, he spoke again. “Captain Picard said to let her in and to observe.”

“Yes, sir. Carson out.” The guard said and stepped to the side as he hit the button to open the secured door. “Ma'am, go right in.”

Guinan nodded and entered the room cautiously. It was just a secured storage room and she relaxed.

“It's in cabinet sixteen and twenty seven.” The guard said and pointed.

Guinan was confused about that as she went to the larger of the cabinets and opened it. She didn't react at seeing a headless body that wasn't covered in blood. She closed the door and went to the smaller cabinet across the room. She opened it and gasped at the head with a familiar face.

“Who... who did this?” Guinan asked as she reached out and touched the plastic that covered the disembodied head and her fingers gripped the plastic as if to gouge out the head's eyes.

“I wasn't told.” The guard said with a shrug. “All I know is that it happened on the bridge and that Security Chief Yar assigned Lieutenant Worf as her temporary replacement while she was busy.”

Guinan nodded and closed the cabinet. “Thank you.” She said and quickly retreated from the room. She went to the closest turbolift and ignored the guard calling Worf again.

The turbolift went to the bridge and the doors opened onto a too calm scene, as if the people were just pretending that everything was okay.

“Permission to enter the bridge.” Guinan said.

Captain Picard shot to his feet. “Guinan!” He exclaimed. “What brings you here?”

“That body.” Guinan said and glanced at Worf. “I'm surprised you weren't expecting me.”

“I assumed you would wait for one of the bridge crew to come to Ten Forward for you to find out what happened.” Worf said.

“Permission granted.” Picard said and walked around the chairs and up the slight incline towards the turbolift. “It's nice to see you again.”

“Likewise.” Guinan said and stepped onto the bridge. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Perhaps we can take this to my ready room and I will tell you what I can.” Picard said and motioned towards the door on the far end of the bridge. He and the purple robed woman walked by everyone and entered the captain's room.

“Intriguing.” Data whispered and went back to work scanning and monitoring the space in front of the ship.

“She's not human.” Calvin whispered back and Data nodded.

Half an hour later, the ready room door hissed open and the purple robed figure came out with Captain Picard several paces behind her. Guinan walked right over to Calvin and violated her own personal space boundaries as she placed a hand on his shoulder to give it a squeeze.

“From this moment on, I consider you a dear friend, Calvin.” Guinan said and smiled. “You don't know what it means to me that you were able to do what you did.”

“I don't believe he's dead, Guinan.” Calvin said. “Like I told the captain, it was just a construct that he inhabited.”

Guinan smirked. “You've stalled his return by at least several years as he recovers.” She said with satisfaction. “The Q are a spiteful race that exist on a higher plane, just as you guessed. They believe because they evolved before other races that they are superior and have the right to judge them. What they hate are races that have the capability to eventually evolve and become a threat to them and their petty existence.”

Calvin thought about that for several seconds. “He wiped out most of your race, didn't he?”

“Not personally; but, he caused the calamity that did and scattered the remains of my people across both known and unknown space.” Guinan said and then made a little 'o' of surprise with her mouth as she saw Calvin stand up. He was well over a foot taller than her and she almost hurt her neck looking up at his face.

“I'm very sorry that you had to go through that, too.” Calvin said and carefully took Guinan into his arms. He hugged her tenderly and Guinan felt herself relaxing at his touch as she cuddled in. “I know what it's like to lose your entire planet and your people.”

Guinan lifted her head from his firm chest and looked back up at his face. “Who are you?”

“As far as the experts can determine from what little they could get from the database in the life pod my parents found me in as a baby, I am the last living Kryptonian after my planet exploded.” Calvin explained.

There were a few gasps and mutters in response to his words.

“I'm sorry.” Guinan whispered and Calvin smiled.

“It's all right. It was more of an existential crisis when I found out than a personal one like yours was.” Calvin said and released her from his embrace. “I was much too young to remember anything from before I was placed in stasis in the pod.”

“For how long?” Guinan asked.

“Thankfully, my mom's work in the medical field let my dad adapt a scanning device to detect the radiological age of my pod.” Calvin said and briefly checked the helm to see everything was fine. “It's four hundred years old.”

Guinan gasped and covered her mouth with a hand. “Calvin, I'm sorry. That means...”

“There's no way to trace where I came from after drifting for so long, even if we could locate an exploded planet. By the time the light reached us...”

“Millions of years would have to pass and you would have to be monitoring that specific area of space for the entire time to see it and measure it.” Guinan said, sadly.

Calvin smiled at her and motioned to the stunned looks on the faces of the other crew members.

“Particle physics is a hobby.” Guinan said and Calvin laughed softly. “Come to Ten Forward after your shift and we can share a drink of commiseration, Calvin.”

Calvin nodded in agreement. “You can call me Cal.”

Guinan smiled and nodded back. “See you in a few hours, Cal.”

Everyone watched as the purple robed figure left the bridge, especially Deanna Troi. Calvin sat back down at the helm and resumed his duties.

“Not everyone is offered her friendship.” Picard commented from the command chair. It wasn't a question and Calvin decided to answer, anyway.

“Don't worry, sir. I know how precious an offer of friendship really is.” Calvin said without turning around as he adjusted the ship's course slightly. “Rendezvous with the USS Hood in thirty minutes.”

“Mister Data, perhaps you would like to escort Admiral McCoy to the transfer shuttle?” Picard asked.

“Of course, sir. I would be honored.” Data said and moved his console to stand up. He walked towards the turbolift and a crewman replaced him at his monitoring console.

Calvin kept the ship on course and made sure that nothing jostled the ship as it proceeded to meet another ship. At an appropriate distance, he dropped the ship out of warp and engaged the impulse engines so smoothly that no one on the ship felt any change at all.

Tasha Yar came out of the turbolift and walked over to her station behind Counsellor Troi. “The medical bay said that Lieutenant Torres will be fine in a few days. He was perfectly preserved as if he was subjected to cryogenics.”

Picard nodded to her and looked at Deanna. “Counsellor, your thoughts?”

“That mind pressure immediately dissipated when Ensign Crusher... dispatched... the construct.” Deanna said and no one missed her hesitation over her choice of words. “What I would like to know is how he knew it was a construct.”

“Medical scans.” Calvin said and temporarily took over the main viewer and showed the scans he had taken to cover up him using his x-ray vision.

“Your mother's work again?” Picard asked as he read the scans.

“She is a leading member in the medical field.” Calvin said, proudly.

“Captain, I would like to schedule sessions with everyone that's been involved with this incident.” Deanna said.

Picard thought about it for a moment and nodded. “As long as it doesn't interfere with their duties.”

“I'll schedule them for off-duty hours, Captain.” Deanna assured him and looked right at the back of Calvin's head. I already know who I am going to schedule for the very first session.

*

Commander Riker reintegrated on the transporter pad and saw his new captain was there waiting for him. “Captain.” He said and nodded to the shorter and distinguished man.

“Commander.” Picard said and nodded at the door to leave. “Welcome to the Enterprise.” He said when Riker matched his steps and they walked side by side as they left the transporter room. “I run things a certain way on the ships I command. You will follow my orders and maintain discipline.”

“Understood, sir.” Riker said.

“This was supposed to be a front-line ship with Starfleet's bravest and brightest. Instead, I have a ship full of families and children.” Picard almost spat. He brought himself back under control and sighed. “I have been a confirmed bachelor since I was of age and I am not a person that likes children, Commander. However, I have a ship full of children that I need to be a role model to.”

“Captain?” Riker asked, hesitantly.

“You will project an appropriate image for me to be both a role model for the children and for me to keep my distance from them.”

“Ah. I understand, sir. I'll do my best.” Riker said and Picard nodded.

“Personnel and duty rosters are your main responsibility and I expect you to have a working schedule to replace the temporary one by the end of your next duty shift.” Picard said and Riker nodded. “Also, Counsellor Troi has scheduled sessions with the command crew over the next several off-duty shifts. You will need to coordinate with her if you need to meet any of them to clarify their duties.”

“I'll make sure to not disrupt anything going on, sir.” Riker said and succeeded in hiding his trepidation over meeting his old lover and resolved to just message her instead.

“Good.” Picard said and came to a stop in front of a closed door. “These are your quarters. If you aren't happy with them, then do your job and fix the problem.” He said with a smile.

Riker couldn't stop his chuckle. “Yes, sir.”

“I'll see you during the next shift, Commander.” Picard said and started to walk away, then stopped. “I have a tendency to call my first officer Number One when we get to know each other better and I rely on them. Will that be a problem?”

Riker straightened his back and stood at attention. “No, sir. I will be glad when we reach that point.”

Picard nodded and walked on towards the turbolift.

Riker waited until the captain was no longer in sight before he sighed and entered his quarters. It was opulent compared to his last duty station and he wasn't sure what to do with all of the extra space. His bags had been delivered and he quickly unpacked them, only to find that he barely filled a quarter of the available space for clothing and personal items.

“It looks like I need to collect more things.” Riker said and walked over to the desk and turned on his console. He had work to do and not a lot of time to do it. When he saw the mess of the rosters, he shook his head and started pulling up the service records of crew members and referencing them with their duty shifts. He had to figure out if they needed to be on the primary crew with the command crew's shift, the secondary crew for the middle shift, or were relegated to the graveyard shift.

*

Calvin entered the bar at the front of the ship called Ten Forward. It was sparsely crowded, considering the primary shift just ended. He walked over to the bar and smiled at Guinan.

“Guinan! It's so nice to see you after so long!” Calvin said and Guinan had to smile at him.

“I can clearly see that you are an optimist.” Guinan said.

“Ha! I'm more of a realist.” Calvin said and sat down on the stool just off to her right so that she could still see the entire bar and the customers she had. “What do you recommend for someone with a super charged metabolism and a stomach that can digest nitroglycerine?”

Guinan barked a laugh and shook her head. “Please tell me you didn't do it intentionally.”

“Kind of.” Calvin said with a huge grin.

“All right, I have to hear that story.” Guinan said and quickly poured out two drinks. She handed one to him and picked up her own. “To lost worlds.”

“To new friends.” Calvin said and they both took a drink.

“Now fill me in on what happened.” Guinan said and stood there as her new friend told her a completely outrageous story about a chemistry lab experiment, a girl's jealous boyfriend, and how that boyfriend made a ridiculous excuse about meaning to only blow Calvin to smithereens without hurting anyone else. She hadn't laughed so hard in years.

*

Deanna sat on the comfortable couch in her office to test it, nodded and reclined on it to see if it was too comfortable. She didn't want her clients to fall asleep while they were trying to talk to her. The door chimed and she jumped to her feet as she realized that she had temporarily forgotten that she had scheduled her first appointment barely two hours into the off-duty shift.

Deanna took a deep breath and let it out as she smoothed the wrinkles on her dress. “Come in.”

The door opened and the man that was vexing her stepped inside. “If you're busy, I can come back later.” Calvin said, his voice sure and his tone confident.

“I'm going to be busy with you.” Deanna said without thinking, then blushed slightly. “I meant that we have a scheduled appointment and we need to talk.”

Calvin smiled and walked over to her. “Where do you want me?”

Deanna could somehow detect an effort of seduction from him and her eyes widened as she looked up at his tall muscular body. He was also very handsome and she appreciated that he took the time to clean up for her and dressed nicely. It took her a moment to get that thought out of her head before she remembered to respond.

“The couch.” Deanna said, then blushed briefly as such a short answer could be taken the wrong way, just as his question could be. “Please have a seat and we can get started.”

“Yes, ma'am!” Calvin said with enthusiasm and sat down as he stared at her expectantly.

Deanna couldn't stop her blush from returning and she had to turn away from his earnest expression. Why is he flustering me so much? It's just playful banter. She thought and took a deep breath before she calmed down. If I can survive Will Riker's flirting unscathed, this shouldn't be bothering me at all. “Please tell me what you were feeling when the intruder first appeared on the bridge.”

Calvin laughed internally at making the famed empathic Counsellor feel flustered with only innocent comments. “I thought he was a hostile threat that needed to be dealt with. I also suspected I would only get one chance, considering what he did to that crewman.”

Deanna turned back to face him and sat down on her chair across from the couch. “You weren't scared at all?”

“No. My dad made sure I've learned every fighting style in the security database.” Calvin said. “With an opponent that had unknown and possible magical powers, he had to be taken down quickly or the advantage would be lost.”

Deanna had to contemplate her next question before she asked it. “Would you have done the same thing if the intruder was human?”

“Technically.” Calvin said and saw her eyebrows rise. “If they were human and appeared like that, with their medical scans showing them as human, I still would have punched them in the face to distract them.”

“You wouldn't... snap their neck?” Deanna asked, barely above a whisper.

Calvin shook his head. “I would have crushed their hands instead.”

Deanna blinked her eyes for a moment at his admittance of planned violence. “Excuse me?”

“I assumed his powers came from his hands or the hands were used as a focusing agent. With crushed hands, not only would the pain disable him, their hands wouldn't work as a focusing agent anymore.” Calvin said, calmly.

Deanna sat back in her chair and stared at the man across from her. He was a puzzle and she wanted to figure him out. “I think we are going to be here for a while.” Because I can't feel even a trace of remorse or regret in you... or anything else for that matter.

“That's not a problem. I'm all yours for the next few hours, so you can do whatever you want with me.” Calvin said and took off his light jacket, which left himself in just a thin undershirt and showed off a lot of his muscles. He couldn't stop his grin at the surprised expression on Deanna's face, so he laid down on the couch after kicking off his boots and relaxed as he looked up at the ceiling.

He knew that Deanna couldn't reliably read his emotions unless he made a conscious effort to push them at her. That meant he could completely mess her up and make her think or say things that were counter to her usual instincts that she relied on while using her empathic ability. He glanced at her briefly and saw that she still looked surprised.

“I'm completely at your mercy, Counsellor Troi.” Calvin said and tucked his hands behind is head, stretched out his back, and flexed his muscular arms to full effect. “What would you like to know?”

Deanna's mouth went dry as a prime physical specimen displayed itself right in front of her. Her eyes roamed over him without restraint, mainly because she thought he wouldn't notice. She felt things stir inside of her and she licked her lips a little before asking the replicator for a glass of water. She stood and walked over to drink half of it and brought it back to her chair.

“Would you like a drink as well?” Deanna asked.

“Sure.” Calvin said and took her glass as he sat up, turned it around to where the slight smear was, and took a mouthful to drink.

Deanna blushed again at him blatantly using the same spot on the glass that she had drunk from.

Calvin handed it back to her with a smile. “Thank you.”

Deanna sat down on her chair and looked at the man that was surely teasing her. The problem was, he was doing it so obviously that he wasn't actually teasing and was just acting with confidence.

“You are going to cause me problems, aren't you?” Deanna asked.

“Only if you take me seriously.” Calvin said and gave her a crooked smile. “What are your views about casual sex between two physically compatible species that are genetically proven to be unable to reproduce?”

Deanna caught her breath at that and her mouth went dry again. She took a drink from the glass and her lips used the same spot that Calvin had. She blushed again and sat there for several minutes as she stared at the now empty glass in her hands.

“Just so you know, in ancient Japanese anime and manga, that's considered a second-hand kiss.” Calvin said and saw her blush deepen.

“Why?” Deanna whispered the question. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“I'm showing you what can happen to you if you ever meet someone else that's practically immune to your abilities.” Calvin said and she looked startled as her eyes locked onto his. “I could literally do anything at all and say I did the complete opposite, and you would have no clue if I'm telling the truth or not.”

Deanna took a breath and let it out as she dropped her gaze to stare at the glass again. “I see.”

Calvin slipped off of the couch and knelt in front of her knees as he took the glass from her hands. “Welcome to the normal human experience.” He said and lifted her hands to kiss the backs of them. “I figured out why you seemed angry back on the bridge and came here fully intending to mess with you.”

Deanna shook her head and tried to pull her hands away.

“I'm sorry, Deanna. I was wrong to think that.” Calvin said and she looked into his bright blue eyes. “It started as a joke in my head and I was willing to go through with it... until I saw how unsettled you are with not feeling my emotions all the time.”

“Ensign...”

“My friends call me Calvin or Cal.” Calvin said and then he concentrated.

Deanna gasped as she felt a pile of remorse from the supposedly emotional blank man in front of her.

“I promise to try and broadcast my emotions when you're around.” Calvin said and she sighed.

“My normal techniques aren't going to work with analyzing you, are they?” Deanna asked.

“No. I can't do subtle.” Calvin said and then smirked. “Are you going to ask me how I found out that my DNA isn't compatible with anyone in the known federation?”

Deanna had to laugh at that. “You're right. That wasn't subtle at all.”

“It's all a part of my elaborate master plan to seduce you without you realizing it.” Calvin said and made her laugh again. “What? Isn't it working?”

Deanna shook her head. “Lay down on the couch and I can get the standard questions out of the way.”

Calvin sighed dramatically and stood for a moment, then he dropped backwards to sit on the couch and swung his legs up to lay down again. “Okay, hit me.”

“Did you have a good home life growing up?” Deanna asked and picked up a datapad to log his answers.

“It was great.” Calvin said. “My mother is the most loving and caring person I have ever met... as long as you're never her patient.”

Deanna chuckled. “Tell me more about the mother part and we can move on to the doctor part later.”

Calvin nodded and started to talk. He also did his best to push his emotions out at the right times for emphasis, so Deanna would know that his promise was a genuine one.

*

During the next command crew duty shift, the ready room's door chime sounded for admittance.

Picard looked up from the latest progress report on the ship's maiden flight diagnostics. “Come.”

“Captain, do you have a moment?” Riker asked as he entered the captain's ready room.

“Do you have a problem you can't handle, Number One?” Picard asked, almost teasingly.

“Sort of.” Riker said and flipped his leg over the chair in front of the captain's desk and sat down. “I've got the duty roster almost completed.”

“Almost?” Picard asked, slightly surprised.

“I was nearly done when a discrepancy came up.” Riker said and handed over a datapad. “I have a crew member marked in for both the command shift and the graveyard shift.”

“That's not difficult to handle.” Picard said and looked at it. “Just bring in a crewman to compensate.”

“Normally that could fix things, except he's on the bridge for one shift and in engineering for the other one.” Riker said.

“Who is... oh. Ensign Crusher.” Picard said and stopped himself from rubbing his face in frustration.

“It seems that I'm not the only one having a problem with him.” Riker said, noticing the captain's discomfort.

Picard sighed and sat back in his chair. “I made a mistake by not greeting him properly and I don't know how to recover from that.”

Riker raised his eyebrows in surprise. “How did that happen?”

Picard conveyed the story about the trip up to the ship in the shuttle, dismissing the ensign as unimportant, and then again on the bridge because he was just a pilot.

“That's understandable. Anyone could make that mistake.” Riker said.

Picard shook his head. “The problem is, I recently found out that he's the son of an old friend of mine.”

Riker's surprise couldn't have been more pronounced.

“Yes, exactly. I brushed him off as unimportant and ignored his attempts at talking to me... then he saved this ship and the crew during the incident with the Q.” Picard said. “I still ignored him, however. I hadn't reviewed his service record before then and needed to familiarize myself with what kind of man he was.”

“Oh.” Riker said and let his face go blank. “You think it's much too late to recover?”

“Yes. He's already sent communications to both his father and mother about his reception on the flagship.” Picard said and stopped fighting the urge to rub his face in frustration and actually did it. “Commandant Jack Crusher wasn't a happy man when he called me.”

Riker was wise to remain silent when he heard what his captain said next.

“His mother tore a strip off of me as well.” Picard said and dropped his hand to his desk. “She's the Chief Medical Officer for Starfleet and is not happy that I marginalized her son on his maiden cruise.”

Riker frowned slightly. “I thought his maiden cruise was on the Yamikaze.”

“Captain Svenson was in command at the time.” Picard said.

“Oh. Never mind.” Riker said. “How did he survive a full year tour?”

“Because it was only six months.” Picard said and held up a hand to stop his first officer's protests about the logs. “He pulled double shifts in different departments.”

Riker had to think about that for a moment. “When does he sleep?”

“His medical records say he only needs a maximum of four hours. They speculate that as he grows older, it will reduce until he won't need to sleep for more than half an hour by the time he's forty years old.” Picard said.

“That's... actually, I don't now what to say to that.” Riker said.

“You and me both.” Picard said. “He's been a medical anomaly since he was found.”

“I didn't see his medical file attached to his service record.” Riker said.

“It's classified.” Picard said and Riker looked surprised. “I'm sorry, I can't divulge anything. If Ensign Crusher lets something slip or gives you permission himself, then we can talk about it.”

Riker nodded. “So, my discrepancy isn't one at all and I've been fighting the duty roster for the last three hours for no reason.”

Picard smiled. “Every experience is a learning one.”

Riker barked a laugh. “I knew I should have come to you as soon as I spotted it; but, I was too stubborn and tried to work around it.”

Picard nodded. “Good. Initiative and command comes from your resolve. You stayed the course until you actually needed the help.”

“Yes, sir. I know not to cry wolf too many times or the sheep will stop listening to you.” Riker said and Picard nodded. “Thank you for your time, Captain.”

“You're welcome, Number One.” Picard said and picked up the datpad with the duty roster on it. “I assume this is the final draft, now that you don't have to change Ensign Crusher's assignments?”

“Yes, sir. It's cross referenced with personnel records and service records with Deanna's personality assessments indexed.” Riker said and stood up.

“She hasn't met with the entire ship's crew yet, has she? I know she just finished with the available command crew.” Picard said.

“It's all just paperwork for now. She'll update everything when she does get to meet each shift crew for an official assessment.” Riker said and Picard nodded.

“Thank you. Send it through to everyone and give them until tomorrow to adjust to their new schedules.” Picard said and handed the datapad back to his first officer. “Dismissed.”

“Captain.” Riker nodded and left the ready room. His eyes caught sight of the large muscular man sitting at the helm. It was a bit odd to see someone that looked like that being just a pilot for a starship. How did he get his muscles so developed?

Calvin ignored the first officer's scrutiny and kept running piloting drills with one hand while piloting the actual ship with his other hand. He had been tempted to have a datapad on his lap to write up his reports at the same time and decided that he didn't want to show off. It was only his second official day at work and they were warping towards their main mission on Deneb IV and the new Farpoint Station. He was also looking forward to his date tonight.

*

Deanna stared at herself in the mirror and she blushed as she looked at the form fitting beige wrap she wore. It left little to the imagination, except for the shape of her womanhood, and that was covered by stylish lace panties of the same color as the wrap.

I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Deanna thought and turned slightly from side to side to make the wrap billow out. It didn't flash her underwear or come undone, so she nodded in approval. She didn't have to worry that she was advertising how eager she was by showing off more than she wanted to.

The door chime beeped and she walked over to her door. After a deep breath that she held to push her chest out a bit more, she hit the admittance button. She gasped at the sight of Calvin standing there wearing the most expensive outfit she had ever seen. The red Ambrosian Silk shirt clung to him like a second skin and his blue pants were just as form fitting. He also wore a small black belt with gold accents and matching boots.

Calvin pulled something from behind his back and held it out to her. It was a datapad.

“What's this?” Deanna asked, her emotions swirling from arousal to confusion as she stepped back to allow him entry to her quarters.

“Read the headers.” Calvin urged as the door shut behind him and he tapped the lock.

Deanna read them and caught her breath. “Cal! You can't be serious! I said that as a joke!”

“I know.” Calvin said and stepped close. “I had to show you that I'm taking this seriously.”

“Cal... you...” Deanna looked up at his face. “How did you do this so fast?”

“I have unlimited funds and my mother is the Chief Medical Officer of Starfleet Medical.” Calvin said and put his arms around her. “They start construction tomorrow and will be fully staffed by the end of the month.”

Deanna shook her head. “No one can arrange a cutting edge medical research facility for Betazed in only a day!”

“I'm not no one.” Calvin said. His confident words and attitude made Deanna's resolve to not sleep with him right away, start to crumble.

“Cal... I don't... we shouldn't...”

“Shall we eat before I take you to bed and ravish you?” Calvin asked and bent down slightly to kiss her passionately.

“Mmm!” Deanna moaned as his strong hands held her and he claimed her mouth as if he had always owned it. His emotions flowed over her as his tongue danced with hers and her entire body shivered at the strength of both. She broke the kiss and her hands dug into his expensive shirt as she tried to not let her weak resistance to his charm crumble any further.

Calvin knew he had her at his mercy and pushed those emotions out and Deanna moaned and shivered. He didn't take advantage of her, though. Instead, he carefully walked her across the room to sit her down at the small two person table she had.

Deanna gave him a look that said he was going to pay for what he did later, so he bent down to kiss her again and gave her even more of his emotions to wallow in. She moaned again and let Calvin kiss her as if they had been dating for years, then he was suddenly gone and stood in front of the replicator.

“Rigatoni Parmesan with a light and spicy spaghetti sauce, a side of croutons, and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, please.” Calvin said to the replicator.

“There will be an additional charge of...” The computer started to respond.

“Authorized to Calvin Crusher's shipboard account.” Calvin interrupted and the replicator created a tray with a large serving of what he asked for and a glass of the world's most expensive wine that went well with pasta. He brought it over to the table and placed it in front of Deanna and went back to get one for himself.

“I'm sorry that I can't make this by hand.” Calvin said as he sat down across from his surprised date that had just tasted the wine.

“You can cook?” Deanna asked and basked in her delight over the delicious wine that she hadn't heard of before.

“I wasn't getting enough nutrition from the normal food replicator packs and had to learn to cook for myself while at the academy.” Calvin said and used a spoon to take a mouthful of pasta and sauce. “I came up with this as an experiment to see how far I could push the replicator's programming.”

“You programmed this?” Deanna asked, surprised.

“Right down to the individual spices.” Calvin said with a smile. “I actually had to trick the replicator to get the wine right and to not add in synthehol as a substitute.”

Deanna looked at the wine in her hand and at Calvin. “Is that what the charge was for?”

Calvin nodded. “For some reason, if you try to change it to non-alcoholic, the wine goes flat and tastes like shoe leather.”

Deanna laughed and took another sip before putting it down. “I'm glad you didn't settle for second best.”

“So am I.” Calvin said and pushed out his desire for her.

Deanna sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes. “S-stop that. Please.” She said and opened her eyes to look at him. “I won't be able to eat if you keep doing that.”

“I know I should apologize for it.” Calvin said and took her hand. “I'm sorry that I have to push so hard to get you to feel what I'm feeling.”

Deanna nodded and accepted the apology. The two of them ate the meal, while sipping the tasty wine occasionally, and eventually finished and sat back to let the food settle.

“How was work today?” Calvin asked.

“I've started the normal crew assessments now that I have the finished duty rosters for the different shifts.” Deanna said. “Are you sure you can handle working the graveyard shift in Engineering?”

“I've been kind of floundering the last two days with only having one shift to work.” Calvin admitted. “I actually snuck into sickbay and reorganized their medical stores yesterday.”

Deanna had to laugh at that. “The new chief medical officer is going to kick you out if they catch you in there!”

Calvin smirked at her. “It's all right. We arrive at Deneb Four tomorrow while I'm on the command shift.”

“You changed the ship's speed to get us there at the right time?” Deanna asked, surprised.

Calvin nodded. “We should get there about an hour into the shift, thanks to the point two I added to the cruising warp speed.”

“If the captain notices...”

“It doesn't even register without a diagnostic.” Calvin said, a little smugly. “You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I did on the Yamikaze without the captain hearing about it.”

“Oh, do tell.” Deanna said as she stood up and her chest swayed enticingly.

Calvin noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra and he made sure that she saw him looking at her appreciatively. “It would be my pleasure to enlighten you to my legal deceptions for my training cruise.”

Deanna saw where his eyes lingered and felt justified in wearing the revealing outfit as she took his hand and led him over to the couch in her quarters.

“You did say that you wanted me on your couch.” Calvin joked as they sat together, which made her laugh. “I really like your laugh, Deanna.”

“Just my laugh?” Deanna asked as she looked into his eyes.

“To start.” Calvin whispered and put his arms around her. “Your smell. Your beguiling eyes. Your wonderful sense of humor...”

Deanna could feel his amusement as he danced around what he really liked, so she poked his chest. “Stop teasing me.”

“Your extremely sexy body and your inquisitive mind.” Calvin said and kissed her.

Deanna pretty much melted into his embrace and moaned as they made out for several minutes. They eventually broke the kiss and she stared into his bright blue eyes, practically begging him to keep going.

Calvin ran a hand through her dark curly hair and pulled her back into a searing kiss as he eased her backwards onto the couch. His other hand easily found the tie for her wrap and loosened it, then he broke the kiss and pulled the wrap open to reveal her wonderful body.

“Perfection personified.” Calvin whispered and Deanna blushed as she felt his deep sincerity. “The first time I defied my old captain was when he refused to change the cleaning rotation for the outer hull during a solar wind storm.” He said and dove for Deanna's breasts to kiss and massage them.

“Ohhhh...” Deanna moaned as Calvin played with her chest and told her how he had gone out on his own and left the other ensigns and crewman in the airlock as he did the work for them all. “Such... a strong... MAN!” She gasped as he bit her nipple lightly.

“I'm barely getting started.” Calvin said and moved down to her panties.

Deanna gave him a surprised look as he pulled them off, then she moaned very loudly as Calvin's mouth and tongue went to work on her.

It was the start of a very long and very fulfilling love making session that she had ever had.

*

*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*

Calvin eased Deanna aside just enough to reach for his clothes and turned off his watch alarm.

“Ughhh. What time is it?” Deanna asked.

“I have half an hour before I need to report for the graveyard shift.” Calvin said and hugged her close.

“I can't believe... you only need... four hours of sleep.” Deanna yawned and rolled over to face away from him. “I need... at least eight.”

Calvin smiled and moved close, now that she had presented him with a perfect position to have some last minute fun with her.

Deanna moaned as he entered her from behind and her hand reached back to grab onto his hip and helped pull him inside.

Calvin kissed the back of her neck and made love to her for another twenty minutes, getting her off twice and himself once, before he kissed her goodnight and disappeared from the bed to shower and get dressed.

“Are you... for real?” Deanna asked as she basked in the afterglow of her lover's attention and his very strong emotions that seemed to reverberate through her.

“For as long as you can stand to have me around.” Calvin whispered into her ear, kissed her cheek, and left after locking the door and asking the computer to wake her an hour before Deanna's next shift.

*

“Welcome to Deneb Four, Captain Picard.” The administrator of the potential starbase said from the viewscreen.

“Groppler Zorn.” Picard said and stood. “We are here to visit your fine station and to assess its viability for Starfleet's use while we also pick up a few of our other visiting crewmen.”

Groppler Zorn smiled widely. “We welcome your perusal of our wares and to visit our administrative building and marketplace. I'm sure that you'll find whatever you are looking for, just as your wayward crew members have.”

“Thank you. We will send an away team presently.” Picard said and the call ended. He looked at the back of Calvin's head and shook his own briefly. “Commander Riker, Counsellor Troi, Lieutenant Yar, Mister LaForge and Mister Data. Go to Transporter Room Three and beam down to the planet to meet up with the other crew members and investigate the station.”

A round of 'sir' responded and the five of them went to the turbolift.

“Permission to speak, captain.” Calvin said as he turned towards Picard without leaving his station.

“Granted.” Picard said and that made Riker reach out and stop the turbolift doors from closing, because he was sure that he needed to hear this after Picard's admission about screwing up with the ensign before.

“Most of the main members of the command crew are being sent to the planet's surface at the same time, leaving the ship woefully undermanned in an emergency.” Calvin said and he saw the flicker of annoyance on Picard's face.

“Are you questioning my orders, ensign?” Picard asked, quite pointedly.

“No, sir. Merely making an observation. With only Worf at tactical and myself at the helm, any orders you issue to the bridge crew won't be fulfilled as quickly as you desire without the people you need at their posts.”

Picard's eye twitched once before he recovered. “I would have sent you as well if you weren't so physically malformed that you are unable to use the transporters like everyone else.”

Deanna gasped and covered her mouth, because the captain wasn't supposed to reveal anything classified for medical reasons. She also felt a very large spike of anger from Calvin.

“Shuttlecraft do exist for a reason.” Calvin said, his voice calm and without anger. “Sir.” He added as an afterthought, just in case.

Picard glared at him. “That was insubordination.”

“Sir, with all due respect...” Calvin said and everyone heard that he didn't have any respect at all for the captain. “...you just violated your oath to Starfleet and violated my right for privacy.”

Picard blinked his eyes for a moment and then sighed as he realized his mistake. “Ensign, I apologize.”

“That doesn't excuse your words or your actions at all, sir.” Calvin said and quickly typed something on the helm before he stood. “Can you somehow remove what you said from everyone's mind or from the bridge recordings? What about my embarrassment? Can you erase or mitigate it, sir?”

Picard stood there and couldn't respond. Anything he said would be taken the wrong way.

“Do you have to take your oath again after breaking it or will it mean as little to you as it did the first time?” Calvin asked.

“Now that really was insubordination to a superior officer.” Picard said, his anger not very well hidden.

“If I'm going to be reported for it, I might as well make it a good one.” Calvin said and kept his face blank. “With the way you have treated me since I arrived on this ship, you are not my superior officer, sir. You are just a higher ranking one.”

“Oh, no.” Deanna groaned.

“Get off my bridge!” Picard practically shouted.

“Yes, sir. I stand relieved of duty.” Calvin said and walked over to the turbolift. No one said anything as he stepped inside and the doors closed behind him. He turned to face the doors and felt Deanna take his hand, so he gave it a squeeze and nodded slightly as he let it go. He knew she didn't want their relationship to be public yet and didn't push her on it. He also didn't miss Riker giving him a stern look.

The turbolift doors opened on the deck with Transporter Room Three on it and everyone else walked out. He caught Deanna's gaze and winked at her and pointed downwards. She looked puzzled, so he quickly mimed flying a shuttle to the planet. She looked surprised for a moment, then she nodded and quickly followed the others.

Calvin stayed in the turbolift and called his quarters as his destination when the doors closed. He exited the turbolift a minute later and went to change out of his Starfleet uniform. He was going to the surface as a civilian and wanted to leave before the captain ordered him to not leave the ship. He thought about leaving his comm badge behind and changed his mind as he attached it to the inside of his jacket, essentially hiding it from view.

He grabbed a small bag with a few changes of clothes and some essentials, mainly credit transfer slips and actual slivers of gold pressed latinum. As a last resort, he checked the replicator's database to see if the Bandi had any other form of currency. They did, so he transfered a thousand federation credits into Bandi currency and let the replicator produce the money officially.

Calvin laughed at the large amount of coins it created that filled the replicator's creation area and used another travel bag to carry them, then another pile appeared. He added them to the bag and yet another pile appeared. This happened five more times and his travel bag was stuffed with Bandi currency, as was part of his other bag.

“Who would have guessed their currency was so much less valuable than a federation credit?” Calvin asked out loud and carried both bags out of his room and went to the turbolift. “Secondary shuttlebay.”

The turbolift brought him to the right deck and to the closest exit and he walked to the shuttlebay and entered. After talking to the man on duty and showing his Starfleet authorization, he boarded the shuttlepod stored there and ran some diagnostics before he launched out through the small bay doors and headed towards the planet.

*

The away team beamed down to the planetary surface near the marketplace and Deanna staggered slightly as she felt a severe bout of emotional pain from somewhere.

“Deanna!” Riker exclaimed and grabbed her by the shoulders. “What is it? Are you okay?”

Deanna groaned as his emotions of concern and fear flooded through her empathic ability and only added to her discomfort instead of saving her from it. I really am over him. She thought as his emotions almost felt repulsive to her and she shook her head as she felt her withered mental link to him crumble apart.

“Lieutenant Yar, take her out of the marketplace a short distance until she's feeling better. There's probably too many people here for her to handle all at once.” Riker ordered, oblivious to the loss he had just suffered.

Tasha took Deanna by the arm and guided her away from the others and the marketplace. Deanna didn't bother correcting Riker and let Tasha take her away until she let out a sigh of relief as the pain emotion lessened significantly. Deanna let out another sigh as she sat down on a nearby stone wall that was only two feet high.

“Crusher to Troi.” Her comm badge said in Calvin's voice.

“T-Troi here.” Deanna said, unable to keep her voice from shaking.

“I'll be landing in eight minutes near your signal.” Calvin's voice said.

“Hurry.” Deanna whispered.

“Make that five minutes. Crusher out.”

“How is he getting here so fast?” Taska asked.

“He had a personal shuttlepod on the ship.” Deanna said and Tasha looked surprised. “Yes, he actually owns it.”

“How? No one owns Starfleet shuttlecraft.” Tasha said, confused.

“He built it from scratch as his engineering project for his masters degree.” Deanna said and Tasha's mouth dropped open from shock. “I know. I reacted the same way.”

“But... but...”

“He came aboard with it and the captain even used it to tour the outside of the Enterprise.” Deanna said and then rested her head in her hands. “Uggghhhh, emotion headaches are the worst.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Tasha asked, concerned.

“Can you give me some space? I can't handle more emotions for a while.”

Tasha nodded and walked about fifteen feet away. “How's that?”

“A bit farther.” Deanna said.

After Tasha moved another couple of feet, Deanna nodded.

“Thank you.”

A shuttlepod came into view and seemed to be dropping like a rock, as if the engines had died.

“He's going to crash!” Tasha exclaimed and jumped out of the way.

Deanna laughed at her reaction and the shuttle's engines kicked in. It slowed down to a crawl and flew over to land gently in the abandoned yard right behind Deanna. The back door opened and Calvin was suddenly right there beside her and had his arms around her.

“One emotionless brick coming right up.” Calvin joked and Deanna hugged him close as she smiled. For some reason that she couldn't explain, Calvin had kind of a dead zone around him. When she was very close to him, she was completely protected from everyone's feelings.

“You can come closer now.” Deanna said to Tasha and didn't let go of Calvin.

“Nice piloting.” Tasha said as she walked over towards them and dusted off her uniform. “Is there something going on between you two?”

“Yes.” Calvin and Deanna said at the same time, which made the both of them smile at each other.

“We're keeping it under wraps for now and no one needs to know our business.” Calvin clarified as he sat down on the short stone wall and pulled Deanna onto his lap. “I won't let Deanna suffer because of that decision, however.”

“What if it was Commander Riker or Data watching her?” Tasha asked.

“That's against regulations.” Calvin said, to her surprise. “Command officers need to maintain order and protect their entire away team. They can't prioritize a single member and ignore the mission. Also, Data is the best impartial observer any away team could ever have.”

“What if you were in command?” Deanna asked, wondering about his answer.

“If that ever happens, and you don't make Admiral by then and were a part of my away team, I would do both.” Calvin said without boasting.

“But, you just said...” Tasha started to say.

“I'm not like other people and I don't have the same restrictions.” Calvin said. “Remember what I did to that intruder on the bridge.”

“How are you not facing an inquiry about that?” Tasha asked, curious.

“I am.” Calvin said and she looked surprised. “We just have to wait to get the body back to Starfleet Command after this mission. Captain Picard doesn't have the seniority to conduct an inquiry or to make properly informed judgments.”

“I guess that's why he's not happy with you.” Tasha commented.

“Actually, that's because he received several personal calls.” Deanna looked at Calvin's face and he nodded. “The head of Starfleet Medical, the Commandant of the Academy, and the head of Starfleet R&D are not happy with Captain Picard's dismissive behavior towards Cal.” She said and caressed Calvin's face. “From what I witnessed today, I completely agree with them. He's being unprofessional.”

Calvin chuckled and kissed her palm. “I did rile him up a little.”

“A little?!?” Tasha exclaimed and made Calvin laugh.

“Please tell me you sent a recording of it to Starfleet Command.” Deanna said and relaxed at Calvin's nod. “In my professional opinion, your insubordination was justified.”

“I hope the powers that be are in agreement on that.” Calvin said and cuddled Deanna. “How's your headache?”

“Surprisingly gone.” Deanna said and lightly kissed him on the lips. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Calvin said with a smile as he saw Tasha's slightly envious look. “Can you tell me what happened that set it off?”

Deanna nodded and told him about the immense emotional pain she felt as soon as she materialized near the marketplace. It had been debilitating and she described what happened with Riker and her reaction to his emotions adding to her discomfort.

Calvin nodded. “You need to be careful around the commander for a while.”

Deanna looked concerned. “Why?”

“His emotions latching onto all of that emotional pain is something you are going to remember for a long time. Hopefully, your mind won't associate that with your reactions to that pain.”

“Oh, no.” Deanna said as she thought about the implications and hugged Calvin tighter. “I didn't even consider that.”

“I think that's why you felt repulsed before getting away from Riker. If that persists...”

“You're right. I'll need to try and shield as much as possible for the remainder of this mission.” Deanna said. “I'm glad you're here to help.”

“I brought clothes for a couple of days and enough money to buy everything.” Calvin said and laughed at Deanna's and Tasha's shocked faces. “I made the mistake of buying Bandi currency from the replicator without asking what the conversion was from a federation credit to a Bandi dollar.”

Deanna lost the shocked look and smiled as she suspected something funny. “What's the conversion?”

“Ten to one.” Calvin said and pointedly looked away and wouldn't meet Deanna's eyes.

“If you're not going to ask him, counsellor, I will.” Tasha said. “How many credits did you spend?”

“Ah... a thousand.” Calvin admitted, reluctantly.

Deanna couldn't stop her laugh from escaping and kept laughing for nearly a full minute. By the time she was done, her face was streaked with tears from laughing so hard and she couldn't get the smile off of her face.

Even Tasha had a huge smile on her face. “You do realize what this means, don't you?”

“Yes.” Calvin stood and walked over to the shuttlepod's back door and carried Deanna in his arms. “I was going to take Deanna on a shopping spree anyway, so you might as well help.”

Deanna gave Calvin a quick and passionate kiss. “Put me down and grab your things.”

“I'll see about renting a place for a few days, too.” Calvin said and grabbed both bags to sling over his left shoulder, then tucked the money filled one on top as he secured them together. No one was going to steal them or try to rob him.

Deanna opened the personal space at the back of the shuttlepod and cleaned her face up to remove the evidence of her tears. She fixed her slightly dishevelled hair and nodded at her reflection in the mirror. Tasha checked herself as well and looked fine, so they left the shuttlepod before Calvin locked it up.

What followed was one of the best shopping trips that Deanna and Tasha had ever had. No matter where they went, the vendors had what they wanted and Calvin paid without mentioning how much he was spending. Even for a society that didn't really have money as a currency, being able to go to any seller and acquire whatever you wanted, was an emotional high that both women really enjoyed.

The exciting shopping spree had the side effect of letting them meet a lot of people and to hear about the station and what Bandi life was like before Farpoint Station was created, which was part of the away team's main mission to investigate.

They also crossed paths with several crew members and met the Chief Medical Officer that was assigned to the Enterprise, Dr. Katherine Pulaski. She laughed almost as hard as Deanna did at Calvin's money conversion mistake.

Unfortunately, they then met Commander Riker as he returned from a meeting with Groppler Zorn. Deanna's eyes squeezed shut in pain and Calvin immediately picked her up and ran at a normal pace to get her out of range.

“What was that about?” Riker asked and tried to follow.

Tasha stepped in front of him and blocked his path. “Sir, the counsellor can't be around you yet.”
“What? Why not?” Riker asked and refrained from glaring at the security chief.

“You were the one closest to her when she felt all of that pain earlier. Her empathic abilities have imprinted that pain onto your emotions in her mind.” Tasha said as an explanation.

Riker clamped his mouth shut and refused to curse out loud. That was exactly the worst thing to have happen between them. He had been delaying talking to her about their previous relationship for a few days as he settled onto the ship. Now, he would be forced to stay away from her until she worked through whatever had happened earlier.

“Are you okay?” Calvin asked as he cuddled Deanna out of sight from the others.

“I'm fine now. Thank you, Cal.” Deanna said. “You were right again. My mind brought that remembered pain right back as soon as he was close.”

Calvin sighed. “I hate being right sometimes.”

Deanna smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss, because they were hidden away from the away team. “It's all right. I'll work through this eventually.”

Calvin thought about that. “Hold on for a moment. Could you still feel the echo or was it a continuing pain?”

Deanna had to think herself. “I'm not sure. I think... it could have been a mixture of both.”

“Then there's something giving out that emotion near here.” Calvin said and he roamed his eyes around the market stalls, the people, and then down into the ground. “Deanna, there's a series of tunnels underneath the station.”

Deanna was surprised to hear that. “Is there anything inside?”

“Not that I can see. I might need to go closer if there's something blocking what I can see from here.” Calvin said.

“Is there an entrance anywhere close by?” Deanna asked.

“Let's keep shopping and I can look.” Calvin suggested and she nodded. He waved at Tasha and Dr. Pulaski for them to come over and asked them to keep shopping. Both women were more than happy to help out.

*

“I don't like leaving her behind like this.” Riker said as he, Geordi, Tasha, Dr. Pulaski, and Data prepared to beam up to the ship to report and to get some rest.

“I recommended that she stay, Commander Riker. I can't have her exposed to a transporter beam without figuring out whatever emotions she's picking up on that's giving her headaches.” Dr. Pulaski said and carried two large bags full of clothing and items that Calvin had bought for her. “Ensign Crusher will guide her around after the marketplace closes to try and pinpoint where it's coming from. If we're all lucky, she won't have to stay away from you for more than another day.”

“What if we're not lucky?” Tasha asked and carried her own bags of items. Unlike a lot of people, she hadn't had access to luxury items before she was rescued from her homeworld by the federation.

Dr. Pulaski sighed. “I'll have to recommend that she leave the ship. Counsellor Troi will have to advance her career somewhere else.” She said and looked at Riker. “Unless you want to ask for a transfer instead.”

“Let's not jump ahead of ourselves.” Riker said, which let everyone know that he wouldn't give up his career for her. “Let's get back to the ship and report to the captain.”

The away team beamed back to the ship and Calvin let out a sigh of relief.

“All right, stop stalling. What did they say?” Deanna asked.

Calvin repeated, word for word, what he had heard.

Deanna frowned and reached up to rub her forehead. “Again. He would pass me over for his career again.”

“Yes, he is still an idiot.” Calvin said and Deanna looked at him in surprise. “Who in their right mind would give up having a life with you for commanding a starship? An idiot, that's who. At least he's not bumbling.”

Deanna smiled. “A bumbling idiot?”

“According to twentieth century history records, that's the worst kind.” Calvin said and she laughed. “I'm not going to complain, though.” He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “I now have you all to myself for two whole days.”

“We have to search...”

“We're still alone together.” Calvin said and gave her a kiss before putting an arm over her shoulder to lead her away from the marketplace. “Let's get to our room for the night and settle in.” He leaned down slightly to whisper. “Once everyone else is asleep, we can get to work.”

Deanna nodded and walked with her arm around her lover's waist. She felt comfortable and safe with him, even though they had only been together for a couple of days. “Cal, I... with how I'm feeling...”

“I know.” Calvin said and she looked up at his face. “I haven't felt like this with anyone else, either.”

“We only just met and...”

“...we're acting like tribbles.” Calvin finished for her and then smirked. “Very horny tribbles.”

Deanna barked a laugh and smacked his chest with her free hand. “That's so vulgar!”

Calvin laughed as well and took her into the inn and up the stairs to their room. “I noticed that you didn't deny it.”

Deanna blushed for a moment and then unzipped her uniform skirt to let it drop to the floor. “No, I didn't.”

Calvin locked the door and took off his clothes before she had her own off. He took her over to the bed and then he was between her legs with his mouth working her over to prep her. She loved it when he did that and he gave her several moments of pure pleasure as he also gave her his own emotions of how much he liked doing it to her.

Soon they were joined together and stared into each other's eyes as Calvin gently made love to Deanna. The both of them were silently committing to the other while they poured out their emotions. Both were sure in the fact that neither of them were going to be an idiot like Riker and would never choose a job over their significant other.

“Close... I'm close.” Deanna whispered and she pulled Calvin down to kiss him. They kept their eyes open and Deanna felt a very strong thing building inside of her. She knew this was going to be a powerful one, from being built up so slowly, and she felt Calvin twitch inside of her.

“Together.” Calvin whispered and she nodded acceptance as he stayed locked onto her gaze. He knew this was going to be important for some reason and his pace picked up slightly. They were both building up for a big one, a really big one, and he leaned down to touch his forehead to hers. His hips picked up speed and they were both panting now, both ready for what was to come...

...then the telepathic bond snapped into place between them, they both came at the same time, and their thoughts and emotions rushed through the bond and flooded into each other's minds without restrictions.

“OHHHHHH GOD!” Deanna screamed in ecstasy as her mind expanded and her empathic ability seemed to increase a hundredfold. She wasn't even registering that Calvin hadn't stopped moving and was still making love to her while her own hips rose to meet each and every thrust. Her own orgasm hadn't stopped, which she would remember later and be completely surprised by.

Their eyes were still locked onto each other and their minds almost seemed to merge. It was a bond that was so deep that for an instant, they could see out of each other's eyes.

“I love you, Imzadi.” They said as one and they both meant it with all of their heart and mind.

Calvin came again after that and it seemed to seal the ritual that they hadn't realized they were doing while also knowing what it meant and wanted it. They had both seen the desire for it in their heads and accepted that they wanted to be that one specific person for each other.

They both stopped moving and Calvin slid out from inside of Deanna to lay beside her. Suddenly, they were back in their own heads and their thoughts were once again their own, only their minds were no longer alone.

That was scarily mind-blowing. Calvin thought with a huge grin on his face.

Cal! I can hear you! Deanna thought, her mixed emotions of happiness and joy flowing through their fully established telepathic link.

I know. I saw everything in your wonderful mind. Calvin thought and turned his head to look into her eyes. Hey, your solid black eyes have specks of blue in them now.

Yours haven't changed. Deanna thought and felt a little disappointed.

Blue is a dominant trait. Calvin thought and hugged her close to kiss her. I probably gained the same thing, only my eyes are too dense to allow the different pigment to show outside of a microscope.

Oh, that makes sense. Deanna thought as she kept kissing her bonded lover. You always seem to come to my rescue when I need you.

I'm pretty sure that's my legal job now. Calvin thought with amusement.

Deanna bit his bottom lip and growled to make him laugh. I've never had a bond establish so quickly or felt it this strongly before.

That's because you both had reservations about making a full commitment, which was smart of you. When Riker broke your heart, it wasn't as horrible for you as it could have been. Calvin thought and let his anger flow over the bond.

“CAL!” Deanna gasped as she felt it.

“I'm sorry. I just seem to have a rational hatred for someone that hurt you like that.” Calvin said.

“I think you meant irrational.” Deanna corrected.

“No, I meant rational.” Calvin said cupped the side of her face. “I know perfectly well why I hate him.”

“Cal, please don't do anything to hurt him.”

Calvin nodded and kissed her. “I won't do anything until he tries to come between us or hurts you again. That I won't stand for.”

“Neither will I.” Deanna said and Calvin felt her resolve.

The two of them laid there and just held each other for several minutes while their thoughts drifting into each other's minds until one particular thought seemed to form between them.

“Lwaxana.” “Mother.” Calvin and Deanna said at the same time.

“What am I going to tell her?” Deanna asked.

“The truth would be nice.” Calvin said as a particular thought passed through his mind, then he laughed when Deanna slapped his chest. “I didn't mean about having sex like tribbles part! I swear!”

Deanna shook her head and kissed him again. “She's not going to believe that we completely bonded in one night. It takes at least a month of very close relations every three days for it to form and be stable.”

“Well, that's if you were with a normal person. Everything seems to change when I'm a factor.”

Deanna thought about Captain Picard's attitude towards Calvin and had to agree. “I'll send a subspace message when we get back to the ship.”

“Chicken.” Calvin teased. You just don't want her rushing out here to meet me.

Of course I don't. She's going to test our bond and I am not looking forward to it. Deanna thought.

Calvin 'remembered' her mother testing Riker... and finding him lacking. It's all right, Deanna. I won't fail. He thought and let his confidence flow over the bond. Not with this. It's too important to me. You are too important to me.

Deanna felt his reassurance and basked in it as she cuddled him. How much longer do we have to wait before we can go out searching again?

Maybe another hour. There's barely anyone out on the streets now. Calvin responded.

Deanna started to kiss his chest and then she moved down towards his waist.

Deanna, you don't have to do that. Calvin thought and felt an emotion he could only equate with wickedness from her.

I saw it in your mind, Imzadi. Deanna thought. I know you just as well as you know me.

Completely. Calvin answered and she smiled as she reached his erection.

You will appreciate this as much as I appreciate you doing it for me. Deanna thought and slipped her mouth over him.

“Oh, god!” Calvin gasped out loud as she recreated a little fantasy that he had while her head bobbed up and down and she stared into his eyes. “You look even more beautiful than I imagined.”

Deanna blushed and she increased her efforts. If you can speak, I'm not doing it right.

Calvin shut up and let her get on with it. He also let her feel how much he was enjoying what she was doing. With both of them able to share thoughts and emotions now, they could perfectly please each other exactly how they liked it and would know it was working and what to change to keep it that way.

Needless to say, Calvin came pretty hard for her a short time later. It shocked Deanna exactly how much came out before she stopped sucking and used her hand to get the last of it out of him. Calvin was also surprised because he had finished inside of Deanna several times already and he shouldn't have spouted like a geyser after that.

“That felt... really good.” Calvin said between breaths and laid back to recover. He hadn't finished like that before and he wondered if it was the bond that was enhancing his experience.

“I think so.” Deanna said as she moved up to lay beside him once more. “I felt how much that pleased you and I somehow know that if I tried it again right now, you won't last long.”

Calvin put an arm around her and pulled her in close to kiss her. “If I didn't love you completely before...”

Deanna had to laugh at his teasing thoughts. “Rest first. You can take care of me later and see if whatever just happened between us carries over to me as well.”

“It will.” Calvin said and closed his eyes. “I just need... a short nap.”

Deanna thought about getting a shower to clean up and looked at her fully bonded lover. His erection was still there and hadn't flagged like she thought it should have, which meant he really was ready to go again, even if he himself wasn't quite ready to do it himself.

She let a lot of naughty thoughts go through her mind as Calvin fell deep asleep, then she eased herself up and onto his chest before she reached down to slide him back inside of her. She settled herself as far down as she could go and laid down on top of him, essentially trapping him under and inside of her.

Deanna felt satisfaction at the thought of keeping him with her forever like this and closed her eyes. She soon drifted off to sleep herself with her arms hugging her husband in all but name and her lower body held his intimately. To her in that moment, it was the best feeling in the world.

She would later remember that it was the best sleep she had ever had in her life.

*

A day and a half later, Deanna and Calvin looked around the tunnels under Farpoint Station.

“I can't believe there's nothing down here.” Deanna said and motioned with her hands towards the bare walls.

They had searched the station and the surrounding area for what seemed like endless hours until Calvin finally saw a tunnel that extend out towards the old settlement and followed it to a cave-like opening, then they went down that same tunnel to get inside the underground part of the station.

“There's no machinery, no visible air ducts, and no real lighting except for those strip things illuminating everything.” Calvin said and used his x-ray vision to look at everything. “There's also nothing below this level except bedrock.”

“This doesn't make sense.” Deanna said as she walked over to the slightly curved wall in front of her that marked yet another dead end. “There should be something here for the power to the buildings and marketplace to flow through. All that's here are blank walls and smooth floors!”

Calvin nodded. “The interior of the walls are solid as well. There are no conduits or even anything like a spaceship's Jefferies Tubes.”

Deanna sighed in frustration. “Something's going on here. This Farpoint Station can't be what we've seen it is.”

Calvin nodded again and walked over to her. “Let's go over our interactions with the local people yesterday and see if either of us can pick out anything that the other missed.”

Deanna looked surprised for a moment, then she smiled as her face practically lit up. “That's a wonderful idea, Cal!”

They sat down across from each other in a meditative pose and clasped hands. Because of their shared bond and their memories merging during it, they both knew what to do to use the bond for exactly that. Deanna went first and her memories of the day before sped across their minds like a fast forward video. Thanks to Calvin's enhanced vision, they could both see what he saw in those memories.

I think I'm seeing a pattern. Calvin thought as the memories ended. Watch my memories of yesterday and tell me if you notice the same thing.

Deanna thought in agreement and Calvin's memories flowed through her mind in the same manner. She gasped when she noticed the same pattern. Cal! They had everything we wanted, no matter what it was!

That's the pattern I noticed. Whenever we went looking for something specific, they had it. If they have replicator technology that works from only thought control, it could be very dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.

Deanna nodded mentally. We need to go back to the marketplace and test this.

Shall we look for some mechanical and engineering tools? Calvin asked with a smirk.

Deanna snorted and then laughed. If we do that, we can charge them for breaking Starfleet regulations!

Calvin laughed as well and then they ended the meditative state that it usually took a year of couples training to enter. “I love that I can share myself so completely with you, Imzadi.”

“I do, too.” Deanna said and almost purred as they stood and she hugged him close. “Your mind is so full and also has so much more room inside of it.”

Calvin smiled and gave her a soft and tender kiss. “Are you going to take your masters test for engineering or are you going for command?”

“That all depends on how I react the next time I see Commander Riker.” Deanna said and then she laughed. “I don't feel comfortable calling him by is first name anymore! Ha ha!”

Calvin laughed with her and they casually walked back to the extended tunnel that went to the old settlement. “I'm not going to say I'm sorry about that, only how it came about.”

Deanna nodded and hugged her lover to her side. “It was a harsh way for me to finally get over him.” She said and their feet made a different sound as they reached the dirt part of the tunnel. “I don't sense the old bond inside of my mind, either.”

“If I had to guess, when he tried to force his feelings onto you when you were hurting, whatever little bond you had after being apart for so long, withered and died.”

“I think so, too.” Deanna said and they went quiet as they walked a little further and emerged from a cave-like entrance that was concealed behind a building.

“...ome in, Counsellor Troi! I repeat, there is an unknown spaceship approaching orbit! Remain in cover and do not wear a Starfleet uniform!” A voice she didn't recognize said from her comm badge. When the words were repeated, Deanna hit her comm badge twice as an acknowledgement without speaking.

Calvin looked up into the air and concentrated.

Deanna blinked her eyes for a moment at the sensation she was feeling from him, then she closed her eyes and let their bond guide her mind to 'see' what Calvin was looking at. “Oh, my god.”

“Yes.” Calvin whispered. “It's much larger than the Enterprise and... it's scanning them with an energy beam. Hopefully it's only scanning them.”

Deanna could only nod as they watched the ship pretty much dismiss the Enterprise as a threat and it rotated and moved towards the planet. It settled in orbit and Calvin suddenly had the feeling of impending doom.

“Hold on, my love!” Calvin said and scooped Deanna up into his arms before he ran at a speed that wouldn't hurt her but would also get them out of there quickly. He was just in time, because some kind of energy pulses rained down onto the old settlement and started destroying all of the abandoned buildings, including the one they had been behind.

Calvin and Deanna reached the marketplace and saw everyone panicking, so they easily joined in the rush to get to safety and returned to their room at the inn. They sat down on the bed and Calvin kept looking up at the ship and back down at the settlement as it was being methodically destroyed and wiped off of the face of the planet.

“Anger... and pain.” Deanna whispered as she clutched onto Calvin. “Great loss... despair... and hope?”

Calvin nodded. “It's not from the people, either. Whatever you're picking up so strongly, it's not the terror and fear they are feeling.”

“You don't know how much I appreciate that you can feel that through me and can help me decipher them.” Deanna whispered.

“I do, my love.” Calvin said and looked at her pained face. “Use my mental exercises and calm your own emotions. You are much stronger than any external force.”

Deanna could feel his confidence flow over their bond and she took several deep breaths as she did as he asked. She fought to not let the emotions she was feeling overwhelm her and her hunched form slowly unfurled and she sat beside her lover with her back straight and her mind clear. She could still feel everything around her and succeeded as she kept her mental distance from it. They were not her emotions, so she wasn't ruled by them.

“That's my wife.” Calvin whispered and gave her a kiss. “Now, tell me where the anger is located.”

“Up.” Deanna said and looked up where Calvin had seen the ship in orbit. “A great anger is there and a feeling of loss is driving it.”

Calvin followed her mind to those feelings and nodded. “Whoever that is, hates the Bandi with a passion.”

“The emotional pain and the sliver of hope are... are...” Deanna closed her eyes and tried to follow it to the source. “Cal, I can't pinpoint it. It's... it's almost like it's all around us.”

Calvin followed along in her mind and found the same thing. Those external emotions were all around them. In fact, it seemed to permeate the very air around them. It took him several minutes to figure out what was going on.

“Oh, those stupid crasnarks!” Calvin swore a curse word that he had made up as a child to not be punished for cursing.

Deanna couldn't stop her chuckle at hearing it.

“Call the Enterprise and tell them to not interfere with that alien ship.” Calvin said. “If my guess is right, what we're standing on might be the remains of another ship.”

Deanna called the Enterprise to warn them and also added that she suspected the Bandi were hiding something important and they needed to talk to Groppler Zorn, the administrator of Farpoint Station, to confirm their theory.

“The away team will beam down to your coordinates shortly.” Picard's voice said.

“NO!” Deanna gasped and then sighed. “Captain, I'm currently huddled inside a small room at the inn while the attack is going on. I'll signal when I can get to an appropriate space for an away team to appear.”

There was no response for a moment.

“Acknowledged. Picard Out.”

“It's been two days and he's still angry about what happened.” Calvin said and chuckled. “We should go downstairs right away. The captain won't be happy if we stay here much longer and don't let the others beam down, regardless of the planetary bombardment we're currently under.”

Deanna nodded and they left the room to go down into the lobby. The place seemed deserted, so when she reached the middle of the floor, she tapped her comm badge. “Troi to Enterprise. It's safe to transport.”

There was a moment's pause before the telltale signs of transporting formed and seven people appeared. Riker, Dr. Pulaski, Data, Geordi, Tasha, and two crewmen as security.

Deanna winced as she felt Riker's emotions spike at the sight of her wearing normal clothing that made her look fantastic. His feelings for her made her feel a little unclean; but, she wasn't bombarded by the remembered pain, thankfully.

Dr. Pulaski went right over to her and used her medical tricorder to check her over and hovered the detachable device around Deanna's frontal lobes. “You're still suffering from the backlash of emotional overload.”

“I've gotten a handle on it and it's not as debilitating.” Deanna said and the doctor nodded.

“Any headaches or pains right now?” Dr. Pulaski asked and Deanna shook her head. “I still suggest you stay here while the commander and the others go to the administrator's office.”

“No, I need to be there. If Groppler Zorn lies, I have to be close by to feel it.” Deanna countered.

“All right, you can go. Just make sure you stay back from the commander.”

“That won't be a problem.” Deanna said and winced again at the spike of anger from Riker and the medical tricorder beeped in warning.

“Commander Riker! Stop that!” Dr. Pulaski shouted and it was Riker's turn to wince at the venom in her voice. “Keep yourself in check or I will relieve you from duty!” She spat. “You are harming a member of the away team with your immature attitude and actions. You need to remain professional about Deanna's condition, that was not her fault by the way, and lead this team properly without letting your personal emotions affect it!”

Riker sighed and tried to ignore what he was feeling. He hadn't used the proper techniques in several years and he was pathetically out of practice. It took him several minutes before he came close to pushing his personal emotions aside and nodded to the doctor.

“Everyone, with me.” Riker said and started to turn towards the door, then stopped to kind of glare at Calvin. “Except for you, Ensign Crusher.”

“That was unnecessarily rude, Commander. I was relieved of duty and am here as a civilian, as you very well know.” Calvin said with a shrug. “I was going to stay here anyway.”

Riker squinted his eyes for a second and nodded before he walked out through the inn's front door.

Keep an eye on me. Deanna thought as she followed the away team.

Always. Calvin thought back and closed one eye to maintain their mental link and used the other to follow her physically as the away team went to the main administration building in the old settlement. Surprisingly, it was the only building that wasn't damaged when the barrage of energy fire finally stopped. No one missed the fact it stopped when the away team entered the abandoned area.

“Ah! AHH!” Groppler Zorn yelled constantly as things fell from shelves while dust and a few bits of debris fell from the ceiling above his head.

“The attack has stopped, Administrator.” Riker said as he entered the room with the away team arrayed behind him. The two security guards spread out across the room and looked for threats.

“Riker! I'm so glad you're here! You have to save me and my people!” Zorn exclaimed.

“I do? Does that mean you're responsible for all of this?” Riker asked.

“What? No! I had nothing to do with any of this!”

“He's lying. He knows what's going on.” Deanna said.

“I'm not lying I have no idea why a ship in orbit is targeting us!”

“Not us. You.” Riker said and saw the man's face change from denial to fear. “You aren't asking yourself why that alien ship is firing only on the old settlement?”

“What did you do to cause so much pain down here and to anger the ship in orbit so much?” Deanna asked, which surprised everyone on the away team.

“I... I don't know what you mean.” Zorn said and took a step back from the away team. “I wasn't responsible for... AHHHH!” He screamed when he was suddenly caught in some kind of encompassing and painful light. “NO! It wasn't me! I swear! I SWEAAAARRRRR!”

Then he disappeared when the light stopped.

“That wasn't a normal transporter beam.” Geordi commented.

I'll give you three guesses where he went and the first two don't count. Calvin thought to Deanna.

“He's on the alien ship.” Deanna said and closed her eyes. Cal, look up at the ship. Give me a direct view, please.

I already am, my love. Calvin thought.

“Groppler Zorn is... being tortured.” Deanna said as she watched through the telepathic link with Calvin. “The feelings of... satisfaction and... justification... are very strong. Whoever is up there knows Zorn is responsible and is getting their revenge on him.”

“What else can you tell us?” Riker asked.

“Not much. I can only...” Deanna gasped. “The inside of the alien ship! It's the same as the tunnels under Farpoint Station!”

“What?!? How would you know that?” Riker asked and lost control of his emotions as they spiked and focused on Deanna while he stalked over to her.

“AHH!” Deanna gripped her temples and dropped to her knees from the direct emotional assault.

“STOP RIGHT THERE, COMMANDER RIKER!” Dr. Pulaski yelled and stepped in front of him to physically stop him.

Riker was shaken out of his heightened emotional state by her yell and realized that he intended to grab Deanna roughly and would possibly shake her until she told him what he wanted to know, because she had kept vital information from him and he hated going into a situation without knowing all of the available facts.

He backed off immediately; but, the damage had been done already. He saw Deanna huddled in on herself and that she shook slightly, then he heard the sound of concrete crumbling and felt a hand go around his throat. The next think he knew, he was slammed through part of a wall and a window while he also had the wind knocked out of him. He landed on the ground two dozen feet away from the administration building with the hand still around his throat.

“Someone needs to learn control.” Calvin said from above him, his bright blue eyes shimmered into a deep red. “You hurt her on purpose.”

Riker caught his breath and took a deep one. “No! It was a mistake!”

“You knew exactly what your emotional attack could do to her and did it anyway.” Calvin said and his eyes widened slightly after he looked at Riker's brain. “Ah, I see. Your amygdala gland is slightly overdeveloped. No wonder your emotions affected her more than they should have, even with your limited telepathic bond dissolved.”

“Wh-what? What did you say?” Riker asked, his mind reeling.

“Your pathetic bond to Deanna is gone, you ignorant fool. How could you not even notice?” Calvin almost sneered. “Oh, that's right. You don't care about others and their pain doesn't bother you, even if their emotional health was dependent on you.”

“I don't understand.” Riker said and tried to pry the hand from his neck and couldn't.

“That's because you can't. You are incapable of seeing things outside of your own pathetic needs.” Calvin said and calmed as his glowing red eyes thinned down to only pinpoint dots. “I think a little judicious brain surgery is needed, don't you?”

“W-wait!” Riker said and raised his hands as if to surrender, then his head was tilted back and two thin and barely seen red beams shot out from Calvin's eyes and entered through Riker's nose. It burned a near microscopic hole through the upper sinus cavity and right into the amygdala gland. Thanks to his years as a dedicated medical professional, he easily made the proper incisions to remove the excess growth and to stop any more emotional outbursts.

“There. All done.” Calvin said a few seconds later. “We will no longer have a problem with you.”

“No, you won't.” Riker said right away. “I will apologize to Deanna...”

Calvin frowned at him. “To who?”

“...to Counsellor Troi at the first opportunity.”

Calvin nodded and stood, bringing Riker with him by his neck before he let him go. “If you ever hurt her again, intentional or not, I will start removing body parts.”

“Understood.” Riker said and looked down at himself. “How are my arms and legs not broken?”

“Deanna would be angry at me if I intentionally hurt you.” Calvin said and then disappeared as he ran back inside the building. “Deanna.” He said and knelt beside her.

“Th-thank you, Cal. Thank you.” Deanna whispered and put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Her gratitude for Calvin filled him up and he held her tenderly while the emotions of those around them didn't bother Deanna in the least.

Riker stepped into the room through the hole that Calvin had made and didn't react to the shocked looks on everyone's faces. “I'm fine.” He said, completely ignoring Deanna and Calvin kissing, and tapped his comm badge. “Riker to Captain Picard.”

“Go ahead, Number One.” Picard's voice responded.

“Groppler Zorn was kidnapped by the alien ship and is apparently being tortured.” Riker said. “I also have new information about Farpoint Station.”

“We only discovered the entrance to the tunnels under the station a few hours ago. We were leaving after inspecting them when we finally got the message to take cover.” Calvin explained and Deanna nodded. “We ran and took cover and Deanna didn't get the chance to report what we found.”

“Did you hear that, Captain?” Riker asked.

“I did. What did they discover?” Picard's voice responded.

“The tunnels are completely clean. No duct work, power cables, Jefferies Tubes, or rooms.” Calvin said. “It was bare of anything that a normal station would need to function properly.”

“The station on the surface must be a facade. Counsellor Troi claimed that the alien ship has the same internal tunnel system.” Riker said. “What are your orders, Captain?”

Picard was silent for a moment. “We need to rescue Groppler Zorn and...”

“That will only get the alien ship angry at you for interfering.” Calvin said.

“You are not a part of the away team, ensign.” Picard's voice said from Riker's chest.

“He said it before I could, captain.” Deanna said and let her lover go to stand up and face the away team. She was shaking slightly from the emotional aftershocks that Dr. Pulaski had warned her about, then she felt strong hands grip her waist and she leaned back to rest against Calvin's chest. “If this station is another alien ship like Calvin guessed, then making enemies of them would be a grave mistake.”

“What would you suggest we do?” Picard asked and everyone could hear the reluctance in his voice.

“We go back into the tunnels and I touch the walls directly.” Deanna said.

“Deanna, you're emotionally spent. We can't do that right now.” Calvin warned her.

“You can help me and keep me grounded.” Deanna said as she turned around to look up into Calvin's eyes. “I'm sure with the two of us working together and in a meditative state, we can figure this puzzle out and can advise the captain about what to do next.”

Calvin sighed in resignation and held her close. “I'll always have your back, Deanna.”

“I suggest an hour rest before you try anything.” Dr. Pulaski said. “It won't be much; but, at least you won't still be reeling from what just happened.”

Deanna reluctantly nodded and let Calvin lead her out of the administration building as the away team looked through the administrator's office to see if there was anything there to give them any advantage in this situation. Calvin brought Deanna to where the cave-like entrance used to be and saw that it was covered by the remains of the building that had concealed it previously.

“Show me some of what you can do, Cal.” Deanna whispered as she sat down on a piece of rubble.

Calvin glanced around to make sure no one was around or looking in their direction before he smirked at Deanna. “You better hold onto your panties.”

Deanna couldn't help but laugh at his happy and teasing emotions, then she caught her breath as he used one hand to lift a twenty foot wide section of concrete wall like it was nothing. Her eyes were riveted on his muscular form as he tossed the thing aside and then he waded into the pile of rubble. His hands seemed to move in a blur as he swiped the smaller pieces of debris aside like it was only dust and not hundreds of pounds of concrete, mortar, and metal.

Calvin could feel Deanna's emotions and her intense concentration on him. When he reached a much larger section of debris, he made a little show of propping it up with one hand and then walked underneath it to lifted it above his head. He walked over to her to let her see that he wasn't struggling with it, then he jumped about twenty feet into the air and threw it away.

Deanna gasped as he did that and she felt herself grow very wet as her immensely strong lover softly landed in front of her as if he hadn't just thrown several tons of weight around. “Cal.” She whispered and stared up into his eyes.

“How's that for someone that's classed as physically malformed?” Calvin asked, repeating the captain's harsh words.

“He was wrong to say that.” Deanna said and stood. “He doesn't understand that the transporter isn't strong enough to lock onto your physique.”

“Not to mention it doesn't have the capability to handle even half of my molecular structure and keep it intact.” Calvin said and then smiled. “Not like you do, anyway.”

Deanna blushed and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. “We should go inside and rest in our meditative state.”

“We can sit right on the transition spot from the earth tunnel to the station one, then you can easily touch it when it's time.” Calvin said and they walked through the now revealed cave-like entrance. “If anything happens, we can quickly leave from there if necessary.”

Deanna nodded and they walked along the tunnel that had somehow remained intact after the energy bombardment. They reached the right spot and sat down in a meditative pose to clasp hands, then they both entered a meditative state.

Thank you for not hurting him. Deanna thought as they shared their recent experiences over their telepathic bond.

I knew you wouldn't want me to. Calvin thought back. Did you see what I saw in his brain?

Deanna nodded mentally. I didn't know you could do something like that surgically.

I've never tried it before. Calvin admitted and then laughed mentally. I wasn't worried about making a mistake on him, because honestly, would it make much difference if I did?

Deanna laughed mentally as well. No, he earned that punishment easily. You were right. He did do it intentionally because I didn't tell him about Farpoint Station before.

I know. He's an ass. Calvin thought. Of course, now he's going to be a bit emotionally detached for a while.

That could work for him, actually. No one will really notice. Deanna commented and sent a pile of amusement over their bond. I'll let Dr. Pulaski know if she scans the commander and finds the incisions.

I thought about using a dermal regenerator and decided it could wait. The wounds are cauterized, anyway. Calvin thought and they both fell silent and let their calm emotions flow over each other for the next forty-five minutes. It was almost as good as the sleep they had the night before.

All right, here goes. Deanna thought and her hand reached out to touch the wall. “AHHHHH!” She screamed as her mind was assaulted by a stream of emotions.

I've got you. Calvin thought and pulled on their telepathic connection to take the majority of the emotions being shoved into her.

Oh... oh, god. That was... too much. Cal, can you handle...

I would take it all if you would let me, Imzadi. Calvin thought and let his love flow over her and practically created a shield of his emotions around Deanna's empathic ability to dull the emotional storm assaulting her.

How are you doing that? Deanna asked, shocked.

I have all your memories, my love. Even the ones you've forgotten you had. Calvin thought and showed her an old book about telepathy that her mother had her read when she was a little girl.

I love you so much! Deanna thought and her own love surged forward to touch his. When her love did that, it seemed to join with the emotional shield that Calvin created. Suddenly, her empathic ability could discern every emotion being thrown at her. I have it! I HAVE IT!

Yes, you do. Calvin thought happily.

Deanna got to work and quickly catalogued everything she was feeling. Cal, it's not a person or a group of people. It's the station itself. It is its own entity! That's why I could feel it all over the place. It IS the place!

That makes a lot of sense, considering I didn't see anyone on the ship in orbit, either. Calvin thought. Do you think they are a mated pair like us and that's why there's so much anger from the other one?

Deanna concentrated and filtered the emotions. Yes! That's exactly what they are! I can feel the bond between them. It's weak. Very weak. Oh! She's starving! That must be how the Bandi have been controlling her and what the emotional pain is from. They only give her enough energy to stay alive and to create things for them.

Like a starbase to trick the federation into contributing to their crimes of unlawful imprisonment and torture of a sentient being. Calvin thought with disgust. We need to tell Captain Picard immediately.

Deanna did her best to send reassurance to the station, with Calvin's help, then she removed her hand and ended the meditative state they were in as she tapped her comm badge. “Counsellor Troi to Captain Picard.”

“Picard here.” Picard's voice responded.

“The emotion reading worked. Farpoint Station is the same as the alien ship in orbit and both are singular entities with no humanoids controlling them. They are also a mated pair and this one is trapped here and starving of energy.” Deanna said. “That's why the alien ship only attacked the old settlement. It knew the Bandi had his mate captive and wants her back.”

Picard was silent for a moment. “Are you sure of that conclusion?”

“Sir, I wouldn't contact you unless I was positive. If you can somehow transfer energy into Farpoint Station and provide it some relief, you will easily confirm what I've told you.”

“I'll issue orders to evacuate the station before I do that.” Picard said.

“Sir, with all due respect...” Deanna said and Calvin almost laughed because her tone matched his when he told the captain the same thing. “...that could take days, especially if they refuse. I suggest just initiating the transfer and the Bandi should immediately evacuate anyway.”

“Counsellor, you can't honestly think...”

“The Bandi have imprisoned and tortured a member of a sentient alien race, sir. Federation policy is clear on not interfering with non-member races and their conflicts.” Deanna said and smirked at Calvin, who had a hand over his mouth to contain his laughter at her verbally berating the captain.

Picard actually sighed over an open comm link. “Chief Engineer, what can we do to share energy with the entity on the planet?”

“We could reconfigure a phaser bank to emit a beam of vivifying particles that should give it a nice boost.” Sarah MacDougal's voice said over the comm link.

“Make it so.” Picard said. “Counsellor, I suggest you leave the area.”

“We're already on the move, captain.” Deanna said as Calvin picked her up and he ran outside almost instantly.

“What was that noise?” Picard asked.

“A gust of wind, sir.” Deanna said. “Troi out.”

Calvin carried her over to a clear area and sat down, with Deanna still in his arms, to give them a good view of Farpoint Station.

“Attention all Bandi citizens. A planet quake has been detected. Please evacuate Farpoint Station immediately.” A female voice said and it echoed across the station and surrounding area. “Leave all bulky personal items behind. Relief services will be provided.”

“Oh, that's sneaky.” Calvin said with a laugh.

“Do you think it will work?” Deanna asked.

“That depends on when they can finish reconfiguring the phaser to... there it is.” Calvin said.

Deanna looked where he indicated and saw a whitish beam cut through the air and hit the station right in the middle of the marketplace. “We didn't get to test our theory about getting what we wanted.”

“Dammit! I knew there was something I forgot to do!” Calvin exclaimed and Deanna laughed.

*

Picard stood on the bridge of the USS Enterprise and refrained from letting his face show his surprise as the Farpoint Station easily sucked up all of the energy they were sending its way. He watched the main viewscreen for about twenty minutes as the houses and buildings seemed to slowly dissolve into the ground. Bandi citizens were running away in terror and their evacuation was completed long before the Chief Engineer told him that no more energy was being absorbed.

“End the transfer and let's see what happens next.” Picard said and they watched the screen for the next ten minutes. Nothing happened except for the Bandi fleeing just outside the station boundary... and then that boundary seemed to grow up and back in towards the center in a dome shape where the station used to be. When the energy met in the center and formed a complete barrier, the air seemed to turn opaque and then solidified. Farpoint Station floated upwards and revealed a dozen tentacles unfolding beneath it.

“It looks like a jellyfish from Earth!” Someone exclaimed.

What no one saw was one of those tentacles had unfolded and rested next to the two people that sat beside the crater the jellyfish had just been trapped inside. The contact lasted for nearly a full minute before the gigantic jellyfish floated up high enough to no longer be in contact with the planet's surface.

The alien space ship next to the Enterprise shimmered and the outer shell seemed to be absorbed as another gigantic jellyfish was revealed. The tentacles it dropped down reached lovingly towards his mate as she achieved orbit. The two gigantic jellyfish beings embraced as their tentacles intertwined and pulled them together.

There was a bright flash and Groppler Zorn appeared on the Enterprise's bridge. The man shook and trembled as he muttered about being sorry that they had kept the creature instead of sending it on its way after they had helped it heal from its injuries from crashing on the planet.

“I suppose that solves the mystery of how the Bandi achieved such a technological leap in so short a time.” Picard said and looked at the pathetic man on the floor in front of him. “Security, send him back to the surface with his people.”

A security guard came over and picked the mumbling man up before he walked him to the turbolift.

Picard tapped his comm badge. “Picard to Riker.”

“Riker here.”

“I assume you saw that.”

“Yes, sir. It was a sight to see.” Riker's voice responded. What he didn't say was that he had seen Calvin throwing pieces of buildings around like toys.

“I think our mission here is done.” Picard said.

“Yes, sir. The away team will beam up in a few minutes. Riker out.”

*

Deanna and Calvin had been in a kind of trance while the tentacle had been in contact with them. When they woke up, they looked at the ground around them and saw that it was covered in a bunch of things that the both of them had always wanted and to use in their tests of the station.

“We didn't get to thank her.” Deanna said as she picked up a very old jewellery box that had been lost in a fire when she was a teenager. It was created from her memory and was perfect.

“I'm pretty sure she was thanking us.” Calvin said and picked up an engineering tool that he had only imagined having, because it technically didn't exist outside of his mind. “We need to get all of this to the shuttlepod before anyone sees it.”

Deanna nodded and she helped Calvin carry everything over to the shuttlepod and added it to all of the purchases they had made in the marketplace. The shuttlepod was packed almost to the bulkheads with everything by the time they were done and the away team approached.

“Captain Picard has ordered us to beam up.” Riker said and stopped a respectable distance away. He hadn't needed Dr. Pulaski's grip on his arm to stop him from going closer, because he was sure that he didn't want to be at Calvin's mercy again. Ever.

“I'm riding up with Calvin.” Deanna said.

Riker nodded. “For what it's worth, I really am sorry about all of this.”

Deanna nodded back and didn't say anything in response. Just because he had apologized, it didn't mean that he deserved to be forgiven or that she was going to give it. Not right away, anyway.

Riker tapped his comm badge. “Seven to beam up in my immediate location.”

The away team faded away in the telltale signs of a transporter beam.

“I see what you mean now.” Deanna said as she looked at where the others had been. “Being torn apart molecule by molecule and then reassembled is quite daunting when you think about it.”

Calvin nodded. “You're worried that our bond might not survive the process, because it's more mental than physical.”

Deanna hugged and kissed him. “You're worried about that, too.”

“Of course I am. Look at what happened between you and Riker. The more you moved apart and the more transporters you used, the weaker your bond became.” Calvin said and brought her inside the shuttlepod to sit her in the co-pilot's seat. “I do not want to take the chance that it could damage what we have.”

Deanna grabbed his hand as Calvin sat down. “I won't chance it, either.” She said and let his hand go. “I'm adding 'no transporter usage' into my own medical file and informing the transporter crews that I am never to be transported without my express permission.”

“You don't have to do that.” Calvin said and ran the pre-flight checks. “People on the ship are going to look at me strangely because they know I can't use the transporter. I don't want them to look at you like that, too.”

Deanna laughed softly. “You're assuming that they are going to dismiss our concerns.”

“Aren't they?” Calvin asked with a smile as he powered up the engines.

“Some are.” Deanna said and Calvin barked a laugh. “All right, most will.”

Calvin nodded and the shuttlepod lifted off and shot up into the atmosphere.

“The others are going to think we have a legitimate problem with the transporter and will agree with us.” Deanna said. “I think we are going to see an increase in shuttle usage soon.”

“That will made the shuttle bay crews happy and piss off the captain.” Calvin said, wryly.

Deanna laughed and nodded. “It really will.”

Almost as soon as the shuttlepod crossed the forcefield of the shuttlebay, the Enterprise started to move away from orbit. By the time the shuttlebay doors were closed, the ship had already reached the gravitational limit of the system and jumped to warp.

The Enterprise's very first mission at Farpoint Station was over.

The reports submitted to Starfleet Command were fantastical and unbelievable, which was perfectly fine with them. It was what Starfleet was created for, after all.