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Escape from the Trenditan - PG RATING
R/T, Zlanna@aol.com cont.

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Deanna's voice came to Will's thoughts as soon as the resting period began. "Will. I need to tell you of the cave I saw today. I have been thinking about it. I don't believe it was a cave. Not an ordinary cave."

Will gave up trying to have any sense of his surroundings. Despite all his attempts, he was unable to see anything that he could understand. It was like a blind man stumbling in unknown territory. "Did you go into the cave?" Will asked.

"No, that is what I have been thinking about. I saw someone pass through the cave entrance as if it were a door. A door. But I don't know where the door led."

Riker considered the information. "Did you see anyone go through the entrance of the cave?"

"Yes. Actually," Deanna's voice hesitated. "That is the portal through which they enter our universe, isn't it?" Her voice was excited and Will could tell she was thinking along the same lines as he was.

"Deanna, could you find that cave again?" Will asked. He waited for her answer, wondering how to test what was on the other side of the portal.

"I, I think I could. I was disoriented when I went before, but have you noticed how the Trenditan always congregate in the same area during the day?"

"Yes, I have wondered why that was." Riker was already planning their escape. "Tell Luke to be ready tomorrow. It's time we go home."

Data, seated in the senior officers' conference room on the Enterprise outlined his plan to investigate the point in the Alpha sector where he believed the Trenditan base might be located. Captain Reynolds listened intently. Data had never dealt with Reynolds before but she appeared attentive, asking a few questions, accepting Data's answers without question.

"Do you have any questions for me Captain?" Data asked.

"Just when do we leave Sir?"

"I see no reason to delay." Data answered. "I would be on the outlook for Trenditan attacks however. I believe that they will know we are coming."

"I have read your briefing on Admiral Riker's theory of the Trenditan, Sir. I have compiled several possible scenarios that I do not believe have been tried yet. If you would like, I would be happy to share them with you."

Data nodded. "Thank you, Captain. I would enjoy reviewing your scenarios. I too have made a list of possible defenses. I would be happy to share them with you as well."

"Perhaps, we could review our defensive plans in more detail over dinner, Sir." Reynolds boldly stared at Data. Her eyes seemed to laugh, in an inviting way and Data felt his emotion program starting to activate on its own.

"Indeed. That would be," Data searched for the best word, "acceptable." Funny, he thought, he hadn't used that word in a very long time.

Deanna's voice gently penetrated through Riker's dream. "Will, wake up, we are about to go to the working fields."

Riker waited, knowing better than to try and open his eyes yet. In a few moments, he felt the heat of the sun upon his face as the bright light penetrated through his closed eyelids. Cautiously he opened his eyes and began making mental notes of all that was happening around him. Prisoners milled around waiting to be assigned a task to work on. Most were Betazoid or a few other telepathic speices. Will was glad to note that Luke and his Imzadi were among the crowd. Riker briefly made eye contact with his son, but the Luke caught the significance of the signal. He nonchalantly ambled over to Belona, bent down to whisper in her ear, then continued walking as if the girl were of no importance to him.

Time had little meaning to time travellers and Riker had no idea how much of the precious commodity had passed when he began to slowly work his way down a row of vegetables that appeared to be similar to squash. Soon he was working next to Deanna."There Will! Do you see the guards starting to move off?"

"Yes, the others haven't arrived yet. They are finally getting a little sloppy." Riker continued watching the backs of the disappearing guards. No other guards came. "Come on, Deanna."

"Now?"

"It may be our only chance. Let's go."

"What of Luke and Balona?"

"Luke will follow when he sees we have left. Come on."

Riker searched the horizon desperately, but there were not Trenditan in sight. All is illusions, he told himself, but he had to take the risk. He took Deanna's hand in his and followed the footsteps in the sand that led to the mysterious cave that Deanna had described earlier. The air seemed to grow heavier as the heat of the planet beat down upon them, but they forced themselves to keep a quick pace. Then Riker noticed the crowd in the distance. Sure enough, a group of Trenditan were standing before a cave entrance. There was a lot of commotion as though the group were divided on something. An argument seemed erupt and the crowd drew in closer around two quarrelling members. Riker said a silent prayer as he gave his thanks for such a sweet opportunity. His heart hardly beat as he held Deanna's hand tightly in his and ran, low to the ground, toward the cave and then inside. For some reason, there was no one in the cave. Instead, there appeared just inside the entrance what appeared to be a second entrance. The cave resembled the Guardian of Forever in the swirling colors that rotated inside its hollowed out entryway. Suddenly Riker heard a noise behind him. The sound of running feet.

"Go, Deanna."

"Not without you, Will!"

"Go - I'll be right behind you."

"Will, I won't leave you." Deanna shouted, but Riker knew already that the entrance was small enough that they would have to go through one at a time.

"Now! Hurry, Imzadi, the Trenditan are here!"

Before Deanna could protest, her husband pushed her through the strange cave entrance. Twisting, Deanna tried to reach out her hand to him, but as multi-colored lights flashed, her sense of balance failed and a strange tingling sensation triggered every nerve in her body. Then, as suddenly as her dizziness arose, it receded. Stumbling she grabbed the smooth, polished edge of the desk that appeared before her and turning, she saw the picture that Will had so carefully positioned on the wall of his ready room aboard the Enterprise-F. It was a copy of the painting they had studied in the Betazoid art museum together so long ago. 'Goopy' paint swirls as he had called them of blue, green, red, white and black danced around a common center. She had escaped, but she was alone. The picture called to her, inviting her to reach out and touch it as if it held the power to return her Imzadi to her. Her eyes never left the painting as she hit the com link, "Data! Report to the Captain's ready room on the double."

"Counselor Riker! You are not dead!" Data replied through the com link. Deanna wondered if the android had his emotion chip turned off - he didn't sound surprised at all to discover she had returned to the Enterprise.

Within ten minutes, Data entered the Ready Room and stood before Deanna. He was flanked on one side by Deanna's daughter, Beverly and on the other by Captain Reynolds. Beverly didn't try to hide the tears as she clung to her mother's side. "Dad and Luke?" she asked.

"They were okay when I left." Deanna said. "We have to get them back though."

"So Counselor, given your return it appears that Admiral Riker's theory about the Trenditan was correct."

"The Trenditan are not omnipotent, Data. Will believes they can be defeated. I returned to the Enterprise by jumping through a portal that resembled the Guardian of Forever. That is how the Trenditan travel between their world and ours." Deanna observed Data as he rubbed his naked jaw in the same manner that Will Riker so often rubbed his beard. She recognized the humor of the habit through the worry she bore for her husband.

"That fits a theory that Captain Reynolds and I have been forming." Data crossed over to Will's chair and sat down. The move caught Deanna off-guard and at first she resented the ease with which Data assumed Will Riker's position behind the desk. Then she forced herself to calm down. Data had been in charge of the Enterprise during the entire time Will had been with Trenditan, of course he would sit in Will's chair. What was surprising was that Data hadn't changed any of the decor of the room.

"It is possible Counselor, that the Trenditan possess the ability to manipulate this "Guardian" at will?" Captain Reynolds asked.

Deanna replayed all she had observed in the cave in her head, desperately attempting to remember everything she could. Finally she gave up. "It is so hard to report accurately on what we observed. Reality is different among the Trenditan. Time passes differently. Once a day, there is a resting period. During this period, time seems to shift randomly. Events flash by you as if in a vidpict, but the events are not in the correct order. Only telepathic species can survive, because they are the only ones that can shut out the time fluctuations. There does seem to be discord among the Trenditan. Before I came through the portal, there was an argument going on between a number of the Trenditan.

"Wars are never supported by a hundred percent of the population. Perhaps the attacks on the Federation are not favored by all the Trenditan." Reynolds speculated.

Beverly interrupted. "If only telepathic species can survive how did you and Dad and Luke survive? None of you are telepathic?"

"Your father and I are linked, Bev and Luke was reunited with Balona."

Beverly's face went white as she whispered, "Balona?"

"We will discuss this later, Bev. Right now I need to give my report to Data." Deanna saw her daughter redden as she nodded and left the room. Anyone could be forgiven a breach of protocol upon learning that their parents, given up for dead, were in reality alive, Deanna mused to herself.

"Data, everyday we worked in fields doing manual labor. Picking crops, or planting or even picking up stones."

"That is odd." Data rubbed his chin again. "It would be most unusual for a race with the advanced technology that the Trenditan obviously have, to engage in manual labor." Data looked at Captain Reynolds who merely nodded her agreement. "Could the events have been an illusion?"

Deanna sat wearily on the couch, suddenly realizing how exhausted she was. "That was Will's theory. He believed that while we thought we were planting crops or picking up stones, we might instead be performing some technical task.

"Counselor, Captain Reynolds and I believe we have located the coordinates of the homeworld of the Trenditan. We are in route there now."

"That is the good news, Counselor." Captain Reynolds said. "The bad news is that the planet is 70 light years away from the Alpha quadrant."

"Seventy light years?" Deanna repeated. Will would be long dead by the time they arrived. For that matter, thought Deanna, so will I.

Will Riker expected the Trenditan guards to kill him when they found him in the portal. He expected them to at a minimum recapture him. Instead, they walked right by him as if he were invisible. A loud roar of rage sounded throughout the cave. Peering beyond the guards that were stationed at the mouth of the cave, Will realized with horror what had prompted the disturbance. Luke and Balona had been captured. The guards seemed to be without a leader. Unsure what to do with the two escapees, the guards began to argue once again. One guard stood next to Luke and Balona while the others formed a tight group once again and began a pushing match. These Trenditan didn't strike Will as experienced soldiers. Instead they appeared more like the gangs that roamed the far colonies. Quietly Will moved into position behind the single guard and debated how best to rescue his son. The guard provided the answer soon enough. His attention was drawn to the crowd where a fight had broken out. Or at least Will thought it must be a fight. There was a great roar where a circle of lights surrounded two lights that blinked on and off rapidly. Will merely reached out of the cave and grabbed Luke and Balona and pulled them in. Motioning for them to follow him, he brought them back to the portal. "Luke," Will whispered. "I have no idea where this thing leads, but I believe it is our only way home."

Luke nodded his understanding. At that moment, one of the Trenditan guards entered the cave and rested before the portal. Riker watched in amazement as the portals whirlwind of colors began to merge. Before him appeared the bridge of the Enterprise. Data was seated in the Captain's chair. To his right was a woman Riker had never seen before, sitting in the First Officer's chair and to his left sat Counselor Deanna Riker. Without further hesitation, Riker pushed Luke throught the portal. No sooner had his son slipped through than Riker motioned for Balona to follow. The noise level intensified among the Trenditan and Riker imagined that they had finally figured out he was there within the cave. Quickly, Riker turned and jumped through the portal himself. As Riker got his bearings he realized he was on the bridge of the Enterprise, but not the ship carrying his wife and family.

"And who the hell are you?" the young Starship captain demanded.

Riker swallowed hard as he gazed first at the angry face of Captain James T. Kirk and then at the quizzical expression of the Vulcan Science Officer.

Illusion, Will told himself. Everything the Trenditan portray is illusion. Turning himself around full circle, the Admiral spotted what he was searching for. Something which did not belong. On the Enterprise-1701 view screen was a very familiar scene - the bridge of the Enterprise-1701-F. Taking a calculated risk, Riker ran full speed toward the bridge view screen and dove head first toward the scene from his future. If he was wrong, he was soon going to have a very bad headache.

On the Enterprise-E Luke landed at his mother's feet. While everyone else stared in amazement at this latest apparition to appear, Deanna clapped her hands together at the sight of her son. Balona skidded up against the Navigation station after her spectacular entrance through the main view screen. Deanna waited. Will did not appear. She didn't have to ask the question. "He was right behind us, Mother." Luke said.

Balona looked around the bridge in fear, then spotted Deanna and Luke. Climbing to her feet with Luke's help she twisted around searching for the Admiral. "Admiral Riker?" A forlorn shake of Deanna's head was her only answer.

"Doctor Riker, can you tell us how you returned to the Enterprise?" Data asked.

"Admiral Riker pushed me through what appeared to be a cave entrance."

"Did it resemble the Guardian of Forever?" Data pressed on.

"I've never been to the Guardian of Forever," Luke said, "but it did resemble vids I've seen of it.

Data turned to Captain Reynolds. "Are we thinking the same thing?"

"Ensign, Forever World, maximum speed." Captain Reynolds ordered.

Data hit the com panel, "All senior officers to the conference table. I would like you to join us as well please." Data said to Balona. All the senior officers had turned and were filing up the ramp to the conference room when there was a loud crash behind them. Turning they saw Admiral Riker sprawled awkwardly under the Ops terminal.

Smiling sheepishly Will casually said, "Always did like to make a grand entrance!" Slowly rising Admiral Riker pulled down his tunic in a familiar gesture and ordered, "Data, take us to the Forever World, maximum speed."

"Course laid in and executed, Admiral."

Summing all his dignity Will strode up the ramp of the F and said, "Well, done." Passing by Deanna he gave her a wink before continuing on to the conference room.

Once assembled, the senior staff waited for Will Riker to deliver his report. Riker thought for a moment and then began. "The Trenditan appear to be able to manipulate or control a devise similar in appearance and function to the place we know of as The Forever World. It is through this device that the Trenditan leave and return to their world."

"Are they from another dimension, Admiral?" Captain Reynold's waited patiently for Riker to answer.

"At first I thought they were. Now I'm not so sure." Turning to Luke, Will asked, "Is it possible everything we saw was an illusion?"

"Its possible." Luke answered. "I'm not sure why they would go to such elaborate steps though. If everything was illusion what were we doing the work period?"

"Some sort of menial task?" Riker asked.

"Excuse me admiral but does it not seem unusual that a race with the understanding of controlling a device similar to the Guardian of Forever would need menial tasks done?"

"Perhaps they just wanted to keep us busy and out of trouble or keep us confused." Luke said.

"Or perhaps they needed us." Balona turned excitedly to Luke. "For a long time I have noticed differences among the Trenditan. Each light has a different - feel - to it. I know it sounds crazy but sometimes it seemed to me that the Trenditan that we saw during the work periods were not, umm, real."

"Elaborate, please." Data asked.

"I don't know. It was like they were just, I don't know." Balona's voice trailed off in frustration."

"I know what you mean." Deanna met Will's gaze. "I felt it too sometimes. As if some of the Trenditan were characters, or, "

"Holograms?" Data asked.

"Perhaps there aren't many of the Trenditan. Maybe there were holographic images to confuse us. Make us think their numbers were higher than they were." The Admiral turned toward Data. "Is that possible?"

Earth played with holographic images during the 3rd world war. It is certainly possible for a species as advanced as the Trenditan appear to be."

"What if the Trenditan aren't as advanced as we think?" Luke asked. "What if they are using someone else's technology?"

"They must be fairly advanced to be able to use the technology. It certainly has eluded our top scientists." Data chewed on his lower lip in a decent imitation of Admiral Riker when he was lost in thought.

"Well," the Admiral mused, "I believe we will find some of the answers to our questions when we get to the Forever World."

To be Cont.

I only do this for the pleasure of Imzadi fans. If you enjoyed the story or if you have suggestions, please send your comments to:Zlanna@Imzadi.org.