Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: 20 Jan 2004 11:00:14 -0800 In: alt.startrek.creative From: louiseell@aol.com (louise ellis) Title: "Still There" Author: Louise Ellis Series: TNG Rating: PG Code: P/C Part: 19/? Archive: yes Summary: An alternate universe story that picks up ten years after Disclaimer: no infringement meant, and comments welcomed (thanks for all the comments so far!). "Still There" (19/?) By: Louise Ellis Davies raised an eyebrow in response. "I'll do what I can." As Picard turned and left the room, he turned back to Beverly. "What kind of program would you like to utilize." Ninety minutes later, Kathryn Janeway tentatively moved into a holodeck, watching in awe as Beverly deftly wielded some sort of weapon, dispatching something that had hurtled out of the underbrush toward her before turning and attacking another creature that was attacking her from the back. As the program finally paused, she waited a moment, then cleared her throat, holding up a hand as Beverly whirled toward her, weapon raised defensively. "I didn't mean to bother you." Now clad in a sleeveless black jumpsuit, Beverly tried to catch her breath as she stared at the other woman. "It's all right." She finally managed to get out, tossing the weapon over to the side. "That was incredible." Kathryn blinked again. "This?" Beverly gestured slightly and glanced around at the bodies littering the clearing. "It's a basic security program." "Maybe basic for a security chief." Kathryn shook her head. "What level is this?" "I don't know," Beverly admitted with a slight smile. "I started it and just let it continue running. I need practice to recertify for my security level as well, and needed to work off some…energy, so I thought I'd use this to do both." "I'm sorry to bother you," she smiled, "I just wanted to check and see if you'd met Phoebe all right." "Yes, she was very kind." Picking up a towel she'd left by the door with a bag holding her dress, Phoebe's sandals, and the uniform she'd had on earlier, Beverly wiped her face and arms, wincing at the dirt and traces of blood left on the material. "By the way, thank you…if you hadn't contacted Jean-Luc when you did, Will and I would be dead." "I heard they apprehended the crews of the ships that attacked you." As Beverly touched the panel, shutting off the program, Kathryn moved to the doorway. "Yes, they brought me back to see if I could identify any of them." Picking up the bag, Beverly gestured slightly and waited until the other woman fell in step with her as they continued out the door and down the corridor, Beverly's disheveled appearance garnering a few curious looks from those passing them. With a sigh, she glanced down at herself. "I should probably go over to Medical to get these cuts cleaned up." "I'll go over with you, then we can go back to the house." They fell in step again, Kathryn leading the way through the back hallways. "Phoebe did warn you about the dogs, didn't she?" "Yes, she said something about puppies?" Beverly smiled slightly. "Felisa's not been around dogs much, but she does like animals." "Good." Kathryn smiled. "That's one thing we learned growing up the way we did, there are always animals around a farm." "I remember, it was the same way on…Caldos." Beverly pushed the door open and took a moment to take a deep breath of the fresh air. "I didn't realize it was such a beautiful day." "We don't get many this time of year." Shaking her head ruefully, Kathryn gestured toward a path. "This will take us behind the buildings, it's a bit more secluded." "Probably a better choice," Beverly laughed softly. "Have you met Felisa yet?" "We met briefly this morning." Kathryn smiled. "Lovely child, very well mannered." Beverly nodded, a smile crossing her face. "She is a treasure." "Since we didn't get to talk today, I thought I'd just stay home with you tomorrow, if you don't mind." Kathryn glanced at the taller woman. "Not at all," Beverly nodded slowly. "Will gave me some of the background about your return, it's an amazing story." "It was an amazing time." Kathryn sighed softly. "We all learned a lot." "Time and experience will have that effect." With a wince, Beverly turned up a path that Kathryn indicated. "So much has happened over the past ten years." "I remember that feeling." Kathryn laughed sympathetically. "With all that had happened to us, so much more had happened back here, we'd been fortunate enough to establish a link, so we had some warning and some preparation about the progress and events, but there was so much more that we had to find out about." "Your crew ended up being a combined one of Federation and the Maquis?" Beverly eyed Kathryn curiously. "And we worked well together after a year or so of bumps and bruises." She grimaced, remembering. "It didn't come easy." "The difference in philosophies alone must have caused a lot of conflict." Beverly commented softly. "Indeed it did. And then the encounters with all the different cultures…at least back here we knew about most of the different species, cultures, histories," Kathryn shook her head. "Being dropped into a different quadrant and learning as we went, the histories…who were allies, who was xenophobic…" "And you arrived home with the majority of your crew intact." Beverly smiled, "including two new children I believe I heard? In addition to the Borg…children?" "Yes, we had one child who was born just as we returned, another that was born shortly after we began our trip back to the Alpha Quadrant." Kathryn thought for a moment, "Naomi would probably get along quite well with your daughter, she's only about two years older than Felisa. While you're staying at Phoebe's, we'll have her out." "I'm sure Felisa would like that." Beverly touched a panel, opening the door to the medical complex. "She hasn't had an opportunity to meet many children near her age." Stopping inside the doors, she hesitated, looking around. "Do you have any idea where Kate Pulaski's…" She frowned, "unless Felisa's there, I don't want her seeing me like this." "I can take care of that." Kathryn touched her communicator. "Janeway to Pulaski." "Pulaski here." "Doctor, I have someone who is wondering if you were done with your afternoon…appointment?" Kathryn asked, one eyebrow rising in amusement as the gazed at Beverly. "Just finished, she's on her way with Counselor Riker," seated at her desk, Kate Pulaski made an entry in the chart in front of her. "Did you need something?" Kathryn's lips twitched. "Your afternoon appointment's mother overdid it in a security program, and would like a bit of assistance." "Is she all right?" Kate's attention switched to the call. "Where are you?" "She's fine, we're downstairs." Kathryn bit back a laugh at Kate's tone. "Can I bring her up to your office?" "Back lift to the floor." Kate ordered. "Pulaski out." "She's not going to be happy with me." Beverly sighed. "You could have just said I wanted to see her." "You were supposed to be taking it easy?" Kathryn guessed at the chagrin in her voice. "Something like that." As they entered the back lift, Beverly shook her head. "I don't think her idea of taking it easy and mine are quite the same." "If what you were doing in that holodeck is your idea of taking it easy, I don't think anyone short of a Klingon's idea would be the same." Kathryn chuckled. "Being totally honest," Beverly admitted softly, "I trained with a Klingon for several years." "Ah, that would explain your idea of a basic program." Together they exited the lift to be met by a pacing Kate Pulaski, who froze at the sight of Beverly. "Doctor, this is your idea of taking it easy?" She ran her eyes along Beverly's body, then turned with a snort of disgust, jerking her head to indicate that she wanted them to follow her. "It's been a hell of a day," Beverly shrugged, "I just wanted to let off some steam." "I seem to remember us having a talk about this sort of letting off steam years ago." Kate pointed toward a door. "On the bed, I'll be right in." With a sigh, Beverly obeyed, Kathryn following and seating herself in a chair as she took Beverly's bag. "Do you mind?" "No," Beverly eased herself up on the bed, swinging her legs slowly as she waited. "I'll just get her lecture on the proper way a doctor should behave, you're a captain, I'm sure you've heard it yourself a time or two, in regards to problem patient's and captain's and their behaviors in remaining uninjured." "A time or two." Kathryn settled back, laughing as Kate returned. (end part 19) -- Stephen Ratliff ASC Stories Only Forwarding In the Pattern Buffer at: http//trekiverse.crosswinds.net/feed/ Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCL/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:ASCL-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. From ???@??? Sat Jan 24 18:53:57 2004 Status: U Return-Path: Received: from n16.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.71]) by killdeer (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1aKxwY7eD3NZFlr0 for ; Sat, 24 Jan 2004 15:49:36 -0800 (PST) X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1977044-12975-1074988086-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.