Knight Progenitor
(c) 1991, 2012
Sharon L Reddy
Target Yonder
ISBN 978-1-58338-996-2
This is a work of fan fiction.
It is intended as support of the series,
without intent to infringe on any commercial rights,
to characters or stories.
No remuneration for these stories shall be sought or negotiated with other than proprietary parties.
Only the title page and index were changed from the original published work.
Index
Dis-Solution
1992 Fan-Q Mixed Media Award
The Fourth through Seventh Doctors on the Next Generation Enterprise
Novella
Tales of the Sixth Doctor
Forty years between the Sixth and Seventh
The Testing of the Knight
Novella
Knight, Squire and Herald
1. Squire and Herald (1992 Fan Q, Best Dr. Who Story)
2. Squire Takes Knight
Knight's Gambit
1. King's Knight
2. Colleen
Knight Knight
1. Knight en Passant
2. Piece of the Past
Sign for Evil
1. Thank Heaven for Little Girls
2. Jo and Andy
Colleen and James
Mad Sunday
Under the Age
Circle of Prophecy
Just Whistle
Once Upon a Time
The Doctor is not pleased to be stuck on a horse for a year. A fanciful romp in a medieval age, bringing
Novel-50,000 words
Captain Knight, Leroy and the Boys
When even the Doctor has to don a disguise, Data as companion is a real help.
Novel-56,000 words
Dis-Solution
Prologue
The Doctor gazed at the massed Sontaran fleet on the scanner. The time had come. The Rutan research station about to come under attack would soon become the greatest threat the universe had ever known. He began to make preparations. The facilities he would need to halt the destruction lay in an alternate universe. It would require a tremendous amount of focused power for the TARDIS to transcend reality and he would require the assistance, not just of the great ship in that universe, but also that of several others of his personas.
He worked out the method of changing universes, then retired to the reconstructed zero-room to send the call for his other personas. Two were in his approximate time, but one was on Earth a few hundred years in the past. He levitated, then sent out the call.
The Doctor rapidly gave his other selves the technique of reaching the alternate reality and the precise position each TARDIS must maintain. When all was prepared, the Doctor gave the mental command, "Now".
A small group of Sontaran ships broke off from the fleet to investigate the tremendous flash of light they observed. They found nothing.
Chapter One
Commander William Riker was leaving his quarters for his duty station on the bridge when he saw Chief Engineer Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge also coming out of his quarters. He stretched his long stride to catch up.
"Good Morning, Geordi." Geordi turned to him and said, "Good morning. Ready for a new day?"
As they continued toward the turbolifts, Riker replied, "Yes, but I spent a really restless night. I kept thinking about the small colony on Restine Four. They may be in danger from this anomaly they asked us to investigate. They seem to think it's getting bigger. How are things down in Engineering? I understand there was an 'expert' among the crew transfers we picked up at Starbase One-one-seven for transfer to the Repulse."
Geordi grinned and said, "You mean Lt. Rondell. She's somethin' else. She's come up with fourteen new ways to measure the anomaly we're headed for in the three days she's been on board. She's got a way of looking at something, deciding what she wants to know about it, then figuring out a way to get it. I thought I was good at adapting the Enterprise systems, but she's amazing."
"I hear she made Lieutenant faster than anyone in Starfleet history."
Geordi laughed. "What would you do with the person that beat the Kobayashi Maru? Even if the solution did send the computer simulation into a panic."
Riker said, "I heard about that, but I also heard it was a fluke. Caused some kind of an uproar at the Academy."
They had reached the turbolift. Geordi rode along with Riker to the bridge to carry on the conversation. "I don't know if you could call it a 'fluke'. She had a low level projective telepath on her team. She rigged a telepathic booster, then had him push an image of the ship hanging in space at anybody looking at a viewscreen. She kicked into warp nine and escaped."
Riker paused the turbolift at the bridge. He said, "I understand the judging panel had some argument over the validity of the solution."
Geordi shook his head and said, "Well, they couldn't say it didn't work. Every person at the Academy looking at a viewscreen got a twelve second image of a ship hanging in space. Caused quite a stir."
Riker laughed. "I'll bet it did. So they decided to give her the solution?"
"Not right away. I guess there was one panel member who wanted to disqualify it because it couldn't be repeated." He paused then continued, "Now this is just rumor; but, according to some of my staff who were there at the time, she tackled the dissenting member off campus and sat on him until he admitted that it didn't make any difference if it could be repeated, it was the use of the facilities at hand that counted."
Riker grinned as he exited the turbolift. "Well, no matter what this investigation finds, you should at least find the next few days interesting."
As the doors closed and Geordi sent the turbolift toward Engineering, he said, "Yeah, at least interesting."
Captain Jean-Luc Picard stepped out of his ready room as Commander Riker exited the turbolift. Lt. Commander Data, who had been covering the third shift, rose from the command chair and spoke in his calm, perfectly modulated, tones. "Sirs, I was about to call you. We have begun to pick up additional anomalous readings in the Restine system."
Captain Picard paused in his approach to the command chair and turned to his android Third Officer. "What type of readings, Data?"
Commander Riker reached them as Data said, "I have not been able to ascertain that information, Sir. We have no record of any such readings. I have begun a computer analysis of the anomaly to determine the cause. Thus far there is no information, but the computer has begun to analyze the possible effects and the early indications are disturbing."
Riker glanced at his captain, then said, "In what way, Data?"
"The readings indicate a globe shaped phenomena that is expanding rapidly and may be breaking down the physical structure of matter. Sirs, this galaxy may soon cease to exist."
The half-Betazoid, Counselor Deanna Troi, hurried into the turbolift. Her empathic abilities had awakened her from a troubled sleep. Something was very wrong. The feeling of tension coming from both the bridge and engineering was so thick she could almost taste it, and underlying that tension was a feeling of... almost terror.
She stepped into the turbolift. Lt. Worf, the Klingon Security Chief, was already on board. He said, "Bridge. Good morning, Counselor." He noticed the normally serene beauty of the counselor seemed disturbed, almost as if she'd left her quarters half done with her morning preparations. He felt himself tensing. If Deanna Troi was disturbed, something was wrong on the Enterprise. "Counselor, I thought you were going to be in your office this morning. What has happened?"
The distracted counselor said, "I'm sorry Worf, I don't know. All I know is I feel something is
wrong and I should be on the bridge."
As the turbolift doors opened, Captain Picard turned toward them and said, "Counselor, Lieutenant, conference room now." He raised his voice and spoke into the air, "Lt. Commander LaForge, Lt. Rondell, Dr. Crusher, report to the conference room immediately. Number One, get someone to cover, I want you and Data there too."
In less than three minutes all the officers had assembled in the conference room. Picard noticed, with some pride, the crisp attention of his officers. These were the best. No matter the odds or the situation; if there was a solution, they would find it.
He found himself wondering about the stranger among them. He had heard conflicting reports on Lt. Rondell. The reports agreed on one thing. This small, green-eyed, lovely, woman was a genius at adapting the physical systems of a starship. He said, "Data, Geordi, give us what you know so far."
As Picard returned to the command chair, he thought over the just concluded conference. Engineering hadn't had much to add. Only Dr. Crusher had brought something more than Data's original analysis. She had informed them that two of the crew members were suffering from some type of memory loss and general debilitation. The most interesting point she had brought out was both persons were from the area of the Restine system. Lt. Rondell had asked some very probing questions and then requested permission to accompany Dr. Crusher to sickbay to examine the medical test results. Geordi had returned to engineering to implement some of the new measurement techniques he and Lt. Rondell had developed. All others had returned to their bridge positions.
Commander Data had recommended a slow, cautious, approach to the area of the anomaly. They were currently traveling at warp two with a drop to impulse scheduled in about ten minutes. This would bring them to the Restine system in approximately five hours. The captain was considering retiring to his ready room when, suddenly, Deanna Troi stood and screamed.
The scream was filled with pain and terror, and was followed by her sudden collapse. It happened so quickly that she hit the floor before he, or the fast-moving Riker, could reach her. As Riker knelt and lifted her head, she whispered, "They're gone. So many gone. Please, help me."
Before Captain Picard could do more than kneel beside her, a loud, wheezing, grinding, noise filled the bridge. It seemed to come from everywhere. The intruder alert klaxon began to sound and, at four different points on the bridge, a large blue box appeared.
Data raised his voice over the sounding klaxon, "Captain, they appear to be police communication cubicles of the United Kingdom of mid-twentieth century earth."
Worf hit the security and medical call buttons and leaped the bridge rail to place himself as close to the captain as possible. As the doors to the cubicles began to open, he pulled his phaser. He was glad to note the captain had stayed down and Riker and Data had both moved into defensive positions around him.
Three strangely dressed men stepped from the cubicles, at the left and right rear of the bridge, and the left side of the viewscreen, and immediately collapsed. The door to the cubicle on the right side of the viewscreen opened and a small man stepped out. Worf covered him with his phaser.
The small man was holding a closed umbrella in his left hand. He raised his right and said, "Please, gentlemen, I'm the help she called for. I will explain later." He then moved toward Counselor Troi, knelt and closed his eyes.
Captain Picard looked at the man, kneeling across from him, over the recumbent form of Deanna Troi. He was dressed in an old fashioned dark brown jacket, a sweater or vest covered in a question mark pattern, and plaid pants. He wore an odd little hat, a brightly colored scarf, and was leaning on an umbrella with a question mark handle. Before he could say anything to the man, Deanna Troi's eyes fluttered open. She looked at the strange man, said, "Thank you." and smiled.
Worf's security team, Dr. Crusher, and Lt. Rondell exited the turbolifts at a run. The security team moved to cover the other three intruders, all of whom were starting to rise. Dr. Crusher moved to Deanna's side and began examining her with her medical tri-corder. Lt. Rondell moved to the ops station then turned to Data. "Commander, there's something new happening."
Data moved to his station and began tapping out commands to his information systems. Lt. Rondell leaned forward to observe the information he was bringing up. They began to converse in low tones.
The captain looked at the stranger and said, "Now, I believe you said something about an explanation.
The small stranger smiled. "Yes I did, didn't I?"
Before the captain could ask Dr. Crusher about Deanna, Data turned and said, "Captain, the Restine system is disappearing and the two crew members Dr. Crusher was examining in sickbay are gone."
The small man said, "Captain, if your security people would kindly put their weapons away, I and my other selves will attempt to explain what is happening."
Riker glanced at the three other strangers standing at various points on the bridge, all with raised hands, one with a large grin. "Lt. Worf, I think your men can stand down." The security chief nodded to his men. The sudden cessation of the klaxon made the bridge seem quiet.
The captain said, "How is she?"
Dr. Crusher glanced at her tri-corder. "Captain, I can't find anything wrong. She has a high level of adrenaline in her system, but it's falling."
The captain looked around the bridge as Troi began to rise. The three other strangers were an oddly assorted group. All were dressed as strangely as the one standing near him.
One was quite tall, about Riker's height, with a mass of curly brown hair. He was wearing a long coat and a scarf that was wrapped round his neck and dragged the floor on both sides. The second was of medium height with straight blond hair. He was younger looking than any of the others and was dressed in what Picard identified as an old fashioned, red trimmed, cricket outfit with a mid-thigh length jacket. The third man, standing just to the left of the viewscreen, was the most oddly dressed of all. He was above average height and heavier of build than the others. He had blond curly hair and was wearing a wildly multi-colored coat over bright yellow and red striped pants and a diagonal striped pastel vest. He had a bright yellow scarf tied beneath his collar. The Captain noted that he had large question marks on his collar. The question mark motif seemed to be present in the costumes of each of them.
The captain gave an abrupt nod. "With me, all of you. Number One, you, Dr. Crusher, Counselor Troi and Lts. Worf and Rondell to the conference room. Data, notify Commander LaForge and, as soon as you are able, I want you and Geordi to join us." He headed for the conference room so recently vacated.
As soon as he had seated himself in his accustomed place in the conference room, the captain turned to the small dark-haired man beside him. "Now, who are you and what are you doing here?"
The man seated himself to the captain's immediate left, placed both hands atop his umbrella handle, leaned forward, and said, "I am known as the Doctor and I am a Time Lord. These other gentlemen are three of my other selves. We are from an alternate universe which is at present intersecting with yours and in the process annihilating both."
Worf had seated himself down the table to the captain's right. He was still tense and had not yet decided these strangers were no threat. He growled out, "What do you mean "your other selves"?"
Two of the other three had seated themselves on the opposite side of the conference table. The tall, curly-haired, man looked so relaxed he might flow out of his chair. When he spoke, his voice was deep and full with an accent much like the captain's cultured European speech. "We are the same person, Lieutenant, from different points along the time-line of my life. I am the earliest among us; seated to my right, next to your captain, is the latest. The gentleman to my left and the one wearing out the carpet behind us fall between."
The pacing man dropped abruptly into a chair. Captain Picard looked at him and mused the chairs were sturdier than they looked. He was sure they had never been desi
gned to take such abuse. Without any preamble, the man suddenly spoke. "I don't remember this. I don't remember any of this, and if they're here," he indicated the two men to his right with a lift of his chin, "I should remember."
The man seated next to the captain spoke to him in sharp tones. "Your memory had as many holes in it as a vegetable colander. Suffice it to say, I do remember."
The youngish-looking blond man spoke for the first time. "I don't remember either and my memory is usually quite good."
Captain Picard held up his hand to stave off what appeared to be a developing squabble amongst the odd, undisciplined, group and turned to Deanna Troi. "Counselor, your analysis."
Deanna Troi seemed to be composing her thoughts for a moment. She took a deep breath and said, "Captain, they are the same person. Their appearance and personalities are totally different, but, somehow, they are the same person. Captain, they, he, is absolutely sure we need him. Oh, this is very confusing, but I must tell you, I believe he is correct. I was totally overwhelmed by whatever happened to the Restine system. This man, these men, are? is? a very powerful telepath, though of a type I've never before encountered. Without the help he, they, gave me, I think I would have died."
Hearing her confusion; the tall, curly-haired, man smiled at her and said, "Counselor, to ease matters treat us as four different people. I think we should return to the real problem, Captain. We have two universes dissolving around us. If you're satisfied as to our motives, we should address that problem."
Captain Picard said, "Agreed." At that point, the conference room door opened and Data and Geordi entered. As they found chairs, the captain noted how small the conference table seemed with twelve people seated around it. He turned to the man seated to his left and said, "Now that we are all here, Doctor, perhaps you could tell us what you know of the situation."
The Doctor raised his chin from it's resting place on the handle of his umbrella and said, "Although our universes are roughly parallel, there are some major differences. In yours, my home planet of Gallifrey was destroyed in a solar explosion thousands of years ago. In mine Earth was conquered by a nasty race known as the Daleks in the twenty-second century. In yours, the Daleks were never created. In my universe there are two races known as the Sontarans and the Rutans. They have been waging war against each other for several thousand years. It is that war which is the cause of our current situation. The Rutans were being beaten back on all fronts. They were in danger of suffering a final defeat when one of their scientists came up with a novel idea. By creating a hole into an alternate universe, he believed he could enable the Rutan forces to escape, re-emerge behind the Sontaran fleet, and mount an attack on their rear. It was his original experiment to create an interface between the two universes that has led to our current problem. What he didn't realize was, instead of a doorway, he had created a merging. Captain, two realities cannot be merged. Each is 'unreal' in the other. The result is that, at the point-of-merger, both become unreal. Our universes are both becoming unrealities. Simply put, dissolving into non-existence. If we don't find some way to counter this; you and I, and everything we have ever known, will cease to exist."
Data said, "Sir, I do not understand. I was monitoring your explanation of who you were. If you remember being here before, and you are here now; does that not mean you merely have to repeat what you remember doing to solve the problem? Does not the fact you are here prove the problem will be solved?"
The Doctor in the gaudy coat next to Data said, "It's not that simple, Data. Free will does exist. In a reality where we are successful, our universes will continue to exist. In a reality where we are not, all of us will cease to exist. All we know for certain is there is a possibility we can succeed."
Worf said, "I still do not understand. How can you all be here at the same time? If you are each from a different part of your life span, how can you all be here at the same time?"
The Doctor with the straight blond hair spoke. "Perhaps I can explain that best. I've experienced this situation before. The machine in which we arrived, that 'blue box', is called a TARDIS. To put it simplistically, it's both a spaceship and a timeship. In my universe, my people aren't the only race with time travel, but we've had it far longer, and understand it far better, than any other." He gazed at the Doctor seated by the captain and added, "However; we are breaking one of the laws of time by all being here at once. Ordinarily it is a situation to be avoided. This type of activity is frowned upon."
The small Doctor said, "As to that, the High Council of Time Lords can be very flexible when the choice is a bit of law bending or non-existence. You'll also notice I called each of you during one of those rare times when you had no companions traveling with you. Except for my fifth persona, whose friends were out of the TARDIS at the time and, if we successfully avert this catastrophe, he will return before he is missed. Now, before you ask; no, I cannot go back and stop the Rutans before they cause the problem. Once an event is part of recorded history, no one has the right, or, perhaps, the ability, to change it."
The captain pondered what he had heard. From the looks on their faces, most of his staff were doing the same thing. Commander Riker interrupted his reverie. "This is all very interesting, but out there the universe is disappearing. I think we had better get started on the real problem."
"As always, Number One, your sense of priorities is faultless." Picard turned to the strange group on his left. "How did you plan on assisting, Doctors?"
The Doctor seated next to him said, "The original Rutan experiment was multi-faceted. It included several physical components, as well as some type of mental force based on a Rutan technique of simple telepathic projection. If you will assign your people to their duties, Captain, we will hold a telepathic conference to determine our respective roles." The four strange men closed their eyes one by one.
Noting the apparent oblivion of his four odd guests, the captain turned his attention to his officers. "Dr. Crusher, you appear to have something you wish to add to this discussion."
"Captain," she began, "my tri-corder readings on these men are very unusual. I've checked them several times. Despite their physical appearance, these people are definitely not human. They have two hearts and the most advanced physiology I have ever seen. They are, I estimate, millions of years more advanced than we are. I'm not sure this has any bearing on the situation, but I thought you should know. Captain, this may actually be one being. Without testing his DNA structure, I can't be sure. I do know that the unusual physiological structure of this being indicates a life-span that may be measured, not just in centuries, but in millennia. Although his cell structure seems basically analogous to our own, it has some unique properties I cannot even begin to understand."
Captain Picard glanced at his volunteers then said, "Counselor Troi, there is one more question I need to ask. Are these beings telling us the truth?"
Deanna Troi clasped her hands and rested her elbows on the table. She appeared to give the question careful thought. "Captain, this person has such a powerful mind I might not be able to sense deception, but I believe this may be the most totally good and caring person I have ever encountered."
"Thank you. Data, I want you and Lt. Rondell to work together on the theoretical part of this. The rest of you to your regular duty stations. You know the situation. I want any new information, no matter how trivial, reported to me immediately. Dismissed."
Lt. Commander Data rose and met Lt. Rondell at the end of the table. They spoke quietly for a few seconds, then Data turned and said, "Captain, with your permission, Lt. Rondell and I will work in my quarters. My work station there is quite complete and there is enough room to add other facilities as needed."
"Of course Data, requisition any additional equipment you need from stores." Captain Picard noticed that Worf was still standing behind his chair. "Yes Lieutenant, you had something to add?"
Worf looked u
ncomfortable. "Sir, as Security Officer, I must protest. No matter what Counselor Troi says, these men are still unknowns and, to be of assistance, they will have to know everything about the Enterprise."
The Doctor with curly brown hair opened his eyes and grinned. "Oh, not totally unknown, Mr. Worf. An accident once caused one of your ships to enter my universe. It's name was also Enterprise. Her captain was James Kirk. Check with Starfleet, you'll find I'm in their records. I believe I hold the rank of commander. I can't prove I'm the same person, but I do hope that will help allay your suspicions."
Lt. Worf gave the smiling man a hard look then said, "I will check those records." He then turned to the captain, "Sir, I shall now return to my duties."
As he left the captain smiled. He turned to the Doctors and found an answering smile on each of their faces. The Doctor seated by him said, "You have a superb group of officers, Captain."
"Yes", said Captain Picard, "the best."
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