NIGHTMARES
I'm walking through a hall again with people laying all over the place, yet I cannot help them, why? I'm a doctor after all, but my hands are behind my back tied. I see a little girl; she is looking at me with tears in her eyes as she watches me walk by her.
With a startled jump, Doctor Lee Johnson wakes up in bed; he looks around and sees that he is still on the Enterprise. He gets up slowly and walks over to a sink and throws some water on his face as he looks at his face in the mirror and says, "Should I tell the Counselor Troi that I had that same dream again?" He walks back to his bed and sits down on the bed and looks at his hands as he says, "It just nerves is all she going to says, with this being my first trip into space after graduation from Starfleet Medical."
The next morning, Captain Picard walks onto the bridge and he sees that both Commander Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi are leaning arross his chair whisper too each other. They both stop when they see him walking down towards them, they both stand up and both say together, "Good morning captain."
Picard nobs to them both as he sits down in the captain's chair and looks towards the main viewer as he asks, "Number One, how soon till we arrive at Carina?"
"In about two hours captain." Riker answers as he and Deanna sit back down in their own chairs. "Captain it has been close to twenty two years since you were last at Carina. What makes the Federation think that they are ready to join the Federation now?" Riker adds as he looks towards the main viewer.
"The two races that share the planet, the Celestials and the Arcturans have ended their war and want to join the Federation." Picard answers as a smile comes over his face.
"Captain, long range sensors are picking up low level reading of radioactivity on Carina!" Commander Data advises Picard from his station.
"It looks like they may have used Atomics to end their war, Captain!" Riker points out, to everyone, as he shakes his head no.
"The main government use to be located on the larger southern continent of Arcturans." Picard says as he stand ups and takes step towards the main viewer.
Data turns and looks at Picard and answers him, "Sir there is no life signs on the
Southern continent, but that is where the radioactivty is coming from."
"There was over ten million people living on the southern continent!" Picard states as he turns towards Worf and says, "Mr. Worf hail the planet and see what we happen down there!"
"Sir we are being hail by someone from the Celestial representative on the northern continent!" Worf answers as he leans forward on his console.
"On the main viewer Mr. Worf." Picard says as he takes a few more steps toward the viewer.
On the viewer a man of about fifty is sitting behind a big table with a big smile on his face with his hand in front of him, "You are early, we were not looking for you till nexts year." The man says as his smile gets a little bit bigger. "We are very eager to join your Federation of Planets." He adds as he leans back in his chair.
"May I asks what happen to your southern continent? There was over ten million people living there last time I was here." Picard asks as he puts his hands on his hips.
"We hand a small accident with one of our power plants about three years ago, but there was only about three million people living there, the rest were kill during the war." The man answers Picard with a crooked smile.
Deanna turns and looks at Riker and slowly shakes her head no and then turns back to Picard who has a look of shock on his face as he says, "Three million people!"
"Listen I will tell you everything you want to know, once you and beam down here for a meal we are prepare for a you." The man says as the he leans forward and says, "Silva out." The main viewer goes back to showing stars again.
Picard turns around and sees both Riker and Deanna standing up and Deanna walks up to him and says, "He's lying, he wants something from you."
"Captain I think it would be unwise for you to go down to Carina till we know more about what is going on down there!" Riker says as he looks at Picard and then Deanna, with a frown on his face.
"I have to agree with you on this one, number one it has been over twenty years a lot of things must of change, sence my last visit it." Picard says as he sits down in his chair and looks back at the viewer, with his hand on his chin, in deep thought. He turns and looks at Riker and says, "The last time I was here, we use hand held communicators, lets let them still think that."
Two hours later after they have made obit around Carina, Riker, Deanna, and Worf a security officer and a young man wearing a medical uniform. Riker walks up to the young man and says, "Dr. Johnson, the reason you are this way team is your knowledge of radiation and what it can do to people!"
"Sir I will not let you down." Johnson answers as he gives Deanna a quick look out of the corner of his eye. He reaches into his medical bag and hands them a small patch and says, "If these turn black, you must beam stright back to the Enterprise!"
Deanna takes one of the patches and says quietly, "Have you had anymore of those nightmares?"
Johnson turns away from her and answers her, "No, Counselor I think it was just a case of nerves."
"All right people, we have a job to do." He walks up onto the transporter pad, followed by the rest of the away team. Once they are all on the transported pad he looks at ensign at the transporter control panal and says, "Energize."
Once on the planet they are meet by five people, one of them is Silva; he looks at each one of them and asks, "Where is your captain?" He looks at Riker and says, "We have planned a big dinner in his honor,"
Riker puts on a smile and answers him; "He had some very important business too take care of before he comes down too meet you." He watches as the other men who had came to meet them slowly move around them.
Silva shows them a little smile as he waves them to follow him as he says, "In that case, I will show you to the room we have prepared for you. Till your captain can join us."
As they follow Silva takes out his medical tricorder and starts to takes some reading of the air around them. He then moves up next to Riker and quitely says, "The most we should stay here is two day, no more."
When they enter one of the building they are lead to they sees people standing around in nothing more then rags and looking like they have not had anything to eat in a long time. All at once Silva walks into a woman carry a small tray of food and she drops the tray and the food falls to the floor. With a wild look on his face Silva pushes her down onto the floor and says, "Look at what you have done, now get down there and eat ever bit of it!" With the same look on his face he looks at Riker and says, "These Arcturans slaves we have are not as good as the one you have I bet?" He glance at
Worf and then he pushes the woman down all the way to the floor and walks right by her.
Johnson starts to move towards the woman, but Riker puts his hand in front of him and whipper to him, "Do not even think about it Doctor, do you hear me?" Johnson starts to say something to Riker but stops when he sees the look on his face.
Worf moves up nexts to Johnson and whisper to him, "I do not like that man!" Johnson looks down at the woman and answers him back, "Same here."
Silva turns back to them and says, "Please come this way, we have a room already for you. You can wait there till your captain can beam down for dinner." When they come to a room he puts his right hand on a wall plate and the door open and he holds his hand out and says, "If you need anything, one of my men will get it for you."
They walk into the room that has a table and four chairs and a very high window with bars on it. The door closes behind them and Worf trys to open it, but it does not move, Worf gives a little growl as he turns and looks at Riker and says, "We should leave, these people are not ready to join Fedeation!"
Riker turns and looks at Johnson who is busy walking around the room with his medical tricorder. He turns back to Worf and answers him, "No we will stay for just a little bit long and see what happens when the captain does not show up soon." He hits his communicator and says, "Captain do not beam down, no matter what happens to us!"
"Should we beam you out?" Picard asks, as Deanna moves up next to Riker and says, "I sence someone is watching us."
Riker gives a quick look around the room and then answers Picard, "No, we will stay here for just a little bit longer."
"Keep this channel open, number one." They hear Picard say. Worf looks up at the window with the bars on it.
Johnson who has been keeping his eyes on his tricorder as he stops and leans up against one of the walls and says to himself, "How could anyone live like this?" Off just to his right the wall moves just a little bit and a dirty hand reaches out and grabs him around the neck and pulls him into the opening in the wall before he can do anything. Before the opening in the wall closes his communicator comes flying back into the room.
Worf who has been trying to reaches the window turns to asks his security officer, but stop and shouts, "Where is the doctor?" He moves to where Johnson was standing and looks around and then spots the communicator and picks it up and hands it to Riker who is feeling the wall.
Riker takes the communicator and looks at Deanna and montion for everyone to move closer to him and he then whisper to them, "It looks like we are being watches, so be very careful what you say and do!"
Just then the door opens and a man look in on them and ask, "Where is the other one?" He takes one step into the room and then quicly moves back out as he closes the door behind him.
Deanna looks at Worf and then at Riker and asks, "What do we do now?" She looks at Worf who just shakes his head no.
The door reopens and Silva sticks his head ito the room and asks, "Where did the other one go? He does not look very happy, mybe a little scared as he looks around the room.
"The captain needed him back on the ship." Riker quikly answers as he takes a step toward Silva, but before he can get to the door Silva closes the door fast. Riker turns around and walks back to were Deanna and Worf and standing and says quitly, "Captain I have one question, did the Celestials have slaves when you were here last?"
"No number one." Picard answers him.
"Well it looks like they have inslaved the Arcturans!" Riker says as he walks over to the door and trys it, but it does not move.
Deanna eyes light up as she says, "Dr. Johnson still has his medical tricorder with him, you may try to lock on to it!"
Being pushes down a dark hallway with his hand being being tied behind his back and a piece of dirty cloth in his mouth. He can just make out where he is being push, but he can just make out some young kids sitting up against the wall, some of the kids look like they have not eaten in days and are looking at him with big eyes. All at once he sees a young girl sitting all by herself and he says to himself, "This is just like my nightmares!"
He is push down nexts to the young girl and someone drops his medical tricorder and the young girl picks it up and starts to play with it. She looks at him and then at the tricorder and shakes it and says, "What is this use for?"
Johnson trys to says something, but the rag in his mouth keeps him from saying anything. As he watches her playing with the tricorder, he looks around and says to himself, "What have I goten myself into?"
The girl looks at him and says, "My daddy will be here in a few minutes." She opens the tricorder and smiles as she hears it making some noises. After a few minutes she closes the tricorder and sets it down and pulls out a little knife and cuts the ropes that are holding his hands.
Johnson reaches up and pulls the rag out of his mouth says, "Thank you, my name is Dr. Johnson, May I asks what your name is?"
She picks up the tricorder and answers him; "I have not reaches the time when I will chose my name." She sets the tricorder down onto her lap and looks at him and says, "My father says that I'm a real sick girl and may not live long enough to chose a name."
Johnson reaches over and takes the tricorder and points it at her and shakes his head as he see that she should be in a hospital and not laying on a cold and dirty floor. He closes the tricorder and gives her a little smile and he says, "If I could take you back to the ship I could help you."
"What are you doing to my daughter?" A man shout as he is walking towards them with a club in his hands. "Did you cut his ropes my little one?" The little girl nobs her head yes.
Johnson slowly gets up and asks him, "Where is my communicator? I need to contact my ship!"
The man just looks at him and answers Johnson, "One of my men sew that other man touch his and then heard your captain's voice, so he toke yours off." He takes Johnson by the arm and leads him away from the girl, but not before she grabs the tricorder from him again.
Johnson's shakes his head as he lets the man lead him away from the little girl; he looks at the man and asks, "Why did you kidnap me for?"
"We did not what your captain to tell your Celestial friends where we are holding you?" The man answers as he leads him to a table sits down on one of the chairs at the table as he signals for him to sit down too.
Johnson sits down and says, "The Celestial are not my friends! They called us about joining the Federation, that is why we are here!"
The man looks around and then says, "My name is Lishuny, I'm what you would call the leader of the Arcuturans. We had heard that you were here to help the Celestail to enslave other planets!"
Johnson looks down as he shakes his head no and then looks at Lishuny and says, "We would never do that."
Lishuny turns and looks towards his daugher and asks, "What is my little girl playing with?"
"It's a medical tricorder, it can tell me if a person is sick." Johnson answers him as he looks at the little girl too. "How do your doctors tell if someone is sick? He asks as he looks back at Lishuny.
"The Celestail have killed or inprisoned them. They do not care if we live or die as long as we do there bidding." He looks at his daugher again and says, "They toke my wife to entertain their men, the last time I sew her she was more died then alive!"
Lishuny stands up and says, "I have to blind flindfold you again so you cannot see where I'm going to take you." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out some rotten food and says, "I need to see if my daughter can eat this."
Johnson looks at the food with wide eyes and almost shout, "How could you feed your daugher rotten food!"
With a very sad look on his face he anwers him, "It's all I could get for her." He puts a blindflold over Johnson's eyesa and takes him by the hand and leads him down a very long hallway.
Up on the Enerpire Bridge, Picard has walked up to where Geordi La Forge is standing and asks him, "Do you think that you can locate Dr. Johnson's medical tricorder?"
"I aready have, Captain it will be ease to beam him up, he is all alone." Geordi answers as he turns and looks at Picard.
"Beam Dr. Johnson up first, we will wait a little longer before we beam out the rest of the away team." Picard answers as he pats Geordi on the back and heads down towards his captain's chair. All at once he hears, "Captain, I just beam up a sick looking little girl!"
Picard turns and looks at Geordi who has a look of shock on his face as he turns back to his console and starts to run his finger over his console. Picard takes a deep breath and says, "Have security bring her to my ready room."
About five minutes later a female security officer leads a very scared looking little girl in by the hand. The girl how is holding the medical tricorder close to her chest as she looks around the room with big eyes. The security officer leads her to chair in front of Picard and asks, "Is there anything I can get you?" She looks at Picard with a little smile and then backs up to the door and stands by it.
Picard gives her a little smile and says, "My name is Captain Jean-luc Picard. What is your name?"
"Like I told the other man, I have not chosen a name yet! She looks around the room and stop when she sees the window behind Picard and the planet on the other side.
Picard leans forward a little and asks; "Do you know where my Dr. Johnson is?"
The little girl puts the tricorder the the table and slides it across to Picard and answers him, "He is with my father."
"Where is your father at?" Picard asks gets up and moves around the table and sits on the corner of his desk right next to the little girl.
"I do not know, I sew my father putting a blindfold on your Doctor." She answers as she puts her hand on her stomach as she closes her eyes.
Just then Dr. Crusher walks into the room and when she sees the girl holding her stomach and moves next to her and looks at Picard and says, "She should be in sickbay!"
The little girl opens her eyes and says, "I think my father was taking your Doctor to meet the other members of the underground. We think you are here to help the Celestial finish us off. Our spy over heard their leaders talking about using your ship to help them use your ship to enslave our neighbors."
Picard shakes his head no as he answers her; "We would never do anything like that!" He bends down and takes her hand and turns and looks at Crusher and says, "Will you take our quest to sickbay." He looks down at the little girl and says, "They will never get my ship, you have my promise on that!"
The little girl moves towards the door as she shouts, "I want to go back to Carina now!" She turns and runs towards the door but the female security officer, who puts her arms on her shoulder to stop her from leaving the room.
Just then Data calls the captain and says, "Sir, Silva is calling to sees if you feeling up to the dinner, he is throwing in your honor?"
The little girl gives Picard a very mean look as she brings her hands up in the shape of a claws and moves towards Picard as she shouts, "You were lying to me!" She jump up onto Picard and runs her fingers down the side of his face as Crusher quickly moves and pulls out a hypospray and puts it on her neck and she drops to the floor out cold.
Picard looks down at her and says; "She does not understand what is going on here." He raises one hand to his face and looks at it and sees some blood on it. He looks at Crusher who is kneeing next to the girl and says, Take her to sickbay and sees that she get some clean up.
Crusher looks at him and says, "You had better come too."
Mean while back down on Carina, Riker and his away team are scaning the wall that Johnson had been pulled throw. Riker puts his hand up to it and says, "This wall must open some how?"
"Sir one blast from my phaser will open it!" Worf answers as he pulls his phaser and starts to point it at the door as the cell door opens.
Four heavy-armed men walk in and the lead one says, "You will hand over your weapons and your communicators. You will be relased as soon as your captain turn your ship over to us!" He shows them a big smile and adds, "If not, we will kill you!"
Riker nobs yes to his away team and they hand over their phaser and tricorder only. The men take them and then slowly back out of the room and quickly close the door again. Riker hits his communicator and says, "Captain they just tokentook our phaser and are planning to kill us onless you give them the Enterprise!"
"Were going to beam you out of there number one!" They hear Picard answers them.
Once they are on the Enterprise, Riker looks at the female Ensign at the transporter panal and asks, "Have you located Dr. Johnson yet?
"Not yet sir, but we did beam up his medical tricorder and a little girl who was holding it." She answers him with a little smile on her face.
Picard walks into the transporter room showing signs of a newly healed head injury. He looks at Riker and says, "Do you have any idea where Dr. Johnson was token too?"
"No sir, one minute he was behind us and the next he was just gone, we think that the back wall of the cell moves somehow."
"Captain will you come back to sickbay right away!" They hear Crusher asks him.
Johnson feels himself being lead down a hallway and as he is walking he hears people crying and some talking quitely as he walks by them. Some are talking about how much longer they think they are going to live and other about who thing us to be. All at once he is stop and he is pushed down into a chair and the blindfold is removed and all he sees is a very bright light.
"Why have you come to Carina? He hears a female voice ask.
"We are answers a call that said you wanted to join the Federation." Johnson answers as he trys to see who is talking to him.
"Why would we want to join your Federation?" She asks this time as she moves closer to him.
"I don't now, I'm just a Doctor, but from what I have seen you are not ready to join yet!" Johnson's state as he closes his eyes a little bit from the light.
"Do you have any idea what is going on here?" A male asks this time, off to the other side of the female voice.
"We are here to learn as much as possible, so we can find out if you are ready to join the Federation." Johnson answers as he trys to see them again.
All at once the light goes off and Johnson sees a very pretty woman wearing a very pretty dress standing in front of him, "My name is Simco and my father is Silva, the mad leader of the Celestial." She turns her back to him and takes a few steps away and adds, "I'm also one leaders of the underground who will stop at nothing to stop my father and save Carina." Simco turns around and says, "My father order the power plant to be blown up to kill the Arcturans after the war was over!"
Johnson slowly gets up as he shakes his head no and asks, "How could he do something like that?"
"On the last day of the war, my mother was killed in one of the last battles." Simco answers with a very sad look in her eyes. "Once the war was over there was a crop failer and too many people to feed on Celestial, the Arcturans on the other hand had a big crop but just enough to feed there own people."
"Your father wanted their crops to feed your people then?" Johnson asks as he looks around at the other men and women in the room, some are dress bettert then others.
"Yes, father decided to kill and enslave the Arcturans and take all of the food!" Simco answers as she sits down at a table and signal for him to sit next to her.
As he sits down next to her he says to himself, "She is right, he is mad!" He looks at her and says, "If I could get back to my ship and tell the captain what you have just told me, he maybe able to help you!"
Just then a man comes running into the room, he runs up to Simco and says, "They are gone, I went back to checkup on the other and they were gone!"
Simco jumps up with a wild look on her face and asks, "Could my father have moved them?"
"No he is still thinks they are still in his cell, but his has token their weapon and what he thinks is their communicators." The man answers as he looks at Lishuny and says, "Your daughter is also missing now too!"
"They may have been beam back to the ship." Johnson says as he looks at Simco and then at Lishuny and says, "She too may have be beam up to the ship!"
"Will they hurt her?" Lishuny asks as he takes a few steps closer to Johnson.
"No they would never hurt her. I need to contact my ship to let them now I safe." Johnson answers as a smile comes over his face. "I will also asks about your daughter."
"The only equipment we have is in my home, its old and may not reach your ship." Simco answers as she looks at the man, who had just came in and says, "Go keep an eye on my father and let us now if he heads home. We will take these tunnels to my home, my father does not know them."
Meanwhile, up on the Enterprise, Picard, Riker and Troi are standing in sickbay looking at the little girl's reading on a medical console on the wall that Crusher is pointing at. "As sick as she is, I'm surprise she can even stand. According to these reading she will not live more then two weeks without our help." She turns and looks at the little girl who is being help out of her dirty cloths by one of Crusher nurse's. "What is worse is that the whole planet is in the same boat! It's in the food chain, I give the planet a year before everyone will be dead!"
Riker also looks at the little girl and thinks about the slave he sew being force to eat the food off the floor. "Captain I would like to lead a away team down to the planet to look for Dr. Johnson. We think that know how to get to him, there is a wall that can be moved."
Picard shakes his head no as he says, "No, number one. Our scans have shown that there is a large maze of tunnels down there, it would take you over three days to search each room down there." He turns and looks at the little girl too as he says; "Our scans show that there is over sixty people living in those tunnels."
Just then they hear Data calling them, "Captain, we are receiving a very weak signal from Dr. Johnson. He would like to beam aboard with two members of the planet's undergraound."
"Have Mr. Worf meet them and then bring them to my main briefing room." He gives the little girl a quick look and then heads out of sickbay followed by Riker and Troi.
In the captain's main briefing room Picard, Riker and Troi and sitting around a table when the doors open and Johnson enters the room followed by Lishuny and Simco. Johnson walks up to the table and turns and says, "Captain this is Lishuny and Simco, she the daughter of Silva."
Picard motions for them both to sit down as he says, "What can I do for you?" He watches them sits down and then says, "We have a little girl in our sickbay, do either of you know anything about her?"
Lishuny's eyes light up as he answers Picard, "She is my daughter! Is she alright?" He starts to stand up, but sits back down as he sees Worf, followed by Crusher entering the room. Worf moves till he is right behind both Lishuny and Simco.
"She is a very sick girl and is resting in sickbay." Picard answers as he leans back in his chair. "Now I would like to now what the hell is going on Carina?" Picard asks, as he stares at both of them.
Simco looks down at her hands and answers him, "Our planet is dying and my father thinks that the only way to save is people is to take the Enterprise or any other one that he can." She wipes a tear away from her eye as she says, "We both lost a lot of People durning the war, but we were just starting to learn to live in peace when he order the power plant destory." She wipes another tear away as she continues, "That was the begin of the end for our planet."
"Why did not someone try and stop him?" Riker asks as he shakes his head no and looks at Troi who has a very sad look on her face.
"Only his closet friends know what he was doing! The day after the power plant was destory I join the underground, I have sworn to find a way to stop him."
"We were just about to over throw him when you arrive here." Lishuny adds as he leans forward and says, "With your help it would be so easy."
Picard shakes his head no as he answers him; "We cannot interfere with how you run your planet."
Both Lishuny and Simco look at each other and stand up and Simco says, "We will return to Cartina and see what we can do."
"I would like to sees my daughter before I return to Cartina." Lishuny asks as heads towards the door.
"Don't you want to take her back with you?" Troi asks as she stands up and starts to walks around the table.
Lishuny shakes his head no as he says, "No, here she will have at least a small change to live. If we fail I would like you to help help her if you can. Find her a good place to live, where there is warm clothes and good food to eat." Crusher nobs her heads yes as she looks at Picard.
A few hours later Picard walks into sickbay where he sees the little girl sitting up eating what looks like a dish of ice cream. He gives her a little smile and walks right into Crusher office where he sees Crusher reading a data padd. He looks at her and says, "I hope you now what you are doing, if word gets out, we will be over run with kids!"
"What was I suppose to say?" Crusher answers as she looks up at him.
Before he can answer her they hear Riker, "Captain to the bridge."
Once on the bridge Picard sees is Silva standing in front of Lishuny and Simco with his hand tied behind his back on the main viewer. Simco pusher her father out of the way as she asks, "As the new leader of Carina I here by formally ask the Federation for help."
Picard shows her a little smile and answers her; "I will relay your message to the Federation. In the mean time I will send down some doctors to start treating your people." The screen goes back to showing the planet and he turns and looks at Riker and says, "It looks like we will be here for a while." Troi shows him a smile and says, "I can think of one doctor who name will be on the top of the list."
The next's day Picard and Riker are standing outside of a very large building that is now being use as a hospital, Dr. Johnson is standing just outside of the door way drinking a cup of coffee. He sees them walking towards him and he smiles as he looks at the line of people waiting to get in and he says, "I have never seen so many people lining up for combat rations before."
Riker looks around and says, "It looks like its going to be a gorgeous day if you ask me."
"The Federation is sending at least ten ship here to help with the clean up." Picard says, as he spots Lishuny and his daughter help a woman whom can hardly stand walking towards them.
"Captain I would like you to meet my wife, Ariely." Lishuny says as he smiles at his wife.
"I'm happy to meet you Ariely." Picard answers as he holds out his hand for her to shake.
"We will never forget this day, Captain." Ariely answers in a very weak voice as she smiles at her husband and then at her daughter.
Both Crusher and Troi walk out of the hospital and Crusher says too Ariely, "You need your rest, now get back to bed!"
Before Lishuny can take his wife back to the hospital, his daughter looks up at Picard and says, "I have chosen a name and it Beverly for the person who save my life."
Crusher turns a little red as she watches them walking back to the hospital, Troi looks at a smiling Johnson and asks, "How are you doing doctor?"
"I have never been better." Johnson answers as he takes a sip of his coffee and turns to head back to the hospital. As he enters the hospital he says to himself, "For the first time in a long time I understand my nightmares."
Picard looks at Crusher and says, "It looks like you are going to need another doctor for a few months?"
"That is never a problem with Star Fleet, there is always more officer coming along." Crusher answers as she too heads back into the hospital.
Picard watches her enter the hospital and he says to himself, "Yes and sometime I wonder why. But days like this I understand why they join."
THE END
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