NEW BEGINNINGS
BY Mary E. Terrell
(APRIL 1994)

DISCLAIMERS: The characters and back story that is featured here is the property of Paramount Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended. The rest of the story is my own creation and I probably should be put in Q's penalty box for not finishing it.

This was my first attempt at fan fiction. Well second actually if you count the few words I wrote down (somewhere around age 12) as a follow up to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Property of 20th Century Fox), which my brother laughed at, which discouraged me from continuing. Thankfully I got over that.

Wesley Crusher surveyed the quarters that Anthwarra had provided for his stay on Dorvan V. The room was fairly simple, with a cot in the far corner covered by a hand-woven blanket. A god's eye hung on the wall above it. Beneath the single window in the room, stood a small table with two chairs.

Wesley had come to Dorvan V when the Enterprise had been sent to evacuate a colony of North American Indians. The planet was soon to be taken into a newly designated demilitarized zone between Federation and Cardassian space.

Captain Picard and Counselor Troi met with Anthwarra and the other leaders of the colony, but they refused to leave. The Captain had tried to make an appeal to Admiral Nacheyev, but she informed him that the Federation Council remained firm in their decision to evacuate the colonists. Unhappy with the choice left before him, Picard had ordered Lieutenant Worf to set up confinement beams to remove the colonists against their wishes.

Before anything could be done, Cardassian troops arrived to survey the planet. Gul Evec and his men were prepared to use force to remove the colonists, but Picard persuaded him to change his tactics in dealing with the Indians.

The Captain brought Anthwarra and Evec aboard the Enterprise to negotiate an agreement. Anthwarra and his people would give up their Federation citizenship to remain on Dorvan V. Evec assured them that the Cardassian government would agree to the terms if Anthwarra and the others left them alone.

Wesley carried his travel case over to the cot and sat down. He thought of all the things that had happened to him over the past several days. He had come home to the Enterprise on leave from the Academy hoping to rid himself of the depression he'd been feeling.

Almost from the time he had beamed onto the Enterprise, Wesley had felt like telling everyone on board that he didn't want to be in Starfleet anymore. But he hadn't said anything. He knew he couldn't keep his feelings to himself forever.

When the Enterprise arrived at Dorvan V, Captain Picard had invited Anthwarra and his people aboard for a reception in ten foreword. As a Starfleet Cadet, Wesley was expected to attend. He had wanted to be alone, but one of the Indians had approached him. The man had introduced himself as Nakanta and told Wesley that he had been waiting for him to come for two years and that he could help Wesley find the answers he had been looking for.

On his visit to the planet, Nakanta took him to the habuak, a place the Indians used for spiritual ceremonies, for a vision quest. In his vision quest, his father, the late Jack Crusher appeared. He told his son that he had reached the end of his journey and should find his own destiny. When he left the habuak, Wesley found Lieutenant Worf making the preparations to transport the colonists without them being aware. He had called out to the people and told them of what Worf and the others were about to do. They had become angry and asked the away team to leave.

Captain Picard had been angry and demanded an explanation. Wesley answered simply that it was wrong and informed the captain that he was resigning from the Academy.

He hadn't been sure of what to expect when he told his mother of his decision, but she had told him that she loved him and would be proud of him no matter what he did.

Wesley opened up the travel case and removed two pictures. One was of him in his cadet uniform and his mother in the Starfleet blue worn by those in Medical and Sciences. The other was of his father in an older style Starfleet uniform. Beneath the pictures, he discovered an old fashioned journal and pen. He opened it and found a letter from his mother inside-

Dear Wesley,

By the time you read this, the Enterprise will be light years away.

Since Dorvan V will be a Cardassian planet soon, we won't be able to contact each other. So I thought that you could at least write out what you would like to say to me or your friends even if you can't send them.

Take care and be safe.

Love,
Mom

Wesley turned the page and started a letter to her.

Beverly Crusher sat lost in thought, scarcely noticing her two dinner companions. As Chief Medical Officer, she often consulted Deanna Troi, the ship's counselor, about patients. In their six years of service together, the two had become good friends. Captain Jean-Luc Picard had been best friends with Jack Crusher, and had become friends with Beverly after she and Jack married. When Jack died, she and Jean-Luc hadn't kept in touch. They didn't see each other again until she and Wesley came to the Enterprise. Since then, they had forged a new friendship.

Both the counselor and the Captain knew what Beverly was feeling. Deanna's half Betazoid heritage meant that she had empathic abilities that allowed her to sense other people's emotions. Jean-Luc, on the other hand didn't have that capability, but he had known Beverly for twenty years. He'd also recently shared a telepathic link to her, thanks to transceivers that had been implanted by the Prytt. The devices were only in place for little more than a day, but it was long enough for them to share a lot of their thoughts and feelings, including how they felt about each other. He had admitted that he had been in love with her from the day they first met. Despite the revelation of their feelings, they had chosen to just remain friends, for now.

"Beverly," said Deanna, "Beverly. Wesley will be just fine."

"Yes. His experience here on the Enterprise and at the Academy will help him through anything." said Picard.

"I know. But I'm his mother and it's my job to worry about him. Besides this isn't like when I left him here to be head of Starfleet Medical for a year or when he went to the Academy. I knew that he would be safe, but this new level of existence that he's embarking on is totally unknown. And when he beamed down to Dorvan V, I got a feeling like I'm never going to see him again."

"Why didn't you ask the Traveler to conduct his studies aboard the Enterprise?" asked Troi.

"For one thing, Wesley said there would be too much distraction here. For another, when Starfleet scientists learn of his ability, I was afraid they'd turn us into guinea pigs. I may be a doctor, but I have no desire for Wesley or me to go through years of tests."

"Well," said Picard, "You can't keep this a secret forever."

"I know. I just wanted some time to sort things out."

"What do you plan on telling Wesley's friends about why he left the Academy?" asked Deanna. Beverly took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm not really sure."

"And just who is this "special" human?" asked Q.

"Wesley Crusher."

"The child? What exactly has he done to require such attention? Has he turned into a big bore just like Picard and the others?"

"He pulled himself out of time as humans know it. Since he is the first human to approach this stage of evolution, we want to know more of what his development will allow him to do."

"We want you to go to Dorvan V and watch him, but not as you have appeared to the people of the Enterprise. We don't want him to be aware of your presence."

"How is he learning to use this ability of his? Surely another human couldn't be helping him?"

"He is being taught by someone he calls the Traveler. This Traveler is from Tau Alpha C."

"Oh yes, I believe I know of him."

"Your observations should begin immediately. We have no way of knowing how long these changes will take."

"As you wish." said Q and he vanished in a flash of light.

There were many Klingons who still believed that humans were weak and that it was a mistake to have an alliance with the Federation. Lieutenant Worf was not one of them. From the age of six, after his parents were killed in the Khitomer Massacre, he had lived and worked with humans. For a little more than six years he had served as Chief of Security and Tactical Officer on the Enterprise. He had come to have a great respect for the people he served with. True most humans he knew didn't have the physical strength that Klingons had, but Worf had witnessed the show of inner strength that had kept the Klingon Empire from defeating the Federation decades before.

Worf was nearing the end of his duty shift, when he noticed an intruder alert in sickbay. Before he could react, the alert had moved from sickbay to Dr. Crusher's quarters. Quickly the Lieutenant tabbed the comm control on his console. "Intruder alert. Security team to Dr. Crusher's quarters." He turned and headed for the turbolift.

Beverly entered her quarters and laid the blue lab coat she usually wore while on duty, over a chair. Sickbay had been quiet today, as it had been the past few days. She'd had to find things to keep her busy so as not to spend time worrying about Wesley. It had been several months since the Enterprise had left Dorvan V. She wished that she had a way of knowing how her son was doing.

She had just ordered a cup of tea from the replicator, when a voice spoke behind her. She turned and saw a young woman with blonde hair. Her visitor was from the Q Continuum, Amanda. Amanda had been born and raised on Earth, never knowing she wasn't human. That was until just a few months before, when she came to the Enterprise. She had come aboard as an intern under Beverly's supervision. During that time, Q had paid a visit and informed Amanda and the crew of her heritage and that he was to take her to the Continuum. She had wanted to stay and follow through with her plans to attend the Academy, but she would have to refrain from using her powers. When the relief efforts of Tagra IV failed, Amanda had intervened. That was when she realized she couldn't pretend that she wasn't a Q.

"Amanda. How have you been?" asked Beverly.

"Fine. After I talked to my foster parents about the Q, I visited the Continuum. Since then I've been traveling. I've met some very interesting people."

"I can imagine. So what brings you here?"

At that moment, the door opened admitting Lt. Worf and two security officers with their phasers drawn. Seeing Amanda, Worf lowered his weapon slightly.

"Is everything alright Doctor?" he asked.

"Fine, Worf. Amanda was just about to tell me why she's here." replied Beverly.

"Don't worry Lieutenant. I'm not like Q. I'm not here to cause trouble." answered Amanda. Worf nodded to the doctor and left her quarters. Amanda watched the door for a long moment after the security team left.

"Amanda?"

"Yes? Oh I'm sorry."

"Something's bothering you isn't it? Do you want to talk about it?" asked Beverly.

"It hasn't been easy adjusting to being Q. I have these powers, but there are still times I..." her voice trailed off and she looked out the window.

"You miss being an ordinary human?"

"I suppose. I did live as one for almost twenty years. But there are some Q who act like I'm inferior because of it. I feel like I don't belong in the continuum or anywhere else."

Beverly put her arm around the girl's shoulder. "So what are you going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know. That's why I came to see you. Your talks with me when this all started were a big help to me. If I'm going to find the answers, I need to talk to someone." replied Amanda.

"Well, I'm not sure what I can tell you, but I can at least listen."

"Thank you. Do you think Captain Picard would mind if I stayed here for a while?"

"Let's go find out."

"Report, Mr. Worf."

"The intruder was Amanda of the Q Continuum." answered Worf.

"What's she doing here?" asked the first officer.
"She came to see Doctor Crusher, and she says that she won't cause any problems." replied the Lieutenant.

"Well, stay alert. If Amanda is here, Q might not be too far behind."

"Aye, sir."

For the past several days, Wesley had spent much of his time learning meditation and relaxation techniques from the Indian colonists. Troi had taught him some relaxation exercises while he was aboard the Enterprise, but these were different. The Traveler had said that learning to focus his mind was important to using his new found ability. He had also said that through these exercises, other abilities may emerge. The Traveler was sure that Wesley could teleport himself, but so far he had been unsuccessful. He would just have to give it time and trust that he could achieve that goal. Wesley had noticed that he had begun to sense the presence of others around him. This empathic awareness was a strange sensation, but he was getting used to it.

He hadn't thought of it before, but he realized that his first lesson from the Traveler had come three years before aboard the Enterprise. Wesley had been experimenting with Kozenski's warp field equations in engineering. He had created a warp bubble in the engines and was trying to see how long he could maintain it. As he was finishing the project, his mother had come to see him. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light. While he was trying to figure out what had happened, Wes had looked up and saw that his mother was gone. He had left engineering assuming that she had gone back to sickbay or to their quarters. When no one could find her, he decided that she had somehow become trapped in the warp bubble. He and Geordi had tried to retrieve her, but before they could, they lost the bubble. Wesley had been sure that they would never be able to get her back, when the Traveler appeared. He told Wesley that there was still a way to reach his mom. The Traveler guided Wesley's attempt to open a stable threshold in the warp bubble. Just before it collapsed, his mom had leapt through the vortex and into engineering. The experience had taken a lot out of him energy wise, but it had laid the foundation for his abilities to emerge.

Q watched as Wesley practiced pulling himself out of time. He'd watched the young man with a mixture of fascination and to his surprise he realized that he was even proud of the lad. Unlike the colonists, Q was aware of each and every time that Wesley used his new skill, but he had to act as the others so as not to arouse suspicion. In his most recent report to the Continuum, the Q had discussed possible ways to test Wesley. Q was sure that the human must be able to do other things. The tests could only help other abilities to present themselves. It was agreed that they would give Wesley more time to practice his new skill before they would proceed with the tests.

Ten-Forward wasn't very busy when Amanda entered. On her first visit to the enterprise, she had only come to the lounge once. She spotted Data and Geordi LaForge at a table and crossed over to them. "Hello Mr. Data, Mr. LaForge. Do you mind if I join you?"

"Hi Amanda. Have a seat." said Geordi.

She sat down, and turned to Data. "I've been wanting to talk to you Data about how it was for you learning to live among humans."

"It has not been easy. In many ways I am still learning what it means to be human. May I ask why you are interested?"

"Well as I told Beverly, I'm having a hard time fitting in with the other Q."

Geordi snorted. "I can believe that."

P>"Anyway I thought I'd find out how you handled the adjustment."

Wesley's studies with the traveler commenced rapidly. It hadn't taken him long to discover more hidden talents. He had already experienced several other planes of existence. Just how many there were, he had yet to find out. He wondered what it was exactly that gave him these abilities. Did his genetics have something do with it? If so, could it be possible for his mom to do some of the things he was now doing? His sense of others around him had intensified. It had been strange to him in the beginning, but he was getting used to it. He'd had to make a lot of adjustments lately. Wesley decided it was time to see how far he could teleport himself. There was more than one reason for him to try this. He focused his mind on the one person whom he could sense the best, even at this great distance. As he relaxed into the effort, he could feel himself move. The act was fairly instantaneous. He opened his eyes to see the results.

Well as I said I didn't finish it. I'd only gotten about this far with it when All Good Things... aired. Anyway I appreciate any comments on my story (what there is of it anyway.)