Portal of dreams...P.G

Spookysgirl    spookysgirl@earthlink.net

Still not mine, just found myself drifting in their space again.



Commander Riker scanned the door that emanated the source of the ships
radiation. "Captain, We've found the source of the radiation......the levels
are low but seem to be increasing steadily."

"Understood number one." the captains voice responded.

Will could hear the curiosity in his tone, and knew he wished he could have led
the away mission.

"Mr Data, at the level of increase, how long before contamination levels reach
dangerous levels."

Data glanced at the readings on his tricorder, and answered his captain "At the
present level of amassment, human resistance will be reached in 72 hours, 37
minutes, and 26 seconds.."

Riker felt the smile come to his lips, as the android answered.

Will knew the fascination the captain felt toward the derelict ship they had
picked up on sensors. Five thousand years the ship had pulsed through the deep
recesses of space, incapable of warp, and operating only on impulse. After a
brief meeting it was decided that only a small away team would investigate the
inner shell, their goal to reach the hibernation chambers. If it were a species
of life, that still traveled in the primitive confines of hybernation.....it
was possible that life still remained on the ship. He had chosen his team
carefully....Data, Geordi, and himself would investigate the lost craft....but
a very strong recommendation had made by the captain to bring along the
counselor. He had not agreed with the decision. Even though their relationship
was that of friends, her safety was always a little more important to him, then
he liked to admit.

"Suggest we split up Sir."

Will looked to his chief engineer, and wondered what marvels he was seeing
through his visor.

"Agreed..... Data, You and Geordi. Counselor, your with me."

He tried to avert her eyes, but he knew his actions were fruitless....She would
know why he had chosen to keep her with him.

Data and Geordi took the left hand passage, as the counselor and commander
surveyed the right.

"Are you sensing anything Counselor?"

He watched carefully as she reached out with her mind. Her eyes were on him,
but he knew she was not seeing him. Her gift enthralled him, to be able to feel
another's presence, experience their emotions. He remembered the times their
minds had touched.... a sensation there were times' he longed to feel again.
Her dark eyes again regained their focus, as she shook her head. "I'm sorry
Sir."

He shrugged and smiled. "It's o.k. Deanna, maybe there's nothing to sense."

They walked through the endless maze of corridors, each looking just as the
others. No lights, or panels appeared anywhere. For all he knew they had
progressed only in the same circle again and again.


"Captain?! Radiation levels increasing at twice the original rate." Worf's
voice boomed through the bridge.

"ON screen!" The captain watched as the ship seemed to increase it's normal
size.

"It seems to be raising shields Sir."

Captain Picard felt the urgency well inside him.

"Mr Standor.....Lock on the away team........... Get them out of there!"

"I've got them!" came the relieved voice of the transporter operator.

"Wait I've lost the lock on the Commander, and Counselor Troi."


The dark lifeless walls of the endless hallways came alive, as the alarm
sounded through the ship. The walls glistened with an amber glow, as the ship
shook under their feet. He knew the sound, and he knew the sensation. The
engine had reached it's maximum, their time was limited. "Riker to enterprise.'
He was met with only the gentle hum of the system overload. The closest door,
seemed to be safe from the radiation that permeated the ship.

"Counselor.....continue trying to hail the enterprise."

Deanna nodded at her commanding officer, and followed his orders. But she could
sense his growing concern as his eyes darted around the room they had entered,

"Damn"

He deduced it was a transporter room of sorts, but the panels were totally
foreign to him. If he touched the wrong controls, his mistake could send their
molecules floating through the vastness of space. But he also knew if they
stayed here, it meant their certain death. The hum of the engine, and the sound
of Deanna's attempts to hail the enterprise, mingled with the sounds of the
alarms that sounded around him, caused his sense of urgency to snowball.

<Damn Captain Picard for sending her here> he thought, as he made the only
decision he could.

He felt the paralyzing grip of a transporter, as his consciousness faded.


"Captain, the core has been safely disarmed." The pleased voice of the Klingon
spoke to the captain.

"Very good Mr Worf........Mr Standor lock on to the counselor, and commander."

He was met with what seemed a relentless silence, before his transport operator
responded.

"I still can't get a lock on them Sir.."

Captain picard felt the weight on his shoulders as the response came through.

"Mr Worf, scan for life forms."

Worf's dark hands played magically across the controls. "Receiving
data.....Sir, there seems to be evidence of life. The readings are very faint."

Picard felt his heart sink. "Is it Commander Riker, and counselor Troi?'

"Unknown."

"Open hailing frequencies Mr Worf.....all languages, all channels."



He felt the release of the transporter beam as his molecular structure
reformed. It took only seconds for the beam to release it's hold, but the
return to consciousness allowed his mind an opportunity to create the worst of
scenarios. As he felt the light penetrate his eyes, he realized his nightmare
of transporting into perhaps the very core of a planet was unfounded. He turned
as Deanna's form shimmered into existence .....the lag between the beam outs
something he had never encountered.

"Are you all right?" he visually scanned her as he spoke, searching for any
evidence of injury.

She nodded, but her eyes were focused on the world that surrounded them. He
followed her lead and also stood in awe, at the sights before him. There was no
way to describe the beauty that surrounded them.....it was as if they had
entered a world created by only the most pleasant of dreams.

The ground a lush thick carpet beneath their feet, each tree hung with the most
delicate flowers he had ever seen, their colors ranging from the most vivid of
reds, to the palest of pink. The falls before them fell into a pool of
translucent blue, lilac crystals hanging in mesmerizing patterns beneath the
falls. Only a whisper of a breeze carried the soft scent of the flowers to his
nose. If there were such a thing as paradise, he was sure they were standing in
the midst of it. Deanna turned her eyes to Will, the blue of the falls paling
in comparison with the blue of his eyes.

"Where are we?" She hated to speak, to break the tranquil sounds that
encompassed them.

"I have a feeling were not in Kansas anymore." He watched the perplexed
expression cross her face and realized he had overstepped her knowledge of
earth fairy tales.

Chapter 2

"Do you think we're dead?"

The serious expression on her face, causing a smile to play at his mouth.

"I hit that control panel pretty hard Deanna." He held out his hand to show her
the bruise that covered his knuckles. "I'm pretty sure this wouldn't hurt like
hell, if we were dead."

His eyes lingered a little longer then they should have, as he appreciated the
sparkles of light in her eyes. She reached for his hand, her touch sending a
wave of emotions that probed his heart. He had thought his responses to Deanna
were under control, but he felt heat engulf him as she stroked his wound. He
pulled his hand away, trying to block the wave of passion he was feeling. He
was never one to deny himself physical pleasures, but when it came to Deanna,
his emotional would quickly entangle itself in the physical.

"Deanna......are you sensing any life?" He heard the crack in his voice, and
hoped she hadn't picked up his intimate desires.

She shook her head, a strand of her silky hair falling into her eyes. He found
it hard to control his need to push it away, his need to touch her, no matter
what the reason.

"I sense only happiness.' she spoke quietly, he watched her lips, and her
gentle breathing. His urges were over taking him. He turned his back to her,
and tried to return his mind to his position of command. Her arms slipped
tenderly around his waist, her body pressed closer to him.

"Make love to me Will." the sound of the words, and the sweet kiss of her
breath crumbling his effort to fight it. Five years he had struggled to ward
off the feelings that had engulfed his soul, and in only seconds in this
magical place he had yielded to the desires that saturated his being.


He watched as the princess in his arms lie sleeping, the moonlight painting
magic shadows on her skin. His reference to his favorite children's story had
been only a joke, but this world was all to perfect for him to accept. He laid
quietly, not daring to close his eyes, he didn't know what he was waiting for,
perhaps the preverbal wicked witch to rear her ugly head. He turned with a
start as the ground rustled behind him.

"Are you not satisfied?"

He looked at the women before him, auburn curls mixed with yellow lace framed
her face, her dress blew gently in the soft breeze, the slight scent of perfume
drifted through the air.

<Not exactly a wicked witch> he thought.

"Who are you?" He spoke softly, her eyes were wide like that of child, and he
found no reason to frighten her.

She didn't answer she only watched him.

"I need to reach my ship."

She tossed her hair, her laughter filling him. At any other time, his lack of
control would have driven him crazy.....but this goddess in front of him sent
waves of tranquillity to his soul.

"You may leave when you wish."

And then she was gone, her words reiterating themselves in his mind. He looked
at the sleeping form of Deanna, and realized he didn't want to go. He had
always thought giving in to his love for her would complicate his entire
existence. but as he watched her sleep it came to him, that was all he'd been
doing..... existing.


She felt him flinch as she pulled the bandage tighter around his leg.

"Ah Deanna, you cutting off my circulation!"

"Well, your circulating all over the ground Will, if I don't stop the
bleeding....." Her words drifted off with her thought. He had lost way too much
blood, and no matter how hard he tried to hide it, she knew he was feeling the
effects. She felt an overwhelming frustration wash over, as she admitted to
herself there was absolutely nothing she could do. It was her worst nightmare,
the nightmare she experienced each time he set foot on the transporter pad. She
looked around the bleak planet they had transported to, there was nothing, only
mile after mile of brown.

She could feel his strength sweeping over her, he was always there, always the
rock she could lean on in the worst of times. But right now she wanted to shake
him....to chastise him for always worrying about her. <STOP IT> she screamed in
her mind. <Let me be there for you, let be break through that man of steel
starfleet persona, and comfort you>

He rested his hand gently on her shoulder. "We're going to fine Deanna."

That was it, it was all she could stand.....he was bleeding to death right in
front of her, and his only concern was for her.

"That's enough Will!" her words mixed with her tears.

"Away mission, after away mission I watch you transport away from me. But your
never really gone, your always here...here in my mind......I feel your fear,
your passion, and all of your pain. But all I can do is sit idly by
wait......."

She saw the hurt in his eyes, but she didn't care. "All I can do is
wait....wait for the time I'm met with only the endless silence of your death!"
Her eyes were locked with his. "If I can't be in your heart, then get the hell
out of mind."

The pain in his leg, was nothing compared to the pain that pervaded his heart.
Her cold penetrating glare stayed fixed on him. He had no idea, how hard this
had been for her.....he loved her, he thought she knew that. "Deanna." his
words barely a whisper.

She felt his concern, and love the emotions only escalating her anger. "No
Will......I won't let you do this."

"You are in my heart, Deanna..... I've never stopped loving you>' She heard the
trembling words leave his lips, followed by the deafening silence she had
dreaded for so long.

"Are you not satisfied?' She turned toward the serene sound, the silence in her
mind twisting her soul.

"Perhaps this was not the gift you sought?" The blue eyes seemed to reach
deeply into hers, and then she was gone. She was alone, destined to live with
the eternal silence in her mind.



"I've got them!"

. The transport operator trying hard to keep his enthusiasm from his voice.

"Very good." Captain Picard turned as his two officers appeared on the pad.

"Are you two alright.......we thought we'd lost you for a minute?"

Riker looked from the captain to deanna, his mind spinning in time, Deanna's
expression seemed to mimic his.

"What happened?' He ran his hand through his beard, and tried to shake the
feeling that was haunting him .He tried hard to keep his eyes on his captain,
but they kept drifting back to counselor Troi.

"Bridge to Captain Picard."

"Go ahead"

"Captain, the ship is gone. It seemed to decrease in size, and then it just
vanished. Our sensors were unable to track it."

The Captain looked at his officers, unable to keep the smile of relief from his
face.

Will's look of exasperation seemed to be increasing. "Is there something wrong
number one?'

"No Sir......Yes Sir......How long were we gone Sir."

"Only minutes Will......but they seemed like eternal minutes."

"You can say that again Sir." Deanna managed a weak smile, as the captain
headed back to the bridge.

"Will, tell me about Kansas?" He felt the color drain from his face, her eyes
reaching for his heart.

"Deanna........I think we have to talk."

She nodded up to him, her heart and mind filling themselves with the strength
and protection he offered her. They walked in silence to her quarters, both
realizing in only an instant they had both gained something that would last
them a lifetime.

TBC...