All Good Things...

by Michael Jan Friedman

Captain Picard becomes trapped in a triple time loop. Past, present, and future. In the past, he has just started his tenure on the Enterprise D. Yar is still alive, some of his senior staff are still at Farpoint awaiting pick-up. The mysterious Guinan is running Ten-Forward, and the entire crew are putting their trust, and their lives in the hands of a Captain, that quite frankly, appears to be a little crazy.
In the present, Worf and Troi are about to begin a romantic relationship, much to the consternation of Will Riker. And in the future, Picard, retired and now working on his vineyards has Irumodic syndrome, Troi is dead. Beverly Crusher, his ex-wife has a ship of her own, as does the embittered Admiral Riker, and Worf is Governor on the Klingon homeworld. Data is at Cambridge university and Geordi is married to Leah and has a family.
When Q makes his appearance and tells Picard that the fate of all humanity is in his hands again, and advises him to go to the Devron System in the Neutral Zone. Needing transportation, Picard turns to Riker, but he refuses to help, but later arrives in the nick of time to save the crew of the Pasteur when they are attacked by the Klingon's. Beverly agrees to transport her old friends along with Worf as back-up in case the Klingon's show. The Enterprise D, E and Beverly's ship, the Pasteur all head there along with a fleet of Romulan Warbirds, also intent on viewing the strange anomaly. On arrival, they all enter the Devron system.
As Picard jumps between each time frame, he notices the anomaly is a different size. In the past, it is vast. In the present it is considerably smaller, and in the future, it is almost gone. In the past, strange things start to happen to the crew and they discover that their molecular structure is beginning to reverse and Beverly warns Picard that unless he stops the anomaly's affects, everyone will die as a result.
After many failed attempts to understand what is happening and what will happen if Picard fails to crack the conundrum, Q appears again and gives a helping hand. He learns that the anomaly is actually a meeting of time and anti-time, and as it grows in size, humanity regresses.
In an effort to learn more about the anomaly, all three ships have a tachyon beam trained on it's centre, and Picard suddenly realizes that it is them that is causing the problem, and as he leaps between each time frame, one by one, he manages to shut them down. But it doesn't help and the anomaly continues to expand. In a last ditched effort to save - everything, the Enterprise enters the anomaly and creates a static warp shield, keeping the time and anti-time apart until, at last, they succeed, by the skin of their teeth in shutting the anomaly down.

Notable Imzadi moments:

Pages 84 to 85

"Looks like it's going to be a late night," he said. "Want to get some dinner first?"
There was something in her eyes that he hadn't quite expected. A hesitation, a feeling of awkwardness. He wondered why.
"Actually," said Deanna, "I..." She glanced over the first officer's shoulder. "I mean...we have plans."
Riker turned to follow her gaze - and found himself looking at Worf. It caught him off-guard, but he recovered quickly enough.
Apparently, the relationship between Deanna and his Klingon friend had progressed further than he realized. But hell...that was no fault of theirs, was it? They didn't have to keep the first officer apprised of their every move.
"I see," he said, doing his best to sound casual. "Well, then...see you tomorrow morning."
Worf inclined his massive head. "Good night, sir."
Riker inclined his head in turn. "Worf..."
He stood there for a moment, watching the two of them file out after the others - and acknowledged an emptiness in the pit of his belly that was directly related to the sight.
Not that he had any right to tell either of them whom they could spend their time with. No one was in a position to do that.
But, even though he and Deanna hadn't been lovers for several years now - since his assignment on Betazed came to an end - he'd always thought of her as his special friend. His confidante. His close companion.
And now, he saw that someone else might be taking his place in that regard. Someone he liked and respected, true - but it was still a change he wasn't looking forward to.
Or was there more to it than that? Did his feelings run deeper than he cared to admit? At some level, had he harbored the hope that, in the end, he and Deanna would wind up together again?
Beleaguered by such disturbing thoughts, he sighed and went back out onto the bridge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pages 145 to 146

On the Enterprise, the captain turned again to Troi. "Is there anything else, Counselor?"
She didn't answer right away. Clearly something was troubling her.
"Actually," she said, "there is, sir. I've been debating whether or not to mention it, but perhaps..." She became more resolute. "It's about Commander Riker."
Picard, of course, knew all bout their relationship back on Betazed. He even knew how it would run its course in the future. But, unable to reveal anything of events to come, he played it as if this was the first he had heard of it.
"What about him?" he asked.
"Well," Troi began, "I think you should know that we...have had a prior relationship."
The captain looked at her, feigning surprise. "I see. And do you anticipate this interfering with your duties?"
She shook her head fervently. "No, sir. it was many years ago - and I'm sure it's well behind us both. I just thought you should know."
Picard pretended to ponder the information - and then came to a decision. "I appreciate your telling me, Counselor. However, I'm sure the two of you will find a way to...deal with the situation."
Troi nodded...though she didn't seem as certain as he was.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Pages 205 to 206

Admiral Will Riker glanced over his shoulder at a table on the other end of Ten-Forward, where Geordi and Worf were sitting together. Then, he looked back to Beverly and Data, with whom he was sharing this table.
He had tried to make his glance as casual as possible. Unfortunately, Beverly knew him too well to believe it.
"Spying on the enemy?" she asked, sarcastically.
Riker grunted. "In a manner of speaking."
"Will," said the doctor, "how long is this thing between you and Worf going to go on?"
He shrugged. "It's been going on for twenty years now. And it doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon."
"I suspect the last thing Counselor Troi would have wanted is for the two of you to be alienated from one another," Data remarked.
"I agree," Dr. Crusher put in. "It's time to put this behind you."
"I tried, at Deanna's funeral," Riker replied sadly. he recalled that tragic day. "He wouldn't talk to me."
"Might have been tough for him then," Geordi suggested. "He took her death pretty hard."
"Yeah?" Riker said, his voice sharper than he would have liked. "Well, he wasn't the only one." He saw Dr. Crusher's deep-set eyes lock straight onto his.
"I know," the doctor said, "but in his mind...you were the reason he and Deanna never got together."
"I didn't do anything to stand in their way," Riker answered, his natural defensiveness coming forward.
The doctor's bright eyes still held him. "Didn't you, Will?" she asked softly.
"Did I?" he answered, as if asking himself a question. "I just...never could admit it was over. I kept thinking one day we'd get together again...and then she was gone." Riker stopped, took a deep, sad, breath. "You think you've got all the time in the world, until..." His voice and his thoughts drifted off.
~~~~~~~~~~

Pages 243 to 244

"I believe," he said, "that this situation is unique."
"How so?" asked Riker.
The android turned to him. "Since the temporal anomaly did not occur," he reasoned, "and will not occur, there have already been changes in the way this timeline is unfolding. The future we experience will undoubtedly be different from the one the captain encountered.
The first officer nodded. "Maybe that's why he told us. Knowing what the future could bring...gives us a chance to change things now."
"So those events don't have a chance to take place," Geordi elaborated.
"Right," confirmed Riker. he gave Worf a meaningful look. "And in the case of some of those events, we should take extra care to see that they don't happen."
The Klingon nodded in appreciation. "Agreed," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Carol for putting this together =)