Lieutenant Commander Data was walking down a corridor. There was neither haste nor urgency in his stride or bearing. He had just left the bridge after a fairly dull shift and as far as he could judge, the beta shift would be similarly uneventful. When he was almost to his quarters, it occurred to him that he should like to visit Ten-Forward. None of his friends would necessarily be there, but it would be in keeping with his promise to Commander Maddox that he would try to expand his own social horizons and observations. Accordingly he turned to the left and walked to the nearest turbo-lift.
As he walked into the lounge known as ten-forward through the double doors, something told him to slow down. It was a curious and vague sensation, that something inside of him would warn him to take care, without a source or even a description of the danger. As he looked around the room, he saw no one he personally recognized. And a quick internal analysis did not provide any explanation for the sensation, so he put it out of his conscious thought. Choosing a seat at the bar, as seemed best when alone, he raised his left hand to the bartender, Guinian. She walked up a moment later, with an unusual expression on her face.
“What will you have Data?” The El-Aurian asked of the android, in such a subdued tone that he very nearly forwent his answer in favor of asking what was wrong.
“A glass of orange juice and some celery sticks please.” Data replied almost at once. Guinian walked away to fetch the items and walked back moments later. She stared at the officer. “Do I interpret correctly that you are preoccupied with something, unpleasant?” Data inquired gently.
“Someone is here who doesn't belong and I have no explanation as to how he could come.” Was the almost clipped reply. “It doesn't feel like our persistent omnipotent friend but I can't shake the feeling that someone is here from...another place.”
Data paused and looked around the room again, with just the slightest turn of his neck. “I admit that I also perceived something...other than normal was occurring when I entered the room.” He replied softly. “I assumed it was simply an irrational mistake.”
“That's called intuition my friend, and it's not a bad sense to have.” A male voice stated from Data's near left. “And may I join you?” Data looked at the individual who had spoken, and simply nodded.
Guinian was staring at the man as if something about him did not add up. She would later explain the troubled feeling thusly: The dark blue trousers and forest green sweater he wore seemed indicative of late 20th century, Earth. But he didn't feel like he'd been yanked through time. And he didn't show any surprise about being on a ship on sea of stars...It was a very suspicious riddle he presented.
“What will you have?” Guinian asked the young stranger. Who seated himself and shook his head. “People come to this part of the ship to relax. I suggest you do the same.” Guinian said slowly.
“That makes sense to me. Although 'people' must be busy with other things now, as forlorn and empty as this place feels. It's just I don't know what to ask for that won't make me look like a fool.”
“If I may?” Data stated in his requisite gentle tone. The stranger nodded. “I suggest a broccoli and spinach salad with lemon cookies if you are hungry. A lemon tea with raw vegetables if you are not.”
“That sounds wonderful, actually.” Came the sincere reply. “The lemon tea I mean.”
Guinian nodded and walked away, leaving Data to examine the strangers appearance along with his apparent inexperience. The short-cropped black hair and very forced smile did not look strange on the young man's face. It was the very pale skin and indeterminate age that held the android's glance.
“I do not mean to be rude sir,” Data ventured after a moment. “But why are you here?”
“A friend of mine offered to show me a world outside my own eyes. I didn't think she'd fling me into a world THIS different from my own.” The young man looked Data up and down. “If I may, you're the strangest looking person I've ever met. But you seem at home here?” That this was a question not an assumption was not immediately evident to Data. “So why do you look so different from everyone else?” The young man prodded.
“I am an android, a constructed being. This ship is home for me; I live and work here.” Something seemed to dawn on the Lieutenant's conscious mind. “Did you seek me out because I am different?”
“Well....yes. But not because you look different. I've been on this ship for hours and you are the first person to notice how out of place I am. After what I couldn't help over-hearing I'm even more intrigued. It's amazing that anyone could sense me.”
“I did not sense you in particular. I only felt that something was out of place...How do you mean?”
The young man shook his head so violently his black forelocks seemed windswept. He recovered his wit a moment later. “What is your name sir?” The man intoned. Data replied with a one word honest answer and returned the question almost immediately. “Merlin.” Came the equally concise reply.
It was several moments before anyone said anything else...And then only because Guinian walked up to the stranger with a phaser pointed at his chest. “Who are you really and what are you doing here?” She insisted of Merlin, who barely moved a muscle. Though he didn't seem particularly uneasy.
“Guinian what are you doing?” Data inquired, sounding thoroughly surprised.
“No one except the Q can show up out of time and space and be so at home with where they are.” She stated firmly. “And I don't see ancient earth in those clothes. More like...” She paused a moment. “Did you use your own powers to come here?”
Merlin considered for a moment before answering. “I wouldn't have been able to. I didn't know a place like this existed. Sasha told me she could show me a world outside my own eyes, if I didn't mind feeling my head swim afterward. Although I must admit to more or less seeking you out Data; I wasn't lying. It wasn't because you look different. It was because you felt different.”
“Is there anyway to confirm you are here by accident and are not a deliberate intruder?” Data said.
“I wasn't here by accident. I really wished to find a place where suspicion and fear are not natural reactions to strangers. Sasha thought this place would do but she asked me to leave her out of it. She said this should be my path and my journey as independent of proofs and references as possible. But gave me four words to tell you...'My friend Commander Maddox'. She is some mix of glad and proud about that.”
“Your friend Sasha must know our friend Grace. You are very welcome here ...for my part.”
Guinian lowered the phaser, gave an apologetic smile, and left to fetch what they each had ordered.
“I don't suppose I should ask you what in the name of anything that message was?” Merlin stated as they turned back toward the bar. “Or why giving it had the effect it did.”
“My rapport with Commander Maddox was initially an uneasy one. He claimed I was the property of Starfleet and should not have the right to resign from the service. My creator was not a member of Starfleet, and I joined the organization of my own volition. Captain Picard acted as my defense attorney to prove that while I am a machine, I have the same sense of self-destiny and self-determination as any flesh and blood being in Starfleet. The dispute was settled in my favor. I have been corresponding with Commander Maddox the two years since the trial and believe I could consider him a friend. Which is something one of my close friends on this ship Commander Riker, found...surprising.”
“How could my knowledge of this prove I am not a 'Q' or some other being?” Merlin mused.
“Grace has already told me that she is both glad and proud of my ability to look beyond the past and form my own...correlations I believe was the word she used. Sasha as you call her must have sent you by those words, confident you would meet me first.” Data looked around for a moment. “And I believe we should honor her wishes and 'leave her out of it' from here on in?”
“I can't disagree with you there. Even so, and I am making a couple of assumptions here, how far in the future are we and how well do you know our mutual friend? I just realized how deeply I am in trouble.”
“I am afraid I do not understand.” Data replied, cocking his head to one side.
“I'm not out of reason assuming this is the future. I was going to ask how well you knew Sasha but as she wanted to be left out of it, I can't really ask that can I? If there's one thing she and I both hold dear it is our belief that anyone's first impressions of anyone should be from the first time they meet. You should know as little about me from her as possible before I arrive here. What you think about me should be based on what you hear from me now...”
“...And your first impression of me should be from me. Which is why she did not ask you to look for 'Data', or tell you anything more specific about me.”
“Exactly so.” Merlin answered calmly. A moment later his face grew almost frenzied. He looked around himself as though expecting to be attacked. He took a breath to calm himself down, and looked around the room again. “I'm going to have to plead ignorance on her behalf if you ask me too many questions about her. I really should be careful of what questions I ask you. Just believe me on that.”
“I admit myself confused. And that is not a sensation I often experience.”
“Maybe Sasha is my name for the woman you know as Grace. I didn't come here of my own powers. Sasha wanted to show me a world outside my own eyes; we both wanted that. Bringing me here, thinking this was the best place to learn, a place where I'd actually be accepted not interrogated. She had to know a lot about all of you to know that. And I just thought of something.”
“Yes?”
“While I'm glad to be here, because I did not bring myself here, if you ask me to leave, how can I?”
“The question is then, what you are here for and how long you will be here for.” Data suggested.
“To see a world out side my own eyes and until she decides to call me back home, respectively. And it won't be 'any second'. I trust her to have sober and clear judgment as far as timing.”
“I am assuming your clothing is at her suggestion?” Data offered gently.
“Her own design actually. She said it's closer to what her friends wear.” Merlin stopped speaking long enough to consider what might be the intent behind the question. “I'm not here to search how far we've come or any of that. I have long wanted to see some of the places my friend would talk about if she chose to loosen her self-restraint. I wanted to see another world. My own world has become...happy and empty honestly.”
Merlin's facial expression matched the sad tone of his words. Data did not press him. A few moments later however Data's own expression grew troubled. “I should report to the Captain that you are here. I will tell him most of what you have told me, and there should not be any problems. – I must follow procedure.”
Merlin said nothing aloud but Data was certain he heard the response. “I understand. I accept it.”
“And I would prefer you speak aloud when you talk to me.” Data continued without missing a beat. In response Merlin nodded, smiled sadly, and drank his lemon tea in one long, slow pull.
“I should go with you though right?” Merlin asked as Data stood up. “In keeping with my own tradition and preference, I would like your Captain to meet me as he hears about me.”
“I don't see anything wrong with that.” A calm voice stated from a few feet behind the android. Merlin turned to see a man in his mid-fifties, balding and in muted gray clothes smiling at him.
“Captain, what are you doing here?” Data asked in a mild, slightly confused tone.
“Guinian knew that I would like to be kept apprised of this situation and called me down.” The older man replied with a soft, reassuring smile. And turning to the android he continued. “Data, Geordi asked me to find you. He's still having trouble finding the source of the power fluctuations. You'll find him hard at work on deck 36, section 12.” Data nodded, smiled awkwardly, and reached out to shake Merlin's hand. The gesture was accepted after a moment's thought.
“I'm glad I got to meet with you first, Mister Data.” Merlin stated in what was meant to be a reassuring voice. “I think I already have met her first friend."
The captain sat himself down at the bar just as Data exited the room.
“I believe some introduction is in order.” The older man said to the young visitor.
“My friends call me Merlin.” The wizard stated almost at once. “If you had magic or were a creature of magic, you'd call me Emrys.” He continued a little more slowly.
“Are you joking with me?” The Captain asked with a slight twitch of his mouth. One look at Merlin's worn down face told him the answer: no. Which meant there was only one course of action to take. “I'm Jean Luc Picard, captain of this vessel.”
“I'm pleased to meet you Captain.” Merlin offered in a voice much drier and more reserved than any tone he'd used until that point. “I assume correctly that most people here do not believe in magic?”
“Only in fiction or as part of a bygone era.” Picard answered him. ”But it shouldn't matter here.”
“ 'Magic is only science one cannot yet comprehend.' In Camelot anything unexplained is considered magic. I take it in this world, anything unexplained is considered science?”
“Exactly that. Or in one particular case, a fact of the biology and evolution of an entire species.”
“The 'Q' Guinian took me for?”
“Indeed. Do you not know of them?”
“Captain. Sasha is not exactly forthcoming about where she's from or what other realms she has visited. Showing me a world outside my own eyes, where people's instinct had caught up with their intellect was actually her idea. But it was a suggestion I wholeheartedly encouraged...exactly so I could see more of where she was coming from...as a person.”
“Alright. Now the question becomes, what could she have thought...what?”
“Alright let me be direct. Basically giving me a dream of a far out world was her choice. I choose to see this particular world...As close as I can figure this.”
“Now I really do not understand.”
“Captain I hope you don't mind if I come straight to the point. A friend of mine whom you may or may not know offered to open my eyes to a world outside my own life and dropped me in a storage area here on this ship. Over the past few weeks she's told me bits and pieces of the people she's met on different adventures. The trial Data went through to prove his rights as an individual was a piece of one of those stories. I asked her to send me to the one most affected by that trial. Contrary to what I led Data to believe, I actually know when to expect to go back. That is she did give me an indication of when to expect a return trip: O-600 hours. I just don't know what that means!”
“It means first light in the spring.” Picard replied at once. “...And in about 14 hours.”
“...So I'm only going to be here for a day of time. I had hoped for... never-mind.”
“Go on, please.” Was all the Captain had to say.
“My life in Camelot is both happier and more forlorn than ever before. Not that this will mean anything but Gweneviere is queen, Lancelot is at peace. Arthur either knows my secret or will find out shortly. I feel like everything I've ever wanted has come to pass and I don't have anything to live for or work toward anymore.” He turned his head up from the empty teacup. Hence the 'happy & empty' before.”
“How is it that Arthur doesn't know your powers? I assume that's the secret you mentioned?” Picard stated in an emotionally pallid voice.
“It is and it's because he hasn't withdrawn Uther's laws of magic being worse than treason.” Merlin said after a long state at Picard's face.
The captain took an equally long stare at Merlin before saying a thing. Then only a whisper. “I had assumed you were dropped here to help us figure something out. That we'd go back to our lives changed some how for your presence here. Now I'm sure it's the other way around.”
“You have had other visitors like me?” Merlin's voice was so high pitched he was almost squealing.
“Our friends, Grace and Q usually end up improving our lives when they make things different around here. Whether that's their intention or a by-product can vary, but usually we are the ones changed. It's a little odd to think your visit here is more for your sake than ours. Then again, if you already know Grace, that would explain and calm a few concerns. And yes, we've had at least three visitors in the last few months show up out of nowhere and leave just as quickly.”
“Okay that makes sense I guess.” Merlin answered more stoically. “But I'm getting the impression that Grace and Sasha are different names for the same person. Do you agree?”
The Captain smiled broadly.“ 'Grace' chose that name the third of fourth time we met her. After I actually asked what she was called. I'm pretty sure it's not her birth-name. So it's at least possible.”
“Well she, that is Sasha, sent me here by words apparently only Grace could know, so I think it be.”
“How do you mean?” Picard asked pointedly. Merlin quickly filled Picard in on the signals and wishes with which Sasha had sent him forward.
“Then yes, they are almost certainly one and the same.” Picard did not seem able to relax.
“I just wish Sasha had warned me about the sea of stars.” Merlin stated simply. “I must be a couple thousand years in the future from my time.” Picard nodded sagely and turned toward Guinian.
“I think I might need something stronger than Earl Grey tea this evening.”
“If the captain wants proof of my magic, and doesn't mind a show of it, bring me an empty mug.” Merlin offered. Guinian did so and with both hands over the white, thick coffee mug Merlin created a mild red wine. Picard took the mug, sniffed it and smiled brightly.
“Well I can't deny you have magic.” Picard stated placidly. “But we know other creatures...”
“How do you mean sir?” Merlin asked in a tone of which Picard could make nothing.
“Showing your powers doesn't prove your identity.” Picard stated easily.
“That's assuming you know anything about me in the first place.” Merlin stated shortly.
“We have stories of Arthur and his knights of the round table. If you are the wizard from those stories, your intentions are above reproach. But I cannot accept on faith that you are the same.” Picard's voice rang with both consideration and finality.
“Well obviously. I'm not here to confirm or deny anything. Besides which, I might not be Merlin as you would have heard of him. It strikes me however,” Merlin paused and made his voice go hard. “that I am not the only one you are doubting in your skepticism."
“I don't know any way to prove your veracity...and I have a duty to my ship..”
“Captain please, think for a second.” Merlin interrupted him. “Would your friend Grace send you a lying visitor? Would I be able to do anything 'cloak and dagger' here without dishonoring my closest friend Sasha? If I was here to cause you trouble, you would have noticed it by now. And to be perfectly honest whether you consider me an alien or not is irrelevant to my mind. I am who...what I am. If I'm going to get my head chopped off...its should be for the right reasons.”
“I have to agree with you there; on pretty much everything you just said. And I think I just completed my obligation to either of them.” The Captain said with a twinkle in his eyes.
“I'm not sure how...please explain...who and what you mean.” Merlin breathed.
“Sasha, Grace, Q, and generally any one who would bring you here for you own sake.” Picard answered glibly. “I think your friend knew us well enough to know you could trust our judgment. And that you'd hear the truth from the proverbial horse's mouth...from those you know it best.”
Merlin starred at him fearing some further trap. His mind reviewed everything he'd just said. He was forced to smile. “I need to tell Arthur exactly what I just told you. I am who and what I am no matter what any one says that means. If I get my head chopped off, it'll be for the right reasons. But also, his faith and trust in me was not wholly misplaced.”
“Exactly true.” Guinian stated from the other side of the bar. Merlin blushed when he realized she had been standing there listening to the entire conversation.
“Well Captain. I pray you give my thanks and hope to Commander Data, that you keep your own eyes on whatever you have been reaching for...And remember me well.”
“I shall do all three.” Picard stated, with no little amount of surprise in his voice.
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