A Trip in Time
by Ri
Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. No copyright infringement is meant to either Renpics and the owners of Xena Warrior Princess and all characters of the show, or Paramount and the owners of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is a work of alternative fiction, so if that isn't your cup of tea, please try some of the general stories. There are alot of good ones out there!
Jean Luc Picard the great lion statue for the third time. He didn’t know why he felt so drawn to it but he felt drawn to the protector of Amphipolis. He and Dr. Beverly Crusher had been in Thrace for two days when an old college chum, Professor Tom Jensen called to say he just had to see the Protector of Amphipolis. It was said that the Great Lion was erected after a battle to save the small town from invasion as the only thank you the General of the battle would accept.
Picard had read of the Lion of Amphipolis, had read some good papers on the statue but to see it had made such an emotional impact it was overwhelming the Captain’s sense of self.
"I thought I’d find you out here, Jean Luc. Really, you know you can’t bring her to life."
"Her?"
"Yes, her," Beverly smiled at his astonished expression. "I just get a feeling it’s a she. You know a mother lion protecting her young?"
"But the mane, Beverly?" Picard was startled by Beverly’s words because they rang true inside him and gave him a feeling that he knew who the protector was,’That’s ridiculous, no one knows.’ He thought berating his own foolishness.
"So she was carved by a man in his image, I know what I feel from her. Are you going to come in to dinner? Tom’s worried about you."
"In a bit, Beverly, I’m just so drawn to...her. I ...uh need to stay a little longer."
Beverly smiled at the ‘her’, "Ok, but do come in soon so I can eat."
"But..."
"I’m not going to eat alone again...so hurry up, I’m hungry!" She said with a smile gently slapping his arm and walked to dining room tent a few yards away.
Picard watched her shaking his head, ‘Damn, she knows me too well.’ He mused as he started to circle the statue again. His foot accidentally hit an edge of the base in a downward angle and loud creak rang through out the archaeology base. He nervously looked about but everyone else was in the dining tent and there was some loud music playing so no one else heard the noise. He looked down and there before him was an ancient ceramic tube.
He studied enough archeology to know he should get Tom, but his curiosity and the pull of that tube was overwhelming. He bent down on his knees to see a smaller tube with in the ancient cylinder. He gasped and gently pulled the smaller tube out of the larger one. He almost started again for the dining tent when some in inner force stopped him. Some instinct called to him to see what was inside this cylinder himself.
He gently opened the clay object and to his astonishment found and ancient parchment rolled neatly inside. He gently nudged the larger cylinder back into the base of the statue and went to his private tent with his treasure. Dinner would have to wait.
* * * * * *
Beverly found him later surrounded by text books deeply engrossed.
"Where the hell have you been, Jean Luc?"
"Here," he answered while scribbling not bothering to look up.
"Well I’ve been waiting to eat with you and I’m starved!"
"Oh, I am sorry, Beverly." He looked like a small boy who was caught doing something wrong and his face was full of sorrow. She smiled inwardly ‘I love it, when the Starship Captain goes away and the real, Jean Luc appears.’ She thought to her self as he scrambled to his feet and shuffled them a bit trying to find the words to explain.
"Um, please sit down. You must hear this. I’ve only been able to translate a few lines but it's fascinating."
"Translated a few lines of what?"
"This," He answered holding up the scroll.
"What is it?" Curious, her hunger was forgotten for the moment.
"Listen," He started to read from his notes, "I sing the song of The Warrior Princess, Protector of Amphipolis and the kindest, bravest person the world has ever known. After a fierce battle against the Gods themselves to save her home town, this statue was begun to thank her. The Warrior Princess..." He looked up from his notes and shrugged, "Thats all I’ve gotten so far. Beverly, your instincts were right. The lion is a woman. I...it the part about the Gods themselves...."
"Where did you find that?"
Picard looked embarrassed as he explained, "I kind of tripped over something and it popped out..."
Beverly started to laugh hysterically almost falling out of the chair she was sitting in.
"Beverly, its not funny I..."
Beverly was doubled over she was laughing so hard, "You...you...tripped over such...a find....Oh Jean Luc....thats...thats priceless, wait till I tell Deanna and Will..."
"Beverly, " He growled, "don’t you dare."
"Oh, ok." She tried to make her face serious but only succeeded in making an amused smirk. "So what do you make of it, oh great scholar?"
Picard felt even more foolish and said, "Oh, I don’t know....I think I want to try to translate the rest...I know I’m not a scholar. But I...I feel compelled to find out who this "Warrior Princess" was...I have never read of such a woman."
"Neither have I, But I sure as hell would like to. Well let's get cracking."
* * * * * *
They worked the rest of the night and all morning. They had gotten further in the scroll but not to the end of it.
"Read it as far as we were able to get, Beverly." Picard said grimacing. He felt like he was getting no where in his quest.
"Jean Luc, neither of us are scholars. I think were doing ok, don’t you?"
"I guess you're right. Read it please..."
Beverly smiled and read the scroll thus far; "I sing the song of the Warrior Princess, Protector of Amphipolis and the kindest, bravest person the world has ever known. After fierce battle against the Gods themselves to save her home town, this statue was begun to thank her. The Warrior Princess saved the town, her child and the future by her clever manipulation of Ares, and his passions. She set up Ares and Athena against one another knowing that Ares would keep his promise even if was during a moment of..." Beverly smiled at the growling Captain of the Enterprise, "Nice place to get stuck in, huh?"
"A very frustrating place, Beverly. This must be fiction. The Gods and Goddess’s of war were Greek myths. Maybe this Warrior Princess was a myth too."
Beverly smiled and shook her head, "Well Jean Luc, we are in a rather privileged position. I mean we have a way to find out the truth if we want to."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember the time loop that Captain Kirk and Captain Spock discovered..."
Picard nodded his head.
"Well?"
"Beverly, I can’t and won’t take the Enterprise on a wild goose chase."
"No, but we could take the shuttle."
"Beverly," He growled.
"Will and Deanna would love to go..."
"I..."
"It would be a legitimate research project, this is quite a find."
"It would..."
"See, I knew you’d agree, lets go to Athens so we can get to the transport station. The sooner we get to the ship sooner we will find out who the Warrior Princess was, Myth or Legend."
"But..."
"Come on time is fleeting."
Picard rolled his eyes and followed the good doctor out of his tent.
* * * * *
The shuttle Explorer left dry dock and Commander Will Riker was piloting her with Captain Picard beside him.
"Get that smirk off your face, Commander."
"What smirk?"
"Will." Picard growled.
"Sorry, I just love to see Bev in action."
Picard looked over at where the two other officers were talking behind him.
"Yes, she is quite persuasive."
"So did you calculate the time table per Captain Spock’s logs on the subject?" Will asked thinking it would be best to get to a safe subject.
"Very subtle, Will." Said the Captain, but he smiled putting his second in command and friend at ease." And yes I have, here." He said as he handed his first officer the disk with the calculations on it.
"Thanks,this will be a great job, Captain,"
"Ok, ok Number One, I’ll stop being grumpy. Stop trying to distract me."
"Who me, Captain, Sir?"
Picard shook his head in frustration and studied the information being fed into the navigation system. "Get ready to enter the time loop." He warned the two officers behind him.
Deanna and Beverly sat up and Beverly smiled at the Captain with a barely contained smile, "Yes, sir."
Deanna turned her face away slightly to hide the wide grin on her face.
Picard shook his head and faced forward. ‘Women.’ He thought to himself. He would never say such a thing out loud but he felt in the privacy of his own mind he could voice thoughts any other guy in Starfleet would have at this moment. Glancing at Will he thought if he was going through this amused manipulation he would probably say it out loud, ‘So I at least have a little more control.’
Deanna felt all these emotions despite the fact that her personal shields were up. She also felt that the Captain was excited and amused. ‘This will be good for him. He needs this distraction from duty. Bev was right to talk him into it.’ She sighed and readied herself for the strange internal imbalance that a time warp puts on the human body.
"In five, four, three...."
* * * * *
Xena and Gabrielle were sitting outside Xena’s Mother’s inn. It was the night after the Battle of Amphipolis. They were on the back porch trying to be normal again. Xena was sharpening her sword and Gabrielle was struggling over a scroll of the battle. Xena knew they were both shook up from the events of the past few days. Eve was safe. That’s all that mattered. She and Gabrielle would protect their child and now she knew she had surprisingly the support of the village. This made her feel a little better. She would not feel safe till the twilight was complete though. Her daughter would be a constant target till then. Xena knew that the Goddess of War would not give up. Athena would be back. Suddenly her eyes caught a shooting star in the nights sky. Gabrielle was caught by it too.
"That was a large one, wasn’t it Xena? Do you think it was a meteor?"
Xena’s head cocked to one side, "Could be, I guess. I don’t know alot about forecasting the stars. It was big though."
Gabrielle smiled at how sweet Xena looked, with her head in that position just like a little kid, ‘Xena, doesn’t know something. Wow!’ She thought with a smirk she asked, "You mean it isn’t among your many skills?"
Xena smiled back at best friend and nodded her head, "Well I really don’t need that skill, do I Gabrielle? I know where I am by the stars and thats all I really need. I don’t move among them so I really don’t need to know why they move and what they’re made of..."
"Xena, wouldn’t that be wonderful? To fly among the stars?"
Xena smiled affectingly at the dreamer beside her and draped an arm over the Bard’s bare shoulders, "If we learn to fly someday, Gabrielle then I’ll learn that skill, till then I’ll just learn what I know as a Captain of a ship so we never get lost at night, ok?"
Gabrielle smiled and leaned her head on the taller woman’s shoulder, "Ok ."
* * * * *
Xena was up very early in the morning. After ritual excersize and Tai chi, she began a hunting trip for her family's breakfast. She knew that Gabrielle was sick of rabbit, so she decided to get a nice game bird for her Bard. She suddenly felt eyes on her. She quietly turned toward an opening the forest. She jumped straight up into a tree and tried to see who was watching her. ‘Its not a God, but who can remain invisible like this? A socerecer? Hmmm, well lets see if I can smoke out my watchers.’ She thought through several viable plans and then nodded to herself as she decided on a plan of action.
* * * * *
The four officers had set up an encampment outside the village of Amphipolis. They put up an invisibility shield and were all astonished when a tall woman from the village headed straight for them.
"Deanna, can you feel who that woman is sh...?" He stopped in the middle of question as he watched the remarkable woman jump straight up into a tree.
"Wow." said Will.
"I’d say so." replied Beverly astonished.
Deana’s eyes widened but she concentrated on the woman’s feelings.
"She’s a warrior, a mother, a best friend , a daughter...She is going to protect her family no matter what. Oh my God, she knows we’re here...she has an extraordinary ability with her senses,Captain. She has ESP and she definately senses us. That's why she went up into that tree to try to get a better look. She is positive someone is watching her. She is not scared, she is cautious and angry and very protective of her family and village...Xena...her name is Xena."
* * * * *
Xena approached the clearing with caution. She knew there was someone there even if she couldn’t see them. She could feel them. She sat on her haunches and said in her most commanding voice, " Ok, come on out."
Silence greeted her, "You really don’t want to get to me mad, people. Come out of there peacefully." Still silence. She shook her head and said "Ok, you asked for it," She threw her chakram right at the invisibly shield. It went right through instead of deflecting off like it should have. The chakram hit Deanna in the leg and she fell over in great pain half in and half out of the shield.
Xena saw half a woman fall to the ground as she retrieved her chakram from the air. She jumped down and gently pulled Deanna all the way out of the enclosure. She looked at her leg and said sympathetically, "Got you good didn’t I?"
Big brown eyes in a beautiful face nodded her head. "Well I better get you back to my Mother’s Inn so I can fix that up. Are there any others in there?" She asked as she helped the pale woman up and headed toward the village. When the woman didn’t answer she just kept walking and Xena thought to herself, ‘ Oh great a mute.’
* * * * *
Picard was holding Will back, "We can’t Will, that woman said she was going to fix Deanna up. So I assume she knows simple first aide. As soon as she is able Deanna will come back on her own..."
"What if she kills her, Captain you saw strong she is; she just picked her up as she was nothing..."
"If she was going to kill her Will she would of done it here in the clearing. No Deanna said she’s a Warrior I think she would of killed her right away if thought it was necessary. I think she was just taking her home where her supplies are. Wouldn’t you do that, Beverly?
Beverly nodded mutely, still in shock by what had happened so fast.
* * * *
Deanna sensed that this woman was just protecting her family.She also knew she meant no harm to herself or the landing party. She looked at the beautiful woman with the striking profile. The warrior had not said a word since trying to communicate in the clearing. She could feel the woman’s curiosity especially about Deana’s strange clothing and the fact that the landing party was behind a wall of invisibility. ‘This is a brilliant mind, she not at all primitive. She speaks and reads several languages, and knows how to heal. Damn, I wonder if she’s...’
They came to a building and Xena kicked the door with her foot. A small blonde woman opened the door talking even before the door was opened.
"Well it about time, Xena, I’m star..." She stopped mid word.
Xena smiled at the shocked look on her friend's face. "Get my medical pouch and clear the table."
Gabrielle mutely nodded and set about her tasks.
Deanna liked this woman the moment she laid eyes on her. She could feel her goodness, strength and her love for Xena and her devotion to their family. ‘Her sweetness hides her strength she is a good balance for the warrior.’ She could also sense the deep love and affection between the two woman tending her. ‘These are bright, strong independent woman. Wow, they both would of done well in our time.’ Thought Deanna as she was gently set down on the table and her trouser leg was cut in half by the warrior’s bare hands.
"It’s not too bad," Xena said to Deanna she smiled at the injured woman and Deanna noticed how it transformed her face. It made her look kind and friendly instead of just fierce and powerful.
The blonde ran over with the medical pouch and smiled sweetly at the patient, "She knows what she’s doing, there is no reason for you to be scared."
"I’m not."
"Well you can talk. I was beginning to wonder." Xena said with a chuckle as she set about cleaning the wounded area of the leg.
"Yes, I can talk. I was just stunned, what is that thing?" Deanna said pointing toward the Chakram on Xena’s hip.
Xena grinned at Gabrielle and winked, then to Deanna she asked, "Where did you get these clothes and how were you able to create that wall of invisibility. You're not a God, so how?"
‘Very intelligent,’ Thought Deanna grimly. "I can’t tell you any of that."
"Sorry, no free information. Just medical service. Gabrielle give her some sleeping herbs to ease the pain from the stitching I have to do here..."
"No please, I can’t sleep..."
"Afraid you’ll talk in your sleep?"Xena asked with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile.
"Something like that, yes"
"That will hurt like Hades without something to kill the pain."
"How about some wine?" Gabrielle suggested.
Deanna nodded that would be fine.
"Fine, Mom has some behind the bar in a red bottle, could you get it quickly Gabrielle? We have to get started on this soon or she may develop an infection." Gabrielle streaked out of the kitchen to the bar and Xena smiled inwardly to herself, "That stuff in the red bottle is stronger then the sleeping herbs.’