Author's Note: For all readers, bear in mind this is meant to be a possible alternate timeline of events in the series. To me, though, it's more an experiment in "cause and effect". It won't follow the series' episodes exactly, but I thought it would be interesting to see more "what if's" for many of the episodes. Just don't bite my head off if you prefer the original episode. xD

This is, admittedly, more for my own entertainment than anything, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to share. Enjoy! ^^

Oh, and a lot of this involves deconstructing some aspects of the continuity and explaining things left unanswered in the show. The OC in this chapter will be the only one, but he won't be centric to every episode from here on out. Actually, I hope to write some more significant roles for various background characters in the series. That, and I'd like to develop some recurring guest characters a bit more too. Eh, we'll see how it all pans out. It should be fun to work out, if nothing else!

"Captain's Log, Stardate 43125.8. We have entered a spectacular binary star system in the Kavis Alpha sector on a most critical mission of astrophysical research. Our eminent guest, Dr. Paul Stubbs, will attempt to study the decay of neutronium expelled at relativistic speeds from a massive stellar explosion which will occur here in a matter of hours."

Riker stared out the viewscreen at the beautiful red giant the Enterprise was now orbiting. He stood in front of the viewscreen while Picard went down to transporter room one to greet their guest. The USS Venture, an Excelsior-class ship, warped out of the system moments after making sure Dr. Stubbs had beamed over safely. He noticed something missing out the corner of his eye though. An ensign sat at the conn, holding the ship steady in low orbit.

With a sigh, Riker pulled his uniform shirt down while taking a few steps toward the screen. When he was standing a good distance from the chair he always felt so small in, he tapped his comm badge. "Riker to Ensign Crusher." No answer. "Ensign Crusher, please respond." Again, silence. With a sigh, he muttered under his breath, "Probably forgot to set his alarm again."

"Don't worry, sir," responded Nelson Grey, the ship's Chief Science Officer. He'd only been assigned recently, rather by chance. But in the month he'd been aboard, he had a chance to get to know young Wesley Crusher and teach him a thing or two about the sciences. "He's probably just worn out from working on the project I showed him yesterday."

With one last, long look at his monitor, he entered the turbolift and had it take him to deck ten. Once the turbolift doors opened again, he followed the corridor to the science lab where he last saw Wesley. When the doors opened, he found Wesley exactly where he thought the boy would be: asleep at a desk next to several pieces of scientific equipment.

"Time to wake up!" He clapped his hands, which almost immediately woke Wes, who seemed to just realize that he'd fallen asleep while working on an experiment. "You're late for your shift. Seems like Commander Riker's in a testy mood."

"Uh, right," Wesley answered in a groggy voice. "I'll be right there."

Without bothering to double-check his equipment, he stood and groggily carried himself out into the hallway beyond. As Wesley left, however, Nelson had a good look at the experiment Wesley had been performing the night before. Sure enough, it was the exact same project he'd shown the young prodigy a week ago. But one thing certainly looked out of place. It was a container that had been left open.

Knowing what it could mean if it remained open for long, Nelson quickly replaced the lid and took a deep breath, eyeing the door Wesley had just passed through. This could either be a good day... or a very bad one.

A slightly disheveled man in his sixties wearing casual clothes closely observed the viewscreen with a sparkle in his eye. His hands behind him, he seemed confident in what they were about to accomplish. Everybody knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They were about to witness the final hours of a star that was about to die. When it did, the effect was theorized to be instantaneous: a massive stellar explosion followed by the formation of a black hole.

"Ensign, our position," Riker ordered of young Wesley as he took his seat.

"Approaching ten million kilometers from the neutron star," Wesley acknowledged.

"Slow to one third impulse power."

As the ship began to slow, Nelson watched the data streaming in from a console along the back wall behind Worf. He observed his monitor intently, clearly excited to see what kind of data he could collect on the phenomenon.

Dr. Stubbs said something that would've gone unheard to the officers behind tactical, but then his voice rose as his anticipation grew. "Over and over again, the intense gravitational pull of the little neutron star sucks up the star material from the red giant, and it builds up on the surface until it explodes... every one hundred and ninety six years. Like clockwork. And it is but eighteen hours away."

"Eighteen hours, seven minutes and..." As Data called out the numbers, Nelson followed them. The timer was counting down on his display. "Ten seconds, Doctor."

Finally, Captain Jean-Luc Picard entered the bridge from his ready room. He looked fairly tired, but determined nonetheless. Nelson hardly noticed, his eyes still glued to his station.

"Doctor Stubbs, if you want to make a final inspection of the unit..."

"Captain, I've been inspecting the egg for twenty years. You may lay it when ready."

A brief moment later, and Nelson heard Picard's voice again. "Begin launch sequence."

"Shuttle Bay Two, stand-by to launch the, uh... egg," Riker said with some amusement.

"Standing by, Commander," a voice responded over the comm.

"Do you know how long the experiment will last, Wesley?" Dr. Stubbs asked as if he didn't expect Wesley to answer with the same level of detail as Data.

"One billionth of a second."

"Now, how would you know that?" Stubbs glanced at him.

"When I heard we were going to be part of your experiment, I read all your published works."

As Stubbs reacted with surprise, Riker ordered, "Begin pre-launch sequence."

"Five minutes to launch site," Data reported.

Suddenly, the ship jolted sharply. Thanks in no small part to the fact he was gripping his console in anticipation, Nelson managed to keep his footing. The rest of the crew were equally secure, either for the same reasons or because they were sitting down. Doctor Stubbs, however, ended up flung across the room.

"Stabilize!" Picard ordered, but Wesley claimed controls weren't responding.

"Engineering, what the hell is going on?!" Riker practically shouted.

"Checking for failure of inertial dampeners," Geordi's voice called out over the comm system. "Instruments say they're working."

As the rumbling continued, the viewscreen showed the arc of fire getting closer.

"Captain," Worf exclaimed as he checked the sensors. "We're heading straight into the path of that stellar matter."

"Shields up," Picard ordered, but Worf answered that the shields wouldn't respond.

"Impact thirty seconds," Data noted in his usual emotionless voice.

"Go to manual override to raise shields."

Worf did as commanded, though the shaking continued. "Shields are rising."

The inertial dampeners refused to work despite Geordi's attempt to reset them. Finally, however, Picard's order to reverse the impulse engines began to stabilize them. Now that it didn't feel like a fissure would tear open in the floor, Nelson and the rest of the bridge crew were able to collect themselves and focus on the matter at hand.

"Commander Data, check all systems," Riker ordered of the Chief of Operations, before he stood and went to help Dr. Stubbs. "Medical personnel to the bridge."

"All systems functioning normally again," Data observed aloud.

"Computer," Picard addressed the ship, which responded with a series of beeps. "Explanation for control malfunction."

"No computer malfunction has been recorded."

With eyes narrowed, Picard looked at Riker while Nelson watched from the back. Although he didn't know what had caused the malfunctions, he had a hypothesis. A hypothesis he'd have to test before things got worse.

Wesley walked briskly down a corridor, as if he too put two and two together. What he didn't expect was to hear Nelson call out to him from behind. By the time the CSO caught up, he decided it best not to waste time standing there in the middle of the hall discussing the situation with him. "Nelson," Wesley uttered in surprise as he started for the door to the primary science lab. "Did you figure out what went wrong?"

"I know Data and Geordi are running a check on all systems now," Nelson confirmed as he matched Wesley's fast pace. "But I only have a hypothesis."

Before Wesley could respond, he nearly bumped into a trio of other teenagers: two girls and one boy all dressed up in the strangest of ski gear.

"Hey Wesley," the boy, one Nelson knew as Eric, greeted him. He only offered Nelson a brief nod in acknowledgement, but didn't address him directly. Nelson helped run the school for older children on board, specifically teaching any subjects related to the sciences, though his specialty happened to be quantum physics and cybernetics... the main reason why Starfleet felt they had to assign him to the ship that first encountered the Borg. "You need some work on your right turns, y'know."

"Did you finish your project for the science fair coming up next week, Eric?" Nelson interjected, his arms crossed behind him. "You've only got five more days."

"Y-yeah," Eric stuttered when Nelson forced a confrontation. The CSO certainly didn't beat around the bush, so to speak. "We just thought we'd take a break is all."

"Skiing?" Nelson deduced with an amused look.

"In Switzerland," confirmed Annette, one of the girls who kept glancing awkwardly in Wesley's direction. Nelson found himself equally bemused by her behavior and decided to take a step back and face Wesley, who looked at him with uncertainty.

"Well, you've needed a vacation for some time, Wes." Nelson nodded subtly at the entourage of kids who managed to get along well enough with Wesley. That said, Eric might have been the only one. At least half the other students were difficult on Wesley, treating him rather poorly because of his passion for science. He crossed his arms. "Why don't you have your day in the shade? Geordi and I can handle the rest of the investigation."

At first, Wesley felt reticent as he looked between Nelson and his school friends. But knowing that Nelson could be stubborn, he gave in with a sigh. "Alright."

"Hey, that's great!" Eric exclaimed, catching Wesley's attention. Before they could continue on their merry way, Nelson offered a smile and stepped away.

Now he could return to the science lab and check on Wesley's latest project.

"We're analyzing the engineering systems data, Captain." Geordi spoke over the comm. "So far, nothing unusual in the computer log for that time period."

"Run a level one diagnostic series," Picard's voice echoed. "We need a computer that's one-hundred percent for Doctor Stubbs' experiment."

"Right," Geordi acknowledged as Picard signed out. Without a second thought, he got to work. His department would be burning the midnight oil on this one.

"Commander La Forge." Although he didn't exactly jump at the unexpected voice, Geordi had to brace himself and glance back over his shoulder at the familiar officer standing by the console with a grim look on his face.

"Lieutenant Grey." Geordi let out a sigh as he straightened up and started walking briskly across Engineering, silently gesturing for a few of his staff to meet him around the Master Systems Display console in the center of the main entryway. "What can I do for you?"

"I may know what's causing the computer malfunctions."

"Really?" That caught Geordi's attention, even as he stopped by the table and several of his officers started taking up positions on either side. "What have you found out?"

"I believe that nanites are infecting the system, sir." Geordi's brow creased as he listened. "Wesley's been working on a science project. He decided to try something involving my research on nanotechnology. I... I didn't discourage him, sir. He probably spent half the night working on them. I found him asleep in the lab."

"You sure?" Geordi asked for confirmation, but all Nelson could do was nod grimly. For the second time in a short while, the engineer sighed. "Alright. Lieutenant Hessan-" He addressed a tall and strong-jawed figure on the other side of the table. "Take Ensign Gomez and run a micro-scan on the computer core. The rest of you, with me."

Almost the moment everyone started to move on to their new duties, the red alert klaxon went off. Eyes wandering over the flashing red light fixtures, Nelson quickly jogged back to the turbolift and had it carry him to the bridge.

"Still no visual contact?" Picard inquired, Worf not responding as he seemed focused entirely on his console. "Impossible. Mister Worf, same magnification. Fifty degrees starboard."

Commander Riker stepped up to the main viewer, but at an angle that didn't prevent Picard or anyone behind him from seeing it clearly. There was nothing but stars on display.

"Worf, you're absolutely sure-"

"Sensors clearly indicate the approach of a Borg vessel," Worf exclaimed as he fiddled at the controls. He seemed as confused by it as anyone else on the bridge.

"Shields up," was Riker's order, but Worf could only reply that they weren't responding.

As Nelson took his position at the science console. Rather surreptitiously, he brought up a schematic of the ship's plasma relays and watched for any anomalies. Unfortunately, the nanites appeared to be adept at fooling the internal sensors into showing nothing wrong.

"Captain, they've fired energy weapons at us," Worf exclaimed with notable concern.

"Evasive action."

Riker expanded on that order with more specific directions: "Bring about to two-eight-five mark three."

"Predict current vector of the Borg ship." Picard alternated between looking at the viewscreen and glancing down at the console on the arm of his chair.

Worf blinked and stared at his console as though he didn't understand what it meant. "Vector... is gone." He tried to confirm it, and sure enough... "And so is the Borg vessel."

Under his breath, Picard muttered, "You're telling me this was another computer glitch?"

"It is conceivable that we were viewing a synthetically generated image," Data answered with the kind of punctuality that continued to fascinate Nelson to this day. It was no wonder Starfleet almost passed on assigning a CSO to the Enterprise. They already had an android more than capable of filling the role in addition to his primary task of running the Operations division. "Although there is no precedent for it."

Incredulously, Riker looked back at Picard. "Our computer was daydreaming?"

"Computer, identify malfunction immediately."

"Pawn to King Three. Knight to Rook Four. Queen to Bishop Three."

"Controls are not responding," Data noted from his place at Operations.

It was about this point that Nelson found it necessary to glance back at the rest of the bridge crew. At first, he wasn't going to say anything, but then the shields went down and the ship jolted once again, prompting him to stand with one hand on his console for stability.

"Commander," he called, prompting Riker to glance back at him. "I may know what it is."

"You do?" Riker asked with a cautious look at their new CSO. He knew none of them fully trusted him as of yet, but at least they knew his record. "Mind enlightening us?"

"Nanites, sir," Nelson explained as simplistically as he could manage. "It may be Wesley's nanites."

After the captain and his XO shared a look, Picard contacted Engineering and asked Geordi to get the engines back online. Then he stood and pulled down his shirt to straighten it, eyes locked on the sun the viewscreen now centered on. "Lieutenant Worf, you will report to Engineering. I want a full report on the prospects for getting our shields back. Commander Data, contact Wesley and ask that he report to the conference room. Commander Riker, Lieutenant Nelson-" He then turned and glanced between them. "Join me in the conference room." With a grim expression and another look to Riker, he added, "It's time we discussed the future of this mission... if there is one."

Nelson sat one seat away from the captain, with enough space between them to allow for Data once he would arrive with Wesley. In the meantime, Picard looked quite conflicted.

"So you mean to tell me that these 'nanites' could be responsible for the computer malfunctions we've been experiencing?" Picard addressed Nelson in particular, though he glanced at least once in Riker's direction. "Lieutenant, what is your analysis?"

"Well, sir, there's a science fair project for each of my students due by the end of the week." With a constrained, subtle grimace, he explained. "I helped Wesley decide on a project to work on. He thought my experience with nanotechnology made me a potential resource. To make a long story short, I showed him some samples of the research I did with the Foundation on Rigel Eight. They were based on some kind of alien technology that's been around for the past millennia or so."

"That is the first I've heard of it," Picard exclaimed with mute surprise.

"It... isn't exactly common knowledge. The head of our division, Dr. Sareme, tried to publish her findings, only for both the archaeological and scientific communities to laugh her off." That particular memory made Nelson grimace, particularly when he had stood by and watched them utterly humiliate her without his stepping in to stop it. "Her research on the nanites she found served as a basis for the Starfleet Corps of Engineers' studies on those scans of the Borg Commander Data took during first contact."

Riker raised an eyebrow and asked, "How does this help us now?"

"Well," Nelson started as he leaned forward and gestured a bit with his hands, keeping them close to the table surface so as not to be too over-dramatic. "What I was thinking was we could use a sensor program to transmit a new set of commands to the nanites."

"How could they have gotten loose in the first place?" Picard inquired with a look of concern.

Nelson frowned. "I may have pushed Wesley too hard. The boy stayed up all night to finish the project that he must have fallen asleep in the science lab. I found a container on his desk had been left open, so I thought something might go wrong. When I checked the logs later, I found the nanites' programming hadn't been disengaged before Wes got puckered out. Poor kid."

At first, all that could be done was Riker giving Picard an exasperated look. But before either of them could speak again, the door behind Picard hissed open and in walked Data with Wesley beside him. "Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher, reporting as ordered," Wesley said as he crossed his arms behind his back in a formal pose. Picard merely nodded to Data, who took the seat closest, then asked Wesley to sit down next to Nelson. Although clearly a tad reluctant, Wesley did as he was told and took a seat.

"Wesley, am I to believe one of your science projects got loose on my ship?"

The boy frowned and glanced between Nelson and Picard, but he couldn't maintain eye contact with either of them and ultimately had to lower his gaze. "Yes, sir." But he quickly added, looking back up at the captain. "It's possible... but this could be anything."

"Why didn't you notify us sooner?" By the tone of Picard's voice, even Nelson knew the boy was in quite a lot of trouble now. "This little project of yours could be damaging my ship. Why?"

"Well, sir-" Wesley glimpsed at Nelson with a subtle, unappreciative look. "They could be trying to find raw materials to build more of themselves with, or they could be looking for a power source. To be honest, sir, I only started to study them."

"If I may," Nelson interjected, to which Riker gave a brief nod. Then the officer addressed Wesley directly. "Where exactly did you acquire the nanites?"

"Nowhere," Wesley answered rather hesitantly. "I just... I tried reconstructing one using the nanites we have in the Sickbay genetic supplies. I had to use a variant of the Borg nanite programming to make it work."

"Borg?" Riker exclaimed, looking at Wes as though the boy had just told them he'd planted a tricobalt bomb somewhere on the ship. "Who authorized this?"

"Nobody." Wesley suddenly felt a lot more nervous than ever before. That was evident in the fact he seemed unable to find a comfortable sitting position. "I just wanted to prove a theory."

"Wesley, is proving a theory more important than the safety and security of this ship and her crew?" Picard looked him in the eye, prompting the young Ensign to look down again. "You have duties - responsibilities - to me and to this ship."

"I know," Wesley replied in a meek, quiet voice.

As they were about to continue, the door opened again. Counselor Troi stepped in, a look of utter concern on her face. "Excuse me, Captain. Doctor Stubbs has been wanting to see you. I think it might be wise if-"

Before she could finish, the implacable old man whose life's work now sat in a cargo bay burst in. He appeared to be covering his concern more with impatience. Nelson noted how much he reminded him of another human doctor who served on Rigel for a long time: Doctor Kel-something. To be fair, Nelson only met the man once, but he wasn't exactly the kind of doctor with a pleasant bedside manner.

"Captain, I'm sure you have everything under control," Stubbs practically stuttered in that voice which barely hid his fear. "I'd just like to know what's going on."

"Doctor," Picard sounded less than amused, and he only cast a cursory look in the scientist's direction before turning his attention toward Nelson. "This is not a good time."

"Then when would be a good time?"

"We're doing everything we can," Riker chimed in, to which Stubbs only scoffed.

"Forgive me, Commander. But you don't seem to be doing enough."

"Dr. Stubbs, is it?" Nelson addressed the scientist, who ended up practically glaring at him from afar. That had little effect on Nelson, however, as he'd long since dealt with similar figures in the scientific community. "Forgive me, but I doubt there's much you can bring to the table right now." Before the older man could protest, he explained, "If I'm right, there are nanites loose on the ship."

"Nanites?" Stubbs sounded perturbed. "What the hell is a nanite?"

"Tiny robots, sir," Wesley answered. "They consume materials to make more of themselves... and it's kind of my fault..."

Though obviously disappointed in that revelation, Dr. Stubbs quickly asked around the table at anyone who could answer. "What about the Egg? Is it safe from these 'nanites'?"

"We don't know," Nelson confirmed with a certain grim solemnity behind his words. He stood and stepped over to the presentation monitor, where he summoned an image of a sample nanite of the kind used in the present by most medical officials. "Normally, the nanites aboard this ship are designed for exposure only to the inside of nuclei during cellular surgeries. Until then, they're kept tightly contained in a non-functioning state. But..." He took a deep breath and opened a second image next to the first - this time showing a nanite of almost completely different design. "The nanites Dr. Sareme found back on Rigel appeared to have evolved. They could teach each another what to do and how to do things. We believe they could've been the precursor to the Borg."

Dr. Stubbs didn't look impressed as he took the seat next to Wesley. "Machines can't evolve."

"Not in the technical sense, no," Nelson agreed, glancing at Data. "But we've witnessed unexpected emergent properties like consciousness in some inorganic lifeforms. Data, for example." Then he raised an eyebrow and looked between Picard and Riker. "The Moriarty program and Minuet too." Riker looked somewhat uncomfortable when Nelson mentioned the latter. "All proved capable of developing self-recognition. Was that your goal, Wesley?"

"Sort of," Wesley replied with an subtle grimace. "I had to give them a collective conscious so they could learn from each other. Maybe they could've grown past their programming?"

"This is highly irregular," Picard claimed as he brought his hands together on the table in front of him. "I can accept that these machines may have evolved, but why?"

"Something must have prompted the evolutionary trait to occur," Nelson confirmed. "They can't pass on genetic material, so it isn't evolution in the regular sense. But even programs don't spontaneously develop a new set of algorithms out of nothing." With a frown, he looked back over at the little machines found on the scan. "Maybe there's a connection with the two holographic programs?" His eyes then wandered back toward Data, as if hoping the android would contribute something to the discussion. "Because I don't believe in coincidence. Every effect has its cause."

"The first instance in which a computer program appeared to gain sapience was Commander Riker's dealing with the program of Minuet," Data explained, again prompting Riker to purse his lips and look down at the table. "A pair of Binars were responsible for altering the holodeck subroutines to create a more life-like simulation."

"So these Binars may have left some kind of program in our computers that's causing these effects?" Nelson wondered aloud. Data could only nod before he was interrupted.

"Captain," Dr. Stubbs interjected. "This is all well and good, but if we miss our chance to go through with my project now, we won't get another chance for two centuries. There will be many questions asked by Starfleet if the Enterprise fails in its duty..."

"Doctor," Picard addressed Stubbs in a sharp and commandeering voice. "At the end of the day, my first and foremost concern will be to ensure the safety of this ship and its crew."

With what appeared to be a smug look on his face, Dr. Stubbs asked rhetorically, "Ensure the safety, Captain - or are you really talking about playing it safe?"

"In our current position, when that star explodes, you'll get to watch your experiment from the inside out."

Stubbs shrugged and looked rather certain of himself. "I would rather die than leave."

Picard narrowed his eyes and replied, "I don't believe you speak for the majority, Doctor."

"Lieutenant Worf to Captain Picard," the Klingon's voice called out over the comm system. "Captain, all weapon systems are down."

"Estimated time for repairs?" Riker asked, now looking up at the wall opposite, as if he didn't want to lock eyes with anyone else in the room.

"Commander, I don't even know what to repair yet," Geordi responded with some confusion evident in his voice. "These nanites have gotten into just about everything. I don't even know how we're going to get them out."

"Well, if we do not take our leave in time, so be it." With a smirk, Dr. Stubbs stood. "It's one sure way into the history books, eh?"

Back in Sickbay, it looked like the day would be relatively quiet aside from the frequent computer interruptions. However, that all shattered when the doors opened and Eric walked in helping Annette, who appeared cold and shaken - and with a broken leg.

"What happened to you?" Beverly exclaimed as she approached with her scanning equipment.

"We had a little accident on the Holodeck," Eric barely managed to reply. Both he and Annette appeared to be more than just slightly afraid, however. They had both been crying, arguably out of fear when they found themselves stuck in the Holodeck. Nurse Ogawa helped Annette on to a table as Beverly started taking scans.

"We... we were running down a deserted slope when... when the ground just seemed to fall away." Annette teared up as she explained.

Without a second thought, Beverly hit her comm badge. "Engineering, this is Doctor Crusher. The Holodecks are to be closed by my order until further-"

Just before she could finish that sentence, the other girl, Vira, entered carrying Wesley, who appeared to be unconscious. She struggled to hold on to both his upper torso and legs, but luckily, she was rather tall and strong for her age.

"Wesley..." Beverly cut off the comm with that whisper and quickly ran over to help lift Wesley on to the central bio bed with the help of another nurse. Ogawa moved the other two children who were still distraught to a different bed for treatment.

Beverly looked worried, rashly loading a hypospray and injecting it into Wesley's neck. After that, she demanded a cortical stimulator, which was handed to her moments later. "Come on, Wesley," she muttered as she hooked the device up to his forehead. "Stay with us."

Several minutes passed, and each time Beverly scanned for Wesley's life signature, the latter grew weaker and weaker. The situation extended for over an hour, the occasional patient coming in and being treated by one of the other staff members. But Beverly never left Wesley's bedside, constantly trying to revive him. After all her effort, however... her tricorder indicated that Wesley had flatlined. "No," she started, rushing over to the counter to grab another vial of medicine she loaded into her hypospray before running back. She injected it into Wesley and checked the scanner. It didn't work. "No!" She practically shouted, causing the nurses - including Ogawa - to look on in pain and concern. "Wesley, please... don't go."

Beverly broke down into tears, nearly falling to her knees by Wesley's bedside, but nurse Ogawa crouched down next to her and hugged her.

Only minutes later, the door to the corridor outside opened to allow Picard to step in, gaze focused on the boy who passed on before he should have. The color left his face when he saw how Beverly and her daughter were taking it. Accompanying him was Nelson, who looked equally concerned, if not outright distressed. He didn't know these people well, and as a result, felt too awkward to try and say something. But Jean-Luc knew the Crusher family much longer than he did.

The sight of Wesley lying there on the operation table reminded Picard of the day he saw Jack, Wesley's father, die aboard the Stargazer. Only now, he opined, it was a boy no older than seventeen lying there with a long, fruitful future denied to him. The only words the captain could manage were soft and quiet, gaze never leaving his godson. "I'm sorry." Although her face was covered in tears, Beverly looked up to see Picard's pained expression as he stood at the head of the biobed. "This was a mistake." Silence, and then he continued. "If I had known, I wouldn't have taken Wesley off-duty."

Even though discomforted by this state of affairs, Nelson glanced at Beverly, then back at Wesley. As Beverly stared at Picard, arguably wondering whether she should be blaming him or not, Nelson took a deep breath and said in a soft voice. "He's not dead." That brought Beverly and Picard's attention to him, though neither were particularly happy with their expressions. Yet Nelson only looked back at them with a confidence that would be endearing had it not been mistimed. "What I mean is... we can save him."

"How?" Beverly asked, clearly hoping this science officer could pull it off.

"Lieutenant," Picard interjected. "Now may not be a good time..."

"I'm sorry, captain, but she deserves to know." Even Jean-Luc couldn't argue with that. He just felt they should explore other possibilities first. Yet, if Nelson was correct about this, this could be their only chance. Once Wesley's body started to decompose, they wouldn't get another. "Wesley said his nanites were modified versions of the ones in the Sickbay genetic supplies. They're meant to enter living cells and conduct repairs, right?"

"We considered that," answered Ogawa. "Those nanites weren't designed to repair damage to neural tissue."

"Not those nanites, no." Nelson looked Ogawa in the eye, but his attention soon shifted to Beverly, who continued to give him a worried look. "Dr. Sareme theorized the nanites she found were used for advanced genetic engineering. Wesley said the design for his nanites came from her research. They're highly adaptive and could potentially repair the damage to his mind... if we get them to him fast enough."

"Lieutenant," Picard addressed him in such a formal tone that belied the true disappointment he felt towards his Chief Science Officer. "What you're suggesting is dangerous and quite possibly unethical. We have no way of knowing what they'll do to him."

"Not yet," Nelson finally gave Picard a conspiratorial look. "Not unless we ask them."

"What do you mean?" Beverly barely managed to ask.

"I mean," Nelson said while finally latching his attention on the boy whose life was now at stake. "We find a way to communicate with the nanite collective and ask if they'll help save this boy's life. And I think I know just the person to talk to them..."

At first, it seemed Picard wouldn't approve of an action that could have serious repercussions on any member of his crew. As Dr. Stubbs pointed out, the captain often played it safe one too many times before. Perhaps now he had to make a change and see where that road would lead. "Beverly?" He asked of the good doctor to make the final decision. It was her son they would be performing this experiment on, after all... and as much as Picard disliked the uncertainty of it, he let Beverly get away with more than one risky operation.

"Captain..." Beverly expressed her grave misgivings of her daughter's confidence in just one word. "If those things hurt my son... I don't want this to happen again."

"I know it's a lot to ask." Nelson eyed Wesley with a solemn expression. "I had a son once. He wasn't much older than Wes. But... I screwed up. I was too concerned with my job that I didn't give him the attention he deserved. Now..." His sentence trailed off before he narrowed his eyes and looked back at Beverly. "I don't want that to happen to you. He's a good kid. You don't deserve to experience what I had to."

Wordlessly, Beverly nodded to herself. That was enough for Rotas, who requested permission to get started. Picard granted it, but only if they worked with Geordi and Lt. Cmdr Data. To that end, Nelson wandered off in the direction of the main science lab. He'd resolve this issue one way or the other.

Nelson had taken the opportunity to collect the last remaining sample of Wesley's experiment from the lab he'd been working in and brought them to his own. They'd work there for at least half an hour after he revealed the full extent of his idea, a mere minute after Data and Geordi stepped in: "With your permission, Commander Data... I want to try connecting your positronic net to the infected ships' systems to communicate with the nanites."

"Now hold on," Geordi interjected before Data could get a word off edge-wise. "You're talking about potentially endangering Data's life here."

"It is conceivable that the nanites may simply see me as a source of materials to aid in their replication process," Data acknowledged. "However, there may be no alternative means of communication. They will be able to better adapt to the database of languages stored in my neural net. All the necessary components are stored in my cranial unit."

"Then to avoid the risk of those nanites taking control of you beyond whatever they need for communication, we should separate your... your head-" Nelson felt a bit awkward saying that. "From the rest of your body."

"Now wait." Again, Geordi couldn't believe what he was hearing. It wasn't just the plan about the head though. "Why can't the nanites just use the ship's comm system?"

"They're too small and dispersed to control any large, complex system like our ship's computer core," Nelson explained. "Hence why they consider the computer core a source for raw material. They simply lack the capacity to use it in its present form."

"Can't we modify the universal translator?" Geordi insisted.

"It is possible," Data admitted with a curious expression. "However, at best, they may only be able to communicate with single words or numbers. A direct link to their collective mind may be the only way to communicate with them more efficiently."

"And we don't have time to teach them their ABC's." Nelson looked intensely at La Forge, clearly confident they had no other choice. "Wesley's life is on the line."

"Okay." Geordi raised his arms out a little, then let them fall back to his sides. "Alright. So what do we do first?"

"Well," Nelson started toward his console on the other side of the room, where he'd sit on a stool and get to work. "I'll work on programming the code we need. Bring the sample nanites on my desk over to Data and activate them." He glanced back over at Data. "With any luck, they'll automatically connect to the collective mind, and Commander Data can let them enter his positronic net."

"Then what do you plan to do?" Geordi questioned, still unsure about this plan.

"Just buy me some time." Nelson started toward his console on the other side of the room, where he'd sit on a stool and get to work. "I'll prepare the code. Once that's done..." He looked across the room at a table covered in beakers and glass jars. "We need some way to draw them into that container." There was one he undoubtedly referred to: a glass tube held on a small rack in the center of the table.

"Maybe we could use a few of the spare linear memory crystals we have on board," Geordi suggested. "If we sprinkle a few in there, and you can direct those nanites you brought in here to search for them..."

"If these nanites are sapient and capable of independent thought, it would be highly unethical not to ask for their assistance beforehand," Data replied. "They may be unable to determine with certainty what path to follow to the container, however, should they accept our proposal."

"Alright, well, I better stay here and handle Data," Geordi added in his two cents. Then he hit his comm badge. "Hessan, go see if you can salvage some of the spare memory crystals, but not too many. We should only need, what... five or six?"

"I'll see what I can do," was the response on the other end.

Less than an hour later, they finished their own projects, with Hessan standing aside in case he was needed. Data's body sat in a chair leaned up against the wall while his severed head sat atop a console. Once they were ready, Geordi hit a button on a control panel which released the newly-reactivated nanites from Wesley's test container. Almost immediately, they detected Data's advanced neural net and scurried beneath his neck. In response, Data's head twitched for a moment, but ultimately regained its form.

"You are very strange looking creatures," he said in a voice that was highly garbled. No doubt the nanites were having difficulty adjusting to his vocal processors. "We received a program instructing us on how to communicate. What reason have we been brought here?"

"We have a favor to ask," stated Geordi, who glanced over at Nelson. Surely he'd like to make the proposal to them. If nothing else, he deserved the chance to try.

Nelson glowered at the head, despite the awkward humor in this situation. Whatever the case might be, these were the same nanites that caused the malfunctions. These were the same beings who caused the Holodeck to malfunction... and Wesley to die.

"One of our officers was in a holodeck you invaded. When it malfunctioned..." Though he wasn't certain, Nelson believed Wesley had sustained severe trauma to the neck which broke his spinal cord. That, or he suffered brain damage. That would explain Nurse Ogawa's rationalization that the problem was neural and couldn't simply be repaired with basic medical nanites. "He's dead because of you."

An eyebrow on Data's head raised, and its eyes looked up at Nelson in confusion. "What is 'dead'?"

"It's the cessation of life," responded La Forge, who stepped up beside Nelson in the hopes he could help make the job of convincing the nanites easier for him. "When a body shuts down and no longer functions. What powers the body stops providing energy for it to feed on."

"We would not wish to die," the nanites compelled Data to say.

"Neither do we." Nelson couldn't continue this conversation any further. He gave Geordi a stern look, then went back to his console while the latter sighed and took his place.

"Our directive is to gather raw materials to replicate more of our kind." Though at first it seemed they were simply ignoring Nelson's subtle proposal, what they said after proved otherwise. "Whether or not you die is irrelevant to that process."

Geordi stepped forward and exclaimed, "You wouldn't be harmed. All you'd have to do is-"

"No," the nanites reiterated in a forceful tone through Data's vocal processors. "That is not our purpose. We only wish to replicate more of our kind."

"We can reprogram you. Give you a new directive."

"That is unacceptable." They sounded more hostile by that point. "That would interfere with our purpose. We must replicate-"

Suddenly, Data's eyes looked straight ahead and his expression stiffened. Then, beneath his neck, a glittery substance momentarily emerged, only to fade into the table. Moments later, Nelson stood and prepared a hypospray. The nanites from Data gathered in the center of the other table, where Hessan had prepared several of the crystals. The nanites crawled into the test tube, and Nelson quickly secured it with a tiny lid.

"Gotcha," he said with a smirk, just before he stepped over to Hessan with the tube in hand. "Take this to Doctor Crusher and have her inject it into Wesley as soon as possible. By the time you reach Sickbay, the nanites in here should've finished using the crystals to replicate more than enough to effect the repairs necessary to revive him."

Data's systems, in the meantime, were just beginning to return to normal. Geordi, for his part, stared in disbelief. "Lieutenant, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yes, Commander La Forge," responded Nelson, who never once took his eyes off Hessan as the latter took the hypospray and made his way out the door to the infirmary. "I know exactly what I'm doing..."

Suddenly, the ship rocked uncontrollably. The comm system came alive, and it was Gomez's voice on the other end. "Commander La Forge? We need your help in Engineering right away!" Luckily, Engineering wasn't too far. "We've got to irradiate the core! The nanites are spreading too fast!"

"I'm on my way!" Geordi narrowed his eyes at Nelson and quickly worked to get Data's head back on to his body. "You still feeling like this was a good idea?"

With a deep frown, Nelson ignored the question and quickly left to head for Sickbay. Although he knew there was little he could do about the ship's situation, there was at least one thing he could help with, even if it meant giving the other nanites hell.

Although the smoke was fairly heavy, the chamber with the warp core in it was so large and open that most of the engineers were still able to move about the bottom floor. Several had to be taken out on cots to Sickbay, but otherwise, many worked on trying to salvage what systems they could. "Commander!" Gomez exclaimed when she saw Geordi, waving him over. "We're about to flood the computer core with high level gamma radiation. The order's from the captain."

"Alright, let's get to work!" With no time to lose, Geordi started shouting orders to each of his subordinates. "We need to shut down all systems before we do this! Gomez, you and Ensign Stone get to the computer core! Bartel, get to systems diagnostics and make sure we don't burn out life support! Alright people, we're going to send the radiation through the plasma relays along with an electrical charge! Make sure all systems are ready for the gamma burst!"

"Here we go..." Once they were ready, Geordi held his breath and put in the command at his console behind the window overlooking the warp core chamber. He hesitated briefly at pressing the button to finalize the command, knowing full well what this could mean. They were about to commit genocide. But when the ship shook again and a console blew out, throwing Ensign Palmer across the room, he knew it was too late to turn back now. So he pressed the button.

As soon as the radiation was released, all the lights in the room went out, as did many monitors. However, the panel Geordi stood by remained lit because they needed to monitor the radiation's progress. "Looks like it's working," Geordi exclaimed in a relieved but rather somber tone. Negotiations had failed, and now, they just killed a sapient species... one of their own creation. After a while, he looked up at Lieutenant Bartel, who worked on a wall console to his left. "I think we're ready to bring the systems back online."

The lights flickered back to life, and Geordi made some additional checks on the desk console behind the window facing the warp core. "I think we got them all." Finally, he hit his comm badge. "Captain, the computer core's been flushed. We'll be able to bring everything back online in just a minute."

"Good," was Picard's stern reply. "Keep me informed. Picard out."

"Well," Geordi finally let himself sit down on a stool, exhausted. "Glad that's over."

As if the universe had a sense of irony, the red alert klaxon sounded and Geordi let out a sigh. When he peeked at the status operations console, he checked what could possibly be wrong... and he found the answer. "No way." With no time to lose, he quickly moved over to the wall console behind him and called Bartel over. "It didn't work. They're in main shuttlebay." He looked at her with increasing concern. "They're opening the bay doors."

"Damn," Bartel cursed as she hurried back over to her console. "Should I try another radiation burst, sir?"

"Do it," Geordi snapped, though rather unintentionally. Again, the lights and consoles flickered off and on in the course of a few seconds. Then...

"Commander La Forge..." Over the comm, Picard's voice interrupted before Geordi could respond.

"I see it, captain." He worked on the console a few seconds more before explaining as he went: "It looks like the nanites are sacrificing themselves to create some kind of force field inside the plasma relays. They're preventing the radiation from getting through."

Suddenly, a beep took his attention away from what the nanites were doing in the system itself. An image appeared on his display, showing the interior of the shuttlebay. Sure enough, the bay door had opened, and now Dr. Stubbs stood at the controls about to depressurize the bay.

"Captain, we've got a problem! Dr. Stubbs is trying to release the probe!"

"What?" Riker exclaimed from his position on the bridge.

"Dr. Stubbs," Picard addressed the scientist over the comm. There was no guarantee his signal was getting through, but he thought it prudent to try regardless. "What do you think you're doing?"

Seconds passed, and Stubbs didn't respond. He merely continued to work on the control panel.

"Commander La Forge, can you lock him out of the shuttlebay controls?"

"I'm trying, Captain," Geordi responded as he worked furiously on his console. "It looks like whatever field the nanites are maintaining is keeping me from establishing a connection to the shuttlebay systems."

"Chief O'Brien." Picard decided to shift tactics. "Can you beam Dr. Stubbs out of the main shuttlebay?"

"I'm trying, sir." O'Brien sounded confused as ever. "Whatever those nanites are doing, it's disrupting the transporter's sensors. I can't get a lock."

Before Picard could try again, the force field between the shuttle bay and beyond dissipated, and almost immediately, Dr. Stubbs and the Egg were both jettisoned into space. The sight caused Geordi to frown deeply, his brow creased. "It's too late, captain." He then looked over at Bartel, knowing she saw it too. "He's gone."

The console at Bartel's fingertips let out a sound to indicate the purge was successful. There were no more nanites in the shuttle bay. For now, it seemed, the ship was safe once again. However, she could only stare at the image from the shuttlebay in shock.

"This is Dr. Crusher," Beverly exclaimed in a rather excited voice over the comm. "There's someone here who'd like to say hello."

"Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher, ready for duty, sir." Wesley sounded quite alive and well.

"Not until I give you a clean bill of health," Beverly replied. But their friendly 'bickering' was briefly interrupted by Picard.

"It's good to hear you alive and well again, Mr. Crusher." Picard sounded relieved, but that tone soon shifted as the desperation of the situation settled in. "Doctor, we're going to need your expertise here soon. It seems Dr. Stubbs has... killed himself."

"Killed himself?" Beverly sounded surprised. "How?"

"He entered the shuttlebay and opened the launch door," answered Riker, who seemed no less disturbed by what everyone on the bridge had witnessed on the viewscreen. "It depressurized with him in it."

"I'm on my way." Beverly cut her link and ordered Ogawa to watch Wesley while she went to investigate. On the bridge, Picard narrowed his eyes at the viewscreen and held a stern look there.

"Why did Dr. Stubbs go that far? I want an answer, Geordi. Picard out."

Another sigh escaped Geordi for the hundredth time that day. He tapped his comm badge. "Lieutenant Nelson. Meet me in shuttlebay one."

An hour later, they were done with the analysis. There were traces of dead nanites scattered near where the Egg itself had stood. Similarly, a few husks of nanites were left behind on the control panel in places which, presumably, Dr. Stubbs' fingers brushed against.

Worf's half of the investigation turned up some disturbing facts, all of which coalesced into an even more disturbing theory. "There was an electrical discharge in Dr. Stubbs' quarters," Geordi explained after they had all gathered in the briefing room. "According to the sensor log Worf provided, it looks like some of the nanites piggy-backed on the lightning and may have entered Dr. Stubbs' body through pores on his skin."

"I've looked over the evidence, and it's certainly possible." Dr. Crusher didn't sound too happy about that, but then, who would be? It was a breach of security none of them could've predicted, yet one that served as a reminder that the nanites in question utilized Borg technology. "They may have assimilated Dr. Stubbs into a miniature collective."

"Lieutenant," Picard eyed Nelson from his end of the table. "What's your analysis of the situation in the shuttlebay? Is it... is it possible any of them survived?"

"I can almost guarantee it, Captain." Nelson sounded like he didn't want to answer truthfully, yet there was no doubt that he did. "They may have used the Egg as an escape pod. Presumably, they could handle the higher temperatures near the star's corona, so they directed the probe in the direction of those two suns. They must've known we couldn't follow them in. Nothing turned up in the scans we took after."

"So they're still out there," Riker opined as he looked over at Picard.

With a frozen expression, the only thing Picard could muster was:

"And they'll endanger whatever ships they come across." A brief moment of silence passed as everyone around the table knew what that meant. They just created a new enemy, and the repercussions of that action could be felt for years to come. "Dismissed."

After everyone began to file out, Nelson only stood by his chair and looked at Picard, who stared off in the distance with a countenance so grim, the room seemed to darken with each passing moment. When it was just them, Nelson bowed his head in shame. "Captain... I owe you an apology." He swallowed the growing lump in his throat and faced his commanding officer. "I made a mistake. Don't blame the kid just because I made a poor decision. It was my idea to upload the code, with or without their consent."

"Under any other circumstances, I would have you court-martialed," Picard stated with a note of bitterness in his voice. But at no point did he match Nelson's gaze or give him any sort of attention beyond his verbal responses. "You put this ship and crew at risk, Lieutenant. I cannot let you go unpunished for that."

"I know," Nelson acceded while averting his eyes toward the starscape overlooking them. "You do whatever it takes, captain. But I won't apologize for saving Wes."

"You had to trade the life of one for another," Picard exclaimed as he finally leaned back in his chair, still unwilling to look Nelson in the eye. "Dr. Stubbs is dead because of your actions. The nanites knew what you did and saw it as a threat."

Nelson flinched inside, but did his best not to let on to that fact as Picard continued to berate him. Yet, what felt like an eternity later, Picard relented and looked up at him.

"You know more about these nanites and what they are capable of than any of us. If we're to succeed in one day stopping them, we may need you." He frowned and looked away. "I gave the order. I let you do this. In the end... that makes me responsible." Then his voice softened, even though his expression did not. "But you saved a child's life."

Silence. No 'thank you' or 'well done', nor did Nelson expect to receive one. All he could do was purse his lips and give Picard one last, long look before leaving. But Picard remained there, transfixed on his own thoughts, hoping beyond everything else that this had been the right decision. Was it moral to endanger the entire ship and crew to save only one life - even if that life was that of a child's? It would take a lot of thought, and a lot of soul-searching, to reach a conclusion...

But in the end, he knew. Only time would tell. The stage was set. Now they would reap the rewards... or the consequences.