The starship sped through space while the inhabitants on board barely noticed the stars flying by, ignoring the magnificence of their accomplishment. The bridge crew ran through their daily routines and duties, for nothing out of the ordinary had occurred that day. The crew of the Enterprise was on a mission bringing relief supplies to colonists on a planet decimated by natural disasters. Rebuilding supplies, food, medical supplies, and the labor of Starfleet Humanitarian Relief crews were being delivered.

"Sir, there is a spatial anomaly ahead of us. It appears to be an energy field but it's unlike any I've encountered before," LaForge spoke from his seat.

"Data, what information do you have on it? This isn't a totally unexplored area of space. Someone must have recorded something about this energy field," the Captain spoke with command in his voice.

"Sir, 32 ships have encountered a similar, or possible identical, anomaly in the past 3 years. I am compiling the data now," Data replied, his hands flying over the console.

Later, senior staff gathered around a table as LaForge and Data presented their findings.

"It appears to be a ionized energy field, similar to many seen in space and subspace, but in this case, the ions are arranged in such a way that they interact bizarrely with sources of energy. In particular, ships that run on tirellium energy sources are greatly affected, and are often dead in the water, shall we say, until they can extricate themselves, or be extricated, from the field. The Enterprise herself runs on very different sources of energy, so should not be affected in this way, though there may be others we haven't deduced yet." LaForge paused, his mouth open to continue expounding on the topic when he was interrupted by Commander Riker.

"So what DO we know will be affected by this field and for how long?"

Data spoke up. "At the current rate of speed, we will reach the energy field in approximately 11 hours. It will take us a little less than 3 days at the shortest course to get through it completely, assuming we are able to maintain our rate of speed."

"Which we should," LaForge added, "the engines should not be affected. No major systems will be, though some minor systems, Stellar Cartography, the biobays, and possibly the holodecks, may experience some malfunctions. Nothing that should be a major problem for three days."

"There is one other area of concern, that was mentioned in several of the other reports," Data said, looking at the Captain.

He nodded, urging the android to go on, eyebrows raised in encouragement.

"Sir, 13 of the 42 ships that encountered this anomaly reported significant impact on the members of their crew that were telepathic. It seems the energy field inhibited any control of telepathic powers that the individuals normally had."

"So are you saying this is similar to the instinctual beings we saw previously, when the Enterprise became trapped and Troi lost her abilities?" Riker glanced surreptitiously at Troi, not wanting his friend and colleague to experience that again. He hoped no one had noticed his glance, or at least that no one noticed it might have been less than professional in nature.

"On the contrary, Commander," Data went on. "In that case, Counselor Troi's abilities were totally eliminated by the beings. What these reports describes, is a preservation or even enhancement of telepathic abilities, but a loss of all sense of control of those abilities. Berellians, Vulcans, Betazoids, Temeraths all described significant debilitation in their crew members because they could no longer control any part of their telepathic minds. The most severe cases involve temporary or permanent insanity or disability as a result. The later cases were not as severe, as the ships' doctors had been able to negate, at least in part, the effects."

"Counselor, do you have any additional information about this?" the Captain asked the dark-haired woman sitting across from him.

"I've never heard of this particular phenomenon," Troi replied. "Telepathic abilities are very carefully controlled and cultivated in all cultures and species that have them. Almost without exception, there is an acknowledgement that telepathy without control leads to profound unhappiness, psychosis, or insanity. Without the proper guidance and control, telepaths are overwhelmed by the thoughts that appear in their mind. They are usually guided and taught as soon as any ability appears."

THe Captain seemed to consider this, then, taking an extra look at his Counselor and Advisor, wondering what this would mean for her, turned to the other woman sitting down the table from him. "Doctor, how many telepaths, or any species that may be affected, do we have on board?"

"Seven. Seven full telepaths, plus I know there are several that have either limited telepathic abilities or abilities that work in a similar fashion." The red-haired doctor also glanced at Counselor Troi, knowing that her empathic abilities would need addressing. "I think I can come up with a solution to protect them, but I'm going to have to get started right away. There are probably going to have to be multiple solutions and multiple innoculations to get each individual treated properly in time." She stood to leave, gathering her PADDs. "Counselor, will you meet me in Sick Bay when you are done here?"

Troi nodded, "Yes, of course."

The Captain looked around the table. "Very well. Geordi, Data, take who you need and get started analyzing exactly what parts of this ship will be affected by this anomaly, and take any steps you need to protect it. I DO NOT want this ship dead in the water. There is a planet full of colonists waiting for our arrival. Plus I don't want to explain to Starfleet Command why it's flag ship needed to be towed out of the mud, understand?"

Nods around the table came quickly, as everyone rose leave the room.

"The mud, Sir?" Data asked. "There is no mud currently surrounding the Enterprise. Do you refer to a figure of speech?"

THe Captain looked at Data and then at LaForge with an expression of exasperation, which clearly meant "can you please deal with this right now?"

LaForge grabbed Data by the elbow and steered him out the room, "It's an expression, Data….." His voice trailed off.

"Counselor, a minute please?" the Captain requested looking at Troi as she headed towards the door.

"Of course, SIr," she nodded briefly to others as they left, as if saying she would catch up with them later, and turned toward the Captain.

"Counselor, It is imperative you do whatever you can to protect yourself from whatever this thing is. When we get to Spectrai 4 there are going to be a lot of people who need you. And that is not including the crew members on board who are going to have some challenges in the next few days." He looked down at her with a knowing, yet caring expression. He knew his Counselor. He knew she cared deeply for her crew and patients. He also knew that she tended to put off caring for herself until everyone else was seen to. He'd come to care for her personally as a friend as well, in the past couple of years together. For some reason seeing her suffer, when she did so much to relieve the suffering of others, made him even more protective of her than he normally was of his crew.

"Yes, Captain, of course," she replied. "I'm heading to sick bay now," she reassured him. She gave him a smile that let him know she knew exactly what he was referring to, and that she was touched by it. She was slightly embarrassed, that this man she respected so much felt the need to single her out for extra caution, as if it made her slightly less competent, but she also knew that it was done with good intentions. It would not have been appropriate of her to bring that up with a commanding officer anyway.

In sick bay, several hours later, Doctor Crusher outlined her plan of care for the crew members likely to be affected for Commander Riker and Counselor Troi, who stood in front of the console in her office.

"The Vulcans will go into stasis, effectively shutting down their minds until we are clear of the anomaly. Lieutenant Talla is Tarathian and for him and for the two Mipa on board, I have an hypospray of anti-sero-Ion transmitters which should disable their telepathy. Ensign Vollar is half-Vulcan and unable to initiate stasis. She will have to remain in sickbay so I can tailor injections to her response as I don't know how she will react. You, Counselor," she said to the shorter woman next to her, "I think should take a similar course, though I am not sure Sick Bay in the proper place for it."

Troi stood a little surprised. She had understood the implications for herself nearly immediately. As an empath, her abilities were similar enough to telepathy that she was likely to be affected. She had simply assumed, with great faith in her friend, that the Doctor would have a simple solution. "Is a anti-sero-Ion transmitter injection not effective for an empath?" she asked.

Commander Riker looked at Counselor Troi with concern. He touched the back of her arm briefly in support. Deanna felt his touch, and his concern, but didn't immediately acknowledge either, with all of the other people in Sick Bay right now.

"Well, yes, it is," the Doctor replied, "but I am not confident it will be enough. There isn't enough research on half-Betazoid empaths to know exactly how you will respond. With telepaths it's more simple. Telepathy is controlled solely with the brain, thus it is easy to inhibit and enhance artificially. Empathy, is more complex, involving more body systems, and while I think the same injection will work, I'm afraid it might not be complete enough." She paused, glanced at the two in front of her. Deanna's dark eyes seemed to have gotten bigger, if possible, as she considered that there might not be an effective solution for her. Commander Riker's eyes were couched in concern. The Doctor looked at the two of them, standing perhaps a hair closer than they should be, but not close enough to cause remark. She always wondered what was between her two colleagues. She was close with Deanna, as close as anyone was on the ship, but her friend had never shared the details of her relationship with Will Riker. The Doctor knew the had a relationship of sort in the past, but didn't know of what sort, how serious, or what had happened. What she did know was that the two people in front of her had an energy when together that she couldn't describe. And she knew she wasn't the only one who was aware of it. "I have some scans I'd like to complete on you, Counselor, as soon as possible."

The Counselor nodded. Commander Riker followed the two women out of the office into the Sick Bay proper. "Appraise me on your progress, Doctor, and make me aware of any needs or particular challenges that arise."

"Yes, sir," the Doctor replied, half distracted by the data she was analyzing on the screen in front of her. He watched as the Counselor hopped up onto the biobed closest to the doctor and quietly waited. He wondered what she was thinking. For all her ability to feel the emotions of others, she often kept her own emotions hidden and was notoriously hard to read, even for someone who knew her as well as he did. He knew it was intentional, a defense mechanism of sorts. Raised in a society where your thoughts were fair game to everyone, guarding one's emotions became even more important.

Though her appearance on the biobed appeared calm, in her head Deanna Troi was frantically working out the scenario as fast as she could, trying to account for all the possibilities. If Doctor Crusher couldn't come up with a way to effectively suppress the effect of the energy wave, she would have three days of dealing with the emotions of over 1,000 people aboard this ship. When she had first arrived on the ENterprise, the presence of that many people in one confined space was a struggle to manage with all her abilities in full power, much less with her control disabled.

When she left the sick bay almost an hour later, she felt she'd undergone every neurological and physiological test possible. The doctor still didn't have a clear answer, but at last she had a variety of options in her arsenal. Deanna, for her part, was going back to her quarters. She had several hours to finish up some case files and crew reports before having to commit some serious effort to meditation to try and alleviate some of the effects.