The Timescape Instinct

Enterprise had heard stories of what instincts do to someone. It could make them run faster, jump higher, see clearer, hear better.

Such was the same with starships. But there was one reaction, one that was so rare it had only been recorded twice before. It was called Timescape and it was a final desperate measure. Once it was activated, Enterprise could only rely on the four members of her crew not affected b it. She could only hope and pray that Picard, Data, Troi, and Georgie would be in time...

...

Enterprise sensed it when the shuttle struck her first space bubble.

"Damn you!" She swore. She wished she could communicate to the shuttle. She could have to trust her crew's skill in navigating the temporal minefield.

...

Picard had seen many terrifying things but never had he felt dread on the level he did now.

Enterprise D, his starship, his heart's secret love, sat there frozen as she fought a Romulan warbird. Some kind of energy beam shooting from her deflecter array, returned by the Romulan's torpedoes. Her head was tossed in the first phase of an offensive gesture. Her fangs bared, blue eyes still alight with the fires of battle.

"Captain." The tone in Troi's voice told him she knew exactly what he thought and felt.

"Deanna, to see her like this, I..."

"I know." She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Enterprise must have engaged her Timescape for a reason. She believes we can save her."

"Well, we better get to work then.."

...

"YOU IDIOT!" Enterprise snarled from within her own time bubble as Picard began to show signs of "temporal narcosis" as Data called it.

Jumping into another time frame with modified wrists bands and no one thought to look for side affects? Sometimes she swore she wanted to slap him sometimes!

...

Enterprise could feel her Timescape slipping and found herself unable to stop her breech from happening again.

Picard watched in horror as the breech enveloped his beloved ship.

"Enterprise..." He whispered, pressing his hand to the shuttle's glass window.

In the midst of all this, Enterprise's eyes moved to his position. Though her sensors showed nothing, she knew he was there.

"Save me!" She cried before the blast enveloped her completely.

When time reversed again, Picard found himself staring at her frozen face. Only this time there was a change. Her snarl remained but her eyes had shifted. Those blue orbs resting squarely on him, begging, pleading for life.

"I will save you, Enterprise." He vowed. "I promise, I will save you!"

...

It was so simple, so unbelievably simple! It was one of those simple things that made Enterprise want to stick her head in a black hole for her own stupidity! The warbird's attack was not aggression, but the act of nature by members of her supposed crew. A parent, defending their children.

"Hurry up, captain!" Enterprise growled. "I can't hold this bubble forever..."

...

7 hours 2 minutes was not all that long. And according to Data an isolation field on her warp core was impossible. Picard was running out of options and time. He needed to act fast!

"Reverse time..." Picard wasn't certain if the voice was his or not but he had an idea now, and he would take the opportunity to use it!

Enterprise rolled on her side when her Timescape snapped. The effects were enough to momentarily disorientate her but she regained her senses quickly enough.

"Wha-what happened?" She groaned.

"A temporal distortion. Caused by a breech in your core." Picard explained. "Fortunately, myself, Councilor Troi, Commander La Forge, and Commander Data were able to reverse the effects so it never happened."

Enterprise sighed. "The Romulan?" She asked.

"Unknown. We are taking its crew to the neutral zone." Data replied.

"Are you well enough for that?" Picard asked.

"I'm up. I'm up." She grumbled as she righted herself. "A question still lingered however. "Captain, your reports indicated a temporal shattering, originating from me. There's only one force capable of creating such a disturbance."

"If you are referring to your Timescape, you would be correct." Picard answered. "It worked like a charm Enterprise. Congratulations, you are the third ship in history to use that method successfully."

"All thanks to your skill, captain." She replied. "It would not have worked without your assistance."

What she didn't tell him was a Timescape could only be used by a starship on a certain being, that being being her lover. No other instinct could be aroused in such a way.

But she would keep that information to herself. For now at least, she was glad to be alive.

Apparently Picard picked up on her brooding. "Something you wish to share with the rest of us, Enterprise?" He asked.

"No, mon capitan." She replied swiftly. "Everything is well."

"Everything is well, my dear Jean Luc..."