Rating: PG-13 for harsh concepts and innuendo
Writer's Note: The Infinite Paths is a story about some of the gifted young people we have met in Sci-Fi and Sitcoms, and how they are thrust into situations beyond their control. Two of the gentlest and brightest--Will and Penny Robinson--were left hanging by their show's premise. The jokes made here are made about that premise, and its possible consequences. By no means should this or any other storyline I write be construed as promoting the last taboo. As this story will reveal, Penny and Will are fortunate on several levels, the first being that they never abused one another. But there is a reason people stand against this---it is almost always not about survival---but Evil. On M*A*S*H*, evil is fought by making fun of it, and showing that we, as humans, can survive its wrath.

Prologue - Hello, Mary Sue.....

VERIDIAN III, 2371

After recieving the news, his choice was obvious. Folding time and space as he had been shown, he headed back to Veridian III.

"Captain Kirk! I'll go fetch Soran's remote."

"Good. Because I'd like another crack at that pasty-faced star-killer, Captain Picard."

"Call me Jean-Luc."

While Kirk dodged and weaved Soran's supressive fire, Picard made his way across a treacherous, collapsing bridge.

"No", the young man pleaded, as he watched helplessly, his physical presence negated by the proximity of The Nexus.

Finally, Picard triumphed, and used the remote to deactivate the cloak surrounding Soran's Trilithium missle.

Then the bridge gave way.

Using a cleverness worthy of both himself and Picard, Kirk sent Soran to his doom. His victory was hoplessly diluted by what he found where Jean-Luc Picard had fallen. The Great Man was dying.

"Jim...did we do it? Did We Make...A Difference?"

Despite Kirk's admonitions, Picard died in his arms. As he did, insulated by time, Wesley Crusher screamed. He had failed his Captain by a lack of time-skill the same way he had failed Josh Albert by not standing up to Locarno. The man his mother loved was dead. The emotions were overwhelming--and they made him sloppy as he vanished. He imagined he would soon be on The Enterprise-E, consoling his mother, who was currently still accusing Kirk, now the E's Captain, for Picard's willful murder. At least he could assure her that wasn't the case.

EARTH, 2063

"You all keep going on about the great Zephram Cochrane! Well, let me tell you something........."

As the legend ranted, Wes felt the wrongness of where he was. The universe, after all, was just one vast vibrational frequency. Each one had a unique feel--and this was not his home. This was doubly confirmed by Picard's voice on a Comm-link.

"Boy, if there's a bigger geek than me in all the multiverse, I'd like to meet him."

"Hello! Wesley Crusher? Gee, I didn't know you came back, too. Its me, Reg Barclay!"

Barclay turned to his friends.

"Hey, look everybody! Wesley's here."

They turned and saw nothing.

"Well, he was here."

"Commander Riker--my cyber-implants are detecting a chronal displacement."

"Geordi--almost everyone here is a time traveller."

"Oh---yeah. I forgot."

USS ENTERPRISE-D, 2366

"Jack, if I happen to be sleeping with Jean-Luc, that's no concern of yours. Our marriage ended years ago--remember?"

Captain Crusher looked at his ex-wife with fury.

"Bev, I can't believe you still hold me responsible for the death of----Wesley?"

They both turned. Beverly smiled.

"Wesley---it Is You! Oh, my boy! You're--"

Wes looked up.

"Not THIS place again."

He vanished, just as XO Picard walked in.

"Have I missed anything?"

USS ENTERPRISE-D, 2370

Worf nodded.

"A...good suggestion, Lieutanant Crusher."

He looked himself over.

"How'd I make Lieutanant?"

Worf shrugged.

"I seem to have my own memory failure of late, Wesley."

The young man snapped his fingers.

"Worf--are you from this reality?"

The Klingon was stunned.

"In truth, No. I am from...."

"Worf, its me. The real Wesley---I got my butt disciplined for the Kolvoord Starburst?"

"Yes! That is how I remember...."

La Forge cut in.

"Wes, you turned Locarno in before..."

As both the reality-travellers vanished, they turned on their old friend.

"Shut Up, Geordi!"

THE WARSHIP ENTERPRISE

"That History Will Remember The Name..."

Wes got up, then and there.

"I am sooooo out of here."

VULCAN, 2285

"Are they gone?"

"Off to Earth, for the signing."

"Peter, will you join me in the hot tub?"

"Gee, I don't know....You Are Just My Ex-Wife, after all."

She pulled him to her.

"T'Pau's decree aside, we are one. Or--we soon will be, if you just get into the sunken tub."

A splash came from the bedroom.

"Are we expecting company?"

"With my luck, it is probably T'Pau."

"Saavik-kam--please don't go there."

But it was not T'Pau, Spock, James Kirk or even King Ghidorah. It was a young man neither had met before.

"Where Am I?"

"You Are In Our Hot Tub. We desire that you should get out of it."

"Could someone help me up?"

Peter did just that.

"And Your Name is...."

"Wesley Crusher. What planet am I on?"

"You Are On Vulcan. Where do you think you are?"

"Not here, that's for sure. What--year is this?"

"Stardate Or Old Earth?"

"Stardate. Nobody uses Old Earth....Oh, boy."

"Well, the Old Earth Date is 2285, if that helps."

Crusher stood up, a trifle stunned.

"2285? Wow, I really lost my way. Okay, I just have to relax. I can wind down my own vibrational frequency, and get back to my time and place, just like....I'm still here."

Saavik had an idea.

"Wesley Crusher....what year are you from?"

"Um....translate...Old Earth....2372."

"Peter? Is it possible?"

"Wesley---I know you're probably bound by the Prime Directive's temporal corollary, but please tell us anything you can about how Ghidorah is defeated."

Crusher shook his head.

"Ghidorah? But The Ancient Destroyer is only a myth."

Again, Saavik made the intuitive leap.

"Peter---he is not from our future."

"Assuming, Saavikkam, that we have one."

"Hey--I didn't catch your names."

She nodded.

"I am Saavik Brianna Kirk, and this is my ex-husband, Peter Claudius Kirk. We possess abilities of our own, and will aid you as best we can to return whence you came."

"This is an alternate reality, then. I had both of you at the Academy, but you weren't married til just after the turn of this century. Hey, did you just say that here, Ghidorah is real?"

"He's...fiction, where you come from?"

"No. But he was never The Ancient Destroyer, except in myth, like I said. The story goes that three of Earth's guardians turned him away. When do you think he'll attack this quadrant?"

Peter looked down, then at the visitor.

"Within the next 5 years. Possibly this upcoming year."

Wes gulped.

"What abilities do you guys possess?"

Saavik answered.

"High-Grade Esper/Psi/TK. I believe we can help you find your center, as you make your jump, as it were."

Peter nodded.

"We can do that part, to be sure. Wesley, will you say hello to my Uncle Jim for me, in your world? Sorry, but he was in your surface thoughts."

"Umm...sure thing. But just why do you two keep the same name, after a divorce? And why do you have such powerful psi?"

Saavik spoke for both of them.

"Our relationship is a long and complicated one, Wesley. Technically, we were related prior to our bonding, which was anulled against our will. As to The Psi-Abilities, in my Peter's case--he is destined to face Ghidorah. My abilities will permit me to stand by his side as he does."

Actually, Saavik was, as always, selling herself far short. But the explanation was mostly accurate. Crusher stood up.

"Shall we begin?"

With each of the two Psi's focusing on Crusher's thoughts of return, they did indeed begin. But time is tricky. Especially in a universe that was mostly dead void, erased by Ghidorah's path, The Line Of Blood.

EARTH, 2272

Peter felt powerful hands throw him against a wall. Everything was a haze.

"How many god-damned drunk tanks do I have to pull you out of? Are you really my brother's son? I have to wonder. Peter, I am Chief Of Starfleet Operations, now. I can't afford this kind of embarrasment. I'm shipping you to an Outer Rim Detox facility. Don't screw this up, or I swear to God, I'll join your brothers and wash my hands of you. Got It?"

Peter never felt a greater shame, in all his life. For he had dissapointed his beloved Uncle Jim. His life was a wreck he wished would end. It did.

USS ENTERPRISE, 2282

"Of All The Souls I Have Ever Known, His Was The Most...Human."

Unclear as to what was going on, Saavik looked around. It was a funeral, and Uncle Jim was presiding over it. There was a body in a photon-torpedo casing.

"Spock."

To the astonishment of all, she began to openly weep. Gone was the chance at reconciliation. Gone was the chance to really know him. To say how she really felt, despite his many years of seeming indifference. Spock was dead. She wished her life would end as well. It did.

EARTH, 1991

A young man walked straight up and looked him in the eye.

"I cheered when you left the show. My God, you are the worst Mary Sue character ever made! Just consider yourself lucky that Spiner and Burton were willing to carry you for three years."

A guard of some kind walked up.

"Would you please leave Mister Wheaton alone? You've already been warned once."

Afterwords, a Deanna Troi with no discernible accent walked up.

"I wouldn't put up with them, if I were you. By that I mean the really obnoxious ones. That same little slime actually asked me to sign a nude scan---I Don't Think So!"

Wesley wished this weird life would end. It did---after Stan Lee's appearance in Booth 15.

USS ENTERPRISE, 2266

Peter's dream was coming true, after the tragic death of his family. Life aboard his Father's ship.

"Now that you'll be staying with us, Peter, there's someone I'd like you to meet. This is Mister Spock's daughter---Saavik."

She led him to his quarters.

"You are the Captain's son?"

"Biologically. I didn't know until after my folks died. If Mister Spock is your father, who's your mother?"

"A Romulan Commander who helped him escape from HadesGuard. They were in love, but....she died to let us live."

Peter breathed in, and took a chance.

"Wife?"

She smiled.

"Husband?"

They hugged.

"Oh, Peter! I was so afraid. Reality became....I cannot describe it. I have been Spock's ward, his...wife, and so many other...."

"I know, Saavikkam. I know. I've been a drunk, had two brothers, no brothers, recieved Jim's body in the company of some French Captain...I'm just glad I have you again."

He held her tighter still.

"Wife--I desire your company."

"And I Yours, Husband. But we have an obstacle there."

She pointed toward the mirror.

"I think that we are only about eight years old. We could play doctor."

Peter just shook his head at a cosmos that seemed to conspire against his happiness. Saavik felt much the same way.

"Peter...our...host?"

He nodded.

"Wesley Crusher Must Die!"