StarDate: 43612.4

We have just arrived at Star Base 61 near Omega 3 and will be beaming aboard the newest member of the Enterprise crew. Dr. Alexis Pickerd has an impressive Star Fleet record. She has a ranking of first officer, is a medical doctor, certified counselor, and holds several degrees in engineering. She has come aboard to give assistance to Dr. Crusher, Counselor Troi, and Commander LaForge and to hopefully take some of the stress off of these officers that dealing with a crew this size can bring upon them.

"Are you lookin forward to meeting Dr. Pickerd?" Will Riker asked Captain Jean-Luc Picard as they headed for Transporter Room 3.

"Yes, I am actually. I just hope her personality is as pleasant as her record," he answered.

"I'm anxious to see just how old she is and how well she'll get along here."

"What makes you think that she's old, Number One?" Jean-Luc asked his first officer.

"Captain, she's finished 4 Star Fleet programs and also served 5 years at this Star Base. She can't exactly be fresh out of the Academy."

They reached the transporter room and the Captain nodded to Chief O'Brien. Seconds later, they were looking at a beautiful young woman who couldn't have been a day over 30. She was probably around 5 feet, 6 inches tall with straight, dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. Both men showed the surprise that they felt, but both me for different reasons. The young woman came forward with her hand extended. The Captain realized then whom it was that she reminded him of and he took a step back.

"Captain Picard? I'm Dr. Alexis Pickerd. Is something wrong?" she asked looking back and forth at both men.

"Just exactly how old are you?" Will asked without thinking.

Jean-Luc snapped out of his daze and reprimanded his first officer. "Number One, that was rather rude."

"Oh, it's alright, Captain, I should have realized that's why you both looked so shocked. Most people are when they meet me after they've seen or heard about my Star Fleet record. I'm actually 28 years old," she smiled at them.

Commander Riker, embarrassed at his mistake, took her outstretched hand and apologized. "I'm sorry, I was just surprised like you said. Please forgive me. I'm Commander William T. Riker and this, of course, is Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Welcome aboard the Enterprise."

"Thank you, I'm very happy to be here," she answered. "Let me go ahead and answer the next question you're thinking even though you haven't asked it yet. I doubled up on class schedules and took summer school in the Academy. I had so much that I wanted to learn about that I didn't stop to think that I was doing something unusual and so I finished early and in 4 fields, although, I finished my last one while serving on the Star Base by correspondence."

"Well, that does answer that question, now doesn't it?" Captain Picard said, trying to calm his inner thoughts.

"Captain, are you feeling alright, you don't look so well?" Alexis asked concerned.

"I'm fine it's just the surprise of your young age and you look like someone I once knew," he answered. "Now Commander Riker will show you to your quarters. I'm afraid that I must go and review the notes for our next mission. If you will excuse me," and with that he walked out of the room.

"I guess he'll be even more surprised to find out that the next mission involves me too," Alexis said.

Will looked back in renewed surprise and asked, "How do you know what the next mission is and that you're part of it already?"

Alexis walked out the door and Will followed and picked up the lead, heading toward the new Dr.'s quarters. Only then did she answer him. "I'm only half human. My father was human but my mother was a little heard of species called Healers. I never knew my father and my mother died when I was 16."

"What happened to them, and what does that have to do with our next mission?" Will asked genuinely perplexed.

"Well, my mother told me that my father was a Captain aboard a Star Fleet ship and that he was killed when his ship was attacked by Romulans. She used to tell me stories about how brave he was and how handsome. It's because of him that I wanted to go into the Star Fleet Academy. I wanted to make him proud of me so I took the entrance exam and passed at 16, not long after my mother died. All I know about him was that he loved my mother, he was very brave, and that he never knew about me. My mother caught some kind of unusual disease that only 2 other people have been known to have and they died from it too.

As for the mission, the Healer species is unlike any other alien race in that it is not native to any one planet that we know of. Healers have been found all over this galaxy and there aren't many of them. Incidentally, the other 2 people that died of that disease were also Healers. The mission is to try and find out why there aren't many Healers, why they are so spread out all over the galaxy, and anything else about their history that might possibly save the species.

The species were given their name for their ability to heal people's cuts, colds, or whatever with just a touch. We don't get sick, although no one knows why. We have other things we can do as Healers too though like blow things up but that's about all we know. I am the only Healer in Star Fleet that I know of and little is known about our biological make up."

"How many Healers have been counted so far?" Will asked, slowing as they were nearing her quarters.

Her face fell and she answered quietly, "25 and all of them are mixed species. Not one of them is a pure Healer."

"That's all?! Where are we going to start looking for this history?" he asked.

"There are 2 half-Healers that claim the planet Negeb as their home planet and that is where we are going to start."

* * * * * * * * * *

Jean-Luc Picard tried to concentrate on the mission notes but his mind was whirling with thoughts and they were giving him a headache. Ordinarily, he would have found this mission facinating, he loved reading about extinct and endangered species, especially if it involved the newest member of his crew, but his reading kept getting interrupted with other thoughts.

He read enough to get the gist of the mission and decided to take a nap to help settle his thoughts. He went over to his couch and laid down. "Computer, reduce lighting by 80% and put on soft relaxing music," he said as he tried to get comfortable.

"Please specify," the computer answered.

"Oh, I don't care! Anything by Beethoven or Mozart that can be considered relaxing," he answered irritated.

He settled into the couch and drifted off to a place he hadn't been to in almost 30 years. He saw a young woman with dark brown hair and warm dancing brown eyes smiling at him and he slept contentedly.

* * * * * * * * * * *

After brief introductions were made, the Captain called the briefing meeting to order. He summarized what he had read of the mission and turned to Alexis. "Didn't your mother tell you anything about your species that wasn't in the mission notes?"

"My mother was adopted, Captain, when she was about 1 year old. All I can tell you about my species is that we live to be very old because my mother died at 97 and didn't look older than about 50 in human years. She knew less about our species than I do. I have talked with the 2 Healers from Negeb and they didn't even know about each other even though they only lived about 100 miles apart. They knew even less about their history for both of them were also adopted when young. One remembers his mother telling him to be good and that she loved him but that's it."

"Hmm. That't not much to go on, is it?" the Captain said, thinking. He asked for suggestions.

Commander Riker spoke up, "I suggest that we take 2 away teams to the surface, 1 for each place and scout out the areas. Dr. Pickerd, did they give you any leads as to where we might start looking?"

"Well, one of them said that his adopted sister still lives in his childhood home and that she would be happy to help us in any way that she can. We could start with her," Alexis offered.

"Good. Number One, you are to lead one team and Dr. Pickerd you lead the other. Choose your teams and I would like Dr. Pickerd's team to go and talk with the sister. Any questions?" Jean-Luc directed.

"I'd like to run some medical tests on Dr. Pickerd sometime if that's all right with you and her, Captain," Dr. Crusher spoke up.

"Fine with me, but all of my medical history is on file, doctor. I must admit though, it is a short file. Like I said, I never get sick," Alexis told her.

"Alright then, dismissed," Captain Picard told them.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"We knew that he was different, but until we took him to the doctor not long after he came to our home did we know how different."

Alexis Pickerd was walking through a grassy meadow towards a small playhouse with the sister of one of the Healers. She had offered to take the away team to different spots important in her brother's childhood.

"The doctor told us that he had never seen a species like he was and then when he got older and could do things, it was just strange."

"What kind of things?" Alexis asked.

"Well, he could tell how other people were feeling, not just whether they were sick or well but if someone was sad he could tell what was wrong and sometimes why. Then too, when I fell and skinned my knees, he just waved his hand over the bruises and scrapes and they were well again. And the one time that our mother got caught in a cave and it caved in, he just lifted his hand and kind of blasted away some of the stones so we could get to her."

"Hmm. That's interesting. I too can tell what others are feeling but I never really thought much about it and I can't always tell. So this is where the 2 of you played together most of the time?"

"Yes, I haven't been here in years. Feel free to look around although I don't think you'll find much worth fooling with."

Alexis began looking thoroughly through the small playhouse and then around the outside. She was about to give up and leave when she noticed a strange looking area in the grass. She bent over to study it and the sister ran over to her.

"Oh my gosh! I completely forgot about this until now! We used to bury things here that we loved to play with and didn't want anyone else to find. I bet there's one thing that might interest you, although it still might just be a really well written book."

The sister pulled at a corner of the square patch of grass that looked so out of place and it lifted up to reveal a small wooden door in the ground. She pulled it open and pulled out a really old looking book. "Here," she said, handing it to Alexis, "Steven was carrying this when he came to our home. We thought that it was his mother's but he said that he knew it wasn't hers by the names in it so we don't know where it came from. You can have it if you think it might help you."