Chapter Ten:
In a different part of the galaxy, back on Earth, Worf, Deanna, and Lwaxana, and the
remainder of the Enterprise crew,
reboarded the Ming Jung. Lwaxana had decided, against her son-in-law's protest, that she would
join them on the
Enterprise --where she would remain until after the birth of her grandchild.
"A grandmother can be indispensable when a new baby comes along--especially when that
baby is your first," Lwaxana
said as they entered the ship's recreation lounge. "I have changed a few diapers in my time."
"Mother," Deanna protested, "I don't need you to take over my responsibilities. Besides, we
still have four months before
the baby will be born."
"Who said anything about taking over? Believe me, the first time the baby cries all night,
you'll be happy I'm around to
offer some relief. I've spent many a night soothing a colicy baby."
"Perhaps Lwaxana is right," Worf said to both women's surprise. "We will not be able to fully
perform our duties if we are
overly tired."
"Fine," Deanna replied, dismissing the subject. If Worf didn't object to her mother, in effect,
moving in with them, then she
wouldn't waste her time arguing about it.
They sat down at one of the tables. When a waiter came around, they ordered drinks, all
non-alcoholic.
"I've been thinking about names for the baby," Deanna said, hoping to keep the air between
Worf and her mother casual.
"Of course, I won't make a final decision without your approval, Worf, but I've settled on two
names that I'm rather fond
of. What do you think of Eric if it's a boy and Shannara if it's a girl?"
The Klingon could not find his voice, for he was completely taken aback by his wife's choice
in baby names. In an
alternate reality, they had had two children with those names!
The waiter came back to serve their drinks, but neither of them paid much attention to the
glasses. Even Lwaxana seemed
more concerned about Worf.
"Worf, are you all right?" Deanna asked.
"Yes, of course," her husband replied, grabbing his drink, more as a distraction than to
quench his thirst. "It's just
that--remember when we first started dating, I told you about an anomaly that I had encountered
while returning from a
bat'leth championship?"
"The one that caused you to shift from one alternate reality to another--yes. How could I
forget?"
"What I did not tell you, because I did not want to put you off just as we were starting to get
close, was that we had already
been married for three years in some of those realities."
"I wonder why I had to work so hard at coaxing you to get married in this reality," Lwaxana
quipped.
Deanna favored her mother with a look of annoyance, before responding to her husband's
unexpected news. "You could
have told me this a long time ago, Worf. I would not have felt that you were being too forward, if
that's what you were
worried about. Although they belonged to an alternate dimension those other us were married and
not simply part of some
fantasy of yours."
"At the time, I was too nervous about our relationship to take any risks. But my point in
bringing it up now is that, in a
couple alternate realities, we had two children, a girl and a boy, and their names were Shannara
and Eric."
Deanna squealed with delight. "Then it's perfect!" she exclaimed. "I'd say our baby names are
settled.
Do you agree?"
Worf nodded and offered his wife a rare smile.
****
Riker approached his first officer who was sitting at the science station going over the data,
trying to figure out what went wrong. How could they have lost Geordi in such a freak accident?
"Data, why don't you take the rest of this shift off. Tomorrow even, if you need it."
"Thank you, Captain, but if I don't keep busy--"
"Data, you may not require rest, but if you don't relax, I'm afraid you may fry your positronic
relays."
"I do not believe that is a probability, sir."
"This is not a time to take me literally, but do take me seriously. I am ordering you to spend
some time off duty. You've put in enough hours for one day. Read a book, play with Spot, write
a holodeck program-whatever to pass the time."
"Fine!" Data exclaimed and abruptly stood and exited the bridge.
"Sorry," Riker said to the rest of the bridge crew as he straightened his tunic. "That was
necessary."
*****
"He's gone," Data said vehemently as he bade Riker entrance into his private quarters a few
hours later, "and there's nothing more we can do to try to save him." He had changed into
off-duty clothes, a sweater and slacks, and was fidgeting nervously with his sleeves as he paced.
Since gaining an emotions chip, he also acquired a taste for clothing other than his uniform.
"I'm sorry, Data," the captain said, looking away from his first officer. He didn't know how to
handle the loss himself, let alone help his first officer cope with the absence of his best friend. "As
soon as the Ming Jung returns, Admiral Wilson has ordered that we leave this sector and that no
Federation ship come within two and a half light years of this wormhole. Starfleet is designating it
as potentially volatile."
"They order us to study it to understand how and why the Stargazer was destroyed and now
that one more officer is lost, they want us to tuck tail and abandon any hope of understanding. So
many friends lost...gone. When will it end?"
"Data, get a hold of yourself. You are a Starfleet officer."
"An off-duty one as I recall," the android retorted. "I will perform my duties when required of
me, sir, but please allow me to express my grief on my own time."
"You're right about needing to grieve, but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on
others. Everyone has dealt with losing a loved one. Would you like me to leave you alone?"
"Yes, please."
"Okay." Riker paused at the door to reiterate, "I'm really sorry, Data."
As he stepped out and began walking along the corridor, Riker knew that his next duty was
to promote a replacement for the position of chief engineer. Lieutenant Barclay was the most
qualified for the job. No one feels comfort in receiving a promotion due to another's
disappearance," Riker thought, remembering his field promotion to captain after Picard had
been taken by the Borg. Especially when the person you're replacing was a friend.
****
Lwaxana Troi spent much of her time during the return trip trying to entertain Ellis, the
captain of the Ming Jung. After having endured her amorous affections for one day too many, the
captain, a tall and husky sixty-year old man, strongly expressed to Deanna that he was
considering diverting their course for a side trip to Betazed. Only Deanna's coaxing her
mother to eat the remainder of her meals inside her private quarters prevented Ellis from carrying
out his threat.
As the Ming Jung drew closer to the Enterprise, Troi became acutely worried, though she
couldn't quite label her fear. She wondered if they would return to the site only to discover the
Enterprise had suffered the same fate as the Stargazer.
Confined to her quarters, Lwaxana spent much of her time calling out to Deanna
telepathically and well. . . mothering her. She knew Deanna was under a great deal of stress and
tried, unsuccessfully, to comfort her daughter.
Deanna wanted to enjoy her meals with Worf, to lose herself in their lovemaking, but over
and over one thought ran through her mind: Not another Enterprise. . .Not another Enterprise.
She could not suppress the overwhelming fear that they would return to the wormhole site to find
the debris of the Enterprise-E.
Lwaxana picked up on her daughter's thoughts about the ship and thought to her, Oh Little
One, you need to stop worrying! I'm sure Commander Riker and all your other little friends are
just fine.
Deanna wished she could simply turn her fears off, but they continued to plague her, growing
fiercer as they came closer to their destination.
When they fell out of warp and came to an all-stop beside the Enterprise, Deanna could not
understand why she didn't feel relief. Her beloved ship was undamaged. Its captain and crew had
probably grown bored waiting for their return. Yet she sensed an overwhelming sadness among
the crew aboard the other ship. They're is something not right, she thought,
meaning it more in a cosmic sense than merely regarding any single event that had befallen them in
the past several months. Something about this place is not right.
"I want to speak with the captain before we board the Enterprise," she told her husband. They
were still inside their private guest quarters aboard the Ming Jung.
"Before?" he questioned. "What would be the purpose?"
"There's something wrong. I can sense it. I want to know what we're beaming into."
Worf nodded and they approached their private console. He trusted his wife's empathic
abilities completely.
When Riker appeared on the small screen a couple minutes later, he said, "Deanna, Worf, it's
good to see you've returned safely."
"Will, it was a lovely service," Deanna replied. "I wish the circumstances had permitted you
to join us. How has your data on the wormhole been coming along? Is everything all right?" She
asked the latter with a more personal tone.
"I wish I didn't have to tell you this."
Before the captain had said any more, the Empath collapsed in her husband's arms and began
crying uncontrollably. She sensed Riker's anguish and hopelessness. "Who?" she barely managed
in between choked sobs.
"It's Geordi. We sustained hull damage when we ran into a pocket wormhole and while he
was trying to repair the damage, he ripped his gravity suit. We couldn't retrieve him."
"How is this possible?" Deanna asked. "Geordi is a competent engineer. If he tore a hole in
his suit, he'd request an immediate beam-back."
"I know. I fail to understand how it's possible myself."
"Who was on duty at tactical when you collided with the wormhole?" Worf asked. "If only I
had not left...."
"Worf!" Riker interrupted. "We can't lay blame here."
Sensing the tension building between the two men closest in her life, Deanna decided to
redirect the conversation quickly. "Will there be any service held in Geordi's honor?" Deanna
asked.
"Yes, tomorrow at fifteen hundred hours in Ten-Forward."
So once again, they were faced with saying goodbye to a friend.
After the last of the Enterprise crew had been beamed back aboard their ship, Riker gave the
order to warp away from the wormhole.
Inside her quarters, Deanna lay on her bed unresponsive to her husband's soothing words.
Staring out the viewwindow, she still sensed the wormholes presence. She wanted to get far away
from the wormhole and from its suffocating grasp. She knew she could never forget it,
though--and what it had taken away from them.
If only the baby growing inside of her, would be enough to help her carry on.
