Chapter Fifteen:

"Captain, you have an incoming message from Starfleet," Berlitz announced.

Riker stood from his command chair. "I'll take it in my ready room." After he sat at his desk, he brought up the image of Admiral Wilson.

"It is not often that I'm able to deliver good news in my line of work," the admiral said, smiling. "Captain, I'm delighted to inform you that we've located a lost crewmen of yours."

Minutes later, Riker asked Data, Worf and Barclay to join him in his ready room.

"I have some news that you're not going to believe," the captain said, unable to stop grinning, as they stepped into the room. "It's Geordi! He was found inside an escape pod less than a light year from Starbase Nineteen--He's alive!"

For a brief moment, all three officers stared at their captain, shocked. Then Data burst out with laughter and exclaimed, "Alive! I cannot believe it! How soon can we travel to Starbase Nineteen and pick him up?"

"Admiral Wilson has authorized us to postpone our current mission and travel to Starbase Nineteen at warp five. We should arrive there in--"

"Twelve days, sixteen hours, and thirty-three minutes," Data interjected. "I shall instruct Ensign Heston to carry out that course change immediately." The android turned and hurriedly exited the captain's ready room.

"Sir, is Commander La Forge in perfect health?" the Klingon asked. "Was he tormented in any way?"

The captain raised a hand to calm his security chief. Though Riker was worrying the same thing, the Klingon was always the first to dutily bring up such fears. "Worf, we'll find out those answers when we arrive at Starbase Nineteen--at least I hope so."

"Of course," Worf replied barely above a grumble. "But how will we act once we know the answers?"

"Unfortunately, that will be up to Admiral Wilson--and you know that."

Sir," Barclay began, some of the unsureness he once possessed returning in his voice, "I want to thank you for your confidence in me by promoting me to chief engineer in Geordi's absence. I will gladly step aside for him to resume his status on board this ship."

"Barclay, you've proven your worth more than ever during the past several months. I will present a recommendation to Starfleet on your behalf. You may resume your old role if you choose, but chances are that Starfleet will offer you a transfer to another ship. It's up to you whether you want to leave the Enterprise for another ship." He didn't remind Barclay that he personally had turned down three offers of promotion to stay on the Enterprise. He didn't have to.

"You will be missed," Worf said in a tone that conveyed congratulations.

"That is a bit premature," Barclay responded slowly.

***

On their way to Starbase Nineteen, Data spent his off-duty time in Ten-Forward gazing at the passing stars. He knew that such an activity could not make their trip go any faster, but somehow it made him feel closer to Geordi.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Deanna asked on the third day. Her baby had finally gone to sleep after a fretfully colic episode and Worf agreed to watch over the little girl, while her mother got some much needed "fresh air."

He turned away from the view window to gaze into her rosy face. Obviously, she was feeling better. "Please, I would enjoy your company."

The counselor pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. "I'm ashamed of it now," she said in a shaky voice, "but when I first heard that Geordi had been found alive, I didn't care.

I felt heartbroken over losing him and then somehow somewhere along the line, I stopped caring about everyone and everything--including myself. I just felt like shutting out the world and living in a void."

"I am unsure why you are telling me this, Deanna."

"I'm not sure either--except you're Geordi's best friend, and I feel as though I owe you an apology. I should be overjoyed that he is alive and will be okay."

"And you are not?"

Deanna looked away from Data to stare at the passing stars. "I believe the wormhole is somehow affecting my mood. As we move farther away from it, I feel my mood slowly changing." Lowering her gaze, she covered her face with her hands. "I don't understand what it has done to me. Will it ever end?"

Data gently placed his hand atop her free hand. "I wish I could help you as much as you helped me when I first obtained emotions. If it is any consolation, I do forgive you for your lack of concern for our friend. You have not been yourself and that is not your fault."

"Thank you, Data," she said, finally looking up again. "But what I need more than your forgiveness is my own."

Data did not know how to respond. He was the last person who should be expected to counsel the counselor.

Troi abruptly stood and said, "I must excuse myself. I've been neglecting my family far too much lately."

Puzzled, Data watched as she left the room. He knew better than to chase after her. He could not console her, nor did she seem to want him to. Realizing Deanna's mood was contagious, he no longer felt like gazing at the stars. He decided to return to his quarters and seek out the consoling company of another friend--Spot.

***

Geordi La Forge was in the station's infirmary for another series of tests when he received word that the Enterprise had arrived. He wanted to see his friends, and yet the thought of seeing them again actually frightened him. Why? he asked himself as he had every day since he'd been brought to the station. His inability to answer that question frightened him even more. Was it because he couldn't remember what had happened to him during the past several months? His friends would ask him a lot of questions out of concern. He had no answers.

For the past thirteen days, he had been exposed to a series of tests both physical and mental. He had been a bit malnourished when he was discovered, but other than that, he was in good physical health. Well-balanced replicated meals had quickly restored his health. Yet nothing any doctor could do for him alleviated his growing paranoia that some type of experiment had been conducted on him--or worse, was still being conducted.

Immediately following the initial physical tests, Geordi's VISOR and implants had been thoroughly examined. After all, Romulans had once used them to control his behavior. The doctors found no sign of tampering, and the VISOR was returned to the blind man, who was more than eager to see again.

During the first thirty-six hours after his rescue, La Forge was ordered to remain in the infirmary. When no unusual readings continued to show up from testing, he was permitted to move into a guest quarters.

By the time, Captain Riker and Data beamed onto the station and met up with La Forge, the chief medical officer, Dr. Aaron, had finished up the tests and was helping another patient.

"Geordi, I cannot believe it is really you!" Data exclaimed as he rushed to his friend's side. They clasped hands and then firmly embraced. "We were so certain that you were dead."

"I'm glad I could prove you wrong."

"Geordi, what happened to you?" Riker asked, his forehead furrowing with concern.

"I'm not sure exactly," La Forge replied. "I've been thinking about that constantly, since I was found. I don't remember anything from before I was brought to this station. Apparently, I was unconscious until a small freight ship came upon me in the escape pod."

"Escape pod? Geordi, you floated through the wormhole in a leaking gravity suit."

The engineer shook his head in disbelief. "I distinctly remember--" He faltered as he recalled that the Romulans had brainwashed him several years ago into thinking he had spent a week's vacation on a pleasurable planet instead of being tortured by them--and programmed to kill. Had something similar happened to him again? "I don't know. My mind is all so hazy."

When we couldn't lock onto you with a transporter beam, we regrettably had to declare any rescue attempt as futile. Geordi, the escape pod you were found in, wasn't it of alien make?"

"No. It was Federation Standard. That's why I didn't doubt my memories, even though I couldn't understand why you would have agreed to send me fifty-seven thousand light years in an escape pod, let alone why I'd suggest such a thing."

"Then how did they get a hold of a Federation pod?" Riker asked, not really expecting a definitive answer.

"I don't know, sir."

"If the aliens have cloak capability," Data reasoned, "perhaps they traveled through one of their wormhole pockets cloaked. Although boarding one of our vessels and stealing the pod under our noses seems incredible, it is the most probable explanation." He turned to Geordi. "It is quite likely that they erased your memories surrounding the wormhole and reprogrammed your mental pathways with new ones."

"Perhaps, they found out how to build an escape pod from me. Since I have no memories of my time with them, I don't know what I might have shared with them. "

"Or was force to share," Riker amended to alleviate his chief engineer feelings of guilt. We have to find out what these aliens are capable of before they steal anything else--or worse, wage a war."

"I would tend to agree with you," a man in a blue medical uniform spoke up. "I'm Dr. Aaron. Mr. LaForge here is quite a lucky man."

With a smile and a nod, Geordi acknowledged his gratitude.

"I ran numerous tests on him," the doctor continued telling the captain, "and fortunately I found no signs that his abductors used him like a laboratory rat. As for the memory loss, I haven't been able to prove anything conclusively, but I'm fairly certain that we can all speculate some type of forced memory wipe. Most likely, his abductors didn't want him coming back with information about their location and technologies."

"Is there any way that you might help Geordi regain those memories?"

"I could perform an old-fashion hypnosis, but that often doesn't prove helpful when dealing with cases similar to this one. We don't know how the aliens wiped his memory. Their techniques may be impervious to hypnosis. I hear your chief medical officer is a Vulcan. Maybe she could perform a mind meld." He turned to address his patient. " I'd lay odds that if anything will bring your memory back, it's a mind meld."

Riker shifted toward his returned officer. "It's up to you, Geordi." La Forge considered the option thoughtfully, and after a long moment, slowly nodded. "Good." Riker placed a reassuring hand on his chief engineer's shoulder. " After you've had a chance to readjust to life aboard the Enterprise, we'll schedule an appointment with Dr. Selar in a few days."

Geordi sat on the biobed and mused for a long moment. He wanted to tell the captain that he couldn't wait even a day to attempt a mind meld. Yet he knew it was illogical to force himself to undergo any stressful procedure without first fully recovering physically from his ordeal. So he decided on the next best thing--change the subject and try to keep his mind off his own problems. "If my memory from before is still intact, I seem to recall that Counselor Troi was going to have a baby. It should be a few weeks old by now."

Riker nodded and replied, "Her daughter, Shannara, is about six weeks old."

"I'd like to see her. A new face is just what I need right now to help me forget. . . about not being able to remember what those aliens did to me."

"I'm sure neither of them will mind a visit later." Riker patted the commander on the bicep. "I'll see you on board the Enterprise." He left the infirmary.

Data lingered. He appeared to want to say more, but the strained look on his face clearly showed that he could think of nothing that would comfort his friend.

"Hey Data, I seem to recall you promising to show me a holodeck program when I returned," Geordi said, trying to lighten their mood.

"Yes," the android replied with a slight smile. "It was an interactive mystery on the planet Risa."

"Risa. That ought to prove interesting. Please tell me that you haven't already solved the mystery."

"I have not yet activated the program. I felt it would not be as pleasurable without your company, my friend."

"Well, I'm back now, and I could sure use some leisure activity."

Data nodded. "As soon as my duty shift is over, then."

"And Data. . .why don't you leave your pipe in your quarters."

***

La Forge decided to pay a visit to the Rozhenko quarters at seven-hundred hours. Riker and Data had asked him if he wished to accompany them to the station cargo bay where the escape pod was being stored. He just couldn't bring himself to do that. . .dredging up false memories. Real ones could be bad enough. He wish he had real ones to deal with. He thought he could get over them far more quickly. Instead, he thought he could use some cheering up and could not think of a better way to do that than to visit a new arrival into this world.

He found Worf feeding the baby with a bottle. Somehow, he had never pictured the Klingon in such a domestic role. Yet the change seemed to suit Worf well.

"Deanna has not risen yet," Worf explained and as an afterthought, added, "It is good to see you." He stepped out of the way, so La Forge could enter the room.

Shannara, having noticed Geordi, began eyeing him with something not short of fear. She pulled away from the bottle and let out a long, ear-piercing shriek.

"I guess she really doesn't like me," La Forge said, stepping away from them. He suddenly felt guilty, though he couldn't understand why. Babies behaved this way sometimes for no apparent reason. Surely there was nothing wrong with him that upset the baby. Yet the experience made him uneasy and again set him to wondering just what had been done to him.

"Do not take it personally," Worf told his friend as he placed his still-shrieking daughter against his chest and patted her gently on the back. "She cries a lot. I am the only one who can calm her down for any length of time."

Geordi could barely understand the Klingon over the baby, but nodded in complete understanding. He waited as Worf, gently bouncing his daughter in his arms, walked Shannara to the other side of the room. She noticeably calmed down, her cries slowing to mere sniffles. Probably because she gained some distance from me, Geordi couldn't help thinking.

After a moment, to Geordi's surprise, her father kissed her cheek and placed her in the cradle setting in the corner of the room. The Klingon was not known to openly show affection--that was before the birth of his daughter.

She began her crying anew, but Worf walked away from her anyway. His anguish in doing so was obvious. "Perhaps this is not a good place for a reunion."

"Or a good time," La Forge added. "Look, Data is throwing a party for me tonight at nineteen-hundred hours in Ten-Forward. Maybe you and Deanna might like to join us."

"I will ask Deanna, but yes, I believe we would." La Forge had turned to exit when Worf spoke up again. "And Commander, it is good to have you back."

"Yeah," Geordi replied, a bit dubiously. As he stepped out in the corridor, he felt overwhelmed by the lack of anything to do. It would be several more days before he would return to active duty and yet there was no place he wanted to be more than engineering.

Geordi arrived in engineering to find the on-duty officers had nothing more than routine diagnostics and maintenance tasks to occupy themselves. I guess they're getting along fine without me, he mused. He located Barclay in the chief engineer's office writing a log report.

The current chief engineer set down his data padd when he saw his friend enter the room.

"Geordi," Barclay said, pointing to the chair across from him, "have a seat."

Amazingly, Barclay assumed an air of confidence that he once lacked. Feeling a bit awkward, Geordi realized their roles had reversed. He took his seat.

"It's been a long time," La Forge admitted. "I'm not sure I know how to begin again."

"Don't try to rush yourself. You were a good friend to me when I needed one--despite all the grief I gave you." He reached forward and clutched Geordi's arm. "You can lean on me now."

La Forge smiled. "Thanks, Reg." After a long pause, he said, "I guess the Enterprise is yours for now. I feel as though I'm still lost."

"I won't lie to you and say I haven't enjoyed your job or that I don't want to keep the position. We're in a sticky situation. The Enterprise doesn't need two chief engineers. I guess we wait until Starfleet Headquarters decides what to do with me."

Geordi chuckled nervously. "Well, they won't be booting you off the Enterprise today, so why don't we stop worrying about it for a while? Data's throwing a party for me this evening in Ten-Forward. I'd like it if you could come."

"I wouldn't dream of missing it."

"I'm sure you have work to do now." Geordi stood. "I'll see you later."

"It's good to have you back."

Geordi nodded, knowing the welcome was delivered with sincerity, but as he walked toward the door, he saw Reg picking up the data padd, slipping comfortably back into his role as chief engineer.