Chapter Sixteen:

"Good day, Captain Riker, Commander Data, " Admiral Merritt said as they met up in the cargo bay. She was about sixty with short, solid-grey hair. "I am glad to meet you under these pleasant circumstances. It isn't often that a captured officer is returned to us without either bargain or battle."

Data could barely surpress the urge to look past the admiral, toward the escape pod.

"And that's what we can't figure out, sir," Riker said, "Why? What do they gain by returning Geordi now?"

"Believe me, Captain, that question is utmost on my mind as well. What if they've programmed him to feed them with knowledge about our technologies and other vital information? I'm sure that question is on each of our minds. Learning exactly who they are and their motivation for taking one of our officers is a high priority."

Enough of the chit-chat! Data wanted to scream, but his loyalty to Starfleet forced him to maintain protocol, to participate in the conversation. He wanted to get his hands on the pod, to solve this mystery for his friend. "It is most probable that they have already learned a substantial amount about our technologies," Data suggested. "Perhaps they used Geordi's expertise against him as a bargaining chip." This time, he couldn't help looking past the admiral. What had these unidentified aliens done to his friend?

"Information for release," the admiral summarized, crinkling her brow only enough to let Data know she acknowledged his anxiety. "Terrorists have been doing that for centuries." Merritt gestured toward the escape pod. "Enough preamble. Let's solve this mystery before our next encounter with them, shall we?"

As they drew closer to the pod, Riker offered his first officer a reassuring hand on the shoulder. He understood Data's need to get this over with and to finally bring his friend some closure to this experience. Ambivolently, he dreaded continuing. Before he could have wished that the pod would turn out to be a cleverly devised imitation of a Federation pod. He now had little doubt that it was the genuine article.

Admiral Merritt opened the pod, revealing that it was not only still in excellent shape, but also a recent model. "What else have they gotten their hands on?" she asked and she turned toward Riker and Data, the question lingering unanswered.

"An astrophysics team thoroughly searched the surrounding area where Commander La Forge was found. Although they were able to discover the pocket-sized wormhole he came through, it only leads us to more questions. The pocket was nearly five light years from where La Forge was discovered. How did he get so far in an escape pod? Before an attempt could be made to send someone else through the wormhole, it collapsed for reasons our scientists haven't been able to determine. Its structural integrity appeared identical to the other pocket-sized wormholes discovered and none of them have yet to collapse."

"Have you considered the possibility, Admiral," Data began, "that this wormhole was collapsed on purpose?"

"Now that is an interesting theory--and yes, I have considered it. A team is investigating that possibility as we speak. If they did collapse their own wormhole, then we must only assume that the aliens don't wish for us to learn as much about them as they know about us."

"At the moment, it would seem that they have their wish," Riker said.

"Only for the moment if I can help it," Merritt said. "We must confront them before they confront us. I want you to be prepared to set course to the large wormhole in twenty-four hours. I'll get official authorization through Admiral Wilson to have the restriction lifted. Somehow, you must find a way to send an away team to the other side!"

***

Early the same afternoon, Deanna brought the baby to sickbay for the third time in a week. Shannara would not stop screaming and Deanna's already-frayed nerves were being overtaxed by her daughter's overwhelming sadness.

Selar had Deanna place her infant atop a biobed where the doctor thoroughly examined her for any physical ailments for the third time in her short life. "There is nothing physically wrong with your child," Dr. Selar informed her.

"You need to run more tests!" Deanna insisted. She refused to believe that her baby was in no danger. Certainly, lack of sleep alone was placing a physical stress on Shannara. Let alone whatever was causing the distress. "Need I remind you that we almost lost her before she was even born?!"

"No. As chief medical officer, I am responsible for reviewing all the logs of the medical personnel under my command. I know every detail of the incident and have concluded that your own anxiety perpetrated the situation. You need to calm yourself down. Your own emotional state is feeding hers. I will prescribe you a mild tranquilizer. However, it would be unwise to administer any to an infant."

Deanna considered this advice ambivalently for a long moment. Was she really directly responsible for her own child's pain? "I suppose I do need something to help me," she slowly admitted. "And if by helping myself, I can help Shannara..."

"A logical decision." The Vulcan doctor retrieved a hypospray and administered into Deanna's neck. Deanna felt its calming effect almost immediately.

On the biobed, her daughter began to cry as though angry she was now being ignored. Deanna rushed to the infant's side, overwhelmed by guilt. "Oh, sweetheart, Mommy's right here. I haven't left you!"

Coming to the child's other side, albeit considerably slower, Dr. Selar continued her sage advice. "Perhaps her problem is on an empathic or even telepathic level. Since I have exhausted all physical causes, you should consult with a Betazoid psychiatrist."

"You can't be serious!" Deanna snapped and almost before she had the words out, she realized that Selar was indeed serious (she was a Vulcan, after all). "But that's impossible! Shannara is only one-quarter Betazoid. Most full Betazoids don't show any telepathic abilities until well into their teen years. Send an infant to a psychiatrist! That sounds so...so illogical."

"It has been scientifically proven that offspring can still inherent genetic traits from trace bloodlines. And 'most' certainly does not translate to 'all'."

"Telepathy is virtually unheard of in Klingons. She's half Klingon...half!" Deanna picked up her daughter, and bracing her against her shoulder began patting the infant on the back. "I won't bother you again with my irrational motherly woes." Stepping away from the biobed, she rushed toward the exit only to crash into Geordi La Forge.

"Hold on, Counselor," Geordi said, grasping Deanna reflexively by the shoulders to keep her and the baby from falling. "You should watch where you're going before you take the first step."

"With all due respect, Commander, out of my way!" she snapped, rushing passed him and out of sickbay.

"It's good to see you again, too, Deanna," Geordi said. Although he spoke with an edge of sarcasm, his expression clearly showed worry. He'd known Deanna for many years and she wasn't behaving like herself.

His comment received a raised eyebrow from Dr. Selar, but other than that she did not acknowledge the scuffle and proceeded with the business at hand. "You are here to discuss the mind meld."

"I'm hoping I'm here to do a little more than just discuss it. I know the captain suggested I wait a few days, but I can't stop thinking about what happened to me and my imagination is a scary place...." Geordi paused, realizing who he was talking to. " I need to know what they did with me, where I was for the past six months. Why did they return me? Do you think I am wrong for wanting to get to the bottom of this?"

"One should always seek the truth. To hide from it is illogical."

"I'm relieved someone understands where I'm coming from. I won't be returning to full active duty for another five days. There's no better time than the present for us to work at unlocking whatever secrets I have hiding inside my mind." He tapped his temple. "I feel as though I have a bomb inside my head and if I don't extricate it--" He clenched his hand into a fist. "--its ticking is going to drive me mad and one day, boom!"

"An interesting analogy, Commander, but I doubt you need worry about your head exploding."

Geordi sighed heavily, realizing he'd mistakenly become overly passionate in front of a Vulcan.

"However, I do agree that time should not be wasted. Lie down and try to make yourself *feel* comfortable," Dr. Selar instructed, pointing to the nearest biobed, "and we shall begin when you are ready."

Geordi approached the nearest biobed and sat down in the middle. "Would you like me to remove my VISOR?"

"That would be prudent. Your VISOR would only obstruct the mind meld."

Reaching up, La Forge removed the VISOR. Even after a lifetime of blindness, he still felt a moment of disorientation every time he removed the instrument. The technology of bionic eyes had been available to him for many years, but until the past couple of years, he'd never given the option much serious thought. What had changed about him that he no longer felt the need to cling to the usefulness of his VISOR?

He felt the doctor's fingers pressing firmly against the side of his face and for several seconds, he reflexively fought the tugging at his brain. He had not been prepared for the intensity of a mind meld. Counselor Troi's empathic abilities or even Lwaxana's telepathy could not compare. This was a complete mind sharing.

He could hear Dr. Selar talking to him and strained to understand. "I am you; you are me," she said, three times in succession. "Open your mind to me, so I may see what you see." Suddenly, inside his mind, Geordi saw a Nova-Class starship. The vision seemed so real that he felt as though he himself were outer space. At first he thought it was the Enterprise, since he served aboard her, but then as the insignia grew clearer, he realized it was the Stargazer. He felt an unexplainable urgency to call out to it, to warn its crew that they were in imminent danger. He knew that its crew was already dead, the ship destroyed, and yet, he could only barely suppress the instinct to call out to them.

Why was he seeing the Stargazer? Was its destruction somehow connected to his own disappearance?

He felt himself flouting forward and slipping inside a room with others he could not identify. He was lying down, staring up at their strange, distorted features. No matter how hard he tried to focus, he could not make out their faces or what they were doing to him, but he somehow knew that they were not Human or from any other familiar species. Attempting to remember anything at all about them proved futile.

Dr. Selar pulled away from him, and the vision quickly dissolved. "I am sorry," she said, "but it appears that whoever abducted you placed a mind lock on your memories of the past several months. It will be difficult if not impossible to tap into all of them."

"We can't just give up!" he exclaimed as he snapped his VISOR back into place. "I need some answers!"

"Commander, I have every intention of trying to help you within the limits of my abilities You must understand that it my require several mind meld sessions. Allowing emotions to cloud your judgment will only impede the task."

"Fine." He sighed heavily with resignation. "Can we try again tomorrow?"

"Barring any emergencies, I should be free around fifteen-hundred hours."

Geordi nodded. "Thank you, Doctor. I'll see you at fifteen hundred hours." He exited sickbay. He had a dinner party to get ready for, and it wouldn't be proper for the guest of honor to show up late.

***

When Worf finished his duty shift, he returned to his quarters to find Shannara in her crib, crying and soaked. "Deanna," he called, but received no answer. Quickly, he changed the baby's diaper, ordered a bottle from the replicator and then cuddling her, sat down with her in the rocking chair beside her crib. She refused to suck on the bottle. "I do not know what is wrong with you!" he exclaimed, trying to remain unruffled. He decided that perhaps a lullaby would calm her and began singing softly in Klingonese to her. The Klingon culture did not have many gentle musicals, so the hushed words he sang to his daughter were actually a translation of a human lullaby Helenna Rozhenko once sang to him.

Almost immediately, Shannara stopped wailing and listened raptly to the melody. She sniffled for several seconds before eagerly accepting the bottle her father offered. Just before finishing the milk, she fell asleep. After gently burping her, Worf returned his daughter to her crib.

He stepped into the master bedroom and found Deanna lying in bed, fully clothed, her long black locks turned toward him. She did not look at him. "Deanna, is something the matter? The baby was wet and hungry. Why did you not tend to her?"

"She won't respond to me. I'm no good for her. Go away," she pleaded. "I just want to be alone."

"What? Deanna, what is so wrong that would make you neglect the baby?" After he waited for a long moment, and received no further reply from his wife, he exited their bedroom and returned to Shannara's crib.

The baby was still sleeping peacefully, but Worf could not quiet the uneasiness he felt. Something was very wrong with both Deanna and the baby and Worf feared he didn't have the power to keep his family together long enough to weather the problem.

Stepping a few paces away from the crib, he tapped his commbadge. "Worf to Lwaxana," he said in a low voice.

"Lwaxana here," his mother-in-law replied without hesitation. "Is something the matter with the baby?"

"No, Shannara is fine. It's Deanna that I'm worried about. I believe that she is overstressed and it is affecting her ability to care for the baby properly.

"Say no more. Grandma is on her way to take the baby for several hours. Perhaps Alexander would like to come along as well."

"Thank you. That would allow us time to attend the get-together in Ten-Forward in Geordi's honor. Perhaps an evening with friends and away from motherhood will help bring Deanna out of her depression."

When Deanna's mother arrived a few minutes later to take the baby, Worf was able to coax his wife out of bed. She seemed positively eager to join Geordi's party, and Worf wondered if she didn't feel that way because it gave her an opportunity to get away from the baby rather than a chance to see a friend they had thought was dead for so many months. He wouldn't press the issue now, he decided. An evening free from worries was exactly what they both needed. Maybe by tomorrow, Deanna would behave as her normal self.

***

While Data waited for the others to arrive, he nervously rearranged the setting at the table--for the fifth time. He was not dissatisfied with the tableware, or the color of the napkins, or the seating arrangement. He simply wanted time to pass more quickly, one of the few Human desires he wished he could keep under control. But it was innately in his nature to be aware of every passing second.

"Commander," Eddie, the bartender of the new Ten-Forward said, walking up to him.

Guinan had declined the offer to return to the Enterprise, mysteriously stating that fate expected her elsewhere. Her replacement was in his late twenties, well educated (though not through Starfleet) and like many bartenders before him, a great listener.

"Perhaps a different flower arrangement," Eddie offered.

The android mused over the suggestion for a moment, studying the vase from different angles. Finally, he shook his head and said, "No, I do not believe that is the problem."

"Well, it'll do you no good to worry about it now. Your first guests have arrived."

Data turned toward the door to see Worf and Deanna walking toward him. Deanna was wearing a light blue dress, low cut at the chest. The android noticed that she looked a little pale and wondered if the new baby was keeping her up too much at nights. He hoped he could help make this a relaxing evening for her.

"Glad you could make it," he told them once they'd reached the table and had sat down.

"Geordi should be with us momentarily. Commander Barclay, Lieutenant Berlitz, and Dr. Selar shall be joining us as well. Captain Riker regrettably is delayed by a meeting with Admiral Merritt and is unsure whether he can arrive before our gathering is concluded. Would either of you like anything to drink while we wait?"

"One hot chocolate and a chilled prune juice, please," Worf replied. When he noticed his wife shaking her head, he placed his hand on her far shoulder and quietly, but reassuringly told her, "It'll help you relax."

"I still have a few pounds to shed," she reminded him.

"You look radiant," Data told her, having heard other men use flattery on women who were discouraged by their appearances.

She turned to him, a slight glare in her eyes, and Data wished he hadn't said anything. Maybe he hadn't quite mastered the art of flattery yet. But then she softened and nodding, conceded, "I'll have a small cup of hot chocolate."

"Excellent choices," Eddie told them and scurried off to fill their order.

Data sat corner ways from the counselor and looked upon her with concern. He gently touched her arm. "Deanna, are you feeling well?"

"Thank you for your concern, Data," she replied. "It's really nothing--nothing that sleep couldn't cure."

"She needs to unwind," Worf further explained. "Our infant child has been a great challenge during her first few weeks of life."

Data nodded, although he couldn't fully empathize with the problem, having never dealt with the domestic task of caring for young children. He considered offering to babysit sometime to add the experience in his growing knowledge of Human emotions, but then wondered if he was up to the challenge of watching such a colicky baby. Perhaps he should wait until the child was older before making the offer.

Geordi arrived just as Eddie came back with the first drink order. The guest of honor sat on Data's right. For an awkward moment, the others stared at him until the Klingon finally broke the silence. "It is good to see you again."

"Would you like anything to drink, Commander?" Eddie asked.

La Forge replied, "A cappuccino." After the bartender headed back toward the bar to make the drink, Geordi turned toward Data. "So, what have you planned for tonight's menu?"

Data's expression measured surprise by the casualness of his friend's question, but he answered without pause. He had expected Geordi to feel as uneasy as he did. "A roast, vegetable soup with selections from several planets, garlic bread sticks, white wine, and for desert, souffle with chocolate sauce."

He gestured for the bartender to bring out the bowls of soup. By the time everyone's soup was poured, Barclay, Berlitz, and Dr. Selar had arrived. A few minutes later, Eddie brought out the roast and side dishes and everyone helped themselves to a serving.

"I want to thank all of you for coming," La Forge said, attempting small talk as he cut at his meat. "It's really good to see familiar faces again, and to eat Federation food."

No one responded verbally to his words as he glanced from face to face. Each one seemed unsure of what to say, even Dr. Selar. Geordi wanted to pretend that it was just like old times, wanted to erase the months he had spent away from his friends. But the rational part of him knew that he could not do that.

"I'm home now," he said, "so why am I still so afraid?"

"I think we're all afraid, Commander," Lieutenant Berlitz said. "They undoubtedly have more knowledge of us than we do of them, and we have no idea how they plan to use it."

"If they simply wanted our technology, we would have nothing to fear," Worf commented. "They would have no reason to initiate contact. But if they are to engage us in battle, we must learn as much as possible about them."

"I know you all want me to remember something about what they did to me. No one wants that more than I do. Maybe I will over time. But right now, I don't know what they did to me or why. I am in perfect health, at least as far as medical tests can concur. And yet--I don't know. I don't feel quite like me anymore. I'm sitting here with all of you, my friends, and I want to relax, enjoy myself, and catch up with everything that has happened with each of you during my absence, but I don't think I can just do that--pretend nothing bad has happened to me." La Forge shook his head. "I'm not really up to this. Data, I really appreciate the gesture, but I think what I really want right now is some time alone."

"I do understand, Geordi," Data replied with a tear in his eye. His friend didn't feel any of the calm as Data had first suspected and now the android wished for nothing more. "And I hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks, Data," Geordi said as he stood. He walked brusquely toward the door, but not without glancing back once to look at his friend. A big part of him wanted to turn around and rejoin them, to tell them that he was making a mistake. Yet he couldn't. Not this time.