afterthought. She appeared slightly out of breath, and
her visible skin was slick and glistening, as if from
perspiration--or perhaps some sort of skin
moisturizing oil.
"I know it's you, W."
"Is everything okay? I wanted to talk to you
about--"
And then he saw him.
A man--a member of the Luss delegation, if
Riker was remembering correctly--was seated
on the bed. He was clearly naked and was
self-consciously holding a pillow on his lap.
Riker noted that the sheet was on the floor, out of
reach.
The man's orange skin was likewise tinted
with some sort of moisture, and his ears--normally
elegantly pointed--were drooping somewhat, as
if in disappointment or letdown.
Riker waited for the sixteen-ton weight that he
was sure would momentarily show up to land squarely
on his head.
"You're busy," he said lamely.
"I was," was Troi's pointed reply.
Riker was trying to get himself to move, but his
feet had apparently turned into large
blocks of granite. Blowing air impatiently
out between her lips, Deanna took him by the arm and
yanked him into her cabin. The door hissed
mercifully shut behind him.
Deanna brushed stray strands out of her face
and said, with something remotely approaching
civility, "Will Riker, this is Dann Lendann
--aide to the ambassador of the Luss. Dann
is an old ... friend. Dann, this is Commander
Riker."
"I know." Dann shifted his legs in a vain
attempt to look casual. "He welcomed us
when we came aboard."
"Yes, although ... not as enthusiastically as you
apparently did, Counselor," said Riker.
Deanna's dark eyes shot him a look that
could have dented the deflector screens. And
to Riker's surprise--since she did it so
infrequently--her voice sounded in his head:
That was a cheap shot, Commander.
"It was just a joke, Counselor," Riker
said. "Just ... to leaven the moment."
Dann looked from one to the other, sensing that something
had just passed between them but unable to discern what it
was.
"I think, Commander," said Deanna,
readjusting the robe around herself as she held it
shut, "that the moment would be sufficiently leavened
if you left my cabin."
"Of course. Yes, I'll ... I'll just be
going." Riker backed up, feeling completely
lost inside his own body. "Good seeing you,
Dann ... I mean, not that I expected to see
this much of you--"
Deanna stared at him witheringly. Riker chucked
a thumb in the direction of the door and she nodded.
He turned, and mustering what few shreds of
dignity he had left--which weren't much--he went
back out into the hallway. The door closed with a very
decisive hiss.
He leaned against a wall of the corridor.
"Perfect."
Riker sat at his customary table in
Ten-Forward, nursing his customary drink. A
couple of times, crewmen started to wander in his
direction. But when they got close enough to him
to pick up on the unspoken body language that
said Leave me alone, they would invariably
back off.
Everyone, of course, except Guinan.
The Ten-Forward hostess glided up to the table
and simply stood there until Riker looked up.
"The problem is the weather," she said
succinctly.
He stared at her. "I beg your pardon?"
"A traditional entr@ee into conversation has
always been to discuss something utterly
inconsequential; something that no one can do anything
about. The weather has always filled the bill.
Saying things like "I think it's clouding up"' was
always a good way to ease yourself into talking about something
a bit more uncomfortable." Guinan inclined her
head slightly toward the viewport. "But look
at that. Not much to say, is there? "Hmm ...
looks like a vacuum today. And they predict more
"It's a formidable obstacle to casual
chitchat," said Riker gravely.
She remained standing opposite him. "So is
sending out waves of frustration."
"Have I been doing that?"
"Look around you, Riker. There were twice as
many people in here when you came in. Half of them
left to do something more fun than be near you--like shoot
themselves out the photon torpedo tube."
"Bad as all that, am I?"
She waggled her head slightly. "Not that
bad. People overreact sometimes. If you were an
ensign on custodial detail, that would be one
thing. But when the second-in-command looks like he
lost his best friend, well ... crewmen get a little
unnerved by that."
"I'll try to be more sensitive to people's
needs."
"Have you?"
"Been more sensitive?"
"No. Lost your best friend."
He stared into the contents of the glass. "I
don't know. I acted like an idiot with her."
"I see. And were your actions unforgivable?
Did you hit her?"
Riker looked shocked. "Of course not!"
"Rough her up a little?"
"No!"
"Call her obscene names?"
"Of course not, Guinan. I'd never do that, and
she'd never tolerate it."
"How about beating up one of her friends? Would she
tolerate that?"
"No. She wouldn't."
"Well, then," said Guinan, "how do you think
she'd react to your beating up on yourself?"
Riker opened his mouth to reply and then closed it
again without doing so.
"Uh-huh," said Guinan.
Then she looked behind her in that way she had,
reacting to something before she'd even seen it. Riker
craned his neck to see around her, already suspecting
what would be there.
Sure enough, there was Deanna. She had entered
Ten-Forward and was simply standing there, her arms
folded across the top of her gray uniform with the
purple V-neck. She was looking at Riker
with an arched eyebrow. Her face was unreadable.
Guinan drifted over to her and Deanna
glanced at her. "He's all yours," Guinan
said. "If you want him, that is."
"I don't know," said Deanna with just the
faintest hint of amused tolerance in her voice.
"He looks pretty pathetic."
"Looks can be deceiving," said Guinan sagely.
Then she looked to Riker, and back to Troi.
"On the other hand, sometimes looks can be right on
target."
"Thank you, Guinan."
"Don't mention it."
Deanna walked across the Ten-Forward with her
usual purposeful stride. And then, in
deliberate emulation of Riker, she spun the
chair around on the opposite side of the table from
him a
nd straddled it.
"I am ..." Riker tried to find the ^ws, and
nothing better than the obvious occurred to him.
"So sorry."
He waited for Deanna to say something. All
she did was stare at him before finally saying
simply, "And ...?"
He looked at the drink again. "I handled it very
badly. It was an embarrassing situation under any
circumstances. Walking in on someone when they're
... involved with someone ... can be very disconcerting.
And it's even more disconcerting when that person is
someone you have ... had ..."
"Have and had?"
"Feelings for," he finished. "Feelings that you
always think you've sorted out, but then every time you think
you have a handle on them, something happens."
Again he paused, and again she simply said, "And
...?"
Now he was starting to get just a bit annoyed.
"Well, I mean, Deanna--y're the
counselor, after all ... the one who's spent
years getting in touch with her feelings. Can you say
to me that you wouldn't feel the least little bit thrown
off if you walked in on ... I don't know
..."
"Ensign Ro?" she said helpfully.
His face fell. "Bad example." But then
he brightened slightly. "Actually ... you know,
I had this odd feeling of reverse d@ej@a vu
when I walked in on you, because if you remember, you
didn't handle it particularly well on Betazed
when--"
She waved it off quickly, saying, "Youth
excuses a great deal," but Riker knew that
he'd hit home with that reminder of times past. And
she knew it, too. When she looked up at him
again, it was with an expression that he'd come to know
extremely well--understanding.
"Will," she said slowly, "we have a lot of
history between us. A lot of reasons why our
relationship is precisely where it is. Partly
because we're serving on the same ship. Partly because
... well, partly a lot of things. One thing that
we both agree on, though, is that neither of us is
interested in leading a celibate life."
"I know, Deanna. I don't deny that. I
don't deny your right to be involved with whomever you
want. In fact, I'm happy for you." He
smiled sincerely, which wasn't difficult because he
really was sincere. "You're entitled to every happiness
that life has to offer you. And I understand that, since
we've decided that our relationship is best served
by remaining simply close friends--"
"There's nothing "simple"' about our
relationship, W," she said with her usual
sparkle.
"Granted. What I'm saying is that I
understand ... hell, I know ... that relationships
of a more--physical--nature than we're
pursuing with each other are natural.
Expected."
Guinan appeared without saying a ^w, placed a
drink at Deanna's right, and moved away as
silent as a ghost. Deanna picked up the drink
almost unconsciously, dropped in a small
stirrer, and mixed it absently. "We've made
no claims on each other otherwise," she
pointed out.
"Right. And naturally we're going to be
involved with other people."
"You keep saying that, w. Do you repeat it because
you want to emphasize it ... or because you want
to convince yourself of it?"
He smiled lopsidedly. "A little of both,
I guess. What I'm saying is that I understand
it intellectually. In the abstract. But being put
face-to-face, unexpectedly, with the reality of
it ... it just caught me a little off guard, that's
all. I felt surprise, and maybe ... just
maybe"--he brought his thumb and forefinger together
to measure out a minuscule amount of space--?j
a smidgen of jealousy."
"Just a smidgen."
"Nothing significant. I mean, after all,
Deanna"--he spread his hands helplessly--
"I'm only human."
"I've tried never to hold that against you," she
said somberly.
And they clinked glasses.
CHAPTER 9
In a time-honored tradition for getting
attention, Captain Picard clinked his knife
several times against his glass.
All around the banquet table, the delegates
ceased their amiable chatter, putting down their
utensils or drinks and giving their full attention
to the captain.
Around the table were grouped the ambassadors from the
Cordians, the Byfrexians, and the Luss.
Also seated there were Data, Worf, Riker, and
Troi.
Riker was not seated next to Deanna but instead
several spaces down. That had not been the
original seating arrangement, but when Deanna had
arrived, she had been mildly surprised to find
Dann next to her.
"Commander Riker insisted," said Dann, sounding
just a bit puzzled. "I thought I was supposed
to be sitting with my delegation, but ..." And he
shrugged.
Deanna had turned and looked at Riker,
who was sitting next to the Lussian ambassador
and speaking with him animatedly. The Luss
was no.ing his bald head thoughtfully, and giving that
enigmatic half-smile that was so typical of the
elders of his race.
As if sensing Deanna's gaze on him,
Riker continued to talk to the ambassador but
glanced in Deanna's direction. Her smile
said it all--..The seating rearrangement wasn't
necessary, but it's a sweet gesture. Thank you.
He cocked his head slightly in unspoken
response and then turned his full attention back
to the ambassador.
The evening had progressed quite smoothly as the
Enterprise continued in its stately orbit around
Sindar, the home planet of the Sindareen. Their
arrival had been uneventful, which in andof itself was
unusual. Once upon a time, anyone getting within
a parsec of Sindareen space, much less the
home world of Sindar, was met with challenges and
hostilities ... even if they were expected.
But the Enterprise had sailed through with nary a
whisper from the Sindareen and had settled into orbit
around Sindar while attracting nothing more than a
muted greeting from the planetary government and an
assurance that delegates would shortly be prepared
to beam up to the Enterprise to begin the hammering out
of a peace settlement between the Sindareen and their
longtime opponents.
Those delegates were now seated at the head of the
table and were paying polite attention to Picard as
he rapped for silence.
When all was silent, Picard spoke. "The
Federation is, at its heart, an organization
dedicated to peace. So a mission such as this one is
always particularly gratifying, since we are
fulfilling the most fundamental function of the
United Federation of Planets. I extend
welcome once more to the delegates of the
Cordians, the Luss, and the Byfrexians."
As he mentioned each one, he raised his glass and
moved it slightly in the direction of each in
acknowledgment. "And now, it is my honor
to welcome the delegates from the Sindareen ...
Ambassador Nici, and her retainer, Eza."
Nici slowly rose. She was tall, with her
coal-black hair swept up and back,
exposing her long, narrow throat. Her mouth
barely moved when she spoke--instead, the sound
issued predominantly from the nictating
membranes that fluttered at the base of her
neck.
"It is ... our honor," she said
carefully, "to meet with our ... associates
... in a place other than the battlefield.
I have advocated the putting aside of
hostilities for many years now. Our leaders have
finally accepted the inevitability of ..."
She paused, and immediately Picard knew why.
She was waiting for one of the delegates to be
classless enough to finish the sentence with the ^w defeat.
No one said anything, but simply waited
expectantly and courteously.
his... compromise," Nici concluded after a
respectable pause.
Picard was pleased that the initial thrust from the
Sindareen had worked out so smoothly, as they all
raised their glasses and drank. He, along with the
other delegates, knew perfectly well that the
Sindareen used language as yet another weapon
--ffprobe, prod, and generally to try to trip up
potential opponents and reveal their true
mind-sets. So no one at the table had any
desire or intention of falling into one of the renowned
Sindareen verbal traps.
Seated next to Nici, and just to Deanna's
right, was Eza, Nici's aide. Eza was darker
complexioned than Nici--perh a resident of
another province, Riker figured. Eza had a
dark scowl on his face and seemed even less
enthused with the proceedings than Nici. But at least
he properly kept his own counsel, and Riker
hoped that Eza would not serve as any sort of
impediment to the proceedings.
Also, Eza did seem capable of being swayed
--the only times he smiled during the meal were when
Deanna would engage him in conversation. He
seemed grateful for the attention, and several times
throughout the course of the meal he actually laughed rather
boisterously, his nictating membranes flapping
with furious speed. It seemed quite a positive